Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

Ihra is dragged into the depths of the pool, far exceeding Rineth's reach. Currents drag Ihra through winding, confusing tunnels; with each tunnel the singing gets louder.

"WELL, SHE'S EITHER DEAD, GOING TO BE CAPTURED, OR, HOPEFULLY, IS GOING TO BE SPARED." Stephanie shouts, her hands still covering her ears tightly.

"No, Ihra, I must save her from the water..." Artemis drones, falling into the water.

Stephanie shakes her head in disappointment.

 

"She better not hurt her. This looks like an End of Innocence trigger if she does."

Ihra just keeps following the singing, thoroughly dazed.

 

Ihra finds herself in a cavern deep underground, a pool of water in the centre of it. Blue lights illuminate the walls, Katie and I can be seen staring at Ihra; Katie's singing stopping.

"Up." Katie says with a commanding tone, staring down at Ihra as she lays on the cavern's floor.

"We have a few questions for you." I say, my red eyes contrasting with the blue glow of the cavern.


Artemis seems to come back to her senses as the singing stops, swimming out of the pool.

"Ugh, I don't think she'll cause her harm." Artemis says, rubbing her head.

 

"Nngh... what did I..."
She throws up, melting a bit of the cavern before standing up.

"Aj? What're you doing down here?"

 

"His presence isn't important. Answer my questions and nobody gets hurt." Katie says commandingly.

"Your dragon, Rineth, what powers does he hold?" Katie asks.

I stand in silence, my red eyes illuminating part of my face with their glow.

 

Ihra looks at her in fear. A red mark appears on her eye.
"He... I don't know. He can teleport, fly, and breathe dark matter. That's as much as I'm aware of. I think he might be able to phase into darkness."

 

"Good, now tell me, why did he seal his mouth around Abigail?" Katie asks, staring Ihra down. The entire cavern becomes colder.

I keep my eye on Ihra, suspicious of her movements.

 

"She became all over the place. He was probably just concerned that she might accidentally burn me. He wasn't going to bite her, just make her sleepy and less... Scary."

 

"So, he decided the best course of action was to keep her in his mouth? Or does he have some special powers associated with the manoeuvre?" Katie asks, the light from the cave giving her an ominous look.

I close my eyes, making myself a lot harder to see. Darkness seems to creep through the cave, around Ihra and Katie's feet. The chill in the cave becomes a little greater.

 

"Locking his jaw releases a sleep-inducing gas of sorts."
Ihra's red mark on her eyes grows with her fear.

 

"So your dragon, Rineth, decided to make Abigail unconscious, on the basis she was making humour around the name of a weapon?" Katie asks.

"I suggest you cull that magic your brewing, we don't want anyone to get hurt, now." Katie says, observing the red mark on Ihra's eyes. I throw a red crystal a short distance away, and it bursts into fire; before putting itself out.

The darkness snakes around Ihra ominously.

 

The fire was a mistake.
The red mark explodes across her eye as she passes out, then gets to her feet; eyes glowing red.

"You... monster..." A twisted version of her voice echoes.
She's not even standing up straight.

 

"Simple questions and answers is all I wanted, but you seem to have forced my hand. Aj, it's time we took leave." Katie says, the cave becoming extremely cold.

The entire cave goes completely black, no light to be seen. A pair of red eyes dart over to where Katie was standing, before disappearing.

A small light appears, then another, and another. Icy, demented looking figures of Katie give Ihra twisted, evil looks, illuminated from within with blue light. From what little light there is, the entire cave is frozen; the exit pool iced over, and icicles hanging dauntingly on the roof. Katie and I are nowhere to be seen.

 

"But if you kill her now, you cannot save her in time..." Her voice echoes. She smiles crookedly.
She holds her staff in the center of her ring of tomes. The room is intensely illuminated, brighter than the sun.

"Save her." Rineth reaches out to the two of you telepathically, sounding desparate.

 

Ice pierces through Ihra's feet, freezing her blood and snaking through her body; paralysing her and freezing her body.

"Why should I save a crazy girl who turned on me? I see no reason to." Katie replies.

"Don't be an ass, Katie. See what you can do." Artemis says telepathically, joining the connection.

"What do I need to do to 'save' her then." Katie thinks.

 

This causes her to scream distortedly, and her eyes revert to normal.
"I... I thought you... were nice..." She whispers raspily before freezing entirely. Her voice, however, was normal.
The tomes fall in a pile behind her.

 

The ice melts from Ihra, returning her to normal; her blood unfreezing and flowing once more.

"Nasty girl got what she deserved. Karma, might you say." Katie says, surfacing from the unfrozen exit pool.

I remain silent, picking up Ihra solemnly.

"She liked you. I don't think intimidating questioning was the best course of action. See if you can apologise, I'm not wiping her memory of recent events." I say, before teleporting to the surface.

Katie dives into the exit pool, swimming back to the surface.


I appear on the surface, laying Ihra down on the ground.

"Did you save her?" Artemis asks, concerned.

"She's not dead, nor is she insane. I'd say probably." I say.

 

"Katie, I question your course of action. I want you to leave before you kill her. She did nothing to deserve that."
Rineth cloaks.

 

Katie remains silent, yet the pool she entered freezes over.

"She either feels really bad or is going to signal to leave. Either way leaves us with no contact." Stephanie says, looking at Ihra.

"I think she feels bad. I think she really wanted to make friends with Ihra, and messed up with her intimidating questioning," I say, "Also, Rineth, I took her to the surface to prevent her drowning as she travelled through the tunnels. It's faster going down that it is up."

Artemis wraps Ihra in vines, and Abigail seems to regain consciousness.

"Oosh, I need to lay off the alcohol," Abigail says, rubbing her head, "Wassup with Ihra?"

"Katie froze her. She's hiding because she feels bad about what she did."

"Any chance that it involved questioning of sorts?" Abigail asks.

"Intimidation questioning technique." I say.

"Of course...good luck with that friendship." Abigail says, getting up.

 

"Abigail, I'm sorry." Rineth says, uncloaking.
"I don't expect forgiveness, but you were a bit all over the place. I was worried you'd accidentally torch Ihra."

Sgavrinn hums sadly at Stephanie, as if apologizing.