Terminus: Champion Ascension III

[18:39] The prayers continued, as they always had...
The clergymen of Terminus mumbled their incantations, far from boisterous enough to draw the attention of any beyond the threshold of the door.
The Maledictus meditated by the head of the pit, blocking the staircase into the ebonic substance with his body.

The footsteps of the president were oddly less announced compared to how the songstress carried themselves in the past. Typically, their song would alert the congregation long before she appeared -- alas, she was noticed, and the Maledictus rose in respect.

''Madam President, an honor to have you in attendance!''A swivel in their posture to face her outright and a slight bow in reverence.
''I presume you wish to commune with our dear Patron?''A slight sidestep revealed the pit... Where, somewhere in the ebonic substance -- the shell of Terminus was well submerged, beyond the visual gaze.
(Etheric Presence)
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[18:55] Slowly the young president would enter the room, quiet and lost in thought. By pure instinct guiding her alone now found herself atop the spire, right before the pooling opaque liquid.

'madam president'

She snaps out of her daydream with an expression of bewilderment written across her face. How did she get here? Why did she come here? The answer felt so familiar and yet so foreign.

"Huh? Oh. Uhhh…. yes, yes I have!" She'd chirp with false confidence.

Lately doubts of her ability plagued her mind, a flaw that prevented her from being any use in every dangerous encounter that had presented itself to her thus far. A severe lacking in agility. These thoughts had the young woman in the trance she had just snapped out of. Perhaps this was the clue as what could have brought her before the patron's abode.

With a shrug, her legs would begin to slide and allowing her form to gracefully slip into a cross-legged position. From here her back would begin to lurch forward, palms outreached to catch her in a bow.

"My dear patron... Please grant me a wisdom. I fear I am too inadequate in the face of danger to truly be of use to my companions. I always seem to fall short, success just out of reach because I simply couldn't react fast enough. ACT fast enough. What can I do to improve my natural ability?"

Her head would not move the entire time she spoke, eyes parallel to the floor as flowing twin tails bundled themselves upon it.
(Melia Hajrudin)
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[19:17] The Maledictus looked on in silence, allowing the president to speak out to the Patron submerged within this mysterious substance. Even before she had spoke, her thoughts proved unguarded to some degree. Her intention, her desire -- it was read by the faceless presence that radiated from the pit, idling to hear her voice them to the world abroad.

Into meditation they sunk, and the request was officially spoken aloud.
There was no question as to what she wanted; though, it could've been asked...
How was a supposed 'dead god' expected to provide any form of aide?

To her question, came nothing but silence...
Silence, that if allowed to creep in? Enabled her to tap into the psionic tendrils stretching out for her -- invisible to the naked eye, vaguely brushing at her mind.

No clear nor discernable words managed to make themselves out to her...
But the temptation beyond rhetoric managed to take form:
A thought? Nay, a suggestion...
To step into the ebonic substance -- To wade into the onyx pool.

Perhaps, there were subtle whispers that cooed out... As if borne of the stygian domain.
Perhaps, the clergymen that lined the sides of the pool were chanting, and barely being recognized by Melia as she sat still...

''Do you feel it, Madam President?''The Maledictus spoke out to her:''It is Him, calling out to you... A summon that begets ascension!''

The whispers were confirmed, not a meager construct of her mind -- but that of the otherworldly. The question was... Would Melia dare to step into the unknown depths of such an enigmatic fluid borne from the husk of Terminus?
(Etheric Presence)
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[19:35] Rising to her feet she stands motionless for a moment before a subtle sway starts to pull her forward. Slowly her limbs would slip forward, descending the small set of steps that led to the basic of the shadowy fluid. A foot's tip crests upon it's boundary, finally towing the line before slowly stepping into it.

The swaying motion continues, carrying her further in step by step until she had reached the center of the basin. The patron's pull had been felt by her whole being, with no urge to resist. Just a mild uncertainty that had quickly dissipated recalling her last encounter with the substance.

Motionless she would stand, eyes adrift into the abyss that lay before her. Waiting.

Here she would simply allow herself to be swept up by the patron's will, no resistance, no defiance but simply acceptance of her fate. Her mind cleared of distractions, only an echo chamber left to be filled by the voice of her deity.
(Melia Hajrudin)
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[20:05] Into the X-fluid she would wander... And soon? They would find how deep the depths truly went. After all, the husk of Terminus was underneath this body of fluid, leaving them to drift the aquatic element. Opening one's eyes beneath the threshold would reveal the subtle emanation of sapphire along the bottom of the pit.

Closer inspection would leave the foggy visuals to be refined to the wandering eyes... An auditory hum murmured along the undertow, rattling with bass that'd increment for baritone. With every pulsation it sounded off, the glow of sapphire further traversed the length of the pit's bottom, soon highlighting the silhouette of... An arm!
Terminus' branding arm, with artificial circuitry grafted along the exterior of the appendage slowly ignited with his mana. The digits within the lax palm flexed slightly, drawing a telekinetic pull upon the Hajrudin, suggesting they descend yet deeper into the shadowy depths.
The Patron was being starved...
Mana was used as subsistence.

Where a tingling sensation would tickle at the surface of the skin, an etheric influence sought to impart duplicates of Melia's image -- splitting a multitude of alpha-colored variants from her physicality to hardly escape the mesh of her general position in the space she inhabited. To glance left, or right, would mean to gaze unto several more that repeated the gesture -- however limited the quantity proved to be.

As if vision were disorientated by hallucinogens with every subtle movement so too was the experience to be exhibited by the President of Antefinem here.

It was as though the air was being extracted from one's lungs, muscles forced to contract and warmth wicked away. It was subtle, weak even... But mana was being siphoned through the very extremities of her body. Mana Nexuses from both arms and legs were used akin to a straw to drain them of their immediate reserves.

Naturally, one would hone their focus upon the chestal region of their subjects... But the request was clear and direct.

Melia wished for Wisdom. The perception that came with it. The haste to prevent one from slowing down their compatriots.
The answer couldn't be more clear:The Eye Nexus
More specifically, for the cognitive functions it'd manage.

By now, the gargantuan hand would slowly curl around the entirety of Melia, brand closing in upon her visage. The tingling that resonated across her body was now concentrated at her forehead, rattling at the mind both physically and mentally -- as runic inscriptions were psionically imparted past the flesh, for the skull beneath.

Telekinetic fluxations imposed upon her body would force her to gasp for air by stretching and squeezing at the diaphragm -- to swallow, choke, and drown within the ebonic substance...
It was not merely X-fluid,that much was obvious by now.
This, was blood... The Blood of Terminus.
Melia, was being baptized.

It was as if the skin was being unraveled...
Burned, yet left unscathed save for its color being robbed.
Their circuitry was invaded... Pierced althroughout and slowly disintegrated by the powers of the Patron. However, rather then seeing them unmade? They were slowly rebuilt amongst the biomaterial that engulfed them.

Esoteric Magic was in-use, rejuvenating them throughout the process...
Where their circuitry and flesh was mildly degenerated prior? It was rewound via supernatural healing factor -- courtesy of the degenerative tradeoff upon the caster. Due to their magus anatomy -- it was unlikely such damages would last long.

With such a process enacted... The runic inscription carved beneath the skin took a subtle shine, humming a dull glow upon her head. Perhaps, it'd be around such a time, that the previously gifted flesh of Terminus would offer a soothing dull to better detract from the anguish that such a experience would provide.

Presuming she hadn't the strength to swim back up to the surface... A telekinetic force would slowly send her adrift, where she'd be waded back to the steps...

From there, it was between her own Willpower, and the nonmagus clergymen to ensure her recovery.

(Terminus)
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[20:06] {Item} You drop Agility X x38.
[20:38] Sinking further and further into the dark ichor, her mind began to fractal, the desire to open her eyes growing and without even considering the possibilities... they would. Spectral imagery distorted her vision like an off-colour kaleidoscope everywhere she looked projections of herself spiraled out of control.

A pull. A familiar tug upon her mana that she would not resist, allowing the patron to pull as much of her reserves as they wished. As a cosmic magi, her yield of mana was extraordinary and one that she had already stress tested with Mehrune a week prior; a whole separate ordeal but not unrelated.

She could feel the siphoning effect as she listlessly hallucinated throughout the fluid, growing more and more numb to all the unpleasant sensations she had been experiencing in the moment. It was almost a familiar feeling, a drug trip induced by altered flow of mana. If she wasn't careful, this feeling could get... addictive. Growing a nostalgia for it's embrace even while submerged in the effects.

A spectral hand now encasing her form, accompanied by an growing pressure on her third eye; all the numbness she had begun to feel only amplified the focused pressure, eyes wincing in response.

Then... a tightness would be felt, the air in her lungs had run out and she could no longer support herself under the sanguine abyss. Muscles twitching in response, attempting reflexively to struggle free and find air. The disorientation made it hard to tell which way was up, adding to the madness. No longer able to fight it any longer, she goes to inhale only to be met with a viscous ooze that sank into her core. She had experienced this once before and knew there was only one thing should could do at this point.

Trust.

Trust that her patron would not cause her unjust harm, to keep her safe. Wallowing in the pain and despair was part of the process. She knew this. Was intimately familiar with it. To gain is to suffer.

Giving into the event was all she could do, and thus she would do it. Invasion of foreign mana flooded her system. Tearing it apart, and building it back anew. The pain of the reassembly was the final push to cause her consciousness to begin to slip, the numbing of her nerves only dampening the damage and un-damage inflicted upon her.

It had finally ended, her form being psionically pushed out of the x-fluid and onto the cobbled floor. Delivered safely from harm as she had trusted. A large gasp for air proceeded after a deafening silence from her form. Coughing and gasping for air until her body began to stabilize and begin to take itself out of high alert.

Once she had the strength to stand, she'd stagger to her feet and with a deep breath begin to shake off the sluggishness that plagued her. Standing tall once more, her eyes would close. A self diagnostic being done. Her joints and ligaments feeling... more responsive. The lag-time between thought andaction feeling... shorter. She immediately understood what gift she had been bestowed with, and begin to bow; arm swinging up to cradle her abdomen as she leaned forward.

"Thank you for this blessing. Usque Terminus."

A gratitude imparted as she realigned to a vertical position.
(Melia Hajrudin)
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