Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

Avis glances at Linoa, who hands Crystal an ice chip.
“Hold it out, no sudden movements. She seems curious about you.” Linoa whispers.


Idhaenna nods, seeming to tear up slightly.
“I lost my heart that day. Stella’s done her best for me, stars bless her, but... I’ve been waiting for this day. For release. Your righteousness won’t stop me from closure, from releasing this pent-up rage. These people might not deserve it, but bloodline debts are fulfilled by descendants and I am here to collect!”
She raises her arm cannon again, this time aimed squarely at your chest. Her breath is uneasy, though.
“Last chance. You know my offer.”

But if we run, Anne’ll think we’re in trouble and- well, I guess we kind of are... still, you said you didn’t want to talk to her for a while, right? And if we go in the forest, she’ll think we want to talk with her.

“These things can stand the force of a haymaker from Lady Gaia?” Arkclal asks, seeming skeptical.


“Too fast to be natural. Guardian, right? That’s what Lady Gaia calls you?” She calls out.

 

"A...what?" I ask, confused.


There's still no response, though a bird sitting on a rotting tree gives Fenira a confused look.

 

"Well.. if we walk past her, that should give a hint as to us not wanting to talk."

 

Crystal gingerly shifts to take the chip, and shifts it into his hand rather than moving his limbs.
He then holds the chip up to Avis very slowly.


I press my chest against the opening of the cannon and speak calmly.
“If you want to release pent-up rage, then fine. Shoot me, kick me across this planet one inch at a time, whatever, but right now, I need you to listen to me. You don’t have to kill these people. You don’t have to kill these kids. It won’t prove anything. It’ll certainly hurt you more than it’ll help you. You said yourself that Stella’s done her best to help you, and now you’ve gone behind her back in order to kill an entire population? Look at what this feeling is doing to you. I understand that feeling, and I know I’m a robot, so it might seem silly for me to say that, but I do. It sucks. But you can’t give into it. The moment you do, you start spiraling down, down, down, and who knows how far you’ll go?”
There’s a pause.
“Don’t do it, Idhaenna.”

 

“A haymaker is a typically exaggerated overhand punch where a person puts their full weight behind a single strike, usually in attempt to end a fistfight in one blow. Can this carriage take a full-force haymaker from Lady Gaia, or am I going to need to web Arie to one wall?” Arkclal says, Arie still seeming nervous.


Fenira almost glances back, but catches herself.
“Please don’t tempt me to look at you, it’s... really not healthy.”

Avis hops down to the floor, nervously sniffing at Crystal before approaching the ice chip and licking it.


She lowers her cannon, shaken.
“If I lift the order, the Hive Master will use that as a sign of weakness to bring more on his side. Unless you know where to find something else to raze, he can twist this into something it’s not. Otherwise... I’d rather doom myself than doom all of us.”

I know we want her to feel bad for hiding stuff from us, but do we really want her to feel that bad? Can’t you just say you’re not ready to talk and just passing through?

 

Crystal says perfectly still, like a statue, but keeps his eyes trained on Avis.


"Dooming yourself is dooming all of us. We need you, Idhaenna. It's a lose-lose situation, and yeah, that sucks, but one of these ways of losing involves not killing all these people. And, you know, if the Hive Master brings people to his side, there's still hope to get those people back. If you continue the extermination order... that's it."
I say aloud as I create a silent communication with Stella, making sure to keep my mouth shut for the following messages to her.
"You don't happen to know any other easily-destructible Hive-Master-controlled places, do you?"

 

"I'd think anyone bar the other gods would die from that." I say.


The bird squawks and flies away. A few vines slink through the mud like tentacles a short distance from Fenira, though don't seem to be coming towards her.

 

"I could."

 

...She really made you angry, didn’t she?

“Just so we’re clear, we have that much force going into whatever Arie bumps into.” Arkclal says, helping Arie in the carriage before climbing in himself.


Fenira glances towards them, before resting two of her heads just above the waterline on the mud.

Avis’ snout bumps into his hand, which startles her a bit before she bites off half the ice chip and flees.


“That chance is not free... I don’t know if I can chance losing that many people all over again. As you said... if I go through, that’s it. Nobody deserved this... war, rebellion, whatever you want to call it.” She sighs, still indecisive.

“At this point, a siege on O’rogal’s palace is possible. You don’t plan on suggesting this strike force starts desecrating another palace, do you?” Stella asks, seeming concerned.

 

"Is she dense or something?" I ask, confused.


The vines swim through the mud for a bit before sinking below the surface, a few reeds sprouting where they disappeared. A frog leaps into the mud a short distance away, creating a small splash.

 

"Yeah. She did."

 

Crystal just watches her as she goes, slightly moving towards her when her back is turned.


“Listen, it might be possible just to attack O’rogal’s palace now. We can skip all of this beating around the bush, just go straight to him.”
I say to Idhaenna, concern in my voice.

“My gut tells me that, the way this is going, it’s going to happen sooner or later. And it might not be the right choice, but I figure it’s at least a little better than slaughtering all these people.”
I tell Stella.

 

Arkclal links telepathically with you again.
“Did you by chance forget the part that edge beasts are too big to survive normal conditions and their strength is greater than that of a god? Emerald’s gotten her from continent size to this with insanely potent magic and binding. If you break her bindings, she’ll collapse onto herself and create a black hole.”
Pause.
“To be clear - she climbed your trial mountain unscathed because she’s an entire continent worth of force and resilience crammed into a somewhat socially acceptable size.”


Fenira uses a claw to start drawing a rough map of where she’s been, looking around to get an idea of what might be beyond the swamp.

She turns instinctively once Crystal moves, freezing up again.


“You... want me to do what?” She says, shocked. “Do you even realize the weight of desecrating a palace?!”

“You’re going to get a lot of flak if you go through with it, and Idhaenna’s probably going to need to go into hiding if you convince her. Still... I suppose it is better than wiping out people we’re ultimately hoping to protect.” Stella says, hesitant.

I still think that’s a bit harsh... but I’d rather do that than swim.

Your bestial form glances up at the moon before heading into the forest. As you walk, there’s utter silence. It doesn’t seem like Anne’s going to confront you tonight.

 

"Well, if that's the case I'm sure she can just follow along behind unscathed then." I respond.


In front of Fenira, stretching past the swamp, is a lush forest; the swamp likely part of it at one point but fell to age and rot. Behind Fenira lies the river she followed, leading down to a blue ocean in the distance.

 

Arie takes this as a cue to step back from the carriage and lets out a sigh of relief.
“Still really glad nothing happened with her back at the bar. The remains would’ve been a lot more... you know. The way they are.” Arkclal says, getting in the carriage.
“Don’t get lost, you dork. We need you back with us, not a week later.”

Arie grunts, annoyed.


“Did I go in a circle...?” Fenira mumbles, adding the forest and coastline to her map.

 

Crystal immediately stops moving once Avis notices.


“Do you realize the weight of demolishing a civilization?”
I counter.
“It may not seem like a lot to you, but it’s certainly no small task.”

“I’m... working with what I’ve got, here. Thanks for the information.”
I message non-sarcastically.

 

The carriage begins to move once Arie is away from it, the horse-beasts pulling it quickly with great strength. The inside of the carriage feels smooth however, no bumps or sharp turns seeming to translate.


Looking at the forest, it appears to be quite different from the one Fenira came from. All the trees seem to be a different species, and there appears to be far more fruit-bearing trees than other forests.

 

"She's probably asleep. Lucky for us."

 

Works for me. I hate worrying about things that never happen, though...

The mountains are just as quiet as they usually are, the sky just barely starting to lighten as the sun nears the horizon.

Arie rolls after the carriage, not seeming to care about how strange it might be for a spiky bone ball to be rolling along behind a carriage.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is it like being royalty? People make it sound as if being a royal means having other people live your life for you, but you seem to have a fair amount of experience behind you.” Arkclal asks, relaxing slightly.


Fenira double-takes her look at the forest before groaning and wiping her map away.
“Not like I planned to stay on this haven anyways...” She yawns before getting up and starting to make a den.

Avis chirps again, picks up her ice chip, then takes off towards the upper walkways again.


“It’s a city, not a civilization. It’s also easier than taking out an evacuated planet. Or not an evacuated planet.”

“I’m sorry I’m not more of a help. Idhaenna doesn’t have a separate AI for relaying individual orders in combat, and I’m still the go-to for everyone around the stars.” Stella sighs.

 

"It's a lot of pressure and work. You've got to manage your people, for one, so they don't attempt to dethrone you and slash or take your place. Then, you've got to manage the kingdom you rule over, listen to the people and what they want changed, negotiate with neighboring kingdoms so they don't start wars..." I say, spinning my hand to symbolise the list continuing, "I've managed to hire trusted people to cover many aspects of work for me while I'm away, and Shadow Stephanie does way more than she should sometimes just so we can have this sort of time off, but it's a careful process to balance a free life with a royal one. The people just love the approval of the King and Queen of Shadows over that of their royal advisor."

A few insects fly our of Fenira's way as she moves. The den is fairly easy to make, the ground soft and resources for it plentiful enough. Moss and fungi seem to take to it rather quickly, however; though don't seem to damage it.