Fate's Awakening ~ The God and Destiny Cross Thesis Reformation - IC

[Airen]

Surga Utopia
Golden Dawn - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

"Sure, almost everyone in town knows him," still smiling, as if pleased to be of some help, the young woman takes no time at all to share what she knows, "Some folks found him lying outside the town mines a year ago. He wasn't wounded, but he couldn't remember who he was, amnesia, you know?"

Leaning forward a bit at this, the woman's face gets a bit more serious as she continues her tale, although her air remains relatively pleasant:

"Doesn't seem to be faking it either, but he remembered enough to say he was a magician... And well, he clinged to those remaining skills, and makes a living doing janitorial work for the school, as well as street magic for the kids. Not a bad guy from what I've seen of him, and the students seem to like him... He's a bit shy when he's not doing the magician persona, and maybe a bit over-curious about things... But if I lost all my memories I'd probably be pretty curious about most things too."

She pauses, then:

"Was that helpful? Did he do something to you?"

An innocent curiosity.

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Golden Dawn - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

"No, he didn't do anything to me per se, but..."

For a second, Surga hesitate to ask the question that's been on his mind for a while, but quickly discarded his doubts. There are ways to state it without arousing suspicions, and he does need to make sure of something.

With that in mind...

"Tell me, does Kaz always have an assistant with him? Specifically a girl with blue hair?"

He stopped, considering whether to continue or not.

The next second, he continued.

"I met someone I think I knew earlier." Surga elaborated as he recalled Rose walking into that accursed coffin, his face showing none of the frustration beneath. "But Kaz said she's his assistant, so I cannot be sure whether she's the same girl that I know or not."

Another pause.

"Can't ask the person directly either. He made her disappear with his last trick."

[Airen]

Surga Utopia
Golden Dawn - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

"Can't say he always has one with him, but some of the kids volunteer to help every once in awhile," one finger on her chin, the blonde woman that has moved back a bit to think, does so without any wasted movement, "He did have a blue-haired girl with him this morning though, name was Rose. She was quiet, but I'm good with names."

Another pause, then:

"Still, is this girl important to you?" Taking a moment to ask that question, her eyes take on a vague sort of mischievous light, "If so, you should totally look for her yourself! He's just a magician! He can't actually make her disappear, it's all smoke and mirrors, tricks!"

One eye closed now, the smile grows even brighter.

"And even if it is real magic, you can't magic someone off of the planet right? She's probably here in town, hiding, just to make the trick look good. If you get a bunch of friends together, you could probably find her! I mean, this place is pretty country. Not too busy. If you want, I could even go looking myself at the end of my shift. Can't go before then... But those are the breaks of being an adult I guess... I'm sure the students would make better guides than me anyway."

Cheerful as ever, the woman swings her body around to grab the cake the young man from before was holding at her back.

"And, here you go~"

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Golden Dawn - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

Well, that confirms it. The blue-haired girl is really Rose.

"She is important to me, but not in the way you're thinking."

Even though he's not the type of person who think about getting a girlfriend, Surga didn't miss the teasing and Alice's eyes glinting with a rather mischievous light.

There are more important things to focus on than that.

Besides, he doesn't really know Rose at all. If he should get a girlfriend, Celes is the first that came to his mind, though Serenade is also a good choice...

...Why is he thinking of girlfriends again?

Surga quickly banished those thoughts from his mind.

Still, as he listened to the blonde's advice, Surga realized that Alice does have a point. Even if Kaz used magic to make her disappear, she should still be in the town, and by gathering a group of friends he could search for Rose while finishing Ariel's errands simultaneously. An idea that he hadn't thought of because he's too distracted by that encounter.

"Thank you for the advice Alice. It really helped a lot." Surga said as he bowed in sincere gratitude. "You don't need to look for her; I've troubled you enough as it is." He finished as he received the cake.

"I shall be on my way after I paid for the cake."

He had came to a conclusion from this short visit.

He liked Golden Dawn.

Would definitely come again to enjoy a cake on his own if he has the time. Maybe even bringing Celes and Leliel along; the green-haired devil would like the cakes here.

Silently, Surga wished for their safety.

[Airen]

Surga Utopia
Path to Northern Cross - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

"Not a problem! I'm kinda like a bartender, giving advice is part of the job. but anyway-! Have a good day! Hope you find your friend!"

Cheerful until the very end.

Knowing that you would have to drop the cake off now, or risk destroying it if something happened while searching for Rose, your feet naturally carry you from the warmth of the Golden Dawn shop, back in the direction of Northern Cross Academy. Your body seems to have more or less healed completely now, and while your crystal still felt like there was an invisible crack running down it, it still felt better than it had before, to the point where, if you had been able to conjure up Fate Magic now, you would go so far as to say you had completely healed.

Of course, having apparently fallen from one world into another, you supposed that taking awhile to completely heal from that sort of incomprehensible damage was probably to be expected. With Elora having vanished from the shopping district, and lacking any other acquaintances of note (at least in this world) you are forced to just hope you'll find her at the school, or someone else friendly enough to stop what they were doing to help out a stranger...

At least, that was what you had thought, until...

Walking back along the path to the isolated academy, the dense, natural forests decorating the path to the Academy, you spot the blonde-girl stepping off of the path, out of the morning sun, and into the darkness of the woods. She's a bit away when you see her, but your senses honed far beyond the usual limits of humanity, you note her hasty expression, the determined eyes, and even the sword at her side, strapped to the back of her waist, as she runs forward into the woods as if in pursuit of something, her pace far beyond that of any normal human you had met before now.

"..."

Curious...

[Zagrin]

Ryusei Nakata
Colset ~ Capital City of Agarta
Castle of Dusk, Morning

"I know of no such things."

"Aha..."

So she doesn't know anything about those places yet talks about locations I'd never heard of as if they were common knowledge. Though I found the very thought of it to be ridiculous it would seem that after I fell off the school I had gone and been transported to...some far off world? Or perhaps even something as crazy as another dimension even, honestly nothing would surprise me at this point.

Still whatever the case it seems as though getting back home was going to be a hell of a lot more difficult than I first thought.

"Are those the names of sky kingdoms? Are they where you hail from? You did descend from the stars after all... Or is this just a case of amnesia or illusions..."

I can't help, but feel slightly irritated by her words. I mean it's not like I can blame her for thinking that I could be lying or even just plain crazy based on what I had just asked. After all if someone had showed up back home asking about the places she had talked about I'd also be just a little skeptical. Still it's not like I'm suddenly going to dance around the subject or where I'm from, if there's some way to get these people to help me with my current predicament I'm going to be straight with them regarding all this.

"Sky kingdoms? I suppose that's kind of close since Celestia was a city in the sky, although it'd probably be better to say that I come from an entirely different world rather than just the sky above. A world which is still in danger so I need to figure out how to get back there as soon as possible," I look the young monarch in the eye as I continue talking, hoping that she would understand I was dead serious about what I had just said, "I know this may all sound a little...well actually a lot more than a little crazy, but it's the truth."

[Airen]

Ryusei Nakata
Colset ~ Capital City of Agarta
Castle of Dusk, Morning

"I see."

Calmly, and without taking her eyes off of you for a moment, the woman that had just had an absurd notion tossed into her lap seems to accept it after only the briefest moment of hesitation. As an alchemist, the woman had a pretty comprehensive idea of what the world was, and how the things inside of it functioned, and thus, the idea that someone could actually come from another world was something that she would seem to find absurd, however, it was because of this exact nature as an alchemist, as a person who studied for the purpose of crafting greater and greater things from the world itself, that she was aware of how narrow her comprehension of existence actually was.

In essence... While it was certainly absurd, and she had never come across anything supporting the existence of other worlds, that didn't mean they did not exist.

She could not deny it.

You had certainly fallen from heaven after all.

But, if it was true...

"Leave us."

Directing her voice outwards, quiet but firm, filled with an innate confidence that only royalty could possess, those summoned guards immediately exit the room without hesitation. Only a year ago she would have been challenged on such a command, the knights deriding her for her ability to use magic, but here, a year later...

It seemed they had come to accept her whole heartedly as well.

Of course, the same would not go for the stranger.

Magic was something that had been a heresy in this land for many years. Known as the weapon of the Demonic Forces, the people of Agarta were still adjusting to it's use within their lands...

If she had not retrieved the youth herself, things may have ended badly if anyone else had come across a "person from the sky."

That was why...

Now that she could sense the magic on this one...

She had to handle this entire situation carefully... From start to finish...

...Perhaps her kindness that had convinced her to bring the youth back here had gotten her into trouble.

Once the guards have left the two of you alone (at least, as far as you could see) the woman's posture relaxes ever so slightly as an invisible weight seems to lift off of her shoulders, although her face retains it's fearless confidence.

"...I do not know how to move from one world to another. If those claims of yours are true, then I fear you may be stuck here, but... Perhaps you would like to see the place where I found you?"

A pause.

Then, as if remembering something:

"Forgive me stranger, I have been impolite. I am Adelina Duskin. Current Queen of Agarta. May I acquire your name?"

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Path to Northern Cross - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

What is Elora doing, wandering alone into the forest?

That determined expression, the sword strapped at the back of her waist, and the pace at which she entered the thickets of trees made it seems like she's pursuing something.

The question is, what?

How very curious indeed.

Looking at the cake at his hands, Surga made up his mind. While he wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to it, tracking Elora later would be a pain. Not to mention she might get involved in something dangerous, and he wanted to make sure that she'd be okay.

"Sorry Miss Ariel."

And with that Surga followed the blonde into the forest, trying to make sure he doesn't destroy the cake while remain hidden from sight.

It would be troublesome if she noticed and asked him to return.

[Airen]

Intermission
Elora Griffin
'Doppelganger'

There was a rumor that had been going around in Tomobiki lately.

A small country town, it was common for things like urban legends to spread like wildfire throughout the populace. It was a simple enough story, and one that quite a few people had heard and dismissed as nothing. Going by the name of the 'Doppelganger Phenomenon,' it was said that if you managed to meet yourself within the confines of Tomobiki, then you would disappear shortly afterwards, spirited away by yourself, or rather, your doppelganger.

It was a silly story, and one that she had dismissed many times over the past week as little more than an urban legend. She had never seen any evidence of such things going on in her new city, and as a member of Sleipnir, she had been given no reason to believe such a thing as a malicious doppelganger existed. There were no Drive Unions on record at the school with such an ability, and while there were certainly some confirmed disappearances here and there, the numbers were no higher than they had been the previous year, and the higher-ups hadn't seen any cause for concern, their investigations into the so called urban legend coming up with nothing.

So she had felt quite safe telling her best friend not to worry, when he had come to her, saying he had seen his doppelganger watching him from afar, a lone face in a crowd. He had always been a little paranoid, the type of guy that jumped at shadows, and so she had just smiled and assured him that there was nothing to worry about, that the doppelganger phenomena was just a myth, and that even if it was real, that she would protect him.

Just like she had always protected him.

So why...?

Footsteps carrying her into the forest, in pursuit of herself, Elora Griffin glares at the sight of her own figure, something so similar in appearance it may as well be a reflection, giggling at her as it moves backwards into the forest, far beyond the pace of a normal girl, and far beyond even her own pace, which was beyond that of most people in this world.

Why had no one seen him since last night?

Driven forward by this question, by a slowly erupting anger that was already blaming the apparent doppelganger for her friend's disappearance, the girl that knows pursuing this person is probably a mistake, finds herself doing it anyway.

Because if she lets this person escape now, she might not catch it again.

Because if she lets this person escape now, she might not be able to find him.

Because if she lets this person escape now...

"..."

Eventually, her clone comes to a stop in a forest clearing.

The feeling of this place is bad.

Getting closer and closer to the old abandoned mines of the town, the trees around here are strangely dead, as if the land was poisoned, or stuck in some form of eternal winter.

She had to admit.

...It did feel rather cold.

But her Drive Crystal was burning.

"Heya me!"

Cheerful and friendly in tone, the sound of her own voice coming at her like this...

Sends a chill down her spine.

Even so...

"Where is he?!"

Straightforward and impulsive, the girl that had followed her heart's anger here does not feel the need to mess around with whatever the hell this thing happens to be, and to that:

"Hahaha... Where's the fun in me just telling you? C'mon, swing at me. Take a good whack at yourself for being a failure friend~"

A taunt.

Eyes burning with rage, Elora's hand twitches towards the sword at her side...

And watching, having kept up quite easily, Surga Utopia continues to observe.

To interfere here... Or just to watch to see what happened, to perhaps understand the situation better...

Hidden in the bushes, the boy is left with those options.

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Forest Clearing - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

Elora had been chasing herself.

It was quite bizarre, even for him. Seeing the doppelganger taunting someone who had the same face as herself, while the real Elora prepared to strike her down...

From what she had said, she is searching for someone.

Nothing will come out of it if he interfere right now. After all, he has yet to fully understand the situation.

So he chose to observe for now, hidden in the bushes.

[Airen]

Elora Griffin
'Doppelganger II'

"I'm not messing around, tell me where he is, now!"

Doing her best to keep her emotions under control, the girl whose anger was threatening to drive her forward instead just flexes her fingers a few times on the hilt of the blade, refusing to draw the hilt of her blade, or perhaps...

A part of her has simply realized it is a poor idea.

Not only having been drawn to a battleground of her doppelgangers choosing, but being openly taunted towards attacking her, the girl realizes the existence of the trap moments before falling into it in an emotional outburst, and trusting in her instincts, instead chooses to stand her ground, just yelling her feelings at her counterpart from a dozen meters away.

But...

Unfortunately...

"Awwww, your concern is so cute~ You're really worried about your little boyfriend aren't you? Here, tell you what..."

The moment she had willingly come here...

"I'll bring you to him."

She had already been entrapped.

The world around them flashes a brilliant green color as a special kind of 'field' consumes the natural world, passing through everything, and leaving every inch of the woods, from the once blue sky, to the dark wood of the oaks, a pale, sickly green tone. It is the strongest magical phenomena Surga Utopia has seen since arriving in this world, and while it does not seem divine, it's casting is so quick, and it's stability so great, that it could still be called an "impressive" magic, especially for something that seemed so much like a person, except...

No.

That person was not a person.

The more he looked at it, the more doll-like it seemed. There was little that could hide from God's eyes, and while the form of the apparent false Elora was certainly flawless on a physical level, you could just tell....

It was something else.

Still...

The situation changes in an instant.

The spell cast is one that is designed to drain magical energy from it's target. While in this world such a thing was known as "Seithr," the common principles behind it would have remained the same on any non-divine target. While Surga himself doesn't feel a thing from it, the magic far, far too weak to even hope to begin to bother even the lowest ranking of divine beings, the blonde girl he had followed here was a different story entirely.

In terms of subduing Drive Unions, this spell was probably amongst the most effective.

The source of a Union's power came from their crystal, which was made of Seithr, or, to put it more simply, raw magical force. Imprinted not just on their souls, but on the nervous systems of their bodies, the sheer act of something dragging magical energy out of her form...

Was akin to someone dragging a series of knives across each and every nerve on her body.

In terms of pain, it is close to absolute.

If she had been any less trained, she would have been screaming as every inch of her body feels violated by simply existing within this bounded field.

It had never mattered to the false Elora whether the real one had decided to fight back or not. She had never intended to "fight," the original one at all because there was no way for her to win in that regard. In terms of direct battle power, the real Elora dwarfed her in absolutely every category, but when the "fight" is actually an "assassination," well...

Battle power means little.

At least...

"You...!"

"What-?!"

It should... But...

Showing more willpower than any victim so far, the girl whose body literally feels like it's falling to pieces, stays standing...

And sprints towards her false self, hand balled into a fist, just because her fingers didn't work well enough for her to grip her sword.

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Forest Clearing - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

This is the second time Surga had seen magic in this world, only far more impressive than the one Kaz had used.

While he doesn't feel a thing from the spell, he knew that the same couldn't be said for Elora. If his assumption is correct, then her crystal would be the source of whatever powers or magic that she had similar to that of his Fate-Awakening Crystal. Because it is far weaker than his own, if she had her magic drained away from her body...

The doppelganger is not so foolish, even if she just seems to be a doll.

But what surprises him is what happened next.

Elora charged right at the doll, her hand balled into a fist.

It's a true display of an impressive willpower. She should be in pain right now, and yet she managed to ignore it and sprint towards her doppelganger. That's why Surga chose to observe just a little bit longer, if only to respect the girl's resolve.

But just in case...

He put the cake down on the ground.

Should anything dangerous comes at Elora, he'd be ready to interfere.

[Airen]

Surga Utopia & Elora Griffin
'Doppelganger III'

(BGM - Haste)

There was something truly fascinating about observing the struggle of a human being, or rather, the pure determination that forced a person to keep moving forward in spite of the odds. Her body barely functional, and the limbs she was forcing to move shaking with each and every step, the young woman that was nevertheless moving at a sprint had never once considered running away from her opponent.

Having already made the decision to defeat her fake and find her friend, she had never had any room for such thoughts from the start. It would certainly be easier to give up, with her entire nervous system rebelling in sheer agony, the purest forms of pain wracking her body in waves, she still crosses the distance between herself and her fake in the blink of an eye, her fist, the only part of her that wasn't shaking, darting out to smash into the false one's face.

But...

...It's not like she can hit the doppelganger.

Having observed their comparative speeds from the start, the simple fact of the matter was that the fake one was faster. Having been able to pick the battlefield by sheer virtue of being so fast as to leave her real self no time to call out for anyone else or risk losing her, the doll-like being manages to twist out of the way of the strike even in her shock, eyes now both confident and wary.

Failing her attack, the real Elora should fall.

Even darting across the clearing like that in her condition had already been an impressive feat, asking for any more would be completely unreasonable from any point of view.

But...

Catching herself immediately, teeth set in a fierce scowl, the blonde strikes out with her fist again.

And again.

And again.

The fake dodges like a shadow.

Disappearing at the moment of impact, leaving behind only an afterimage to take the strike in it's place, the clone is not something that can be hit, a representation of it's self as something "above humans."

But... Somehow...

Each dodge...

Was less and less perfect.

To an inexperienced observer, it would look like the fake was purposefully dodging everything at the last moment to mock the real one, but...

No... That wasn't it...

Rather...

The real one was getting closer and closer to her with each repeated swing of her fists.

Just by a little bit, but...

Striking again and again, driven by her resolve, her willpower, to at least strike this thing a single time before she collapses, the young woman hits her limit but keeps the gas pedal down, going beyond what her body dictates she can because she feels that she must.

And there, in that moment, the twelfth attempt...

There's a crashing sound, like a car slamming into a building, as the fist of the real slams into the face of the fake.

The fake is hit so hard, that for a moment, her figure flickers to something else.

A featureless doll, a shimmer in reality comes with each hit that follows, revealing it again and again, for longer and longer periods of time as the tables are turned, and bounded field or not, the real Elora steadily pummels her fake into submission, a decisive win for a human overcoming a monster. There's nothing the fake can seemingly do, stunned with each fist, from blows that get heavier and heavier as time goes on, the once proud and giggling clone is slammed into the ground with supernatural force, a panel in it's chest opening to reveal-

(BGM Off)

Wait-

Sensing a hint of divine power, Surga Utopia steps between the two without thinking about it.

There was a cannon.

A fragment of divine power, of something similar to the Fate Awakened Crystal inside of the apparent doll, and some sort of cannon pointed in Elora's direction, the only reason she hadn't been obliterated by the apparently divine counterattack was...

"Surga...?"

"What... Are you supposed to be?"

Because you had instinctively deflected it into the sky with your arm, the surface of your skin momentarily burned as the low-tier divine blast, a simple mass of divine power, soared off past the sky and into the depths of space.

"..."

The doll still on the ground, questioning your existence even as it's mechanical limbs whirl and shift...

You're left to wonder...

How exactly to proceed from here...

[Zagrin]

Ryusei Nakata
Colset ~ Capital City of Agarta
Castle of Dusk, Morning

"...I do not know how to move from one world to another. If those claims of yours are true, then I fear you may be stuck here, but... Perhaps you would like to see the place where I found you?"

I grit my teeth as the woman puts to words one of my greatest fears, though I refrain shouting my denial to such a prospect. The idea of travelling between worlds was already a ridiculous concept back home where gods were commonplace so it makes sense that such a prospect seems even more impossible here. Nonetheless the fact of the matter was that I had traveled here somehow so it stands to reasons that I should be able to do the same in reverse.

"Neither do I, but I'm sure that there's a way back. I don't know if it'll do us any good visiting that place, but I suppose it's at least a start in possibly figuring out how I traveled here."

"Forgive me stranger, I have been impolite. I am Adelina Duskin. Current Queen of Agarta. May I acquire your name?"

"Ah no worries, I figured you were that Adelina that the maid mentioned what with the way everyone seemed to be acting around you. Well as for me, my name's Ryusei Nakata, student of Ecclesia. Let's try leave for the site of my crash landing as soon as possible."

As I say that I try to sit up and get out of this bed, eager to start figuring out a way home. However for my efforts I am (once more) rewarded with a jolt of pain and me falling back into my bed.

"Aargh! Damn, that hurts. I-it's fine though, I'm sure I'll be able to make the trip to wherever that place is without my problems."

How frustrating...I need to get out of this bed already! I need to start...well doing something other than this! Was the damage to my crystal really so severe that I haven't been able to heal even this yet?

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Forest Clearing - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

That was close.

The divine attack just now had managed to burn his arm. He could survive a devil's wall of flame unscathed, so that shows how strong the attack was; Elora would definitely be dead if that hits.

The worst-case scenario had been avoided, but now how should he respond?

Looking straight at the doll, Surga almost introduced himself as a God before stopping himself. Not only because Ariel asked him not to "preach", but because after what happened at Ecclesia he couldn't really call himself as a "God." He's far too weak and imperfect, and to refer to himself as "God" would be an arrogance and ignorance at the same time.

That's why...

"I'm just someone who came from the sky."

He gave the same answer like he did with Elora a few hours ago.

"Now that your attack has failed, why don't you answer our questions?" Surga asked before adding, "And please don't try to do anything foolish. There will be consequences for such actions."

Feeling that his warning is quite clear, Surga put his hands into his pockets. He'd be ready should the doll tried to do anything suspicious or dangerous, and this should allow Elora to push her questions however she likes. Might as well help her now that it had come to this.

As for his own question...

"Where did you get that power you just used right now?"

Even if it's small, it was still a divine power.

The fact that a doll has access to it is concerning to say the least.

[Airen]

Ryusei Nakata
Colset ~ Capital City of Agarta
Dusk Festival, Morning

"Hmm... Well, now that you're awake. We can try a few more medicines if you're still in pain."

While you weren't entirely sure whether or not mortal medicines would work on someone with powerful divinity, (injuries had never lasted this long before) your body still had the base of a human, so you figured it couldn't hurt to drink what the queen had brought you. A brilliant yellow in color, it had resembled molten gold, and had seemed, quite decisively, like one of those "health potions" that always seemed to exist within fantasy novels.

It had tasted of apples, neither bitter or sweet, it had been a more cool sour taste, something fun to drink, in comparison to the medicines the humans back home had made, which was a compliment she seemed to accept, because she had apparently made this herself.

A Queen and an Apothecary?

Or maybe something else?

Regardless, in the end, you weren't sure if it was the medicine that had done it, or if your crystal had finally got it's act together and fixed your body, but after another half hour or so of waiting, you had finally managed to get out of the castle, and into the open air of the world outside.

(BGM On)

And really...

While you had felt that this world was very different from your own...

Actually getting out into it... Felt both bizarre, and strangely peaceful...

In a chaotic sort of way.

After all, it seemed like there was some sort of festival going on in the town below the castle. With hundreds of humans scattered here and there, some building stands, others cooking, passing around food and drink amongst themselves, still more gathering at the far end of the city with bows in hand, firing at distant targets in a manner that reminded you of both a military exercise, as well as a carnival game.

There were so many people, and they were all carefree in a way that you had never really seen before. Humans from your world weren't scared exactly, but other than those that became God, there had been a certain understanding of their place on the totem pole amongst the ascended ones. They were the weakest, most of them entirely dependent on the angels and devils to care for them, and while life wasn't bad like that, had, in many ways, come to be known as better than the old traditions, it had led to a decline in human ambition.

But here...

These humans hadn't given up pursuing strength.

Maybe it was because they didn't know of the divine, but there was a certain "pride" here that most humans in your world lacked...

So it really did seem...

Like how things would have been if F.A.T.E had never shown up...

"You picked a good day to fall from the sky," walking amongst her people without a guard, as if this was just the way she always did things, the Adelina that is walking alongside you, leading you towards a nearby mountain, speaks with a slightly less uptight tone, "It's the Dusk Festival. The anniversary of Agarta's founding, so everyone is in high spirits, it's the perfect time to welcome a guest."

A pause, then:

"Was your world anything like this?"

She asks a question that betrays a natural curiosity.

[Airen]

Surga Utopia
Forest Clearing - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

"Hah...Hahahahaha-!"

Even after having it's assassination attempt thwarted at speeds far beyond it's perception, the doll's response to your words is not fear or concern, but rather, a tilting, unsettling laugh that gets higher and higher in pitch as time continues to pass. There are a few different ways this could be interpreted, but, as far as you can tell, this is the doll's way of telling you that it would rather be destroyed then give up any information about it's activities.

Even though you were this close to it now, it was difficult for you to tell if the doll was actually alive or not. Rather than having a life force of it's own, it's movements were more akin to a puppet moving on strings, something animated by something else; and while the crystal shard in it's chest was certainly radiating a form of rather potent magical energy, it was not going towards animating the doll in any way, rather, it was just silently spinning in it's chest cavity.

Unlike your crystal, the power in this one was not infinite in scope.

More like a battery, the shot from power had drained it to an extent, and now it was definitely 'weaker' than it had been a moment ago.

Reminded you a lot of those "aberrations" or crystallized monsters, F.A.T.E had always liked to send after the heavenly cities.

Concerning, but...

"Stop laughing you freak... Where... Where is Guy Maxwell...?"

Ignoring the thing's laughter, Elora's voice is much, much weaker than it had been at the start of the fight. Eyes glassy and breathing getting more and more shallow, her knees are shaking to the point where it's a miracle she's still standing, the bounded field still taking it's toll on her body, and...

Before she can hear the answer, she slowly slumps over to the side, falling towards the ground-

And simultaneously-

You feel a spike in the crystal's magical energy. It is not a fool, while it had asked what you were, it had seen something similar to you before, and thus, knew that there was no way for it to even escape you, let alone harm you. Divine Beings with the right experience could certainly force information from it without it's consent, some of them able to do it so fast and so subtly that it would never even know it had happened, but...

You didn't seem to be one that could read thoughts.

You had been forced to ask physically, and while you could certainly resort to torture if it didn't talk...

It had already decided to take all of those options out of your hands.

The crystal screeches, going from calm to volatile in the span of a single heartbeat, and you know, instinctively, what it is trying to do.

It was going to overload it's crystal, and destroy itself in the explosion.

The blast would not be enough to kill you, it would hurt definitely, and your human senses rebelled against the idea of pain, but logically speaking it probably wouldn't incapacitate you.

However, if you did nothing to protect Elora, it would probably also kill her when it outright leveled the forest as well.

Denying you information, and threatening a life right in front of you purely because you had shown an interest in preserving it, the thing's actions are... Horrifyingly...

Driven just by spite.

There are many things you can do to protect the lives around you, it's not particularly difficult, even something as simple as punting the opponent into space would probably do it, but...

Either by killing itself, or by forcing you to kill it to stop the explosion...

It seemed like it had decided this was the best way to escape you.

...But was it flawless?

[palad1n]

Surga Utopia
Forest Clearing - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

Surga's mind began running full-force the moment the crystal started to go volatile.

Surga knew that the doll planned to blow itself up, killing Elora in the process while injuring him. It's not a pleasant thought, being hurt by the ensuing explosion, and the most apparent choice are to either let it blow up, or kill the doll to save both himself and Elora.

Either way, the doll would be gone, and Surga couldn't let that happen.

'But then what should I do?'

His mind running at godspeed as he started to reconsider all possibilities, trying to keep himself from panicking in the process, Surga took a good look at the volatile crystal...

When a sudden realization hit him.

From his observation mere seconds ago, the crystal in the doll's chest is not some kind of power source. It merely contain a potent magical power and spins in its chest while the doll itself is controlled by someone - or something - else.

In other words, even if the crystal is gone, if his hypothesis is correct...

The doll should still be 'alive.'

And thus Surga immediately thrust his hand to the doll's chest.

His plan is simple: Rip the crystal out of the doll's chest, and throw it to the sky as far as possible before it explodes.

It certainly would hurt, doing this bare-handed, and under normal circumstances Surga wouldn't have done it.

But this is a matter of life and death, and Elora is searching for someone close to her.

He is not God, but...

This is the least that he could do as someone who has the power to do something about it.

[Zagrin]

Ryusei Nakata
Colset ~ Capital City of Agarta
Dusk Festival, Morning

"You picked a good day to fall from the sky, It's the Dusk Festival. The anniversary of Agarta's founding, so everyone is in high spirits, it's the perfect time to welcome a guest."

"Aha..."

That was all that slipped out of my mouth, so engrossed was I by the sight before me. There was just so many people, but that wasn't all, they were all human as well! I mean I know that this is a different world from my own, but to see so many in one place was still surprising. Still perhaps what caught me most was the look on all of their faces, one which made it seem as though they all didn't have a care in the world. It'd be difficult to find someone back home acting in such a manner, at least in the Netherworld where the land wasn't quite so...green as here. Perhaps it was different for those people who lived with the Angels, I couldn't say since I only got to stay on one of their islands for a couple hours at most.

I have to admit I was actually starting to feel a little jealous of these humans for being able to live as they did while back home we only manged to scrape by. Then again it's not like it was their fault, rather it was because of that monster that such a future had been stolen from us.

I could feel my brow start to furrow as I began to understand more and more what we as a people had lost thanks to F.A.T.E. As if I needed any more reasons for me to take her down!

"Was your world anything like this?"

I raise an eyebrow at the question before giving the Alchemist Queen a wry smile. Well there's no harm in telling her, though I doubt she'll like the details much.

"I suppose that depends on the world since mine was technically composed of three," I raise up a hand and raise a finger as I name off each world, "There was Celestia, the Netherworld and finally the human world. Now I was raised in the Netherworld and just getting by was kind of a struggle so we didn't really have the leisure of hosting festivals like these. Maybe the higher-ups in the hierarchy there held something like this, but I can't really same. Same way I can't really say for Celestia since I've never actually seen how things are run there. Now you may be thinking why I was raised in the Netherworld since I mentioned that there was a Human World? Well a long time ago that world was destroyed by a monster known as F.A.T.E. It was sealed before it could do the same to the other worlds though, well that is until recently. Somehow she escaped her imprisonment and it's thanks to her that I landed up here somehow and why I need to get back as fast as possible."

I give a slight shrug as my explanation finally comes to an end.

"So I suppose my world is similar to yours in that it has humans in it, but otherwise it can be said that it's completely different thanks to that self-styled 'Ultimate Incarnation of God.'"

[Airen]

Surga Utopia
Forest Clearing - Tomobiki, Japan
Morning

"..."

With processing speeds far beyond that of mortals, the Surga Utopia that has taken quite a bit of time from his perspective to consider his options, looks like he moved immediately within the perceptions of the doll. Hand tearing through it's armor with a casual force that it simply could not comprehend, the dark-haired deity has already disposed of the crystal before the world itself can realize something about the situation has changed.

Seemingly faster than the world, the God looks up at the sphere as it rises at godspeed, body poised to cover Elora and take the brunt of the explosion yourself if you must. Surging with energy, crackling and screeching with a noise and form similar to that of electricity, the divine movements prove themselves to be ultimately unnecessary, the surging projectile failing to detonate until it had reached the upper limits of the atmosphere...

But once it does, the resulting affect dyes the world a sickly purple and green. A pure, shapeless pulse of divine energy that you cannot place, but that your instincts say is somehow similar in feeling to that of Rose, the clouds in the sky are instantly and completely banished from existence as the world flashes from the healthy blue to this new, distorted color. The world around you pulses too, a shock-wave of air, a remnant of the distant explosion, tears leaves from trees, but ultimately lacks the decisive punch of a true divine spell at this sort of range.

It takes you only a moment to judge that this is true, and thus, having comprehended everything about the next few seconds with a casual glance, you glance back down as the sky returns to it's usual shade of blue, hand darting out to grip the doll by the head even as it tried to crawl away in what it had falsely hoped was a moment of distraction for you. It's magic draining spell had come to an end, the sickly green that had consumed the forest fading away just like the green that had taken the sky, and here, with it in your hands, flailing uselessly at your body, frantic fists raining off of you but doing absolutely no damage, crushing it in a single move would be no more difficult that smashing a bug, but...

It had questions to answer, and...

Normal status restored.
All abilities on standby.

Crystal burning in your chest...

You suddenly felt like you could get the answers if you wanted...

New Fate Ability

-Revelations-
Cost: 5
The ability to 'travel' into the mind-space, or soul-plane of another existence, for reasons varying from curing demonic possession, to simply retrieving information from them by force. Requires physical contact. An invasive power, it could be called the heretical ability to steal information from others. Mortals do not normally bear resistance to this sort of invasive power, but 'touching' the minds and souls of others is something that can be traumatizing to the target, and if handled poorly, could turn them away from you forever. Divine Beings bear a certain innate resistance to this power, and while they are not immune, it is normally necessary to weaken the body before you can target the mind.