Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

“The betrayed.” She growls, turning around. “I suggest you pick a fight elsewhere.”


“H-how can you live with yourself a-after this?! N-no I’m not feeling okay, y-you make me sick!”

 

"I'm...not here to fight...why...are you in...this alley?" the Shadow asks, looking like he's struggling to perceive Emerald.


"I don't know what you're trying to achieve with this act, but it's hurtful." Gaia says, offended.

 

“Same reason I just got out of hell - I was mind controlled, and next thing I know I’m here.”


“A-anyone who kills a high god s-should feel that w-way! Y-you threw the bag, you s-saw it crush her skull!” Gaia protests, though she clearly doesn’t sound like she’s got herself completely together.

 

"You were in hell?" the Shadow asks, surprised, "Thas...cool."


"Wha- I healed her after that! I didn't mean to hurt her!" Gaia responds.

 

“Just the opposite.” Emerald grumbles.


“If you r-really healed her, then w-why did she seal?! Only d-dead gods seal!”

 

The Shadow passes out, either from hunger or exhaustion, lying face down in the alley.


"Well...I don't know, ok!?" Gaia responds bluntly, "I'm the goddess of life! I don't go around killing people!"

 

Emerald glances at them before meditating, trying to curb her exhaustion.


Gaia doesn’t respond back to her counterpart, seeming shaken.

 

Nobody else disturbs Emerald while she meditates.


Gaia cuts off the connection, hurt and offended.

 

After a few hours of meditation, she tries telepathically linking with Praecantatia.
“I’ll go through hell again if it means getting answers from you. So, tell me this; why go through the trouble of re-enacting how the Hive Master first controlled Xlentia?” She asks, knowing well the danger she’s putting herself in.

 

Praecantatia sighs.

"I'm sorry. I acted for my reality first. After Xlentia said she had disabled the protection around the rift to try and scare me, I tried to scare her back. I don't know why you got mind controlled, but it was just a telepathic trick with some illusion magic." Praecantatia explains.

 

“She can’t willingly disable that protection. As long as she stood you were safe, and instead you both get her killed and kidnapped along with interrupting my research and wiping my memory regarding possible ways to safely seal off rifts thanks to the torture session. You damn well better believe I’m not settling for an apology.” Emerald says, stern but wary.

 

Praecantatia seems to turn rather apathetic.

"Have it your way." Praecantatia says dismissively.

 

“If I had it my way, the remains of our resistance wouldn’t call you a turncoat and the Hive Mistress. Unfortunately, your actions speak louder than your words.” Emerald snaps. “I have worked tirelessly to aid you behind the scenes, and in return you torture me, undo the work I have put months into in hopes of further protecting you, and hand my mistress back to the Hive Master. You will not be allowed to dismiss that.”

 

Praecantatia seems to dismiss it anyway.

"I don't have time for people acting with your sort of attitude. Feel free to make a villain of me, but when I arrange for a new, strong set of armour for Xlentia designed to protect her against the hive master and anyone that would seek to harm her - to thank her for protecting our rift - and she turns around destroys it, after all of the hard work Temporus and I put into it and then tries to make me think she's given the Hive Master free access to our reality, don't act surprised when I try to protect my daughter and the reality she lives in." Praecantatia says bluntly.

 

“I suppose we’re even then. Your time was wasted, my time was wasted.”

 

Praecantatia just cuts off the connection, and Emerald feels like she can't get back through.

 

When Praecantatia looks around her house after the conversation, it seems somewhat vandalized. Many of her newer books and stronger mage crystals are torn or destroyed, laced with a nullmagic that prevents her from repairing them, her undoing the spell, or Temporus from rewinding the damage. Most are soaked in Xlentia’s blood, and somewhat threatening messages are painted on walls throughout her house with Xlentia’s blood.
“A GOD FOR A GOD?”
“WELCOME HOME HIVE MISTRESS”
“YOU WANTED A WAR”
“JUDGEMENT AWAITS”
“HIDING FROM ACCOUNTABILITY?”

 

Praecantatia sighs, getting to work on throwing out the books and crystals, cleaning up the mess and wiping down the walls.


"This honestly seems rather petty." Caelia comments, looking around the uncleaned parts of Praecantatia's home a few hours later.

"Does she have the mentality of a child?" Temporus asks as another version of him assists Praecantatia in cleaning.

"As Gaia said, she got her counterpart to harass her. Her actions do seem to reflect those of a child having a tantrum." Caelia adds.

"Why do we bother with that reality anyway? The hive master is a constant threat and if they're going to keep treating us like this after everything we do for them, I don't see why we should keep trying." Praecantatia says, annoyed as she scrubs away at the blood.

"Closing the rift could nearly destroy our reality in the process. In it's current state, we just need to ignore whatever they do to try and aggravate us. You seem to be their new target. I expect we'll all come under fire eventually." Caelia explains.

"The mortals appear to enjoy exploring the other reality, too," Temporus says, "Though I can't say I'm not still aggravated at the fact they threw away one of my finest pieces of smithing yet."

"It's disrespectful." Praecantatia says, annoyed.

"It's how they choose to act. If it would lessen the frustration, we have decided on when we'd close the rift if we had to." Caelia mentions.

"The moment the hive master steps through, or when someone from that reality tries to actually kill one of us," Temporus says, "It'd be worth the risk."

"What's important right now is that we ignore them," Caelia says, "Don't respond to this, and don't give them any more help."

"I'm keeping Stephanie at home and I'm not letting her friend go on that mission again," Praecantatia says, "She was mistreated by Emerald, and I don't want her risking her life again. She had to use the emergency exit I gave her in case everything went wrong."

Temporus and Caelia look a little surprised, though Temporus less so.

"I understand." Temporus nods, his other version scooping a few ruined books into a trashbag.

"The state of the other reality must be worse than I imagined." Caelia says, shaking her head in disappointment.

 

Iris suddenly appears, smiling wickedly at the three gods as the floor splits with her newly carved message.
“IT IS TIME FOR YOUR PUNISHMENT, CHILDREN. YOUR PARENTS ARE SORELY DISAPPOINTED.”

With one god removed, it doesn’t take long for the rest of reality to follow them into null.
—————

Emerald reaches out to Praecantatia, aware of the risks.
“It is worth risking another trip to hell to ask. Why go through the trouble to re-enact the Hive Master first taking control of Xlentia?”

 

“What do you guys do?”