Green LanternHP 3
catsi563 wrote:"That is your key, find the lock and use it, open it, and when you do replace it with something precious, when you do you'll return here, and bring the demon with you, then I'll take care of the rest."
Ashley didn't understand exactly what Arcane meant. Not really. But she understood a few very simple things. That Kris's soul was at stake, that demonic entities were at fault for that, and that she needed to use her ring to create some sort of passageway to those demons, at which point they would learn that Ashley did not consider her Sector Authority to only extend to this dimension of space.
It was just the first step which had her puzzled. She was a good lantern, at least she thought she was, and others had told her as much. But she'd never pushed herself or her connection to the ring like this, into something so
abstract. Building a construct was about shaping the light into a solid, like a drawing turned three dimensional. First you imagine, then you focus, then you create.
This was different though. She didn't have any clue how to build the construct. No mental picture to paint.
Ashley felt herself starting to slip into circular reasoning, and shook herself out of it. This was simpler than she was making it. Had to be. Magic wasn't about tangible constants. It was about beliefs and perceptions. So then, as far as she figured, whatever she believed would work, Would indeed work.
Right?
"Ok...Here we go" Ashley said, looking Kris in the eye, and giving him the signal to brace for whatever was about to happen. Then she went to work. Raising her ring, and leveling it at Kris's chest, Ashley projected a thin beam of light which passed harmlessly through Kris's body, and into his heart. A Physical link, something to symbolize the metaphorical link Ashley was trying to create.
Arcane had said they needed a gateway next. So Ashley focused on a point along the beam, and allowed it to expand out, forming a golden archway between them, one shut tight with an imposing barrier, and a single keyhole in the center, still along the same line that Ashley had first created. The Soul connected to the heart, the heart to the beam of light, the light to the door, and Finally the Door to Ashley. An unbroken chain from one to the other. Now all that was needed was a key to open the gateway, and link Ashley directly to Kris's soul.
A third construct, a green key, appeared In ashley's free hand. She took a deep breath, placing it into the keyhole on her doorway. But she didn't turn it yet. Ashley could feel that there was a power at work her, beyond the willpower she wielded. It was strange and alien to her, something deep and ancient which moved with the stars themselves, a single note in a melody which rumbled through reality. She was on the edge of a cliff and about to jump into infinity.
Her knee's felt weak. Sweat wore heavy on her brow, the strain of her link was like trying to hold up a mountain. There wasn't time to hesitate, or the entire thing would shatter. She only had a chance to steady herself, before leaping.
"In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night" The words came of their own accord, a chant which had branded itself onto Ashley's very identity.
"No Evil Shall Escape My Sight" She turned the Key, a deep booming filled the room as the tumblers shifted open one by one. With a tremendious Crash, the Door burst inword, a great swirling void appearin beyond, streaching far out to the horizon. Winds swirled through the champer, grasping at anything not secured in place and hurling it through the gate.
"LET THOSE WHO WORSHIP EVILS MIGHT BEWARE MY POWER" Ashley shouted over the winds. She could do it. She Will Do it.
"GREEN LANTERNS LIGHT"Charging through the Gate, Time seemed to slow. The noise disappeared, and all sound went with it. The only thing Ashley could hear was her heart beat. But soon, another joined it. Its dull, persistant thump joining in with Ashley's own. As she hurled forward, she saw Kris still standing there, in Arcanes chamber. But he seemed distant to her. She could feel herself fading from that world. With each moment, she felt more and more immaterial. Even with the slowed perception of time, she knew she had only an instant before she'd be gone entirely.
And for a moment, she felt a great fear inside her, because she knew this might very well be the last time she'd ever see Kris.
As the world around her grew dim, the colors fading away, and her own body now little more than a vaperous phantom, Ashley wrapped her arms around Kris, and embraced him, her lips pressed against his. In her frozen moment, he seemed suspended. A Single point left of the world she'd left behind, the last remnant she'd see before plugged into fire and battle against things she couldn't begin to imagine. And it was then she realized the second heart beat must be his.
As the two rhythms pulsed in harmony, Ashley McAdams, Green Lantern of Sector 2814, Left her world, and entered hell.
