Participants:
| Scene Title | The First Drop of Blood |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | This is the Beginning of the End. |
| Date | December 12, 2009 |
Niflheim
Abel quoque obtulit de primogenitis gregis sui, et de adipibus eorum : et respexit Dominus ad Abel, et ad munera ejus.
It is nothing but white as far as the eye can see in every direction, a haze of white that contrasts sharply against an inescapable night that clings to everything around. Pitch blackness has consumed the land and only the faint glow of distant lights amidst the swirling storm give any indication that life exists out here.
Ad Cain vero, et ad munera illius non respexit : iratusque est Cain vehementer, et concidit vultus ejus.
Amid the swirling snow, a lone man stands in the sub-zero temperatures, bundled up in a swath of heavy fur-lined clothing in a red and black color scheme. Tan fur trims cuffs and collars, a hood and full mask keep out the flesh-freezing breeze, and goggles that would prevent glare were there a sun anywhere in sight are lifted so that the weathered and tired eyes of an old man can stare skyward.
Dixitque Dominus ad eum : Quare iratus es? et cur concidit facies tua?
Squinting against the freezing wind, the bundled old man searches intently for something in that white-out that consumes vision. Snow crunches underfoot as he takes a high step up and out of the snow and then sinks back down to knee height. One thickly gloved hand shields his face, goggles resting atop his brow as he tries to see the heavens through the clouded skies. It was supposed to be today, but with the storm he cannot see it with his own two eyes, and he must see it.
Nonne si bene egeris, recipies : sin autem male, statim in foribus peccatum aderit? sed sub te erit appetitus ejus, et tu dominaberis illius.
Straining against the sensation of the weather, the old man's eyes fall shut and a shudder rolls through his body. Reaching out with his mind, he feels a pull, a tug, a sensation that brings him some semblance of gratification. Lips part behind his cowl of cloth and he can feel the storm, feel the sting of ice on his body more than merely in pinpricks and numbness. He owns the cold, opens his palms and curls his fingers into the tendrils of frost that form in the air in front of him; then, like a puppeteer with his marionette, begins pulling at the tendrils of frost.
Dixitque Cain ad Abel fratrem suum : Egrediamur foras. Cumque essent in agro, consurrexit Cain adversus fratrem suum Abel, et interfecit eum.
The wind dies down almost immediately, the snow and ice in the air hangs still as if time itself stopped, and the air grows silent where once there was howling winds. The old man stares up at the heavy cloud-cover blanketing the skies, lips part and neck muscles tense, and as his irises grow wide so too does a hole form in the cloud cover, revealing the night black skies strewn with stars.
Et ait Dominus ad Cain : Ubi est Abel frater tuus? Qui respondit : Nescio : num custos fratris mei sum ego?
Pale light filters down through that hole in the clouds, murky light like that belonging to the moon, and yet at the same time only growing dimmer the more of the night's sky is revealed. By the time the old man's pupils have swallowed his irises and eclipsed them, an equally black disc is visible in the heavens, ringed with coppery red. The moon has been swallowed in the earth's shadow, a total lunar eclipse that devours all light and life.
Dixitque ad eum : Quid fecisti? vox sanguinis fratris tui clamat ad me de terra.
"Just as you said…" The old man whispers reverently, voice muffled by the mask that covers his mouth. "Munin swallows the moon…' Shaking his head slowly, he reaches up to lower his goggles down again, shielding his eyes from the bitter, stinging cold, then reaches inside his extreme weather gear and removes a walkie-talkie from his pocket, depressing the call button with a static hiss.
Nunc igitur maledictus eris super terram, quæ aperuit os suum, et suscepit sanguinem fratris tui de manu tua.
«Paulo.» The old man's voice crackles over the radio, still staring up through the stillness of the halted storm at the progress of the lunar eclipse. «I have confirmed the totality of the eclipse, it is just as predicted.» There is a sound of wonder and majesty in his voice, as if he had believed this event would not come to pass as it has.
Cum operatus fueris eam, non dabit tibi fructus suos : vagus et profugus eris super terram.
«That is excellent news, Sir.» The response coming over the walkie is from a man of South American decent, a notably clipped accent in his speech. «Julia sends her regards as well, she is visiting the prisoners. We still have no found Doctor Francis' body… but I would not worry about it, she is just one person.» Silence is the old man's response, watching the eclipse come to fruition is like a dream come true. «Will you be coming back to base?»
Dixitque Cain ad Dominum : Major est iniquitas mea, quam ut veniam merear. 14 Ecce ejicis me hodie a facie terræ, et a facie tua abscondar, et ero vagus et profugus in terra : omnis igitur qui invenerit me, occidet me.
«Yes.» Is the old man's immediate response. «Get the team together and prepare the drill, the time is upon us at last.» He nearly lets his finger off the call button, but it lingers as he considers the eclipse more carefully. «Paulo?» There is a softly solemn tone to the old man's voice in regards to his orders.
Dixitque ei Dominus : Nequaquam ita fiet : sed omnis qui occiderit Cain, septuplum punietur. Posuitque Dominus Cain signum, ut non interficeret eum omnis qui invenisset eum.
«Yes, sir?» Paulo's response is not immediate, and it takes some time for the old man to phrase exactly what it is he wished to add. «Was there something else?»
Egressusque Cain a facie Domini, habitavit profugus…
A slow nod finally comes, as the old man adds, «Pray for them…» He stares up at the eclipse, his pause heavy and prolonged, «the people of the world. Munin is armed tonight.»
…in terra ad orientalem plagam Eden.
«Let our Work be done.»