018 Leaving Kwaidan, Delphi (A reconstruction)

[theseus]

Note: This is a reconcstruction of a thread I accidentally deleted.

[theseus]

Delphi is continued from 000 Delphi...

Delphi floats in the wafts of smoke issuing from the burning plant… visions are unlocked from his mind and body, while his spirit drifts, wandering through both shadow and dream… Waves of reality wash over him, transporting him elsewhere and everywhere… About him the smoke wavers, shrouding his senses one moment, enhancing them the next.

Delphi sleepwalks, dreaming, through the fields of Kwaidan, breathing in the aroma of the many plants grown to feed the people… He imagines trees, and they blossom into being, rich and ripe with fruit… He dreams of insects dancing across the fields and in moments they come to be… The heat of the sun beats down on him harshly, but even as he notes it, the glare abates… a light wind blows, pleasant on his face…

Underlying this world is the memory of a dream of Delphi’s from years long past… it returns as easily and fully formed as it did the first time… a blue burning spider web… or perhaps a tree with blue roots… running through the substance of all things… It runs under the surface of Kwaidan, visible to Delphi’s higher state of being… A latticework of fluidity and form…

Delphi remembers assaying this design, and afterwards dreaming of worlds… worlds like Kwaidan…

Beyond Kwaidan, Delphi sees other worlds too… endless shadings of infinity… Kwaidan burns more brightly than the worlds surrounding it… powerful and unique…

Delphi’s subconscious now conscious, shaping his desire, and his desire shaping his location, his world…

Delphi reaches out his hand to feel the power resonating from the blue design, helping to shape the existence of his own world from the power of his desire…

From somewhere comes a malignant hate… Kwaidan is the focus of this hatred… All the worlds fall away to reveal a darkness beyond everything… an Abyss where no light reaches… Within the Abyss, green creatures with glowing red eyes loathe and plot Kwaidan’s ultimate destruction… along with all the worlds like her…

On the edge of the Abyss, a tower of bone stands… And from this tower come the leathery winged and fanged forms of the Balti… The creatures in the Abyss nod their approval, and point a bony black finger towards Delphi… The Balti swarm towards him… They find a flaw in Kwaidan’s own design, a dark rift in the fabric of the world… Under the watchful eyes of the creatures within the Abyss, the Balti burn and destroy, slashing and killing everything in the path towards their prey…

Kwaidan itself pulsates in time with Delphi’s heartbeat… Everything twists and moves with every wisp of smoke Delphi breathes in. Kwaidan shimmers…

Delphi’s mind instinctively seeks to stop the onslaught of the Balti… he finds himself once more surrounded by the comforting embrace of Kwaidan… His breathing slows and then stops…

A leaf falls from the branch of a tree, slows, and then stops… the leaf falls eternally, never moving… the wind ceases, the grasses blown by the wind are still bent, but now quiet and still…

All of Kwaidan is stopped in place… Quiet within one moment that never passes…

The Balti make their way eternally, their wings no longer flapping… They hover in mid-air, seeking but never reaching their prey…

Delphi’s breathing starts again, but the world around him remains still… and safe. Safe from intruders, hateful eyes, and the passage of time itself.

[PDelphi]

Delphi returns to full consciousness. He is in the darkly draped room of the temple, set aside for vision quests. Nathan sits frozen next to him.

[PDelphi]

Delphi tries to stand, muscles protesting too long folded.

Temporarily banishing the mystery of what has just happened, he stretches and pummels his legs until he is able to stand steady in this strange no-time.

His eyes widen, and head darts, as a thought strikes him. Forgetting that it may not work here and now, he calls out, "Baku?"

[theseus]

A shrill and lilting sound breaks out. Baku’s song sounds strange in the thin air of the otherwise total silence.

Baku darts in close to Delphi, happy to greet him. Baku flies around Delphi’s head several times, performing a complicated dance involving twists and backflips. Her movements blow around wafts of the static smoke, before the smoke once more hovers motionless.

Her song is lilting with joy and enthusiasm, and perhaps even awe.

[PDelphi]

"Aaah."

He scratches Baku behind the ears, finding that good spot, his free hand unconciously scratching his belly through the front opening in his robe.

"Don't know what's happened here hmmm? How about you?"

Listens, her song doesn't appear particularly illumating.

"Ha, two options I can see. We can spend a bit of time killing every beast in Kwaidan while they are defenceless," he starts pacing, Baku mimicking, mocking him just a little, "or we could assume this state will hold and try find some help."

He cocks an eye upwards, noticing the mocking trill for the first time, grins.

"The former is a stop-gap yes? We need bigger help because bigger things are afoot. Or awinged." Pauses a moment.

He bends to pick up Nathan.

[theseus]

At Delphi's touch, Nathan’s breathing resumes. A few moments later he opens his eyes.

“She’s not there any more,” he says. His voice sounds high and faint, like he was shouting from far away.

“Delphi, did you find what you were looking for?”

[PDelphi]

Startling back, Delphi still doesn't miss the odd comment.

"Mostly likely only a reprieve she's not where anymore who have you been talking to, listening for, ... obeying?" the words come out in a rush, ending quizzically.

"Come one, let's get out of here, go find your boss" He begins to lead the way out of the root-shrouded chamber.

[theseus]

Nathan stands and stretches. He begins to follow Delphi and explain, when he notices the static smoke hanging in the room.

“What…”

He blows out a breath, and sees the smoke directly in front of him curl minutely.

“How did you…?”

[PDelphi]

Delphi stops, almost out the door, and leans back against the thick root frame, looking up and past or through the ceiling. He is silent for a long moment.

"Love." There is certainty in his voice. He leaves that to hang in the air for another moment and then grins and rolls out of the room.

"Now," he says, his voice a little muffled by the distance, steps heading down the corridor outside, "who is this she of whom you were speaking, friend Nathan?"

[theseus]

“Ever since I was a boy, I had dreams of a beautiful forest clearing with a pillar in it.”

Nathan sighs wistfully.

“In Alacia, dreams can have great meaning.”

“The first night I arrived here, I dreamed of the clearing again. But this time, a young woman was there as well, by the name of Yeesha. I think she was more than just a dream. She claimed to be D’ni, whatever that might be.”

“She wanted my assistance in saving the universe, which I thought rather melodramatic at the time. She also said that the hell-creatures that attacked my shadow were her enemies as well. She said they would crush the Courts and everything else would fall. Now I think that the Balti might be connected to the larger picture as well.”

“I just had a vision of the clearing, but there was no sign of the woman. I fear that something may have happened to her.”

[PDelphi]

Delphi grunts. Looks over his shoulder at the young man.

"Great, a woman."

Reaching the great underground stairs, he starts heading up towards the main hall.

"I do not know her, and I suspect familiarity will aid my seeking, so..., although if she holds some kind of information that suggests a central grand hostility, that may be valuable."

Looks back again, and stops mumbling.

"You have some say in this as well. Mentor, or girl?"

Overrides Nathan's answer, "And can you travel behind me, or must I find some way to carry you?"

[theseus]

Nathan considers the questions for a few moments.

“I was able to follow Neldo easily enough when he traversed the shadows. The same will probably hold with you.”

“I’d prefer to find the girl first. She isn’t, as far as we know, in the heart of enemy territory. And she may have information that will help in finding Neldo.”

[theseus]

Delphi walks, allowing his subconscious to shape the journey to his desire. Nathan walks half a step behind Delphi. Baku flies ahead both of them, darting away for a moment to investigate something new, to come sweeping back and reunite with her fellow companions, before soaring off again.

The temple stone hall transforms into a series of natural caverns, stalagmites and stalactites glistening in a dim light. Gradually, sunlight can be seen coming into the cavern system, and the trio emerges from a cave opening onto a gently graded mountain slope.

They walk downwards to the beautiful fast-flowing river below. Large boulders provide easy stepping stones across the gurgling water. Across the river, grassy plains lazily turn into sand, with clumps of desert grass, dotted with Joshua trees. The sun starts to set, turning the sky a strange purple.

Walking under a night sky now, the stars dance in their orbits, shooting around the night sphere, making pretty patterns. It is now desert, with only a hint of plant life. Before the travelers become cold however, a red sun comes up from the east, warming the sand dunes they are walking between, illuminating everything in tones of blood. The sky becomes stippled with different hues of red, as do the rolling dunes below.

Hours pass in this strange place, or only minutes. Time seems diluted in this bizarre landscape.

Sand dunes lumber along without wind to help them. Over the horizon, mountains burst up out of the ground, thrusting to the sky. Every so often one of these mountains blows its top, spewing a rain of soot, ash and lava over the landscape. Where the hot debris hit the sand, there is a plume of steam, leaving behind crystallized glass. The noise is incredible as the earth itself grinds, churns and explodes, seemingly intent on ripping itself apart. Delphi finds them a small worn channel though sandstone, perhaps left after eons of erosion, providing some shelter and relief from the heat and noise. Baku hovers close, her desire to stay safe overcoming her desire to explore.

Nathan speaks in his normal voice, magically enhanced so he can still be heard. “I’m quite sure this isn’t the way to the clearing!”

[PDelphi]

Delphi speaks over his shoulder, barely slowing, voice actually rather than magically raised, "Your dreams were wide enough to be sure of that?" The incredulity in the words is clear.