{Awakening} Morgan- Faith is Hope amidst Despair Part 2 (backdated to October 13th)
Morgan stepped through the Portal, blindly trusting to her patron goddess that it would be where she needed to be. She opened her eyes to find herself in a circular room, all made of concrete. At once she recognized it as the room where Aurora died. Almost at the same time, she saw that the place existed on several planes of reality at once, and was heavily corrupted by the Abyss.
The room was dimly lit by only a handful of candles, each burning with an eerie blue flame. The lack of lighting only added to the disquiet and barely illuminated the ritual circle at their feet. Morgan could smell blood, both old and new. It seemed that Aurora was not the only sacrifice this... cabal... this Underground had killed.
No, not killed. She reminded herself. Murdered.
The room seemed to be the center of a larger complex, judging from the corridors leading off from each cardinal direction. As Ferre and Zohar inspected the circular room, Morgan looked up, wanting to see how high the vaulted ceiling reached. Rather than a roof though, she saw only a whirling vortex of darkness. As she looked it seemed to become aware of her, and she grew nauseous. Morgan blinked, forcing her head back down through sheer willpower. She knew this feeling, had felt it months before when she stood on the shores of the Ocean Oroboros with San. The Abyss. The ritual circle looked to be directly under a conduit to the Abyss.
Delightful, she thought. While she recovered, she found that Zohar and Ferre had found a cache of ritual implements both mundane and imbued, some of which she recognized. Ferre took especial delight in destroying them, carefully crafting her spell to do maximum damage. Zohar reached out to stop her, but too late.
"Don't... this place is..." she faltered as the Moros' spell annihilated the majority of the implements. "a verge. Vulgar magic is worse here. I think its also a demense."
Ferre had the grace to look sorry. "Right... so vulgar is bad here?"
Zohar nodded. "I'm no expert, but it seems that vulgar energies are increased by the Abyssal taint here, possibly making paradox worse."
"Right. Everyone... no vulgar casting unless its life or death. Looks like we've been led to their Sanctum." Morgan tried to sound confident. "Which means they could be back at any time. Carl, Ferre, Bokuto... keep a sharp eye out. Goddess knows what we'll find here."
They picked a corridor at random, the Arrow leading the way to explore while the two Mysterium followed closely. Everyone was stretched tight, nerves to the breaking point. The first hallway lead to three doors, to the left, the right and straight ahead. The opened doors revealed sleeping quarters, a kitchen and an eating area, which appeared empty. Morgan was appalled by the number of beds present. By that count the Underground boasted at least a dozen members. A dozen Mages adept at twisting the Abyss into their magics.
I wish San... or... Sothis were here, she thought. He'd know what to do.
They returned to the ritual room, and picked the corridor to the right. Again, three doors greeted them at the end. A library, a laboratory, and some sort of meditation room. Again, empty of any life. They tried for the next corridor. Three doors at the end of the hall, opening to more dormitories and research rooms. Morgan felt her spirits fall further at the evidence of an even larger cabal of Abyssal mages.
At the entrance to the last corridor, Bokuto held up a hand, flashing some signals. The other Arrow both tensed, looking even more alert. Ferre whispered, "Bokuto heard something ahead. And... I've noticed the air in here is getting stale. The area's sealed, which means no circulation. I need to create oxygen or we'll all pass out." At Zohar and Morgan's nods, she quietly cast her spell and the air around them at once felt lighter.
They crept down the hall, each expecting some monstrous... thing... to jump out at them. Bokuto muttered something about a boss fight. They looked into the three rooms, finding a storeroom, another lab, and... something else. Morgan wasn't sure at first what it was. But her heart understood. Torture.
The back wall of the room was lined with cages. The rustling Bokuto heard came from there. Each cage held a tiny person. Morgan spied Aurora at once. The horror of it hit her like a maul. Dolls... they were all living dolls. Each in a cage, each holding the soul jar of a murdered person. Some beat at the bars of their cages, like Aurora. Others appeared weaker, lying on the floor of their cages, still others appearing near a second death too weak to move. Almost all of their mouths were open, looking like they were screaming, though Morgan couldn't hear anything. Ferre stepped further into the room, casting a basic Death spell. She started talking, her voice sounding far away and somehow... thinner than normal.Morgan and Ferre looked around, their eyes drawn to the thing in the center of the room.
It looked like a surgeon's table, but done small. Tiny, doll sized restraints rested in the center of the table, while a series of cables and wires waited, connected to a strange generator- looking thing. Abyssal resonance came from the thing in waves so strong they all felt dizzy. Zohar looked at the thing in disgust.
"What... is that?"
The mages all tried to understand the room and its strange menagerie. They pieced together bits and clues and came to a terrifying conclusion, so horrible they could not speak it. Ferre broke the silence, her growing rage pushing back her horror.
"These bastards... they've trapped these people's souls. Mages, Sleepers, Sleepwalkers... trapped them in dolls that're powered by their own souls. And that... thing..." she pointed a trembling finger at the table in the center of the room. "that thing tortures them. Somehow, its powered by their souls too, so the thing hurting them is taking a bit from their soul each time they're tortured, and a bit of their souls are eaten up every day to power the dolls, and the Abyss keeps them here... to be hurt. day after day after day... no questioning, not for getting intelligence. Just for pain." The Moros' voice rose with her words, her shock and rage turning into... Death. Morgan saw the deaths of the Underground in her cousin's eyes. She had to turn her from the rage, turn her to something constructive or she'd explode into a whirlwind of destruction.
She hurried to her cousin's side. "Ferre... Ferre, listen to me." Her cabalmate seemed deaf. She tried something that would get her cousin's attention. She whispered in her ear, "Shannon... I swear to you... we will find them. We'll find them, hunt them down and kill every one of them. I swear it. But not right now. Right now we're not strong enough. We have to run, Shannon. Run and hide and get these poor souls free. Do you hear me, Shannon? We have to go, now." The Moros took a deep breath, her composure returning. She nodded, signaling she'd heard Morgan's words.
Zohar spoke in to the silence. "How do we help them? Do we... break the soul jars?" Everyone in the room looked at Ferre, who shrugged.
"I dunno just now what to do... but we're taking them. All of them and getting the fuck outta here."
Zohar and Bokuto smashed the locks on the cages while Ferre talked to the frightened doll-souls.
"Its' alright, we're here to help you, we're not gonna hurt you... oh hell. They're not listening. Morgan, just help me get them all into your bag." She gently transferred the dolls to Morgan's knitting bag, trying to not hurt the souls any more than they already did.
"Ferre, I want you to do something, if you can..." Morgan murmured. "Can you make the air in here combustible without us suffocating?" the other woman nodded, her face lighting up with glee. "Then do it. I don't want this place to exist any more. And I want this Underground to know what it means to fuck with us."
Ferre began her castings, turning the air in the sanctum into a gaseous version of rocket fuel.
Zohar motioned to the door, arms full of soul-dolls. "We should go." They agreed and made their way back to the ritual room. Morgan looked around at the others, realizing she was the only one with any knowledge of Space. The only one who could get them out of there. No pressure.
"Um... Zo? Couldja give me some help here? I can't be certain to cast this spell without mana... I'm tapped out and Space isn't... well... I'm only an apprentice." Zohar nodded and transferred some of her store of mana to Morgan. She nodded her thanks and used her Sights to peer at the Portals she could use to get them out. Only one was new enough for her to use, but it led to several different locations.
Morgan licked her lips, nervous. She breathed deep, drawing the magic from deep within to see the future enough to get an idea of where the portal would lead before casting the Follow Through. In her mind's eye five doors stood before her. A single thread of Fate caught her eye, leading to the fourth door.
There, she thought. That's were we go... Lady be with us. The air around her became covered in green glowing mist as her nimbus flared, banshees appearing over her shoulders and reaching out to the Mages around her. The Portal appeared in the mist, glowing green also as she lifted one hand and drew a finger down its length, ripping another hole into the reality of the Fallen World. The smell of a parking garage greeted her senses and Morgan waved the others through.
"Go, I don't know how long I can keep it open..." Glancing at the corridor leading to the library, Morgan cast one look of longing for all the books about to be destroyed. What if... in that library is the key to ending all this? Can I just let it all be destroyed? Shouldn't I just go and get one or two books?
As she forced herself to step through the portal, Ferre waited just on the other side, holding a lighter. She nodded at Morgan and held up her hand, fingers ticking down her count.
Five.... four.... three...
Two...
One.
They acted as one, Ferre casually tossing the flame into the sanctum as Morgan waved a hand, ending the spell. The barest flash of the explosion reached them, the heat and rush of force pushing them all back on their heels. Everyone took a breath, glancing around to be sure everyone else was okay.
Morgan looked around. She knew this place. It was the car park where the Underground had taken Aurora... which meant that it was close to her office. And Ezekiel.
Oh no. Lord and Lady, she thought. That poor man...
Bokuto broke the silence. "So... what's next?"
The room was dimly lit by only a handful of candles, each burning with an eerie blue flame. The lack of lighting only added to the disquiet and barely illuminated the ritual circle at their feet. Morgan could smell blood, both old and new. It seemed that Aurora was not the only sacrifice this... cabal... this Underground had killed.
No, not killed. She reminded herself. Murdered.
The room seemed to be the center of a larger complex, judging from the corridors leading off from each cardinal direction. As Ferre and Zohar inspected the circular room, Morgan looked up, wanting to see how high the vaulted ceiling reached. Rather than a roof though, she saw only a whirling vortex of darkness. As she looked it seemed to become aware of her, and she grew nauseous. Morgan blinked, forcing her head back down through sheer willpower. She knew this feeling, had felt it months before when she stood on the shores of the Ocean Oroboros with San. The Abyss. The ritual circle looked to be directly under a conduit to the Abyss.
Delightful, she thought. While she recovered, she found that Zohar and Ferre had found a cache of ritual implements both mundane and imbued, some of which she recognized. Ferre took especial delight in destroying them, carefully crafting her spell to do maximum damage. Zohar reached out to stop her, but too late.
"Don't... this place is..." she faltered as the Moros' spell annihilated the majority of the implements. "a verge. Vulgar magic is worse here. I think its also a demense."
Ferre had the grace to look sorry. "Right... so vulgar is bad here?"
Zohar nodded. "I'm no expert, but it seems that vulgar energies are increased by the Abyssal taint here, possibly making paradox worse."
"Right. Everyone... no vulgar casting unless its life or death. Looks like we've been led to their Sanctum." Morgan tried to sound confident. "Which means they could be back at any time. Carl, Ferre, Bokuto... keep a sharp eye out. Goddess knows what we'll find here."
They picked a corridor at random, the Arrow leading the way to explore while the two Mysterium followed closely. Everyone was stretched tight, nerves to the breaking point. The first hallway lead to three doors, to the left, the right and straight ahead. The opened doors revealed sleeping quarters, a kitchen and an eating area, which appeared empty. Morgan was appalled by the number of beds present. By that count the Underground boasted at least a dozen members. A dozen Mages adept at twisting the Abyss into their magics.
I wish San... or... Sothis were here, she thought. He'd know what to do.
They returned to the ritual room, and picked the corridor to the right. Again, three doors greeted them at the end. A library, a laboratory, and some sort of meditation room. Again, empty of any life. They tried for the next corridor. Three doors at the end of the hall, opening to more dormitories and research rooms. Morgan felt her spirits fall further at the evidence of an even larger cabal of Abyssal mages.
At the entrance to the last corridor, Bokuto held up a hand, flashing some signals. The other Arrow both tensed, looking even more alert. Ferre whispered, "Bokuto heard something ahead. And... I've noticed the air in here is getting stale. The area's sealed, which means no circulation. I need to create oxygen or we'll all pass out." At Zohar and Morgan's nods, she quietly cast her spell and the air around them at once felt lighter.
They crept down the hall, each expecting some monstrous... thing... to jump out at them. Bokuto muttered something about a boss fight. They looked into the three rooms, finding a storeroom, another lab, and... something else. Morgan wasn't sure at first what it was. But her heart understood. Torture.
The back wall of the room was lined with cages. The rustling Bokuto heard came from there. Each cage held a tiny person. Morgan spied Aurora at once. The horror of it hit her like a maul. Dolls... they were all living dolls. Each in a cage, each holding the soul jar of a murdered person. Some beat at the bars of their cages, like Aurora. Others appeared weaker, lying on the floor of their cages, still others appearing near a second death too weak to move. Almost all of their mouths were open, looking like they were screaming, though Morgan couldn't hear anything. Ferre stepped further into the room, casting a basic Death spell. She started talking, her voice sounding far away and somehow... thinner than normal.Morgan and Ferre looked around, their eyes drawn to the thing in the center of the room.
It looked like a surgeon's table, but done small. Tiny, doll sized restraints rested in the center of the table, while a series of cables and wires waited, connected to a strange generator- looking thing. Abyssal resonance came from the thing in waves so strong they all felt dizzy. Zohar looked at the thing in disgust.
"What... is that?"
The mages all tried to understand the room and its strange menagerie. They pieced together bits and clues and came to a terrifying conclusion, so horrible they could not speak it. Ferre broke the silence, her growing rage pushing back her horror.
"These bastards... they've trapped these people's souls. Mages, Sleepers, Sleepwalkers... trapped them in dolls that're powered by their own souls. And that... thing..." she pointed a trembling finger at the table in the center of the room. "that thing tortures them. Somehow, its powered by their souls too, so the thing hurting them is taking a bit from their soul each time they're tortured, and a bit of their souls are eaten up every day to power the dolls, and the Abyss keeps them here... to be hurt. day after day after day... no questioning, not for getting intelligence. Just for pain." The Moros' voice rose with her words, her shock and rage turning into... Death. Morgan saw the deaths of the Underground in her cousin's eyes. She had to turn her from the rage, turn her to something constructive or she'd explode into a whirlwind of destruction.
She hurried to her cousin's side. "Ferre... Ferre, listen to me." Her cabalmate seemed deaf. She tried something that would get her cousin's attention. She whispered in her ear, "Shannon... I swear to you... we will find them. We'll find them, hunt them down and kill every one of them. I swear it. But not right now. Right now we're not strong enough. We have to run, Shannon. Run and hide and get these poor souls free. Do you hear me, Shannon? We have to go, now." The Moros took a deep breath, her composure returning. She nodded, signaling she'd heard Morgan's words.
Zohar spoke in to the silence. "How do we help them? Do we... break the soul jars?" Everyone in the room looked at Ferre, who shrugged.
"I dunno just now what to do... but we're taking them. All of them and getting the fuck outta here."
Zohar and Bokuto smashed the locks on the cages while Ferre talked to the frightened doll-souls.
"Its' alright, we're here to help you, we're not gonna hurt you... oh hell. They're not listening. Morgan, just help me get them all into your bag." She gently transferred the dolls to Morgan's knitting bag, trying to not hurt the souls any more than they already did.
"Ferre, I want you to do something, if you can..." Morgan murmured. "Can you make the air in here combustible without us suffocating?" the other woman nodded, her face lighting up with glee. "Then do it. I don't want this place to exist any more. And I want this Underground to know what it means to fuck with us."
Ferre began her castings, turning the air in the sanctum into a gaseous version of rocket fuel.
Zohar motioned to the door, arms full of soul-dolls. "We should go." They agreed and made their way back to the ritual room. Morgan looked around at the others, realizing she was the only one with any knowledge of Space. The only one who could get them out of there. No pressure.
"Um... Zo? Couldja give me some help here? I can't be certain to cast this spell without mana... I'm tapped out and Space isn't... well... I'm only an apprentice." Zohar nodded and transferred some of her store of mana to Morgan. She nodded her thanks and used her Sights to peer at the Portals she could use to get them out. Only one was new enough for her to use, but it led to several different locations.
Morgan licked her lips, nervous. She breathed deep, drawing the magic from deep within to see the future enough to get an idea of where the portal would lead before casting the Follow Through. In her mind's eye five doors stood before her. A single thread of Fate caught her eye, leading to the fourth door.
There, she thought. That's were we go... Lady be with us. The air around her became covered in green glowing mist as her nimbus flared, banshees appearing over her shoulders and reaching out to the Mages around her. The Portal appeared in the mist, glowing green also as she lifted one hand and drew a finger down its length, ripping another hole into the reality of the Fallen World. The smell of a parking garage greeted her senses and Morgan waved the others through.
"Go, I don't know how long I can keep it open..." Glancing at the corridor leading to the library, Morgan cast one look of longing for all the books about to be destroyed. What if... in that library is the key to ending all this? Can I just let it all be destroyed? Shouldn't I just go and get one or two books?
As she forced herself to step through the portal, Ferre waited just on the other side, holding a lighter. She nodded at Morgan and held up her hand, fingers ticking down her count.
Five.... four.... three...
Two...
One.
They acted as one, Ferre casually tossing the flame into the sanctum as Morgan waved a hand, ending the spell. The barest flash of the explosion reached them, the heat and rush of force pushing them all back on their heels. Everyone took a breath, glancing around to be sure everyone else was okay.
Morgan looked around. She knew this place. It was the car park where the Underground had taken Aurora... which meant that it was close to her office. And Ezekiel.
Oh no. Lord and Lady, she thought. That poor man...
Bokuto broke the silence. "So... what's next?"