IC - Jake:
I met a man, locked away for things he hadn't done. Innocence on a ball and chain, he'll never feel the sun again on his face or roses in his hands. But when he smiled at me I could understand. He was a man who had a face that looked a lot like me. I saw him in the mirror and I fought him in the street. And when he turned away, I shot him in the head. Then I came to realize that I had killed myself.
Arania had collapsed from exhaustion, something I thought was impossible, considering his components.
"Erin, keep an eye on him, can you?" I asked Erin, hoping that she could keep him stable.
Araminta had flown into the cockpit, nestling down on one of the consoles, falling asleep quickly. The Dyson ring was fast approaching, and it was clear that there was life on the bright side.
"Holy--" My voice trailed off suddenly.
Indigo was in a similar state of marvel. I began scanning for large energy readings on the ring. Larger than the already massive readings on the ring itself. There was a small spike on chart, on the exact south axis of the ring.
"There, possible location of the Tree, if it is a tree or something else altogether..."
Indigo was gleefully looking out the window, taking in the beauty of this creation. I took the fighter down towards the signal.
On the surface, I left Arania in the ship, in fear that he might be a burden on us. I set the auto-defences on the ship, and headed with Erin and Indigo toward the spike on the energy meters. The landscape was very similar to that of earth, with familiar sounds registering on my brain. Indigo was the first to comment.
"This place is incredible..." There was no attempt by Indigo to hide her amazement.
Erin was cautious however; and quite rightly so, after her ordeal with Adam. She was almost permanently attached to my left arm, holding on tightly, not wanting to let me go again.
"This place is creepy, almost as if we're walking on graves..."
"We probably are," Indigo said, "It looks as if a great civilisation lived here, and their remains are buried underneath us."
I jumped a mile high. I had very little irrational fears, but walking on graves was still something that made me freak out. Indigo started laughing. The prankster in me had obviously been replicated in Indigo.
"Don't DO that... I still hate the thought of walking on graves."
"I couldn't help it. You would've done the same."
"True."
Erin had stopped dead in her tracks as we were arguing.
"What is it?" I said, searching my pockets for my PDA.
"Its here." was her frightened reply.
Indigo looked around.
"There isn't a tree in sight!"
"Its possible that it isn't a real tree, Indigo."
Erin was as stiff as a board, almost to the point of straining her own muscles. I walked over to her and I realised what she had found. A complete revisiting of my sins, almost as if they were being purged from my system. Every man I killed in cold blood, every girl i screwed whilst drunk, and every impure dream I ever dreamed. Erin was experiencing the same thing, re-living every time her father had beaten her, every moment that had caused her pain, and every moment of misery spent in the cold dank quarters of the bar in the Kuiper Belt.
I reached out, attempting to get to Erin before the overwhelming emotion destroyed my mind. The contact on her skin gave me a new sensation, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Her pain flowed into me, all the repressed emotion pouring into my being. She had also received my emotions, feeling what I had been feeling. I drew her near me, through all the pain, and held her tight, not wanting to let her go again.
In the distance, A faint rumble had begun, growing louder with every moment in time. Beneath us, the ground began to crack, with pure light filtering through the cracks. We were glued to the spot, unable to move, as a black charred tree began to grow in front of us, its branches and bark being rejuvinated as new from the base up. The emotions of pain and suffering were being wiped away as the Tree of Life began to grow in front of us, becoming blank slates as we were washed from our sins. and at the base, a console, an exact replica of the one we had found on the planet below. I knelt down, to find out what had to be done. The console had no input, it was only to display information.
>:Those here to seek the Tree of Life, Your quest has ended, The original guardians of the Tree have dispursed throughout the lands, and only through their defeat can you approach the Tree of Life.
>:Obviously you have gained access to the Tree of Life for a reason. The power it holds will be granted to both the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Knowlege, however, both must possess a spiritual representation, a "Dæmon" in the Lillum dialect.
I looked at Erin, obviously, she had not had her dæmon revealed to her.
>:To reveal the dæmon, the pure must be extracted by an Anchient.
"I beleive that's me, folks."
Arania had snuck up behind us and scared the crap out both Erin and I.
"Je-- I should hit you. You okay?" I managed to get out.
"Never better, just needed a small nap."
"Small nap my a--"
"So this is the Tree, eh? Well, it's a tree alright, not some crap metaphor. Anyway, the extraction of a Dæmon..."
Arania turned to Erin.
"...hopefully this won't hurt too much."
He layed Erin down on the grass, and waved his hand in front of Erin's chest, when a bright light bathed them both in a golden hue. Smoke and dust filled the air, and out of this Erin's dæmon awoke. The dæmon was curled up on Erin's chest, sleeping peacefully, a ball of fur, with a hue darker than a black hole. Two golden eyes opened, as its jaws stretched open, revealing a pink tounge. The cat walked off of Erin and stretched it's legs on the grass near the Tree. Erin awoke soon after to lay eyes on her new companion. It slinked up and rubbed it's head against Erin's side.
"So this is MY dæmon?" Erin asked quietly.
"That I am" the feline responded.
"Quickly, give it a name so we can continue."
"Ummm..." Erin was straining her brain. Arania was getting impatient.
"Oh, I know! Mittens!"
Arania and I looked at each other.
"Mittens?" we said in unison.
"Well... what else would you call a cat?"
"Okay, you can always give it a better name later," Arania responded, "but be gotta get on with this."
We all huddled around the console.
>:If the Dæmons are present, the Anchient must leave sight of the tree.
Arania looked a bit shocked.
"Ah well, it was fun."
He transported both Araminta and himself back to the ship.
>:There is a way to achieve your goal of having the next generation survive. he link between the Dark Angel and the Shadows must be exploited. The Creator is being betrayed.
I looked at Erin with a puzzled look on my face.
>:Adam has made a deal with the Shadows. Shadows have not held their end of the bargin up. The Dark Angel does not know this. A frontal assault on the Dark Angel will fail, unless the abilities of both the Fruit of Life and the Fruit of Knowlege are combined. There will be two seprerate entities when the process is finished, both with each other's abilites.
>:Final warning. There is no reversing the process. To proceed, touch screen.
I looked at Erin and she nodded, knowing that this was the only way. I replied in a similar fashion. I leant down and touched the screen.
>
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We waited for something to happen, and after about a minute, we were about to give up.
>:Confirmation of identity complete. Presence of the true Fruits confirmed.
>:Beginning process.
A brilliant white light erupted from the ground beneath us. I grabbed onto Erin so she would feel safe. Was that my reason? The light must have changed my thought patterens somehow, encoraging that sort of behaviour. I just hoped it was worth it.
There was a daughter of a man who took his life too young. She swore she'd never do the same, then did just what he'd done. And a boy who's gone insane, with voices in his head. No one knows what they say, now his mother's dead
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Vi
OOC: First time i've actually used a whole song...
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God is dead, and no-one cares.