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[Lyoko222]

Upon leaving Leirra's domain, Hikaru would arrive in a flash of light.

 

She would immediately feel a feeling of relief, but inexpiable dread. It felt as if she has been freed from the forces that had taken root inside of her, free from the spirit energy she could call forth, free from the constraints of space and time. She now sat on her hands and knees, naked as she opened her eyes to the Hell in front of her.

 

The area was bleak... A wasteland of gray. The ground was covered in dust and ash rained from the sky and swirled around her with changing, unpredictable winds. There was no sun in the sky, only a dull gray that seemed to spread into infinity.

 

In front of her, in the distance, stood a large, decaying, stone platform where it looked as if 7 silhouettes stood, their features obscured by the haze between them.

[Hikaru]

What the hell....?

 

The thought was the first one to cross Hikaru's mind as she wondered if it was indeed Hell she was now in, or at least an illusion of it.. But if it was only an illusion, then why did things seem so ... off..? While Hikaru had never been completely ingrounded, she did have all of the memories that her counterpart had of being in such state as she had been in it herself. That feeling of being existent but not existent, boundless yet bound. This felt similar...from what she could tell,  but had one huge glaring difference...

 

In the ingrounded state, she had absolute power. Here, wherever 'here' was, seemed to be the complete opposite... and that couldn't help but put her slightly on edge.. Just what was going on? Was this part of that so called 'judgement'? By now Hikaru had pulled herself up, and now stood glancing about the area she found herself in as she pondered such things. If it was part of it, Insanity seemed to have found a few new tricks...

 

She held out her hand to catch some of the ash as it fell, looking to it to observe it closer. This seemed a little too real to be an illusion. While she couldn't say for sure, she had the strange feeling that this wasn't part of what was supposed to happen next. She couldn't place why she had such feeling, just that she felt things seemed ...off. After all...

 

She dropped the ash. Since when could illusions completely deaden the magical senses? Even in an AM field or an area of no magic whatsoever, a mage still had the ability to sense magic somewhere. Even as a mortal of no soul, if trained to sense magic and your 'sight' opened to it, you didn't simply lose such ability, though it may go dull. Just like you didn't lose the ability to cast it. You just couldn't create it. Same with Spirit Energy. But this...

 

This felt different... This felt wrong.

 

Just what the hell was going on? Hikaru walked forward towards the only place she saw to go to, intent on find out for herself that answer.

[Lyoko222]

As she approached the large platform, a large set of stairs stood before her leading to the top. They were also covered in dust, its sides crumbling from decay. Upon reaching the top, the silhouettes were revealed to be 7 lecterns arranged in a semi circle, facing the top of the staircase. Each lectern seemed to have writing on it in the same language she would recognize from the revelation book, though most were covered or worn off. One name on the lectern to the left of the center would however catch her eye. It read "Leirr" with the ending worn away. It bore a strange, but somehow familiar symbol on its crest.

 

Beyond them a man could be seen sitting in a chair facing away from her, looking out into the wastes in the back of the platform. He spoke as her eyes would find him...

 

"Silence fills a field of graves now that I have gone." she could hear him speak. His voice was a haunting and ominous one. "Though I have yet to rest, for questions linger on."

[Hikaru]

Upon realizing that she couldn't read the text, Hikaru couldn't help but mentally scold herself. Dammit, why hadn't she bothered to ask Leirra how to read it when she had the chance. Even if it was admitting weakness, it would have helped to translate the rest of the Revelation book, and would have helped to decipher things in times like this and dealing with Emobdiments. She sighed. Whenever she saw her again, she would have to make it a point to ask. For now...

Hikaru studied the figure. It probably had yet to see her... But Hikaru wasn't the type to just wait around and let others be in control of things. "Who are you, and where the hell am I?" She made up her mind and yelled, not yet walking forward, and staying somewhat behind.


 

[Lyoko222]

Her voice echoed around them and into the sky. For a moment, there was no reply but the wind, then a gust of wind brought a cloud of dust that briefly obscured her view of the man. When it disappeared, the chair was empty and a long shadow was cast upon her by someone behind her.

 

"Who am I?" the man, now standing behind her asked. He cast his gaze down towards her. "I am the last of those who gave you life." he answered, his voice now echoed by other voices, each more menacing and ancient than the last. "I am the last of those who gave you breath and shape and form." his eyes narrowed in disgust.

 

"I am the High Prefect, Constantine, Consul Representative of ALL Perfect." he finally introduced himself, his voice returning to its previous form. "And this?"

 

He look side to side and outstretched his arms. "You would remember it well...Welcome home. Welcome to East."

[Hikaru]

The moment the shadow appeared behind her, Hikaru spun around and jumped back, making sure to keep her distance as she tried to take stock of the situation. Now that she could see him better, and by what he had said, she could recognize him as the man from the memory that Leirra had shared with her. But if he was indeed that man, that left the question of how. Weren't all the Perfect dead? It also meant he was dangerous as had been seen in the memory; and judging by what seemed to have been some form of teleportation, the absence of magic did not affect him.

"...And why exactly am I here...?" Hikaru chose to ignore the statement of 'home.' It was obvious he believed the same reincarnation theory as Leirra had claimed. Could she use that to her advantage somehow? Even though she knew practically nothing about Crea.. "What is it that you want?"

[Lyoko222]

"It seems the Eye of Providence has seen it appropriate you exiled here to this rotting, desolate place." he answered. "Curious that you are not Praetorian. Though their stench follows you, and you bear the aura of Imperfect." he sounded repulsed as he uttered the word 'Imperfect'.

 

"Tell me, Mortale. What is it that you have done?" he cocked his head to the right in interest. It was not a common thing or an occurrence at all that some one, much less a mortal, had found themselves in this bleak place.

[Hikaru]

"Hmph," Hikaru was quick to scoff. "If Existence wants to exile me, then it needs to try harder." She rolled her eyes, the lack of power obviously having no affect on her usual arrogance. "You and Order, and everyone, keep throwing around that word 'mortal,' thinking it means something, and yet here you are with your people as dead as any other race and even moreso given that barely anyone in my time has heard of you."

She crossed her arms, but continued to maintain her distance. "So please, do tell me what you mean by mortal. For us magic users, we called those without magic mortals, given that they were ants that could easily be killed. For the Embodiments, they refer to anyone non-Embodiment as mortal, and yet... even they showed that they could be killed, as our Grandfather fell, along with both Creation and ..." She paused to catch herself from showing any emotion as she said "Destruction," before going on.

"My brothers and I have proven time and time again with our magic, that even the Embodiments and the systems of the afterlife could be defeated. We have fought so called 'gods,' dabbled in forbidden magic others would not dare, and continue to evade death on a regular basis. Call me mortal if you so desire.. However, this mortal' has tasted a state of absolute power, cursed though it may have been, and fought existence itself. Have you?"

[Lyoko222]

"You speak in meaningless boasts, and you have never come close to absolute power." he could only reply to her as he returned to his normal posture; back straight and eye looking down on her. "The ignorant often fight that which they do not understand. We did not fight against existence; it was a malleable clay formed and molded to our needs. Even in defeat, our legacy endures even in your time through our work. I may be in this place, but my will has been done..."

 

He looked up towards the bleak, gray sky. "...and the Praetorian, Primoris tastes defeat in his own victory."

 

 

[Hikaru]

By this time Hikaru had heard the name of Insanity enough times to recognize the word 'primoris.' Adding that to the fact he had used the other other word in reference to something that she was not, led Hikaru to conclude that it had to be some sort of title or race. But if he was calling Insanity that... Did he mean the Embodiments? Was Insanity actually involved in her being here after all?

Hundreds of questions went through Hikaru's mind, while at the same she had to bite her tongue not to argue back. Plenty had called her ignorant in the past, even the Arlangs at one point, and she had refuted almost all of them. How dare this phantom of the past whose race wasn't even alive anymore, do the same, when he didn't even know her or as his reponse seemed, know of the Ingrounded State. Bastard.

Lucky for him, while half of Hikaru wanted to tell him just how wrong he was, and probably waste hours doing so. The other half of her also wanted answers and didn't think getting into a verbal match of egos would get anywhere with this guy if the memory from Leirra was any indication. Even though she badly wanted to which could clearly be seen from her arm which now slowly bled a bit from digging her nails into it in her annoyance.

Hikaru sighed and uncrossed her arms, lightly shaking the blood off the one that she had dug into before responding. "While I would love to argue that the Ingrounded State was absolute power albeit limited, and point out that you do not even know who I am, to make such claims. I doubt explaining my titles and family lines would do anything in this argument, so fine..." She gave the most annoyed scowl she could possibly show as she muttered, "you win this one." Hikaru shuddered almost immediately after, as if saying such a thing caused physical pain.

"Now, how is Insanity involved in this? You said exiled. Did Insanity send me here then? Come to think of it... How did you get here if all the Perfect are dead?"

[Lyoko222]

Constantine looked back down to her and for a moment, let the silence of her own ignorance set it. "You truly do not know where you are, now do you. Your ignorance has ever blinded you." he responded to her question of how he was there even if all the Perfect were dead. It was obvious to him that she did not know, or understand the state in which she found herself.

 

"Demonstrare." He outstretched his left hand towards her, and little threads looking of marionette strings extended from her back, towards him and connected to the digits of his hand. He brought his hand back towards him and supported a bit of the slack from the threads with his right hand as if examining them. He look from left to right, and back left again.

 

"We find ourselves in complimentary positions. Being here of different circumstance, one grounded and the other not. One free, the other prisoner. One with sight, the other blind." he elaborated. Insanity was not the reason she found herself there, nor was it a result of the accursed Scrolls. He knew her fate in this place was a temporary sentence.

[Hikaru]

"That still did not answer the question. Any of them." Hikaru was close to snapping as she growled. Her fingers now twitched and when she saw the strings appear, her hands formed the same position at her sides that they normally would take when casting spells, mostly out of habit. If only she had her magic. If only she had her magic..

"I know what grounding is, courtesy of Asura, and for a time, having been partially Ingrounded myself!" She snapped. "While my counterpart could go in and out of existence at a whim, and watch what she wanted to wherever she wanted to. She never encountered this place... So what exactly is going on here and how does it involve Insanity since you so conveniently mentioned him?"

[Lyoko222]

He ignored her questions for a moments as he continued examining the strands. He pulled a little more, as they continued to produce from her back, letting the slack hit the dusty ground.

 

"It is by his hand that I find myself in this place." Constantine finally answered. He brought a stretch of the strands up above and held them towards the grey light of the sky, in an apparent effort to get a better look.

 

"Your counterpart, as you would call her, could not travel here. This is a place of ruin and decay. A world beneath the facade you think you understand, when in truth, there is so much more than meets your perception, Sage. " He added and brought the strands back down to his level. "Even the Scrolls you seek, are more than some plaything you would use to grant some poorly thought out wish."

[Hikaru]

Hikaru glared at the man before her, barely able to suppress her quickly rising temper at the entire situation she found herself in. This guy was really starting to tick her off, and what's worst, she was completely powerless to do anything about it but stand there and ask questions and hope they get answers. She still didn't really know where she was, or why.. and going with that, didn't know how she was going to get back. While meanwhile, she had to endure this guy apparently reading her entire life as his comments made clear...

She really didn't like the situation at hand, and if she'd had her magic would have ended it already. But she didn't have her magic, nor even the ability to call forth her spirit energy, something she still didn't completely understand as to how it was possible. She was completely helpless to do anything, and she didn't like it one bit. Well... not anything, she quickly reminded herself. She could still talk, and in that, she could at least fight back in one way..

"I may hate Insanity and all, but with what Leirra showed and told me of what you did, I can hardly blame him.." Hikaru gave a slight shrug as she taunted in answer. "I have committed many so-called atrocities within my life and even I would not cross such a line as that. Even when faced with somewhat the same situation.. When Kot--" She stopped. Of course he wouldn't know who Koty was...

"When Destruction first came into my care, he had no memory of who he once was and followed my every whim like a lost puppy dog. Including fighting every battle I said to fight. Then the Anrufe got the bright idea to try to give him the memories of his life as an Embodiment back in order to cause division. Koty, however did not want to face those memories and tried to erase them. Which if he had succeeded, he would have gone right back to the mindless servant that he had once been, a tool to fight the Anrufe. I, however stopped him from doing so and helped him face those memories instead, even knowing that he would now out-power me. This was before he was my partner."

While Hikaru droned on in a clear attempt to get on his nerves, some part of her deep down felt as if she also wanted to say what she was saying, or at least part of it.

[Lyoko222]

When she spoke of Koty, one of the strands became a bright pink color before returning to its original form. Constantine began to look at the strands and nodded to himself.

 

"Your attempt to mask your feeling towards that Praetorian was a feeble one." he responded. "Destruction... The gift we gave to such ungrateful creations. We gave them life, we gave them West, we gave them everything." his look turned to one of indifference to one of subtle rage. Like remembering an unresolved memory. "Though none were as treacherous as the first among Praetorians... Or the second..."

 

He clinched the hand with the strands attached tight when he mentioned it, but quickly released his grip. "But how arrogant of you to question to actions of us, the Prefect Consuls, in our duties. What matters of the opinion of a mere thrall, to the guardians of existence? I may be departed, but my will has been done. Even now, the Consuls that remain continue my work, and you are powerless to stop them."

 

A smile came across his face, like a man who has just won a chess match in his head against his opponent.

[Hikaru]

Hikaru raised an eyebrow. By Consuls, did he mean Leirra, or were there more Perfect who continued to live? She sighed. If only she had more knowledge about all of it. Had asked Leirra or tried harder than she had at learning about the Perfect. But who would have ever guessed something like this would happen. That she would end up before their leader or any of them at all for that matter.

Now would be a really great time for a burst of memories from her so-called past life. She grumbled. If she really was a reincarnation of Crea as Leirra seemed to believe, then where were all the feelings from before? When things not familiar felt familiar.

Come to think of it.... Where were they? Near Order she had felt familiarity. Beneath the statue, she'd had visions. Now here she was before the leader of the Perfect in the land of the Perfect, yet there was nothing... No memories. No visions. No feelings of familiarity in even the smallest of ways... With what little Hikaru knew about the nature of re-incarnation and the spirit. That could only mean one thing...

"Crea never cared for you, did she?"

[Lyoko222]

The smile vanished and went back to one lacking amusement. "She cared for all living beings, in her own way..." he replied. "A woman of deep convictions in her belief, she and I often disagreed on matters regarding our stewardship of our creations. And twas these convictions that led to her own demise at the hands of our creations."

 

"But in due time, you will see for yourself... "

[Hikaru]

"But she did not care for you at all, did she?" Hikaru repeated her previous question. "Sure you say she cared for all, and Leirra claimed she was known as the Embodiment Mother with talks of all her kindness. Yet, despite all of that kindness and care for all beings that you claim, there seems to be nothing left behind for you at all... Unlike when I first encountered Order, where everything felt familiar in an unfamiliar setting, and the longer I spent near him, the stronger that feeling became. Where before you, there is just nothing.

"Now my knowledge of re-incarnation may be only the basics and therefore strongly limited to what the Phoenix Sages of old knew. But given that they were closer to the manipulation of astral energies than any other races after you, they knew enough to know a good amount of the natures of the spirit. One such fact being, that spirits form bonds with other spirits, and then imprint those bonds. An imprinting that never goes away, even after dying and becoming cleansed.

"While one never actually connects to the past life, unless Subgrounded, they do experience flashes of deja-vu when near anything connected to those bonds. Which brings me to my point. If Crea cared for all, and held such strong convictions, why is there nothing of the sort around you? Bonds do not always have to be ones of love or care, they just have to be a strong enough emotion, as hate can carry over into imprint as well. Care to explain? Because if you ask me, it seems that you were cared for so little, that there was no reason enough to even remember you."

[Lyoko222]

"The less you know, perhaps the better." Constantine responded. Having seen enough, he shook his hand a few times, and the strands seemed to evaporate into the air, disappearing all together. "I know not what brought you here, or why, though i feel you may find an answer in what remains of the Great Halls of Evlihim."

 

He pointed in the direction of the stairs and out towards the dusty wastes below them. "Go. Up the hill you will be greeted by guardians and you will answer to them to seek entry." He turned away from her and continued to look out into the distance in much the same way she had found him. "Be gone."

[Hikaru]

"I will assume by your abrupt change of subject, that I win that one." She rolled her eyes. "I will also do as I please as I do not take orders from you." Despite saying such, Hikaru glanced to the direction he had pointed and sighed. Her defiance probably would have held more weight had there actually been anywhere else to go. As it stood however, his directions seemed to be the only clue she had, as annoying as that was..

"I have one more question first." Hikaru spoke up in order for him to hear her, as she lingered by the edge of the stairs. "You said Crea died by your creations. By whom exactly, and how?" By obtaining this information, Hikaru figured she could offer to trade it to Order for equal information, or even bribe him with it to get a hold of the scrolls when it came to that. Whatever she ended up using it for in the end, it seemed useful to know, given at how both Leirra, and the Embodiments had reacted in mere mention of Crea.