2017-06-04: The Promised Land

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<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

The meeting has been set in the most hallowed place for the Metal Demon race.

Mother has been left, in her slumber, mostly alone. Her cocoon hangs from great cables and chains in the innermost lair of the Photosphere. The room is bathed in a pale green light, from both the flashing monitors and something... else. Something otherworldly. Something that comes from that pulsating cocoon, covered in a film that isn't quite flesh.

The platform before it is empty, something approaching reverence for a people that know little of it. Siegfried, of course, is the one who will approach her. The leader of the Quarter Knights holds the Teardrop in his hand, so all can see. It glitters, blue and bright, as he looks at them. Alhazred had done his investigations, to be sure it was safe.

"Gather, all of you," the Quarter Knight commands. He cannot -- and does not try to -- conceal the smile on his face. "Let Mother see that her children have gathered, when she awakens again."

His summons was absolute. This is history. This is a crime, committed a thousand years ago, made right. This is what will make a millennia of battle, suffering, shed blood, and obscure darkness worth every loss. He wouldn't have one of his miss this moment.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied is not here, at the chamber of Mother, often.

But when she is, she's always filled with a sense of serenity and purpose. While she has had her doubts about Mother, she has always clung to the spirit of her endeavour -- that she is their saviour, bringing them here from the brink of destruction... though records are scant, she has always believed that Mother was not in the wrong, that she was filled with love and understanding for all, and will bring peace and serenity to the world.

This much, she has to hold onto.

It must answer for the milennia of battle -- what they've been turned to, all of them; warriors, indoctrined for the purpose of vengeance for Mother... worth it. It would make the destruction of Arctica, and the assault on Adlehyde... it would not excuse it, but it would bring some light upon the blood that they have spilled...

This much, she has to cling onto.

It must...

The winged woman is present, bowing her head -- she's draped in one of her Ellurian cloaks, which covers the injuries she's received during the battles. She's been busy in the past few days -- she's been seen to and fro Old Petra and tending to the troops, counseling them with their woes and reigning in some of the most belligerent egos. No one likes to say it, but a batch of their troops have not seen real battle outside of Arctica and now Adlehyde -- and a lot of the reality of battle may not line up with the doctrines they've been espoused to. It would be easy to just cast them aside. But... that is not her mien.

"I am here, Lord Siegfried," she whispers. She looks towards the Teardrop -- she bites her lip, trembling. She can vaguely feel it... the light of the Guardians, and what comes from beyond it. She cannot help but still fear it. Much like what Catenna exposed upon her, at the Fairgrounds... and that one other time...

She looks towards the great coccoon of Mother, her lips pursed slowly, bowing her head once more.

<Pose Tracker> Berserk has posed.

Berserk's spent most of his time since returning to the Photosphere gloating about how he got the Teardrop and lording it over pretty much everyone, especially the people he doesn't like, who are considerable. He's probably still doing that.

"So much for all that convoluted, sissy little planning! Told you we shoulda done it my way from the god damn beginning! GA HA HA HA!"

Kind of like that.

It makes for delightful ambience.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied and Berserk have known each other for centuries. In these centuries, Riesenlied has developed something of a cultivated art for dealing with Berserk:

Smile politely. Nod.

It's best not to dwell on it too much.

<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.

Berserk is regaling his admirers with the story of how he took the Teardrop from the humans. AGAIN. It was clear the Quarter Knight didn't mind repeating himself. And repeating himself. Then again, any excuse for a party. There hadn't been a party in the Photosphere for over a millennium.

<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.

Malfi had heard the tales about that one, spoken in whispers in her creche. How Sir Alhazred had gotten drunk and ditched the robe. It had Gotten Worse from There, or so rumor had it. No proof, though. Not that anyone would've /wanted/ to see the proof, if it existed. Alhazred was grotesque. Malfi felt sorry for Lady Harken if /those/ rumors were true, too. Nevertheless, it isn't like the elders care anything about her opinion. This party actually seems rather sedate: lots of eating and drinking and talking, and maybe a bit of dancing, but nothing too wild.

<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.

Not long ago, Yarobeleedt was found burrowing out of a tunnel near the Starfall Saloon as the Demon forces were retreating with their prizes. He was shot up, burned, lacerated, and also... kind of bloated? More than 'kind of'? He gibbered and screamed all sorts of things nobody cared about while weird human edibles dribbled out the side of his mouth. The sight of what he was like was enough. They might have even intended to leave him there to rot. Then a Metal Beast dragged him back home anyway, as is their simple-minded wont, where he proceeded to vomit up even more strange human concoctions somewhere far more inconvenient than even the last time while professing just how amazing a job he did (which absolutely no one believes). He did not get defeated by humans. He did not get a whole new ^Big Flower^ shoved into his maw. Not at all. He was not felled again like he was in Arctic-- okay, this last part is half-true, he didn't get any more crippled, nor fall into a torpor. This day is to be a happy day. Not even Yarobeleedt could ruin it. It is the happiest day for him, when Siegfried of the Quarter Knights sends their summons... you could hear the happy screeching all the way outside the Photosphere (that's exaggerating... only a little). Oh, how he always wanted to come to Mother's chambers! (How many times has he attempted this uninvited? Let's not go into that.) With official invitation, Yarobeleedt slithers in as fast as his lower half can ambulate across the Photosphere, so joyous as to be drooling off the side of a long, dangling tongue as his spindly, gooey fingers make scraping noises. They got the Teardrop (thanks to him, in his own twisted little mind), Mother will return...! If Malfi thought Berserk was intolerable, there's... this guy, who just barged up about as far to the front as he's able to with a zeal that borders - and maybe even annexes - perverse. "Mother, Mother, Mother, seeing is be leaving~"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

In the end, there are not many occasions that could bring Noeline back to the Photosphere, especially not with the secondary base now established in New Petra - but this is certainly one of them. Whatever else the capricious spy might think about the war between human and demon right at this moment, she's aware that the only way to quell - or confirm - her confusion and worries is to not turn her gaze away from whatever might transpire in this chamber today.

She has accompanied Riesenlied, of course, having decided on her own bat to join the ranks of the Ebony Wings shortly before the attack on Adlehyde. No-one in Photosphere really paid all that much attention to her declaration - just another confusing, oddly wilful action from one of the stranger and more suspect Metal Demons around. Perhaps being human-touched was just another way to count as a Tainted? Either way, most decided she could simply rot with the rest of them.

At the very least she's turned up in her armor, a little common sense suggesting that it might be more respectful than showing up in her Crimson Noble 'disguise'; predominantly black but highlighted in blues and purples, the bodysuit and plating still show scratches and scars from the battle in the Adlehyde Fairgrounds, one entire arm of the plate missing and apparently shorn off.

Helmet off, the spy drags a hand back through her mane of dark hair as she stares silently up at the form of Mother above them; at the back of her mind she feels the little prickle of Duras Drum's presence, and quietly hopes that her fears are unfounded.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"Berserk," Siegfried says.

The other two Quarter Knights are here -- but they stand back a distance. Alhazred talks more with his maddened followers, while Lady Harken watches in silence. That allows Siegfried to fix the other Quarter Knight with a glower most stern. "Be respectful," he says. "At this, the hour of our holy Mother's awakening."

And then he nods, once, to Riesenlied -- though as he speaks, he looks too at Noeline. "Even you... even you never met her, Riesenlied. So few of us have survived. She would have liked you. She told us, often, of the new world that she dreamed of."

And they were prophetic.

"Pay heed, all of you," he says. "This is what our kind have driven themselves to extinction for. You carry the hopes of all of Hyades here. After today, our task is to live--for the ones taken from us."

Siegfried sucks a breath in. He steps forward -- and a hand reaches out, to pull Yarobeleedt back. "She will need her space, Yarobeleedt."

Siegfried steps past, then. A stairway leads up into nothing. It still falls some ten feet short of Mother's cocoon. He holds up the Teardrop, then -- and it gleams. It /shines/, bright and blue. Inside of her, Noeline can feel the stirring pulse of Filgaia, as the Teardrop shines even brighter. And then, Mother's cocoon shudders. It pulses, and yet doesn't fall away. But, behind it, a pair of eyes open and shine with their eerie, golden light.

The voice that comes is soft and sweet, because it is always soft and sweet. It is gentle, even when it is cruel, and it comes with a clarity that belies a thousand years of slumber. The look on Siegfried's face is one of awe -- of happiness, undiluted and so rare.

"Oh... my children. My children! I... I feel..."

The cries of the Metal Beasts echo, all in unison, as they howl and roar to welcome their Mother's awakening -- and yet, they may notice the way that those eyes quickly begin to dull again.


<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.

Malfi gasps, too overwhelmed to do anything more. Mother was really coming back! She was far too young to have known Mother: to her, the goddess has been only a myth, a legend, though physically present, if in torpor.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied is heartened.

How could she not be? She trusts Siegfried. She has been his comrade, learning under his tutelage for strategy and command, for centuries now. Even if there are things that they disagree upon at times, Siegfried has her trust. And when he says that she would have liked Mother, she believes him.

"The new world..." Yes, that philosophy that she holds true to the tale of how Mother brought them from the brink of salvation.

Riesenlied's pupils dilate slowly as she watches the cuccoon rouse from splendour. She looks towards the rising form of Mother, as she whispers to them... she steps just a bit closer, perhaps still mindful of Noeline even at this moment. She quietly reaches over to hold her hand tightly.

"Mother..." she whispers, her voice drowned in the echoing roar of Metal Beasts. But she can hear it. She can hear her awe. Their saviour has returned...

Will this bring forth... the new world that she seeks? The one where they can all flourish in?

<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.

"Eeepu!" The annoying, now-eternally malformed Metal Demon squeaks as Siegfried pulls him back - but he is entranced by the words of their leader. What their kind have driven themselves to extinction for - to what he himself suffered so terribly for. So much shame, so much pain, so much being a measurable percentage of that suffering just by /being/ in the last seventy years (but especially the most recent two or three). "Off curse, Lord Siegfried, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," his voice gets more exciteable by the moment, but to the mercy of all, his volume quieter as he witnesses the act that will bring Mother back to the-- ahh, bright light, too bright, too bright, bright so goooood though because Mother will retu-- His face widens with maniacal glee at the yellow eyes. His arms wave, his cheering drowned out by the Metal Beasts. She's back. She's back. She's back, she's-- "Brighten this path! Brighten more! Not unbrighten. Here! Here is all the love. Love not under eyelids...!" He is one of the first to notice, and - true to form - among the first to panic. "Mother eyes? Is not staying yellow...!"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

For a moment, Noeline risks meeting Siegfried's gaze and answering it with her own. It isn't exactly something she's fond of doing, most of the time - she's spent this long dodging the eyes of Photosphere that it's second nature, not to mention that it almost seems like the Quarter Knight could pick the secrets out of her skull sometimes - but for all her fancy words she still has enough pride in what she is to recognize this moment.

As the Teardrop begins to shine, she finds herself holding her breath; she can't begin to pin down what emotion prompts it within her, whether fear or anticipation or the unfamiliar but significantly stronger thrumming of the pulse of Filgaia in the back of her mind, amplified by the Teardrop's shine. Whatever it might be, her hand finds that of the Ebony Wings commander next to her, grasping it tightly as her vision swims.

But... "... something's wrong?..." she mutters softly and privately, trusting half in her eyes and half in the sense she's feeling.

<Pose Tracker> Berserk has posed.

"Tt."

Berserk, likely, would have some choice words to say about the very small number of people worthy of his respect, but when Mother awakens, even he falls silent -- quietly reverent in a way almost antithetical to the beast's entire existence, he falls back towards the other Quarter Knights. And more profoundly -- falls to one knee before her. He doesn't notice what's amiss. He's too busy thinking of all the dead humans he'll get to revel over in the future, quietly and comfortably fading into the background as he repeats some sort of wonderful 'Kill all humans'-esque internal mantra in reverent thought. Hey. He's sure she'd appreciate it.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"Mother...!"

For a moment, Siegfried doesn't sound like the commanding, forceful leader of the Metal Demon race. For a moment, he sounds like when he was still young -- one of the freshly grown elite, one of the generations born on the Photosphere, one of the now long dead cohort that brought war to Filgaia to claim their new world. The same young soldier, who venerated the only goddess that he ever knew, until she was struck down by a blaze of disaster.

'Mother eyes? Is not staying yellow...!' '... something's wrong?...'

"Mother!" Siegfried cries out. "No!"

"No--no no no...! I can feel them! I can feel them!" Mother cries out, her voice shaking, still clear and pure, and yet the pain can be felt through it. "Do not make me slumber again! Do not! I curse you you--"

Her voice shifts with some terrible pain, then. The cocoon's eyes dull completely, then, and there is a sudden green glow that isn't pale and sickly like the light of this place. It is verdant. It is strong. It is /angry/, and despite the frailties and scars left upon it, it all gathers around the cocoon -- and shines bright, before the cocoon hangs again, lifeless.

Siegfried's eyes drop down, shining red in the reflected light, and stare at the Teardrop in his hand. It gives him no answers.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied's eyes widen as Noeline whispers her expression -- and she catches Yaro's panic as well, stepping back. What hope rests in her heart begins to sink as her breath is taken away, shaking her head. "Who-- who do you feel, Mother... the Guardians?" she bites at her lip. She in truth did not understand why they needed the Teardrop. Was it not a crystal, a kind of medium (not a Medium), by which one could communicate with the Guardians? Why, then was it instrumental in bringing her back, when their power was so antithetical to her...?

"No..."

Her shoulders sag, as she lowers her head. "For only a moment, I thought we'd... what went wrong? Did the Teardrop not have sufficient power?" But she knew there would be no answers.

She felt afraid, vulnerable now.

What was... all of that for?

<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.

Malfi weeps openly as she looks to her superiors for answers. /What happened?/ her expression implores. They had been so close, /so close,/ and now Mother was acting as unresponsive as ever.

<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.

"Noooo! Mother! Mother! Mother. MotherMotherMotherMother," Yarobeleedt stammers, paralyzed by fear as he feels constricted by the fear imparted by what pains Her so... and also his newly discovered single-word vocabulary, which rediscovers new ways to worry about the original subject in a fashion that is childish, pathetic, and best not recorded in written word, so we're skipping to the first partially legible sentence he utters and going from there. 

"But but favorite chum is here?? Metal Darkman Yarobeleedt...! Happy looking? Not lack of looking....!"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline finds herself wincing in the light of the unfamiliar and unexpected glow; bringing her free hand up to her eyes, she squints through her fingers as she watches the cocoon pulse once more, her head suddenly throbbing hard with a sudden pain. "--what--" is as far as she manages to get, pushing the word out just before Mother's voice distorts and twists-- and then ebbs, leaving the chamber utterly silent.

In the silence that follows, broken only by the pleas from the Quarter Knights and the frantic gibbering of the snake demon, the spy stares back up at the cocoon. For once, she doesn't have any words to offer - and wouldn't dare offer any if she did, in fact, only letting her hand squeeze Riese's slowly.

<Pose Tracker> Volsung has posed.

Mother rises. Mother speaks. And Mother... falls. Falls to torpor. Falls, despite the power of the Teardrop to wake her. And as the Demons fall into dismay, as their beasts wail in confusion and frustration...

... the sound of footfalls unbidden echo throughout the grand core of the Photosphere.

"You can't wake her. Not like that."

The voice cuts clearly through any other sound if only for how cold and resolute it is; like being touched by the dead and chilling hand of winter. But more importantly... it cuts so clearly because of how distinctly -not- of their ilk it is. A man's voice, one unheard of in the Photosphere, perhaps ever -- yet one so ineffably calm as it is aloof.

The source comes from the darkness at the fringes of the Photosphere. It's hard to say exactly where he has come, but once noticed, there is no mistaking him. A violet cloak, white pants. Tall. Tanned skin. Long, gray hair. Glasses. A human appearance. And eyes colder and clearer than the densest of ice. He carries himself with assurance, with restrained and cool power, his heels clacking against the unforgivingly harsh metal of the Photosphere's grounds as his gaze turns. He makes no threatening moves. He simply speaks. Distant, and yet full of the certainty of fact as his icy stare focuses upon the slumbering form of the Metal Demons' sacred Mother.

"It doesn't matter how much power the Teardrop can provide. I'm afraid the Guardians are too cruel to give your Mother up to you that easily." And it's only when he says this, weighted with every ounce of implication it carries in its simple tone, that the man finally turns his clear blue gaze upon Siegfried. Upon all of them. So that he may bow, with all due deferential respect.

"It is a pleasure to meet such legends in the flesh. Volsung, of the Veruni."

It is only right to show such courtesy in the home of one's allies, after all.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied steps aside as she hears the voice, her lips thinned. She gazes onto the presence of the newcomer, who'd entered into their hallowed place so ... so brazenly, she must admit. But it was not her ire that he had to be worried of -- if anyone's, it must be Siegfried's, or the other Quarter Knights'.

Her mind is already turning, thinking of the details. "The Veruni? Why here...?" her eyes widen, then narrow. There were more important details than that at present, however. "When you say that it does not matter how much power the Teardrop can muster..." her lips thin further, and she lowers her head. Could it be?

"Is there something else preventing her from awakening from torpor? She did say that someone was making her slumber... is there a kind of -- seal, or barrier?" It was the only possible conjecture that she could come to, but she has so little information on what ails their holy saviour all of this time. "A restraint devised by the Guardians..."

It's something that... bothers her, to not be able to understand.

<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.

At some point in the confusion and the sorrow of it all, Yarobeleedt is replaced by the sight of some steel fabric-like cover that looks patched together - as though it were recently torn to shreds and then painstakingly restored like patchwork. Some moments later, one of these so-called 'legends in the flesh' peeks out from under there with those beady, somewhat misaligned eyes to their new arrival. His eyes do not blink in unison. "Veruni... help Mother?"

<Pose Tracker> Malfi has posed.

As Yarobeleedt speaks, Malfi glances over at Volsung. Yes, the Veruni will help Mother; they must! He is, a voice in the back of her mind whispers, the first Veruni she's ever seen. Another voice, more insistent, reminds her that they attacked the Photosphere long before she was born, an act of war many of her elders lived through. Why is he here, now, and why help us?

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

Siegfried's fingers tighten so hard around the Teardrop that, were it an ordinary crystal, it would shatter in an instance. It does not. The Quarter Knight glares down at it, that familiar hatred entering his eyes. A hatred that burns, powerfully, for all of Filgaia. A hatred that almost consumes him on the spot, but only almost. He is silent -- and though Malfi looks to him, he provides no answers.

Instead, he turns, and then he sees Volsung as he enters. Looking so like a human, but... so do many of the Demons. He knows well enough that the Veruni are anything but.

In a way, they aren't unlike him.

"Volsung," he says, though he can't keep the anger and the fright out of his voice. He looks at Riesenlied -- and her questions, hanging there -- before he looks back at him. Then, he nods. "...So you know something of this. Tell us, then, so that we may free her from this prison!"


<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Despite a lot of evidence to the contrary, Noeline is still a Metal Demon - not to mention particularly protective of a certain Ebony Wings commander. Perhaps that's why, at the first sound of the Veruni's dramatic approach, her sword has coalesced into her hands; a slab of futuristic metal practically the size of her, she hefts it with improbable ease, immediately taking up a position to guard Riesenlied.

The action is almost automatic; the spy does not talk, acting more like the quiet demon that left Photosphere so long ago than the upbeat and chatterbox Crimson Noble that replaced her. Besides, Riese has already posed the questions she would wish to ask; all that's left is a rather suspicious glare, fixed upon the intruder in their midst.

Later, she might even admit the distraction is a welcome one, her mind still reeling hard from the fact that her instinctual response to Mother failing to wake is an unfamiliar kind of relief - not at Mother's pain, certainly, nor at the disruption of Siegfried's plans, but more... ... a deeply worried surety that Mother's awakening would have forced the Metal Demon plans, and left Riese's own hopes of understanding in the dust.

<Pose Tracker> Volsung has posed.

Hatred burns like a star within the Quarter Knight Siegfried. And from the peripheries of his vision, Volsung watches it almost devour the armored Demon.

Veruni... help Mother?

And he smiles. A polite, yet cold smile.

"Yes," utters Volsung with chilled certainty, as if such a thing were a foregone conclusion.

"Veruni help Mother."

But his walk continues after his introduction is made, perhaps not noticing or simply unconcerned of the stares leveled upon him. Not even that sword, as if -- even unarmed as he is -- it is no immediate threat to him. After all -- he's here to help.

And so he keeps going until he is within range of the Metal Demon's Mother. He keeps a respectable distance, but his eyes are solely upon her in those moments, as if studying her with a cold, piercing eye.

It's only when Riesenlied speaks that the Veruni leader turns to focus that stare upon her, glasses glinting green in the pulsing light of Mother's sacred chamber. "That's correct," comes his response to both the Tainted and her mentor. Hands clasped behind his back, he tilts his head towards their Mother, as if to indicate her -- indicate her unfortunate state. Indicate the tragedy of it.

"The Guardians do not tolerate the existence of foreign organisms on their sacred soil. You all know this as well as my people do, I imagine. They purge without mercy. They view us all as a threat. And there is no more foul and threatening an existence to them than a life giving entity like your Mother. But a goddess isn't so easily wiped out... so they chose the next best option."

Without a word, Volsung reaches a hand inside his coat, producing a simple looking device. It projects an image, holographic and lifelike, of the proud, carved statue of what looks to be a Guardian in all their proud and hateful fervor.

"The Guardians have sealed your Mother away using bindings of their own power. She is shackled by Filgaia itself. If you want to free her, you will have to seek out those bindings and shatter them -- shatter the Guardians' power, and you will shatter your Mother's chains." The hologram slowly crackles away. Volsung stares forward, unflinching. Offering a simple promise.

"You will finally free your Mother from her torture."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

The tide of hatred... Riesenlied has spoken of it before, but it still hurts her to see it consume her friend such. She could see what he could be -- how Siegfried acted when he truly believed Mother could come back. She believed that hatred need not grip them all, but... in the wake of this unfortunate accident...

She quietly pulls slightly behind Noeline, not confident of her capacity of combat at present, but... it wasn't necessary anyway. As the glassed man peers at her, though, she stares back, gauging that gaze of his. So icy... so cold. This was not quite the same burning hatred that consumed Siegfried. What was it...? There is a sensation there...

She stares towards the holograph and peers towards the Guardians, a lump in her throat as he speaks of how the Guardians do not tolerate the existence of foreign organisms. Yes, she's felt it before... all too keenly... and so many times, every time -- it hurts her. It isolates her.

But she could still not bring herself to hatred...

"You seem very knowledgable of all this, Sir Volsung," Riesenlied speaks gently, in that polite tone of hers. "Do you know why she was sealed in the first place, then...?" She was loathe to admit it, but this man, this leader of the Veruni seemed to know more of the situation than they did. So if he could speak to its context... "Just what happened in the war, one thousand years ago?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline holds her blade steady - even if her mind is anything but. "Not to mention - why are you telling us this?" she wonders first and foremost, used to being a very wary sort and possessed of enough dramatic savvy to instantly distrust the strange Veruni who has wandered through their throne room as if it were his own home.

There it is again - the phrase she's heard before, time and time. Guardians do not tolerate the existence of foreign organisms on their sacred soil. And here she is again - a living contradiction to that statement. Not just possessed of shards of Duras Drum's medium - but able even to forge a fledgling contract with the Hades Guardian, tap into its power if for only brief moments. It's enough to make her wonder, privately, whether she even counts as a true Metal Demon anymore - after all, it is a very strange Metal Demon that can buck that fundamental rule, or sympathize with humans. A member of the Tainted, indeed.

Her commander's question is one she finds herself wanting to ask, now more than ever. If Riesenlied aims to foster an understanding between races - if they are to overcome a thousand years of hatred to try to reach some kind of odd accord - then the events of today show more clearly than ever that that hatred exists on both sides of the equation... which makes learning about its genesis more important than ever. Privately, Noeline pencils in another trip to Curan Abbey.

<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.

Yarobeleedt's eyes shift about at the produced hologram, as though somehow having some difficulty following the image, but he hears the words underneath the purely assumed safety of his cocoon as his head peeks out a little more. "Oooh. Pull away Guardian power, pull back Mother." The idea of this seems soothing enough to the venomous wormy snakey thing, who at this point would probably agree with anything that would bring back Mother, even if it was something like 'stick finger in Berserk's nose for fifteen seconds.' Desperation drips off the tone of his voice. "I lick the idea!" ...Like it. He likes it. "Save Mother. Save Mother! Save Mother, sever Guardian...!"

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

When Volsung produces the emitter, Siegfried stays quiet and watches. He is close to the lord of the Veruni, now. After all, he stood as close as one could to Mother -- and he stands there, still and silent. But he looks down from Volsung's face, to the holographic image of a statue. He knows the visage of the Guardians well. He has seen -- and he has fought -- the real things, in the past. His eyes burn into the Guardian's statue, as he stares down at them.

"These statues," the Quarter Knight says. "These... things. The Guardians dare, time and time again, to profane our Holy Mother."

He quiets, though. He lets the others ask their questions; he listens and watches, carefully. He has something to focus that rage on, now. The thing in Volsung's hand reflects it.

But, he looks up at Riesenlied's question. "Lord Volsung did not fight in that war. The Elw decreed that Filgaia was not to suffer our presence--though it suffers the presence of the humans," Siegfried says. "And so they invoked the Guardians, and they fought us. The land itself turned against us, at their behest. And the humans..."

His other, free hand curls into a fist. "...They showed no end to their treachery. They sent only their best to fight -- and die -- against us. Working with the Elw, they struck Mother down. They struck countless of us down. They used weapons they hid away. They created monsters, which we still barely understand, to fight us. And they hid behind them."

He glowers down at the statue. "And still, the Guardians welcomed them -- and rejected us, for not being of Filgaia originally."

<Pose Tracker> Volsung has posed.

Slowly but surely, Volsung's gaze carries back to Noeline, and the blade she still has trained upon him. A single brow lifts.

"An unusual question to ask one's ally," he states simply at first, his gaze focusing its imperious stare upon the unusual Metal Demon. "And an unusual stance to take with them, too. One that can be misconstrued. Perhaps, while I answer your question, you will find it within yourself to lower your blade before such a thing happens."

Those words are calm for all they could imply or not imply, and they are followed just as easily by more words as Volsung addresses that question outright, turning his attention from Noeline and her blade without concern as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It's a simple answer. Because if benefits us. My people are dying, miss. This world erodes away at them day by day, and soon there will be none of us left. Shattering the power of the Guardians and freeing your Mother -- aiding in your mission -- works in our favor just as much as it works in yours. We are both considered enemies of this planet. And thus, we both share common interests.

"And I will do anything to ensure my people are given the world they deserve."

With that, as Siegfried speaks, Volsung turns his attention upon Riesenlied for a quiet, thoughtful moment. "Lord Siegfried is correct. Your war was before my time -- when my people still sailed the stars in search of a home after Filgaia was so relentlessly butchered by humans. This information was gained through investigation and research. As you might expect, observing the flow of power in Filgaia and its Guardians is a key point of interest for us."

The Elw. The Guardians. Volsung shuts his eyes, and bows his head.

"So you see, your enemies are our enemies. I only hope that you may use this information well." As Volsung speaks, he turns off that emitter, and holds it out -- towards Siegfried, in simple offering. "This contains what pertinent data we have on the Guardians' bindings. Without them, there will be nothing to hold your Mother back. We will also be placing our agents in the Ignas region in your service -- make use of them how you see fit."

His gaze turns back to the rest. Cold, methodical. But with that polite smile. "But perhaps I should take my leave of you, to discuss this in privacy. If there are no other questions...?"

<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.

Yarobeleedt nods his head rapidly. His head dips back into the cocoon when he so much as thinks that Volsung might be looking at him, at which point he's shaking his head - he seems he was ready to sign the dotted line at the very idea that this would save Mother, without a second thought! There is a good reason why Yarobeleedt is not in charge of anything involving dotted lines.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Now was... really not the time, but Riesenlied felt the need to ask, "Treachery, Lord Siegfried? Did the humans have our cooperation, before the Elw and the Guardians cast their judgement upon us?"

She does look towards Noeline, and finally brings herself to move forward and gently encourage her to move the blade down. The way Siegfried spoke of him by name, there were communications prior that they were not necessarily privy to yet. It's best to not inquire about such a question.

"She is upon edge, as our races have once come to blows over a century ago," Riesenlied speaks of the time when the Veruni first descended upon Elru, but does not dwell upon it. She shakes her head. "I apologise on her behalf. But your words invite further query from me, Sir Volsung."

She purses her lips. "You said that your people, the Veruni... searched for a home among the stars -- much like ours did? But you also say... 'after Filgaia was butchered by the humans'..." She thins her lips. "Does that mean that your people, the Veruni, lived in Filgaia amongst the humans long ago...?"

She feels familiar pangs, as Volsung no doubt already highlighted -- she hadn't known that there were other people that the planet, that the Guardians, whose power sustain the world, rejected. And they are spacefarers too, much like how they once were.

Is there a bridge to be made there... or is there simply more hatred?

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

The concept of the Veruni being the allies of the Metal Demons is not one that Noeline is entirely sure she's up on, right at the moment - still, she does at least slowly let go of the hilt of her blade, letting it drop from its position in front of Riese. It doesn't make it to the floor, dissolving in a set of wispy motes before it can get there. "... my apologies," she adds, bowing her head towards Volsung after a moment. "... as my Commander notes, your arrival was-- rather unexpected."

Her gaze flicks towards the emitter - and the Teardrop - as Volsung makes his case; she can't deny a significant curiosity about both, especially the extent of the Veruni intelligence gathering network. Partially it's due to her position, straddling friend and foe - partially it's out of a desire to simply learn more about the Guardians and this strange situation they're in. ... if she's honest, part of it is also out of sheer professional interest, simply curious as to how powerful and wideranging the Veruni's gaze might be.

What little information is available on the war a thousand years ago offers some routes of investigation, at the very least. The mention of the Elw is something she notes for later - if they were the ones to make the decree, then perhaps looking in that direction might yield more in the way of answers as to the start of this animosity.

Tucked away in the back of her mind, a rebellious and uncertain little piece of her wonders if, with the Teardrop in hand, she might simply be able to ask the Guardians directly...

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"Lord Volsung has," Siegfried says, looking at Noeline, "proved himself our ally with this information."

But he leaves the admonishment to Riesenlied, then. He instead looks at Riesenlied. He shakes his head 'no.' "There have always been humans who hide in the shadows. Who would butcher Filgaia and their own, for power. They turned that upon us. Some would call us brutal--but they are equally as brutal, and cowards too."

That it is a brutality they deserve goes unremarked on.

Instead, Siegfried looks to Volsung. His eyebrows furrow, as he considers for a moment, before the Veruni leaves. "You have our thanks, Lord Volsung. For... this, and also for the assistance of your agents. We shall reach out to them, and put them to good use."

Then, he folds his arms. "There is another thing that you should know. You are, of course, familiar with the destruction visited upon Elru some years back. A flare of red power, which I understand caused no small amount of devastation, even when it touched Veruni lands."

Siegfried quiets, a moment, before he continues.

"I have seen that flash of power once before," he says. "It was there when Mother fell. I don't know where it came from -- and I did not see its source, but we must stay wary of it."

<Pose Tracker> Yarobeleedt has posed.

"Yes, yes, yes, cowards. As Lord Siegfried saying." Yarobeleedt adds, as he is currently huddled under the... warmth?... of that metal-sheeted cocoon he's been hiding under since Volsung first stepped in.

<Pose Tracker> Volsung has posed.

That blade lowers, and then fades. Volsung's cold smile returns.

"Apology accepted. After all... we are all in situations we would never have imagined."

But as his information is passed on, Volsung readies himself to depart. His hands clasping behind his back once more, he turns to leave -- only to pause at Riesenlied's question. He delves into pensive thought for a moment, and then speaks.

"Yes. A long time ago, Filgaia was our home. But calamity struck because of the hubris of humans, and we were forced to flee to the stars before the planet was rendered completely uninhabitable. We have lived in the dark of space for thousands of years. And when we returned..."

He gestures, once more, towards Mother. A more fitting example he could never find.

"... we were greeted with much the same hospitality you were."

With that, he turns, walking once more. Heels striking ground in a comfortable echo, he reaches the exit to those sacred chambers just as Siegfried speaks. You are, of course, familiar with the destruction visited upon Elru some years back. A flare of red power...

The corners of Volsung's lips twitch in the darkness.

"You have my gratitude, Lord Siegfried, for this information. Such a power is a great threat, even to my people. We will do what we can to discern its nature... and hopefully deal with it appropriately." A simple nod. And Volsung turns his back to them, the door opening before him.

"We shall be in contact. The best of luck in your endeavors."

And, as he walks away, that twitch becomes a cold, lifeless smirk.

Simply more hatred. Truly a terrible thing, indeed.


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied shakes her head, planting a hand to her forehead for a moment. She shivers. The palpable aura of enmity that man exuded was no less than Siegfried's own. To see such people become ensnared in the coils of hatred was... something that always wounded her. She had no doubt that he was not always like that, much like how Siegfried, by his own measure, was not always the case.

Hatred... brings more hatred. Just what transpired between these humans, and the Guardians, and all of these Veruni, so long ago? This was a cycle that was not new in the making. She was loathe to think that a planet could be possessed of such... malevolence...

...Malevolence... Malevolence...?

"You speak of the destruction of Garlyle..." Riesenlied muses to Siegfried. "Yes, we do need to keep quite the eye on that power. It is yet another unknown factor." She purses her lips. "I shall ensure the information from Sir Volsung's data drive is disseminated to our agents, and that it is incorporated into our coming strategy in the Ignas landscape."

She bows her head with a sweep of her arm. "Please rest assured I shall also liaise with the Veruni agents as well." Would they share her ideals, of attacking at the very essence of war, at those that would escalate it further? Or do they have their own agendas? It is quite difficult to parse at the moment. "I shall provide an updated report on how our projected outcomes look after we cross-reference all of our collective information and holdings."

She looks at Noeline. The glimmer in her eyes has turned from one of hope, to one of fear. To think that this meeting, this gathering, would turn out this way...

"... that is all, everyone. Be well, and... let us ensure Mother's recovery is speedy," Riesenlied bows once more, then quietly peels away, unless she is stopped.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Later, Noeline will let out a heaving sigh, and count a few more potential enemies amongst their number - or at least make the point to shore up Old Petra's defences. Just in case. Just in case. For now, her expression firms up as she bites back an uncertain swallow and meets Riesenlied's expression, resolving to discuss this meeting with her at length later; she nods very slightly in return, then looks to Siegfried.

"... as my Commander says... I would like to determine the authenticity of the information the Veruni have provided. It might be that I can cross-reference it with some of my own, and draw more conclusions from it," she requests, with a light bow of her head. It's worth trying, at least, not least because she's got a reputation as the agent most out in the world at large. "At the very least, I do not doubt that there are shrines to the Guardian's power in significantly far-apart regions."

... the Teardrop... that one she leaves, for the time being. It really, truly, isn't the time right now - at least not until she's managed to test the waters further, determine the extents and limitations of her own powers. What was it the Trial Knight said - accept what you are, and seek to better yourself around that, not just some notion of what a demon would be? Whatever else she might think of the unusual figure, Noeline grimly considers as she bows and turns to follow Riesenlied out, she can get behind that.

<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.

A flash of red power...? A power that laid waste to Mother and the Veruni alike...?

Is this... That thing that is called THE BLAZE OF DESTRUCTION?

Or is it something that... He will someday fight as well...??

Yes. This is the only destiny he will accept. A battle between the Dark Hero and the Crimson Destroyer. What else could possibly be greater?

Behind Mother's tube, Zed grins and rubs his hands together. Yes. Yessss. He will have to learn more of this thing. But... Why does it sound vaguely familiar...?

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

Siegfried is quiet, as Volsung turns to leave. He stares after him, then nods once. There is nothing more to say, yet. His fingers grasp the Teardrop -- and he could swear that he feels it burn against his armor. He ignores that sensation. He looks, instead, to Riesenlied. He nods once to her.

"Search out what you can, Noeline. I have no reason to distrust them... but an abundance of caution would not harm us." He folds his arms. "We must find these statues," he says. "Search for them. I will consult the databanks, and see if we can determine where they might be."

The Quarter Knight turns, sharply, on his heel. Riesenlied has dismissed the rest -- and many of the Metal Beasts and some of the Demons begin to file out. Even the other Quarter Knights do, as Siegfried looks up at Mother, as he often does. He folds his arms, staring up at the cocoon, still locked away in its torpor.

"Soon, Mother," he says. "Soon. We have not abandoned you. We will crush these Guardians -- and we will deliver you the promised land."

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