Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"I want to see what those centaurs were after."

 

“Uh, yeah!”

 

The redirection surges into Ihra and redoubles in strength with a countershock of darkness that rips back through Lux’s hand.

The summoned Tenebrae attempts to follow up Ihra’s counter with a point-blank pulse of darkness before dispersing her remaining energy into the party.

Ihra glances where Lux looked, preparing another spell.

________________________________

The guard might know something about it. Can’t get in or out without them knowing.

“I don’t think there’s a name for it, but we’ve all been called abominations several times.”

 

“Well, what do you call yourselves?”

 

“We just have our names. Landslide, Puddles, Glacier, Gale, and then I’m called Shed solely because I’m the only one who’s built anything.”

 

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you!"

 

“Only’ve met two of us so far, but I could bring you two to the next trade meetup if you wanted."

 

Lux disappears before he can be hit, before Ihra feels herself get picked up. The heat of a sun surrounds her, melting through her flesh. The knight falls from their position, unable to hold on to Lux's rapid movement.

Ihra can't see much, but Praecantatia seems to be holding the shield up by providing it with energy.

 

"I want to have a look around the church first."

 

"Oh... Trade meetup?"

 

As her scales melt, seraphic wings emerge and her body seems to reform slightly. Ihra throws up a field that slows the speed of light around her and her allies.
"To think I used to look up to you..." Ihra mumbles, her voice seeming to echo through the bubble.

You already found the bloody book, what else are you going to look for?

"Some things are a bit distant for others, so we trade what's near our homes for things that are further away."

 

Lux tightens his grip, before a corrupt, demonic Shadow barely resembling Shadow Stephanie bites onto his arm, fangs sinking deep. Lux loses his grip, dropping Ihra as he tries to remove the Shadow latched onto his arm.

 

With the remnant energy from the summoned Tenebrae, Ihra drives a spike of darkness into Lux's chest. If he tries to evade it, it continues its pursuit until countered or hitting its mark.

 

Ihra hits Lux, and he seems to look a little surprised, clutching at the spike of darkness. Shadow Stephanie lets go, but she seems to turn on Ihra; letting out another demonic roar.

 

As he reaches for it, it erupts into an unstable shock.

Ihra warps in front of Lux, giving the demon an illusion of herself to distract it after nullifying its granted true sight. Darkness then erupts from her seraphic wings as she seems to take on a form resembling Xlentia, throwing the shadow body (and herself) towards Lux.

 

The demon seems too sly to be fooled, still chasing after Ihra. Artemis and I seem to plan our own attack at the same time, slicing down Lux's body in an X before the knight jumps up to Ihra and launches themselves into the midpoint of the cuts, jamming their sword into Lux before Ihra hits.

Lux is knocked down, form seeming to break apart. The knight walks over to his neck, before plunging their sword downwards.

 

Xlentia's tail bashes the demon to the side, her claws intent on shredding any visible part of Lux that remains.

 

Suddenly, the barrier disappears, Xlentia, the knight, and Lux being telekinetically held apart from each other before they can kill Lux.

"That's quite enough. There's no need to finish him off." Praecantatia says. A skeletal hand grabs the demon from the air, it's form reverting to an unconscious Shadow Stephanie.

 

The shadowy Xlentia reverts into energy flowing back into Ihra's body.
"Apologies, I haven't tried that variant of summoning before. I didn't know Xlentia hated him that much..." She sighs, the spells she gave her allies slowly dissipating.

 

Lux shakily gets up as Mortius steps into view, holding Shadow Stephanie. Gaia, Tenebrae, Temporus and Caelia also step out from their invisible shield, looking proud.

"You've certainly proven yourselves capable." Lux says, though clearly badly wounded.

"You completed the test. All of you." Praecantatia says happily.

"I knew you could do it." Gaia says happily, smiling at Ihra.

Mortius seems to silently discuss something about Shadow Stephanie with Tenebrae, making it seem like Tenebrae is the only one talking. Temporus and Caelia applaud the group, and Artemis and I seem rather confused. The knight reveals themselves to be Stephanie, as she takes off her helmet.

"What do you mean?" Stephanie asks, sounding betrayed.