October 31st, OE 102
???, ???
???
11:00pm
It was only seconds as Granzon traveled through space, bending reality to its will. It ferried its occupant through the world itself, before arriving at a place familiar to the both of them. The machine landed gently within the somewhat confined space, the room they were in hardly built large enough with the expectations of bringing mobile weapons within. Granzon took a knee and opened its cockpit hatch, allowing Tian Di to exit from the machine and descend to the ground. She landed one foot after another, her contact with the ground sending an eerie echo throughout the room.
It was dark and musty within, Tian Di pulling out a flashlight and turning it on to shine some light on her current situation. Walls of black stone lined the room, angled up to the roof almost as if the place was a cave rather than any kind of man-made structure. There was little of note, banners and tapestries that walls once donned now nonexistent. She shined the light over to the Granzon, its armor looking damaged and burnt, no doubt a result of the Earth Cradle’s seemingly self-destructive assault. She then shined the light down and reactively covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her cloak as she saw the floor. Blood splattered all over the ground… though whatever bodies that perhaps once lined the floors werenow removed from the premise.
“...Just what happened here?”
She took a breath to calm herself, before stepping forward into the dark, flashlight held at the ready to light up her path.
She still remembered the way around the labyrinth-like hallways, though the current situation didn’t make it any easier to venture forth. It had always been quiet, but this was simply eerily quiet, enough to send shivers up and down her spine as she ever-so cautiously tread forward. Upon reaching another room, she shined the light in and saw little more than a repeat of the first room. Fully plundered with bloodstains strewn across the floor and walls. Some massacre had occurred here, and somehow she doubted it was the directory that was responsible for it.
She could understand them confiscating what items were present, but despite all these bloodstains, there wasn’t any sign of conflict. It was peculiar, though there was little more for her to do here so she carried on.
However the longer she did, the more the atmosphere began to weigh on her shoulders, the past memories, all the thoughts, experiences, everything came slowly flowing back into her mind; though it hadn’t even been a year, it was all nostalgic, in a traumatic-sort of way. She tried to stuff her emotions and feelings back down, but she couldn’t say she didn’t feel uncomfortable.
She ventured deeper and deeper down the halls, the silent solitude keeping her wits about her, though with the lack of humans present, the souls of the dead more than seemed capable of haunting this place.
Tian Di wasn’t just roaming mindlessly, there was a reason she came back here; in search of some information that was never divulged to her, neither by Lao, Vayne, nor Xander. Deeper and deeper she went, reaching the depths of the inner sanctum. It was here that she could find what she was looking for. As she arrived, the door was still sealed shut, no sign of it having opened in quite some time. Though the Directory may have swept through the entire facility, she doubted they’d get past here.
She placed her hand to the door and channeled her prana into the mechanism hidden within. An area accessible only by the top ranking officials of the Cult, Tian Di too had access, being the vessel of their benefactor-god. That said she was never allowed to venture in by herself, always either with Vayne or Lao, usually participating in high-level meetings.
The mechanism seemed sure to recognize Tian Di’s signature, responding in kind, the doors beginning to shift, sliding open and revealing the final sanctum of the Forbidden City. Within, there were no signs of blood; nothing touched. Preserved since her time leaving for Team Upsilon.
Certainly she would find something here.
???, ???
???
11:00pm
It was only seconds as Granzon traveled through space, bending reality to its will. It ferried its occupant through the world itself, before arriving at a place familiar to the both of them. The machine landed gently within the somewhat confined space, the room they were in hardly built large enough with the expectations of bringing mobile weapons within. Granzon took a knee and opened its cockpit hatch, allowing Tian Di to exit from the machine and descend to the ground. She landed one foot after another, her contact with the ground sending an eerie echo throughout the room.
It was dark and musty within, Tian Di pulling out a flashlight and turning it on to shine some light on her current situation. Walls of black stone lined the room, angled up to the roof almost as if the place was a cave rather than any kind of man-made structure. There was little of note, banners and tapestries that walls once donned now nonexistent. She shined the light over to the Granzon, its armor looking damaged and burnt, no doubt a result of the Earth Cradle’s seemingly self-destructive assault. She then shined the light down and reactively covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her cloak as she saw the floor. Blood splattered all over the ground… though whatever bodies that perhaps once lined the floors werenow removed from the premise.
“...Just what happened here?”
She took a breath to calm herself, before stepping forward into the dark, flashlight held at the ready to light up her path.
She still remembered the way around the labyrinth-like hallways, though the current situation didn’t make it any easier to venture forth. It had always been quiet, but this was simply eerily quiet, enough to send shivers up and down her spine as she ever-so cautiously tread forward. Upon reaching another room, she shined the light in and saw little more than a repeat of the first room. Fully plundered with bloodstains strewn across the floor and walls. Some massacre had occurred here, and somehow she doubted it was the directory that was responsible for it.
She could understand them confiscating what items were present, but despite all these bloodstains, there wasn’t any sign of conflict. It was peculiar, though there was little more for her to do here so she carried on.
However the longer she did, the more the atmosphere began to weigh on her shoulders, the past memories, all the thoughts, experiences, everything came slowly flowing back into her mind; though it hadn’t even been a year, it was all nostalgic, in a traumatic-sort of way. She tried to stuff her emotions and feelings back down, but she couldn’t say she didn’t feel uncomfortable.
She ventured deeper and deeper down the halls, the silent solitude keeping her wits about her, though with the lack of humans present, the souls of the dead more than seemed capable of haunting this place.
Tian Di wasn’t just roaming mindlessly, there was a reason she came back here; in search of some information that was never divulged to her, neither by Lao, Vayne, nor Xander. Deeper and deeper she went, reaching the depths of the inner sanctum. It was here that she could find what she was looking for. As she arrived, the door was still sealed shut, no sign of it having opened in quite some time. Though the Directory may have swept through the entire facility, she doubted they’d get past here.
She placed her hand to the door and channeled her prana into the mechanism hidden within. An area accessible only by the top ranking officials of the Cult, Tian Di too had access, being the vessel of their benefactor-god. That said she was never allowed to venture in by herself, always either with Vayne or Lao, usually participating in high-level meetings.
The mechanism seemed sure to recognize Tian Di’s signature, responding in kind, the doors beginning to shift, sliding open and revealing the final sanctum of the Forbidden City. Within, there were no signs of blood; nothing touched. Preserved since her time leaving for Team Upsilon.
Certainly she would find something here.