[b]The Dream - The Nameless[/b] The Underworld - During the Apocalypse [i]She slowly reached out with Her hands and tore the evil creature in Her grasp asunder, taking delight in its last pained shrieks and spasms before She consumed its corpse. Its numerous companions were gnawing and biting at Her legs and stomach, but She ignored them as the delicious taste of abyssal ichor and fiendish flesh flooded Her mouth and filled Her with insidious joy. She languidly swallowed Her small meal before She shifted and reared in an attempt to violently shake the demons off of Her. A few had fallen, and She quickly stomped upon their smaller forms, extinguishing them beneath Her huge hooves and heavy roots or strange protrusions that served as feet. The creatures were weak and little compared to Her, but they were also countless, and She was becoming exhausted... which would eventually inevitably result in Her demise. This was not a fight She could endure much longer, as She had not rested since Her awakening and the hordes of the abyss were relentless in their war with Her. She suddenly leapt from the Path of the Dead up into the nothingness where one would drift aimlessly as the concepts of gravity and electromagnetism cease to exist, then She called upon Her power which pulled Her back. She crashed down upon the path like a meteor, pulverizing the remaining creatures that foolishly held onto Her. The few that survived disappeared into the endless abyss, cast aside by the vast explosion from Her impact. Afterwards... Preparing Herself for the next onslaught, She was surprised by the silence broken only by Herself as the squelching sounds of black blood poured forth from Her many wounds. With the unexpected moment of calm, the constant diversion of fighting now gone, and the subtle sensations of pain becoming profuse, Her physical trauma overwhelmed Her in a dizzying rush. Was She dying now? She could still sense the nearby grotesque oily presence of the void-spawn, but they did not approach Her. They seemed to be distracted as well, hunting other prey that was wandering lost in the darkness. The cries of souls consumed echoed from afar, such a sorrowful song that hurt Her more than any cut or bruise She had sustained. She did not know whether to be grateful for the reprieve, or enraged that She had no enemies to fight, to slay, to aid Her in forgetting Her current suffering. She hated Herself. The Path of the Dead was without end and incredibly difficult to navigate, not entirely solidified in a few sections, and many paths often leading to nothing. The longer you traversed its lonely length, the greater the risk of being attacked or becoming lost, but She was never concerned by such things, and began walking onward as She sought more foes to slay.[/i] --- [i]The fighting was always vicious, but the denizens of the void were becoming familiar with how She fought, and discerned Her greatest weakness. A lack of agility, accuracy, and ranged capabilities. They began to utilize skirmishing tactics, relying upon Her inability to reach them as they hurled spears and sharp poisonous projectiles at Her, weakening Her and providing an opportunity to strike without retribution. She had slain many even at such a disadvantage, blindly retaliating with Her multitude of limbs, striking and strangling the unfortunate fiend that was not fast enough to escape Her wrath. When they tossed their spears at Her, She would pull them from Her body and hurl them back. Then they began mocking and attempting to speak with Her. She had yet to discover how cunning Her enemy could become.[/i] [i]They kept their distance, but assailed Her with words, disturbing insinuations and horrifying insults. They asked unsettling questions that She could not answer, or shared terrible knowledge that She wished She could forget but feared it would stain Her mind for the rest of eternity. They said She was death incarnate, that She must be slain or else the cycle will never be broken. She did not know how to speak, how to curse them and demand their silence. She had not needed to communicate before, and never bothered to regenerate her eyes or throat after having such torn apart in a previous encounter. She could only let Her anger continue to accumulate as She wandered and built upon the Path of the Dead.[/i] "We are Nameless." [i]They claimed, those that spoke to Her from the darkness.[/i] --- [i]She could not find shelter, and She could not uncover Her tormentors, it seemed She would fall soon. They whispered to Her while She rested, as if corrupting Her mind and pervading Her thoughts were more enjoyable than killing her now. They laughed and leered now while unseen, as Her attempts to find them failed again and again. Exhausted, sleep beckoned to Her, calling for Her to meet its sweet embrace.[/i] "Death, why do you sleep now?" [i]They asked.[/i] "Death, why do you cry now?" [i]They asked.[/i] [i]She could not answer, She was too tired and could not be bothered. Their voices merged together and became gentle, lulling Her to sleep. She heard a few kind words among the insidious choir filled with contempt. Their honeyed lies hurt more than violent truth. While She slept, She dreamed of a strange creature approaching her and offering something in its outstretched limbs... in its hands. The creature seemed to lack legs, its lower half consisting of only a shiny scaled tail that ended in wide fins that it used to propel itself forward. Its upper half was weirder, only two arms attached to a naked torso, and a small head with long strands of silvery hair framing the creature's face. "Will you take this? Will you forgive me?" The creature said and held out the intriguing object, persistently trying to give it to Her. With great hesitation, and only after the creature seemed unable to accept Her refusal, She took what seemed nothing more than a oddly carved horn or claw. Upon touching it, knowledge filled Her. While She slept, She saw a tall and terrible tower, sundered by a beautiful silvery sword adorned with roses and thorny vines... a silvery sword now wielded by Herself, as She was soaring in the sky above and watching the stygian land beneath Her begin to crack apart. Holding onto Her and clinging to her neck, the creature from before watched with wonder as the tower crumbled and a beautiful sea emerged from the broken earth. While She slept, She did not feel the teeth that bit Her, or the claws that cut Her, or the stingers that stabbed Her.[/i] [i]She awoke with a burning fire in Her heart, finding Herself encircled by demons and devils tearing away at Her flesh. Dazed after Her slumber, She did not understand what was happening as She suddenly beget forth a bloody blade from Her form and grasped it in Her hands. It was the silvery sword from Her dream, still decorated with briar and roses even now.[/i] [i]The weapon extended Her reach allowing Her to fight the skirmishers, and also summoned entangling vines that restrained Her enemies making it easier to grind them with Her feet into dust and blood. Newfound power filled Her as She wielded the blade, and She slaughtered all of the fiends with no mercy in Her heart.[/i] "Death, why do you fight now?" [i]They asked after, the unseen demons were still lingering beyond Her sense of sight. She screamed in frustration, swinging the massive sword around aimlessly, before She continues walking along the Path of the Dead. A sound from the carnage left in Her wake causes Her to halt.[/i] "Forgive me." [i]She remembered the voice from Her dream, and turn to see amidst the many mutilated corpses a familiar form. It was the strange creature, with terrible wounds inflicted upon it... by Herself. She did not know how to react at the sight, slowly stumbling back to where the dying demon lay. She had not feasted upon the fallen this fight, Her hunger had vanished after witnessing the denizens of the abyss consume the souls of the living. She had found Herself retching and disgorging fiends she had previously eaten.[/i] "I wished to be with you." [i]The creature contorted its face, twisting the muscles of its mouth as it cried. She did not understand why this monster was saying such as it was dying. She screamed in sorrow and doubt, wanting to know why She was in pain when She was the one that had survived and had become more powerful while this creature like its kindred would no longer hurt Her.[/i] "Thank you." [i]Were the last words the creature said before it died.[/i] --- [i]She walked along the Path of the Dead, Her silvery sword summoning forth thorny tendrils that would restrain the demon, and let Her easily kill them. The weapon was imbued with a powerful enchantment, growing more powerful as it consumed the blood of those that it felled. More and more beautiful vines sprouted from the weapon and nearby path to feast upon the helpless fiends. She could not count how many She had slain, though there were always more it seemed. She enjoyed fighting them. She hated fighting them. Why did She continue to fight, She had been asked now, and She did not know. But...[/i] "Endless. Undying. Nameless." [i]The voices whispered from the dark and fathomless void. They continued to haunt Her.[/i] [i]But...[/i] "Mother, why walk when you could soar in the sea of shadows?" [i]A childish voice called out.[/i] [i]So small, that it could easily rest upon Her neck, the serpentine half-humanoid creature flew through the abyss around Her, dancing like the streams of blood that flowed freely through the abyss akin to the rivers appearing in the world above. Umat, whom insisted She should give it a name. Umat, whom called itself Her first daughter. Umat whom She had healed. Umat was beautiful and free, not bothered by her mother's silent voice, coming closer to what she had known was a great goddess. She was happy her mother let her hold Her, and hug Her. Her mother was gentle and soft, similar to what Umat imagined pillows and silk blankets to be like. Umat often wondered if her mother knew what She was... While Her daughter cradled herself in the comfortable location where Her neck and shoulders connected, the goddess of death continued her quest to hunt all of the demons that dwelled in the Underworld (aside from Umat) while walking along the Path of the Dead, wherever it may take Her next.[/i] --- [hider=Summary] Eku continues to fight the creatures of the Underworld, until they learn how to weaken her and she becomes too exhausted, and falls asleep. She dreams of one creature that gives her a weapon, and when she wakes, she finds herself attacked once more. The weapon is a sword that can trap foes with magical thorny vines. After the attack, Eku finds the demon that she saw in her dream, dying because of her. She hears its last words and then heals it. The creature becomes Umat, the daughter of Death, and the two continue on their journey through the Underworld. [/hider]