SFO Archive Forums - Story telling rpg - From the darkness to the light

[ooc] I have affectionately called this small, yet emotional finale, "The Pain of the Forgotten". Thank heavens it didn't exceed the message length...[/ooc]

As Asa was walking around the wonderfully decorated room, the airs were stirring violently above the centerpiece. No longer was there a pleasant breeze in the vicinity, but there was a violent gust that moved every inch of the room. The previously silent grass was whispering tales of weariness from moving through the winds, and the fragrance of flowers was delicately hitting all the room in a painful manner. The soft moans of footsteps were growing altogether too apparant, and the source came from all over the mansions. Asa finally wrapped Angela in her blanket, which had blown away a little earlier, kissed her forehead, and walked towards the closed door. When she closed the door behind her, the wind died down, and Angela's lips moved in silence.

In the hallways, the footsteps were not heard so very well. In fact, Asa heard none at all and was forced to brandish her wand in case someone dangerous was nearby. She moved carefully towards the end of the hallway in hopes that she would sense someone familiar coming, and that the person would be Welf. She had finally reached the end of the hallway, and sighed. There was no one there. She turned around and began to walk in the opposite direction, so as to head towards the stairs. Then, suddenly, there was a flash of light, and a lot of red was spilled in many directions. A loud thud could be heard throughout the entire house, and an outline of a girl was standing in the hall. That outline disappeared, leaving Asa all alone on the ground, on top of a puddle of blood.

Welf's ears twitched rapidly. The sound of blood spilling and a body landing dully on old floors was all but unfamiliar to him. Yet the sound worried him all the more: would it have belonged to Angela, he would never be able to prosper. Also, the words of the light rang heavily in his mind at this thought. He finally began to dash as fast as he possibly could in order to get to where that thud came from as fast as possible. He passed by door after door after door, and didn't bother to even pay one small glance at any of them. Then he spotted a flash of light directly ahead of him, and he stopped. He heard nothing... nothing at all, but he was sure that there was something else there. Then, a flash of light appeared directly behind him, and he fell forward. When he hit the ground, he fell onto something that smelled very... pretty.

He opened his eyes and ears to the sound and sight of wind blowing softly against lush, green grass. Birds were singing softly in trees nearby, and animals were scurrying around playfully. The sky was now a deep, bright blue that was interrupted with few fluffs of white. It was a perfectly serene place, where Welf could smile again where the circumstances different. However, the sky became suddenly darker, and lightning was beginning to grow near, though it was swallowed up by the infinite darkness. All that could be seen was the image of a very small, 5 year old girl with blue hair.. She was holding a flower in her hand, and she was swaying from side to side. Her eyes were terribly blank, and showed no emotion what-so-ever. She never changed the expression, as she quietly sang in an eerie tone; slowly she sang the song:
"Ring around the roses...
Pockets full of posies...
ashes....
ashes...
we all fall down..."
And as she sang this disturbing song, in the infinite darkness, in an abyss of a memory that came to be,
Welf realized that it was a memory of Angela's childhood..
But as the memory began to fade, he only had time to notice a grave stone. It was engraved:

"In Pace requiescat"

The smell of blood was becoming more apparant as the memory faded, and then, for some odd reason beyond his comprehension, he hit something front-first. He was on his stomach again before he finally got up quickly and came to his senses. He turned to where the flash of light was. What he saw, however, was a sight that he wished he would never have had to see. Angela was standing over his body with a harsh look in her eyes, and a sword with a black star with black angel wings for a hilt. It was almost exactly like her rod, except that there was now a sharp sword at the top. He, however, felt his back, and didn't feel too much on damage to his back. In fact, there was only one small cut in the shirt, and nothing more. His shirt, he realized once again, came from Angela's hands and it must have been special for her to have made it..
In either case, Angela was moving closer to him, and all he could do was walk away from her. He suddenly tripped over a loose board, and fell onto his back and began to crawl away as well. She was now following him slowly, and looked as if she were ready to kill him without remorse.

Welf began to try and speak to her with reason.
Welf: "Angela! Angela, please stop! It's me; Welf!"
Angela: "...."
He crawled just a little bit faster as she increased her pace just a teensy bit.
Welf: "Angela, STOP!"
Angela: "...."
She raised her sword slowly, and soft, red glint was seen.
Welf: "ANGELAAAA!!!"
He closed his eyes as she slashed downwards.

Yet nothing happened. He was still safe, and thoughts were still running through his head. He could not be dead, since his ears were also twitching to the sound of metal clashing. What he saw in front of him when he opened his eyes was just a little bit surprising. Asa was standing in front of him, with a slashed side, and was defending against the attack with her rod. She winced as Angela pushed down as hard as she could, and Asa had to jump out of the hold before it became too bad. She landed right next to Welf, who was very concerned with the wound.

Welf: "Are you alright?"
Asa: "There's no time for that! You must hurry on ahead, and take the door that is the 4th from the last door at the end of this hallway."
Welf: "But---"
Asa: "Just go!"
At that point, Asa had to defend against another attack from Angela. Welf looked on in despair, but got up and nodded. With a promise that he would come back to help her, he left her to find the door on his own.

He ran and ran, and ran some more, and he finally came to the end of the hallway. He turned around quickly, and ran back. He passed the first door... then the second.. then the third.... and he stopped just before he reached the fourth. There was another person standing just before him. They had long, green hair, and were dressed in a blue outfit similar to Angela's. She was standing there, giving him a blank look, and she held her sword strangely. She held it in a position that warned of attacking, but told that she would not attack without reason. She continued to look at him, and seemed like she was scanning his very body. Then she turned her head and looked at him through the very corners of her eyes.
"You always did play the part of the hero."
Welf only looked on.
Sange: "You know, I tried so hard to try and stop you from feeling the pains of finding her again. Yet you always chose to ignore it, no matter what it was. But, if I had killed her very image from the very beginning, you would never have been able to come here. You never did stop thinking about her, since she left...."
Welf blinked in confusion.
"I hated that."
Welf: "What does your little monologue have anything to do with me? I don't even know you!"
Sange: "Don't you? You should remember me... I was the person who you played with after Angela disappeared from your life. You even told me we would be married in the future. Surely you could remember that little bit from your childhood, if nothing else."
Welf stared at himself once more. There were actually memories of a little girl that he played with that had green hair. She was always a rough player, though, and played more boy's games than girls. Usually, she would make the other children cry, to his recollection at least. But he did remember that she remained as his friend, and that he did say he would marry her. Yet at the time, he didn't really mean to say it as it came out. He remembered that she was complaining because her parents had said that no one would marry a girl that always punched other children, and girls for being honest. He looked up at Sange once again, and saw nothing at all that he would have wanted to see for the rest of his life. He proceeded to plainly tell her so, adding:
"If you hadn't complained to me that very day, I wouldn't have said that! I was just being polite, and I can tell you right now that I would like to spend the rest of my god-forsaken life with Angela no matter what I have to go through or do to do it!"
Then he realized what he had said, and blushedd deeply. Sange, however, just looked down. Her bangs fell with her head, and covered her now tear-glistening eyes.
"So then you are determined to have her for your own? There is nothing that could sway your mind, nor is there a way to make you reconsider..?"
There was no response.
"Fine then.... But know that if you do choose to go after her, you will have to come to terms with something that you have left a long time ago. It will not be something you will like to have remembered."

And then she was gone. He went and walked over to the door, noticing that the air around the door was a little moist and tender. He disregarded all of her warnings, and turned the doorknob to open the door: She was now just a part of his past, and that's all he ever wanted her to be now. But as he entered the doorway, he was suddenly sucked into the room. The door shut itself behind him, and though he tried his hardest to open it once more, he could not do anything. He was now trapped.

He walked a little bit further into the room, and looked around. There was literally nothing left there to look at, and everything was white and bright. Then, some small images were starting to make themselves apparant. He looked at each one as they appeared. First, there was a tree forming. Then, there was some snow falling, and sunlight as well; soon enough, an entire forest was able to be seen by his eyes, and it was definitely very familiar. In fact, it was so familiar, that he was beginning to dislike it as he saw it come into his sights. He knew this scenery to be another marking of his past. Yet there was no one around. Welf walked around a tiny bit, and looked for any traces of life. Then, he found his young self running straight towards one direction, holding a bag that held something in it. He followed his former self to see where he was heading.

It actually turned out that he was running towards the old god tree. The leaves that were falling as they came near to the tree were just too easy to recognize. Yet, there was a bad feeling in the air; something didn't make Welf feel too great about this memory. He watched anyway, as his younger self ran to the tree and saw young Angela sitting on a high branch at the top. He called up up to her, and she looked down. He was smiling and holding the bag with happiness on his cheeks, and she was very bewildered with this act. She turned to begin to climb down the tree carefully. However, she placed her footing incorrectly, and then her hand slipped, and then... she fell. As she fell through the air, she began to turn so that she was going to land on her back. However... there was a rock, and... Welf just saw his younger self run to Angela.
Welf picked up Angela's head, and delicately lifted her body with it, without actually making her leave the ground.
Welf: "Angela! Are you ok?!"
Angela: "Don't worry about me... I'm....ok."
Suddenly Welf pulled back his hands: They had fresh blood on them. There was no mistaking the smell or the color. He suddenly made a horrified face, and Angela destested it.
"Don't look like that," said Angela with a smile that told of hope. "It doesn't hurt at all. I mean it." Yet Welf looked at her with the same look.
"Angela, look!" he said with a bit of despair. "I bought something for you!" He pushed his hand into the bag, and pulled out a necklace that had some sapphires on them. He held it out to her eyes. "See? I bought it just for you, and if you don't want it, I'll just throw it away!!"
Angela only smiled at him some more. "You really bought that for me?" She recieved a hasty nod. "Thank you Welf." Then she winced a little bit, and Welf brought her closer to himself. However, she spoke up.
Angela: "I was really good at climbing trees, too..."
Welf: "Come on, Angela, I can take you to the doctors now! If we hurry we can still save you!"
Angela only shook her head. "I'll be fine. Honest... but... I do wanna play again sometime with you."
Welf: "You do?"
Angela: "Yes, because it's always fun and nice when I'm with you."
Welf: "Ok. We will play together again."
Angela: "Promise me?"
Welf picked up her hand with one of his, and embraced its pinky finger with his pinky finger.
Welf: "See?! I promised you that we would play together again! We have to keep our promises, right?!"
Angela: "Yes..."
Welf: "So, then we will play again."
Angela: "Yes, of course; and I promise that next time we meet, I will be wearing that necklace."
Welf: "Ok!!"
Angela looked at him with slowly narrowing eyes, and a hopeful, yet sad smile.
"Thank you, Welf. You are.... my...best....my only...friend..."
And then she passed out in his arms. He only stared at her in horror as she lay limply in his arms. Then, he clutched her tightly to himself, and tried to wake her up again by shaking very lightly.
Welf: "...Angela! Angela!!!

<span style='font-size:17pt;line-height:100%'>".......ANGELAAAAAAA!!!!"</span>[
His voice rang throughout the entire forest with the final scream, before the memory ended once again. The current time-Welf was in tears. He finally remembered what had passed between them that was so important. The one memory that he wouldn't want to remember, and the one thing that would give him so much pain and greif. He also finally realized, as he cried many puddles onto the ground, why he had forgotten about her in the first place. It wasn't that he forgot on accident, or that someone made him forget, or that even time passed too rapidly for his memories to continue. It was the fact that he himself wanted to forget all about that, because had lost something so terribly dear to him that he wanted to start life all over again. His voice was now ringing with sobs, and his tears were now hurting his eyes.

Welf...
Please do not cry so much. There is still something you must do. There is someone waiting for you... there is someone who has been waiting for you for over 7 years...

Welf lifted his head up so very suddenly, that he almost gave himself whiplash. He got up, and searched for anything that was in the room at all, and then a gust of wind blew in a specific direction.

Go now, Welf. Hurry, before your time runs out and you have nothing left to go to. Please... Please wake up my daughter. She has been waiting for you for what was an eternity for her.
"But..."
Please, hurry to her.

Welf didn't even have to wait and be told again. He lifted his legs and immediately ran in the direction of the wind. He just ran and didn't stop his running, until he stopped on something soft. It was a patch of bright, green, soft grass. On the other side of the patch, however, was a bed, and someone was laying in it. He finally ran to the bed, which was surrounded by lovely flowerage and some small trees that added to the dying beauty of the world. Welf took the persons hand, and held it to his lips. Then he took it away, and spoke the words he was dying to say at this point.

"Angela... I'm really sorry... I'm so sorry for making you wait for such a long time for me. I won't go anywhere anymore. I'll stay at your side now..." He took her hand in both of his. "So, please, Angela.... Please, wake up!"
He brought himself down to hugging her body. He didn't notice her arms moving to hold him closer to her, until they wrapped themselves softly against his body. He looked at her face, to see the same emerald eyes that he remembered, and he saw a beautiful smile that could never be replaced by anyone or anything. He was so happy to see her again, then he climbed onto the bed and hugged her to him and began to cry out of happiness. All she had to do now, was just sit in the bed, and let him hug her. That was all that he wanted now. However, she gave just a bit more than he expected. A small kiss on his forehead, lead to another kiss on the cheek, and then a kiss came from him on the lips. The flowers and trees were blowing softly with the amazingly wonderful breeze that blew in from a few directions, and the room was finally becoming what it was supposed to be. The sky in the room was becoming a star-filled night, and the fountain in the center of the room was spewing out water that was softly colored with a rainbow. The water also gave off sparkles and beautiful lights that shined against a necklace that Angela was wearing.

However, in the rest of the mansion, the building was becoming suddenly brighter. The island was also becoming more alive. The illusions were beginning to die, and the deadly traps were starting to fade. The Nightmares, and the living dead were finally being put to rest, and all was returning to what they should be on that island. Though the island was still without people, at least Welf and Angela were still on it; and they were, at the very least, together again.

[ooc] And so ends the mansion incident of Shunshou Island. However, there are still some matters to take
care of, like how to get back to the continent where everyone else is, and what about Asa, and the fake Angela? What about Sange? Where'd she go? Who really knows now. Now that the island is back to normal, there is a bit of exploring to be done before everyone leaves, but remember this: It isn't dead anymore. It's all alive, and beautiful. The forest... has many sections, each with its very own theme. However, if you're lucky, and you won't be, then you will find a special place that is dear to Angela because she made that area herself. In any case... the Mansion is now not dead anymore, so it's like a fresh, brand new one... except with plumbing, and good decorations. ^-^; Oh, and you guys can feel free to turn any one of the rooms into whatever you want. Just be realistic to this island and Angela: it's her home, after all, and it's a magical island. It's really gonna be a beautiful house. You should also try and begin a boat building thing, or perhaps a raft building thing: Angela still needs to rest a little bit, and she needs to take Welf somewhere soon.

....Speaking of which... how did you like it? ^-^; [/ooc]

Edited By Roll on Feb. 20 2004 at 04:08

Asa shook her head sadly.
Asa: "You will not be able to see her anymore."
Welf looked at her.
Welf: "Why not?"
Asa: "Because.... oh, you will understand soon enough."
Welf: "But---"

Angela had just gotten up onto her feet. Her legs were shaking a little bit from the unfamiliar strain, and she was leaning against the wall still. It was then when Welf noticed just how long her hair was. It was just as long as it was with the illusion, and it was exactly the same. However, the distraction only caused him to notice the strain, and he objected heavily to her standing up so soon.

Angela: "But... Welf... I'm embarressed.."
And she was. Her face was totally red, and she was looking downward at her clothes. Her clothes were not what she normally wore: it was just a night gown, and it was almost see-through. You could just barely see her undergarments through those. Welf saw them, blushed, and swallowed hard. He went up to her and picked her up.
Welf: "I'll take you to your room then, okay? Don't be so stubborn: you can ask me to help you."
Angela: "I know that.. but the conversation seemed important... and....Asa.... should tell you the truth."
Asa looked at Angela with a sort of blank look that hed some significance. "No, it can wait. The truth will be revealed later.."
Angela nodded and gave her a smile ofunderstanding. However, Welf just became more confused, and blushed more when he looked down in his thoughts. Angela pulled on his ear, however, and he stopped staring soon after the tug. After he brought her back into the elegant room, Angela had him place her down. She walked over to a closet, and opened it up slowly, and took out her old, yet new outfit that Welf know so well, and she walked behind a Vine covered stone wall to change. When done, she walked out from behind, and walked up to Welf. When he tried to pick her up again, she refused to be picked up, and wanted to just walk the rest of the way down. So she did, though slowly at first, and eventually began to walk at normal speed. Welf was happy with her recovery, and walked alongside her in glee and surprise. Yet something was wrong, and he knew it.

As they continued on, towards the main hallway, Angela looked at the rooms, and the walls, and the floor as well. It seemed like centuries since she had seen any of it. All of the countless pieces of art, laying against the walls in no particular order at all, were something to marve| at. Yet, no matter how many times she looked at each painting or object, she found them all to be unfamiliar to her. She knew them, yes, but she never cared about them enough to make them familiar. She stopped at one painting, and Welf bumped into her accidently, knocking her to the ground. He stooped down to pick her up, and when she got up, he apologized. Yet she didn't hear him; her eyes and mind were fixated on that one painting. She went up to it, and hit it off of the wall, and ran off before it even hit the ground. Welf bent down and picked it up, and looked at the picture to see what was so offensive. Yet, all he could see was the portrait of a man with short blonde hair..

Angela had run out the door, and immediately left into the forest that was now lush and beautiful again. The difference this time, however, was that this forest was filled with light, and the animals were seen everywhere. The illusions, now gone, had hidden every nook and cranny of the good side of the forest from the rest of the group. Angela did not stop to marve| at it, and headed in an eastern direction at her top speed.
Meanwhile, Welf was running through the first floor of the house trying to find Angela in hopes that she was still in the house. However, when he did not find her (the first floor was only composed of the main hall, a kitchen, and a living room), he gathered everyone together. With everyone gathered (except for Asa, who seems to have been busy), he began questioning them about Angela's whereabouts. Neither Dante nor Tikalis could give him an answer that would satisfy him. He began pacing back and forth about the room, and was lost in thought. She could not be in any danger, as this was her home and she knows it better than anyone in the world, but she was gone. This meant that she went outside, which would mean that she could be in the forest, or at where everyone else was before they left to get to the mansion.
"Shouldn't we go look for her, instead of standing here, thinking?"
Tikalis' voice rang in Welf's ears, and he turned to glare the fox into a fearful stance.
Tikalis: "Alright, alright, I was just saying.."
Dante: "He's right, though. We should go look for--"
Welf: "I know he's right, damnit!"
Both Dante and Tikalis were taken aback by his statement.
Welf: "But I don't want to go in a wrong direction! If we go to the wrong place, it could take days to find her. She is still weak, you know! I don't want to lose her because I go in the wrong direction."
Tikalis: "Then why don't we just look for signs?"
Welf: "Well..... what do you mean?"
Tikalis: "We can check around the ground for footprints, and parted bushes, and snapped twigs... things like that."
Dante: "But how do we know which ones belong to her?"
Tikalis: "That's the trick. Welf, what do you think...?"

Welf was already outside, looking around for anything, when Tikalis and Dante ran outside. They covered their eyes when they left: the sun was shining brightly through the trees around them, and the glittering leaves were almost too much to bear. After about an hour of searching through the area around the house to look for some clues, they came back together to find nothing at all. Lost in thought, they all began to wonder where she could have gone, though some went into deeper thoughts of where. Tikalis sat on the ground, and looked curiously at the door, while Dante contented himself by staring at the sky. Welf was sitting in front of a tree, while staring in Tikalis' direction and thinking hard about Angela.
Dante: "Why weren't there any footprints to follow...?"
Tikalis: "I dunno... this island is magical, remember? It may make the unintentional footstep-damage disappear from the earth."
Welf: "But then we wouldn't be leaving prints in the dirt. It's just because she's so light-footed and light in general that she can pass by dirt and moist areas without leaving very good traces."
Dante and Tikalis were in awe at what Welf had said. Then, suddenly, Tikalis was hit forward by the door, and Asa walked out. Upon seeing the damage, she apologized sympathetically. After the formal apology was through, she looked at Welf.
Asa: "I notice that you're looking for Angela."
Welf: "What was your first clue?"
Asa: "In all honesty, the clue was that you were looking around for something. I know you well enough by now to understand that you don't look for something unless you have a high interest in it. In either case, Angela ran east, towards the Hyoukan Forest."
Welf: "Hyoukan Forest? Alright, then I'm going there!"
Asa: "Wait!" She ran up to Welf and stopped him from going. He looked at her closely. "Welf, please take out the book that Angela left. I know you have it with you."
Welf took out Angela's star cloth, and then removed the book.
Asa: "Ok, now open it to the seventieth page."
He did that, and turned it to open a map that held an image of a building surrounded on four sides with different colored forests.
Asa: "The different colors determine the elements of the forest, as well as the look, beauty, feeling, and season. Yes, season. The elements can easily control the temperatures to give you a specific season whenever it wants. On this island, however, it is channeled so well, that each element has it's own portion of the geography that has been developed into a season.
You can see the Hyoukan is to the east from here, which has the season of Winter. Then, south from here, there is the Daichi Forest, which is the element of Earth. This also holds the season of spring. Next, to the west, is the Enshou Forest of Fire. It is the season of Summer. Then, lastly, to the north is the forest of Autumn, is the Gessekai Forest of Lunar. Be very careful in these forests. I suspect she gone somewhere in between the Gessekai and the Hyoukan, but she may also just be trying to lose everyone and could really be heading towards the Daichi or the Enshou. So everyone here should choose a forest to search inside of."

Tikalis: "In that case, I'd like to go to the---"
Asa: "Before you choose!"
All eyes turned to Asa again, and they were staring now.
"Before you choose, remember this fact: somewhere in the forests, there is supposed to be a small lake or body of water that can take people to a hidden forest in the depths of this island. It is said that the body of water can be told apart from any other body of water, because your reflection is not seen when you look into it. If you find it, go into it. You will surely find Angela in there if it is still here."
Dante: "And what is the name of that forest?"
Asa: "It is called the Masayume Forest. To be sure you're there, you'd have to see the coloration of the forest, which is said to be multi-colored in purples, pinks, and it is all glowing in darkness. Also look for beautiful flowers called Moonlight Beauties that shine with the trees in a lovely white and purple aura. That will be your key for telling if it is the Masayume Forest."
Welf: "What do you mean, the 'Key'?"
Asa: "Well, you could also fall into the Issuinoyume Forest, which would be totally bare of all life. The trees would be dead, and the world would be very quiet too."
Tikalis: "Then I guess we don't want to go in there, do we?"
Asa: "Afraid not."
Dante: "Ok then.. but when we get in, can we leave using the same water thingy?"
Asa: "Yes, you should be able to do that. But before we lose any more time, please choose what forest you wish to enter. I will take what is left."

And so, the group was left to decide what paths to choose. Angela was somewhere in the forests, and she would be found by anyone soon. 'After all, it couldn't be that difficult.' thought Welf.

[ooc] and it really isn't that difficult. You guys choose a forest, and then you go into it, and search around. Whoever guesses the correct forest, will get to find Angela, and share a special moment with her where she will reveal what was wrong. I will give you a hint as to the correct forest to enter, and remember, it's first come, first serve. If they choose a forest first, you can't take it afterwards. Sorry.

Hint: During this time, the scenery would seem quite empty.

So, good luck! And... if you don't get this right, I will find you to be quite silly. Angela will also laugh at you too. ^-^ [/ooc]