Marian was left for dead after the Commander executed her, but something deep within the Earth stirred, something from ages long past. Something that knew Marian from long ago and had come to collect a debt.
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The Forgotten Vigil (Goddess Of Victory NIKKE/Black Desert Online)
- Thread starter Stimpak Medic
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Prologue: An Old Acquaintance
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Stimpak Medic
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Prologue: An Old Acquaintance
It was supposed to be death. She was, by all means and ends, lost. Yet something underneath the ground she lay upon called for her. As she watched the commander and her short-term comrades leave her to the unforgiving surface, something else came to her in her final moments from deep within the earth.
Something unnatural. Something ancient. Something that did not care for good or bad, Raptures or Humans.
Marian's vision was slowly fading, and black was beginning to fill her vision.
Something scratched at her hazy mind. It was a voice, light and cheerfully sharp, like a cartoonist's depiction of a mouse's voice.
"Oh. It's really you. I've been wandering this world for hundreds of years looking for you. I didn't think I'd ever see you again. You're in quite the predicament." It's high-pitched, jovial voice played in her mind.
"Who...Is...That?" Marian barely spoke, each word forced out like a lump of hot iron.
"Shhhh. Shhh. Shhhh. You're not in any position to talk right now. Just nod if you can understand me." The voice said, and Marian forced her head up with much difficulty. When she opened her eyes a little, what she saw was not a human or anything resembling one.
It was a floating orb of blackness, with two little glowing red points that must have been eyes.
"Don't tell me you don't remember me?" The black floating thing asked with faux disappointment.
It was getting even harder for Marian to stay conscious. All she wanted to do was close her eyes. To sleep. It would be so easy right now.
The little floating orb of darkness flew in small circles as it spoke again.
"You don't have much time left. The Raptures will be here soon to take you apart. But I can help you. You didn't forget our deal, did you?"
"Wh-?" Marian barely weakly groaned out.
"Not you as you are now of course. You from several dozen lifetimes ago. It took some time to find your spirit after it reincarnated so many times. Illezra will no doubt be here soon as well." The little thing bobbled up and down. It seemed the name Illezra had given it had some fear.
"So, will you help me help you, or will I have to find your next reincarnation?" It asked, floating right up to her face.
"Sav-" She said, but her voice left her, and her head rolled to the side.
"Very well, I will save you just this once. For old times' sake." The bobbing black thing said, and Marian felt something cold and sticky flow into her head, and the bullet in her brain was tugged out, and her wounds were repaired.
Her eyes shot open as life and vitality returned to her, but something felt wrong, like there was a strange sickly film on reality that she couldn't quite recognize or understand. Everything felt like it was coated in a thin sheen of inky blackness, but it soon subsided.
She brought her hand to her forehead. The wounds were gone. As well as her corruption. Whatever this thing did, it removed the corruption she had experienced. She looked around.
Nobody was there.
Behind her, she heard the high-pitched laughing of the creature, and she stood up quickly, turning to see the thing doing little circles on the wall she had rested against.
"Now that you're up, we should get moving. No good staying here. No, no, no." It bobbed up and down in the air as it flew around her like a planet orbiting a star.
"Back to the Ark?" Marian asked hesitantly.
"No! To the Black Stones." The thing said and began floating down a road nearby.
"Wait. I don't understand!" Marian called out.
"You don't need to understand anything. You just need to get stronger." The thing said, and even though it was over twenty meters away and counting, she heard it clearly as if it was right next to her.
"How? "She asked, and the thing spoke again.
"I'm in your head. That's how. You don't need to shout to talk to me. Just think, and I'll be there. Anywhere, anytime, anyhow. We're stuck together like glue, you and me." It responded, and she could feel the condescension in its voice.
'What are you? Are you a demon?' She asked in her head.
"You can call me a Black Spirit if you want, or use any nickname that you want in that tiny head of yours, if it makes this process easier for you." It responded with a laughter that sounded like a mixture of cackling, scraping, and squeaking.
"Wait, what am I saying? I just have to contact the Ark and go back. Not go wherever you say." Marian shook her head. She felt like she had been in a trance, as if something was influencing her thoughts.
"I can't stop you, but you'll never defeat the Raptures the way you are now... Not without my help." The spirit trailed off, seemingly dejected at her refusal.
"No one Human or Nikke can defeat the Raptures alone, but all of us can if we work together." She replied, but deep within her she had doubts.
"And yet you haven't. Your Gods have abandoned you, and your race is on the brink of extinction. Maybe it's time to reach out to something greater. Something Older." It responded, unperturbed by her rebuttal.
Marian, now angry, reached to her leg holster and pulled out her only remaining weapon, a small handgun used as a last-ditch self-defense weapon. She carried two.
Pointing it at the spirit, she spoke again.
"I won't let you have your way." She said, and fired a single shot.
Bang!
The bullet whizzed through the spirit and tore through the building behind it, embedding itself into the concrete road one street over.
She heard the sigh of the creature after her ringing ears stopped.
"Guns don't work on something that doesn't have a physical form, numbskull. Is your head full of hot air?" It mocked her. However, it didn't seem angry, more so amused in the way a teacher corrects a student who just answered incorrectly with a humorous answer.
Marian's patience for this strange spirit had run dry.
"Just follow me." She said, turning around and walking back towards where she knew a recon point was.
"Sigh. If you wish." The creature sighed and said with a resigned attitude, unable to stop her.
And so began the long trek back to the Ark, where she would have much explaining to do, and have many questions to ask to and about this 'Black Spirit'.
It was supposed to be death. She was, by all means and ends, lost. Yet something underneath the ground she lay upon called for her. As she watched the commander and her short-term comrades leave her to the unforgiving surface, something else came to her in her final moments from deep within the earth.
Something unnatural. Something ancient. Something that did not care for good or bad, Raptures or Humans.
Marian's vision was slowly fading, and black was beginning to fill her vision.
Something scratched at her hazy mind. It was a voice, light and cheerfully sharp, like a cartoonist's depiction of a mouse's voice.
"Oh. It's really you. I've been wandering this world for hundreds of years looking for you. I didn't think I'd ever see you again. You're in quite the predicament." It's high-pitched, jovial voice played in her mind.
"Who...Is...That?" Marian barely spoke, each word forced out like a lump of hot iron.
"Shhhh. Shhh. Shhhh. You're not in any position to talk right now. Just nod if you can understand me." The voice said, and Marian forced her head up with much difficulty. When she opened her eyes a little, what she saw was not a human or anything resembling one.
It was a floating orb of blackness, with two little glowing red points that must have been eyes.
"Don't tell me you don't remember me?" The black floating thing asked with faux disappointment.
It was getting even harder for Marian to stay conscious. All she wanted to do was close her eyes. To sleep. It would be so easy right now.
The little floating orb of darkness flew in small circles as it spoke again.
"You don't have much time left. The Raptures will be here soon to take you apart. But I can help you. You didn't forget our deal, did you?"
"Wh-?" Marian barely weakly groaned out.
"Not you as you are now of course. You from several dozen lifetimes ago. It took some time to find your spirit after it reincarnated so many times. Illezra will no doubt be here soon as well." The little thing bobbled up and down. It seemed the name Illezra had given it had some fear.
"So, will you help me help you, or will I have to find your next reincarnation?" It asked, floating right up to her face.
"Sav-" She said, but her voice left her, and her head rolled to the side.
"Very well, I will save you just this once. For old times' sake." The bobbing black thing said, and Marian felt something cold and sticky flow into her head, and the bullet in her brain was tugged out, and her wounds were repaired.
Her eyes shot open as life and vitality returned to her, but something felt wrong, like there was a strange sickly film on reality that she couldn't quite recognize or understand. Everything felt like it was coated in a thin sheen of inky blackness, but it soon subsided.
She brought her hand to her forehead. The wounds were gone. As well as her corruption. Whatever this thing did, it removed the corruption she had experienced. She looked around.
Nobody was there.
Behind her, she heard the high-pitched laughing of the creature, and she stood up quickly, turning to see the thing doing little circles on the wall she had rested against.
"Now that you're up, we should get moving. No good staying here. No, no, no." It bobbed up and down in the air as it flew around her like a planet orbiting a star.
"Back to the Ark?" Marian asked hesitantly.
"No! To the Black Stones." The thing said and began floating down a road nearby.
"Wait. I don't understand!" Marian called out.
"You don't need to understand anything. You just need to get stronger." The thing said, and even though it was over twenty meters away and counting, she heard it clearly as if it was right next to her.
"How? "She asked, and the thing spoke again.
"I'm in your head. That's how. You don't need to shout to talk to me. Just think, and I'll be there. Anywhere, anytime, anyhow. We're stuck together like glue, you and me." It responded, and she could feel the condescension in its voice.
'What are you? Are you a demon?' She asked in her head.
"You can call me a Black Spirit if you want, or use any nickname that you want in that tiny head of yours, if it makes this process easier for you." It responded with a laughter that sounded like a mixture of cackling, scraping, and squeaking.
"Wait, what am I saying? I just have to contact the Ark and go back. Not go wherever you say." Marian shook her head. She felt like she had been in a trance, as if something was influencing her thoughts.
"I can't stop you, but you'll never defeat the Raptures the way you are now... Not without my help." The spirit trailed off, seemingly dejected at her refusal.
"No one Human or Nikke can defeat the Raptures alone, but all of us can if we work together." She replied, but deep within her she had doubts.
"And yet you haven't. Your Gods have abandoned you, and your race is on the brink of extinction. Maybe it's time to reach out to something greater. Something Older." It responded, unperturbed by her rebuttal.
Marian, now angry, reached to her leg holster and pulled out her only remaining weapon, a small handgun used as a last-ditch self-defense weapon. She carried two.
Pointing it at the spirit, she spoke again.
"I won't let you have your way." She said, and fired a single shot.
Bang!
The bullet whizzed through the spirit and tore through the building behind it, embedding itself into the concrete road one street over.
She heard the sigh of the creature after her ringing ears stopped.
"Guns don't work on something that doesn't have a physical form, numbskull. Is your head full of hot air?" It mocked her. However, it didn't seem angry, more so amused in the way a teacher corrects a student who just answered incorrectly with a humorous answer.
Marian's patience for this strange spirit had run dry.
"Just follow me." She said, turning around and walking back towards where she knew a recon point was.
"Sigh. If you wish." The creature sighed and said with a resigned attitude, unable to stop her.
And so began the long trek back to the Ark, where she would have much explaining to do, and have many questions to ask to and about this 'Black Spirit'.