Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

The bubble-shield dissipates with another activation of the crystal.

"I think she's just inside her tree as usual. She was working on some mechanical stuff with Temporus, so you could probably meet him too." I explain.

"What was that thing about Xlentia wanting to ravage something on Earth?" I add.

 

"Could you help me get in the tree? I usually just kinda... appear. I feel like that's the wrong thing to do right now." Idhaenna says. "As for Xlentia ravaging Earth, Katie accidentally killed her sister an Xlentia isn't too thrilled with a fifth of her body disintegrating as a result."

 

"Wait...what? Katie's an actual murderer?" I say, sounding shocked.

"Right on! I knew she had her mother's spirit in her!" I continue, tone changing from shock to pride.

The island begins to move toward the main set of islands. The tree remains a fair distance away, however; the singular island landing near the outer islands.

 

“I was telling you that to let you know Xlentia’s probably going to lash out at you again, and while I’m on the subject of bad news Ihra’s pretty pissed at Tenebrae. And doesn’t trust you anymore.”

 

"Why doesn't she trust me anymore? What did I do?" I ask, sounding offended, "Is this another racist thing?"

I start heading toward the main tree-island, though it looks like enough of a trek to have a good conversation.

 

Idhaenna follows.
“Tenebrae convinced her that you’re no longer the same as you were, so yes it is finally a race thing and she’s convinced all shadows are out to oppose her.” She explains.
“Though I must say, she’s got some nasty insults beneath that rosy demeanor.”

 

"The only thing different about me is my experiences with training. If she somehow got the impression that all Shadows were previously all about hugs and tickles and laughter, I have no idea why considering her first experiences with Shadow Stephanie and I." I explain, sounding confused.

"Are you sure she isn't mind controlled?" I ask.

 

"I mean, she's convinced you're working against her. Ihra's fine, though. Tenebrae straight up acknowledged that she fucked up in front of Iris."

 

"Jesus, something must've gone really bad if Tenebrae acknowledged her failure to a mortal," I say, surprised, "So...did Tenebrae say I was evil or something?"

 

"Sort of, I guess? She called you and Shadow Stephanie traitors for helping Ihra." Idhaenna says. "Also, what do you even mean by that? You acknowledged that Iris is a goddess multiple times in the past."

 

"I meant like...never mind," I say, "That's really weird of her to say though. She's never been opposed to Ihra in the past, I think Tenebrae even liked her. Maybe Praecantatia or Temporus knows something about it."

"Hell, if I'm lucky Temporus might take me back to when it happened." I add.

 

"Petunia was there, it'd be a mess." Idhaenna shakes her head. "It was already a mess, specifically a cake-related mess."

 

"Well, now I'm sad I missed it. It sounds like some major stuff went down while I was out here doing some extra training," I say, sounding sad, "At least Artemis was out here with me and not there though. I wouldn't know what to do if she got hurt while I was away."

 

"If it makes you feel any better, nobody actually got hurt. Except maybe Shadow Stephanie, she screamed like she was on the receiving end of a pleasure killing." Idhaenna shrugs.

 

"What happened to her?" I ask, concerned.

 

"From what I understood, Tenebrae 'reclaimed' her, and threatened to do the same with you. She also, apparently blankly, threatened to kill Artemis as well. None of it went down well with Ihra."

 

"Oh. Oooooh, I see," I say, understanding, "Yeah, that doesn't sound good, but it wouldn't be painful. It's essentially us merging with Tenebrae's essence. But since she's Tenebrae, we wouldn't be fully merged; unlike other Shadows that used to do it to consume smaller Shadows and gain power. We'd just sort of co-exist with her consciousness and form, like a sort of mech suit."

"If she really wanted to, she could 'reclaim us' indefinitely, since she is our creator. However, she'd need to have a pretty good reason to do it; I think she's only done it to like...one person." I add.

 

"She claimed that Shadow Stephanie's soul was completely gone. Again, Ihra was pissed. Both of them crossed lines, though. Ihra called Tenebrae the 'Hive Mistress' after she claimed Shadow Stephanie was irrecoverably gone, and things went even more downhill from there."

 

I laugh.

"Hive Mistress, that's a great name. I could see it happening, too!" I say happily, "Though, in honestly, Tenebrae is like a big mother figure. She wouldn't control us like drones. Hell, most people barely get any interactions with any gods, this other-reality thing has just made them way more active than usual."

"And, I guess, Stephanie finding out she's the daughter of the goddess of magic would assist in us having more interactions with the gods." I add.

 

"I... I'm going to pretend you didn't just agree with the derogatory title that made Tenebrae almost not-fake attack Ihra." Idhaenna mumbles. "Regardless, I'd be wary of Ihra and Xlentia once you go back to our reality."