Name: Icarus
True Name: -
Rank: Dreamer
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories: [Bone Pike]
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Fated], [Storyteller]
Inspired Myth: [Legend of Icarus]
Aspect: [Wings of Myth].
Aspect Rank: Ascended
Stories Collected: [49/1000]
Innate Ability: [Fabled Feathers]
Aspect Abilities: [Crystalline Feathers], [Flight]
Flaw: [Immortal Soul]
Memory: [Bone Pike]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description: [A pike made from the bones of a monster that was half man and half bull.]
Attribute: [Fated]
Attribute Description: [You are fated to a certain path. Current path: Legend of Icarus]
Attribute: [Storyteller]
Attribute Description: [Your memory is enhanced; however, you can only remember events in a romanticized form.]
Flaw: [Immortal Soul]
Flaw Description: [Once you perish, your soul wanders throughout the lands. You are cursed with immortal life but unable to have presence upon the land.]
Aspect: [Wings of Legends]
Aspect Description: [Your wings are the ones that pave way for the future. As you soar through time many legends will be born and perish all the same.]
Ability: [Crystalline Feathers]
Ability Description: [Your feathers are fragile but can record complete stories of a certain legend. Once a hero's story is finished, the feather that records their story turns black. Losing a feather means losing your memory of the event.]
Ability: [Flight]
Ability Description: [Once enough stories are collected, you are able to use your wings to fly.]
***
The sun soon began to rise, and with it, the world trembled once more, just like it did every dawn and dusk.
Icarus had a somber look on his face while watching the ocean retreat to wherever it was that it returned to. Behind him, a lone sleeper in disheveled armor struggled to climb the steps that led up to the tower Icarus had called his base.
The sleeper started to speak after catching his breath.
"Sir Icarus, Sir Daedalus has requested that you find him for a meeting."
Icarus looked pitifully at the sleeper but then rose from his spot on the tower and walked down the steps not even bothering to respond to him.
Daedalus' chamber held many drawings and maps of this god-forsaken land. In the middle of the room, sat a large table and on top of the table lay a map, drawn by Daedalus himself, depicting the regions that had been explored by past and current explorers.
With a slight cough to grab Daedalus' attention, Icarus spoke.
"Daedalus, what do you need of me."
Daedalus continued to study the map at the center table and without acknowledging Icarus he began to speak.
"The Dark City, as the locals call it, has been around for quite some time now. When the first batch of sleepers came to this place, it had been ruined beyond repair but that did not matter to them at all. The first cohort of sleepers to make it to the Dark City were in search of a gateway that led back to the waking world."
"Unfortunately, their search fell short, and the Dark City did not have a gateway to offer the cohort. With no other place to settle and the unimaginable horrors of the black sea rising and falling with the night, they decided to settle down in the ruined fortress and slowly gather the sleepers that were sent there to find the gateway."
"Eventually, they had built back up the castle and parts of the ruined city that lay below the castle. The leader of the first cohort, also known as the First Lord, felt the time was right to escape this Forgotten Shore."
"Then the First Lord and his cohort totaling seven sleepers in all, set out to find the gateway. However, they never returned."
[You have recorded a new Story: First Lord]
[Ability: Flight has been unlocked]
"Do you know why I told you all of that Icarus?"
"No, I don't."
"Well, I think I know where the gateway is, and I need you to help me get to it."
Icarus had expected him to find the location of the gateway sooner or later, but he did not expect it so soon.
"What makes you think that you found it? And what do you need me for?"
"Nearby there is a Spire, I'm sure you've seen it. I believe that spire is there for a reason. What do you think the reason for it could be?"
Icarus could follow the path that Daedalus was trying to point him to. He resigned and muttered under his breath.
"The Gateway"
Daedalus shot a smug look at Icarus.
"Bingo, the spire is going to be our ticket out of here."
"So, what does this have to do with me?"
"It's simple really, you are going to be my scout. It's time to put those wings to good use."
While Icarus did just unlock the ability to use his wings to fly, he felt that the mission he had been assigned was too risky for not only himself but also Daedalus.
Icarus and Daedalus had always had an awkward relationship. They knew each other well enough not to be acquaintances but were not exactly friends either. To put it bluntly, they were more like siblings who got into fights constantly.
"What makes you think that I won't use the gateway right away and leave you guys behind?"
Daedalus let out a hearty and lively laugh that was alien to his very nature. Icarus recoiled at the sight and Daedalus spoke once more.
"Oh, please Icarus, we both know if it was that simple, we wouldn't be stuck here like caged animals locked in a zoo, awaiting our deaths."
His voice held a hint of anger and resentment. What those emotions had been targeted at, Icarus did not know, but he also dares not pry into his "companion's" mind. It was a losing battle after all.
Honestly, Icarus had more to gain with this exchange than Daedalus did. Not only did he also wish to be free and soar through the skies with his newly acquired ability, he also wanted to escape this death zone.
Icarus folded his arms and leaned back against one of the walls, then he gave his response.
"All right, I will play your game Daedalus. When should I leave?"
"Soon, I must make sure you will have everything you need for the journey… I want to warn you about something first. Do not, by any means, fly too high or too low. We don't know what lies above the clouds, and we know even less about what lies underneath the sea. Be careful, you of all people know how important this is."
Icarus gave a slight nod and headed towards the tower he was basing at and got ready for his journey.
Icarus had always wanted to be free, and soon he was going to feel the first taste of it. There is no one with more freedom than the birds in the sky; they are free to soar through the skies and go wherever they want, whenever they want.
Truth be told, Icarus did not have a lot of belongings, so it wasn't very hard to pack for this journey. He had practiced flying around the base and had gotten a good grasp on how to fly. Of course, the spell had helped in the process of learning making it easier for him to understand.
Icarus found the gear and rations he needed and stuffed them all together into a rucksack bag – a storage memory Daedalus had given to him for his journey to the crimson spire. He walked outside of his tower that he had called his home and took off from the ground and started his journey west. As he did, the spell whispered into his ear…
[Your fate is starting to be realized]
***
The feeling of flight is liberating. The skies are a realm that can only be limited to the strong and powerful, the divine even. The sole exception to this law are birds who can be said to be messengers of the divine, each type having a different message to send out.
Humans are not divine, and they most certainly are not birds. Therefore, they are not allowed to fly in the sky. That is the law imposed by the divine.
However, Icarus had just broken that law; he had obtained true freedom. Flying through the divine domain gave him a feeling of ecstasy and bliss he could never have felt cooped up and trapped within the dark city.
He had followed Daedalus' warning for the most part. He had stayed below the clouds to hide from the unknown horrors above them, and high above the sea to make sure no unknown monster that resided in the deep could reach him.
Icarus thought that since no unknown horror had even tried to attack him, surely those unknown horrors did not exist. Thinking this, Icarus ignored his ally's warnings and rose through and above the clouds.
Above the clouds, the stars shined down on him as if noticing his existence. The stars, however, did not attack him, nor give any message or warning, they simply stayed where they had been. Icarus' face grew into a wide grin, and he shouted as loud as he could out of pure enjoyment and happiness as he soared through the starry night. Behind him however, the sun slowly rose into the sky casting the night and the dark sea below away. The stars themselves seemed to retreat further and higher as if to hide away from the sun.
The sun gave off a soft radiance on the world. The sun's radiance seemed to halt for just a moment as if noticing something was not right with the world. As it did, Icarus felt like someone was watching him, something ancient and divine.
Icarus's face fell, his grin disappearing as fast as it had appeared. His lips started to quiver and his body started to tremble as a fear so instinctual and primal grew from the depths of his soul.
A moment later, Icarus felt a pain more intense than anything that he had previously felt before. The pain did not come from a cut or a bruise, but rather from his soul itself. Through gritted teeth, Icarus looked up at the sun that seemed to glare down at him.
The sun started to shine with a more brilliant shade of white and then a smokey, burning smell permeated the air.
Icarus felt the fire before he could see it. A burning pain came from his back as he realized that his wings had started to burn and turn to ash. A moment later, a soft, yet sinister whisper spoke into his ear.
[The Story: Humble Beginnings has been destroyed]
[Ability: Flight is being deactivated]
[Your fate is about to be realized…]
If Icarus could be defined as an angel when he flew through the air, he was now a fallen star, that had been banished from the heavens and forced to fall back down to the mortal realm.
***
A soft whisper spoke into Daedalus' ear.
[Your fate has been realized…]
[You have been granted the Memory: Robes of Ecstasy]
Daedalus froze.
The question of what his purpose, or his fate was, had always been at the back of his mind.
Daedalus quickly summoned the runes and began to observe his new memory.
Memory: [Robes of Ecstasy]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Type: Armor
Memory Tier: I
Memory Description: [The skies have always been limited to birds and gods. A long time ago, in a forgotten land, a boy and his father transcended their mortal bodies and took the skies. The boy, filled with ecstasy, ignored his father's warnings and rose too high, making himself known to the gods. The gods, noticing this, forced the boy out of the sky. The boy and his father paid a hefty price for forcing their way into the god's domain. The boy lost his life, while the father lost his only light in a dark world.]
It was evident why he had gotten this memory. It was obvious even. He quickly checked the runes that described his attributes and sure enough, [Fated] was gone.
This was bad. Worse than bad even. The only person he knew who could fly was Icarus.
Icarus, the boy who was fate was intertwined with his own.
Daedalus had always worried about Icarus in the short time they knew each other.
In truth, Daedalus had figured out rather quickly the oddity that was their first nightmare. He had assumed it was the work of the [Fated] attribute that he was granted.
Maybe it was due to [Fated] that he even cared about the slightly taller and slightly better-looking boy that he had been stuck with. Due to these foreign emotions, he could not help but worry about Icarus.
Yes, this mission was important for their survival. Yes, he did not think that Icarus could be capable of such a task of this skill level and importance. Strangely, he still could not help but worry about what was to come. In fact, he knew it was too late.
***
A lone, flaming star fell from the heavens and plummeted down to the mortal realm. The star plunged deep into the ashy sand, creating a crater where the star had impacted with the land. The star is not a god. The star is not divine. The star does not belong in the domain of the birds and the gods.
The star burned silently under the eerie calmness of the ashen land. The star could feel pieces of himself fading away as his wings burned. This was the stars punishment for his trespass into the divine's domain…
[The Story: Labyrinth has been destroyed.]
[The Story: Half Man, Half Bull has been destroyed.]
[The Story…]
The star was unable to escape the silent sands' grasp. At the same time, the stars wings, that usually shone with dull radiance, burned. A slow, but effective burn.
[The Story: Engineers Regret has been destroyed.]
The star was doomed by his pursuit of his own personal freedom.
[The Story: Solitary Castle has been destroyed.]
The robotic, yet soothing whispers did nothing to quell the stars agony. The whispers only helped to fan the flame of the stars' regret. One by one, the stars' feathers burned to ash and were then added to the ashen sands collection.
[The Story: First Nightmare has been destroyed.]
[Number of recorded stories has reached zero.]
The star, filled with regret for his pursuit into the divines' domain, cried out in hope that anyone or anything would help to quell the divine flames.
However, no one came.
Eventually, the star had no more stories to burn, so in turn, the star began to burn. The star fell still, and the divine flames continued to burn, until there was no trace of the star. Thus was the star's punishment for his sin.
[…]
The angelic whispers did not stop whispering even though there was no one to hear them.
[Your fate has been realized…]
[You have been bestowed a true name: Star of the Fallen]
[Your flaw is beginning to awaken…]
[Your attribute is beginning to evolve…]
[Your existence has become fainter…]
The angelic voice continued, as it did, a familiar, yet distant voice spoke at the same time.
"All heroes need someone to pass on their stories."
[You have received a new Attribute: Ethereal]
"All storytellers need stories to pass on."
[Your nightmare is not yet over…]
"Stories cannot exist without a storyteller."
"A storyteller cannot exist without stories to share."
[Your Attribute: Fated is being altered…]
"Every story has its own purpose. "
[You have recorded many stories…]
"For example, this story was about a boy, who wished to be free."
[You have been granted a new fate…]
"The boy did not realize the price he had to lay for freedom."
[You are a wandering storyteller of the past, forced to watch the future.]
"The boy took advantage of the freedom he gained and in turn his freedom was taken away."
"This story holds the message of knowing your limits as a human and listening to advice others tell you. "
[Your nightmare is not yet over…]
"Remember: You must be wary when chasing your dreams as some dreams are too high to reach."
"This was my tale, my regrets, and my past."
"This was my legend."
[Wake up, Star of the Fallen!]
"The Legend of Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun."
***
Icarus groaned, attempting to rise, but his body was too numb to respond to his commands.
'What the hell?'
He tried to move his neck, but it was useless. Giving up, he instead focused on his surroundings.
A sea of bright yellow stars glimmered in the dark sky. They seemed close enough to touch, yet somehow distant at the same time.
Something was off about the stars, though—almost as if they flickered, dimming and brightening at random intervals.
'Interesting...'
Icarus fixed his gaze on one of the blinking stars, and, as if sensing his intent, it drew closer.
Inside the star was an image: a brown-haired man covered in ash, surrounded by vast mountains, with a large, burning castle nestled in the valley below. The man knelt, and… laughed.
Though Icarus couldn't hear the sound, the silent yet manic laughter stirred a deep, instinctual fear within him.
Quickly, he turned his focus away from the star, using his peripheral vision to watch as it retreated into the distance, eventually the image blurred and returned to its blinking state.
'That was… concerning…'
Icarus turned his attention to another star. Like the first, it moved toward him, the image within becoming clearer.
In this second star, a group of roughly twelve blocky figures—if they could even be called humans—were gathered inside a black stone tower, surrounded by black stone walls. The figures were mining stone, though it looked more like blocks than actual stone. Everything in the image was angular—no circles to be seen.
'It's as if each star holds a different world…'
Icarus shifted his focus to a third star. He had to test his theory. Could each star truly represent a different world? And if so, where was his?
The third star became clear much faster than the others. The image revealed a ruined city, enclosed by an ancient, impenetrable wall that separated it from a sea of ash.
Icarus's eyes widened as he recognized the outline of the castle he once called home, now faint within the star. He tried to command his body to move, to reach for the star, but it was no use—his body remained unresponsive. But the star responded to his will.
Icarus willed it to come closer, and slowly, it did. As it neared his comatose form, his vision was consumed by a blinding light. Without warning, he was falling, plunging toward the dark city. He attempted to summon his wings to fly, but there was nothing—no wings, no stories left. He fell faster and faster.
When he hit the ground, there was no impact, no dust, no cracks in the stone.
Icarus rose to his feet, only to find himself… transparent. And golden.
He tried to summon his runes, and to his surprise, they appeared.
Name: Icarus
True Name: Star of the Fallen
Rank: Awakened
Soul Core: Beast
Memories: -
Echoes: -
Attributes: [Fated], [Storyteller], [Ethereal], [Brush of Divinity]
Aspect: [Wings of Myth]
Aspect Rank: Ascended
Stories Collected: [0/1000]
Innate Ability: [Fabled Feathers]
Aspect Abilities: [Crystalline Feathers], [Flight], [Star Stream]
Flaw: [Immortal Soul], [Curious Soul]
As a result of his death and "rebirth"—if you could even call it that—he had gained two new attributes, become Awakened, and acquired a True Name, along with a new flaw.
Icarus studied the runes detailing his attributes, abilities, and flaws.
Attribute: [Ethereal]
Attribute Description: [You have no presence in the world, unable to make direct contact with your surroundings.]
Attribute: [Brush of Divinity]
Attribute Description: [A divine being gave you notice for a short time, brushing you with a very minuscule trace of divinity.]
Aspect Ability: [Star Stream]
Ability Description: [Stories gained and then destroyed are recorded in the stars above.]
Flaw: [Curious Soul]
Flaw Description: [You are a prisoner to your own curiosity. You seek to know everything, and your actions will be driven by this insatiable need.]
It was a lot to absorb, to say the least. His unnatural awakening had brought with it both unexpected advantages and drawbacks.
'Two flaws… but isn't the wording for [Star Stream] a bit odd? It doesn't specify that only the stories I record are saved…'
His new flaw was already taking effect, and before long, his curiosity got the better of him. Icarus entered his soul sea, eager to investigate further.
His soul sea had once been a serene expanse of bright blue skies and pristine white waters. But now, it was a sea of stars, suspended in a vast night sky. It resembled the previous realm, but Icarus knew it wasn't the same. He tried to call one of the stars closer, but it ignored his will, remaining where it was.
'Fine. I didn't want to see you anyway…'
With a huff, Icarus left his soul sea and looked around. His surroundings were familiar, yet aged. It was as though he had traveled hundreds, maybe thousands of years into the future. Unexplainably, the shadows around him grew darker and deeper.
A boy, no older than twelve, appeared from the depths of the shadows. Disheveled and covered in dried blood, he carried a sack filled with what looked like soul shards.
Icarus's curiosity flared once again. He followed the boy as he moved carefully through the shadows, avoiding any monsters he didn't need to fight. The boy made his way to a church and climbed atop its roof, moving a section of the tiles before jumping down.
Naturally, Icarus followed.