July 15th- August 15

[Amber Eyes]

Althanas is coming to an end; some catastrophic incident has left us with a little under a day to live. What does your character do in their final hours?

This contest will close on August 15, I'm looking forward to reading your entries!

[Itera]

"I had fun." Itera said, leaning out from a violet-rimmed gap in midair. All around were the all-now-too-familiar signs of of the impeding apocalypse. The huge sun shone a hot red in the sky, casting everything into crimson lights and shadows. The trees and plants have been baked to so much dry wood. The ground was cracking: small traces underfoot, entire new cliffs and valleys cleaving open in the distance. Everywhere was the hot, howling wind blowing the smoke of the dying pyre of Althanas across the lands. The cities were dead husks of themselves; what few starving survivors remained huddled in basements for shelter from the blazing destruction outside. Even up here, in the highest mountains snowless for the first time in millenia, Gulver could feel the heat radiating off of the baked rocks.

All was lost.

But not in the gap. Through the gap, Gulver could see green fields, heart-achingly blue sky, and frisky young mountains. A cool wind blew through, bringing the smells of blooming flowers and leaves and mushrooms. The burbling of the stream nearby cut through the rumbling of tormented stone underfoot. Gulver couldn't tell whether the colors and smells and sounds were more vibrant because they were so or because he compared them to distant memories of Althana-that-was. That undoomed world was there, right in front of him, just through the gap.

Tenger Jerhal. The land of fantasy. The birthplace of the fairies. The home of his love. He looked at Itera pleadingly and hugged the two small children's heads to his sides, "Then take the children with you. They are our children. Look... children... look at your mother." Four frightened, uncomprehending eyes looked towards the boundary fairy.

"I can't do that, dear."

"You can! They just have to... go through. It's there! You only have to open up!"

"They cannot enter Tenger Jerhal. They are of your world."

"Don't they mean anything to you?"

"I had fun."

"Fun? Fun!?" Gulver stumbled as the ground shook beneath him. He grazed his knee on a sharp outcrop, but fury drove him onwards. "Fun?! Is that all you know? Is that all that everything is to you? You never loved. You can't love. It's all lies! You lied to me, all these years. Lies!"

Itera stared at the three people in tattered clothes in front of her and marshalled a train of thought, "After you've seen as many people live and die, love is... differ-"

"Don't give me that!" Gulver spat, "Don't say that! You only care about yourself. Everything else... everyone else... they're just toys to you. The world is breaking and you're throwing us away like toys."

"I have no choice. There is nowhere else."

"Nowhere-" Gulver sputtered incoherently, gesturing wildly at the gap and what laid beyond, "You have paradise! You came from paradise into my life and you're going back! How could you-"

Itera's rift suddenly moved foward until she was nose-to-nose with her husband, "My home is no paradise. You are mortal. You will die there."

"Well, yes, eventually, but-"

"Look!" The gap extended a few feet more to one side and suddenly Gulver could see people. Fairies, to be exact. They were beautiful. They were graceful. They were laughing happily. They were taking turns beating another fairy nailed to a tree.

"What-?"

"I cannot protect you. Your smell will draw all of my sisters' attention. Their attention will kill you within the hour, if you were lucky."

On that note, Itera kissed Gulver. It was short and light, the sort one gives a favored toy before putting it away in the box in the attic forever, or at least until there was a yard sale.

"Die well, Gulver." Itera didn't even look at her children before she drew back into her gap. The vision of Tenger Jerhal narrowed and then vanished entirely.

She went through two pots of tea as she watched the three call after her for hours from atop that cliff. The sun set in Tenger Jerhal but Itera lit no candles, sitting alone in the dark, the walls of the sitting room illuminated by the red glare filtered through her observation gap. She watched her last human lover throw her last human children off of the cliff before jumping off after them. She watched as their insignificant corpses were incinerated as the world came apart.

Incautious birds started singing as dawn swept across Tenger Jerhal. Itera stopped staring at the wall and raised her cold teacup. She raised her other hand, the one with the phial in it, and looked at the note attached to the stopper, "They are only mortals. You'll thank me."

[Ruby]

2658

At the very end of the world, in time’s terms, not space, Ruby Winchester waited. A tear formed in the corner of her right eye, lingering for just a brief moment before rolling down her cheek. It glistened in the sparkling glow of the fiery sky, given beauty and purpose until it fell feebly to the broken lattice work of the observation platform. Here, the Last Song would be sung, and the world would start over.

She, now any other soul alive or dead would be part of the New Land. Her voice would crush, dismantle, and obliterate their wills before the Apocalypse inflicted itself upon them. Her sacrifice, perhaps meaningless in the face of a certain end, would ensure that billions of others would get the chance to live the same sort of life she had. Althanas would die, but a new world would grow from its ashes.

Starlight and spell song, it was the only truth left to cling to.

Glaring down across the enflamed planes of Corone, and further still to Radasanth’s smouldering ruins, the mistress, reddened by age, guilt, and blood could only ponder. The platform was built hastily by the last surviving members of the Tantalum Troupe and their allies, a pedestal so that her voice could be heard the world over. She had insisted it would be strong enough without it, but her defiance had been born of fear – a fear of having to watch. She did not wish to see the place she had called home for a thousand years tear its own shell apart.

“I do not wish to see the skies erupt into hellfire…” she whispered.

“I do not wish to see the ground crack, and the mountains splinter,” she said with increasing pitch.

She stomped her left heel in her trademark manner. It rattled loudly against the wood and the star iron. The strange metal seemed to respond to her aggression, slithering with life and tiny threads of quicksilver moonlight. It died down after a few seconds, as if her sigh and her venting abated its need to defend itself. The heavens groaned overhead.

This cruel and unusual punishment was Ruby’s, and Ruby’s alone to bear. Though many other immortals still clung desperately to life in caverns, crooks, and crannies, the braver and more heroic of those scepetered few did all they could to avert disaster. Brave swordsman clad in phoenix armour battled demons in the depths of Haida. Bards sung weaving songs of woe in smouldering taverns and refugee camps. Barbarians swung axes as large as the moon’s pale face into the diamond hard skulls of rampaging blots, ogres, and sky titans.

“Duffy…you old goat,” she said aloud, knowing that somewhere out there, her old friend could hear her. “I’m ready…” she did not wish to wait a moment longer, every second she had to watch the maelstrom pulse and twist and turn before her eyes was an eternity of pain and anguish she had already endured, and had no desire to endure again. She looked up at the dwindling sun’s light, and the half corona of shadow that slowly slipped across the yellow sphere. Soon, the moon would engulf it entirely, and darkness would be added to the cacophony and the madness of the last days of the All Thayne’s home.

She closed her eyes. A swell of emotion, bitter, acrid, and effluent churned the bile in her stomach. Her insentient resolve knotted, less a flutter of butterflies, and more a storm of hurricanes that tore at her nerves. A reply came through the bond of The Aria, the Eternal realm of the Thayne Tantalus, who sang his own bitter dirge in lament for his stage’s demise.

“It has been an honour…Ruby…” said the bard’s shrew like voice, a whispering, high pitched and tear stricken last goodbye.

The Spellsinger folded her arms across her chest, took a deep breath, and then held her right hand upwards. Her fingers bent into hooks, and her chest tightened so much it felt like her rib cage would implode and its broken struts would pierce her lungs. She cupped them painfully, slowly, and with too much drama even for her own reserved acting, and sang.

One last song for the death of aeons.

[Dol]

Chanting echoed within the stone walls of the mausoleum. A hooded figure, tall and slender, repeated phrases in a dead language. His words sounded like molten lead. Heavy, deep and laden with evil they poured from his mouth like a fountain of locusts.

“O Servus gatall del Thuuk.”

On the stone floor, there was a large and elaborate circle created with a chalky powder. Like ten thousand ropes tied in ornate knots looping over and under themselves, the powder lines fueled the magic of the circle with the mere power in their shape. Several drop of a deep crimson liquid were splattered in the center.

“Auris del avus.”

As the figure chanted, it increased in volume. The line work of the seal began to glow a cool blue. It cast its light dimly through the corridors of the sepulcher. It had taken him over 400 years to prepare this ritual, but the hour was at hand. Dol slowly raised his arm over the circle, contorting his hand into a crooked claw that pulsed with his words, as if he sought to control the faint glow.

“Kaer Servus meta keram.”

The hooded figure stopped suddenly. Silence crashed suddenly into the crypt like a wave against the rock. A low hanging fog began to pour forth from the circle. The blue glow slowly shifted colors across the spectrum. Towards purple it went, deepening in hue to a rich violet. Then it began to get warmer as it slowly brightened to a red, then finally darkened to crimson.

Another voice. This one sharp, piercing and gravely like a cracking rock. It growled forth from the depths of the circle. It's pitch was so low Dol struggled to understand it.

“You called.”

Dol replied. His voice uncharacteristically quivered slightly. “Yes, Lord Thuu...”

“Why?!” The voice sharply interrupted. “I do not have time for your petty tasks.”

Dol stammered. “The Covenant is broken. This world is yours...”

“So be it... Brother.”

Smoke erupted from the center of the circle. When it cleared, a being of pure terror stood at its center. Its four wings spanned the entire corridor. Its six arms turned palm up, each holding a burning coal.

“You know your fate?” Thuuk mocked with a toothy grin. Dol nodded in acknowledgment.

“Then to Abaddon with you.”

A beam of bright white light burst forth from Dol's incorporeal chest. His hand quickly shot to the location with a groan. Pain. Dol hadn't felt it in nearly a milennia. Another beam shout out at another angle. He dropped to his knees.

The mausoleum echoed with deep laughter. Dol's chest heaved as he fought to draw breath, yet another practice with which he was unfamiliar. A loud crack split the crypt. Several torrents of light now erupted from Dol's torso, face and arms. His voice began to rise up in an agonizing yell. The grinding sound of stone on stone competed for volume as the world began to be torn asunder. The crack in the mausoleum began to widen as Dol's scream intensified.

Then in a sudden burst of light, the mist and pattern of the circle were dispersed. The rotten tapestries and dry pages and manuscripts were sent flying as the last essences of Dol's will were scoured from this world.

A brilliant silver and gold breastplate fell to the floor with a loud metallic clang. It was done.

[Enigmatic Immortal]

They had said at one point, the God's themselves had left Althanas. Their attentions, secularly no longer wanted in a world that had grown without the constant aid of the Pantheon, had delved elsewhere. To a new world, galaxy, or plane. Nobody really knew. It was just simply stated that the Gods and Goddess had left Althanas to their own fate. That fate was unknown until a few scientists from Alerar had discovered that the sun, in all it's glory, was dying. Soon it wouldn't be able to support Althanas, and it would either die out and leave the wasteland cold. This was the preferable method as opposed to it going Nova and exploding.

Those same Scientists however had given themselves enough time to divise a way to get the inhabitants of Althanas off the planet. In many years, the task was headed by the Ixian Knights; the global enforcers of peace and prosperity. They had shuttled away many, creating gateways to other worlds, and after all was said and done, Althanas was left all to itself. There were only a handful of stubborn people who remained on Althanas. People who for personal reasons did not wish to leave.

After the evactuation was complete, the planet became silent. Industry was no more, factories inviolate of smoke stacks that plauged the skies. The ports and trade networks were all eerily quiet, and the Auction Houses had no one to peddle their wares. Even the sea had nothing much to say on the matter. It ebbed and flowed, but never made much a peep. The only sound that could be heard in the dead cities, towns, and villages was the whisper of the wind.

Jensen Ambrose had enjoyed that very much.

One of the few who argued to stay, despite many protests for him to get onboard a ship and start a new life, Jensen felt that he couldn't leave the world that he was tethered to. If for no other reason than as a throwback to his time within the Order of the Apocalypse. It made sense afterall. He had fought countless battles for the arrival of this very event; the end of the world. Yet that wasn't the reason he stayed. No, deep down he knew the true reason he stayed.

He was married. His beautiful wife had, for many, many millenia stayed loyally to his side. She never wondered, never guessed his reasons. She knew. Unlike Jensen, her immortality was limited to enduring. But she was not ever lasting. Very much a mortal in the way she could die, she had. She and Jensen spent one last night together, before she slept eternally. Jensen had burned his wife's body, took her remains to Salvar and managed to find the decrepit, old masoleum of Death's Cradle. One of the strongholds of the end times, Jensen's first love, second love, and two best friends were buried here. With reverence, the immortal sat in the Catacombs silently for days on end. When he was completed, he bade farwell to all in his life he ever loved. As his final show of respect, the only way he knew how, he had removed the signiture token of Jensen's love; he left his jacket with the sewn names of all the people Jensen considered a close friend. The cut sleeves and ripped belt neatly swayed in the breeze, and with one last bow to his comrades he turned, shut the tomb, and embarked on the last journey he would ever get to take.

He had learned to fly when the first few airships were invented, and this one he took had belonged to Vladimir Sigma. A fellow immortal who had at long last died in service to the people of Althanas, dying upon the blade of Lazarus, but only in so doing stabbing the God Artificer, eradicating him from Pantheon forever. Aislinn Orlouge had keen insight into that man, and it was only a fitting ending she had quipped.

For the witch, they had one last wednesday meal together at a reastauant in Corone named Ashely's. True, the better choice of place to eat was always in Irenes at Noel's diner, but that was a continent away, and the tavern was where the Mystic and Immortal had first met and fought Dark Elves together. She and her sister, Felicity, had promised to help steer the newly forming Ixian Council into ensuring prosperity upon the new world. Jensen couldn't really think of anyone better than an Orlouge to run things, and so left them to it. But that was years ago, he mused.

His journey did, however, take him back to Corone. The man had unfinsihed business in Radansath, and he parked at the empty airfield of Ixian Castle. He refused to call the area Ixia, because Sei Orlouge had insisted that he adopt the new name. There was a stretch of storage spaces allocated to people of the Ixian Knights within Sei's old tombs, and Jensen wandered the Labyrinth walkways until he located the spot he wanted. It was a large door, made of material he wasn't quite familiar with. Dorian, the boy who spoke to Dragon's, had explained his craft weaving, or "fate-weaving" once, and the whole thing was well and truly over Jensen's head. Yet it did work in a manner he knew well.

"I, Jensen Ambrose, Bodyguard of Sei Orlouge, stand before the precipice of this tablet, and invoke my status to enter into the personal realm of Lord Orlouge, master of the Ixian Knights," he said gently, but firmly. The door didn't make much movement, but something along the surface slithered around, like a snake under someone's skin, until a hissing voice spoke out.

"What is the password?" The creature slurred its 'S' horribly and Jensen tried his best not to grow irritated.

"Anita, Kyla, Ella, Emma, Akiv and Azza."

"Password accepted..."

It was the name of all of Sei's children and grandchild, and the final name, Azza, was used to throw people off. She was his honourary Niece, and he often cared for the girl when Jensen was away. As he entered he thought back to his daughter. They hadn't talked in years. He missed her terribly so, feeling the weight of the amulet around his neck tucked under his shirt. He prayed one more time she was safe.

Many would think that Sei Orlouge had many, many things to store. In truth, he had. Yet not here. Not in this personal, special sanctum. Upon the walls were hundreds of photoes, pictures, paintings, scrawlings, and scribblings of his family. All of them. From little Akiv as a baby, to him as a leader of the Ixian Knights. He passed by the photo of Jensen and Sei together, and he stared long and hard at that photo before ripping it off the wall and placing it gently into his pocket.
There were some items that were safely guarded within this vault and Jensen collected them all placing them into a large shoulder holster that was more like an overgrown quiver. Satsified, the immortal headed towards the only thing he kept inside of Sei's personal storage space for himself. He ripped the large, brown tarp off the Motorbike and smiled looking to the familiar green leaf design. He ran his hand over the smooth enameled paint job, and sat upon the seat, cranking it on after a couple kicks, and grinned as he peeled out of the Vault.

"One more ride, Tobias?" Jensen asked to the bike as he shifted gears, a boost of speed making the wind crash against his skin. His red tipped hair whipped all around face like tiny coils, and he laughed obnoxiously, whooping as he made sharp turns, skidding and sliding into the secret entrace ramp into Ixian Castle.

He rode through the old banquet hall towards the kitchen, skidding to a halt. He went into the kitchen, grabbed a few ingrediants and proceeded to bake himself a potato. He made three of them, and wrapped two of them up and took them with him as he felt the third warm his insides. He kicked the "Greenleaf" back into motion and drove off into the courtyard past the defunct Chaplains Chapel, and said goodbye to his old comrade Adolph Gretzle, feeling the weight of Crozius on his side as it clang off his leg, linked to his belt with the rest of his throwing knives.

The last stop the immortal made was to a building that was once, in its old time, known as the greatest place to duel and fight. The Citadel. Now nothing more than a cheap museum because the barbaric practices in their were rendered inhumane, it was still never the less a very important place. Jensen had felt the earth tremble several times as he rode out, and knew he was nearing the last few hours of the world as the gravity the sun provided was invading the moon. It seemed the end of the world would result in a catastrophic nova. Jensen loved that idea. One big bang.

He rode into the Citadel, the bike knocking down the huge doors as he rode down the pathways until he reached the old Monk's quarters. He stopped the bike, got off, patted it and said his goodbyes to Tobias as he went to a locket marked 'Bartholomew.' With a grin, he pulled out an old, skeletal key that was fashioned from a metal even Dorian couldn't describe, and the key liquified before entering the Lock and resolidified in the shape of a lightening bolt handle. He turned it, and when the locker opened their was a flash of green, followed by Eldritch tingles all along Jensen's flesh. He placed his hands upon the Warscythe that was inside, and felt a power ementating from the tip. He knew the weapon was lethal. He had been cut in half several times by it.

The immortal was pleased to see the Storm Herald had not forgotten him, and left him his Veil and a large collar to tie the veil on, each ringlet the ark of electrictity. He put the veil on, smiling to himself as he turned to the door, shutting the locker. He walked for several minutes down the halls of the Citadel, recalling the rooms he had fought Sei, Cassandra Remi, Zerith Dracosius, Ramah Quenzecotl, Seth Dahlios, and above all else, William Arcus; the Revenant.

He stopped at a long mural of warriors clashing, and with a flick of his wrist he lifted the Zodiac Weapon, Cancer, from his sack of goodies, and threw it with force at the mural. The warrior's hand glowed, and the weapon landed in his grip, his eyes glowing as another warrior faded into existance. Jensen began to toss Zodiac weapons, repeating the process until their was a warrior holding all but one of the Zodiac Weapons, and the mural shifted, rotated, and rolled away. Jensen looked to the stairwell, smiling, as he knew that the journey down was a solid two hour walk. With hot potatos in his hand, he knew that would not do. So instead he grabbed the Storm Herald's veil and whipped it around himself, dark whisps of energy playing around Jensen's eyes until he closed them, thought of where he wanted to be, and opened them again.

In a have he was before a large Dais, on the third step before a golden throne. Sitting there, regal and erect was one lone man. He looked human in nature, but his eyes belied the demonic taint within him. They glowed with an otherwordly understanding, and Jensen knew deep within himself that those eyes, while looking ahead, were fully alert. He stepped forwards to the second step, and the eyes looked to him instantly. They burned to even look at, and Jensen felt a wave of heat wash over him, but nothing more.

"I know you," the man said honestly, his voice gravelly like two charred rocks grating against the other. "You're familiar..."

"How many voices are stuck in there?" Jensen reply was short, and full of sarcastic hatred. "The man who reviled the soul lord, and now look at you."

"Do not speak that bastards name!" the man roared, and an inferno of heat rose the temperture in the room. Jensen felt his back starting to sweat from the heat. "I am nothing like him!"

"And yet," Jensen quipped with a raising finger. "You eat the souls of people, bind them to you, and actually killed a few gods. You are not like the Soul Lord because...." Jensen made his hands look like they were trying to balance the truth of his words.

"I succeeded where he failed." The matter ended on that note, neither person wishing to continue the pointlessness of that conversation. It was not why Jensen came here, anyway. "You brought me something?" His nose sniffed the air, and Jensen could see his head teeter up to look at the potato. Deep inside the man's chest, lodged in their like a wound, was Libra, the final Zodiac Weapon. Said to quell and bring balance to one's mind, it was a tool Sei had hoped William Arcus would have used to define his humanity. Yet the Revenant saw it as nothing more than a hinderance.

"Yep, one potato." Jensen lifted it to man's hand, and he took it. He had to bend over, strain his neck just to get a large bite out. Being chained wasn't enough. The man was chained, but also hooks dug deep into the flesh of his back. He was enslaved to this throne, and only sitting upright would prevent the discomfort. Jensen watched the man work the potato, before he finished it, and sighed. "Well, what do you think Willie?" Jensen asked earnestly, sitting cross legged in front of the Revenant.

"I don't believe we fought over something as stupid as that. It was foul and disgusting." William's face scrunched up, but he licked his lips all the same. "Though, I must admit, sustaining myself off of Magic for centuries was not exactly tasty either. So why, Jensen, have you come? To mock me? I know the world is ending. Any hour now. I have felt the tremors and I can see the decay of the world thanks to Jomil's vision. Why then are you here?"

"For the same reason we met in this building," Jensen whispered. William gave an appraising eye to Jensen, before nodding to his answer. "The same reason we fought on a rainbow with Unicorns and pink grass and midgets and piano playing bears," Jensen continued. "The same reason we fought twice over a baked potato, and the same reason we fought the Storm Herald together; because Willie...

"You and I," Jensen chuckled darkly. "Are destined to fight forever. It's not a matter of pride, nor a matter of superiority to the other. Nothing as trivial and useless as that. This isn't to settle a score, nor to dispute the ideals of one over the other. There is no reason for why we are, Willie, just that we are. No..." Jensen whispered softly as he stood up. "We do this," he gestured to the mirad of weapons at his disposal, and then to the warscythe that once belonged to William. "Fight, like animals, like their is nothing else in the world that matters...because..."

"There isn't anything else that does matter," William finished solemnly. Jensen nodded, and handed the Warscythe to the Revenant. Like an old friend he hadn't seen in ages, William held the grip tightly, twirling it one handed easily. "If you release me, I will kill you."

Jensen laughed, his echoes building to a crescendo as his hand gripped Libra. With a flare of the dramtic he flashed and smile and said, "You can try!" And with that he pulled the rod out of William's chest. In seconds the demonkin had stood up, roaring as the hooks and chair that bound him melted instantly, the full fury of a volcano gone active welling up inside the Revenant. William's body cracked with rents, glowing like motlen lava. His body transformed into the charred, husk of a tyrant, his maw dripping with hellfire as his eyes glowed to resemble two jewels burning in the pits of hell itself. The clothing he wore, nothing more than a trenchcoat and robe with pants, melted away almost instantly, just the enchanted shawl of Jomil covering his leering face. He roared again, like a hell pit abomination given free reign, and he let out a joyous howl of primal hatred, echoed by the minagery of voices that swam inside his head, all the souls screaming out as if they were burning alive. The warscythe in William's hand did not melt, but instead the tip glowed bright like it was melting in the forge. The power of it was tangiable in the air as William turned to look to Jensen.

The immortal himself had changed as well. Wind whipped around his body as his fingers curled into talons, body rising in the air. The world around them decayed as even William's infinite rage began to wither and die, famishing before this aura that Jensen exuded. A sickly green looking warrior in a robed hood stood over Jensen, mirrioring his every move as Jensen's eyes glowed with Eldritch power, and he spoke two voices as one, eyes maddening as his lips cackled with mirth born from milleniums of cruelity and irony of his own existance.

And here, when the world was going to end, did the immortal at last let the last of his subconcious dwelve into the deepness of his psyche, going to a place he never went before. A place he had boarded and shut and hid forever. Now, with nothing left in the world, Jensen ripped those cautions of his fragile psyche off and dwelved deeply into insanity, laughing insanely as William's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Here where the world ends," Jensen spoke as two, his grip on reality slipping with each giggle and chuckle. "This is it. This is all we are! Let us do what we were made to do, Willie!"

"Come then, Avatar of Famine, and let me devour your soul as well!" William roared back, his own call to battle echoing in the chasm where he was held. The two fought like jackals, Jensen whisping around with speed unmatched even by the demonkin. Yet William's tenacity and strength was well known, and he shoved the warscythe deep into Jensen's stomach, disembolwing him. Yet within mere moments green eldritch power flowed over the wound, repairing the damage as the Breath of the Undying glowed ominously in Jensen's chest.

Jensen and William had fought for hours, all the while the world trembling until eventually the caverns quaked and collapsed around them. Still they fought, cleaving, kicking, biting, punching. Jensen used the wind to unbalance his foe, and William used fire to shoot out as shots of magma. The two never relented, never stopped. They fought on and on. No matter the damage Jensen suffered, he repaired instantly. Yet no matter the damage William was brought down by, he regenerated just as fast. Truly it had reached the zenith of their martial powers as warriors. There was no more to give after this. Everything that both men were made up of was given in this one last final battle.

When the Citadel collapsed upon itself, it was thought it would be the end. Yet with black tendrils of energy forming in the shadows, a heralding maddened cry of a jester echoing in the air above, Jensen lived. He beat the ground with his fists, laughing uncontrollably until the ground cracked and fire exploded outwards. A hand gripped the immortal and broke his neck, chucking him to the side as William carved his way free, the ground melting around him. By the time he was free Jensen's warmaul, Crozius, had slammed so hard inbetween the demon's shoulders his back broke in four places. Yet before he even hit the ground they popped back into place, and he caught himself, roaring with defiance as the two titans of war went at it.

The world crashed around them, exploding as the tectonic plates gave way, lava flowing in rivers as the oceans boiled. The sky and ozone smelt of sulphur and was burning away, all while the tempeture on the planet was scalding hot. Jensen and William still fought though. They leapt over chasms, exploded upwards in the sky on rocks that hit a vent, and landed on the ground a top each other, hands looking to choke out the life of the other, break noses, gouge eyes.

They fought, uncaring of the ending world around them, because it was all they knew.

Deep in the depths of space, upon the new planet of Althanas, Aislinn had wondered to her sister Felicity, what would become of the two warriors? Was Jensen, in his immortality, given to a cruel death of dying in space, and returning, and dying again and again? What of William? Was the world ending even enough to stop the Revenant? She just didn't know. Felicity, however, with a knowing smile, had ensured her sister that Jensen knew what he was doing, and would be fine.

Many would speculate the end of Althanas, and what happened to the Enigmatic Immortal and the Revenant. Yet some, who believed in such things, had thought and prayed for their own ending to be as such...

Deep in the afterlife, in a woodland area, a woman holding her baby smiled for the first time in Millenium's as a wood cutter came home, the trace of darkness gone forever.

And off in a secluded area was three women, followed by all of Jensen's friends. HIs wife stood at the front, waiting patiently, while Chanelle Kim-Hotep, Jensen's first love, waited to her side and Stephanie Odara, Jensen's second love, waited to her right.

And at long last, cresting the hill into the realm of the dead, a warrior found the rest and peace of death with his friends.

[Ashla]

Ashla felt a tear run down her cheek. This is it...

The world was ending. In less than an hour, everything and everyone would be destroyed... Ashla wanted to go to her friends across Althanas, and tell them one last time how much she cared for them! Iris, Sen Zelrock, Eshwyn... So many people she loved, that were now doomed to die. In less than an hour, there would be nothing but death and destruction!

She was doomed to die with them.

The immortals were lucky! They were lucky they would be the ones to survive this terrible fate! Ashla suddenly felt anger and jealousy, the immortals would be able to live forever and ever! No pain, no lose. Nothing would be able to destroy anything that they cared about! But what did they care for? If they were able to live forever, would the human emotions that brought the mortals together be there? Would they have that unique bonding that mortals looked over so many times as something common? No they wouldn't.

Ashla realized just now how precious friendship and love was to her! She had grown to love those people, and yearned to protect them at all costs- even if it costed her life! Yes, everyone was mortal, yes they would all eventually die one way or the other... but she still cared greatly for them.

"Everything and everyone must die at some point." a voice whispered to her, "Even the planets and stars eventually fade."

Ashla bent down to her cat, Fireleaf, her pet and close friend. She kissed his head and held him tight. The silly cat would have no idea that the world was ending until it finally came. Ashla laughed, then in a sudden change of mood, started to cry. She cried for the people she cared for, for her enemies, for all those people she never knew. All of them would die today with her.

After about ten minutes, she whipped her tears away and let go of Fireleaf. She stood up boldly, a smile spreading across her face. She closed her eyes, waiting for the darkness that would take her any moment now.

"I am ready." She said.

[hoytti]

Few who knew Sorish would believe he was the cause of the end of Althanas. Even Sorish himself couldn't believe it. "Where did I go wrong?" he asked himself.

Sorish had released the most devastating of creatures, the Dragon Gods. They are fierce beasts that even the immortals have trouble defeating. Now they had their sites on destroying the planet that had held them for many years. they flew upwards to the heavens positioning themselves around the planet. Storing energy to destroy it. It would take about a day before it will be released. Sorish had to do something.

He picked up the phone from his desk. the people he would call was the Galactic Police. A group made up of Immortals and mortals alike. he dialed the number and waited for someone to answer.

"Galactic Police Station, my name is Silvinare. How may I help you?" A woman asked from the other end of the phone line.

"This is Senator Sorish of the Coralian government on Althanas. I am afraid that we have trouble. The dragon Gods have escaped from their prison and are planing to destroy Althanas."

"Did you say the Dragon Gods?" Silvinare asked.

"Yes, The Dragon Gods," Sorish said urgently.

"I'm afraid we can't help you. Enjoy your day sir," She said then hung up the phone.

"Drat, that was our only hope," Sorish said as he walked over to the giant office window and looked up at the four dragons charging their destructive ray. Each one was according to their element. Red for the Fire God, White for the Wind God, Blue for the Water God, and Brown for the Earth God.

"Goodbye everyone," Sorish said as the dragons released the ray destroying the planet and all on it.

[Lavinian Ambition]

"And to think, I thought I got to bring this about...perhaps in a way I did..." The words hung in the open air far longer than any had realized, such was the oppressive pressure the situation created. He stood alone, once more, his armies scattered, his lieutenant gone, his ex-wife finally at peaceful rest for eternity. The only regret he had now, was that he still had never gotten Selios back for cursing him like this. The blessed god of balance was probably snickering in whatever corner of the universe he was hiding in, and Jared was too tired to dance to his tune any longer.

Frankly, being immortal sucked.

He stood in the ruins of his home, long since turned into a museum of sorts by his own hand. In the center of the Lavinian metropolis stood the city of Lavinya, untouched and uncorrupted by the ages. People had argued that the city should be razed with new buildings in it's place. Jared had bought the land long before such an attempt was made, and in a moment of utter ruthlessness had silenced any attempt to destroy his past. People destroyed things they thought were worthless, and it had taken Jared a long, long time to come to grips with the truth, there was nothing useless in the world. Only things he could not use.

Now, he stood in a place many had called worthless and carefully pulled a cigarette from his pocket. His ex-wife hated the habit almost as much as his former lieutenant. Aislinn Orlouge, his lieutenant, had been thorough in recounting the various health problems such a habit engendered. His wife merely told him he was being an idiot and smelled like shit. Then again, Sarah was always blunt when it came to Jared, it was what made their relationship work. His eyes lifted up to the sky to look upon the exploding sun and a smirk crossed his features as he said to no one in particular, "Yeah, that's what I thought. Every time I tried to destroy this world it fought with a tenacity few could appreciate. When I took up the final nightmare I thought I would be the one who made this shit hole die. Only fitting that it go out with a bang..."

A sound of stones scraping could be heard as the lighter ignited the end of his cigarette. With a deep inhale the flames spread through the tobacco and the smoke entered his lungs giving him a deep drag as he pulled it from his lips and exhaled slowly. A small shake of his head and he moved deeper within the city. So much history, so many memories that he wasn't sure he wanted to sift through them all as he took the last few drags he ever would. A half hearted smile lit up his face as he looked upon his last day on Althanas.

He looked up once more at the last sunset he would ever see. Jared only shook his head once more as he thought back to all the fights, all the battles he would be participating in just to come to this point. He had tried to destroy the world no less than three times in an effort to end his immortality early. Then he had fought to save it countless times. The Immortal Progeny had fought the gods, resisting their efforts to reclaim their places of worship countless times, and each with the same reason, Humanity had moved on, it was time for the gods to do so as well.

Jared merely looked up at the sky with his usual bored look. Jensen Ambrose, another immortal, had once commented that Jared looked how he felt about most things. Bored as hell and looking for anything to alleviate it for even a moment. It had taken some getting used to, and when the two had split paths to do what they would with their last moments, it had been perhaps the last heartfelt thing either of them did. It almost seemed like the two of them were human again, rather than millenia old immortals who had long since lost touch with humanity. Only a few of them were sprinkled about the world, him, Jensen, Jebb Remi the father of Cassandra goddess of blessed torture. He had heard rumors of others cursed by the gods until this day, and part of him wondered how they would spend their last few moments immortal.

He knew Jensens answer and laughed, for the immortal had always said it was how he would go out when he finally did die.

Jebb he could have cared less about, the man was a sadist and without an ample supply of victims he was probably ranting in some forgotten corner of this world in an effort to sound important. Maybe he even snuck off with the refugees, Jared couldn't find it in his heart to even worry about it anymore.

There were two immortals he had always wondered about, Lynura Du'galle and Aislinn Orlouge. Aislinn had taken control of what was Althanas' population, and had left the world with the others. Jared had called her the Shepherd at one point and the nickname stuck, much to his former lieutenant's chagrin. They thought Jared was being poetic, she knew the truth, it was one final jab at the Crimson Witch before she left him and she took it with stoic pride. She of course called him a sentimental fool, until Jared pointed out that he was immortal only so long as Althanas remained, once that was no longer true he would age and die.

He had had his youth for this long, he loathed the thought of losing it now.

Lynura was a mystery to him. He wasn't sure what to make of the information broker. She seemed content with her life, but Jared knew she only continued her existence as a means of avoiding death. She had become the creature she was over that fear, and certainly now she was paying the price for such an endeavor. Perhaps she had clung to her pride one last time and left with the people, or perhaps like him she had finally grown tired of waiting for the next huge crisis. The former Coronian Noblewoman was always a blank slate to him, but then again he had more reason to worry than most. The were lovers more than a few times on the winding road.

It was with that recollection that he took out another cigarette and began to light it off the first when he heard the footsteps. They were light and echoed with confidence. A smirk crossed his lips at the way they moved and he closed his eyes grabbing another cigarette he held back the newly lit one and smirked seeing the slender hand that took it. He lit up his last cigarette and looked up at the sky with a look of relaxation as he spoke, "I was wondering if you had decided to end it, or continue running."

"All that running makes a girl tired after awhile," Came the sage advice as the woman stalked forward. A slender hand rested on Jared's shoulder before she continued, "So, decided to die young than grow old? Never seemed like the sentimental type."

"Call me old fashioned but I want to be forever young," Jared replied.

A soft giggle left the woman's lips before she spoke, "So, what are you going to do with the last moments of your life?"

"Some say the world will end in fire," Jared started.

He heard the smile in her voice as she continued to old poem, "And some say with ice."

"From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those that favor fire," He replied continuing their little game.

"But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate," Lynura continued.

"To say that for destruction ice, is also great and would suffice," The poem over he finally looked at the woman behind him and shrugged, "I'm sure we could find a bed somewhere make our last night on Althanas the most intense bout of sex we've ever had. We could put to shame even Sheex and Leila Deltin..."

"I highly doubt that, the two had one thing going for them that makes even our most passionate session pale in comparison," Lynura replied as she moved closer to him and took another drag of her cigarette.

"What's that?" Jared asked.

"They were in love. We are not, we are just the rampant weasel lust kind of sex, and that can not hold a candle to two people who loved each other, mind body and soul," Lynura pointed out as she looked him in the eyes. Jared looked deep into those ice blue orbs before he nodded softly.

"It hurts doesn't it? Knowing that despite our misgivings, despite how often we turned to each other we still held back. We never really trusted each other, even before I betrayed you and you betrayed me. Always waiting for the other shoe to drop, never being able to accept the other for who they were..." Jared asked softly.

"Don't go sappy on me now Cesarino, I might think you almost cared about me," Lynura said softly. Her gaze never flinched from his as the cigarettes were tossed aside from the both of them. He hugged her close as she whispered, "I always wondered if I had finally moved on from Levi's death when I opened up to you, but I never had, you are not him and can not hold a candle to him. I keep subtly comparing the two of you and I know that you just are not him. He was special, one of a kind..."

"Ouch Lynura, bit of brazen truth on our last day together...well I guess its my turn," Jared replied as he gently cupped her cheek, "You aren't Kyo, you have nothing on that woman and frankly I don't think you could ever be as strong willed as her. You keep shying away from the big decisions, hoping you never have to choose between one thing or another, just continue to play in the fantasy that you rule your world, despite the fact anyone with half a brain could get you to do what they want. Its why the Cult of Blessed Torture manipulated you so often, the threat of breaking your neutrality often was enough to get you to act..."

She leaned up and kissed him heatedly before her arms wrapped about his neck and she whispered, "See, was that so hard? The two of us kicking around this shit hole for so long and we could not even say that much to each other. Always veiled smiles and silken pretty little lies. Never once were we being honest with each other..."

Jared nodded before he spoke, "I don't think we should sleep together our last day alive. It would only frustrate us even more, especially now that we are finally being turthful to each other. We'd only get upset that now that we're dying we're finally showing each other who we really-"

A slender finger covered his lips before Lynura spoke softly, "I didn't stay out of fear of the unknown Jared. I stayed because of you. I knew you'd stay because you can not leave this town behind anymore than I could leave Levi's grave behind. I know when I go into the afterlife I will not see Levi standing there waiting for me like you will with your love. I know that at the end of the day I have nothing to move on to, and so I kept going. I'm here because of you, because I decided that I had to move on and accept that death comes for us eventually. I decided to spend my last day with you Cesarino."

"You know what?" Jared asked softly.

"What?" Lynura asked.

"Fuck a bed..." And he pulled her in close kissing her as passionately as possible.

[TheOnlyGhost]

Plants look something like this if you need a visual (you start seeing the plant at the 2:13 mark and then afterwords):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=115QqhuArYQ

taken from Gunman Chronicles, a PC game.



Althanas ... 100 days until the end of the world

"My god we finally solved it! We solved the Althanas hunger crisis!" The scientists cheered as they all exchanged embraces and countless clapping. "What is it Benjamin?" One of the younger scientists asked. "We just invented a highly nutritious, weed-like plant that can grow anywhere with no assistance from anyone. This will eliminate any need for farmers or anyone else to care for them. They can spread on their own, all we have to do is take what we need and we are set for life lads with plent of food left over! Great job everyone!"

Benjamin took his invention, the size of a baseball, and set it into the experimental gardens so the scientists can conduct tests on the tiny plant before they make it global. "Patience little plant, we conduct our continued radiation experiments on you tomorrow." Benjamin smiled in admiration at his creation as he shut off the lights to the facility. He almost forgot to shut the enormous windowless concrete door before leaving, but shut it before he left to go to the scientists' rest quarters to get some sleep.

As he went to bed the plant started making odd groaning noises, almost like that of a large animal, as it began growing exponentially from the radiation treatments it was getting. This radiation was the source to make the organism grow and spread by itself, yet it backfired in the worst possible way. It's roots burst out of it's pot and started engulfing the entirety of the garden. Each plant was growing to fifty feet tall and started to burrow into the ground as it quickly devoured the large room. The plant looked like it had a rocky surface for a body, grayish-white as the color, as the mouth/lip of the plant had beautiful random patterns of pink and yellow, as if it were a method to attract pray for the plants' food needs. Inside the plant, hidden from view until it was to late, was a large tongue several feet long to consume it's pray along with two large red eyes. After only thirty minutes, the plant dominated the room but it could not grow any further until that solid concrete door was opened. As it waited for that moment, the plant mutated a little bit more and grew a large set of razor sharp teeth for easier consumption.

...

Althanas ... 99 days until the end of the world

The next day Benjamin awoke, he anxiously put on his science coat and couldn't wait to open the concrete door to see how his plant was doing. He heard weird noises on the other side but thought nothing of it Probably an electronic going wrong or something, things break all the time here anyway. He had trouble opening the door at first, but after several tries he finally got it opened. As Benjamin opened the door, his experiment had no containment holding it back now and started to exponentially grow once more. It devoured his body in seconds with it's roots as it spread out through the rest of the facility and expanding to the point where it burst out of the glass windows. Within a matter of days, the plants spread out through the entire planet in a matter of a few months much to no avail of how much all of the races tried to control the plant. For each plant, root, and growth they managed to destroy ... at least 100+ grew in it's place in a matter of seconds.

....

Althanas ... the end of the world

Everyone had ample food from the plants alright, but getting around becomes impossible. The plant was now the one eating them, and as a result all of technology begins to deteriorate at an immense rate. All other food and water sources were destroyed and overrun by the plant. All the homes, buildings, shops, shelters, stores, rivers, oceans, etc were consumed by the plant for it's own use. Eventually the people and all of it's races had nowhere to go as they were all forced gradually into the ice cold tundras of Althanas where the plants had the slowest growth rate. It was only a matter of time until the rest of the few survivors, 10 at most, were also plant food. Alicia was one of them, and although a ghost, she could see that the plants would devour her regardless of her abilities for it seemed to mutate to adapt to the weaknesses of all races for it's own personal gain.

She helped the other nine survivors fend off the plant as long as possible watching it gradually consume one after the other until five were left. A ghost (Alicia), an elf, a human, an orc, and a dwarf ... she was with the four primary races of Althanas. They all looked at each other with fear and knew it was the end for them all, for they embraced as they each started to cry. "After countless amounts of years, we finally are at the end of days, find a way where we all come together and die as one. It is a great shame we couldn't ignore all of our petty differences until this dreadful day. When we are exterminated, may it be known to other planets and galaxies that at the end ... we stood as one!" said Alicia ... the other four didn't respond, for all they did was embrace each other harder in agreement as the plants overwhelmed them, consuming all that was left of Althanas, and the whole entire planet. Nothing was left but the plant for all eternity, a bit of irony at it's worse. The plants were created for an infinite amount of food, when in the end ... WE were the food.

[Revenant]

A hot wind blew across the baked earth of the Desolation, stirring the dusty nothingness into a mockery of life before passing on, returning things to their normal stasis. There was nothing left alive in the Desolation, no movement of scuttling creatures or striving of plant matter to eke out an existence under the harsh, bloated sun. True to its namesake, the Desolation had become anathema to life, a blight upon the face of Althanas.

The Desolation had begun as nothing more than a bare patch, several miles wide and at first there had been an unending stream of scholars making pilgrimages from every corner of Althanas to study the dead spot. Of course in those days it had been nothing more than a curiosity, a passing topic of discussion in classrooms and magical circles for those who had nothing better to speak of. All that changed, however, when it was discovered that the Desolation was growing.

Initially it was nothing more than a few inches of spread, a surge so small that it had had to be recalculated again and again to prove its existence. But then the first surge happened, expanding the Desolation by a dozen feet on all sides. That first surge wasn’t the largest to have happened by any means, but it had been the most devastating. The researchers, scholars, and magical savants who had come to study the Desolation had been packed so close that more than half their number had been caught in the surge, their life torn instantly from the withered husks of their bodies which crumbled to dust soon thereafter. The loss had been tremendous, with a majority of the greatest minds in Althanas being snuffed away in a sudden horrifying experience.

People began to really notice the Desolation after that.

Everything that could be thought of had been tried against the Desolation. Magics of all brands were employed against it to no effect, and the greatest alchemical works that scientific minds could conjure were nothing more than snake oil against the Desolations steady advance. Hope had remained until the second great surge, the one that had caused the Desolation to flare to enormous proportions, until the waste covered a quarter of Althanas, swallowing nations, continents, and oceans into its hungry maw. No one knew what the Desolation was, but it had become apparent that Althanas itself was dying.

Unknown to the huddled, frightened masses of confused peoples below, a cancer had embedded itself within the Tap, the wellspring of magical energy and very lifeblood of the planet. It was a leech, suckling on the Tap and draining the energy of Althanas bit by bit into itself in an attempt to sate the eternal hunger gnawing within it. And while it had no name for itself, the leeching cancer which slowly strangled Althanas had come to be known by those who knew of its existence as the Hungerer. It made little difference to the Hungerer what title they assigned to it in some vain attempt to codify it, make it seem like less of a threat because it was known. It had, after all, had many names throughout its long existence.

William Arcus, Revenant, Demon, Godslayer, all those titles paled in significance to the truth of the creature, that it was something primal and fierce made manifest and bound together into a singular being. In its early days those titles had perhaps meant something to it, the days when it walked through Althanas culling those that caught its attention like a gardener pruning rotted vines. Then it had moved on, walking the secret pathways that led between Althanas and the countless other realms of existence spinning just beyond the veil of reality. That was where it had seen and learned those secrets that mortals weren’t meant to know, that was where it had been warped and twisted beyond recognition. That was where the Hungerer had been born.

When the Hungerer had returned to the world of its birth it had done so not as a child coming home but as a parasite, corrupting and devouring its celestial mother. It embedded itself in the Tap and began drawing the life of Althanas into itself. Those few who still knew of the Tap upon the Hungerer’s return had mounted a crusade against it. Heroes from every corner of Althanas banded into an army of sword, magic, and gun.

And they had failed.

That had been the first surge, the collective life force of the world’s greatest heroes channeling into the Hungerer and giving it enough strength to tear a hunk of the planet’s essence into its ever-chewing jaws where before it had only been able to nibble. The panic of the event finally breached the blinding curtain over the myriad gods and demons of Althanas, who had ignored the Hungerer and its Desolation in favor of their own petty squabbles, grabs for power, and ageless machinations. Following the first great surge the threat that the Hungerer presented to Althanas could no longer be ignored.

And so the greatest coalition in Althanas’ history was formed. The gods rallied their forces, and donned their shining raiments to lead their armies in a march upon the Hungerer. Wyron and Am’aled marched alongside Njal and Cassandra Remi, the old gods and the new gods put aside their differences, their grudges and vendettas, and banded together for the first time in history.

And they too failed.

The hot dust of their forgotten corpses mixed with the ashes of the world, scouring Althanas and feeding the Desolation until it was swollen and bloated with power. And thus it was that the gods’ greatest failure spelled doom for their world, and there were none left to stop the insidious creep of the field of barren death that spread like a wildfire as the Hungerer feasted on the last dredges of life that the Tap could manifest.

And so it was that the Desolation came to claim the whole of Althanas, turning inward once the lands and the oceans had been wore clean and stripped of life. Great cracks formed, cutting deep enough to bleed the very heart of the world dry. But even as the planet failed, crumbling into deadened chunks of ruination which drifted away into the endless abyss beyond there was a mournful cry. The Hungerer, having stripped Althanas of all it was until it was nothing but a husk of its former glory, found that it was still unsated and tore a hole through to the next realm, moving on in its attempt to feed the never ending thirst within it.

[Amber Eyes]

The clock tower chimed, the hour was near. The Ixian Knights had halted all work and were told to go spend their time with family. Even now, crowed into Sei’s living quarters, the Orlouge clan held out for some hope. Dinner had been informal, various finger foods that did not pull the kitchen staff from their homes for too long were laid out upon tables and everyone shuffled around in an uncomfortable silence. How do you tell those that you’ve worked with for years goodbye?

Within the family things were different, for the children’s sake everyone tried to keep a smile plastered to their face, but still you could see the fear in their eyes. Anita sat reading with a expression of frustration on her face, as though a book written years ago could tell her how to fix the instability of the world. People had tried to stop it, when the heat-waves first came. Many great sorcerers and even gods spent all their strength to buy us some time. When the quakes started coming day after day people began to convert to new religions and study the world around us. Alerar sent airships further into the atmosphere than ever before. When the coastal regions began to flood people let whole families move into their homes, piling three to a bed and blankets on the floor as though some being out there would change their mind and pardon us for our past sins.

The date that the planet would become so unstable we would die was marked plainly upon every surface in sight. People became obsessed with making those last days count. Kyla Orlouge simply tried to hold her children close and pretend that they still had a future. Akiv was starting to understand that something wasn’t right, but the idea of death was still foreign to him. Little Ava was so young, she’d never even had the chance to take her first steps. Looking around at the hollow faces of her uncles and sisters, she made the decision to put her kids to bed in hopes that they would suffer as little as possible.

Goodbyes were difficult, especially with Anita and Sei. There were so very many thing she needed to say and yet, what difference did it make when neither of them would be alive to remember it? Finally she just gave them a hug and hoped that they knew how she felt.

As she tucked the little ones in Kyla sang a lullaby just as she always did. Prayers were said to the Thaynes for safety and just like every night they asked to be woken to a new day. Kyla didn’t have the heart to change it now.

[Amber Eyes]

First Place is a tie

Enigmatic Immortal receives 1300 exp and 200 gp

Lavinian Ambition receives 400 exp and 200 gp

Second Place -Itera receives 200 exp and 175 gp

Revenant receives 500 exp

TheOnlyGhost receives 100 exp

Ruby Winchester receives 300 exp

Dol receives 100 exp

Blue Ghosts of Seaside receives 100 exp

Hoytti receives 100 exp

Amber Eyes receives 400 exp

[Amber Eyes]

Exp/gp added.