Wrath of the Unknown... (Group plot mission)

Mission Info:

As the group would come upon this area of the barrens, they would be absorbed into the beautiful locale of a long forgotten temple, its buildings and infrastructure marred from some sort of large scale battle or so it seemed. It had lush grass and bamboo trees that dotted its landscape, quite unlike the rest of the barrens. Perfect mason work stone steps led up to a decrepit guard gate, almost caving in on its left side, being held up by a single metal beam in the framing. The stone walls to the temple had crumpled or fallen into disrepair in several areas. the first section one would enter into was an open courtyard held just within the crumpled gate, that held a recessed fountain area with a tower like structure in its center and seating around it. The tower fountain was roughly twelve feet tall and three feet in diameter, another set of stairs led up into another courtyard higher up, that would contain the final set of stairs leading to the upper temple grounds.. Several of the buildings that could be viewed from this level were in relative shambles as they had succumbed to the elements.

Mirai walked with Nemo and Alvah gracefully, one heel lightly landing in front of the other. For this mission, she had chosen an outfit quite a bit more form fitting than the black and white dress the two had met her in the night before. This time it was a black long sleeve crop top along with black pants that cut half way down the calves. Her ankles and wrists were wrapped in bandages tightly for the sake of stability. She made her way step by step up the staircase to the main grounds of the ruins. Her fingers trailed softly over the stone at the entrance and along the deep gashes into the ground. Gashes deep enough that they were bleeding the story of a time long past. She would keep walking, looking. She vaguely heard the ramblings of Nemo and rose her voice to speak.

"The executioners blade is apparently a large sword. It is rumored to have cut down endless enemies. There are whispers that it feeds on blood itself you know. One knows when they find the blade because it is said to invoke the collected fear of all of those it has killed before into those it graces with it's presence. Those are the stories anyway. This is definitely a high profile item."

Mirai continued her aimed stroll. There was clear evidence of this once upon a time being a war zone. There was blood stained into the surfaces of various buildings and the stone clad walkways below. This place had seen more than just blood shed. This wasn't a simple ruins. These were the pinnacle of a disaster. The weapon must surely carry the force of that disaster with it. As she felt the coarse stone, it told her the stories of struggle and weakness; two stories that clearly had ended in agony, lest the ruins would not lay here. As she felt, observed, she could almost see it clearly. This was a prize she wished to have. Something like this would be interesting to hold if nothing else. This was a story that needn't be told again. It was a story that was engraved in the very ruins themselves.

Avarice. The first word to ring in her mind as she continued going about the ruins. She could feel the desperation in the slashes of the blade. The pleading in the stains of blood. Mirai could barely even hear the outside world. Truth be told, she was marveling. Was it possible that an item alone had done all this? No. This was the result of an equally terrifying individual and truth be told, the thought shook her to her core. Never had she felt fear toward a figure she couldn't even grasp with the tendrils of her own imagination. She could feel the blood pulsing through her veins the more she searched about. It was in this sense of unknowing, this sense of suffocation, this sense of disparity, that she found her muse.

Hopelessness. The second word to ring through as she continued to examine what looked to be the marks of nails clawing down on any sorts of wood within the remaining half-frames of buildings. This place was a graveyard of the hopes and dreams of the corpses laying in it. This was the epitome of what happens when power is a weight far too much for one being to bare.

She finally made her way back over to the two. She had noticed the fountain, but with the rest of the blood here being dried and nearly faded, she had no doubt that the running water was an attempt to get a rise out of her and it made her shoot Alvah a rather snooty, 'Is that your best shot?', look. She would then take a step forward. "I don't think it's a symbol of a mistake. It's a reminder that with power comes chaos. The chaos of not knowing how to wield it. The chaos of losing control of it. The madness that can ensue in it's wake. I agree with you, it shouldn't be taken lightly, but the key is not to fear the past, but to move on and learn from it."

She had set herself to lean against one of the many scarred walls. Her fingers were still softly and slowly tracing the pain etched surface. She reflected upon the words of the the other. "What.. do I desire?"

Desire. The word resonated her. What was it she wanted? Did she want to meet back up with the sister she didn't know? Did she want power to prove to those who doubted her that she was worth something? Did she want unlimited troves of wealth so that she could simply do as she pleased? The truth was, these were all just pipe dreams. They were nothing more than surface deep.

She had stood up and stepped forward not more than two more steps. She had turned to face away from them. For a moment, all light had left her eyes. Her mask fell to the ground and shattered away. All want had been so far buried it would have never resurfaced again had there not been something there to drag it back. She wrapped her arms around her as though that feeling either made her so cold she couldn't help it.. or she wanted to hold it so close it would never leave again.  

"My Desire... is just to be in the center of it all. I don't care how this screwed up world ends up. If it is the dream of the crucible for this world to be reduced to the very thing it came from.. the ash and dust... Then so be it. I just want to watch it happen first hand. I want to see it with my own two eyes. I'm curious to see what the world will do to stop it.. or to even accelerate it. I just want to witness every moment. Free will, power, money, these are inconsequential at best. To live the moment.. that is the conviction I seek."

She had turned back, the mask once more placed back where it belonged. She softly sighed and brushed the hair from her eyes. "This story of the executioner is gone now.. There's no witnessing that. There is only writing a new one."