2.11 I Destroyed Her

Content Warning: mild gore, understated existential horror, something adjacent to ideation.

‟What... what happened?" Flora stammers, too shocked to get closer to all that blood.

To the stench of it...

‟I destroyed her," Acheron responds, voice weak. ‟I wasn't sure, but... I knew it might go this way."

‟That's a particularly weird way to say you killed her..."

He did not kill her. A killed being would return in later cycles, Kerykeion's little voice is only in Flora's mind, again; Acheron is too injured to lend her any energy to manifest. Mnemosyne is lost forever.

Flora swallows. ‟Axe, what do you know about all this?"

I know what Acheron knows. Mnemosyne is a counterpart to Lethe; they guarded aspects of reality that have long since fallen into disrepair. Many past lives ago, Mnemosyne's sanctuary was disturbed by a witch. For rescuing this witch, Mnemosyne cursed Acheron. He remembers that life, and every subsequent one, because of her curse. She gave him awareness that no mortal should have. After living through so many cycles, he knows the checkboxes of his own fate. There are things he cannot change, even with foreknowledge. Trying to prevent these fixed events only causes them to happen in different, sometimes more awful ways. He cannot even choose to not become a parent.

‟That doesn't make se..." Flora doesn't complete her sentence, as her imagination begins to invent increasingly horrifying ways for it to make sense.

He came here to destroy Mnemosyne, so his next iteration could be free of this curse. Destroying a fairy also destroys its magic.

‟But... but he has a kid! He has to get home to his kid!"

Acheron coughs; it's the nastiest sound Flora has ever heard. Too wet. "I wish that was possible."

‟Axe, can you get us out of here?! He needs a doctor!"

‟Use her power to... shatter this place. It'll take you back to your last location." Acheron is mumbling, requiring greater and greater effort to speak.

‟That's deep in the Temple of Heaven, there's no doctor there!"

‟Flora, I died. I'm stuck. Grim can't get to the spirits of anyone who dies here."

Flora gasps, involuntarily, because this is the creepiest thing she's ever heard.

‟Collapsing the realm would be the kindest thing you could do for me."

There is one way to help him...

‟Acheron, I don't know if you can hear her, but Kerykeion says there's a way to help."

‟Please just go," Acheron sobs.

You can give him my magic. Direct it out of the axe, and into him.

Acheron grits his teeth against the pain. ‟That would take all the power she has. We would be trapped here."

If it is done at the same moment you wish to destabilize this pocket dimension, it should work. I should be able to accomplish both tasks.

‟She'll do too good a job... you don't... understand.... Flora... you don't understand..."

‟Kery... what is he talking about?"

Those I heal carry spiritual scarring. It follows them into subsequent iterations, amplifying their sensitivity to magic in ways that aren't reversible.

‟I won't exchange one curse for another..." Acheron's pleas fall on ears that just do not understand.

His natural inclination towards precognition may become uncomfortable.

‟How can you care about that when the alternative is death?!"

‟How are you... so sure... I don't deserve death?" Acheron groans.

He blames me for how each reality is starting to bleed into the next.

It was not my doing, though.

It would have happened without me.

There is much he does not know about the nature of this universe.

Flora takes a deep, steadying breath. "Axe is sure. And she sees into our souls to communicate with us. Right?"

‟Over...simplification..."

‟I'm not going to let you die. What if you're only here because of me? I'm not going to let you die."

Flora holds out her hands, summoning Pangu's Axe with all of her determination and emotion.

She feels Kerykeion's energy and thought fragments, as if they were her own...

Her arms swing as if she's possessed, bringing the blade down towards Acheron.

This should scare her, but it doesn't; she couldn't say how she knows, but she knows she will fix this...

Flora is back in the Temple of Heaven, standing exactly where she was when she was pulled into some bizarre aquatic fae realm.

Less than an hour has passed since she last stood here... though she is certain she was in Mnemosyne's realm for weeks, if not longer.

There is no sign of Acheron. Flora's surety from before evaporates—until she remembers, with a small flicker of hope, that he must have been somewhere else when he was transported to Mnemosyne's world. He would have been sent back to his own last location, not to Flora's.

Flora has no idea where Acheron is from, or what path Acheron took for theirs to cross. She can only hope he is in one piece, and he can go home to his son.

She makes her way through the Temple of Heaven slowly, searching for where to place the Eyes of Horus. She was told there would be an ‟obvious" place for them.

As the smell of Acheron's blood and guts fades from her nose, she begins to wonder if her confusing experiences were real.

Maybe she dreamed it up. Maybe she had a vision. Or a hallucination.

She's no psychologist, but she can reflect on some things... like how she felt no strongly that Acheron should return to his son. An echo of her own childhood experience, watching her siblings' father not return...

The axe is silent, even when Flora calls for it. She can summon the object, but its power to reshape reality and create doorways for her is gone. Maybe Kerykeion needs to rest, Flora thinks.

Or maybe the part of Kerykeion that could speak is with Acheron, now.

If Acheron was even real.

It's all a little... confusing.

But then, there are the circles in the wall, where Flora must place the Eyes of Horus...

After escaping the Temple of Heaven, Flora makes one final trek to the countryside, and into the Dragon Cave...

 
...where she must search for Dong Huo himself, in newly unsealed levels of the tomb.

 

Y̸̛̹͙̠̥͉͍͕̺͕̜̣̠̖̊͗̍̚͝ȏ̵̯̩̭̣̖̩͍̪̠̌͑̈́̽ų̴̝̖̝̖̈́͊͑͆͗̅̉̀͜͝'̶̡̨̢͇͕͉͙̻̩̤̼̫͍͖̄͊͗̍͆̑̈̎̂̿̾͝͝͠ͅr̷̨̡̭̻̗̽͌̈̿̎̔̆̿͋̄̔̿̏̚͠é̵̦̩ͅ ̷̢̨̡̣̖̺͖͙̰̲̓̈́̊̃͆̐̓͌̔͗̄͋̃g̵̞̱͈̠͈̦̔̆̑̍̈́̾͋̔͛̎̏̊ͅͅo̸̢̨̩̱̹͈̟̥̠̍͗̓̅͑̀̅̔̆͆͛͠į̷̧̼͖͕͔̥̰͛̈́̈́̔n̶̛̮͖̟͑̂́̓̆͌̾̆̈̊͘̕͝͝g̵͎͉̬͉̼̮̖͊̐́͜ ̶̣̣̫̦̰͒͂̐̂̓̚̚t̶͉͆̀́̿̃̔̊̏̇̂͊̚̚͝͝o̶̡̧̰̲̗͂̑͘͘ ̷̨̝͓͙͔̱̘̜̯̳̤̦̪̹̳̓͌̀̿̀͑̉l̴͉͓̬̙͖̹̮̥͍̜̖͈̓̉͝ô̸͈̻̅́̂̋̒̆̎͐͘o̸̢̼̫̩̫̥͆͂̅ṭ̴̛̻͇̭̪̈̍͊͗̏͋̊̅͆́̇͋̕ ̶̜̗͙̀̽̐m̴͈̞͖̣̤͛͒̌́͋̐̈y̴̨̼͉̪͇̪͖͍̱̲̭̹̝̋̿͛̋̆̓̏̽͆̋̊͑̄̚͘ ̶̘͔͔̉̀͌̈́̕̚͝͝ş̵̹̰͉͚̅͂̆̍̿̈̇͑a̷̧͚̘͈̜̣͈̫̎̑̑͌͘͝r̸̞̘͔͖̈́́̈̕͜c̷̭͇͋̒̕o̷̡͖̪̗̮̭̲̳͉̗̤͑ͅp̶͔͍͇͔̬͔̩͊́̽̊ḥ̸͚̯̦͛̈͒̑̀͆́͗ā̷̪̠̲g̵̨̡̫̰͇̈̉͌̾͂̐̽ư̷̜͕̗͉̖̙̌̿̿̅̈́̌̍͗̈́͆͘s̸̝̟̹̞̻͊̄̂̈̀͛͘͝͠?̵̨̲͓̲̤̙͛̈̓̀̐̒́̈́͊̓̚͝ ̷̡̛̹͕̝͕͊̆̄̔͛̏̀́̀̕͝͝R̸͇̭̮͕̦̼̝̙̀͋̾͊͋̓̅͗̄̈͆̂́í̵̧̖̪͖̪͗̈̑͗̑̀̀̉̈́̚͜g̵̡̗̟͓̤͔̺̮͈̥̱̞̟̀̆̄̀́͜ḧ̶̡̨̼͎͇͓̈́̓͛͛̃̉͠͝ť̵̛͔͔̫̺̰̦̎̐̕͜ ̶͖͙͉̞̿̀̚i̴̬̞͙͕̤̮͛͑́̓͗̍̂̃̇͆̍̚̚n̶͈̊̈́̇͊́͛͜ ̴̤̹̗̙͕͉͕̦̦̞͖̓̂̀̽̄͋͆̈́͑̎͗̾̂f̸̢̡̡̧̲̻̭̤̻̰͓̞̝́̒̄͑̕r̸̛̛͇͔̖͉̜̟̎̌̍̃̿̓͋̐̐̉̚͝o̷͎̍̾͂̀͒̈́̀̏̊͆̕n̴̢̛̯̻̹̆͊̑͘͜ṫ̷̡̛͈͕̲̟̤̮͎̼̺̺̩̦̫̾̉͋͋̂̏̎̈͝ͅ ̶̟͖̼̟̖͔̅̌͂̄̎̂͂̇̉̾̈́̓́͗͝ͅo̶̡̯͙̪͙̭̝͔̦͍̞̭̞̎̌̂̈́̆̍̀̎̀f̶͚̼̤̽̎̊͑̓͗̔̌̏͝ ̶̡͇̟̲͔̦͖̙̞̑̓͌̈̏ṁ̴̛̱̕͜e̸̗̺̩̣̳͖͇̘͈̪̳̜̟̎̒͂̒̌̈̅̍ͅ?̶̞̮̹͙̲̹̻͕̜̮̇̆̇̈́̎͛̔̅͊͠ͅ 



‟Well, I thought you might be in there!"

 

______________________________________________________

Etc.: Womp, womp. It's Dong Huo.


Click to read more about Dong Huo.


Acheron (as well as the mixing / butchering of various mythologies) might make more sense if you've read my other legacies. If not, don't worry about it.

This was not the same iteration of Acheron that appeared in any other legacy. His first confrontation with Mnemosyne happens in a blog I haven't posted publicly as of this writing. So this is like a crossover episode where you haven't watched the other show so it's just kinda ??? why did I do this to you???

Kerykeion (Caduceus, to the Romans) is a staff from Greek mythology. Among its many alleged powers is bringing the dead back to life. In the real world it has no connection to Pangu's axe. You can read about Meng Po and Mnemosyne and Lethe on your own time. The characters in my stories with those names are not meant to be those gods; they are powerful entities named after those myths.

Mermaidia commentary / review:

The Mermaidia tombs are gorgeous.

They were also challenging (though I was not mentally at my best when I attempted them, so maybe they're actually easy, ymmv). I was puzzled about where to start. The Adventure Board only gave me quests to do University style dares, so I didn't think the board was the intended way to begin the Mermaidia tombs, and if it was I'm sorry I was a fool and I and missed the world's story. But I don't think there was one.

 

A lot of the tombs have the keystone to another tomb waiting as loot. I did not know this would be the case, so I spent a long time thinking I had glitched the game out, unable to get very far because I didn't know which tomb I was supposed to start with. I eventually used cheats to break into my first tomb, and I regret that. I'll have to go back and discover the proper order some other day, with some other adventurer.

Some of the tombs feature fail states that prevent one's progression if one chooses incorrectly. This is great or not so great, depending on your preferences. It's not as forgiving as the EA tombs!

 

They're all visually amazing, but my favorite of the Mermaidia tombs is the one on the nectary lot. 

 

Oh, and the dive spots! For the very first time, I skilled diving. I never realized snorkeling was so lucrative! I could have had Flora doing that on the homeworld as a teen. 

 

I want to note again that many of the screenshots were taken without reloading the game after arriving in Mermaidia. That means a few things were NOT, graphically, what they were intended to be! Upon reload, the greenery is replaced by jellyfish and corals! I used a bunch of the "unintended" screenshots for my blog because they're still nice, and I didn't feel like going back and re-taking them. I'm sorry. I have too much going on right now.

To get a real good look at Mermaidia, I recommend downloading it yourself.