Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

Gaia looks to Mortius.

"She knows." Mortius nods, looking Gaia in the eye too.

"You are forgiven." Gaia says with a smile.

 

"Maybe it works different with rain? Like.. it's only drops of water."

 

Ihra seems surprised, before letting her head hang and lets her tears out.
“B-but I...”

But she said she wanted to stay out of the rain too. Plus, it’s still water, and she said water just hurts.

 

"We cannot change the past, Ihra. You are one of my children, even if you come from outside my reality. I should never turn my back on my children." Gaia says, a small ball of cotton sprouting from the ground and wiping away Ihra's tears.

 

“I shouldn’t have turned on you... I hurt all of them, too...” Ihra sobs.

Gaia feels a weak telepathic link coming from Ihra’s staff.
“...she is the changed past...” A weak voice utters before the connection breaks, seemingly against either party’s will.

 

"I mean.. she can probably make a flame hot enough so that the water can't touch her."

 

That’s a good point... I wonder how many things she’s accidentally burned doing that, though.

 

Gaia comes out of her meditative stance, changing to her smaller form and walking over to Ihra. Gaia embraces Ihra in a warm hug, trying to cheer her up.

 

Ihra hugs her, trembling a bit.
“Thank you for everything... I’m so sorry...”

Gaia feels a different telepathic link come through.
“Hey, it’s the thorn in your side. Once you finish up getting the tears out of Angel’s eyes, I think I have some explaining to do.” Iris says, a tinge of guilt in her usually carefree voice.

 

Gaia quietly sings an ancient tune. Ihra hasn't heard it before, but something about it seems so calming.

Gaia listens to the telepathic connection, but does not respond.

 

Ihra starts to drift off to sleep, seeming sufficiently calmed.

Iris lets it fall silent, though doesn’t cut it off should Gaia wish to find her.

 

Gaia lays Ihra down on a newly-grown wooden bed, weaving plants of various species making a thin - yet comfortable - mattress for her to sleep on.

"Max, look after her. I need to speak with her other half." Gaia says. Mortius nods, sitting beside Ihra as Gaia heads back through her personal altar.


A while later, Gaia emerges from the protective barrier concealing the altar to her sanctuary. She looks around for any signs of Iris.

 

Iris seems to be meditating, though as soon as Gaia leaves the barrier, she opens her eyes.
“Two primal beings of balance. One of absolute peace, the willingness to forgive and band together to rebuild. The other of absolute chaos, the willingness to end and betray to grow stronger. Yet, the Demon stumbles on its ashes and rends the Angel... by relation, themselves. I wish to talk, albeit not for the impossibility of forgiveness.”

 

“Who are we gonna see?”

 

“Landslide for sure, maybe Tidepool, and Fireweed might be here this time. Gale too, if you count the second meeting.”

 

"I am willing to listen." Gaia says calmly.

 

"I'm gonna say lots of trees."

 

“Who’re they?”

 

“Landslide I already mentioned, Fireweed keeps lighting his home on fire so he lives in a bunch of fireweed, and Tidepool makes a bunch to collect things from smaller creatures that live in them.”

There’s still a forest here, so it couldn’t have been too many trees.

“I will start by introducing myself. I am Iris, Ihra’s shadow, and the opposite of her in many ways. She often hesitates to harm a fly, where I crush anyone around me.”
Iris sits down.
“Next, Ihra. You cannot tell her this - she won’t be able to hear. Her memories lead her to believe she is the daughter of Vei, a fallen fragment of Virei’tus. This is not the case, and I suggest you interact with her much more carefully than you have. She is still too young to realize her full extent of strength, but she is an illegitimate being. She should not be, neither should I, but I’ve found reason to believe she descends from a god higher than you. I may not be fully correct, but our reality is already changing - with fate’s will struggling to remain the same. There are too many signs for me to ignore this possibility.”

 

"Well.. not this forest. But there was a fire near our home."