It was sickening. Erik felt violated by their touch, but worse yet to his own conflicted dismay, he was disappointed by them. When he saw those familiar eyes on those Godsbane, he felt like he was seeing another part of himself he never knew existed. Erik wanted to reconnect with whoever those eyes belonged to, to remember what he had lost. But when those Godsbane touched him, he felt like he was being grabbed at by several strangers. Their depraved touches were the last thing he felt before he suddenly wound up here, yet Erik felt disappointed that what he felt wasn't what his own subconscious expected. Somewhere, in a sick and twisted corner of Erik's mind, he wanted those Godsbane to grab him again, just so he could try to feel the touch of that one person. It made Erik want to puke from how disgusted he was in himself.
Erik curled up into himself and sobbed. Everything was always so wrong, and now so was his own mind. How could he wish for something so depraved? What was wrong with him?!
Erik didn't want to think or feel anymore. He sat there in a ball letting his tears fall for what felt like hours. He didn't dare let a single thought pass his mind. Erik couldn't bear this madness anymore. Everything was always so wrong, and now so was
Suddenly, Erik heard something. A voice humming from all around him. Erik jumped with a freight and shot up, looking around himself, but there was no light. This room was filled with the very same Darkness that plagued Eden, except it was hundreds of times more dense. But, Erik could make out the faint image of his surroundings with Omnisense. The walls were engraved with words Erik couldn't read, and Erik could sense painting on certain parts of the walls, but he couldn't tell what they were of. The Darkness was too pungent to allow any clear image of the paintings in Erik's mind. In the center of the room was a massive shattered statue. It was of a man with a black cracked crystal attached to his solar plexus. Given the shape, Erik thought this man was real and was singing, but he was half right. He was kneeling over another man who was incapacitated, holding a sword that he had plunged straight into the other man's chest. Both of the men were cracked, and the one holding the sword was missing his left arm. It seemed there were meant to be many more details, but they were broken off or shattered entirely.
The humming came from within the crystal, and the amount of voices increased the more Erik focused on it, and soon they were singing. The words they sang were dark and tragic, yearning for a salvation that was taken from them. They were the words of a people who lost all hope.
"With our dying breath, we all yearn
For salvation, our eternal return.
Your cruelty aside, your dogma is lies,
And madness and avarice besides.
Oh Race of Sinners, guiled murderers.
Have you no shame? No Regrets?
Redemption... Salvation...
We cry out for both from you,
Save us too...
Release us from this nightmare.
Oh race of sinners, sick pretenders.
Why must you drag us under?
Redemption... Salvation...
There's no hope for either..."
The Race of Sinners
Erik's Archive had documents of the Cataclysm that stated one of the Forsaken had mentioned an unknown species called the Race of Sinners. Over the years the Sovereign Heirs refused to speak of said species, especially the Sovereign Creator. Whenever someone would ask him about that race, he was quick to pick a searing hole in the person's head. Whoever the Race was, the Sovereign Heirs hated them with a fury surpassing their own morals. Erik swiped his hand in the air to bring out his Archive and he could tell that it opened when he heard the ding it always made when he opened it, but the Darkness was too thick for him to see it. It was a shame his Omnisense couldn't let him see the images on his Archive.
Erik began to hear more singing, but it sounded like it was coming from a different room. Erik expanded his senses and found a staircase behind the statue. He decided to follow the singing, but as he walked towards the staircase, he noticed a plaque on the base of the statue. Erik ran his fingers against it and could make out the words it said.
In Loving Memory of My Family.
Erik looked back at the two men on the statue. They looked human, or perhaps they looked like Heirs of the Phoenix Clan? The two looked identical minus the eyes. Were the two family? What was their relationship? Erik will never find out the answer here, but he didn't particularly care about it. He just wanted to get out of here, or at least figure out where he was.
Erik descended the staircase and found another massive statue, but this one wasn't shattered at all. It was in pristine condition and had a lot more detail on it. It was a man with horns and a thick tail sitting on the ground, an Heir of the Dragon Clan, holding a dead man with every part of his body turning to dust with a hole in his solar plexus. The Dragon Heir was screaming up at the sky. There were detailed carvings of lightning shooting out from around him, and the ground that made up the base of the statue was cracking and shifting like there was a terrible earthquake. There was another man lying on the ground before them. He was torn in half at the waist with a sword plunged into his chest. The Dragon Heir had a crystal in his solar plexus that was glowing red, and from it there was singing. The voices were singing the same words from the other statue. On the base was another plaque.
In Loving Memory of My Beloved.
Erik found another staircase and went down it. Within yet another statue. This one with a woman being held back by the arms by a man and another woman. She was screaming, trying to reach out to a large man in front of a baby's crib. The large man held a limp baby covered in black vein-like markings by its neck in one hand. He had snapped its neck. There were two women near a fireplace, one of them was puking in the pit while the other placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. There were also two men pressing their backs against a closed door, blocking out whoever was trying to bust it in. The Woman who was screaming had a silver crystal in her solar plexus, and the same song played. Again there was a plaque.
In Loving Memory of My Faith.
It was a gut wrenching sight. How could anyone do something so cruel? Erik couldn't bear looking at the statue any longer. He moved on. He went down floor after floor.
Erik passed a statue of a woman who looked identical to the one throwing up in the fireplace. She bore a green crystal in her solar plexus, and she was stabbing a man in the back while he was holding hands with another woman. Another man of identical build to the one who killed the baby was stabbing the other woman. There were also five other people, two women and three men, all watching with hard looks on their faces. All of them were the same people from the previous statue. They didn't like what they were witnessing, but they did nothing to stop it.
In Loving Memory of My Trust.
A statue of a man with blue crystal standing alone in a desolate city barren of all succor. The soil was toxic, the water tainted. It even looked like the air was foul. The large man was there too with a comforting hand on the other's shoulder. There was a woman curled up on the ground behind them with another woman and a man hugging her. Additionally there was a man looking at the ground beside the three, lost in a silent daze. The woman who was stabbing a man from the previous statue was nowhere to be seen.
In Loving Memory of My Home.
A woman with a pink crystal laying in a bed with a man and another woman. She was the same woman that was curled up in the previous statue. She was curled up and covered in bruises, sobbing while hugging herself. The man had a crater with several puncture marks in his skull, and a metal marital aid covered in sharp spikes and blood laid next to his face. The other woman laid limp under the man, her throat badly bruised and blood soaking the bedding beneath her legs. The large man was there, pulling the blanket around the woman. Two men were grabbing the body of the dead man, and a woman was beside the two men checking the vitals of the limp woman with a dismayed look on her face. The man with the blue crystal wasn't there. It appeared that the people with the crystal don't make an appearance in the statues on the lower levels. It could only mean that the statues Erik had encountered so far are newer creations compared to the ones beneath them.
In Loving Memory of My Virtue.
A Man with an orange crystal was seated on the floor holding a limp teenager in his arms. A bottle of pills was in the teenager's hand, and the Man was crying in agony for his loss. The large man was there kneeling beside the two, running his hand over the teen's eyes to close them. A woman was there rushing over to them as another man was rubbing his own eyes in frustration.
In Loving Memory of My Diligence.
A woman with a red crystal was on her knees, keeled over screaming as she fisted the blood soaked soil beneath her. She was in a village that was on fire. Hundreds of decapitated bodies laid around her, their bowels sliced open and their organs strewn up on the frames of the wooden houses like party streamers. Hundreds of heads were mounted on pikes, men, women, and children, all put on display like trophies. The large man was covering his mouth as though to stop himself from puking while another man was stabbing himself in the heart, but it seemed he wouldn't die no matter how many times he stabbed himself.
In Loving Memory of My Solace.
A man with a purple crystal whom was skin and bones was laying on the ground, dying of hunger. He had blood on his mouth and something in his mouth. He was in a fancy ornate room full of priceless furniture and decorations. On a chair at a desk, a rich looking man laid limp, dead with his throat torn open. The large man was there blocking a door with his own body as dozens of men were on the other side, stabbing and shooting the large man while they tried to budge past him to no avail. The dying frail man had a locket attached to a chain around his neck, and he was holding the locket against his chest.
In Loving Memory of My Prosperity.
The next stopped Erik in his tracks. Before him was something that made his heart sink. His skin burned with a creeping dread and anxiety that made his heart beat pulse a thousand miles a second. In the corners of his vision, Erik saw fire crackling about. His ears roared with the sounds of screams and he felt his own clawing out of his throat, shrill and full of agonizing pain.
Before him was a ginormous statue of a field of millions of people on crosses that were set ablaze. Hoards of rotting beasts, Godsbane, ran across the field tearing down random crosses and gorging themselves on freshly cooked flesh and organs. A wolf and a large man with a golden yellow cystal whom was clad in armor stood in front of a single cross, both struggling to either untie or chew off the ropes binding the victim to the cross. A female soldier with a short sword and shield stood behind the soldier, stabbing him straight through his back. Dozens of Godsbane were upon the two soldiers and the wolf. They clawed at the wolf's belly, ripping it open with entrails spilling out as they tore one of its hind limbs off and tried pulling off the other three. They jumped on the male soldier's shoulders, clawing out one of his eyes and burying their teeth into his shoulders, some also bit into his stomach and legs. The female soldier had several Godbane biting into her throat and stomach, her bones and organs falling onto the ground as she stood her ground. The Godsbanes’ hunger was violent and insatiable. They ripped away at every bit of flesh they could find, swallowing every morsel they could snap at.
Erik looked at the person on the cross the male soldier and wolf were trying to bring down. The screams grew louder, and as Erik looked down at the plaque, his eyes widened in horror. He stumbled back and fell backwards. The words on the plaque resonated in his head. They reminded him of what the Godsbane said back in Eden, and their correlation with the plaque filled Erik with a terror he never thought possible.
In Loving Memory of My Salvation.
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