Echocalypse: Scarlet Covenant story · Themed biography
Dark Truth
The Ice Nest plan failed due to Anna's absence, but for this world, the end is inevitable, and all processes are just part of destiny.
8 scenes, 99 lines
1. Borderland
8 linesDon River Valley. The abandoned mining site blanketed in first snow.
The raven flies across the snowy plain, its feathers melting the moment they touch the ground. The silver wind howls, carrying the scent of frozen iron and decay.
Anna stands alone in the snow, the wind lifting her cloak, but she just silently gazes at the distant snowcapped mountains.
It's... so cold here.
Reminds me of that old movie I once watched.
In the snow, someone pointed a gun at their closest person, and then... lowered it.
They died in each other's arms amidst the white.
What a pity, the endings in movies are always too merciful.
2. Evil Soil
9 linesThe wail of sirens rises and falls in the wind and snow. A squad of Bifrost patrol soldiers appears on a distant ridge.
Halt, you there! You don't have a pass. Identify yourself now!
...I thought you were here to welcome me.
The next second, the chains break through the snow, and six soldiers are instantly bound to the ground, blood spilling from their mouths and noses as they collapse, unconscious.
Let me see what's your mission...
Anna bends down and retrieves a crystal detector from a soldier's coat. The energy curve on the screen flickers erratically.
An abnormal echo concentration... and abnormal surface temperature... even the magnetic field is fluctuating.
Feels like someone's breath has disturbed this place.
The Sacrifice must be near.
3. Raven's Eye
10 linesAnna walks into the abandoned mine, chains slithering like snakes, clearing away the snow and dust for her.
Those who work here drag their bodies tormented by Crystal Syndrome, laboring just to live one more day.
Hugin... is ready.
She slowly removes her blindfold, revealing a heterochromatic eye faintly glowing with obsidian light.
I will end this world as it is.
The obsidian eye spirals open, countless thoughts, fears, and desires flowing into her mind like streams of light.
Suddenly, a figure appears in her sight...
This child is...?
She sees a girl in a tattered cotton coat, holding an old plush toy, leaning against a pile of furnace ash of the mine, wrapping the leftover lunch with a piece of cloth.
Her eyes reflect indescribable shadows and light.
4. Sacrifice
9 linesAnna's breathing becomes rapid. In her eye flickers memories not belong to this era.
She sees an underwater city, giant sandworms, mechanical deities... and the millennia-old civilization devoured by the Ancient One.
The whispers of countless departed souls roared in her ears, their echoing consciousness surrounding her like a tide.
She suddenly staggers back and her obsidian eye begins to bleed.
No... Stop! Stop! Ahhhhh, !
With her mental threshold collapsing, Anna falls into the slag like a puppet with its strings cut.
What she sees in that fleeting glance surpasses every story she's ever imagined, ever lived.
5. Contact
11 lines...Faint footsteps crunch on the coal slag.
...Are you... okay?
Fear suddenly crawls up Anna's spine. She wants to cover her obsidian eye, only to find her face covered in blood.
No, don't...
The girl helps her up, her sleeve stained with blood of Anna, yet she doesn't let go.
Who... are you?
My name is Rayna. You're bleeding a lot... My house is not far from here, and my brother has some bandages. Let me take you there...
Anna leans weakly against the girl, only to realize that her power no longer works.
This peace is like snow, buried for a thousand years, melting into a single tear.
6. Shelter
10 linesThat night, a Bifrost patrol squad suddenly storms the mining area.
Someone has seen an unidentified Case intruding here! All units, line up for identity screening!
Anna hides in Rayna's shack, dried blood still clinging to her skin.
(Whispering) Don't move. I've evaded them before. Follow me, and don't make a sound...
She lifts a loose floorboard and curls up with Anna beneath it, muffling the wind and snow with an old cotton blanket.
My brother made this hiding place for me. Good thing we're both skinny... He'd never fit.
...No one's going to find us here. You can rest assured.
Aren't you going to ask who I am? What if... I'm very dangerous?
Hmm, not asking. I guess right now... you really need to be trusted, don't you?
Anna stays silent for a while. Then, for the first time, she closes her eyes in front of someone else.
7. Plan
29 linesWhen Anna wakes up, Rayna has left. She climbs out of the hiding spot and finds breakfast and a note left on the table.
Wait for me, Anna! I'm heading to the mines to trade for some food!
Anna leaves without a word and returns to Gangleri's tent.
Hey, you're hurt! Let me heal you...
A raven perched inside the tent suddenly speaks in a human voice.
Anna, why couldn't I reach you yesterday?
Lady Solomon!
It seems the Sacrifice's power far exceeds what we expected.
Forgive my incompetence. These wounds are the price I paid for glimpsing the Ancient One.
Oh, Anna... you were hurt for my sake.
The Sacrifice, what kind of person... is she?
Her name is Rayna. She's... a gentle girl.
Gentle? That's the first time I've heard you describe someone that way.
Even with your obsidian eye, she appears gentle?
My obsidian eye failed to work after I met Rayna. But she cared for me... and saved me.
The ability to absorb Echo... that confirms she is the Ancient One incarnate.
You've fulfilled your mission, Anna. Leave the rest to the other priestesses.
You seem to care about her a lot...
But she is the chosen one. Before the Ancient One descends, I will ensure she lives in happiness, accepting the offerings of Rasparta.
So... what happens after the Ancient One arrives?
To be honest, I don't know what will happen... But when that day comes, we will all become part of the Ancient One.
Like withered flowers returning to the origin after the dream of spring.
And Rayna, the first lucky one... perhaps in the world reborn, her will shall drift on the wind.
You've never mentioned these things before.
Three thousand years of waiting... I've forgotten many things.
8. Curtain
13 linesWeeks later, at the Rasparta Sanctuary.
The Ice Nest plan failed due to my absence. I take full responsibility.
Lady Solomon, please punish me.
No, Anna. You've fulfilled your duty.
But... I'm the leader. How can you convince others if you don't punish me?
Especially when Rayna is so important to us...
It's alright. The fact that the Sacrifice unleashed such overwhelming power when threatened... it excites me.
Now, the Sacrifice has sealed herself within the crystal. We can't reach her, neither the people of Bifrost.
Keep a close watch on Bifrost. For now, we wait, until the day of the end comes.
As you command, Lady Solomon... You sound very pleased.
Do I? Is it that obvious?
Take care and recover well, Anna.
You have to stay with me to witness the end of this story.