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xp_logsNico dreams the beginning of the end.
It was dark outside when the sounds of the night seemed to halt for just a moment, as if they were expecting something to happen, silent bystanders in an event they had no say into, but were granted with the dubious honor of witnessing it. Nothing happened though, at least not in plain sight, but the air remained still, the plants remained quiet, the animals remained frozen, the space seemed to tense as if it were about to break, and the silence reached unbearable levels. Something was pushing its way through the very fabric of the world, and the world could do nothing but stare in horror, like a mother realizing that a baby never conceived was about to be born.
Not that Nico knew any of that. Or cared, even.
It had been a rather average day, all things considered. And one of the things that were consideration worthy was the fact her birthday was just hours ago. Hours. She hadn’t been an enthusiastic of such celebrations ever, but that was just part of the whole “being Goth” way of life she had always leaded. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her birthday, but her parents had never tried to make it a quiet, nice time, and it tended to end being used as a social gathering of people trying to get in her parents’ good graces, or the other way around. There were kids there, of course –Julian had been there, although they hated each other like a married couple back then, and a little Dori had too, if her memory served right, at least once, although it was hard to remember Doreen without the...squirrel attachments- and there was cake and games and fun, true, but it wasn’t what she wanted. Never a quiet day to spend with the two people she loved above everything. Her parents had very obvious, expected ways to express their love.
So the day before her birthday, Nico had kissed her boyfriend, and decided against pulling him to her room, well aware she could traumatize her dear roommate if she and Julian did half of what she wanted to do in there. She had entered her bed alone, and moments later she was sleeping with an ease she didn’t remember she had had since she was an infant. And she wouldn’t remember, anyway. Nico’s dreams were everything but defined, and she rarely remember more than dislodged images and oddly connected ideas; it was that or the nightmares, but those had reduced their influx with time. Everything heals, apparently, and Nico’s ghosts related to her parents were apparently starting to leave her.
When she found herself walking in a field mostly covered by fog, though, she decided it was time to reconsider that statement. Two seconds after Nico realized she was completely aware of herself, starting with the black silk nightgown she was sure not to be wearing when she went to bed, but that she was using now –and the fact she wasn’t using anything else, too- to the realization she could feel the chill on the air, the soil on her bare feet, and she felt so very there it could not be a dream. But it was.
A few minutes of walking didn’t seem to take her anywhere –prove that it was a dream- but she was getting colder and colder, and her feet dirtier with the humid soil –prove that something seriously wrong was going on-. Nico had realized she couldn’t use her magic, not even her ability to sense energy, and that the pressing coldness inside of her that represented the Staff of One was gone; she felt oddly naked without her magic, but at the same time- pleased; she was somehow free. When she was starting to think her walking would lead her nowhere, the mist seemed to become thinner, and a small clearing formed, taking a circular shape of land not covered with fog. It was a point where the soil changed to rock, apparently a cliff, and it seemed to extend and fight the laws of gravity, forming a horn of stone that pointed at what Nico guessed was a valley, although she could see nothing further than the end of the peak.
She didn’t really care to see more, though; standing on the edge was a woman, her back to Nico, her arms extended, hands opened as if she were being held at gunpoint, which was ridiculous, she noted, as anyone aiming at her would need to be floating in the air. Thinking it twice, Nico decided she had seen weirder things, but it was her dream; she wanted at least an explanation of what the hell was going on. And as if that were the signal the woman was waiting for –and considering it was Nico’s dream, maybe it was-, she turned around, lowering her arms slowly, and Nico gasped in surprise, but mostly fear.
At least she could make sounds in her dream? The silence was starting to unnerve her.
The woman was…like Nico. Not of Asian heritage like Nico, or Goth like Nico, not even cute and pretty like Nico, but like Nico; it was the same face, but older, edgier, the same body, but stronger, more curvy, perhaps, it was the same hair, but wilder, longer, almost alive on its own, and those were Nico’s black ‘magic’ eyes, but…darker than black itself, and the rest of her face was cracked, dark energy oozing from the cracks, teeth sharp like razors, hands, now that she could see them better, almost like claws, and a dress made of night, which sounded highly stupid, but that was the only way she could describe it; whatever it was, it wasn’t made of any fabric that qualified for solid, but it seemed to be the same dark energy, molding itself around the woman’s body. Only after this examination process finished, Nico realized the woman was smiling at her.
“Welcome to the first last day of your life, daughter.”
It spoke with her voice, but twisted until it seemed to be the shadow of what it had once sounded like; like the voice of a thousand Nicos compressed in one pained hiss. “You aren’t my mother”, pointed her, taking a step behind. She wasn’t, but Nico guessed that in a matter of twenty or so years, the woman would look like her mother, and that made her shiver, making the chill around her feel like warm air. The woman laughed, and the chill of the air seemed to return, just ten times stronger. “No, but I’m your grand, grand, grand, grand…several more times grandmother.” The smile –sick and pointy- was still there, but Nico knew the woman wasn’t lying, she just knew it, and such certainty terrified her even more. “The name is-“
“Arcana Minoru”, interrupted Nico, and then covered her mouth with her hands as if she had just said a very bad word. She probably did, because the way Arcana was looking at her made her suddenly wish this was just one of her usual nightmares. “Very good, girl”, said the woman as she walked at her, and something new happened; Nico realized she was incapable of moving her legs, her torso, her everything, as if she had just turned into stone. Arcana gave her another terrifying smile. “Relax, it’s just a dream”, said in a purr that sent shivers down her spine. “Well, in a fashion”. With a swift movement of her hand, Arcana’s nails tore through skin and muscle as if it weren’t there opening a large wound on one of Nico’s arms, causing her to fall on her knees, her body apparently ready to move again.
The pain was excruciatingly real. “Once you wake up, you won’t really be hurt, but as long as you are here…and you already realized the Staff won’t come, haven’t you? Consider it my way to pull rank on you, girl.” Arcana’s worlds seemed to enter slowly in Nico’s brain, words making sense seconds after spoken, pain filling everything and making the world less of a dream and more a blur that seemed to dissolve at times. A hand –a hand with sharp fingernails- lifted her chin, and Nico met Arcana’s face, inches away from hers, and wished she could just die, or wake up. She didn’t care anymore. “Now listen to me; today was written in the book, and so does tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and everything that happened before today was written too. You can’t fight your life, because it has been taken away from you already. You will fight alright, and you will think that I was mistaken; you will become stronger, so stronger you won’t recognize yourself, and when the time comes, You. Will. Surrender.” The fingernails retreated, but Nico didn’t lower her head, oh no. She was glaring at Arcana, full of pain and hatred and defiance. She didn’t know, but her own eyes were black, the magic she had thought lost suddenly back. “You are wrong.” Her voice was trembling, and she sounded more scared than actually defiant, but she kept the glare. And then Arcana did the oddest thing; she sighed and for a moment looked more human than Nico thought she could ever do. “For the sake of this plane, child, I hope I am. But hey”, said in almost Nico’s exact voice as she lifted a hand. “What do I know?”
The hand went down.
A thunder roared in Nico’s mind as she woke up with a start. It was one o’clock in the morning; Nico hadn’t seen a clock, but she knew; she would never forget the feeling when some things simply appeared obvious to her. Not anymore.
Her head was still attached to the rest of her body. Good. It only seemed appropriate to start a silent cry and hide under the blankets, of course. She wouldn’t manage to get some sleep for the rest of her birthday.
Amanda was going to be so pissed.
It was dark outside when the sounds of the night seemed to halt for just a moment, as if they were expecting something to happen, silent bystanders in an event they had no say into, but were granted with the dubious honor of witnessing it. Nothing happened though, at least not in plain sight, but the air remained still, the plants remained quiet, the animals remained frozen, the space seemed to tense as if it were about to break, and the silence reached unbearable levels. Something was pushing its way through the very fabric of the world, and the world could do nothing but stare in horror, like a mother realizing that a baby never conceived was about to be born.
Not that Nico knew any of that. Or cared, even.
It had been a rather average day, all things considered. And one of the things that were consideration worthy was the fact her birthday was just hours ago. Hours. She hadn’t been an enthusiastic of such celebrations ever, but that was just part of the whole “being Goth” way of life she had always leaded. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her birthday, but her parents had never tried to make it a quiet, nice time, and it tended to end being used as a social gathering of people trying to get in her parents’ good graces, or the other way around. There were kids there, of course –Julian had been there, although they hated each other like a married couple back then, and a little Dori had too, if her memory served right, at least once, although it was hard to remember Doreen without the...squirrel attachments- and there was cake and games and fun, true, but it wasn’t what she wanted. Never a quiet day to spend with the two people she loved above everything. Her parents had very obvious, expected ways to express their love.
So the day before her birthday, Nico had kissed her boyfriend, and decided against pulling him to her room, well aware she could traumatize her dear roommate if she and Julian did half of what she wanted to do in there. She had entered her bed alone, and moments later she was sleeping with an ease she didn’t remember she had had since she was an infant. And she wouldn’t remember, anyway. Nico’s dreams were everything but defined, and she rarely remember more than dislodged images and oddly connected ideas; it was that or the nightmares, but those had reduced their influx with time. Everything heals, apparently, and Nico’s ghosts related to her parents were apparently starting to leave her.
When she found herself walking in a field mostly covered by fog, though, she decided it was time to reconsider that statement. Two seconds after Nico realized she was completely aware of herself, starting with the black silk nightgown she was sure not to be wearing when she went to bed, but that she was using now –and the fact she wasn’t using anything else, too- to the realization she could feel the chill on the air, the soil on her bare feet, and she felt so very there it could not be a dream. But it was.
A few minutes of walking didn’t seem to take her anywhere –prove that it was a dream- but she was getting colder and colder, and her feet dirtier with the humid soil –prove that something seriously wrong was going on-. Nico had realized she couldn’t use her magic, not even her ability to sense energy, and that the pressing coldness inside of her that represented the Staff of One was gone; she felt oddly naked without her magic, but at the same time- pleased; she was somehow free. When she was starting to think her walking would lead her nowhere, the mist seemed to become thinner, and a small clearing formed, taking a circular shape of land not covered with fog. It was a point where the soil changed to rock, apparently a cliff, and it seemed to extend and fight the laws of gravity, forming a horn of stone that pointed at what Nico guessed was a valley, although she could see nothing further than the end of the peak.
She didn’t really care to see more, though; standing on the edge was a woman, her back to Nico, her arms extended, hands opened as if she were being held at gunpoint, which was ridiculous, she noted, as anyone aiming at her would need to be floating in the air. Thinking it twice, Nico decided she had seen weirder things, but it was her dream; she wanted at least an explanation of what the hell was going on. And as if that were the signal the woman was waiting for –and considering it was Nico’s dream, maybe it was-, she turned around, lowering her arms slowly, and Nico gasped in surprise, but mostly fear.
At least she could make sounds in her dream? The silence was starting to unnerve her.
The woman was…like Nico. Not of Asian heritage like Nico, or Goth like Nico, not even cute and pretty like Nico, but like Nico; it was the same face, but older, edgier, the same body, but stronger, more curvy, perhaps, it was the same hair, but wilder, longer, almost alive on its own, and those were Nico’s black ‘magic’ eyes, but…darker than black itself, and the rest of her face was cracked, dark energy oozing from the cracks, teeth sharp like razors, hands, now that she could see them better, almost like claws, and a dress made of night, which sounded highly stupid, but that was the only way she could describe it; whatever it was, it wasn’t made of any fabric that qualified for solid, but it seemed to be the same dark energy, molding itself around the woman’s body. Only after this examination process finished, Nico realized the woman was smiling at her.
“Welcome to the first last day of your life, daughter.”
It spoke with her voice, but twisted until it seemed to be the shadow of what it had once sounded like; like the voice of a thousand Nicos compressed in one pained hiss. “You aren’t my mother”, pointed her, taking a step behind. She wasn’t, but Nico guessed that in a matter of twenty or so years, the woman would look like her mother, and that made her shiver, making the chill around her feel like warm air. The woman laughed, and the chill of the air seemed to return, just ten times stronger. “No, but I’m your grand, grand, grand, grand…several more times grandmother.” The smile –sick and pointy- was still there, but Nico knew the woman wasn’t lying, she just knew it, and such certainty terrified her even more. “The name is-“
“Arcana Minoru”, interrupted Nico, and then covered her mouth with her hands as if she had just said a very bad word. She probably did, because the way Arcana was looking at her made her suddenly wish this was just one of her usual nightmares. “Very good, girl”, said the woman as she walked at her, and something new happened; Nico realized she was incapable of moving her legs, her torso, her everything, as if she had just turned into stone. Arcana gave her another terrifying smile. “Relax, it’s just a dream”, said in a purr that sent shivers down her spine. “Well, in a fashion”. With a swift movement of her hand, Arcana’s nails tore through skin and muscle as if it weren’t there opening a large wound on one of Nico’s arms, causing her to fall on her knees, her body apparently ready to move again.
The pain was excruciatingly real. “Once you wake up, you won’t really be hurt, but as long as you are here…and you already realized the Staff won’t come, haven’t you? Consider it my way to pull rank on you, girl.” Arcana’s worlds seemed to enter slowly in Nico’s brain, words making sense seconds after spoken, pain filling everything and making the world less of a dream and more a blur that seemed to dissolve at times. A hand –a hand with sharp fingernails- lifted her chin, and Nico met Arcana’s face, inches away from hers, and wished she could just die, or wake up. She didn’t care anymore. “Now listen to me; today was written in the book, and so does tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and everything that happened before today was written too. You can’t fight your life, because it has been taken away from you already. You will fight alright, and you will think that I was mistaken; you will become stronger, so stronger you won’t recognize yourself, and when the time comes, You. Will. Surrender.” The fingernails retreated, but Nico didn’t lower her head, oh no. She was glaring at Arcana, full of pain and hatred and defiance. She didn’t know, but her own eyes were black, the magic she had thought lost suddenly back. “You are wrong.” Her voice was trembling, and she sounded more scared than actually defiant, but she kept the glare. And then Arcana did the oddest thing; she sighed and for a moment looked more human than Nico thought she could ever do. “For the sake of this plane, child, I hope I am. But hey”, said in almost Nico’s exact voice as she lifted a hand. “What do I know?”
The hand went down.
A thunder roared in Nico’s mind as she woke up with a start. It was one o’clock in the morning; Nico hadn’t seen a clock, but she knew; she would never forget the feeling when some things simply appeared obvious to her. Not anymore.
Her head was still attached to the rest of her body. Good. It only seemed appropriate to start a silent cry and hide under the blankets, of course. She wouldn’t manage to get some sleep for the rest of her birthday.
Amanda was going to be so pissed.
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