• Graded • CitW: The Waiting Place

[Pegasus]

120th Ashan, 719. Midnight

The Moment.

The Watchers

Sephira showed Vri the book and he nodded, thoughtfully. "I know her. She is Eternal" Vri said, solemnly. "I have no Domain over her ending. It is ... peculiar.". He didn't seem perturbed by it so much as just slightly annoyed at the blind girl. The Immortal nodded his head at Kura's assertion that they had best hope this was about his children. "I believe it is. I believe I know it is. But, I am a father and of all the Domains, all of them." He looked at the two women and his lips lifted in a slight smile as his eyes burned. "Love is the strongest."

Kura's assessment of relative power met with a nod from him, but little more. However, when she told him that she hoped he understood his responsibilities to the mortals present, all the air seemed to fall from the room which was immediately cold - cold like death. His pale face was unmoving and he looked at her with an apparently neutral expression. "Do not presume to speak to me of responsibility, Kura, daughter of Karem. You have no idea, like any child who believes they are all grown up" Gesturing to the Cathedral he breathed in, then exhaled and as he did the room warmed up a little. "Remember who you speak to. The Immortal of Love, who did not bring back his own beloved. Life, all life, is choices. There is no takeback, nor will I belittle their sacrifice by negating it. They chose. I chose. We live with the consequences of those choices. Do not speak thus again." He gestured to the remains of Ornery. "You still have much to learn, child of our youngest. About consequences of actions. Listen, observe and learn."

It seemed quite likely in that moment that Ornery wasn't getting resurrected any time soon.

And then, Kura asked the book what the purpose of the Cathedral was. Drawn in a three second timespan was the face of every mortal who slept on Idalos, each one individually and held in place, protected, kept safe by the Cathedral. Each of them, held safe and able to awaken because of the structure of the Cathedral. And then, there were the words.

Everyone sleeps. Everyone must wake. It is the crack in the wall between the two

And as Kura - and Sephira should she glance - read that, Dosan reappeared in the room. Vri turned and dark eyes fell upon him.

Objectives & Rules

!	Message from: All of you
	You may have 3 actions this round. You may also chat with Vri. You can not see the Prison.

The Rules

!

Message from: The Rules

The Waiting Place has a number of things you can do. Many of them are still hidden from you and will continue to be until you explore further. What You Know You can see everything that is happening in the other threads. You each have ONE CATHEDRAL ACTION per round. You can: Swap places with one PC. This is a permanent swap and can not be undone. You go into their group, they come here. Change one thing (moderate) about one of the other threads. This is not guaranteed to work (dice rolling time!) and might, in fact, go a bit wrong. But if you're going to do that, I need to know ASAP from my post. You may communicate with ONE group. This is a one way communication and is limited to TWELVE words Kura & Sephira are able to communicate with all the groups simultaneously now.

Please note: Using the Cathedral is one action - as is examining the books or trying to work out the stuff about Souls. Chatting with Vri is a freebie - but keep it reasonable!

Dates & Deadlines

I am so very sorry for the delay. I got laid up with the flu bug. However, I'm fighting fit now.
I will post on 10th May. It is really helpful for me if you guys post more quickly than that.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura overheard the conversation between Vri and Sephira regarding the girl and looked up at the soldier. "Sephira, when we're done here, I think we should see if we can find this young woman. I would very much like to have words with her." she said, her tone calm. When Vri admitted he believed this was all for the Twins and that love was the strongest Domain, she smiled and nodded slightly. "Powerful, yes. Even the strongest wills can be brought short by love." she said, her voice quiet.

When he upbraided her for what he saw as her lack of respect and her arrogance, however, she paused for a moment and looked at the Vri, her expression blank. Then she smiled slightly and bowed her head. "My apologies, Vri. My only excuse for my rudeness is that neither my upbringin' nor the state of affairs on Idalos has given me cause to trust the Immortals with responsibility. It is...difficult for me to recall that both my mother and the empress, who taught me of Immortals, were heavily biased against their own kind." she said, bowing as she said it. Then she looked down at her book as it answered her question.

"Oh, fuck me." she growled. Then Dosan showed back up and she looked up at the man. "Welcome back. No magic, no spirit based powers, nothin' but Immortal granted abilities in here. Immortal abilities are stable things, plus this guy's an Immortal." she said, gesturing over her shoulder at Vri. "Dosan, this is Vri, Immortal of Love, Death, and Remembrance. Vri, you already know Dosan." she said, before she let out a long sigh. "Unfortunately, I think all our disagreements and speculation just became rather insignificant." she said, holding up the book so that the rest of the group could see what it said.

"It appears that everyone on Idalos is asleep. Given the nature of things, that means at least several hundred deaths may have happened since we arrived, from peope swimmin', puttin' out fires, Avriel in flight, and that sort of thing. Granted, that assumes that all this is happenin' in real time, which I'm not sure about. However, unless you know what's going on in Idalos in relation to what's going on here, Vri, then forgive me if this is rude, but all else just became kind of secondary. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd rather not have all of Idalos die on my watch because I couldn't get them out of an enchanted sleep, yeah?" she said, her tone serious.

Then she let out a slow breath and looked back down at the book. "Or I could be panickin' and be able to get answers about how bad this is. One moment, please." she said, before looking down at the book. "Will people die if we can't wake them up?" she asked, feeling a little silly as she did. She did, personally, believe that everyone was in danger, but there was no knowing for sure. Then she paused for a moment and let out a sigh. "No point in keepin' things held back." she said, as she called up her own inborn powers and pushed out with them, looking to see if anything reacted to her own Divine Ether.

Then she turned to Vri. "I know you said that this place is...uncertain, even to you, but you seem to know more about this place than anyone else here. Is there anythin', no matter how small or trivial it might seem, that you can tell us? Even the smallest detail may be of help." she said, her tone focused. Her eyes had turned gold as well and her movements were starting to become a little jarring compared to the way two Mortals were moving. There was something distinctly predatory in her movements, and she was starting to turn her head a bit more than a mortals neck should be able to turn. Her voice had dropped too, after reading the book, softer and quieter, but more focused. Sephira, who knew Kura the best of the bunch and was also from Scavoris, may recognize her body language as being very similar to that of an owl on the hunt.

[Sephira]

“Eternal?” Sephira replied distantly, examining the word in her mind carefully. She had never heard it used before, not in this context. Then the Immortal commented that he knew nothing of the woman’s ending. Strange...that the god of demise would not have power over the fortuneteller’s death. She must have been something else then, something without end.

Something definitely not mortal.

The woman moved to gaze over the sphere to listen once again to what was happening at the Cathedral of Dreams. She couldn’t help that her eyes focused on Maxine. She had traded places with her, it should have been Sephira standing there cutting away parts of her soul in order to reach the twins. Not Max, she didn’t deserve this. Even with all her failings, Max had always been someone that she trusted...a friend.

It was her friend then that listened to her words and asked about the girl she had seen in the book. Statis replied with interest, speaking the fortuneteller’s name aloud.

“Joelle.” The mage echoed softly. Simply speaking her name seemed to awaken something in her. An urge to find her, like someone was pulling her closer and closer to the fortuneteller.

As Vri spoke of the domain of Love Sephira found herself biting her lip as Max offering up the stake that represented the peace she had found since ending Earth Mask and returning from Rynmere. That paranoia would return to her again if all of this was real, and she would begin to become the person she had been an arc ago. Sephira’s hands tightened into fists at her side as she sharply turned away from the Sphere in order to face the entirety of the Waiting Place. She was done sitting her being useless. Max had taken her place but there had to be more she could do to help her and the others. That had to start with finding Joelle.

“I’m done.”The soldier hissed acidly, tightening her grip on the Dark Wyvern as she sat the book with the picture of the fortuneteller down in front of her so she could clearly see the picture. She knew the Eternal girl was in Scalvoris Town, and she even knew the baker’s stall she was seated near. The Rupturer had everything she needed to try something especially hopeless and idiotic.

“They are down there cutting off pieces of who they are.” she spoke hotly. “And I’m not going to stand here while they do it. Fuck waiting.”

Love sometimes manifests in strange ways. While most show it with chocolates, hugs, and flowers, others show it by decking their friend in the face...or by opening a hole through multiple realities in pursuit of a wild and desperate hope.

“Don’t try and stop me .” Sephira warned grimly at Kura while she funneled ether into her Sparks. Initially she cast Static to obscure her magic and then awakened her Rupturing Spark with a burst of ether.

Scarlet radiance crackled around her hands as the mage raised the tip of her onyx saber and drew the outline of a portal in the air, all while focusing on that spot in the Scalvoris Market where Joelle was.

Softly Sephira whispered aloud, hoping that somewhere her allied Nightmares were listening through their bond. “Leave them be, please. We had a deal.” The last thing she wanted was for the Nightmares to attack again. Sephira could only hope that their commander would honor his bond with her, in order for the mortals to mend Emea and save their creator Kielik.

For the second time she began to blend Dreamwalking with the magic of her Rupturing Spark. The portal in front of her began to form with a low rumbling; crackling with crimson radiance before beginning to sing the bright and beautiful humming like before. It shimmered, the color of the portal shifting from it’s natural crimson to a blaze of interwoven iridescence.

Sephira stood there for a moment, the light of the portal reflected against the features of her sharply angular face. This was reckless, even she knew it. But she was done waiting. She was done watching Max and the others sacrifice parts of themselves in order to pass through the trials to reach the twins. This was someone else's game,and it was time to leave the board behind.

She had to find the fortuneteller, no matter the cost.

Without another pause the soldier shot forward before plunging through the portal.

Dialogue|Thoughts

[Nasod]

㊝ The Waiting Place ㊝
㊝ Mood: Confused - Annoyed
㊝ Company: Scary woman & Pissed False God
㊝ Current Thought: What is going on
㊝ Current Theme: Sohei

㊝ Coming through the door, the viper was shocked to see he had returned to that place. One moment he was gone from there and now he was back. He looked around and noticed that things had changed, the atmosphere had shifted.

There was so much tension in the air, he could cut it with a knife. Dosan moved a little closer to the group, the two woman and a man, as he got his bearings. Just what has transpired since he vanished?

Looking about he saw the scary woman who took control in the beginning. When she saw him she gave him a fair warning as to what was allowed in here. Dosan quirked a brow as he had never had anything of the sort. He had his magic, but he was barred from using it.

She introduced the male with them. Vri, the Immortal of Love, Death, and Remembrance and the viper's expression shifted to that of disbelief. Was she serious? Was this really one of the heretical forces of the mainland heathens? Immortal or not, the viper returned the same disdainful glare that was given to him.

She went on to explain how grave the situation was, revealing that all of Idalos was sleep, and many could be dead because of what's happening here. That meant Gabriella was sleep or worse, dead too. The viper looked to her but his attention was snatched as the other woman seemed to be upset about something.

She opened a portal, kinda like the one Ali did during the yari incursion and spat about not sitting on her ass while others suffered. Just what did she mean by that? His mind was so confused, not sure what in the hell to do or say. All he could do was looked to the woman and Vri, and then back to the other woman as she went through the portal.

"So what happens now?"

he asked not sure what else there was for him to do. As he pondered for himself, he found that there was something still in his pocket. Pulling it out he saw the shell he had when he first arrived. With a smile, he showed it to the woman.

"I may have an idea."

he said moving to the center of the room. With a tight squeeze, he focused his intent on trying to find a way to see Idolas, see if there was anyone awake there. Surely someone or something could still be alive and coherent to give them some news on the outside world. ㊝

"Common Speech"

"Vahanic Speech"

[Pegasus]

120th Ashan, 719. Midnight

The Moment.

The Watchers

Vri sighed, just imperceptibly, at Kura's apology. "I am not used to not knowing, Karem's child." His voice was softer as he said that. "Which may lead to my being more prone to reminding us of who I am.". He said no more on the subject, but it seemed that things were on an equilibrium again, as far as he was concerned. Kura questioned if there was anything more he knew, and Vri's forehead creased in silent thought. While he thought on it, Kura got to see the answer in the book.

Yes

Vri spoke, once more and his tone was thoughtful. "I can not control this place as I should. It feels..." as he considered what he was trying to say, he paused and then he responded. "It almost feels like another's Domain, but if it was, it would be Daia's." There might have been more to tell, and Dosan's idea might have been a good one.

But they would never find out.

Sephira opened a portal. It worked - the pull on the Special Assistant was immense and the portal shimmered like a crimson-edged rip in reality. As Sephira propelled herself into and through it, she got a glimpse - just a glimpse - of Scalvoris. The street where Joelle worked, giving people cards, telling fortunes - that street where everyone was asleep. As though they had all fallen where they stood. Except for one man - tall and handsome, looking at the card Joelle had gifted him at the end of his reading. Oh, and there was the woman over there, sitting at a stall selling fruit and reaching into her pocket, taking out the card Joelle had passed to her more than a ten-trial ago.

And then, as she saw confused flashes of where she almost was, Sephira felt an impact against her stomach. Like two unstoppable forces they collided and all the air was pushed out of the Element's lungs as she discovered that she was not, in fact, an unstoppable force.

The inhabitants of the Waiting Place got to see Sephira Blackwood land, on the floor, with a young woman tangled up with her. Joelle - for such it was - looked as surprised as Sephira. The young girl with the milky-white eyes which seemed to be blind, but obviously weren't, looked around the room and her eyes widened.

"NO!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" She clambered off, scurrying backwards and looking around desperately. "I can't be here! I can't be! They're sacrificing themselves and I'm trying to help them... to stop it... to take it. But I.. what have you DONE!?"

She held out her hands, which were shaking visibly. From those hands tumbled three cards. "That's... all I have." The portal behind them had snapped shut with a loud and audible bang and, if Sephira tried again to open it, it stubbornly refused. She looked at Kura, and frowned slightly. "I know you. I've seen you. In my dreams, when I dream true, I see you sometimes. The Owl. The cards, they can take back a sacrifice one of them has made." Each of the cards was blank, and she pushed them almost desperately towards Kura. "You should decide, I don't know what the sacrifices are, or the people... I just know that I'm the balance, I close the rips and rends in reality, as best I can, and give my cards to people to protect them...." Frowning, she looked around the room. "Where am I? What is this place? And why does the Cathedral look like that?"

Should they turn to look, the three of them would see that there, on the stand where the Orb had been was still that image of the Cathedral but now, it had a rip right through it. It was crimson-edged and seemed to be getting bigger as they watched.

Joelle held up shaking hands and she, too, seemed to be cracking almost like a Mortalborn did on the use of their powers. As lightning cracked out of the rip above the Cathedral, Joelle whispered.

"I'm sorry..."

And in a flash of crimson light, she fell. Her entire body was cracked and torn.

Objectives & Rules

!	Message from: All of you
	Well now. That's an interesting turn of events. You have the following. 3 x blank tarot cards 1 x very dead Joelle. 1 x Cathedral with a rip in reality opening kind of through it - and getting bigger. Not much time. Not much time at all....

The Rules

!	Message from: The Rules
	Each blank card will negate 1 x sacrifice from one of the pcs in the Cathedral. Your choice. When you choose, the Card will get a picture on it. You each have 1 card to decide. You have 1 x action for the Cathedral - but I NEED TO KNOW what you are doing, please - so tell me asap, even before you post. I'mma gonna nudge you.

Dates & Deadlines

I will post on 17th May. It is really helpful for me if you guys post more quickly than that.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

When Kura saw the "yes" in her book, she grimaced, but didn't have time to say anything about it or in response to Vri before Sephira got fed up with the situation and decided to break the bloody rules. Her portal roared open and pulled the fortune teller through, who had an absolute panic attack when she saw where she was. The seer knew Kura from her dreams though, and gave the Mortalborn some cards in a rush, her words tumbling over themselves. However, it appeared that Joelle didn't quite know what was going on with the Cathedral, as she seemed confused about the situation. It didn't last long though, as Emea tore open above the Cathedral and Joelle died in a flash of red light.

Kura paused in shock for a moment, her mind still trying to process what had just happened. Then she jumped forward with a growl and picked up the cards, tossing one each to Sephira and Dosan. "Be careful with those." she growled, before looking down at the dead body of Joelle. After a moment, she stepped up to the sphere and cycled it back and forth for a moment with a low growl. "Can't see this room. Damnit. I'll have to do this blind." she said, her voice low. She knew what she was going to try to do, she had known almost the instant she had seen Joelle die. It may not work, it may backfire horribly, but it didn't seem like things could get much worse. "If those goes wrong, remember, one of us has to stay in here to get everyone back." she said, her tone firm. She had some work to do, now, and whatever it cost would be worth the price if it succeeded. First she set the bundle that once been Ornery down, unwrapping the ribbon from around the bundle. Next, she wrapped the ribbon around the card she held in her hand. Finally, she held her bare hand over the sphere and held her card in her gloved hand.

Then, she focused. She focused the part of her will that was going into the Sphere not on any of the visible rooms, but on the Waiting Place itself, and through it, on the card in her other hand. She focused the other part of her will through the glove covering her hand, and through that glove, into the card she was holding in her gloved hand. And when all her will had passed through those two gates into the card, she held the card over Joelle's body and channeled all her will through the card and into Joelle's body. "The sacrifice I choose to undo is the sacrifice of your life, Joelle. Awaken from your slumber and return to Idalos, for you are needed still!" she commanded, putting all her will, all her authority into the action she was attempting to perform. Her intent was not only to revive Joelle, but to revive her in Idalos instead of Emea, since the Cathedral seemed to violently object to her presence. As she spoke, at the moment when her will would be executed, she twisted her hand, like she was opening a door. Her intent with that was to open a door to Idalos so that Joelle would return to the waking world.

!	Message from: Pegasus
	As Kura does that - Joelle's cracking / tearing across her body stop. She doesn't start breathing again, nor does she disapoof. However, the rips in her body stop, she doesn't explode in a glow of white light next post (..... what?) and.. on the Cathedral, you see a single room in the centre with four tiny bridges leading to it around the devastation and ruins....

[Nasod]

㊝ The Waiting Place ㊝
㊝ Mood: Confused - Annoyed
㊝ Company: Scary woman & Pissed False God
㊝ Current Thought: What is going on
㊝ Current Theme: Sohei

㊝ It seemed like his idea would have to wait. The woman, the one that opened the portal thingy, came back with someone else. The was now a new face, a frantic one with them in the Waiting Place. She seemed adverse to being here, and the Waiting Place seemed to agree with that notion.

The viper watched curiously as the new woman pleaded her caes, saying she didnt belong here, that she was trying to keep people safe in the waking world. She dropped something, it looked like playing cards of some sort. And once she did that, she fell to the floor. She was split in two just as the rip in reality came overhead.

Dosan was still trying to put all the info she had given before dying together. The cards could take back one sacrifice? What sacrifice? Were people giving shit up in there? When he got his card he immediately when to the sphere in order to see what was happening.

As he looked in each room he saw it all. The cathedral, the two trials, and everyone sacrificing something dear to them in order to fix this shitstorm. As he look, oblivious to what was happening with the others in the room he focused on trying to see what all was being sacrificed. Among everyone, only one person stood out to him.

He was brash and foul mouthed fellow but he gave something that caught the viper's interest. He gave up his love for someone, some that was like family. Dosan couldnt believe that, mostly because he never knew what love was, especially from those you considered to be family. It was something, though he would never admit outloud, he cherished in others.

It was love that set them apart from himself he thought, sense never knowing love made the viper cold and callus, unable to truly care about others. He thought very highly of that sacrifice and with the blank card in his hand, held it up the sphere and focused on that male and his sacrifice.

"Love is not something you should throw away so frivilously. Hold onto it, even if the world burns around you."

he whispered, pouring all his intent into trying to negate that sacrifice, the sacrifice of the love of his sister-of-his-heart, Faith Augustin.

Content he had done as the dead woman had instructed, he looked to Vri, and began to shed a few tears.

"Love makes you do stupid things ya know?"

㊝

"Common Speech"

"Vahanic Speech"

[Sephira]

It was all real. Perhaps a part of her had doubted that everyone in the real world was really asleep but as she hurtled through the portal Sephira caught sight of bodies dotting Scalvoris’s street. A realization slammed into her. There had probably been people sitting or standing in very inopportune places. People who were likely now dead. They were on a tight schedule, people would very likely continue to die until they fixed this.

Without warning it was like all the air was driven out of her lungs and she slammed into a wall. It was like reality had become static, and unable to be torn further. It was something she had never encountered before.

When Sephira came to, she was struggling to take in a breath and was lying face down on the floor of the Waiting Place. There was a thundering boom and her Rupturing Spark shuddered within her as the portal closed. The magical entity seemed to be far more subdued than normal, as if it was a wounded animal who had simply given up and laid down for a long rest. She had pushed it to do things it never had attempted before, no wonder it had lost a bit of its aggressive fire.

The mage crawled weakly to her feet, wobbling for a moment before her jaw dropped. Joelle was there with them. Wyn was sniffing her curiously and looking rather perplexed for a wolf.

“Something smells...wrong.” The ivory canine commented with a worried whine.

Sephira met Joelle’s eyes and knew immediately that she had made a mistake. Her rashness and her wish to protect Max had cost them a terrible price.

The scale model of the Cathedral shifted to dark hues of red, showing the fracture through the cathedral and that made the woman’s blood run cold. She knew a tear in reality when she saw one.

Within mere bits Joelle was gone, her body fractured and shattered like whatever power she possessed had burned her through and through. Kura was already moving, taking a card in hand and withdrawing her token along with a ribbon.

Sephira followed suit, pulling her wooden sphere from the folds of her dress and holding it out while taking a card to try and undo the last sacrifice Max had given. This had to be undone; if Joelle was who was holding this place together then they needed to somehow undo the harm that the mage had done. The last thing she had wanted was to kill someone. This certainly had not been the first time that Sephira’s rashness had led to the death of an innocent.

“Not again.” She whispered desperately while holding out the wooden sphere. Perhaps the little token had the power to do something, Kura at least seemed to think so and she was the wisest woman the mage knew and someone who shared a Spark with her.

A thought occurred to the soldier just as she raised her little token above Joelle’s broken remains. She would add whatever she could to what Kura was doing, perhaps it would help if they were connected. After all Qylios must have given Sephira her Mark for a reason. At least she hoped so.

Sephira had always felt doubt as to why the Immortal of Bonds had Marked her. Had it only been to guard her son Toraj? Or had it been for another reason? After everything that she had done...after every life she had taken, Sephira sometimes wondered if she was slowly becoming the monster she feared. Her arrogance had always been her greatest flaw, and because of it death followed her.

Had Qylios made a mistake? Perhaps so.

It was clear from meeting Vri that Immortals themselves were far from omniscient.

She had made so many mistakes in trying to grasp the domains of Leadership and Bonds. But with every mistake she had learned something about herself.

After she had caused the collapse of the docks in Scalvoris, Sephira had learned the value of depending on others around you. After losing Rey’na to the Mantis she had learned to forgive even the most irritable of ex-convicts.

Perhaps to-trial she was learning something new about humility. That she was not as strong as she had thought. Magic had limits, and so did she.

The single glowing Celarion band glowed around her wrist and within the next trill another wrapped around Kura’s wrist cementing the Bond.

“Mend what I've broken. Restore what has been lost.” She whispered desperately to the token in her hand. The world was ending, the mage could only trust that the fortuneteller had foreseen this possibility and given them the tools they needed to prevail.

“Please help us.”

It was a frail hope, but it was all she had.

Dialogue|Thoughts

[Pegasus]

120th Ashan, 719. Midnight

The Moment.

The Watchers

It all happened so fast. One second things were what they were, and then all hell was breaking loose, with consequences from Sephira's casting of magic here, in the true center - well... the consequences simply cascaded ad things began to unravel and fall, like a poorly balanced house of cards. Kura and Sephira focused on Joelle, on making sure that she did not make the sacrifice. As they did, Dosan focused his card on one person in the group, then turned to Vri and started to cry. As Kura and Sephira were focused on Joelle, they did not see the impact on the Immortal. He met Dosan's gaze and, as Dosan spoke of what love did, he nodded. Yet, Dosan's tears seemed to pass Vri by, as the Immortals's eyes widened. "No!" He said, and there was panic in his voice.

And then, Vri was gone.

The band on Sephira's arm, the one which marked her as blessed by Qylios, glowed brightly for a brief moment as the two women poured their energies into Joelle, but the girl remained where she was, and very dead. The glowing band seemed to envelop them, all three, for a moment, and they were bathed in soft golden light.

So, the situation they had was thus. Joelle was both there, and very much dead. Vri was no longer there. Ornery was still kibbles and bits. These things were bad. The Cathedral seemed to be almost entirely destroyed and they could see the way that the people there were clambering across the bridges, doing their best, but things there looked bad too - in fact, they looked to be very bad. Hm. Bad and very bad.

And then there was the realisation that things in the Waiting Place were starting to get... well. Clear. Things were clear. Now, while this might normally be a good thing - Sephira, Kura and Dosan noticed that the edges of the room seemed to be getting... transparent. Fading, even. If they stood and watched, they'd see that this phenomena was happening, it was spreading and the Waiting Place seemed to be .... well, fading out of existence. If, that was, they stood and watched.

But that probably wasn't the best thing to do, in truth. Because things with the people here were bad. Things in the Cathedral were very bad. But this?

This was very, very bad. As Gem appeared, it was possibly not at the best moment... but there we go.

Objectives & Rules

!

Message from: All of you

Ohhhhh...kay. So. Lets see. Where are we at? Yes, that's right. The Waiting Place is unravelling. Slowly, at first, but with increasing speed. You have TWO (2) actions this round. You can talk / chat as much as you like - but I will take it into account with my next post. You can, now, leave this thread if you choose - you can get yourself OUT of the Waiting Place. That will take TWO actions. You can make an impact on ONE of the quarters. This will take ONE action.

Dates & Deadlines

I will post on 24 May. It is really helpful for me if you guys post more quickly than that.

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Kura nodded at Sephira as the mage joined with her to try and save Joelle, and she let out a sigh of relief when their efforts had...some payoff. She was, sadly, still dead, and it appeared Vri had vanished someplace, which was not exactly ideal. But the destruction had stopped and no one was dead, so that was a good sign. Of course, things did not appear to be getting better as things were starting to...disappear from their little refuge. Or rather, The Waiting Place itself was beginning to disappear.

"Of course." she said, a low growl in her voice. She looked at the sphere over her shoulder and let out another sigh. Things weren't much better there, and if she was right, someone still had to stay in The Waiting Place if they were going to get everyone back. She was really hoping that this wasn't going to wind up being a death sentence, but she knew what she had to do, and if it killed her, better it cost her life than leave everyone trapped in Emea with little enough hope of return. However, there were three others in the room and she looked to them. "All right, you've got an even chance of dyin' if you stay here, and only one of us needs to be here to pull everyone back. I recommend you take yourself out of here if you want a better chance at living through this." she said, her tone a firm command. "And if you leave, take her with you." she said, gesturing at the body of Joelle. Hopefully getting the fortune teller out would better her chances at survival.

Then she turned back to the sphere. "Sephira, if you're stayin', leave the bond open. I'm goin' to try and protect us both through it." she said, her tone short and blunt. As she spoke, she wrapped herself in her own power and attempted to pour part of it into Sephira through the Qylios bond. Hopefully, her Divine powers would afford the some form of protection from this fading of Emea. She couldn't, however, do anything for Gem or Dosan if they stayed.

The sphere showed everyone had come together, though everyone seemed to think they were on their own. Judging by the lack of comments regarding the death traps in the four quarters, there couldn't see them iehter. "We have to hurry. Focus on them all, and try to shield them from the harmful effects of each element at once. If they have to pass through that, I'd rather they not die in the crossing." she said, her tone blunt. "Only the harmful effects though, we can't afford to shield them from anythin' that might be beneficial.

As she spoke, she was channeling her own will into the sphere. Her first focus was to try and place that shield she was talking about around the entire group, a single protection from all four elements. If she had time afterwards, her next action was to attempt to focus on the The Waiting Place and use her will to solidify the area around the Sphere, creating a shield around the Sphere and all who remained to try and protect them from the fading of The Waiting Place.

Off Topic

What Kura and the rest see in the Sphere is according to a PM from Pegasus. Kura's using one action to try and create a shield around those in the Cathedral that will grant them each 1 protection from the harmful effects each Element. If trying to wrap herself and Sephira, through the Qylios bond, counts as an action, that's her other action. Otherwise, her other action is to create a shield around the Sphere and anyone who remains.