The Land of Cepheid Utopia

[Velocitus]

Hi there, I'm Velocitus. I was recruited just yesterday, but I thought I'd make my presence known by posting a story that I've been working on for the past few months on-and-off whenever I have spare time. I don't know if it's going to be the backstory of Velocitus yet, because I didn't write this with WoW in mind... this is purely off the top of my head. nnI'm just posting this story here to put some content on the forums for all of you who like a good, long read. (It scales at about 18 full pages, single spaced.)nnPLEASE NOTEnnThis story is unfinished and it is very much a Work-In-Progress. Another reason I'm posting this here is to get some feedback from those who might appreciate it. Constructive criticism is always welcome, as I'm looking to go into this field of work after I get out of school. (Writing, Journalism, Stories, Article writing, etc)nnKeep in mind that I started writing this last year, just before my 17th Birthday. I'm 18 years old now and have since taken a break on writing this story due to the fact it was taking up far too much of my time at school. Over the course of a year, I have edited this story, re-edited it, re-edited it again, rewrote it, revamped it, taken out sections, put sections in, and completely moved sections to other parts of the story... However I have taken month-long breaks in between, so it was actually at quite a slow and lazy speed. nnEvery word in this story is improvised; it was written off of the top of my head. I didn't use any plot graphs, I didn't think the story through, I didn't foresee how any part of the story was going to turn out... I simply put my hands on the keyboard, and let my imagination run free...nn...and this is the outcome.nnPS: The post directly below me is where I realized that this forum absolutely DESTROYS the format in which I had written it... It doesn't understand indenting or paragraphs, so I need to go through each part of the story and put a space where the paragraphs end so it doesn't end up looking like a giant wall of text. -_-nnEDIT: Due to the writing format of these forums, there may be a few errors/mistakes/etc throughout the story. If you are one of the few that are remarkably patient enough to read through the story, please let me know of any errors you find. nnAlso, please let me know what you think!!

[Velocitus]

Completely secluded, ridden from sight, often overlooked and almost nonexistent, there lives dozens of villages containing people of all shapes and sizes, colours and shades, weights and heights. These villages are scattered along the sides of a gargantuan mountain covered in floral activity. This mountain dwarfs all other mountains on the Earth, yet only a handful of people even know of its existence. Alongside the mountain as they walk around their villages, the habitants can feel the tingle of a charged magical current skitter across their cheeks as the breeze brushes past them, through the sparkling leaves on the oddly placed trees protruding off of the mountain—this is the mountain known as the Cepheid Utopia.nnFar in the distant sky, there can be seen an ominous silhouette of a large dragon, named The Guardian nDragon Arcturus, circling around the tip of the mountain, temporarily vanishing as it cuts into the orange, nsun-painted clouds, only to reappear as the clouds pass. To the habitants, the dragon is a part of the mountain itself, having watched over the mountain for several eternities—as if it were ‘his property’. For the nvillage folk, a being who’s existence appears to have lacked a beginning could be nothing but that of a God.nnIn an obscurely placed chunk of land stemming from the side of the mountain, there always seems to be a bustling group of people. After all, it is the market corner where most villagers warp in to purchase their goods. However for some people, the market corner is more of a ‘lounge’, or a place to socialize, rather than a branch of business. Despite the atmosphere at first glance, children frequent the marketplace, as well as adults. Unusually, however, certain children on the land even appear to be more mature than most adults, whereas some adults seem to be more childish than any child could be.nnAt the far end of the market, something very peculiar to humans and newcomers alike can be found; something about the height of two humans, and resembles a large ring with a blue water-textured surface filling the gap—something called a warpgate. These gates can be found scattered all over this colossal mountain, and are endlessly useful to its habitants. The habitants use these gates to conveniently travel to specific areas of the mountain in an instant; however only a selected few are able to travel to otherworldly places not related to the mountain. Unlike all other gates, the warpgate of the marketplace was the very first key device involved in the event that changed the history of the Arbiter Brigade and Cepheid Utopia all together.nnLong ago, a deep hum emanated from the marketplace’s warpgate. The golden outline of the ring glowed as the gate began to spin, its humming becoming louder as it did so. The water-like texture in the gap of the ring formed jagged ripples as it left a translucent after-image every time the gate made a full revolution. Suddenly, sound of crackling electricity filled the air shortly before a splintering boom—an oddly-garbed blonde haired boy in his latest of teens was inexplicably sprawled out on the foot-worn marble stone base underneath the once again slowly spinning warpgate. His ripped and wrinkled clothing danced with the flow of the magical atmosphere as a calm breeze embraced his motionless body. His blonde bangs covered his firmly closed eyes—he appeared to be completely unconscious. The villagers who were once surrounding the shops were now circled around the newcomer, nonchalantly whispering their opinions of the situation; gazing on as if it were a spectacle rather than a crisis.nn“Is he okay?” one anonymous voice called out.nn“He doesn’t seem to be hurt…” answered another voice, “but is it alright to just leave him there?”nn“Who is that boy? His clothing is so… urban…” uttered a woman within the crowd. “Is he a celebrity from the higher enclave?”nn“What should we do?” a young man asked, baffled at the unexpected situation. “Uh… Help?!” the same man hesitantly called out. “Help!” he raised his voice.nnThe crowd stood silent. Dozens of voices varying in pitch whispered to each other, chatting about the boy; each of their tones and speed rising as the common folk slowly came to realize the gravity of the situation. nnSome villagers had even unrealistically discussed where he had come from.n“Maybe he’s a member of the royal family!”n“No, that couldn’t be it; his clothes are too uncommon even for that,”n“Well... I don’t know about any of you, but what if he’s just a lazy kid from the noble quarters or something?”nnOne of the villagers reluctantly stood forward out from the crowd and crept ever closer to the unconscious teen. The man only stood about an arm’s length away from the crowd, keeping safe distance in case the boy was a dangerous person. The villager crouched, trying to get his voice as close to the young boy as possible without being close himself. “Ummm… Hello?” he whispered.nn“You’re gonna have to talk louder than that!” called another villager.nnThe brave man cleared his throat and inched his neck even closer.n“Ahem… Hello!” he voiced louder, “Are you okay, sir?”nnNo response.nn“Well, I tried!” the man shrugged as he stood up quickly and disappeared back into the faceless crowd.nn“Of all the spineless…” muttered a scruffy-looking man, “It’s just a boy! Why you runnin’ away, coward?!”nn“I don’t see you doing anything about the situation, heathen!” voiced an obese lady wearing too much make-up.nn“Hey! Who said that?!” the rugged man aggressively demanded.nnJust then, a small ruckus from within the crowd emerged and struggled its way towards the middle—where the boy was. A young girl, no older than 13 years old burst from the crowd, she appeared to be battered up as well, and her pale face had been darkened by dirt and stained water. Along with her hazel eyes, she had frizzy blonde hair that was well past her shoulders reaching the middle of her back. Just like the boy lying on the floor, this girl had very odd modernized clothing that had been tattered and worn out—not like anything the villagers would wear. She appeared to be crying; tears streamed down and etched pale lines into the grime on her face. She wiped her face with her hand, unknowingly smearing the tears and the dirt around, and ran over to the boy on the floor. She dropped to her knees immediately, and quickly examined the boy’s lifeless face. The girl started yelling his name, resulting in a spark of whispers to flutter through the crowd; such an uncommon name could only be expected to cause this.nn“Darren!” the girl cried, “Wake up, Darren!” She stifled her sobbing before continuing. “You need to wake up! I don't know where we are, and I'm scared...”nnShort bursts of whispering and muffled gasps were peeking out of the on-looking crowd that surrounded them. The girl snapped her focus to the people around her, shifting her eyes from left to right. As she examined the people around her, she realized they were helping neither her nor Darren. The girl realized that the crowd didn’t think of them as two people in trouble—no—the crowd stared at them as if they were a couple of animals in a cage. Some people in the crowd were interested, and others even looked amused, and thought of this as more of a spectacle than a crisis. n n“What the hell are you all looking at?! GET A DOCTOR!” she screamed demandingly before quickly returning her attention to Darren. The surrounding crowd looked at each other dumbfounded, slowly taking in the fact that these two kids might actually need help. n n“How do you expect us to do that, little girl?!” a short, beady-eyed old man called out as he pointed his worn-down walking cane at her.n n“I don’t know!” she yelled, her eyes shut tight as she shook her head. She turned her body around and looked at the spectators with helpless eyes. She made eye contact with as many people as she could and opened her mouth. “I don’t know… but you’ve got to do something…” she whispered as her voice cracked; changing tones and loudness with each word as it was fighting to remain without a cry. “I can’t help him by myself…” nnThe girl rested her body on her brother, sobbing as her voice muffled through his clothing.nThe crowd was completely silent; every visible face had an expression of grief, fear, or sadness. They had finally realized that this was no act--no entertaining spectacle--and stopped all motion as they appeared to realize this simultaneously. No head turned from one to the other. No voices resonated from the throats of any villagers, nor were their mouths open to do so. nnThe girl fought as she carefully raised her body with her strength-ridden arms. She sat on her feet and stared at the crowd still surrounding her. Her face was pale once again—her tears had cleaned her face while she had it buried in her arms resting on Darren. “Why am I here…?” she spoke quietly. “Why is Darren here…? Where is here…? Who are all of you people? Why won’t you help us? We aren’t supposed to be here… We don’t even want to be here… This isn’t home… This isn’t Earth, is it?”nn“…Who’s Earth, little girl?” a middle-aged woman said in a careful, soothing tone. “Is that your village name? It's pretty.”nnAmidst the clueless crowd, yet another burst of commotion sprouted from the far end in the form of a woman’s voice. The voice grew louder as it made for the center of the crowd. The woman was rather tall in comparison to the young girl. Her long, silky blue hair that reached her waist was swaying from side to side as she fought her way through the stiff, almost robotic crowd. Over her full, glittering purple eyes, she wore very thin framed glasses that were arched upwards on both sides. The woman’s flawlessly developed figure was covered by a thick, white robe with glowing sky-blue encryptions and runes which were delicately woven across the garb.nn “Get out of the way, you morons!” said the woman as she appeared from the crowd at last. “You’re the new guys here, right?!” she said, and continued before the young girl had any chance to reply, “Quickly, we’ve got to get him to my place!” she said bluntly. The woman grabbed and picked up Darren, resting him on her shoulder so that she could carry him with less trouble, and immediately made off in the same direction she came from. As if the lady was a powerful magnet, the crowd parted in both directions, appearing to be repelled by some invisible force.

[Velocitus]

“Wait… Who are you?! What’s wrong with my brother?! Where is this place?!” the girl cried as she tried to keep up with the wide steps of the woman.n n“Listen, missy. There’s no point in explaining it all to you right now because you’ll just be confused. When things settle down and I take care of your brother, I’ll explain everything to the both of you,” she said bluntly. With each footstep she took, the lady’s voice shook due to carrying someone quite a bit heavier than she was.nnIn what felt like only a few minutes of walking alongside the colossal mountain, they found themselves at a ngiant cave about the height and width of a coliseum, which seemed to stretch on for miles into the nmountain.n n“Well, here we are!” the woman proudly exclaimed.n n“Uh… Here?” the girl said… “I don’t understand,” She looked rather unimpressed, but had calmed down a bit because of the mood the lady was in.n nThe lady looked almost insulted, “Hey, come on! It’s a lovely place once you get used to it!” she explained nonchalantly.n nThe blonde girl started to get annoyed. “What’s wrong with you?!” the she screamed, “Darren needs help! Aren’t you going to treat him?! This is no place to treat the wounded! Where's your hospital?!” nnThe lady’s carefree expression quickly shifted to a sly and mischievous one. She smirked and nodded with acknowledgement, and gently laid Darren on the ground. “There’s really nothing to worry about. Your brother has ‘warp fever’. If you’re so eager to talk to him, I’ll do it now…Jeez, you’re certainly an impatient one…” she finished lightheartedly. nnThe lady’s casual expression faded immediately as she appeared to enter a deep concentration. She closed her eyes, stood up straight and put both arms in a horizontal 90 degree angle, pressed both of her palms together, all while standing to the side of the unconscious Darren. A gentle wind began to pass by them, even though there was no wind outside at all. The wind gradually picked up, carrying with it the fallen leaves and soil from the mouth of the cave. Soon after, the gusts of wind formed a large funnel, surrounding the group and reaching the far walls of the cave, until the funnel of wind began closing in. The 13 year old girl covered her face with one of her arms and squinted as the dust began blowing past her face. When she opened her eyes again, the funnel of wind had now completely focused on the woman. Suddenly the gust of wind became radiant; within the cone of air, small bolts of green electricity were passing from one fluttering leaf to another, destroying each one that was touched. nnThe woman quickly opened her eyes and pulled her palms away from each other, causing the electrically charged cone of wind to fold down at the sides, creating a flat disc of shredding wind that fell to the ground around her. Underneath the disc of wind, the idle cave soil began to glow a faint green.n“…Ramni Efnil Sorti Tamnos Axkov!” the woman yelled, quickly throwing her arms to each side, extending them outwards.nnThe disc of dust and wind instantly vanished to reveal a massive circular rune underneath the lady’s feet. The rune circle had a faint aqua green glow which stained the cavern walls. It had dozens, possibly hundreds of different etchings and encryptions similar to those on her robe. Outlining the rune were two rings which held in-between them about 15 uniquely incomprehensible symbols. Inside the rune were leaf-like streaks and markings impossibly woven from the center, reaching out from where the lady stood.nSuddenly, bright green particles were flowing from the rune on the formerly undisturbed soil it was burned into, brushing past the unconscious body of Darren to float idly in the air in no particular pattern.nn“H-hey! What are you doing to my big brother?! Stop hurting him—don’t!” Darren’s young sister cried helplessly. nn“Don’t… interrupt me…” the lady said, struggling to remain focused, “I won’t be able to do this again for about 30 minutes… and I seriously doubt your brother has that much time to spare…” n nAs more green particles rose into and hung in the air, the rune drawn on the ground began to fade away, until there was a cluster of particles in the air and no rune to be seen. Suddenly, all of the particles in the air ceased idleness and shot into the body of Darren, creating a loud chime as they all hit him at once. The next few moments left a stale, idle hum of pure silence to fill the ears of both the lady and the younger girl as they waited for a reaction from Darren.n nThe silence was shattered as quickly as it had appeared due to the coughing and hacking of Darren. He sat up immediately, looking as if he had just seen a ghost. “AGH… What… the hell did you do to me?!” he choked while holding his throat with both of his hands. “You tryin’ to kill me or somethin’, lady?!” he finished as he incessantly cleared his throat.n n“Oh, thank god… That was pretty damn close! I caught you just as your lungs stopped working…” the lady magician exhaled, dropping to the ground in exhaustion, “Any longer and you would’ve been a goner for sure… Jeez, it was foolish of me to not think of how long you've been under the effects of the warp fever. You were already quite far along in the illness stages.”n nDarren looked blankly at his female saviour. "Uh, do you mind telling me exa—” Darren’s body arrested as he looked around the cave to see none other than the young girl claiming to be his sister. “…Maria…” he let out under his breath, “MARIA! You’re okay!” he exclaimed, his expression lighting up like a new morning.nn“Darren…” she whispered. “You… IDIOT!” screamed Maria as she slapped Darren across the face, leaving him dumbstruck for a moment. “You followed me here and almost got killed! How would I explain that to Aunt Selene?! Now you went and got yourself stuck in this situation too!”nn“You dummy, I had to follow you here… You’re way too young to just be wandering off!” he tried to explain, n“We’re all we’ve got for each other… after Mom and Dad—”nn“Don’t say it,” Maria interrupted Darren, staring at him with naught an expression.nn“You know what I mean, though, right?” he asked caringly.nn“Yeah… We need look out for each other...” Maria agreed sheepishly.nn“Exactly. You can’t keep secrets like this from me, sis--” nThe lady butted into the conversation, “As deliciously heartwarming and nostalgic as it is to hear you two bicker like the two siblings you are... can you save it until we get to my place?” she asked rhetorically, and began walking deeper into the cave without letting either of them reply. Darren and Maria gave each other clueless looks and quickly followed after the mysterious woman whom saved Darren’s life.nn“Wait a sec. Just… who are you?” Darren asked impatiently, “Just what the hell was all that back there, anyways?”n n“The name’s Liana,” she said sociably, “and that was a Modus Operandi—a ‘method’,”n“Oh, great, thanks! I’m totally up-to-speed, now,” Darren snapped sarcastically.n“I aim to please!” Liana replied with blissful ignorance.nDarren grumbled, “Yeah, I’m sure you do.”nnAs the group of three walked farther into the caves, they were no longer blessed by the omnipresent sunlight, and found themselves in complete darkness. No sounds were being made except the eardrum-vibrating sounds of little stones rolling across the ground as they were kicked by the feet of the newfound spelunkers whom walked ever farther into the cave. To Darren and Maria, it felt as if they were walking in space; complete silence, complete darkness, and there was no end to where they were—it just kept going on.nn“Well, this is certainly relieving!” Darren said with his ever-present sarcastic attitude, “I’m sure if we get murdered here, at least nobody will have to witness the gruesome scene! That’s a load off!”nMaria squealed frightfully. n"Hey~! Don’t go saying stuff like that; you’re just trying to scare me!” she cried.nnAll of a sudden, the darkness of the cave was entirely swallowed up by a bright, calm blue aura emitting from Liana’s hand, painting the cavern walls with the warm, roomy flush of sapphire. It felt as if they were no longer in a dank, barren cave; rather, they felt as if they were in a museum—a brilliant display of art in all directions. The cobalt aura embedded itself in the smallest of nooks and the farthest crannies, removing all obscurities that were unfortunate enough to fog their vision. What was previously hidden in the anonymity of shadows was a door at the finally visible end of the cave.nnLiana turned around with a smile on her face and humbly motioned towards the door, “Welcome to my home!” she boasted.nnCHAPTER ONE -- END

[Velocitus]

“H-hey, look!” exclaimed Maria, “That’s where you wanted to take us, right?!”nnDarren, feeling relieved, sighed heavily. “It’s about damn time… My shoes were gonna get a hole burned into them if we had to walk much more,” he complained.nn“Oh, just be quiet, you! You’re going to have to get used to it eventually,” Liana explained palpably. She walked up to the door and began staring at it impatiently. There was a small speaker where the doorknob should have been, and it didn’t have any hinges or creases so it didn’t look like it could be opened even if there was a knob.nn“Well?” Liana snapped intolerantly at the speaker.nThe speaker was still with sound; completely noiseless.nLiana growled under her breath before putting her face right up to the speaker. nn“…BLAKE!” she screamed.nnEmitting from the speaker-knob were sounds of a man letting out a yell, followed by a crashing thud and a dictionary of curse words. “Damnit, Liana!” the voice whimpered, “You scared the hell out of me!”nn“Well, if you were awake, you would have opened the door before I was even near it!” she argued, “Speaking of which, why hasn't it been opened yet?!”nn“Oh, come on! I’m still recovering from the heart attack you just gave me!” the voice explained sheepishly. nn“Fine, fine! Just let me…--Ah, there you go!” nnLiana grumbled as she walked away from the door, keeping her distance for a reason unknown to the others. Suddenly, instead of the door opening, the entire wall which the door was placed quickly shifted upwards, instantly severing at the cave wall’s bottom from one side to the other. In no time, it began to steadily rise as the wall was eaten up by the ceiling of the cavern; rocks of all sizes being spat out onto the ground as the wall vanished upwards.nnBeyond the wall appeared to be something strikingly similar to the urban life which Darren and Maria were familiar with. There were a couple of sofas on a curly orange rug, scattered pieces of potato chips and cereal entwined within the threads. The sofas were facing a large television that looked too old to be as big as it was; there were stains on the glass screen, a half-full glass of stale soda idly resting on the television, and it even still had two dials on the side for changing the channels and setting the volume. Beyond the sofa and the television was a window which had been hopelessly placed, most likely in order for the resident to feel more ‘at home’ or ‘familiar’; it even had a small poster of urban city life plastered behind the glass to make it seem as though there was something outside.nnAs soon as the three of them walked inside, a tall man who certainly didn’t fit in the atmosphere of the ‘apartment’ stumbled out of the large doorway at the far end. The man was quite muscular—and appeared to be aware of it—as he sported a tank top and baggy track pants. His dark, spiky hair had been pushed back by the modern aviator goggles on his head—he certainly had a comic-book feel about him, and didn’t look like he belonged in any society other than a fantasy one. The man took a double-take at Liana and then at the two people standing behind her in the doorway.n n“Wait, who are—Aw, Liana, you shoulda told me we’d be havin’ guests or else I’dda cleaned this place up a bit!” the man groaned sheepishly.nn“This place should be clean regardless!” Liana complained, “And even if I did warn you, you probably wouldn’t have bothered!”n“What're you saying?! I certainly would have bothered! ...If you asked me to…” he confessed.n“Yeah, right!”nnLiana turned around quickly with a friendly smile, facing Darren and Maria, who had been petrified by awe and shock at what they had just previously witnessed. Darren, with eyes the size of a dinner plate, opened his mouth to speak, “What… just… happ-- …What..?” Darren blabbered incoherently. He turned his head over to Maria, expecting her to translate his confused tongue.nn“Um,” Maria voiced when she opened her mouth, “What just happened? Did… did I just see the wall get eaten up by the ceiling? Who are you people? How did you—why did you—what is the—but we didn’t think—…” she finished deliriously.nn“You…” Darren shook his head, “Let me get this right... You just spoke to a fake door with a speaker for a knob, to which tore the very wall of a cave from its gravelly roots to reveal a low-budget college dorm with a sleepy comic book character tiredly stumbling around the room after being previously screamed at by yourself, you whom cured me of a terminal ailment just by speaking some weird language and thinking.” Darren finished, completely out of breath after droning on with his run-on sentence.nn“…That’s the jist of it!" Liana answered nonchalantly. "Now, can I get you something to eat or drink?” she offered, “We can discuss things over dinner.” nnMaria was baffled, “Wait, what?! No, let’s discuss things now!—”nn“YES!” Darren interrupted, “I’m starving! What’re we going to eat?!” Darren ran ahead into the kitchen, completely forgetting about the situation he was in like a carefree child with a low span of attention. His voice could still be heard incessantly spitting out questions as it echoed off of the spacious walls.nnMaria palmed her face, “Ugh, sometimes I wonder how I could ever be the younger one of us,” Maria growled as she reluctantly walked towards the kitchen, lowering her head in simple defeat.nnThe kitchen was completely different in contrast to the unkempt living room just beside it. On the far side, the kitchen contained a towering fridge with a sleek chrome finish that blended perfectly in with the array of metallic silver cupboards to each of its sides. The white and black marble floor under their feet was as spotless as the light which was shining on it; they could see a reflection off of the floor that looked so crisp, it was as if there was a completely different world under their feet. In the direct center of the roomy kitchen was a long rectangular table that stretched from one end of the kitchen to the other, also as spotless as the floor it was place on. Its cupboards were filled with neatly stacked dishes, pots and pans; in one of the cupboards was even hiding a fully operational dish washer that looked as though it hadn’t even been used—almost as if they never had a need for food. This all-purpose dinner table even had a stovetop embedded into it in the center that looked like it also hadn’t even been used.nnAs everyone sat down at the table, they were each served a plate almost immediately. The food consisted of meats, vegetables and grains; all cooked, fried, baked and seasoned to perfection—it almost looked fake.nn“Whoa… No way… This looks like it came right out of a commercial!” Darren exclaimed. “It actually looks… kinda fake…”nLiana glared at him, “I hope that's a good thing...”nn“Obviously!” he said as he sat down in his chair. Liana sat down with her own plate across from Darren and Maria while Blake prepared drinks for everyone over by the catalogue-esque countertop. “Now, let’s get to the point,” Liana motioned with her fork.nn“Finally!” Maria sighed impatiently.nnLiana cleared her throat loudly as she glared at Maria, reminding her that she had the floor. “This place is called the Thousand Mountain, Cepheid Utopia,” Liana said bluntly, “It gets its name from its colossal size, being in the same proportion as a thousand mountains combined,” she informed, “It is not Earth. As far as this land is concerned, Earth never existed, and never will.”nn"Hahaha--AGH!" Darren choked on his food as he laughed. “You’re horrible—making jokes when someone’s eating!” he convinced himself as he cleared his throat. “You coulda killed me…”nn“Making jokes? What reason do I have to joke?” Liana explained calmly. “This is a completely different universe—a completely different dimension. There are things here neither you nor I will never be able to explain,” she finished, smirking as though she was enjoying this. “Your previous knowledge of things such as physics—gravity, speed, weight, time—are completely useless here. While it maintains the same basic idea, the grand picture of all things possible has been altered to such a degree, the mind of a human from Earth can’t even begin to imagine how it all works and why it does,” she explained thoroughly.nn“Wait, you’re only telling us about one thing…” Maria said as she was lost in her thoughts, “How did we get here? Why are we here? How do you know all of this?” she asked persistently, “And why are you helping us so willingly…?”nn“…Because we’re just like you.” Blake answered as he walked over to the table. “Liana and I are siblings. We appeared here the very same way you did. One day, Liana ran away from home unexpectedly, and because I was too stubborn to let her do what she wanted, I followed after her to an abandoned building and tried to get her to come back home. I managed to convince her, but before we could get outside again, the door quickly slammed shut and locked itself. We panicked and went to open the windows, but—”nn“Before you could open them, a blinding light shone into the building and you fell unconscious… And then you woke up here, battered and bruised and got sick with—what was it—warp fever or whatever?” Darren added, staring skeptically at Blake. “Ugh, I don’t believe this,” he said as he threw his body back up against the back part of his chair. “Who’re you tryi—”nn“Shit, both cases are identical … that means—”nn“Maria. You don’t know why you ran away from home. You weren’t angry, you weren’t sad… you just ran away at a wild impulse, right?” Liana asked kindly.nMaria stared awestruck at Liana, “Y-yeah… how do you—”…n“Yup… It’s just as I expected… We weren’t the only ones, Blake,” she confirmed as she stood up out of her seat eyeing Blake, confident of her analyzation.nnBlake cradled his head in irritation and groaned. “Agh! Who knows how many other people have found themselves in this situation?! This mountain—Cepheid Utopia—is so massive, it wouldn’t matter how long we stayed here,” he rushed, “You two are probably the only people we’ll meet in this situation!” nnDarren turned to Blake, “Wait… How long have you been here?” he asked, “Long enough to build this place by hand, I assume…”nnBlake sighed, “I was afraid you'd ask that...”n“What do you mean?”n“You won’t believe this…” Blake explained.n“Just tell me!” Darren demanded.nnBlake faced and stared sharply at Darren; his face expressionless. “Age doesn’t exist in this land,” he snapped. “We have been here for 40 years and haven’t felt or looked any different. I haven’t had to shave in 40 years, I haven’t gained or lost weight, I haven’t had to cut my hair in 40 years. For as long as I am here, I will forever be 24 years old. The exact same goes for you two.”nnMaria fell back in her chair with a terrified look on her face. She wanted to tell herself that he was lying, but Blake’s serious expression made it clear that this was something nobody should joke about. “So you mean… We’re here forever…?” she asked, wishing Blake wouldn’t answer her question.nn“That’s what it comes down to,” Blake answered reluctantly.nn“What the hell are you trying to sell to us?” Darren stood up out of his seat and glared at Blake. Darren leaned over his plate and supported his body with his arms and stared him down—Blake was motionless. Darren continued, “You’re actually serious about this, aren’t you? At first I thought you were joking, but now I can clearly see you’re completely bat-shit insane,”nn“Allow me to feed you your words.” Blake tonelessly voiced. nnBlake slowly backed away from the dinner table and held out his right hand in a fist. He put his left hand on top of his closed hand, all while grimly staring into Darren’s eyes. He arched both hands left-downwards, and kept them in the same position while bringing both of them closer to his chest. He immediately separated both of his hands and threw back his left arm while sending his right arm forward. As his hands moved, a massive, sharp chunk of metal replaced the once empty gap in-between them. When his hands had been fully separated, Blake could now be seen with a massive claymore broadsword; the body was tinted a solid navy blue, outlined with yellow tribal symbols which met at the middle of the claymore and etched upwards through the thick steel at the bottom, carving into it the very intricate designs of the hilt.nBlake’s arms were now scattered with jagged markings which appeared to come from a completely different culture and country altogether; the markings ranging from the colour blue to yellow, or something completely in-between. It was truly an outstanding display—Darren was immediately rendered speechless, and sat back down in his seat as if he now knew his place, admitting his defeat.

[Velocitus]

“Now, if you’ll shut the hell up and think before you spout stupidity without knowing the full story, that’d be great,” Blake said as he released his Modus back into his arms, evaporating the sword before their eyes.nnDarren’s eyes were as wide as a pair of dinner plates, infinitely locked on Blake. “No… way…” Darren spoke softly with a thick shiver in his throat. “What… the hell are you?” he mumbled. Darren sunk into his seat, shaking his head while trying to register completely different laws of physics into his brain. He then thought of what Maria might be doing, but unlike Darren, she didn’t seem to be terrified—she seemed amazed and inspired more than anything.nnHe looked over to his sister, “Of course… she’s still a kid caught up in cartoons and blissful magic,” Darren thought to himself. He tried his best to shake off Blake’s blatant disproval of dozens of former realities and possibilities, and sat up in his seat, hesitant to say a word.nn“This is my Modus Operandi, the Ultimus Romanorum—The Last Roman,” Blake explained calmly. “You’re probably familiar with Liana’s method—that’s how you were healed,”nnDarren, still wide-eyed, nodded slowly. “Just… tell me everything you know… I’m ready to listen now…” Darren said as he lowered his head in guilt, “Sorry for calling you a liar,”nnLiana stood up and smiled. “Not a problem, Darren! Now, since you’ve been on my case about explaining everything to you, would you like me to do so?”nnDarren sat forward and cupped his hands over his forehead, ruffling his blonde bangs through his fingers and sighed deeply, avoiding eye contact with anyone at the table. He sighed submissively, “Y-yeah… I’d like to know everything… but… I’m not even sure if I want to…” he said; his voice still trembling like a leaf, “This place shouldn’t exist… I just… want to close my eyes and wake up, back on Earth,” nnMaria stood out of her seat, walked over to Darren and hugged him. “It’s fine, Darren… I’m scared, too, but we’re here for each other, right?” she said comfortingly.nn“Y-yeah… you’re right… But that’s what I’m worried about,” Darren said hesitantly, “If it were just me here, I’d be fine with it… but you’re here, too!” he exclaimed.nn“What’s wrong with me being here?!” Maria said, backing away from Darren as if she had just been insulted. “I’ll have you know, I can take care of myself just fine!” She stood up and stomped over to Blake, looked directly up at his face and glared at him. “I bet I could beat Mr. Muscles over here; he’s not so tough!” Maria boasted loudly.nnInterrupting Maria’ fruitless effort to encourage her brother, Liana continued, “Darren—you’re wrong. You act like this place is dangerous… While we haven’t aged in 40 years, we also haven’t been sick, we haven’t gotten injured or robbed; all of the crime in Cepheid is taken care of by the Arbiters. This place truly is a utopia,”nn“She’s right, ‘cha know!” Blake insisted, “Old age is a thing of the past here!” Blake stopped himself and thought about what he said, “Wait… that’s pretty ironic when you think about it,” he said to himself while laughing.nn“Hold on, wait a minute…” Darren interrupted, “Arbiters? What the hell are those?” he asked rudely.nn“They sound dangerous…” Maria worried.nn“No, not at all,” Liana answered, “They’re the guardians of Cepheid Utopia, after all!”nn“What do you mean?” Darren pondered. “Like… the police?”nn“Exactly!” Blake answered, “And I think Liana was just about to explain the Arbiters to you. Right, sis?” he motioned.n“… I was?” Liana said, staring blankly at Blake.n“…Yes…” he replied brusquely, “The Arbiter Brigade, the ranks, their powers, Modus Crests—all that crap.”n“No, I don’t think I was . . ,”nnDarren and Maria leaned towards each other, keeping their eyes on the two older siblings bickering in front of them. “Hey, sis… You catchin’ any of this?” Darren asked tonelessly. n“Not a bit,” She bluntly replied.nnDarren sat up straight and cleared his throat loudly, grabbing the attention of Liana and Blake. They halted themselves and whipped their heads to the left towards Darren and Maria, glaring at them as if they had been interrupted. nn“What?!” Liana yelled impatiently. She realized how foolish she had been acting, causing her eyes to widen slightly. “Oh, right!” she acknowledged, “Sorry about that, hehehe…” she said while chuckling nervously.nnDarren opened his mouth, “You gonna fill us in on this or would you like to—”n“No, no! I’m sorry—let me explain,” Liana said apologetically. Liana began immediately. She told Darren and Maria everything she knew, starting with Arbiters—and how she and her brother obtained the powers they had. nnThey were told that Arbiters are something closer to guardians than the police, whom all belong to the "Arbiter Brigade". The Arbiters once called the mountain their home as well, but now Arbiters can be found traveling lands which the majority of the villagers are completely unaware of—most villagers haven’t even the slightest clue that Arbiters exist, let alone any higher authority other than Arcturus. The job of the Arbiter is to protect the mountain; concealing its identity and location from those that the Guardian Dragon Arcturus lacks power over. Arbiters are usually quite distinctive from a crowd, as they have the authority to wield a weapon of their choice—unless they find the need to use it, most Arbiters conceal their weapons and choose to hide their identity so as to not cause unwanted attention or commotion among the villages. Arbiters do not have a specific uniform; rather, they have access to an endless supply of unique clothing, armor, or outfits completely tailored and tweaked to their prime quality to ensure the highest performance rate of the wearer. nnEach Arbiter is assigned to their respective tree of the brigade; one for the Fighter tree, the Magi tree, and the Arms tree. Obviously the Fighter tree contains the Arbiters whose Modus Crests are designed to excel in melee combat; the Magi tree contains Arbiters whose Modus Crests are tuned for using support methods such as healing enhancements or offensive support; and finally the Arms tree contains Arbiters who excel at using firearms or other weapons designed for range-assisted combat.nnSimilar to all “governments”, the Arbiter Brigade has ranks and titles. As an Arbiter rises in rank, he acquires more power and authority, and his opinion holds a stronger torch that can be carried farther. A level 1 Arbiter is considered an ‘initiate’, and is given a Modus Crest, which is what allows them to wield a weapon based on their skills and use it in any situation they deem necessary. With each militia rank, the Arbiter obtains more weapons and techniques which are modified into their Modus Crest. With much work, if an Arbiter manages to get the 8th or 9th level of the Arbiter Brigade, they are promoted with a seat in the Arbiter’s Council as proof that they are truly one with unmatched skill. In the Council they will obtain authority over Arbiters who are not apart of it. They will be allowed to decide with the rest of the council on the future of Cepheid; regarding crime, taxes, the villagers, the economy—among many other areas, including things with such a high degree of secrecy they cannot even be fabricated by those under the Council.nnThe final rank of the Arbiter Brigade—aside from the President—is the Level 10 Arbiter: The Judge. Judges have exceeded all other expectations of their superiors and have attained power previously thought to be unattainable. They are the subordinates of the President himself, whom has no real physical power; only political authority over all others. There are only 3 seated Judges in the Brigade at any given time; one Judge for each tree in the Brigade—a Fighter Judge, a Magi Judge and an Arms Judge. When one Judge passes away, an Arbiter whom was previously decided by the Council to replace him will be promoted without delay. nnThe secret weapon of the Arbiters is of course their Modus Crest. Without it, they are as powerless as any other villager on the mountain of Cepheid. The Modus Crest looks like a simple piece of jewelry; ranging from a ring, bracelet, necklace, earring, and etcetera. Nobody knows how these crests are made, or what technology is used to make them. However, each crest is gene-linked; meaning no two people can use the same crest. Each crest is personally designed to communicate with the person’s genes, cells, muscles, brain, and even their heart—if someone else was to attempt to use it, it would work as poorly as a regular piece of jewelry. The powers of the crest are entirely determined by the style that suits the possessor of the trinket; the crest takes the information from each cell on the body and brain, and uses that information to enhance the wearer in the most mathematically beneficial way possible, enabling virtually an infinite amount of possible outcomes.nnDarren and Maria listened intently, and tried their hardest to absorb the massive amount of new things they had to learn about. Throughout the conversation, Liana had to explain several things over again in order to get the idea across to them, but eventually they understood the majority of what had been said.nn“I’m not quite sure what all of this has to do with us, but I think I understand…” Maria thought aloud. “I still can’t accept the fact we’re in another universe, though,”nn“We didn’t expect you to, so I just said it and got it out of the way,” Blake admitted, “To be honest, we still can’t accept it entirely, but for the 40-some years we’ve had to think about things, we’ve come to terms with the lot of it,”nn“Arbiters… Judges… Modus Crests…” Darren said as he clenched his forehead with both hands. “Agh, God, my head… This is all happening too quickly…”nn“We know the exact feeling… Just think of where you’d be if you didn’t have us to take care of you!” Liana added comfortingly. Her warm smile quickly turned to a frown, “We—Blake and I—didn’t have anyone but each other to look out for. It took so long to even become close to accepting all of this…”nn“…So we don’t blame you if you have trouble believing us or letting this settle in,” Blake added reassuringly, “It’s hard to live your life and follow your beliefs, and then have to throw away all of that as if it never existed to begin with,”nn“I had no idea you’ve all had it this hard… I’m terribly sorry… Let us know if we can do anything for you, please!” Maria insisted. “It’s the least we can do!”nnBlake and Liana laughed together. “No, no. We’ve had plenty of time to adapt to this—we’ll be fine,” Blake explained. “You’re the ones that need the pity!” Liana added as she laughed.nn“Gee, thanks…” Darren said sarcastically, looking sorry for himself as he scratched his shoulder while looking the other way. Darren’s train of thought changed lanes, causing his attitude to elevate. “Oh! Hey—do you think we’d be able to get Modus Crests like you two?!” he asked excitedly.nn“Darren, that’s rude!” Maria snapped, “Anyways, it doesn’t sound like you can just ask for one of them,” nnBlake chuckled, “It’s alright, Maria—however, she is right, Darren… These don’t exactly grow off of trees,”nDarren looked suspecting of Blake and Liana, “Really?” he asked interrogatingly, “Then… how’d you two get yours?”nnBlake and Liana looked at each other quickly, and then back at Darren. “Well, you see… We used to know a guy that made crests… He was a good buddy of ours, but even then it was like pulling teeth with him,” Blake tried to explain.nn“He was a really nice guy, though!” Liana reassured, “He’d probably make one for you too, if—“n“—he wasn’t dead,” Blake filled in with a grim look on his face. Darren and Maria looked at each other, and both of them shared different reactions; Darren looked disappointed and Maria looked pitying of the late crest-mason. “I’m sorry…” Maria sympathized, “…What happened?”nn“Well, the only people who know how to make crests are those that work in the Arbiters Brigade… So… we assume he must’ve abandoned them,” Liana replied and shook her head in grievance, “and the Arbiters must’ve found out he was making crests for us…”nn“It wasn’t long after when he was taken out by a squad of Arbiter’s hired guns,” Blake finished.

[Velocitus]

“Man… that’s horrible…” Darren lamented, “So I guess we won’t be getting any powers like you any time soon, huh?”nn“Darren…!” Maria scolded. She turned back to Blake and Liana when she realized something, “Wait… The Arbiters… kill their own men? That’s… not like any government I’ve heard of.”nn“Yeah, we didn’t understand that either… but this is a completely different dimension.” Blake articulated, “Rules are different here too, I guess.”nn“Unfortunately, Darren is right about what he said; without a crafter, there’ll be no Modus Crests for the both of you. If I knew how, I’d gladly make one for both of you, but I haven’t a clue…” Liana said reluctantly.nn“Wait, then what’re we supposed to do?!” Darren cried as he whipped his head up to look at everyone. “We can’t defend ourselves!” Everyone looked at Darren questioningly.nn“Defend yourselves from what?” Blake asked impatiently.nn“…Well--”n“Blake’s right. You can’t use the warpgates to go anywhere but Cepheid, so you don’t have any use for a weapon even if you had a Modus Crest,” Liana said obviously. “Only Arbiters are allowed to travel to other lands.”nn“But… what about crime?” Darren blurted.nn“You don’t listen very well, do you?” Blake sounded annoyed, “The Arbiters take care of it. Let them do their job, and start focusing on how you’re going to get situated here. Worrying about nothing won’t help in any way.”nnDarren looked shocked at Blake, as if he was being told to do the impossible. “Live here?!” he yelled, “Hell no, I’m gonna focus on finding us a way out of here! This isn’t our home—Earth is!”nn“Darren—" Maria tried to say, but hesitated because she too wanted to leave, she somewhat agreed with what her brother was saying.nnBlake stuck his face closer to Darren’s. “And just how do you expect to do that, hero? Walk up to an Arbiter and tell him to zap you back to your house? You don’t know how shit works here, buddy,”nnDarren was unyielding. “If that’s what it takes, then yeah,” he argued, “If it takes us 40 years to find a way out of here, then so be it. At least I’ll have done something useful with my time—unlike you,” Darren finished with a victorious grin.nn“…What did you say?” Blake said in disbelief.nn“You heard me! You keep bragging about how long you’ve been here as if it was a good thing! ‘40 years, we’ve been here! We know this place like the back of our hands!’ Hah!” Darren said with ignorant sarcasm, “You’re too cowardly to even find a way out of here, so you pretend to know what you’re talking about to make yourself seem more important. Who the hell are you trying to fool?”nnBlake snapped, and immediately lunged forward and drove his fist into the right side of Darren’s face, knocking him and his chair backward onto the ground. “YOU DON’T THINK WE HAVEN’T TRIED THAT?!” screamed Blake. nnDarren was terrified at Blake’s unexpected reaction; he instantly regretted his actions and wish he could’ve taken back what he said even before he could feel the pain.nn“FOR 40 YEARS, WE’VE—” Blake hesitated and closed his eyes, trying to compress his anger, and continued. “For 40 years, we have been looking for a way to get out of here. It isn’t nearly as simple as you think… This isn’t just some game, where you can up and leave whenever you feel. Take it from us, who’ve spent so long looking for an exit out of this place. It’s probably going to take you as long as us, or probably longer to find a way out of here—if there is a way at all. So listen to what we have to say; we know how this place works—don’t try to insult me by telling me otherwise, kid.”nnDarren hastily rose to his feet, rubbing the right side of his face vehemently. He remained completely silent; Darren knew that his previous thoughts were entirely wrong, but he tried to keep his pride and quickly headed out of the kitchen, avoiding eye contact with Blake. nnDarren found himself back in the main living quarters of this makeshift apartment, and sat down on the tattered couch after moving a handful of magazines off of it and onto the table. He leaned over and put his elbows on his knees, and cradled his head with his hands, still rubbing the side of his face. “…Dammit… He got me good, huh?” he said aloud to himself. “…But… You know… He does make a point…” he continued. Darren groaned loudly and ruffled his hair in bewilderment, “Agh! He is right… Blake’s that strong and still can’t get out of here…” he admitted to himself. Darren looked up through his bangs at the table in front of him, “That punch certainly told me that this is no dream, that’s for sure… Wait… huh?” Darren looked closer at the table and noticed there were a handful of books stacked on top of each other with no title, cover art or even an author name. He looked around to see if anyone was watching him, and then slid closer to the edge of the couch and grabbed the book on the top of the stack. As he opened up to the first page, he sat back in the couch, put his knees up and rested the book on them:nnMy name is Liana Falland, and this is my journal. I’ll be recording the progress of Blake and I as we learn more about this “Cepheid Utopia”.nnYEAR 35: We are slowly grasping the concept of “Modus Operandi” with the help of Argus Phaedra—the rogue ex-magister of the Arbiter’s Brigade. He has been very proficient in teaching us how this power works, how to awaken this power within our bodies, and the consequences of doing so. The process to fit one’s body to be able to withstand the nearly uncontrollable supremacy that the Modus Operandi brings is a long and arduous one. When one’s body has been properly attuned for wielding the Modus, the wielder must attain a state of pure focus and concentration, and utter the following words:nn"Illud per divinus vox,nquisnam es quoque meus sentio,nego dico sicco vobis.nSi ego sum dignus satis,ncommodo largior mihi velnlectulus vestri vires ut egonutor pro universitas beneficium.nVolo pro pugna ratio.”nnAssuming one has met the right conditions, and has their Modus Crest on their person at the time they speak the previous, the power within the Crest will be awoken. Many side-effects may occur, and one should not attempt to use the Crest immediately prior to awakening it as the Crest will still be attuning itself to the wearer and unexpected things may happen. Afterwards, the person wielding the Modus Crest must undergo intense training by a master in their field in order to fully apply their power to its maximum potential.nnn~Chapter 2 End~

[Velocitus]

And that is as far as I have written, or otherwise felt comfortable with releasing.nnAny comments, questions, criticism, suggestions, or anything of the sort is VERY welcome and appreciated!nnReserved For Possible Additions to the Story

[Velocitus]

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[Velocitus]

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[Asarelah]

(( No time to read it today, but I shall look forward to it as soon as I can. Are you throwing this open for RP purposes also? If so, please indicated on the title of the first entry thusly : ((Open RP)) )) Thankee. 8)