05-28-2019, 12:12 AM
She was Khylsty.
Rowan still did not completely comprehend what that had meant. Foolish on her part, very foolish. What kind of twat inducted herself into a cult without understanding what that had meant? That vision, right before the plucking of her eye…
But then… It didn’t matter what she was now, none of it did if there was the promise of destruction. Rowan’s sister cried out, eyes swirling about her skull, proclaiming to the ethers that she would not be buried again. What did that mean? Had she been locked up in this compound her whole life? That would explain the strange form of Russian that she spoke. Rowan could comprehend it, but there were words and phrases that seemed positively archaic.
So many questions.
Armande led the two of them by the hand deeper into the compound, coming into a modest room. He sat on the ground and Vale pulled her down onto a pallet. Rowan adjusted her white skirts, plucking at a smudge of dirt along the hem. Long blonde hair hung over her face, obscuring her one good eye. Armande went on, denying his role as a Destroyer. That was good. Oh, he could have been lying, but she would never know… Only time would verify such a claim. The only thing she could do was trust in the man and trust in the path that she had set out upon. For now, at least.
Throwing her hair back, Rowan looked up at Armande, “Good… Then that means someone will always remember. There was another vision, but it left me,” she shook her head and looked down, fingers lacing together atop her lap, “Armande, I do not know if this vision will come to pass. True, I have practiced Divination, but always with the cards. It was not until you and my sweet Valeriya came into the Café did I experience anything so intense. The cards were always right, but they were always murky in their meanings…”
“Did they ever come upon you this powerfully, sister?” Rowan asked Vale as she turned to look at her, “Have you ever had a vision come to pass?”
Blinding white light. Ashes and bones. A cage of vines. The Ascended.
Rowan addressed Armande again, “It looked like a nuke. Have you ever watched footage of one going off? Lop Nor. Nevada. Algeria. Western Australia. Hiroshima…” She shivered visibly, “Fucking terrifying. If not a nuke, then what was it? Channeling is the only other thing that comes to mind, but I don’t think there is a person alive that can wield that much power. There are those that fear Channeling, that fear what that power could do in the wrong hands and maybe they aren’t wrong to be afraid… but what about weapons of mass destruction? What about guns and nukes and biological warfare? You have to be born with the talent to Channel. You have to learn how to wield it or you die… But these weapons born of Science? Anyone with a finger can press a button and destroy it all.”
Rowan exhaled loudly, shaking her head, running her fingers through her hair. Visions of the hospital ran through her mind, of dead bodies lying haphazardly everywhere she turned. Channeling could kill; quickly and effectively. She had done it before without even realizing what she was doing. What if that vision was a portent of the same type of incident? What if there was someone on this planet that could recreate the effects of a nuclear bomb using only the five flows of the Elements? What if they did it all in a fit of rage or grief? Those people were right to be afraid.
Still. There were a million wonders made possible through Channeling, just as there were a million atrocities that could be committed with it.
Two sides to every coin.
“I’m sorry. I’m getting chatty… Sometimes my tongue just runs off on its own… I don’t know, Armande. I really don’t know what it was. I don’t even know if that was guaranteed. If you’re not here to destroy, then that can only mean the Ascendancy is the threat, the one that will end it all. We need to stop him… And I think I need another drink.”
Rowan still did not completely comprehend what that had meant. Foolish on her part, very foolish. What kind of twat inducted herself into a cult without understanding what that had meant? That vision, right before the plucking of her eye…
But then… It didn’t matter what she was now, none of it did if there was the promise of destruction. Rowan’s sister cried out, eyes swirling about her skull, proclaiming to the ethers that she would not be buried again. What did that mean? Had she been locked up in this compound her whole life? That would explain the strange form of Russian that she spoke. Rowan could comprehend it, but there were words and phrases that seemed positively archaic.
So many questions.
Armande led the two of them by the hand deeper into the compound, coming into a modest room. He sat on the ground and Vale pulled her down onto a pallet. Rowan adjusted her white skirts, plucking at a smudge of dirt along the hem. Long blonde hair hung over her face, obscuring her one good eye. Armande went on, denying his role as a Destroyer. That was good. Oh, he could have been lying, but she would never know… Only time would verify such a claim. The only thing she could do was trust in the man and trust in the path that she had set out upon. For now, at least.
Throwing her hair back, Rowan looked up at Armande, “Good… Then that means someone will always remember. There was another vision, but it left me,” she shook her head and looked down, fingers lacing together atop her lap, “Armande, I do not know if this vision will come to pass. True, I have practiced Divination, but always with the cards. It was not until you and my sweet Valeriya came into the Café did I experience anything so intense. The cards were always right, but they were always murky in their meanings…”
“Did they ever come upon you this powerfully, sister?” Rowan asked Vale as she turned to look at her, “Have you ever had a vision come to pass?”
Blinding white light. Ashes and bones. A cage of vines. The Ascended.
Rowan addressed Armande again, “It looked like a nuke. Have you ever watched footage of one going off? Lop Nor. Nevada. Algeria. Western Australia. Hiroshima…” She shivered visibly, “Fucking terrifying. If not a nuke, then what was it? Channeling is the only other thing that comes to mind, but I don’t think there is a person alive that can wield that much power. There are those that fear Channeling, that fear what that power could do in the wrong hands and maybe they aren’t wrong to be afraid… but what about weapons of mass destruction? What about guns and nukes and biological warfare? You have to be born with the talent to Channel. You have to learn how to wield it or you die… But these weapons born of Science? Anyone with a finger can press a button and destroy it all.”
Rowan exhaled loudly, shaking her head, running her fingers through her hair. Visions of the hospital ran through her mind, of dead bodies lying haphazardly everywhere she turned. Channeling could kill; quickly and effectively. She had done it before without even realizing what she was doing. What if that vision was a portent of the same type of incident? What if there was someone on this planet that could recreate the effects of a nuclear bomb using only the five flows of the Elements? What if they did it all in a fit of rage or grief? Those people were right to be afraid.
Still. There were a million wonders made possible through Channeling, just as there were a million atrocities that could be committed with it.
Two sides to every coin.
“I’m sorry. I’m getting chatty… Sometimes my tongue just runs off on its own… I don’t know, Armande. I really don’t know what it was. I don’t even know if that was guaranteed. If you’re not here to destroy, then that can only mean the Ascendancy is the threat, the one that will end it all. We need to stop him… And I think I need another drink.”