Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

Tenebrae turns the centre dial once everyone is in the elevator, teleporting the quartet to the gaming room of the palace.

Artemis and I lay asleep on each other under a blanket on the sofa in the game room, arms around each other. Onyx sleeps somewhat curled up in her human form on one of the chairs next to the sofa, a blue blanket with paw prints, whole fish and fish skeletons patterned on it over her. A character on the large screen of the gaming room taps it's foot impatiently, the game evidently left running as everyone fell asleep.

"Aww." Gaia says quietly, looking at the cute scene.

 

Sgavrinn silently curls up around Artemis, humming extremely softly.

 

I wave farewell.

 

Artemis stirs a bit before waking up, waking me up in the process too. Artemis and I smile at each other sleepily, before I notice the pair of gods standing in the room; Artemis turning to look what I seem so shocked by.

"U-U-Uh, T-Tenebrae! What a, uh, surprise to see you here! I mean, uh, it's not really a surprise because, um, this is your realm and all, b-but that's not to say that your visit to here i-is any less of a good thing!" I say nervously, clearly intimidated.

"Evening, Aj." Tenebrae says calmly.

Artemis' eyes seem to be rather wide as she hyperventilates.

"Aj, t-that's Gaia...s-she's my god...I-I've never seen her before...WHAT DO I DO!?" Artemis whispers to me, panicked.

"Hello Artemis!" Gaia says happily.

"Uuuuuh Hiyyo!" Artemis says, so overcome with fear she mixes 'Hello' with 'Hiya'.

Onyx wakes up, letting out a meow-yawn, before looking at Sgavrinn, Ragnyon, Gaia and Tenebrae.

"who are these people, master?" Onyx asks, confused.

"Aww, a cat person! You're one of my favourite creations I made with Phoebe!" Gaia says happily, walking over to Onyx and stroking her head gently. Onyx purrs happily.

 

Sgavrinn nuzzles Artemis, humming happily.

 

Artemis hugs Sgavrinn, clearly terrified.

"S-So, uh, I h-hope the visit w-went well?" I ask Tenebrae nervously.

"It did. Thank you again for opening the portal for us. I learned an awful lot of their history from the expansive library." Tenebrae says happily.

"Oh, Xlentia told me to tell you that you didn't need to use forest guardians to grow her void flowers anymore. I healed her myself!" Gaia says to me happily.

"R-Really? That's a lot of w-work off their b-backs I g-guess." I say nervously.

"How has Aj been treating you, Artemis?" Gaia asks suddenly, turning to Artemis with a smile. Tenebrae seems somewhat intrigued too.

"Uhm, he's b-been treating me extremely well, M-Mother Gaia. He treats me with the utmost respect, love and care." Artemis says truthfully, turning red. My black face seems to gain a tint of red too.

"That's very good to hear. I wouldn't want any of my children to be in a harmful relationship." Gaia says happily.

"Grace, perhaps we should leave the king of my realm with his girlfriend. There's no need to be prying into their personal lives so much." Tenebrae says, winking at me before turning to Gaia and tapping her cog necklace.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't realise." Gaia says, slightly embarassed.

"T-That's alright, Mother G-Gaia!" Artemis says, smiling awkwardly out of nerves.

 

Ragnyon seems to be hiding her face, embarrassed.

Sgavrinn just nuzzles you and Artemis, happy to be back with his owner.

 

Onyx seems to get a little bit jealous, walking over and sitting next to me, purring as she leans on me.

"Something wrong?" Tenebrae asks, noticing Ragnyon.

 

He sniffs gently at Onyx.

"I-I was gonna ask Aj if he saw my staff... I c-can't find it and I'm k-kinda useless without it..." She utters, internally panicking. "A-also, I was to tell him Rineth is ready to help us travel wherever we may choose... I-if I'm still welcome, at least."

 

Onyx smells like cats and fish, but not like a catfish.


Tenebrae looks at me.

"Oh! Uh, I haven't seen your staff, sorry. You're still welcome though! How is Rineth anyway?" I ask.

 

Sgavrinn grows and nips a flower off for her, trying to ease pet-tensions.


"Rineth's fine. I'll need to ask around a bit more for my staff then, I guess." Ragnyon sighs. "On the bright side, I was training with the Ethereals so I wouldn't be useless." She says, trying to be optimistic for once, though her mood doesn't show it.

 

Onyx takes the flower, smiling.


"You make that sound like you were useless before you had your training," I say, smiling kindly, "You've always been useful, Ragnyon."

 

This startles her.
"I don't even know what I did. The future visions are all beyond my control, you know that..."

 

"Still nice to have someone to talk to, another member for the party." I say happily.

"Just because you can't perceive a use for yourself doesn't mean you're useless." Gaia says, smiling.

 

Ragnyon smiles a bit.
"Thanks, I guess. Um... I should probably get back to Rineth... so I can get around..." She says nervously.

 

"What do you mean?" Gaia asks.

 

Ragnyon sighs before sliding down a wrist, ankle, and wing bracer along with her neck brace - all revealing deep chain indentations.
"Can't get around much on my own." She sighs again.

 

"I've tried to heal her, Mother Gaia, but some sort of magic prevents it." Artemis admits.

"Oh you poor thing!" Gaia says, hugging Ragnyon gently.

"Magic?" Tenebrae asks, leaning around Gaia.

"Y-Yes, I believe the chains Ragnyon were kept in had some kind of enchantment or hex that prevented her from using magic. I guess after being exposed to it for so long, it sort of stuck with her." Artemis explains.

Tenebrae thinks for a bit.

 

"The spells and hexes were more for Xlentia... I was being used to control her. My blood... d-did... that..." She says, trailing off at the end as she suddenly looks guilty.

 

Ragnyon finds herself feeling calmer, Gaia hugging her slightly tighter.

"Do you think we should take her to Phoebe?" Tenebrae asks quietly.

"It's at least worth a try, right? She's been tortured!" Gaia responds in a whisper.

"We need to get our timelines reset and synced though." Tenebrae says, her voice low.

"Can't we come back for her?" Gaia asks, pleading yet quiet.

"Ragnyon, would you mind waiting here for a bit?" Tenebrae asks at normal volume.