Brave Galaxy is set in a world loosely based on Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail and Eden’s Zero. It is a PG-13 or so rated space fantasy RP, and uses a combination of character statistics, which can be acquired via roleplaying and events, and creative freedom to help direct players’ characters. While there is a main storyline, which can be found in the events section, characters are free to interact with others and their environment however they see fit.
Explore the galaxy. Overcome the obstacles in your path. Shape the future of humanity.
It was a paradox of abuse and acceptance, one part of him screamed in agony while the other wanted desperately to listen, comprehend the whispers of nothingness even as they wreaked havoc. It was a different voice that caught his attention, however, from beyond the darkness, somewhere. Leo easily recognized his father, though the sound was nearer than he had expected, felt the tinge of something beyond. To call it life was perhaps wrong, considering the man's grave, but he did not have the time to ponder such, thoughts swept up in the storm. The truth of Alastair's words struck some chord of despair deep within, regret, perhaps, though it was strange, unlike anything he had experienced in recent times. It was ephemeral, however, a fleeting thought brushed aside. No, he couldn't give up when he was so close to grasping beyond the shadows, not in a place such as this.
Yes, he had to put aside his fear. That was easier said than done, but in that moment he had no other choice if he wanted to survive. There was something more, however, brushing off his terror wouldn't solve the issue of the darkness ripping into him, if anything it would want more, some part of himself would. He could barely think, but one thing rang true despite it. You will control within.
Neither escape nor some futile diplomacy had ever been an option, then. Of course not, it hadn't been before, and there was one thing time could never seem to change. If that was the case, Leo was right where he needed to be. He outstretched his hand toward the vortex, the sheer force nearly rending it from its socket. The pain was temporary, however, would not matter if he didn't succeed, nothing would. There was something deeper, brimming just below the surface. Despite the man's warning he could not put it aside, would not surrender everything to the void that tore at him with its welcoming arms. His rage was directed toward it instead, furor generated by his helplessness, the inability to control that which he had wrested with so long ago, thought he had surpassed. The reality was that he was as weak as before, had learned nothing in a millennia. There would be no accepting his failure that day, though, no lamenting choices that could have been made to prevent it all. Leo didn't have to luxury to do so.
It would bend to his will. Or it would have nothing, they both would have nothing, forever.
With the exertion of Leo's will against the deluge of darkness, the intensity of the current lessened. It still raged around the man, but it was quite clear he had an effect on the onslaught. "So you are starting to see. Or so I hope!" The enigma of a man laughed as he witnessed the progress Leo had just made.
Ever since coming to the pyramid and doing what he had done to open the door, the darkness he experienced was exactly the same everywhere within. It was this fact, and his father's words were the clues Leo needed to solve his trouble here. Every single time, the darkness felt familiar, and he was able to have influence over it. What that meant, Leo would have to finish figuring out.
Leo's first attempt at willing the shadowy storm had shown that he could indeed control it. Now it was time to take that further. As if on queue, after his father's words about starting to understand, the darkness increased back to full intensity. "Now Leo. Again. This time truly command it. BEND IT. Lest it breaks you, and you join it forever. Lost in a sea you cannot escape."
Post by Reya Starlyght on May 16, 2020 15:37:04 GMT
For a split second, the storm seemed to subside. Yet almost as soon as he realized such, as soon as Alastair's comment concluded, the shadows returned with a vengeance. It was not merely enough to force them down, after all, that was nothing but what he had always done. The murmurs begged him to acknowledge the truth, but up until that point he had refused, wanting nothing more than to shove it all into a tiny corner and forget that part of him even existed. The darkness that assailed him was not some foreign entity, he had recognized such the moment he had entered the temple, but it was accepting such that horrified him. In the end, Leo had no choice in the matter.
It was not enough to merely give it a vague command, his magic could not listen if he instilled no purpose. It was fear that drove him, a strong motivator in most scenarios but when it came to this? Simply driving it into a cage because of his terror would do no good, it would not heed. Leo compelled himself to push the sentiment from his mind entirely, despite the pain, despite everything encroaching in around him. It would not submit to him because he was afraid it would kill him otherwise, no, it would bend because he commanded it to. Because it was a part of himself and would do as it told, otherwise it had no point in existing.
Leo willed the abyss to compress into his hand, forced all other concerns to dissipate. Control was all that mattered, not his surroundings or even the figure just beyond, he would have nothing without it.
Now that Leo had faced the truth and gathered the strength needed to do something about it, real change began.
With a command given that was filled with determination and strength, the orb Leo was surrounded in began to retract. Little by little, Leo's body was uncovered, granting freedom once again, and relief from the tumultuous currents. Alistair watched with a gleam in his eye. He was proud, but didn't show it on his face. There was more to do, but he knew Leo would be able to master his magic.
Before long, Leo was completely freed of the darkness, with the only remnant of it being a small sphere in his hand, still raging as if nothing changed, but no longer a threat to him. It was a condensed storm of shadows he held now. He could feel its destructive power in his palm, and could sense it wanted to be set free. It almost felt like it was begging to be set upon a new target to devour.
The power wielded was a beast, begging its master to feed.
"Now that you aren't being pulled apart by the magic, let us see if you truly have command over it." With a flick of his wrist, an exact replica of Leo appeared before him. "Use this! Release the power you contained. Will it to move. To attack. To destroy."
Alistair figured Leo would see destroying himself with his magic as symbolic or something. Really he was just being a dick.
Post by Reya Starlyght on May 17, 2020 3:00:20 GMT
With great concentration did the gale recede, steadily freeing his mind from the torment. Leo inhaled a deep breath, relishing in the lack of pain it caused. A quick glance and he ascertained that nothing about the room had changed, only his father had neared as he had already observed. Something else, however, caught his attention. Separated from the agony it doled out, there was something so utterly captivating about the sphere Leo held in his palm - he could have observed it for hours were it not for Alastair's words. Yes, the darkness's desire was clear, and the longer he held onto it the more the sentiment seemed to bleed into his own thoughts. Perhaps it was no longer tearing into himself, but that did not change its hunger.
Evidently, his father recognized such, or at least to some degree. Well, maybe not, but that was irrelevant. The image he conjured was not some faceless monster or beast, however, it was a perfect replica of Leo. Ah, himself. That wasn't hard. For many the concept of striking oneself down was a difficult thing to imagine, much less carry out, but, well, he didn't exactly have that problem. Even more so, the image was nothing more than that, a facsimile of reality that he would gladly rip to shreds. A grin crossed his visage, all previous reservation vanishing. "Gladly."
The abyss wanted to be released, and so he let it go. To annihilate everything in its path was the goal, and anything with such aspirations was impossible to truly contain. Leo did not need to, however, he didn't want to suppress it into oblivion in that moment. No, he commanded the shadows to advance, to consume all in front of him yet most importantly the simulacrum of himself.
With Leo's will being exerted upon the swirling orb of darkness, it began to move. Perhaps it was due to Leo's lack of looking too far into the act of destroying his own visage that the orb moved forward without hesitation. The small sphere of magic rushed towards the doppelganger, hitting it square in the chest. The impact of spell caused the fake Leo to stumble backward slightly, while a look of bewilderment overcame its face. For a brief second the orb was gone, making it seem like the attack was done with just the initial impact. After the moment passed, the darkness instantly expanded to its full size, completely engulfing the faux Leo, exactly how the real Leo had been consumed. The darkness took no time to begin its assault once it had grown. The rushing waves in every direction were back, pulling and pushing, contorting the body within, since it could not resist its power.
"Well done." Alastair said, walking around the large orb of darkness, inspecting its effects. "Now finish it. Use the darkness to completely destroy this image of yourself. Close your fist and attempt to compress the magic around your doppelganger. Crush it within the darkness." Leo had shown that he was starting to understand that this darkness here was part of him, and was starting to be able to control it.
last edited May 27, 2020 22:52:46 GMT by sachiohanabe
Post by Reya Starlyght on May 29, 2020 6:26:19 GMT
The reaction of the image only told weakness. Shock, horror, Leo didn't have to see himself to know those were exactly the emotions that had bled onto his visage just a few moments beforehand, but the visual certainly helped. Not with the task at hand, that was already decided, but in cementing how pathetic he really was. There was nothing to fear, after all, not now. Any uncertainty had been wiped away as soon as he had truly held the shadows within his grasp. Watching the magic surge toward his plotted destination, its course perfect to the very last second, brought out some strange sense of satisfaction, relief even. Such was dwarfed by the resulting impact though, some part of Leo relished in the ensuing bloodshed, the storm once set upon himself now turned into a weapon of his own desire. It was not enough, however, the annihilation was not complete.
Despite himself, there was a moment of hesitation in the tightening of his grip. A sliver of doubt, the nagging presence of indecision in his mind. It was swiftly crushed, however, his fist closing soon after. The doppelgänger could be afford no mercy, if he strayed a moment longer the darkness would most certainly retaliate. Indeed, Leo heard its call even over the voice of his father, though the two sentiments aligned completely. In that instant, he gleefully obliged them both, pressing the void inward, its relentless force to be set completely upon the figure it already engulfed, erasing any sign of its existence.
Eager to fulfill Leo's request, now that a bond had been formed between the two, the darkness began to close in around the doppelganger's body. It was happy to know that Leo now understood the connection between them. The shadows of the pyramid, and Leo's own magic, were one and the same. Alastair nodded in approval as he watched the magic continue to pool into a sphere in the center of the fake Leo's abdomen.
Although the magic didn't surround him any longer, the force it exerted was still in effect, but now it kept the fake's legs and arms bound as it pulled inward. Lacking the brute strength or magic to get itself out of the situation, the doppelganger was forced to experience the next part of the spell's assault.
An eerie silence filled the room as magical pressure drastically increased for a split second, before the spell showed its true purpose. The orb of condensed shadow disappeared and was instantly replaced with an explosion of darkness. Screams replaced the silence as the doppelganger was all but being torn apart by the extreme outward force of the spell. Alastair and Leo both had to struggle to stay in place as the air that came from the giant explosion was quite strong itself.
After what felt like an eternity of suffering, the doppelganger fell lifelessly to the ground, with its clothing in tatters, and flesh torn from its body. The explosion had completely destroyed the fake, and with that being done, Leo had progressed in his training. A bond had been formed, and the shadows heeded his call
last edited Jun 24, 2020 22:07:33 GMT by sachiohanabe
Post by Reya Starlyght on Jul 1, 2020 18:17:21 GMT
In a more rational state of mind, Leo probably would have at least been concerned by the display at hand, but neither the plentitude of gore nor the pure destructive power off-put him in that moment. The screams, however, they were able to pierce through the veil of enthralling bloodshed, his own voice distorted in a way that was all too familiar, even in its displacement. They reminded him of every past failure, each time he had been utterly and completely helpless to do anything, whether it be to save himself or those around him. And yet there was also the ever present reality of what had happened before, what had caused the rift between himself and the very darkness he now bore witness to.
In the end, though, not even the warning breath of his past could dissuade Leo from embracing the shadows. And in that final display of power something clicked inside, the final erosion of a wall dividing two like parts. He blinked, seeing the room in some heightened clarity, a wholeness previously forgotten. His gaze then met Alastair’s, but no, Leo was getting bored of listening to him. Instead, his attention turned to the jagged throne where the man had been perched earlier. A smile once again lit up his features, although unlike before it was more so born out of curiosity than malignance. With that, he thrust his palm out toward the seat, commanding the shadows to strike it, more or less with the intent of using it as target practice.
"What immense power. Not that I am surprised. You are MY son after all." While not entirely true, seeing as this version of Alistair wasn't completely real, it was still amusing to the being regardless.
With full control of the ambient darkness achieved, Leo decided to further test this power by aiming to destroy the throne at the far end of the room. The man aimed his palm at the seat, demanding the darkness eradicate it. The shadows happily obliged. A thin line of pure darkness almost instantly shot from Leo's hand, piercing the throne rather easily despite it being a strong material. For a second, nothing occurred, as the needle of shadows stayed in place, sticking out from the back of the throne. The next second that passed, the sound of rushing wind and the faint sound of whispers was heard before the darkness embedded within the throne exploded. A giant orb of darkness expanded outward, completely leveling the area, leaving nothing behind. It was as if it was a black hole that was created, for as soon as the darkness faded, there was no trace of the throne, and some of the floor and columns in the area had been gouged out. The material was gone without a trace.
Alistair stared in disbelief, his jaw had dropped and eyes were wide. He knew that this area would cause Leo's spells to be more powerful due to the ambient magic, but this exceeded his expectations.