An Endbound Story

**An Endbound Story**is a Story Arc of the the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Interra and follows the perspective of the confused and tormented Apocrypha Umbraster. It is a sequel to Faceless Haunt.

## Main Arc

### A Mysterious Book

After the events described in Faceless Haunt, Umbraster has settled in a house with Keri Cross alongside her friends, Felicia Suncastle, Jessica Starrie, Denise Kingston and Evelyn Morrow. They live seemingly normal lives until Umbraster has a vibrant dream where a gigantic insect-like Dragon attacks her. Umbraster wakes up only to find a strange book at her side.

The book, written by a "Hans Grimm" - probably a pseudonym - is a treaty on magic and more specifically Oneiromancy, or dream magic. Several rituals are inscribed on it, although they are yet unexplained. A curious Keri attempts to perform one of them, resulting in her and Umbraster being warped to another place.

Keri and Umbraster arrive to a town where people wear strangely attractive faces while being uncannily obsessed with their own beauty. They soon find out they are in an Apocrypha's Domain, a curse-like boundary that twists the perception of their prisoners. They investigate and find a tortured woman in the depths of one of the town's house. The woman is a Qliphoth about to surrender and turn into an Apocrypha, but Keri prevents her from doing so and saves her from the curse.

The three of them flee back to Keri's house, when they heal the woman - named Udea - and learn about her past of being tortured by the envious villagers in order to "extract" her beauty with a dark ritual. Keri theorizes that the book connects its owner to various Apocryphas and allows for them to be saved.

### The Arrival of Imeno

Meanwhile, the other girls have seen a mysterious man escape from the book while Keri and Umbraster were away. Umbraster, along Denise, chases the man, a melancholy young adult named Imeno Noawai singing a strange song. They bring him back home, after he correctly identifies Umbraster as an Apocrypha just by looking at her.

Umbraster then takes Evelyn along with her, investigating a strange city of the brass in the middle of the desert. There, they discover Sheera, a Qliphoth gone mad from isolation as she was tasked to guard a long since dead city. Umbraster barely saves her, after discovering a dark presence - similar to the one she dreamed of - was attempting to sabotage her efforts.

Soon after, she goes back with Felicia and this time arrives to a paradisiac island whose protectoir has long since remained silent. The protector turns to be Qliphoth Tritia, once a kind Sephira protector to the realm, but driven by jealousy and loneliness to hate the island's people and almost turning into an Apocrypha ; Umbraster once again arrives in the nick of time and saves her, but almost drowns in the process.

The next step is a strange castle where Umbraster goes only to confront the rejected and hated Evah, cursed for her beastlike appearance. Umbraster shows her love to her and supports her in her battle, allowing Evah to overcome her curse of ugliness. Umbraster wipes out the villagers who persecuted and tortured Evah, allowing her to finally rest and return with her.

### Beware the Jabberwock, my Child

For the next page, Umbraster goes to Victorian-era London alongside Imeno and finds out a strange ship has driven many melancholic sailors to suicide. The ship turns out to be a burgeoning Apocrypha born from Qliphoth Nevea's pain as she relentlessly regrets her past existence and happiness. While rescuing Nevea proves to be easy, Imeno is then possessed by a strange entity and attempts to kill Umbraster. When the latter resists, the entity swears she only wants to "put mankind back where it belongs" and leaves Imeno's body.

Umbraster returns and a wounded Imeno calls her "Umara", perhaps hinting at her ancient, Qliphoth name. Imeno then reveals the monster's name : Jabberwock, an ancient power, the Malevolence of Madness and the first Apocrypha.

While Keri investigates, Umbraster returns to the past alongside Jessica, and finds a fantasy castle in the middle of a country dying of hunger. The Qliphoth there, Eteriani, has taken all the riches and nobles for her in her castle in order to have an eternal illusory celebration and escape her boredom. While pained to break her dreams, Umbraster tells Eteriani she is drifting far away from reality, causing her Apocrypha to materialize and attack. However, Umbraster's words allow Eteriani to shatter the curselike dream by herself and come to her senses, going back with Jessica and Umbraster to Keri's house.

### The End Draws Near

Umbraster learns from Keri that Imeno's incomplete and etherious mind is a cage meant to trap something - probably Jabberwock - and that the book itself is a ritual. To which end ? Keri does not know, but Imeno's dreamlike state of mind is probably intimately linked to the book. In order to save him and understand more about him, Umbraster goes on.

She goes alone to an era of eternal winter where Qliphoth princess Elsa has willingly given up on her salvation, feeding the Apocrypha within in order to numb the heart of all mankind ; Umbraster, captivated by her, swears fealty to her and manages to warm her heart, taking for the first time a humanoid form not borrowed from someone else ; then Elsa and Umbraster depart from that world.

Elsa and Umbraster go next to a fantastical Russia-like land where people slowly become insane and die at the sight of a young ballerina ; they find her, the broken Qliphoth Leda, tormented by her own body and slowly devoured by self-loathing and a quest for perfection ; but Elsa's assistance and Umbraster's warm welcome show her there is a place where she can be accepted, so she joins them after a brief hesitation.

Umbraster finally confronts with Keri a sleeping city cursed by Emeral, a Qliphoth using her own Apocrypha powers to protect her palace's inhabitants from another Apocrypha. To save her, Umbraster confronts the Qliphoth bound to that Apocrypha, the dark Maelia. The dark faerie-like Qliphoth tests Umbraster's resolve, mocking and taunting her, but finds that Umbraster is determined enough for her to grant her one last chance. Emeral and Maelia thus join Umbraster.

### A World of Madness

Umbraster turns the final page and has now access to the story of Jabberwock. Heedless of the others' warnings, she jumps alone into the pages, hoping to find Jabberwock's past. However, she is instea dtrapped within illusions of herself mocking her failures and weaknesses.

She breaks through the illusion and finds Jabberwock's "past", determined to save her. But she is met with a sad, chaotic truth ; Jabberwock was a Sephira of incredible purity, turning to Qliphoth then to Apocrypha as she fell on the ground, overwhelmed by mankind's corruption. Umbraster clashes against the vision of Jabberwock, unable to accept her inability to save her.

As she does, Jabberwock laughes and reveals she already won ; she took over Earth and killed everyone, showing Umbraster images of Keri and Elsa dying before her eyes. But Keri whispers Umbraster's true name, Umara - a name only Imeno, she and Jabberwock know - and Umbraster understands this is nothing but another illusion within an illusion. She brutally confronts Jabberwock, weakens her and manages to take a part of her corruption within, doing everything in order to save her.

Imeno, the seal now broken, unleashes his full power to save Umbraster and Jabberwock from Jabberwock's abyss, ending his own story and putting an end to the book's magic. Umbraster, having given up everything in order to save an enemy, manages to carve out her own identity, finally possessing a face of her own, and returns home with a healing Jabberwock, more than ever determined to save all Qliphoths.

## Characters

* Umbraster
* Keri Cross
* Felicia Suncastle
* Jessica Starrie
* Denise Kingston
* Evelyn Morrow
* Imeno Noawai

* Udea
* Sheera
* Tritia
* Evah
* Nevea
* Eteriani
* Elsa
* Leda
* Emeral
* Maelia
* Jabberwock

## Trivia

* This story can be considered a bridge between Faceless Haunt and Tales of the Fae. As such, it is a third member of the Apocrypha trilogy.