Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"Ah, I love servants. Let's see... Military background, hmm? Commander, even;
impressive for a mortal. You would be of great help to me."

 

OOC: A glimpse at another future:

"Well, we messed up." I say, reading the letter.

"Dude, who cares? Ihra caused you so much greif, and you said yourself you were ready to leave." Shadow Stephanie says, beating Abigail at a fighting game.

"Yeah, but I feel like there was a chance at saving Ihra. Maybe we could've taken Xlentia." I say, feeling guilty.

"Well...maybe we could do some time shenanigans? If you're over Vei's death, you could just use the watch and go back," Artemis says, "We'd split onto another timeline, and change the alpha."

"God dammit why are you so good at this!?" Abigail says, annoyed, losing to Shadow Stephanie.

"I think we should check out that reward. Xlentia seems powerful, and she says she really appreciates what we did." Stephanie says, reading over my shoulder.

"I don't know...I feel like I should have protected Ihra." I say.

"She's dead. She holds no influence over our own lives in our own world. It's like letting a character die in a video game; sure, it's super sad because you got attached, but it's just a video game." Shadow Stephanie says.

"Well...maybe I want to load my previous save and see if I can get a different ending." I say, summoning the watch of true time.

"We can still get that reward though...right?" Stephanie asks.

"We'll get the reward in a second, I'll just change the alpha timeline first." I say.

Artemis kisses me goodbye, "Good luck." She says, smiling.

I smile back, before disappearing in a blue flash.


"Yeah, you seem to be in quite the pickle there. Want me to save your asses so you don't get erased?" Shadow Stephanie's voice echoes near me.

I look over at Ihra, thinking.

I suddenly appear from the future a short distance away, "DON'T LEAVE!" I shout, "STAY AND FIGHT!"

"Wh-what? But, Crelucium just got erased! I can't fight that!" I say, dumbfounded.

"Look, if you leave, everything here messes up. Ihra gets killed, her homeworld gets destroyed, Xephyr dies; it's the bad ending in a video game." I say.

"Are you sure? I'm not sure if I can take Xlentia." I say nervously.

"Trust me, which is to say you, which is to say ourselves, you don't want to leave." I say.

"A-Alright. I'll try and fight Xlentia." I say, drawing Shadow Katana.

"Don't make us have to come back from another timeline where we wussed out." I say, disappearing in a blue flash.

 

"What, are you saying that I should use yours?"
---
Hryth just continues to drool, creating more and more plants.
Aura backs away so she isn't engulfed in the vegetation.

"I found out where Eras is. He's very near to Xlentia."

 

"My body is also very near Xlentia."

"I am most honored. My deepest gratitude for the statements."

 

"Hehehe... this will be fun."
Arnold continues flying west.
OOC: @Exvhius , ok, timeskip to Xlentia I guess?

 

"Though, please try not to destroy my body."

 

"Hmm? Ah, so you will stay to play..."
She raises her foot.
"Let's see how good your defensive magic is. Oh Iiiihraaaaa..."

She swallows hard, looking up at Xlentia's foot above her, shaky.
"Shit." She squeaks.

"I'm saying yours could use some improvement. More jewels, more treasure, more servants."
-----
"To each their own, I suppose..."
She mutters.

"Hehehee... Ah, you're charming... for a mortal. I'll look into preserving you."

Yep.

 

"Hey, uh Xlentia? Can I just talk to you for a bit? You know, a nice bestie-to-bestie chat?"

Stephanie runs over to Ihra and forms a large shield around the pair of them.

 

The shield, with some assistance from Ihra, manages to barely buy both of you enough time to run out of the way.
"Thanks Stephanie... Okay, uh... Let's just start making you guys stronger.

Artemis, Abigail, Stephanie, Katie, and Aj are brimming with energy.


"I told you, we're not besties, but while you're wasting my time, what do you want? Ihra's not going to kill herself."

 

"Well, you said you wanted to save your brother because he's still trying to save what remains of your homeworld; however Ihra said you just want to destroy the homeworld with whoevers left in it, and erase Ihra with the staff. You said you didn't hate Ihra, but the staff. So why not just let the draconians leave their homeworld, then get your brother back, then destroy it, then get Ihra's staff and destroy that and be friends with everyone." I say.

"Ihra...I'm sorry but it's hopeless. We can just hope to hold out long enough for a miracle to happen. Crelucium was on our side for once, he was a paradox, and now he's gone. Big target or small target, we're dead if we try and fight Xlentia. We can't win, it's game over." Stephanie says tearfully.

 

"Save him from his suffering. His death would be a preferable alternative, but it's almost like he loves torturing himself. I'll never understand him. Besides, few want to be friends with a destroyer."


"It's only hopeless when you say it is." A twisted version of her voice echoes.

Her eyes are red.
"If I were to make you as strong as Crelucium, then might we be able to hold out?"

 

"Well then just kill him and let the draconians go! Or just wait a bit, let all the Draconians out then destroy the homeworld with him in it! IT IS NOT THAT FREAKING HARD TO FIGURE OUT," I say, getting frustrated, "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET THESE PEOPLE LIVE!?"

Stephanie sighs heavily and hugs Ihra, "Is he really gone? He can't come back and get us out of here?" Stephanie says.

 

"Because why preserve liabilities? I'd rather crush them all."


"I'm afraid so, but-"
Ihra faceplants, snapping out of her trance.
"Ugh... Okay. Xlentia here is bad. Let's try to distract her. Take her focus off killing us long enough to find a weakness or something."

 

"Why? They're good people! Imagine you were in their shoes. You're running away from your land as it falls apart; you've seen your family slaughtered, and your only hope is escape. Then, you see it, the way out. A gigantic dragon suddenly swoops down and kills you, for no other reason than she wanted to. You didn't deserve to be killed, you were innocent. You did nothing wrong. But nope, you died because someone wanted you to." I say, calling out to any shred of humanity or mercy Xlentia may have left.

Stephanie sighs again, "Why hold off the inevitable? If Crelucium can't even touch her, what chance do we have? We can't distract her, she just wants us dead. Let's just give her what she wants. Maybe if Crelucium had hurt her, or if he was even here, I might've held out some sort of hope; but no. We're just waiting to be killed, Ihra. Let's just accept our death and hope it's painless." Stephanie says, devoid of hope.

Abigail remains trapped under the large claw in her dragon form; she doesn't seem to be struggling anymore, simply lying there. She too seems to have given up hope.

 

Xlentia's eyes flicker.
"I cannot control..." She utters in a raspy voice.

They stop flickering.
"How do you know they're innocent? They've brought ruin upon themselves, as far as I can see."


Sgavrinn lands near Stephanie and hums sadly, nuzzling her.
"You guys never trusted me, did you?" Ihra sighs.

 

"Xlentia, think about the ones you love. Think about everyone you've cared for. Think about those you've lost; I know you're in there somewhere. You can fight this, I know you're not evil. You can't let this corruption hold you, you're stronger than it is." I say, calling out to Xlentia's soul.

Stephanie sits down next to Sgavrinn, trying, but failing, to stop her tears, "Come, let's face oblivion together." She says, looking up at Ihra; tears running down her face.

Katie lies on the ground a short distance away, staring into the sky.

"I'll miss this life." You can just about hear her mutter.

 

Her eyes flicker again.
"A true guardian... wouldn't betray..."
She collapses, somehow landing on none of you.


"Aj? Woah... Remind me not to make you angry!" Ihra calls out at you.

 

"That'll do, pig," I say, looking over Xlentia with pride, "That'll do."

Stephanie's eyes alight with hope anew, "H-He managed to stop her?" Stephanie says in disbelief.

 

"Wh... How?! Aj, I can't believe it!"
Ihra runs over to Abigail and uses her staff to free her wing.

 

I gently pet Xlentia before walking over to the group.

With her wing free, Abigail gets stands and transforms back. She hugs Ihra.

"She's not dead, and I'm not sure if she's unconscious. We can't trust her, she could awaken at any moment." I say to Stephanie.

"What did you do!?" Stephanie asks, shocked.

"I tried to save her." I say, smiling.

Artemis emerges from a flower in the ground, and hugs me, "You're not a genocidal demon." She whispers.

Katie gets up and walks over to us.