[IC] Eternal Galaxy: Phoenix

[Cucoo5]

Duon | Serenity Forest

"And I would presume that monster was what forced you to jump off the cliff?" The Demonarc's expression was grim. "And you are human..." He sighed as he turned towards a waterfall near where Noire had awoken. "The Village entrance is concealed behind those falls. Come, I shall guide you."

A path hidden in shrubbery that led to a narrow crevice behind the waterfall could be barely made out from where the man walked. The caves ahead were dimly lit by crystal formations on the walls, their light barely illuminating the narrow paths. "Oh and be careful to not touch the crystals. Your kind is adversely affected when you make contact with them with your bare skin."

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter

"You made it?!" The girl looked surprised when she saw Bardock again. "Hmph- Well perhaps if there was a bug in you it might be able to pass that...but..." She then saw the others that she hadn't met before and suddenly grew restless. "...so...many more... possibilities... for bugs..." She quickly turned into a shadow and proceeded to quickly dart for the exit only to be stopped by the gates. "Eep!" The shadow then slid from one side of the room to the next, looking for a way through before realizing there was no crevice for her shadow form to pass through. Upon that realization she darted up to the ceiling before partially coming out of her shadow to hang upside down. "...bugs shouldn't be able to solve this puzzle... soooooo.... if you are bugs then you will just turn around and leave, right?"

[Kristia]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter


"A being that can become tangent and solid, how did her body adapt for something like that?" Runa asked to herself and then noticed that the girl tried to leave, but couldnīt becuse of the door "But there are elements that either she canīt cross or can hurt her". The redhead then looked at the puzzle, six black cubes over a slippery floor that had five tiles without that element "A sliding puzzle, huh? this can be fun".

[Kilelicus]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2
BGM: Death Note- Kira SIU Theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhmg2hwnx0s

---

Phenom raised an eyebrow at the shadow girl's accusations of he and the girls being bugs. They looked nothing like insects, so she must have meant something else. "Bugs...? I wonder... And she can shift into the shadows... strange... Must investigate..."

Phenom vanished from the room's floor and immediately reappeared behind the shadow girl. He released enough adrenaline in his body for him to perceive half a second as around a minute and began to inspect her body. Despite appearing to be created of shadows, her body seemed completely opaque. He wondered if she was in fact tangible. At this speed there would be no way for her to discern where say... a poke would come from. He decided to attempt to touch her back with his index finger.

She was in fact tangible. Quite solid, at that. He decided that was enough, vanished once more and then reappeared where he had been standing before and began to interrogate the shadow girl.

"What are these "bugs" that you are referring to? Clearly, none of us are insectoid, so you must be referring to something else. Perhaps an invasion of body snatchers? Something similar, at least... And what are you exactly?"

At the same time, Phenom's Hard Light Display materialized and sent out pulses from beneath him, analyzing the room and sending a wireframe representation back to Heaven for Lachesis to analyze.

"Phenom, did you seriously need me to solve this puzzle for you? This is elementary... I've already solved it. Sending the solution. View it at your leisure.."

[Kristia]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2

Bryn was looking at the markings on the room rather than the puzzle, there were runes about the shrine itself and she guessed that there were at least another 3 sections with the other 3 seasons of a terran year "So you are either the protector of this section or the one who lives on the winter zone of the shrine" she spoke loud enough for the shadow girl to respond

The bioroid then looked at the girl "Do your sisters live in the other 3 sections?" she asked actually fascinated with the discoveries that they were slowly gathering

[Cucoo5]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2

"Bugs... mean bugs... they killed everyone." The Umbra responded. "Parasites... they want to destroy all life. They are the bane of existence. They're tricky tricky~ you never know... who might be infected~" She then darted back into her shadow and slid around the room randomly and rapidly. She then appeared behind the group fully out of her shadow. "As for your guess on who I am..." She glanced to Bryn as she idly stood with her hands clasped behind her back. "I'm not one of the Nymphs that reside here. Oh no no no~ I'm something e l s e. Hehehehe~" She slid closer to the group by a foot or two as she continued. "I'm the byproduct of an era long past~ A twisted shadow of whoever I once was. They called me an Arcain before I decided that I needed to be stronger for my family. So I became this."

To emphasize her words she shifted her form to reveal long blade like claws, dark deformed bat wings, and a body with no definable features what-so-ever save for glowing red eyes and a fiery red pit for a mouth. She then reverted back to her prior form of the girl. "I'm now what my kind called Noxarc Umbra, but others called Demonarc Umbra. I don't remember who I was. I'm nobody except whoever I choose to be." She emphasized this statemement by cycling through forms that resembled Phenom, Bryn, Bardock, and then stopping on Runa. "Eheheheh.... I've sacrificed my own identity to try and protect my family... and yet they're still D E A D~! Grrr..." She shifted back into a shadow and scurried around the room, grumbling under her breath about how pointless life was as well as slipping in a few strange words of an unknown dialect. She continued like this for some time.

[Kristia]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2


Bryn had a thought about the parasites, she knew there was something about it "They were.. powerful creatures.. able to adapt to anything" to say that she was struggling to remember was an understatement "Stupid wormhole.." she muttered. And then looked at the group "What the little talks about were or are depending on what date is of this time creatures that in fact are parasites, they could obtain everything from a single prey, the inmunities, memories, culture, everything to adapt to the environment"

The green eyed woman then looked around for the girl "You became a powerful being that can be looked as bad depending of the races, but I see someone who adapted to be strong for those she cared about"

[Kilelicus]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2
BGM: Death Note OST: L no Nakama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zb1LqV-zyk

---

Phenom looked to his display, took in the information, and his display vanished. He began to move around the room, pushing blocks into place as according to Lachesis's solution. He figured the only way he would learn what was causing the stars to disappear was to continue downward into this temple. He immediately realized why the solution was so convoluted when the first block he pushed slid away from him until it hit a wall. He began mumbling to himself in thought.

"Changing one's self to protect something... not dissimilar to Alaina using '27 to become Lady Luck... Not dissimilar to what happened to me, I suppose... " He said almost inaudibly.

He looked to the girl. She gave no name. She apparently could not remember it.

"Very well, I suppose it can't be helped... Umbra!" he called out, having shoved two blocks into their respective places now. "Since you don't remember who you were, your name is Nyctores now, though I think I'll just call you Nycto. Tell me, do you know anything about the vanishing stars?"

[Cucoo5]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2

The girl continued to grumble slightly in response to Bryn's comment, reappearing from her shadow. "What good has it done..." She said with a tinge of regret on her voice. She then jumped slightly when Phenom called her. "Eh!? A- a name?" She paused for a second as she seemed confused by the concept of being given a name. She stood there for a moment trying to say the name that Phenom gave her but every time she tried to speak it, nothing audible would come out of her mouth. She shifted uneasy at the realization she couldn't say it knowing that it would give her an identity. After letting it sink in, she shook her head to dismiss the whole notion. "Eh..."

She then seemingly cheered up when Phenom asked her about the stars. A twisted smile creeped onto her face as she started giggling. "Oh oh! Hehehe~ You want to know why the twinkly little stars are going buh-bye, hmmm? Hehehe, I know why! Ooooooh I know why~" She skated across the ice in the room. "It's the Void... It wants revenge..."
She vaulted up onto a block and sat on top of it with her legs crossed. "It's reclaiming everything~ and it's saving this Galaxy for last. Why? Because it tried to destroy this galaxy before but a big fancy gizmo stopped it by recreating the galaxy. It can't destroy this place easily sooo it's destroying everything else first. Soon this place will be the only place. No more multiverse~ just this galaxy~ an eternal galaxy~ ehehehe... Oh eternity is a curse alright... Because the bugs will just keep killing and killing until the Void finally wins." She sighed with her little smile as she said in a sing-song voice: "We're all going to diiieeee~ it's the inevitable conclusion~ if the bugs don't kill us, the gizmo thing will~"
She then started muttering to herself about how if she stayed right here in the shrine she might be able to survive any catastrophe that might occur.


Sent from my Bad Apple!! iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kristia]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2


"But, this galaxy has a chance to survive" Bryn countered the girlīs fact "There is always the probability where an event happens differently, maybe this galaxy from the different multiverses can be different" she spoke remembering the core things that happened to her own universe "back to your transformation, may I see how this form of yours? it is impressive how a person of your physical attributes can bend physics to the point of becoming such creature, just Iīm interested on what you can do"

[Kilelicus]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2
BGM: Death Note OST: L no Nakama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zb1LqV-zyk

---

Phenom listened as the girl tried in vain to repeat the name he had given her. When she spoke, there was only silence.

What a pitiable creature. There must be some way to help her restore her identity. If only I had '27...

A few moments later he had pushed four blocks into place, and he began to speak once more. "You're rather forthcoming with this information, despite not trusting us a moment ago. What changed your mind?"

While asking his question his mind was racing, trying to understand what exactly was going on now. What was this void? Was it in fact a parasite like the green-eyed one had mentioned earlier? Or was it something more... How would he combat something that could adapt so readily? He needed more information, but that could wait until later. As he shoved the last two blocks into place, he stood straight up and looked around the room in deep thought, reflecting on Nycto's mentioning of surviving this... cataclysm inside this building. Was this structure a relic from the old version of this galaxy that she spoke of? Now that he thought about it, he didn't particularly know if he was even still in the Milky Way anymore.

"Also, what galaxy IS this anyway? The Milky Way? Andromeda?"

[Cucoo5]

[IC] Eternal Galaxy: Phoenix

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2

"Hehehe... Oh this Galaxy will survive alright. With us in it? Mmmm... Debatable." She giggled a little before continuing, "The problem is... This galaxy alone might be the only place left in all existence. No more other universes... Maybe a few other timelines but I don't think they would last either. The Void might find a way to reach wherever we might run..." The Umbra seemed to float into her shadow. "Mmm as for my ability... Blame the two types of energy my kind are made of. Don't know specifics, but It can manipulate my physical form as I will it to certain degrees. The 'demon' form is more taxing...more powerful... But I need to sustain it with the energy of life. It's essentially the form I use to fight the bugs in, since the more I kill, the longer I can fight. All I need is for them to bleed a bit as I kill them..."

She then turned her attention to Phenom. "Oh no no no... It's not that I don't trust you, I just don't trust what might be inside you. The bugs already know what I'm telling you soooo it doesn't matter." Upon hearing his next question she giggled even more. "This galaxy? My kind call it the Venturian Galaxy. I think I heard of the Milky Way... Wasn't that where humans came from a hundred millennia ago...? I think they were refugees cause their home planet went ka-boomy or something."

The Umbra jumped slightly at the sound of the gates sliding open after the final block went into place. She turned and muttered under her breath about bugs not supposed to be able to figure these things out.


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[Zekai]

(I know I need to post more often here)
Alcyon - CY-044: Port 13

Reiya just moved her eyes towards Add. "Your fault for not being strapped in." She said right back to him. Reimi then opened the door and sent the stairs down and Reiya walked down towards the guards. "Treasure hunter and explorer Ray. Owner of the ZXRST 000: Slipstream. Here to refuel and resupply." Reiya said as she displays a holographic ID.

[Kristia]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2

"As you can see" Bryn spoke gesturing to the opening doors "We aren't those bugs of yours, but then again I wonder what would be the situation if one of us was actually bonded with one of them" With that came the smile of curiosity if the green eyed woman "Would you simply attack without remorae, thus proving you are now just a hollow creature or would you try communicate and show that you have soul?"

Runa was surprised with how calm was the bioroid's mood despite the fact that she dared the shadow girl "Well, she does have a point, with evolution, we all adapt to what is best for survival, maybe those creatures can communicate with us too"

[Cucoo5]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2

"Ha!" The Umbra simply burst into a fit of laughter. "Are you suggesting reasoning with our own executioners? Reason with the beings that have desecrated our homes, our lives? Oh nonono... If one of you were infected by them... I would free you from them. Being infected by one of them... It is a fate worse than death. We are but food to them... used only to incubate their larvae before they consume us from the inside. They use us as protection... as psychological armor..." She grinned wryly. "Ah... but that justifies it.... Yes, that is why if you were infected, I have no choice but to kill you; to free you, and to protect others from suffering the same fate should there be more larvae in you. At least death by my hand would be quick and painless rather than the helpless feeling of watching the bugs rip out of you, using you as an exoskeleton, and keeping you alive as they slaughter anything near you." She giggled as she drifted back into her shadow and darted forward towards the stairs to the next floor down.


The 3rd floor appeared to be a large arena that was dominated by a labyrinth. A path leading to the opposite side of the arena that was enclosed in Corlaviri glass allowed anyone to see the entire room. The labyrinth itself was composed of walls made of the same black matter that the gates and blocks were made of, also contained by Corlaviri glass.

[Kilelicus]

Alcyon | Shrine of Winter B2
BGM: Code Geass R2 OST: Boy from Britannia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtxNw8Rs8Ds

---

While the girls were talking, Phenom had already begun to make his way down the stairs to the next floor. He caught enough of the conversation to satisfy his curiosity.

When he reached the bottom he was greeted by a grand labyrinth, filled with walls the same material as the cubes from the last room. Beyond that, there was little remarkable about the chamber before him.

"Lachesis, there's a Labyrinth of some sort in the next chamber. I'm going to Pulse it. It's filled with some strange material that I'd rather not chance contact with. Is there anything you can tell me about it?"

As Phenom's terminal pulsed the room, Lachesis went straight to work analyzing the data.

"This is awkward... I... I can't get any clear reading. Something is interfering with the scan. It might have something to do with the material you're talking about."

Phenom groaned silently as he looked over to his side. Nyctores was still a little ways behind him, so he called out to her.

"Nycto! What can you tell me about this black material? I've never seen anything like it before."