Sapentina: Ch.1 - "The Coiling Ascension"

in #writingclubyesterday
Authored by @MoonChild

Sapentina.jpg

Title: The Coiling Ascension

The Abyssal Temple stood cloaked in eternal twilight, its jagged spires slicing through a sky painted in hues of ash and blood. The moon hung low, its pallid light casting sinuous shadows that danced like living things across the serpentine carvings adorning the temple walls. Deep within its labyrinthine halls, a chamber pulsed with disquieting energy—a sanctum where mortal trespass was unthinkable.

Here, Sapentina awaited. Draped in ceremonial attire, her skin shimmered like scales under the flickering light of obsidian braziers. Her crimson pupils, slitted and unblinking, gazed upon an altar carved from jade, its surface etched with runes of ancient kanji intertwined with a script not of this world. Incense filled the air in coiling tendrils, its scent sharp and earthy, weaving through the room like serpentine fingers.

The cultists moved in eerie synchrony, their faces obscured by ornate masks adorned with serpentine motifs. Their bodies seemed to glide rather than walk, their movements unnaturally fluid and deliberate. At moments, the flickering light revealed glimpses of their hands—scaled, clawed, or trembling faintly with inhuman strength. They placed offerings upon the altar—coiled ropes soaked in ichor, gilded effigies of serpents, and blood-red stones said to have fallen from the heavens. A low hiss, faint but ever-present, resonated in the chamber, as though the air itself carried the breath of a hidden presence.

Isamu Endo entered, his head bowed and his hands trembling as they cradled a device unworthy of the sacred space—a camera, its lens gleaming as if alive. His reverence was palpable, each step measured and hesitant as though he feared to disrupt the sanctity of the moment.

Endo: This lens shall carry the serpent’s light into the world. Through it, the blind shall see, and the unworthy shall tremble.

Sapentina remained motionless, her gaze fixed upon the altar as though communing with a presence unseen. Her arms moved with deliberate grace, undulating in serpentine patterns, her fingers curling and uncurling like fangs poised to strike. The runes on the jade altar began to glow, pulsating with a rhythm that mimicked a heartbeat—slow, deliberate, and inescapable. The cultists fell silent, their masked faces tilted upward as if awaiting divine judgment.

Sapentina: Through the coil, I am reborn. Through the gaze, I am revealed. The mortal world sleeps under the veil of ignorance, but I… I shall tear it asunder.

The incense thickened, forming coiled shapes in the air that flickered and dissipated as if alive. The braziers flared, their flames shifting to an unnatural green hue that cast jagged, twisting shadows across the temple walls. The weight of her words seemed to ripple through the chamber, the very stones groaning under the strain of her presence.

Endo knelt before her, placing the camera at her feet like an offering. His voice quavered, but his devotion was unwavering.

Endo: The Ronin Rumble will be their reckoning. They believe it to be sport, but they do not see the design. The coil tightens, and they are caught within it.

Sapentina turned slowly, her crimson gaze locking onto him with an intensity that froze him in place. She extended a hand, her claw-like fingers hovering over the camera as though bestowing a blessing.

Sapentina: Let them see the truth they fear. Let them know the serpent’s will. Through this lens, the ignorant shall witness their undoing.

As her fingers grazed the lens, a flicker of unnatural light enveloped the camera. The cultists resumed their chant, their voices swelling in a dissonant, otherworldly melody as the altar flared with blinding brilliance. Sapentina’s voice cut through the cacophony, low and resonant, filled with a certainty that brooked no defiance.

Sapentina: In the void, the serpent coils eternal. In the kanji of destiny, it’s name is written. 私の意志は避けられない – My will is inevitable.

The braziers dimmed, and the serpentine shadows seemed to recede into the walls, leaving only silence and the faint hum of unseen power.

The camera lens flickered to life, casting the image of Sapentina standing in the center of a shadowed chamber. The Abyssal Temple’s walls loomed behind her, jagged carvings of coiled serpents seeming to writhe in the flickering light of obsidian braziers. The air was heavy with the sharp, earthy scent of incense, its smoke twisting into fleeting shapes of coiling dragons before dissolving into the oppressive darkness. Faint hissing sounds reverberated, their origin untraceable.

Isamu Endo knelt just outside the frame, his head bowed low, his trembling hands gripping the edge of the camera as if steadying himself against a force he could not comprehend.

Endo: Witness the herald of the divine coil. What you see before you is not a woman, not a wrestler, but a force that transcends your fragile comprehension. Through her, the will of the eternal serpent awakens.

Sapentina raised her hand, silencing him with a motion as fluid as the coiling of a serpent. Her crimson eyes locked onto the lens, unblinking and unnerving, as though gazing directly into the souls of her unseen audience.

Sapentina: Mortals, your stage—the Ronin Rumble—is nothing more than a charade. You call yourselves warriors, yet you are prey beneath the gaze of the serpent. You cannot see the design, for your eyes are clouded by delusion.

The shadows behind her stirred, their movement too deliberate to be the flicker of flames. The cultists emerged, their masked faces tilted upward in silent worship. Their hands moved in unison, tracing symbols in the air—patterns that seemed to glow faintly before vanishing. Their presence was unnerving, synchronized and mechanical, as though driven by an unseen hand.

Sapentina: The coil tightens. It binds your kind as it has bound all who rise against its will. Through your histories, through your myths, the serpent has whispered. 私たちの設計は永遠です – Our design is eternal. You are caught within it, struggling as worms in the talons of a hawk.

The braziers flared, casting eerie green light that illuminated her shimmering skin and the faint scales on her arms. The camera trembled, distorting the image momentarily as if rejecting her presence. The cultists’ chanting grew louder, a dissonant harmony that reverberated through the chamber.

Sapentina: Warriors of Ultimate Wrestling, the Ronin Rumble is not your ascension—it is your descent. I am the coil, the eternal. I am the truth your kind has denied since the dawn of your feeble reign. One by one, you shall fall. Not by chance, not by skill, but by inevitability. 私の名を恐れるがいい – Fear my name.

Endo’s voice rose, trembling yet fervent, as though delivering scripture to an unworthy congregation.

Endo: The Ronin Rumble will not be remembered as a battle. It will be remembered as the moment the serpent’s will was revealed. She is inevitable. The coil spares none.

Sapentina tilted her head, her gaze unbroken as she leaned closer to the lens. The shadows behind her coiled tighter, forming the outline of a massive serpent poised to strike.

Sapentina: Through this lens, the world shall witness. Through the coil, all shall bow. Run, resist, or defy—it matters not. Your paths lead to one truth: the serpent reigns.

The braziers dimmed abruptly, their light retreating into the jade altar. The screen flickered as if consumed by static, the image dissolving into darkness. Only the faint, rhythmic hiss of serpents remained, echoing long after the vision had faded.

The chamber was no longer confined to the physical realm. The air shimmered with an otherworldly energy, and the boundaries of space and time seemed to warp under its influence. The jade altar pulsed with light, each beat in harmony with a deep, resonant hum that grew louder with every passing moment. Sapentina stood before it, her eyes closed, her expression serene yet unnervingly intense.

The cultists formed a perfect circle around her, their masked faces tilted skyward. Their hands moved in slow, synchronized arcs, tracing symbols that glowed faintly before fading into the haze of incense. The air thickened with the sharp, metallic scent of blood and the oppressive heat radiating from the altar. Faint whispers echoed in the chamber, unintelligible yet unnerving, as though the walls themselves spoke.

Isamu Endo knelt at Sapentina’s feet, his trembling hands clasped in fervent prayer. His voice quivered, a mix of reverence and awe.

Endo: Through the serpent’s gaze, the design is revealed. The coil binds all, and in its tightening, the truth emerges. Show us, herald. Show us the vision.

Sapentina’s lips parted, and a whisper escaped—soft yet resonating with an unnatural power. Her voice layered over itself, as though more than one entity spoke through her.

Sapentina: The coil unravels the illusion. The truth is written in the kanji of destiny. 私が見ることは避けられない – What I see is inevitable.

The light of the altar flared, illuminating the chamber in blinding brilliance. The incense swirled violently, forming serpentine shapes that writhed and hissed. Shadows uncoiled from the walls, merging into a vortex of darkness that enveloped the cultists. Their voices rose in a chant, a dissonant harmony that seemed to echo from the depths of the void.

The mists coalesced into a vision—an arena twisted by the serpent’s design. The ring ropes writhed like living snakes, their bodies glistening with venom. The competitors appeared as grotesque parodies of themselves, their forms distorted and exaggerated. Each struggled in vain, their movements sluggish as though ensnared by invisible coils.

Sapentina: I see the stage, the battlefield of the unworthy. The Ronin Rumble—a feast for the serpent’s hunger. Warriors blinded by ambition, their strength but fleeting sparks against the eternal shadow. One by one, they fall.

The image shifted, showing competitors cast from the ring, their bodies swallowed by the writhing mass of serpents below. Some clawed at the edge, their faces contorted in terror, but the coils tightened, dragging them down. At the center of it all stood Sapentina, her form bathed in a crimson glow, her arms raised in triumph.

Sapentina: They fall not by strength, not by skill, but by the design. The serpent feeds, and I… I alone remain. 私が最後に立つ – I alone stand.

The cultists swayed in unison, their movements growing erratic as though overwhelmed by the vision. Their masks cracked, revealing glimpses of scaly skin and glowing slitted eyes. Endo’s voice rose in trembling awe.

Endo: The serpent’s will cannot be denied. The Ronin Rumble belongs to her. She is inevitable. She is eternal.

The vision began to dissolve, the mists dissipating and the chamber returning to its oppressive stillness. The altar’s glow faded to a faint pulse, like the dying embers of a fire. The cultists collapsed, their bodies trembling with exhaustion, their voices silenced. Endo remained kneeling, his head bowed low.

Sapentina’s eyes snapped open, glowing with an intense crimson light. Her voice carried with it the weight of inevitability.

Sapentina: In the coil, there is no escape. In the serpent’s gaze, there is no mercy. I am the end you cannot defy. Run to your fate, mortals, and I shall meet you there.

The screen faded to black, leaving only the hiss of serpents and the distant echo of her words.

The chamber of the Abyssal Temple was suffused with a suffocating darkness, the shadows twisting unnaturally across the stone walls. The faint glow of the jade altar pulsed like a heartbeat, its rhythm growing faster with every passing moment. The air itself seemed alive, trembling under the weight of an unseen presence. From the depths of the chamber came faint hissing sounds, as if serpents writhed unseen in the blackness.

The cultists knelt in a semicircle, their masked faces bowed low. Their bodies trembled, their fingers clawing at the stone floor as though they fought to keep themselves grounded. Beneath the edges of their masks, glimpses of scaly skin shimmered in the flickering light. Their chant rose and fell in a dissonant cadence, each note layered with voices that could not possibly belong to them.

Sapentina stood motionless before the altar, her crimson eyes glowing faintly as though lit from within. The light of the braziers flickered erratically, casting her form in sharp, shifting contrasts. Her skin gleamed with a serpentine sheen, and as she raised her arms, the shadows around her coiled tighter, slithering like living things.

Sapentina: The coil tightens. The design unfolds. Through the Ronin Rumble, the serpent’s will shall be revealed.

Her voice was low, resonant, and layered, each word echoing with an unsettling harmony. The braziers flared green, their flames bending toward her as though drawn by her presence. The cultists began to sway, their movements jerky and inhuman.

Endo knelt at her side, his voice trembling as he spoke, his eyes wide with reverence and terror.

Endo: The mortals believe they fight for glory. They cannot see the truth. Their battle is not for victory—it is for their place in the coil’s design. You are not one of them. You are above them. You are inevitable.

Sapentina turned her head slowly, her gaze falling on Endo. A faint smile curved her lips, but it held no warmth—only the promise of inevitability. She stepped forward, the hem of her ceremonial robes brushing the floor with a whispering hiss. The camera adjusted, framing her as the towering center of the temple’s oppressive grandeur.

Sapentina: Warriors of Ultimate Wrestling, you believe yourselves chosen. You cling to your strength, your cunning, your ambition, but you are blind. You cannot see the serpent that coils around you. You cannot feel the tightening of its grasp. 私が最後に立つ – I alone shall stand.

The cultists’ chant rose to a crescendo, their voices blending into an unholy symphony. The jade altar flared with blinding light, and the carved serpents adorning its surface began to writhe, their stone forms twisting as though alive. The shadows on the walls stretched impossibly tall, forming the shape of a massive serpent that loomed over the chamber.

Sapentina: Through the coil, I am ascendant. Through the serpent’s gaze, I am eternal. Run, mortals. Resist. Fight if you dare. It matters not. The serpent’s will cannot be denied, and I shall stand alone, as ordained. The prey shall fall. The coil is eternal.

The cultists collapsed to the floor, their bodies convulsing as though overtaken by the serpent’s power. The braziers dimmed, their flames retreating to faint, flickering embers. The camera trembled, its lens distorting as it struggled to capture the full magnitude of the scene.

As the image faded to black, Sapentina’s voice echoed one final time, a whisper that carried the weight of absolute certainty.

Sapentina: The serpent reigns. And through me, the coil is eternal.