Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

"What about the trees?"
Crystals asks aloud.
"And are there any rolley-polies here?"

 

“The wood rots fast once it’s dead, and what do you mean by that?”

 

"Puddles seemed confused, but if there are any rolly-polies around here, you should know what a wheel is."

 

“She’s still learning what part of our body is hers and what isn’t. Once she figures out how to hunt, I’ll let her learn about other things.”

 

The small imp considers this for a while.

"Nah. Get them!" The imp says, pointing forward and jumping off the brutish demon as it attempts to crush the pair under it's heavy fists. The demons begin charging at Ihra and Iris, some of them seeming to turn into leech-like creatures that latch onto Ihra's and Iris' souls and try to force them to stay in place. They seem to begin burrying further in, too; so removing them quickly appears to be key. Other demons throw spells of various elements, while most seem to be trying to close the gap to stab the pair.

 

"She would probably think we would look stupid."

 

"Oh..."
Pause.
"But are there rolly-polies here?"

 

Void Rift is still going? tf

 

“Let’s party!” Iris screams with maniacal laughter as she taps her staff.
The imp’s beast is impaled with a twisting spike twice its size, the tip of it driving towards the imp itself at the speed of sound.
Ihra’s barrier seems to keep the leeches at bay, while Iris doesn’t have a soul to latch onto.

Ihra throws up multiple barriers between her and the demons before casting a few buffs on herself and Iris after they’re up.

The outer barrier holds against the spells, but seems a bit weaker against soul-targeted strikes.

“There are round shells, so I guess there are.”

Well I’d rather sit in a tree than get muddy.

 

Half of the demons seem to be targeted entirely on tearing Ihra's soul, while those that find it ineffective on Iris resort to trying to crush her into a pulp. The beast is torn apart, while the Imp quickly flies out of the way of the spike. However, the fleshy remains of the beast begin to stretch and pull their way back to each other, and the beast slowly reconstructs itself; albeit with less flesh this time.

The giant speakers of the band are turned toward Ihra, and the entire band starts aggressively playing their tunes. The music seems to carry powerful magic to it, trying to damage the barrier the demons attempt to get around. A few devils and imps take to the skies, spreading around oil and coals; likely to light on fire. Guardians flee the scene, not wanting to get involved in the battle.

 

Iris’ spike ruptures into a shrapnel-filled blast of unstable energy, Ihra turning the outer barrier reflective to turn the music onto the nearby demons.
The demons attempting to crush Iris find themselves utterly annihilated by entropic energy, and she uses their strength to try and disintegrate the group after Ihra’s soul.

Homing tranquilizing needles fly up into the air out of Ihra’s staff, her hesitation to kill clear in contrast to Iris

Ihra tries to reach out to Mortius, hesitant.
“Please... let me make things right...” She begs. “None of us could have known, it’s all going so wrong...”

 

As soon as Ihra tries to reach out to Mortius, a giant skeletal hand rises from the ground and latches on to her, holding her in place. Another hand grabs Iris, doing the same. Smaller, corrupt-looking hands grab onto any creatures of hell who don't appear to become instantly hypnotised - their bodies falling like puppets on a string.

A giant man dressed in a black cloak approaches the forest form statue of gaia from behind, cutting stray vines or trees out of the way with a large scythe. He glares down at the scene in front of him, dark eyes seeming to look into the souls of those it sees.

"So, I leave you on guard for a few hours and this is what happens." The man says, his voice sounding a little familiar.

 

Ihra seems scared and loses control of her sustained spells, whereas Iris seems to start calming down the longer she’s held.

“Please...” Ihra asks, trembling as her barriers fall. “None of us wanted any of this.”

Iris seems to be content in the skeletal grasp, starting to doze off.

 

"So, come to apologise, have you? I see you decided to bring a friend." The man says, eyes now directly on Ihra and Iris.

 

“She came on her own... I didn’t expect her to come.”
“You... were in danger... duh.” Iris yawns. “A good shadow... never watches their... form just get killed.”

 

"Hmph." The man says, waving a hand. A blood coloured portal opens up in the middle of the corrupt area, sucking the demons - and everything else - into it. The only thing that prevents Ihra from getting sucked in is the tight grip of bone around her body.

 

Iris seems to be as tightly held as Ihra, even if the hand around Iris is released.
“Why did you come, anyways...?”
“You were... in danger. And... you weren’t supposed... to, you know... get caught in the middle of Gaia not... liking me.”
“Oh gods, what did you do now?!”
“She... seeded me for... being stuck up. It wasn’t... well, obviously wasn’t supposed to... seed you.”
“And you never told me...”
“You seldom trust me.”

 

"So you're the one she mentioned," The man says, closing the portal as the nature of Gaia's Garden begins to re-take the corrupted land, "That makes things a lot more clear."

 

“She’s the one... who makes things right...”
“And she’s everything I hoped not to be.”
“If you wish... to get rid of me... for now, at least... go ahead. I’ll be back... I can’t change.”
“W-wait, please don’t. There’s already been enough suffering out of all this.”

 

"I'd say you failed on both accounts. I suggest you leave, it took a lot to get Gaia to calm down. I'm certain she doesn't want to see you." The man says, tightening the squeeze on the skeletal hands a little.