[IC] Ever Dream, The Worlds of Life (Closed)

[Jochannan]

Rose departs the company of the alliance. When outside the palace, she clicks a button on her arm armor and the seven rings descend from the sky and emit a flash of light. She dissapears, and the rings ascend to the doubtlessly waiting battleship in the sky.

On board the 'Grace', the council of Archangels meets.

Rose: "This is a waste of time. We are once again forced to rely on our gods, who will doublessly do what they will no matter what we say. That, wretched, blaspheming heretic insults our lord and presumes to demand his council at the same time. He demands that Joxandar conform to HIS time-table! And he shows no reverence for the trust and holiness of the task our lord set before him. He shows no appreciation for alerting that heretic of the impending doom."

Davion: "We should have hunted him down decades ago, and magically imprisioned his soul."

Jochannan: "Rose, why is your lip bloody?"

Rose: "Cheap shot, if I ever see him again I'll make him pay for it."

Jochannan: "You will move against the enemies of our lord when, and ONLY when, our lord commands it."

Ursula: "Jo'Karr entrusted Albedo with this for a reason, we must trust his judgment. Our lord knew full well the arrogance and folly of Albedo, and yet he has not made a move against him since Alexandra humbled him."

Rose: "Our lord has bigger concerns than one fool titan. We should humble him again."

Jochannan: "You have played your part in this Rose, I will attend this task now."

Rose: "NO! I was appointed to this, I am the greatest warrior of us!"

Jochannan: "And I am the greatest of us. I am head of this council, and I have been training, even with Albedo's own men, to fight and punish that man for thousands of years. If he proves to be a detriment, I will remove him from this universe as a thorn from our feet." Jochannan fingers a blue crystal, the size of a fist, in his hand. "And if he is the champion he claims to be, but has never yet been, then this holy mission will be sucessful."

Jochannan, Greatest of the Archangels, Archmage of the Angels, The Gracious Alchemist, descends to the world below with his holy armor, holy weapons, and the blue crystal in hand.

"I appologise for my predecessor's rashness, I am Jochannan, and I will be taking her place."

 

[Albedo]

Albedo and his son arrive at Zhyreus. The Titan begins searching Shara and Jo'karr, but when he comes upon Joxandar instead, he is indeed surprised. "I can't imagine events which would cause such a drastic change in you Jo'karr, but that is irrelevant. I have come here to judge your intentions, and I intend to do so, even if you have undertaken such an alteration. But before I do, I wonder if you could show me the way to Shara. I have important business to discuss with her as well."

 

[Jochannan]

"I left her in a section of the plane that folds in upon itself. It is a Gods sanctuary in this plane, and even you cannot go there." (I mean it, don't say that Albedo can go there, he can't) Joxandar's voice evokes both memory of battle and of his 'humbling experience', and Albedo can clearly distinguish both Alexandra's and Jo'Karr's voice in the new god's.

"Come to judge me have you? I believe my intentions were made clear last time. Surely, you don't beleive that I've lied to you?"

Joxandar's eyes shine with a golden white light that Albedo definitly does not remember Jo'Karr or Alexandra ever having, the light both calms him, and unnerves him. In fact, the God's entire presence is more than a little creepy, with a palpable effect upon the mortals' body language.

 

[Albedo]

"Lied to, not at all. But if you recall, you are the one who claimed the responsibility of planning U-DO's downfall, and it seems to me that you may have "forgotten" your part in this whole thing. And so I must ask you, why is it that you feel U-DO must be brought down. Secondly, are you going to be the one who actually does it? AS for Shara, that is unfortunate that she is in a place I cannot go. Am I to assume that this place is only accessable to gods then?" Albedo's tone betrays some sort of smugness, but he doesn't reveal the source of it.

 

[Jochannan]

"Shara is tired from confronting Umbryn." The statement has a tone of finality, as though there is nothing more to say on the matter. "She will reveal herself whenever she feels like, as always." There is none of the smugness in his voice that can be found in Albedo, merely quiet acknowledgement.

"You know my reasons, I enumerated them clearly. U-Do has revealed to me a complete disregard for the value of mortal life. He seemed greatly interested in an artifact of universe shaking porportions, an artifact that he himself created, and used to help initiate the greatest slaughter of mortals in universal history. Knowing this, I beleive that the next phase of his plan, or perhaps the final goal, will undoubtedly serve only to cause yet greater destruction. If this information is not sufficient, then nothing I say will have any further impact. As to my transformation, that is a personal matter unique to myself, and none other, not even Shara. As to my absence, I do believe I stated that I did not have enough information to act against U-Do, and surely you have not missed the mass invasion of the material plane by soul-stealing assasins? The matter received my fullest attention. Now I have become aware of an even greater threat than U-Do, which Shara fears above all others. I trust her judgement. If this matter is the greater, then that is what I shall focus on."

 

[Albedo]

"And if this matter is so great, shouldn't we be dealing with it as well?"

 

[Jochannan]

Joxandar straightens up to his full, eight foot height. He looks up with a serene expression on his face. His eyes glow brighter.

"He is here." His voice is cold, emotionless, chilling, prophetic. "Volkath the Destroyer has come." (He's sensing the events around the Dark Star and the Black Pillar)

A moment passes, and Joxandar looks down upon Albedo.

"Return to your people, they will need you." Joxandar makes to leave, but then turns once again to Albedo and his sons.

"This is the last time I shall speak with you. You have shown me, and all the gods great dissrespect. You have behaved as a being much more important than you are in the grand scheme of things. If you seek me out again, you will find only the Angels. Tread lightly with them, for they bear you much hatred, and they are capable of ending you, forever. Know that if you provoke them, it is highly unlikely that any god will come to your aid, since you have dissrespected us so often."

Joxandar vanishes.

In the divine shelter, Joxandar comes to Shara again.

"I can feel him grandmother. I am ready. I have had an epiphany per instant since my re-ascension, and I have many tricks up my sleaves. I cannot defeat him outright, but I know that I can hold him back for a time."

He reaches out and takes ahold of her hand.

"I must go and speak with grandfather."

He vanishes again, and appears before Traume.

"I can feel him, grandfather. I have come to you for a reason. I seek to 'borrow' the power of entropy, for a time. I will surrender it to you when this task is finished, or upon your request."

 

[Albedo]

Albedo shakes his head, "Jo'karr, it is you who shows the greater disrespect to the gods. I question you because you are not the same person who came to me for assistance against U-DO. When you were but a mere Titan, you realized you were not the greatest in the universe, and yet you gave it your all to protect it. Your ascention back into their ranks has once again filled you with arrogence and the illusion of importance. You are not the one and only holy power in the universe. You are one of many with different views and methods. I have come to see if this change has altered your convictions. By holding yourself above the doubts of others and ignoring the views of others, you and you angels have become quite the dissapointment Jo'karr. Do not worry, I shall not try to find you again. I do not need failures to complete my tasks." Albedo turns to his son. "Albaedi, we need to go see Shara now. Think you can handle it?" Albaedi simply nods and focuses on the task at hand. Albedo and Albaedi are transported into the divine shelter. Albedo calls out to Shara, "Shara, I have a matter of great importance I need to discuss with you."

 

[Jemal]

A voice, hoarse and whispering, filled the minds of Endovior, Albedo, JO'kar, and all the others who had decided to oppose U-DO.

"I have heard all you have said. I have listenened, and I know how to ensure U-DO's appearance. The Great Rebirth is at hand, and U-DO will not miss it.. Especially when I will be there to fulfill the last part of his plans for his Relished Sword."

Simultaneously, U-DO received the same voice in his head
To U-DO:
[sblock]It is I, Jemal. I know what you are planning to do with that sword, and I approve. I will not hinder your attempts, in fact I will provide you with that which you seek... The sacrifice of a GOD.
When Othar came back, I began receiving visions of the future, and have been planning this for some time.. I will give you my Godly Form, my divine spark, to power your sword on one condition. You strike me through at the moment of the Great Rebirth, allowing me to send my conscious on to the next stage of Divine Evolution.
[/sblock]

Othar:
[sblock] "Othar, The end CAN be prevented. WE can stop them if our timing is right. You will know what to do at the time of the Great Rebirth
[/sblock]
Soon thereafter, Jemal appeared near the star that was to be the Point of Rebirth. His appearance was haggard, he looked paler even than he had when first he died, or when the demons had him. He looked as though he were on the verge of death.

 

[FreeXenon]

@ Zhyreus (Divine Shelter)

The father and son, Albedo and Albaedi, the Half Aelven, vanish is flash of light and appear in a shadowy chamber with a faint source of light above - a small pinoint of white light that brings shadows everywhere and to everything like and impenatrable blanket of darkness. In the distance you see what appears to be an spartan and empty throne of sorts and next to it a humanoid form seems to be standing.

As you move closer Albaedi definitely senses something is not right. Fear wells in his throat and sense of loss and desparation wash over him. Albedo feels the strength of the gloom and oppression as it assaults his very divine essence, but he proves to be much more resistant to its effect. The powers at work here are not what he used to feeling. This not something he has felt before - it is something alien, raw and primal - yet its full potential seems to be held at bay - poised, tensed, and waiting.

You hear quite moaning and wailing and an occasional high pitched scream - a quiet cacophony of fear, horror and desparation raging against the oppressive gloom, trying to lift it like a veil that imprisons them for eternity. The gloom is almost palapable and at times it feels like you are swimming through it. You can almost feel the flow of shadows on your skin as you move forward. It seems as if the very chamber is working against your very being - draining your will the move forward and to fight on towards your destination.

As you move closer the darkness gives way you and see more of what is happening in the shadowy gloom. Shara's unmistakeable limp form is chained to the wall being choked by a creature that is made of light and of darkness at the same time. It giggles with maniacal glee as it continues its assault on the Godesses unconscious form. Its laughter echoes in the chamber and then is followed by another feminine laugh that you could have mistaken for someone else, but it is definitely Shara's laugh, but at the same time it is not.

Her voice has always been filled with kindess, caring and a maternal touch. This laugh is hard, crazened and cold, but it is still Shara in some way - in the cold methodical notes a hidden lyric tension is held. The duoed laughter grows louder and louder - echoing and distorting each other until it is an unbearable riot of sound and then the crescendo ends. The long scene almost seemed to be a vision or dream, you are not really sure which, if either.

The darkness ends and you find yourself in a bright chamber that seems to go on for eternity. You see a horizon and light quells you sense of distance and orientation. A brief moment of vertigo sets in and then quickly ends.. In the center of this eternal lighted nothingness you see a single circular glass bed with a white cusion and blankets. The stark white of this chamber is highly contrasted by Shara's greatly tanned skin. She lies quietly on the bed and seems to be sleeping soundly. Her form seems quiet and peacful in the lighted chamber. A vision of serenity verses the gloom of the moments before. She moans quietly, then is silent and unmoving for long moments as you wait.

Shara, The Light Bringer (Light, Life and Wisdom)