She was an Heir. But something was different about her. Erik felt some kind of pressure weighing him down, the hairs on his arms stood on end, and a voice in the back of his mind whispered 'Obey her.'. She was no ordinary Heir. What she did to the Category 3 Godsbane was testament to that.
"Welcome Erik." She greeted him with a soft smile. Her voice was velvety soft. Her skin was flawless, her features soft and elegant. Her lips were glossy cherry red and bow shaped. Her hips, waist, and bust were hourglass shaped, and provocatively portioned. She was beautiful in every possible way. Erik had never seen a woman like her. In this nightmare where only horror could dwell, she was the first beauty in this bleak hell he had ever seen. "My name is Tenebria. Luna is currently looking for her brother Ike, so we'll be alone for a while. It's good to finally put a proper face to your name. I must say, my Omnisense didn't do you justice. You're much cuter than I expected."
Tenebria laughed when she saw Erik blush. Erik couldn't help but squirm under her gaze. Even though he wasn't attracted to her, her looks were still unnerving. He was impressed she could use her Omnisense past this Darkness. It was a sixth sense Heirs used to create a three dimensional map of their surroundings in their mind, but the Darkness blurs that sense like a fog just like it obscures sight. Most would think that is to be expected, nobody can see without light, but the Darkness enshrouding Eden was no mere absence of light. It was something else entirely.
Erik was annoyed Ike and Luna weren't here, but Ike likely never saw the message she sent. He was always scatterbrained, focusing on his research of the Sovereign Creator's technology. He was likely at an impenetrable vault with entirely bricked hardware, slamming his head against its door while Luna is trying to pry him off it. It would be a few hours until they arrived.
"Um... Thanks." Erik didn't know what else to say. He didn't know how to react to compliments. Most people just hurl insults.
"I'm sure you're feeling it, Erik. The urge to submit to me? It's okay to ignore it. Our species has evolved an instinctive hierarchy. It makes Heirs like you instinctively subservient to stronger Heirs like me. But I don't want you to be like that with me. I want you to feel safe and free around me, okay? Come, sit next to me." Tenebria patted the spot to her left. Erik stood still for a few seconds, unsure of himself before relenting and taking the spot next to her. Tenebria smiled at Erik before looking back to the red star.
Erik sat still for a few awkward moments before sneaking a peak at Tenebria from the corner of his eye. He couldn't help but notice that her soft smiling expression did nothing to hide the look in her eye. She gazed at the star with a hollow look in her eyes, a dark depth in glittering magenta where only grief and pain reside. She was hurting inside, more than Erik suffered everyday. She was no doubt stronger than Erik in more ways than one, but it made him wonder if the pain of never knowing paradise paled in comparison to both knowing and losing paradise.
"What was Eden like?" Tenebria snapped her head to Erik. He quickly averted his eyes, feeling Tenebria's on him like an animal reacting to a snapping twig. It seemed Erik had just snapped her out of a stupor.
"From before it became like this?" Tenebria asked. Erik stiffly nodded, earning a soft giggle from Tenebria. "I expected you to ask about the Godsbane first, but I guess I'm the first Heir you've met from the Garden's Era that wasn't under human influence."
"Garden's Era?"
"A name derivative of the Sovereign Creator's tendency to call the Empire his garden. I heard humans in high places use the term, and I found it fitting." Tenebria pointed out to the world before her and Erik. "This world, like all others, was like a garden. All worlds were the perfect culmination of nature and society because the Sovereign Heirs claimed rule over Nature and Kindred both. Buildings were made of a synthetic metal that allowed plants to bury their roots inside, and they could program the plants to control how they grew, allowing magnificent structures to be grown along the buildings. Flowers grew everywhere you'd look, and enchanting animals would wander the streets with no fear. Food was plentiful, the streets were rich with life of all kinds, and everyday was peaceful. The Viola Tree that grew around the Tower had branches that reached all across Eden, its leaves casting down warm light at day and at night its leaves would burn away to reveal billions of wisps hanging flying through the branches. Everything was ideal in the Empire. Everyone was equal, everything was fair, everyday was beautiful. All thanks to the Sovereign Heirs, the Kindred Races were happy, and we Heirs were happy too."
Erik swept his eyes across the world before him. Every building was shattered, their surfaces covered in gray plant vines and trunks, and Erik saw one building with the corpse of a squirrel-like animal, its body limply dangling in the air with its neck caught in a chokehold by dead vines. Every flower Erik saw was painted black with a red viscous ooze dripping from their centers. The world was a hollow visage of a paradise once vibrant with colors and voices of all kinds. Past the red star, the red silhouette of the Tower stood. Erik could see the faint outlines of the Viola Tree. Only a stump remained at the Tower's base. Throughout the Empire's history, the Viola Tree was a symbol of the beauty of grief. The Creator said there was beauty in the pain of loss, that there was no agape more pure than the cry of a broken heart, but no such beauty remained anymore. To Erik, there was nothing left to grieve. He wished he would be sad or angry for everyone's sake, but he couldn't help but feel empty. Empty like the bodies of every dead creature in this world. Just as there was nothing to fight for anymore, there was nothing left to feel either.
"What about Eden do you miss most?" Erik asked. He didn't want to feel apathetic to Tenebria's sorrow. He wanted to hurt like she's hurting, to understand the agony of losing something. He'd rather be in pain than feel this numbness.
"My family." Tenebria pointed up to the red star. "Within there is the Sovereign Destroyer. He and I are related, and he was one of the most important people to me, second only to my children... But, all of my children are dead now. Only the Destroyer remains of my family now."
A tear fell down Tenebria's cheek as she placed a clenched fist over her chest.
"He now hangs up there, ordered by the Creator to imprison himself so that no one could hurt him while he maintains the barrier blocking out the Forsaken. But every day he cries himself to sleep, the madness addling his mind ravaging his psyche every second, and he would scream himself awake. I've watched this happen every day for the past fifty years, unable to do anything about it." Tenebria began to shake as her breathing grew heavy. Erik began to feel the building tremble. Little pebbles danced on the ground behind him as shattered glass clicked and clacked around the building. "I can't bear to listen to him scream like that everyday. It's maddening... We've known each other all our lives, relied on each other in times just as bad as this. But rather than hearing him cry out my name every dark morning, he screams out the Creator's name instead! HE BEGS FOR HIS DEAD HUSBAND TO SAVE HIM INSTEAD OF HIS OWN FUCKING SISTER!"
The building cracked all over as a shockwave moved through it and out into the world. Erik was thrown off balance and fell backwards, landing on his back. The world quaked, shattering at the edges as a large portion of it snapped off in front of Tenebria. Hundreds of buildings collapsed and toppled into each other, smashing into piles of rubble. But the building Erik and Tenebria sat on held strong despite the hundreds of new cracks. When the world stopped shaking, Godsbane started howling in the distance with guttural noises. Erik stayed laying on his back, looking at the sky in shock. Tenebria sobbed as she curled up and hugged herself.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that. It's just been so long since I've had someone to talk to. I had enough control to hold this building together at least."
"Sister?" Erik said with a dumbfounded look. Tenebria mumbled a yes. Erik's eyes widened. "You're the Sovereign Collector..."
"Yes, I am the Collector." Tenebria reached her hand out to Erik and black mist appeared around her hand as the same black mist enshrouded Erik. It lifted him up and brought him back onto his spot next to Tenebria. Erik's heart pounded in his chest. He was almost shaking with both fear and excitement.
The Sovereign Collector, The Amethyst Empress, The Dancing Death. She was the lowest ranking of the Sovereign Heirs, but equally as deadly as the Sovereign Creator. She was a master assassin, able to snuff out a life entirely unnoticed. It was no wonder Erik couldn't find any trace of her presence other than her whispering in his ear. She went missing after the war. Erik had heard that she and the Savior were Willbent by Humans and fought against the Creator, but lost against him. He killed the Savior and maimed the Collector, but mysteriously died after killing the human that was controlling the Collector.
Erik wanted ask her so many questions. He wanted to know what happened to the Creator, why she was here, and how she met his sister. But the look in Tenebria's eyes warned otherwise. Erik knew that haunted look too well. He'd seen it on every Kindred he'd ever met. When he was brave enough, he would break into Human outposts and colonies, and try to save the Kindred enslaved inside. They were used for all sorts of depraved filth; laborers, consorts, food. They were cattle to be used for Humanity's sick pleasures. Whenever Erik managed to reach the quarters the Kindred were kept in, they would look at Erik with the same eyes as Tenebria...
And they would wheeze out "Kill me."
Erik looked down at his hands. He still had phantom visions of the blood staining them, the brown dried crust stuck under his nails and the smell of copper flooding his nose. The Creator once said that greed was innate in all organisms. No matter how foul or meaningless it is, mongrels will seek to covet it so long as it is all that's left. Only death remains in this macabre existence.
"Do you want to die?" Erik asked, catching Tenebria off guard. Erik squirmed awkwardly, shyly looking at Tenebria from the corner of his eye. He gathered up his courage, bringing himself to admit something he had been too ashamed and terrified to admit. "Like I do?"
Tenebria's face fell as a feeling of devastation swept over her. She reached out to Erik and pulled him in for a hug. She buried his face into her shaking chest, tears spilling down her face as she whimpered soft apologies. Erik gasped, freezing up as his body was flooded with sensations he'd never experienced before. Where his skin connected with Tenebria's, he felt warm and tingly. His heavy heart was fluttered, and the stress he had bottled up was slowly burning away under Tenebria's soft embrace. Erik could feel Tenebria's pain, her regrets and despair seeping into his chest. He welcomed everything, his body melted into Tenebria's touch. He allowed his own agony to slip away to her embrace. He had never known this kind of connection before, this quiet and secluded vulnerability. For the first time in his life, he felt safe.
So this is what a hug is like...
"I'm so sorry, Erik. I wanted to protect you, Ike, and Luna from this nightmare for so long, but could only watch as you three suffered on your own. I was too injured to move because of the war, forced to hide like a coward. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, but I'm here now. I am strong enough now. You don't have to be alone anymore, Erik."
"I don't..?" Her words sounded too good to be true. Luna or Ike never cared enough about him to stick around, yet a complete stranger like Tenebria would? Maybe it should be obvious she would. She was the Sovereign Collector. Something about her made someone as evil and cruel as the Sovereign Creator wage a war against the Forsaken. Maybe this was that something. Her love, her kindness. This was the light he sought to protect, and this was the light Erik should let in. Something deep inside Erik told him that Tenebria's affections were genuine.
"Never again, I promise... But... I will have hurt you, Erik." Erik turned his head up from Tenebria's chest with his chin still on her chest and looked into her eyes. Erik's doe eyes made Tenebria crack a smile, but immediately fell as her eyes were filled with trepidation, like she had to do something she didn't want to do. "When Luna and Ike arrive, I will have to do something terrible. I don't want to do it, I don't want to push you over the edge. You deserve to be loved, Erik. You deserve to want to live. Please promise me you will trust me, that you will keep wanting to live after this is over."
"What are you going to do?" Erik asked, pulling away from Tenebria. He was starting to get nervous. Why would she say so many kind things, yet warn that she was going to hurt Erik? Was everything she said a lie? Were they all just sweet nothings?
"I'm going to do what I was told to do." Tenebria placed her hands on Erik's shoulders. She leaned in and urged him to look her in the eyes. "But you need to listen to me. This war is far from over, and you are much closer to its center than you can imagine. The Godsbane are divided in seven separate hive minds, and the worst possible one recognizes you. If I am to protect you, I need you to never tell anyone what the Godsbane said. If you do, someone worse than Humanity will hurt you."
"Who?"
"Lazarus, the Sovereign Creator. Most people thought death would be the end of him, but I know better. He's still alive, but he's not here in Eden. Lazarus is waiting for us down below, at the Tower's deepest depths."
Shunk!
Erik felt a searing pain in his chest, and looked down to see a curved blade protruding from his solar plexus.
“I'm sorry, Erik.”
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that. It's just been so long since I've had someone to talk to. I had enough control to hold this building together at least."
"Sister?" Erik said with a dumbfounded look. Tenebria mumbled a yes. Erik's eyes widened. "You're the Sovereign Collector..."
"Yes, I am the Collector." Tenebria reached her hand out to Erik and black mist appeared around her hand as the same black mist enshrouded Erik. It lifted him up and brought him back onto his spot next to Tenebria. Erik's heart pounded in his chest. He was almost shaking with both fear and excitement.
The Sovereign Collector, The Amethyst Empress, The Dancing Death. She was the lowest ranking of the Sovereign Heirs, but equally as deadly as the Sovereign Creator. She was a master assassin, able to snuff out a life entirely unnoticed. It was no wonder Erik couldn't find any trace of her presence other than her whispering in his ear. She went missing after the war. Erik had heard that she and the Savior were Willbent by Humans and fought against the Creator, but lost against him. He killed the Savior and maimed the Collector, but mysteriously died after killing the human that was controlling the Collector.
Erik wanted ask her so many questions. He wanted to know what happened to the Creator, why she was here, and how she met his sister. But the look in Tenebria's eyes warned otherwise. Erik knew that haunted look too well. He'd seen it on every Kindred he'd ever met. When he was brave enough, he would break into Human outposts and colonies, and try to save the Kindred enslaved inside. They were used for all sorts of depraved filth; laborers, consorts, food. They were cattle to be used for Humanity's sick pleasures. Whenever Erik managed to reach the quarters the Kindred were kept in, they would look at Erik with the same eyes as Tenebria...
And they would wheeze out "Kill me."
Erik looked down at his hands. He still had phantom visions of the blood staining them, the brown dried crust stuck under his nails and the smell of copper flooding his nose. The Creator once said that greed was innate in all organisms. No matter how foul or meaningless it is, mongrels will seek to covet it so long as it is all that's left. Only death remains in this macabre existence.
"Do you want to die?" Erik asked, catching Tenebria off guard. Erik squirmed awkwardly, shyly looking at Tenebria from the corner of his eye. He gathered up his courage, bringing himself to admit something he had been too ashamed and terrified to admit. "Like I do?"
Tenebria's face fell as a feeling of devastation swept over her. She reached out to Erik and pulled him in for a hug. She buried his face into her shaking chest, tears spilling down her face as she whimpered soft apologies. Erik gasped, freezing up as his body was flooded with sensations he'd never experienced before. Where his skin connected with Tenebria's, he felt warm and tingly. His heavy heart was fluttered, and the stress he had bottled up was slowly burning away under Tenebria's soft embrace. Erik could feel Tenebria's pain, her regrets and despair seeping into his chest. He welcomed everything, his body melted into Tenebria's touch. He allowed his own agony to slip away to her embrace. He had never known this kind of connection before, this quiet and secluded vulnerability. For the first time in his life, he felt safe.
So this is what a hug is like...
"I'm so sorry, Erik. I wanted to protect you, Ike, and Luna from this nightmare for so long, but could only watch as you three suffered on your own. I was too injured to move because of the war, forced to hide like a coward. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, but I'm here now. I am strong enough now. You don't have to be alone anymore, Erik."
"I don't..?" Her words sounded too good to be true. Luna or Ike never cared enough about him to stick around, yet a complete stranger like Tenebria would? Maybe it should be obvious she would. She was the Sovereign Collector. Something about her made someone as evil and cruel as the Sovereign Creator wage a war against the Forsaken. Maybe this was that something. Her love, her kindness. This was the light he sought to protect, and this was the light Erik should let in. Something deep inside Erik told him that Tenebria's affections were genuine.
"Never again, I promise... But... I will have hurt you, Erik." Erik turned his head up from Tenebria's chest with his chin still on her chest and looked into her eyes. Erik's doe eyes made Tenebria crack a smile, but immediately fell as her eyes were filled with trepidation, like she had to do something she didn't want to do. "When Luna and Ike arrive, I will have to do something terrible. I don't want to do it, I don't want to push you over the edge. You deserve to be loved, Erik. You deserve to want to live. Please promise me you will trust me, that you will keep wanting to live after this is over."
"What are you going to do?" Erik asked, pulling away from Tenebria. He was starting to get nervous. Why would she say so many kind things, yet warn that she was going to hurt Erik? Was everything she said a lie? Were they all just sweet nothings?
"I'm going to do what I was told to do." Tenebria placed her hands on Erik's shoulders. She leaned in and urged him to look her in the eyes. "But you need to listen to me. This war is far from over, and you are much closer to its center than you can imagine. The Godsbane are divided in seven separate hive minds, and the worst possible one recognizes you. If I am to protect you, I need you to never tell anyone what the Godsbane said. If you do, someone worse than Humanity will hurt you."
"Who?"
"Lazarus, the Sovereign Creator. Most people thought death would be the end of him, but I know better. He's still alive, but he's not here in Eden. Lazarus is waiting for us down below, at the Tower's deepest depths."
Shunk!
Erik felt a searing pain in his chest, and looked down to see a curved blade protruding from his solar plexus.
“I'm sorry, Erik.”
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