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Abzu, Page of Neptune

He ignored the slamming of doors; it was easy to shrug it off as just winds or other people moving through the Halls or even just a breeze. The little device was a bit harder to ignore, though, and he glanced at it warily as something dripped onto his shoulder.

Drip.

Drip.

Oh, he didn't like the way that felt at all, and he scrambled to bring his saxophone closer to his body. It clung, and he attempted to lash his body out, but he heard ... Pendour? That was Pendour. She must have felt the calling to this little world too. Made sense. She got herself involved in a lot of things from what he could tell--

"Pen!" He fell back with her, his body relaxing into her grip as she seemed to dispel the darkness. Was it reacting to her transcendence? Was that why her markings seemed a bit dimmer? "Not long. I gotta stop needing my a** saved by you."

How had she managed to find him in a mess again? At least there wasn't a captain with her hand in his chest this time, he supposed. No imminent eternal death.

"You get called up here too?"

Abzu, Page of Neptune

"We're still in the Hall, so it's not too bad," but Abzu did already keep trying to bite off more than he should at his level. He couldn't quite help it; he knew he had resources a lot of members of their side didn't have access to, and if he could do something...

Of course, he should probably stop getting into discussions with members of Chaos.

Abzu's gaze shifted to what Pendour was defending him against. What was that? He looked down at the device Soleiyu gave him, knitting his brows briefly before glancing back toward Pendour. How was that not magical? "Sounds like you've already run into it. Do you know what it is?"

Maybe he could tell the team dealing with the lighting and Daphne's Mauvian friend that he had missed something if Pendour had come across something else.

Daphne's eyes were closed. She didn't see the way everything flickered. She didn't see the way that her father's form shifted.

She felt it.

One moment she was cuddled up to him. The next, she'd somehow fallen halfway inside his chest, and she couldn't breathe, and she could hear the little device beeping and beeping in the background.

She pushed herself away, enough that she could breathe, and in that moment her eyes went wide, scared.

In that moment, she knew that he was the dream, the disruption, the Chaos or something. That wasn't the part that bothered her. She didn't care what he was as long as he was there.

What bothered her, as everything kept flickering, and beeping, was that she knew that everyone else was fighting to stop him, fighting to take him away from her. She knew it was working.

"Stupid alarm," she said, taking the device from him and throwing it with all her strength across the room, hoping it would smash into something and break. "We don't need that."

Another sob came to her throat. Her breathing had picked up again. She hugged him tightly, protectively. "I love you," she told him. "I love you, okay?"

Something pure, something powerful surged through the area again.

At first, it was a wild blast of magic, strong and destructive.

The chaos in the air drew back significantly, like it was recoiling in pain. Stretched thin from the blast of Phantasia’s Court Magic at the West Gate, and battered already by the forces within the Hall, its hold was weakening. The illusions faltered; the walls between everyone came down.

The chaos manifestations evaporated.

But it wasn’t just that the Chaos was losing its foothold, it was that they were getting a second wind. A Royal Senshi’s signature flared, and then Ida’s Royal Magic spread in all directions and gave every Order ally a boost of strength. They weren’t completely revitalized, but it helped restore some of the energy they’d lost.

It helped focus them.

As the Chaos manifestations lost form, it became crystal clear–they still had something they needed to do.

With the shadowy walls down, they could all see each other again. A little worse for wear, but alive. Thin tendrils of shadowy darkness clung to the walls but it looked like it was torn between trying to slide past them or retreating.

The Hall groaned around them, and the storm raged outside. The clouds visible through the windows were darker than ever. The world around them was dim, and all of their lighting seemed to have lost much of its potency. The flames were nearly burned out, and the lights were flickering badly. The rain was coming down in sheets, pelting against the glass, as if there was still hope to wash Alastor’s allies away.

Abzu might have had to worry about Pendour’s mimic, but as she lunged to block him, her legs melted into inky blackness. She lost her balance and hit the floor with a fierce shriek–and then erupted into shadows that dissolved, along with the shadows that had blocked the door.

The chaos reader in his hand was clearly directing him to a black, gemlike ornament that seemed like it was trying to hide in plain sight; despite similar tapestries hanging in the room, it was the only one with such an embellishment–and, right now, it just so happened to be oozing shadows.

Avici would have little to no time to appreciate the would be-Laike’s company; it wasn’t long before that, too, would explode into smoke and shadows, and his chaos reader would start pinging erratically, clearly directing him to a black, gemlike ornament that seemed like it was trying to hide in plain sight; despite similar tapestries hanging in the room, it was the only one with such an embellishment–and, right now, it just so happened to be oozing shadows.

Daphne was the unfortunate one among them; the illusion of her father drew her close and clung to the illusion as long as it could manage, but it was only seconds after that her arms went through him again.

He didn’t get to say goodbye, he was just gone.

The chaos reader beeped noisily next to her, directing her to a black, gemlike ornament that seemed like it was trying to hide in plain sight; despite similar tapestries hanging in the room, it was the only one with such an embellishment–and, right now, it just so happened to be oozing shadows.

But, Daphne was not alone; the door swung open as soon as the Chaos wasn’t pinning it shut, and Soleiyu came rushing back in. He looked a little frazzled, but he called her name in a way that sounded like he’d been calling it for a while, now. He’d abandoned his cat-like form and rushed to her, more human than cat. His tail dragged behind him and he didn’t care if it got dirty. “Are you all right?”

Sailor Daphne

He was fading again, and this time, he didn't fix himself. Daphne was still trying to hold him. Her arms closed in on themselves as her father dissolved into shadows and nothingness.

With nothing to lean against, she collapsed onto the floor. She sobbed once. She sobbed twice. Her tears were not refreshing anymore. They were ugly. Her face burned. She couldn't breathe. Her nose was probably dripping, too. She didn't even notice.

At the third sob, she screamed. She wailed. She slammed her fists into the ancient flagstones beneath her, not caring that it sent pain ricocheting up to her elbows. She punched the ground again.

She'd been so good since coming to Earth at acting like the diplomat that she was supposed to be, at being a good little senshi, a good ambassador seeking allies, but in that moment, there was no doubt that one, she was young, and two, she was part wildcat.

A warmth on the air settled her chest a tiny bit. Maybe she smelled flowers in the distance. She was still crying, badly, but it was enough that she looked up. It was enough that she saw Soleiyu, and the device, and the gem, which she reached for, and for a moment, cradled in her hands.

"I want to keep it," she told him, shakily, not about to insult his intelligence by telling him she wasn't okay. It took all of her strength not to just slip the shadowy thing into her subspace pocket. "Which is stupid. These shadows destroyed this world. I know that. I know that."

Her voice cracked.

"But it showed me my father, and I want to see him again. This is the only way that's going to happen, isn't it?"

Shadows pooled in her hands. She didn't seem to mind.

Soleiyu

Soleiyu looked like his heart might have broken for her; he placed both of his hands over hers, but he cringed with the stone touched him.

"Daphne," he said softly, "It was an illusion. You can't keep it, it'll only hurt you. We'll figure something else out. You don't need chaos to hold your father close to your heart. I'm sure he wouldn't want you around anything that could hurt you. We need to break this, we need to restore the lights. But you can tell me about your father. Maybe we can do something."

He didn't know what he could do for her, not exactly, but if she needed something more real than her memories, he was going to do whatever he could to give her that.

He was kneeling on the ground next to her, and his tail curled around her as if he meant to reassure her with its warmth and volume. They didn't have time for an argument, he knew that, but he couldn't bring himself to just break it when she was so distraught.

He didn't want her to hate him for it.

"I'm a Mauvian, I can make just about anything. Believe in me more than this chaos," he urged. He didn't know what she had seen, only what he had--and he knew it was up to no good. He didn't want her clinging to it for warmth.

He knew the cost of chaos. He knew she must, too.

stari_maga

Abzu’s consideration for the ancient tapestry would be appreciated, no doubt; the chaos stone came loose with some struggling, but it shattered easily enough beneath his foot. For a second, a foul smelling smoke erupted from it, but that faded quickly. Avici’s enthusiasm for the destruction of his own chaos stone would not be frowned upon; the thin plume of black smoke that billowed up when he destroyed it was pungent but lasted briefly. The tapestry seemed like it suffered no real damage.

Soleiyu drew Daphne into his arms and held her tightly as she cried; he kissed atop her head and rubbed her back in careful circles. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “But I’m proud of you. I think he would be too. It’ll be okay, Daphne, I promise. You’re not alone.” The stone she held was brittle and dry, and when it cracked, a thin plume of smoke evaporated.

And then, with all three of the chaos stones broken, the lights suddenly flickered back on inside the hall with full force.

For a split second, the chaos surged again. It was overwhelming and felt like it might get a greater grip and recuperate, but whatever footing it almost had was lost. A shockwave rippled from multiple locations, simultaneously. Within seconds, or a moment at most, the chaos anomalies were destroyed. The heart of the chaos was destroyed.

The natural threats seemed to lessen, too. The winds carrying rocky debris in the clouds seemed to slow; though the debris hovered in the air, they were no longer projectiles. The gusts closer to the ground no longer stung. Thunder dulled and then diminished, and the lightning stopped almost immediately.

The rain fell harder, but only briefly. It was long enough to put out the fires sparked during the storm. The river was surging, but the current seemed more controlled, and already the water level was lowering.

And then, the rain turned to a trickle and then faded altogether. The monstrous clouds thinned, and then pockets of them began to clear, and then they faded, too. Alastor’s world had been covered in dark skies for centuries--and now, the sunrise. The sky was already lighting up with pinks and oranges, not unlike Earth, but the colors were so vibrant and pure.

There were no shadows to block it. Alastor was a fresh, renewed world, thanks to them.

The great oak in the courtyard by the Hall had nearly a thousand years to grow to its immense size, and its roots had buried themselves deep into the ground. They cradled the Core of the world, and it was the greatest beacon of their success.

The liquid gold light of the Core stretched up through the oak tree and gave it a magical glow and–more than that, little golden lights bobbed through the air around the Hall like fireflies. They ranged in size from marbles to golf balls, and coming into contact with them felt like passing through soothing, warm pockets of air. There were thousands, easily–like the world was celebrating their victory with them.

It was peaceful now, and the oppressive, hateful chaos that had been smothering them before was gone. Now, the only thing left to do was take a moment to catch their breath, and then meet up back at the Hall’s lobby.

Quote:

This is the last prompt based post for the roleplay! If you would like to continue writing you can, but this can also count for the close. All characters should head back to the Hall; the following roleplay is completely optional and players don’t have to post but their characters can be handwaved as attending. If your character would rather teleport home or otherwise leave Alastor without attending, please let me know! Thank you!

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stari_maga

Seiana_ZI