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Countless millennia had gone by, and still the agony remained. That feeling of being ripped out against her will. The feeling of being violated.And still, the screams of her people rang through her spirit. Why wouldn’t it stop? Please make it stop she cried over and over again for thousands of years.Something new calle... |
Baby Jaziria’s eyes awoke in the night. The child’s eyes beheld a mahoraga woman whose beauty matched that of Her mother, Soma."Grandma." She eeped in the mahoraga tongue.Shahmaran’s spectral hand caressed her granddaughter’s cheek. Slowly, Taian’s eyes began to open. Because of her own spiritual powers, it did not tak... |
As Michiru, Minako, and Sekolah took in Masela’s warning, something occurred to Michiru."Mother, how are you even here? When She Who Thirsts manifested in our universe, she consumed the souls of everyone on Neptune and Venus, including yours."Masela’s ghost turned to her daughter and smiled. There was a joy in finally ... |
The Atlantean temple lay in rubble as a vast serpent slithered through it. At Manda’s feet, a Lemurian procession stived forward with a hooded figure in the lead. Twin points of light that marked the figure’s eyes could be seen from the darkness within their hood. The figure carried a jade crown carved in the shape of ... |
"The man who saved Soma all those centuries ago lingers in undeath." Shahmaran explained. "He believes that avenging the mahoraga by helping them shed human blood is his debt to them for his failure to act in saving me."The man whom I bear the name of." Thulsa remarked.Shahmaran nodded."By some strange twist of fate, h... |
"We are not lost, Nesirie." Masela said joyfully. "Our people survive, and life will come to Neptune and Venus again."W....what do you mean?" A bewildered Minako asked."You must have forgotten after so long." Masela answered. "That time that our peoples have always celebrated."Michiru’s eyes sunk once she understood. I... |
Doom’s procession halted. A lone figure stood before them. Doom immediately knew him as an old acquaintance of the distant past. That anthropomorphic sauropod that once served Neptune’s queen. Doom might have felt a sense of relief and gratitude that this knight had actually survived after all this time, if not for the... |
Just outside the orbit of Yaksh, the world known as Neptune in other universes, a rip in the fabric of space opened, and a large spacecraft emerged. A heavy saucer flanked by a secondary hull and three lit nacelles, this class of ship was known as a Galaxy-X class starship in its home universe. The name USS Jadzia mark... |
"I don’t know what you really want the Princess for, Gabriel, but I don’t trust what’s watching us from inside that crown." Bron boomed at Doom, the sound of his voice like his name.Bron directed the sword he had been carrying at Doom."And I’m warning you now to release my Queen and Neptune’s people from whatever contr... |
Michiru and the others felt the atmosphere around them beginning to charge. The blue mists the permeated their surroundings started to swirl chaotically. Even the fungoid aliens that gathered around the temple began to dance in fury.The ghost of Neptune’s queen screamed and cried. The more unhinged she became, the more... |
"Oh, God." Sara whispered as she and Jadzia’s crew watched Neptune on the screen.It was as if one immense storm was engulfing all of Neptune. The planet’s blue clouds began to swirl with hurricane force. Halia knew her mothers were in peril somehow."Jadzia, I will try and get us to their exact location." She told the s... |
Masela was not alone in her agony. The spirits of Neptune’s people cried out as the memories of all they had done under the Dark Princess’s influence overtook them. They all carried the same emotional weight and traumas that their queen did. In their suffering, they flew forth to the call of an Elder God. One who promi... |
Sekolah saw the image of the great seven headed serpent in Her mind. All seven of Set’s head flicked their tongues in satisfaction as Masela descended into madness."I think you’ve had enough fun.’ She told Him.A shark fin emerged from Her back and Her form started to shift. At this point, She did not care how destructi... |
Lorca’s very soul felt the strain of the magic he attempted to invoke. Standing beside him, Starla kept calm, but her body was clearly mutating and changing shape. |
"I can feel Her, but She is so far away." Starla said, growing desperation in her tone. |
So deep into their conversation they were that they did not notice what loomed over them. The lamprey-like monster, a twisted deformation of one of Neptune’s megafauna lurched up behind them and prepared to suck them into its maw. It did not get the chance. |
Giant scaly hands grabbed hold of the monster. The monster screeched as it was ripped apart from its maw onward. Lorca tried not to break his concentration at the sound of a thunderous ear-piercing roar. Godzilla was the mightiest of Queen Masela’s Ri no Kaio-rui Eigo, the five male knights who complemented the female ... |
Starla finally grew faint. As she fell back, she was caught by the hands of Bronto Thunder, another of this knightly order. |
"I have been able to manifest some of Her power, but I could not reach Her." Starla explained weakly as her body began to bubble into a blob-like form. "I will use that power to try and preserve the souls of Neptune and Venus’s people. Please find a way to bring back our peace." |
As her form became unrecognizable, a light illuminated from her. All the people of Neptune and Venus who were on the verge of having their souls devoured by Chaos found their souls yanked away from Chaos’ maw to safety. |
While he was never sure if Starla was addressing him specifically, he knew where his duties now lie. |
Sekolah’s heart melted as She listened to the song Michiru sung to Masela. She knew it all too well. It was the old lullaby She would sing to Michiru whenever she was in a state of distress. |
Minako was dumbfounded. She always knew Michiru was a divinely talented violinist, but she never realized she also had such a beautiful singing voice. |
"I have taught her well." Soma told Minako, noticing her surprised expression. |
Masela began to calm down, and the maelstrom across the planet eased. Michiru reached down and held her old mother. Even though Masela was a ghost, Michiru somehow could still touch her as if she was still in the flesh. |
"What happened will never be okay, and I don’t think the wounds will truly heal." Michiru whispered to Masela. "But I’ve always understood that the one who did that to me was not you, so please don’t do this to yourself. I still love you, and I need you to come back to us." |
Sekolah closed Her eyes and sighed. Michiru was right, of course. Sekolah Herself had always looked back at Masela as the villain for what happened to Michiru in her past life. All those who knew of that catastrophe did. It was why Masela was dubbed the "Sorrow of the Seas" in people’s whispers during the Silver Millen... |
"We all need you, mother." |
All attention was drawn to the figure that appeared before them. None of them had seen this child before, yet the truth of her identity quickly hit them. The emerald hair, the blue eyes reflecting the seas, and most of all, she carried that old moselle that Princess Nesirie once said she would pass on to her daughter. |
"Mommy." The girl said as her tearful eyes locked with Michiru’s. |
"Halia." Michiru whispered. |
A wave of sound launched from Ichy’s mouth towards Legendary Gigan. Gigan put up his crystal shield, but it cracked when hit by the wave. Ichy ducked away as Showa Gigan swooped down and tried to hit him with his chest cutter. As Showa Gigan tried to circle back up to the sky, he was knocked to the ground by a blast of... |
Bron turned his attention to Manda’s coiled form and stormed towards the serpent. Within Manda’s coils, Thulsa Doom realized things were not going well for him at this moment. |
"You seem to be in a bit of a mess." The voice within the Crown told him. "I may have to pull you out of this one. I have what I need anyway." |
Before Doom could say anything, he and the Crown vanished. After a moment of silence, Manda uncoiled, leaving the remaining Lemurians exposed, and began to slither towards the ocean. Likewise, both Gigans ceased fighting and took to the sky, leaving the scene. |
Bron and Ichy knew that such a thing was never a good sign. |
Michiru and Minako covered their mouths as Michiru’s long-lost daughter walked up to them. Masela did not know how she could describe the emotions she felt looking upon the daughter that she had only known of briefly before her queendom was destroyed. |
"Please, Mommy, continue your song." Halia beckoned Michiru as she held up the moselle. |
Halia began to play, and Michiru obliged with a smile. She continued her lullaby while she held Masela. She was not alone this time. One by one the others joined in. First Soma, then Minako, and then even Sekolah grumbled and sang along, the Shark Mother revealing Her own gorgeous voice. At last, Halia added her own vo... |
Somehow, even as a ghost, tears rained down Masela’s face. She couldn’t speak. She had a family again. |
Minako felt someone else present. There was a missing piece to this puzzle the whole time, and when she felt eyes watching her, she began to understand. |
The Princess of Venus looked up where Halia had come from. Another spirit had come to them. To Minako, this one was as personal as Masela was to Michiru. The golden tresses and blue eyes, and an aura that seemed lit by the sun. |
"Mom." Minako said with wide eyes. |
"Hey, there, Naderi." Shelyn answered. |
Doom returned to his consecrated temple to the Great Serpent. The Great Serpent, the original deity of worship here, was the Mother of All Snakes in this world. She had long been the one Doom venerated and wished to awaken. Now, with the Great Serpent moving on elsewhere, a new Snake God claimed this temple as His own. |
"You should be happy to know that Masela finally had that saccharine reunion with her family that you so badly wanted her to have." Set told Doom through the Serpent Crown. "Now for the next phase of our plans." |
Doom nodded as he entered the temple and made his way to the altar. |
"And what of the Lemurians we left behind?" Doom inquired. |
"What of them? I only brought them to this universe for a little entertainment. Poor fools do not realize how little they actually mean to me in the scheme of things." |
Doom did not like the sound of that comment. It made him wonder how much *he* mattered in the eyes of the Elder God. |
Nevertheless, Doom would carry out with what was next. Whether or not Set had any true regard for him, what they planned next was important for him personally. |
And it had begun. He could feel the energies of all the souls he called to gathering at the altar. And he had just the vessel for them all. |
"You had better make it fast." Set warned him. "He is approaching." |
Doom gnashed his teeth. Soma and Michiru were obviously not the only ones with mommy issues. |
Off the shores of Valusia’s coast, something moved fast. Three rows of spines surfaced from the sea as a massive shape sped through the water. |
Godzilla felt her presence in this land he made his way towards. She called to him, and he would not let those that took her use her power. |
It was another quiet night in camp and Tav was doing her rounds, checking in on her friends, making sure they were comfortable, listening to their troubles. |
But she had noticed the odd looks Lae'zel had been giving her, and concerned that perhaps she had upset the gith in some way, she asked about it. |
To hear Lae'zel's interest in her was certainly flattering, but unwanted, and Tav did the best she could to explain that she wasn't attracted to women, nor interested in sex. |
It was Lae'zel's response that had Tav bristling like a cat. Whether it was the harshness in which the words were spoken, or the words themselves, Tav recoiled. |
She was reminded that she was different, lacking in such a base, universal experience that Lae'zel's reply to being rejected, more than likely snapped out in defense of her own emotions, hurt. And it pained her more than she thought. |
"I am not interested in anyone!" Tav snapped back. "I cannot grasp, cannot fathom the very idea of looking at others and wishing to bed them, and I suppose I should thank you, my friend, for reminding that I am lacking in such wants." |
It was perhaps too harsh, she knew, but as the others in the camp heard the commotion and headed over, all Tav could feel was a sense of inadequacy, of guilt. |
She was different, and that pained her more than anything when her friends could express such wants and desires so freely, When Lae'zel looked confused by the notion that Tav just didn't feel attracted to anyone. And similar looks of confusion flitted across the faces of the others. |
There would be questions, maybe even an attempt to brush her off, that had certainly happened with others in the past before she had been abducted. Tav did not want to face such scrutiny, such disbelief from those she cared for. |
So, she excused herself and left for the far edges of camp. |
She didn't notice that Astarion was not looking at her in confusion, but rather like a puzzle piece had fallen into place. She scurried off into the bushes. |
Scratch had followed, the dog had sensed her distress and cuddled up to her as she sat on a rock. She waited for not only her own hurt to ease, but for enough time to pass so that she could sneak back to her bedroll once everyone else was asleep. |
Imagine her surprise when Astarion found her in her hiding spot sometime later. She watched him, wary, and a little bit afraid. Not because he was a vampire, but because her biggest secret had been outed to the whole camp, her difference, her defect. |
It was the first words out of his mouth that stopped that fear in its tracks. |
"I've seen that reaction before," he said. "I don't quite get it myself mind you, but I have seen it before." |
"Have you now?" She replied as she waited for the other shoe to drop. |
The vampire picked his way through the dense brush and sat beside her on the rock. He didn't look put out that she clearly didn't believe him. In fact the vampire was practically respectful about it. |
"I've met people in the past, who don't find anyone attractive, and it's not because they dislike my most charming self," He explained with a gesture to himself. "It's just how they are, and some wanted to have sex, others just weren't interested at all. Personally I don't see why the idea seems to be so hard to believ... |
"Well," Tav began and found herself struggling with words for once. A rare thing indeed for the group's wordsmith. She sighed. "I suppose the night can't get any worse...People seem to mistake my kindness, my sincerity for flirting a lot of the time, and I have yet to find someone who would be interested in romance wit... |
"And Lae'zel's rather sharp retort struck a nerve?" Astarion guessed and she nodded. "You know she's not the only one who's interested in you right? She's just the most blunt about it." |
"And yet more friendships turned to dust." Tav lamented. "Why did i ever think otherwise?" |
And here Astarion looked surprised. "Whatever do you mean by that? Do you really think that...the others would just leave you on the roadside because you don't reciprocate their feelings?" |
"Would not be the first time, I assure you," She replied. She did notice his hesitation when he mentioned the rest of the group. "I wouldn't blame you, or them, if that was the case." |
"Look," Astarion began, he looked frustrated, whether with her, Lae'zel, or something else entirely she couldn't tell. "I can't speak for the others, but I know damn well I am not going to simply cut ties with you because of this." |
"We need to work together to get to the bottom of the tadpoles in our heads, and the cult of The Absolute, I know." Tav replied. |
"Well, yes," Astarion agreed. "But you are missing quite the important point in that I genuinely enjoy your company, dare I say I consider a friend in the short time we've been travelling together." |
"Oh...I didn't want to assume, you'd been through a lot as is, and I wanted to make sure you had space." Tav replied. "while I hope I can call everyone here a friend, I didn't want to push the idea on anyone. Can't please everyone after all." |
"You're not getting rid of me any time soon," Astarion smirked. A thought occurred to him and he looked at her curiously. "Though after tonight, I do wonder, are you interested in romance at all? People like you tend to separate sex and romance and I for one would like to know where you stand on the topic." |
He held his hands up placatingly and added. "If you want to share such thoughts that is, I find such talks interesting, but I won't pry." |
"I take it you find them interesting because of how it differs from your experiences?" Tav asked. |
"And I find that it makes a lot of sense when you think about it," Astarion replied. "People can certainly have sex without the need for romantic attachments, so romance without sex is more than possible. And I do so love the look of bafflement on people's faces when I point that out." |
He grinned. "People get so shocked, scandalized even, about the mere concept of someone courting another without sex being on the table. It's hilarious." |
Tav cracked a smile at that. Maybe she could trust him with this. Maybe, just once, she could trust she wouldn't be seen as some immature, naive waif in need of being fixed or shown a good time. |
"I like romance," she explained as she ran a hand through Scratch's fur, the dog keeping an eye and ear out while the two of them talked. "I think its a beautiful concept, a wonderful idea that shouldn't need sex to be a part of it, that shouldn't result in friendships being seen as lesser, that romance is just one kin... |
"And..." Tav continued. "Ultimately not for me it seems. As much as I would want it for myself, I've never met anyone willing to give what I want a chance...and with this tadpole I doubt I'll have the chance to do so." |
Astarion listened patiently, she was surprised he was even hearing her out. Normally she would be the one lending an ear to him, to anyone at camp who needed someone to confide in, or simply someone to talk to who wouldn't judge. |
She was even more surprised when he asked. "And what do you want?" |
"You'll think me childish," she replied. |
"Darling, I've seen you bleat at a redcap and found it funny, I don't care if you're childish," Astarion pointed out. "In fact, I encourage it, life is a bit dull if you never have fun." |
"Well alright," Tav said. "I don't fall i love with someone's appearance, I don't look at people and want to be their partner. But I fall in love with who someone is as a person, how much I trust him, how well we get along. It's just another layer of feelings on top of a friendship already as strong as adamantine...Tha... |
"So no interest in women, looks like Lae'zel was barking up the wrong tree," Astarion commented. "And falling for someone's, shall we say inner beauty, instead of the initial draw to their outward appearance is uncommon, but not unheard of." |
"But not the accepted standard." Tav said plainly. |
"As someone who experiences the accepted standard, trust me, it's a lot more of a hassle than people think it is," Astarion replied. "Anyway, do continue." |
"You're actually interested in my ramblings on romance?" Tav asked. |
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