After a long twenty hour flight, the plane finally touched down. As the wheels made contact with the hard asphalt, Blaise was shaken lightly from his dream. His head was propped up on the window and as he straightened up and stretched, Raven smiled sweetly at him. "Hey there, sleepy head." He groggily murmured in reply as they exited the plane. "Ray, it's the middle of the night. Can't we just get a hotel for the night?" He groaned, running a hand over his face. "Um absolutely not!" She shouted, moving closer to him and whisper-shouting. "Ace, we're talking about a freaking CURSE. We absolutely have to check it out right now."
"Well I mean yeah but we don't even know what coming here will do. What if its what they want? Y'know in an evil sorta way?" He mimicked devil horns and she rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide her smile. She took his hand in hers and the darkness consumed them as they strolled off into the night. They strolled over through the open fields and plains of Rapa Nui, scattered with the unseeing eyes of the half-sunken heads. The pale light of the full moon cast shadows over the land, creating dancing demons all around. Raven shivered in the cold of the dead of night. When Blaise noticed, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I know its sleeveless, but its all I got." She shrugged it further onto her shoulders, the flat studs on the collar clinking against her lightly studded, leather choker. "Thanks." She replied with her signature crooked smile. Taking each other's hand again, they braced themselves for the long hike ahead.
As they approached Ahu Tongariki, metal gates and barbed wire barred their way. They exchanged a wicked look of resilience and determination. The wind whipped past them, warding them off, but they weren't that easily swayed. Blaise heaved himself over the barricades, holding his hand out to help Raven over.
Her eyes twinkled in the moonlight as she shook her head delicately. "Ace… I think this is something you have to do on your own. I'll be right here with you. And when its all over I'll be right here waiting for you. I promise." She whispered, hugging him as tightly as possible over the railings. Surprise and sadness welled up in Blaise's eyes as he held her in his arms. "Ray, if this doesn't go well, I just wanna say-" Again, she put a finger to his lips with a "Shhh". "Tell me after. I'll be right here for you. Promise." She leaned in and kissed him, hard and fierce. When they broke apart for air, she cradled his head in her hand and looked deep into his sky blue eyes. "Good luck, Blaise Blackblood." And with that, the darkness consumed him as he sloped away to the line of statues in the distance.
The wind whistled through his hair, trying to get his attention, but he pressed on nonetheless. As he grew closer, a headache appeared, feeling like nails being hammered into his skull. His eyes streamed from the wind, his head pounded, his stomach churned. But still, he persisted. Soon enough, he was standing before the council of statues, looking upon him in scorn. For a moment, nothing happened. All he could hear was the whistling of the wind.
Then, a flash of blue light. He couldn't see where it came from, but he felt it push him backwards. When he tried to get up, he found himself paralyzed on the ground, completely at the mercy of those before him. The world around the man was unrecognizable. The grass and open air had transformed into a bubble of blue, swirling light. The only thing that was the same was the line of statues before him. But even that had begun to change. The stone seemed to crumble and fall, leaving piles of rock at their feet. As the stone crumbled away, it exposed what looked to be flesh. The grey hue peeled off to reveal a dark mahogany, spiraled with raven black ink. The flat, encasing head collapsed to reveal long, flowing locks of midnight black hair. The unseeing stone disintegrated to reveal two golden, piercing jewels. When this process was over, fifteen pairs of ancient eyes stared back at him. Blaise set his jaw as the man in the middle opened his mouth to speak. "Do you know why we brought you here?" The human opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came, instead he merely shook his head. "Do you know the story of the ancients?" Came his booming voice again. And once again, Blaise was reduced to simply shaking his head.
Suddenly, images appeared before his eyes. Settlers bringing food and people. Trees being cut down to build structures and fires. A bare island, devoid of any trees. A dying people, trapped by their own actions. Chieftains dying. Mages performing rituals over their lifeless corpses. Failed attempts turning soft flesh into charred remains. Successful attempts turning soft flesh into hard, cold stone masks. The images vanished and the voice boomed again. "We are all the masks we wear and mine is weeping. Now do you understand? This is our prison. This is our punishment." Willing his vocal chords to life, Blaise was able to croak out; "But… why me?" The face seemed to almost smile at that.
"Because you, Blaise Blackblood, have our blood running through your veins. You're one of us. You must call upon anyone you know, tell everyone of what you have learned today, so that we may walk among the souls of the living again." The figure reached out towards him, his face contorting in a strange mix of pain, desperation and something much, much darker.
For a moment, Blaise's voice was caught in his throat, like a rope snagged on a rock, but it was freed within a second that felt like hours. He looked over to where Ray had been before, but the force field of the light bubble prevented him from seeing anything. Instead, he closed his eyes and thought of her. Every day of his life was made just that bit more livable with her. She was the one who wanted to come here. She was the one who had made him face his fears. She was the one he would protect. He set his jaw. "The answer is… No. I don't know anything of your intentions. You mind control me here. You imprison me in this bubble of light. You put images of hell in my brain. Why the hell should I believe you have good intentions?" As Blaise was speaking, the figure before him clenched his jaw. He lowered his eyebrows. He creased his brow. He narrowed his eyes. "You dare question your ancestors! You will rue the day!" The figure yelled, baring his teeth. At that, Blaise grew silent. As the silence intensified, the air around them crackled with tension. Abruptly, a beam of red light emanated from the figure's chest, aiming right for Blaise. When it hit him, all he could see was black…