Echocalypse: Scarlet Covenant story · Themed biography
Crystal
Anna, chief priestess of Rasparta, is a key pawn placed by the leader to carry out their will. Now, Rayna, who has become the vessel of the ancient gods, has also entrusted her final wish to Anna...
8 scenes, 90 lines
1. Crow's Cry
15 linesRasparta Sanctuary. Beneath the everlasting candlelight, Anna sits by the window, spinning a reel of old film in her hand.
Snow falls outside. But her world has long been void of seasons. Only order and command remain.
Watching that reel again...?
Yes, this was the place I dreamed of most as a child, the cinema.
In television, people would cry over a story, and cheer for someone on screen. And I thought, maybe, just maybe, if I were one among them, I could feel... a little more alive.
But I could not go to the cinema. The ember haze of Echo Crystals filled the view from the window. And everyone in the family who left always lied to us, asking us to wait for good news...
Then they never came back.
I wonder what they were thinking before they left.
The fire crackles softly. Gangleri sits beside her, injecting her with a suppressant.
Everyone admires your courage to ascend the throne...
But I know, what you really want is a world without lies.
Indeed, people's inner world is as fascinating as a movie, full of twists and contradictions. But what they lack is...
Have you always been this lonely, sis?
At least, I've secured the right for you to live freely.
Lady Solomon says the ending will come. I wasn't born to live. I was born for that mission.
2. Authority
6 linesI remember in the movies I watched, the lovers would risk their lives for a kiss.
And I thought... if I were in their place, what would I choose?
Would you... also try, to love someone?
I can read the motives of everyone around me. But to like someone... How do you fall for a blank page?
Still, Lady Solomon once told me, that one day, I'd meet someone I wouldn't need to read.
She asked me to find the [Awakener], the one lost within the Ancient One.
3. Reminiscence
15 linesA few days later, Anna receives a direct order from Lady Solomon.
The Sacrifice remains frozen within that crystal. Her soul may already be slowly eroding.
The people of Teslovik have been studying her. Their efforts will amount to nothing, but just in case, I need you to return to the Valley.
Rayna... I will visit her often.
Your obsidian eye is the only key that can penetrate into her consciousness.
Lady Solomon, I'm not sure it will work. Last time, after all, the deity punished me harshly.
Don't be afraid, Anna. Everyone dies eventually, but this is your unique mission.
...And Anna, this is also my personal request.
Lady Solomon!
You must try to enter that domain, and find that person for me.
The [Awakener], right?
He once led me out of the ruins and across the wasteland... Anna, I've waited three thousand years for him.
What if... he no longer remembers you?
No, Anna. He will.
That was the last scene before the end of the world... Even if another cycle passes, I won't forget him, and so won't he.
4. Forbidden Zone
5 linesSnow falls again over the Don River Valley.
Anna slips past the sparse patrol lines with ease, no chains used, no casualties left behind.
Weird... the ravens have returned again...
Anna destroys the surveillances along the way and moves through the abandoned mine tunnels, walking alone in the dark.
Rayna... are you okay?
5. Tower
5 linesA massive red crystal lies dormant in the center of the pit, pulsating faintly like a heart.
Within it, the girl sleeps in silence, as if she is having a dream that she refuses to wake up from.
I'm here, carrying the hopes of others, and my own wish as well.
Anna reaches out. The obsidian eye activates the moment she opens it, and her consciousness begins to seep into the depths of the crystal.
Don't reject me, please...
6. Princess
16 linesIn the sea of consciousness, pure white. Snowflakes fall in silence, as if memories themselves are slowly peeling away.
Deep in the crystal, Rayna sleeps in silence, with only a faint glimmer of longing flickering in her heart.
...Miss Anna?
Yes, it's me.
This time, I'm not here to monitor you, nor to deliver orders.
I'm here to talk to you. I mean, really 'talk'.
...You seem, a little different.
A lot has happened. Rasparta, Teslovik, the Valley and your brother...
My brother...
If you'd like, I can tell you everything.
...Please do. When I'm awake, only those stories remind me I still exist.
Anna sits before the crystal, her fingertips touching the glowing barrier.
She returns here again and again to tell the sleeping girl the stories she has missed.
...So you see, your existence changed the fate of so many.
Really? But I was just... trying to survive, with my brother. That's all.
That's already quite impressive.
7. Wish
17 linesDuring one of their encounters, the storm in the sea of consciousness briefly subsides. Rayna seems more lucid than before. She opens her eyes and looks at Anna bathed in the snowlight.
Miss Anna.
I'm here.
I... I know I don't have much time left. Sometimes my mind just breaks. Sometimes, I can barely remember who I am...
But you still remember him, right?
Yes, I remember my brother.
But I'm about to... I can hardly recall his voice.
If... if it's possible... could I... see him once again?
Her voice is weak, yet more resolute than ever before.
...Rayna.
You know, I don't make promises lightly.
But this time, I promise you, you will see him.
Not as a priestess, not as part of the mission...
But as a person who was saved by you.
She reaches out her hand, gently touching the crystal. A faint light slowly overflows from her fingertips, like the ripples of souls intertwining.
Who wouldn't want to see the one they love once more? You. Lady Solomon. All of us.
Even if it's a brief moment... Let it be your choice, the last memory you hold on to.
8. Awaken
11 linesThe Teslovik Patrol Squad advances into the western edge of the Don River Valley.
The signal's heavily jammed. We have to take samples manually. Eriri, stay focused.
Ah, it's so cold and I'm sleepy. I wanna go home...
Didn't you just have coffee? Pull yourself together.
Anna puts on a white cloak and stood atop a hill, watching the figure walking out of the snow.
So that's Rayna's brother? This feeling...
Her obsidian eye pierces through the snowflakes, seeing something unexpected: the very purpose her eye was created for.
This is impossible, he is clearly an ordinary person... Yet he's got a heart that can ignite fate.
The wind keeps blowing. Anna stands in the distance, not stepping forward.