Welcome to Gaia! ::

For as unwelcoming as the Hall of the Ancients was inside, outside was worse. Made of sleek black stones, the fortress was an ominous figure. It was tall and imposing, and each spire and sharp curve looked like it was ready to slice through the sky. It could have been considered beautiful, once you got past how intimidating it was. From the outside, it was difficult to make out the stained glass. Once, gold and gemstones decorated it. Now, what the lightning hadn’t charred, the storm had battered and chipped away.

The clouds were knit tightly across the sky, and while the lightning occasionally flashed in the distance, the thunder was only a quiet mumble. When it echoed, it sounded like whispers. Scheming. Preparing.

The ground was saturated with water and every step felt like standing on a sponge. The grass was brittle, but it wasn’t slippery. A great stone wall encircled the Hall, with plenty of room to spare. Watchtowers lined the wall at regular intervals, and though they didn’t offer much defense, their primary purpose was to protect the lights he’d installed. Fire burned brightly behind thick glass to protect against wind and rain and shadow, but spotlights had been installed. They looked out of place, but they were practical.

Outside, the clouds hung low; they were dark and it was difficult to make out what time of day it was on Alastor.

Within the walls, towards the North, was a grassy field. In the center of it, a massive oak tree with black bark, and specks of gold inlaid. It had no leaves, but that wasn’t surprising given the weather. To the East, a waterlogged, withered garden, and a wall that looked like it had been recently damaged. The sound of the rushing river was loudest there. To the South, an underground storage chamber. To the West, the front of the Hall, and the path to the gates that led outside. The forest, distant and dark and the greatest source of Chaos, was just past here.

But, there were other locations, radiating chaotic waves.

A grove of trees to the southwest seemed to be a stronghold for it, something underground near the southern storage chamber in the Hall, to the East, directly across the river, and another to the southeast, where there seemed to be some obstruction to the flowing river. Further up the river, lurking in some ruins, another one.

Eternal Cybele, Siegfried Knight of Neptune, and Palatine, Knight of Venus have been tasked with guarding the North Wall. From atop the wall, they can see the Northeast Ruins, which appear to be the old stone rubble of some long-fallen building. They can see the Western Gate clearly. On the wall, they could feel the wind as it picked up strength. They could see the wall of trees that made up the forest to the west, and they could see the rushing river to the east. This is a great vantage point to view everything going on, but they weren’t put here to appreciate the sights–they were here to defend the wall.

Their post was between two watchtowers, so their platform was well illuminated. Three people fit easily on the wall; there was a pathway with stone rail guards to make sure no one toppled over.

They were stationed near a great weapon that looked very much like an oversized crossbow, and a stack of oversized metal arrows were loaded next to it. They didn’t have to look just towards the ground and defend against the stretching shadows–they’d been warned to look for the sky, too. A recent reading indicated that there were several large rocks and debris being carried in the atmosphere above the clouds, and if this got bad there was no telling what might happen. They were going to need to be prepared to shoot them down–and make sure the shadows couldn’t scale the walls.

The clouds swirled around them and the storm seemed like it might break again soon.

They didn’t have much time to prepare.

Siegfried Knight of Neptune

Siegfried was quite sure that Cybelle could take care of herself, but her balance was still not the best so the railings were a godsend for him. He'd elected to carry her over the swampy ground to the North Wall and put her down once the ground firmed back up.

"Siegfried of Neptune," he said, introducing himself to the Venus Knight. It surprised him a little that someone older than him was a knight - or in this war at all. It shouldn't have, but he supposed he just hadn't considered the possibility that knighthood could choose anyone, no matter their age.

The rumble of the sky brought his eyes up to the dark clouds. The storm was not going to be kind to them. Better learn how to fire a ballista sooner rather than later.

"I thiiiiink it works like a crossbow. So you lay a bolt in the middle there, on the channel, and crank it back until it locks. Then aim and pull the lever. I think. I've only really seen this in the Lord of the Rings so...." he said, inspecting the giant weapon.

"I'm really only useful for close quarters combat, so maybe I'll take the railing and cover the shadows that climb to high?" he asked the pair.

Sunshine Aloutte

stari_maga

A test shot would be wise; they had close to three dozen arrows, and given how the shadows on the field already seemed to be twisting towards them, Cybele might not have time to prepare herself again.

Palatine’s effort to load the arrow seemed effective; it clicked into place securely. This was going to be a team effort; if Siegfried was going to guard the wall, he might be able to fend off the shadows before they struck. Cybele might have the advantage of making long distance strikes, but it would take her time and focus to target them. If Palatine was ready to load the weapons, they could keep a steady routine and stand a good chance of defending the North Wall.

Lightning struck nearby–behind them, as if the clouds were trying to strike the great, leafless oak in the yard between them and the Hall.

The clouds moved with an unnatural shape; they were oddly frothy and despite their great volume, it still seemed like they occasionally parted to make room for something lurking in the sky. The clouds grew thick and dark, and the lighting faded somewhat. The shadows grew stronger. It wasn’t easy to make out their forms, but they stretched like snakes in the grass from the forest. They were unnaturally alive, and moved at their own pace, weaving and twisting menacingly.

Palatine, Knight of Venus

Palatine showed no sign of it, but she was satisfied. The weapon was functional. They knew how to use it. Hopefully, they could work together seamlessly and all would go better than expected.

“We probably want to avoid that tree,” she said, staring over the wall where the arrow had landed near to it. The oak tree was notable in its solitude. “A tree alone like that seems purposeful. It might be important.”

Culturally. Personally. Palatine had no clue. She hadn’t bothered to ask many questions.

Palatine looked from the tree to the sky above, where the clouds shifted like something sinister. Then she looked over the wall in the opposite direction, toward the field instead of the courtyard. Toward the forest, too.

“If I know anything about fortresses, it’s that this wall would’ve been built to keep things out,” she observed. “Which probably means we want to be shooting this thing,” she gave the oversized crossbow a pat, “this way. Those shadows coming from the forest can’t be anything good.”

She made an effort to heave it around, so they’d be aiming in the opposite direction of the solitary oak. Satisfied again, Palatine lifted another arrow and fit it into place.

As soon as Palatine said that the tree might be important, the pieces clicked together in Cybele's mind. "The Core," she said out loud, thinking of the roots that she'd seen down there, the roots that were far too large to have come from anything else in the area. It made sense. It also meant that Ganymede, Valhalla, and the boys would be in that direction.

They'd have to be careful to protect it. For a moment, Cybele's eyes flicked upwards towards the parting clouds and the debris in the sky.

Or-

All thoughts came to a screeching halt as the Chaos came tumbling down. Cybele's breath caught. Her heart felt like it wasn't beating.

Ganymede. Valhalla.

It wasn't- she hadn't- there was no way they could have gotten up there so quickly. She'd seen the layout. The stairs were terrible, nearly endless.

Still, there he was, laid out under Cybele's arrow. There she was, with eyes emptier than they'd been when Cybele had crushed a starseed in front of her, emptier than they'd been when Empyrean had died.

It wasn't real, Cybele told herself, willing herself to suck in a tiny breath. It probably wasn't real.

It just felt like it.

"You're Chaos," she told the bleeding Ganymede, although her voice trembled. "You're an illusion."

She remembered how Percy had turned into a monster when Alastor had started to confront him. She needed that to happen right now.

She didn't know if t here was any other way she was going to be able to bring herself to attack.

Palatine, Knight of Venus

Palatine stumbled and nearly fell as the shadow gripped onto her wrist, but she righted herself and held steady.

Cybele and Siegfried disappeared. Palatine looked for them and saw no sign of them, but she thought she heard something. Their voices, maybe. Was that them screaming? She couldn’t make out any of it. There were the arrows. She saw those, but couldn’t seem to focus on them. There was the weapon. There was the very obvious threat up in the sky.

“The ******** are you even doing here?” a new voice asked her.

Only it wasn’t new at all.

Palatine turned and found her husband. Her ex-husband. Her very dead ex-husband. He frowned at her like he frowned at everything, always with that air of sadness and disappointment. He looked tired, like life itself was a burden.

It was, sometimes. Palatine knew that very well.

“I know you’re not real,” she told him.

“Real as you are,” Henri countered. He leaned back against the wall, elbows propping himself up. He wore ratty jeans and an old band tee, stained in places by paint. He even had a ******** beer in his hand, which he lifed to his mouth for a long swig.

“I figured it would be you that showed up.”

“Did you?” he asked, like he wasn’t really interested. “Think you know everything, don’t you? Didn’t know enough to avoid me.”

“You were always so charming,” Palatine grumbled sarcastically.

She forced herself to look away, to look around, searching again for Cybele and Siegfried. Cybele had been right there, at the weapon, ready to fire. There was an arrow already loaded.

“You thought so, once,” Henri said.

Palatine scoffed. He looked convincing. He sounded convincing. Even though she knew, even though she’d been warned, it would have been easy to let herself be distracted by him, to stand there and talk the way they hadn’t been able to before he died.

“Cybele,” she called out, raising her voice in the hopes that she could be heard over the storm, over the Chaos which surrounded them. “Cybele, whatever you see, whatever you hear, ignore it. Look up! We can’t let that debris fall.”

Henri snorted and took another swig of beer. “Ignore it, huh? Like you always did?”

Eternal Sailor Cybele

Ganymede changed, but not in the way that Cybele had asked her too. She watched, motionless, as black crawled up Ganymede's skirts and over her skin. It was like that night with the Velencyans when Chaos had flooded the battlefield, only worse. Faster.

Corruption had a way of making Cybele's veins feel like they were full of ice. In this case, she knew it was likely an illusion, but just the visuals were enough to make her head spin. There was also a small voice in the back of her mind. What if? it asked.

What if?

Palatine's voice came through the shadows. It was muffled, but it was enough to catch Cybele's attention before her thoughts could really spiral out of control.

"All right," she called out, over the shadows and the storm.

Her eyes flicked to the wall of darkness, then back to Ganymede, then back to the wall. "Just, don't come over here," she yelled, emphatic. "You're not going to like what it's showing me."

Nobody else needed to see what she was seeing, least of all Ganymede's mother.

She still wasn't sure that she had it in her to raise a hand against Ganymede, but keeping an eye on the sky she could manage. She looked up. She heaved the crossbow around to aim it at the largest piece of debris that she could find.

She fired.

The wind picked up, whipping around violently as if to try and drown out any voices but the ones it wanted to project.

But Cybele’s timing was perfect. Her aim was perfect.

The arrow struck the debris while it was picking up speed. If the trajectory had continued, in a minute more, maybe less, it might have been close enough to do a lot of damage to the Hall.

But Cybele never gave it a chance. The arrow struck true, and the large, rocky debris in the sky splintered into two pieces. The largest of them, easily three quarters its full size, hurled downwards. When it hit the ground, it felt like an earthquake.

Ganymede slumped forward just a bit, but it seemed to spark something in her.

Slowly, she turned to look at Cybele. In her empty eyes, there was a darkness. A hurt.

Betrayal.

“It was you?” she whispered. “You did this to him? After everything we’ve done for you?”

stari_maga

a-disgruntled-dragon

(quoted for the bolded information; you can choose to observe this or have the shadows conceal it!)

Sunshine Alouette

(quoted for the bolded information; you can choose to observe this or have the shadows conceal it!)