Date 6/26/01
Characters Audion, Stana, Clip
Title As the World Falls down
(with help from the David Bowie song with the same title) Author: Stana

"Meaning," Audion finished, stepping fully next to Stana "That this "child" is a 
manifestation of the spirit of destruction." 

"You mean-" Stana began.

*Manifestation of destruction. * Clip asserted *the one that harbors destruction. 
Chaos has awakened in the form of a child. * 

"What form better?" the boy asked gaily. He showed no ire at having been revealed, 
rather he took pleasure that the secret was out. Stana found the braggadocio typical 
of the age.

::Age?:: she wondered angrily ::this...this *thing* has no age...it's an element...
a counterforce...::

"What have you done to the others?" she demanded. 

"Why do you care?" he asked. "When have you ever? You didn't appreciate them when 
they were here. Yet know you pretend to mourn their passing? Hypocrisy itself, which 
could only be expected..." 

"I've never stopped caring!" she objected "I just ... had other things on my mind..."

"Like self pity?" He answered. "Chaos can be the *absence* of an element as well as 
an overflux of them. In that way, you have been part of me all along. So come, then 
be with me."

*What speak you, demon - child* Clip growled, disembodied voice menacing from all 
sides.

"I learned from my past errors." Ramdek said "Destroy the holder of the element, and 
another rises to take their place...but *confine* that element, and there is no one 
to contest me." his frail looking shoulders shrugged. "Water and Fire were both 
neutralized in that fashion. And I've constructed a final tomb for Earth, here in 
the Nachtmer that her element once helped confine me to. It's bitterly ironic, and 
completely justified, the perfect vengeance, and the final justice to one already 
dying." 

Stana made to move, to run, shout; anything. The pale gaze was like a death threat, 
a menace she could feel. With surety she realized that this was planned to be her 
final resting place... that he planned to reunite her with her fears...locked in a 
place where nightmares were more than a phantasm... But despite her mind crying out 
movement, she found herself held fast and mute.

"So come, Chosen. Why do you care that this world dies? It is not your home. Why 
wonder over its people, who only wanted to use you? You don't belong here, and it 
was only a fluke of fate that you came here. Why die for a cause that has no 
relevance to your life?" 

*It was more than a *fluke* that took the Chosen from their hearth and brought 
them here* Clip argued. *You belittle the prophecy* 

"A book. A useless musty old book. You never realized the irony of that either 
did you?" He smiled, the upturning lips somehow a mockery of innocence. "It was 
the presence of the Chosen in the Nachtmer that stirred my awakening. Had they 
never traversed the boundaries of the dream..." his smile grew larger "she 
knows...now."

The two looked at Stana. She shook her head slightly, the effort of it almost too 
great. The weight of her neck seemed suddenly to anchor her to that spot, rooting 
her in the same guilt she had half-felt all along. Now, *NOW* that apathy found 
its seed.

"By going into the Nachtmer to retrieve the prophecy..." she said heavily "We set 
the Prophecy in motion. It's a god damned *paradox*. We aren't the solution-we 
caused the problem."

"Exactly." Ramdek said, pleased. "Despite intentions of salvation, all the Chosen 
have done is pave the way to Chaos. When I fully awaken, it will be because of their 
blind acceptance of "prophecy". So you see, one-horn, your 'prophecy' was my tool as 
much as anyone else's." 

Audion suppressed a chuckle at this, and looked off into the distance and the 
blackness. He was not the center of this stage, he was not a part of the debated 
prophecy, so he would busy his mind with ways to get out. He wouldn’t 
entertain thoughts about facing chaos…he already knew he wasn’t 
strong enough to do so now. 

*That...that cannot be true...* Clip faltered. *My Princess never would have-*

"Your "Princess" is as fallible as the rest of your half mortal breed." Ramdek 
sneered. "Was that not your own argument? Was not her half mortal state reason 
for your rebellion to begin with? How tame and compliant you have become. Let me 
tell you a story, one horn. There are Unicorns on other worlds...even on your 
"Keeper's" earth. The form differs, but the spirit is the same. In some cases, 
the mystical quality of your race made them highly desirable, and threatened to 
destroy them. They took to the disguise of other creatures...and on the Keeper's 
planet, many found the mask of humanity fit for their needs. Centuries passed, and 
where there were once reality, legend grew. Unicorns embraced mortality, breeding 
with the humans that would have slaughtered them. Of their offspring, less and less 
were immortal, and none remembered their roots. And without memory-there is death."

He paused, tickled by a thought "So even immortality can be conquered by belief. So 
there you have it...a race of half-breeds, like your precious bastard Princess. 
A breed you disdained because they were not pure. A race of mongrels, of which your 
'Keeper' is one of." 

*What?!*

Stana had been half following the story, her mind losing itself in a despairing 
maze of unanswered questions. Ramdek's last words snapped her out of apathy, 
jaw dropping.

"What?!" she echoed. "What the *hell* are you lying about now, you devil spawn!" 
she snapped.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" he snickered "You always felt that you were not 
a part of the society that bore and raised you. Only now do you recognize that 
your feelings of alienation were justified. How did you used to put it? " He pretended 
to think, enjoying their demoralization " 'just because you are paranoid, doesn't 
mean they aren't after you'. You've been a freak of nature since the day of your 
birth. Your precious society would lock you in a cage as an interesting 
abomination to gawk at." 

"Stop it!" she shouted. "H-how can you make everything so-so UGLY!" Her 
voice was raw with suppressed emotion. Clip realized then that in the quasi
 reality of the Nachtmer, Stana's self image held sway. The place where 
 memories were reality, her remembrance of who she was, who she wanted to be;
  became truth. The pendant could not control what it could not reach. 
  But because there was an intermingle in this place, she was trapped in a 
  dichotomy of conflict.

"The only freak I see here is you!" her whole body was trembling. Of all 
the memories she held dear, he would dare attack both Unicorns, and her 
feelings of isolation. It was beyond contempt.

"What say you, Unicorn?" Ramdek taunted, eyes on Stana, but voice thrown 
to the equine standing over her shoulder.

The affect on Clip was eclectic. Rather than the contempt expected, 
the Unicorn experienced a feeling of protectiveness. Things began to 
make sense...finally *finally* he knew why Stana had been selected 
to name the Princess, to take the title. The Unicorn's legacy had not 
been forsaken after all. There was only one traitor...and that was himself. 

*You see so very little, Chaos-child* he sang *and your manipulations are 
as paper in a storm. What does destruction know of creation? What does night 
know of day? They cycle, each mixing, never reaching the other state. 
In envy you seek to possess that which you cannot be. In your pride, you 
show me my own folly. If this girl be kin-then that will but strengthen 
us all in the time of darkness. *

Stana looked up in shock, head half shaking. She couldn't believe this was 
happening, not the accusations, or the reversal in the Unicorn…or 
about what Ramdek claimed her to be.

Audion looked on Stana languidly. All told, he may never return his powers. 
This girl and her companions now had to face Chaos…and as the avatars 
of the elements, that was were the prophecies of both their cultures 
coincided. His lie to Lyr of his purpose was now slapping him in the 
face as a truth. It WAS his duty to protect her now, to ensure that she 
live from this encounter to fight chaos once it had fully awakened. The 
idea was both amusing and annoying.
The elementalist glared at Ramdek hatefully…no way to escape this 
situation was presenting itself to his wandering mind. 

"The time of darkness is *now*" Ramdek snapped, face paling with rage. 
"Foolish equine, do you think to defeat me with words?" 

*No more than you did. * He answered and hissed. *Get thee gone* 

Ramdek flinched, but then the grin found his elfin face. "To where do
 you banish me? We stand in my prison, ere now." 

"Clip..." Stana fumbled.

*Hush. * He said kindly *you know the answers to the questions you 
ask. It is not for me to answer. *

::This is nuts:: she thought, staring across at that hateful 
face. But there in the encroaching darkness, memories took strength. 

"We are all searching to become one" she heard Chaeval tell her, 
voice unusually somber. "We are who we are, not who we pretend 
to be; or even who we wish we were."

"Stana? What happened to you? I miss you" Teri; 

And Lyr, "Your bitterness is hard to bite on, Chosen, it leaves a 
taste like copper in the mouth. I suggest you learn to conceal your 
feelings better than hiding them behind a caustic word and acid 
tongue. You've few enough friends already."

::I do have friends.:: she thought ::I always did; and Ramdek was
right, I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to reach out for help.:: 

That simple realization tore away the bailiwick of self-loathing 
she had built around herself. More images came tumbling in. 

The Aethyr test; trapped in the darkness alone; 

She knew the moment she touched the dark she would go mad. Knew 
it in a way she could never define. She knew because of what she was.

::_WHAT_ she was?::

There was light, and pain in her body as muscles felt unreal, 
her body felt different, not her own...there was a double 
vision blurring everything-or was that the cold? 

As she threw back a head heavy with
unfamiliar burden, the thought came crystal clear that this wasn't real. 

The jewel at her neck, not cold or burdensome, glowed warmly, the balance in 
the Yin and Yang even and perfect,

Then again, later as they were ambushed after grabbing the book, Clip had been in danger;

"Stana cried out, watching the battle turning sour for the Unicorn. For a moment 
there was an echoing ache inside, coldness reminiscent of the Aethyr test, then 
a rushing sensation of feeling as her vision blurred, and separated into two angles. 
It was as if she could suddenly see herself standing there with Teri and Estela from 
a totally different perspective. She gasped as suddenly there was a shimmer, and the 
leaping figure of a second Unicorn tore away from her glance. Relgarth started, and 
then swung a meaty fist at the other Unicorn. It cried out, skirting the blow and twisting 
strangely in the mists, shadowy form flickering. Clip surged back to his feet, shoving the
 Minotaur back a few inches, hooves scrambling for purchase, labored snorts accentuating 
 each push. The figure beside him danced and shimmered, drawing the renewed attacks of the 
 minotaur. 
Clip wrenched himself free, as a swipe connected to the other Unicorn- _and passed through_ it.
For an awkward moment they all gazed at the ghostly figure of the Unicorn, and then Clip 
drove again towards the assailant, Alicorn tilted higher, speed a shade faster. He ducked 
under the counter strike, and rammed his horn through the chest, rids snapping under the 
driving point.
Relgarth swore, an explosion of blood preceding the curse. His knees buckled as the 
Unicorn neatly disengaged, fleeing the grasping hands with ease.
He turned, watching another form fade away, and another. Then another scene caught 
his eye.
The Spectral Unicorn had turned away and was slowly approaching a much battered
Stana. The girl was half braced against Teri, so pale as to be a ghost herself. 
Just as the two reached out to touch, the Unicorn and the girl, the beast vanished, 
and Stana slumped to the ground in a faint, Book tumbling from her hands. 

All along…and the answer had been staring at her in the face. 

Her mouth formed the words, and the voice that came from her did not sound 
at all like her.

"It's all true."

And in that split second, eyes locked with the form of Chaos, Stana felt 
the Nachtmer begin to waver around them.