At first, there was the sensation of floating. It was like drifting in a warm, lazy river. It was a gentle embrace of energy, carrying them away from trouble. The unstable, erratic energy from the field had faded, replaced only with this familiar embrace.
The white light that enveloped all of them faded slowly, and when they blinked away the last of it, they could see that they were safe. They arrived scattered throughout a protective room; it was large enough to accommodate everyone fairly comfortably.
Maybe they didn’t recognize any of it. Maybe they recognized the architecture of the Moon Kingdom.
Maybe they’d already visited the Celestial Theatre and knew exactly where they were.
The star brooches glowed on their chests--all of those born to Earth, and all of those who hoped to fix it.
Along with the forces of Order, Aeleas, Lixian, Vaylin, Neryn, and Valnyr arrived. By intention or stroke of luck, Valnyr’s communicator lay on the ground by her feet.
Caedus lay on the floor staring up at the ceiling with open eyes. He took frantic, raggedy breaths. His body was prone on the ground, weak from stress and strain.
There was only one door leading out of the room and it led into a long, empty hallway. While there appeared to be arches and doorways, they have since crumbled and appear otherwise impassable--except for a small, open room at the end of the hallway.
The room shared similar architecture to the rest of the Moon Palace but the purpose of this room is difficult to imagine; there are no decorations. No furniture. No windows or doors.
Instead, in the middle of the room and on a single pedestal sat a Cornerstone piece of the Code--and it seemed charged.
Even from the Celestial Theatre they had all been gathered in, its energy seemed stronger than before.
The Celestial Theatre was a large, domed room. Once, there might have been seats to accommodate guests, but the floor was currently empty. White marble walls gave a timeless, ethereal look to the room, but it showed the telltale sign of age and disrepair. There were large cracks in the walls, and stained glass windows by the door that had been broken out. At some point in time, a marble statue was completely blocking the door, but it seemed as though it lost its battle with time and crumbled in such a way that the door was now passable.
Celestial images were painted all over the white ceiling, and the whole thing was reminiscent of a living star map--only, it was impossible to tell what anything was supposed to be. The shapes on the ceiling moved slowly, as if in real time; it was not a complete image of the sky, and sometimes shapes appeared and disappeared from view as they moved to the edges of the map.
In the center of the ceiling, a bright white star that seems to be constantly illuminated. Something about it seems strained; it was flickering with light, never really fading but something was obviously going on.. There was no reason to suspect it, but there is an innate understanding that this is the Galaxy Cauldron, and, with certainty, Cosmos is there.
The room had a latent magic; it did not heal, but it seemed to function as something of a stasis. Pain diminished, and injuries would not worsen, but it seems like it is only a temporary magic.
A console in the corner of the room has been turned on, and while it is badly damaged it seems to be able to function. At least, somewhat. The screen has a black background, but in the center is a glowing golden crescent moon with a star above it.
The symbols on the console lit up in tandem with its synthetic voice: “Arrival confirmed. Thank you for scheduling an appointment. The Queen will see you now.”
Quote:
All Order characters and Velencians who chose Earth have arrived at the Celestial Theatre on the Moon! You must have participated in the previous ORP at some point to be involved in this roleplay. This is a peaceful location and acts of extreme violence may be met with expulsion. Players are free to interact with the environment, the Console, Caedus, or the Code; the Center Console seems to think Queen Serenity will make this appointment but there are no other energy signatures in the area--however, down the hall, the Code piece seems like it has grown in power.
All Cadet players must post at least once in this thread; they must write 500 words to be eligible for reward for their participation in the meta.
This ORP will have new mule posts within 24 hours of the last mule post, however these posts may come more frequently to accommodate player interaction. There are no penalties if you play an Order Character and do not post in this; you can assume any knowledge provided. All Order characters would have been summoned to the Moon and protected from the explosion during the last ORP. Characters that were unconscious will be exhausted but will find themselves restored enough to move around and ask questions; pain will be dulled and injuries seem to have been put in a temporary stasis. They will not get worse while they are here, but they will not heal.
Please quote The Space Cauldron if you are interacting with the environment or an NPC!
This ORP will conclude one week from now, at some point in time after 4PM EST Sunday the 7th. This is the final Order ORP for the meta, and when the Order and Chaos ORPs conclude, there will be major shop releases brought into play. After these ORPs, there will be a DMC ORP; the DMC ORP does not affect the meta plot and will take place on the evening of November 1st, in Mirrorspace at the same time the battle ORP did for everyone else.
The starseed was being returned. Caedus' body arched. He screamed. Things were exploding. Scylla looked up at the colors above them, her fingers curling into his shoulders, trusting that her family would be fine.
Pollux was protecting his sister, surely. Castor was a ******** Royal. Hope and Aidan were safe at home, tucked into their beds, and Zora and Lucas would take care of them.
The first blast blew her body back- blew all of them back, even though there was an ice wall and a wolf to protect them. She crawled back to Caedus, desperate.
Another explosion was coming. And then the world glowed, and she was in the familiar Celestial Theater.
Arrival confirmed. Thank you for scheduling an appointment. The Queen will see you now.
"Are you serious?" She asked the computer, exhausted, speaking into the room. "I scheduled an appointment weeks ago and the Queen stood me up. This is not NOON."
She looked down at Caedus, at Oberon, Encke, and Sessrumnir. "Charybdis?" She called out her sister's name. "Lourdes? Nephthys? Myrrha?" Where were her friends? Were they okay? And where was the other senshi- the one who had said she was interested in the Thorns- what about Cybele? Bellatrix, she had seen her too.
But she didn't move from Caedus' side, relief seeping through her muscles and making her shake. She couldn't trust her legs right now, even if she wanted to.
Instead she looked around, cataloguing as many members of Order as she could, looking at the survivors.
“Are you okay?” Oberon asked Caedus as he sat on the ground near him. He’d already quickly zipped up his jacket to cover the wound across his chest, given to him by one of those Generals guarding a generator, but there was only so much he could do about his hands. They hurt, but not nearly as badly as they did back on Earth. Thankfully the Moon seemed to be giving them a bit of a reprieve.
He did his best not to let Caedussee his hands. And even if he did, he was already prepared to deny any involvement in helping him, if only to spare Caedus the guilt.
Caedus had enough to feel guilty for. And Oberon had a feeling that everyone was about to remind him of why he should feel guilty.
“Just breathe. Deep breaths. Your life is yours, Caedus. No matter what anyone else thinks or wants,” he grumbled, his voice low so that only Caedus and those around him could hear. Oberon wasn’t going to stand there and let Caedus be murdered because people thought the only way to save his starseed and Velencya would be to return him to the Cauldron for rebirth.
Cosmos told Valhalla that his starseed needed to heal in the Cauldron, but he was still alive and his starseed was healed, so he called bullshit on anyone who thought the Cauldron was the only way.
Dejanira groaned as she woke up, she had never been to the moon before so she was a little confused as to what was going on. She was too weak to move but she had woken up enough to at least pay attention. She blinked meeting with the queen what meeting with the queen. She knew there had been a number of royals on the battlefield but why would they have been brought here for that. Then again looking around it seemed the fight was over and they had left the nega soldiers behind which was a relief to Dej.
“Belmont,” he tried calling for the other Jupiter knight when they arrived at their appointment in one piece.
Whatever the hell that was about.
In one piece, thanks to his summon. As the console exploded, he’d used his Knight magic to solidify her form, shielding them from the initial blast. He would have to make sure she was okay once he had a chance to get to his Wonder. And give her lots of belly rubs.
He knew he didn’t have any right to try and explain himself after being a jerk, but… he wanted to at least make sure the other was okay. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t injured to the point of needing immediate medical attention once they were back on Earth. He assumed that this strange sensation of peace was because of the location, and not because they were actually in better shape now than they were before.
He needed to check on Oberon, too. He’d seen the kid’s hands and knew he was probably going to need at least a couple weeks of healing for them to be usable again, even with their abilities to heal faster than normal.
“Hey, Belmont,” he tried catching up to him, even as the glow from the Code in the other room caught his attention. “Look… I just… I didn’t want you to be close. If something happened,” he forced himself to admit. Belmont had done so well, and Sessrumnir didn’t want him to think that he didn’t appreciate his efforts.
Which, he supposed he should have thought about before being a jerk.
“I’m--… thanks for bandaging my arm,” he muttered guiltily.
“We’re safe. On the Moon,” Valhalla said softly to Ganymede as he felt her stir and come back to consciousness. “No sign of Cosmos, though. I guess there’s an appointment with the Queen,” he explained, not sure what was going on, but also not wanting Ganymede to be confused about what happened.
“Not sure what happened to Lyndin and the Velencians. I think they were taken with the rest of the Negaverse. We were all brought here. Caedus has his starseed back and is with us. Some of the Velencians seem like they wanted to stay with us instead of their own,” he added, nodding to a few of the curious aliens among their group.
Carefully, Valhalla set Ganymede on her feet, but kept his arm around her back in case she needed the extra support.
One minute, it looked like she was about to be in the middle of one of those action movies with all the explosions, and the other... um. She was. Here? Lepus blinked, taking a good look around at an unfamiliar place, Etoile in her arms and not quite sure what to make of it. It wasn't exactly as if she was any stranger to being transported to weird and new places- the bottle world adventures and the village from last year were good examples of that! There was a machine in the center of the room, saying that the Queen would see them now, and while Lepus was a little out of the loop on what this was all about, maybe she could figure things out later.
Right now, she kind of had two small children she was supposed to be keeping an eye on.
"Hey, uh, you two okay?" Lepus asked the twins, Hokkaido and Aomori. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain this to their parents, but well, like... at least they were all in one piece? For now.
This was Coco's first time to the moon kingdom she had heard about it from others of her kind, but she had never gone herself. She looked around curiously. She wondered why they had been brought here. She wasn't ungrateful, they had all been in danger on the battlefield and being taken away from the nega soldiers. She bounced on her paws so curious. She looked around again it seemed that only order members had been brought here. Or she guessed what the system thought were order.. She looked at the aliens that had come with them wondering what they would do now.
One moment, he was trying to do what he thought would mitigate the damages, to mitigate the loss, the dangers- and now here he was. On the moon, a place he loathed and resented in equal parts.
Still, looking over at those who had forced the malformed starseed back to it's owner, he gave a bitter smile.
A bomb was still a bomb, and until they could consult what resources they had, they had only staved off the inevitable. Just so-
His wings shuffled behind him, Still blackened, their once gray hue not yet returned- And he sighed. The sheer fact that he felt they were once more saved by Cosmos was not lost on him again, and he found himself melancholic that the outcome had been as it always was- so many lives lost and others corrupted and for what? What did they have to show for it? Hope was good, but it would not protect them, help them thrive or restore what had been lost.
Castor was tired. Tired of trying to save what felt like a futile hope for a future he still yearned for. A future where he could wake up on his world and know what if felt like to be home.
He said nothing to the group surrounding Caedeus, save for Scylla who he leveled a look at- one she would know well enough. "I know you heard me down there- so best do it now before the opportunity may slip away." Caedeus would be tended to well enough- his brother lay prone, but alive, which suited him well enough, and his sister....
She was going to be dealt with as was appropriate at a later time. For now, he had made an oath, had an oath, and he would uphold that.
Approaching the console, Castor tapped on it.
"We have arrived with injured persons- is medical able to be provided before our audience with her majesty?" He paused. "One of our party also suffers from an affliction as well which will need to be examined, will such accommodations be made available to them?"
Yet again, everything happened so quickly, Lixan couldn't process it. Caedus was now awake, and they were someplace entirely different. Well... Most of them anyway. There were only a handful of cadets here that he could see.. Lixian forced himself to move towards Caedus' general direction, in order to not think where the rest had gone. "Sir?" He called tentitively, offering the other a hand to sit up. Lixian glanced at the senshi next to him. One shaking beyond believe and the other... Well that was a lot of blood. "... Are you okay?" He asked both awkwardly, unsure what to do with himself. Lixian kept his gaze down towards the ground. He really wished he was shorter then he was.
Infinities
Scylla, meet awkward alien.
Guine
Dont bite him Ob, Lixians a good boy I swear
The Space Cauldron
Pls get off the floor Caedus
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2021 12:48 pm
Cadet Valnyr
Had she died? She could appreciate that one might benefit from a more logical thought process at this particular moment in time, but as the console had exploded and firey fury had rained down upon them she really had thought that this would be it. Yet in those final moments the world had transformed, the darkness cast away, and she had been left weightless. Floating, she was floating! At least this was what the young woman could ascertain as she drifted away to somewhere.
Had she done the right thing, had she made the right choice?
She wasn't convinced that anyone or anything could have survived that explosion. While she had been certain this was the correct course of action in the beginning, as she drifted, she began to wonder if those who still been standing had managed to get free of the blast. In the end there would be no room for regret though, and mayhaps in the next life she would have an opportunity to make amends. If that was the damage the device could do when it wasn't set off, the woman could only begin to imagine the true power it might have had if it had been allowed to fire properly.
Alas, she wasn't afforded the opportunity to be a martyr as the glowing white light began to clear and she slowly came to. She was tired, she ached and every fibre of her screamed out in protest. She had physically abused herself and she (to be entirely honest), had no one else to blame but herself for that. Still not entirely aware that she had company, Valnyr had to ponder over the possibility that she might be in some form of waiting room.
...Did the Cauldron have one of those?
Conveniently, and somewhat oddly, her Commtech was in front of her. It had been damaged, scratched and otherwise battered but a quick check did indicate it was still functional. She wouldn't ignore a sign such as this and so she reached out for it and quietly clipped it back on to her wrist. Her timing in that respect was impeccable, for something spoke up and indicated that her appointment was confirmed.
Oh by the stars, the after life had a waiting room.
Except it didn't, and her otherwise bemused self was soon pulled back in to reality as one senshi in particular (Scylla) sounded wholly unimpressed with the device. If she was exasperated by the declaration made by the console then clearly she knew where she was, even if Valnyr most assuredly didn't. Nevertheless the abrupt query towards the device did encourage Valnyr to look around and observe her surroundings in greater detail, an action that was enough to reassure her that somehow they were safe.
All of them.
But how was that even possible?
She pushed herself up carefully, pressing her back against the wall to give herself a little more stability...and that was when it hit her. She was not the only cadet in the room, there were a small handful of others. She saw each of them, even some who had chosen to follow the Commodore, and yet the rest were missing. If they had ended up here, then where had the others gone?
She had some many questions, each of which seemed unlikely to have answers, and so the young woman did the only thing that seemed appropriate. She remained quiet, tried to remain small, and at the very least appear non-hostile. While she might have done her best to help where she could there was o guarantee that those nearby would regard her favourably. She may have been brought here and for that she would afford her gratitude to whoever had hauled her limp form to safety, but that didn't mean she could take that for granted and that all those around her could be regarded as friendly.
Not at the moment at least.
Tearing her gaze away from her fellow cadets she cast her gaze upwards and instead admired the display above her head.
Quote:
She's open for interaction, just staying out of the way.
It had all changed very suddenly. One moment he had been consumed by wrath, focusing his rage into pummelling the weapon console into scrap. There had been a crowd, shouting, fighting, but those waves of chaotic sickness crawling through him had felt all too similar to the berserker's trance he'd touched upon in studying the arts of battle. The large man had known that the only way out of such all-encompassing thralls was through them, bringing one's attention onto a singular point. Thus had the page kept most of his mental faculties throughout the fight.
Then there was the warm light, everything blanked out... and he was stood with everyone in some manner of waiting room. It was quite calming, as holding chambers went. Tastefully decorated in a post-apocalyptic chic, the rubble and flickering lights really tied it all together. As he didn't know well... anyone, despite sensing that they were allies, Vígríðr was instead free to give his full curiosity to their environs.
Many seemed taxed or injured by the battle. Others were tending to the man who appeared on the brink of death. The page would leave them to it, his talents didn't lie in medical knowledge. Somewhat shamefully, he was completely unharmed due to lack of combat, but perhaps that could change. It simply meant he was well-suited to being a vanguard now.
A nearby panel announced that their arrival had been confirmed. Better yet, the resident Queen would receive them immediately. A strange herald, to be sure, but he'd heard of stranger. Considering the calming aura permeating the area, the knight-in-training wouldn't have been surprised if there were more technical marvels to be had. It certainly seemed like the digital voice had a bit more to it than a pre-recording.
"Fortune favors us," Vígríðr cheered in his booming voice. "I would meet with this queen and thank her for her assistance in our time of need. Perhaps there are other amenities to be had as well."
Without waiting for permission (not that he'd have asked for it anyway), the eager blonde began marching his way out of the theater and into the hallway beyond. Collapsed archways blocked side halls branching from the main promenade, but that hardly bothered Vígríðr. Royalty wouldn't be sequestered in a minor study, but seated proudly at the end of the thoroughfare... or so he thought.
What awaited was a much smaller room than before, completely featureless. No decorations or anything other than a singular artifact glowing in the center. Seated on a pedestal was a tablet fragment that immediately resonated with the page. This was something intrinsic to his own newfound powers, it looked like a much larger piece of the shard present upon the field that served as Ragnarök's stage.
"The Code?" Vígríðr wondered aloud, moving forward with a large hand outstretched to test the palpable aura of power around the stone. "The gods smile upon us yet."
Perhaps he should wait until this queen made herself known, after all he wasn't entirely sure they were out of danger yet and this find was an exceptional treasure that couldn't be lost.
Quote:
As always open for shenanigans
The Space Cauldron
Proximity to the Code, though he isn't really doing much to it
Minkowski came to in a haze of confusion and... not quite pain, the pain seemed to be dulled, but she was still highly exhausted, and still very disappointed in herself for once again being largely useless. Not the first time, not the last, she just wanted to go back to her apartment and... try to forget all of this. Hide away for awhile, like she always did.
But it didn't seem like that would happen anytime soon, perhaps. Managing to pull herself up into a sitting position, Minkowski pondered just where she had been transported to, and, to a lesser extent, just what had elapsed in the time between her falling unconscious and her arrival in this strange place.
Oh! Oh, Aogashima recognized this place, having been here before just only a couple weeks ago, right before she had gone to her Wonder all dramatic-like because of her squabbles with her sister, and had gotten her shiny upgrade to squire after putting on a solo concert with no audience. It was a little weird, and she wasn't sure if the Code would be any nicer to them than it was last time, but the celestial theater was still as pretty as it was before, so she couldn't complain, to be honest.
Looking around, Aogashima was relieved when she finally caught sight of her new alien friend Valnyr, and rushed to her side, overjoyed to find her here with her. "Val!" the tiny squire called out, just about throwing herself at the taller woman, "You're okay!"
Well, 'okay' was probably... a bit of an overstatement.
Touching Lyindin was pain. Kerberos had never been electrocuted, but he imagined that the moment his hand landed on Lyndin's chest to transfer energy, he now knew about what the results were of, say, sticking a fork in an electrical socket.
It hurt. It hurt like hell, and yet he'd still gone through with it, because his offer was accepted and to withdraw a kindness would be worse than never offering it at all.
He could hear Valhalla speak, but between the blood loss and the shock of energy running through his system, it was hard to make out the words. Still, the tone seemed...kind, and Kerberos was glad that he wasn't the only one still willing to extend a hand. It made him feel a bit less like an optimistic idiot.
He saw the violet light surrounding Lyndin and the Cadets, and his heart sank. But he didn't have much time to worry what it meant that the Commodore and his Cadets were being taken by Chaos--only a moment to hope. Hope that they would be safe. Hope that he and the others who remained would be safe.
And then, a warmth. A star. And Kerberos smiled.
Of course she would be here.
When they landed on the moon, Kerberos felt the burdens of his pain ease. He looked down at his arm, and could see burn patterns like flowering vines, weaving in with his Transcendence markings. They reminded him of the climbing variety of asphodel that grew on his planet--a variety he was pretty sure didn't exist anywhere on Earth.
Despite the situation, he couldn't help but smile.
"Oh, my boyfriends are gonna kill me when I get home," he said, to no one in particular, and then he turned to look--and spotted Ganymede and Valhalla, and forced himself to stand to go over to them. As he moved, his wisp appeared from wherever it tucked itself away, and hovered around him,
"Are you both alright?" It was sort of a stupid question, all things considered, but it was all he could think to ask.
Sunshine Alouette
Guine
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2021 1:41 pm
Cadet Valnyr
Startled, and then relieved. Her emotions in these moments were particularly easy to read as she processed who had lunged towards her. Small by comparison (though most things were), Aogashima had crossed the gap between them and greeted her with surprising gusto. It was an understatement to say that Valnyr was particularly happy that the young Squire had found herself in good health.
"Aogashima," she sounded tired, though was well enough to speak. A warm smile crept on to her lips and she stretched out a hand to rest it on the girl's shoulder. She couldn't move as quickly as she would have preferred, but she did have control of all her faculties. "Yes, I am somehow well," she confirmed, though 'well' may have been subjective given she had several bruises, gashes and cuts to her name.
"Somehow," she repeated with a furrowed brow.
"This place," she added and shook her head. "It is not your Theatre," she remarked, familiar with at least one Wonder that she had been introduced to. "Do you know where we are? It does not seem...Earth-like," she murmured. She could have been wrong, she was willing to be wrong, but she would at least like a little clarity...
nyamomask
Epine de Rose
Offline
Orangeish Sherbert
Noble Unicorn
Offline
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2021 1:55 pm
Aeleas
For a moment, Aeleas had been absolutely and utterly sure that this was going to be the end of everything. When the comet exploded, when it seemed that it was going to…
She had clung to her new found family, to Whisler and Starlight and had closed her eyes tightly against the impending doom that was sure to come. Though, she had noticed in that split second before she squeezed her eyes shut, that those who had gone with Lyndin had been whisked away, along with all of the members of chaos…
Had she made the wrong decision after all…? Was this just going to be a quicker death?
Well...at least she was going to be warm when it happened. And even though she felt terribly afraid, she also felt kind of safe. And wanted.
When the floating sensation began, she figured that was it, they were dead...but.at least there wasn’t pain! That was something she hadn’t been expecting, and it was a welcomed relief...though…
Finally the Cadet opened her eyes and blinked. They were somewhere completely different. This wasn’t any place she recognized, and she frowned slightly, looking to Starlight for an explanation. “Where...are we? I thought we would be dead...this does not...look like death.”
And she truly did not think that death would include her new family.
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