Paramnesia
Have you ever died in a nightmare?
Not many get to say they do. Is it a brag, to die with horror on your face?
Is it a mercy, to know you’ll be mourned for the rest of your life as a martyr to yourself?
The heart of the War of the Gods has long since been buried, but the consequences of it linger still today.
After all, humans were never meant to have survived. The War failed on removing them… and from them, we came to be.
Each side appears at different points of the floating island.
Many of AEGIS and other district civilians find themselves at the very center of the floating land. Those like FIDDLER and THE CAVALIER recall the War of the Gods. They were never meant to return here… They should have ensured the humans wouldn’t have rotted parts of the world again.
AEGIS do not linger near the black tower in the center, and decide to cover greater ground. Clever things, if only you’d learned of real strife earlier in life.
You would know there is no outsmarting, no escaping, time without falling into your grave.
The support tent makes itself the most useful. Led by FIDDLER, FRANKIE INQUE, NAA, and those helping them, the tent remains well stocked.
Four directions are picked.
ZEPHYR makes his way to the center of it all, up the center black tower. Two wolves, a left and right… guards for something stop him.
“Name one, spare most. Name none, save none.”
He and the group with him stall as much as they can before ZEPHYR gives one name. LUCY…
The wolves’ eyes open and ZEPHYR moves faster than they do. He flies out of a window with his aunt in the hopes of protecting her and keeping her away from them. Their attacks land, but they both leave and survive.
But you forget time listens…
MISTRAL… SIOBHÁN, BRIMSTONE… KASPER, and FIDDLER… ANASTASIUS eventually make their way to the outskirts of the island, where they’re met with monsters who appear to multiply and a rackety old bridge. BENSON helps in keeping them all safe and supported.
Waves of flames roll out on either side of KASPER when they burn a path through to the bridge. FAHRENHEIT boosts it, creating a sure forest fire. Time is reversed on their fire due to the monsters’ efforts, and first blood is drawn via burns.
They would not have survived, had it not been for FRANKIE and NAA’s efforts.
ZEPHYR creates a wall of air to protect his allies and provides a chance for them to communicate with the monsters. BENSON deciphers much of what they say… It begs the question: Are the monsters people enough to be understood, or are you monster enough to understand?
Return to the center, however… it proves fatal.
The wolves have made their way down the black tower, nameless and angry. They pull all but ZEPHYR deep within their own minds. LUCY loses the last fifty years of her life in her mind and succumbs to a storm.
One down.
ZEPHYR flies his way back to the top tower, this time entering through the main balcony window. A radio crackles tauntingly at him. On a table, cards with the faces of his coworkers stare at him… And a larger wolf, with a series of wings and eyes along its flanks.
ETERNITY finds no pleasure in small talk and mercies.
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The radio never makes it on before ZEPHYR is woken up.
Into the thorny forest, ARCHANGEL… MATEUS goes with his sister and other agents. He chases a vengeful ghost who feels unheard… We are always unheard. MATEUS is one of the first found, and when his body mists, he leaves MISTALI… ERICA alone with CAMILA.
ERICA serves her purpose in saving CAMILA. Her death is a long time coming.
Into the icy forest, DIRIZHER and ICARUS… KIT go, a mother, ANGELA, and a friend, ARISTA, following.
DIRIZHER is smarter than he’s given credit for, identifying the dreamscape as an illusion… not of aether’s making. But it’s no less mystical.
Time makes fools of us all.
They face reflections within the castle that nearly kills ARISTA and KIT. DIRIZHER does his best to protect the team with illusions, but how does one hide from their own mind?
ANGELA falls victim to a memory of when she was first depicted as the city’s darling doll. She falls apart, and takes her last breath.
More monsters enter the ice castle. More agents and civilians alike make their way there as back up. They attempt to communicate again, only…
Many of EPOCH is nestled at the edge of the island, and aim to mostly stick together through their fears… Clever, really… Defending their citizens becomes easier. Defending each other becomes key.
Teamwork…
What those outside were missing, was found here.
ARDELIA leads an effort to blow up part of the island in an attempt to test its reach… All it causes is a crater that endangers her allies. Thoughtless and so very human in every way beyond the oil that blessed her fingertips recently.
You should know, the strongest illusions are those based in reality.
PIDGEON and TRAMP provide the first glimpse of the surroundings. They see a dragon in the land’s past and future, and they see humans and elementals alike charging inland. They see an energy source in the center of the island, at a black tower…
HANA senses radio waves coming from the center, and from all around her. Smart girl, that one. She traces Glenys City’s radio towers and pinpoints her location to the little space between the Silver and Bronze districts…
Well, welcome to Keypoint, children.
Groups form and begin heading inland from there.
A flicker of movement, the movement of a child, guides LÚ ahead first in the hopes of keeping them safe.
Who peeks back at him before they dance over a flimsy bridge is a copy of himself… only younger.
At the bridge, everyone is met with monsters… Creatures, made of space, clockwork, and the manifestation of their own timelines. Or so they think.
It takes a series of bloodshed for two faces to reveal themselves. MONARCH and ULTRAVIOLET stare at the frowning face of FAHRENHEIT. The drama…
All it takes is one awful man to raise two others, doesn’t it? Where will they go from here?
HAZARD chooses peace first, and in speaking with the creatures, is able to diffuse the situation enough to allow his side of the bridge to leave. A boy of fire and destruction… capable of being peaceful. We should all remember him.
OLYPHANT depicts himself and his allies as human with mercury mimics, before he follows ABIGAIL to and from groups in need of medical help. Poison doesn’t have to hurt. Let history repeat where the objects of fear prove to be the most healing.
BLINK, APOLLO, ARDELIA, HAZARD, AZELVIA, MOONSHINE, and HEKTOR find themselves in the thorny forest first… Here, they find younger versions of themselves.
The first of them begin to disappear. APOLLO is the first of their group to be summoned back home.
ARDELIA antagonizes the sound of their younger selves’ voices, but BLINK recognizes himself. The world demonizes us enough without us needing to do it ourselves.
BLINK makes friends with the creature, who introduces themself as the LITTLE DRAGONFLY. He builds a personalized circus with BLINK, where BLINK is gifted a phoenix.
He could have a world of his own, should he only try to make it. They all could.
We were never made to bow to the whims of others.
MOONSHINE and AREDLIA stall for time to allow HAZARD a chance to escape his fears, but they don’t go unscathed. An eye for an eye…
Or in this case, a healthy dose of one’s future and one’s past. Warnings and help. Will you take it?
Further south, in search of the center, BIG LOVE, PIDGEON, ULTRAVIOLET, LÚ, and HANA find themselves at an ice castle. More of them begin disappearing as they’re found in the real world, and so remain there to wait for the others of their group.
LÚ and HANA ensure both EPOCH beyond the veil of reality and the rest of EPOCH stuck here with them stay connected by creating custom communications devices and connecting existing ones.
The only hiccup in their plans…? The realization that their teammates aren’t as careful as one should be. A violent force saps what energy HANA has left, leaving her exhausted of her element and physically ill.
While still on the outskirts, MONARCH runs from their past only to encounter their present in the reflections of ice chunks. Attacking it has him being attacked back, and summons a friend… The dragon comes down on them and VIPER, and ABIGAIL and OLYPHANT who find them just in time to help them run and fight.
MONARCH hinders the creature’s vision enough with smoke and fire to give the group just enough time to run. By the time they reach the castle, every member left missing has found their way there. BLINK vanishes, leaving behind his phoenix as a guard.
LITTLE DRAGONFLY joins HAZARD on his exploration of the castle.
More reflections stare down at them, but something deeper within the castle summons them… Like a pull deep in their blood. In following the feeling, they find themselves facing monsters with elemental reflections.
Is that not what the originals make of us?
One by one, each person disappears.
One by one… too much trust is given.
One by one…
Hundreds of eyes open.
LITTLE DRAGONFLY makes its way to the center of the room and down the ice castle crumbles.
When HAZARD disappears, time itself grabs everyone by the throat.
Blood paints the blue and white room red.