[hider=When you gaze into the Abyss...]

[Center][color=#C70039][h3]~Isabella~[/h3][/color]
~The Nightmare Realm~[/center]

Welp, that could have gone better. That was the first thought Isabella had as she tumbled into the vastness of the empty space below her. She hadn't heard the goddess warning, no. She had jumped in ahead of time, even if it had been an accident. She didn't hear the warning to keep her eyes closed, though she likely wouldn't have done so even if she had been warned of the dangers of this 'Nightmare Realm'. No, she was far too wanting for such a warning to stop her from what she wanted.

As she passed the threshold of no return, it was like being dunked into a lake of freezing water. The chill threatened to nearly freeze every drop in her blood and she couldn't help but to flinch, closing her eyes in an involuntary physical reaction. She clutched her sword tightly, though as bound to her as it seemed she doubted it could go far. The moment passed quickly, however, as her curiosity once again got the best of her.

She could feel stares upon her. They were incredibly far away, but she could feel their piercing gaze, hungry, terrible...and oh so beautiful. Serene, almost seeming. As she fell through the inky black sea, she relaxed slightly. Yes, this place felt somewhat familiar, almost. A sense of dangerous foreboding...but at the same time anticipation. Anticipation to reveal the secrets that the dark held. The inky abyss where humanities nightmares lurked. An anticipation that almost matched the hunger of these beasts themselves. She wanted to see them with her own eyes.

So she did.

And was greeted with sights that would drive normal men mad.

She could feel them. Numerous, hungry, eyes gazing at her with mixed emotions. Cloaked by shadows, so far away yet so close at the same time. Claws scratched at the edges of their prison, teeth gnashed towards her, and other appendages tried flailed helplessly. Curious. The gazes were intense, almost impossibly so. If they had been anyone else she was fairly certain they'd have been driven mad on the spot...but of course, to her trained mind it wasn't an issue. She shifted her gaze in the realm, swiveling her head and turning to where she could feel the most intense one, but whatever it was quickly vanished into the corners of her vision. Something shift in the screams of the horrors, something great and terrible.

It was so hungry, it wanted her. But it wasn't doing anything...so she had to ask...why?

[color=#C70039]"What are you afraid of?"[/color] She asked, her voice seemingly oddly loud within the cacophony of otherworldly screams, a small smirk forming on her lips. [color=#C70039]"Here I am...fresh meat you could easily fill your stomachs with...yet you do nothing."[/color] The smile grew wider.

[b]"....."[/b]

....?

She could have sworn the indescribable beings surrounding her tried to say something. It was nothing more than an imperceptible whisper. She squinted her eyes, peering further into the masses that writhed, swirled, and tore at the prison, trying to make out those shapes.

[color=#C70039]"Not so vocal, are ya?"[/color] She grinned. They were there. She could feel them with every fiber of her being, and she wanted to know more but as falling as she was, she couldn't do anything other than that and watch as whatever creatures were in this swirling in the void passed by. [color=#C70039]"Come on...I'm curious. What are you beautiful things?"[/color] As much as she wanted them, she could feel that they wanted her.

[b]"...lw'nafh..."[/b] It was a whisper, spoken with a thousand voices. An ancient thing. An ancient, terrible, and beautiful thing...but she couldn't understand a word of it. It was like trying to hear a whisper underwater, and even if she had heard it clearly, she likely wouldn't have understood a word of it.


[color=#C70039]"...that made no sense."[/color] Isabella said with a chuckle. She couldn't understand at all. It was so curious. So deliciously curious. She wanted to know more, but they were so far away. Like little pinpricks of light against a night sky. For a brief moment, she thought something moved closer, so she reached a hand out trying to touch it but whatever it was either recoiled from her touch or was never there to begin with. [color=#C70039]"Heh, shy?...or are you...couldn't be afraid of little ol me, could ya?"[/color] And then, there was the feeling of a cold wetness on the back of her neck. Something that sent a shiver up her spine.

Anticipation.

[color=#C70039]"H-heh..."[/color] Her breathing quickened as the grin on her face grew wider, frozen in mild fear that whatever was watching her was just behind her...but it did nothing, as close as it seemed it still felt so incredibly far away, too. It just sat there behind her, its cold breath filling her with a sense of curiosity and dread. Something seemed to claw at the back of her mind. Something familiar and yet foreign at the same time.  [color=#C70039]"...I'll take that as a yes."[/color] Odd, how could they be afraid of her. She wasn't anything special...but she had come from the 'Dream of Nera'...nothing was ever just a coincidence, was it? That seemed right...but she didn't have enough information.

[b]"....rer"[/b]

Another whisper, but once again she couldn't understand. Whatever they were saying was just too foreign and alien to her. She turned her head again, slowly, wanting to see whatever she was attempting to speak too...but before she could her body hit something, [i]hard.[/i]

[/hider]

[h3][Center]~The Shrine~[/center][/h3]

She slammed into the real world, hitting the floor of the old shrine with a dull thud, but no worse for wear despite having just traveled through the realm of nightmares. Her sword clattered to the ground next to her as they hit the muck and grime of the real world. For a few seconds she simply laid there, processing all the delicious little tidbits of information she had gleaned from that trip. She had learned so much from that one little venture, hadn't she? Oh it was just so delicious she wanted more! It was only an appetizer, and it wasn't enough. She wanted an entire feast, not just this tiny portion.

Next time...she'd tell them there was nothing to be afraid of. She'd need to find a way to communicate clearly.

Ah...

[color=#C70039]"Heh..."[/color] Oh, had she laughed? That was a laugh, wasn't it? She ran a hand through the muck, pushing herself up as she continued to laugh lowly to herself. Oh that was grand. So grand, so delicious, so [i]exciting[/i]. She couldn't help but to laugh a little louder. From anyone looking at her it might look as if she had lost it completely. She pushed herself up, glancing over to where her sword was laying.

And in the recess of the shadows in the far corner of the room...something moved. Her eyes widened, scrambling to a sitting position and watching the shadows intently for a few seconds.

...heh, it was just her imagination, obviously. Or was it? She couldn't decide. Pushing herself to her feet with a final laugh, Isabella wiped some muck off of her face and straightened out her robes.

[color=#C70039]"Well...that was...fun~"[/color] She giggled again. [color=#C70039]"I should probably work on not tripping and falling into a pit of horrors."[/color] She reached down, picking up her sword, studying the blade intently again...did the eyes move again? Hm, no matter. With a small hum, Isabella looked around the dilapidated room more clearly. It was definitely old and large...and she could see fairly well within it, couldn't she? Odd, for the amount of light present.

[color=#C70039]"Ah...my beautiful robes. Well, that is the price of learning...one has to get a little dirty, in the process."[/color] She smiled, falling silent as she became aware of someone else in the room. Ihosha was their name, yes? She couldn't really recall. She hadn't filed it under important information. Well, whatever the case Isabella turned her eyes back to the room instead of their cloaked companion.

Nothing interesting to learn from them.

...Huh, familiar. It looked almost identical to the one they had been in previously.

Well, she'd just assume various magical shenanigans she couldn't explain for now. She tried to listen for anything, but for the most part heard nothing. It was silent...which was creepier than the Nightmare Realm to Isabella. Hmm...so what should they do here? Isabella turned her head towards Ihosha, giving her a passive, neutral almost cold seeming expression before turning her head back towards one of the many diverging hallways.

Since the others had yet to arrive for the moment, might as well take a cursory examination of one of them. She walked, her boots making odd noises upon the floor as she walked through the muck and came to a halt at the entrance to one of the many hallways seeing if she could see anything at the end of it.