...

Nera, or the 'Dreamreaper' as it were, looked upon the gathered with a weak smile, some more whole than others because of her magic, and more broken because of this as well. She had foreseen this happening, therefore tried to guard her own heart of their pain, despite this, watching them suffer caused this waver in her demeanor. Still, whether or not it was their destiny to embrace their new or old nature, she waited intently, lips quivering as though trying to remember each name before they were even uttered.

"Yes... such beautiful things..." 

One after the other, the commotion of their transformations faded and the chamber was returned to the red glow of the dying sun above. Wiping her eyes, she quickly moved up to greet the new forms.

She gave the more solemn ones, such as ‘Ezain’, ‘Dwyn’, and ‘Solomon’ a dignified nod, speaking their names and giving them a few approving words.

“The old world was not easy on you. Unfair and ruthless was the darkness and what it brought out upon our kinds. But may you make things right with this new future… I have faith in you, little ones.”

The Goddess needed not say or do much more, they did not seem like the type to like wasting time on such trivial things either, quickly moving down the row. Though as she passed Dwyn, Nera mutters something to the young woman. 

“Care not to hide your true self… I can see it clearly, your true feelings. Your disgust. But this is not a brand of ownership. See it as a marking of our fellowship. Only by working together, can we hope to vanquish the darkness...”

Progressing now to the newly emerged ‘Ihosha', she greeted the reclusive one with a shake of her head, “Now, now, hold your head high, little one. I do not deserve such praise.” she says, “I may have granted you a chance to connect to your past yourself, but I’m afraid you might come to hate the truth more than you can ever imagine…” she signified a deeper meaning to the hooded figure, but pushed the issue no further. 

Nera then went to stand beside ‘Orpheus’, who stared deeply into a shard of black glass decoration hanging from the wall. The man seemed to be processing what he saw, accepting his new and old self.  She placed a tender hand on his pale cheek, and spoke with a hushed and endearing voice. Her fingers moved underneath his chin, lifting his little face up to her own in an attempt to console him. 

“Orpheus, I can feel your pain… I understand it more than anyone, to lose everything. Do not think you should bear it alone. I will help to bear your pain, as it must be... And the others too, I'm sure they have their own pain to share.”

She left Orpheus to dwell on those words. 

Next was ‘Isabella’, whom seemed a complete adverse development than what they had intended to play off earlier. Despite acting all tough and overbearing, what emerged was a cute little girl. She coos and admires the petite form with large moon-disk eyes. It was like the Goddess had taken a whole new nature, as was seen briefly before, one free of the deliberateness she seemed so intent on keeping when conducting herself and answering questions.

Crouching down low, the Goddess attempts to pet the petite head of lush fiery-hair, giggling at the little slip-up of speech. “My, my, how precious. Who would’ve known my impatient little spirit would turn out to be quite the clumsy one~” 

Perhaps she singled this one out, because they seemed the most appropriate for a reaction. Or that she knew, deep down, felt they needed such comfort. Either way, it seems Nera will find any sort of defiance they would surely show to be even cuter, earning only more childish pampering from the Goddess.

[i]“...Nera?”[/i]

A rough voice soon roused the lighthearted act, causing the Goddes to to perk upright as she was yanked back to reality. The red glow of the dark world seemed to burn dangerously for a moment. 

“Ah, my deepest apologies… Ahem.”

Nera lets out a stiff cough as she reestablished a more serious role, turning around to face the offender. Though having been regarded at with such disrespect, Nera didn’t seem angry or annoyed at the blatant rudeness. Rather, she gazed at this ‘Aiv’ with something of a strange knowingness. 

The towering woman moved quickly to the side, looking down at the smaller form as she beckoned now to their alterations, the black stigma upon their bare body.

“A curiosity, indeed. Did you not remember an outfit? The magic would’ve made it so, as it did the others. Probably the thought did not cross you. There was much going through your head. In any case, it is an easy matter to fix.” she said, abruptly swooping down and grabbed the tip of their neck skin. Her clawed hand was held in a threatening manner, her black fingertips like daggers being held at his throat. If not for her sweet expression, it might have seemed she allowed the beast within herself to break forth, to devour the poor soul. It was almost like time stood still as her swatches of glimmering hair bellowed in a non-existent breeze. Her pale eyes crossed his own for a brief moment, almost in amusement, before she yanked her arm. From his bare neck, not a flow blood, but this cascade of pale dust spilled forth and began to form a layer of fabric around them. 

What would result is a simple white robe. She would do this for others who also lacked clothing, though without the stark ferocity.

“That should solve our little clothing issue…though it is a shame you find it necessary to hide your beautiful bodies…” The Goddess gave Aiv a sly grin of her sharp teeth, as if she found his petty complaint to be amusing, before turning, on a coin, to face the very last.

...

Again, the red tone intensified in her silence. 

The whole time the Goddess has allowed this certain soul to shout profanities, get whatever mangled thought it was out of their head. They were her guest, and though they acted quite rude, she would tolerate as much. But what seemed to break her composure was the spit of blood upon her cleaned floor. Her eyes gleamed at the droplets on the ground, which shortly dissolved in a black smoke as her eyes shone back upon them. She seemed to show no emotion, just a coldness that seemed quite odd to her usually kind nature. Perhaps this was her true angered state.

"You would be terribly misguided, if you think that 'Gods' have no price to pay for their power. There is a price to pay for everything. I thought my offer of a second life is quite worth what I ask in return. Or did you wish to remain dead? Forgotten? Is what you came here not worth your life?" The white eyes then narrowed as Nera stepped behind this person, circling them like a predator while her talons clicked the stone, "From what I hear, you seem ungrateful for this gift. Was a millennium in the void not enough lazing around? Or is everything too much of a [i]pain[/i] now? If you truly wish to return to the nether... then I can make it so." 

She whispers to him, "I'll let you ponder your next answer."

Breaking from her entrapment, the Goddess then faced the others with a sweet smie, as though none of that had just happened. “Nonetheless, I’m sure you’re all more interested in exactly what I just did to all of you.”

[hider=Part II]
All of her unrefined airs were gone at this point, the Goddess now speaking in the usual noble manner that projected with a slight reverberation within the empty chamber.

"As I’m sure all of you are aware, I have bestowed each of you with a small boon.  A piece of my very being. This ‘Stigma’ will mark your allegiance to me. Normally, re-entering a dream is impossible, as you may already know, or tried in vain once before. There is a separation between perceived realities, a universal law that cannot go unbroken. But with this, you have become part of this dream. Merely tread back up any stairway in the physical world with the wish to return, and you will come here again…” 

Nera looks down, stepping between the newly awakened souls. 

“But that is not all the Stigma is capable of… Not only will it help take the burden of the darkness you must absorb, but it can help channel the power of your very soul.” she says while moving through them, giving each a soft look as she passes along. 

Their innate essences suddenly flare into vision, as if invoked by this little gesture of hers. This spark lasted only a brief moment, like the afterimage of a firework in the darkness. Just momentarily, they were able to see. No longer was their essence purely white, but deep at the center of it was a tint of color, with a differing tone for each of them. A change that reflected the growing strength that flowed through them.

“As the ‘Dreamcatcher’, my magic works most effectively in tandem to your desires. I would not dare twist your hearts. You choice is your own. As a ‘Lost Soul’ you had two ways to accept my power. One; to embrace your emptiness, thus the magic empowered your vessel, your [i]spirit[/i]. Or two; to seek ‘wholeness’, and in returning your form and memories, you were granted [i]strength[/i] to better bear such burdens. Neither is better than the other, mind you, as neither choice is wrong. Already, I’m sure some of you feel a special power surge in your veins, my magic having rekindled your faded soul. And to those who do not feel this touch of liberation…” she says, stopping now, “Instead, you must feel a certain weight deep inside you. These are the burdens you have since reclaimed…”

They were left in the dark red glow once again. The Goddesses white light dimmed as she gazed coldly from the other side of the chamber, as though allowing them to feel the weight of their choices.

“They say a sin remains eternal, regrets that cannot be undone... scars within a soul.”

At this point, Nera brandishes herself back alongside the stairway, leaping across the party in a white blur as she lands in a pivot on the tips of her talons. The silvered shard-blade formed once again in her left hand, brought forth in splash of pale dust. It is a graceful move now, as she swung the blade in a twirling fashion, causing it to hum in a melodic ringing. There was none of the brutal intent from earlier, merely a polished and refined sword-dance. Almost as if such a creature was just a figment, a cruel nightmare of an alternate existence. 

Around and around she continues the dance of the humming blade, like she was playing an intricate song, until it finally stands on end.

Suddenly the blade flies from her grasp, whisking through the air like an arrow. No, much faster. It threatened to pierce Aiv, all within a split instant before anyone could even hope to react. A flash of bright light leads through the group as it heads straight towards him. But it did not finish the merciless act. The silvered edge was stopped dead in its track, defying all laws and logic, the point touching the mark that lingered on his body. Not just one. A handful of these silvered shards hovered similarly over all members of the party, both ‘whole’ and ‘empty’, appearing as if from nowhere. 

“And since you wished to carry this burden. I will bring light to what exactly that means...” 

With a flick of her hand, the shards enter through all your chests. 

Odd enough, there is no pain, just a bizarre and fleeting vertigo. For a moment, it feels as if all your emotions are taken away. You feel nothing. A weightlessness, a sense of vastness. As if you can be anywhere and everywhere at once. But your feelings promptly return as you begin to regain your bearings. 

A strangeness now lingers behind you, like a presence peering over your shoulder. Having exited through the other side, the shards of metal lay embedded into the stone floor behind you, appearing as completely new shapes and forms depending on who they entered. Some were the same, simple blades, but there were clear anomalies. To those who chose to become ‘whole’, the beautiful silvered shards have grown to grotesque sizes, now dripped and bubbled with a eerie blackness, warping into grotesquely until they settled somewhere in between a weapon and a beast. 

The black forms suddenly reach out, latching onto their owner. 

“You might find them terrifying...” she says, “These are your sins laid bare, nightmares that you have long forgotten, made forgotten. Made manifest through our greater bond, your stigma, this is your pain made into a weapon. The burden of ‘wholeness’. Use it to strike down your enemies, but it will also serve as a reminder. For this is the price for remembering..."

Straightening the frilled dress, Nera comes back forward with a faint smile, moving towards the mouth of the ornate stairway once again with the clicks of her talons. Those left with silvered blades are allowed to dispel their weapons peacefully, knowing how to do so with a strange instinct, while those who possess the black-dripped weapons will find themselves unable to. Not only that, but they are [i]quite[/i] heavy and cumbersome, though lighter than their grotesque size might’ve suggested. They might just be heavy enough to be unwieldy for the user, but not too light to stow idly to the back of their minds. It would be manageable enough as a weapon, though swinging them carelessly will prove to be quite taxing. It is unclear if this had been a gift or a curse, but like always, the Goddess acted as though this is pragmatic. 

This time she stands at the side of the winding white steps, allowing any of them to pass.

“That is all I am able to offer to you, my little chosen.” she says, extending an arm, “All that is left is for you to take the first step. Do not let me delay your grand journey any further. Greatness awaits you. Oh, but make sure to return every-so-often, you will find a dream is not only a place of rest and restitution… but of revelation.”

She smiles, “Regardless of success, I open this place with open arms to you, my little ones. Always, and forever more.“
[/hider]
...