Friday, November 18, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Mitochondrial Heaven
ZeSinEg
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Grand Stream Saga
Mani walked from the fields of Tuskins where he work with Priori, the herdsmaster. He lived on Forest Isle, a rural island in the Ether Stream. The world is full of Isles, Priori would tell him, They are all afloat in the Ether Stream. The best we can do is make a good living for ourselves and not worry about the problems of the outside world. And so, Mani toiled in the fields taking care of the giant docile beasts that provide their milk and meat. There were a few hundred people living on Forest Isle. Strangers were rare. Mani had a couple friends that he spent time with. He looked up to Van.
Van was a strange boy. He was older than all the other kids in town. He didn’t like doing stuff the adult way. His way of rebelling consisted of creating a secret club, open only to the people he liked. The gang had a club house hidden in the woods. Mani was invited there once and he loved it. He had enjoyed being around so many interesting people his own age. There was Van, the clear leader, he had all the ideas. Dio, the fighter, his father, Opal, was a knight, and Dio wanted to be as strong as he could. Fin, Dio’s younger brother. He was a fighter, but he couldn’t use the spear. He just wasn’t good enough. Gem, a pretty girl who is the daughter of the town jeweler. Coral, the daughter of a fisherman. She liked to use her fists. Sin was a little boy with no parents. He discovered the club house all on his own one day. He doesn’t talk much. Van lets him stick around.
Lastly, there’s Tara. Van’s got a crush on her. She’s the daughter of the village Elder. She has beautiful red hair and a tender heart. Tara likes the attention, but isn’t looking for romance, not yet. Mani thinks she is pretty. One day, Van alerts the gang that he saw a pirate ship incoming. The gang goes along with it because Van always has a new adventure for them. He goes to show them on the cliff edge, they are astonished when they actually see it. Everyone can’t believe it. What did you think I was LYING? He asked them. So Mani and Gem run back to the town to warn everyone. Sin follows them. Van stays to greet the pirates. The pirates land and take Van and the Gang hostage. The knights are mobilized and attack the pirates. A battle happened. Van died saving Fin. Everyone is sad. The knights take his body and have a funeral in town.
Back at the club house, everything is quiet. The leader is gone. Sin comes in and actually says something. He tells everyone that one of the Pirates is still alive. They all go to find him. It’s an old man who can barely walk. He says that he was taken hostage by the pirates. He can fix up their ship if the kids help him out. But they have to keep it a secret from the Elders and the Knights. Mani and Tara agree to trust him. They believe him. Over the next two weeks, they gather the equipment necessary to create a new airship. The old Pirate’s name is Peg Leg, but his real name is Aquinas. The Pirate tells them about their journey. About their captain who is now dead. He had buried his treasure on another floating island, and they were on their way to get it. Peg Leg had the map.
Mani and the gang board the ship. They don't know whether or not to go. Just then, the pirate knocks the ship off the floating island and they are stranded. Now they have no choice but to go on an adventure. Peg Leg is aboard, but doesn't speak to anyone or do anything. He just stare out into the open. Mani and the others discover how to steer the ship. They get to the Treasure Island and land on it. They enter the complex in the center of the island and discover a strange device at its heart which keeps the island afloat. It's called an Arc Heart. They discover every island has one of these arcs keeping them aloft.
Peg takes the Arc Heart with him and the island starts to crumble. He brings it to the ship and the kids make it back only just in time. When they get out into the open, they find peg leg being cornered by a huge beast with a strange mask. Peg leg fights the beast, but dies in the process. The beast is slain. It crumbles into a strange mass of feathers. Peg Leg tells Mani of Pyrus the Beggar who is on the Grand Isle. He needs this Arc Heart. They are supposed to deliver it to him to save the kingdom from the coming war. Mani and the gang agree to deliver the item.
Peg Leg dies and he is buried on the Treasure Island, but just as they are about to leave, they find the beast that had killed him, had recreated itself in baby form. It was a little floating animal. It curled up next to the Arc Heart, seemingly to keep it warm. Mani and the rest decide to take the little animal with them. They get onto the ship and head off for the Grand Isle. They stop by several places before they get there, but eventually arrive and find Pyrus. Pyrus is not a Beggar, he is the king. He is glad to get the Arc Heart, it is an energy source which he hopes to use to quell a rebellion led by Automon, a former advisor who was found guilty of corruption and conspiracy. The Arc Heart is put into the belly of a new AirShip.
The Royal Army takes Mani and the Gang on their mission to destroy Automon's forces. They are to watch and be prepared. The battle is intense. Although, it is interrupted when a huge monster appears and starts killing both sides. Mani and the gang duck for cover as the guardian beast starts to glow. He wanted to protect them. Mani took the guardian beast to the Arc Heart, which it ate, and became super powerful. The Guardian killed the monster. Mani rode atop it, as the Head of the Royal Guard and Automon bowed to him. They all returned to the Grand Isle, which was ravaged by another monster attack. The King quickly made Mani the head of Monster Defense and allowed him anything he desired.
The Monsters were coming from the Ether Vortex, a place where all ether Streams converged. Mani gathered his forces and went through the Vortex. On the other side, he found a weightless sky. It was just blue clouds with no gravity. Many of his fleet were completely destroyed. They all regrouped and made it to the core fleet, where Mani and his crew were. They were actually in a previous time of their own world, where there were no floating isle's, just floating beasts, because everything floated. The floating isles of their own world were just the skeletons of these beasts. However, these beasts were gigantic, continent sized. The imbalance in this world is what made all the monsters spill into the other world, where they destroy.
Mani quickly learns that there is human civilization in this new world, and seeks the Tower of Ages, where there is rumored to be the king of this realm: Leon. He wears a strange mask and commands an army of warriors who protect the few people who have spilled into this realm and can actually survive. Mani takes his fleet to the Ocean Beast. (Twelve Beast Roam this weightless world) (Each have millions of offspring which spill into Mani's world to cause havoc and destruction). On Ocean, he finds a nest of monster's and destroys the reproducing faculties of the continent sized beast. Ocean claims many of Mani's men, but eventually forgets what happened and goes on his way.
The eight beasts are called, Ocean, Gaia, Sol, Luna, Ouran, Entillion, Regalus, Gravitas. The remaining Four have not been seen. Mani splits up his crew to find Sol. Each Ship takes a different Beast. Their plan is to meet again within a month with knowledge and a plan. Mani finds a tower on Sol. Inside is Leon, who is sitting on his throne. He is taken prisoner by Leon's warriors. Leon explains the situation. The usual way things go is that the baby monsters are pulled down into the lower worlds because they are not strong enough to swim against Gravity, but lately, there has been no gravity so they've been able to access the portal at the top of the world and reign terror onto Mani's Ether Stream. The source of the trouble is the monster Gravitas, who has inadvertently eaten the Gravity Anchor. They must travel to him and extract it, bringing it to its rightful place.
Mani and Tara gather the crew who infiltrate Gravitas and extract the gravity anchor, which has fused with Gravitas' giant arc heart. Mani's beast eats the Arc Heart and becomes the Ninth mega beast who is conscious enough to restore the balance in this world. The monsters will no longer pass where they are not supposed to go. Mani and the gang now want to head back into their own world to reclaim their lives. Leon tells them that the Monsters portal to that world is called the Dimensional Threshold, but he doesn't know how to get there. He will stay here.
Mani and the group Reach the Dimensional Threshold, and go through it, where they reach a world with no air. There is only ground and water there, but it is strangely remeniscent of Forest Isle. The gang disbands and begins to live their regular lives. Mani marries Tara and becomes a herdsman. Dio becomes the town's knight. Fin becomes the Town Fisher. Coral Becomes a Sailor. Gem becomes a craftswomen and designer. Sin becomes Leon, creates a mask just like his, and finds his way back to the other world. He is the only one. Everyone else lives regular lives till the end of their days.
Avi Sentari
Avi was really there looking for information about the Anima Project, a secret government program that his father had discovered when all of a sudden he dissapeared. Two days pass, and the gang stages an ambush of the Govie convoy. Avi is there to provide hacker support. Avi neutralizes several of the guard’s mechs while the Breakers seize the prototype. As reinforcements come and start to battle the Breakers, the prototype’s cloak comes partly off. Avi recognizes a logo on the Energy Hub of the Mech as the Seal of the Anima Project. He knew he had to get in there. He ducked the violence and comandeered the Mech. Avi piloted the mech away from the battle.
The mech was called the Fenris System. It was a repair mech. Avi pulled up a map of seven government facilities all over planet Crysis. These facilities were connected to the Anima Project. His father was right, the government was hiding something huge. Just then, Crysis Police forces came out of nowhere and attacked Avi. Avi improvised and used the repair equipment on the mech to disable them. He was about to escape when a strange battle mech appeared right in front of him. The man introduced himself as Vincent LeBlanc, bounty hunter. Avi defeated him by allowing his own mech to be destroyed. Avi puts Vincent’s body into the Fenris System, while he escapes with the Hunter Mech.
Avi was surprised that people started calling him Vincent LeBlanc. He had inadventantly stolen someone else’s identity. This being too much, he decided to hide out in the Desert and upgrade his systems before his next move against the Crysis Government’s Anima Project. In the Desert, he stayed at a mech repair shop owned by Goji, and old friend of his father’s. Goji gave Avi a disk with data from his father. The disk contained plans to upgrade the Hunter Mech to the Artemis System. Avi was surprised that his father could have known something so prophetically. Avi made the upgrades to the system. One day, the call came from the town Equitas about a rogue killer mech. Avi noticed that the mech in question had a variant of the Anime Project’s symbol. He investigated.
In the town, Avi made friends in the bar with a man named Yves, a happy-go-lucky drunkard who was smooth with the women. Avi enlisted this man to help him find the Rogue Mech. Yves agreed. Yves and Avi broke into an Anima Project lab and discovered some troubling information. The government was trying to cover up something that happened in the Great Black Out. Yves revealed he was working for the Anima Project. Avi saw Yves go crazy right in front of him. He lost his mind, became another person. When Avi tries to stop him, Yves just shoved him away and got into his Rogue Mech.
A battle ensued where Avi is trying to stop Yves from destroying the town of Equitas. Yves begs for Avi to kill him, because he can’t. He had been driven crazy by learning the secret of the Crysis Government. Avi asked him the secret. Yves said he’ll know the secret when he died. After a long battle, the Rogue Mech was critically wounded. Yves’ last action was a word of thanks to Avi for setting him free, but also a word of caution for the torment he has unlocked. Yves destroyed the Anima Complex’s power station. All of a sudden the stars flickered. The whole sky was an Illusion. Behind it was only black.
Avi had aquired the data of the Cereberus System. He incorperated all three systems into his mech. Fenris, Artemis, Cereberus. Back at his desert base, Oji-san, prepared his new ultimate mech for action. Avi would go out and destroy all the Anima Project Complexes showing the truth to the world. Just then, Baja showed up, Avi’s old friend. Baja made friends with Avi, but ended up stealing the ultimate mech. Avi pursued him in the city, hoping to get it back somehow. With their hands on the mech, the Breakers launched a war against the Crysis Police, completely eradicating them. Avi forced the mech to listen to him and kick Baja out. In an emotional scene, Avi punched Baja in the face who just shamefully looked at the ground. Avi got into his Ultimate Mech and walked off into the desert.
A gunshot struck the Ultimate mech’s shoulder. He turned around to the the Crysis Military Fleet in full force led by General Leto the Red Lion, a legendary Mech fighter. A battle ensued as Military Mechs are sent full force at Avi. Avi took down as many as possible and even gave Leto a run for his money, but was eventually disabled. Leto’s Apollo System seemed to be victorious. At the last second, Avi noticed an energy spike in the area. As Leto began to attack him, he began to slowdown. Everything was happening in slow motion. A god-mech descended from the sky seemingly disregarding the laws of Time. Avi gets out of his mech and gets pulled into a portal.
Avi finds himself in a strange black room with an older man, the pilot of the God-Mech. It was Avi’s father, who pulled him aside. Avi was confused. The man told him to enter through a portal, and all would become clear. Avi walked through the portal and ended up on planet Crysis, in the desert. He walked until he found a wrecked Transport. Inside he found the bodies of two people, husband and wife. He heard a baby crying. It was alive. He took the baby and took care of it. He took him to the nearest town and tried to get someone else to take care of it, but nobody would. Before he knew it, he was raising the child as a father would. They were attatched.
One day, the child was playing in the backyard when a terrible EarthQuake shook the whole city. Everything went black. Avi finally understood, that this memory was his own. He was both father and son. He was the same person. This memory was now experienced from both perspectives. Avi walked outside and looked at the stars. Nothing. No light in the sky or on Crysis for two months. People lived off electricity and firewood. Then one day, the stars came back on, as if nothing happened. The Government insisted they knew nothing about the anamoly. Avi was determined to find out the secret of what happened. He became obsessed with the Anima Project, a government funded organization that came into existence at exactly the time of the BlackOut/EarthQuake.
When Young Avi was Seven, Old Avi left him for a mission to infiltrate a facility. Inside he unlocked the secret documents which finally explained everything. The Great Black Out was a rogue black hole that swallowed up the planet Crysis. The government, in order to maintain order, created the Anima Project to project the stars into the sky, so that the truth would never be known. The planet had roughly one hundred and fifty years before it entered the Gravitational Turbulence Zone where Gravity Waves would pull the planet apart. Until then, the rich and powerful decided to keep everybody in the dark so that they could enjoy what little time they had.
Government Scientists had long dismissed the possibility of escaping the black hole, but Avi saw a way out. The Time Dilation effects of the BlackHole gave possibility to the impossible. He had travelled back in time, and maybe, just maybe, there was a way to change everything. Just then, when he realized it, a portal opened up and grabbed him into the black room again. The Older Avi stood in front of him. Young Avi was left to fend for himself. Old Avi was here in the mystic inbetween blackroom. Oldest Avi was standing in front of him, seeming to be a thousand years old. He had become a Time Dilation Expert, and this room was his greatest work. This room would be the one which would save Crysis. Oldest Avi had gone back in time thousands of years to study Time Dilation on Earth. Oldest Avi gave Avi the Zeus System, which gave his mech the Time Dilation abilities he had discovered.
Leto struck the ground, Avi’s mech had dissapeared. Behind him, Avi disabled his Mech. Everyone attacked, but was unable to win. Leto respectfully surrendered his forces to Avi. Avi told Leto to March on the Capital. He confronted the rich and powerful who had constructed this scheme. He destroyed the Anima Complex’s and revealed a Red Wave of Destruction above them. Tyrannus, the black hole which had swallowed them, loomed above them like a menacing Hell. The whole universe seemed to speed up, millenia were passing before their eyes. Society crumbled. Avi was the Messiah. His God-mech was the beacon of light people needed. They all followed his advice and got onto his Arc, which was supposed to be able to escape the event horizon.
Avi knew that the Zeus System could only operate if he was inside the Event Horizon. He launched the Arc with his God Mech and propelled it out into neutral space, while he simply fell back into the jaws of Tyrannus. The people who survived spread the tale of Avi Sentari. Legend had it that he was aware of all space past the event horizon, but nothing else. If someone was to fall into a black hole, they would be saved by the Messiah, master of the Zeus System, pilot of the God Mech, Avientius Sentarius. The last scene is that of a hill and a tree on top of it. Avi is walking up to the tree. A child is leaning up against it. It’s name is Tyr, avi’s only companion. They play and chase each other.
Adora and Jorhuti
Flo thought the story vaguely familiar, though at this moment she could not quite put her finger on the details. He told her the story. Adora was once a forest spirit dwelling in these woods. Her closest companion was a mythic fox named Orunitia, guardian of the night. Jorhuti, king of the rats, found his way into the Dergal Wood. As soon as his eyes fell on Adora, he knew he must have her. Obsessive love drove Jorhuti mad. Alone and afraid, Adora called for Orunitia. Orunitia fought Jorhuti off, but a prick by his poisoned dagger proved deadly. Oruitia died. Just as Adora seemed to be in the gravest of danger, Atalius, ruler of the eastern kingdom, arrived to rescue her. He scared Jorhuti away and took Adora as his own. They ascended into heaven, but not before Adora made a sacred resting place for Orunitia, her beloved friend.
Flo listened as Skye finished his story with the words 'beloved friend'. A sudden rush of memory consumed her. Her beloved friend Aeon, who grew up with her in Gil Village, had departed to seek riches in the eastern kingdom, Atalius' kingdom. She remembered how much she cared for him. Flo insisted that she must go to the east and find Aeon, for her memory's sake. He is all that she remembers. Skye offered to accompany her on this dangerous journey; Flo accepted. They traveled to Pride City, where there was a bridge that connected the western and eastern lands. As they made their way down the forest path, and later, down the road through the meadows, Skye thought he saw a shadowy figure following them.
Pride City gleamed with golden archways. Its marketplace was filled with exotic goods. Flo was amazed by the affluence all around her. However, her delight did not last long. Skye noticed the shadowy figure again and attempted to escape him. Flo ran with Skye into an alleyway where they were cornered by a vicious fiend: Neferati. A brigand and a bandit, this sharp toothed beast attacked them with two whirling rapiers. Skye flung himself in front of Flo, taking the first blow. Injured, he fell limp to the ground. Flo trembled as Neferati slowly approached her. His evil eyes froze her. Relishing his power, he breathed into her face. A loud crack erupted from behind him. Neferati collapsed. A young boy with wild black hair stood triumphantly behind him brandishing an iron frying pan. His name was Kuja.
Kuja had saved Flo's life. Flo was taken by him. In the days that followed, she watched him as he smiled, and it made her feel happy. For a while, she forgot about Aeon. Kuja offered to show Flo his home. They took a boat to the Firefly Swamp, a northern marsh, not well known by the people of Pride City. Flo was charmed by the enchanting swamp city. All kinds of creatures lived there: lizards, boars, and even mice. Kuja made Flo feel at home, showering her with luxuries. This went on for a few weeks until Skye burst into the room where Flo was staying. He warned her of a terrible darkness lurking in the city. The Firefly Swamp belonged to none other than the king of rats, Jorhuti. She finally saw what was right in front of her. The Swamp was a dwelling place for evil. Skye hid as Kuja came in. She tricked the boy into leaving for a moment. Flo and Skye escaped to the eastern shore of the Pride River.
The night was cold and dark. The only thing keeping Skye and Flo warm was a little glowbug that she befriended in the Dergal Wood. Suddenly, it twitched as if hearing something. Flo felt a wave of familiarity wash over her. She knew something was about to happen. Something in the woods was pulling her. She walked towards it and came out onto a rocky cliff. The full moon illuminated the night. Flo looked up at the sky and saw him. Aeon, with two elegant angel wings, descended to her. He held a thin lance in his right hand, a weapon of Atalius. Aeon approached Flo slowly. She ran to him and hugged him. Suddenly, Flo was in a different world. She was on a rooftop in a coastal city. The boy she was hugging had a white shirt on. There were cars, airplanes, and fans all whirring about. This felt real.
As soon as she let him go, the dream ended. She was back on the cliff in the night. Aeon and Flo looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Skye hollered for them to watch out as Neferati jumped out of the forest surprising them. Behind Neferati came a dark figure with a snake-like tail: Jorhuti. The rat king himself was here. Behind Jorhuti trailed a shameful little shadow. Flo recognized him; it was Kuja. Jorhuti and Neferati attacked Aeon, who fell to the ground wounded. Flo ran to him and held him close. Atalius came to his rescue, but Jorhuti's power was too strong. Jorhuti struck Atalius down out of jealous vengeance. Flo saw the world crumbling all around her; desperation crept into her heart.
A warm light began to overtake her. The glowbug entered into Flo's body. A soft voice spoke. It was Adora herself. She is the forest spirit. The glowbug was her emissary. She had been with Flo all this time, trying to help her to rediscover who she really is. Adora tells Flo not to worry; everything will be all right. With that a white light surrounded her and she went into a deep sleep. When Flo awoke, she found herself back in the Dergal Wood. Time had reversed. She was in the Adora's Grove, the sacred burial place of Orunitia. This time, she had her human skin. The fox was gone. Skye jumped out of the bushes and tried to scare her. Flo, unimpressed, brushed him aside and began her journey.
During the next month, Flo had an almost godlike power to predict any occurrence since she had already lived through it once before. When she finally got to the cliff, she warned Aeon of the impending attack by the forces of evil. Aeon summoned Atalius and told him of the plot. Atalius sprang a trap for Jorhuti and his henchmen. It worked like a charm. As soon as the rat king made his presence known, he was ensnared in Atalius' magic. They were all transported to Atalius' Palace in the Eastern Sky. Flo finally met Adora face to face. In the garden Adora told Flo of the Dragon God which gave to each of them a wish. Atalius wished for Love. Jorhuti wished for Death. Adora had wished for Flo's second chance. Now everyone's wish must be fulfilled. Jorhuti must have his vengeance.
Crisis loomed as Jorhuti and his henchmen escaped their prison. A battle ensued as Atalius attempted to subdue them. However, Jorhuti had gained an unimaginable amount of power through his wish to the Dragon God. He morphed into a giant beast. Atalius also morphed into a winged angel. The two did battle, but ultimately Atalius died. In his last moment, he spoke the words: Adora, my Love. In that, the Dragon God’s obligation to Jorhuti ended. Aeon wished for the power to defeat Jorhuti. An immense battle commenced. The heavens themselves shook with the power of a hundred thousand lightning bolts. Every time Jorhuti became stronger, Flo saw a light within Aeon, feeding him power, allowing him to overcome any obstacle thrown his way. Aeon finally tagged his lance into Jorhuti’s heart.
The beast shriveled up in a puff of oily smoke. The light was all around them. Flo, exhausted, looked up into Aeon’s eyes. Two giant wings kept them suspended in midair. She asked him, what was that light? He gently looked into her eyes and said, Love… it was love. Everything became fuzzy for Flo as she felt waves of joy flow through her. She awoke in her human bed in her human apartment. She slowly began to realize that it had all been a dream. Sprawled out on her bed, she stared into the distance reflecting on her experience. She felt something about to happen. Her cellphone, somewhere between the sheets and her blanket, vibrated. A text message had popped up. It was from the boy with wild black hair. It read: “I just had the strangest dream, and you were in it.”
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Animus Proximus
Orunitia - the Night that Surrounds Me
Lumiere - the Light in Your Eyes
Kaafi - the Shape of your Heart
Segunder - the Time that We Share
Avanglaedir - the Closening of Our Hearts
Glaedelig - the Knowledge of Trust
Amarantos - the Infinite Happiness