Dead Names

[Skulldon]

She awoke some time later. She was laid on a cold stone table in the middle of a circle of structures and monuments. Debris littered the floor around her, pieces of a world beyond this one, the fragments that fell through the cracks between worlds. Several stone structures around her towered into the air, mismatched, as if pulled from the ground and placed there with little regard for aesthetics. High above her hovered Shuma-Gorath, his tentacles wrapped around the spires and statues that jutted into the sky. Faint purple lines of energy traced up and around the objects around Celephai and up towards Shuma, making purple lines in the air. Shuma seemed to be shaping them into forms familiar to Celephai, magic and arcane ritual signs of ancient purpose. He worked slowly, gracefully, with purpose.

[Celephai]

Celephai blinked a few times, her body still sore after the rapturous event long before. Slowly, she took in her surroundings, trying to gain a mental footing as to what was occurring around her. Finally, gazing upward, she found Shuma-Gorath. She propped herself up on an elbow, slowly managing to sit up on the stone table.

"...What is this place? What is going on?" Her words were sluggish, but she did manage a mildly alarmed tone. She did recognize one or two objects being formed amid the purple rays of light, but they seemed somewhat odd in a realm where things had singular proportion, mass, and weight.

[Skulldon]

You Are Awake. That Is Good.

Celephai felt his attention shift to her, but his gaze remained on his work.

This Is The Nexus. A Concentration Of The Fragments Of Power I Once Had. Once Every Ten Thousand Years I May Use The Artifacts Around You To Open A Window To My World. And Yours. A Window Only, Nothing More. A Single Look, But Long Enough To Matter.

He paused a moment.

For The Last Few Times I Have Used It, I Have Looked To My Home In Azrael's Court, But In Exchange For Your Gift...I Would Look Into Yours.

A single tentacle lowered, offered as a handhold to help her up.

Would You Like To See Azathoth's Court Again, Child?

[Celephai]

A single look... she did yearn for her former home, but was it really worth it to see such a thing, knowing she might never be able to return? Would she regret the pain it might cause her to look upon it?

No, she had to have at least one final look at it. One last long goodbye. Celephai accepted his offer, grabbing hold of his tentacle as she was hefted into the sky. "Just... once. To remember. To know that my master sleeps peacefully..." She had to make peace with this, now or never.

[Skulldon]

Shuma gently lifted her to his height, letting her stand on a tentacle.

It Will Be Quick. Do Not Blink.

A majority of his tentacles moved to a stop just in front of him, close to Celephai. They gathered on a single purple rune, and seemed to grab the air. They pulled outward, the space between them flashing and sparking in protest at being so crudely ripped open. Shuma strained as he pulled outward, the window becoming enormous before her. It darkened into its intended view, and Shuma closed his eye. There was an element of urgency in his voice.

I Will Hold It. What Do You See, Child? Tell Me What You See.

[Celephai]

At first, she saw nothing, as if she were now blind to those things that mortals were not meant to see. Then, slowly, reality frayed between Shuma's tentacles and Celephai saw into that place between spaces, that total void in-between, the place far beyond universes, outside all known matter and energy. Home. It seemed more beautiful to her now than ever before, and how was she to describe this to the one who'd helped her gain a view of this place?

"I see... I see... the stars, the stars that wink in and out of existence, their lives snuffed out before they even begin. The song-makers, each who add to that tremendous, rapturous music that cannot be remade anywhere else... I see the Daemon Sultan, writhing quietly in his sleep... and... and..." She saw those beings, flitting quickly between the stars and the alien musicians, each wreathed in colors that can never be described in any mortal tongue, their movements a thousand times more graceful or precise than Celephai had achieved earlier. She would not be missed. "...It is... it was home. I am sorry... please, close it." It felt like a spear had been driven through her chest. Even if she did go back, she would never have a place there again.

[Margrett]

(Taking over on this account.)

Shuma slowly let it close.

I Am Sorry. I Know The Homesickness Well.

He cast his eye over her.

You Are Sorrowful. But Your Court Is Not The Same Without You. What I Have Seen From You Had Its Own Talent, Apart From Theirs. Know That You Made It Special. You Made It Your Own.

[Celephai]

Celephai hung her head. He wasn't wrong, she knew that, but it was a deep wound. "...It's not right. I shouldn't even be here." She gave a long, mournful sigh. It wouldn't do anything, but it felt good. No more time for mourning the past. Now she had to come to terms with herself as she was. "I could ponder the purpose and nature of why I should even still exist, but in truth, I am the only one that can define such a thing... So tell me, Shuma-Gorath, the All-Seeing Eye: What should I do, now? Where should I go? I know little of this world..." She looked him directly in his massive eye, as if trying to peer into it's immense depths.

[Margrett]

Shuma-Gorath blinked once, and was silent for a moment.

Do What I Do. Survive. Remember. Learn This World. In Time We May Learn Enough To Return. I Care Not For The Morality Of Mortals, But Perhaps Enough Deeds Done Well And Fate Will Turn Our Way. I Cannot Say.

He looked down, lowering her to the ground.

I Cannot Guide You, Child. But I Can Offer Myself As A Friend. If You Should Need Advice In Your Travels, Come Find Me. I Will Be Here, In This Plane. Searching. Where You Go I Cannot Follow.

[Celephai]

Survive... A simple thing to do. Remembering might be harder, but perhaps with time and practice, she could learn to dance again, though it was likely she'd never attain her former glory.

The very thought of helping the things that brought her here repulsed her. Celephai would enjoy ridding this festering world of all life, plunging it into darkness for all eternity... unfortunately, she hardly had the capacity to do such a thing. He was, once again, right. There was nothing left for her here, save her new friend.

"...We will meet again, someday soon." She gave him one last, longing look before turning and stalking off toward a more solid plane of existence.

[Margrett]

Shuma nodded his enormous body.

Until Next Time, Child.

He turned away, and resumed his search.

(That was good. 4 acclaim for you. I had fun. Shuma is similar to another character I played way back on another site, and it was good to get into that particular pair of shoes again, as well as fleshing out some pseudo-Lovecraft stuff.)