Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

The guardian's mother helps the guardian child up.

"Oh no, what happened little one?" The mother asks with a kind voice.

"S-S-S-She p-pushed me o-o-over." The guardian child says, pointing at Ruby while hugging his mother.

The mother narrows her eyes at Ruby.


Artemis looks worried.

"I-I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this!" Artemis says.

 

"I'm sorry. Let's talk about something else."

 

"I-I'm sorry, ma'am... the queen's gone crazy and I need to get out of here!" Ruby protests.


Ihra sighs before nodding.
"...No, you're right. Maybe I spend too much time with shadows. There's always another way, isn't there? That's... that's what mother used to always say."

Sivius heads up to the palace doors and glances at the guard.
"...My girl isn't dead, now, is she?"

"Just go to sleep... I'll probably be fine."

 

"Okay. Just... call if you need anything."
He lays down and tries to sleep.

 

You finally drift off, sleeping so hard you only wake up when Anne starts padding on your chest.
"What happened to keeping watch?"

 

"Come on, let's go get you an icecream." The mother says, hurrying her child away from Ruby.


Artemis smiles a little.


The guards automatically open the gates for Sivius.

"No sir." The guard says.

 

Ruby tosses the mother a gold coin before bolting again.


Ihra hugs Artemis.
"I don't know what got into me... I called her a tyrant and all this mean stuff just because she called me a power-hungry bitch..." She cries. "I hope it was enough. Please be careful, Lady Tenebrae..." She mumbles.


Sivius books it to the throne room, smirking.

 

The mother doesn't notice it, having hurried her child away.


Artemis just hugs Ihra back.


Sivius finds Shadow Stephanie sitting on her throne, looking annoyed.

 

Ruby keeps running, heading for the outer wall.


Sivius steps in.
"Burning that many bridges is a bold move."
Pause.
"Spectre's blood?"

 

It takes Ruby a long while to get even to the middle of the city, Ruby most likely starting to feel the effects of running for about an hour.


"You are the exact person I need to see right now." Shadow Stephanie says, appearing in front of Sivius and giving him a hug, "Everything has been going wrong lately and I don't know why. It's so stressful."

 

"He gave me permission to sleep."
He wakes up, a bit drowsy.

 

She keeps pushing herself, eventually stumbling and opting to sit down, exhausted.


Sivius hugs her back.
"Have you bothered to try and do anything about it? You know, other than choke children?"

________________________________

"Well, he's asleep and you've had a nap, so it's my turn."

 

"Did you find moss?"

 

"Yeah. I left it by your feet."

 

People pass Ruby by as they walk through the city, but none stop.


"I've been trying, but it's hard when half the royalty is incapacitated, one of your strongest army assets are all mortally wounded, one of your best friends has gone missing and can't be found, another of your best friends is also missing but is working with your enemies and most likely plotting another assassination and attack, and you have another of your friends insulting you and shutting down your work after their friend said you haven't been doing any work at all," Shadow Stephanie rants, "I'm just...I'm so fucking stressed right now. I don't even know how Stephanie is doing, but I'm sure she's fine under her mother's care."

 

Ruby waits a bit to recoup before walking the rest of the trip.


Sivius uncorks a bottle of Spectre's Blood.
"Why don't you turn to your gods? Practice is nothing without faith."

 

"Okay. Thanks."
He gets up and grabs the moss.
"If it's your turn to sleep, good night."

 

It takes another few hours before Ruby makes it to the beginning of the outskirts.


"Because I can't keep turning to the gods every time I have a problem. They're not always going to help me and if I need their help, how will I help myself in the future if I run into a similar problem?" Shadow Stephanie asks.

 

She curls up without a word and covers her face with her tail.
You're left alone... mostly. You feel a gentle breeze coming.

________________________________

Ruby stops again, looking around.


"My love, this is clearly beyond a mortal problem. You said Aj was incapacitated, your friends are barely alive, and your most trusted elites hanging on by a thread? Face the reality of this problem; if you go at it alone, you'll die." Sivius says, serious.

 

"And Katie's missing, and Stephanie is with her mother, and Abigail's soul half can't be found and her husk is attempting to kill us." Shadow Stephanie adds.