Chapters Amnesia: Sol's Dark Descent
Amnesia Begins...
Sol was being thrilled by Daring Doo as always. He never could get enough of the books and he even wrote a couple adventure books himself that were in libraries that were based on Daring Doo's adventures and he wanted nothing more than to take adventures that keep you on your toes, but he had to be content with the boring life that he had. He regretfully got to his hooves and set out to do his daily routine. Buying food, helping out at the early fliers academy, and just lounging around with his friends. He saw that the sun was setting and he flew home. He read a few chapters in Daring Doo and he saw that when the sun had completely set, he had written some in his new book he was writing and he fell asleep, death-defying adventures on his mind. A shadow swept across him and he wasn't there anymore...
He woke in a plush bed, a soft pillow, the dawn light woke him and he never felt more rested in his life, however he was caught off guard by the new room he was in. He looked across the room and there was a golden statue and a note. He got up and picked up the note and read it.
"I have chosen you to take my place. You're wish has been granted..."
-Daniel
He dropped the note in pure excitement, but a voice in his head interrupted his celebration. ]Don't celebrate! Stay any longer and your gonna die! Take me with you, I know this place better than anyone. The voice said and he caught sight of a golden statue with a blue aura around it. Sol picked it up and the voice reappeared. Good, now hurry! The door! Before the Gatherer gets here! Sol stood with a strange expression on his face. There were two doors. Which one had the grunt coming? The North... Sol thought, facing the North Door or South? he said looking at the other one. He went to the door and pushed it. It didn't budge so he went and slammed against the North Door but it didn't budge either. He started getting frantic, he pulled the drawers open and found some canisters and a lantern. He saw the closet door and opened that, but all he saw was a pony hanging by the hooves with a bag over it's head. He looked around and didn't see much, then he found something. On the chain were keys! He put the golden statue down, and he started fumbling with the keys on the chain. Too late! he heard the voice say then he heard something break down the door. He started panicking. He scanned the room and there wasn't anything in here. Except for the closet...he didn't like the idea but he knew he had no choice. He ducked into the closet and pulled it shut. It was a perfect fit, despite the dead pony hanging upside down behind him. He heard growling and gruesome soft yells. He cracked the door of the closet and saw something he wished he hadn't. This is a Gatherer?! he nearly threw up and gasped at the same time but he didn't dare let the puke nor the gasp out for fear of giving his position away. The Gatherer had what seemed like bleeding eyes, and a jaw-less mouth, its hooves had razor-sharp, bloody claws. He felt his heart race as The Gatherer came very close to the closet and he couldn't hold it in any longer, even the smell of the monster was revolting, and his nervousness had always made him gag. He vomited out the crack and blinded the monster. He took the clear advantage that he had and slammed the door open making the Gatherer stagger back. He took the Gatherer by the back of the head and repeatedly slammed its head in the door until it crushed and the blood splattered everywhere and his brains were scattered all over the inside of the closet and blood was spattering out everywhere. He would've vomited again if he had anything else in his stomach.
Good work! Maybe you're better than Daniel was after all... the voice said By the way, I haven't properly introduced myself. I'm called many names, but you may call me Jae.
"I-I'm Sol." Sol responded. He knew he could trust the statue somehow...but who was Daniel? Sol shivered. He needed to get out of here. He looked through the broken door and saw a Gatherer coming towards him shrieking! He stood there with a frightened face and was too scared to scream, the Gatherer got close and then it just, disappeared. He stood confused for a second then found that he was holding his breath so he took refreshing gasps of air. Ahead of him was a dark corridor, Go in it. Everything will be fine, just use the lantern to light the way. I'll somehow get the torches going. Jae's telepathy told him. He didn't know what to do, he wasn't a unicorn and there was no way that he could carry two things at once. and he was no magician so that was out of the question. The satchel! Put me in the satchel you idiot! he looked around and didn't find any satchel or any other type of bag. Near the desk, god your blinder than David... he went over to the desk, found and unhooked the satchel, and placed Jae in there. He put the canister in there, Jae called it Laudanum, Sol then prepared the lantern and the oil and went into the corridor, lantern in mouth, satchel strapped across his chest and Jae in it. If he had a leather vest and an adventurer's hat, he would be the stallion pegasus version of Daring Doo. He headed into the corridor and he went in carefully and smoothly. Slowly the torches started to light up, Yes I've done it! My lord I didn't know I had that much Vitae in me... Sol was immediately intrigued.
"What's Vitae?" He asked. Jae's telepathic voice gave a little sigh. Vitae is a mystical energy that is made when humans, and sometimes animals, secrete when they grow scared or in pain. If one's mind is adjusted to being scared, that person has been shut down of Vitae for a while, however though if one runs out of Vitae completely that person dies. In your case though...Vitae is plentiful in your kind and it can even be produced through other means, like meditation, study, or even joy and sadness, much like the Magic your unicorns can do. Vitae can bestow either great power, or increased life-span. Sol nodded his head to show he was understanding what Jae was saying. Jae continued as he, apparently, used the strange Vitae to light the way. I was created to store this 'Power Vitae' as Alexander called it. So, as a result, I have become somewhat part-human or part-pony as you would call it. .
"I'll just call it Magic. It would be very confusing for me if I tried to say 'Power Vitae' every time." Sol reasoned and was delighted at the sound of Stephano's submissive grunt. It was odd hearing a voice inside his head, but it was the only company he had in this castle. "By the way Jae, what's the name of this castle?" Sol asked and Jae replied in his usual tone. Brennenburg. This will be one adventure...I can't wait to get home and write about this! He said and he felt around the satchel. He somehow found a pen and a blank leather bound journal. Attached to it was a note:
Record your adventure in this. I can't wait to read it someday. ;)
-David
He took out the Journal and started writing in it as he walked. Thank you David for swapping places with me! he thought. Little did he realize though, he would soon come to regret even the thought of being here...
Amnesia: Sol's Dark Descent
Sol's hooves made a soft echo as he passed through the corridor, always checking behind him incase more Gatherers had come for him. He didn't want a close encounter with one, and checking the oil on the lantern, he dimmed it so that the fire would be completely out and he was left in the glow of the torches. With every step he took though he couldn't ignore the feeling that he was sensing something. Everytime he looked behind him, the torches would be off and he couldn't see the end of the corridor, and everytime he would look back he would hear Jae hiss in the back of his head DON'T GET NEAR IT!!! and the 'Power Vitae' that he had command of would twist his head fiercly forward and guide him away. The more that he turned back though, the more frightened he grew, Jae assured him that this was a good thing and he was "building up for a surge that would give even YOU command of your Power Vitae!" But Sol didn't believe any of this. He looked behind him and, despite Jae's warning, he went to check it out, then the darkness started closing in around Sol! It was sickening, it felt like a grotesque mass of tentacles was closing around him, and the sound of squelching flesh made him sick to the stomach and he struggled continuously at the darkness. A small blue aura surrounded him and Sol, Jae, and whatever they had with them, exploded out of the shadow. He gasped on the ground and something that felt like flesh came out of his mouth. Disgusting... Sol thought as he picked himself up and took the satchel and ran through the rest of the corridor, the darkness picking up speed behind them. Sol was terrified and his vision started to distort, he didn't like what was going on.
Sol reached the end of the corridor after what felt like a year to him. He slammed the large steel door behind him panting in exhaustion. That was way too close! Jae's voice sounded strange, as if he felt fear as well. This confused Sol at first but he realized that Jae was also -- what he called -- part-human. He took out the lantern from the satchel and turned the knob gradually until it was all the way lit. He looked around and he couldn't really see 5 feet past the light of the lantern. Sol looked down and there were blood stains on the ground...fresh ones. He took a sudden interest.
"What do you suppose left these?" Sol said taking out Jae and lowering the enchanted golden statue down onto the ground next to the blood. **I know this blood well...it was a pony, no doubt a unicorn. Their blood seems to have a sparkling effect to them when they hit air . Jae's voice also sounded curious. Sol was disgusted, almost as disgusted when he saw a tabloid article called "Pink-Insanity!" where an 'ace news team' went with some guards into Pinkie Pie's basement and found real-life victims cut open and disemboweled. Of course princesses Luna and Celestia proved this to be completely false when paranoid ponies started tearing apart Sugar Cube Corner.
Sol put Jae in the satchel and picked up the lantern and followed the blood trail. It was easy to do since it sparkled and the scent distinguished it from other blood found on the way. As he ventured in the room he found very plush couches and chairs. When he came to the end of the blood trail there was a big stain on a plush chair, he went over to inspect it. Suddenely something broke down the door. Figlio di Putana! Another Gatherer! Jae said urgently. He was breaking down the door fast and suddenly a hoof clasped over Sol's muzzle and pulled him behind the chair.
"Keep quiet or he'll hear you!" A mare whispered into his ear. He left the lantern on the ground when he was looking over the chair they were now hiding behind and when the Gatherer came up to it he expected something like the one that he first encountered -- but this wasn't like that at all! He had a head that was cut in a rose-like pattern and he stood on two legs and his front hoof was replaced with a large blade. He seemed to have an eye in the middle of his head and he was very tall and had iron armor that seemed to be strapped and nailed to his skin. He seemed to have deformed hooves, but one thing was sure...whatever this thing was, he smelled the same as the Grunt, death and blood. He went over to one point of the room and with a single slash of his blade he split a desk in half. He went around the place where the unicorn blood was. The mare nodded and sneaked around, signaling Sol to follow her. Sol hesitantly followed behind her, leaving Jae and the lantern behind. The mare went behind the monster and drew a dagger -- not a foam one, a REAL dagger -- and pulled it back. The brute started to swirl around, hearing the unsheathing of the blade, and swung his massive blade attempting to cut her head off, luckily the mare ducked, while the blade zoomed over her head the monster sent her across the room in one kick, when it turned around, it's eye was pointed directly at Sol. Just looking at it made Sol's vision blurry and distorted, when the monster dropped his blade, Sol somehow rolled out of the way, but a part of his leg was severely slashed by the giant armblade.
3 minutes later, Sol and the mare were both bleeding and breathing heavily. Nothing seemed to stop this thing. Sol broke furniture over it's head, the mare kicked his armor in, but it didn't seem to go down as easy as the Grunt did. The Brute was closing in and they were almost out of plans. The blackish silver mare came up with a plan almost immediately.
"Hey, pegasus!" The mare whispered, "See that chandelier right there?" She pointed at the ceiling, and sure enough, Sol saw a brilliant silver chandelier. It's candles were aflame and giving off a soft orange light. The mare handed Sol her knife, "Take this and cut the rope that's hanging the chandelier, I'll try and keep him still, go!" Sol nodded and with a lightning-yellow flash, he was up near the chandelier. Holding up the lantern the mare gave a 'Go ahead' type signal. As soon as Sol began working the ropes, the unicorn was trying to make her magic work against the Brute. Levitating and immobilizing it with clear difficulty, out of panic the Brute slashed his armblade around and nearly got her. Due to her wound she couldn't keep him still, although Sol was half-way finished with the chandelier. The mare's legs started to buckle under, and her magic started to fail.
"Buck this!" Sol yelled and brought the knife back and with a strong slash the chandelier broke loose and fell onto the Brute, the candles igniting with it's skin, melting the iron and painfully burning the Brute. He helped her up, and stood her up.
"Thanks..." The mare said hoarsely, Sol nodded.
"By the way....who are you?" Sol asked, the mare sighed.
"I'm...Umbra." She replied. "And you?"
"Sol, and this," he began picking up Jae. "Is Jae." They both can clearly hear his untrusting growl. You seem to be some one rather out of the ordinary...how did you get here? . Umbra smiled lightly.
"Maybe if you can find me some bandages I will tell you." Umbra said as she fainted due to too much blood loss. Sol chuckled as he took Jae to find something to patch up her bleeding wounds. He took one look at the Brute and made a little promise to himself. I'll never forget...If I succumb to Amnesia...I'll never forget this place...these monsters...Umbra...I'll never forget.
Amnesia: Sol's Dark Descent
Sol sat there keeping an eye on the corpse of the Brute, waiting to spring on it if it somehow gets up. So far that has happened 3 times, Jae had to hold it down the second time while Sol went searching for the knife when it was flung across the room, the knife dripped and almost dried crimson with blood, and Sol turned his attention to Umbra after a while. She had slept for a while now and didn't even flinch when him and Jae were dressing her wounds Obviously , Sol thought, Umbra had gone through a lot before I came here. From what Umbra had told him and Jae, she had been wandering Brennenburg for a long time. Many disappearances and kidnappings have been occurring in the nearby towns and it has been linked to this place. How Umbra got here however, she wouldn't tell, but it was clear that somehow she saw herself and Sol as humans. Sol yawned as morning light flitted through the windows.
"That night seemed to fly by." Sol whispered to himself and got up stretching. "Those 2 hours of sleep were refreshing..." Sol said with a sarcastic tone in his voice. Sol heard Jae's voice in his head. If you would've trusted me to watch the Brute you would've slept as good as Umbra.
Umbra stirred and her eyes slowly opened and she got up.
"Don't tell me you let that lantern burn all night." Umbra walked over and turned down the flames and checked the oil in the lantern. "Great now the lantern has about 1/16 of oil left." Umbra scolded and she hit Sol on the back of the head.
"Well how else could've the room stayed at least a little lit? I'm no unicorn as you can plainly see." He nearly shouted and he looked around the room. It was expensively decorated, it had a velvet rug, plush furniture, and what was supposed to be a chandelier hanging on the ceiling. But now the rug was covered in blood and one of the couches sliced in half, and the chandelier broken and on its side.
"You know, it's weird that you call yourself a pegasus although your human. And those wings do seem genuine..." She gave them a hard pull and Sol yelled in pain. "They are real. So what are you? Some kind of mutant, scientific experiment, or angel?" Sol face-hoofed.
"No, I'm just a normal pegasus!" Sol got tired of answering the same questions over and over again. For some reason, this unicorn was convinced that she was a human, whatever that was. When Sol took one final glance behind him as they proceeded he got a glimpse of the darkness that he had narrowly gotten away from. His vision blurred once more and when he turned his head he thought he saw something riding on Umbra's back. It looked at him and smiled, he tackled it stabbing it repeatedly with the same knife used to kill the brute. Jae's head started to cut into his mind, Sol, what they hell are you doing?! STOP, just because I'm a statue doesn't mean that I can't feel pain! Sol felt Umbra's hooves jerk him off of the thing he was stabbing at, and Umbra slapped him to make him return to reality.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Umbra yelled at Sol but immediately saw that Sol was losing his state of mind and took a bottle out of a satchel. "Drink this. Quickly." Sol didn't give it any second thoughts, he took the bottle and drank whatever was inside. He started to feel like his old self yet again. However Jae, although the knife didn't pierce him, Jae looked like he could've been mauled by timber wolves.
"Did...I do that?" Sol said with a dazed look on his face. Yeah you bastard! You would've torn me to shreds if Umbra didn't snap you out of your trance! . Sol's bewildered look gave a clear explanation that he didn't know anything of what just happened. He must be losing his sanity. Just like Daniel, poor thing drank through sanity potions like a camel. Umbra thought it out for a while.
"I'll take the lead from here. Jae, use your "powers" to keep Sol at bay when he starts losing more of his sanity." Jae was reluctant but he knew that something had to be done or Sol would eventually kill Umbra and dispose of Jae, and sooner or later, kill himself in his delirium. Sol nodded and put Jae in his satchel and they continued through Brennenburg Castle.
Umbra's Perspective
Umbra couldn't really believe it, this angel, mutant, human, thing. He was actually losing sanity, and Umbra couldn't really see anything wrong with the young sandy-haired, sandy-feathered, teen. Poor kid...can't say I can blame him. Brennenburg is said to hold dark secrets. Sol caught Umbra's eye and she just smiled at him.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, arms behind her head. Sol shrugged.
"Kinda sick. Feeling like someone's talking to me when there's no one talking to me. Is this what insanity feels like?" Sol stared at his hands while walking. She went over and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to figure out what to say.
"I guess. It sucks, I know. My dad told me about it's symptoms, but I've never really experienced it myself." Umbra managed to say after a while of walking in the corridor. Sol then let out a sudden scream and latched onto Umbra's arm like how a child grabs onto his mother. Umbra admittedly was shocked and she could hear Jae's telekinetic raspy breaths.
"What was that about Sol?" Umbra stroked his hair and he looked confused.
"There was a grunt...It was coming straight for us...please tell me that you have seen it right?" Sol looked pleadingly at Umbra and she mouthed no and kissed his forehead.
"Sol...your losing sanity. Your seeing things. Things that aren't really there, you should just close your eyes. I'll cover your ears and me and Jae'll walk you through this corridor. What do you say?" Sol nodded in agreement and he squeezed his eyes shut and Umbra pressed her hand against his right ear and his left ear against her breast. He wasn't that much shorter than she was, but she was about 2 years older than him. She felt like she was comforting a child.
In about 2 hours of walking and without a Grunt, Brute, Kaernk(if they could see it), or any other type of monster to be seen, they came across a room with a statue of a goddess and a corpse. In the room there were 3 sanity potions. Jae levitated them to Sol and all it took was 2 to get him back to his regular sanity levels. Umbra sat across from Sol and they heard three voices sounding from someplace.
"Justine? Where are you Justine? We know your around here somewhere, Justine..." Umbra cringed. Damn! Not those guys! Why do they keep insisting that I'm Justine? I look nothing like her! She looked behind her and sure enough there they were: the Suitors.