[Flashback] Fall From Grace Chpt.2 (Solo)

[Eridanus]

Day 31, Spring of 416 AV
Unknown time
Ruins of Nial

Eridanus woke from his cell, deep inside some sort of underground building. He had no idea where he was or even what time it was, but from the marks he kept at the corner of his cell it was Day 7 already. His body was weak, his mind was weak, and even the events of the past days were blurry to him as his starved mind tried to recall what happened in the previous days.

He was in a dark stone cell that was illuminated from light coming in through the bars at the front of the cell. His hand reached out weakly, and he remembered that the bars were only for show, for they were weak and easy to crumble. The real thing keeping him out was a powerful shield that prevented him from crossing the barrier out of his cell.

He glanced faintly to the side and realized with a startle that there was another figure, as weak as him, who was slumped unconscious - or sleeping - at the other end of the cell.

He could almost feel himself blacking out from some sort of artificial exhaustion, and he struggled to keep his mind awake, bringing himself into a semi-meditative trance as he tried his best to recall the events that occurred after his unfortunate incident with the hooded figures.

[Eridanus]

First Day of Imprisonment (Day 25, Spring of 416 AV)

Blurred vision. I opened my eyes, trying to discern where I was. A sore ache racked my body, and similar pangs of hunger struck. A dull pain reverberated throughout my neck and skull, and as I rubbed the affected areas I looked around, my eyes adjusting to the darkness.

I realized that I have no idea what time it was, or even which day, but I only knew that I have been unconscious for quite a while. Memories of the incidents that occurred before I was knocked out flooded easily to my head and I started with a jolt, my hands scrambling around me for any kind of weapon to use, instead only finding dust and sand on the ground.

Suddenly, faint light began shining in from the front, and illuminated the area enough for me to tell that I was in a three-walled cell with the fourth, frontal wall blocked by iron bars. They were corrugated, and some of them even bent out of shape. Rushing forward with hope, I reached forward to smash the bars away, my freedom soon in place.

Alas.

Before my hands reached the bars I collided into an invisible wall, blocking my an inch away from the bars, and I growled in frustration and annoyance. A goddamn shield!

There was a wheezing laugh, and I spotted the bent figure and an upright cowled figure heading towards me from the direction of where the light came from.

"Let's begin as discussed, Medal," the bent figure rasped, waving his frail hand towards me, and instantly I felt another invisible force slam against me body, but this time pinning me against the ground.

I have never felt so helpless before.

The upright figure stared at me attentively, but I could not return his gaze for my entire body was being pressed onto the floor by a force several times my weight, and try as I might I could not even move a muscle in retaliation.

The hunchbacked man weakly opened the gate that the bars formed, and to my annoyance it was not even locked. The bars were there for psychological effect, then, to imprison my mind the same way the shield imprisoned my body.

Walking forward, he placed a single hand on my body, and what happened next could not be described in a single word.

It was utter pain, my entire being enveloped in nerve-wracking agony. Engulfed in torture, afflicted with a malady that tormented not just my body but all the way down to my soul. I cannot even begin to describe how long the distress lasted, but only knew that by the time it ended I was well-spent.

My body felt like it had been running for days without stopping, exercising for weeks without food or drink. I had overgiven - though mild cases - before on Flux, and this feeling made me feel like I had overgiven on a much more serious scale. My muscles twitched in protest, and I could feel half of my body seized in a temporary sort of paralysis as my shocked mind struggled to comprehend the new situation.

The frail figure smirked, turning around and closing the gate of the bars as he let himself out.

"We are done for today, Medal. Let us return," Middleman addressed the younger cowled figure, and the invisible pressure disappeared, the two figures leaving, closing the door further back from which they entered from and shutting off all light.

I am back in darkness, and no longer shackled by projection.

However it did not matter, for my entire body and soul was screaming with the torment that the old man had somehow put me through with a single touch, and there I lay, slumped on the floor as my mind wandered into oblivion.

[Eridanus]

Second Day of Imprisonment (Day 26, Spring of 416 AV)

I awoke from my forced slumber, but instead of feeling refreshed as I usually do I actually felt worse. It had been two days (or more, I have no way of keeping track of time) since I had taken any form of nutrition the mortal way or from moonlight.

The strange power that the frail man they called Middleman exerted on me yesterday continued to take its toll, and it was a struggle to even lift my body, let alone a single finger.

Still, I reached feebly to the side and carved two lines to signify the amount of days I had been here with my finger, the soft stone crumbling easily to reflect my vandalism. I had to keep track somehow, if only to maintain my sanity and to destroy the illusion of eternity. I knew that I could outlive mortals if that was what was needed, but without sustenance I was just as mortal as any of them.

Without sustenance, I would wither away into dust.

Light shone in again, and this time two unfamiliar figures walked in. None of them had the bent back of MIddleman, the muscular shoulders of Messenger, the stiff upright posture of Medal or the arrogant stride of Coinsmith. What they shared in similarity was their nondescript robes and hood.

Between them they held a struggling man, and though he was quite violently objecting his abduction they manhandled him towards my cell, opening the gate and throwing him in. Before they did so one of them plucked a single hair from his head, and waved it about outside the cell, muttering something before the hair disappeared.

The man recovered quickly and rushed back out of the cell, intent of smashing the weak iron bars out of shape to escape.

Unfortunately, he found himself in the same predicament as me, for he merely bounced away from the shield that was now tasked against him as well.

It was then that he realized my weak form lying against the wall, with my half-lidded eyes and he began asking a series of questions in an animated manner. The words droned by, for I cannot seize the motivation nor energy to listen to his words or to muster a response.

He soon realized that I was most likely a half-conscious fool and returned to moping on the ground, muttering to himself while most likely scheming an escape.

It was not long before I returned to the void, my body and mind unable to sustain any conscious thought longer.

[Eridanus]

Third Day of Imprisonment (Day 27, Spring of 416 AV)

My eyes opened by themselves, and I felt no better. It seemed that the more days passed the lesser amount of time I remained conscious, and it was quite likely that I am heading back to Lhex regardless of what I want.

Even though it had logically been three days since waking up in the cell I felt like an eternity had passed, and though my soul screamed for release, the catatonic state of my body and mind shackled the fire that burned within my heart. They acted as a counterweight to ensure my dormancy, and the torpor that chained me here continued to worsen.

The light appeared again, and by now I know it signified more men in robes appearing to do whatever business they wanted to do.

This time Middleman appeared with Medal, and the hunched geezer stopped in front of the cell, observing us for a little while. My sickly demeanor, the new arrival's energetic moping, he took it all into account with his calculating gaze.

Whispering something to the projectionist, he waved with his skeletal arms towards the new arrival. There was a thump as the surprised man suddenly sprawled to the ground, twitching as he tried to resist against this unknown force. I instinctively knew that it was the same magical pressure that Medal had applied to me several times before, and wondered if the old man was going to touch this new arrival the same way he did me on the first day.

The duo did not enter the cell, and Middleman pondered as he looked directly at me.

I returned his gaze in a tired manner.

"You can take his energy, ethaefal. You are tired, you are worn-out, exhausted, fatigued. But this man is still alive, beating with energy, throbbing with life. Take his energy, and you will have the strength you need to defeat us."

I have no idea what he was saying, and there was the light of apprehension as I wondered if I should do it, even if I could. The man was just collateral damage, right? If he cannot aid in my escape, I might as well use him to do so. Many lives had already been lost during my rebellion against my past zith slavemasters, the loss had already been written over as an expected cost.

The old man probably saw the glimmer of hope in my eyes, and he rasped a command to Medal. The screaming man was lifted several yards before being thrown onto the ground, and the screaming stopped, for he had been knocked out cold.

"Touch him, bare skin on bare skin. Imagine him a well, and you as a parasite, and seek to take his life energy from him."

I began crawling towards the slumped man, my hands raising steadily as I reached for the unconscious man.

A voice screamed in my hand. It is all a trap!

And then I realized. Why should I listen to them? And be part of their plans? A defiant part of me shut down my actions, and as I stopped I caught a disapproving glance from Messenger's hooded silhouette before blacking out.

[Eridanus]

Forth Day of Imprisonment (Day 28, Spring of 416 AV)

I spent today drifting in and out of consciousness. The man continued slumped beside me, and though I fear that he may be dead his breathing form was proof of his continued existence. Thoughts of the seductive lure of more energy came back to me with every recall of Middleman's words, but I force myself to remain steadfast.

I am selfish. But in my defiance against the machinations of the hooded figures I refused to go by their plan.

Instead, I dedicated myself to relentless prayer. Should I pray to Leth, when He has clearly forsaken me? No, I dedicated myself to prayer to anyone who would listen. I do not know if there was a god of hope, or a god of helpless situations, but if there was one it was a good time to listen.

In my flashes of consciousness between my periods of slumber I tried my best to steel my mind, entering an inner world where I could only see myself and nothing else, and it was this escapism that I used to run away from the pain and suffering of the physical plane.

My prayers went unanswered, for there seemed to be no god of hope, and though hope abandoned me my iron-clad determination did not.

Still, I held on to my defiance and continued to escape inwardly.

My mind is the strongest fortress, for they may break my body but never my mind.

[Eridanus]

Fifth Day of Imprisonment (Day 29, Spring of 416 AV)

Gods help me!

Today I inched closer to the slumbering man who seemed be under some sort of magical draught to keep him from awakening. The idea of taking away something so easily from someone else appealed strongly to my baser nature, and I was even an inch away from touching his bare flesh, that pale forearm that reverberated with life.

Fortunately the inner strength of my soul shone through, and despite my accumulated exhaustion and increasing pain from my body I refused, instead choosing to close my eyes and be taken to Nysel.

Over the hours I awoke, and the tempting call of the fruit continued to seduce me, and even as I tried my best to resist I found my body unknowingly easing closer to the slumped man, away from my usual spot against the wall.

I dropped deeper into meditation, trying my best to calm my raging nerves and the growing affliction that spread like fire throughout my body and very soul, yet I find a small voice of discontent.

So what if I were playing into their hands? It wouldn't matter even if I did for now, right? Just so I can strike them down later on?

[Eridanus]

Sixth Day of Imprisonment (Day 30, Spring of 416 AV)

Today was the day that I finally caved in. Being unable to repress my desires, being unable to continue the agony of this constant withdrawal symptom from life itself, I gave in to my primal wants.

It was as if there was another reserve of strength that opened itself in such situations, and I found myself filled with a new kind of energy needed to push myself for that final step.

It did not matter now whether I was playing to anyone's hands or not. I needed to escape, to exact my vegenace of the wardens of my imprisonment. And as I lay suffering my fellow prisoner slept through it all, oblivious to my suffering.

To escape we would need teamwork, we would need unity. And if he could not fulfil that part I would take it from him, and together with his strength - whether he volunteered it consciously or not - I will escape.

Reaching out a finger, I touched his pale, cool skin with my finger, and an inner part of my shivered with anticipation.

I followed Middleman's instructions, seeing the sleeping man as a well full of refreshing life, and me as a decrepit void. Like a parasite, I began to mentally urge the energies that whirled within his body towards me, for if he had no use for it I had many uses.

I felt a pain within my body even as strength began to fill me, and my mind subconsciously likened it to drinking poisoned water while on the brink of dehydration. I needed water, but am destroying my soul for it.

Yet it did not matter, for I continued drinking, satisfying myself with the corrupted act of stealing another's life for myself, and my though my soul protested against this vile act of self-destruction my body welcomed it.

I could not stop, and even as I felt stronger a greater wave of exhaustion hit me, and soon I was left drifting in my dreams once more.

[Eridanus]

Eridanus recalled what he did with a jolt, and instantly he felt a sense of shame for that moment of weakness. Yet, logically it made sense for him to do it, for sacrifices had to be made for greater things to be done. What good would sleeping do? Yet if he acquired the energy he needed to recover from his torpor he could find some way of deceiving their abductors and blaze a path to freedom.

He moved over to the slumped body, still alive and breathing yet there was a slight pallor in his complexion possibly due to Eri's exertions the day before. The ethaefal placed a finger on the man's bare forearm, and channeling up what little willpower he had he urged the same flow again from yesterday.

That sweet sickly flow of stolen energy.

He continued drinking, engrossed in this feeling of vitality that he had not experienced for almost a week of deprivation, to the point that even when that same light shone and two hooded figures walked in to observe he did not notice.

Middleman smirked while Medal nodded.

The deprived ethaefal continued satisfying his deficiency, not caring if he was bringing the sleeping man to the point of death, not caring if he was poisoning his body as he did so. All he cared about was the lure of energy, of how much better he felt as he continued to fill the djed-less void within his body brought about by Middleman's actions on the first day of his imprisonment.

The slumbering man twitched violently as he was artificially brought into the brink of over-giving, but the ethaefal did not care.

Eridanus simply drank, and before long it was all over. The man's very last essence flowed to Eridanus' corrupted body and his soul sighed as it was released from his mortal shell that was drained of all djed.

He was satisfied, yet still hungry for more. It was the start of an addiction, and as he looked about he realized that he was being observed.

Middleman clapped his hands.

"What the hell do you want?" Eridanus snarled, his voice now containing a hint of vigor that he did not have for the past seven days.

"Feisty one," Medal remarked nonchalantly, and Middleman raised a hand.

"You have just drained a man of his life in order to fulfill your own goals. And yet you realize that all around you people are doing the same thing. Taking the possessions that belonged to others for their own good. Then you wonder, do those possessions truly belonged to them? For if they were too weak to safeguard their own belongings, does it truly belong to them?" Middleman began in a charming rhetoric, his words laced with hypnotic suggestion.

Perhaps he may have overdid the hypnotism, instead of being subtle with his djed he had gone on obvious-overdrive with it. Yet to the exhausted ethaefal who had been through his personal hell, and who had went through a certain morality barrier of his own, it was lost. He did not realize how he was being magically manipulated.

Instead he thought about the man's words, finding himself agreeing with every word of it. After all, he had seen the atrocities of Man's treachery throughout, their selfishness and greed. He had been on the receiving end several times, having to fight for his life to defend his freedom and right to life.

"I see that you agree. What our group seeks is enlightenment and peace. We realize that humanity is too weak to control themselves, to reign in their dark natures. And so instead of letting the world belong to them, why not take the world ourselves? Putting us in a benevolent stewardship, allowing humanity to flourish in peace. But first they will not like it. We must take the world from them first, before gracefully acquiescing parts of it back."

It went on for several bells, the wizened figure droning on with discourse after discourse, of rhetoric after rhetoric, words all laced with hypnotic djed, the content describing the failures of humanity and how good their organization was to save the world.

It did not take long for Eri to forget his desire for vengeance, and he begun to see their viewpoint of the ends justifying the means.

Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.

And he saw how the little sacrifice they had to make in torturing him was to pave the way for a greater good, for they saw a need for a man of his talents in helping to save the world.

[Eridanus]

It was not long before Middleman took out a scroll, and the flowing glyphs written in the ancient tongue was apparent even from this distance, their alien and prehistory nature evident.

"If you wish to be a part of our noble endeavor, then sign this with your blood, and you will a part of our brotherhood," the wizened man said, using the last drop of djed he could afford into a final seductive lure, placing the parchment across the bars into Eri's cell.

The ethaefal was completely entranced by now, and he reached forward to look at the parchment. It was long and flowy, containing many words he did not understand, yet his basic understanding of glyphs and Nader-Canoch told him that it was a sort of Oath that required him to abide by someone's commands.

Middleman looked at the ethaefal critically, for this was the crucial moment. Despite his own knowledge in the arcane, though he would not admit to anyone else, he did not fully understand the words in the magical contract. It had been drafted by someone in the pre-valterrian times, just like where their organization came from, but despite the seeming mysterious air he along with other members of the Council gave to the rookies they were merely struggling for direction. They had been rookies when they were recruited, and somehow the elders all disappeared one day, causing them to rise up to the leadership of their organization.

They made some changes of course, to adapt to the modern times, but still they did not fully understand the mysteries. Not that he would tell the rest of course, for knowledge was power, and the perception of them having knowledge wielded power over the rest.

He did know that the signing of this contract was crucial to swearing fealty with the organization, and he knew that it was unbreakable. There was no need to know exactly what was written on it, though none of them could read the complicated words and glyphs even if they wanted to.

Eridanus released a drop of blood on the parchment, and there was a blue flash of light emitting from it, sealing the deal. He had given his divine oath to follow what was written on the parchment, for better or worse.

"Welcome to the brotherhood, ethaefal," the wizened man said, pushing back his hood to reveal the decrepit face of a walking corpse.

The nuit reached into the folds of his robes, taking out a shining black orb and threw it across the cell to the ethaefal.

"Take your energy from this, and recover your strength. Your journey to help this world on its path to salvation begins as soon as you're ready."

The orb pulsed with energy and life, and as it dropped to Eri's feet he picked it up hungrily, grasping both hands on it as he utilized the same process of leeching energy as he did on the man.

The orb lighted up with a gentle hum, and he felt a rush of energy invade his body. It was like life, sweet sweet life. A wave of fatigue hit him, and though this time it was the warm fuzzy feel of the exhaustion that came after a long day and a warm meal.

He dozed off.

[Liar]

EXPERIENCE AWARD Eridanus Skill Points Meditation 4 Leeching 3 Observation 3 Philosophy 2 Lore Imprisoned by Djed Prisoner’s Delirium Reasons to Take Grand Oath to Alazapatl Items Obsidian Pearl Notes I am so sorry it took me so long to get to this, especially because it was such an enjoyable read. What you like to call ‘artsy-fartsy’ is what I call good writing, and I encourage you to keep up with it. :P