She knew something was wrong. No matter what she tried to staunch the flow of the ooze, it streamed in overwhelming amounts from the crystals that had taken hold of her head. Calamity had identified so strongly with her antlers her entire life - to have them stripped so handily, as if they meant nothing. As if Abraxas had never given them to her at all. He called to her now, summoning her home to her father. She could feel it in her bones. There wasn’t much time for this corpse called her body, so she made her way to the only place she had ever called home.

The Shrine sang to her, even across so many lands. It sang for her and it wept for her. Calamity could hear its toll from every corner of the land, as if a homing frequency had been struck. Come, come, come. And so she dragged her weary body to its shores and stumbled in until she was neck deep. Then… a sparkling light at the center of the Shrine beckoned her closer. Closer. Until she was up to her eyes. Closer. Closer. Closer. And then she was underwater. It rushed into her ears, into the sockets of where her antlers had once been and now sharp crystals grew, it poured into her mouth. And it felt right.

This was how it would end.

Obi had not visited since the sisters had fought and torn the remainders of Archon’s family apart. He no longer trusted Venom’s leadership, yet he could not bring himself to end things with her on bad terms. He had watched her grow, had loved her, and while his beliefs held firmly with Toxicity, this was also his home.

Now a deep and terrible sickness gripped him. He heard The Fallen’s voice. His brotherhood mark he and Archon shared itched and burned. He was called home. He was called to the shrine, yes, but further. Home, home- on the other plane. Today, he felt in the ache of his body, that he would join Archon.

Glowing, oozing hands and feet brought Obi forward, torch in hand. He couldn’t leave this place with the holy building that once stood, what he and Toxicity had built, what sat unused from worship from some time. Abraxas told him to rid of it, to leave nothing behind. He obeyed, the ever humble and obedient servant. He ventured into the space, remembering when they anointed it, prayed first, when they had the pups filling the halls and rooms with laughter. How the fire crackled in the hearth and underneath, the warm air drifting through the underground tunnels and heating the floors. One by one he visited the rooms, lighting and leaving tinder in each until the smoke barreled, catching on the ceiling and eventually leaking out the center where it always had.

He exited now, from the front. This was the end for his story here, and for the temple he had made. He would leave this world alone- he thought, but movement caught his attention. In the shrine waters was a figure, and Obi ran to it. A wolf- though he couldn’t make out the fur from the sickness in his eyes. He latched onto the scruff and hauled the wolf out. Calamity. Obi reeled back, eventually falling on his behind as he pulled Cala’s front into his lap. He felt her destiny was the same and he was miserably sad for her, but comforted that perhaps they could be together. He cradled her head, rocked her back and forth gently, and in the light of the once holy fire, prayed the prayer he and Archon first taught them as pups.

Just when darkness swam before her eyes and she felt the soft touch of Him, she was pulled forth from the water. Scruffed like a child, she fell gurgling into Obi’s lap. Water dribbled from her lips but most of it was still deep inside her lungs. Calamity writhed in his grasp, desperate to return to the water. But eventually he bent over her and his grasp was so familiar, so comforting - it was like being immersed in the water all over again. Warmth. A sense of belonging. Everything she had been missing for so long. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but water poured out in a lifeless gush. Her eyelids fluttered helplessly, trying to meet his gaze. If only she could see him, he would understand everything in her gaze.

Finally his words reached her ears: a prayer. The final balm to her broken soul. Her lips moved weakly in time with his, repeating the words even if she couldn’t say them. One final tribute to Abraxas before she walked into His embrace. Calamity’s body began to lighten as her muscles began to relax one by one. Soon. It was soon now. She wanted to tell Obi that she loved him, that it wasn’t his fault, but her mouth had begun to fill with that same glowing drool that had afflicted most of the continent. It pooled hot in her mouth before dripping out in a steady, heavy flow.

Another voice seemed to join them, as if whispering over her shoulder. Was that her father? After all this time, joining them for one last prayer?

Obi rocked the woman slowly, his nimble fingers finding their way through her water-matted fur to her cheeks where the last of her warmth remained. His own hands hot from the torchfire. He heard the building behind them crumbling, its bamboo thatching giving out under the blazing flames that ate away at them.

Obi drew his full attention to Calamity now, his eyes peering down at her face as if remembering when she was a pup. It was as if time had gone backwards and stood still. He knew she was less for this world than even he was, and he felt a sob shake through his body as he pet her head gently. Her eyes wouldn’t open again, he knew. With one finger, he drew her sigil on her forehead, finishing his prayer. He knew soon she would join Archon, and after that, he would too. ”Wait for me there,” he whispered softly. ”And we will find your father on the other side together.”

A final gasp seized her and all of the water that had filled her lungs emptied out back into the shrine. There was a strange lightness now that took hold. She felt impossibly delicate but also strong, stronger than she’d ever felt. Still that voice beckoned from the middle of the shrine, from its very depths - Come, come, come. She would go to Him. She would meet her father. She would wait for Obi. Calamity lolled out of Obi’s grasp, her body suddenly heavy with the absence of her very soul. She tumbled soundlessly back into the waters and drifted along the surface briefly, sightless eyes staring up at the star-filled sky, until she winked out below the surface and came to rest at the bottom of the Shrine.

Calamity fumbled for the waters and Obi did his best to guide her in gently, the glowing waters taking her form as if it had always belonged there. Obi waited until the last breath left Calamity’s body. A shaky, mournful breath shook him and he heard Abraxas calling for him. Obi’s vision shimmered and faded as he lapsed into the next plane. He took what was left of his torch and carved Archon’s sigil into the ground before he leaned back and let himself fall into the waters. He watched as the building fell in on itself, the bright fire becoming dim in his vision as his being gave into the glowing sickness. The voices called him, and he answered, blinking one last time before slipping beneath the surface of the water.

Archon came to the shrine where his granddaughter had said they were banned. By the time he arrived, he was only able to see the last of his companion’s form as it sank into the waters. He howled, long and mournfully in the neverending night, his form alight with the blaze from the building as it turned to ash. His form shimmered, pulling away towards the plane he usually resided in. He saw Calamity and Obi, and he let his form dissolve as he rose up to meet them. Archon embraced them both warmly for a while, ”Come, it is time to go home.”

Obi Mon Kinobi

Rest in Peace.



You gain:

• Crystal of Knowing and Forgetting (player-bound)- This crystal glows not unlike the others plaguing Boreas, but the glow alternates between every color in the rainbow. Just looking at it calls to mind how little time you’ve spent working on your skills lately… This could be risky...
  

Calamity

RIP in Pieces.



You gain:

• Companion Flute (player-bound)- A familiar looking companion flute, the selection appears to include several with growths very similar to the strange appearances over the continents, you can’t help but feel drawn to one in particular...