A Game of Gods Season 3: Terminus

Dead World

-Staring wordlessly at the sky, Njall's hand drops to his side. The elements' fury is lessened around him, but the link to the spirits that allowed him to summon an icestorm or split the earth with a thought is gone. Did they perish along with the world, or are they in hiding?-

-Several sets of heartbeats disappear momentarily, only to reappear inside the small hut. Toph goes inside, noting a new vibration, a man lying prone.-

"...Ho..." Letting out a brief exhalation, Lucifer cautiously flew along the area while snapping pictures here and there, particularly of the three peaks that grabbed the most attention. Such a world reminded her greatly of what the dead cities became when they were left behind during the great sundering that separated Heaven from the Underworld itself, the Almighty raising the myriad floating city states high above the tempestuous storms that marked a clear boundary between the upper skies and the hellish place that lurked underneath.

Even now though, there were some places that the demons found and repurposed to craft into a twisted version of what Heaven had like that of Beelzebub's Flies City. Still, not all of such under-folks were bad. The more powerful tended to have a much better head on their shoulders and could even be reasoned with, the lesser and more bestial ones meanwhile could be gathered under a single banner to be used for better things than simply satisfying their short term destructive impulses.

Flitting to the next place that jutted out in the far off distance after finding that her immediate surroundings were not without too much clues other than the fact that something unfortunate happened that probably involved great force and heat, the angel flew forward an aura that spread out from behind her head that lit up the surroundings with a luminous twilight. They called her the Morning Star and she lived up to her name, providing gentle illumination that was not as harsh as the rays of the immediate sun while advocating the beginning of the new day.

"If there is anyone here, please come out. I simply wish to talk." Speaking firmly at a loud but not overbearing level of volume, the angel would stop for a moment outside of the new peak while hovering in easy viewing distance. "If there is no answer within a minute, I shall simply head inside. I don't mean any harm." Counting down mentally, the woman would then do as advertised if nothing showed themselves.

Ilya - Dead World's Shack

"Fiiine. I forgive you, but just remember to give an early warning next time, okay?" Still slightly pouting at what happened before, Ilya nonetheless understood where the Pokemon Trainer was coming from and decided to drop the subject.

"And yeah! There's always snow where I come from Tohch, all day every year and as far as the eye can see! Snowstorms are frequent around the castle but when it calms down, I used to play lots outside and collect walnuts from trees and shrubs. I was a real rascal back then and a master collector too, yep!" she smiled, though it has a more melancholic feel to it rather than her usual cheerfulness. Reminiscing on bygone days, that simplistic game was one of the few experiences she cherished most to this day.

Then the other Climbers started talking about getting to the Key, which puts the homunculus out of her daze. "If the key is beyond the sea, then all we need is a big sturdy boat to get us there, right? We already have a seasoned cat pirate with us right here to navigate it. And your telepathy sounds convenient but unless you're planning to act as our center of communication and actively transmit someone else's thoughts to another on your own, we still have to figure out how everyone else can communicate easily without shouting out loud."

'That and because I'm not sure of how taxing it would be for you to do so. And while I may comply because it might be necessary, I don't doubt there's going to be others who'll probably be more than a little ticked off at having their mind and privacy potentially invaded. Me included~' the homunculus thought to herself, both to see if Sabrina really can read minds and to warn her that others might not look too kindly at that.

"If it helps, I think I can come up with my own crude way of communicating through the storm." Twiddling her finger around until bright light-blue strings started appearing from the fingertips, she proceeds to form quick letters one at a time at the air in front of her before turning her palm into a fist and summoning her familiar up into the air upon opening it back up again. "I can make quick simplistic letters or signals and utilize my familiars, but I'm not sure if any will be more effective than simply shouting words to each other."

Edited by JustSomeGuy732 on Apr 6th 2019 at 5:44:00 PM

Alicia - Dead world shack

"Gods, I was joking about having to swim to the key." Alisaie looked out at the storm again, expression souring. "If it truly is across the water... surely putting out to sea would be madness in this weather?"

She looked to the feline mariner for confirmation on this, before turning back to the others, and more specifically their new local guide. "Before we get ahead of ourselves, Miss Tohch, do you know where the key to the tower is enshrined?"

Sabrina, Dead World Shack

Which is why I only brought it up when I felt it was necessary, Sabrina telepathically sent a message to Ilya just to prove she could hear the sent message, before she reverted to talking. "I will admit I may have a problem sending messages between people, though."

She looked over to Tohch, "Both are unimportant at the moment, but telepathy means I can communicate with another person without speaking."

[THUMPED]

Edited by JustSomeGuy732 on Apr 9th 2019 at 2:26:19 AM

Claw, Lil' Shack

Having seen the sheer size of Berserker, the pirate was obliged to agree with Ilya's statement. "I would have figured. Burly ghosts ready to punch the lights out of an offender likely aren't common to come by otherwise." He nodded at Jotaro's pondering. "Nathaniel Claw." He introduced himself to Alisaie as well with a salute. "Our best bet would be to ask this Disputer fellow to see if he knows anything about the rain and how to stop it. The raincoat would be nice, but that kind of downpour, you'd think Neptune himself is responsible."

"We've got the online communications set up between some members of the group, but... I don't think any of us is part of that web." He noted, looking between the selection of decidedly magical and undecidedly technical characters gathered around. Ilya mentioned that Claw could navigate the "big sturdy boat" should they procure one. He couldn't help but smile a little. "And I'd quite like that." Alisaie had understandable objections about the plan though. "Although we should try to figure out a way to make the storm smaller if that's at all possible. That kind of weather isn't impossible to navigate in, but most of us would have to pray for success the entire voyage." And have a lot of dumb luck, but he figured that was obvious.

And then the big idiot from earlier shuffled into the shack. Combined with Berserker's size and the general quantity of persons in this little building, Claw's eyebrow furrowed in annoyance. "Alright, that's enough of cluttering about! We can discuss all this once we're somewhere less oppressive."

"Oh, I know Baby Guts over dere." The Baron grinned his golden grin. "He a homie of dreams. What 'bout dem ladies over there though?" Here he gestured at the previously-quarreling botes. "Or dat kittycat, for dat matter?" Then his golden gauntlet gestured towards Jubei.

Dave, 4th Floor

"Ah, cool. Nice to meet you, Jubei. And you too, Sumireko."

Sumireko talked about the kinds of foods she liked to eat, which made Dave wonder - did they have Alchemizers in this weird world? That's how he made food pretty much all the time, so his cooking ability might be pretty damn rusty at this point. Oh well, he'd figure that out when it became an issue.

"Oh, hey Baron," Dave said to the big man. "I'm Dave."

He then noticed something peculiar - a robot lady. OK,that wasn't really peculiar at this point, but it was kind of neat.

"Kos-Mos, huh? So... probably a dumb question, but are you a robot? Or some kind of cyborg, maybe?"

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Apr 10th 2019 at 9:21:55 AM

Fourth Floor Breakfast Bash

In the depths of her black box, KOS-MOS shuddered at the word "kittycat". Then she turned to the fellow in the sunglasses. "Your question is not 'dumb', Dave. Your recognition of the nuance that I could be either a robot or a cyborg based on the designation I provided is an indication that you are intelligent," she countered logically, and continued to answer his query, "I am a robot designed for combat operations to counter the threat of Gnosis, which are speculated to be a form of alien life. My current body was designed and outfitted by Shion Uzuki and Allen Ridgeley, formerly of Vector Industries, with the help of The Professor and his Assistant, Scott."

"The individual with feline-like features is named Jubei," the blunette replied to The Baron, "The two female individuals have not yet identified themselves, but are familiar with each other, and may have been enemies in the past."

Lastly swiveling to look at the pair of anthropomorphized warships, she called toward them while beckoning with a hand, "The act of self-introduction is important to the foundation of unit cohesion. Please identify yourselves to the group as soon as possible."

Kirito, Fourth Floor Breakfast Circle

"Thank you very much."

Komachi gave me the go-ahead, and thus I sat down and partook my meal.

"Nom."

Yes, I made that sound as I ate. I tend to when I'm really hungry...

The onigiri was perfectly cooked, and the meat I had been given, venison most likely from the taste, was just as heavenly. Maybe they tasted so good because of the life-threatening situation I was in?

KOS-MOS introduced some of us, and I nodded in kind as I chewed.

"Yeah, the Baron and I have met. It's a pleasure to meet you... uh... the Kid."

I also nodded towards the individual named Dave as he joined us. This was slowly starting to become a crowd, and I tried to hide my general mood of uneasiness the best I could. Was pretty hard.

Sumireko had asked earlier about typical breakfasts, and it wasn't... the worst conversation to distract myself with.

"Instant ramen sounds like my typical breakfast too. Been trying to have more variety though, after my sister convinced me to."

Guts, Fourth Floor In a Corner

So the Baron was still intent on giving him whatever help he could.

Eh, his choice.

And so Guts quickly finished his meal, before deciding that now was a good time to go over his weapons one more time...

He silently laid out the black cloak on the ground and got started.

"Indeed, I am but a simple waka poet from a bygone era that went by the name of Ono no Komachi. There's not much more to know about me other than the fact that I crafted flowery verses and lived a simple life." Waving off the fact that she was the Japanese version of Cleopatra when it came to certain standards or the fact that she had a great hand in building up the culture of Japan through her 'foibles', Komachi let out an unassuming smile as she looked at the others that were doing their little show and tell.

And then promptly homed in on Kirito as she gave a small but exasperated sigh at the fact he endured on a diet of instant ramen for the most part. "A growing boy like you should at least take the time to eat heartier meals... Getting the proper amount of nutrition is an important part of building up a healthy lifestyle for both mind and body." Truly it seemed that the modern day youth were spoiled for choice and proceeded to see it fit to lay waste to their own bodies when they had the proper means of procuring easy accessible and perfectly healthy food at their literal fingertips.

Piling up more excess meat and pushing it on over to the rail thin youth, the poet lacked the sort of desirous zeal that she held prior and calmed down into that of a stern but well-meaning person of the older generation. Though she never had any children of her own, the woman did make it into the vaunted twilight years in her first life at the ripe old age of 75 (a very good number for that particular time period).

Given the fact that she had a soft spot for children in general as well as the fact she had been beholden to the four seasons of life's vicissitudes, the youkai was surprisingly fussy in this particular regard. Sumireko likewise also got gazed by the granny spider before meat was wordlessly pushed her way. With the way that the current selection of people arranged about her, there was no need to be a seductress and the aspect of an actual properly functioning adult was brought out onto the fore.

Kashira Lavellan - Fifth Floor - Lost Souls

Kashira raised an eyebrow at the Disputer's last words, but nodded silently. If only it was that easy. I get attached. You can't lead and not get to know people enough to care about them, not if you have any kind of decency. Creators...I hope I never get to where I don't care.

Giving an approving look to Elsa's costume change - Now that's magic that every Orlesian noble would kill for, not to mention every spy in Thedas. I'll have to ask her how it works later - she led whomever was coming with her over to the exit to the Outside. It was some distance off, but unless any of them had anything else to say, it would be a quiet walk. Sometimes it was best just to be alone with your thoughts.

The Kid turned his attention towards the woman who had spoken to him, taking in her strange clothes and thinking over how she had acted. He supposed it made sense that she was,being different to the usual person, Considering she wasn't a person at all, apparently. He was really curious about how she worked. The mechanical Pyth statues were run on coal and gears, and could do little more than attack and guard an area. And yet, the woman was some sort of weapon. "How do you work? And think?"

Haseo- Disputer, 5th Floor

"Will do."

No one needed to tell him twice about people in life coming and going. He's had more than his fair share of that.

"Ah, welcome!" He responded to the Young Girl.

"And yes, the lass over there is right. Nice to meetcha!" He greeted the Baron.

"You're sister has good advice." He, too, homed in on Kirito. "Ya ain't gonna get anything done if you don't watch yourself, kid, and that includes what you eat."

Baron, Fourth Floor

"Hello dere, m'man." The magnificent golden opulence grinned at Dave before KOS-MOS gave the name to the cat person (though this one was more cat than person unlike the grumpy pirate cat). There was the spider lady from what seemed like more ancient Japan than the extent of Baron's knowledge about that cherry blossomed country. What was waka? Who knew? Certainly not him.

"Pleasure. Thanks for watchin' over dem lil' playas." Here he gestured at Sumireko and Baby Guts both. "We shouldn't be putzin' 'bout for too long though. Dere's another Floor to beat up, after all."

Jibril - Leaving Disrupter

Without an answer from Kashira, Jibril watched as she walked off. So Jibril followed, but before she got for she turned and waved to Disrupter. "Well it seems we must be off! Thanks for the information. Byyeee!~" Jibril spoke with an affectionate voice, then turned and followed the elf's lead. "I suppose you don't think so then? Well, as it is in my world dealing with the rules of a game is completely inflexible so at least there we have to follow the rules of a game as an absolute. Outside the God of Games' domain that we have the luxury to discard rules we do not like."

Elsa - Of Course She Has a Grasp of Law; Fifth Floor, Moving Towards Outside

Elsa nodded one last time to the Disputer, and followed Kashira towards the outside of the tower. While the Locksmith had warned them about the Disputer, Elsa couldn't help but think he was a kind, if pessimistic man. Or, whatever he was.

But the burden of holding the fate of others in her hands was a familiar one. She would do the best she could for these people.

Jibril continued to apply the logic of her world, a world of games and gods, towards their situation, now on the matter of the inflexibility of rules.

"Rules always leave room for interpretation, though." She commented as they walked. "Loopholes, oversights, vague wording. Even if something is written in stone, stone still weathers over time."

Kirito, Fourth Floor Breakfast Hangout - Sandwich-kun is sorely missed

There was a distinct feeling that I was being babied a little, but that came with the territory. I was a sixteen-year-old among older adventurers, immortal cyborgs and talking cats (whose age I could only tell from his gravelly voice).

I wasn't about to defend my lifestyle as a shut-in, so I kindly accepted their words of advice with a nod and another audible chew of venison.

I looked to Komachi as she pushed another round of meat my way.

You could tell from her words that she was deeply concerned, like Mom or my sister would be. That actually took me back, and contrary to how a teenager might usually react to being nagged at, I couldn't help the smile on my face. Mister Jubei got much the same, before I stuffed more meat in my mouth. Maybe it made me look stupid, but I was in no position to be concerned about how I looked to other people.

The whole time I thought about how perfect this meat would've been in one of Asuna's sandwiches, and how she would've teased me for the childlike look of wonderment in my eyes whenever I ate one of her meals.

Ryo Saeba - Leaving Dispuster to the outside

Ryo was impressed with Elsa's little speech about courage. Such steadfast convictions was both a very admirable quality in the sweeper's eyes and something he knew a guy like him could never have. He let his admiration show on his face and in his voice. "Wow, those are very cool lines you just said! Compared to that, I was downright embarassing." He let out a small self-depecrating chuckle while letting a little sweat drop. "But I meant what I said: I'm going to reach the top, shoot this jackass and go home. I don't mind if a pretty lady like you call me an idiot for it." He accentued the last part by winking at the snow queen.

Anyway, Kash was going toward the exit and the City Hunter had to go sometime if he wanted to actually reach the top one day. And so began to follow the elven woman. He let out a appreciative whistle at Elsa's new clothes. The regal dress wasn't half-bad, but the more adventurous ouftit was also pretty great. He did a thumb-up . "Looking good there." Once again, an attentive person could notice he was focused a bit too much on the lower back. Jibril's talk about 'games' and 'rules' was met with a shrug. "Meh, rules are just things most people get around or break in secret. That's how it works back home. And I have no problem with giving up games I don't like."

...Did the spider youkai just say "Nom?"

Like a cat meme? Literally, unironically saying "nom" while you eat...?

Wow.

Sumireko couldn't help but stare at her a little. That, and the way she admitted that she shared her modern morning plight made her wonder just what century she was supposed to be from. She spoke like a fantasy character, and acted like...

Sumireko had no idea.

She took the meat from her, but a little less wordlessly. "Thanks, and...I know this isn't the best situation, but hey, it means no more ramen for breakfast, right? Thank god."

Dead World.

As Claw would later say, Toph's addition to the room made everything that much more packed. For someone like Tohch this was nothing, of course, but even she could figure out that maybe it was getting uncomfortable for her guests.

One arm blocked from raising by Jotaro's bulk, and the other by the metal wall, Tohch settled for a nod and a smile towards Toph as she said "Hi! It looks like...everyone's here!"

Ilya's description of snow year-round sounded unimaginably dreadful, even deadly. She came from a place where it was frozen all the time? She didn't stop smiling as her eyes widened, but her tales of wintry fun back home just made the girl wonder if there were places even worse than here.

Also, she had absolutely no idea what a walnut was, so her response was "Show me your collection when you can!"

Speaking without speaking sounded like that one thing that Papa Disputer could do, where he drew lines on paper that apparently meant things. So that's what that was called. "You must be pretty smart if you can do the telepathy, Ms. Sabrina. Can you teach me sometime?"

And, lastly, Claw's attempt at getting everyone out was successful. Tohch didn't wait a moment to throw herself out into the storm and open the door for the rest of them, and carefully they'd all be able to squeeze back through the low door.

Once it was shut and he was alone, the man in the back of the hut gave his thanks to some unknown thing, and tried to go back to sleep.

Moreover, they could also now see the fruits of Njall's labor. The storm was still strong, but not nearly as wild as it was before, and the howling of wind and rain lowered enough to where they could speak loudly instead of shouting.

And guess what, that made it a good time for Tohch to respond to Alisaie's pertinent question. She nodded and pointed out to the sea. "I do. Everyone goes there at least twice in their lives, and I went there when I was younger. I could get you there easy, as long as you can do some climbing. It's at the top of a really long set of stairs."

Lucifer's light made the shattered glass on the floor glitter like a starry sky, and lit the darkness inside. The edges of her vision were still dark, and the way forward was just as unlit, but there wasn't anything impeding her path ahead. Past a very specific line, it seems that the mess of many years of desolation ended with a completely spotless, concrete floor.

When she spoke, nothing responded at first. About 10 seconds in, there was a brief metal scrape deeper downward.

50 seconds in, and something came to greet her.

It poked out from an archway, its metallic body serpentine in shape. It lightly swayed as a few lights in its "head" slowly orientated themselves towards the Morning Star.

Looking like a long chain of silver spearheads, interlinked like armor, it raised itself, still carefully undulating, up to about eight feet before stopping. Chrome bristles and small appendages lined its underside, and its inner workings could be seen through the small gaps in its "shell".

Its four eyes, just simple white lights, continued to stare at her. Otherwise, it did nothing else.

Edited by wikkit on Apr 27th 2019 at 12:30:18 PM

Dave, 4th Floor

"A robot that hunts aliens, huh?" Dave asked. "That's pretty rad."

Among all the commotion, the Baron gave a reminder that they had much more to do than just hang out around the campfire.

"I guess we should probably get going... eventually, anyway. Doesn't seem like anyone is ready just yet."

Letting out a pleased hum when she saw that both malnourished looking stick children were partaking of proper sustenance, the surprisingly (currently) tame spider woman then poured the both of them cups of tea as well before sliding them on over.

It appeared that the oneesama levels she had in her were much higher than anyone would ever figure out on their own. And not in the despicable 'ara ara' manner either. Just goes to show you that noble Heian women were much less likely to get up to their indiscreet shenanigans if they weren't bored from being cooped up in their gilded prisons.

"My, you're a big one aren't you." Commenting idly as she tilted her head back some to regard the creature that had slithered on out to meet her gaze while not minding the fact that such an overly edgy construct that could no doubt do a lot of damage to unprotected flesh was now rather close enough to strike.

"Like I stated prior, I mean no hostility. I simply wish to figure out what has transpired. There lives a settlement of descendants stemming from those that managed to survive whatever it was that broke this civilization below the heavens. Their lives are hard but they are a stubborn bunch that do their best to not only survive but to live. A bit foolish, but at the very least trusting and endearing. And so, I wish to help them out even if only a little bit. Do you bear knowledge of what is lost, guardian?"

Not mincing words in the least and speaking to the creature as equals rather than anything derogatory, Lucifer could only commend it for its loyalty if it was indeed that. Hopefully it wasn't a scavenger though, otherwise her ad-hoc attempt at piecing together what its occupation was would fall down like a house of cards.

Edited by Makaioh on Apr 28th 2019 at 1:00:05 AM

Jibs and Co

As they approached the exit to the outside world, Jibril responded to Ryo's comments. "But of course! The Eighth Pledge explicitly states 'Being caught cheating during a game will result in an instant loss'. Meaning that cheating is expected, you just have to be smart about it! But you didn't live in a world where being caught caused reality to enforce the bet you lost. Or worse, having no magic capability at all and being unable to prove the cheating of the other side." Without waiting for the others, Jibril pushed ahead out to wherever this path led.

Ilya - Deadworld's Shack -> Outside

She almost had just about enough of being forced into the building only to be forced out shortly after. Pouting, she went out of the door that Tohch had graciously opened. At least the horrendous weather was slowing down a tad compared to before.

Summoning a single bird familiar, she had it sent towards the entrance of Tallhome. Best to leave something behind for the others to follow in case the current group went far ahead of them. That done and overhearing what her guide had to say, Ilya replied, "Well, that's convenient! If she and the others here can make it out beyond the sea where the key is at, I don't see why we couldn't!"

She looked back and forth between the group(particularly at Mr. Claw) and the rafts on the shore with mild excitement. She's never been to any sea voyages before and she's eager to find out what it feels like!

Edited by JustSomeGuy732 on Apr 30th 2019 at 9:07:58 PM

"As you currently pose no threat to her.... that is more then agreeable... it is not like we are going any where on our own any way", Kawakaze replied to Minianapolis with a nod, before subconsciously checking her torpedoes when they were mentioned, "though... I dont think my lances are that useful here your guns are the bigger threat."

She then turned her glance to Kos-Mos "I am IRN Kawakaze, a modified Shiratsuyu-class destroyer, layed down in Fujinagata Shipyard as a weapon of war for the Sakura Empire...", she then trails off and folds her ears as she realizes she is unable to perform her duties here.