[IC] Eternal Galaxy: Phoenix

[Cucoo5]

Isle of Spirits-Outside the manor of eternity-In KuroiKaze


A note rustled by the exit of the ship....
"One of the Others," was printed on it.

[S121]

Ethereal Galaxy - Helios System - Planet Dua - Mirror Sea - Isle of Spirits
Somewhere in the Manor of Eternity

John briskly walked through the large, white marbled hallway, occasionally looking at the stained glass windows, and how the light from outside shone through and displayed their intricate designs on the ground. So far things had been quiet. The voice from earlier was no longer audible, perhaps because the person gave up. Either way, John knew he had to find a way out, and possibly get some answers. As John continued to walk, he came across an intersection in the halls. In front of him were three separate hallways, each one identical to one another. The sight left John feeling slightly frustrated, especially since any one of the halls could lead him deeper into the manor. Just when he was going to ask Cortana where they should go, he saw something out of the ordinary.

Out in the very middle of the intersection was a lone doll with white hair and a red bandanna. What made John feel somewhat tense about the situation was not the fact that there was a doll in the middle of the hallway, but the fact that it was facing him, as if it had been conveniently placed just for him. This could only mean that someone was watching him and knew his every move. That was not very comforting to the SPARTAN-II, especially since he still had no information on his current situation. Cortana had known John long enough to know that the wheels were turning in his head, and if she had to guess, John was concerned over how the doll was facing him. She knew that he picked up on the subtlety, and that he was on edge over an unknown entity watching them.

"A doll? What is it doing here? Do you think it's a trap?", Cortana asked John.

"Maybe.", John said to Cortana as he looked at the doll.

John could see that there was a note on the front of the doll, but he couldn't make out what the note said. Instead of approaching the doll and risking falling into a trap, John used the zoom function of his visor and took a closer look at the note. On the note was a message that said, "Take me with you! Ask and you shall receive!" John was slightly confused about the message on the doll. Was it some kind of joke? Just what was this doll?

John finally decided that it was time to go investigate the strange doll and finally walked over to it, albeit with a healthy amount of caution. John leaned down and picked the doll up with his free hand, still having his BR85HB SR Battle Rifle at the ready, and once he picked it up, he noticed that there was another note on the back of the doll. Upon seeing the note, John turned the doll over and read the message on the back. "Just don't expect much.", was written on the note, a message that John gave a very quiet and brief chuckle at. Of course the doll wouldn't be of much help. After all, it was just a doll.

"Why would anyone leave a doll for us? I don't see anything wrong with it, so it's not a bomb or trap.", Cortana said to John.

John remained silent as he considered that their observer might be hostile. If that was the case, then they would need to leave quickly. After looking at the doll for a moment longer, John spoke.

"I get the feeling someone's toying with us... Do you know which hall we should take?", John asked Cortana.

[Cucoo5]

Helios System - Planet Dua - Mirror Sea - Isle of Spirits
Somewhere in the Manor of Eternity

Suddenly, two notes rustled in both hallways. The one to the left was the same as the one on the doll with a simple "This way" printed on it while the other that seemed to head into the darker rooms was blank but pure grey in color.

[bookdragon2000]

Isle of Spirits-Outside the manor of eternity-In KuroiKaze

Eorthe pushed herself up onto her feet and walked unsteadily to read the note. Now she was sure this doll really was special, she knew that note had not been there before. She was slightly bemused, wondering who had the power to make things appear out of nowhere. Or maybe it was simply a version of her own ability to manipulate existing objects to a great extent. Either way, the words on the notes confused her, who were these "others"?

But first, the location of the note seemed to indicate she should exit the ship. She stared at the locking mechanism for a moment, wondering how to open the door with the power down. She then reasoned that the original owner of the ship, the AI she had spoken too must have had to enter and exit the ship while it was powered down, so she sent her other senses into the door. She soon located the locking mechanism, found the switch and opened the door. She stepped out, but held the door open. To open the door from the inside required only a push of a button, but from the outside there was no visible way to open it. Nhiome had probably remotely opened the door. She came up with a make-do idea and looked around for a convenient stone large enough so she could wedge it between the door and the frame. She saw one, 3 meters away, well out of reach.

She might be drained, but she should have enough strength for such a simple task. She held out her hand and drew the stone towards her, keeping an eye on her strength. The stone landed in her hand and she wedged it into place. But she was slightly winded by the simple task. I really used up too much energy...

She looked around properly this time and soon saw that she seemed to be on an island in the middle of a large ocean(Sorry if I got it wrong, I'm unclear about the concept of the isles of spirits). Nearby there was a large manor, and she assumed it was in this structure she could find a new power source. She stepped into the manor and was encountered by a few different paths.

"...now what...?"

[Cucoo5]

Isle of Spirits - Manor of Eternity - Halls of Time

Inside the central hall was a vast expanse of open space with great columns that reached to the ceiling above. At the far end was a massive metalwork-clock situated in the wall above some stairs that led to it. Two notes were in the hall, one like the one before with the words "This way" on it that was near the stairs at the far end that was near a door on one side while another note, grey in color and blank, was resting in the archway leading to the left towards one of the rooms that lead to the next floor.

(The white note leads to the back of the halls of Time where it would just eventually lead to one of the towers closer to the Manor while the grey will eventually lead to where John is.)

[S121]

Ethereal Galaxy - Helios System - Planet Dua - Mirror Sea - Isle of Spirits
Somewhere in the Manor of Eternity

John looked at the grey note and began to think about what it meant. To be honest, John couldn't shake the feeling that somebody didn't want him to go down the the grey note's path. Perhaps they were hiding something down there. Of course, the inverse could be said as well. Perhaps somebody wanted John to go down the grey note's path. After all, why put a note at a path that lead to nowhere? Why wasn't the same done tio the other hallways? Either way, John couldn't shake the feeling that despite the other note telling him to go the other way, he was actually supposed to take the grey note's route. For some reason, he was drawn to it, as if by a gut feeling, or some other intangible feeling instead of logic.

After taking a moment to consider his decisions, John walked down the darker path where the grey note resided.

"Uh, John? Where are you going? The correct hallway is behind you.", Cortana said to John in a confused tone.

"I know that, but why would the doll put a note here? Why not the others? Something tells me that the obvious choice might not be the choice the doll wants us to take.", John said to Cortana.

"I'm getting that sinking feeling that we're walking right into a trap.", Cortana said.

"It might be a trap, it might not.", John simply said as he continued through the darker hallway, putting the strange doll into the storage compartment on his thigh.

[Koishi]

Isle of Spirits

---

Mima sighed at her situation. Stuckk on an island in the middle of nowhere, suspicious mansion, Lost memories, she hated it. Ah, I'm just tired of this. Master Spark would be so goddamn..."

Her staff lit up.

"Oh wait, nononono!" Mima cried out, but alas, it was too late, her staff fired off a large laser, removing a part of the wall of the mansion she was circling, along with sending a loud boom throughout the island.

She looked to her staff in somewhat amazement. "I..I have my powers back? Maybe this isn't as bad as I made it out to be."

---

Helios System

---

Eventually, SimO came out of it's state, unplugging the wires from itself, getting up and turning. A loud boom resounded through it's auditorial processors, along with the ship shaking. Quickly, SimO opened the pod, weapons on the inside of the doors, it's tesla thrower, and it's sniper rifle. It started out of it's room to see several soldiers rush past it. It in turn followed them until they came to a partially sealed door they couldn't open.

"Goddamn, it won't budge!" one of the men said. SimO approached the door, holstering the weapons on it's back.

"Allow me." SimO said, putting his hands in between the cracks and pulling open the door, to be met with a cloud of harmful spores. The soldiers coughed, and SimO pushed them back.

"Find assistance to stop this infestation." SimO said.

"And you?" another man asked.

"I think the course is clear." SimO said with a somewhat confident tone, and he disappeared down the spore coated hallway, as the others went the other way.

[bookdragon2000]

Isle of Spirits-Manor of eternity-F1

Eorthe showed no reaction as there was suddenly a loud boom. She simply registered the sound and turned towards its source and saw that part of the wall was now gone. That must've required quite a bit of energy, wonder who did that...Maybe it's one of those "others" the note mentioned. Seeing as no one else was inside the mansion with her, the other being must be outside. Eorthe retraced her steps out of the mansion and saw a strange floating creature with a tail staring at a staff she was holding. Judging by her expression the blast had been unintentional. So there were others here after all, Eorthe logged the details of the creature that she could see before losing interest. It wasn't a human, she had no quarrels with non-humans.

She returned to the hall and considered the two notes she had picked up before the blast interrupted her. She couldn't decide which note to follow, one seemed to lead upstairs while the other led onward. The notes seemed to indicate that the white note was the one to follow, why then would there be a second grey one? She shook her head slightly feeling bemused again, whoever had this power, she was enjoying his puzzles, after millennium after millennium of wandering. Well, who said I had to follow the rules? She closed her eyes and concentrated again, sending out her extra senses. Her attention was briefly captured again by the creature she saw earlier, it was made of a substance that she was not familiar with. She then put it out of her mind and concentrated on looking for any irregularities along the two paths.

[Koishi]

Isle of Spirits

---

Mima looekd back towards the newly made entrance, where she briefly saw someone go past. Mima's eyebrow rose, and even though she wanted nothing in this manor, her curiosity rose, and considering with her powers back, she certainly had the power to defend herself. She floated silently through over the ground, and entered the manor, following the person she saw.

"Hello?" Mima called out again.

---

Helios System

---

The hallway was entirely infested by the spores, and SimO was lucky that it couldn't breath at that moment in time. A form rushed past it's vision, and it brought out the Tesla firing weapon, it's blue glowing core illuminating the otherwise dark hallway. SimO's mind was on it's highest alert.

[bookdragon2000]

Isle of Spirits-Manor of eternity-F1

Eorthe opened her eyes again, her concentration broken. She turned back towards the entrance to see the creature from before. It seemed to resemble a female human from the waist up but had that tail from the waist down. Eorthe decided that this creature should be a female, assuming her race used the same sexual classifications as humans. She was a little annoying, Eorthe then shook her head slightly, she did not want to anger any of the natives any more than necessary, except the humans that had settled here.

Eorthe stepped into a patch of brighter light where she would be more visible, held a finger to her lips, then closed her eyes again, concentrating on her other senses, ignoring the other being.

[Cucoo5]

Isle of Spirits-Manor of eternity

Another set of grey notes rustled by each person in the Manor of Eternity's Halls of Time. These were different though...they had white words written on them.

"Stay in the light.
Fear all shadows.
Do not let the shadows leave the Manor of Eternity.
The walls are their prison."

"Should ye feel something grasping at you and you see a shadow, even your own shadow, chase it away with the power of light.
Do not let the Demonarcs pull you in."

[Kristia]

Nothingness

"Where am I? a thought came, but no answer got back

"Is anyone there?" another question, but no response again

"Am I.. dead?" that question had a grim tone, but the darkness was still silent

suddenly a light appeared, it was growing and a hand tried to reach it

A well lit room

Falling from what looked like a tube chamber, the white haired bioroid was on all fours gasping as her lungs were filled with oxygen

"W-where am I" were her first words, but again there was no answer. Getting up from the floor, the golden eyed noticed the cables and tubes conected on her body to maintain her alive "A cryo-stasis?" she asked herself while taking off the medical apparatus off her arms

The room itself was quite simple as it had just the cryo-chamber and a small table with.. a doll? on it. Walking towards the table, Mara took the plush toy and read its words on both sides of the doll ("Someone is either testing my sanity or actually sending a message") she guessed while walking to the exit

"Letīs see what we can find" the bioroid said to herself

[Cucoo5]

Isle of Spirits - Manor of eternity - A 1st Floor Room

The grey note that everyone received rustled by the door where Mara was...
Its texture was different from the one on the doll as well as the text.

[Kristia]

Isle of Spirits - Manor of eternity - A 1st Floor Room


Mara read the texts and sighed ("Yup, this place will test my sanity somehow, if even my shadow can betray me, then anything can happen") she thought while walking throug the corridor

"I wonder if there are other people around" the bioroid said to herself while turning on another corridor

[S121]

Ethereal Galaxy - Helios System - Planet Dua - Mirror Sea - Isle of Spirits
Halls of Time - 7th floor - East Side

As John walked further into the Halls of Time, the halls began to grow a little dimmer, due to the sun not facing where he was. All of a sudden, the wall right next to John suddenly had a note on it. John noticed it out of the corner of his visor and walked over to it, and after pulling it off of the wall, he read it.

"Stay in the light.
Fear all shadows.
Do not let the shadows leave the Manor of Eternity.
The walls are their prison."

John was slightly perplexed by the message on the note. Was it implying that the shadows themselves were alive?

"You don't think it means the shadows are alive, right?, Cortana asked John as John placed the note back on the wall.

"I don't know, but we better be careful.", John said as he held his BR85HB SR Battle Rifle a little tighter than before.

"Got it.", Cortana said.

As John continued to roam the halls, Cortana began scan the entire area for entities. If what that note was saying was true, then every shadow in this building could potentially kill her and John.