Side Story The Goddess II: Fate of the Old Gods

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"Of course the rat-man survived." Atlantiades folded their arms staring daggers at the man. "You are suddenly very humble for someone who literally stabbed me in the back not too long ago. Perhaps I will grab you by the throat and drop you from a great height? Rats aren't known as great fliers, after all."
@Sark @Jeremi @Yun Lee @Minerva @Takumi @Capri @Lucky @Crunch

"Is that so, Goddess of Love?" Mila hummed thoughtfully, before side-eyeing Metodey coldly.

"Perhaps he could be of some use before I decide whether or not I want to rip him apart. I personally don't like to do such a thing, but if I must..." She spoke with a rumbling snarl, her gaze still cold and almost unimpressed with the man before them.

@Sark @Jeremi @Lucky @Capri @Yun Lee @Minerva @Everyone
 
Billy Batson/ Shazam

"
I mean, he is on the Goddess's side. What's to stop him from calling her here and causing more of a mess? Personally if we rip him apart now, we save the headache of betrayal and we give the Atlantis survivors food and water. The human body is 70% water and a fuck ton of meat."

@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Capri @Yun Lee @Minerva @Everyone
 
HABIT smiled widely.

“So it’s settled then...”

HABIT dropped the gun took out his machete. He straddled Metodey began to hack and slash at the Goddessian man. Nowhere fatal, but places that would cause a shitload of pain.

He wanted to hear the man squeal like a pig.

@Sark @Lucky @Jeremi @Takumi @Yun Lee @Crunch
 
Billy Batson/ Shazam

Billy had forgotten who he had been surround by for a brief moment. While it would be easier to go into his Shazam form to pull Habit back, Metodey had yet to see that, so he sighed and would use a bit of his supernatural strength and a touch of all he had been given and would attempt to pull the demon god back. " Not yet Habit, Not yet," he replied.

@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Yun Lee @Crunch
 
Billy’s attempt to remove HABIT from Metodey did little to stop the demon god, as he continued to hack at the Goddessian.

@Sark @Lucky @EveryoneElse​
 
Billy Batson/ Shazam

Billy let loose a heavier sigh and accessed all of the strength he had been given, the strength of Hercules, the strength of Assault and the five times Strength Excalibur had gifted him to pull Habit back.

@Capri @Sark
 
Billy was successful, but not for long, as HABIT teleported right back to Metodey. But before HABIT could teleport away from Billy, he made a slashing motion. A motion that carried over to Metodey’s throat...

@Sark @Lucky
 
Billy Batson/ Shazam

Billy just sighed as HABIT probably killed Metodey. He decided at this point, he would at least do a headcount of who was left. One, two, three, four refguess, One, two, three, four, five. Wait, five? " Wait, who are you?" He asked to the fifth person who he had counted.

@Sark @Capri @Minerva
 
Billy Batson/ Shazam

Billy just sighed as HABIT probably killed Metodey. He decided at this point, he would at least do a headcount of who was left. One, two, three, four refguess, One, two, three, four, five. Wait, five? " Wait, who are you?" He asked to the fifth person who he had counted.

@Sark @Capri @Minerva
Karinith Elsinorin had been silent the entire time. The elf crossed her arms, and spoke in a voice of calm power. Haughty, yet polite.

"My name is Karinith Elsinori, though I bear the title of Nerevarine, and thus the name Indoril Nerevar."

She gave a polite bow, the metal of her armor making a clinking sound as she did so.
 
Metodey gurgled his last breath. The refugees cried out in terror. They had leaped from a frying pan straight into a fire. They had traded one mad God for another. One of the unconscious Otherworld refugees clambered to his feet.
View attachment 5698
"You, my friend..." The wounded clown muttered. "Would be wise to keep your urges in check. As much as I love a good fight, now is far from the time..."

The Second Otherworld stowaway simple sat in the sand, sifting the rough grains through his fingertips.

BZZT BZZT BZZT

The fleeing refugees were sent tumbling back down the dunes, they retreat coming to a sudden stop. Their bodies were left twitching in the dirt as the Mirage-Man shifted the focus of their smoking staffs. Streams of purple fire poured forth from their shimmering spearheads. The force of the blast burned straight through you. Even the more powerful Gods were thrown to their knees, their consciousness fading. Even the Thunder-God was felled by the strange, blue energy.

The leader of the Mirage Men stepped forth. She removed her hood and deactivated her faulty cloaking device. She kept her staff trained unconscious Gods.
View attachment 5699
"Lord Bison?" Falke spoke into her wrist-mounted communicator. "We've located the source of the disturbance. Bringing them in now."

"..."

"Who are they? Contenders, my lord. With the right motivation... we could be looking at champions..."

As the world grew dark, the Old God's eyes rolled up towards the heavens. For a brief moment, they could have sworn that they could see the Goddess smiling down upon them...

Smiling upon them with that familiar, sickly sweet smile...

CHAOS WAR will continue in EPISODE VI: GODS OF THE ARENA
 
Metodey gurgled his last breath. The refugees cried out in terror. They had leaped from a frying pan straight into a fire. They had traded one mad God for another. One of the unconscious Otherworld refugees clambered to his feet.
View attachment 5698
"You, my friend..." The wounded clown muttered. "Would be wise to keep your urges in check. As much as I love a good fight, now is far from the time..."

The Second Otherworld stowaway simple sat in the sand, sifting the rough grains through his fingertips.

BZZT BZZT BZZT

The fleeing refugees were sent tumbling back down the dunes, they retreat coming to a sudden stop. Their bodies were left twitching in the dirt as the Mirage-Man shifted the focus of their smoking staffs. Streams of purple fire poured forth from their shimmering spearheads. The force of the blast burned straight through you. Even the more powerful Gods were thrown to their knees, their consciousness fading. Even the Thunder-God was felled by the strange, blue energy.

The leader of the Mirage Men stepped forth. She removed her hood and deactivated her faulty cloaking device. She kept her staff trained unconscious Gods.
View attachment 5699
"Lord Bison?" Falke spoke into her wrist-mounted communicator. "We've located the source of the disturbance. Bringing them in now."

"..."

"Who are they? Contenders, my lord. With the right motivation... we could be looking at champions..."

As the world grew dark, the Old God's eyes rolled up towards the heavens. For a brief moment, they could have sworn that they could see the Goddess smiling down upon them...

Smiling upon them with that familiar, sickly sweet smile...

CHAOS WAR will continue in EPISODE VI: GODS OF THE ARENA

Oh for crying out loud... "Someone keep that psychopath on a leash." Atlantiades leaned down next to the body of Metody. It was clear that this Habit person didn't grasp the fine points of seeking information from the enemy. Perhaps there was still time.

yXNQ0XR.png


"Perhaps the life of a rat is worth trying to save?" Atlantiades shone a brilliant almost blinding light as they placed their hand over the wound to try and heal it. While there was no tears shed by his demise, he could prove to be more helpful alive than dead.​


@Sark @Lucky @Takumi @Yun Lee @Crunch
 
Billy Batson/ Shazam

"
I mean, he is on the Goddess's side. What's to stop him from calling her here and causing more of a mess? Personally if we rip him apart now, we save the headache of betrayal and we give the Atlantis survivors food and water. The human body is 70% water and a fuck ton of meat."

@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Capri @Yun Lee @Minerva @Everyone

"I doubt they'd want to eat him. That'd likely be a last resort once close to starvation." Mila huffed. Looking away from the man momentarily to address Billy. That proved to be a mistake.

HABIT smiled widely.

“So it’s settled then...”

HABIT dropped the gun took out his machete. He straddled Metodey began to hack and slash at the Goddessian man. Nowhere fatal, but places that would cause a shitload of pain.

He wanted to hear the man squeal like a pig.

@Sark @Lucky @Jeremi @Takumi @Yun Lee @Crunch

Billy Batson/ Shazam

Billy had forgotten who he had been surround by for a brief moment. While it would be easier to go into his Shazam form to pull Habit back, Metodey had yet to see that, so he sighed and would use a bit of his supernatural strength and a touch of all he had been given and would attempt to pull the demon god back. " Not yet Habit, Not yet," he replied.

@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Yun Lee @Crunch

Billy Batson/ Shazam

Billy let loose a heavier sigh and accessed all of the strength he had been given, the strength of Hercules, the strength of Assault and the five times Strength Excalibur had gifted him to pull Habit back.

@Capri @Sark

Billy was successful, but not for long, as HABIT teleported right back to Metodey. But before HABIT could teleport away from Billy, he made a slashing motion. A motion that carried over to Metodey’s throat...

@Sark @Lucky

Billy Batson/ Shazam

Billy just sighed as HABIT probably killed Metodey. He decided at this point, he would at least do a headcount of who was left. One, two, three, four refguess, One, two, three, four, five. Wait, five? " Wait, who are you?" He asked to the fifth person who he had counted.

@Sark @Capri @Minerva

"Habit, that's enough." The dragon goddess scowled softly at the display, nudging the other with her tail.

"He probably could of been of some use." She huffed. How useful they likely wouldn't know now.

There wasn't much that could of been done, but she had no doubt that this may cause an uneeded headache.

Metodey gurgled his last breath. The refugees cried out in terror. They had leaped from a frying pan straight into a fire. They had traded one mad God for another. One of the unconscious Otherworld refugees clambered to his feet.
View attachment 5698
"You, my friend..." The wounded clown muttered. "Would be wise to keep your urges in check. As much as I love a good fight, now is far from the time..."

The Second Otherworld stowaway simple sat in the sand, sifting the rough grains through his fingertips.

BZZT BZZT BZZT

The fleeing refugees were sent tumbling back down the dunes, they retreat coming to a sudden stop. Their bodies were left twitching in the dirt as the Mirage-Man shifted the focus of their smoking staffs. Streams of purple fire poured forth from their shimmering spearheads. The force of the blast burned straight through you. Even the more powerful Gods were thrown to their knees, their consciousness fading. Even the Thunder-God was felled by the strange, blue energy.

The leader of the Mirage Men stepped forth. She removed her hood and deactivated her faulty cloaking device. She kept her staff trained unconscious Gods.
View attachment 5699
"Lord Bison?" Falke spoke into her wrist-mounted communicator. "We've located the source of the disturbance. Bringing them in now."

"..."

"Who are they? Contenders, my lord. With the right motivation... we could be looking at champions..."

As the world grew dark, the Old God's eyes rolled up towards the heavens. For a brief moment, they could have sworn that they could see the Goddess smiling down upon them...

Smiling upon them with that familiar, sickly sweet smile...

CHAOS WAR will continue in EPISODE VI: GODS OF THE ARENA

Of course it scared some of those in their group. She turned her head and saw something odd that instantly put her on edge. As Atlantiades tried to keep Metodey alive, or revive him, she turned her head and narrowed her eyes, growling as some of their own fell. Opening her mouth wide, she quickly tried to combat the blue flames with her own fire breath.

"?!" Feeling a sudden pain, Mila barely had time to react before she found herself struggling to keep standing, then hitting the sand with a hard thud onto her side and an angered snarl, wild eyes glared back at the woman before them, before she saw the Goddess' disgusting smile glancing up. Something she'd rather not see, really.

Returning her gaze to this Falke, Mila tried with all her might to force herself back to her feet to try her fire breath just one more time.

@Sark @Capri @Lucky @Minerva @Yun Lee @Crunch
 
FATE OF THE OLD GODS
BLACKEST NIGHT

EPISODE V: FLAYN

View attachment 5702
"Let me tell you the tale of Valla. Let me tell you the tale of my people."
"My Grandmother was heir to this once great kingdom. She was forced to flee when my father was just a boy. An ancient tyrant stole this land from her and her sister. It fell into disrepair and decay."
"My father and grandmother were separated. They lived apart in separate, warring kingdoms."
"They came back together years later. My Grandmother died in my father's arms, another victim of the same tyrant that destroyed her realm."
"My father devoted his life to ending that tyrant's rule. He very nearly succeeded. He built an army. He found a wife. He raised me."
"Then, She came."
"She shattered the fragile peace between Nohr and Hoshido. She turned the sky red. She killed my parents for the crime of disagreeing with her."
"She would have killed me, too. She would have killed us all if it wasn't for Izana."
"He had foreseen the Her arrival. He took me to the Astral Plane. He left my in Azura's care. He told me that we would be safe here. That we were important."
"Time works differently in this realm. Days melted into months. Months into years. I grew up. My adoptive mother grew older. From the ashes and stones of Old Valla, we built a new Kingdom. We built a realm of peace and prosperity hidden from the Goddess' eyes."
"I rule my patchwork people with kindness. I am a just and nobler. And yet... I cannot help but feel as if this wasn't the destiny Izana envisioned for me. I can't help but feel as if...

"As if fate has something more in store for me..."
*****
The Returned were marched back New Valla castle under Gunter's watchful eye. Seteth kept his distance. Kana kept her eyes fixed on the horizon. Izana was too fixated on fiddling with the edges of his mustache to pay his guests any attention. After a half hour a walking, the Queen's shimmering Castle emerged from behind one of the realm's shifting mountains.

"New Valla is unique in many ways." The Queen shattered the silence. She gestured to the city's gatekeepers. With a bow and a polite 'your majesty', they removed the great wooden beams that supported the city's main entrance and opened the city up to its new visitors.
View attachment 5703
"On the surface, it might seem quite ordinary. We've got bustling workers. Enlightened thinkers. Artists. Solders. Architects. Mages and healers. But in this so-called 'Age of the Goddess', normality is a blessing. Unlike so many others, the citizens of New Gyges can live out their lives free from the Goddess' influence."

The travelling party passed some pikeman as they ran their daily drills. They stopped where they stood and knelt before Kana's horse. She blessed them with a royal wave as she rode by.

"When fled to the Astral Plane, we took little more than the clothes on our backs and the swords in our hands with us. We couldn't wait around. Returning to our homes to grab anything else... it was too much of a risk. We faced many trials in those early weeks, but that long night came to pass. We've achieved so much since then. We can't risk our kingdom's fall. We can't just... start all over again..."

The traveling party approached the arch of the great palace. The Captain of the Palace Guard saluted Kana.
View attachment 5714
"Your Majesty..." The Captain hummed. "Welcome home. I trust that the disturbance wasn't..."

"It was nothing to worry about, Catherine, just as I suspected." Kana smiled. "Yuri decided to return from his little expedition to Fodlan. He's brought some familiar faces back with him."

"But what if it had been something to worry about?" Cath protested. "What if it had been a Nohrian Spy, or an agent of Hoshido, or one of the Goddess' Elites? I should have been out there with you, Kana. You should have let me come!"

Kana lowered her head and sighed.

"Catherine, I appreciate your zeal, but I need you here."
The Queen stepped past her guard and entered into her throne room. Catherine followed her closely, abandoning her post. "In my absence, the Vallites will need someone to turn to. Your presence makes our people feel safe. We cannot--"

"---We cannot afford to start again, so you keep saying!" Catherine snapped, forgetting herself. "But the Goddess is hunt us! She's hunting our agents like foxes!"

"Catherine!" Gunter snapped.

"What good am I doing here? Guarding an empty throne? We need to be out there--"

"Catherine!" Seteth groaned.

"We need to move against the Goddess' forces in Fodlan and Nohr before they sniff us out! We need to find a foothold on the mortal plane! We can't just waste the rest of our lives sitting on our asses just---"

"CATHERINE!" Kana shot a glare in her guard's direction. She slowly lowered herself back down upon her throne and sighed, composing herself. "We've had this conversation a dozen times..."

"And not once have you listened!" Catherine exhaled. "Please, Kana... If we can free the Immaculate One..."

"Then they'll ki--" Seteth swallowed hard. His voice cracked. He placed his fist to his mouth and closed his eyes tight. "They'll hurt.... I'm sorry..."

"So long as the Goddess has Flayn, Catherine..."
Kana sighed. "I can't, in good conscience, move against her forces."

"That's a shame..." Yuri mumbled to himself. "This isn't exactly how I hoped today would go..."

Catherine placed her hand over her heart and bowed.

"Your majesty..." Catherine pulled her eyes away from Kana and made her way towards the door. "I have some business to attend to..."

She left without saying another word.

Kana bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, but as you can see, our things are... complicated. This is hardly the Valla-Welcome your deserve. Please, make yourself at home in our city. My castle has more rooms than I dare count. We can enough bread and wine to revive any soul. But before we go any further... I must ask... why is it that Yuri has gone through such lengths to rescue you? What have you done that's so important that he'd risk everything to bring you here?"

@Jeremi @Takumi @Crunch @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky
 
FATE OF THE OLD GODS
BLACKEST NIGHT

EPISODE V: FLAYN

View attachment 5702
"Let me tell you the tale of Valla. Let me tell you the tale of my people."
"My Grandmother was heir to this once great kingdom. She was forced to flee when my father was just a boy. An ancient tyrant stole this land from her and her sister. It fell into disrepair and decay."
"My father and grandmother were separated. They lived apart in separate, warring kingdoms."
"They came back together years later. My Grandmother died in my father's arms, another victim of the same tyrant that destroyed her realm."
"My father devoted his life to ending that tyrant's rule. He very nearly succeeded. He built an army. He found a wife. He raised me."
"Then, She came."
"She shattered the fragile peace between Nohr and Hoshido. She turned the sky red. She killed my parents for the crime of disagreeing with her."
"She would have killed me, too. She would have killed us all if it wasn't for Izana."
"He had foreseen the Her arrival. He took me to the Astral Plane. He left my in Azura's care. He told me that we would be safe here. That we were important."
"Time works differently in this realm. Days melted into months. Months into years. I grew up. My adoptive mother grew older. From the ashes and stones of Old Valla, we built a new Kingdom. We built a realm of peace and prosperity hidden from the Goddess' eyes."
"I rule my patchwork people with kindness. I am a just and nobler. And yet... I cannot help but feel as if this wasn't the destiny Izana envisioned for me. I can't help but feel as if...


"As if fate has something more in store for me..."
*****
The Returned were marched back New Valla castle under Gunter's watchful eye. Seteth kept his distance. Kana kept her eyes fixed on the horizon. Izana was too fixated on fiddling with the edges of his mustache to pay his guests any attention. After a half hour a walking, the Queen's shimmering Castle emerged from behind one of the realm's shifting mountains.

"New Valla is unique in many ways." The Queen shattered the silence. She gestured to the city's gatekeepers. With a bow and a polite 'your majesty', they removed the great wooden beams that supported the city's main entrance and opened the city up to its new visitors.
View attachment 5703
"On the surface, it might seem quite ordinary. We've got bustling workers. Enlightened thinkers. Artists. Solders. Architects. Mages and healers. But in this so-called 'Age of the Goddess', normality is a blessing. Unlike so many others, the citizens of New Gyges can live out their lives free from the Goddess' influence."

The travelling party passed some pikeman as they ran their daily drills. They stopped where they stood and knelt before Kana's horse. She blessed them with a royal wave as she rode by.

"When fled to the Astral Plane, we took little more than the clothes on our backs and the swords in our hands with us. We couldn't wait around. Returning to our homes to grab anything else... it was too much of a risk. We faced many trials in those early weeks, but that long night came to pass. We've achieved so much since then. We can't risk our kingdom's fall. We can't just... start all over again..."

The traveling party approached the arch of the great palace. The Captain of the Palace Guard saluted Kana.
View attachment 5714
"Your Majesty..." The Captain hummed. "Welcome home. I trust that the disturbance wasn't..."

"It was nothing to worry about, Catherine, just as I suspected." Kana smiled. "Yuri decided to return from his little expedition to Fodlan. He's brought some familiar faces back with him."

"But what if it had been something to worry about?" Cath protested. "What if it had been a Nohrian Spy, or an agent of Hoshido, or one of the Goddess' Elites? I should have been out there with you, Kana. You should have let me come!"

Kana lowered her head and sighed.

"Catherine, I appreciate your zeal, but I need you here." The Queen stepped past her guard and entered into her throne room. Catherine followed her closely, abandoning her post. "In my absence, the Vallites will need someone to turn to. Your presence makes our people feel safe. We cannot--"

"---We cannot afford to start again, so you keep saying!" Catherine snapped, forgetting herself. "But the Goddess is hunt us! She's hunting our agents like foxes!"

"Catherine!" Gunter snapped.

"What good am I doing here? Guarding an empty throne? We need to be out there--"

"Catherine!" Seteth groaned.

"We need to move against the Goddess' forces in Fodlan and Nohr before they sniff us out! We need to find a foothold on the mortal plane! We can't just waste the rest of our lives sitting on our asses just---"

"CATHERINE!" Kana shot a glare in her guard's direction. She slowly lowered herself back down upon her throne and sighed, composing herself. "We've had this conversation a dozen times..."

"And not once have you listened!" Catherine exhaled. "Please, Kana... If we can free the Immaculate One..."

"Then they'll ki--" Seteth swallowed hard. His voice cracked. He placed his fist to his mouth and closed his eyes tight. "They'll hurt.... I'm sorry..."

"So long as the Goddess has Flayn, Catherine..." Kana sighed. "I can't, in good conscience, move against her forces."

"That's a shame..." Yuri mumbled to himself. "This isn't exactly how I hoped today would go..."

Catherine placed her hand over her heart and bowed.

"Your majesty..." Catherine pulled her eyes away from Kana and made her way towards the door. "I have some business to attend to..."

She left without saying another word.

Kana bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, but as you can see, our things are... complicated. This is hardly the Valla-Welcome your deserve. Please, make yourself at home in our city. My castle has more rooms than I dare count. We can enough bread and wine to revive any soul. But before we go any further... I must ask... why is it that Yuri has gone through such lengths to rescue you? What have you done that's so important that he'd risk everything to bring you here?"

@Jeremi @Takumi @Crunch @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky

"Boo hoo, pretty boy, welcome to the story of my fucking life." Alice rolled her eyes at Yuri.

"To put it bluntly, Majesty, we've all said "fuck the Goddess" in some way or form. Personally, I was given a task that went against her and don't remember much else after that." Alice grunted as she adjusted both Silque and Ashe on her shoulders.

"Some of us here, however, were part of Champions of The Arena and I guess we're... not really looked up to, more like..." She grumbled before blowing hair out of her face when she couldn't find the word she was looking for.

"We've seen some shit, been through some shit, and now we're here basically." She concluded.

@Sark @Crunch @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky @Everyone
 
JEFFREY KOVAL
Jeff’s eyes wandered around the medieval city. His mouth agape somewhat at the scenery surrounding him.

“I’m uh... I’m actually not sure why they went out of their way to rescue me, I mean, all I wanted was to see some kids live.”

@Sark @EveryoneElse​
 
View attachment 5715






No demonic presence detected in the immediate vicinity. It would appear following the life signs was the best course of action.

A muffled hum escaped his helmet as the scan completed. The Slayer stood at the back of the group like an armored ghost. He'd not said or done anything since the party's escape from the forces of the so-called 'Goddess', having silently lurched along with the 'detected life signs' like a vulture in search of food. Any attempt to communicate with the marine was met with silence, perhaps the occasionally irritated grunt, but otherwise, no real indication that there was a man beneath that pale green hide - more akin to a machine fashioned from flesh and bone.

Suddenly, one of the people spoke. The 'queen' directed a question towards them all.

View attachment 5716

"..."


The Slayer hadn't responded. He stared at Kana for longer than was comfortable, and turned away from the 'welcoming' delegation. The slightest simulacrum of the human voice, almost like a quiet muttering, slipped from the faceless marine, but it was far too quiet for anyone to hear. There was nothing here for him.

VEGA's monotone voice returned, echoing inside his head. Given the data we've collected thus far regarding the situation, your best course of action may be to survey the surrounding area and search for a portal route back to the Fortress. At this moment, I cannot ascertain the amount of time that has passed in transit to New Valla.

But the demonic invasion of Earth has not ended.


The Slayer's fingers curled inward to a tight fist. He began to lurch away from the delegation, moving to exit the throne room. As the marine's heavy footsteps echoed throughout the spacious chamber, his left pauldron jostled roughly. A small, thin flake of some material drifted off of Doomguy's suit.

It was a scale. Immaculate and bloody.

@Sark @Takumi @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky @Everyone​
 
FATE OF THE OLD GODS
BLACKEST NIGHT

EPISODE V: FLAYN

View attachment 5702
"Let me tell you the tale of Valla. Let me tell you the tale of my people."
"My Grandmother was heir to this once great kingdom. She was forced to flee when my father was just a boy. An ancient tyrant stole this land from her and her sister. It fell into disrepair and decay."
"My father and grandmother were separated. They lived apart in separate, warring kingdoms."
"They came back together years later. My Grandmother died in my father's arms, another victim of the same tyrant that destroyed her realm."
"My father devoted his life to ending that tyrant's rule. He very nearly succeeded. He built an army. He found a wife. He raised me."
"Then, She came."
"She shattered the fragile peace between Nohr and Hoshido. She turned the sky red. She killed my parents for the crime of disagreeing with her."
"She would have killed me, too. She would have killed us all if it wasn't for Izana."
"He had foreseen the Her arrival. He took me to the Astral Plane. He left my in Azura's care. He told me that we would be safe here. That we were important."
"Time works differently in this realm. Days melted into months. Months into years. I grew up. My adoptive mother grew older. From the ashes and stones of Old Valla, we built a new Kingdom. We built a realm of peace and prosperity hidden from the Goddess' eyes."
"I rule my patchwork people with kindness. I am a just and nobler. And yet... I cannot help but feel as if this wasn't the destiny Izana envisioned for me. I can't help but feel as if...


"As if fate has something more in store for me..."
*****
The Returned were marched back New Valla castle under Gunter's watchful eye. Seteth kept his distance. Kana kept her eyes fixed on the horizon. Izana was too fixated on fiddling with the edges of his mustache to pay his guests any attention. After a half hour a walking, the Queen's shimmering Castle emerged from behind one of the realm's shifting mountains.

"New Valla is unique in many ways." The Queen shattered the silence. She gestured to the city's gatekeepers. With a bow and a polite 'your majesty', they removed the great wooden beams that supported the city's main entrance and opened the city up to its new visitors.
View attachment 5703
"On the surface, it might seem quite ordinary. We've got bustling workers. Enlightened thinkers. Artists. Solders. Architects. Mages and healers. But in this so-called 'Age of the Goddess', normality is a blessing. Unlike so many others, the citizens of New Gyges can live out their lives free from the Goddess' influence."

The travelling party passed some pikeman as they ran their daily drills. They stopped where they stood and knelt before Kana's horse. She blessed them with a royal wave as she rode by.

"When fled to the Astral Plane, we took little more than the clothes on our backs and the swords in our hands with us. We couldn't wait around. Returning to our homes to grab anything else... it was too much of a risk. We faced many trials in those early weeks, but that long night came to pass. We've achieved so much since then. We can't risk our kingdom's fall. We can't just... start all over again..."

The traveling party approached the arch of the great palace. The Captain of the Palace Guard saluted Kana.
View attachment 5714
"Your Majesty..." The Captain hummed. "Welcome home. I trust that the disturbance wasn't..."

"It was nothing to worry about, Catherine, just as I suspected." Kana smiled. "Yuri decided to return from his little expedition to Fodlan. He's brought some familiar faces back with him."

"But what if it had been something to worry about?" Cath protested. "What if it had been a Nohrian Spy, or an agent of Hoshido, or one of the Goddess' Elites? I should have been out there with you, Kana. You should have let me come!"

Kana lowered her head and sighed.

"Catherine, I appreciate your zeal, but I need you here." The Queen stepped past her guard and entered into her throne room. Catherine followed her closely, abandoning her post. "In my absence, the Vallites will need someone to turn to. Your presence makes our people feel safe. We cannot--"

"---We cannot afford to start again, so you keep saying!" Catherine snapped, forgetting herself. "But the Goddess is hunt us! She's hunting our agents like foxes!"

"Catherine!" Gunter snapped.

"What good am I doing here? Guarding an empty throne? We need to be out there--"

"Catherine!" Seteth groaned.

"We need to move against the Goddess' forces in Fodlan and Nohr before they sniff us out! We need to find a foothold on the mortal plane! We can't just waste the rest of our lives sitting on our asses just---"

"CATHERINE!" Kana shot a glare in her guard's direction. She slowly lowered herself back down upon her throne and sighed, composing herself. "We've had this conversation a dozen times..."

"And not once have you listened!" Catherine exhaled. "Please, Kana... If we can free the Immaculate One..."

"Then they'll ki--" Seteth swallowed hard. His voice cracked. He placed his fist to his mouth and closed his eyes tight. "They'll hurt.... I'm sorry..."

"So long as the Goddess has Flayn, Catherine..." Kana sighed. "I can't, in good conscience, move against her forces."

"That's a shame..." Yuri mumbled to himself. "This isn't exactly how I hoped today would go..."

Catherine placed her hand over her heart and bowed.

"Your majesty..." Catherine pulled her eyes away from Kana and made her way towards the door. "I have some business to attend to..."

She left without saying another word.

Kana bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, but as you can see, our things are... complicated. This is hardly the Valla-Welcome your deserve. Please, make yourself at home in our city. My castle has more rooms than I dare count. We can enough bread and wine to revive any soul. But before we go any further... I must ask... why is it that Yuri has gone through such lengths to rescue you? What have you done that's so important that he'd risk everything to bring you here?"

@Jeremi @Takumi @Crunch @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky

"Methinks they do not have their house in order..." Valkyrie mumbled to herself but it might as well have been in her normal speaking voice considering her volume. As Kana addressed them directly Valkyrie responded in kind.

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"Forsooth, why they targeted me especially I can not sayeth, though I and my fellow Exiles had battled them on different worlds by pure happenstance. Perhaps they assumed that we were foes trying to undermine them? It didn't start like that but they have surely made a foe out of Valkyrie now! When thou horns cry for battle you will find me by thou side!"
@Sark @Takumi @Crunch @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky
 
"Well, unless it was because the thought of my dashing good looks being lost to history was too great to lose..." Rei by this time had already started smoking a cigarette. He'd at least removed his hat and sunglasses-there were ladies present, you know.

He took a drag on it, letting everything fill in his senses in his moment of silence. Some of these people he recognized, some he didn't...and a few felt like they were puzzle pieces in his memory he just couldn't place. "It's like the little lady says," he said finally, nodding to Alice. We're all prominent enemies of that Goddess in some way or another. Though if there are Chosen among us, well...maybe a few of us were just lucky."

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Henry Hart

" I honestly don't know what I did. All I have ever done is be a hero and fight in an arena for a mad man. I guess it was the fact of the other here though."
Beau was still unconscious, so she couldn't answer. However, Jester had a few ideas.

"
Some among us were chosen by the Goddess before we betrayed her when she become mad with power. Now we're just fighting each day."

@Sark @Everyone
 
"Boo hoo, pretty boy, welcome to the story of my fucking life." Alice rolled her eyes at Yuri.

"To put it bluntly, Majesty, we've all said "fuck the Goddess" in some way or form. Personally, I was given a task that went against her and don't remember much else after that." Alice grunted as she adjusted both Silque and Ashe on her shoulders.

"Some of us here, however, were part of Champions of The Arena and I guess we're... not really looked up to, more like..." She grumbled before blowing hair out of her face when she couldn't find the word she was looking for.

"We've seen some shit, been through some shit, and now we're here basically." She concluded.

@Sark @Crunch @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky @Everyone
JEFFREY KOVAL
Jeff’s eyes wandered around the medieval city. His mouth agape somewhat at the scenery surrounding him.

“I’m uh... I’m actually not sure why they went out of their way to rescue me, I mean, all I wanted was to see some kids live.”

@Sark @EveryoneElse
"Well, unless it was because the thought of my dashing good looks being lost to history was too great to lose..." Rei by this time had already started smoking a cigarette. He'd at least removed his hat and sunglasses-there were ladies present, you know.

He took a drag on it, letting everything fill in his senses in his moment of silence. Some of these people he recognized, some he didn't...and a few felt like they were puzzle pieces in his memory he just couldn't place. "It's like the little lady says," he said finally, nodding to Alice. We're all prominent enemies of that Goddess in some way or another. Though if there are Chosen among us, well...maybe a few of us were just lucky."

@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Crunch @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky
Henry Hart

" I honestly don't know what I did. All I have ever done is be a hero and fight in an arena for a mad man. I guess it was the fact of the other here though."
Beau was still unconscious, so she couldn't answer. However, Jester had a few ideas.

"
Some among us were chosen by the Goddess before we betrayed her when she become mad with power. Now we're just fighting each day."

@Sark @Everyone
"Look at us, a pair of unfortunate souls..." Yuri sarcastically chirped at Alice. "Am I invited to the pity party, or should I just gate-crash?"

Kana hummed and caressed her chin.
"Champions of the Arena... I can't say I'm familiar with such and event..."

"It's like Henry said. A bunch of us were trapped on a murder island and told to kill each other. The whole thing got recorded. Streamed across the Multiverse." Wally interjected. "It's not something we'd like to relive any time soon..."

"Of course... It's a fate I wouldn't wish upon anyone. The Goddess has many foes..." Kana replied. "But that begs the question... what were you doing in the Sleeping-Death?"

"How did you--"

"I have the blood of an Ancient Dragon flowing through my veins, Yuri. Something things don't need to be said. Rather, they can be sensed. Your little Prison Break sent rippled across the Planes. I felt them. I fear I was not the only one to do so--"

"Can we just... roll back, for a second?" Wally raised his hands in surrender. "Sleeping-Death? What's a--?"

"Simply put, it's a prison," Ferdinand answered. "The worst kind of prison. It's reserved for those the Goddess loathes the most. It's a realm that sits between life and death. The void crushes all thought and feeling. You can hardly call someone in the S-D alive. But their souls are perfectly preserved. Their hearts beat once an hour. So the prisoners aren't dead either. It means they can't pass on to an after life of their choosing. It's an endless void. No peace. No paradise..."

"At least Hell allowed its residents to think. The S-D is a fate worse than any other I know of, and I know a fair few horrible ones..." Yuri chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "It's a prison for souls. That's the short answer. It allows the Goddess to keep track of her greatest foes. Makes sure they can't be rescued... well... not by conventional means...."

"But the Sleeping-Death is usually reserved the Old Gods. Treacherous Demons. Ancient Titans. I've lost good friends in the fight against the Goddess... They've been real thorns in the Goddess' side. But none of them were taken to the S-D. I can understand why she wanted to keep an eye on the Chosen, but the Champions? The others? It does't make any sense..."

"So my question has no answer? Curious.." Kana hummed. "Still. You're all safe now. That's what matters."

"Right..." Wally mumbled. "Right..."

When thou horns cry for battle you will find me by thou side!"
"I appreciate your zeal, friend..." Kana smiled "But we won't be needing any horns. Valla's greatest weapon is its secrecy. Regardless of what Catherine might try to convince you, we cannot afford to fight the Goddess. She would ravage out kingdom. She would destroy the 'insurance' she stole from us years ago."

Seteth remained silent in the corner of the room. He stared down at the Returned with scornful eyes.

"The price is just too high, Valkyrie. I'm sorry."

The Slayer's fingers curled inward to a tight fist. He began to lurch away from the delegation, moving to exit the throne room. As the marine's heavy footsteps echoed throughout the spacious chamber, his left pauldron jostled roughly. A small, thin flake of some material drifted off of Doomguy's suit.

It was a scale. Immaculate and bloody.

@Sark @Takumi @Yun Lee @Minerva @Capri @Lucky @Everyone
As the scale clattered against the Throne-room's tiles, a strange instinct overcame Catherine. She stopped in the hall's doorway. She slowly turned around.
Part of her wanted to let it slide out of spite. She wanted to let Kana solve her own problems, or, better yet, let Gunter solve them for her. But no. Her instincts got the better of her. Approached the strange object, picked it up, and carefully survey it with thinned, razor-eyes.

She had anticipated the discarded scale to have been a poisoned rag. Perhaps a piece of telling parchment.
Catherine had never anticipated finding something so... familiar.

She closed her eyes tight and held the scale close to her heart. She whispered a silent prayer. She tucked it away in the collar of her breastplate.

Suddenly, Catherine's demeanor shifted completely. She flashed her teeth. She gripped the hilt of her sword. Thunderstrike Cassandra came rattling forth.

She turned on the spot and withdrew her blade. With a feral cry, she lunged towards the Doom Slayer. She threw the Demon Hunter against on of the Throne Room's pillars, pressing her blade against the armored Ghost's throat.

View attachment 5728
"You!" She spat. "Where did you get this!? Tell me!"

"Catherine!" Gunter picked up his axe and slowly approached the warring pair. "Catherine, let him go!"

Catherine blocked him out completely.

"Tell me!"

@Crunch @Jeremi @Yun Lee @Minerva @Takumi @Capri @Lucky
 
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