Fantasy Styx - A Second Life

[Plight]

Tristan nodded. He wasn't one to force others, at least when it didn't come to evac.


"Do you see that tower? A Revenant is firing arrows from there, quite potent if I may add. My plan is to provide backup there. If you don't mind, would you follow me there? If more phantoms attack us, don't hesitate to fight back. You won't be feeling any pain as long as you see the green thread".


As he finished mentioning this, a duo of Man-Spider Phantoms jumped from the roof on top of them. Their landing caused a small tremor, leaving a crater around them. Although ashamed to admit it, his knees shook. Not from fear, just the sheer force of it. It wasn't just them, snakes creeped out at every turn in an endless stream of vile and mucus.


"Any route you feel like taking there? I don't reckon we can take all of them!"

 

[CloudKitteh]

"I don't have any suggestions, you decide. And I'll be more than glad to provide some back-up at the tower!" The girl let lower frequency waves that momentarily stunned the nearest Phantoms. This wave did not enduce mental pain.

 

[Plight]

"Don't mind if I do!" Tristan swung his shield like a flyswatter towards the stunned snakes, their bodies dispersing into the air like a flipped bowl of pasta. There didn't seem to be any exits around them: completely surrounded. Gods! Even if they snuck into an alley, it was a poor tactical decision given the numbers the enemy had. They could just as well drown in snake bodies in one of those wretched corridors. Tristan sighed. The roofs were dangerous, but it would give them total vision. It was better than their current location.


"Alright Miss. We're going up into the roof next to us and scout the area! If you can't make the jump, just hold onto me alright?"

 

[CloudKitteh]

"O-okay," she murmured softly, before grasping Walhert's shoulders. Her body was tense and a little shaky, as this was the first time any male had made physical contact with her. Giving one last wave, she prepared herself for the very high jump.

 

[Kairo]

Ancell saw a mass of dark hair block his view of the sleeping revenant just before he noticed a slight ringing in his ears. It made his head throb slightly; he felt as if he had overindulged in ale.


Pausing mid-air, he surveyed the ground below him. A man had come to a woman's aid, his shield giving off a faint gleam. Ancell watched as the phantoms around the two started writhing in pain. Shrieks filled the air, accompanied by a low buzzing sound that seemed to be the cause of the dull throb in his head.


He glanced toward the direction of the sleeping revenant, but huge dust clouds obscured his view. Landing on a rooftop with a dead phantom hanging from its side, he gazed at the crumbling city. Dead and half-dead phantoms littered the streets; the smell was revolting.


Later, when the Haunting was over, there would be a mad scramble for wisps. Of the poorest quality, yes, but wisps nonetheless. Even now, he could see some revenants - the opportunists - bring out their bottles.


He turned around, pushed up with his feet, and flew towards the Old Quarter where Behet is sure to be waiting. The rooftops sped under him in a blur. There was no need for him to be here. The Haunting will pass.

 

[Plight]

Tristan took hold of the girl, propelling them towards the roof. Landing on top of it, there were phantoms looking down below. Waiting, surely, for someone to snack on. Tristan bashed into them, throwing them a level below, leaving that one rooftop relatively Phantom free. From there, they could better assess the situation and decide on how to reach the turret. Tristan pondered. His companion seemed to be clinging on to dear life, as if he was going to let go and leave her to die.


"It's gonna be alright, yeah? I didn't catch your name! And don't let go, we're going to have to jump quite a few more times. Just let me know if I have to cover my ears."

 

[CloudKitteh]

"You don't need to cover your ears.." she paused, hesitant. "I'm Ace, Officer." She couldn't wait for them to jump, actually. She loved the air that rushed into her face, stinging her eyes mildly. Her hands were no longer shaky, but firm. Hopefully, she wouldn't die by the time they reached the archer in the tower. "How many more jumps?"

 

[Plight]

"Well, nice meetin' ya, Ace! From our current location, if we don't get ambushed...it should be around 7 more rooftops. If we see anyone in trouble, though, we'll probably take a detour and help them out. Can't leave anyone behind, yeah? Hang on tight, we're going to start jumping! Let me know if we can help anybody". Strengthening his hold on the now resolved Ace, Tristan flexed his knees, jumping towards the next rooftop. As expected, a pile of Phantoms were in it, awaiting for their landing with their jaws open. But really, he had no intention of anyone's dinner.

 

[Deucalion]

The streets were covered in piles of dead Phantoms. Bleeding snakes, crushed insects, broken imps. The stench was putrid, but as most Revenants knew, it would soon pass. Much like the Hauntings themselves, Phantoms and their bodies are but temporary.


Indeed, as the corpses began to break one by one (perhaps break is the wrong word. Dissolve is a more accurate term) and the resulting featureless sludge lit itself aflame with an odd, blue light, the Haunting itself came to an end. The blue hue over the area faded, the rippling black patterns in the air closed and disappeared. The melting stone grew stiff and solid once more. Soon, the only sign that anything had ever happened was the clusters of Wisps in the air. The aforementioned flames had gathered into small spheres, now bobbing in the air harmlessly. Of course, this would not last, as opportunistic Revenants quickly began scooping up any Wisp they could reach. None of them were of specifically high quality, but they were Wisps all the same.


And through the aftermatch, in the wake of the chaos, Charon watched from the depths of Gehenna.


Its rage grew.

 

[Plight]

With his shield in front of them both, Tristan crushed the Phantoms awaiting their jump down the floor below. He felt some pain on his ribs, due to his life link with Ace. "Woops. Kind of a rough landing..."But that aside, after placing Ace next to him, he prepared himself for their next strategical move. The wisest thing would be to wait for a Phantom to rush them, and use the opening to create a path.


And so, they waited. And waited. The Phantoms seemed to be in a trance, not taking any further action.


"Ah, so it's ending already...Let's just clean up as they start dissolving, alright?"


Soon enough, the corpses from their massacre had begun dissolving. Myriads of small wisps floated around the two of them, resembling a field of fireflies. Tristan grinned. Back at his home, there were none to speak of. This was but a small beautiful moment he had learnt to appreciate in the aftermaths of such a hell.


Stretching his arms, he decided keep the life-link on Ace just a little longer. At least, until he got some first aid on her wounds.


"Well then miss. I don't care much for wisps. If you want to pick some up, do it now-because I'm not letting you go before I treat those wounds!" The Officer kindly smiled at her, glad that the ordeal was over.

 

[Dromio of Ephesus]

Darcie looked at the spider approach them. It paused in its step and it got that look about it that gave her hope. Maybe she'd be able to grab that one too. The woman was obviously new, but that was none of her business. "Yeah, sorry." Around them, the phantoms were dissolving, and so did the one next to them. She repressed the urge to grab it right now. Darcie would play by the rules. "I was just wondering if I could take that," she said as she gestured to the wisp. "You know, if you're just going to lie there." Darcie could already see other revenants in the distance scrambling for such flames.

 

[fatfatsrevenge]

The bad dream wasn't ending. Or was it? The creepy man-spider suddenly turned into a small blue flame. Isadora sighed and sat up.


What. The. Heck.


"Yeah, go for." She motioned towards the flame, unsure of why anyone would even want such a thing. Afterall, what if it suddenly decided to transform back into some nasty creature? That would be a shit time. But other people were gathering up the flames too. So either everyone was completely nuts, or on to something.


She stood up all wobbly and dusted off her clothes. This dream wasn't going to end easily.

 

[Dromio of Ephesus]

Darcie quickly pulled out one of the bottles at her belt and contained the wisp. As she passed by the woman and she stood up, Darcie stepped on her shadow unobtrusively. Hmm... the dagger was her memento (that was a given anyway). Ooh, pyre ridding pyre. Interesting. Physical age: 22, actual age:...


22.


Ah, that made sense.


Darcie was surprised she hadn't figured it out before, what with the woman's odd behavior. She went on towards the remains of the spider-phantom and bottled that one up too. Behind her, the new revenent brushed herself off.


Under normal circumstances, she didn't talk to people who weren't her clients, but the woman might make a powerful ally. That, and she felt a twinge of empathy for her, remembering her own confusion when she'd woken up. "So, you new around here, then?" Darcie asked. Even though she knew she was, she didn't want to make things more baffling than they most likely already were.

 

[CloudKitteh]

"Thank you, again. I really don't think treating my wounds would be necessary," she replied softly, looking at the small wisps with furrowed brows. Ace turned to look at the scene and let out a sigh of relief. Well, I didn't die, so I guess that's a good thing. She produced different bottles and started gathering the wisps, analyzing their information. Once she had gathered as much as she could, she turned back to Tristan.

 

[fatfatsrevenge]

Isadora watched as the dark haired girl gathered up the flames in bottles. Bottles? So do they drink them? Weird.


"Yeah, I guess 'new' is an accurate adjective." She felt the dryness in her throat. "So dumb question, uh, where exactly is here?" But more importantly how the hell did I get here. But she wouldn't ask that. How could this chick know?


Isa felt that perhaps someone had stolen her from her bed in the middle of the night. Yes, that was possible, it would explain the head wound. Some big burly man had knocked her out, packaged her up, and sent her to... Scandinavia(?) to become a sex slave.


But who chose as girl with cancer as a sex slave? Whatever... where ever I am it's freaky.

 

[Dromio of Ephesus]

Darcie had to pause what she was doing and think for a second. She'd never had to do this before. Pursing her lips, she thought about what she was going to say for a second, and then went back to collecting wisps. "Ah, I'm really not the best one to be explaining this, but here it is. First of all, it's not a dumb question. We've all asked it here. You're in Styx."


That was the easy part of the answer. She grimaced, unsure of how to break it to the woman that she'd died. The man that welcomed her into this world was very good about it, gentle and soft. Thinking back on it, she wished she had his easiness and tact. She cursed her tongue for becoming stuck in her throat.


Deciding to do it quickly, like ripping off a band-aid, Darcie continued awkwardly, before she could ask any questions. "I guess you could call it the afterlife." She smiled weakly. "See, all of us here... we've all died."

 

[Caius]

As Alexander woke up in the middle of what he taught was a city , he couldn't help but feel disoriented because of the memory of being shot.


The feeling was crystal clear to him as he could still feel some unease in his chest, yet he could still tell that he was in some city.


-Where am i?-. He said out loud, as Alexander felt a shiver on his back as if something was going to strike him or more like fall on him.


He hadn't even turned yet but he knew a big body was falling from a nearby ceiling, but with that he knew it wasn't even human in fact he didn't knew what it was so he acted quick enough to roll in front of him and turn in combat position fist already up for anything that would try to attack as the creature was rotting on the floor and leaving some light there.


What in the world was that thing?.He thought since he couldn't get a glimpse of what it was. Somehow i could tell it was falling without me needing to look at it... IT FELT AWESOME. So Alexander started to wander around seeing where he was, but he only saw more of those lights wondering if the came out of more of those monsters, then he felt people appear behind with what it seemed like bottles and they we're picking up lights. Weird, well i'll go talk to them to see if they can tell me where i am.Yet deep down he kinda knew where he was because of the fresh memory of that bullet.


-Uh hello?-Alexander asked the person but that person didn't seem to care about him.-Sir could tell me where I am or at least tell me which country or continent I am?-. This time the man turned around with a grin on his face almost laughing.-Oh are you kidding me, you're new here , hahaha. Well tell me was the last thing you remember is yourself dying or in a deathbed -.


-huh, so my guess was right then. So tell me Purgatory , Hell o Heaven where am i?-. He asked with a rather depressed voice.


-This city is called Styx and see those little lights above the rotting monster those are wisps which is like money so bye-bye i really have no time or interest on explaining how things work here- . And like that the man left Alexander to his thought. As a surge of frustration took over Alexander he just decided to walk it off and start to get to know more about this City.

 

[Plight]

@CloudKitteh


"Done collecting, are we?" Tristan scratched the back of his head. As Ace took her time collecting wisps, he had pondered the multiple actions they could take right now. He still had that note in his pocket...Michael, was it? He still had to look for him. They could always head to the turret and check on the archer. Even if Ace didn't want her wounds treated, some others would probably be wounded and probably appreciate the first-aid. As a last option, he could just take Ace home. Oh well, one at a time.


"Well then, Miss. Shall I take you home? Look for wounded survivors? We can check up on the turret too. Your choice, really." He figured he could ask her about the man later, given he was already laying down enough alternatives in a short time.

 

[fatfatsrevenge]

The news that Isadora had died should have shocked her. But it didn't. Half because she still found it hard to believe what was going on was real, and half because she had been fully anticipating her own death the last year and a half of her life. Heck, the last memory she could recall was of her dying. So it kinda made sense... kinda.


"Oh, so I'm dead." She said matter-of-factly.


Isa had read about Styx before in Dante's Inferno. There it had been depicted as a giant marsh in the fifth circle of hell, swimming with souls. But this Styx didn't seem too marshy. Perhaps Dante was a little off.


"Not exactly the pearly gates." But Isa wasn't exactly a perfect person in her lifetime. "Funny, I never really pictured there being a life after life... or is this even considered life? Am I a ghost?" Dumb question, of course she wasn't a ghost. Ghosts don't get scrapes on their arms.

 

[Dromio of Ephesus]

The woman was taking it all surprisingly well. Darcie walked over closer to her after she gathered all the wisps in the vicinity. "Nope. I mean you're not a ghost. At least not in the traditional sense. Whether this is life or not... well, depends on who you ask. It's not all that bad, honestly."


Personally, Darcie preferred it there. People were far less nosy, and there was no where that she had to be. It was less orderly, but she kind of liked that. Nothing got in the way of her getting what she needed.


Also, there had been no reason for her to stay in the other world after her father died. Her mother was distant, and Elaine... she shuddered inwardly. If she had known that this is what would replace life on Earth, she probably would have saved her sister the trouble of killing her.


"It's not exactly what you picture Heaven looking like, but it's not Hell either. That's over there, past the walls." Darcie pointed toward Gehenna. "Typically, that's where you'll find all of the phantoms. You just caught us at a bad time."


She held out her hand. "I'm Darcie, by the way."

 

[fatfatsrevenge]

"Isadora." she replied, shaking Darcie's hand.


"So that's what all that was about? Phantoms?" Isadora certainly had nearly a hundred questions to ask. Why were there walls? What were Phantoms? Why were they so creepy? If she was dead could she die again in Styx? And if she lost her virginity in her first life, and then died and came to Styx... did that make her a virgin again?


Yeah... That last question wasn't that important, but these are the kinds of questions rushing through her mind. But for fear of scaring off the only person (?) willing to associate with her, she kept her mouth shut for now.


Isa spun around, taking in the scenery.


"It's a little medieval. I personally would have preferred an after life with a little more sun."


Her throat cracked as she spoke.


"So what's a dead person gotta do around here to get a drink.?" She laughed... awkwardly.

 

[Dromio of Ephesus]

Darcie grinned. Now that, she could help her with. "I know a place."


Actually, she knew several places, but the closest one was probably the best. It was small, and not very well known. She figured Isadora wouldn't want to be in the midst of one of the crowds brought in by the Haunting. At least, Darcie didn't. People who were typically inside at this time of night were brought out on the streets. That, along with the festival (though she was unsure if that was still going on), and most of the taverns and bars would be packed with celebrators. Also, the owner owed her a favor.


"It's just around the corner." she said. "I'll explain everything on the way there."

 

[fatfatsrevenge]

"Sweet. Lead the way." Isadora definitely needed a drink. Alcohol had always been a thing of comfort to her in her first life. Whether it be out on the town or laying around in the underwear at home chasing back some beers with her cat Tater Tot... thinking about Tater made her sad. Poor little guy. Was he missing her? Was he being fed properly?


But there were more pressing matters.


How to get all the info without being annoy.


"So, Styx... what was your experience like when you first got here? Did you get attack by snot snakes too?" A part of her was curious how Darcie died. But that was probably a touchy subject. She supposed a person's death was probably very personal. Not something to discuss with a stranger.

 

[Dromio of Ephesus]

"No, I didn't get such a warm welcome," Darcie said drily, and continued. She hadn't told her story in a really long time, and she'd never told anybody how she'd died.


"Anyway, it was like three in the morning, and the city was dead." She smirked at her unintended pun. "It was kind of creepy, you know. I thought maybe I was having a hallucination or something. But I thought, hey, as long as it was going on, might as well get something to eat, because, well, let's just say I hadn't got the chance to in a while." While her body had been completely healthy and not as painfully hungry as it was during the end of her first life, her stomach had still felt empty. It was not a pleasant sensation.


"So, I walk into the first restaurant that I saw that still had lights on in the windows, and just as I am about to open the door, this spirit walks out, with a head like a fly's and the body of a mouse, all covered in scales. Spirits, by the way, are like the phantoms, you saw earlier. You know, the snakes and spider-guy, but relatively benign. I didn't know this at the time, and you'd be thinking I'd be freaking out, right? But all I'm thinking is, this some weird-ass hallucination." Darcie realized she'd been droning on for a while, and decided to cut it short. She hadn't talked so much to anybody in a really long time and it was nice to let it all out.


"Long story short, the guys at the restaurant explained everything to me, and offered me the place above them and a job to pay for it. Then I got into wisp trading, but that's a whole other story. So yeah, that's me," she ended awkwardly, hesitant to ask about Isadora's past. After all, it might still be a sore subject.

 

[fatfatsrevenge]

"Some weird-ass hallucination huh?" Isadora kicked a rock on the ground as they walked. "Waking up here, I was under the impression that this was some freaky dream. I've always been a vivid dreamer, partly because of all the damn pain meds I was on before, you know." She made a slashing motion across her neck. "Death... it being a dream made sense. That's why I was laying on the ground, trying to go to sleep with a big ass man-spider near me." Isa laughed at herself. "That and I could barely move. Much less run the fuck away."


But she could move now. It felt good. She had been confined to a bed the past three months of her life, her body too weak to even sit upright without assistance. But here in Styx the air seemed to reanimate her, she felt strong.


"There are jobs here?"