PSL - Felih and Rihnn go to the First...

[featherfoot]

And it's not right.



P'rihnn is honestly not sure what happened. One moment he had been fighting Zenos - or rather, Elidibus in Zenos' skin - and the next he was here. He vaguely remembers being hit by a powerful headache and seeing Elidibus approach him as if for a decisive blow, but the voice that had called him didn't seem quite the same as before. Was this how it had been for the others? For the Scions? Did his body lie on the ground in the Ghimlyt Dark, soul torn away? And for this?

He looks around his surroundings, frown growing deeper and deeper as he realises he hasn't the slightest clue where he is. There is no place he knows with such dense, purple foliage... and the light shining down on him is strangely oppressive, though he can't say why.

Fortunately he can see a nearby structure, and what looks like it might be a path. He can vaguely make out something beyond the trees, too, so... that way, then. After checking to make sure he still has his chakrams, just in case, P'rihnn makes his way to the wooden structure, looking around him to see if he can spy someone he can question.

Comments

[seasoflight]

Felih had only just taken hold of the strange device he'd found at the base of the Crystal Tower, the headache hitting him hard and fast before he found himself flying through a rift of aether and memories and darkness- only to wake in this strange purple forest.

He'd never seen such a sight, and he slowly sits up in confusion and gets to his feet, checking to make sure his things are still with him. A quick check of his soulstones and to his relief, his faerie familiar springs to life out of aether and settles on his shoulder. So his stones have kept their characteristics.

His chakrams are safely at his hips, tome in his bag, and he spies the Crystal Tower in the distance.

If nothing else, he recognizes that tower very, very well. A quick chat with a traveling trader later- a man who looks unnervingly familiar- and he makes his way to what appears to be a gate or guard post barring his way to the tower, and he hesitates.

None of this, save for the tower, is familiar.

He's distracted when Holly flies off his shoulder and starts to flit and curiously circle another stranger approaching the gate, and he follows her in confusion.

"Holly- don't bother strangers!" he chides, before looking at the other man before him. "Er, pardon... do you happen to know where this is?"

All the while, the faerie is looking in blatant befuddlement between the other Miqo'te and Felih.

[crystaltower]

The Exarch had wondered if the pair would return to him for more information, but it seemed that after making such a terrible impression, neither of them thought he would offer up any answers. Fortunately, they were able to figure out what to do and where to go without his input, leaving him able to observe through his mirror in the Ocular as they travelled through Lakeland in search of the Lightwarden. He leaned heavily on his staff, not willing to find a chair just yet, and kept his eyes fixed on the two.

Two Warriors of Light, their aether almost identical in such a way that they might as well be the same person... how in the world had that happened? Furthermore, it seemed that P’rihnn recalled exactly how he had first called upon Felih, so very long ago, and worried over the fate of the Scions. It was no wonder he was so quick to hate him, especially when denied his answers.

The Exarch supposes he should seek a way to put him back where he came from, and yet a small part of him can’t help but wonder if P’rihnn’s presence might change something.

His functional ear twitches as he feels another presence, and his posture straightens.

“Don’t.” Whatever comments his ‘guest’ has to make, he doesn’t want to hear them.

[crystaltower]

[To keep bad-end timeloop AU in the same place, but this is divergent from the main thread. Why? Because pain and suffering.]

This should not have happened! Not like this - it has never been like this!

In fact, Vauthry's retaliation wasn't even always a given - there had been several cycles where it had been averted entirely, sparing the Exarch the agony of seeing his people so brutally massacred once more. When it wasn't, he had always made advance preparations, reducing their losses greatly from that first horrific onslaught.

This time it came early. His preparations incomplete, his order to withdraw too late, and the sheer number of Sin Eaters far beyond what it had ever been before. Many had even barred the gates, actively preventing people's retreat. What was different this time? What had provoked such an increase in aggression? It was all the Exarch could do to maintain the shield over the city and protect those who remained, hoping desperately that his people and the two Warriors of Darkness would prevail.

He doesn't know what has happened when finally the barrage ends. He doesn't dare even look, the mirror that serves as his window to the world remaining a blank and glowing blue as he drops to his knees under the strain, staff clanging to the floor.

Is this... the end of it? Do they live? Does Lyna live? He doesn't want to see - doesn't want to see the brutalised remnants of all those people he silently cares for. Not again.

Already, he is tempted to loop back once more, but first he must at least motivate himself to see the damage. He must at least make sure it is still possible to achieve his goals, even with what he assumes to be a far greater loss of life than he would ever have wanted, but...

He cannot bear to even look.