[Achlys Keresa]:
True to her word, Achlys eventually met with Morpheus in the Dream Realm, told him what his uncle, her father, told her to, and then she left, choosing to wake up… In a place she hadn't been to before.
The room she woke up in would best be described as a bunker room. It was subterranean in nature, with earthly walls, a simplistic set up of a bed and a dresser beside it. There were no windows or drawings on the walls and the concrete flooring was cold to the touch. A bathroom was found to the right along with a toilet, a tub and a sink with a mirror above it. The smell of dirt and earthly scents were thick in the air, like newly sprayed perfume put on just before work, only this smell was coming from all around her.
"What the—? What is this place?" After taking in her environment, Achlys quickly got to her feet and, from beneath the covers. A little too quickly. "Aah!"
Stumbling back onto the bed, Achlys looked down at her shirtless form. Below her black sports bra was a stomach area wrapped all the way around in lenin. Bits of blood could be seen spread through the gauze wrap, but it mostly looked dried, except for whatever part of the injury Achlys had managed to rupture open.
Taking in her injury, Achlys reached into her spatial bracelet and pulled out two soul cores from it. Unlike normal cultivators, children of the underworld can use soul cores in ways normal cultivators could never hope to dream of, such as helping in healing, renewing stamina and sustaining fullness in placement of meals, and much, much more. Being a child of Thanatos had its perks.
"Two should be enough for me," Achlys thought aloud, swallowing the two soul cores whole. She felt them turn into invigorating mist before they made it to her stomach. Almost instantly, whatever wounds she had sustained from her fight with her amushers, however minor, stitched themselves back together. Her stamina began climbing back to their original levels and her pain subsided greatly.
"That did it," Achlys thought, getting up and dressing into her clothes that smelled cleaned and washed somehow. "Weird."
Making it out of her room, Achlys snuck around for a bit. She found herself in an evidently subterranean hallway with 4 more similar rooms as her own — All were empty. There was a stairway leading downward at one end of the hallway, and an elevator leading upward towards the other flowers, likely higher up, mabe even below.
Achlys took the elevator upwards.
Inside, it could comfortably fit 6 people at once. The button said there were 50 floors total, and that she was on Floor #32. She choose the top floor, Floor #1. The doors closed and music she didn't bother recalling played as she traveled upward at a steady, smooth, but fast speed.
DING!
After what felt like a long time, the elevator doors opened and Achlys found herself inside a command chamber of sorts. There were all sorts of computers and screens and a large complex data table in the center, displaying holographic data and maps of various biomes and worlds. Consistently lining the walls were the flagged symbol of House Luminaris, its lunar might as evident as its beauty. There were a few people manning the computers, making serious calls and giving orders around, but Achlys tried not to pay that too much attention. Achlys was perplexed. What was she doing here?
"Oh, you're finally awake!" came a startling voice, gathering the attention of most of the people nearby as Achlys turned to face who spoke.
Before her, was a white-blond hair man in full body armor — She'd seen earlier, before she went unconscious. 'His name is General Silva, if I remember correctly,' Achlys remembered the few times she'd gotten caught with Celeste doing something rebellious or mischievous when they were little. Shaking her head, she acknowledged the general. "Hello, there, General. I take it our situation is far from simple?"
"Your assumption rings true, Lady Achlys," said General Silva said in a grave tone. He explains all that went on in her and Celeste's absence, "Sean Luminaris has betrayed us, and has control over 1/5th of the total Luminaris military power. Thankfully, 3/5ths are still off-world on an important mission in deep space led by the Grand Commander, so his claws haven't managed to get into all our forces yet, but he is still in a position of significant power and influence and, even now, grows.
"We're stuck with 1/5ths of the loyal members to the House, but we are vastly understaffed and outnumbered. By the time aid arrives from offworld, there's no guarantee we will survive the coming battles, Lady Keresa. I would advise caution, Princess. That said, Sean cannot be allowed victory, not after what he did to my men, and most certainly not after choosing to usurp the princess.
"He's taken over what remains of the estate and many of the House Luminaris guards have named him their leader. Those bloody traitors! I've sent word to retrieve the princess but she is recovering from an accident."
"Accident," Achlys furrowed a brow.
"Someone shoved her into a red gate," the general said, to Achlys' horror. "She's alive, just resting now."
"Someone?" Achlys squinted her gaze. "Or Sean?"
"...," Silva didn't reply.
"Hmm… very well," nodded Achlys, with a sense of finality."Well, when she fully recovers, I'll talk to her. House Keresa and House Luminaris have been sister houses since the beginning. Both houses are Shadow Realm houses, and both houses stand by one another in these trying times. In the meantime, however… I've got somewhere to go."
"Where could be more important than here?" Silva was perplexed.
"A quest given to one by their literal divine parent," Achlys answered, heading to the exit, much to the general's shock. "Don't worry, I'll be back to help, but, first, there's something I've got to do. After all, I am not a member of House Luminaris, so I do not take orders from you, do I?"
Seeing Achlys made up her mind, Silva stepped aside, letting Achlys leave, hoping for her safe return. For all Silva knew, any help to get through this was welcome. And, with the princess under and the current head still in his cocoon of moonlight, unconscious, Silva already had a lot on his plate.
Still, though, Achlys remained steadfast. Her father naming her his champion was definitely a big deal. You don't just get named the Champion of Death itself, then get issued an unavoidable, time sensitive quest by Death and not be a little jittery in completing it.
Nonetheless, Achlys exited the bunker, taking note of its location as she observed how it was built into a mountain cliff face, overlooking the rest of Moreno Valley.
"Its been a minute since I let them out…," muttered Achlys, as she looked over the scape of Moreno Valley. "Maybe I could. I mean, I'll use darkness to prevent anyone from seeing me, so it's not like I'll be spotted. And even if I didn't the Veil keeps normal mortals from truly seeing the affairs of the gods. Still, agents of Chaos are everywhere, even here — and, unlike mortals, they can see through the Veil. It's best I be as discreet as possible."
Then, to any stranger who may have been watching's horror, Achlys extended her hands, closed her eyes and fell forward off the face of the cliff.
Despite the air rushing to her face like a speeding bullet, Achlys was calm. Even as she fell from the peak of the mountainous cliff face at breakneck speeds, Achlys' face showed no concern for her own life. It was as if she wasn't afraid of death from a cliffside jump. And, as the land below was coming at her, rushing at her quicker than one second then it was before, Achlys showed no fear.she dove nose first towards the ground, like a comet upon the earth.
And, right when one would be certain they'd be ground paste, something remarkable occurred.
From her back, as if by magic, Achlys sprouted a pair of beautiful violet-black feathered wings. They were at least 1 ⅔rds the size of Achlys' height and beautiful with an aura of deathly darkness and well-groomed feathers. They caught the wind like sales to a sea storm, and, with extended wings, she soared, rising with each flap of the wind, taking her higher and higher into the afternoon sky, her form obscured by the darkness itself even despite it being daytime.