Advent of Solace

Terrace, one of the five major capital cities of Solace and home to the Terrace Hunter's Guild; an installation where warriors were trained to be able to protect the planet from the ferocity of the Darklings; twisted creatures with no known purpose other than to seek and destroy light.

Four such warriors were the members of the squad known as Team Cocytus; Luna Midnight, a black haired and clothed girl with a very personal and quiet demeanor, Scythe slung to her back. Amber Spark, a cheerful and energetic orange haired girl who couldn't go a moment without speaking, and somehow carried a halberd on her shoulders. Sapphire Dust, a serious and determined girl who always took business before pleasure, her claws sheathed in their gauntlets unless in danger. And finally their leader; Iris Diamond, a brave and kindhearted girl with an unbreakable spirit, but a dark secret.

They were assigned a mission, to investigate an anomaly at the bottom of an abandoned etherium mine which is where they find themselves now.

Iris looked around, her vibrant yellow eyes scanning the surroundings as she held a small ball of light up, illuminating their surroundings, the rest of her team close behind her. Rolling her eyes, Sapphire let out an audible sigh as they ventured deeper, "and might I ask why they sent us down here? The Darklings were cleared out a month ago and there was no news of an anomaly then."

Luna shot her friend a glare which even Sapphire couldn't help but shiver at despite how hard headed she was, "realize a lot can happen in a month Sapphire, you should practice patience more often."

The blue haired girl sighed again, angling her gaze downward a little, "yeah, I know that Luna, but we've been down here for hours and there's no sign of that anomaly anywhere, I'm starting to think it's a lost cause."

Amber bounced up to them cheerfully, slapping Sapphire and Luna on the shoulders, "aw come on, it's not that bad"

Sapphire gave amber a deadpanned look, "to you maybe"

"Everyone just stop bickering!" Iris spun around, an annoyed expression evident on her face from her friends arguing, "look, this is our mission, whether we like it or not, so just please suck it up and stop bickering."

Sapphire let out a grunt, pouting, but remaining silent while Luna just went back to reading her book as they walked. Amber on the other hand was still sporting the same silly smile as she usually did, which Iris had gotten used to by this point.

Amber was about to speak when Iris came to a halt inside a chamber naturally illuminated by pinkish purple etherium crystals. Luna shut her book, picked up a couple of the crystals, and walked next to Iris, looking around, "I've never seen etherium like this. You?"

Iris shook her head as she walked in; the energy radiating from the crystals around the room distorted the air itself, causing ripples in multiple areas of the cavern. She walked into the middle of the room and stuck her hand out to touch one of the ripples, drawing a shout from Sapphire, "IRIS, STOP! WE DON'T KNOW IF IT'S SAFE!"

Too little to late, Iris' hand made contact with the ripple and an energy pulse sent her rocketing backwards, slamming into Amber. The two quickly gathered their bearings and weapons were drawn by all four members. However nobody could have predicted what would happen next as the air twisted violently, a shining gape in space and time tore open,  the air around them swirling inward violently as they felt it pulling them towards the shining abyss. There were no handholds, all they could do was shout for help in vain as they vanished within the twisting vortex.

From the shadows, a large armored figure trod into the room, eyeing down the anomaly, his deep and commanding voice echoing, "a gape in time? Intriguing, but she lies through there and I will get that shard if it's the last thing I do."

Without any further words, the figure stepped into the abyss, vanishing like the others as the air stopped twisting, the tear shutting behind him. But little did any of them know, another space and another time, an unsuspecting world was about to get the ride of a lifetime.