>>5308414>>5308415>>5308520>>5308836> 99“But where was Cici?”
That singular thought anchors the voices as they try to find footing against the tide, throwing every trick Ashana had drilled into them during mental combat training to try to put up some defense against the relentless pressure, to try to find a raft.
A raft? A ship! A man stands firm upon the bow, eyes looking serenely to the horizon as his ship explodes behind him. Showers of splintering wood and cascades of flame drive his crew into the brine as memories of shanties past play haunting melodies to the screams of fallen sailors. A collage of what was meets what is or perhaps what will be in a manic dance.
But how?
The man stands in an office, before a college, is bemoaned by an empty grave as the choir sings.
The mission had been a secret.
Coins. Coins heavy in the hand, glistening in the fire light, raining down like glittering stars as the ship explodes and all is tossed down into the darkness of the riptide: crew, captain, books, barrels, a partially burnt up scroll with a white seal.
White seal. The words of the prophets, a letter of safe conduct bought in utmost secret, all for naught as the cannons of the other ship continue to blaze, a thunderous percussion felt like a heartbeat in the waves. A man stands firm upon the bow.
A serpent stands behind this man. Behind that serpent stands an empire, an edifice of blood and bone wearing a porcelain mask of innocence. As it cracks and crumbles away, a man runs down an alleyway, a diplomat on a doomed mission stumbling his way toward an assassination planned years before his birth. A knife comes down, a scream dies in darkness, a black sealed scroll comes unfurled.
Black seal, white seal. A thousand-thousand tales begin to unfurl once more as the voices finally find the door and, with all their might, slam it back shut. The sudden silence is deafening, but the deed is done.
> What now?> [] Try to reopen the door, just more carefully this time…> [] Focus on reaching out to Cici. Try to get her to wake up.> [] Other. Write-in. 