A group of interconnected planes bound together by a complex labyrinth, this is the main bastion of Eien's power. All visitors unless personally brought in by Eien are sent to the Labyrinth as a defensive mechanism. The Labyrinth connects to everything but the Inner Sanctum, Eien's private space. There is no direct access to Eien's Inner Sanctum, only with the correct understanding of the functions of the realm can one find and access it. Supposedly, there are two 'keys' that allow this to become possible.
Areas
Anti Logic Labyrinth
A mysterious maze full of traps and enemies, the exact way it works is unknown.
Factory
The place where Eien's technological creations are manufactured and tested.
Biospheres
Areas which appear to be planet sized micro realms can be found throughout the Anti Logic Labyrinth. Eien produces them for experiments regarding souls and life forms. Manufactured with Infinite Finite Spaces.
Sanctus Librarius
A mysterious library within the deeper parts of the Anti Logic Labyrinth. What it contains is unknown, but it appears to be almost endless in size.
Gurin's Dimension
A world contained within a Infinite Finite Space, it is Gurin's current place of residence, as well as the first realm she controls as a goddess.
Vaults
Contained within the lower reaches of the realm, it is the deep dungeon of the Anti Logic Labyrinth. Monsters are at their most powerful, but the most valuable treasures are found here.
Laboratory
Eien's labs, most of his testing and experiments occur here. They have direct access to the Factory, Biospheres, and the Sanctus Librarius.
Inner Sanctum
???
Roleplay
The Place That Makes No Sense
D'Ranjo appears from a bolt of lightning in a dully grey metal corridor, with two distant branches up ahead.
D'Ranjo: *looks around in confusion* Uuugghh.
He hears a faint rumble, then a single loud bang inside the wall, and a bump forms about the size of a quarter in the nearby wall.
D'Ranjo: Oh. *takes a deep breath and takes a closer look at the bump*
He hears another sharp bang even louder, and a small hiss of some sort, and the bump gets even more prominent.
D'Ranjo: *gets into his traditional fighting position and waits*
The hiss grows loud and violent, then a piece of shrapnel flies out of the wall and embeds itself in D'Ranjo's skull, as a massive explosion of steam detonates.
D'Ranjo finds himself laying on the floor, his head sore, the incident that happened only seconds ago feels like a dull memory, and the same scene he saw before his 'death' is seen again.
You can manage to dodge a bullet to the head without even looking, yet a piece of metal finds a way to your skull. Pathetic.
D'Ranjo: *breathes, and hastily removes the shrapnel out of his head and gets up*
A true soldier is weary of his surroundings. Whether old or new does not apply as a soldier adapts too. If this were the battlefield you would be mocked greatly. Get up, you fool.
D'Ranjo: *breathes harder and gets to his feet*
A soldier learns fast or he dies.
He hears two sharp bangs in rapid succession, followed closely by a hiss.
D'Ranjo: *stands ready*
Another explosion of steam goes off, with shrapnel flying at high speed.
D'Ranjo: *dodges by bending backwards*
He is scorched by the cloud of steam, making him fall over.
His scales and aura grow more apparent and his eyes turn into that of a dragon.
You are not putting enough effort into it! An old cripple could move faster than that! Again!
The area falls silent for the moment, though very faint rumblings can be heard echoing down throughout the area.
D'Ranjo: *looks around him*
What will you do D'Ranjo? Simply stand there like unwary prey or are you going to live?
A sound like a train's horn becomes audible.
The predator comes, D'Ranjo. What does the prey do when the predator draws near?
D'Ranjo: *begins to run from the sound*
The two branches in the tunnel get closer.
D'Ranjo: *he takes a right and continues to run*
He comes to a dead end, until he realizes there is a deep pit with a ladder going down.
D'Ranjo: *slides down the ladder*
He smacks right into what appears to be an upside down latch door.
D'Ranjo: *opens the latch door and crawls through it, closing the door behind him*
He comes out into into a vast Savannah.
D'Ranjo: *his eyes widen at the site of his land*
A rumbling from below begins to reach his ears.
D'Ranjo: *continues to run*
The ground erupts just behind him just as a strange metal dragon fashioned somewhat to look like a train bellows forth from the ground, and lets out a train like roar.
D'Ranjo: *turns and looks at it as he is trying the grasp the sheer frightful awesomeness of the sight*
The dragon bellows forth a cloud of toxic coal dust and burning embers.
This is your home, D'Ranjo. Willl you let it be defiled by such monstrosity only the outsiders could make? Or will you fight this land like you've always have!
D'Ranjo: *his aura begins to show as his soul rages in anger*
You are bound to the grounds that gave birth to all life on the Earth! You we're trained to preserve these grounds with your very life! That hasn't changed!
D'Ranjo: *lets out a dragonic roar*
Now go!
D'Ranjo: *sprouts his wings and flies up towards it*
The dragon blasts D'Ranjo with the cloud, hoping to score a direct hit.
D'Ranjo: *inhales the cloud and right into its mouth*
Once inside, an orange light emits followed by a huge fiery wave of explosion reducing the dragon into piece,which then turn into vapor
D'Ranjo: *lets out another roar*
The dragon's claws swat him from the obscuring cloud caused by the explosion, only part of its right side has been damaged. It opens its mouth to reveal a machine gun.
D'Ranjo: *gets back up and runs towards it*
The dragon opens fire, peppering the area with bullets.
D'Ranjo: *dodges the bullets and stops for a moment and fires a mouth blast at the gun, blowing it up*
If there's one thing a machine lacks, is intuition. Imagination. Use everything you have at your disposal.
The dragon roars, then spins, its tail forming a chainsaw which it brings down on D'Ranjo's head.
D'Ranjo: *catches the chainsaw*
How far will you go for your home?
D'Ranjo: *flies into the air and brings the chainsaw through the dragons torso*
The dragon retaliates with a bite to his torso.
D'Ranjo: *throws up blood and yells in agony. He manages to teleport out of the dragon's mouth and onto the ground, groveling in pain*
Get up, fool! This isn't like the day you died! This is a new day. Don't loose it.
D'Ranjo: *manages to get to his feet*
The dragon seems pretty damaged as well, though it too is managing to remain functional.
D'Ranjo: *breathes heavily*
How far will you go for your home?
D'Ranjo's aura flares up intensely as he roars to the top of his lungs until his aura completely engulfs him and after a few seconds, his aura lessens until a dragon man is visible.
The dragon's wings become missle launchers.
D'Ranjo: *simply walk towards the dragon, leaving every step he takes ablaze*
The dragon launches the missiles at him.
D'Ranjo: *eyes widen and the missiles blow up right before they could touch him and continues walking.*
The dragon starts shooting blades at him.
The blades strike him in different parts of this body, but the blades melt away.
D'Ranjo: *stops where he is and looks up at the dragon*
It smashes him with a fist.
The dragon's fist suddenly explodes and D'Ranjo stands there. He then opens his mouth and a spirial mouth blast comes out and obliterates the dragon into mere flakes of embers
The dragon takes minimal damage, and the fist knocks him back several hundred yards.
D'Ranjo: *runs towards the dragon*
It spews forth molten metal at him.
D'Ranjo turns into a whirlwind of molten metal and flies right towards it with all the molten metal surrounding him as drills straight through the dragon's chest leaving behind the trail of molten metal
The dragon finally collapses into a heap of tarnished metal, though in the center of it, he notes something that looks like a handle in the center.
D'Ranjo: pulls the handle*
A sword comes out of the dragon, it appears to have a technological aspect to it, but is hot with a molten core visible in its translucent blade.
D'Ranjo: *observes the sword* What is this...
A weapon, genius. Eien's voice rings in his head.
Ahead, a volcano, a lake, and a village come into view from a fog D'Ranjo didn't realize was there.
D'Ranjo: *walks towards the village*
As he approaches it, it begins to faintly burn in his mind, as though familiar.
D'Ranjo: *continues making his way to his village despite this feeling getting stronger*
The path to the village eventually becomes more difficult when invisible walls start forming another maze.
D'Ranjo: *sighs* *he starts jogging through the maze*
He starts hearing something like running water.
D'Ranjo: *begins to jog abit faster*
As he turns the corner, he sees a pool of glowing green liquid flowing in his direction.
D'Ranjo: *stands still and puts both hands foreward, making the liquid flow right above him*
The liquid seems to drip down toward him as if it has a mind of its own.
D'Ranjo: *closes his eyes and a few seconds later, the green fluid turns into water*
It suddenly bursts into a shower of acidic rain on him, while recollecting on the ground as many smaller blobs.
D'Ranjo: *takes forth his hand and all of the smaller blobs form into one big ball. He then stretches out his hands and blue glowing chains appear and strike the blob. D'Ranjo pulls the changes and literally drags out the conssiousness out of the monster and tears it apart. He turns the acid into water and drops it*
The blobs ignore his manipulations, and he doesn't feel any conciousness being pulled, and he starts feeling a burning sensation on his skin as they start to swarm.
D'Ranjo: *moves out the way and begins to run*
After a while, he manages to lose the monster, and soon finds a path that leads to the village. However, he feels the air is heavy and still.
D'Ranjo: Hmmm...*slowly reaches his village*
The village looks like it had when he had lived there, but without any of the people.
D'Ranjo: No one is here...I predator must lurk here...*carefully scans around*
Nothing is apparent, but as soon as he steps in the middle of the village, the invisible walls change and become a dome, completely cutting off access to the outside, and locking him in. A hole opens in the roof, and a strange giant missle like object flies out of it and smashes right in front of him, quietly hissing. A Phoenix Emblem is embedded on the front panel, glowing red softly.
D'Ranjo: *slowly scans it with caution*
A fist suddenly smashes the panel open right into D'Ranjo's face, and what looks like an Epsilon comes out, and kicks the container aside, smashing it into a nearby building.
D'Ranjo: *tosses the panel aside* Another one...finally!
The Epsilon remains stationary, though its six mechanical wings unfold.
D'Ranjo: *gets down into a track running position*
The Epsilon remains in a relaxed pose.
D'Ranjo: *flies straight towards the Epsilon with his sword at hand, ready to strike*
The Epsilon flies at him, and just when it looks like it is going to go with a straight punch, it leaps back from his sword swing and smashes D'Ranjo's head with its wing and smashes him into a building. Immediately afterward, six circles of light surround it on the ground, and one speeds in D'Ranjo's direction.
D'Ranjo: *teleports out of the way and appears behind the Epsilon. The tip of his tail is set ablase and tail-whips the Epsilon into a building*
It side steps him and whips out a blade sparking with electricity and cuts off D'Ranjo's tail.
D'Ranjo: *moves his tail out of the way and rushes right for it*
The circle it had made swings around abruptly and D'Ranjo steps in it, and is immediately blasted by fire from heaven.
D'Ranjo: *A red dome of light of surrounds him as the fire encompasses him in flames*
The being pierces through the dome and grabs his face, and at point blank range fires a missle into it.
D'Ranjo: *teleports out of the Epsilon's grasp and reappars behinds it. He has the Epsilon in a choke hold*
The Epsilon rams its elbow into D'Ranjo's chest, and a blade comes out of it, impaling D'Ranjo right next to the heart.
D'Ranjo: *takes his sword and stabs the Epsilon from behind, he twists the sword then pulls it out leaving a molten hole in it's back and all the way to the Epsilon's chest*
"...You shouldn't have done that..." Its voice says in a vaguely familiar tone, as it dies.
D'Ranjo: *breathes heavily* You're right...how can I save lives...if all I can do is take them...
"It's only the life one, while there are many more lives you can free."
D'Ranjo: If I can't save one, I can't save any.
"Enough! I will not stand to here your wallowing! A soldier does not look at the facts of reality, but at possiblities of the presumably impossible. You fight despite the despair of life. You are nothing in comparison to others who are being oppressed and cannot do anything about it. You have a purpose: To free the oppressed or die doing so. That is the only reason you fight and nothing more. Now get going."
The mask on the being comes off, revealing the face of his brother, before flickering in static and disappearing, as suddenly the whole of the village bursts into flames.
D'Ranjo looks at the burning village and amonst the blaze, he sees a vision of a bearded Afrikaan male weilding a special scythe and as more flames clear, he sees that the man is fighting an Afrikaan woman dual-weilding twin iklwas that he's all too familiar with. At the sight of the woma, his mind instantly begin implode with pain and he falls to his knees.
In the center of the flames a figure begins forming, and a female chuckle can be heard mixed into the flames.
D'Ranjo: *slowly takes a step back, anticipating the worse*
A female figure takes form from the flames, and begins approaching him, wearing a mask and bearing a scythe.
D'Ranjo: *his eyes teams with hatred at the sheer familiarity of the woman as he simply stares at her, letting his anger fester*
A chuckle emits from the being, as her form takes a more solid appearance, bearing blonde hair and black shadow like armor. The fire still flows about her as though she was one with it.
D'Ranjo: *his eyes soften abit* Hm...You...Are Death?...No one told me Death was a female. Much less had a gender.
Six black feathered wings sprout from the being's back, the gust of wind blows away the flames, revealing only a parched landscape. With the darkness and the flames gone, he sees her skin is composed of obsidian black scales, from her elblows flows a strange energy, and a similar presence, but strangely, much duller than a usual Lambda. Rather than reflecting color in the light, she seems to absorb it.
"Heh, there are more Death Gods than you might imagine..."
D'Ranjo: Is there any need? Isn't the existence of Death itself enough?
The ground beneath her feet begins to blacken and crumble, the infection begins spreading toward him.
"Now... that's a rather pointless question..."
D'Ranjo: Just as pointless as Death Gods.
There is only a chuckle as skeletons begin emerging from the tainted ground, and the taint spreads faster in his direction.
"Man should not question the forces that govern Creation... his role is only one among many countless grains of sand... he doesn't not know how the web connects to him... just as he cannot see the full scope of the Universe, he cannot see beyond his own little isolate world..."
D'Ranjo: Not one being can see beyond creation asied from the one who created it. Even the ones on this world can fully grasp it.
The being only shakes her head as the bones of his people rise up from the ground, and the taint grows dangerously close to him.
D'Ranjo: My people deserved better than this. To have their bones risen from our mother's never-ending embrace...*sighs*
"The sanctity of the dead means nothing to this world."
D'Ranjo: Why can't hey leave us soldier dead?... *looks towards the ground and sees the darkness closing in on his feet. He flies up*
The taint sprouts up in the form of long ropey tendrils and chases him.
"In a world such as this, there is no respect for what really matters. Life, and Death. Both are sacred. The world needs someone to make the world respect those things again. Such trivial things like man's grudge mean nothing. Nor does your own mean anything."
D'Ranjo: *tries to avoid the dark tendrils as much as he can* Then what is the point of this world if everythin we do, everything we believe means nothing?
A bolt of shadow erupts from her and smashes him into a cliffside. Several more rapidly fire at him after.
D'Ranjo: *after it stops, he reappears right behind her and fires a mouth blast at her*
She deflects him and his attack with a flap of her wings, yawning.
D'Ranjo: *rams himself into her back*
Her scales become long black spikes that easily rip through his body and impale him. The same black taint that was infecting the ground is now spreading inside his body.
"Hmmph." An invisible force repels him.
D'Ranjo: *lets out a sharp yell of pain. He get's back to his feet and he stretches forth his hand and ethereal teal-looking chains wrap around her as he closes his hand into a fist*
The chains as soon as they form begin to decay.
"I possess the power of entropy and death... before my will all of Creation rots."
D'Ranjo: That's what you're lead to believe. *puts both his hands on the ground and an explosion erupts right infront of her, knocking her down*
The explosion does little to nothing, and when the smoke clears, he is hit by an even more powerful mouth blast and sent flying into one of the invisible maze walls, shattering his bones.
D'Ranjo: *yells. He slowly forces himself up to his feet*
His vision starts failing.
D'Ranjo: *is fighting through the immense pain and does his best to keep himself alert. He begins to walk towards her*
Suddenly everything goes black, silent, dead.
"Heh, idiot... thought I'd stop you on your way back for a quick chat... oh, and don't even bother trying to attack me, you're dead." Her voice echoes, even though he can see her ahead in the darkness.
D'Ranjo: *can only hear one final word echo in his head* Weak.
She swings her scythe at him. "Pay attention doltz."
D'Ranjo: *gets to his feet*
"I thought this would be a good time to illistrate something for you. Technically, you can't die. Technically. But you can. But notice how you're not among the angels now either. There's a reason for that."
D'Ranjo: *sigh**he clutches his fist as if he was troubled by something. He lightens his grip* ...What is it?
"Because you exist in an entirely different creation. A different life and death. I believe Gurin tried to tell you that..."
D'Ranjo: What about it then?
"Technically speaking, Gurin and I are your deitys, is what that ultimately means. Your life and rebirth is tied to us. You also have asked, 'why you', right?"
D'Ranjo: Yes...What is it that makes me so different from the countless others that could've undergone all this?
"Why? Because someone has to. There is always a loser, always a winner. The way I look at it is, well, there are infinite possibilities. It's simply those with power who determine which become the reality of the weak."
D'Ranjo: Why are you telling me all this?
"Because the why is not important. It's what you do that matters. Our creator gave us the power of gods, so that we would become gods. We all have roles to play... what's yours?" A flash of light blinds him, and he lays amidst the tall grass once more.
D'Ranjo: *looks around confusingly*
Now only the lake, and the volcano are visible, the location of the village seemingly gone, in its place are mountains. When he tries to walk in that direction, the invisible walls of the maze stop him, leaving him only with the two locations.
D'Ranjo: *head towards the direction of the lake*
The sun appears to be setting on it, causing a meriad of colors.
D'Ranjo: It's just as beautiful as I remember...
He thinks he sees things moving in it for a moment.
D'Ranjo: *stops for a moment and observes*
Something urges him to dive into the water.
D'Ranjo: *stares down at the lake for a short moment, then flies up into the air and dives down into the lake*
He hears a voice.
"What do you think of the world and those within it?"
D'Ranjo: It's hard to say...I know ignorance and hatred of others was killing our Mother. We fought to protect her aswell as save her children, despite them hurting her so much. We disliked outsiders, fearing they would rape was left of her purity. Still, even after knowing how bad this world was, aswell knowing how the whole world was against us, we still saw them as our brothers. We knew they needed us to guide them back to a better world without hatred.
"What do you think of the ones who surround you?"
D'Ranjo: Not too highly, I can say. But I know they are human, just as much as I am. I cannot fault them for who they are now, but for the ones who did this to them. They will soon find their rightful places in hell. I can't say much since I haven't interacted with them, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.
"What is it you seek?"
D'Ranjo: I seek alot of things, but the one thing I want more than ever know is to release this anger I have for the people who robbed me of eternal rest just so I can be their tool for conquest. But not just for me, but everyone else they've dammned to this fate...My heart rages with hatred...Everyone else around me fuels it. I have yet to release it, but all I seek now, is Vengeance.
"Thy writhe with fire, venom is thy blood. Burning thee, thou walk among the coals, walking, walking, walking into a pit of the most hellish fire. What is thy purpose, other than kindling for fire stoaked by the mutal passions of all, than food for a vicious flame that sears an everlasting wound whose purpose is to be self harm? Thou are a crusader, with no eyes, no ears, no voice, no soul. Thou are vengance."
D'Ranjo: *closes his eyes and the water around him boils until he enters his Dragon Soldier form and is engulfed in an aura of flame as he let's out a roar*
The water instead freezes from the heat, rather than boils, trapping him inside a glacier.
D'Ranjo: *turns the glacier around him into steam as he begins to ascend out of the lake*
The landscape is now a barren frozen wasteland.
D'Ranjo: *looks out at the landscape, then begins to walk out into the frozen expanse*
As soon as he leaves the lake's vicinity, it vanishes, leaving the place barren, save for the tall volcano far ahead.
D'Ranjo: *flies towards the volcano*
He almost immediately smashes into an invisible wall.
D'Ranjo: AH! *rubs his nose* Rggghhh...*descends to the ground*
He eventually reaches the slopes, and as he does, giant boulders begin to appear randomly and roll down toward him.
D'Ranjo: *begins to run up the slopes dodging and blasting a few of the boulders*
After he gets halfway up, the boulders disappear, but he starts hearing a loud rumbling from behind.
D'Ranjo: Who's there? *turns around*
A boulder smashes straight into him, as all of the boulders he had dodged are now traveling in reverse, defying gravity.
D'Ranjo: Rggghhhhh! *gets to his feet and and begins to destroy, reducing them ti rubble with every punc, kick, and mouth blast*
A boulder smashes him from behind, as they begin falling from above again.
D'Ranjo: *turns around and fires a mouth blast that seperates into multiple shots. The shots reduce the boulders to pebbles*
The mountain quakes violently.
D'Ranjo: *tries to scale the rest of the mountain the best he can*
A burst of lava erupts from the top.
D'Ranjo: What the...
The heat of the lava causes a mudslide of gargantuan proportions, which is also superheated.
D'Ranjo: *runs up towards the mudslide*
The mudslide rams into him at high speed and burns him within seconds.
D'Ranjo: *manages to plow through the mudslide even though it's burning him, he continues upward*
The lava is now pouring down the side of the volcano.
D'Ranjo: *throws a blue square chain up the side of the volcano and begins to pull himself up*
The chain starts to melt.
D'Ranjo: That...Can't be...*he breathes through the lava and begins to move slightly quicker up the lava flow* I should be getting closer now...
The volcano's peak slowly looms.
D'Ranjo: Damn it! No. Can't stop now. *plows harder towards the top*
He reaches the smoldering top, which has lava on the interior not actually bellowing up, but flowing down in a spiral to an unseen depth.
D'Ranjo: *looks down at the depth for a moment the fires a spiral moth blast at it just to see what happens*
Nothing happens.
D'Ranjo: *flies up into the air and dives down into the depths*
The burning tunnel extends a great depth, but when he gets far down enough, he finds a strange shimmering portal.
D'Ranjo: *flies through the portal*
He soon finds himself in a endless sea of clouds.
D'Ranjo: *is stunned at the glorious sight* Am I...Am I home? Did...I finally make it...to The Cloudscape...
A giant bird suddenly dives at him with talons extended.
D'Ranjo: *flies out of the way and fires a spiral mouth blast at it*
It bounces off the bird and it simply grabs him.
D'Ranjo: *teleports out of the birds grasp and dive bombs ontop of it's head*
It screeches, and smashes him with a wing.
D'Ranjo: *flies back barely dodging the wing, then rams into the bird. Then grabs on to it and his body is engulfed in a demonic red aura, which also sets the bird ablaze*
The bird does not seem affected by the fire.
D'Ranjo: *fires a spiral mouth blast through the bird*
The bird screeches loudly and dodges. D'Ranjo notices the exterior is made of steel, but the interior is flesh.
D'Ranjo: *looks confused* What kind of bird-?
It dives at him, mouth still open.
D'Ranjo: *fires a spiral mouth blast into the birds mouth*
The bird explodes in a rain of fire and metal.
D'Ranjo: *looks up at the raining scraps*
Far below him is a massive cloud of rain, while far above is a city in the clouds.
D'Ranjo: *dives downward into the clouds*
Suddenly he finds himself back in Gurin's realm, though there is only Gurin's Tree present.
D'Ranjo: *looks around silently* Gurin? ... Hm. Where could she have gone?
He feels her energy everywhere. He suddenly notices a woman in a yellow cloak with goat horns. She looks toward him. "She's in the tree."
D'Ranjo: In the- *looks at the tree for a moment* What happened to her?
"She's been isolating herself. Not my concern."
D'Ranjo: Gurin, why have you turned yourself into a tree?
...
He feels the faint acknowledgement of her consciousness.
D'Ranjo: Gurin, don't do this to yourself again. When will you stop hating yourself?
...It doesn't matter if I do or don't...
The yellow cloaked woman creates a portal for them. "You two be on your way. The master of the realm doesn't have any need for you."
D'Ranjo: *looks over at the portal, then back at the tree* Are you coming?
She repeats what was said before, but she appears to slowly emerge from the tree regardless, and quietly joins him.
They both step through the portal at the same time
A Realm Within A Realm
When Nanashi arrives, he finds himself in a mossy corridor, and after a few minutes of awkward silence...
"Oh. Well then... forgot about that. The realm kicks strangers out except for me and specified people, and puts them in the A.L.L. My bad. This'll take a minute..."
Nanashi simply starts meditating. "Initiating IRT."
Eien speaks up. "Ok, fixed. Now let's try it."
Nanashi is now transported to what seems like a entire world, the first thing he notices is that the entire world's aura feels as though it is composed of Gurin's own energy, though he feels the most powerful concentration of this energy in the form of a huge tree, whose roots seem to weave into the very fabric of the world. From it, he feels powerful fluctuations of energy, he notices there is a subtle but steady increase in energy every couple of minutes.
"I was expecting something more reasonable when you said tree, but I have a sea serpent two thirds this size as a familiar, so I can't complain." He calls out to Gurîn, quietly.
At first he doesn't feel anything, but after a moment, he feels a hazy, almost confused feeling, soft as a gentle morning breeze.
"So you are there... Can you explain how you feel?"
Eien looks bored. "Yeah, this could take a while."
He isn't able to feel any sensations like thoughts, but he feels a slow, tranquil lull, he gets the impression of processes such as photosynthesis on a monster scale, the various forests he can see around him to get another sensation, almost like a vague explanation, that they are just offshoots.
It's not until at least ten minutes before he starts to truly feel her actual consciousness stir.
Nanashi mutters something that feels utterly wrong and confusing. The word or words comes out as something unintelligible and abstract in such a way that it leaves an impression only to have that impression fade within moments. For a brief instant does the space before him flash blue and from the light emerges a sketchbook and pen.
He finally hears her voice. What do you... want? Her voice is incredibly sleepy.
"Just checking up on you. Some people are a little worried about you." He proceeds to draw the entire scene before him down to the most minute detail.
At the base of the tree, he sees a small iridescent flower begin to bloom and grow large enough to easily fit a humanoid inside, and from within, a green glow can be seen. After a moment, it opens up, revealing Gurin, but in a completely different form. Her wings are composed of sigils and runes of green light complex enough to make his brain hurt, and her body is nothing more than hyper condensed Ether, Aether, Life, Positive Spirit, and Creation energies. The power contained with her frame easily dwarfs a star.
Nanashi proceeds to draw Gurin in the same manner of the planet, omitting no details.
"What are you...." She says as she begins to open her eyes, which appear hauntingly vacant.
"Drawing you from observation... Unless you mean what I am, in which case I have no answer that would make sense to you or him."
"...Why....?"
"Why not?"
"...I am... ...pathetic... lonely..." She slowly begins burying her face in her hands, and Eien, who is standing nearby, has a slight twinge of unease on his face all of a sudden.
"You aren't pathetic, Gurin."
"Yes I am...! My whole life has been in the shadow of my sisters, spent chasing after childish hopes of love and friendship, of happiness! My whole existence is nothing but garbage!" The flower turns red, and grows thorned vines around its base.
"So you've chased dreams and lived in shadows, how does that make you garbage? The title of Garbage only goes to those with irredeemable faults and no moral character or honor, those who have disgarded their hearts to commit great evils without remorse or hindsight, those who go out of their way to harm others for self-satisfaction. I've yet to see any of those traits in you."
Eien watches as she seems to be retracting into the flower again.
"Yeeaaaaaaaa... the other one kinda made her snap. Now she goes on and on when she's not sleeping about how she is gonna be alone without anyone to love her. And I mean and she means the kind you apparently have with the Red Lambda. You did know she never had any childhood friends except her sisters, right?"
"I see... Need my smiting stick for about thirty seconds..." A mechanical staff akin to the Caduceus appears in his hand. "Is he luck proof?"
"Don't believe so, but look at it more as 'the last weighted ball and chain' that was merely an addition to the ones already pulling her to rock bottom. This was going to happen if her life's fortunes didn't change regardless of whom triggered it."
"The straw that broke the camel's back is still to blame for contributing to the eventual break." Nanashi smiles in a rather frightening way as the staff crackles with cloudy lightning. "Besides, if he contributed to something like this..." He gestures to the planet and tree. "My wrath is the least of his concerns."
"Sending unauthorized data of any sort will get you kicked," Eien says. "Again, blame the automatic defense system. Plus, do you really want to project hostility with Planetary Bomb over there?"
"Hostility? Not really hostile to anyone in the area, only at odds with you and concerned for Guri. Besides, the A.L.L. seems like a great place to meditate and continue my IRT."
"It's not a toy, you know. Oh, and by kicked, I mean out of the realm all together. The... 'entity' I made this realm out of is very... ...peculiar."
"Ah well," He shrugs and puts the staff away. "Everything has its time. By the way, breathing exercises and meditation are gonna be your friend. You may not know this, but I'm kind of a genius when I need to be. Also, really work on your breathing, helps with the punching and the smiting and the retaining of the sanity when problems arise."
"Trust me, there is a lot I know, about you, and that's a very minor thing I know about you."
Eien looks at Gurin. "She has been developing rather robustly. There is a lot of evolution going on there... to think her familiar is still unknown, just like Ikania's... oh wait, you don't know who that is, right?"
"Well... You know how I gather information by just being in places or around people? Yeah, I could kinda see her through Leg's and your presence. Also Naki's rather odd predicament, the reincarnation incident and so on." Nanashi stretches. "On the topic of knowing things, you should know that I really have no interest in the upcoming conflict at the fortress and that I'll be sitting out on that unless something comes up."
"I would find that strange, considering that the majority of the time, I merely project, and even in personal encounters cloak my presence... though I'm not quite as good as your brother. Perhaps that's the advantage of Ether, I would guess. In either case, thank you kindly (sarcasm), for bringing that up. Make the wound fester why don'tcha?
Thanks to that whole bullcrap, Ikania is pretty much stuck incomplete. I wasn't willing to admit defeat originally, but I no longer have the time to just make an exact replica of her anymore. You all have seen to that. A pity, really. Ikania really hasn't been taking it all that well..."
"I actually didn't have a role in that, but..." He shrugs. "Can't really do anything about that without her clearing her end of the reincarnation. I mean theoretically, and this is really pushing it, you could rework a Banish Spell into a universal nexus for about a second by splicing it with a Teleportation Spell and an Infinity Stone, but there's also a chance you'll summon something from the Seam..."
"Yeah, I'll just find a replacement. Much easier. Humans are like rats. Everywhere."
Gurin seems to have come out fully after a period where she had stopped going inside the flower, but seems to have moved away from them. He notes a strange swell of energy beginning to form in her, like a small sphere condensing within her. It appears to be moving to escape her body, and he soon sees it emerge as a bubbling plume of life energy flowing out of her, and Nanashi watches as what appears to be a soul is developing inside the plume, which appears to be beginning to balloon at the top.
"So that's what's happening... Or so it seems."
"That would be her 'giving birth', one could call it. It first started with plants and trees, then animals, then it moved up to her giving birth to a species of humanoids I call Aculi."
"I was referring to the energy signature fluctuations actually."
"Well, yes, that's what's causing them. Each time she does this, her overall being grows... stronger? Bigger? Powerful? Whichever terms apply best. ...Ah, this one's an Aculi, like I thought." The form inside the plume is beginning to grow mass, taking a humanoid form, which Nanashi soon identifies as a female.
"Hmm... I've seen enough."
"Sure, don't let the door hit you on the way out."
Nanashi vanishes in a plume of fiery blue light.
"...Need to make a door that does that. Would be so worth it. Hmmm..." He watches Gurin until the newborn Aculi is completed, which promptly scampers off into the forests in fright.
"They certainly are fascinating little creatures... ...now for the talk..."
Looming
Eien stands within his sanctuary, gazing upon Earth.
"...It's time to begin..." With a click of a button, Eien opens nine rifts in space and time, orbiting around Jupiter. One by one, nine iridescent crystals rush forth from the rifts, which close behind them. Appearing like comets in Earth's sky, they begin a rapid approach toward the planet...
The nine crystals begin to orbit Earth in a perfect ring, all of them glowing brighter over the course of an hour. After an hour passes, a loud humming can be heard across the planet, as the crystals charge. Eien prepares to create a gateway...
A violent oscillating noise begins as the nine satellites begin to shoot beams of red light at one another, upon doing so, a series of nine Anti Conceptual and Magic Circles burst into life over all of Earth, restricting all mythological phenomena to a significant low, while over the entirety of the region of America all conceptual and magical power in the region is completely disabled.
Eien pauses, and walks over to a white casket, with a blonde haired girl with vacant blue eyes inside.
"...Today's your birthday, sister. Today, justice will be had. I'll see you when I get back... ...sleep a little longer." With these final words, Eien activates his gateway and descends toward Earth, ready to finally begin the long planned final battle with his rival...
...Inga Kankei.
To Give, To Take
Torem suddenly finds herself in a blackened, obsidian covered world, with little to no atmosphere. After a moment of intense pain, she suddenly has no need for oxygen. Soon after, Gurin appears, though not affected at all. She puts her hand on the ground, and the place she touches glows a soft green, before a tiny patch of fertile dirt appears, along with a single tree seed.
"First off, try to make this seed take root and grow into a small sapling, but not any bigger. This will be important later. We'll need it small for a World Tree."
Torem points her finger downward and black drops, begins to slowly drip from her finger tip and inserts itself in the patch
The seed seems to swell slowly. "I would try utilizing Aether to assist." Gurin remarks, and just as Torem is about to ask how to do that, a stream of Etheric information crosses between them, and Torem becomes aware of the mechanics of the ability.
Torem closes her eyes and the seed glows
A black stem poke from out of the ground and the stem grows and grows until it begins to grow branches and vines begin to wrap around the tree and dark blue leaves begin to sprout from the branches.
"Very good. Now, I want you to slowly coax your energy into this plant until it envelopes you and you achieve a union with the plant and understand all of its processes. Once you do that, make the tree mature as far as you think you can take it. Regulation is incredibly important. I will provide ample resources for the tree, just focus on the maitenence. This will take all of your concentration. Alright?"
Torem: Easy enough for me. *looks at the sapling*
The sapling continues to grow inch by inch. The sapling begins to reach out towards Torem and latch onto her as it continues to grow.
Gurin gradually feeds her sapling with nutrients and water, and Torem begins to feel information from the plant enter her body, such as the photosynthesis rate.
Gurin also provides a miniature sun to provide the plant warmth and light to aide in the growth as well.
Torem: Man, this almost as boring as staring down a hallway.
"This isn't meant to be exciting, it's mean to relax and enhance concentration. You can also go faster with the merging process if you feel slow."
The sapling contniues to grow until it reaches two feet
Torem: *sigh* So...Favorite color?
Gurin points at her green skin.
As the tree grows further attached to her, she feels command over it begin to feel as if it is just an extension of her body, the roots give her a sense of touch as does every part of the tree's expansion. This enhanced sense starts causing the tree to grow and wrap around her at an exponentially accelerated rate, until eventually her legs and pelvis have been firmly merged with the tree, and her arms are now giving way to bark and trunk. As this continues, her thoughts are lulling and becoming deeply relaxed, her body now has changed to have no blood but chlorophyll. Her tree is beginning to grow a few main branches, about twice her size and steadily growing. She feels as though she would only have to think to complete her merge.
Torem: This feels....different...
"Complete the transition and expand the tree at your own pace once you're completely merged. Do so until your control is merely subconscious and growing the tree is as simply as blinking. From there I will have you begin learning to alter your environment, but once you reach the affinity I speak of, you should already understand how to extend your control beyond your tree to the land and air. I'll explain more once you have felt control expand as explained."
The tree grows into a full sized oak. Black grass begins to sprout around it.
Torem: Is it working some?
Indeed. Now seek to alter the atmosphere around you until the composition is thicker and a close match to Earth. Once you have done so, urge it to release the bounties of water onto the land to weather it down, then dig deep into the rock and break it into fresh soil. Can you feel your power slowly grow?
Torem, now one with her tree, feels with every blade of grass, every slight modification of the air and land around her, power slowly seep into her being, a slight twinge of euphoera can be felt as it grows at a slow, tantilizing pace. The urge to expand her control drastically flickers into her thoughts.
Torem: This feels...Amazing...And I'm not really a nature person.
Regulate yourself as much as you can. Try to gradually expand control over the environment, make it more habitable.
The black grass begins to spread and more tall flora begin to sprout. The plants release blue particles which begins to float in the air and illuminating the growing forestry.
After a few hours of practice, Gurin grows them food to eat for a lunch break, and soon after, Torem gets a message from Reveryn to bring him and Naomi back.
Reveryn and Naomi appear in mid-air
Reveryn: Wheeee-! *falls on his face* Ow. *gets to his feet* I got her!
Torem: *looks over at Reveryn and looks at Naomi in his arms* What happened to her?
Reveryn: I don't know. She got a visit from her sister and her father and everything just...Happened.
Torem: Hm. *turns back around* She looks better in black,
Reveryn: I was thinking the exact same thing!
Torem: Come over here and eat some.
Reveryn: Oh boy! *carefully sets Naomi down and goes over to eat*
As the glow completely fades from Naomi, her form alters, returning to black hair as her tails retract in her sleep. Her ears are still prevalent.
Reveryn: So what do you have?
Torem: I don't know. Food.
Reveryn: Is everyone gonna give me that answer whenever I ask what I'm about to eat?
Torem: Food.
Reveryn: Fair enough. You know what? Let me ask Ms.Gurin. Atleast she'll give me different answer. Excuse me, Miss. What food are you/we eating?
Gurin blinks. "Fruits." Naomi makes a small groan.
Torem: *looks back at Naomi* I just realized she had more tails than before. How did she get the extra tails?
Reveryn: *grabs some grapes* Her dad. *pops a grape in his mouth*
Torem: She had five tails before.
Reveryn: Mm-hmm.
Torem: Now she has nine.
Reveryn: Yelp.
Torem: I don't get it.
Reveryn: I don't get anything anymore. Cause what are you gonna do about it?
Naomi starts to come to, grimacing.
Reveryn: *looks back at Naomi* I think she hears us.
Torem: With those ears of hers, yea.
"Wuuuuz happening...?" She slurs, still not fully awake.
Reveryn: Oh, nothin' much. Just getting our fruit on. You wanna come and join us?
"...Meeaaaaaaaat."
Reveryn: Um,Ms. Gurin. Do you have any meat?
Gurin summons cooked ham, and Naomi starts tearing into it.
Reveryn: Thank you. *eats another grape*
Naomi silently steals glances at Reveryn on occasion, eating her pork slowly.
Torem: So Naomi, I heard you had yourself a little reunion. How was it?
"I don't... ...remember her."
Torem: Oh...What about your dad?
"..." Her face goes pale, ghostly so. "I don't... ...are you talking about... ...my real one or... ...the Great Spirit?"
Reveryn: *raises an eyebrow in confusion and slight fear*
Torem: Ummm...Which one did you meet?
"...I don't know, I wasn't concious."
Torem: Hm...Then how did you know about the spirit?
"A folk tale about our origins in the village."
Reveryn: I met him. The latter I meant. Wasn't...I don't know what to make of him. I mean he helped.
Naomi looks away uncomfortably. "Can we talk about something else besides fathers?"
Reveryn: Ok. Ummmm...
Torem: When is your friend coming?
Reveryn: Oh right, the dragon man! Yea, when is he coming back? I didn't really see him or the dragons back there. Is he ok?
A green aura surrounds Gurin, and D'Ranjo appears in a 'pop!'.
D'Ranjo: *looks around confused until he looks at Torem, Reveryn, and Naomi*
D'Ranjo reverts back into his normal state.
Reveryn: Whoa! This dude is...darker than dad! *examines D'Ranjo* I see you rockin' that four-pack! You go, man!
D'Ranjo: *gives Reveryn a confused look*
Torem: *stands to her feet and walks upt to D'Ranjo*
Torem and D'Ranjo retain eye contact for a moment until Torem puts her hand up for a hand-shake.
D'Ranjo: *grabs her hand and firmly shakes it*
Torem: Where is your shirt?
Reveryn: And shoes?
D'Ranjo: Don't need them.
Reveryn: Anyway, thanks for saving our hides. I'm one-hundred percent sure I couldn't out-run those dragons. You save me and Torem's life.
D'Ranjo: You thanks is appreciated. But not needed.
Torem: You're Afrikaan. Not just that. An Afrikaan native. What's your name?
D'Ranjo: D'Ranjo. You are Torem then?
Torem: Sure am. And this twig over here is Reveryn.
Reveryn: *waves at him with a smile* Hello!
D'Ranjo: *looks over at Naomi* And who is she? I don't remember seeing her around.
Reveryn: Oh that's Naomi. She was spending some her time in a hole. In the ground.
D'Ranjo: Hmm.
Naomi's face turns bright red and she ducks her head down, looking at the ground. Gurin meanwhile looks at D'Ranjo. "Hungry?"
D'Ranjo: No, I'm fine. Thank you though. *sits down on the ground* So. Who are you?
Torem: I'm a godess of nature.
D'Ranjo: Another one?
Torem: The dark-side of nature.
D'Ranjo: Oh. I guess I should've known by your appearance.
Torem: I hope it isn't too distracting.
Reveryn: I think you look beautiful, Torem. By twenty percent!
Torem: *smiles* Too much butter.
Reveryn: You can never get enough.
D'Ranjo: And you?
Reveryn: Oh! I am an elf archer. A badass elf archer. Oh, and add 'sexy' somehwere in that title, would you? *flings his hair back dramatically*
D'Ranjo: That's odd. When I saw you, you were mishapen. Torn up. I look at you know and you're not only restored, but renewed.
Torem: Things happened. Bad things...In the end I chose this so I can get back at the person who who 'tore me up'.
D'Ranjo: ...I understand...
Gurin appears to be lightly napping.
Torem: So. What are you two? Friends, siblings, lovers?
D'Ranjo: Friends...
Reveryn: Huh. You almost sound uncertain for a second there.
D'Ranjo: *looks at the ground*
Naomi is no longer looking at the ground, but doesn't look at Rev.
Reveryn: Hey D'Ranjo, I got to ask. How did you get a rockin' body like that?
D'Ranjo: *gives Reveryn a confused look*
Torem: Yea, to be honest, I wanna know too.
D'Ranjo: Uuuuuummmm...Training...Fighting...Water...
Reveryn: But we've done all that! What are we doing wrong? I don't want to be skrawny forever! I wanna make it in the 'hot-bod' department. I mean I'm fit and all, but you can go out in public and strut your stuff and everyone be fawning over you. When I go to strut my stuff, they be like, "Man. this due ain't rockin' nothin', forget him!"
Torem: I think that's a little too deep, Rev.
Reveryn: Maybe, but it's not impossible.
Naomi begins to mutter.
Reveryn: You say something Naomi?
"...Well you won't be as fast and efficient as an archer if you are big muscled, you'd be... ...a lot slower. ...Besides... ...I... ...[mumble mumble mumble]..." The last part she mumbles and turns scarlet red at.
Gurin still sleeps, though a small fruit tree is growing from her.
Reveryn: I'm not saying I need to be big-muscled, but I need to scultpted! I have the facial features of a god but not the body. I guess it's because I don't work as much as I used too.
D'Ranjo: *takes notice of the fruit tree then looks back at Torem* So, you're like her now?
Torem: Mm-hmm.
D'Ranjo: How does it feel?
Torem: Different. Not really a nature person.
D'Ranjo: I'm not a machine person.
Torem: So what kind of person are you?
D'Ranjo: A soldier.
Torem: All you natives are soldiers. Anything else?
D'Ranjo: An avenger.
Torem: *snickers*
D'Ranjo: Something amusing?
Torem: Who all have you avenged?
D'Ranjo: No one as of yet...
Torem: *snickers even harder*
D'Ranjo: *angrily glares at her* Then what are you?
Torem: Artificial. I thought I was a guardian but...Ended up getting everyone devoured as we speak.
D'Ranjo: By who?
Torem: The man who tore me up.
D'Ranjo: My apologies to hear. Where they like your village.
Torem: A little. I didn't talk to them much. But I guess a part of me still cared enough for me to stay despite...the unbearable disturbances.
D'Ranjo: Endearing.
Torem: That. Maybe. But definitely not understanding.
Gurin seems to be gradually tilting to one side.
Torem: You know what I realized? Ever since I showed up, you've kept your eye contact on me. Why?
D'Ranjo: Your features. They remind me of home. Well, they're the closest.
Torem: Oh right, you're a native. Have you visited your tribe yet?
D'Ranjo: My tribe...Is gone. My home had it's own beauty. The clouds were dark like and the sun shone to where you couldn't see it but it's light barely pieced through the skies. The grass was burnt and bracken. Sparkes would sometimes come from the sky like rain. That was my home.
Torem: .....
Gurin seems to be falling over to one side now.
Torem: Would you blame me if I said your home sounds pretty fucked up?
D'Ranjo: Everyone has their own defenition of beauty.
Gurin completely falls over onto her head quite roughly.
Reveryn: Oh! Oh shiz! Ms. Gurin! *runs over to Gurin*
D'Ranjo: *sigh* *gets up and walks over to Reveryn*
Reveryn: Are you alright? Umm. How many fingers am I holding up? *holds up three fingers*
Gurin seems to be asleep still.
D'Ranjo: *puts a hand on Reveryn's shoulder* Leave her be. She'll be fine.
Reveryn: Is she tougher than she looks?
D'Ranjo: ......*looks at Gurin then back at Reveryn* Let's just...Let her sleep.
Reveryn: M'alright.
They both walk back to where they were sitting
Eventually she rouses again.
Reveryn: Shouldn't we carry her back?
D'Ranjo: *looks back at Gurin, then goes over and picks her up*
When she opens her eyes, she flushes faintly.
D'Ranjo: *looks at Gurin, then puts her on her feet*
Reveryn: Oh! You're awake! Are you alright? You sort of fell.
"I'm fine. I just... fell asleep."
Reveryn: Heheh. Fell. Oh! My apologies!
D'Ranjo: *walks back and sits down next to Torem*
Gurin watches the others silently.
Reveryn: Soooo, Ms. Gurin. What all can you tell us about yourself? *looks at her with child-like anticipation*
"I'm just some girl that the world spat out, destined for nothing but her present state of affairs."
Reveryn: *is taken back some* Wow! That was...wow! But..From my understanding, we're all destined for something, Ms. Gurin. We just need to find it. That or just wait for it to show its face.
Gurin closes her eyes. "I was a human girl once, but I may as well have been a cow. The island in fantasy where we were born and raised, was essentially just a lab experiment to create humans more optimal for creating Phoenix's Chaos Engines, their attempt at playing and creating Gods. There is nothing wonderful about me. I'm just an experiment, cattle bred to be used. I wasn't even designed for combat, I was..." She falters, a strange, dismal look in her eyes.
Reveryn: You don't have to say anymore, Ms.Gurin. I get it. And I think I know somewhoe who gets you! Torem! Can you please join us!
Torem: *groans and walks over to them*
Reveryn: Do you mind telling Ms.Gurin about yourself?
Torem: Yes.
Reveryn: But can you though?
Torem: No.
Reveryn: Not even for sexy youn' me? *puts on a puppy face*
Torem: ....*sigh* Maybe?
Reveryn: *smiles joyfully* Thaaanks!
Torem: So. From what I heard.Like a bunch of other times.You thinking there's no purpose for you, right?
Gurin looks at her uncomfortably. "I have one. ...Just not one I want for myself." She glances uncomfortably at Reveryn and D'Ranjo before continuing.
"It's... ...programmed into me. I can't tune it out. Not since Phoenix made me what I am, at least."
Torem: I did with the M.C.C.P. You think I was to give a care about other myths? I should've been content with them deciding to off themselves because they couldn't take living in a world where they're not wanted. I was created to destroy everyone I'm surrounded by right now. I guess the only difference is you actually have a device inside you. If that's the case, everything I just said was irrelevent then.
Reveryn: But you did a great job for trying.
"It's in my dna, my brain. They toyed with my mind, my subconcious. I don't have a device inside my neck anymore, but that isn't the cause of my... ...state of mind. Rather, it's... ...conditioned into me. I try to resist but..."
She seems to flush. "Can we not talk about this? It's making me... ...more uncomfortable."
Torem: More uncomfortable than learning about the goods and bads about your anatomy?
Reveryn: Enough to reconsider how you view sex? Cause...That was weird. But informative.
Torem: I don't even now why I had to listen to all of that anyway. I don't even have a specific anatomy.
Gurin turns red, and then into a tree.
Reveryn: *stares in amazement* Coooool...W-Wait, we didn't finish talking this out!
Torem: Shaaame, Rev. You scared her into a tree.
Reveryn: I didn't mean too...I was trying to be the emotional support...
Torem: I know you were. *puts her arm around Reveryn* But sometimes, you have to let people figure their feelings out on their own. Not everyone is gonna have Reveryn to be beside them.
Reveryn: Ofcourse not. I'm too special to have more than one me. *flings his hair back dramatically*
Torem: *smiles* And that's the truth.
Gurin remains in tree form silently.
Reveryn: Soooo. What now?
Torem: Hey, D'Ranjo.Naomi. What is y'alls favorite color?
Naomi scratches her hair.
D'Ranjo: Orange. Reminds me of the warmth of a fire.
Torem: Hm. Cool,cool. How about you, Naomi?
"...I don't know..."
Torem: Do you have more than one?
The Forest Realm of Aggra
Atop a high mountain range, a single large tree grows out of one particular peak. Along its base, countless flower stalks grow, some whose bulbs bulge tremendously, about the size of a person. One such flower glows a brilliant green, as a new lifeform, an Aculi, forms like a new born babe. After fully developing, the flower blooms and deposits the newborn onto the grassy slope. The newborn Aculi opens its eyes, and departs into the hills, not before grabbing leaves to form a makeshift covering.
-Eight months later...
The Aculi is resting against a tree, iddly watching the mountain he calls home. He is counting his arrows, making sure he has enough to last him for a while, which he most definitely does. He gets up and starts making his way back to the mountain, whistling as he walks along. He decided to call himself Rhokal, a name he was extremely fond of.
As he gets near his home cave, he eventually starts to hear odd noises inside.
Rhokal raises an eyebrow as he knocks an arrow, assuming it is the occasional animal that sneaks into his home. He slowly enters it, looking around to see the source of the noises.
When he enters the cave, near his food stash, he sees something he hasn't seen in quite a few months: another Aculi, but more importantly, they seems to be stuffing their face with leg meats. From this angle he can't tell their gender, but their tail is swishing eagerly, and they don't appear to have noticed his presence.
Hes rather stunned by the sight of another Aculi, and his arrow leaves his bow despite the Aculi essentially acting as a thief. He sighs before approaching them slowly. "If you want food, I'm okay with sharing."
They freeze, and slowly a light brown haired girl with soft brown eyes and gently curled ram horns meekly blinks at him, eyes wide in surprise. A leg is still dangling from her mouth. Her tail swishes much slower. With the leg still in her mouth, she inches away from the hiding place and to the side, still facing him wide eyed.
Rhokal puts aside his bow and stays where he is. "Im not gonna hurt you. If you tell me your name, I'll let you keep that leg. Okay?"
She almost immediately answers to his surprise. "Moba!" She almost immediately starts eating the leg again.
Rhokal sits down. "Okay Moba, I see you're hungry. I'm going to let you eat that leg and when you're done, is it okay if we talk?"
Admist her furious devouring of the leg he is able to catch a nod. When she is done with the meat, he can see her gnawing on the bone itself a bit.
Rhokal seems rather amused by Moba. "Where are you from, Moba? Do you come from a village or are you alone?"
"Moba is alone, cept she's in big Rhokal's cave. Hungry." She is still chewing her bone.
"Third person....hmm. Not very developed...." He sighs. "If you want more food, i'll give you more if you answer all my questions."
"Food. Food is good. Questions?" Moba asks, now chewing the bone into pieces.
"Do you know how long you have existed?" He takes a much more relaxed position to sit in, assuming they'd be there for a while.
"Many darks. Many lights. Can't count... ...hungry."
He sighs. "Are you always hungry...? Wait, don't answer that. Have you met other Aculi before me?"
"Never fed me. Poked at me with sharp sticks. I ran."
Rhokal makes a rather disheartened look. "Absolutely rude. Lots of people dont seem to understand we're all just trying to survive." He sits and thinks for a moment. "Do you want to possibly work together for some time? I'm a very good hunter and can provide food, as long as you hold your part."
"You feed me?" She seems delighted by this idea.
Rhokal lets a smile pass. "Yes, I'll feed you. Only if you help me though. Animals get a bit rowdy around here and it'd be nice to have someone help me defend my home."
"Whack hings ith big sthick?" She says with her mouth full of meat.
"Well, yes. I could make you a better weapon but a big stick will do. How much magic do you know?"
She doesn't respond until she stops eating her present mouthful. "I love to play with water and rocks. Fix scrapes and cuts and big purple sores when Moba whacks herself with club." She continues eating, and he gets the feeling that he's going to be down a few extra legs.
"Standard with magic, then." Rhokal gets up. "I'll have to go out hunting more often considering your....appetite."
She is almost down to the bone once more, licking her lips.
"Pace yourself please, it wouldn't be good if my whole food reserve was gone in a day. Do you want to come with me to hunt?"
She pouts, but stands up after finishing her leg, though she snatches one extra, then picks up a rather large club almost surpassing half her size, which somehow he had not noticed before. The sheer fact the small Aculi can lift it shocks him.
Rhokal gets a little wide eyed. "....Huh. Follow me, then." Rhokal starts walking out of the home and back towards the forest.
She follows him, having to awkwardly clamber after him down the tall slopes, not at all at home on the cliffs.
Meanwhile, Rhokal easily trots down the mountian, occasionally looking back to Moba. "How did you even make it up here?"
"Trials and errors?"
"I'll show you an easier route next time we climb up."
She manages to do well up until the last small cliff, in which she trips on a rock and falls over the edge.
Rhokal quickly grabs her arm before she can completely fall off. "Same rock I tripped on when I first made my home here." He pulls her back up. "You alright?"
"...Okay..." She looks up at him with her wide brown eyes. "Thank you Rhokal."
He nods. "You're welcome." He continues walking down the mountain and when they reach the ground, Rhokal takes out an arrow in precaution.
Moba meanwhile runs head into the forest with a loud battle cry of glee.
Rhokal has a dumbfounded look on his face before shaking it off. "Moba! We need to be silent if we're to hunt!"
It doesn't take long for her yelling to become louder again as sudden a deer bursts from the forest edge in total panic, with Moba right behind it and swinging at its head with her club.
Rhokal sighs before taking in a deep breath and holding it, before knocking his arrow and waiting for the opportune time to let the arrow fly. When the moment is right, he lets go, and it strikes the deer right in the brain, instantly killing it.
Moba cheers.
Rhokal walks over to the dead deer and carefully removes the arrow, and has various rocks come up from the ground, forming a floating slab of sorts. Rhokal picks up the deer and sets it onto the slab, and the rocks notably move from the weight. "It should follow us while we walk. Just so we don't have to carry anything."
"More?" Moba asks.
"Considering how much you eat, and that I need to eat as well we'll definitely need more. This deer is already a lot on its own, though. If we can get a few rabbits then we should be done."
Moba starts looking at the ground, then seems to walk off absent mindedly.
Rhokal attempts to follow after her, looking around in case of danger.
She suddenly starts stomping the ground in certain places.
Rhokal catches onto what shes doing and looks around for burrows in the ground for a rabbit to pop out of.
Eventually he sees one pop out in a frantic rush.
Rhokal smirks as he quickly grabs the rabbit, snapping its neck. "Wonderful. I usually just wait or bait them out with food."
Moba continues this effort for a while.
As she does so, Rhokal continues collecting rabbits til they have a good amount. "I think we have enough. Lets start heading back."
Moba cheers, running circles around him as they walk, occasionally tripping.
Rhokal cant help but let out a few chuckles. "Full of energy. Very admirable."
As they begin to scale the mountains, Rhokal gradually notices that Moba is changing in form, gradually becoming taller and her body's reaction to the steep slopes more natural, at present she appears like she will grow up to just below his shoulder in a few moments.
Rhokal seems a bit intriguied. "That should help you out. Just for clarity the mountain can get cold at night."
As they continue toward the top, he also starts to see her fur grow to around his length, she seems completely obvilvious to this process.
Rhokal doesn't tell her for a bit, but gives in. "Your adaptation has kicked in."
She turns, her head tilts to one side, and keeps going.
"If you're going to end up staying as well I might have to expand the cave a bit. You can help me with that, since you can use earth magic."
"Awwww... ok..."
"Don't worry. It shouldn't be too difficult." After a while they reach Rhokal's cavern, and he brings in the slab of rocks carrying the deer inside, as well as the rabbits, setting it aside. He moves to a wall in the cavern and puts his hand on the wall, and it starts morphing, slowly creating more and more space in the home.
Moba appears to have a lesser skill with earth magic, as it takes her a bit longer to achieve the same results.
Rhokal stops after the cavern is now signifcantly larger. "That should do it. I can check if I have an extra animal skin for you to rest on, skinning the deer will take some time and it likely wont be enough."
Moba eyes some of the food hungrily, while casually nodding her head, vaguely listening. She seems to have taken an interest in the deer and has sat down, and seems to be skinning it with rather expert care and effectiveness, with almost no actual damage to the skin.
In the meantime, Rhokal exits the cavern for a moment and grabs a rather large tarp like piece of hide, and creates a spike of rock above the entrance, impaling the hide with it to cover the entrance. "Should keep things warmer."
Moba in the mean time is cleaning her handiwork.
"I was curious Moba, what kind of things have you seen? Just, nature wise. I dont do much exploring outside of the mountain range and forest."
"Trees, trees, trees, flowers, trees, trees, really big pretty tree, trees, animals."
"Most of that is standard. Although a big tree sounds interesting."
"...You weren't born under Mother Tree?"
"I do not think so. At least, not THE Mother Tree."
"Moba was... ...my forest grows from its roots..."
Rhokal seems extremely curious. "Could there be a chance I could see the Mother Tree?"
"Long away, long time."
Rhokal thinks for a moment. "How would you feel about leaving to see the tree sometime soon?"
Moba looks at him quizicallly. "Why does Rhokal want to see big Mother?"
"I can only describe it as....a tick. Its an itching feeling that makes me want to look for things that can snwer my questions and things that can help me work on my magic."
"Moba make no promise."
"Even I were to provide food?" Rhokal gives a sly smile.
"Moba can still make no promise. Foggy head."
Rhokal sighs. "Alright. I would appreciate it if you at least continued to consider it." Rhokal can notice that from outside the tarp covering the entrance, less light is coming in. "Suns going down."
Moba has finished skinning the deer and is butchering meat with rather effective skill.
"The rabbits can be dealt with tomorrow if you find yourself tired after that." Rhokal goes to find if he has any spare animal skin mats.
Moba finishes a little while later and has used salt to preserve the food.
Rhokal has found a few spare mats by then and walks over to Moba. "To sleep on. There's an extra if you still end up cold."
She blinks and begins laying them down in one corner.
"See you in the morning." Rhokal walks over to his own mat, awfully close to the wall, which is notably covered in markings and drawings. Rhokal carves things into the wall while he starts to fall asleep.
She seems to watch him, before covering herself and lying down.
Rhokal finally dozes off, extremely tired for some strange reason, mumbling a word that could just barely be understood as "Night."
She falls asleep too, though finds herself cold all the same, unused to the temperature difference.
The sun rises and Rhokal gets up extremely early, yawning and nearly forgetting the entirety of yesterday. He looks to the corner where Moba went to sleep.
She seems noticeably closer, as if she had migrated during the night closer for warmth.
Rhokal picks up his own extra mat and gently places it onto her, seeing that she was not used to the cold. "Strange one she is. Good strange." He picks up his staff and walks outside, taking in a deep breath of air.
Moba appears to remain asleep for a good while.
Rhokal watches birds fly by, almost day dreaming. "Wonder what the birds would say if they could talk. Or, if I could understand them."
Eventually Moba starts stirring.
Rhokal comes back into the cave. "Sleep well?"
"Rocky."
He scratches the back of his neck. "Apologies for that. Suppose I should have given an extra mat for you to sleep on, rather than use it for an extra blanket."
"Moba alright."
"I know you had said you might not be able to lead me to it, but are we able to look for Mother Tree soon?
"Moba hungry."
"As am I. You starting preparing the deer from yesterday, yes?"
"Moba salted and preserved meat. It is properly butched for effective cooking."
"Wonderful. Do me a favor and hand some to me? I can cook it." Rhokal puts his staff back down.
She indicates where the meat is stored, still largely laying down.
Rhokal walks over to the stored meat and takes a rather large piece, holding it in his hand. It starts to bubble as it begins to cook, a small flame covering Rhokal's hand. He occasionally spins it around in his hand to cook it equally.
Moba watches him, curious.
After a bit, Rhokal stops heating up the food and lets it cool down. He takes a rather make shift dagger of flint and cuts the meat in two, handing the larger piece to Moba. "Careful."
She grasps the food and eats immediately.
"Try not to choke, please." Rhokal sits down and starts eating as well.
She doesn't really seem to pay attention all the same. She seems content however.
After he finishes he gets up and starts sifting through his things, almost as if hes preparing for something. "I know you said your memory is foggy with this, but I'd still like to see mother tree."
"Moba could try. Moba suggest doing as she says if Rhokal wants to see Tree."
Rhokal seems confused, but nods. "Alright...Are we making a promise then?"
"Moba make no promise, only best effort. Rhokal not know forest. Very dangerous."
Rhokal scratches his chin. "Okay. And I think ill be able to handle myself, but of course help is always appreciated."
Moba shrugs, eating with extreme pleasure.
Rhokal moves to a different area and starts grabbing various things, before sitting start and starting to make arrows.
Having torn through her food, Moba runs amock unsupervised, batting large boulders around with her equally large club, the end result is occasional boulders sailing over and down the slopes at intermittent periods.
Rhokal seems somewhat amused by this, finishing his arrowmaking as he stands up, moving over to Moba. "Moba, are we ready to go now?"
"Moba power!" She sends another one flying, this one too close for comfort. "Moba ruuuuuun!" She proceeds to run down the mountain like a maniac.
Rhokal ducks as she sends a boulder flying, almost stumbling after her as she runs. "I don't suggest going that fast down a mountain Moba!" He chases after her, jumping down the rocks on the mountain like it was natural.
She of course, ignores him, displaying unnatural levels of grace as she rockets downhill.
"She's very...springy?" Rhokal continues his chase after her, actually turning around and waving goodbye to what was his home for a good amount of time.
She eventually makes it all the way down, by this time she appears to be shrinking to her previous height and is also losing a lot more of her fur, revealing her brown skin covered with a thin layer of fur.
Rhokal reaches the ground after she does, only changing a little bit as some of his fur goes away. "Lead the way, please."
She pretty much skips along through the grasses, caring little about any urgency.
He initially tries to get her attention at first, but lets her do her own thing as he follows, quietly whittling what appears to be a flute of sorts.
Moba appears to be leading him towards a large forest, looking rather dense in size.
Rhokal actually gets a rush of nervousness when he sees the forest. This is rather out of his 'territory'. He shakes his head and trots along a little bit quicker, nearly done with his flute.
She quietly begins to traverse the thick trees without any hesitation, seemingly completely at home in the environment, weaving in and out with much grace, surprisingly quietly as well.
He attempts to mimic her movements with some difficulty, but quickly gets the hang of it. "This is very quaint!"
They soon find a area of thorny and prickly plants. Moba boldly moves forward without any hesitation.
Rhokal gently moves through, getting a few pricks here and there.
Moba appears to be traveling into a ravine hidden by the overgrowth.
He seems just a little taken aback by the change in environment again, but continues following, drawn in by his curious nature.
Resuscitation
Eien hears a loud beep in his thoughts. "I know, I'm coming. I have some things to get ready first."
With that, a portal appears behind Eien and he disappears through it, appearing inside a strange, massive facility with neon blue lighting.
At the front of the large chamber is a three windowed wall with three globes, one of Earth, of Echo, and of Fantasy.
Surrounding him are pathways to other parts of the facility, an innumerable amount of machines and devices, and at the back, the focus of Eien's attention, is a girl with iridescent hair and green eyes, strapped to the wall by chains of energy, with various machines operating on her, modifying her with needles and arcs of energy, all of which cause moans to fill the room with her pain.
"Progressing as scheduled..." He mutters, walking up to her and examining her, grabbing her chin and examining her eyes. One of them is starting to shift into a deep, beautiful blue, while her iridescent hair is slowly turning a deep, rich blonde. Tiny fairy wings sprout from her back.
"S-STop... this..." She stutters incoherently.
"Oh don't you worry. You won't remember this soon enough. I only needed you to exist again long enough to further her awakening. Then it's off to the next match. Until all of them return to me... my Precious Nine..."
He snaps his fingers, and the girl falls unconscious. "Didn't want to hear her voice anyway. Makes me want to kill a sonovabitch."
He walks forward to the windows, toward the one displaying Earth. "I think it's about time we got started the party."