In the utter blackness, Humanity sprites twitched and squirmed without rhyme or reason.

The father of the abyss, Manus, known to only a select few as the furtive pygmy and holder of the true dark soul, reached out, his own grotesquely malformed arm coming into view as he reached for the beautiful girl. She let out a shriek and in an instant fell unconscious in his grasp.

"Who is...? Is she...?"

Dressed all in finery, hair tied in a neat bun and her head adorned with a winged crown, the Oolacilish princess looked so peaceful despite her face being twisted by fear only seconds ago. The thoughts of the so-called father of the abyss were simple ones.

Pretty.

Lovely.

Want.

A young woman who was the very image of that ancient land's princess suddenly opened her eyes, staring into the endless dark above her. There was darkness and nothing but, save for a single beam of light piercing through the pitch black that she felt was reaching for her, shining down into the void she had awoken in as though beckoning her. Without knowing why, without thinking, she reached to grab it. Alas her hand simply passed through it.

"What is this light?"

Again she reached, slowly, and again her effort was wasted. She felt warmth on her pale hand and knew...

Now the father of that bottomless pit was faced with a new desire. So overpowering. More than desire, more than mere want, it was an obsession! There she stood, wearing his pendant! Where did this tiny creature find the audacity? Who was she? None of that mattered, she had his pendant, his most precious of possessions, and a reminder of his home, his prison.

Mine!

MINE!

Pendant!

MY pendant!

His oversized paw stretched out to grab this woman before him.

The woman held her palm up flat, the light now a small dot in her hand.

Manus' grizzly fingers closed around her.

She closed her hand tightly as though to claim that light, that warmth, that power. Then, she cried out.

The first of the pygmies let out a roar as his hand was sliced by a curved blade, the woman wielding it leaping out of his grasp and toward his many-eyed face. Those numerous eyes met the woman's, hers a deep crimson with an otherworldly glow that penetrated his soul and saw right through him.

"I am Adrioa-Vhati! Remember my name!" she shouted, and with a twirl of her falchion, cleaved the right side of his face, several eyes going dark as blood spilled from the horrendous wound.

The woman let out a hiss, sitting up and feeling her own face to find it untarnished. But that pain, so palpable. What was this?

"A-dri-o-a"

She whispered, feeling out each syllable, finding that she hated the sound of it on her lips. And yet?

"That...that woman. That amulet."

"Father of the abyss! For Oolacile, and f-r knight Art-r-as-"

Father.

Father?

Father!

Her visions, her memoties faded as she came back to reality. The woman smiled, so serene, so full of malice and want. A want that could never be sated true.

A drop of water struck her, trickling down her forehead to her eye, becoming a single tear. Thrice she reached for that beam of shimmering golden warmth, her fingers curling into a trembling fist.

"I am Nashandra! For my father, I will claim what is mine!"

She proudly proclaimed, the shadows gathering around her, small sprites of humanity seeming to bow in reverence to the child of dark, firstborn of Manus and embodiment of Want. The innumerable humanity swirled and writhed about her naked form until she was entirely covered. For a moment she took on a terrifying likeness befitting her dark soul, and in a flash of white, she was her beautiful self once more, clothed in a nobles dress and wielding a large scythe.

"Everything belongs to me, I need only take it. Father, I will claim this world's light and with my dark, I will devour it all!"

Much as I hate to break immersion, well, this part is finished. Time to shill for myself, if you enjoy my writing even a teensy weensy bit, do check out my YT channel of the same name; TheTrueMonarch. I would like in future to create some stories that coincide with my lore videos and vice versa, but more importantly I just like to share my thoughts on my favorite series!