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Hey, everyone! I'm grateful for the time you've taken to read this, so I'll make this introductory statement as brief as possible. Let's start with an explanation. My inspiration for this story came from none other than our very own Master Eraqus, whose story, "The Extreme Purifier"(Link), has been floating around the forums for quite some time. After hearing about his own inspiration for his story, a theory video by HMK and Skyward Wing(Link), I thought that it would be fun to pen my own take on the concept of an Extreme Purifier. So over the past few days I've been working on this brief prologue, and I've posted it here to get some outside opinions. I hope you'd be willing to take the time to post your thoughts, but please, do not say the story is perfect as it is. Oh, and just a heads up, some of this could be considered not safe for kids. Nothing graphic, but it definitely isn't Disney levels of innocence. Key: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ “The arrogance of the human mind is to believe that we understand anything. The humility of the human mind is to understand that we know nothing, but must strive to know all.” ~Nameless Report, Entry 9 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Out of nothing, I awoke. At one moment, there was only darkness around me, but in the next my senses returned like lighting. Pain and irritation shot down my limbs; my vision blurred as the dark veil obscuring my eyes was torn, revealing a harsh world of blinding light. I could barely move, forced to wait and struggle like an infant as my worthless limbs refused to obey me. Something wet stung my face. Tears, perhaps tied to the uneasiness that brewed within my chest. I could recall nothing. No sorrow, no bliss that would awaken such a stirring in my soul. I knew immediately that something was terribly, horribly wrong. The cotton deafness in my ears peeled away, as a barrage of dull noise assaulted me. I could feel something through the cold floor below, something shaking and reverberating. I feared what it was, but why I could not say. I struggled to my feet, my arms and legs burning with the strain. My head swam with a myriad of thoughts as I struggled to take in everything at once. And it was only then that I noticed the dull quakes were growing more frequent. Standing prostrate as I could manage, I peered around the room. Everything was white as snow, at least, all that I could see. I stumbled forward, my impaired vision forcing me to feel my way through the white void. My legs buckled, sending me stumbling forwards, yet I managed to catch myself upon a large cold object. I blinked away the wetness in my eyes, and focused upon my sight as hard as I was able. Slowly, a riveted surface came into view before me, and its definition rang a familiar tone in my mind. “A pillar.” I muttered to myself. Suddenly, the rest of my senses started to come flooding back. My vision sharpened, my ears stiffened, and my hands clenched shut. A choking breath caught in my throat as I was briefly overwhelmed, yet I managed to fight it off. Now at least partially lucid, I finally managed to take a full view of the room in which I found myself. Everything looked as though it had been white-washed, from the floors to the aforementioned pillars, an almost countless number of which adorned the large halls. They climbed high into the space above my head, disappearing into heights which my eyes could not reach. The room truly was massive; I could see very little beyond the spires that jutted up from the floor around me. After getting my bearings, I once again took notice of the monotonous quaking still resounding all around me. With little else to occupy myself with, I resolved to find the source of whatever the strange sound was, and hopefully some kind of clue that would shed light on where I was. I took a few careful steps, the dull reverberations almost throwing me off balance at certain points. Using the pillars to support myself, I proceeded through the seemingly endless room, towards what I thought may be the source of the incessant noise. Luckily, it seemed like my guesses were paying off, as I could sense the quakes growing louder as I continued on. Methodically gauging the distance to each thump, I slowly began working my way towards the epicenter. As I approached, I noticed that the pillars around me began to diverge and become less clustered in their arrangement. By observing the patterns in the pillars, I made a guess that they were gradually opening up to a large and expansive area. After a few more moments of careful treading, the Pillars began to disappear completely from my field of vision, becoming too distant for my eyes to follow. I found myself in a vast expanse of white, a place almost devoid of being, save for one lone structure. Not too far ahead, I noticed a large and extravagant marble throne, upon which stood a tall, fair woman. She possessed long and golden hair that flowed down her sprawling white robes, and wore an ornate mask that obscured her eyes. Kneeling before the woman was a haggard man, gasping for air and struggling to keep himself upright. In his hand he held a large key, which he used to support himself as he tried to stand. With some effort he found his footing, and immediately charged forward with a deafening yell. He braced the key with both of his hands, and in a single swing brought his full momentum crashing towards the woman, who merely stood, unfazed. I watched in confusion as the man’s strike was stopped short in the middle of the air, and as he was thrown back like a rag doll. Yet, despite seemingly striking nothing, the contact of the man’s attack reverberated through the chamber in an ear-splitting clang, almost as if he had struck an iron wall. The peal was so unbearable, that I was forced to cover my ears in an attempt to keep out the horrible noise. Following the man’s strike, a deft rumble shook the foundation at my feet, nearly rocking me to the ground. After the shock-wave had passed, I looked up and slowly began to remove my hands from my ears. The man, despite being tossed aside, quickly found his footing, and proceeded to leap forward for a second strike. I preemptively moved to cover my ears once more, as again the man’s attack merely bounced off an invisible wall, and another agonizing metal screech rang through the air. I looked up. The man who had been attacking knelt again before the woman, struggling to catch his breath. Suddenly, as if from nothingness, a voice sounded all around me, invading my mind and sending a shiver down my spine. I couldn’t even put into words how it felt; indescribably soothing, yet somehow terrifying, malicious and shrill all at once. Slowly, the voice began to form words from thin air, and those words began to weave into piercing thoughts. From the emptiness, it spoke. “Why do you fight, knowing what you know? Why do you resist that which must come to pass? You have seen the end… and it is soon. In time all will be complete and you will be revealed for what you truly are; pitiful worms mewling for the promise of a long-dead salvation. And you will fight and bicker and destroy for that which destroys you, and I will watch as this pitiful world is reborn into a land of promise and jubilation. You will be remembered as nothing more than a villain who fought this very salvation I sought for you, if you are fortunate enough to be remembered at all. So I ask again, why do you fight?” All was quiet. A terrible sense of dread filled my heart, something darker than anything I could possibly imagine was taking place. My eyes darted around the room, as I struggled to stifle my shivering body. Where had the voice come from? The man had done nothing, and the woman’s mouth had yet to move. Was there someone else here? Suddenly, the silence was broken by something almost foreign to me at this point, the sound of another person’s voice. The man rose to his feet, and addressed the woman directly. “What’s become of you?” He said softly. “You were once so full of hope, so full of joy. Your smile brought comfort to all; you could mend a broken soul and patch a shattered heart. You sought to make the world a better place… not to burn it down and start a new one!” The man threw his arm to the side in anger. “You’ve changed.” He muttered bitterly. “You’re no savior, you’re a monster.” The man raised his weapon and braced himself. “And you need to be stopped.” He finished. The woman showed no signs of emotion, no change in expression that would show the man’s words impacted her at all, if they were even meant for her in the first place. Once again, a cold chill racked my body, as the voice returned to speak once more. “Your words mean nothing, and your actions, even less. You know that you cannot defeat me, not now. There remain only two… and soon they will both receive their just rewards. As for the one who fights alongside you…” the voice stopped, and with it, my heart. A bitter wind blew by as I was assaulted with an indescribable sense of dread. “My dear!” The voice echoed. “Why, I didn’t see you there!” The woman turned towards me, her expression terribly lifeless as her concealed eyes shook my soul with their invisible glare. Suddenly, the man turned to face me, shocked and terrified. “Raid!” He called out, as he lunged for me with blinding speed. Almost faster than my eyes could follow, a large white spear appeared in the woman’s hands, and in the time it took for me to draw in another haggard breath, she had sent it flying towards my heart. Time froze, and it felt like everything would hang forever more in motionless terror. But in a split second that felt like an eternity, time began again. I looked up to see the man standing before me, his soft face and warm blue eyes meeting my terrified gaze. A large white spear-head stained in blood jutted from his chest. Struggling to speak, he muttered the words, “Run.” I was unable to think. Unable to breath. All I could do was turn and flee as fast as I could. The pillars surrounding the area began to shake uncontrollably, as a horrible scream ripped through the vast chamber. From within the pealing shriek, the voice from before called out in a shrill echo: “No! You will not escape me again!” I ran as fast as I could, not daring a second to look back. The pillars began to collapse around me, as darkness slowly started to encroach upon my vision. I felt my legs grow weak, and the air grow heavy. I felt countless arms reaching for me, desperately trying to pull me into the abyss. I felt pain and terror the likes of which I could have never even imagined. And then, everything faded to black. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________