Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

Katie extends her arms to accept Evion, a cold aura already surrounding her to cool her off.


Praecantatia draws another rune - a potent healing spell - placing it on the main source of the bleeding.


Artemis stays strong, keeping her bow by her side as what looks like a thinner, but closer-fitting layer of armour appears under Stephanie's cloak.

"I take it Atavul is a summer person." I say, already partially crouched into a sneak.

 

I hand her Evion, who seems to be coated lightly with some kind of grease.
“Don’t absorb that, wipe it off later. It’s pretty toxic, but it should go away once he’s not involuntarily unconscious.” I warn.


It slows the bleeding significantly and weakens the rate of sealing, but the healing doesn’t seem to address that Xlentia’s wings are still torn and far from flying fit. On the flipside, she seems stable enough to be equipped with the armor.


“I can’t accompany you, but I did arrange for an old friend to help you out. You’ll see them soon.” Rose says, before the portal cloaks. “Atavul actually prefers spring. He likes watching things grow. Needless to say, there’s not much spring in a volcanic waste.”

 

Katie creates a thin layer of cool water around Evion before properly taking him.

Abigail switches between her crystals excitedly, creating some kind of sweet smelling smoke when she combines fire and life.


Praecantatia collects the first piece of armour from her golems, before collecting the second as another group arrives; the first group leaving. They appear to be two halves of a whole, which seems to be for one of Xlentia's claws. Praecantatia carefully places each half around Xlentia's front-left claw, holding it in place as the runes glow and fuse the halves together.

Praecantatia repeats this process for each claw, before steadily moving up Xlentia's body.


"I'm sure Abigail would like this place. It's a shame she isn't here right now." Artemis says, following Stephanie into the portal. I enter last, staying in Artemis' shadow.

 

Evion’s toxin seems to spread through the water fairly quickly, though it seems fairly inert and it stops coming out of Evion’s body.


Xlentia seems to have some sort of razor-sharp daggers in the tips of her claws that slightly interfere with the process; they’re inactive, but their monofilament paradoxium alloy edge suggests there’s not much that can stop them. Sealing the armor all the way around her claws results in the knives cutting a slot in the weld wide enough for them to extend.


A ferret laughs at the trio as you enter.
“The bitch that calls everyone a pervert? Hah, there’s so many spies here she’d rather die than be here!” They snicker.
“Be quiet, you moron.” Rose grumbles before the portal fully cloaks.
“O-oh... right. Doir, at your service. Well, Doir the 47,619th. Still.”
Doir seems to be about a foot and a half in length and their fur seems absolutely packed with dirt.

 

Katie focuses on keeping herself and Evion cool, Abigail trying to assist by holding her gauntlets out and creating a cool mist with a combination of air and water.

"So...why does your dragon release a toxin?" Katie asks, sounding a little unsettled.


Praecantatia pays this little mind as she continues, though she does try to weld the slots a little tighter around the claws to prevent unnecessary openings. Soon enough, Xlentia's legs are completely covered in armour; Praecantatia beginning to work on the body.


"What is this, some kind of pocket monster?" I ask, looking down at Doir.

"I suppose an animal guide isn't too terrible," Artemis says, "Lead the way, little one."

 

"Nocturnes are often compared to vampires for a few reasons, one of them being they don't do terribly well in overly warm conditions. The toxin is a brutal reincarnations method, actually." I say. "Humor me for a second. What part of their life cycle, after hatching or being born, is an animal most vulnerable?"


She'll have to keep Xlentia's mass supported - and though a lack of a struggle in part makes things easy, Xlentia's limp limbs already appear to be in unnatural positions.


"It's either me or you try and trust a defector. Unless you trust easy then I suggest you shut the hell up about this being a game along with your repugnant mouth!" Doir complains. "At least your ladyfriend knows what decency is. Come on, the tide's due to come in pretty soon. Be a shame if you lost your better ninety nine percent this soon." They say, running off towards a hill covered in ashen foliage.

 

"When they're dying?" Abigail guesses.

"When they're a baby!" Katie guesses.


Praecantatia casts a spell on herself, before a piece of dark blue chalk appears in her hand. She seems to move incredibly fast as she draws a large ritual circle around Xlentia, completing it fairly quickly with her enhanced speed. Praecantatia then draws another rune, throwing it onto part of the circle and disabling gravity above it; trying to lift Xlentia up.


"Could've picked a nicer guide..." I mutter as I run after them; Artemis and Stephanie following.

 

"Technically yes..." I sigh in response to Abigail.
"When they're a baby was the answer I was looking for. Baby animals are particularly subject to being devoured as they tend to be defenseless. Nocturnes are a bit tricky; the poison essentially sterilizes the insides of whatever eats it, and once the symbiote in the Nocturne's flesh notices that the toxin has done its job, it gets to work. It feeds off whatever ate it to essentially cause the baby to be reborn using the predator as a makeshift egg. When the reformed baby is ready to go back out into the world, it'll rip its way out of the remains of what was its predator. It releases the toxin when it gets warm since the symbiote thinks the baby might have gotten eaten."


The Void seems to be somewhat uncooperative with the gravitational shift. It does slightly lighten Xlentia's effective mass, though.


As you make your way into the brush, you notice a patrol nearing the walkway to the palace.
"Stay down." Doir whispers before scampering a bit closer to the edge of the brush.

 

"Oh, kind of what Aj sometimes does then?" Abigail asks.

"So it's kind of like a pufferfish?" Katie asks happily.


Praecantatia draws a rune similar to the one that disabled gravity, instead trying to invert it completely; noticing the void's resistance.


I seem to disappear entirely as Stephanie lays close to the ground. Artemis seems to be cloaked in darkness, hiding herself using nearby foliage.

 

“I guess? I don’t know how pufferfish work, or if they reform themselves after being mangled and chewed.” I shrug.


The effect seems to do the exact opposite than intended, slamming Xlentia down onto the floor with suddenly increased weight.


“...just too far. I know we’re at war, but desecration of a palace?”
“Orders are orders, you know that. The alternative is to be one of those... drone... things.”
“Yeah, but... at least I wouldn’t be stuck living with what I’ve done. Those were civilians, refugees, elders! Only a villain would be able to live with those on their conscience!”
“Well... if being a villain is what it takes to be my own person, then I suppose I’m a villain.”
“You don’t mean to say it doesn’t bother you?”
“No, it keeps me up every night. One of them begged me to spare them, offered to get me out of here. I didn’t want to forsake my family, but I know forsaking others is no better than-“
You overhear the guards conversing as they pass.

“We’ll need to slip into a cavern or den, phoenixes sweep the area rhythmically.” Doir says, stepping slowly out of the brush.

 

"They're poisonous, and they puff up and get all spiky when they get scared!" Katie says happily.

"I think she just means the poisonous aspect." Abigail clarifies, changing her gauntlets into shoulder guards.


Praecantatia tries to increase the gravity instead, robotic golems waiting with a larger piece of armour held high.


Artemis stays low to the ground, crawling along at a surprisingly fast pace; dark claw-like extensions coming from her hands and feet to assist movement. Stephanie keeps her cloak held tight as she follows, looking around to make sure nobody is on the lookout.

 

“Again, I don’t know much about pufferfish. I like looking at fish, but the only place I’m able to see them is aquariums. Some of my friends can help me dive a bit, but fish tend to flee from dragons so there’s never much to see.”


It winds up doing seemingly nothing more aside from no longer compounding her weight.


There’s nothing in sight, aside from the now relatively distant guards.

Doir scampers into a rodent-sized tunnel near what looks to be a den.
“I’ll let you know when the phoenix pass by, just stay down there. Then, we should be in the clear to approach the palace walls.” They say, before retreating through another small tunnel.

 

"Aquariums are cruel. Fish should be free to swim in the ocean." Katie says, sounding offended.


Praecantatia sighs, thinking, before using another transmutation spell to change the chalk's colour and type. The chalk takes on a white appearance, and Praecantatia draws another rune to create a platform under Xlentia; essentially trying to hoist her up in the middle.


Artemis nocks an arrow, a vine wrapping around it as she looks for a suitable location near or on the palace to fire it when ready.

 

“Well, if you have a better solution then I’d be happy to see a seal that’s alive and remains so for more than five minutes while I’m looking at it.” I say. “Dragons make that not a thing that happens back home.”


It supports her... except Praecantatia didn’t put the belly armor on her yet.


Doir pops out again.
“No, don’t do anything even close to that! Leave literally any trace and everything’ll go on high alert!” They hiss.

 

"I don't think our dragons do that," Katie says, "They like to keep balance."


Praecantatia shifts some of the platform, creating a gap large enough for the two halves of a segment of body armour. She waits to see if Xlentia moves before getting one of the halves from her golems.


Artemis reluctantly takes the arrow out of her bow; putting it back in her quiver as the vine withers and dies. Artemis taps her necklace, spinning her bow as it turns into a painful looking scythe; it's appearance looking a little sharper and more purple than usual. Artemis puts her scythe on her back so she can keep crawling.

 

“Okay, no, I am not taking the conversation further down that path.”


Xlentia still isn’t to the point of breathing again.


Doir pokes their head out again.
“Okay, now. Left of the main path is a patrol trail, the guards from earlier went down it. Stop by the palace wall and hope for the best, nobody looks there unless they suspect something. Ideally you can slip into one of the pockets between two pillars, though the pedestals are easier to stand on. You’ll have to wait there for the tide, so I hope you can kill a couple hours waiting around.”

 

Abigail just gives a smug look as she gets back to playing her game, which seems to distract Katie as she watches intently.


Praecantatia continues on without concern, slowly attaching the body armour and changing the gap each time.


"So we just run to the palace wall and hope we're not seen?" Artemis asks.

"What's the tide?" Stephanie asks.

 

After a minute, I lean towards Katie again.
“He should be fine now, if you don’t want to risk him biting you.” I say, holding out my hands for Evion.


Xlentia’s front foot twitches, inadvertantly punting a golem.


“I wouldn’t run, but essentially yes. As for the tide, you may notice how it’s stupid hot all the time? The tide lets you play ‘the floor is lava’ with actual lava four times a day.” Doir says. “Remember, leaving a footprint’ll raise suspicion. Tread lightly and all that fun stuff.”

 

Katie quickly - yet carefully - hands Evion back.

Abigail seems to get a little frustrated as she dies to a difficult boss again.


The golem seems to take minor damage, chiming a little as it seems to evaluate itself and head back to the rift; sparking a little as some of it's wiring is exposed.

Praecantatia checks Xlentia for signs of consciousness, seeing if she's coming to.


Artemis' claws become a little softer, and a puff of air releases from Stephanie's boots, Stephanie seeming to hover a couple of inches off the ground. Artemis begins swiftly crawling towards the palace, Stephanie following behind with slower, more agile movements. Any natural foliage or fallen leaves seems to slightly grow or fall over any prints Artemis makes.

 

I scratch his chin as I take him again, before putting him back on my shoulder. I keep quiet to try and respect Abigail’s efforts.


She’s still not breathing, but a twitchy swing of her tail suggests that her body is noticing it was healed and she may come to relatively soon.


Nobody’s around, though Doir can occasionally be seen chasing off other rodents off to the side.

Upon reaching the palace walls, the group notices that the magma is noticably creeping up onto the paths. The outer walls themselves seem fairly ornate considering how Atavul acts.