Pneuma

Prologue: Altered Soul

It was raining.

In this place of sideways dimensions, endless horizontal panes of steel and glass, lay a world drowning. Barren and dying – both literally and metaphorically as the floods sent pangs of unanswered agony echoing across the landscape.

The sole inhabitant shifted, his gaze never wavering from the cascading heavens. The watcher stood stoically against the torrents of despair, simply watching. Waiting.

Once, he had seen the true beauty of this silent world. Its endless blue skies, the warmth that seemed to come from everywhere yet nowhere, noticeable yet never uncomfortable. He had seen the cycle of seasons, from the beautiful summers to taciturn autumn and desolate winter. Yet through it all, his sole vigil over this twisted, beautiful world had never changed.

[DESTINATION]

The endless torrents of spring had come suddenly, and with them a shift in the world he had been born in to. For years the skies had wept, until his memories of the silent summers and clear skies had become vague whispers, hazy recollections that whispered reminders of days long passed by.

[AGREEMENT]

Reminders of his failures.

[TRAJECTORY]

Still he stood in resolute vigilance, his gaze locked to some distant point only he could see, even as the sky itself howled its grief around him. A shadow loomed ahead in the dark clouds, massive and crystalline, and with each increasing torrent, it grew larger and more defined. He knew not what it meant, and could only guess at what grand purpose it heralded. Change was coming. The lands were crying out for salvation, and someone – no, something – was answering its plea.

[AGREEMENT]

As the shape grew ever clearer, crystalline mass just beginning to show itself through the maelstrom, the vigilant made his first overt movement since his birth in this sideways place. He moved from his perch, his gaze still unwavering.

"It is time." His voice, never once uttered, was rough and direct. He was not one for words, nor would he ever dare sully the peace this world offered with something as menial as conversation. But such a time for reflection was over. Change was coming, and with it, calamity. He spoke just one last time.

"I wonder… will you finally hear my voice? Or will this despair consume you whole?"

No answer was forthcoming. He expected no less.

With a crash like thunder, the crystalline mass made contact with the landscape of his world, and for the first time in his existence, he was no longer alone. With a thought, he stood before the invader in his realm, gazing at it with what felt like resignation. It was time. He felt the call more keenly, as the world around him began to resonate. He placed one hand on the invader.

[ANOMALY]

He wondered what this could mean. What it would change. A surge of power overtook him, not entirely his own. He sent it all into the structure beneath his palm. It, too, began to change alongside him.

[CEASE]

[CEASE]

[CEASE]

[cease]

The presence inside fought him, but in this world his will was absolute. He consumed the substance, cannibalized the connection, and surged with new awareness into something else.

He hated change.

But above all else… he hated the rain.

In another world, a world of people and blood and death, a girl lay bloody and beaten in an alleyway. He called out to her once more.

And Taylor Hebert listened.

Short author's note here – Welcome back to yet another attempt at putting some of my thoughts on paper. For those of you new to my work, welcome! I hope that you will stick around as I try to work out the direction I want this story to go. For you old heads who will undoubtedly be shocked to get an alert from me that isn't something to do with Requiem of Fate, I apologize for my lack of updates on that story. I have been suffering from the plague known as life, which has sapped nearly every ounce of creativity from me for years. This is not an admission of abandonment, as the story I have dreamed up for Requiem is something that has been a major – if background – focus of mine for years. Once I feel like I have something concrete, I will be revisiting Requiem and completing it for everyone who has waited so patiently.

Until such a time, I hope you enjoy my first foray into a new fandom that has quickly (heh) wormed its way in to my heart, and let me be the first person to welcome you to Pneuma.

I will see you all again in the next chapter. I promise, it will be much more substantial than this.
- Cale