MELODY

Melody wakes up in pitch darkness. She could hear Raze’s steady breathing beside her. After gathering her bearings she sends out a new pool water and turns it into light, revealing the surroundings. At the same time Raze’s own eyes snap open and look over at her. The two hold their gaze for a moment before Melody breaks away, silently gazing around her. She glances over the bodies before drifting past and instead turns to look at the items littered across the floor.

Melody picks herself up to start gathering some of the items together, quickly realising the majority are a mix of single-use items. Most consist of the same two potions, with the exception of a few scattering gray orbs cut in the middle by a thin line and a button resting at its edge. As well as a small oblong crystal that shimmers a misty white, its appearance rather fragile.

Health Potion Type Single-Use Familiarity 0 / 100 Rank Basic A small bottle containing a red liquid of mysterious origins. Strength Potion Type Single-Use Familiarity 0 / 100 Rank Basic A small bottle containing a blue liquid of mysterious origins. Ultrasonic Echo Type Single-Use Familiarity 0 / 100 Rank Basic A small orb able to map the unknown. Momentum Shift Type Single-Use Familiarity 0 / 100 Rank Basic A tiny crystal that reverses a single object of momentum.

Picking one of the red potions up, Melody taps on its surface in interest and watches as the liquid sloshes back and forth. As it moves it appears to vibrate as the liquid particles roll over themselves like tiny beads falling over each other. As the liquid settles down the strange visual trick disappears and the potion returns to normal. While observing the strange potion Melody hears a heavy crunch, along with the sound of glass shattering. Her eyes turning to look up she watches as Raze chews his way through a potion before moving onto another.

“Is that useful?” Melody asks, to which Raze nods his head as he continues his consumption. “What about those?” Melody points toward the corpses.

“Weak.” Raze answers.

“Ah.” Melody replies. She pushes most of the remaining items toward him, keeping only one of each of the items for herself. Gathering them toward herself she ties the items to her belt, her eyes catching onto the cube held there at the same time. Her mind drifts as the memories resurface and she gently pulls the cube off her belt and holds it in her hands. The familiar box appears again.

Memory Cube [ Locked ] Essence: 10,000

“This will take a long time.” Melody says softly, her fingers gently caressing its edges. Still munching on the items Raze also looks at the cube. As she stares into it his hand reaches over and rests on the cube, a gentle light pouring from himself into it. The number on the cube ticks down a rather large amount as Melody watches.

Memory Cube [ Locked ] Essence: 9687

“So you can do that,” Melody’s eyes drift over to look at Raze as his own stare at the cube with interest. “Thank you, but you should have saved it.” Raze simply gazes at her before turning away and continuing to crunch down on the items. As he turns away her eyes drift back down to where the sharp spikes are pierced through his body. Five in total. One on each limb and a final through a non-fatal part of his stomach. Even now the chilling coldness eats away at him, more so his soul then his body. And the giant chain in the middle holding it altogether is not only a physical presence, but one that binds his souls as well.

After tying the cube back onto her belt Melody walks and holds her hands against the chains. Raze simply watches on impassively as he continues to eat. “This is not so easy to fix.” Melody says simply, looking up at him. A small amount of water forms on her hands and gently trails around the wounds. Some of the coldness recedes as if meeting an enemy, at least for the most part receding back into the chain itself. “I’m too weak. I need to be a lot stronger.” Her hands grip him as she looks at him. “You’re on edge. Let me bear it.”

“No.” Raze says coldly. Melody releases her hands with a sigh and moves away.

“Then let’s decide what to do next.” Finding a spot to sit down, she pulls Raze over to join her. He doesn’t speak as she continues to talk, but Melody knows he’s listening. “I’ll go hunting down further into the caves. My aim will be to get strong enough to break those chains holding you.” Her fingers tap against each other as her mind deepens in thought. “The Al’mardi…I am worried.” Noticing his confusion she explains. “They are an old race. Not even we have many documents remaining of them, beyond the ways to travel safely in their lands. However I still remember a quote I had once read. ‘The Al’mardi sought ever greater stone, holding the mother earth in reverence, and so delved into ever greater depths. What lies beneath the ground…only they could know.’”

“I believe the Al’mardi is down in these caverns,” Melody continues. “But how far down, I do not know. Still…” Melody thinks about her Sisters as she hesitates. But then her face sets into a determined mask. “I wish to help them. My Sisters would do the same in my place.” Raze nods in return, but holds his chained hands up in response. “I know. I will come back when I can. At least here, I can feel safe.” Melody reaches over and grips his hand tight. “Don’t fight okay…just eat. Rest. If you won’t let me help, at least let it simmer down.” It takes a long moment before Melody finally gets the reluctant nod from him. With a sigh of relief she lets go and turns her mind toward her boxes, conjuring them.

Ark Plate Name Melody Songstorm [ 0 ] Age 26 Race Aesyn Essence 112 Gender Female Titles n/a Focus n/a Bloodline n/a Memory Cubes Extremely Weak Water Affinity [ Racial ]

Internal Perception [ Trait ] Convergence [ Art ] Extremely Weak Water Affinity Ability Trait Familiarity 33 / 100 Rank Basic A weak affinity with elemental water. Internal Perception Ability Trait Familiarity 12 / 100 Rank Basic A small chance to predict danger or fortune before encountering it. Convergence Ability Art Familiarity 17 / 100 Rank Basic Merge two agreeable halves, forming something more than the sum of its parts.

“So now that I know I can do that…” Melody mutters, her mind going back to when Raze poured essence into the cube. Though she is unable to touch it, she can still imagine herself doing the same with the box. And sure enough, the number slowly ticks up on her water affinity until it hits 100.

Evolution Weak Water Affinity Water Conjuration Water Destruction

“Oh.” Melody says, her eyes unable to help but shine at the new box. “Well this is fun. A little too fun…” her eyes drifting a little from the box, she makes a point of not noticing Raze’s amusement. Her heart quickly settles on her choice as she picks out her same path, water affinity.

Weak Water Affinity Ability Trait Familiarity 0 / 1000 Rank Advanced A weak affinity with elemental water.

At the instant she selected the choice power poured into Melody, lifting her body off the ground. The essence she had used filled her body and changed her in ways she couldn’t understand. Unfamiliar concepts and instincts imprinted themselves onto her mind, making her feel as if she is a tiny rowboat shaking back and forth amidst a roaring storm. Figurative lightning shook and her body grew to sense the intricacies and beauty of water. Her eyes glowed that familiar blue, its colour etching toward an ever deeper shade. Slowly the overloading of power receded and Melody could finally find herself breathing some fresh air.

Still, her blue eyes remained alight with a glow as her feet placed themselves on the ground. Her hands conjured some water that danced itself around her as if welcoming a friend. For the first time in her life, Melody could feel the water. She could feel its intention, its understanding. Only now did she realise what she conjured was alive, as much as she is and could ever be. As her eyes settled on its dance, a blissfully happy smile spreading across her face, Melody realises something. She feels her strength and sees the water that surrounds her, understanding that this is power she would have had in the future.

If she continued to practice, to delve ever deeper into her affinity with water magic, she would one day reach this level. A little of the veil over the mysteries that had been thrust into her life lifted themselves. This is not power that comes from nowhere. It has its place of origin. It’s just that none of them know where that place may be. Melody felt overwhelmed for a moment, unable to help but exclaim. “Don’t you think that life is strangely beautiful?” Her words finally caused Raze’s expression to shift, settling into a stringent confusion. Melody laughs at that, a full, long laugh that went on for a while before it teetered out. After calming herself down Melody gathers herself and gazes in wonder at the water that alights around her. It responds with pure, unadulterated joy at the attention, dancing just that bit more in the air.

“I don’t know.” Her eyes ripple with emotions as she gently places her fingers against the water, feeling its reaction to her touch. “I just…feel we try too hard to clutch everything in our hands. We hold it all to ourselves only to watch as it slips through our fingers. After all the races fought for, all of the death and cruelty they meted to claim ownership of this land. All of it was so…worthless.” Her eyes drift away and look over toward the lower caverns, her mind thinking of the Al’mardi. Melody felt something shift inside of her, a feeling that is hard to describe and even harder to voice. Her mind felt as if it was looking at the world around her for the first time. “We try so hard to be the protagonists of our own story. Yet life is the most beautiful in those passerby moments, gazing at things that were never yours to begin with.”

Her breath catches for a moment before Melody exhales with a relaxed huff. “I’m rambling,” she says, reaching up to adjust her long, emerald green hair away from her face. Its soft and straight texture flows down all the way to her waist. For her race, one’s eyes and hair are always matching, and considered sources of a person’s will. It is rare for their hair to be cut, and often allowed to grow out quite far. “I just think perhaps we shouldn’t think too hard, focus too far ahead. Life is something that should be taken one step at a time.” Another laugh escapes from her lips as she shakes her head. “Yes. I am truly rambling. Just take it as nonsense. I just felt, perhaps a bit personally, that I looked at things a little wrongly.”

Her eyes return to Raze’s own, his face still impassive, his voice still silent. But Melody can feel the gentle acceptance there, causing a smile to flicker across her lips. “I think I should go now.” Melody says, getting up in high spirits. “The sooner I grow strong, the sooner I can remove those awful things.” With a firm nod of her head Melody doesn’t wait for Raze to respond and twists around on the spot, walking toward one of the tunnels. Raze’s eyes follow her as she vanishes into the darkness. Turning away he settles himself back down and drifts off to sleep.

Humming softly to herself Melody advances down the rather dark tunnel. Every now and then she comes across a dead body, her eyes pausing on it for only a moment before stepping over it. As she continues walking she conjures some more water in front of her. Instead of how she usually manipulates it, by commanding it to shape in the way she desires, she instead communicates it and negotiates with it gently. Nudging it into her desired shape. As she shapes it she also uses her convergence skill to further reinforce and strengthen it. Soon it evens out into a very long whip, almost like a water snake in the way it coils and moves. She was a little too weak to use this before as its size makes it a burden to maintain, but now is different.

Melody had long practiced using this type of weapon. Back in her home, in that distant island, when her gift had shown she had been given a strange double-sided whip to wield. Its purpose was to condition herself to this type of fluid weapon. While a little unwieldy when used as a physical thing, once shaped using water, with its freedom of movement and control, it becomes a deadly thing. After forming the long thin whip she coils it around her upper body like an intertwining scarf, letting it lazily stretch around her from her waist to her neck. If looked at from far away, it would almost seem like a fashion choice.

After making sure that everything is fixed right Melody continues to tread onward. Not long later she makes it through another cavern and enters another tunnel, only after a short moment she notices there are no longer any bodies on the floor. Which means Raze didn’t make it this far. Her steps slow a little as she continues onward. Melody creats a veil of mist and spreads it far in front of her, acting as an early warning system. It doesn’t take long for it to trigger and soon the creature is revealed in front of her.

Bladed Snake

[ Monster ]

Her feet grow still as she gazes at the snake. Meldoy forces herself to hold in a laugh, feeling her water snake - whip - is rather ironic. Its body shines a metallic gray, with a smooth surface that shows no indication of anything sharp. As her eyes study it the snake too looks at her, and it suddenly snaps its mouth open, an object shooting out of it. The water coiled around her snaps up, one side clutching the object and holding ti still while the other strikes forward and pierces the snake’s mouth. Expecting some resistance Melody feels a little shock as she watches the whip tear through the snake like a knife through butter, piercing through half of tis body before it exits outward and tears a narrow hole through the floor.

She stumbles a bit at the unexpected extension of her weapon, immediately recalling it to gather back around herself. It seems she had underestimated just how much penetrative power the water now has. Letting the thin coil of water dance around herself in joy she turns her eyes back to the object, a metallic sword if you considered one without a hilt, and rather narrow. It had gone for her throat, but Melody found it rather curious that ti came fro inside the snake. Walking toward the creature she uses her whip to split open its middle section, revealing along its insides a number of these same hilt-less swords. At the same time Melody hears a bunch of hisses growing louder, causing her eyes to snap forward.

She quickly jumps back, retreating a few meters. Her hand goes straight to her belt and draws out the orb she had gained as she presses the button and sends it careening into the darkness. Numerous water needles start to conjure around herself. A painful second passes and then an invisible wave explodes outward from the orb. A map imprints itself into Melody’s mind, the shapes of a large pack of snakes revealing itself in front of her. Without hesitation she sends her water needles forward, each one striking toward a snake. It takes just a short second to reach them and the needles tear into the body of the snakes, gouging out their head and passing through their body all the way until they exit out of their tails and then explode against the ground.

The hisses die down and only a few desperate and confused ones remain. Melody quickly advances and dispatches the remaining few, her eyes looking over the carnage with a tinge of disgust. She feels a few bits of energy enter her, but beyond that notices no items dropping. Relaxing a little bit Melody walks further in. As she advances down the tunnel a feeling of indescribable danger hits her and her body freezes with one of her feet still in the air. Melody looks all around herself but fails to notice anything strange. Still, she knew this feeling well, coming from one of her skills, and trusted it. Having her foot recede she studies the tunnel in front of her.

It’s the same as the previous tunnels. Dark, damp and ugly. A straight narrow line of stone that would lead outward to a new cavern. But as her eyes pass over the stone walls they catch onto tiny gouges in them, disguised by a smattering of dirt. Her heart stills for a moment as she realises she is looking at a trap. Her eyes dart around and quickly outline all of the gouges, making her feel very cold when she realises they’re not just ahead of her but next to her and behind her as well. It is then that a very loud click is heard. And then that sense of danger multiplies, screaming at her to move if she doesn’t want to die.

In an instant sharp stone arrows explode out of the walls toward each side, moving in a straight line as a number approach her. The water flowing around her body whips up and catches a few of them as her body twists and avoids the others. But as they hit the opposite walls the arrows explode, turning into numerous tiny shards that fly everywhere. Letting the arrows she caught drop Melody continues to advance as she disperses the water whip and twists it into a constantly moving shield around her. As her body also tries to dart through the shards she manages to avoid the majority, the few that she could not lightly cutting into her arms and torso.

However it fails to end there. As the shards miss her and fall to the ground they immediately twist around themselves until they form large, narrow spikes that pierce straight toward her body. Immediately Melody explodes the water outward, doing her best to delay their motion as she uses a thin veil of the water to cover part of herself and twist her body upward until she sticks against the ceiling. The spikes only hit air as they jut against each other, all of them rapidly melding together into a giant spike that shoots upward. Letting go Melody uses the water to again twist her body around until it just barely misses the huge spike.

As the spike slams into the roof it flows into it until it disappears entirely. Then suddenly the entire flat section of the roof slams down toward Melody. Her eyes widen as she sees it moving toward her. The moment seems to slow as her mind churns, feeling a heavy strain on her strength from all of the water she’s wielded. In the distance she can hear the scurrying of more creatures, knowing the second she leaves she will be attacked. Melody quickly thinks through and her hand snaps down toward her belt, tearing off the crystal and crushing it, push it up toward the collapsing roof. The second the scattering dust touches it the roof reverses, its heavy fall instantly turning into a rapid rise as it slams itself back up into the roof and reforms into a natural surface.

As it does Melody lands lightly on the ground and dashes forward, out of the tunnel. Though as she moves she notices that the stone no longer moves to attack her, causing her to let out a short sigh of relief. However, as expected, the second she exits the tunnel and reaches a wide cavern Melody is pounced on by a huge black bat. Her eyes catch sight of its engorged fangs and elongated claws and rolls herself under it, barely grazing past its attack. A few water needles appear and shoot towards the bat as it flies back upward into the cavern’s darkness. However it appears to have seen these needles as its body dodges them. At the same time Melody catches sight of its name.

Shadowlorn Bat

[ Horror ]

Barely able to catch her breath Melody stares up into the encompassing darkness of the cavern’s roof, her strength drained and her mind tense. She risks a glance back into the tunnel and sees the mess behind her, but thankfully nothing exiting to attack her. Turning back forward Melody conjures the water whip and coils it around herself, feeling her strength drain further. She considers for a moment, and feels the odds are a little not in her favour.

“Fuck!” Melody spits out aggressively as she readies herself for another tough battle. “Fuck whatever that was, and fuck you too.” It wasn’t necessary. But it did feel rather cathartic.