A world of white stone in all directions, perspiration dripping from stalactites into rivers and pools held in basins of vibrantly coloured earth. The group sit atop a tall spire, the occasional drop of pungent liquid gracing them from above. "I don't think we can just ignore this. Everyone here, except Muscles, seems to be an enemy of the angels. And especially Teacher, you seem to have some important history with them. Have your memories come back yet?" Aleph regards Fluffy, giving her soul a quick spin to gauge its state. "Should be back to usual for the most part. I still can't remember the things I shouldn't though."
"Then let's start with you. What history do you have with angels?" "I have no memory of enmity with them. If anything, they kind-of just feel... there. A neutral party I don't have any real opinion of, despite the intense dread I feel about being discovered by them now." "Strange... And you don't know anything else about them?" Aleph perks up, her tail lightly wagging in excitement. "Oh, I know a bunch! A pan-dimensional collective spanning an infinitely larger territory than even the demons. Their ranks are split based on how much power is granted by... Hmmm... A bit hazy on that one. They also have access to the most versatile pure energy I know of."
The group face Aleph, taken aback by her uncharacteristically wide array of facts on the reclusive beings. Lyly steps forward, still combing her fuzz to try groom away the unbound energy which has almost certainly faded away by now. "You aren't an angel yourself are you? You seem to know an awful lot about them." Me? An angel? There was that one time I reincarnated as a demon... But you can't really be born an angel. What about my original life then? I know nothing about it... Still though... "If I was an angel, several things would no longer make sense. The demon summoning would have been rejected on principle for one. And Fluffy can vouch that he and I don't have the same energy as the archangel we met. Past lives aside, because I genuinely don't know, I am not an angel."
Lyly shrugs her... legs? The rest don't react, evidently unbothered to begin with. "How about you Lyly? Do you have history with angels?" "Nah. Just conforming to peer pressure." Blank stares assail the arachnid, mercilessly bearing down on her without refrain. "I'm kidding. Laugh at my funny joke idiots. Anyway, angels have killed me just as many times as demons. If not more! There was one weirdly ambiguous case..." The continuation of the stares elicits a blank stare of her own. Luckily she has a pair of eyes for each of them, or she wouldn't be able to keep up.
"What now?" "You don't look very dead." "Oh we want to get into technicalities, huh? Well too bad! You're not prying any secrets from me!" I think I have an idea about her secret. "What about you, elf? You seemed pretty damn pissed to me." "I lost family to the war with Osalaleus." "Oh..." Silence cloaks the group, sympathy melding with lingering resentment to form an awkward atmosphere only enhanced by the ever droning drips from the ceiling. "After driving back the invaders I stepped through the portal to their capital. Not a wise decision, but I was young and wasn't exactly thinking straight at the time. It was then that I encountered an archangel for the first time. I barely made it out alive."
"You're lucky." Aleph asserts, her expression turned serious to Fluffy's surprise. "It's rare for a mortal to come out of an actual fight with an archangel alive, let alone in one piece." Fluffy shakes his head, leaning back in resignation. "It wasn't a fight. It toyed with me, beating me senseless without hope of resistance just to prove a point to its followers and boost morale. It let me live so I could return with a message." "What was the message?" Didi asks, her eyes gleaming with with childlike curiosity. "I forgot. Hard to remember such a convoluted message through the delirium of near death injuries and fatigue from a week long battle." The sheer disappointment in her eyes cannot be quantified, seeming to drain the world of colour and leaving behind naught but a desaturated gloom whereupon hopes and dreams could once be held. "Wow. You really can compete with the dragon on memory issues."
"Pffft!" A series of chuckles spurt forth in sequence, directed at the forgetful fool who simply stares back as the group burst into laughter. Though it seems he isn't immune to it either, joining his companions in a harmony of giggles and roars. It takes a minute of teasing remarks and back thumps for things to die down, returning to the tranquil melody of ambient drips. "I guess we should set off soon." Aleph concedes, her paws pressing into the pale earth to stand. "Aww, are we not going to ask about Gol Dhee and I's relationship with the angels?" "I'd wager that neither of you have even seen one until today." "I've... seen them..." "In person?" "In books..."
A palm plants itself on Aleph's shoulder, golden eyes meeting hers with fatigue. "Perhaps we shall take rest first. Most of us are weary from battle." I tend to forget how exhausting things are now that I have this much Aether... I should keep perspective in mind. "You're right. Let's sleep, then figure things out in the morning." "It'll be midnight when we wake up, but sure." Lyly lightheartedly complains, skittering to her perch. Aleph nudges the rest of the group to rest upon her, without choice of course, before allowing herself to slip away as well.
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I... eyes... need Aether... stronger... memories... name... my name... I must not... I must... I... so many... my fault...
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"Hey! You good? You don't usually sleep in like this." "Hm? I'm fine. Just a weird dream." Aleph stretches and shakes herself awake, the rest of the group already up and getting ready. "You still get those, huh..." "Nah, I got used to those ones. This one was just weird. I can't remember it clearly, like I'm playing with fire just thinking about it." "So... More creepy eldritch stuff?" "Yea, pretty much."
Her eyes turn to Fluffy and Didi, sorting through the group's equipment to take stock and prepare. Goldy performs some form of morning routine, stretching with uncharacteristic supplety for someone of his build. Lyly of course stands tall and proud above the entire group, from her perch upon the tallest member of said group. Aleph flares her wings, the crackling sounds probably just from stretching her joints... probably...
Gripping the rough stone surface with sharp claws, Aleph begins her descent from the spire, steadily pacing herself towards a small lake as the others hop and slide down beside her. The air grows thick and humid, the scent of sulphur and burnt matches beginning to overwhelm and push away any earthiness or life within the wind. Before they can reach the foot of the spire, Goldy leaps in front with arms held wide to stop them, eyes narrowed and focused downward towards the pool. "The air turns hostile." He asserts, an underlying uncertainty in his voice.
"Let me take a look." Aleph steps beside him, spreading her Aether wide. A faint flash of violet surrounds her before spreading too thin to see, settling into a stable bubble to sense all motion iin the air. The air below us is slightly more dense. Poison gas? Her Aether grips at the heavy air, spinning and twisting it, forming a small vortex as she kneads it like clay. From her manipulations, small drips of fluid form, having cooled and compressed just enough to condensate. Pulling it towards herself she looks it over, the rest of the group following suit.
"Water?" Lyly asks, poking at the clear drops of fluid floating in front of her. "No, it's about twice as heavy. Probably acid." The arachnid immediately pulls away her probing leg, glaring at the danger juice like her worst enemy. "How do you know it's acid? Could be the other thing." "Alkaline? Maybe? But I think the offgas would be harmless to breathe, which this clearly isn't. Either way, this route clearly isn't safe. Fluffy, is this normally an issue for you?" Said elf stands open-jawed, staring blankly as if the worlds mysteries have just been solved for him. "So that's why I keep getting sore throats here!" Well, he's useless.
"If we want to take the same approach as that ocean layer I'll need more Aether. Creating an air bubble is way more difficult than with water." "Is there even any wooshoo here? I haven't seen a single living thing since I got here." "There's an ocean of it way below us. Beside that..." Aleph looks up towards the cores of light floating in place, their forms seemingly a wall of Aether in her eyes. "Those cores have a lot. More than the ones above." Fluffy looks up to the same orb, a curious glint in his eyes. "Why haven't you been sapping them dry thus far then?"
"Because it's harder than it looks, and I don't know who I'll be pissing off. Especially now that I know angels are involved, I'm even more hesitant. Not to mention, I'm not too big into damaging entire ecosystems. Seems like a bad idea." "Those things use Mana, don't they? What's this about athuu?" "Hmm... Gimme a second." Crack! Aleph leaps, soaring up to the nearest core and gripping her claws around the smooth surface. The heat is barely kept at bay by her own Aether as she drags it down, the orb resisting her every motion in an attempt to return to its former place.
Crashing into the ground, she presses the orb down, holding it back as the stone melts around it. The group gather around the struggling orb, watching as it jerks and tugs beneath Aleph's claws. "This definitely uses Aether. It's some kind of device for creating light and a strong pushing force." "I had always wondered why I sensed a presence in these. So you can instil Aether into objects like this?" Fluffy runs a finger along the surface of the unruly ball, mapping out the faint grooves and rune-like symbols with rapt intrigue. "With enough Aether and a strong enough intent you can make it do something like this pretty much indefinitely. Not sure what the symbols are for though."
Lyly hops down, skittering over for a closer look. "Some of these are actually pretty common spell runes, most of them less so. Like I said, this thing uses Mana like crazy. I'm still better at it though." "It even seems to have a bit of demonic energy in it too. Strange, since you seldom see it used in technology like this, but I suppose it could help prevent either of the other energies from interfering with each other. I've seen similar ideas used, but never to combine energies like this." Didi adds, her eyes fused into one orb as she peers closely. Goldy meanwhile sits in a corner, his faced scrunched in a manner clearly asking 'Orb of light make light. Why so complicate?'
"So what's the risk?" Fluffy asks, his interest in the device having faded. "Pissing off whoever put it here. We don't need enemies capable of building a place like this." "Then why not ignore it? If we just brute force our way fast enough there won't be an issue." "Goldy doesn't have the kind of all-round durability we do, and I don't know how Didi's body reacts to acid. Not to mention, these rivers of acid have to be going somewhere. What's on the next layer?" "Ah, right. I guess that would also explain why the lakes below us keep giving me a rash. I always thought it was a weird infection." When he's distracted by wildlife he becomes a raging moron. Noted.
"Well, I'm going to take the Aether. It's a lot, so I shouldn't need to mess with many to get what I need for filtering air." The orb flickers, its light dimming and the stone cooling as every speck of Aether is torn from it. Releasing the core, she watches as it lethargically wobbles its way upward, slowly floating to its place in the sky. Pretty robust design if it still works after losing one of its core energies.
"Say, if the orb thingies made by the creator of the labyrinth use the same eldritch voodoo as your athuthathi stuff... Does that mean the Progenitor is also an eldritch abomination like you?" "Yes, probably."