Starlit Heroics: A Spectrum of Hate

[Posted by Flareth]

"What's all this about a parallel universe? And who are these people?" Deax asked.

"These two claim to be from a parallel dimension." Cameron said, filling Deax in on what happened.

"How....interesting." Deax muttered. "This isn't because...of any void...stuff, is it?"

"I don't think so." Itsuki said, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"N-nothing." Deax stammered. "Uh...you guys haven't seen...uh...Miss...uh...Mrs....I mean...erm... Cassandra, have you?"

Ila couldn't help but frown loudly at the thought of having to marry this guy of all people. The 'proud hero' sort who would try to defend 'honor' she could defend for herself. Ech. No thank you. She could barely speak to him, they had nothing in common.

"A... parallel universe." Tiamat looked to be deep in consideration. "Scientifically speaking... only a mere theory. We know of others, for certain." She motioned to Zora. "But one paralleling our own has stayed in the realm of pure conjecture. Then again, so did time travel until about six months ago." She again motioned to her. "I must still wonder openly what threw you across the veil, and if there are others that came across with you. Surely, fewer than the temporal rifts. Those numbered in the thousands. We didn't find dozens of you, so..."

"That was a special case." Zora chimed in. "I mean, considering what happened and all." She rubbed at her chest. That still hurt just to think about. Like having molten uranium jammed into your ribcage except the uranium is also made of angry hornets. But not just any hornets, those gigantic hornets that spit acid. Oh jeez, did those make it into this universe? Please gods no.

Astra nodded. "Very special." She took a seat close by Cameron. "Anyway, I suppose the only thing we can do is make our guests comfortable, mm? Show them a little Xephixirian hospitality."

"I concur."

"Agreed."

"Ye."

A hand would rest on Deax' shoulder about now. "You were looking for me?"

--------------

Shyama halted on her way to fetch said tea and glanced behind her toward the new guests. "So, word's gotten to you? Yes, I thought I would put you on alert. They've been small, easily controlled outbreaks so far. But I believe the War of the Undead taught us all never to underestimate unlicensed necromancy, lest it happen again." She chuckled a bit. "I wonder if it might be the same person who nearly ruined your Halloween last year. Be a shame for that to happen again, though I would wonder what brings him all the way from the Midnight Isle to the kingdoms." She turned back to her guest. "Terribly sorry. Official business, you know the way."

-------------------

When Kaze returned, Kerenza nodded. "Widespread destruction, should she lose hold. Along the lines of the Magmarnian incident a while ago, though that was stemmed quickly. Things have since been cleaned up. Victims are... supercharged, in order to do her bidding most effectively." But then she smiled. "But that's why I'm here. I'm happy to have helped."

Jade took her food gratefully. "Thank you, dear... I didn't mean to worry you, or any of the others. I'll try to get over it.."

[Posted by Dan]

"I'm already interested in what this world is going to be like if that's a difference." - Titania giggles immaturely as she puts her hand to her mouth.

"Mole people aren't that high up in my interests though, sweetie." - Telgard chuckles.

He turns to face Seraphina and crosses his arms.

"Well, the other 'Magmarne', as you put it, is called Ignell. It's full of people who can turn into fire monsters, and they usually build metal cities over charred spots of land."

---

"Wait, what's this about illegal necromancy?" - Diana asks.

She tips up her hat and has a sharp, serious glare in her eyes.

[Posted by Nyx]

"Ignell..." Dante echoed. He and Keith exchanged glances.

"That's... so cool," Serafina said. "It's too bad I'll never get to see it... That and Earth... Unless Ranthael and Astra can figure out these time and space rips."

"Ahem, well, anyway," Daniel said, still slightly flustered at the thought of being married to Ila. It was clear that other world Terrantian queen was a completely different person than Ila, though. Maybe I should start dating pink haired Terrantian girls, Daniel thought. "I suppose for now you can make yourselves comfortable here, since you'll probably be stuck in our world for a while... I'd give you a tour, but I get the feeling you already know your way around."

---------

The group of four each glanced at each other, figuring out who would be the one to fill the guest in.

Unfortunately, Diana was the one to start. "Well personally I think the regulations are too..."

"Well as you know, the war forty years ago," Luna cut her off. "Ever since the War of the Undead, each of the kingdoms have had strict bans on necromancy unless you're specifically registered with the kingdom. Obviously, we wanted to prevent another war of that sort."

"Personally I think the restrictions aren't strict enough," Kaj glared at Xephixir Diana. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"A necromancer that ruined your Halloween party?" Merrick asked, bringing the subject back around.

"Ugh, I knew he was going to be trouble after he got away..." Kaj said. "Some punk who thought it would be a good idea to throw a corpse party in some abandoned house that we stumbled across."

"Did you get a good look at him?"

"Not really. He had a puppet he stitched together that looked like Ranthael that he used to communicate with us. It was a pain in the ass to defeat as well. Literally had to dismember it limb from limb." Kaj paused. "Why do you ask?"

"I saw a guy mucking about a Shadowrian cemetery last week." Merrick shrugged. "Seemed odd. Pale skin, orange hair, average height, mumbled to himself."

"Well... I guess that's a bit of a lead," Luna said.

------------

"No no, please, take your time." Kaze sat on the side of the bed again and leaned back. She had heard about what had happened to Fiametta a few months ago. That seemed... bad. And a bit worrisome. If this... goddess was targeting girls with unstable mental states... It was true Kaze wasn't feeling her best self lately, but then again, nearly losing her mother seemed to clear her mind. Give her a new perspective. At least for now. Besides, Kerenza said that she was watching closely, so she definitely wouldn't try taking over someone close by.

Still, what about the others? In fact, was Fiametta even in a bad state of mind when this goddess took her? Maybe she was going through some internal stress...

"Should we warn the others?" Kaze asked. "I mean... with Fiametta, you said that this doesn't happen very often. And this rival lady of yours usually goes back into hiding. But there's been two incidents in four months..." Of course, what would you warn everyone about? Hey everyone! Be happy or the evil lady will get you. It wasn't like there was much she could do to stop her.

[Posted by Flareth]

"Uh...yes." Deax muttered. ".....I was told that you know void magic?"

Deax explained in detail the weird dreams and odd occurrences she had been having.

"I think I must be disposed to void magic." Deax concluded. "Uh....would you...possibly...teach me in the ways?"

Cameron's mouth was agape.

"Holy crap fire monsters!" Cameron nearly shouted. "That's.....amazing!"

Itsuki, however,was calm.

"If you guys have any questions about this universe, please don't hesitate to ask." Itsuki said.

"Huh." Zora looked contemplative. What kind of timeline lead to a parallel of this universe? Or was it just coincidence? Man, Space-time is weird. How did anyone expect her to be a goddess of it if she couldn't wrap her head around it at all? Good thing that wasn't her job anymore. "That's pretty neat." It was really all she could add to the discussion.

"Fancy that... I'd bargain there are some who could do that here, but it wouldn't be a population-wide ability." Tiamat started scribbling something science-looking on a napkin. "Glacientyr, is the name of my home kingdom. A lot of folks think it's too cold for their tastes, it's usually frozen over. Most of us can make ourselves breathe underwater innately. It's the only way to get into the castle short of an escort. What's yours like? I'd like to compare the differences."

"Terrantia seems to be a whole lot different..." Ila grumbled. She had half a mind to throw a punch for that comment, but... no, leave it.

"Yes, please ask if you have any questions." Astra stated calmly. "We'll be very pleased to answer."

Cassandra flashed her a smile. "Well.. I don't think that's too unreasonable a request. Perhaps you should come with me."

--------------

Shyama glanced over each of them. "I think it would be so much easier if the people who wanted to do this sort of thing would just apply for a license. But alas, that of course limits their range of bodies to choose from, and ne'er do wells can't be having that." A grim smile crossed her features. "Thankfully, should it spin out of hand... most people know for fact what sort of deity they'll deal with if they try to storm even as little as a city, nowadays." Her eyes flicked over to a nearby corner as the shadows rippled, and a woman pulled her way out of it, cloaked and hooded. A pair of red eyes swept over the crowd gathered, and she flashed them a grin filled with sharp teeth.

"I sensed... another, new to this world... there have been many, lately... many, many... and what do I come in on, but my absolute favorite topic... illegal necromancers." Shelly's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, speak of the devil." Shyama motioned to the new guest. "This, is the Goddess of Death, herself. Be not afraid, as despite her appearance, she has only the best of intentions."

"Best of intentions.. yes... you.. you are... lovely. Very lovely. Yes... the necromancer... after the interruption of celebrations last year it is... concerning.... perhaps they are connected... They will not interrupt another Halloween, I will see to it..."

-----------------

"It's hard to warn one about it." Kerenza shook her head. "She looks for weaknesses in one's mental defenses... the depressed and stressed are easier to break into than others. But she doesn't need it.. some are more resilient than others in mental defense, outright... I have never seen her successfully overtake a Psion, for instance, or a skilled Aura user. It takes practice and training to build, but they are very difficult to break into. Others, like your mother, are more stubborn in their resistance. That makes my job easier. It is never to be shamed if one does get overtaken, though.. she is dogged. I've only ever seen a select few successfully get her out of their head. Even when one does get overtaken.. there's still time. She saps their self away slowly, until they're nothing but a thrall, unsalvageable... if you catch it in time, and expunge her, they return to themselves, and that's the end of it. But if you don't..." She looked away for a second, as if there were something she didn't want to talk about. "Just... do me a favor, Miss Kaze. Keep an eye out, among your friends. Alright? And if you start hearing things, I want you to come to me, right away."

[Posted by Dan]

"Huh. There's a Glacientyr here too... I wouldn't say ours is cold necessarily, but it's filled with fish-like people. But other than that, it sounds pretty... similar." Titania says.

The duo look over to Astra.

"That'd be alright, miss. Although to be honest, I don't know where to start..." - Telgard remarks as he crosses both arms behind his neck.

---

"Hmmm... I have a story that sounds like that War of the Undead thing, but... it's rather long. Either way... Shyama, back at home, we have a license system for necromancy as well. If anybody tried such a thing without legal approval, you can bet they suffer the consequences. And that's charitably speaking." - The older Diana remarks with a sly grin, clasping her hands together.

She notices the dark-clad woman enter the room and gets shivers up her spine.

"Oh, hello. You're... the goddess of death? You resemble more of a Reaper of long time past, both in look and... presence. Very interesting..." - Diana remarks as she puts a hand to her chin.

[Posted by Nyx]

While Serafina continued to be glued to their new outer-worldly guests, Daniel turned towards Dante. "So, what have you two been up to?"

"Not much. Had a bit of a scare last night, but," he shrugged. "Ended up... working in our favor. What have you been doing? Heard you were traveling to Cerphixen."

Daniel nodded. "Just came back a few days ago. Caught wind that Nintendria and Zora were worried about Ranthael disappearing or something... Thought I might be able to help with my channeling. But we've come up blank so far. Maybe if I trained up my channeling a bit more..."

Dante shrugged again. He was technically even newer at this than Daniel was, so he couldn't add much.

"So, who's the new face who's been hovering over your shoulder?"

"Oh, this is Keith, our new..." Dante was about to introduce him when he noticed Keith fidgeting and looking uncomfortable. "Uh, everything alright?"

"If I may be frank, when I got up this morning, it was a complete surprise that I'd be escorting two royals. Now I'm in the presence of more royals than I can count on one hand, several of who are discussing the finding of the oldest God in existence, and, if I am correct, I am also in the presence of the new Mistress Astra, Goddess of Time. Please excuse me for feeling a bit inadequate."

"Actually you're also..." Daniel was about to say that he was also in the presence of the actual oldest Goddess in history, or ex-Goddess specifically, but Dante cut him off.

"Don't, his head will just explode."

-------

"W-well, that's reassuring to hear..." Kaj stuttered at Shelly's appearance. "Or... not really, this guy had an entire haunted house full of corpses and he's still running loose. Ugh, I am not going through that again..." He crossed his arms and looked away. "Honestly I was really hoping it wasn't a necromancer, but I guess there's not much doubt. Frankly I'm not interested in a necromancer hunt. Maybe I'll get Daniel to investigate it... play up the adventure..."

"Aw, that's no fun," Diana pouted. "And man, the laws are the same outside the kingdoms as well..."

"You're a princess dear, you should be upholding the law," Luna stated. "Otherwise that's how uprisings start..."

"Pshaw, I'm like what, gazillionth in line? No one cares what I do. I'll probably marry some old curmudgeon and live in some faraway colony. I'll raise a pack of hellhounds and become their queen."

Merrick meanwhile dug back into his book. He had no interest in the petty qualms of royalty. He turned his shoulder to Shelly, her presence made him uncomfortable.

-----------

"Yes ma'am," Kaze said. She looked over to her very tired mother. "We should probably let her sleep, don't you think everyone?" Kaze exited the room and sighed. She really wanted to run to her friends and tell them to watch out for crazed evil goddesses, but what could they do about it? The whole thing left her feeling a bit helpless... But she couldn't think like that. If anything the entire event left her dedicated to helping her family tenfold, and that's what she needed to focus on.

[Posted by Flareth]

"Ah.... yes....Mrs. Cassandra." Deax said. "That would be great."

And with that, she followed Cassandra.

Minuki turned to Keith, a slight smirk on her face.

"Don't worry." she said. "You get used to it."

Itsuki, however, raised an eyebrow and turned to Daniel and Dante

"So Ranthael is missing...." Itsuki muttered. "You don't think....that he doesn't want to be found, do you? I mean....we could tell if he wanted to be found, right? Unless he got captured by someone powerful?"

Astra let out a small laugh. "Please, don't feel inadequate around me. I was, after all, like you, until recently. Perhaps worse off, even. I still can't comprehend for the life of me how the small flat shiny touchy glow-screen works..."

"Smartphone." Tiamat corrected without missing a beat.

"...Yes, those."

"Y-yeah. Yeah I'm real worried. Like, I miss him, y'know? Got a real special place in my heart. I'd like to know where he is..." Zora looked somewhat alarmed when Keith brought up 'the oldest god in existence'. Please don't tell him, she begged in her mind, don't need that shit in my life. She seemed relieved when someone stopped her Daniel [since there were apparently two now] from bringing it up, and figured for a moment that things would go relatively smoothly.

And that was when the dragon squeezed her way through the doors.

There's my little Creator!"

"T-Tempest, not now-!"

"I thought you'd be here! Your sister mentioned you were going to the castle and I simply had to come find my adorable little ex-goddess."

"Tempest please--"

Shh shh. Now now. I brought you some lunch." The dragon gently set the body of a small rabbit on the table before her, and she stared down at it, quite uncertain what to make of this.

".......Anyway." Ila cleared her throat. "Maybe that's so, but it'd still be great to know where he is, y'know? If these two are so worried, and all."

We'll get to Cassandra and Deax in a little bit.

-------------------------

Shelly looked over Diana, clearly sensing her not being from this universe. "No. My... 'Reapers'... my Agents.... are plainclothes. It... does not do anyone any favors if... their mere appearance can cause panic... Myself... I find that I... very rarely need to keep up appearances... so I dress however I want..." She approached, and framed her face in her icy hands, meeting her eyes with her own, deep red and luminescent. "Yes... you are... not from this world, are you... Not at all... you are... fresh. New..." Shelly straightened back up to address the situation at hand. "You mention... the War... yes, I was... a victim of that War... once upon a time. No longer am I, however... no... now I have.... control... no one will ever get that far... never again..."

"Ah, yes... bit of a long story in itself, that." Shyama sighed. "It would make for an excellent story time if there weren't a situation."

"Ah... sorry, sorry..." Shelly glanced to Kaj, blatantly noticing Merrick turning away but ignoring it. "If you must... send someone to investigate... send multiple... It would be... better for your livelihood..."

--------------

Angel, having somewhat recovered from the shock of Aura through the back of her mind's eye, nodded. "Y-yeah. Let's... let's go... and... maybe I can bum on your couch for a bit... that was unfair and made me dizzy as shit."

Kerenza waved them off, and kneeled down to the young girl in the corner. "There isn't any need to be concerned now. She needs to sleep, and she'll be back to normal."

"Do you know that...?" Katarina half-growled. "Do you know that for sure? And how do I know that her body hasn't sustained damage? Why should I trust your word?"

"Because I've handled this before."

"Have you..? This is the same way my first mother died. I had to watch her slip away from her own, self inflicted wounds. I had to keep my sister out of the room and lie to her to keep her happy. And you, a goddess no less, expect me to stand idly by as one of your own threatens to make that happen to another one I've come to care for. Goddess must be such a lofty title if you can make such bold claims without a care. You don't care. No one ever cared. They let her do it to herself. They left her alone. I won't leave this one alone."

"I..." Kerenza was struck speechless. "A....alright..." All she felt she could do now was exit the room. She almost looked a little hurt at the insinuation that she didn't care.

[Posted by Dan]

Telgard and Titania gaze at the small apparatus Astra was holding with awe.

"I think we have something like that back at home. Or maybe it was a crystal that served the same purpose." - Telgard remarks with a hand to his chin.

"It's nice and shiny, though!" - Titania states.

They notice the dragon that came through the doors and jump back in surprise. Titania whimpers in disgust as the dragon lays the rabbit carcass down on the table.

"Yo, that's cool!" - Daniel says as he looks up at Tempest.

---

Diana freezes up as Shelly puts her hands on her face.

"Y-yes, well... that's why I said 'of old', milady. I've actually met some Reapers back at home and they were nearly indistinguishable from normal humans..." - She stutters.

She steps back a bit and straightens herself.

"A situation, you say? I've nothing better to do with my time, so do you mind if I go along to help?" - Diana states.

[Posted by Nyx]

"Wh-wha...?" Keith started to blubber at the entrance of Tempest. Dante reached up and put his hand into the middle of his face.

"Shhh, you'll get used to it," he said.

"So what? We going god hunting?" Serafina asked.

"Mm, frankly, I doubt we'd make much progress. We're talking about someone who can instantly warp himself to anywhere in the universe. It'd be like finding an immortal needle in a universe-sized haystack for us."

"Well it can't hurt to try," Daniel said. "What else do you have to do anyway? Stall for time for another opportunity to come up?"

Basically.
---------------

"Sure thing!" Luna said. "Any help is greatly appreciated."

"Guess we should go recruit more, if Shelly's warning us about it..." Kaj groaned. "Mind if we use your teleportation crystals? It'll be far easier than driving around the Eight Kingdoms."

"I'm sure the cous's back in Nintendria would like to come along. Oh! And some Lumentians, but only if they promise not to obliterate the specimens," Diana said.

----------

Kaze froze up a bit when she heard Katarina snap at Kerenza. But she knew there wasn't anything she could do about it. "Yeah, come on," she said to Angel, "Feel free to nap if you need. I can get a blanket."

She flopped down on an armchair next to the couch and rested her head in her hands. Man, what a rush of emotions today. She felt pretty exhausted, but her head was too rushed to be able to get a nap in herself.

[Posted by Flareth]

".....Yes, finding a god would be rather....difficult." Itsuki said, "But we just can't sit here and do nothing? Right?"

Minuki had, however, turned her attention to the dragon.

"Hey, Tempest, 'sup?" Minuki asked casually.

Cameron glanced over to Astra.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you how to use a smartphone. I mean....when you have the time....of course." Cameron offered.

Cameron flushed a deep crimson. Why had she not visited her girlfriend in so long?

Astra stared down at it and scratched her head. "Could you? That would be most wonderful.. oh, I have the time.. I suppose I have all the time in the world. Especially for you."

"T-tempest, you know I can't eat this..." Zora stammered. Welp, now the cat was out of the bag. That was just magical.

Oh, my apologies. That was my snack. Here, this one is yours." The great dragon reached around with her mouth and pulled out an adorably claw-decorated lunchbox from a messenger bag she wore near her very ornate saddle, setting it down and snapping up the rabbit carcass. Only after that did she notice the other Daniel admiring her. "Hm?"

Zora also glanced over. Look, a distraction! "Oh... yeah, she's pretty rad, isn't she? I'm surprised they let me keep her seeing as having a dragon companion is supposed to be some great honor reserved for royalty and all.."

"I don't understand you humanoids and why you think it's such an honor, but I think you deserve every little bit of it regardless." Tempest licked the side of her face a little, and she blushed.

"Ohh..."

Ila made a few fake-gagging noises. Too much cute. Come on, any second now a distraction was sure to come up. Just gotta stall for time, that's it.

---------------

Shyama nodded, and pulled from within her scarf a deep blue crystal with shimmering within that reminded of space. "Here. Please return this to me when you're finished. Hate to have to go through the trouble of binding another one."

"Yes... there is... power in numbers, as they say..." Shelly murmured, sort of drifting around the room. "I... should perhaps be off myself... I need to go... scouting, yes..." She reached into a shadow in the corner and faded away and was gone.

--------------

Angel flopped over onto the couch, rubbing her head. She heard the kid snap at Kerenza... kid had some balls on her to yell at a god like that, but it seemed like nothing more came of it. At least she hoped nothing more would come of it. She was still feeling the thrum of power that had gotten her reeling in the first place. Fuckin' ow. A part of her wondered what she was doing getting involved with this mess, but it was quickly silenced. It was worth it, she urged herself, to at least be some kind of small bright spot in the dark. It was all gonna be okay.

She hoped, at least. She knew what they said about getting worse before it got better, but they'd already had it pretty bad. Most she could do is just be here for her. She wondered whether it would be uncouth to say something, but refrained regardless of whatever decision she'd come up with. They needed quiet, now.

[Posted by Dan]

"I'm just surprised because this is the first time I've seen a normal dragon in... years. They're super rare back where we live. But yeah, she is something." - Telgard says.

"With that said... What's all this about 'god hunting?'" - Titania asks as she does the air quotes motion.

---

"Just in case anything gets out of hand..." - The older Diana states as she holds her arm above her head.

Shadows gather into her hand and manifest into a black staff with a large rose-colored diamond at the tip. A streak of dark-red energy glows off of the staff as she swings it behind her back.

"I'd rather not have you suffer because I was unequipped." - She remarks with a grin.