Plunge into Heresy
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 58880
|
"Mary, I beg you, turn back," said Exotica. "For there are greater perils
yet in store, and I may not be strong enough to shield you from them all.
If tragedy were to befall you, I would curse my weak-hearted folly in
exposing you to danger, and my wandering soul would find no rest, not even
in death." "Nay, mistress! Please do not abandon me!" wailed Mary, hurling herself at Exotica's feet. "You saved me from a fate worse than a hundred deaths, and while I have no skill at books or blades I do have this life that you returned to me. If I could somehow use it in your cause, if I could protect your life, even at mine own's expense - why, I would know no greater happiness, in this world, or any other!" "That is foolishness, Mary," Exotica frowned. "Do you truly believe that such a sacrifice would please me? Nay. I command you, return and help the other survivors. They need your aid far more than me." "No!" Mary sobbed. "Bah!" said the priest. "Save your tears for your imminent, brutal demise, chambermaid, for it is now too late. The air has changed, and there is already no way to return." "What?" Exotica said. All around them, it seemed colour had bled from the town, leaving only motes of light and dappled shades of gray. The buildings still stood, and the monstrous castle in the distance, but they seemed empty and unreal, like cardboard props in a puppeteer's play. And most striking of all was the silence, so utter and thick it seemed sound could not ever exist here. "How can this be?" said Exotica, while Mary only gave a single anguished wail. "Did I not tell you, Princess?" the priest of Eibon glared. "The path may be near, or it may be far. It may not even exist at all. As it perchanced, the path was near." "This place - it is like something I saw in a dream once." Exotica whispered, looking around. "I do not understand," said Mary, standing up. "Did you do this, sire? Did you... bring us here? Or are we still in the same place, and it is the town that has changed form?" "The time for foolish questions has expired," the priest said. "Now we must go, for it is not wise to tarry long in one spot here." "Which way?" asked Exotica. "That, only you can determine," said the priest. "It is your path to travel, not mine." "I see," said Exotica. "I think... I think I understand, though I am not completely sure." "All will become clear. When you submit yourself to Eibon!" the priest said, favoring Exotica with a long, penetrating gaze.
|
Ryu
5/31/2006 12:14:59 PM
Linking Enabled
Extending Enabled
25090700 episodes viewed since 9/30/2002 1:22:06 PM.