In a cataclysm known as the Nightfall, the worlds were almost completely destroyed by a harrowing surge of darkness.
In the shadows of the ensuing chaos a new group has taken shape. Led by an Aegyl named Kalos, the 11th Hour touts an esoteric knowledge of how to combat the darkness and restore the worlds. They might be the worlds’ best chance at survival; but nobody really knows enough about them to confirm or deny their claims.
On the brink of collapse, the universe holds its breath in anticipation. Of restoration? Of destruction? It is up to individuals like yourself to decide.
A special thank you to ChasingArtwork of Deviantart, who allowed us to use this stellar banner image.
There aren't enough praises in the world I'd like to give to wonderful coders for the Proboards community. The following have contributed to World Destiny in some way: W3 Schools for countless how-tos and countless of other souls who have helped get WD up to where it is.
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A curtain rose in the sky. Beams of vibrant, warm light shredded the clouds previously hiding them, lightly kissing his face, his hands. Around him colors sprang from the dull earth that he hadn't notice before - or perhaps they weren't there in the first place.
His surroundings weren't cast with the burning, vivid late afternoon hues of Twilight Town. They were familiar, but not in that way. The spectacle in the sky resembled the view from the Station Tower, and that was were the similarities ended. The hillside was different. The grass here seemed fresher, lighter; each flower was pale pink, yellow, or white, streaked with orange from the sun. The sillhouette of the figure standing a few yards away was one he'd never find in that sleepy town, and one he'd never see again.
A hand stretched out before him. Was it his? The darkness against the sun was gone, and whoever had made the sillhouette had long vanished. The hill was still here. It was comforting, familiar. The sky was close to this place.
It was empty, but the grass felt soft and cool. He'd wait. Perhaps she'd come back.
Violet irises directed upon sunlight. At first, staring without abandon, taking in its infinite light, energy and splendor. But soon, shielding themselves behind dark, smooth eyelids.
Leiz Ryada was posed with an uncanny question that few people ever asked: did he really hate the light, or was it that he lacked a decent pair of sunshades?
He could not ascertain the truth of his distaste for bright lights, but a few things made themselves clear: crimson was a wavelength absent from the twilight city's palette. The sky seemed bluer; the grass seemed greener. Twilight Town, which erected itself from beyond the rolling hills that the boy sat upon, actually looked alive.
Light brought a new life to the once-dreary city, but little had Leiz known, it shone not upon him. He was dull as ever, perhaps even duller: his skin more beige ... his hair now a sickly green. His clothes, black as midnight.
He was like the mold upon a croissant. The only speck of dirt on a white ceramic floor.
Running a hand through his green hair, the teenager wondered just how he ended up in this perturbed version of Twilight Town. Maybe he was sleeping.
The sun didn't slow. It rose through the sky on wings, causing each blade of grass to shift through a spectrum of color and for every shadow to twist in relation to the sun. Nothing moved but light.
The man watched curiously. For a moment he wondered if it was the natural rate at which the sky moved, but the thought quickly lost relevance. Perhaps things were always this way.
He was still until the sun reached its peak.
Then it lost its wings. As it fell the silver-haired man realized that the sky he was facing was darkening, and the hillside brightening; unwilling to witness the rise of the moon while his sun still lived, he turned his back to the East.
To his joy, in the West a figure stood in the path of the sun as it hurtled towards the horizon. He took a step forward, then stopped. This being wasn't recognizable to him. He held his ground and waited for it to disappear like the first. Soon, he believed, he could turn around again and see the familiar shape of the first silhouette as day began in the East.
However, a realization surfaced when the horizon swallowed the sun and the figure didn't fade. It wasn't going to. The silver-haired man stepped through the soft grass towards the figure, whose hair hue became more apparent as he neared. Green. Definitely not who he had been waiting for atop the sunlit hill.
By the time he had reached the young man who bore the green hair, night had fallen. The sudden blanket of blackness displeased him. With the sun absent, less glorious light sources took its place; his hair, the gold rim of his cloak, both his and the other man's violet eyes shone with stolen radiance. As the stars flared above, the man gestured for the younger to follow, and took of at a run through the darkness.
Beneath his boots he felt the grass give way to cobblestone.
The green-haired somebody stood perched on the far-off horizon, watching as the sun rose to an apex and fell. It absconded as if it had a reason not to linger, yet he knew not what its reasons were. Time no longer stood still.
The tint of the atmosphere began to change with every passing moment. White, yellow, red. Though the boy should have been bathed in light as the sun sat directly across from his being, he was not. The laws of the land were almost inapplicable to him. Yet ... his form was quite visible ... bathing in its own brand of radiance.
Azure, ultramarine ... asphalt. Sunset gave way to twilight and eventually to darkness.
Footsteps sounded from behind. Cloaked in the midnight as he should have been, Leiz turned around, taking in the visage of a silver-haired man. Not that much older than him, he too seemed to light up in his own, unique way: a delicate, but strong face ... piercing violet beads ... abundant, flowing, silver hair.
Leiz stood still in silence, his twinkling violet eyes only surveying the being for the briefest of moments.
Words were unexchanged ... instead, a different commodity took its place. In this world where time was constantly in flux, something more profound had been exchanged between the two males: a mutual understanding without gesture or verbal elaboration.
Judgment had already been passed. He already knew all he needed to know about him without having an inkling at all.
Leiz's new friend tilted his head ever-so-briefly before turning and running towards the darkness. Joining him in this endeavor, the boy crossed grass, gravel, rock ... cobblestone. Enveloped in a stronger, more vibrant and personal kind of light, he marauded through the darkness with his acquaintance on cobblestone streets ... to where, he did not know.
With the sun gone, darkness leeched the world of color and luminosity. Soon the two were traveling in complete and utter blackness. It didn't occur to the silver-haired man that there were no stars in the sky, no moon; he just understood it was night, and the night pervaded every corner of the landscape until the man could have had his eyes closed for all the good it did.
At this point there were only two constants. The sound of boots upon cobblestone were one; the new companion beside him was another. Was this his dream, or the other man's? Nothing made sense - but in his present state of consciousness, nothing needed to.
Suddenly he realized that he could make out his traveling partner beside him. Bright lights were appearing every couple of feet, shining a bright, icy blue glow that didn't seem to reach the sky. As they approached the nearest one he stopped and bent on one knee to observe it. An odd sight met his eyes; emerging from the ground was a brilliant clump of frosty crystal, growing slowly in size and intensity by the second.
He rose to his feet again and glanced at his companion. The man's hair looked blue now. Curious. Even more so was the fact that he couldn't seem to find his voice.
They strode along now at a much more relaxed pace. Around them the crystals were rising into mountains, on which rose icy cathedrals with towering spires, structures with little purpose and even less logic forming from the luminescent quartz. The silver-haired main strode along, unsure if he should be fascinated or if the dream had taken a turn for the ominous.
He stopped suddenly when a blade of crystal shot up from the ground before them, crushing the cobblestone road. It rose until he could no longer see the tip, splitting into fragments and spreading, from what he could see, infinitely away from them. The path had become forked.
One major thought pervaded the boy's mind: was this even Twilight Town anymore? As their aimless journey progressed, it became more and more clear to both individuals that the cityscape was anything but. If it were Twilight Town, it would only ever be so in name. His curiosity was fully engaged as brilliant, azure crystals began protruding from the ground, shifting stone and concrete as their growth persisted.
Yet, they slowed to a halt. The silver-haired male diverted his attention for a moment to take a closer look at one of the strange, crystalline constructs, feasting his eyes upon its glowing surface. Not long after he had paused to analyze the crystal, his companion rose from his one knee, bringing himself to both legs.
Not too certain about the origin of the crystals or even their purpose, Leiz could only give the quartz a once-over with his violet pupils, soon shifting his gaze to his ally.
A peculiar glare was shared between both individuals, and somehow, Leiz knew just what his ally was thinking. His hair - once a sickly green - then a vibrant, emerald hue - had somehow shifted to a icy, blue tint ... not unlike that of the mysterious crystals that had began to sprout all over. Beige, dainty hands brushed the blue locks away from violet eyes that wished not to see how much he had changed.
Distressed, he wished to speak. The loss of his green locks was soon followed by anxiety and discomfort - quite understandably emotions that anyone would feel upon losing a very essential, unique part of themselves. But, somehow, he just could not bring himself to say a single thing. Had someone stolen his voice?
Alas, they set out once more, assuming a steady, directionless pace. All around them, the very city seemed to become absorbed and encapsulated by pillars, spires and rolling hills of quartz, transforming it into a landscape totally unlike that of anything the boy had ever seen. Bewildered, he stopped, just as a spire had weeded its way out of a newly-formed crevasse in the road.
It splintered and formed an alternate pathway, clearly a pathway that both individuals were meant to take ... something mysterious and benevolent was at work here.
Still unable to speak, Leiz decided to be assertive, becoming the first one to take the path that had just laid itself out before them.
The silver-haired man, up until this moment at an easy peace with the going-ons, suddenly found himself frowning as the other set out ahead of him down the road. He fell into step behind him, trying to figure out why he felt suddenly discontent with his surroundings. Logical thought evaded him like moonbeams slipping between his fingers.
The green(blue?)-haired man was in the lead. There was little doubt about it, this was strange. But why?
Curiously enough, the landscape seemed to mirror his vague feelings. Perhaps it had been changing all the while, and his senses had just begun to react. Or perhaps they were parallel. One and the same. The two might even have had no association with each other whatsoever.
In any case, the world had suddenly become very red.
It started with a slight shift in hue in the crystals. The crisp, pale blue turned rosy, then crimson. One moment the world was a blue arctic. The next it was on fire. The crystals did not melt, because they were not ice; they were quartz, and the flames flickered inside them like the bellies of dragons. The sky, too, had become bloodied. Black clouds billowed across it, though there was no smoke.
The man strode along somberly now. The walls along the path were no more - in fact, the grand structures and sky-grazing towers had fallen silently to the ground nearly as quickly as they had risen, shattering into thousands of tiny, soundless embers, the surrounding area slowly resembling more of a battlefield than a city - but he and the other male continued on in a straight line.
After a while he wouldn't have noticed whether the man's hair was blue, red, or had returned to green. He saw little at all, in fact, except for the fires. His new companion could have dropped into his death throes by his own boots and he wouldn't have seen. His violet gaze was captured by the flames, and his attention was held fully and completely by the burning land.
Nothing felt wrong anymore, just slightly sad. There was no fear, just an indistinct feeling of chasing a memory he couldn't reach. . .
In that state, it didn't occur to him that the same wouldn't hold true for his guest.
Blue turned to magenta ... to orange ... to crimson. The crystalline civilization had caught aflame, leaving nothing but perilous destruction and sorrow in its wake. Black clouds coalesced high in the atmosphere where burning towers had dared to reach, warning of something more sinister that was sure to follow.
An omen.
Yet, this obstructive, ominous event had proven the duo's unyielding nature. Neither had ceased in their efforts to explore the withering lands, even as cathedrals, castles and spires of quartz began to crumble around them. Somehow, Leiz was fearless. Something surreal had taken a hold of him. Perhaps, it was that the eternally-burning fires seemed harmless. At least, it was nothing of the sort that would otherwise deter him from seeking the hidden treasures of this world.
It did not take long, however, before the boy stopped dead in his tracks, his ember-stained strands of hair blowing to and fro in the wind. The world around them stank of ash, soot, and shattered dreams. He knew that there was no way that dreams could have had a scent, but here ... they did. He could feel the silver-haired man's sadness, and it was then that he knew: the male behind him had lost something dear to him.
There were no treasures to be found here.
Leiz turned around as a large, boundless tower collapsed right behind him without a single sound, shattering into a million, infinitesimal specks of flaming dust. Upon its collapse, what he had thought was a clear understanding of the man's sadness had quickly developed into confusion: what was it that ailed him?
Not a single glimmer of reassurance escaped the boy's violet eyes as he stared at who he considered to be an ally, though that perception was quickly changing. The truth was that he wasn't so assured, either.
If the man's mind had been in its right state, he would have noticed the new boldness in his partner's eyes, and the gradual fading of companionship that had started their venture. As it was, he strode along in oblivion.
Eventually the fires died out. With a start, the man's eyes widened, and an awareness returned to their violet depths. He turned slowly, observing the world that had suddenly become grey and ashen. Only the sky remained red; the black clouds billowed across it ever more thickly, their silver lining shining crimson. Leagues of broken crystal stretched before his eyes, steaming rather than smoking.
He continued to turn, and suddenly found himself facing the other violet-eyed man, who's hair had returned to green, dull in shade to match the dismal surroundings. Something unnamed was lost in this man's gaze, something gained. Frowning, the silver-haired turned back around.
It was then he realized that darkness was beginning to creep up upon the corners of the world. Shadows licked the edges of the shattered city before swallowing, slowly making their way through broken streets and alleys towards them. The sky dimmed, ever so slightly.
The sense of foreboding hadn't left him, but he continued on. Unlike before his ears were alert for the footsteps of the young man beside him.
Finally, in the distance, a shape stood black against the darkening sky directly in their path. It was small, at first. But upon approach the vast height of the structure became apparent - it stretched so tall, in any place but a dreamscape it would have been an impossible creation, even with the aide of magic.
It was a black stone tower. Before them gaped a tall, narrow entryway, inside of which he spotted the first few steps of a grand spiral staircase. The inside was lit, though there was no apparent light source.
Was this where the road had been heading? Should they travel up, or move on? The tower was unnervingly familiar, though without his voice he had no way of explaining that to the other man.
Jul 27, 2011 15:29:06 GMT -4
Last Edit: Jul 27, 2011 15:29:21 GMT -4 by Zephiris
What Leiz hadn't anticipated is the bitter, somber transition from being allies to being mere acquaintances on this bizarre plane of existence. Somehow, this man who was supposed to be his ally was most decidedly distant and hard to "get". He instinctively frowned, thinking this to be a bad thing but not exactly knowing the reason why.
He wanted to know why. He wanted to ask the man with the silver hair why things were this way and how this beautiful, ever-changing world had wasted away into a stagnant plain of death and stillness. The soldier felt as if those blue towers were still there, even though they were not. Could those infinite heights be reached once again?
Perhaps it wasn't impossible to make things better. Maybe, if he understood more about the man he stood beside.
A look of pain presented itself on his face, though, as he realized the gravity of their situation: without his voice - the ability to converse - there was no way that he could ever hope to bring out the full potential of this world and witness its mesmerizing crystals.
Leiz didn't quite know why he even wanted to see those again. It wasn't that important to him before ... but now, it was as if it was like air. Until now, he hadn't realized the comfort of a more bearable existence because he hadn't anticipated how much worse it could have been.
It was surreal.
Infinite potential wasn't quite removed from this world, nevertheless, even though the boy was utterly convinced of the world's inability to even remotely echo all that it stood for.
They came upon a single, ominous structure of dark stone jutting out of the ground, reaching high to the heavens - higher than any other tower that he had witnessed. There was nothing brilliant about its appearance other than that it visibly went on forever.
Looking back and forth from his "friend" to the tower's entryway, Leiz entered at the same time as he did, sparing no time in making haste for the staircase.
He didn't want to make enemies. They would go together.
At the base of the staircase, the man paused, glanced at the green-haired for a moment, and with a nod began ascending the stairs. The spiral was broad, and the steps were high, but what normally would have been exhausting for him was simple right then. He didn't give it a second thought.
A few moments later they reached the first floor. And, apparently, the second, third, and fourth as well.
He blinked, confused. They were no longer in a tower. The wrought iron staircase still spun into the heavens behind and above him, but the dark walls of the building itself had vanished. They were in a pleasant green field, with a dark forest visible on the edges of the landscape. Gigantic trees dotted the area.
A huge crack sounded. As they watched, one of the trees closest to them began to lean, picking up speed as gravity took hold of its majestic limbs before crashing to the ground with a tremendous boom. He stared at the roots now dangling in the air with shock. A moment later something else caught his eye: a few yards from where the great tree had fallen, something was squirming in the dirt. Before their eyes sprouted a small sapling, shooting upward as if time had been fast forwarded, buds unfurling into bright green leaves and then powerful, sturdy branches. Within moments another tree, grander than the first, stood tall and proud in the grassy plain.
Turning slowly, the silver-haired man spotted similar occurrences happening all around him. The entire field was alive with trees rising and falling in a cycle of growth and death.
He stepped forward to take a closer look, and then stopped. Something didn't feel right about leaving the stairway. He held out a hand, the best he could do non-verbally to communicate no further to his companion. It was almost as if the gleaming iron wanted them to continue onward.
It was almost as if bad things would happen if they didn't.
Life all around the two was on fast-forward, though from what the boy could tell, it was merely observational - they were unaffected. Trees grew, withered and died in the span of several seconds ... the colors of the grass shifted from green, to red and to a bleak brown in motions so swift that one could swear they were at a rave. As indifferent as he usually was, Leiz was none too pleased with the tedium of all the swirling colors and the ever-present state of life and death. Nothing stayed the same.
Put at unease, Leiz left the peculiar little world behind, continuing up those steps as if there were bigger and better things to flock to - and as far as he could tell, there were. In this mesmerizing universe where constancy was irrelevant and nothing seemed to stay still, he could only move forward in hopes that he wouldn't fall by the wayside. He didn't want to become some example for someone else to learn from ... he wanted to be the one to do things right.
The stairwell called for the duo to continue on their journey, letting them know that their fate hung in the balance ... would they continue on and complete their journey? Or would they get caught up in this natural cycle of constant rebirth and expiration?
"Journey", the boy chose. A profund appreciation for life took hold of the boy as he realized that he didn't want to end up in ashes or trapped in an endless cycle of bland normality. He needed to aspire to something great. Somehow, he knew that his acquaintance was seeking the same thing.
(( . . . The hell, I honestly forgot about this thread when I got back from my trip. I'm an idiot. Though I've got the rest of the dream all planned out now. ^^ ))
The green-haired companion continued to travel up the stairs. He followed, emotions changing at each level until they crashed and churned within him, and he couldn't be sure of anything except for a growing sense of foreboding.
The didn't stop any more as they traveled upward. As much as he tried to avoid turning his head and gaze upon the surroundings they entered and left, at times it was hard not to. They passed great black skies filled with legions of stars, swirling much too fast and burning all to brightly; were climbing above a terrible wasteland charred by flame and littered with bones; at one point they were high above the clouds, and the silver man's heart soared. But before he knew it they had passed on to the next floor, the only one since the base that actually looked like the tower from the inside.
The staircase ended. They were in a circular stone room, warped by odd machinery and rubble. The scene was dark save for a lit patch in the far ceiling, where light flooded over the steps of another grand stone staircase, this one sloping down towards them rather than spiraling up. The silver-haired man paused. He thoroughly believed they were on the topmost floor of the tower now, though he had no idea how he would know. The vague sense of familiarity plagued him relentlessly.
But they must move forward. They would not turn around and be trapped in this odd tower, or fall prey to the mysteries they had left behind. He climbed up the stairs completely without the sense of fatigue that might of ailed him normally.
As the stepped from the top stair, they once again met the moon and stars. They had reached the roof.
Sept 9, 2011 18:17:08 GMT -4
Last Edit: Sept 9, 2011 18:18:47 GMT -4 by Zephiris
