－ㅤintroductions

Dear Cyno,

Greetings. I hope you are doing well... I know it has been quite some time since I've been around and I've written, but I'm not sure where I've wandered off to now. I think I took a wrong turn somewhere and need you to come find me?

All I remember is finding a strange cave in the middle of Gandharva Ville that I've never seen before. I planned to tell the other Forest Rangers about it once I got back, but... as soon as I entered, there was no "back" to return to. Only forward.

I wandered through that cave for what felt like days before finding the exit. And when I did, I saw this sign with strange letters on it. Underneath those strange letters, I could make out the words "Aetherion" so I'm guessing that's where I am now after wandering a bit more into this world. I'm not sure if this letter will find its way to you or if you'll ever find your way to me, but on the off chance that you do, I'll be happy to show you around.

From the land of mystery,
Tighnari.

"Reverend, Mikhail Dohaverion, the highest priest of the temple of Alteon."

Joshua, a high ranking priest, dedicated to Mikhail dohaverion, announced the coming of the temple's priestㅡ the next in line, their pope to be.
His voice resonated across the enormous halls as light began to shine through the tiny crevices in the temple's gate as it was slowly being opened.
The temple's servants, as well as priests of various ranks, stood in like on both sides, bowing concomitantly as their eyes fell on a man dressed in an immaculate white vestment with black and gold accents. The gold crest around his neck, a symbol of heirarchy, was meticulously embroidered with fine detailing.

Mikhail Dohaverion.
There was a rumor that everyone know, that the next pope, had a cold disposition. There was not a single person who was unaware of the tremendous divine power he possessed.
On the outside, Doha had a good smile and a charming impression, but there was a big difference towards the people he is interested in, and those he wasn't. He never gave a single glance to the latter.

The high priest kept walking, showing no desire in interacting with the others. His lengthy silver hair swayed with each stride he took. His eyes, yellow and as bright as the sun, looking straight ahead, unconcerned about those who remained bowing. The corridors were almost completely silent. The clicking on his heels against the tiled floor were the ones making sounds.
He continued on, halting only at the black door of the temple's largest room. The priest lets out a quiet sigh, bracing for the turmoil that awaits him just inside the door. After a series of calming himself, rolling his eyes, and shaking his headㅡ he pushed the door open, revealing more people sitting at a long rectangular glass table, talking in tandem, creating full commotion that only came to a stop when they all heard the creaking sound of the front door opening.

"Sir Mikhail... You're here.."
Doha could only nod as he made his way to his chair. The people who had previously been silent resumed to their bickering. The priest's brows furrowed, but instantly returned to normal as he began to speak. His lips made a lovely grin, tho clearly a fake.

"What is it that you need to understand?"
His way appeared to work at the beginning. One asks, Doha responds, and the cycle continues.
Everything was going perfectly well... until just after an hour or so..
The priest was in silence; everyone else was ranting about nonsense. Fighting over something that makes no sense. How many times has he discussed everything in great detail...
There are no skips, no missing information.
But is it really so difficult for them to understand..
Are they really the people he has to work with..
As the argument came into an even greater and louder pandemonium, Doha felt his head begin to throb, he could hear loud banging inside his mind, as if his head is about to explode. His heart begins to gallop faster, and his breathing deepens. He closed his golden eyes and pulled his brows together.
Standing up, slamming both his palms against the glass table, and shouted.

"SILENCE!"

.
.
.
.
.

Doha's face relaxes.
Everything was noise free. Did they finally realize how loud they are and decided to shut their mouth up.
He lets out a sigh of relief, about to open his eyes and thank the others for finally being quiet when suddenly... there was a tweet.. a sound of a bird? There shouldn't be any animals in this roomㅡ aside from his colleagues.
Doha pondered in his mind. And as he opens his eyes, his heart drops.
He has been teleported to the middle of a forest. No wonder everything fell silent. He scoffs, crossing his arms as he reflects on how he should have foreseen this. There was no way those other priests would suddenly calm down. He lets out another scoff, his gaze roving about the unfamiliar environment.
Why was he suddenly transported here?
He was not aware and did not get informed about this? How can someone just leave him in an unknown place without notifying him? And, where exactly is he? It's mid morning. Didn't it just turned night time?
He attempted to teleport back but to no avail.
Questions filled his mind as he moved slowly and deliberately, straight and on course.
After a few minutes of exhausting travel, he found something. A wooden sign.
AETHERION
Doha has never heard of such a place, and he knows everything there is to knows. But whatever is happening to him, questions his knowledge and his control. Something he never liked.

[post deleted by owner]

Dear Pantalone,

It is with the utmost inconvenience that I find myself scribbling these words down. Not for anyone else, but myself. Or rather, yourself? Let's not fret about such trivialities. I'm sure by now, unless some great misfortune has befallen you, that you would have somewhat familiarized yourself with this drastically different world. I believe this land is called Aetherion. I've heard the name been thrown around, can't say I'm the biggest fan of it. Remind yourself to change it once we thoroughly up all the riches this land has to offer.

Even in this strange land, our purpose remains unchanged. I implore you to embrace this absurdity, for you, and I, know better, wealth and good fortune awaits those that dare to venture into the unknown. And I fear, we simply can't get any more unknown than this. Adapt, manipulate, conquer – that's our mantra, is it not? If there's one thing you excel at, we excel it, it's finding a way to turn chaos into cold, hard profit. This land is ours for the taking. We only need to, start. Ugh, if only we had some man power to make use of. In moments like this, I even miss the never-ending chatters of that mad doctor. Never mind, I lied. I can do without that maniac. Anyway, I think I've rambled on enough. As they say, time is money, and right now, I don't have enough to spend it by wasting time on my own self. Until next time, keep those pockets deep and those ambitions even deeper.

Let your greed be your compass,
Pantalone.

"We're not gonna make it!"

It was the last thing Xiao remembered hearing from a now distorted voice. Amidst the heavy and rampant waves crashing against their little boat are waves of panic. What was supposed to be a simple and relaxing fishing trip with the Traveler had turned to a sudden, violent storm. Traveler was working with Beidou, trying desperately to navigate them back to shore but with all the rain, thunder, lightning, and chaotic waves, he couldn't even begin to tell where that was.

Holding on to the railing for dear life, Xiao tried not to lose his footing and stay as balanced as one could given the situation, but the next thing he knew, their boat was turning over on its side. Next thing he knew they were in the water being thrown side to side by waves. Next thing he knew, Traveler was gone... and so was he.

Drip.

He just remembers floating, drifting in a stilling sea with nothing and no one around him. It was dark. Cold and wet as you can imagine. So he closes his eyes... And he just lies there.

Drip.

Small blips of memories come washing in with a gentle tide that bounces his body. Faces that feel familiar, voices and situations he knows he's seen, sensations that come along with this deja vu.

Drip.

He couldn't really hear it at first, but coming in was a strong torrent, a flood of everything he once knew. In came violent waves that crashed into each other and threw his body to and fro wherever I was situated. He was completely engulfed in these images, his memories, and completely surrounded by water. Taken by the presence of life.

Drip.

.
.
.

His eyes shoot open again, and he springs forward, in a large gasp and keeling over to cough out water. When some of his senses come back in, he can feel the presence of two other people at either of his sides supporting him in what appears to be a shallow pool. It's distorted and muffled at first, but he can hear them speaking in a language he can't seem to understand. And as his vision begins to clear and fade in, he finally lays eyes on his surroundings: strange symbols on the walls, people with strange clothing on and looking at him with unnervingly gentle smiles as they help him up in the pool, a mage-like person who stands over them and watches as he comes to. What was going on? Where was everyone else? Where was he? So many questions spiraled in his mind at that moment and he was starting to panic. And before Xiao can weakly croak out any of them, the mage-person's staff lights up and everything goes dark again. He can feel his body growing weaker. Before he fades out of consciousness, he hears the mage finally speak. "Welcome to Horizon, Conqueror of Demons... We shall give you the answers you seek after you rest."

(TW: unprompted violence and subtle mention of blood)

It all happened so fast; after being dropped off at another- and most importantly safer- area in Spain per his request, Luis decidedly wandered into a Spanish street market. He had hoped to charm his way into being exchanged some bread at the very least for needed nourishment. Instead, however, he was unexpectedly met with a slightly taller, visibly muscular blonde stranger in combat clothes who wore a firm face that only meant business standing behind him. Their presence didn’t catch the Spaniard off guard nor when he was asked to confirm his identity to which he replied with a questioning “ Who wants to know? “. What did catch him was the other male’s single worded response followed by a surprise of a dagger through his abdomen.

“ Saddler. “

So, the ugly bastard equipped himself with a right hand man. If their assignment was to play an old fashioned game of cat and mouse then it was needless to say who won. The surrounding civilians were too distracted by the situation that took place just then for them to have seen the direction that the assassin hightailed out from. But as the injured biologist coughed up crimson in between pained groans and buckled under the agony of his clutched infliction, he began to lose sight overall. That, and his other senses as the panicked screams around him started to fade out.

So, this is how it ends. Live a ty life and be dealt a just as ty impromptu closure. All at twenty-eight years old. It’s not as if he had much going for him anyway, but nowhere did he predict an early demise; he saw this as consequence for his decisions trailing all the way back to when he naively worked for Umbrella, even moreso when he succumbed to the cult’s passion for that wretched parasite. He was a fool, a goddamn fool. Why was he even brought into this wicked world if all it had for him was misfortune? He could only wish to start over, if not be given another chance to better things for himself. Unfortunately for Luis, such a wish would never be granted.

The presumably slain Spaniard initially comes back into consciousness via a blinding white light. By chance was he entering the station of purgatory to await his trip to whichever end of the afterlife he was destined for? It confused him to see that purgatory was colorful and lively and almost…technologically futuristic as the vast place bustled with various distinct characters. That was the only way he could describe these folk, as characters. This isn’t what he imagined, and certainly not where he expected to be in death. Was he even dead? He lifted up the hem of his clothes to observe the weirdly non-existent scar that should’ve formed on his skin.

Where the hell was he?

He supposed this new territory appeared safe enough. It definitely opened a wide door for exploration, but until then Luis slowly rose onto his feet to better scan the scenery; in the process spying a sign that read ‘ Aetherion ‘. An interesting name, truly. Whatever this place was, it left Luis knowing one thing and one thing only: this wasn’t a game over, but a new beginning.