Sunday, April 21, 2013

Two Encounters

Another long absence. Sorry about that, but I have a reasonable excuse this time.

Last week I was almost cornered by Niddoge- er... Nihoden-, look, can I just call him N from now on? I'm kinda feeling scrambled and having to type out that name just makes it worse. So anyway, cornered, escape impossible, blah blah blah. Then the floor gives way under my feet, and I'm out the door and into the night. That would be the end of it, except I was attacked again just three days ago by someone with a sniper rifle. Seriously, I was just minding my own business, walking down to the café to update on my previous attack, when I hear this thundering report and the bricks next to my head shatter. If it hadn't been so windy that day, they wouldn't have missed. And by 'they' I mean these Parliament goons. I didn't think that they'd take this route to get me, I thought they couldn't act in a way that brings them attenttt.attenttt.attenttt.attentttattenttttttttttttttttttt---

Your continued survival shows a great lack of respect on your part.
You believe you have evaded us? That you have outwitted us?
Fool. You only draw breath because we allow you the privilege.
But you have amused us, something that has not happened for a long time.
We no longer care about the girl, or her father.
We want youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu---

You don't know where she is.

Who dares to defy the Parliament? What unseen voice speaks?

A friend of his, an enemy of yours.

You are... familiar to us. What is your name?

Shouldn't you already know it? Or is your omniscience malfunctioning today?

Do you think yourself brave with your petty insults? Time and space mean nothing to us!

And yet you can't find two people. Humbling isn't it?

Humility is for the weak! You will reveal yourself to us at once!

Or maybe... I'll reveal what's about to happen instead...

We control all information! What chance do you think you have to sneak a message by us!?

A fairly good chance I'd say. I've already gotten several past you. Others too.

We detect a bluff! No secret messages are present in the record! We would have seen them!

Oh no. They're in pretty much every post up until now. Look again.

Ah, we understand now. You attempt to fluster us with deception, then pass a message.

No need. I've already sent one a few days ago. Its not one of mine, but still.

We see nothing!

And you'll continue seeing nothing until its right in front of you. Your time is coming to an end, the anguished cry of a billion species howls for justice, and justice they shall have.

You delude yourself! Justice is a word dreamt up by the weak! We are the Parliament of the Continuum! We know everything! We fear nothing! Show yourself to us! Face our wrath if you are not afraid!

The voice is gone.
We... have forgotten ourselves.
A momentary slip betrayed the most hated emotion.
But we are whole once more.
No task is above us.
And no human is either.

Friday, April 12, 2013

The Return

I watched from afar, unmoving and unseen, as the Guardian ascended the steps to what he thought was a temporary respite. So weary was he, yet this night had been chosen to be his doom. The fell Worm, Eater of Worlds, had lain in wait for him, blind with wrath at the thought of their last meeting. But this night would be different, this night, he would remove the final obstacle between him and barrier. This night, his grievance would be addressed, and the Last Maiden would fall to him.

The Guardian crested the stairs, heedless of the Worm barring his way, for his eyes looked upon the Prophet's Book, and the Blessed Madness that was recorded there. But before he could blunder into the Worm's dread embrace, a chill of foreboding crept along his spine. There was the thing itself, a tower of menace, a pale shadow heralding imminent death. The Worm began to whisper his lies, speaking of the futility of flight, the shallow deception of life; and the Guardian, weak from his struggles, could not resist.

But a great and patient power had ordained a way of escape. The inn were the Guardian had chosen to sleep the night was in poor repair, and the top floor had a rotting beam, placed there by an ally of the Guardian decades before, knowing that he would require such an escape on that night. The floor gave way beneath his feet, and the fall brought him back to his senses. He fled, taking stairs two at a time in his haste to escape. He burst through the doors and out into the evening storm.

Though gifted with great power, the Worm abhors water, touching it only if no other option is available. Cheated again, the Worm soothed his anger in moments. The Lawkeepers had promised him their help, and the Guardian was running our of places to hide.

Yes. Only a matter of time. And time was something the Worm knew well.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Clarity

No further progress on whoever he is, but I'll keep looking. That's not to say I don't have an idea what I'm supposed to be doing next.

It all has to do with the dreams I'm having. Far be it for me to attach grand descriptions to myself, but the word 'prophet' may start being applicable here. Over and over again, the same vision intrudes upon my sleep (and the things it interrupts aren't exactly normal either). It consists of me walking through a hall of paintings and statues. A few begin to speak to me (I can't ever seem to understand sadly), and this... feeling comes over me. The feeling isn't happy or sad or angry or anything like I can describe, but its a powerful one. At this point it becomes extremely hot and wax begins to pour into the hall. When the wax gets about waist deep there's a bright flash and I'm standing... well that's the main thing I need to discuss. Up to the point with the flash, the dream is always the same, but once that part has been reached, the place I end up has always been different. A few posts back I mentioned a couple of the locations I ended up at (which I've since been able to remember in greater clarity):
- There's a maze of hedges surrounding a courtyard of stone statues. Inside the maze a withering gale shuffles the walls around me until I'm face to face with a colossal chimera with eight heads (Lion, Goat, Snake, Bear, Eagle, Wolf, Hog, and Horse) in the center. Each head faced one of the eight cardinal directions, each head breathed searing blue flame, and all were anchored to a spider's body. I fled from the creature, following the maze as it twisted and turned in impossible directions, but it caught up to me and I woke up.
- There's a castle of bone slowly sinking into a lake of burning tar. Skeletons of various prehistoric beasts chased me around until the lake took us all. (This is probably what the burning teeth was about.)
-There's a city buried beneath a glacier, which I can somehow see all of from my icy cocoon at the very bottom of. I watch as the clouds overhead wheel by for eons, until the stars themselves waste away.
-And finally, the new future world. Water, mist, lots of sea monsters, veerrryyyy pleasant. How do I know its the future? A voice keeps whispering "Should you fail." over and over again.
failureisnotanoption
There are others, but they're also kinda hazy, so I'll save them until I can flesh them out more. In the meantime, I have to track down this museum, because its been in every one of these dreams. However, if I'm right about this being a vision of the future, the boiling wax will have something to do with the Parliament. Which means they're already two steps ahead of me. Gonna have to think this through...