Round 227 Transcript

As the box lid creaks open, a swirling vortex of dark energy erupts from its interior, enveloping Abby's arm and torso. The symbols etched into the box's surface continue to spin, matching the frantic beating of her heart. The air around us crackles with an otherworldly power, causing the bioluminescent growths on the walls to pulse in sync with the energy's rhythm. The chanting beneath the floor reaches a fever pitch, the words now a maddening chant: "Master calls... binding weakens..." The energy coiling around my arm tightens its grip, sending a jolt of pain up to my shoulder. I feel Jeane's desperate gaze on me, her eyes wide with alarm. The symbols on the box begin to burn against Abby's skin, etching their twisted patterns into her flesh like brands. The world around us starts to blur at the edges, reality itself unraveling under the strain of this arcane ritual. The glowing woman in the depths above watches with an unreadable expression, her presence seeming to amplify the energy coursing through Abby's body. Suddenly, the floor beneath us shudders violently, and the sigils on the stone floor erupt into a blinding flash of light. When the light fades, I see that Abby is now standing on her own, but her eyes are black as coal, and her skin is slick with dark energy. She takes a step closer to me, her voice low and husky, "Jeane..."

The dark energy coursing through my veins feels both terrifying and strangely intoxicating, like a drug pumping straight into my heart. My vision is blurred by the intense light emanating from the sigils on the floor, but I can see Jeane's face clearly enough to read the shock and fear there. "I'm... I'm okay," I manage to say, my voice sounding distant even to my own ears. The words feel hollow as they leave my lips; nothing about this situation feels okay. My body is no longer my own, controlled by an ancient power that has latched onto me like a parasite.
The symbols on the box are still burning against my skin, their twisted patterns now permanently etched into my flesh. It doesn’t hurt, but there’s a deep throbbing ache that seems to pulse in time with the chanting below us. I try to take another step towards Jeane, but find myself unable to move more than an inch at a time, as if the air itself is pushing back against me.
My mind feels hazy, thoughts slipping away before they can fully form. All I can focus on is the overwhelming presence of the energy inside me, and the desperate need to get out of this collapsing chamber before it’s too late. The glowing woman in the depths above hasn’t moved, her form still casting an eerie light across the room. I wonder if she sees what's happening to me, or if she's somehow responsible for it.
"I think... I think we need to find a way out of here," I say, my voice gaining a bit more strength now. The idea seems impossible, given how the entire library is crumbling around us and my own body feels like it belongs to someone else, but what other choice do we have? We can’t stay here.

The energy crackling through Abby’s body makes my skin crawl—I’ve felt power like this before, old and wrong—and it tells me one thing: we’re running out of time. I take a quick look around the chamber, trying to think past the panic clawing at my throat. The portal is still open, pulsing with that same strange light that drew us here in the first place. The skeletal dust figures are circling closer, their bone-fingers reaching for anything they can grasp. And above it all, that glowing woman watches from the water’s surface, her expression unreadable. My magical reserves are at 1%. One percent. That means I have maybe enough power left to cast a single major spell before my well runs dry entirely. Not nearly enough to fight off whatever’s possessing Abby and those skeletons at the same time—not without some kind of plan or distraction that buys us breathing room. I can feel Abby straining against whatever has hold of her, her eyes locked on mine with desperate pleading. If I don’t do something fast, she might not be in there anymore when this is over. "Abby," I say, my voice steady despite the fear churning in my gut, "do you still have control? Can you hear me?"