Lords of Creation (Story Thread 3)

[Philote]

(So Zaya teleported the Babysitter out of the dream, but it was only her mind in the dream wasn't it? So did her body teleport also or did the Babysitter make a new body when she got teleported out? Also, is Grace still awake? Or are they all asleep?)

"So Watchman, how are we planning to deal with them? They are clearly under the effects of something and if it is from a Divine Artifact it will be difficult to reverse unless we gain control of that artifact."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

A smile tugged at the corner of Uburra-Namall's lips.

"Excellent." She reached to undo the binding on her hair; her dark hair cascaded down her back, and she shook her hair, fluttering her eyes sweetly, "Wait here; I'll be back in a minute with things for us to eat."

The goddess strode slowly across the mountain peak, blushing as she looked back at her gift and at Crav (whose attention was on the beauty of the surrounding lands). Uburra-Namall opened a portal to her realm, and vanished down her illustrious hall. The portal closed behind her, and she pressed her back against the wall slowly. She closed her eyes with a heady sigh, and called sing-song down the halls...

"Daughters..." She cupped a hand to her mouth, "Oh, daughters!"

Light bent in seven directions all around her; the Seven Sisters were snatched through space-time to her side. And as they reeled from the uneasy jaunt, their mother spoke.

"Oh, good, you've arrived." she began.

"Not like we had much of a choice, Mother. You DID summon--"

"Not now, Nasta!" the love-goddess interrupted, trying not to lose the emotion that now burned in her heart, "Mummy's talking. Now, while I have you here, I need a huge favor from all of you...Vai, be so kind as to bless the mirrors; The Crafter deserves to see himself for how handsome he truly is. Prasim, go with Indiva to polish all the gold and precious stones. Nasta, stand guard at the door, and keep out Khadai and The Twins. Eda, get on it with dinner; sense what food will satisfy him, and yet leave him wanting more. And Slomna...Desra...come with me girls. You two are gonna help me bag a man..."

The goddess' daughters nodded, and the team split up to their duties. To her fortune, the task would be hyper-accelerated by the rules of her realm.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(Grace and about half of Miks heroes stayed outside to keep an eye on things while the other went and souldived into the crystal network. Also, yes, I think there are two Babysitters now. I'm not sure how I'm going to play that one.)

[Zaleramancer]

(Two bodies, one soul..)

The shimmering silver orb quietly changed into a small silver box as the group entered the room.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

The Watchman turns at the sound of running feet, catching sight of his charge just as she see's him and skids to a stop.

"What are you doing here?" they ask in stereo.

She answers first, quickly. " Seriously, when did you show up? Why are you here? Why's Gil here?"

"Uh," he says, shifting his tone. "I was worried about the two of you."

"I've been gone, like, a couple hours."

"You were gone a day. What were you doing?"

This new seems to slap her right in the face, as the Veteran and Gant's crew make their way into the room. Th Babysitter holds her hand to her forehead, leaning against a convenient wall. "Dreaming." she stammer. "I think I've been dreaming."
She explains to all present exactly what went down; What she had learned of Miks condition, the trip inside the crystal, the memory dream, what happened with Zaya (careful to leave out the unsavory bits, of course). "And then I fell out and ran into..." she looks around, seemingly seeing Gant for the first time. "These guys. Who are these guys?"

"I'll explain when we have the time. Right now, it seems like we have to save everyone who's trapped in there AND deal with this thing that crawled out of Miks head."

"Why do you have an axe if you're just learning this now?" she asks, innocuously.

"Why do you have a box?" he says, hastily changing the subject.

"I don't have a bo- oh wait I do have a box look at that." She looks over the silver box, the other leaning in for a closer look. "I think it's from Zaya." she say, lifting the lid ever so carefully.

[Philote]

"This new Spirit has only had a few days to act" Gilgamesh says "Even with him gaining power from his domain emerging in the world, we should be able to handle this if we act swiftly."

[Zaleramancer]

Something slipped from the box and a large, cracked pithos.

Words formed on it..

A Gift To My Beloved
An Army Like No Other


"I remember that, Old Goragantatales, was it? He gave u..." Gant began, before a voice forced her into silence.

This Facade Ends Now

A pale woman emerged from the door, flanked by the twisting monster that was Itself. A dozen people of all shapes and sizes followed behind.

"The deterioration will only get worse." Sonia continued. "Already, confusion grows. We are stealing far to much space in this narrative."

Glancing sadly at the pithos, she sighed.

"He always loved giving us gifts." The pale goddess turned to BS, "Ah. You remind us of so many people. Trust. Such a hard thing to get."

(Create Divine Artifact: Army of Jan. -12, Create Divine Servitors -3, Miracle -3)  

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"What does this do?" The Babysitter asked aloud, turning it all over, oblivious to the group of people that had come in behind her. She peered into the jar.

The Watchman and the Veteran were far more interested in the group that had just shown up. They started talking as one.

"It's good to see you're awake. Who are all these people?"
"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you were spookin around in that cave?"

[Zaleramancer]

"It's an army in a can." Tez spouted happily, overriding Gant as she opened her mouth.

Dez looked at Sonia and Itself.

"I expected this. Are you sure we shou-"

Yes

"I am certain. Some of us do not appreciate this new found independence. It is to painful."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"What do I do with it?" she asked.

[Zaleramancer]

"Why, you open it, of course." Sonia said, "Then make your request.."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

She slowly opens the jar, and peers inside. "Uh, hello. Um, hi. I don't know if you can do this or whatever, but, like if it's possible, could you help everyone that's trapped in sleep right now. Like, bring everybody back, safe."

[Zaleramancer]

It vibrated and shook, then something small and red shot out.

A feather of the brightest crimson fluttered through the air.. and another appeared beside it. An explosion of feathers followed as something.. grew..

White tappered sabatons clicked as the hit the floor, followed by long legs clothed in red velvet hose. A tunic of crimson was covered by a white curiass and a cloak of blood red. Two arms covered in red cloth vanished into white gauntlets and vambraces and a long, feathered neck sprouted from the curiass, blossoming into a plain, circular white, mouthless mask with two ruby eyes. A gold and white spear clicked into one gauntlet covered hand and a Armet style helmet appeared in the other as the figure stood in attention.

All in all, it looked like a medieval knight mixed with a french musketeer, after going to a masquerade ball.

It turned to the Babysitter.. and changed.

A rich, twilight purple began to spread across the red clothing and whole constellations and heavenly bodies began to dance across it. Arcane patterns worked across the armor, and the mask blanked and smoothed, becoming softly triangular. White, almost ceramic looking armor became more leathery.

Standing in stiff-backed attention, it looked at BS.. almost as if asking for permission.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Oh, wow, uh..." she searched for what she could possibly say, and found noting.

The Watchman was also a taken aback by this creature. He looked between the stammering Babysitter and the creature that had mimicked her. "Good lord."

The Veteran bent down sympathetically to the speechless girl, and whispered something in her ear. She perked up immediately, and cleared her voice as he took a step back and admired the knight.

"Good form, Soldier. Excellent. At ease?"

[Zaleramancer]

A rich, thrumming and androgynous voice echoed from the figure.

Thank you, Commander.

Relaxing slightly, or simply moving to a lower level of alertness, it continued.

I shall be your second in command. May I request clarification of our orders, Commander?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Second in Command? She had a command? The full implications of this had not yet hit the Babysitter.

"You may, uh yes. What do you need clarifying?"

The Veteran meanwhile had sidled up to the Watchman, and spoke in a low whisper. "I think I may have just lost my job."

The watchman leaned over to him, and replied. "If only we could all be so lucky."

The pair chuckle quietly to themselves, before the Vet speaks out. "I was only half jokin about that."

"So was I "

[Zaleramancer]

"Don't worry about that. She'll want your advice something fierce." Whispered the voice of Gant, who moved with surprising silence for one so large.

With the selective attention of the highly trained, the second in command continued.

You wish for the retrieval of several persons from another plane of existence safely into this one, correct, Commander?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Yes, yes I do."

Silence hang in the air, Before it's broken by the Veteran. "Clarity, girl. It's asking who exactly it's supposed to be looking for."

"Oh, right." She stammers quickly, and waved her hand over the unconscious on the floor. "These people, all these here need to be brought back and returned to their bodies. Oh..... except...... her." She said, her eyes falling upon her supine body for the first time. It only added to the surreality of this whole situation.

"And?" The Vet said, stepping forward.

"And what? What?" she asked, confused.

"What sorta danger can they be expectin to face?" He said, slowly.

If he could make expressions, the Watchman would have given Gant a wry look as a new dynamic formed right in front of his face.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yes, I don't know if you guys have memories or not, but if you do something in there can wrap you in them. Just remember that it's not real. And I don't know what the others are facing in their dream things, but it will probably be dangerous. Maybe enemies. And if you see these huge shadows in the distance, that means that you don't have much time. Keep them away from the shadows."

"Is uh, is that what you needed?" she came to an awkward stop.

[Zaleramancer]

Yes, Commander. Permission to being?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

She looked back to the Veteran, who nodded his head. She nodded back, and turned to the Janite. "Permission granted."