06-17-2015, 10:02 AM
Michael raised his arms to signal he did not have any conventional weapons on his person. He never did. The only defence outside of his own power was a bullet-proof vest he usually wore underneath his clothing, but he had not worn it since entering the Facility.
It seemed like Aria had come a long way since their last meeting. She barely hesitated, although she knew the risk. In fact, it was probably worse for an Atharim. The imagination was always far more terrifying than the truth, and it seemed the Atharim had a very lively image of the terror their Gods could induce.
As Aria's last words touched his ears just as her hand touched his, the spark in the depths of his mind flared and twisted into an oozing morass.
Instinct made him pull away, but Aria's words rung in his muddied mind loud enough for him to tighten the grip between them before he sunk into an ocean of dread.
Fear... He had almost forgotten the feeling, but his mind began to crumble against the barrage. Like a distant memory returned with twice the force his heart thumped in its cage, shying away from the flood that sought to consume it.
Images assaulted him, scenes he had long since hid away. Blood dripping from the corpse of a monster. Man fading to deadly mist. Faceless assassins with eyes of zealous hatred. A young woman's face spattered with blood floating above him.
No! Not that. Anything but that! He would not suffer that again!
He gripped his chest with his free hand, the other squeezing tighter still.
His vision was lost in a maze of terror his mind wrought. Her face faded in and out as featureless as a blank canvass, but it remained. It always remained.
And he knew. From the darkness in his heart, he knew.
Something besides terror swelled, another spark emerged from the fear that swallowed everything.
"Never again. Never. Never."
he whispered like it was a charm that warded away danger.
Droplets of sweat ran down his temples mirroring the blood that etched itself in his mind.Michael closed his eyes to the world before him, leaving only darkness. And her.
Until night everlasting, beyond the veil of dreams and reality, never. Never again.
The flood receded before the swell of a greater force that shone with the strength of the sun. The hand on his chest dropped.
Michael opened his eyes and saw Aria clearly.
He smiled, icy but true. He did not release her hand, but his grip loosened. He stood on the precipice of grasping the Ascendant power but the desire faded with the fear. "I have not felt that in a long time. Your demonstration is appreciated."
Edited by Michael Vellas, Jun 17 2015, 10:20 AM.
It seemed like Aria had come a long way since their last meeting. She barely hesitated, although she knew the risk. In fact, it was probably worse for an Atharim. The imagination was always far more terrifying than the truth, and it seemed the Atharim had a very lively image of the terror their Gods could induce.
As Aria's last words touched his ears just as her hand touched his, the spark in the depths of his mind flared and twisted into an oozing morass.
Instinct made him pull away, but Aria's words rung in his muddied mind loud enough for him to tighten the grip between them before he sunk into an ocean of dread.
Fear... He had almost forgotten the feeling, but his mind began to crumble against the barrage. Like a distant memory returned with twice the force his heart thumped in its cage, shying away from the flood that sought to consume it.
Images assaulted him, scenes he had long since hid away. Blood dripping from the corpse of a monster. Man fading to deadly mist. Faceless assassins with eyes of zealous hatred. A young woman's face spattered with blood floating above him.
No! Not that. Anything but that! He would not suffer that again!
He gripped his chest with his free hand, the other squeezing tighter still.
His vision was lost in a maze of terror his mind wrought. Her face faded in and out as featureless as a blank canvass, but it remained. It always remained.
And he knew. From the darkness in his heart, he knew.
Something besides terror swelled, another spark emerged from the fear that swallowed everything.
"Never again. Never. Never."
he whispered like it was a charm that warded away danger.
Droplets of sweat ran down his temples mirroring the blood that etched itself in his mind.Michael closed his eyes to the world before him, leaving only darkness. And her.
Until night everlasting, beyond the veil of dreams and reality, never. Never again.
The flood receded before the swell of a greater force that shone with the strength of the sun. The hand on his chest dropped.
Michael opened his eyes and saw Aria clearly.
He smiled, icy but true. He did not release her hand, but his grip loosened. He stood on the precipice of grasping the Ascendant power but the desire faded with the fear. "I have not felt that in a long time. Your demonstration is appreciated."
Edited by Michael Vellas, Jun 17 2015, 10:20 AM.
"She saw a flaring halo around his head, radiant in gold and blue. It shouted of glory and power to come"
"No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."