Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"Actually, we caused the mountains to collapse a while ago. Well, us and a large snake."

 

"That's a relief."
She scratches Maxie's head.
"Go on, eat your fill. I've got questions."
She slides down its feet, still looking up at you once she touches down on the ground.
"So, you and a giant snake took out a chunk of the range? May I ask what exactly happened?"

 

Artemis walks out of the flower, rubbing her eyes.

"Ughh...what happened? How long have I been out?" She says; seemingly normal, "Is Nyre gone?"

 

"A while."
"Now, we need to know what happened to you."
"Else we'll have to kill you where you stand."
"Let's not go too fast, Ihra."
Ihra looks at Artemis, tearing up.

 

Artemis seems a little shocked, looking around.

"I-I don't know what happened! All I remember is summoning Gaia's Scythe to attack Nyre, and then...and then I got stabbed and Aj apologised...?" She says hastily, "Wh-Where's Aj and Abigail? You didn't kill them did you!?"

Artemis begins to panic.

 

"No."

Pause.

"You did. Almost. You two, show yourselves."

 

"Wh-What?" Artemis says, confused.

Abigail jumps out of the pool of lava; I end up climbing out.

"You turned into Little Ms. Genocide, Flower Power," Abigail says, "And you practically killed Aj and I, less so Aj however."

"You lost control of yourself. You drained the majority of Abigail's life and rammed Gaia's Scythe through my chest," I explain, "With what energy I had left, I ended up stabbing you in the hopes you'd snap out of it."

"It wasn't fun, for either side." I say, grief lacing my words.

"I...I turned into a Death Guardian...?" Artemis asks, confused.

"Pretty sure you would've offed Ihra and the others if Aj hadn't done the same to you first." Abigail says, "Shame I'm not skeletal anymore, because I'd totally be flipping you the skeletal bird right now.".

Abigail glares at Artemis.

"Calm down, she wasn't in control." I say, turning to Abigail.

 

"Me, Xephyr here and a few others were travelling to my Void Palace and a portal to it was in these mountains. When we came to the entrance, however, we encountered the Serpent. At some point the others... well, I'm not sure what happened to them actually. But they disappeared at some point. Then Xephyr detonated a crystal inside the creature. The Serpent itself had already weakened the mountain range a lot. So the explosion weakened it even more. We went through the portal and when we came back, the mountain range had collapsed. Luckily nobody was harmed... by the collapse, since everyone else had likely been killed by the Serpent."
I then gesture to Hythania and Idala.
"These are Hythania, who is a powerful witch and alchemist, and Idala, her daughter."
"Powerful witch, alchemist... no, HIGHLY SKILLED alchemist. And Idala is powerful in magic and is starting to learn Dark Script."
The wyvern looks at Idala... innocently?
Idala says a few words in Dark Script and the wyvern flies off to the east.

 

"I could've killed her if I tried!" Ihra growls.
"But I don't wanna."

"Ihra, that's not comforting. Be helpful, here."
"Sorry, mother."

________________________________

"Well, Maxie's happy to clean up. We almost were levelled, he was halfway through one when we heard everything start collapsing."
She looks at the collosal beast.
"Well, I would've been levelled. He'd probably eat his way out."

 

Artemis shoots you a look of terror, stepping back a little.

Noticing Abigail glaring at her, she takes a few more steps back.

"I-I'm sorry alright! I was just trying to protect you!" She shouts, tears filling her eyes, "I couldn't control it!"

Artemis turns to Abigail and I, "I'm s-sorry for h-hurting you, it was an accident!" She says, tears running down her face.

"I-I never want to b-be a D-Death Guardian..." She says through tears.

I teleport next to Artemis, "I know it wasn't your fault." I say, hugging Artemis. Artemis continues to cry.

 

Ihra starts crying too, running at and hugging Artemis.
"Maybe we can help you after this problem. Do you know what causes it?"

 

"This is sorta awkward..." Abigail says, jumping back into her pool of lava.

"I-It's not really something that can be fixed." Artemis sniffles, "It's like a darker, more corrupt side of a Forest Guardian."

"Very few Forest Guardians become Death Guardians because it takes such a strong will to control," She says, "I-I just didn't want Nyre hurting you...and I c-couldn't control myself. I h-hurt my friends..."

Artemis hugs me tightly, tears streaming down her face, "I-I'm sorry..." She sobs. I try my best to comfort Artemis.

 

The staff's crystal resonates a clear aura.
You can hear Ihra's side of the telepathy.
"Make a cure? I don't even-"
"but aren't you-"
"Right. Sorry, then."

"...what? She'd never agree! No, I won't. I'm done listening."

 

I seem a little concerned by what I hear.

I wipe the tears from Artemis' eyes, smiling at her. "What's done is done; let's be happy you're still here." I say. Artemis gives me a light kiss, "Thanks, Aj." She says, seeming to cheer up a little.

"You guys done crying yet?" Abigail says, jumping out from her pool of lava.

"Are you feeling alright? I didn't mean to almost kill you." Artemis says, looking at Abigail.

"Ah, forget about it. It's in the past now." Abigail says, smiling.

I keep an eye on Ihra, staying close to Artemis.

 

I simply look at Artemis and wave.

 

"Yeah, let's just go... to somewhere I can... y'now... eat... food... That sounds nice."

 

"I hate to ask now, but I don't see the point of waiting. Do you know what causes the corruption?"
Ihra glances back at Vei.
"Probably not the best time."

"Okay. Well, how do you feel about fire? There's two large nations; Brisingr and the Darklands. Brisingr is a land of fire, and the Darklands is... well, it has plenty of creatures that are bigger than you and aren't exactly friendly."

 

"It's not really corruption," Artemis says, "It's just a side of my powers, which is very hard to control; and can cause terrible things if misused."

 

"You sound just like my daughter. Except more... sane."
"Hey! I'm trying to do what you tell me to!"

 

"I don't think I'll be using those powers again until dire circumstances," Artemis says guiltily, "They're far too dangerous to be using against just anyone."