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[Trapezohedron]

You are in the dark.

Thoughts flash by in the far reaches of the void. You are not quite sure whether they're yours, or someone else's. Despite that, there is a seemingly vague feeling of familiarity echoing throughout the distance, almost akin to that of a déjà vu. You reflexively glimpse at your hands - or where you thought your hands would be. All you see are shattered prismatic shards floating in place where portions of your body would be. This would freak you out normally, but for some reason you are at ease.

In the midst of the void, a large, ornate tower materializes and you fly to the top of it, without control of your body.

Standing atop with you, a sage most familiar greets you.

"Weary traveller, who were you in life, and what has brought you here to this void?"

[endlessblaze]

i am ruby the mistress of fire, I have come here to.....

(that's all I got, anyone?)

[Trapezohedron]

"to... to...?"

You discover that, beyond your title which you have seemed to remember naturally, you have no recollection of your memories as to how you arrived in the void. You grope around your thoughts, trying to place a trail.

"Interesting. You claim to be The Mistress of Fire. Ruby, was it? Do you not tire of the things that you do, the things that you burn down, because of reasons you alone know?

Do you not realize that the very cause of your 'visit' here was your temperament? I'll let you think about it."

As the sage speaks, your body gains some corporeal characteristics. You are shining less brightly.

[Cheesecake]

"I am tired. I don't want to think. Tell me, sage, not in riddles, but in plain truth! Why am I here? And where exactly is here"

[endlessblaze]

"I am tired. I don't want to think. Tell me, sage, not in riddles, but in plain truth! Why am I here? And where exactly is here"

+1

[Trapezohedron]

"Then in riddles I will no longer speak, for you desire it.", the sage intones.

"There were two branching realities, each running parallel to the other. On one such path, you became the hope of the people - the Lightbringer, as they called you. You selflessly helped the world even if they slowly desired you less and less. On the other, you became the scourge of the world, stealing fire from the gods and ending it as is, bringing it down along with yourself.

In both realities, you died. Of course, we're not talking about the natural death; we're talking about dying for some cause you believed in. I don't know what you believe in right now.

In any case, due to some anomaly in reality, you are currently experiencing synchronization, and I, the Sage; the Augur of Time and Miracles, offer you three choices: Do you wish to rest, and fade away from the world? Do you wish to revisit one of your timelines and attempt to right it, depending on what 'right' is to you, or do you wish to forge a new path?"

The sage gestures as if opening a book, and reveals three glowing, floating icons representing the choices.

For now, you begin to collect more memories you claim to be your own. Which instance of the Mistress of Fire were you, and what did you believe in?

[endlessblaze]

".....we are neither, we follow creation"

[Cheesecake]

I was the Lightbringer. Was. I now know that it was a wasted effort. I wish to relive my life once more, and this time turn a blind eye to the ingrates who I wasted my life for.

[Trapezohedron]

You reply to the sage,

"I was the Lightbringer. Was I sacrificed myself to their cause, and yet, they simply threw me away, having become unneeded. I now know that it was a wasted effort. I wish to relive my life once more, and this time, turn a blind eye to the ingrates who I wasted my life for."

As you say those words, your face slowly contorts into a frown, having gained a form recognizable as a humanoid being - the powerful Mistress of Fire.

"Very well, I will send you back, and let you begin again. Had I a choice, I would really have put you to rest even if you chose to relive your life, but my Benefactors implored me to let you have your choice. And I have heard it."

The sage then performs a ritual, gesturing his arms around, incanting in words too alien to comprehend. As he completes the ritual, he then adds, "Just a note, your anomaly allows you to become stronger in time, depending on the knowledge you gleaned on your previous runs on history. Farewell, be on your way, traveler."

The void cracks, and then shatters.

-------------------------------------------

Time passes. Forwards? Backwards? You're not sure. You awaken to a world seemingly familiar to you. Flashes of memories ignite your mind as you give in to your thoughts.
What do you remember about it? Where were you born? Who were your friends, if any?

[Cheesecake]

It was a cold world, perpetually frozen. I was born in what I, and the rest of the villagers, thought was a mountain town. When I ran from some cruel bullies, I found myself at the very top of the mountain and saw that it was a volcano. That's where I got my powers; when they pushed me in.

My only friends were Sapphire and Obsidian. Sapphire was the only girl who didn't make fun of me. And Obsidian, a spirit who nursed me back to health in his volcano.

[Andres]

PTW

[Trapezohedron]

Chapter 1: Beginnings

...souls, when they die, they do not perish but they return to voidwheel to create mana by shedding the memories of the departed. Normally, this results in the reincarnation of the soul into another individual, but there are stories of people who have fallen to some anomalous soul-states in which they have reincarnated in the same person, retaining portions or all of their memories, such as Lucaris the Demented, a most popular inhabitant of the Sinian College Asylum.

-excerpt from Rubinus Hugues' Theories of Magic, 1569 revised edition, Page 12.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Age 1:

You awake. It seems the world has finally taken a familiar form, but you don't seem to remember the world exactly as it was. Looking at yourself, it seems you have taken an infantile form, and quickly recollect your memories and the theories of reincarnation.

Your thoughts of vengeance temporarily subside when you see your parents who you loved deeply.

"Our poor little Ruby never cries." Mirriam speaks, with a look of worry.

"Don't worry dear, she's alright, I assure you."

Your father, Bakar Blight-Cleave approaches to kiss your mother on the cheek. However, your mother Mirriam shrugs off the affectionate gesture.

"Shouldn't we at least take her to the doctor?" "I would try, to be honest." Bakar replies.
"But we don't have enough gold to pay off the diagnostic fees. Let's hope for the best."

Mirriam replies, in a frown. "You're right, we have no choice but to work harder for our daughter's future. She has to live better than us."

Almost as if in cue, you fall asleep.

---------------------------------------

Age 5:

One day, on your fifth year of age, you checked up on the attic to read some of the books of magic your mother Mirriam used to study. With the knowledge you gained from prior visits to the attic (not to mention the knowledge you carried over from the previous timeline), you begin practicing low-level magical spells the book contained, due to your affinity for magic being stunted by Harper's Condition, a detrimental but non-lethal syndrome that most people of the town of Aughsburg were currently suffering. This condition stunted physical and magical growth, and the cold winds that engulfed the shanty ruin-town prevented the inhabitants from actively looking for a cure, if there were any.

Rumor had it that the ruined Ilico Alley fortress contained a cache of cures and ointments for this sickness, but this was something you wouldn't be able to reach yet. Not at this age, you thought. It was either fixing your magical affinity soon, or waiting to be burned in the flames of the Caldera, to grant you your (restored) affinity of magic. The last time you tried forcing the issue, you created a dozen uncontrolled blobs of water when you tried a mid-level spell, and the place being naturally cold... this named some dangerous issues. You decided to master a few low-level spells before trying to make the trip.

However, to master an element, you had to align yourself to a specific affinity, as your magical affinity is insufficient to master more than one affinity at the moment. Which one would it be?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

- Fire: The control and manipulation of embers and blazes. In a perpetually-cold world, the fire element is a godsend.
- Ice: Shielding yourself and striking back with frost and solidified icicles, aligning your magical affinities to Ice would allow you to also resist the element yourself to a certain extent.
- Lightning: Aligning yourself with the element of lightning would allow you to use unparalleled and instantaneous spells to incapacitate foes, especially in a world full of ice and near-frozen water.

Spoiler: Stats: (click to show/hide)

Ruby, the Child
Age 5

Magical Affinity: 1
Fire: 0
Ice: 0
Lightning: 0

[endlessblaze]

the volcano can give us fire. let us use ice

[Cheesecake]

+1 to the ice. We ain't a saint anymore. I say we become the snow queen!

[Trapezohedron]

You were the Mistress of Fire once. You decide to align yourself this time to the freezing winds, with your heart as cold as the ice around you, due to the things you've once experienced.

As you inwardly focus your energies towards new affinities, Harper's Condition starts to backlash and excruciating pain is felt all around your body. You try to hold your scream, with a resolve as solid as the ice in the frozen wastes you call home, refusing to shatter at the slightest calls and beckons of your inner demons, pleading you to give up.

You feel you could die. Harper's Condition wasn't as severe as the pain you're currently experiencing, you thought; pain akin to a half-dozen swords, pipes, shards and pieces of metal being stabbed and skewered into your flesh. But you remember you never even tried attuning your affinities on your previous life. With that fact known, and the fact that you once faced death and reset the course of time, you push through.

Finally, pain stops flowing around your body. You are left panting on the floor, your mind almost blank. But you know you achieved something with your efforts - you feel colder.

----------------------

At age 5, you are already as mentally old as you once were when you died fighting for the people who you cared about, but didn't care about you in return. However, being 5 does have disadvantages; you do have your parents assuming you to be a genius, but alas, you are still a child, and a child trekking to Ilico Alley all on her own to look for the fabled cure to Harper's Condition is bound to get denied that request.

When you fell down the volcano - the fabled Caldera of old, you gained tremendous affinity for fire, but any attempts to cast mid-level spells of other elements caused you great pain and often failed. You hypothesize this as the effect of Harper's Condition bogging you down on your previous run.

"I... need... to find the cure... if i were to become stronger...", you mutter to yourself. You could also wait until you get older anyway, or convince your parents to allow you to leave the house, however protective they are of yourself. At the end of the day, if events play out as they once did before, you WILL eventually fall down that volcano and awaken your fire affinities.

What would Ruby do in this case?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ruby, the Child
Age 5

Magical Affinity: 0
Fire: 0
Ice: 1
Lightning: 0