Void Rift (rp) - Intermission

“Thank you.” Ihra nods, heading towards the tree and flying up towards the entrance.

“Lady Gaia, do you have a moment?” Ihra asks, reaching out.


“It’ll be fine. She’s still intact, which is better than usual.”


“If you want to play it stealthy, I’d get Rose on board with your adventure. She still knows Atavul’s domain like the back of her hand.”

 

"Construction going well?"
I view the work done.

 

"Yes?" Gaia responds positively.


"Well...I guess I won't be going into the void palace anytime soon." Katie tries to say positively.


"Where would I find her?" Stephanie asks.

The pylon seems to be just past halfway finished.

"Yes, this isn't a complex fix. I should have it finished soon." Eve says positively.

 

“I was wondering if you had enough time to help me with a small favor. I helped a guardian get a job at the shadow palace and I went to their hometown to let them know he’s okay. I was also wondering if you could manage an in-person visit, they seem pretty worried about intruders despite their isolation.”


“As soon as Emerald gets Xlentia’s soul back you should be good to go.”


“I’ll call her i-“
“I already came here, I saw her head by.” Rose says, rising from a singed flower. “I won’t go just with you, we’d be screwed.”

 

"That's...asking quite a lot." Gaia says, concerned.


Katie nods, sitting back on Abigail's sofa. Abigail changes the channel to a water guardian documentary about the ocean.


"I suppose I underestimated the exact dangers I'd be facing there, then." Stephanie says, a little put off.

 

“I didn’t promise it, but I said I would try. I figured it was unlikely.”


I seem mildly interested in the documentary, glancing at it sporadically.


“Atavul keeps watch over a lot of places it doesn’t seem he does. You know those nightmare scenarios where an iron-fisted tyrant can see every corner of every alley in their domain? That’s Atavul.”

 

"What exactly is it going to do?"

 

"You know I seldom make appearances to mortals outside of my realm for a good reason. I can tell them their friend is ok, though." Gaia offers.


It seems to be narrated by a male water guardian with an oddly charming voice. He sounds like he could tell many stories, and they'd be a joy to listen to.

The documentary covers some of the deeper parts of the ocean, particularly what seems to be a second ocean made out of a denser liquid at the bottom.


"Does he have some kind of clairvoyant ability?" Stephanie inquires.

"Hopefully the same as it's been doing since it was installed; generating respite. Stephanie came here to fix it herself, but merely just prevented it from breaking until I could get here." Eve explains.

 

“Who’s realm is Earth, anyways?” Ihra asks, confused.


“Your world has an appalling lack of dragons, as beautiful as it is.” I comment.


“No, he has pretty much anything alive and then some set up to relay information to keep things as tight as possible. I dunno what made him go off the deep end, but the Hive Master certainly hasn’t helped the absurdity of it all.”

 

"Mine and Caelia's." Gaia responds.


"They were hunted to near extinction a few hundred years ago by humans, doing it for pride more than anything. Those that still exist are either being protected or are in hiding." Abigail explains.


"So would freeing him from the Hive Master's control be ineffective?" Stephanie asks.

 

"Well, nice work. Oh, hey-"
I turn to the being next to me.
"This is Scurn. Eve, Scurn, Scurn, Eve."

 

( @Exvhius )

Eve scans Scurn as she greets them, taking note of their appearance.

"Hello, Scurn." Eve says, smiling.

 

“You don’t seem like a killer robot.” Scurn says, seeming to have something against Eve.

“Does Earth just not get visited because it’s in a shared domain? I don’t quite understand.”


“I see why you’re all for wiping out humanity now.” I grumble.


“Every time Atavul dies he breaks the mind control, the Hive Master just puts him right back under as he’s reborn.”

 

( @Enhanced_Human )

"Well, I have the capabilities to efficiently take out hostile targets. However, I don't use them at my own pleasure to eliminate anyone I want." Eve explains, turning back to Thirteen.

"How did you two meet?" Eve asks happily.



"It is the domain of my children, and I - as well as the rest of the gods - have learned to not influence our children too much. However, we do communicate with them. If we influence them too much, they become reliant on us, and blame us when they are incapable of preventing wrong themselves. If we influence them too little, they lose faith, and reject us," Gaia explains, "I hope you can understand, I know your reality is quite different in this regard."


"Oh, really? You think it's just the dragons and not the mass deforestation and murder of my kind too?" Abigail asks, sounding offended.

"They've polluted the oceans too...Some areas are filled with junk, and some of us have been able to change our element just to deal with the pollution..." Katie says, sounding depressed, "The air guardians have to deal with all the air pollution too...Not to mention the bombs they dropped that mutated some of our kind into radioactive guardians."


"So...how do we break the cycle?" Stephanie asks.

 

“He was with a bunch of people who were pulling an Aj.” Scurn says bluntly and quickly.


“I... don’t, but that doesn’t exactly say much with how much I don’t understand.” Ihra chuckles.


“Of all guardians, you should know well the strength of dragons.” I say, meeting Abigail’s gaze. “I’m not saying war is a good thing; it’s ugly as all hell. I am saying, however, that I am more interested in dragons than specifically you.”
I turn to Katie.
“That stuff I hate, though. I’m not great with taking my anger out on people, but collateral isn’t okay. Ever.”


“Two parts to it, one easy and one hard. One, get Atavul to off himself... or kill him, either way. That’s not hard in the slightest. Two, break whatever mind control setup the Hive Master has in Atavul’s temple of rebirth. He’ll be pissed after the rebirth, but that’s just how he is.” Rose explains. “He’s a dumbass, but when he’s not mind controlled he has a good heart.”

 

"Well, making a public appearance is...dangerous." Gaia says.


"Well good luck ever getting close to one," Abigail says, "If guardians don't kill you before you can get within a mile of it, it'd probably be so scared it'd attack you out of fear."


"Wouldn't it be better to cleanse the temple of rebirth first though?" Stephanie asks.

 

Ihra pauses.
“Is it really that dangerous here...?”


“As unfortunate as it is, I did consider bringing a brood home for conservation impossible. They are in a horrifically sorry state, though.”


“To a degree, though Atavul would do it for you when not mind controlled.”

 

"No, not as in I may come to harm. It is dangerous to mortal's perception of me. Making too many appearances can lead to expectations." Gaia explains.


"It's depressing. I used to hear stories that once, guardians and dragons shared a special bond, and they'd fight together. I don't think anyone's seen a guardian like that in a long time, though." Abigail says, sounding sad.


"But in order to stop him from being mind controlled, we'd first need to cleanse the temple, wouldn't we?" Stephanie asks, confused.

 

“Oh! Okay, now I think I get it. A bit more, at least. Alright, thanks. Sorry to waste your time, though...”


“Not like Sgavrinn’s good for fighting... heh. How is he, anyways? I never could get him past the ‘I’m a big puppy’ mentality.”


“Remember how mind control fails when the victim is close to death? Atavul dies, a lot. He has to be re-controlled every time. Breaking whatever the Hive Master uses to do that after he dies is much easier than trying to weaken him and free him as you did Xlentia.”

 

"My time wasn't wasted, I enjoyed it." Gaia says happily.


"Artemis looks after Sgavrinn, though we haven't seen him in a while." Katie says.


"I'll just scout out his temple of rebirth..." Stephanie says.