Post by Wolfy on Jul 30, 2014 23:54:33 GMT -5
They had just finished telling Viktor what had happened when the sky went dark. A cold wind swept through, and suddenly she was falling. They were falling. She could see them, everyone who had been on the beach, but in her mind she couldn't feel them. The beach was gone, and they were falling into nothingness. But not all of them.
One by one, she saw glowing portals open up under them as they fell. Each one gone, to a different place, a different time. Returned to their own homes, their own times. She knew this, but couldn't say why. They were still falling though, Melody clinging to Dylan with all her strength before the wind finally tore them apart. She struggled, no breath to scream, a part of her waiting for, and dreading the thought of, the portal to take her home.
Suddenly, there was stillness. Melody floated in an empty void. There was no portal to take her home. Her worry about that was sudden;y gone, because for one long, excruciating moment, she could see all the paths her life could have taken. And the one that she had taken was fading. Her past was being changed, and here, in the void, she saw them all. Now, she found the breath to scream.
She could see the events that had unmade her world, the effect rippling back through time. The attacks on her, the deaths she had caused, her escape from reprisal.. It had ignited a war that gave a creature, a god who thrived on blood and pain the power to rip apart the world. And the gods could not stop it then. So they changed the events that caused it. They reached back along the timelines, some giving their whole essence to shift events. Even then, they could effect little. But it was enough, to nudge Melody onto a different path. And though her original past had been tragic, she would have given nearly anything to have it back.
She had told Dylan Vishnu could have done worse. Now, he had never played a part in her life. But Tohya had... and Tohya did. And as her new past swirled around her, old life faded into dreams, she relived each moment in awful, crystal clear clarity. And even as her new past filled her mind, she could still see the other parts, the things no mortal should see. The gods and goddesses, the spiraling options that could have been taken. Things that burned into her memory but that her conscious mind could never accept. And for one second, amid all the chaos, for one second, she saw the truth of Shadow. What she hadn't felt, as her mind was overwhelmed, was how her past had changed her body. Scars, burned into her ankles and wrists, the reminder of her time bound in tainted metal. A dull ache from them that would never go away. And her control over water, a power she was never meant to have, ripped away.
She never noticed the wind returning, the portal dropping her once more onto the beach that, just moments ago, had been full of joy and friends. And until she passed out, throat raw and clutching her head, she never stopped screaming.
One by one, she saw glowing portals open up under them as they fell. Each one gone, to a different place, a different time. Returned to their own homes, their own times. She knew this, but couldn't say why. They were still falling though, Melody clinging to Dylan with all her strength before the wind finally tore them apart. She struggled, no breath to scream, a part of her waiting for, and dreading the thought of, the portal to take her home.
Suddenly, there was stillness. Melody floated in an empty void. There was no portal to take her home. Her worry about that was sudden;y gone, because for one long, excruciating moment, she could see all the paths her life could have taken. And the one that she had taken was fading. Her past was being changed, and here, in the void, she saw them all. Now, she found the breath to scream.
She could see the events that had unmade her world, the effect rippling back through time. The attacks on her, the deaths she had caused, her escape from reprisal.. It had ignited a war that gave a creature, a god who thrived on blood and pain the power to rip apart the world. And the gods could not stop it then. So they changed the events that caused it. They reached back along the timelines, some giving their whole essence to shift events. Even then, they could effect little. But it was enough, to nudge Melody onto a different path. And though her original past had been tragic, she would have given nearly anything to have it back.
She had told Dylan Vishnu could have done worse. Now, he had never played a part in her life. But Tohya had... and Tohya did. And as her new past swirled around her, old life faded into dreams, she relived each moment in awful, crystal clear clarity. And even as her new past filled her mind, she could still see the other parts, the things no mortal should see. The gods and goddesses, the spiraling options that could have been taken. Things that burned into her memory but that her conscious mind could never accept. And for one second, amid all the chaos, for one second, she saw the truth of Shadow. What she hadn't felt, as her mind was overwhelmed, was how her past had changed her body. Scars, burned into her ankles and wrists, the reminder of her time bound in tainted metal. A dull ache from them that would never go away. And her control over water, a power she was never meant to have, ripped away.
She never noticed the wind returning, the portal dropping her once more onto the beach that, just moments ago, had been full of joy and friends. And until she passed out, throat raw and clutching her head, she never stopped screaming.
