2011-06-06 - Cutscene: A Sister's 'Ghost'

The mission was set. The plans were there. Ascian knew what was going to happen tomorrow. The Orbital Frame would certainly be at the Greelandic facility, and he - along with those of the Divine Crusaders who had offered their help or otherwise had been pushed by their superiors to come - would assault it and take the blue machine. His sister's machine. The true memento.

For hours now, Ascian has been up, keeping himself busy tuning up Amenthes, readying up for the conflict that was certain to come. The red glow of the Amenthes casually pulses through the cockpit, lighting up Duat's screen as he taps against the holographic touch-sensitive controls and begins dimming the light. The framerunner was starting to feel more and mored tired, and he knew that if he was going to be at his best during that mission, he'd have to sleep. With his right hand, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a photo, wrapped around a small metalic ankh clip-on earring. "Alina..." He whispers. His hand closes firmly around the ankh, his eyes pressing firmly closed to push away those few tears that still were left over from a moment of 'weakness'. The drops fall onto his fingers, which open again.

"I will avenge you, Lin." He then pulls his hair at his right ear back, and proceeds to clip the earring on, pushing the metal to wrap around his flesh and cartilage. The pulse of the machine hastens for a moment, synchronized with another wave of sadness welling up from within Ascian. His head comes to rest against the back of the cockpit's seat, and Duat automatically dims itself and closes the black canopy over the Amenthes' cockpit, hiding the framerunner from other people. And slowly, the young man comes to drift to sleep. For a moment, Amenthes even materializes - a barely transparent woman made of flames with wings, who lays herself onto the runner, hands crossing against his chest, where she lays her head, smiling silently.

Further and further, Ascian sinks off into the land off dreams. Conciousness fading. And just for a moment, that little Ankh seems to chime at his ear before he finally takes that final step into the depths of his mind and has sunk into that other world parallel to reality. The world in which almost anything seems to be possible. A land, that for Ascian, is filled with nothing but darkness and mist.

Within this world of darkness, the male Luddite reaches a hand out towards the low mist, which parts only slightly so, in order to give way to a world being built beneath his feet. Suddenly, the ground he'd been standing upon falls out from beneath him. There is a falling sensation for just a moment, after which he suddenly finds himself beneath water! He can't breathe! He moves his hands wildly around, trying to climb to the surface, but he doesn't seem to be able to move! Almost like he doesn't have control of his own body in this dream. All he can do is watch as bubbles rapidly form from beneath him, and he watches the grey sky above disappear further and further as his body sinks deeper and deeper. Deeper into the darkness beneath. Deeper into dispair and sadness.

Drowning. It isn't an unfamiliar feeling. Being dragged down, pulled under - losing out on the light and hope that the world above has to offer. Below, the darkness looms onward, a dark abyss so deep that it seems as if no one could escape. Dark tendrils reach out their hands, latching onto his ankles and pulling down hard as reality seems to swim with the sensation of being sucked down into that vortex of nothingness.

"What are you doing, Ian?" That voice. It is the same one that has been there all his life - from those first infant cries to the moment when she vanished from his life - forever.

The scene changes, and for a moment Alina is standing there, donned in her battlesuit. Alarms blare around them as she looks first at him, and then towards the cockpit of Mayet. In an almost childlike gesture, she throws her arms around his neck, pulling him close. "I'll see you soon. Stay safe." As she steps back, the girl's arms slide over his head, pulling with it the feathered pendant, which she loops over her neck. Then, one hand slides down into his, placing her earring there. "I love you." The girl's fingers linger a moment longer, and then ... she's gone.

The darkness returns. The crushing feeling of water weighs down even as the light grows dimmer. "This isn't right. Ascian. Fight this!" There is urgency in that voice, one almost driven to panic. "Fight!"

Ascian's ears perk, even out in the real world, as that recognizable voice sounds. That sudden pull into a different scene has him confused, but within moments he recognizes what is going on. Or rather, he starts living through that moment. "I love you too, Lin." Ascian whispers, moving a hand to the side of Alina's face, lookingly kindly at those eyes of hers, and brushing his fingers along her hair for a moment. "Be safe." He whispers, and when she then leaves, the canopy closes. However, the red of Amenthes doesn't illuminate the cockpit, instead, it immediately has him back within that drowning darkness.

With the touch of those dark tendrils, his feet pull ever so lightly against the stream. The water gets heavier, the light dissipating, yet that voice was still as clear as day to him. Above that water, someone was waiting for him. And he knew exactly who! He had to see her. He had to fight this darkness, so he could see her. At least within his dreams. Even if reality no longer would let him see her, in his dreams... please... let him see her within his dreams.

But his ars still fail him. He kicks against the darkness, pulling away from those tendrils. But that sense of failing to breathe is getting stronger. Its making it hard to know where is up and down. His hands go up, reaching out for the end of the water, but he cannot pull them down to 'push' the water away. All he can do is move his hands up, or back down to his sides. They just won't move outwards. Why!? Why can't he move his body. Why is he so powerless beneath this water. What was holding him back still? His own body? But he keeps reaching up, trying to somehow touch the edge of the water so far above him. So... so far above him.

"Oh, Ian." The girl's voice seems to carry such affection, but also some sadness. In the darkness, there is a brief flickering as if something else were sharing that ominous place with him. "Even when things look their darkest, we somehow always save each other, don't we?" The ripple comes closer in the water, Lin's face showing blue in the dim light. Her hand reaches out, pushing wet tendrils of floating hair away from his face as she leans forward, pressing her forehead against his. "Always together." She whispers, although the voice seems to carry even with the water between them.

There is motion behind her, as if something large were sweeping through the water. Suddenly, there is motion where there was none before. They are moving, swept upwards towards the light in a rush of cold water. There is a sudden rush of air as they break the surface, speeding up over some distant island of black sands. As odd as it seems, it is Lin's arms that cling onto him, and ... feathered wings that hold them aloft. This isn't like any storybook angel, though. The wings born behind her are white and black and tipped with blue diamonds.

"Hold on." With a flex of those powerful wings, the young woman sweeps down towards the land, back-winging to set him down upon the sand with reluctant fingers. Then, she alights onto a small rock nearby, crouching in a cat-like fashion. The winged version of Lin offers a small smile, "You're stronger now. It makes me happy to see it. Maybe strong enough that you don't need me anymore." The smile falters, replaced by another of those sad expressions. "Is that why you've come here, Ian? Did you come to say goodbye?"

A smile appears on the young man's face as Alina suddenly appears before him, pushing away the hair that stopped him from seeing all of her face. That smile only grows a but further as she presses her forehead to his. He wanted to answer, but he cannot speak. There is still water. She could, but somehow, he 'knew' that he could not open his lips. Not until that moment where she finally takes him from the dark water. It's like some kind of weight is suddenly lifted from his entire body as the warmth of the sun hits his body, and his pilotsuit forms around him like some kind of protective second skin.

Ascian looks down as they quickly move across the endless ocean, only finding that one single island in the distance. "Always. Lin." Ascian whisper, too happy now to realize that this is now a dream. Or rather, he no longer realizes that there is a difference. This is, for now, his world. When coming to a halt, his hands reach out to her when she lets him go, but he doesn't grab hold. 'Ian' lets himself be put down, and when the girl finally settles down on that stone, is also the moment that Ascian crawls towards her.

But he stops. He stops as she smiles her little smile, and she speaks those words. Strong enough not to need her anymore? "N... no. No Lin!" He whispers, that sad feeling in his chest quickly overcoming her.

"No Lin! I'm not strong! Please... please, I still need you! I don't want to say goodbye!" The young mancalls out, in clear desperation. He continues to quickly crawl closer to her, observing those strange wings and that manner in which she say. He's reminded of Mayet for a moment. He finally ends up on his knees before her, reaching out towards her sides. "Please, Lin! Don't go away. I need you. I will always need you -- together forever, remember!?"

Like some wild creature, Lin continues to perch almost unnaturally upon that stone. It is almost as if she were some combination of Orbital Frame and human, the two merging together to form something entirely... different. But somehow she is still the same as well. The same little girl that had laughed with him. The same young woman who had hid in dark hallways from the doctors of the Mindflow program, the same woman who had bravely gone off to face her fate.

"Shh." She whispers, then hops down off of the rock, those wings folding behind her. A hand reaches out to place two fingers across his lips. "You /are/ strong Ascian. You've fought for so long, and I couldn't be there." Remourse lingers in her voice as those fingers lift from his skin. "I'm so sorry." The young woman's eyes show the glassy reflection of pre-tears.

She slowly stands up, taking hold of one of his hands and pulling him with surprising strength to his feet. This is a dream - afterall, so it seems his dream impression of her is so much more than her human equivalent. "I need your strength now, more than ever." Her eyes close with the sound of his pleading, as if it pained her to hear it. "I am always with you. No force in all the world could ever change that. Not even death."

Her hand continues to hold on to that one of his, her blue eyes looking with an almost beast-like intensity. "But it is only your strength that can save me. Your strength that can find Mayet." It seems as if the Frame-merged version of Lin has no idea of his plans for the following day. "It's just the first step, but I know you'll find a way." The girl's fingers tremble, as if it were some great effort that kept her from faltering. "I'm lost in a dark place, and this time it has to be your light to save me. I can't... I can't do it on my own."

His lips press together firmly when she bring those fingers to them. His eyes tremble before the sight of his sister, speaking those words that encourage him. "You can still be there." His hands reach up towards her hand and form around them for a moment. "I can be much stronger if you were there, Alina." Anything to get her to stay. But her fingers move away again, and for a moment his hand falls heavily towards his side, only to be caught by Alina's.

With her 'strength', she pulls him up and he quickly ends up standing firmly before her. Now, standing, somehow he feels a lot more powerful. Slightly above his sister, taller, he looks down at her as she asks him for his strength. "Why do you need my strength?" He asks her, moving his unoccupied hand towards her back to bring her into a hug. But he stops, as she looks up at him with that fierce look. He doesn't understand the words she is saying. "But you are right here." He whispers to her. "I've already found you." He whispers. "You and Mayet, you're both here... right?" Tears begin to well up to his eyes again. "Right... please tell me you are here..."

There is an almost wild look in the winged girl's eyes, as if she were torn somewhere between fear and sadness. Those blue eyes search his face, almost as if she were trying to memorize it in this moment - perhaps afraid of losing him completely. "I want to be there, Ascian." Quite suddenly, her head turns as she seems to be looking over her shoulder at something that isn't there. The ground shakes beneath their feet, causing the feathers of her wings to shudder. There is something out there that frightens her, something that drives her to take a step closer to him, pulling into that hug with a faint whimper.

Her head slowly comes to rest on his shoulder, eyes closing even as those wings still shake. "Because I can't do this alone, Ian." Her words come as a whisper, her head only lifting to look at him once again. "This is just a dream." Slowly, the girl steps back, letting herself draw away from him except for a palm over his heart. "This is where I'll always be. Amenthes is watching over you, as Mayet watches over me. My spirit, my soul, even if I can't find my way back to you... she still protects it." There is another of those loud thuds that seems to shake the entire world around them. The image of Lin shifts as she backwings, doing a flip in the air before landing. The creature that stands before Ascian is not human any longer, but a strange sort of cat-like creature with the same wings that had been born on that angelic form of Alina. The cat's blue eyes look at him a moment longer. "Find Mayet. That's the beginning, but you'll have to find a way of reaching me. That's a question only you can answer." Wait, what did she mean? With another loud bang, the world seems to fall away. Back in reality, in the hangar, a mech is moving around close by, the sound reverberating even through Amenthes.

"I... I don't understand, Lin." Ascian whispers, continueing to stare into those lost looking eyes of hers, reading her emotions carefully like he'd always been capable of; simply by watching. "You... you are here, Lin." Ascian repeats again, trying to convince himself more than her. But when the ground begins to shake, and outside influence begin to wrest him into waking hours, a realization of reality begins to reassert itself. And her words only pull him further into that other world. This is just a dream. She draws away from him, and even as she places that palm over his heart, he already can no longer feel it. She isn't really there. So what is this dream? Is Lin's dead spirit speaking to him? Why does she want him to find Mayet? How can he possibly find her? Is it her corpse he must find!?

He reaches a hand out towards her, touching her cheek just before she backwings again. "I miss you... Lin." He whispers. "And, I'll find Mayet. I promise you, I will find her." And there he stands as the land between them suddenly splits, and with a firm jerk he begins to fall again... that disgusting feeling of taking a step and not realizing there was just one more step on the stairway one is going down...

And suddenly Ascian sits up in the cockpit, panting heavily, staring with shaking eyes at the area before himself. "Shhhh." The spirit of Amenthes is still there, rubbing the back of her hand against his cheek. "Sleep, my warrior." She whispers to him. "You had a dream." Ascian slowly turns his head towards the winged and fire-veiled visage, but does seem to calm beneath her words. "I'll make you forget about the world outside. Just go back to sleep." Amenthes whispers, placing a kiss to his lips and soothing him back into a dreamless rest, even as his tears start flowing again; so tired - so very tired and sad.