Lux Tenebris Chapter 1: The Shadows Between

[Malkuthe Highwind]

Link to OOC: Lux Tenebris

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The new moon was dim in the night sky, barely illuminating the earth far below. Yet the rolling hills, vast plains, placid lakes and rushing rivers of Elyne were bathed in a wondrous light. This light streamed from the pinnacles of the three lighthouses that loomed over the majestic landscape. In the west, the silver lighthouse of the nation of Lune shone majestically. In the east, the golden lighthouse of the nation of Sol was radiant in its brightness. In the north, the obsidian lighthouse of the nation of Ignis glowed with a primal fury. These three represented sun, moon and fire, the three great nations, the three great sources of the light that was Elyne's lifeblood.

Elyne's inhabitants required no sustenance. The radiance of the lighthouses kept them well fed, well watered and immortal. Yet on that day, in the darkest hours before the dawn, everything was about to change.

Citizens of Lune were restless even at the peak of their nocturnal day. A new feeling was welling in their beings, a feeling they had never felt before, a strange feeling that felt... terrible. They knew not what it was for they never wanted, never needed. All was provided to them. Now all was to be taken from them. Fear gripped their hearts but they knew not what fear was. Not an inkling, not a grain of knowledge as to what it was. The shadows were deepening. The nooks and crannies that the light could not shine upon grew darker and darker. Creatures born of nightmares were beginning to materialize.

The three Luxes, monarchs of the great nations, in their shared consciousness bolted upright at that moment. There were unwanted visitors in their world; dark, shadowy invaders that the light could not dispel. "Leave this world you are not welcome here!" demanded the three in unison. Their words were as one, but their tones were different. Sol spoke with pride, courage and arrogance. Lune spoke with serenity, calm and wisdom. Ignis spoke with anger, brashness and hostility.

The light of the three shone brighter as the first of the dark invaders began to appear. Their shadowy bodies were ripped to shreds by the intense light. At first it seemed as thought hey had stemmed the tide, but more and more began to arrive, creating a mass dark enough to resist the light.

Then as one, three monstrosities with shadows blacker than the depths of the void materialized in front of the Luxes. A challenge passed between their eyes and the shadows of the monstrosities grew darker as the light of the Luxes grew brighter. The shadow consumed the light, the light dispelled the shadow. The two forces engaged in a titanic struggle; neither was ready to relent. Brighter and brighter grew the light, darker and darker grew the shadows.

The battle reached a dramatic crescendo. The monstrosities' shadows were black beyond comprehension. The Luxes shone with the light of a thousand suns. Brighter and brighter, darker and darker; until finally, as one, the light gave way. A blood-curdling, animalistic, guttural scream was ripped from the throats of the Luxes who thrashed as their light was siphoned from their bodies. Wisps of light escaped from the mouths, nostrils, eyes and ears of the three.

The shadows consumed the light, not stopping until the very last drop, the very last ray was gone. The Luxes were reduced to crumpled heaps of robes at the feet of the mighty shadows.As one the lights of the lighthouses winked out of existence and the invaders spread across the land. From the lighthouse of Lune, Corvus, a shadow in the form of a raven, sped away with his flock, his mind working on a plan for dominance.

Far below him, the Elynians scrambled in the darkness, confused and fearful of what had just transpired. Elyne had been plunged into darkness.

Corvus smiled a wicked smile. Then, the screaming began.

 

[Layne]

"[RAINBOW]Up, down, step and jump! This is how I go bump, bump, bump! Side to side and through the tunnel[/RAINBOW]," a voice sang out, the sweet soprano filling a large home that was full to the brim with children. The singing figure was hopping around in a circle with followers of all ages - mostly toddlers, but a few of the older kids joined in when their friends weren't looking. One of the babies crawled in front of the line and plopped down, making her laugh and scoop him up as she continued to dance through the house. She dipped down to set him in a rocking bed after he had fallen asleep in her arms, her burnished gold irises watching the peaceful baby sleeping. All her life she had wanted nothing more than a child, and now her home was filled with them every single day. Still, she felt empty, wondering what being a mother was truly like.



"[RAINBOW]Ellidya![/RAINBOW]" a voice rang out, making her turn. Apparently three of the toddlers were intent on ripping a stuffed toy apart instead of taking turns. She smiled and made her way over, pulling out two more of the same exact toy and handing them out. Brushing her hair from her eyes, she began making rounds, ensuring that everybody was playing nicely. Her deep red dress swirled around her legs as she moved, the hem brushing just below her knees.




Suddenly one of the boys started yelling and pointed outside. She walked over curiously and looked out the window, gasping in horrid shock as she watched the light of Sol vanish. Thinking she was seeing things, she rubbed her eyes and looked again, but shadows were rapidly approaching the house. She pulled the children away from the windows, but they were quickly becoming argumentative and violent. They began fighting each other, even the babies were screaming in fear. She was at a loss of what to do - they wouldn't follow her and she didn't want them to argue or get hurt.




Still she tried to pull them apart, but suddenly one of the older boys attacked a baby. He bit and chewed the poor infant until sparkling golden blood was pouring to the floor. Ellidya was so horrified that she froze, unable to do anything but watch as other children began doing the same thing. The sight made her sick to her stomach, but at the same time she felt an urge to join in. Gasping at the realization, she ran from the children, hearing the patter of feet chasing her through the house.




She darted into a closet and slammed the door closed, locking it and pushing a few heavy boxes against it. Once she was done, she collapsed in the corner and clutched a small light ball in her hands. The soft glow lit up the entire closet, but it did nothing to hide the sounds of screaming outside her door. She cried silently, the sparkling tears tracing down her smooth cheeks as she stared at the outline of the door.

 

[Lady of the Dragons]

Dread. That was the only things she could feel now.

Ailyn wandered aimlessly in the giant library. Normally, being surrounded by the countless shelves of books would give her a feeling of peace and ebb her worries away, but now it only gave her a sense of loneliness. Across the floor were the ravaged corpses of her colleagues who had gone berserk when they saw the lights going out. Ailyn herself was in the repair room repairing some books and had come out greeted to the sight of her fellow scholars clawing at each other like wild animals. Some had partially eaten the others while some simply fought. As Ailyn walked past a section of books, she heard one of the mangled bodies softly call out to her. Frightened, Ailyn quickly ran away in fear, leaving the person to quietly moan and suffer in solitude.

Ailyn quickly peeked outside a window. The light was still out, burying Ailyn deeper into her hole of dread. How would she survive? Would she die? She eyed a corpse from far off, wondering if she too would soon have to eat her friends. What others were out there? Was she the only one. Ailyn began to again pace in the large building once full of such grand glory but now submerged in a strange feeling of hopelessness.

And Ailyn was at the core of it.

 

[Lightning]

"I win."

A cloudy frown smoked upon the Shade's face, as the last tile from his opponent's side was positioned on the dark wooden surface. "Damn it." he muttered, grabbing his leftover pieces and tossed it on the lined formation; clashing and breaking the sequences like the sound of breaking china. He muttered a curse as he leaned back on his seat, immersing himself at the sound of obnoxious feminine cackling that flowed out of his opponent's lips, "Damn you, Jack."

"Damn me, damn all of me. I'm just too damn lucky." the woman allegedly named Jack replied with a shrug, snorting as she threw her head down to shower her dark locks on her face to hide her smirk. She unfolded her arms and placed her fingers over the cold and scattered tiles, taking each piece to stash back in it's case.

"Do I... Do I... Lose anything?"

Jack waved a hand in front of his face, her head shaking in disagreement, "Nonsense, we didn't bet -- this was just a casual game: Dominoes. You wanted to see if I could win without wager, and I did it for free. Plus I like you..." she told him, leaning on the table with her cheek rested against her hand; her eyes illuminating faintly. Seconds later, the shady figure of the Tenebra began dispersing gradually as her body began absorbing him. She watched him fade away before her eyes with a bored expression, eyeing his bewildered face that slowly being consumed by her being, "...as food, of course. No gamble, but you fell for my flirting -- all the same. How gullible..."

Her eyes darted towards towards an aura that had been standing still for the past few. It was a passing Tenebra, another shade who flinched as her eyes flattered his presence and asked him what he wants. Although she was one of them, she consumes them as pret. Though she refused to attack fiercely and agressively, she plays them all with words and games that made her equally dangerous. "What?" she hissed, making the creature flinch again, "What's with the hurry?"

"W-We found something -- land, and light... The light can--"

"What are you standing for? Keep on! We must keep running! Don't talk to that woman, she's dangerous -- she's taking this easy because she doesn't care!" a Thundercloud pushed off the Shade, shoving him forward to the point that he did not finish what he intended to profess; leaving an impression of intrigue and a proposal of interest. From that moment on, it hit her that everyone had been running all this time while she had been sitting at the side of this dusty road and challenging the willing, upholding an ignorance about the whole situation.

They had been running for too long, and she was not.

With that realization in hand, she finally decided to drop her current agenda and looked towards the direction they went off to. Whatever it was, they seemed eager -- too eager. "Land and light, you say?" she muttered to herself, nodding as she placed her hand on her hips and began blending into the dark, moving mass. Her body dissolved into thick black smoke, and her eyes glowed brighter in fascination.

This is not my playing style, but it's worth a look.

 

[Malkuthe Highwind]

Corvus' beady eyes surveyed the darkened landscape of the nation of Lune. He flew high above the silvery spires along with a few of his own flock. Already his flock had lost three good hunts because of their incompetent leader and Corvus was beginning to get angry. Little angered the intelligent murder. Tenebra like himself had little time for anger, time better dedicated to the hunt.

Beside him flew his companion in the flock and although their size necessitated that they all work together, the struggle for supremacy in the flock was extreme. He had led the foolish Murder into believing that he would give it a large portion of power once he grabbed the leadership, but the Murder was oh so wrong. Corvus smiled inwardly, smirking at how gullible the other Murder was.

He only needed to win the other Murder a little more and he could put his experiment into action. He knew the way the Abyss consumed other Tenebra and from that process he had theorized that stopping short of consuming his opposition's body would leave him intact but with control over the other body as well. Once he succeeded, as he knew he would, he was never wrong, he would go about the business of doing the same with others. He would then reign supreme over his flock, one that shall, one day, be feared by all Tenebra.

Once again he smiled inwardly. "Patience, Corvus, patience" he told himself as he alighted on a wall facing a library, his eyes scanning the building for any signs of life. His companion did the same.

"Only a little more, Corvus, and soon, you shall be feared by all" he thought to himself.