EVENT ★ POKAREKARE ANA

[futurologists]

NALANNI Now as weak as any mortal, Nalanni only needs one person to dispatch her. Though Jason has been selected for the sad deed, it would be smart not to let him go it alone. Once Nalanni ceases to be, the ground quakes and roils. The planet's rock and earth can feel the loss of its mother, and with Ryba still living, the power imbalance throws the world into turmoil. Monsters stream forth from the cave Nalanni had been held on the risen Dakal island. But unlike before, when Pomarr blew through the side of Nalalona and left lava creatures in her wake, these monsters are made of stone. And they are gigantic. Ranging from five to nine meters (roughly 16-30 feet), the stone golems are slow-moving but powerful, capable of crushing anything in their path with their feet or powerful fists. The golems cannot be spoken to or reasoned with; all they feel is the loss of their mother and the vacuum of power she has left behind. Their mindless anger makes them easily distracted, so teamwork is the best way to keep them at bay. Roughly formed of rock and hardened mud, they are weak to water. Luckily, halfway through the day, a light rain begins to fall. The golems will continue to come forth from the earth until Ryba is defeated. Upon her death, they will simply collapse into inert piles of stone. RYBA THE DEVOURING ONE Pomarr stays true to her word and draws the sea goddess to the shore of the deserted island that once housed the Dakal. Without comment, Pomarr turns and steps into an ALASTAIR rift, leaving your team to its business. Ryba is impossibly large, a mass of twisting, searching tentacles with no discernible body. She is especially weak to electrical attacks, but can otherwise be defeated by simply wearing her down with brute force. Now that you've got your collective powers back, it should be a piece of cake. Right? ATTACKS: TENTACLES. Ryba's initial attack is waving her massive, numerous tentacles around to try and keep combatants at bay. Despite their size, they are surprisingly quick -- capable of snapping at anyone who dares get too close, whiplike, or simply crushing those who stay still for too long. Her tentacles are seemingly endless, impossible to count, and move about in a nearly hypnotic way. THE STORM. After enough damage has been dealt, Ryba will grow more desperate and begin to use her connections to the sea itself. Though the battle is near the shore, sudden winds whip at the recruits, pulling them away from the shallows. Drowning becomes a real danger: the waves are high and fast, and intensely swirling waterspouts crisscross with intent to sweep recruits up, scrambling them. SHARKNADO. Ryba's last-ditch effort calls upon the creatures of the sea as well as the wind and waves. She creates a swirling vortex with her massive body in the center in attempts to shield herself from attacks. But that's not all -- spinning around her at high speeds with the vortex are sharks. A lot of sharks. And they are all angry. If characters attempt to speak with Ryba through the battle, she will respond in a calm, dark voice throughout: she has nothing to say to the invaders who would dare take her from the peace of her trench, except that they must destroy her or she will kill them all herself, before the world crumbles to nothing. Once Ryba is defeated, her massive body will simply cease moving. Goddess or not, it seems her form is as physical as any other creature of the sea. ISLANDERS During the day-long battle, characters who choose not to fight are advised to stay behind with the Nalawi to keep them safe. Though the battle rages far to the west, on the once-sunken island of the Dakal, the storms may travel to the westernmost edges of the Nalawi islands. Recruits may attempt to temporarily evacuate the westernmost Nalawi, though there may be considerable resistance. After the battle, the Nalawi can instantly tell that their goddess is gone for good. Where there was once confusion and desperation in the face of Nalanni's disappearance, there is now only sorrow and directionlessness. All recruits are invited to return to Komo, the first island at the start of the mission, for a somber memorial for Nalanni: the Nalawi don't blame the recruits for what has happened, and only expect them to join in their grief. For the rest of the time on Nalawi, characters may spend their time as they wish. The locals will need help learning how to cope without their Gifts and how to live without the goddess on whom they had come to rely. They will need help learning all sorts of trades, from fishing to pottery to plumbing, so characters who have knowledge in the mundane will have their time to shine. But the Timeline is always in need of tending, so recruits can't stay here forever. Say your goodbyes, because soon a rift will open and you'll be headed back to Oska. OOC INFO Mods will not be NPCing the Ryba encounter, so you are free to NPC her attacks yourself. Please remember that defeating her is a group effort; no one person will have the "killing blow." The battle against Ryba will take one full day. After she is defeated, recruits will have 13 days to say goodbye to the Nalawi before departing for Oska. If characters wish to temporarily stay behind in Nalawi, see here for details.

Comments

[grunehexe]

[Ryba had been killed. Hours and hours, nearly an entire day and finally... had she slept? Sieglinde forgot, the time having blurred into not minutes but patients and waiting, her eyes drawn out to the storm over the Dakal island, worry twisting in her heart. But finally, someone came in with the news (and a bloody-soaked leg), and once she'd finished with the most immediate of injuries...

Sieglinde went out to the beach, to wait.

The sight of golden hair and armor from behind drew her to Gilgamesh, relieved to see him alive and alright even though the moment powers had returned she'd had faith that he would not fall in battle. That still didn't change how she felt at seeing him standing, and without yet seeing his face, and too far to clearly hear him...]

Gilgamesh- ?

[Her feet had been broken precisely to prevent her from running away, but she still tried to run despite, a jilted, pathetic sort of movement that almost sent her face first into the sand more than once, (to her knees a few times), in order to... practically fall into the back of his knees.]

[babbylon]

[Correction: Gilgamesh had been ignoring everything until he'd caught wind of Sieglinde running along the bend to meet him. Or trying to run, as it were. He was hurting, but some shred of compassion yet springs to the forefront, so before she can fall there's a pair of strong arms to catch her and lift her up, safe and sound.]

You know better than to rush past like that, you precocious little creature.

[He scolds to veil how he's really feeling. She's something soft and warm to hold onto, so before he realizes it he may be clinging a bit.]

Still, it is good to see you. I am glad you've kept safe.

[grunehexe]

[Somewhat accustomed to falling as she was, growing even more used to scraped palms and bruised knees on Nalawi than she'd been anywhere else, Sieglinde still couldn't shake the instinct to close her eyes just before hitting the sand. Except this time, when she cracks open an eye, it's to see Gilgamesh's arms and his face, and he is back from the battle-

And the battle is over. The worry that had kept her going, patient after patient, despite lack of sleep or any real way to tell how the fight against Ryba was going beyond brief glimpses in her serpent's lens she'd managed between potions, began to bleed out of her as she got a grip on Gilgamesh's arms, holding just as tight.]

As have you.

[She tried for a tired, wavering smile, equally as glad to see him as she was exhausted and depressed that it had come to this in the end, her magical reserves near depleted but. Returned, as everyone's had.]

It is good you returned-

[Once she got her feet back under her, rather than withdraw to stand on her own, Sieglinde instead threw her arms around Gilgamesh, pressing her face into his chest to give a shuddering sigh of relief, trying to convince herself that the day was over, and that there would be no more injuries or death.

On this world, at least.]

[babbylon]

[Sieglinde often had the bearing of an adult, and the damning experiences of one, traumatized in her earliest days and forced to grow beyond her years. But at times like these, she's no better than a scared child, throwing themselves at the closest thing that felt like home. With all his defenses down, Gilgamesh cannot resist her, nor would he try.

He embraces her in return, head sinking onto a tiny shoulder. He'd always marveled at how small she was, small yet strong in the face of all that opposed her. Small, strong, with broken feet, but never broken will, as he was dealing with now. He almost envies her, in a sense. She, who couldn't run, managed to stay standing when all Gilgamesh wanted to do was fall apart.

Maybe Sieglinde was the stronger one between them all along.]

Of course I've returned. Only the lowest form of mongrel would think I'd abandon my promises.

[Not entirely true; he would and had before, and certainly did with Pearl and Enkidu. But he will forget them for a moment in the presence of his proud little princess.]

[grunehexe]

[It took quite a lot of effort to be strong- something she hadn't realized as much in her own village, when being strong was simply expected of her, and weakness, well- the Green Witch couldn't be weak. But here, amongst ALASTAIR, where people often expected her to be weak, to be just a simple child...

It was just a bit easier to be strong around those who knew her better, who believed in her without constantly needing to prove her capabilities- and somehow, Gilgamesh had become one of those. Not yet knowing of his loss, her own magic senses too dull from overuse to notice the change in his contract without specifically looking for such, imagining only that he might be tired from his long battle...

She took comfort at its most basic from just the fact that he'd returned.]

I had not a single doubt.

[Once their powers had returned, at least. She could not lie and say she was not worried for all of their fates before that.]

Was the battle enough to satisfy you?

[She might not feel good about what they'd done, but with Ryba at least she could manage such talk, knowing that among their number there were those who would be mollified by her death, and those who had a certain lust for such things even if she did not.]

[babbylon]

[Was the battle enough to satisfy you?

And so she destroys him with a single line without ever meaning to do so.

It had satisfied, right up until the moment he'd realized his most precious people were nowhere to be found. It had satisfied right up the second it hadn't because even the sincerest victory would only ring hollow in the face of an even greater loss. It had satisfied, and then it had torn him down and ravaged him, for the price had paid was far too steep. Gilgamesh shakes his head, opens his mouth and shuts it when he can't find the appropriate words.

He lowers himself, to one knee, gently sets her on her feet again and stoically informs her:]

Pearl and Enkidu have vanished. They are nowhere to be found.

[His smile falters. Turns bitter.]

You may be all that remains.

[grunehexe]

[She can sense something is wrong the moment the words leave her, as his demeanor and body language change and he sets her down. Brow furrowing, she searched his face for the answer before he speaks, not willing to let go of him despite, fingers tight on his arm.

Waiting for words to confirm what she could only tell was something that had left him upset- her own expression falling somewhat when he did give voice to an answer.

Pearl, who he had been a master to him in the contracts specific to his kind. Enkidu, who was... the closest thing any person could be to another. Whatever one could call such a role. It would be as if she lost Wolfram and Masamune both at once- no. Without minimizing how much those two meant to her... Gilgamesh's loss was even worse.

What did you say to such a thing? They would not be dead if ALASTAIR had returned them to their worlds, (as Pomarr had been returned, or so she heard), but being alive was only a small comfort if they weren't here. And did he not rely on a master for the magic to sustain himself... ?]

Oh, Gilgamesh...

[Her voice was low, gentle, uncurling her fingers from his arm to instead place it upon his cheek, sympathy in her eyes.]

I am sorry that this has befallen you.

["At such a time" was what she intended to say, but... there was no time at all in which such a thing would be better.]

[babbylon]

[Under ordinary circumstances, Gilgamesh would've refused such intimate touch, insisted he was fine, that there nothing to concern herself over. But these circumstances were far from ordinary. While he may have factored in losing one of them, inevitably, over time, he'd never would've guessed he'd lose both at once. Even for the proud King of Heroes, who would one day bear All the Evils of the World, it was a serious blow to suffer.

So he sinks into her fingers rather than shying away, and his tired eyes slide slowly shut.]

It is the curse of every King. We were not meant for closeness, for kindness.

[A King must walk alone. How could he have forgotten? He really had grown soft. It was his own fault, really.]

We were simply meant to continue forward, no matter the cost. I suppose... I required a reminder, after all this time.

[grunehexe]

[As his eyes shut, as he sank into her touch, Sieglinde's gaze softened further in understanding. She knew what it was to lose an everything at once. Even if it had been small, her village and the forest... It had been her entire world, every person she knew, every memory. She knew loss, for someone so young, and it made her sympathy deeper than someone her age ought to be able to manage. Carefully stepped forward, dug her misshapen heels into the sand, and cradled Gilgamesh's head, heedless of any others around them or outside the moment of grief, thumb brushing slowly back and forth along his cheek.]

I do not think that is true. A King is just as meant for love, in equal parts as he may be respected, or reviled.

[To lead was to put oneself on that throne, to subject yourself to the reputation those beneath you bequeathed. A King could be loved and hated both, he could be... Anything, really. But a true King, the King of Kings... To know but one equal... It was too sad a thing. Yet this moment of weakness did nothing to diminish the respect and wonder Sieglinde herself held towards the man. A King was a King... But he was also a man, even if she did not give voice to that just now.]

I remain. And you have others yet from which you may take pleasure in their company, is that not so... ?

[Rin? Masamune? Koltira? She did not give their names, not being able to fully suss out the nature of each relationship at its core- it was not her, so she could not know. But perhaps they were enough for comfort, a balm upon a wound than none of them could actually heal by themselves. But she knew there was no actually replacing what had been lost- only making efforts to fill the hole left behind.]

... You do not have to be the King right now, if you do not wish to.

[Didn't have to be so strong just now, if it was too much.]

[babbylon]

You are too good for this world, child.

[Child he mutters with something like fondness, except that has been torn from him. He'd cry if there were any tears left to shed, but what good would that even do? It won't bring either of them back, and it will just make him look like a sentimental fool. No, as King of Heroes, as Gilgamesh... he needed to distance himself from this. He needed to move on, even as his heart felt frozen in place.

He needed a distraction. Perhaps Sieglinde might give it to him.]

And I am afraid that I will always be King. That is the burden I must always bear; the burden of the world. That is just the sort of individual I am.

[He doesn't expect her to understand. Clutching at her shoulders, he asks of her beseechingly:]

When we return to Oska... I should like to see you everyday. You've yet to show me how you've progressed on your studies, and a King demands to know these sorts of things.

["You do not have to be the King right now, if you do not wish to."

...he's refused those words, but even so, they continue to echo in his mind, hollow and tempting yet forever far away.]

[grunehexe]

[Now isn't the time to debate that name, child, and she allows it, (just this once!), even as she accepts his words, the hands on her shoulders, the role provided.

Everyone needed a distraction sometime, even Kings... and she had said what she needed and wished to. It was up to him what he would do with it. So instead, she tried a smile, chest puffing up with a touch of pride.]

Then see me you shall. I have much to show you, now.

[She had been studying every day, from the tome he had lent her from his Gate, from Merlin's book of spells when he let her borrow it, from Rin's tutelage and from Aqua's... it had resulted in right hodgepodge of spells and a style of magic stitched together from all worlds, none of them as powerful as they ought be if someone from that world itself were casting them...

But Sieglinde was glad nonetheless. And if the results of her efforts could also serve to help another...]

Though the task may be difficult, I shall try my utmost to impress.

[After all. He had been the first to give her something from which to study from- and she hadn't wasted it. But it was a daunting task nonetheless, to try and impress a man who had seen as much as Gilgamesh.

She'd still try.]