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+--- Thread: Sadie Kane Finds a Bigger, Blacker Pyramid... Among Other Things (/showthread.php?tid=5245)
Sadie Kane Finds a Bigger, Blacker Pyramid... Among Other Things - Madotsuki - 09-27-2016
Well, when that guy mentioned that I was in the Endless Dunes, he wasn't kidding. This place was like the Sahara... if the Sahara was the size of the Earth. Yes, I work with Egyptian Gods. Yes, my uncle leads the First Nome in Egypt. But never in my life have I ever seen this much sand. You'd think that with me being descended from Egyptian royalty, I'd totally be on board with this.
But I'm not. You don't know how much I'd like to be back home in Brooklyn House with all the recruits, eating pizza and teaching magic alongside my brother, Carter. Speaking of which, I wonder how he's doing? Hopefully he could handle himself out there. As long as he wasn't worrying about my sudden disappearance, that is. When I eventually return... somehow, he'll probably yell at me, tell me how hard it was running Brooklyn House by himself, order me to be more careful, then embrace me in an awkward sibling hug.
Right now, though, I was lost in a desert, having been brought here against my will... I didn't get all the details about how, since the guy who brought me here threatened me to help him with a heist. Yeah, no. I like having things I'm not supposed to have as much as the next guy, but you just don't take me from my world and order me to help you-- especially if we didn't know each other five seconds ago. Thank goodness I could still use my magic, although it felt like I was a fledgling magician again since Ha'Di'ing them almost made me pass out.
Don't ask me where they are now; they're probably dead. I don't know anyone who wasn't a God or a monster that could survive a point-blank explosion. Some of their supplies survived though, and they weren't going to be using it anytime soon, so I took it with me.
I wasn't sure how long I had been wandering, but eventually I came across one of the strangest things I've seen today: as I passed a sand dune, I saw a bunch of black buildings in the sand. I wasn't sure what to make of them until I realized that one of them was a pyramid. Black is supposed to be a good color in Egyptian lore, but something told me that whomever made these structures didn't have that interpretation in mind. Nevertheless, my curiosity led me to investigate the place.
That would eventually prove itself to be a very bad idea.
RE: Sadie Kane Finds a Bigger, Blacker Pyramid... Among Other Things - Madotsuki - 09-30-2016
As I drew closer, I saw that the conspicuous structures were surrounding a tiny little village-- and I meant tiny, like only five or six people had been living there. Note that I said had and not has; when I arrived at the center of the imaginary circle the black buildings had formed, I found that the place had been abandoned long ago. Small clay huts had cracked under the intense heat of the sun, despite the fact that the pyramid gave it shade, ready to turn to dust at any moment should I touch them in the wrong way. It was barely apparent, but six sets of footprints led away from the set of houses and towards the pyramid.
I was about to investigate the footprints, but a faint glow caught my attention. Buried in the sand, just beside one of the huts, was a green crystal. I dug it out and examined it. Considering that I found it almost completely covered in sand, it appeared to be in good condition; the edges were clean, although it wasn't made with any particular shape in mind, and there didn't appear to be any scratches. Someone must've left it behind, since none of the other structures here were green. Ah, well. Finders keepers. Tucking the gem into a pocket, I continued towards the pyramid.
And that was when I figured out where the gem had come from: a long hallway, crafted from the same material as the building, jutted out from the front for several meters, ending in a door made up of green crystals. Several pieces had broken off, leaving a bunch of holes in what would otherwise have been a perfect pentagon shape. When I pulled the gem out and towards the door, the glow intensified and it began to hum. I inserted it into one of the holes, where it sealed itself to the door. I was about to question how parts of the door managed to find themselves several hundreds of meters away when the sand began to blow away, pointing out the six sets of footprints that led inside the pyramid. As far as I could tell, none of them led back out. Were they trapped in there?
I ran up to the side of the pyramid and pressed my ear up against it, hoping to hear anything that was happening inside. All I heard was more humming. I highly doubt someone can listen through the thick bricks of a regular pyramid, but this pyramid was anything but regular. In fact, it wasn't even made out of bricks. Instead, it was a single object, like it had been carved rather than built. Its black surface was absurdly smooth to the point where if you weren't paying attention, it felt like nothing at all. It was warm, too, but it wasn't coming from the sun; it was coming from inside. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't natural-- or even capable of being made by humans.
Thoroughly perturbed by the pyramid, I backed off, left with more questions than answers. What was it? Why was it here? Who-- or what made it? Maybe if I restored the door, it'd let me inside and I could figure out what was going on? I could try and Ha'Di it open, but my magic reserves weren't up to snuff as of now; breaking the door open wouldn't help me if I burned up in the process.
Now where to start? Aside from the pyramid, there were five other structures. They'd be as good as any place to start looking for crystals.
RE: Sadie Kane Finds a Bigger, Blacker Pyramid... Among Other Things - Madotsuki - 10-02-2016
I'd explain what it was like to travel between the structures, but it was a very dull experience and I'm not interested in recounting it. I'll just say that it took an hour or two to make the complete trip and that it was very sandy.
Instead, I'll talk about the buildings themselves. Having chosen to venture west of the pyramid, I came across another structure that appeared to belong in Roman times; four gigantic columns rose into the sky, possibly 10 stories high, supporting a black rectangle. Another column of similar height was consistently rising up and down in front of the structure, acting as an elevator. While I was waiting for it to take me to the top, I realized that the machine was operating without a sound. When I arrived at the top, I saw that the oblong was populated with dying trees. They weren't even palm trees, but possibly a type of spruce. I wasn't quite sure about that, since all their leaves had fallen. The crystal rested in the middle of it all, so I grabbed it and hurried along so I could catch the elevator down.
The next structure was little more than a coliseum, potentially of Greek origin. I walked into the arena, surrounded by bleachers that had never been filled. I couldn't help but feel watched, as if a bunch of ghosts had gathered to watch a chariot race that would never start and I had interrupted their wait. As soon as I found the crystal in the sand, I scurried away. There wasn't much to describe about that one, honestly.
Following that building was a structure of "I have absolutely no clue where this came from" origin. A set of disconnected, off-kelter staircases led up and around a large cone that was approximately half the size of the Roman-like building. At the tip of the cone stood another cone, much stouter and placed upside down so it balanced precariously on the other and acted as a platform. Despite the dangerous position, it was still. Another cone like the second one hovered in the air and changing its place so I could access the platform once I reached the end of the stairs. Much like the other buildings, there was a crystal there, so I took it and hurried back down.
The building after that... I don't think I could call it a building. Curved, black pillars about three times my size stuck out of the sand like a giant ribcage, like an enormous creature made out of onyx or obsidian had expired here. Speaking of which, I'm still not sure what these things are made out of; I haven't felt anything this smooth before. To keep things clear, though, I'll just say they're made of onyx. Anyway, back on track, I found the gem in the center of the abyssal skeleton and moved on.
If you thought those things were weird, just wait until you hear about the next one! Three columns, each one higher than the one before it, stood in front of a giant mound of onyx floating in the air. A ramp allowed me to reach the top of the shortest pillar. Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be a way to reach the other. As much as I hated doing it, I attempted to transform into a kite (the bird, not the toy), the holy bird of the god Isis. For some reason, I couldn't do it. It was like I really was a fledgling magician again! And at the worst time, too...
Through some brief investigating, I discovered that there was an invisible pathway between the columns. I began to scale it, making sure not to look down or focus on what I was walking on because I was literally touching nothing but air. After nearly falling once or twice, I arrived at the mass of crystals and pulled out the green one.
I eventually returned to the entrance of the pyramid with the sun starting to set. I presented all the crystals to the door, and as expected, they merged with it. Hieroglyphs materialized in the door. At first, I didn't understand what they were saying, but then I realized that I was supposed to read them down to up, which isn't at all typical. Roughly translated, it said: "the moonlight is my key."
Moonlight, eh? Well, it was going to be night here very soon. I'll just wait here until something happens, I guess. Not like there was anything else to do.
RE: Sadie Kane Finds a Bigger, Blacker Pyramid... Among Other Things - Madotsuki - 10-03-2016
I decided to camp out back at the village in the center, mainly because I didn't have a tent and I felt too uncomfortable around the other structures to use them as shelter. I could've just waited outside the pyramid, but the cold, night air kept me from making things simple. Inside of the largest hut, I took account of my stuff: my wand and staff; a magician's kit filled with clay, rope, papyrus, ink, and a brush; all the hygienic necessities a traveler needed; and about a week's worth of beef jerky, raisins and water.
'It'd be nice to find a way out of this place,' I mused, laying down and staring at the stars through a little hole in the ceiling. Truth be told, I was sick and tired of the desert; as soon as I found out what was in that pyramid, I'll get out of here and find a jungle or a town or something. I somehow fell asleep, even though I didn't want to. What if I missed my chance and it was morning when I woke up? I didn't want to stay here longer than I needed to.
And that was when the dream started.
Back in my world, whenever magicians fell asleep, they needed a special pillow lest their Ba, their personality, decide to go on a little adventure. Since our Ba often helped us to learn of things in advance, Carter and I didn't use the pillows that often. So this didn't surprise me that much. What did catch me off-guard was the fact that I was still in human form and not flying off into the distance. Typically with Ba, they're phoenixes with a human head, and you couldn't control where you went. I can usually turn my Ba into a human form, but I never started a dream like that.
The sky was no longer visible; the hole in the roof was no longer there. I could tell by looking out the entrance that it was day outside, however. Stepping out, I saw that the huts were in better condition than before. This must've been in the past. Not only that, but the black structures surrounding the place had vanished, save for the pyramid. How long had that thing even been there?
I noticed some figures in front of the pyramid, so I went to investigate. It turned out that there were six people, three men and women dressed in tribal garb, bowing before the structure. As I drew closer, I started hearing discordant voices trying to harmonize inside of the building. I also saw that the tribesmen's skin were beginning to blister.
"This pyramid is almost like a second mother," one of the men said.
"Agreed," said a woman. "It cares for us. We don't need to hunt as long as it's here. It basks us in its warmth and sings to us."
"It sings worse than a dying cheese demon," I interrupted. They showed no signs of hearing me, continuing their praise of the pyramid. I closed my eyes and sighed. And then I gasped-- whenever my eyes were shut, I saw that the word "oblation" had been engraved onto the back of my eyelids. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I doubted it meant something like "happy fun times." I blinked rapidly, trying to see if the word would disappear. Once I finished fluttering my eyes, I was awake, staring up into a pitch-black sky. The word was still there, but what worried me more was that the terrible "singing" was back, much louder than before. It was calling to me-- I just knew it.
Raising myself to my feet, I readied my staff and wand and exited the hut. There were no moon or stars to light my way, but the pyramid had a silhouette that was obvious enough to follow. By now I was starting to have second thoughts about entering the structure, but I had gotten so far. And if those people were still alive, they needed me!
I stopped in front of the pyramid, my hands wrapped around my magician's weapons. It was difficult to tell from the lack of light, but the jade door was no longer there. I still couldn't see inside the entrance though, and the horrid voice of the pyramid was so loud that I could barely hear myself as I called "is anyone in there?" There was no answer. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, watching the word that had appeared like it was an omen.
And then I entered.
RE: Sadie Kane Finds a Bigger, Blacker Pyramid... Among Other Things - Madotsuki - 10-05-2016
There was no sound as I trekked across the onyx floor, save for the ominous chorus that echoed in my ears. A lack of light coupled with the unending amounts of black meant that I couldn't see at all. I walked on for an uncomfortably long time (really, was this thing bigger on the inside?) before something finally came into view. Red light reflected off of the walls, making them look as if they were crafted from blood. Red is never a good sign.
The tunnel widened out into a minimalist room with rubies lining the walls and lighting the room. Symbols and architectural plans were embossed everywhere, although none of them were particularly Egyptian in origin, or even of similar origin. I think I recognized a few of the buildings outside, but it was really difficult to tell since I couldn't even read them. Six statues lined the furthest wall, separated into two groups by another hallway. They were all made of onyx with rubies for eyes, save for one which lacked the gemstones. I couldn't discern many details about them, but I could tell that there were three men, one of which didn't have the red eyes, and three women.
Much like the people that were in my dream. But what did the rubies do? Did that mean they were dead? Best case scenario, I get out alive with the guy. Worse case... I'd rather not think about that.
The only way to go was forward. I didn't even consider that the pyramid would let me out again; you don't expect an evil-looking building like this to let you come and go. But I wasn't going to go in unprepared. "N'dah," I whispered, tapping my head with the tip of my staff. Hieroglyphics flashed in front of me, and then I was wrapped in a faint, gold light. Now shielded, I ventured deeper into the pyramid.
RE: Sadie Kane Finds a Bigger, Blacker Pyramid... Among Other Things - Madotsuki - 10-09-2016
This hallway was even longer than the first one, so I'll just skip over that. When I arrived at the end of it, I froze up in surprise. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to find here, but I decided that I wasn't expecting this. This room was larger than an actual house, and in the center, a podium stood. Flanked by two columns that rose up to the top of the pyramid was a man, probably the guy that came here last. He was enveloped in red lightning, his skin just as red and peeling. His black hair waved about in the electric field as he shouted. I could tell he was giving it his all due to the intensity of his movements, but it was a lost cause; not even I could hear him over the incessant wailing that I learned was quite literally coming from the Eye of Sauron.
Okay, literally might be a stretch, but this thing had quite a few things in common with Sauron: they were both giant, floating eyes made out of energy... and I don't need to come up with any more similarities between these two. Sauron 2.0 was also the source of the lightning that was now starting to arc across the room towards me. I held my staff out and was about to cast a spell, but when I took a moment to figure out what spell I needed for this situation, I suddenly realized that I couldn't remember how to cast most of them. But I knew a lot of them before I was summoned! Seeing that the thunderous tendrils were twisting towards me, I just picked a random spell that I knew and casted it.
"A'max!" I shouted, and before I knew it, a pillar of flames burst up out of the onyx in front of me. Wait, fire? But that was Zia's thing! It turned out that I could use it just fine here, though, since it managed to deflect the bolts away. I rolled to the side as the lightning returned and struck where I had been standing a moment ago. Pulling up another wall of fire, I glanced over at the man trapped below the eye. Obviously it hadn't killed him yet, but if it didn't want to kill him, what did it want with him? Was it using his energy? That did explain his sorry condition; running closer, I saw that tear streaks ran down his blistered face.
When I reached out to pull him free, the lightning coursed through my arm and I got blasted back, destroying my shield in the process. If I didn't have my shield on, I'd probably be dead. I was about to cast it back on me again, but I realized that there was someone else who needed it more. I pointed at the man and shouted "n'dah!" He was encased in golden light for a moment before it and the electric barrier blew up in unison. He started rolling down the steps, probably not even aware of what was happening, and the eye seemed just as confused. This was my chance. I leveled my staff at the bootleg Sauron and said a word that almost got me killed:
"Ha'dhi!"
RE: Sadie Kane Finds a Bigger, Blacker Pyramid... Among Other Things - Madotsuki - 10-10-2016
The eye undulated in shock as it burst, torn asunder by the force of the explosion. The two pillars beside it toppled over, but since they were the same color as everything else, it was hard to see where they landed. Without the Sauron-wannabe providing a lightning storm, there was absolutely no light; it was as if I was in a black void. The pyramid fell dead silent. I fell to my knees, trying to stay conscious with a burning fever; I almost burned myself up there.
Even though I lacked the energy, I called out for the man. "Can you hear me?" I asked, squirming on the eerily warm onyx floor.
"Who is that?" he replied, his accent decidedly ancient, albeit not Egyptian. Had he really been unaware of me the entire time?
"A friend. How did you get yourself in this mess?"
"I had to. Everyone else had been snatched up in the pyramid. I couldn't bare to be alone anymore, not with the unending pain..."
I thought for a moment. The tribesmen in my dream also had peeling skin; if that wasn't painful, I don't know what is. "Do you think we can save the others?"
"They're not in here anymore."
"So they're dead?"
An uncomfortably long moment of silence passed before he replied. "Not exactly."
"Then where are they?"
"...Have you been to the other structures here?"
"Yes, but I didn't see anyone--" Suddenly I was struck with a horrifying thought: those things were warm, like human... flesh. Oh, Osiris, was I really walking on some old civilization's corpses?
"You get it now?"
"But how would you know that?"
"Every time someone entered the pyramid, a new structure appeared out of the sand. ...One of them was my mother, but I forgot which one was her."
"That's terrible," I consoled, struggling to hold back tears. "I lost my mom, too." I decided to stop talking there, mainly because I didn't want to start bawling, but also because I didn't know what else to say.
"Thank you for saving me," he added suddenly. "You're a brave soul, miss...?"
"You can call me Sadie."
"And you can call me Haru."
Several minutes passed as we waited and recovered. Despite the rest, I wasn't feeling any better. Nevertheless, we should probably go before something bad happens. "You ready to leave?" I asked, struggling to my feet.
"Most definitely. But where are you?"
"Just follow my voice." After a minute or two of calling into the darkness, Haru finally grabbed onto my shoulder-- at least, I was pretty sure it was him, even though I couldn't see him in the darkness. "Alright, the eye was over there, so I think the hallway is here."
As soon as we entered the hallway, the floor began to shake. There was a loud splashing sound behind us, and I dared to look back. Moonlight was streaming through the gaps of the ceiling as it fell. But it wasn't crumbling. Instead, it was melting. A giant, black wave rolled towards us like an oil spill. "Run," I whispered in my friend's ear, bolting for the exit with him in tow.
I wasn't in any condition to exert myself like this, but I'd rather pass out from exhaustion than get trapped under a sea of this liquid alien onyx. Haru seemed to share the same sentiment, since he wasn't objecting despite the pain I could only assume he was in. We barreled towards the exit, desperate to leave the deforming pyramid. Moonlight eventually came into view on the other side, and then we finally burst through the entrance to the terrifying structure.
Around us, the other buildings began to capsize; the ribcage I had passed through earlier had already melted into a large puddle that turned the sand black wherever they touched. The two front columns of the Roman-like building buckled and melted, sending the platform on top flipping end over end. It landed with a "thwump!", sending a huge pile of sand our way followed by a roaring, abyssal tidal wave. In short, everything fell into chaos as we tried to stay as far away from the buildings as possible, which meant that we were heading towards the village in the center.
I was starting to get tunnel vision; I stumbled and would've fallen face-first into the sand multiple times if my tribe buddy wasn't keeping me on my feet. I couldn't pass out-- not now! Not when we were so close! But my legs gave out, and the last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the immense, wavering wall of black racing towards us.
*******
When I awoke, I was staring up at a clay ceiling. Haru knelt nearby, his hand on my forehead.His skin was starting to heal, so he no longer looked like a beet. "Miss Sadie!" he cried out, wrapping me in a hug. "You're alive!"
"What happened?" I muttered, waiting for him to let go of me. Once he did so, he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the hut. When I saw what awaited me, I gasped in disbelief-- the ground surrounding the village was no longer sand, but black dirt. Oases and forests took the place of the foreign buildings, and flowers of all shapes and sizes were scattered about. Maybe whoever built those buildings had an Egyptian ideology after all, because black meant life-- the dark soil was fertile and perfect for farming.
"But... how?" I asked, looking down at a rose.
"Perhaps the life forces of my tribe members migrated to the earth when the buildings collapsed?"
"I guess that makes sense."
We spent the next few days recovering from the incident, which proved easy since this place could provide us with all we needed; fruits in the forest and water from the oases. It was pretty good, although I wished hamburgers could grow on trees. It couldn't last forever though. Once I filled my bag to the brim with food, I would leave.
"Are you sure you can't stay?" Haru asked as I slung my backpack over my shoulder.
"I need to find a way home. I can't do that here."
"I understand, Miss Sadie. Just promise me that you'll stay safe, okay?"
"Knowing me, that'll probably be a promise I can't keep. But I'll try." And with that, I ventured back into the Dunes.