Name: The Witch Of The End
Difficulty: Epic
Participants: Lily, Manzo (minority participation)
Story: It all begun with a stone, or so the legend says. In ages past in the country of Seven stood a beautiful crystal. The crystal's radiance was rumored to be blinding, a light so warm and pure it could purify even the darkest of shadows. It was this crystal that embodied the will of the planet: Mother Gaia, or 'Earthland' as we came to know it.
However, in recent days the crystal has lost its shining light, and the people who prayed to Gaia to seek counsel, could no longer hear her voice.
It is a story that over time became forgotten, but not by all: In Seven exists a religious faction, a group that calls themselves the 'Children of Gaia', a sect that firmly believes in the idea that Gaia's silence came because humanity lost its faith.
Especially now in their time of need, with dark rifts opening throughout Earthland a savior is needed, and the Children of Gaia will have their savior: For years they experimented, wanting to create the perfect vessel for their goddess. And yet despite all their efforts and sacrifices they reached one major obstacle in their quest: None of their members possesses the 'gift', the ability to hear Gaia's wisdom.
It was in that moment a robed figure revealed a startling revelation: That a certain elven maiden in Fiore possesses the ancient gift they seek...
Objective:
- - After the recent raid by one of the leaders of the Darkest Timeline universe, Hargeon is in need of repairs, and fortunately Blue Pegasus is more than willing to lend a hand, among them being the young and hopeful elven lass Lily. With help of some fellow mages try to help the city of Hargeon recover.
- - Captured by a mysterious group, Lily is taken to their hideout in Seven as she becomes the victim of several cruel experiments to strengthen her body and prepare her for her role as a vessel for the cult's twisted ideals.
- - During her time in captivity Lily meets a fellow prisoner called Claudia. Just like Lily, Claudia possesses a certain power the cult seeks to put to use. Despite their individual sufferings the two bond and vow to work together to escape.
- - An opportunity arrives when Claudia is able to distract the cultist trying to administer a dose of some drug to Lily, allowing the latter to overwhelm the cultist and break her restrains. After helping Claudia regain her freedom, work together to escape.
- - Almost reaching their escape route, the duo are cornered by the leader of the cultists who threatens the girls by revealing there is no place for them to escape to. The drugs that were administered to them in fact has robbed them of the right to call themselves anything else than 'monsters'. As if to add power to his statement he activates a device that removes a limiter on the collar of Claudia, causing her to turn into the monster that the man was talking about: A ghoul.
With no means of controlling herself, Claudia pleas for Lily to kill her.
- - Able to barely overpower Claudia's rampage by tapping into her a power seemingly unexpected even by the cultists, Lilly has an emotional breakdown as Claudia thanks her for ending her suffering, and despite Claudia's plea for the girl to live on, Lily breaks into an enraged rampage. Unfortunately for her, the cultist leader is able to overpower her and has her restrained and taken back to the sanctum for his ambitions to reach completion.
- - As Lily is subjugated to more gruesome experiments, Nyancelot leads a rescue mission with several mages of Blue Pegasus in an attempt to rescue his missing master. However, it seems the cultists are willing to sacrifice anything, even themselves to ensure their dreams become a reality...
- - Despite the cultists best efforts Nyancelot and his allies succeed in vanquishing the guardians of the shrine, and finally reach the sanctum of Gaia. Finding his master on a sacrificial altar with a grand crystal devoid of light, Nyancelot in his anger leads the final battle against the champions of the cult.
- - Although victorious against the cult, it seems a third player enters the scene, for Esperia secretly has been sabotaging the ritual, leading to her absorbing the power of the crystal instead and taking possession over it. Furiously the cult leader attempts to turn toward Nyancelot, blaming his interference for the destruction of his life-long work. It seems there will be quite a battle left to fight!
- - With the cult leader slain at last, poor Lily is freed from captivity, although something seems different from her, the girl's hair has turned a perfect split between white and black, which previously symbolized the control either one had over their body. What could this possibly mean?
- - Revealing that she is neither Esperia or Lily, yet both at the same time, the new fused psyche reveals her intention was to draw upon Gaia's waning power and claim it as her own in order to trigger a forced evolution in her body. However, aware a mere mortal soul would struggle with controlling such a power she essentially merged her soul with that of her reincarnation to grow into something more...
- - However, it appears this story is far from over. For the ritual has severely weakened her body, to the point Esperia describes the effect to being similar to a terminal illness. Yet determined to keep a long overdue promise she intends to return home... at any cost.
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