Patches (Open RP)

Jade shaking his head tossed Rosette Briar into the air. With a little, "Eek!" she tumbled end over end a couple of times before righting herself mid-air. She gave Jade an ungrateful look, which she turned on Paxtera upon the question of her breathing requirements.

Once Paxtera started arranged for her daughters to stay put, the fairy flew back to Jade to get the final detail in place. "Hurry, hurry!" she urged, tugging on his hand. Not that she had the strength to more it so much as a millimeter, but she tried to at least convey a sense of urgency. "Place the Prophecy, that stone acorn, on the skull. Hold it again the forehead a moment." Seeing Paxtera ready to go, she redoubled her efforts to get the two items prepared for transport before the time traveler changed her mind about being helpful.

"Heh. Sorry." Jade grinned a bit sheepishly, hurrying over to where the little fae directed. He took the acorn in hand and placed it atop the little skull as directed, holding it to the forehead, "Like this...?"

"Hmm," the fairy mused. "Not quite. Try lowering it towards the nose. You'll know it is right where it... ah-ha!"

When the acorn was slid down to between and just above the eyes, it merged into the skull as if Jade had found a fissure though the dome had been flawlessly smooth before. Now just a nub bumped out like a tiny horn while the rest of the Prophecy nestled within giving the impression it had always been of one piece with the skull.

"Yes, exactly!" She chirped with a pleased nod.

Turning to Paxtera, Rosette Briar gave a little bow. Her tone was polite, though she couldn't quite mask a tinge of sarcasm at her own over-formality. "If you'll be so kind, please pick up the skull and let's be off. The Prophecy and Positronic Matrix are ready to be placed in the past."

Jade and those who accompanied him didn't have long to wait when they reached the Heart Tree. In her normal flair for the dramatic, Paxtera's golden portal winked her and Rosette Briar nearby ten seconds later.

The latter immediately launched into another woe-is-me tirade. Those who listened to the fairy rant herself out learned of the two's longer journey.

Paxtera's had proven most skilled. With a few details of range and guestimates of pixie-sized speeds she had quickly teleported them to the proper Where where Rosette Briar had appeared in Patches. Then she had jumped them backwards, again skillfully navigating time with little more than vague 'about half again' and 'really close' references.

The third time jump had found them right at the point when the waste had been snatched to Patches, complete with a mammoth storm. The fairy had gone into a frenzy as the wall of sand bore down on them, pulling at Paxtera's hair and shrieking demands that she immediately teleport them ahead in time. Paxtera, for her part much less impressed, had jumped them forward a nudge. Just enough to be in a lull.

Unmollified the fairy had directed Paxtera to place the skull down. With as much haste as could be expedited from Paxtera, it was settled to the exactly required position and left to its fate.

A fate exactly as the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy had demanded. For it required a specific kind of Chronal Skip forward in time, but only after it had gone back. Truly it was as temperamental as the planet Patches. There it once more began its long wait, a skull that would be buried and unburied by sand, joined by other humanoid skulls, until the day when a running metal dragon would crush it, lodging the stone acorn in its boot to be carried and form the bond with the lost wish maker.

When next Paxtera examined the threads of fate, she would discover that the acorn's threads now neatly looped back on itself. It had been adrift because it required her willing participation to complete the Prophecy's cycle. Now that she had, it was whole to her vision.

For her part, Rosette Briar finally succumbed to the soothing presence of the Heart Tree enough to wind down. She took a few deep breaths to calm her rattled nerves. Oh how she hated these 'little favors' for the Universe. They were never easy or straightforward or safe.

The fairy looked around properly, trying to see all who were present for the second half of the spell.

Technically, she thought to herself, I have ensured the Prophecy fulfilled. That was the reason I had been pulled to this accursed place. Thus I am free to leave. Except I made that promise to help Jade's friend. If I bail on that I just know the Universe - or the karma effect of Jade's friend, whichever got to her first - would make things harder next time. Really, really, really need to arrange it so there is no 'next time'.

((Made an assumption or two to move things forward. Please PM me if it requires editing. Thank you!))

((M'kay, so I've been debating back and forth with my muse on reviving this thread in response to that Yydr, but I think in this case it's best to just let sleeping dogs lie. You and I would be the only ones left here - unless I've missed something and there's more interest than I'm aware of - and two people does not a fun RP thread make. So thanks for the push, but it appears this has outstayed its welcome, heh.))

(( <-- still here, but three people doesn't really make a thread any more than two would. ))

((I've been trying to think of a way to tone down one character while trying to figure out how to write off the whole time stopping NPC thing I introduced. So far, no dice...otherwise I'm pretty much ready to jump right back in...))

((Hm. Alright, well, let's give it a shot. 4 people should be enough for some decently unpredictable RP, and maybe I can even poke Crimson into coming back again, heh.))

Elven Forest - Heart Tree

Jade hadn't been able to help a snicker through squiggly lips at the little fae's tantrum, waiting patiently until things had settled down. Once they finally had, he wanted to know, "So uh...what now...?"

((Kyzock, since I was the last one to make a post for At, I'm not sure how to continue without a response on your part. If you like however, we can skip ahead to Negative Rise either getting captured or getting away since I don't think he can win this fight. Even archvillains tend to go down when put up against a whole team, after all. ))

((The only thing I can think of is the time-stop spell from the real world of Ag'xis goes off, and NR gets away. Also, I'm removing Graxitica from the story and focusing on NR. As to the whole spell thing: it only affects those that have been to Ag'xis, as well as an AOE effect around anyone that's been to that planet. I'll just say the AoE portion of the spell is enough to stop NR, those aliens invading At, and Vetdjat of course.))

Negative Rise noticed the alien being outstretching its hands towards his arms, as if to capture him mid-flip. That's when it happened. However far away, on the distant planet Ag'xis, Jerval's time-stop spell went off. The nature of the magicks of Ag'xis favourbly affected only those that had ever visited the planet and anyone in the vicinity of such a visitor.

Negative Rise happened to be just one such visitor. Being a demon from Hell kinda gave the spells effects a boost, as well, extending outward far enough to stop everyone in the chambers in which he had initiated combat.

He would also benefit from being released earlier than everyone else. Knowing the nature of such magic, he knew enough not to stick around for any "happy fun times" - one such as himself did not stick around to look a gift-horse in the mouth.

Outside of the great structure of the Khelaris city/ship thing, Negative Rise disappeared into the shadows of the volcanic caldera, focusing on making his way beyond the Khelaris patch as time within the chambers returned to its normal flow.

The fairy had gotten as far as spotting the Marbles and glowering at it when Jade's question got her moving again. "Now. Now we bring back your friend. Please hand the Marbles the items you've been holding."

"Wait!" Rosette Briar immediately cried out. She glared again at the Marbles, "Are you ready?"

It held out its arm that ended in a pouch, the top opened invitingly. The fairy was not impressed by it nor its owner's banal smile. "It is empty? Why do I bother asking. Of course you put something else in there. You wouldn't be Marbles if you weren't planning trickery at every opportunity. All right, keep it open, you sneak!"

After staring a confirmation from the Marbles, Rosette Briar dove in head-first. Her grumbles and grunts echoed up as if she was in a great cavern instead of a small pouch. Stacks of parchments, scrolls, and more items - each more unlikely to have been legitimately property of the Marbles than the last - popped out to land in a messy heap on the ground. Those with the knowledge or experience could identify them as a Psionic Threat Report, a Chaos Theorem, a Destiny, a Magical Conspiracy, and a Diamond. As the latter rolled down the pile, Rosette Briar reappeared with a disgusted look on her face and a ball of green goo in both hands. "What a mess!" she declared as she dropped the glob, sliming the accumulated pile, and shook her hands clean. "Yuck!"

"Yechk. No more tricks! Stop giving me reasons to have control over you!" she admonished the Marbles, whom appeared to be far from contrite.

Shaking her head at the futility, Rosette Briar redirected Jade to place his items into the now-cleared pouch. "The feather, a lock of hair, a shaved sliver off a hoof; yes, yes, as good as Gold," the fairy accounted for each item as it was added.

"Next is the Thorn Tree Vine," Rosette Briar stated, as if it was the most important item yet. She made no effort to hide the pain as she pulled the vines from her own arms. All except a tuff at each shoulder was uprooted. Sap oozed from the wounds, briefly trailing rivets which stained into swirling tattoos on the bared arms.

Rosette Briar dropped her vines into the waiting maw of the pouch. She took a minute to rub the dried flakes of sap off and deem the resulting design pleasantly attractive.

"Finally, the bonding item: The crystal acorn." With a theatrical flair, Rosette Briar flew in a complex pattern and waved her arms to form a summoning portal. Through it dropped a distorted sphere mostly in the shape of an acorn, as transparent and plain as an optical lens.

A glimpse of the treasury beyond lingered in the hungry eyes of the Marbles when the portal closed. Paxtera's vision of the threads of time could confirm it to be the same as the one separated from Trisys during her arrival to Patches. Though it was unmistakably the same, the segment of the thread itself during its time in Rosette Briar's possession remained obscured.

The fairy caught the acorn with both arms and both legs. For a moment it might have appeared that she changed her mind, the way she coddled it. Finally, reluctantly she dropped it into the pouch of the Marbles.

With a sigh, Rosette Briar faced Jade, "If you have someone who can coax dead spirits near, now is the time to try."

Then with one last look of longing, the fairy directed the Marbles, "Alright, you crafty creature. Start the summoning."

Gradually a light began pouring out of the top of the pouch as if a swarm of blue fireflies were dancing within. Sparks began to spit out, the spell coming to a climax...

Elven Forest - Heart Tree

Jade's tail gave a twitch upon the little fae uprooting the vines from her own arms, but he managed to stop himself from interfering. No telling what following the instinct to lick those woulds would've caused at this point. With a mixture of eager excitement and nervous concern, he awaited the results of the mentioned summoning...
__________________

VFSSR KAGO
High Orbit

He looked upon the patchwork world that hovered 'in front of' the bridge's transparent forward hull with disdain. So the High General Nev'oroxis had escaped. He glanced at the virtual text of the report that floated in his sight. Temporal disturbance from unidentified source, hm? Perturbing.

As he pondered, the debris field's extermination reached sufficient progress. He ordered fire ceased. The fleet's cannons went silent. Dropships departed to retrieve the team of shock troops...and their captive?

His eyes narrowed. He didn't like what he was reading there. He ordered the unidentified lifeform brought straight to him. There would be answers - and speaking of...

The ERIKA broke formation. Preparations were made, systems checked. The Oblivion Gate was soon ready, as was the transition drive. Not a few minutes later, several million kilometers out, a shockwave bounced through hyperspace as the ERIKA vanished from the material universe, course set for Ag'xis...

Both Paxtera and her daughter hung back as the little fairy and the Marbles went about their business of summoning. Neither of them had any particular magical experience, and Paxtera in particular had no desire to get involved with fae of any kind. "Always diamonds... why can they never use anything else? Sapphires maybe, or rubies...", the elder time traveller muttered to herself.

Otherwise they were much the same as Jade, awaiting either a request for assistance or the end result. Though perhaps with a little less enthusiasm than the dragon.

Negative Rise kept running. Whatever those beings were, he had never encountered any of their type before, nor did he know why they were after him in particular. At least, it seemed they had been after them, and their armoured gear kinda gave them away on that part.

He only knew two things. Beyond this planet just arbitrarily pulling him away from the war-torn surface of a distant, far-off never-been-inhabited before planet, there were two explanations for such a thing. Agents of Heaven have been sent after him, since the "almighty" may've had a hand in sending the incarnate demon to Patches. Otherwise, something in the transmission Vetdjat sent set these beings after him.

The name he chose. -'High General Nev'oroxis...what has that name gotten me into?'- his thoughts lingered, the name echoing within his skull. -'Now what in the Nine Hells am I supposed to do?'-

He continued running, finally escaping the heavier gravity of the Khelaris patch, and landing himself right in the middle of a desolate, desert patch of this world. The dunes before him would provide little concealment, and a quick look around didn't offer much in the way of cover from any scouting parties.