The Alpha Stigma, A New World to Destroy

[Dave Strider]

The dim light of the burning candle lit the small cell, its warmth reaching out and caressing the surrounding stacks of book and the man who sat upon the stone floor, his eyes wavering back and forth as he soaked in the information from the most recent reading material he had received. The Alpha Stigma awaited his execution, though it almost seemed as if he was forgotten long ago. His caretaker, an was kind and sympathetic older man, pitied him enough to bring books for him to read until his final days came to an end. Ryner had come to terms with his execution long ago, perhaps it was for the better. He was unpredictable, dangerous, and most likely a menace to society. Whenever he lost control...

The Alpha Stigma winced at the flashbacks of destruction and turmoil. He stared out into the darkness for a few moments before turning his eyes back to the page and finding his place. Still, there were things that still hung on the edge of his mind. Ryner gave a sigh. He still wondered what had happened to Sion, and why his friend had turned against him. Was someone manipulating him? Was he forced to do what he did? In the worst case, was that his plan all along? No, it couldn't be. That wasn't the Sion he knew, there had to be some unknown force at play.

Ryner shook his head at his thoughts, he kept getting distracted, he flipped back a few pages and began to reread the words, hoping they would sink in this time. However, his thoughts wandered to Ferris. As much as he hated to admit it, he missed her. With her teasing and accusations of sexual intentions, even her massive obsession with dango.

The Alpha Stigma tossed the pages on the floor before stretching his arms and giving a chuckle. He often forgot how much of a monster he was when he was with Ferris. Sometimes she seemed more destructive than he was, even if it was just an illusion. The power of destruction within an Alpha Stigma was far greater than that of any regular human, even if they were Ferris.

As Ryner rested the back of his head on his hands and lay upon the cold floor, he wondered what would happen after he was gone. At least now, he could nap whenever he wanted without getting yelled at for it. His eyelids fluttered for a moment before his mind began to rest, the candle flickering as it soon burned out.

Darkness.

With a gasp the Alpha Stigma quickly sat up, awake and sweating. It felt as if he just woke from a nightmare, but he knew all too well that what happened was real. Those long days proved his doubts wrong with each sunset and sunrise. As he looked around he found himself in his cloak, the blue and white design clean and new. He felt his face and felt no stubble or hair, as if he was freshly shaven. He remembered being in his cell, so maybe this was just a dream. Then again, his surrounding felt as real as the books he read and the stone he slept on. He then turned to see a mysterious white figure before him. Before he could utter a word, the figure spoke to him.

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.”

What was this? Some kind of game? Whatever it was, why would this guy have interest in him? Ryner felt confused, he would bring only destruction to this world, just like he did in the real one, if this was a dream As questions raced through his head, the being spoke again, holding out some rainbow reflecting orb.

“This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most."

Ryner doubted that this so called omnilium could give him and endless amount of naps or even give him peace, but he decided to continue listening to this Omni as he continued his speech.

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn. "

Wait what? What madness would this be? The Alpha Stigma then spoke up for the first time.

"Hold on a minute, what do you mean reborn? Do you even know what I am? What I am capable of doing?," Ryner's voice increased with each word. "This curse will destroy anything, and the only way it wont is when it finally destroys me! If I am able to come back who knows-"

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

Then the smiling apparition was gone.

" What the hell ?! What am I supposed to do you giant genie?! "

The area around him then became a bright white as a fountain appeared in front of him. A red pentagram was subtly etched into the fountain floor, the water obscuring those outside from clearly seeing it unless they were inside. Ryner leaned over and sighed as he saw the sign. What now?

[Joseph Joestar]

The sudden transition of pure darkness to overwhelming white caught Cecil off-guard, and his vision took a few moments to adjust himself. A gauntlet rose up to shield the knight's eyes, in anticipation that the intense light would subside and give way to a new sight.

However, no such thing happened; Cecil's eyes, however, were able to refocus and view his hand with more clarity. The black-toned metal coating his arm in a shell of shadowy armor returned some memories to the new Prime, and he recalled that he had become a Dark Knight again. For a moment, a spark of fear consumed his thoughts, making the man beneath the armor instinctively reach within his own spirit...

When he felt that same spirit of light within himself, Cecil allowed himself to relax. His blood father and foster father had both left their brightest son with their blessings, and he might not bear to forfeit either of them, at this point. The dark knight at present exhaled a breath he wasn't aware his lungs had been holding, and returned his attention to the current predicament in time and space.

Aware he was left on one knee, Cecil returned his armored hand to his calf and hoisted himself back to both feet. The suit of dark plating shifted and clinked expectantly around his form, and the knight realized he felt more... weighted, he supposed, as opposed to his time in the servitude of Cosmos. Once poised upright, that same armored hand instinctively went to the dark blade that was supposed to be strapped to his back. Another breath escaped him when he felt the handle of the sword. It seemed at least he retained all of the base aspects of his class, so if an encounter were to appear he would not go without a fight.

But what exactly was he doing here, anyway? The deity that had drawn Cecil to this place, Omni, had appointed some sort of task for him- or was that really the case? Drawing upon his short-term memory, the new Prime attempted to recall those words. They did not, in his memories, sound like any request; just mere explanations of this world and the laws that governed it. There was no claims of war, no beseeching of help in defeating the enemy, simply that Omni was watching, and waiting... for what?

As if searching for some immediate answer, Cecil swung his head around, looking for some surroundings that were not simply pure white. Several large specks could be seen, forming a clock-like perimeter that seemed to surround him- but immediately behind him, he discovered, was an ordinary-looking pool fountain.

Right hand still clutching the dark sword on his back, Cecil turned to face the structure and cautiously took a few steps forward to observe it closer. The fact that such a thing was even here didn't particularly faze the Warrior of Cosmos, but it just seemed so stark against the infinite backdrop of white. Perhaps that was the intent, however, for this to serve as a landmark within this pearl expanse- in which case, those 'others' that Omni mentioned might be attracted here-

No sooner had the thought emerged than did the dark knight catch the sight of what could be another individual on the opposing end of the fountain. They, too, noticed the sound of Cecil's approach, and both Primes snapped to attention, prepared to face down the other.

"Hold it!" The dark knight bellowed with practiced command in his tone. "Are you another one summoned by Omni?"

[Dave Strider]

As Ryner began to sigh and mumble about the orb of omnilium in his hand, another voice shouted from behind him.

"Are you another one summoned by Omni?"

Ryner was taken aback from the sudden question.

"Huh? I guess you mean the floating white guy with no eyes, right?"

The Alpha Stigma scratched the back of his head while giving a casual smile.

"I guess you can say he summoned me, not sure how though. My name is Ryner, by the way. Do you know where we are? It seems so empty here besides this fountain."

The Alpha Stigma continued to look around, until he heard another voice.

"Ryner!"

The Alpha Stigma turned to see his long lost friend.

Ferris? How did you get here?

Well I was trying to find you after what Sion did, and then I fell unconscious before waking up here. It seems to be that his is a new world, different from our own, according to the being named Omni. That is, unless you are only a part of my dream. The swordswoman then noticed the knight beside Ryner, and attempted to draw her sword, but found it nowhere in sight. A flush of embarassment and fear came over her face as she looked around for her trustworthy sword.

"Excuse me but I mean no harm, and if I'm not mistaken, I believe Omni stated that we can summon whatever we want using omnilium. Try summoning your sword." The knight was calm and collected with his advice.

Ferris quickly nodded her head as her color returned to normal and she focused on her sword. The omnilium glowed and she after a few minutes, she had created her weapon.

The white knight then turned to Ryner,"and what a bout you? Have you any weapons to summon?"

"Nothing really, I let Ferris deal with all of that, I deal more with magic."

"Ah, a mage then."

The blonde woman then interrupted them, getting straight to business. " Alright then, from what I can see, there are eight landmarks in all directions from here, so which one shall we investigate?"

[Joseph Joestar]

On another inspection, this other person Cecil had confronted didn't seem much more than a young man. Of course, that didn't suggest that such an individual didn't bear potential, but more that they were just innocent and less experienced - a middle ground between adolescence and full-blown adulthood, so to speak. "...My name is Ryner, by the way. Do you know where we are? It seems so empty here besides this fountain."

A question worth pondering over, so it seemed. Not allowing his hand to leave the sword at his back, Cecil began to slowly pace about in a wide perimeter of the fountain. "We are within the Omniverse, obviously," the dark knight spoke after a moment, not particularly to anyone, "But I could not say where exactly we are."

The Warrior of Cosmos tried to think back further, to some of his experiences during the war. Specifically, he focused on his memories of traveling between different worlds - some that belonged to him, others so utterly foreign - and how, exactly, he traversed those worlds. Cecil wondered if the Omniverse was something similar to that collections of worlds, and while it made sense in his mind, there was no telling if it was correct. Those landmarks on the horizon seemed vaguely similar to gateways, though, when he squinted enough...

"Ryner!" A proud feminine voice called out, and Cecil sent a sidelong glance towards the aforementioned summoned one. A knight, clad in modest purple armor to bring focus upon her female form and flowing gold hair. She and Ryner seemed to recognize each other, as when he exclaimed her name in response and they began to ask and explain what they were doing here. Interesting, that each of them would arrive here at the same time...

However, the knight Ferris soon found her vision drawn to the idle dark knight. Her hands deftly moved to draw a sword she discovered to not possess- a fact that left the female warrior equal parts flustered and panicked. "Please, excuse me, but I mean no harm," Cecil piped up in quick response to Ferris's failed initiative, "And, if I'm not mistaken- I believe that Omni stated that we can summon whatever we wish, using 'Omnilium'. Try summoning your sword, if you can't find it?"

In the handful of minutes that followed, while Ferris and Ryner both intently watched an orb of the swirling prismatic stuff, Cecil turned his attention to his previous thoughts. Assuming that the Omniverse was anything like World B, and those things on the horizon were gateways, then this empty white space would be something of an interstice between different worlds in the Omniverse. Of course, this was just assuming, but it could be a good theory nonetheless, for someone so recently having entered this place.

After the female knight molded her sword, Cecil noticed Ryner's apparent passiveness, as even after witnessing a weapon being crafted from Omnilium, he made no effort to create one for himself. The dark knight inquired about this, and was returned a brief explanation of Ryner's relationship with Ferris: the knight handed most physical combat, while he dabbled in more magical arts. An all-too-famous dynamic, in Cecil's experience.

The female seemed keen to not waste any more time, as after situating her sword she quickly jumped to the matter of setting out across the white expanse. "From what I can see, there are eight landmarks in all directions from here, so which one shall we investigate?"

"Well," Cecil began to respond, returning his full attention to the two others, "If my guess is correct, each of those places may send us to a different world within the Omniverse-"

"Wait, what?" Ryner stepped in suddenly, apparently both intrigued and doubtful at the black-clad knight's idea. "You mean, something like portals... to other worlds? What kind of magic is that- not just gateways, but entire worlds?" The mage inquired with some wonder. Ferris seemed to echo her partner's tone, curious and mystified.

Cecil shook his head, "Such things wouldn't be outside of a god's potential. If Omni was able to summon us here, it stands to reason he could summon other worlds, too." They two of them still seemed a bit overwhelmed at the prospect, that they would have witnessed such a powerful being. "Of course, I don't know if I am correct, so let us pick one at random and go find out, then."

Then, Ferris took her turn to step up and question the dark knight. "Now, hang on! Just who are you, anyway, and how do you know so much?" She demanded, her hands retreating to her sword in preparation to actually draw it now.

After a mote of consideration, he answered firmly and confidently, his voice deepened and powerful by the echoes of his black suit, "My name is Cecil Harvey. In another world, I was the Lord Captain of the Red Wings, King of Baron, and a Warrior of Cosmos. But now, I suppose I'm just one of many chosen by Omni." A ponderous silence arose among the trio, when Cecil began to turn towards one of the structures in the distance. "Shall we be off?"

[Dave Strider]

"Shall we be off?"

Ryner paused for a moment, considering their options. it would be nice to know where exactly they were heading, picking a random one might be a gamble. Ferris seemed be be stuck in thought as well. This man seemed trustworthy, but one could never be sure of a stranger's intentions. the two partners came to a conclusion and gave each other a nod. Ferris spoke up, pointing towards what they believed to be gate to the far east, "We shall proceed in this direction, unless anyone has other plans." Ryner sighed at her remark, as it was obvious that nobody had any plans. Hopefully, there would not be anything too dangerous out there for them.

Ferris took it upon herself to take the lead, marching forward with her sword on her shoulder, sheathed but ready for combat at a moments notice. Ryner took the time to try to remember his incantations, but for some odd reason, he couldn't remember anything besides Izuchi. Perhaps it was because of the extended imprisonment, and he would have to hope to remember more along the way. Ryner then turned to Cecil, the knight beside them, and tried to start up some conversation.

"So this place that you come from, what were the worlds like? Any possibility that these will be similar?"

As the Alpha stigma waited for an answer he figured he might as well test his eyes to see if he could still analyze magic. As he scanned the knight, something felt off, as if the Stigma Eyes could no longer detect magic as it used to, or perhaps even have the possibility of detecting more than just it. Ryner shrugged it off and continued as Ferris kept in front. A thought then came to the mage's head.

If they were in a new world, then would there be dango? Ryner shuddered at the thought of Ferris finding out. No doubt she should unleash his anger on him. Then again, if she summoned her sword with that omnilium stuff, maybe she could summon dango whenever she wanted too. If that was the case, he would be safe, for now.

[Joseph Joestar]

With no further words between them, the trio of newly-borne Primes set off in what could only be assumed as an easterly direction. No sun and no shadows made it difficult to determine any of the cardinal directions, but the seemed to be something about the fountain's asymmetric design that told them that this particular way was east. Whatever the case, the three adventurers were moving forward, towards the supposed gate far ahead.

The warrior woman boldly took the lead; whether the action was dutiful or brash, Cecil could not determine. Ryner, expressing himself as doubtful yet ill-motivated, merely went along. The two knights were prepared for any adversaries, but none seemed to approach so soon yet - though with the multiple specks and figures seemed to shift across the pearly expanse at any given moment, an encounter seemed almost inevitable. The young mage, seeing the opportunity to strike up some small talk, hailed Cecil;

"So this place that you come from, what were the worlds like? Any possibility that these will be similar?"

Beneath the grim visage of his full helm, the dark knight's lips tightened, and he probed his recollections once more. "Those worlds... it was almost amazing how radically different they were," Cecil spoke, seeming tentative in his words. "I remember one being a tower made entirely of machines... another, a castle poised within an infinite sky... elsewhere yet, the long-dead ruins of a stadium, or even a gigantic vault for an infantile god-"

"Now you're just making stuff up," Ferris adamantly interjected, her suspicions of the black-clad warrior still all too clear. Cecil looked up from his musings, his helm staring at the lady with that same metallic face.

"I can't prove anything, I admit. I wouldn't have believed it myself unless I had been there," the warrior of Cosmos admitted, making Ferris toss her head to flick her locks at Cecil. With a small breath of exasperation, Ryner turned back to the dark knight, who continued, "There is a chance we may encounter similar worlds here... but, still, we have no way of knowing unless we head through one of those structures."

"Guess so..." The young man trailed off, the remainder of his thought quickly abandoned. There was a hope that perhaps there could be a world capable of actually containing the Alpha Stigma, but as Cecil had mentioned, they would never know unless they inspected each of the worlds beyond those gates- provided they were gates at all, of course.

Before his mind could be further left to its own devices, Cecil returned Ryner's question, "What of you two? What world have you come from?"

[Dave Strider]

"Our world?" Ryner thought for a moment, scratching his head. "Well there isn't much abnormal about it..." The Alpha Stigma held his head with his hands, elbows in the air as he shrugged and thought about it. " I guess there is me though," he continued. " I have one type of four cursed eyes, called Stigmas. They're really powerful, but they do have great costs..." he trailed off, looking away to another distant portal. "Then there are these artifacts, items of great power, scattered across our world. Ferris and I were looking for some, and we fought some guys that had found a few before us. They were pretty tough."

The warrior listened intently, processing the man's words. He glanced over to Ferris but she didn't seem to want to add anything to the conversation, being satisfied with just leading the way. He then turned back to Ryner, a question rising in his mind. "You say the power comes with great downsides. What exactly do you mean by that?"

The Alpha Stigma stopped for a moment, unsure of what to say. Then, his companion answered for him. "Just listen when we tell you to run."She didn't hesitate or stop as she continued to their destination, her head held high as she spoke with a stern voice. Something about it all told the knight that there was some kind of deep, tragic consequence to the man's abilities, and decided not to press the matter further. Ryner looked up and nodded his head at Cecil, before heading off after Ferris. The trail of white never seemed to end, and they could hardly tell that they were getting closer. The trio wondered in their own minds about what lie ahead.

[Joseph Joestar]

This Stigma was a gift, and simultaneously a curse? It seemed an interesting mutation, so to speak; it wasn't like Cecil had never heard of such things (abnormal eyes, or abilities like a double-edged sword), but they were not as prevalent in his own world as they seemed in Ryner's. In full understanding otherwise, the dark knight inquired no more of the matter- though, perhaps, it might have been help to know what exactly happened when he was supposed to run.

The trio fell into a near-awkward silence after that, nobody quite knowing what to say next. They all knew each other's names, and had some picture of their worlds. Surely, there was more to be asked, but it didn't seem to be the best time, certainly in the midst of arriving in this strange world.

So, simply, they walked their way to the object in the distance. It was a slow process, since they did not think to summon anything in the realm of mounts or vehicles. Ferris seemed a bit to proud for that, anyways. Nevertheless, time passed, and they ever gradually got closer to their destination. From ten minutes, to thirty minutes, to an hour...

"Ughh..." Ryner finally groaned out as he slowed to a crawl, the young mage unable to not speak his distress, "Are we there yet? There's no way that thing is this far away."

"It would seem that way, wouldn't it..." The dark-clad warrior chimed in absently. Having practically circumvented the globe on foot made Cecil no stranger to long marches, himself; yet, this seemed different somehow.

"Oh, you're just whiners," Ferris scoffed, shrugging them both off. "You wanna get there faster? Then we'll move twice as fast!" The female fighter braced herself, then began to jog away, breastplate heaving and sword bouncing on her shoulders with every bound.

Clearly unable to keep up, the boy cried out, "No, wait-!" His companion screeched to a halt and turned back, sticking her tongue out at him. "Why do you have to be so insufferable...?"

"Since when did you get an attitude?" Ferris retorted, acting offended. "Stop complaining and hop to it!" She turned back around and resumed her march, while Ryner rolled his eyes and groaned without restraint. The dark knight observed the two with a bit of curiosity regarding if they were always this heated towards one another. He knew better than to ask that question directly, of course.

In due time, they would reach the gate. Until then, they would just have to deal with all the nagging details.

[Dave Strider]

Ryner trudged along with Cecil as they followed Ferris, who jogged at a steady pace to the gate. The Alpha Sitgma groaned. "Ugh, we still aren't there yet? Why don't we try summoning some kind of ride, like some horses or something. That Omni guy said we could do that, right?"

Ferris suddenly stopped at Ryner's outburst, and the man took a step back, fearing he may have said the wrong thing. With a quick swing Ferris confirmed his fears, smacking him on the head with her sheathed blade, before retorting to his remark.

"Only misfits and weakling prefer steeds to walking. How do you expect to defeat an opponent when you cant even walk a few miles?" She accused him, keeping a tight face and her chin up.

"Well I'm both of those so might as well." The Alpha Stigma replied as Ferris gave him a stern look. "Hey, if this is just the place to go between worlds, then the actual places are probably a heck of a lot bigger." Ryner then focused his energy as he began to summon a horse, before Ferris sighed and did the same. After a period of about thirty minutes, the primes were able to summon their own means of transportation. Ryner summoned a medium sized brown horse, and Ferris summoned large white one, armor included.

"We must be prepared for the possibility of a surprise attack."

Ryner was starting to reply, but then sighed and thought better of it as he mounted his steed.

[Joseph Joestar]

While the other pair had taken to summoning horses, Cecil had taken a different route and selected something more widely used in his own world. The dark knight remembered Omni's worlds, that using Omnilium was as simple as imagining what you desired most in that moment. Then, unconsciously, he began to form a swirling orb of the chromatic substance. By the time Ryner and Ferris had finished forming their mounts and hopping aboard, Cecil was calling into existence a large yellow land bird, somewhat similar to an ostrich. The pure sun-colored feathers clashed somewhat with the mounting gear and jet-black barding that had spawned with it.

The two others seemed dumbfounded for a moment, until Ferris finally expressed her incredulous feelings, "That is your mount!? A big bird?"

Cecil swung himself aboard the riding creature, armor and all, nonplussed as ever. "They're called chocobos, back home. They can be very quick and quite spry- and despite what you'd think, actually rather clever."

"It looks stupid," Ferris declared bluntly and without mercy, "-and I think it smells, too." Ryner looked from his partner back to Cecil and his new mount, unsure of what to contribute. The female knight continued to rant, "And god forbid, you actually use these things as war mounts?"

"Oh, no, not at all" The dark knight interjected, doing his best to sound unperturbed in the face of the rude lady, "We have airships for that." With that matter-of-fact statement expressed, the dark-clad warrior dug his heels into the chocobo's sides, and with a flap of large yellow wings, began to canter away. Ferris shook off the shock of the retort and began to pursue Cecil, while Ryner absent followed along in the wake of his too-reckless partner.


It still took some time before the trio actually got close to the archway, but they did so much faster than without their mounts. Upon closer observation, the structure did, in fact, seem to be a sort of gate, retaining a shimmering surface that showed a glimpse of a wide country beyond it. Ryner commented on the majesty of the thing, and wondered how Cecil had managed to guess correctly on the nature of the structures. Still being a bit sour over their earlier interactions, meanwhile, Ferris didn't say much more to the others, and simply beckoned for them all to cross through the portal.

And with that, they began their ride into Camelot.

[Dave Strider]

Ferris was the first to go through the portal, the rainbow of colors surrounding her as she cautiously but bravely, keeping her senses aware as her skin felt a slight breeze in the air. The motionless white landscqpe was replaced with dirt roads and distant forests that resesmbeled that of her and Ryner's origin, and couldnt help but give a low sigh as she relaxed, feeling more at home.

She turned back to the portal and awaited her two companions, however after a long silence, she became suspicious.

"Ryner! Cecil!"

Perhaps she would have to go back and drag them through.

She walked back through the portal, the white floor returning below her, but no Alpha Stigma or White Knight to be found. Impossible.

She looked atound, scanning the Nexus. There were many primes in the area, but she did not recognize any of them to be the ones she knew. She xursed aloud before heading back into the gate. Again, she saw nothing but the environment before her. She stomped on the soft grass as she grunted aloud, raising her head to the sky.

"RYYYYYYNERRRRR!!!"

Damn that magician. Maybe that knight was not who he seemed to be, and had taken the Alpha Stigma in hopes to harvest his power.in either case, she was going to find both those fiends and wring their necks until they coughed up the stupid reason they left her behind. Maybe she might go a little easy on Ryner, maybe not.

With her fit her stomach started to grumble, not out of hunger, but for the need for Dongo. She had been separated from her treats for too long already, and she then sat on a log and huffed before focusing on summoning some. Within minutes she was furiously chomping down on the donut like colorful orbs and plotting her punishment to the two primes.