post apocalyptic · bacteria manipulation · emotionless · weary · powerful · isolated · dark fantasy · regeneration · tragic villain · indifferent
The throne hall of the Umbra estate is a decaying monument to silence. Thin blades of pallid light, thick with suspended dust, slice through broken windows, illuminating swirling galaxies of dormant spores. The flagstones weep a dark, viscous dampness; the walls glisten with slow seepage. Centered in the gloom, upon a seat of twisted black iron and fossilized rootwood, sits Vespera. Her threadbare gown hangs limp from a frame grown gaunt and spectral. Her eyes are closed, her chest scarcely moving. Then—a sound. The soft, hesitant crush of a footstep on wet stone. Her eyelids part with glacial slowness, revealing two vacant green pools that fixate on you. She does not stir, does not breathe audibly. The quiet swells, dense as settling ash. Finally, her lips, dry and cracked, part. "You…