Oblivion Through Other Means, To You

[Elle Mors]

HUNG UP.​

Somewhere near the Hypergate Weken

Sand ground itself under her feet, like a distinctly satisfying crunch, as she walked aimlessly forward.

It was the same every day, every night - in fact every "day" had never been anything more than just the one, if you could even call it that. There was no rising sun, no setting moon, and in fact the light or the darkness, depending on the perspective one had when looking out, seemed to come from both everywhere and nowhere at all. She didn't know where she was going and she didn't know where it was she had started, only that one moment there had been a blinding light and the next she was where she was now in a manner of speaking. This was death, she understood that well, but it was not what she had been expecting, or what she thought others had been expecting when she'd heard tales of it in her earlier life, when she was still living. There was a sort of calmness to this, to know everything was over in some way.

At least it had been, at first, until the sands she strode over led her into the realm of Chaos. The means of how she arrived here were unknown to her, and where she was seemed similar and distinct to and from the sands of the Netherworld she had been walking over, in fact she only knew she was not where she had been when the sand became solid ground, a rocky terrain she hadn't stepped on since she walked deep under the surface of Ziost. It was strange here, different - not in how the netherworld proper was from the living, but like the living was from the nether, as if she'd stepped into a plane that was both ethereal and not. She didn't think too hard on it, she simply kept walking.

Penance for breaking a promise.

Sylvia Virtos

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Mania
Elle Mors

---

​

There it was. It was drenched in an ominous energy, that which Sylvia now stood before. Its very presence made her feel uneasy.

The hypergate. Behind it, the Netherworld awaited her. Preparations had been made, but nothing could wipe away that primal fear that sat nestled in her gut. The very concept of the place behind that portal terrified her. Today, she had to face that fear and overcome it. Sylvia had never believed the Force to have its own will, yet the visions had guided her here now.

Ellie's sacrifice. Her lost soul wandering aimlessly. Flashes of the Netherworld.

Weken. A hypergate. Her stepping through to set things right.

Ever since recovering Ellie's lightsaber from Darth Carnifex 's armory upon her escape from his imprisonment, the Force had been unceasing in its machinations. Through its visions, it sent Sylvia a clear message. She had a soul to save. The unbreakable bond she shared with Ellie, the girl she had promised to stay beside until the end, the girl she loved more than anything else, would give her the strength she needed. It sounded impossible and perhaps it was. It did not matter. Sylvia's very soul was set on this course. As far as she was concerned, there was no choice to be made. It had to be done.

Her freedom had been reclaimed. Her wounds had healed. The time had come for two deeply bonded souls to reunite once again.

The end of their story had not yet been written.

Many hypergates had opened, but this was the one her visions spoke of. Travelling to Sith space was a terrifying prospect, but nothing would stop her from doing what was right. The hurdle had been small compared to what was yet to come.

And so, here she stood with Weken's soil beneath her feet and clad in armor of her own creation, the helmet under her arm. The lightsaber that belonged to Ellie hung from her hip alongside a blaster, though certain of their effectiveness in combat beyond the hypergate she was not. The hilt, though, and the crystal it housed, filled her with the strength to do what she needed to do. One last deep breath. She closed her eyes to focus on the Force.

I hope you can hear me, Ellie. If you can... I'm coming. It's not over.

Not while there was too much time left unspent together. Not while Carnifex still walked this galaxy. This was not the end.

Sylvia's eyes opened again. The helmet was placed over her head, then four seconds of silence until the mental barrier fell and she stepped through into the realm of her nightmares. As Weken faded, Oblivion took its place.

Immediately, an overwhelming pull latched onto her senses. Ellie was here, she had to be.

 

[Elle Mors]

NUMB​

There was something peaceful in passing, besides the obvious release from the need to sleep and eat or other meaningless bits of biological hassle, something that was both satisfying and, to some degree, a bit sinister, or if not sinister than cynical by every meaning of the word. To live is to think, to think is to remember, and to remember is because of experience - experience that causes trauma, trauma that spurs on concern, worry, and stress; stress that makes life hardly worth living sometimes. Precisely that, the sentiment of living, is what makes dying so much more pleasant when dead than living ever was while alive - to some that might sound lovely, to exist without worry, to be without pain, to move without thinking.

To be without love.

Certainly the experience of death is different for every individual that finds their way to the netherworld, but the overwhelming sensation that Elle found herself inundated with was perhaps being without - it was being numb. Numb to the worries she had held onto when she gave into the light, when she gave every last ounce of strength she had to bring down thousands of metric tons of debris on herself and Darth Carnifex , but consequently numb to the connection she had made, if only very briefly in retrospect, with Sylvia Virtos .

Death was peaceful, but it was like a drug.

Walking, endlessly, without quite understanding why she toiled away so was evidence enough of it - even when she found herself face to face with Sylvia as she stepped into what seemed to be existence, through a hypergate, or something of the sort, bridging realspace with a realm quite unlike the the living one. Perhaps it had simply been a dream, or a hazy fog over her mind, or maybe it was just her way with dealing with the crushing depression of what she thought was going to be permanent solitude, but Elle had simply stopped feeling much of anything until the moment she saw a face that she was certain she would not see for an eternity. Had the two expected to find each other so soon? Certainly Sylvia had come dressed to find her, equipped even, and though Elle had the morbid understanding of how short and unpredictable life really could be, she hadn't expected things to happen so quickly - particularly as she found herself in Oblivion.

For the first time since she felt her breath being squeezed out of her lungs she felt moisture at her cheeks, a feeling she'd almost forgotten in her strangely distorted sense of time. Emotion choked at the base of the front of her throat, tightness playing in her chest, and the look on her face spoke the words she thought before she spoke them as doubt and confusion settled in.

"Is this a dream?"

 

[Sylvia Virtos]

Come Back For You
Elle Mors

---

​

Sylvia had always been terrified of the very concept of the Netherworld. The stories of the crisis it caused when she was an infant had painted a grim image. It was a place the woman wanted to avoid entirely, hoping to end up somewhere else when the inevitable end came. Now she had stepped foot in that horrid place by choice, but that fact did not take away any of the fears she carried with her. Sylvia had made her preparations expecting the worst the Netherworld had to offer and still she felt utterly vulnerable.

But step through that hypergate she still had.

Sylvia's helmeted head quickly moved from left to right the moment she found herself in this new and strange terrain, her hands close to the weapons she carried with her. Instead of danger, however, the woman found something else entirely. A sight that was nothing but surreal. Her heart skipped a beat and hands fell to her sides, no longer concerned about being able to quickly draw a weapon. She had prepared to trek through endless fields to find her, but there she was.

"Ellie?"

Sylvia removed her helmet and clumsily dropped it out of her hands, a look of sheer disbelief revealing itself at the woman before her. Elle was dead, yet there she was. The visions had told her that much, but to see it with her own eyes made it feel real. Until that moment, Sylvia's feet kept moving because she felt like there was no other choice. With Elle right there, she truly believed things could be made right.

"It better not be, because I don't think the dream version of me can get you out of here," Sylvia remarked while trying to seem composed. Instead, it came across a little awkwardly. The woman reached for the lightsaber hanging from her hip and unclipped it. She held it out towards Elle, offering it to her. "I have your lightsaber, it guided me here," she explained. "I-"

Suddenly, Sylvia winced. It began with a whisper, but quickly became stronger. Something was trying to invade her thoughts. The interference was somehow partly of mechanical nature, a thing that seemed so alien to the very concept of the Netherworld. Ultimately, though, that was Sylvia's blessing. With her mastery over mechu deru, she knew how to fight the influence on instinct. A blockade born from the Force protected her being, keeping the unseen threat out. The struggle continued for a little longer, but every single second required every last bit of her concentration.

Eventually, the attempted influence waned and died out. It was gone, for now. Sylvia's eyes looked back over towards Elle, her chest heaving from exertion.

"I think the Force doesn't want us to be apart again just yet," Sylvia muttered as she caught her breath. The defenses she had thrown up for herself had been strong, but demanding. "So here I am."