The Advent of Madness: My Twin Sister And I

Darkness and thunderous waves; the spine-chilling combination of creeping horror returned upon us as my Orders retracted into my body with shocking repercussions.

My body stilled whilst the Curses from within my Book of Heresy crashed back into me with demented pressure; they oozed with the intent to tear me apart, to ruin my already sliced soul even further.

Grumbling, I gritted my chittering teeth and steeled myself.

This wasn't a backlash worth delaying into the future, unlike the one I had messed up with the first time around.

Somewhere amid this agony, Nemora's reinforced voice slipped through to my ears. But I wasn't in a position to comprehend her words.

Instead, I stood still and endured.

I could handle it.

Not that it wasn't painful, it was, but it wasn't enough.

Even the vague ache pressing on my Soul was nothing like the time I damaged my Soul.

Thus, after who knows how long, the punishment faded away.

Nemora's faintly scathing voice came across clearly this time around, "Alora of Light. Are you there?"

Shaking through my recovery, I tapped Nemora's arm, confirming that I was, in fact, fine.

Receiving my message, Nemora's scalding tone didn't relax; instead-

"Why didn't you inform me that the backlash is that extreme? It has been a quarter of an hour now, and we could have been wiped out. I know that there is a backlash, Esme informed me of that moments before our exit from the Domain of Light, but for it to be to this extent..."

Nemora was pissed at me.

Rightfully so.

For me, these backlashes are light, but to others, they are beyond extreme. It's just that my line of extremity lines at a much higher point than it does for others.

I tapped Nemora's back twice before her abrupt, heated state blew a hole through her scalp.

Like Esme said, this was her Curse.

I couldn't blame her for it.

But I'm surprised she has such a strong hold on it now. Were this before, she'd have split my ears in half before we'd even left that damned Crucible.

"...Sigh. Apologies. Got agitated."

I accepted her apology with another pat on her back.

Now that we had the Heathens both below and on the deck temporarily dealt with, I grabbed the binder of my Book of Heresy from thin air and began writing once more.

[Nemora Von Martinere - Vanessa El Creston - Esme - Double-Threaded Audio Tether - 90 Metres - 30 Minutes]

I created an audio tether linking the three separated groups: us, the people on the deck, Vanessa, in the Captain's Cabin, and Esme, who was with Hilda.

With that complete, I wrote one more set of Orders.

[Jill Windego - Elden Von Moonquiver - Hildekar Von Estar - Alora - Nemora Von Martinere - Darkness - Intermediate Resistance - 1 Hour]

Feeling my Curses exit my body through the network of Cursed Vessels encompassing my body and into the Book of Heresy, the darkness surrounding us retreated once more. Hildekar, in particular, blinked with relief at his ability to navigate the 'seas'.

On the other hand, the reasoning behind not linking the people up on the deck by audio was simple:

Nemora can convey her commands without my Book of Heresy.

Nonetheless-

CRASH!

-the cocaphonous strikes of waves upon The Canary's hull run incessantly into our ears. The ship swayed calmly due to Hildekar's efforts, and the boundless darkness sitting beyond the limits of my Order leered menacingly at the borders of our dome of vision.

Now we wait and see what else happens.

Until we understand the rhythms and habits of this darkness and the Sunless Skies, we cannot rest.

As dictated by prior plans:

We take shifts till we figure this place out.

---

Tenderly slipping my hands through silky, black strands of hair, I gazed at the streaks of pink mingling upon it; at the oddity that shouldn't have existed, yet did because of my prior failures, because of my cowardice.

I moved my eyes off her hair and back down at my diary, at the past written within.

Then.

She spoke.

Her voice echoed with Divinity:

"The first, a sacrifice."

It bore into my soul with agony, with the shame of my failures; with the despair of the ones I had failed.

"The second, an oversight."

The Prophet's voice crushed me beneath its weight. Not because she wanted to hurt me, but because it was necessary, for the plans coming ahead, for what awaited us at the end of this journey...

So, I planted my pen back onto the pages.

I had to continue writing.

This won't end till I'm finished.

It won't end until this story is written out.

I may have failed them both.

I may have snapped the tight tethers keeping this cohort alive.

But I can change it.

I can fix it.

Not my past, but the future.

It has to be done.

The failures of Crucible of Light, of my youth.

The failures of The Canary, of the Heinous Stream.

I will make up for it.

This shadow veiling me with suffocating pressure, I will break it.

I will change this damned future.

I will make sure of it.

We will make sure of it.

Drip.

Staring at the pages of my book with misty eyes, I sniffled, allowed the soft fingers invading my vision to wipe them off, and continued.

With the Prophet lazily lounging over my back;

With the weight of all of our lives;

With the weight of this wall;

I will break it.

Now.

Where was I at?

The first minor wave of Heathens had been dealt with.

The Sunless Skies were upon us.

...And the first Archaeic Ruins weren't far off.

As I was about to continue writing:

Knock.

The door to my humble abode received a knock.

I paused.

Relaxing my grip on the pen for a moment, I mumbled to the only other person in this room, the Prophet, "Go."

Stretching her body lazily, the Prophet's hair tickled my head as she pulled herself off with a begrudging sigh, and she moved over to our bedroom door and towards the front door.

I pressed my finger harder on the pen.

Then, I started writing again.

---

Harsh splashing waves beat at the hull of The Canary, pushing hard in attempts to topple the vessel.

Unbeknownst to these waves, though, we had Hildekar. A man obsessed with construction, a man who held this Canary tightly in his grip and could control it like the back of his hand; experience be damned, his talent could overcome the lack of it.

Anyways, other than Hildekar's battle against the riled-up Canary, nothing much had occurred in the past 3 hours.

Other than me enduring a few more rounds of tearing backlashes.

Pumping out this many Orders in this short a period of time was revealing itself to be a much tougher challenge than I'd initially expected. Even though becoming a Profaned of the Third Step had drastically improved me in all aspects, including the power of my Manifestation...

The fact that the power of my Orders has increased means that the repercussions coming alongside it have also increased.

You win some, and you lose some.

In this case, I can do something as ridiculous as Countering the Darkness, but the backlash, in return, had to be delayed till my next Descent into the Fourth Step; it's not something I can survive at the moment, not from how the page itself had been torn as a result of it.

"Alora, how long can you last before you need to take a break? If your condition is more than 50%, pat my back once. If between 30% and 50%, pat twice; if less than 30%, pat thrice."

Nemora's Blessed voice trickled into my ears through the crushing thunder of the waves. It pushed me to pat her back twice, conveying my condition to her.

"Use your remaining strength to maintain the link between me and the girls below for an extended period, and to give us our sights up on this deck for as long as possible. Use it all, then go to sleep and recover. We can't have you at less than 50%, not during these crucial moments, at least."

I had to hesitate for a moment.

The rational part of me was convinced, but the not-so-rational, the part that understood the agony of my Manifestation...

Nemora doesn't understand.

I've grown resistant to it, so she might believe it's bad, but she doesn't, and can't, comprehend just how horrid it is. Years of it have numbed me, but to go all out with my Book of Heresy...

That's something I'd done once before.

And I remember, and still suffer, from those consequences to this day.

"..."

I opened my right hand.

I gripped my Book of Heresy.

[Nemora Von Martinere - Vanessa El Creston - Esme - Double-Threaded Audio Tether - 90 Metres - 4 Hours - Extension]

[Jill Windego - Elden Von Moonquiver - Hildekar Von Estar - Nemora Von Martinere - Darkness - Intermediate Resistance - 4 Hour - Extension]

The remaining Curses in my body fizzled out of my Cursed Vessels and into my Book of Heresy, then, there, the Curses were transformed into the Orders imprinted within and unto the names I had ordained.

Weakness flushed through my veins, rendering me almost helpless with the strength exiting my limbs.

This sensation was terrifyingly familiar, but fortunately only temporary.

"Alright. Now go rest. Inform Vanessa of how long it will last, and she'll convey the information to me. Sleep as long as possible, and I'll wake you up before the time runs out." Gently tapping my back, Nemora ushered me over towards the stairs leading down to the main deck.

I nodded, patted her arm, and took my leave.

I needed to get some rest immediately.