[center][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/sgVgDAa.png[/IMG] [/center] --- [b][u]Six Months Ago[/b][/u] A strange air hung over the city of Luce, over the entire world. The streets of the upper-city were filled with its usual signs of bustling life. Faint music played by street performers drifting through the air. Workers and businessmen heading from appointment to appointment whether it be by tram, by ship or by personal transport. The lower-city shrouded in its usual thick fog, its reaches covered in unorganized cacophony seemingly entirely at odds with its more refined counterpart. Chatter of common citizens who scraped by however they could manage. Gangs doing business within back alleys or planning their next scheme within old run down mansions. In the center of the huge city the two atmospheres melding together as the upper and lower reaches gradually transited. A day which should have been entirely normal yet the strange feeling of unease all about the world would refuse to let up. On that day it was only a matter of time until the cause of that unexplainable discomfort would show itself. Just past midday the winds all about the world would begin the howl ferociously with gusts powerful enough to threaten knocking people from their feet. The sudden onset of these winds would cause many of the worlds people to stop in their tracks, eyes scanning about their individual areas as trees creaked and windows rattled in futile resistance. It was not long after the winds began to whip that the ground began to rumble with a low ominous groan. Just as the lower-city was buffeted by the brutal winds which would normally scarcely touch the misty depths of the under-city, the upper-city was shaken by the resounding quakes ordinarily reserved for the under-city. These same events would begin appearing simultaneously all about the world. As word spread the strange occurrences would have been enough to send the world into a state of caution, were they giving the chance. However hardly an hour would pass before the situation would escalate far out of control. Suddenly the howling of the winds and the groaning of the earth would be replaced by a near deafening screech. In the initial moments glass began to shatter, the frantic cries of the frightened people were all but drowned out as the winds began to swirl with greater ferocity. The pitch began to rise for what would feel like an eternity until finally the havoc would cease. In an instant the heinous sound would cease, the winds would grow utterly still, the quaking of the ground would reside. For an all too brief moment the world would seem entirely still, entirely silent. The following moment the world would be engulfed in a blinding flash of light. From the ground impossibly bright streams of light shot to the sky. The beams initially scarcely larger than a strand of hair quickly began to widen. The people began to flee only to be swallowed by the pillars of light. People, buildings, entire blocks being swallowed up by the light, the ground flaking away as matter was drawn in by the luminous towers. The initial moments of havoc were the same all around the world, and soon the screaming pillars of light would fade but the danger brought by them would not falter. Over the following days, weeks, months, the world would be twisted and warped. Forests suddenly sprouting from the center of cities, vast fields being flooded in an instant, buildings being twisted into impossible formations, even entire towns broken from the land, stranded to float above an endless abyss. With each day more and more of the population would be lost while more dangers would surface. Darkness formerly contained surging out into the world, a plethora of creatures never before seen emerging. And all the while, memories being forgotten, drifting into into the void like so many pieces of their shattered world... --- [b][u]Present Day[/b][/u] Hard heavy footfalls sounding against cobble streets being lost amidst surrounding discord. A sinking sensation, the feeling of approaching danger nipping at your heels. A single misstep, loss of balance, panic and drastic action. Then falling, sensory overload, and finally silence... A small room with just enough space to hold a single bed beside the door, a dresser sat next to the bed and a desk opposite the dresser. A young Elle slid off a small bed, bare feet landing with a soft thud upon bare wooden floor. Several light footsteps sounded bringing the girl through the small path between the dresser and desk. Her hands moved pushing a sliding glass door leading to a balcony aside. Outside a sea of stars painting the sky unfolded, below faint lights shone from the field below. The small girl plodded out to the rail, looking to the starry sky for a second before her gaze panned down to the field below. In that moment a rush of searing light filled her vision, reflexively she moved to cover her face even as her vision was blotted out. The next moment, a dimly lit room only housing a single window placed high out of reach, its glass cloudy and reinforced with metal bars before it. As her arms fell from her face an older Elle stood before a heavy metal door, its center filled with the same reinforced glass further protected by metal bars. Outside distorted silhouettes could be seen frantically moving to and fro. Elle began pulling hard on the bars, her mouth moving as if shouting while a stream of light poured into the room from the single window, seemingly impossible through the dingy glass. Teeth gritted the girl stepped back and kicked against the door with all her strength, then tumbled from her balance. As she fell the ground behind her began to flake away, just slow enough that the foot which remained on the ground could feel the edge as she slipped into an abyss below. She fell quickly into imposing darkness, light above shrinking into a single needle point before finally vanishing. The girl continued descending into the darkness for what would feel like an eternity until finally a change. Her speed began to slow as a platform appeared within the darkness. A towering pillar of stained glass, symbols lining the edges with a depiction of a two story building beneath a starry sky adorning its center. After several moments of descent she landed upon the, pushing herself to her knees, then to her feet. A hand set to her forehead Elle's cloudy white eyes drifted open as she gazed around the area. She shook her head as she stepped over to the edge of the platform and gazed over the edge down into the endless expanse of darkness. Then upwards only to meet the same sight, all around an unending sea of black. Then a foreign sensation cause her to turn swiftly, her posture defensive, the silhouette of a weapon forming in her hand. At the center of the pillar a vaguely defined figure stood upright. The girls teeth grit, her hand clutching the hilt of her weapon. The figure merely raised its 'arm' to chest level, slowly waving a 'finger' side to side, each movement seeming to blur too much to be focused on. Then a powerful gust of wind flew from behind the figure causing it to dissipate immediately. The gust caused Elle to stumble backwards over the edge of the platform, plummeting back into the darkness... With a gasp Elle sprung up into a sitting position, a hand clutching the fabric on her chest. The young woman's wide eyed gaze darted side to side as her sensory network gradually came to life revealing the surrounding area to her. A hulking metal door sealed tightly not only by its own elaborate locking mechanism but by an outside force as well. An intricate mass of pipes joining with a large sloping tunnel, the runoff flowing like a rushing river through the center. As her racing nerves began to settle Elle noticed a slight weight on her lap. A small jittery creature with wriggling antenna and perfectly round yellow eyes staring her in the face, its shadowy little claws kneading together anxiously. [b]“Every morning with this...”[/b] Elle sighed lightly as she plucked the squirming shadow up by its antenna and flicked it into the mass of flowing darkness. She then stood with a stretch followed by a flick of her wrist. A faint burst of black appeared in her hand and a split second later her golden black keyblade was hanging from her loose grip. She raised it towards the door causing a small flash to light the darkened tunnel for just a moment. The door shone for a second itself as the heavy mechanism within it chugged before the door finally swung open. Elle quickly slipped through soon as the gap was large enough, then pushed her weight against the door soon as she was outside. The heavy door met its frame with a thud, followed by a light clink of her key upon the door causing the mechanism to reverse and seal once more. Elle then made her way out from the long alleyway which held the entrance to The Blind out into the streets of the upper-city proper, tapping her keyblade against the side of her boot. [b]“I swear, not a decent nights sleep since I got this thing...”[/b] She sighed lightly muttering to herself as she dismissed her weapon. The girl then began to head down the shop lined street which was occasionally dotted with buildings fused together or a large fault splitting the ground, faint chiming of light or the swirling of darkness rumbling below ground...