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Post by Illusion on Oct 25, 2014 13:39:14 GMT -5
Eliza Winters was on her own, once again. But that wasn't really anything new. She wasn't exactly a very social kind of woman, and seldom travelled or hung around with others. The one guy she very happily spent time with, and deeply cared for, was generally rather busy, too; thus, Eliza could often be seen alone. Still, that wasn't too bad... It gave her time to think, time to wander. In recent weeks, however, she had been contemplating a personal matter in her time on her own... A matter which had led her to this little-known world. Supposedly, there was something here that was the subject of countless myths and legends, and that something could solve a dilemma she had been looking to solve.
She had come to this world, alone, to locate the Fountain of Youth.
Thanks to her own secretive research and investigation, Eliza now knew (with some certainty) that it should be here. Of course, she was just working from myths, stories, and rumoured first-hand accounts of it that others had not believed, so there was a chance that there might not be anything here after all. But it was the best chance she had of finding the thing she needed... Immortality. She wanted to live forever, but not for her own sake.
The only reason Eliza had any desire for immortality at all... Was for the sake of her 'special someone', a being whom was already immortal. She hated knowing that, one day, she would pass away and leave him on his own. Thus, she was here. And determined to find that which she was looking for, that which she so dearly wanted.
Gliding downwards on her metal wings, she landed on the emerald-green, grass-coated ground. It had to be somewhere around here. Tilting her head back a little, she took in a gentle breath through her nose; in an instant, her head turned to the left, her keen eyes setting on the cliffs not too far off. As though she had caught a scent, she began to walk in that direction, following the line of a stream that seemed to be flowing that way. She walked without hesitation, as though determined, or carrying a sense of purpose...
She was getting close to her goal, she could feel it.
She wasn't going to let anything stop her now.
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Post by Archer Zero on Oct 28, 2014 13:38:27 GMT -5
A myth of a myth, a rumor of a rumor. That was what Eliza pursued.
The Fountain of Youth and the search for immortality was the thing many had searched for, but few had ever come close to it, let alone found. And tales of it were undoubtedly mixed with fabrications, lies, and other myths. Each had a grain of truth, no doubt, but puzzling them out and piecing them together was a herculean feat, dedicated to only the greatest of scholars. The information had been published in the Void archives, after the Faction had deemed their research too costly and fruitless to pursue any further. No doubt they thought every single path lead to a dead end.
So imagine Matthias's - the Captain of the Harbinger Division which effectively made him the supreme commander of the entire Void Faction army - surprise when he found out Eliza possibly had a new lead. A very probable dead end, but it was still something.
Thanks to Eliza's wanderings, he had given her a tracker so he would be able to know where she was at all times. She kept it with her as a sign of trust, most likely - he doubted many others would take to being tracked like that so well. But he was straightforward about his intentions, and most important of all: he wanted her safe. He had spilled so much blood and committed so many sins that he wanted to atone however he could. He believed that he should've been miserable always, while working towards the happiness of others. It would be a fitting price for what he had done. But Eliza had changed that. She had shown him he could be happy as well. Now he was prepared to defend her at any cost.
The issue of immortality stemmed from Matthias. While Eliza was human - a highly modified human but a human nonetheless - he was a cyborg. A cyborg with the soul from his original body, but the fact of the matter was, he was blessed (and cursed) with a body that could never naturally die. He would never get sick, nor would he age. The only way he could die was if he was killed. No doubt Eliza was working towards rectifying that problem, so she could be with him forever. To what extent, Matthias wasn't sure. But he sure as hell wasn't letting her be reckless and end up hurt... or dead.
Tracking her coordinates that displayed in his vision, he had teleported to the planet and gently landed, deactivating his rockets. The energy readings he was getting... they were nothing he had registered before. This world was... intriguing. But more importantly, Eliza. She was here too. Close by. He began walking towards her, seeing where she was gong.
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Post by Illusion on Oct 28, 2014 18:01:07 GMT -5
The tracker Eliza carried on her person - in an inner pocket of her jacket, to be precise - was small and lightweight, which made carrying it with her very easy. She had no qualms about having it with her; she knew and understood Matthias's worrying about her safety, and thus as a means of reassurance to him that she was safe, quite happily took the tracker along with her wherever she went. Sure, she didn't always tell him where she was going - such as today, when she had come out here to follow up on thepossible location of the Fountain of Youth - but thanks to the tracking device, she didn't really need to. He could easily find her if need be... And could protect her all the better for it.
Eliza was quite aware of how much she meant to Matthias, and in return she felt just as deeply for him... Hence why she was out here today, to find a way to gain immortality, so the two of them would have the true chance at happiness they so desired. When they had first met, she had been in one of her once notiorious murderous rages; thanks to a certain piece of programming inserted into her brain, Eliza had once been prone to outbursts of savage, blind bloodlust. She had taken many lives in her time, many of them innocent, for which she could never forgive herself. But when they had first met, Matthias had put a stop to that killer compulsion in her... From there on in, their bond had blossomed and grown stronger by the day. Now, Eliza could hardly imagine life without him...and she suspected the feeling was mutual.
Eventually, the metal-winged human came to a halt in front of the cliffs she had spotted before, unaware that Matthias was approaching her location. She looked around her, then up at the nearest cliff face; it was entirely made of smooth, dark grey rock, occasionally scarred by crevasses or caves. But it was one of the caves in particular that caught Eliza's eye... Certain modifications that had been done to her had greatly increased her eyesight, and subsequently her attention to detail was quite acute. Blinking once, as though puzzled by something, she flew upwards to one particular cave in the cliff, above her and to her right, flying into it and landing, looking around inside it... From the ground, to anyone but someone of Eliza's attention to detail, this cave would have seemed no different to the others.
On closer inspection, though, the floor and walls of this cave were dotted at irregular intervals with what looked like large deposits of some sort of crystal. Was that topaz? Some kind of goldish quartz, maybe? Whatever it was, it was quite fascinating... But, now that she was stood in here, Eliza could detect something else. Something she hadn't been able to notice before... This cave was distinctly more humid than outside. It wasn't even a minor thing, either. It was extremely noticeable. It felt like there was so much moisture in the air here, you could practically chew it. Metaphorically speaking, anyway.
"Seems I'm on the right track..." Eliza muttered softly to herself. "Mustn't get my hopes up, but even so..." Feeling encouraged, Eliza decided to advance further; she proceeded to start walking deeper into the oddly humid casm.
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Post by Archer Zero on Nov 5, 2014 7:18:12 GMT -5
The tracker was definitely signaling Matthias as he continued. Even when she went into the caves, he could still track her location quite well. As he reached the cliff face, he looked about. He couldn't tell what was in them - predators? Natives? Traps? If this truly was the location of the Fountain of Youth, he very much doubted that it would be left unguarded by any standard. No doubt there was something here that would try to stop them. The fact that there isn't any was a little suspect... well, that mattered little. Chances were still pretty good they reached a dead end.
Matthias's cyborg eyes zoomed in on a cave with interesting features - more so than the others. Activating his feet rockets, he flew to the entrance and stepped in. His sensors detected a very high concentration of water vapors. HE frowned. Why was it so humid here? They weren't in any tropical weather, that much he was certain. He knelt down and scanned one of the crystals, but couldn't get a good reading on it, nor could his database find anything for the mineral. Odd. Was this some new crystal that haven't been documented in the Void archives yet? Everything about this world made Matthias a bit... uneasy. He needed to find her, quickly.
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Post by Illusion on Nov 5, 2014 7:34:54 GMT -5
Eliza had advanced deeper into the cave by the time Matthias had flown up to it. By that time, she had reached a part of the cave that seemed to be made up of more crystal than rock... Some who valued material objects and valuable, rare items would have probably been freaking out about it. Eliza wasn't too concerned with them, though; the most she would have done was take a fragment of one to Matthias, to be documented properly. She was here for something greater, though. Something far, far greater... She only had to hope the Fountain of Youth was actually here after all, and she wasn't just heading to a dead end.
The humidity seemed to increase the further into the cave system Eliza went, to the point where it was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. The dampness in the air made the air feel...heavy, almost. But why was it so humid in here, anyway? Now THAT was the question. Perhaps it was an indication that, somewhere in here, was a large enough body of water to provide all this humidity. It was possible, at the very least. Eliza looked up ahead, seeing that the cave branched off into two paths. She frowned a little; which path should she take?
It was then that Eliza picked up on the sound of Matthias landing at the cave entrance. Hearing it, she turned around quickly to look back in the direction she had come. Though she wasn't entirely certain it was Matthias, she thought it at least could have been, as he could have easily found her with the tracker she carried. She hoped he wasn't going to try to bring her home... She had no intention of going back yet. She had to see if the thing she so desperately wanted to find was here after all.
"Is that you, Matthias?" she called out to him.
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Post by Archer Zero on Nov 5, 2014 16:26:44 GMT -5
The humidity reading was off the charts. Honestly, Matthias had wondered what was going on that provided such a humid climate. A large body of water as well as very high temperatures perhaps? Well, he had a feeling that he'd know as he ventured further down. And judging by the tracker, Eliza wasn't all that far off either. IN fact...
Is that you, Matthias?
He blinked in surprise, then nodded. "Yes it is, Eliza," he said calmly, stepping forward. He already knew why Eliza was searching for the Fountain of Youth and honestly couldn't fault her for it. Nor was he mad at her. In fact, if anything, he was rather intrigued by what was going on. "Searching for the Fountain of Youth?" he asked rhetorically. "I'm surprised your findings led you here. None of our scouts or scholars have documented anything about this world. You think there's a good chance it's here?"
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Post by Illusion on Nov 5, 2014 17:35:16 GMT -5
Eliza felt inwardly relieved that Matthias wasn't mad at or worried about her for straying so far into this previously unexplored world. Then again, she was searching for the Fountain of Youth for very good reason, that reason being do that they could stay together for an eternity. Aside from gaining immortality in this way, the only other alternative Eliza knew of was to transfer her soul and consciousness into a sophisticated robotic body, and while she already had robotic limbs and metallic wings, she would have preferred to keep her 'true' body. Thus, she had devoted much of her time to finding possible locations of the Fountain of Youth, and once she had potentially narrowed it down, she had made it her business to investigate.
"That's right," Eliza replied, in answer to Matthias' question. "This world was hard to locate, I must admit - its location was only sparsely touched on in the documents I read, and as far as I'm aware isn't named - but it's worth it. There's bound to be many things here nobody's ever seen before..." She paused a moment and sighed softly, giving a small smile in his direction. "...and it's worth it for the chance that I might find the thing I really need."
Eliza turned and gestured to the two branching cave paths she had come across. "I have my suspicions that the Fountain of Youth might be situated in here somewhere... That would explain the bizarre humidity." she remarked. "Not sure which of these paths I should take, though... Perhaps whichever one has the most humidity emanating from it?"
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Post by Archer Zero on Nov 8, 2014 18:12:30 GMT -5
Indeed, Matthias had been constructing a robotic body for Eliza after an agreement between them, much like Matthias's own techno-organic body. However, progress had been slow. Matthias's body had been the result of the collaboration of three geniuses - a superb engineer (his father), a biologist and doctor who had no peer, and a powerful magician who had also been the father of his worst victim. Matthias was a very skilled engineer, but he didn't believe he was on par with his father yet, and even with his AI, he couldn't gather enough information about biology or magic to create an excellent body like his or safely transfer the soul of Eliza to the body. It was quite frustrating.
That's right. This world was hard to locate, I must admit - its location was only sparsely touched on in the documents I read, and as far as I'm aware isn't named - but it's worth it. There's bound to be many things here nobody's ever seen before... and it's worth it for the chance that I might find the thing I really need.
Matthias nodded. Still, it seemed far too quiet and serene for it to be the holding place of the Fountain of Youth. There should've been traps, guardians, something of the sort. The fact that he hadn't seen any or even detected their presence worried him. Perhaps it was a sort of reverse psychology, designed to turn people away by the mere prospect of an unknown threat? Matthias didn't know, but they had to be careful.
I have my suspicions that the Fountain of Youth might be situated in here somewhere... That would explain the bizarre humidity. Not sure which of these paths I should take, though... Perhaps whichever one has the most humidity emanating from it?
He looked at the fork in the tunnels and his sensors began working. After a brief moment, he pointed to the tunnel to the right. "There's higher levels of humidity that way," he said. He summoned his arm cannon and held it steady in front of him. "We should be careful, just in case. Let's go."
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Post by Illusion on Nov 10, 2014 18:23:44 GMT -5
Eliza observed as Matthias readied his arm cannon; normally she might have considered such a gesture to be a little on the overly-cautious side, but here, she could see the point. Though the path this far had not provided her with any cause for alarm, she was by no means naïve enough to believe that there wouldn't be a 'catch' of sorts, if indeed the Fountain of Youth really was in here. Legends of this sort almost always included accounts of traps or guardians which served to protect the thing so sought after in those tales. Simply going by that, Eliza judged that they would encounter some sort of trouble...though why they hadn't already puzzled her.
"Alright then," she said, with a nod. She turned to face the path he had indicated, and with that, she proceeded to start walking. As she walked down that branch of the path, she noticed that the humidity did seem to be increasing. Only a little, but it was noticeable. She also noticed as she walked that the deposits of that crystalline mineral she had spotted by the cave entrance were becoming larger and more prominent in the floor and walls. Eliza still wasn't sure what kind of crystal they were meant to be; they almost looked like topaz at first glance, but could have been a unique sort of crystal all its own. She wasn't too sure.
About a minute or so later, Eliza caught sight of what appeared to be the end of the cave path, which opened up into a large chamber. However, there was something rather odd about the chamber... Much of it appeared to be obscured by mist, or steam. Mist? So deep in a cave like this? What could possibly be the cause of such a phenomenon?
"What in the worlds...?" Eliza muttered softly under her breath. She stopped just inside the cave path that had led to the chamber; she didn't want to just wander straight in, just in case there was anything dangerous to be found in there. "This is..." She couldn't finish her sentence; she was far too puzzled and intrigued by what she saw. It was difficult to judge how big this chamber was, due to the thickness of the mist that swirled within it, which masked most of it from view. After a moment of hesitation, Eliza finally decided to step forward. She took a single step forward into the chamber...
...and, in the blink of an eye, the mist lifted. A breeze seemed to pick up from nowhere, causing the steam to rise up and form a cloud-like layer on the ceiling of the cave chamber. Eliza was taken completely by surprise by this. But she was given little time to consider it. She was more focused on what the lifted mists had unveiled.
The chamber was of rather vast size, the floors and walls lined with large deposits of that crystalline mineral she had already seen on the way here. What she had become focused on, however, was the body of water that took up the majority of the chamber ground... A small lake, it looked to be, it was circular in shape and had a diameter of about 65 feet. The water - Eliza guessed it was water, anyhow - was, oddly enough, a brilliant gold in colour, and appeared to be rather deep, as she could not see through it. In the very centre of the body of golden water, air appeared to be bubbling up from beneath the surface, though how that was the case she wasn't sure.
"Oh my..." Eliza breathed, stunned.
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Post by Archer Zero on Nov 12, 2014 17:52:39 GMT -5
Alright then.
Matthias was glad she agreed. Although he loved his wife, she at times had a bit of a stubborn streak to her. So far, it hadn't proved to be a detriment to either of them, but it did worry him from time to time. And she saw sense in being careful - no matter how well hidden the Fountain of Youth was, there was no doubt there would be safeguards in case anyone found it. They just needed to be cautious about it or they would end up paying for it.
As they continued, he noticed the crystals becoming larger and more prominent. He frowned slightly. Were they getting closer to the source? If so, what were they? The crystals seemed like more common crystals, but Matthias knew it couldn't be that simple. He tried scanning the crystals, but it seemed a larger sample size did little with finding the results, which were frustratingly blank. With a grim thought, he remembered a guardian who imprisoned any interlopers in crystals, condemned to be conscious yet unmoving as they slowly wasted to death. He hoped whatever guarded the Fountain of Youth didn't do the same to him.
As they stepped into the large chamber full of mist, he tried scanning the area - thermal scanning, X-Ray scans, anything he could consider. It all turned up empty. He had absolutely no idea what was in here, and the mist was blocking any visual cues either. Eliza took a careful step forward... and instantly the mist was swept away by a sudden breeze, turning into a cloud-like cover that took refuge at the top of the chamber. Now both of them could see the chamber for all its glory, and even Matthias, who had seen many marvels both magical and technological, could not help but gape a bit at this.
Oh my...
Matthias's sentiments exactly. He tried getting a reading on anything - the magic levels in the chamber were massive indeed, despite there being seemingly no source of the magic. He tried to scan the waters, then scowled. "I can't tell what the water is," he said. "I don't know if it's the Fountain or something else, but we best be careful. We still haven't seen any traps or guardians - honestly, this seems far too easy." With that, still with his arm cannon outstretched, he began moving cautiously into the chamber and toward the lake.
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Post by Illusion on Nov 14, 2014 6:28:54 GMT -5
Matthias had really 'hit the nail on the head', as it were, with his last remark; it really did seem as though it had been too easy thus far. If this was the Fountain of Youth after all, then there probably should have been some sort of guard or a trap in place to stop intruders from getting to it. Eliza remained alert as she stepped a little further into the chamber, heading towards the lake of golden water at the centre. She was still quite puzzled by what lay at the centre of it; there looked to be air coming up from underneath, though she could not see what lay beneath the surface. Was there something underwater? What could it be...?
Eliza's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by what felt like a tremor that shook the rocky ground. She stumbled a little, but didn't fall down. She quickly stood up straight, and looked around the chamber. "What the hell was that?!" Having looked around, she didn't see anything different about the chamber. Turning back to look in the direction they had come from, however...she saw something that gave her much more cause for alarm.
"What in the world...?" she breathed.
The entrance from which they had come into the vast chamber had sealed itself up. Where once the cave tunnel had opened up into this room, it was now covered by what seemed to be a thick layer of crystal, the same kind both Eliza and Matthias had seen on the way down. Hurrying over to it, Eliza pressed a hand against it, as though to judge its thickness. Her fear was confirmed; the crystal 'door' was extremely thick, far to thick for her metal wings to slice through. She stepped back, looking around again.
"Something doesn't want us getting out..." she muttered.
Correct.
Eliza whirled around quickly; the voice, deep and unfamiliar, had emanated from behind her, or so it had seemed. There was someone else in here? How?! But all she could see was the lake at the chamber's centre. She could not see anyone else but herself and Matthias in the room. Had she just heard things? Had she imagined it?
Two of you... Two intruders in the chamber of the Fons Aevitas... But one of you is not mortal.
Eliza could tell that the mysterious voice was referring to Matthias when it had said one of them was not mortal. However, she could not pinpoint where or who the voice was coming from. She took a step back, still looking around as though to spot something, but saw nothing. She had picked up on one thing, though...
Fons Aevitas. It was Latin. Fons was the word for fountain.
Aevitas meant, among other things... immortality.
Fons Aevitas... The Fountain of Immortality...
The Fountain of Youth...they had found it.
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