((I feel like I'm starting to get back into the swing of things here in part 2. And if you like what you see, let me know, I like to hear what people think. I was able to throw in a little bit of game-related humor, I hope it's not immersion breaking. Thanks! ))
The rising sun snuck its way through the small gap in the blinds to find its way right to Celina's eye, waking her with a start. It was 7:30 in the morning, Saturday. Bah! Might as well get up, not really feeling very tired anyway. In fact, I'm feeling quite refreshed, better than I've felt in quite a while.
Eventually finding her way to the kitchen, she saw an unexpected sight, her bow and arrows were set up right in the middle of the table, seemingly waiting for her. As she picked up her quiver she didn't recognize all of the arrows in there. How did they get there? Did she make them and not remember? Grasping one with her hand, she took it out to get a closer look at it. Amazing, the tip was a perfectly shaped diamond, glimmering off of the bare 75 watt light bulb hanging from her kitchen ceiling, throwing a net of dancing sparkles all across her bare walls. A shiver went through her spine. But it wasn't a diamond, it was a perfect crystal of solid ice.
Celina cradled the arrow in her hands and slowly rotated it, gazing fondly from every angle taking it all in. It was a perfectly crafted piece of art. The shaft wasn't solid, it was a miniature self-contained cryo-machine creating intense cold and focusing it at the tip of the arrow, keeping that perfectly formed ice crystal cold. There was also something that looked like a range sensor, but what could that be for? Enough study! Celina wanted desperately to move onto the testing phase. She just had to see this new arrow in action.
Grabbing her jacket from the closet, she rushed out the door, slamming it shut behind her. Whisked off the floor from the breeze of the door was a small card. On that card was a simple picture of a blue archer, on the backside were three handwritten words: "Use it well."
Hopping in her car, Celina headed straight to the archery range. That's what she called it at least. It was a small empty field at the outskirts of Croatoa, blocked from sight by a line of trees, perfect to avoid all the firbolg running around. She would come out here when she had a new arrow to test, and she was itching to test out this fantastic looking arrow.
Warming up, she used several of her regular arrows for her practice shots. Hitting her target every time and hitting the bullseye more than once. Must be getting a little rusty. Feeling limber and way past curious, she pulled one of her new arrows out of her quiver, giving it another brief examination before stringing it on her bow. She lined up her shot, breathing in slow, controlled breaths. In. Out. In. Out. In. Pull the bow back. Out. Release. She savored the short flight of the arrow as it careered straight towards the bullseye. Shortly before reaching it's target there was a miniature explosion within the tip of the arrow, shattering the small diamond arrowhead of ice and releasing a fine mist of cryogenic liquid, covering the entire target in a large block of solid ice. The arrow fell safely on the ground mere inches from the target. Wow. After a short while the ice evaporated into the air, it must be some type of dry ice. Walking over to the target, she picked up the spent arrow. She could see more clearly the cryogenic delivery system and there was also a range sensor. That must be used to make sure it delivers its payload before it reaches its target. It was completely undamaged other than the ice arrowhead and emptied cryo-liquid. This might take a little bit more study before being able to recharge these arrows, but Celina felt confident she would be able to pull it off.
A cracking twig caught Celina's attention to the forest behind her. At first, she thought it was merely an animal, but then she saw what she wished was unfamiliar: the bulbous orange head of a firbolg soldier. She had come to this spot so many times she had thought it was hidden from the onslaught of the creatures that inhabited Croatoa. But there it stood in all its grotesque glory. She wasn't sure what she should do, she had her bow, and the arrows from the target, but she couldn't bring herself to possibly kill another living being, and besides her normal arrows all she had was the spent ice arrow. The rest of her trick arrows were sitting in the quiver halfway between herself and the pumpkinhead. She had to do something or she would die. She just knew it. She could see the flames in the firbolg's eyes grow brighter, he must be preparing to shoot fire at her. The fire is going to burn her flesh to cinders if she doesn't think of something, anything. What about last night? What if it wasn't a dream?
Celina threw both her hands in front of her, hoping something would happen, not knowing if it would do anything at all, but she was beyond any other possibilties. And it happened. Perfect crystals of ice formed in front of her eyes, seemingly forming directly from her fingertips. They flew directly towards the firbolg, striking him directly in the chest. Well, what she assumed was his chest. The fire in his eyes dimmed, he slowed his movements, but he was still coming towards her. She fired another blast of ice at the soldier. He slowed even further, but was still coming. One final blast and he slowed to a stop and collapsed on the ground. Irregardless of the danger, she rushed towards the body. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, do they breathe? She looked inside the cavernous pumpkin that rested atop the firbolg's body. The fire was still there. It was very faint, but it was still there, flickering gently in the center of his head. That was all the confirmation she needed. She grabbed her arrows and ran off as fast as she could.
On the drive home, she thought about what just happened. Did she really fire ice crystals from her fingers? It's not like that's something out of the ordinary in this city, but she never expected that something like that would ever happen to her. Celina always thought she would just be destined to be the victim. The scientist at the lab when the villains break in. She's not a hero. And those crystals, they looked just like the crystalline arrowhead at the tips of her new arrows. Were those created from her own body? What did this all mean? It was still early in the day, but Celina decided she should go home and sleep on it. There was just too much for her to think about right now.
When she got home, she walked right past her kitchen to her bedroom. Not even noticing the pumpkin pie resting directly in the middle of her table. Leaning next to the pie was another small card with the same picture of a blue archer on one side. And on the other side was written "Gratz!"
((This is my first post here, and my first real writing in quite a while. I appreciate comments and feedback, so if you like the story please reply, and hopefully I will become inspired again soon to write the next part of the origin story. Cerulean Archer is a Trick Arrow/Ice Blast Defender on Pinnacle, currently level 16. Hope you enjoy!))
Celina Artemis was a simple scientist and archery enthusiast. She spent many days well into the midnight hour fiddling with gadgets and gears, studying chemical compositions and mixing formulas. In her spare time when she needed to get some fresh air, she was never without her bow and arrow. Making her way to the archery range on many occasions. Firing arrows for hours on end. And when no one was looking, firing her... test arrows. Her other passion, creating new, improved arrows using her technical knowledge.
It was just another one of her research sessions. Deeply entrenched in a cryogenics book the idea struck her for a way to use cryogenics in her gadget arrows. Never one to let her thoughts catch up to her actions, she immediately went to the lab to experiment. Her mind was racing at the possibility to create an arrow to completely incapacitate a criminal without harming them. It could be an absolute boon to the overburdened PPD, helping to give them a leg up on all the villains roaming the city. Even with the extreme population of heroes, it seems like the villains still outnumber the good guys 10 to 1. This lab alone has been broken into more times than she could count.
An all too familiar crash rang out from the room next door. Not this time. Not now. She felt like she was too close to a breakthrough.
Footsteps coming closer. She had to do something, she let herself be the victim too many times already.
Darkness. The power must have been knocked out. A sharp rapping on the laboratory door made Celina start, knocking over some of her tools. Suddenly a burning sensation ran up her arm. Reeling back, she thought she had run her hand over the flame on the bunson burner. Her chest felt like ice as she realized that those outside must have heard her and now knew someone was here. Her mind raced through the possibilies of what might be on the other side of the door, for all she knew it could be vahzilok looking for spare parts. She couldnt' let that happen.
Through the dim, flickering light of the still lit bunson burner she could see the doorknob start to turn. Without thinking, she flung her arm out in front of her, maybe she could find a weapon, something, anything. What she did find she could have never imagined in her wildest dreams.
When she reached her arm out, the same arm that she thought she had burnt on the open flame, she saw what looked like diamonds fly out through her fingertips. But it wasn't diamonds, it was ice crystals. As she looked closer she realized that she had sealed the door shut by encasing it in solid ice. Curses rang from the other side of the door, then footsteps. They were running away. Her heart still racing, she went to sit down and collapsed. Her head was spinning. Everything went black.
"Celine. Celine. Wake up Celine."
A voice reached through the thick haze in her head, bringing her back into the world. What had really happened? When she could finally open her eyes, she saw Carl, her co-worker.
"Well good morning Celine. It looks like you went through hell and then some. I see we had some unwelcome visitors yet again. How can we be expected to do any serious research when this place is getting broken into every other week." Carl was a welcoming face to wake up to. He was the only other person that had been working at the lab as long as Celine. Like he said, how can anyone be expected to work with these kind of conditions.
Carl helped Celine up and she could look around. The lab looked pretty normal. Her experiment was knocked over, but there was no other damage. Looking at her hand, there were no burns, nothing. The door looked perfectly fine as well. Did she just imagine what had happened to her and she just got lucky. Maybe one of the many wondering heroes came by and distracted her pursuers.
"Are you ok Celine?" Carl looked into her eyes with an expression of genuine concern.
"Y..." Celine coughed, her mouth was incredibly dry. It was a few moments before she could bring herself to speak. "Y... Yes, I think I'm ok, just a little shaken up. I think I just need to go home, can you give me a ride?"
"Sure, no problem." Carl offered her his hand, and led her outside to his car. During the short ride to her apartment, she spent the time convincing herself that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. But she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong.
Despite the fact that it was the middle of summer, but she could have sworn that she saw her breath when she stepped out of the car. And when she got inside, she turned the heat on without even realizing it.