Chapter 17
Next thing to Paradise 1
The party gathers in the bedroom of the Kami named Sigh, the room has a highly naturalistic look to it, the walls and ceiling lined with flowers, candles burn filling the room with the smell of fresh cut oak. The Fox boy sits on the floor his lags folded and hands on his knees, eyes closed and hand lowered in meditation.
The fox ears twitch and head lifts slightly, his noise wiggles as he sniffs around the room. "I don't typically entertain compony in my privet chamber." His eyes open so he can look around the room. "my I ask why you are all here?"
Lances plays along "you might."
Sigh understanding the banter retorts "then I shall. Why have you all gathered here?"
Charlie cuts in "We are looking to contact the Three-Headed Goddess."
Sigh looks to Belmond "I am neither a goddess nor do I have three heads."
Tatsu snarls "If you keep waxing poetic there is going to be an unexpected job opining around here. Can you contact the Goddess, Fate, or not?"
Sigh nods "not here I can't. We would need to have passage to Godshand for such a feet."
Keyor and Cinder both look uncomfortable "I fear that for some of you that is not a journey you are prepared to make. The Nephilim, and the Canen will not be greeted kindly, I would also fear for the safty of you Stith, she is enhanced and will be singled out quickly."
Cinder looks to Lances then Charlie, "The next lag of this trip you will have to make alone it sounds like."
Jazmin flicks his hair back, "Bring it on! I'm not intimidated by any man or beast."
Sigh addresses Jazmin "we are not talking about min or beast, we are talking about Kitsuna, and not Phagion Kitsuna like you are accustomed to seeing, fully fledged Kami. Trained for a hundred generations to hunt and kill demons and devil-kin. David, Princes of Dis, we fought and defeated your kingdom once before, then we were outnumbered 30-1. You will not do so well with the odds reversed I feel."
Jazmin reaches for the Demon Sword on his back "I'm not such a bad Hunter myself…"
Charlie hold a hand out to hold Jazmin back. "Let's avoid any more bloodshed till after dinner if we can."
Tatsu rolls his neck thinking "my pack and I once stumbled onto a wreckage left behind by a Kitusna hunting party. I don't look forward to seeing that sort of mess again."
Keyor looks about her party "what sort of a mess would a hellhound find distasteful?"
Sigh exsplains "Old world Kitsuna harvested there dead. After battling a foe in horrible combat we would claim our victory prize, we would cut open the chest of the fallen and remove the hart. The hart must be consumed warm in order to inherit the powers of the dead..."
Keyor ask "Have you partaken in this rite?"
"I am not a Kitsuna, I am Kami"
Charlie ask "don't you mean 'A kami'?"
"no, we never address each-other with the prefix of 'A' to do so would be to diminish the glory of the ritual associated with the ascension into the Kami"
Tatsu joins the conversation again "you aren't born as Kami, you need to ascend?"
"Yes, there is a number of trails we must endure that burns the uncleanness from our body and soul, turns our hair white and leaves us a blessed form you see before you."
Tatsu's eyes shimmer a predatory yellow "my god you are argent."
Jacob yells in frustration "Lat's enough of that!" Lances waves the group on "Keyor, Get David and the dog out of here before I start teaching them respect."
Keyor starts pushing Jazmin and Hetatsubatchi away, Jazmin laughs as he is walking off "feisty for in old man isn't he? I like it."
Cinder looks over to Milli "Milli, I would like your aid if you have the time?"
Milli shrugs "sounds like there isn't much here for me to do anyway."
Belmond looks to Sigh "so how does all this go down?"
***
Cinder takes Milli to the landing on which the group has group has teleported several times now Hetatsubatchi fallowing along having little else to do. Milli tries to ask what is going on but Cinder is as mysterious as ever, a not so uncommon trait within the ranks of the worldwalkers it seems. Cinder calls on the gate and takes Milli though.
The world on the other side is a savanna. The air is cold and the wind is sweat. The sky is a frosted blue-white, knee high grass grows far as the eye can see, glowing bronze and gold stalks of foliage, the perfectly flat seeming world soiled only by the shadow of a dale casting a gray and yellow shadow in the foggy distance.
Milli brings her hands over her mouth as she gasps at the pastel landscape. Cinder looks to Milli with her empty eyes "Is this your home Ms. Mallagaurd?"
Milli points to the shadowy hills at the edge of her vision. "That is 'South Point Dune' that means V-008 is that way about two days on foot, and my home not far from that…" Milli thinks aloud.
"Is that a yes?" Cinder inquires
Milli struggles not to cry "No, this is not. This isn't the world I left behind, not remotely. This is some foggy remnant of a beautiful nightmare. A place that only can exists in the mind of a child."
Cinder looks concerned "I don't understand."
"First of the sky, it is the wrong color, there is not blue, green or gold on my world. Only rust, crimson, gray and white…"
Cinder looks disappointed "dammit, right planet, wrong realm. I thought I had it. Would you like to look around anyway?" Milli rubs her eyes then nods enthusiastically. Cinder looks happy "good, this way if you would please." Cinder starts to float, Milli chases after her.
Cinder leads Milli on a run across the fields of golden grass. For miles, they run till at last they come to a bluff, Cinder drops below the bluff vanishing from sight for a short time. Milli stops short, Tatsu grinds to a stop as well demonstrating his uncanny speed and dexterity.
Tatsu looks down the drop that must be close to a mile down. "If I didn't know she could fly I would be forced to assume that to be very tragic." Tastu looks to Milli "what is the ruff geography of this place?"
Milli explains "if you where to look at this island from five miles out into the water it would look like four giants dueling. This place is spearhead plains if I know which way we are facing. Its part of the eastern island."
Tatsu looks down trying to judge there high. "it must be 3000 feet to the ground from here. Is this the highest point of the island?"
"no, that would be Crow Crest."
"where this island artificial manufactured to look like that?"
Milli shrugs, "I have no idea." Milli slide steps over to look down with Hetatsubatchi "my planet is locked in a block of ice. I know that we manufactured that."
The white wolf looks to the kangaroo "how? Why?"
"tribalism, industry, take your pick. We spent generations looking for the fastest and cleanest why of getting rid of people we didn't like. Someone at some time had the fantastic idea to magnetize the stratosphere filling the sky with lead, iron, and clay deposits that would never come down blackening the sky. There are now impregnatable storms, the temperature never gets into the positives and if not for vault forts nature her would have killed of the last of us eons ago."
Hetatsubatchi's ears lower to the back of his head and his eyes widen sharply "your people are awful."
Milli giggles uneasily "yea, but we are imagnitive."
Hetatsubatchi thinks "right planet, wrong realm… so this is your world, but a different vertion of it somehow."
Milli looks to her pet friend "do you understand how all this world shifting stuff works?"
"not really." Tatsu steps away from the ledge, "I have a feeling you have seen more worlds then I have at this point." With Cinder having vanished the two of them spend some time walking around on their own. Exploring the landscape it is easy to see that this world is tropical and pristine, the land largely unspoiled by industry.
After a walk through a small cave and walking around the edge of some thick fauna a landlocked lonely lake draws the eye, the whistling of a flute catches the ear even before that. The walk give the par time to talk about the life they left behind. Tatsu and Milli both learn something of themselves talking to the other. Tatsu has always dreamed of running free though the flower fields of a world with no name, and Milli, nationalism aside hungers for love. Hetatsubatchi and Milli alike seem to have both been born in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The lake is mostly hidden by short bushes with fruit hanging from them that looks like plantains, bug chirp and hum, pushing past the overgrowth the two spot a Stith boy sitting with his lower halve in the water practicing playing a wood flute, he has tan hair and white ears, a mathing white strip runs from his chin down the front of his body. A simple cloth rob is thrown over a bush nearby and a bag filled with camping gear.
In a trance at the sight of the boy Milli bite on to one of her hands to calm herself. The boy is not particularly tall or muscular but his fur is in no way marred which is quite uncommon, he has not a single visible scar on his body. His life must have been one of lighthearted leisure. As Milli watches the boy play on his flute she leans forth onto all fours laying her tail across her back.
Tatsu looks to Milli examining her features. "you might want to put your tail down, someone like me could get the wrong idea."
Hearing movement in the bushes boy lowers his flute, his ears jump to attention and he starts looking around "who is abound?" he calls out to the trees.
Hetatsubatchi whispers "do you want me to eat him?" he jokes around "once your pray has spotted you, you need to either chase it or back off."
Milli looks flustered "I'm not hunting him."
Tatsu sneers maliciously "funny, crouching in the bushes like this I was starting to think you look an awful lot like a cougar." Tatsu waits a moment as Milli is struggling with her emotions "you go out there our I will." He commands.
"Ok! Ok." Milli stands up becoming visible. She calls over to the boy "Lt. Milli Malligaurd at your service."
The boy smiles as his eyes feast on the exseptionaly shapely body of Milli. "you must be a nymph, I have heard there were still a hand full of you hiding on this side of the hill." Unashamedly the nude boy walks to Milli to get a better look at her "what is that thing you are wearing?" he points out her armor.
"it is my Nano-fiber Flex suit, engineering wing issued, North Point 107 registry…" Milli stat to ramble.
The boy places two fingers on Milli's noise to hush her "join me in the spring. The water is warm, the sun is high in the sky, it will be fun." The invitation is very forward, no fear, no hesitation. This Stith is the most outgoing and kind one in the world it seems. The boy turns back to the water walking away.
Enthusiastically Milli discards her armor and runs over jumping into the water. She dare not let this opportunity pass. The boy offers his name once the two of them are in the spring together "Astare, is my name."
"what is your rank and listing?" Milli ask eagerly fidgeting about sexually unbalanced by the paradise around her.
Astare seems confused as he thinks about the terms "am I a solder? No, I never enlisted. Didn't see a point."
Milli crawls towards Astare, "then what do you do for a living?"
"Same thing as just about everyone else I assume, whatever it takes to earn my daily provisions. Mostly I practice with flute, people like to watch me play and that gets me fed. Rest of the time I just sort of do whatever I want."
Milli sets her hands on Astare's lags "you are so beautiful." Milli forces a kiss onto Astare, he ecsepts her advance reaching around Milli and gripping her by the rump. Milli behaves in a near childish way to the attention pouncing on her partner, more interested in her own needs then the comfort of her other.
Milli is quick to start making love to Astare, she has not been with a Stith boy since her early teens and it shows, Astare needs to encourage Milli to slow down and enjoy herself. Milli lays Astare on his back dominating him. Astare is fine to play along, letting Milli sit up on him for some time till...
Astare's hands find the front of Milli's body, he rolls his hands down Milli's chest and slides his fingertips into her pouch. He suddenly freezes, the excitement sucked out of him in an instant when he notices how cold her body is. The skin of Milli's pouch is cold, hard, dry and cracked. Milli is a ghoul of some kind, there is simply no way a Stith pouch should feel like that! A pouch should be hot, soft, smooth, and sticky to the touch as it drips with a viscus white mucus.
Only as Astare notices this do his eyes start to search Milli, looking for anything else about her that is wrong: stich marks around one of her eyes, one eye must be fake, a balled spot at the base of one ear, that ear was sown back on, her pouch has three deep cuts sliced though the outer leir. Milli is some patchwork monster raised from the dead!
Milli fails to notice the mounting fear on Astare's face as she is too distracted with her pleasure, furiously thrusting herself on him awaiting her orgasm, and his. But whatever attraction Astare had felt is gone, he is disgusted and horrified by Milli, Astare denies Milli her pleasure pushing her off of him.
In the time it takes Milli to prosses what has happened Astare has picked up his robe and backpack then ran off into the trees. Milli is quivering, she struggles to stand and Yell for Astare trying to understand what has transpired.
Milli's hands find her pouch, she rubs herself remembering her battle scars. She always know how bad they looked, how deep they are and what that means for her future. But this is her first time coming face to face with that future. She is indeed a monster, and weather it was seconds or minutes she had spent with Astare playing with her, it is the most pleasure she deserves.
Milli drops back down to her knees and falls face first into the water crying. This place was in fantasy, and that fantasy has been broken.
Cinder appears sitting in a tree over Hetatsubatchi's head. She calls down to Tatsu seeing he is watching Milli "How is the blind date going?"
Tatsu lay in the grass watching, "not so well I fear."
Cinder drops from the tree tops disheartened "I'm sorry to hear that."
Hetatsubatchi step onto of the trees and approaches Milli. Milli wraps her arms around the wolf and pulls him in to be held.
***
Sigh, Lances, and Charlie arrive at the base of Gadshand, five mountains, long and narrow, streaching off into the heavens, the base of the mountains wrapped tightly with trees that seem to grow technicolored flowers from them. The air is temperate, the grass underfoot is a shadowed blue, the clay on the road is a bloodstained brown. The smell of the wind is of swamp flowers. There is a stillness about that whispers of untold sacredness. Whatever the land around them may be the road head leads to holy ground blessed by blood.
Sigh points up the mountain nearest to them. "that way." The group starts up the incline. "around a third of the way up you will see the first signs of the kami. There will be a wall covered in roses, and two or more men dressed in earth tune shrouds with painted white facemask. Do not make eye contact with them. In fact, make no reference to the idea you can even see them. They are the Opel Mask, they are the leastest amongst us. When they were baptized the sin could not be washed from their souls."
Lances calls to Sigh "I don't understand, what does that mean?"
"we are all born with unclean souls, our sin is visible on our skin and in our fur. It takes the form of pastel patches on our chest, or dark stripes on our ears, noise, or tail. Brown, blacks, grays. Marks of these colors are an icon of our hidden evil. A true Kami, one that is free of the sins or our mothers have only white fur, sometimes with yellow spots, nothing more."
"…And baptism somehow washes away your spots?" Lances clarifies.
"yes." Sigh nobs. "next you will see fields of rice and of wheat. There will be children around that are not yet purified, and they will being watched over by kami that are sick or broken they will have four tails, you may speak to the adults if you so please they are unwashed but they have paid for their right to work with blood, the young are untouchable pay them no mind."
Sigh points up the hill where the wall of the town is coming into view "only after you have seen these things will the proper town come into view. There are three houses that will be marked: The Shrine, were many will be kneeling in prayer, the Chapel where only the most holy await revelation to be laid on them, and the House of Indulgences."
Charlie almost can't swallow his laughter as he hears out Sigh describing the town ahead "one of these things is not like the others."
Lances on the other hand looks repulsed "House of Indulgences?"
"on advrage we spend sixteen hours a day at the shrine. It is hard to talk anyone into working on mantaning the township after daily service. We needed to find a way to incentivize the lower class to keep working even after preforming their required labors. To that end our four mothers came up with the idea of paying for labor with indulgences. If after your prayers are completed you take the opportunity to clean the shrine or tend to the graves, or bring bread and water to the chapel, you earn an hour of indulgences."
"you are obsessed with purity but pay for your luxury with sin?" Lances declares
"we all work with the hopes of being filled with nirvana, but no one ever achieves true peace."
Sigh's description of the town does not disappoint. Standing at the archway leading into the town there are thirteen foxes dressed in dirty brown robes with mask hiding their faces, the mask has become their identity, they show no skin, have no sex, they are sentinels and watching the road is there only purpose. Next they pass a waterfall and several miles of rice. The road wines around the other side of the hill, the body of the town hidden from the working class.
The shrine is at the center of everything, it is a glass box with three swords and a bow locked inside, four wooden archways mark the cardinal directions. there are no less than thirty kami in kowtow on each side of the monument praying to the swords and bow. Noises to the ground, knees pushed into chest, arms outstretched and tails submissively tied around hip. Those at the shrine are dressed in simplistic mono colored gowns.
The Chapel on the other hand is as different as it is the same, the chapel has a large bronze drum of water set off to one side of it with some form of a pump under it that sprays water into the air three feet up, there is a copper tube, rusted green at the top of the three steps approaching the front door and in iron hammer attached to it by a thick rope died red tide in a bow.
Sigh walks Lances and Charlie through the ritual that must be undertaken before they can step inside. Both hands must be placed in the spray of water from the drum, then dipped into the water bellow three times, on the third cup hands together and slash the water onto ones face, next walk up the steps, clap hands three times then turn to face the copper cylinder. Face away from the chapel and take the hammer in one's right hand, tape the cylinder three times, only then may one set foot within the chapel.
Sigh takes them inside. The chapel is kept dark, large pots of flowers burn on both sides of the main door, there is constant drowning chants being read by the twenty or so kami lost in meditation, these kami's outfits are much more elaborate, the cloaks they were are brightly colored; green's, red, orange, and yellow. These one's were jewels around there necks and imbedded in their hands, the were headdresses with horns, and feathers. There are younger kami around that walk around with plates of fruits and bowls of water offering to feed the elder kami, and offer food and drink to stone ideals set in the corners of the room.
Sigh walks around searching for his sister Nine. When he fails to spot her in the crowed he turns his attention on one of the younger kami that is tending to an ideal "here child, come to me." He calls.
The young kami tending the statue his dressed in gray, she has only one tail, (in opposition to the three that is much more common in the chapel) her hair is white and shaved down to the point of looking thinning, she has red spirals drawn into her fur. She steps down from the ideal and takes a bow. "I am Ikeareal, I am Kami."
Sigh folds his hand and lowers his eyes "I am Sigh, and I am Kami"
Ikeareal lowers her eyes again respectfully "how may I serve you Kami called Sigh?"
"though born here I have spent many years traveling. Left behind my sister Nine and my Brother Honz. Yet I see them not. Do you know the Kami Nine and the Kami Honz?"
"Nine has recently retired to the House of Indulgence. I know no kami called Honz."
Sigh thinks about that statement "I find that most troubling."
Ikeareal looks over the group "do you have indulgence to spend? You will need no less than three if you wish to visit your sister there."
Sigh shakes his head "I have never made habit of saving them."
"I have seven, I will give you three." Ikeareal takes a chain from around her neck and pulls off of it three wooden globes.
Lances whispers with Charlie "I'm getting the feeling I am not going to enjoy this. What do you think we are about to bear witness to?" Charlie simply shakes his head.
Sigh bows again to Ikeareal "I thank you for your kindness."
Ikeareal nods "I have little need for indulgence, I had planned to trade my indulgence for the right to have a child, and should I plan my time correctly that will only cost me one."
Sigh takes them outside, Lance grits his teeth in frustration "did I hear that right and you need to pay to have kids around here?"
Sigh nods "almost without fail the act of giving birth requires sex, sex is and indulgence."
Charlie ask for clarification "almost?"
"I have met a half dozen girls who claim to have given berth without the need for a partner."
There is an opal mask waiting at the door to the House of Indulgences, the masked fox holds out a hand waiting for payment as the group approaches. Sigh pays without hesitation. The masked fox opens the door for them.
The house of Indulgences has a carnival like atmosphere, the smell of cooked meat is thick in the air, muted only by the coppery sent of sex equally as strong. Here clothing is optional and most choose to forgo that option. There is laughter, dancing and all sorts of Tomfoolery, min and woman alike parade their genitals encouraging whoever should walk through the door to reach down and play with them. All three of the men are maid more than a little bashful by the display.
A black sour drink is passed around, it is described as tea but one whiff of the pungent juice tells otherwise, plates of scantly cooked red meat dances across the room as do plates of herbs, mushrooms, and bottles of oil.
Charlie tries to lighten the mood "Hay Lances, when you were a kid di you hang out in places like this?"
Lances with a bitter look on his face replies "when I was a kid there were no places like this."
"where were you in the 60's?"
"most likely at church." Lances calls out "who is in charge around here!"
The crowed parts to reveal a white fox with yellow hair taking a drag off a pipe, she has a golden headdress and eight tails, she has a waterfall patterned robe pulled open to show off her chest and legs as she sits cross-legged. The fox pulls the pipe form her mouth "I am Nine, I am Kami. I'm in charge around here." Her eyes are bloodshot, she is swaying slightly in place.
Lances whispers "you where are the courthouse a few days ago." Lances marches over "I am Father Lances Jacob, I'm in charge elsewhere."
Nine looks to sight then back to Lances "little brother, you need to start making cuter friends."
Sigh lowers his head and pinches himself between the eyes trying to stave off the feral lust building in his mind "I'm not here to pleasure you Nine. By the way where is Honz?"
"my twin? I sent him to the Opel Mask."
Sigh's eyes dart up "why?"
"after his baptizim the spots on his noise didn't go away. I had to" Nine placez her hands behind herself for balance.
Showing true anger Sigh stomps over "that is true of half the tribe. I still have a yellow spot on my tail and on both of my ears!"
"yellow spots are AOK. Brown spot are not."
Lances cut back into the conversation "this is a church state, right? I need to know how do you justify all of this? Let me tell you from where I am standing this looks a good deal like misconduct."
Nine falls backwards looking up at the ceiling, she puts her knees up and rest her hands on her stomach "relax, we are safe from the eyes of god here. We painted angel wards all around this place to keep out any unwanted gods."
Lances brakes down in laughter "you think you can hide by casting a magic spell on the walls of this place?"
Nine hold up one hand exclaiming "that is right."
"god's not confused by walls and paint."
"well,… seeing that not a one of us has transformed back into our feral shape I would have to say I disagree with your observation."
Charlie steps between the lot of them "Cut!" he looks to Nine "I understand that you know a magic spell that can summon the goddess Fate, is that true?"
"yea. But I am really high, do you really need to talk about this now?"
Charlie nods "yes please."
Nine starts to sit up "why do you want to talk to the Three-headed Goddess anyway?"
Sigh shouts "Please cover yourself Nine! I have little desire to look apian your sacredness."
Charlie explains "we are hunting Cravixs."
"the void mage? You are going to need more than one goddess. When Cravixs is involved, anyone that is in the know knows to get out of town."
Charlie smiles "Im going to change that. Now what do we need to do to get Fate down here?"
Nine thinks "well, first you need to go down to the Forgotten Lowland, you need to find a statue there of a winged man with his head down, one arm covering his face and the other reaching for the sun. you need to take one of his eyes and bring it back here. Second, we need to perform The Calling Dance, Third I need to not be stoned."
Sigh protest "The Weeping Star? You need his eyes?"
Nine nods "or another pair of eyes of comparable worth. Go down to the long house, get Honz to fallow you there, he will love it."
Charlie dances in place "I love this idea, I am happy to be a part of it."
Nine leans forward sticking her tails up "so long as I'm still feeling color, and tasting sound do you three want to have some fun?" Charlie nods, Lances and Sigh get up to walk away dragging Charlie along with them.
***
Celverant sits in his study, an amphitheater like room with spiraling towers of book twisting outwards like a conk shell. Today a friend has joined him in his solitude. A Kobolt called Jessica the Weaver. An elderly mouse women with grey-red fur, glasses and a matching crimson scholar's garment and pendent with a shimmering red stone in it. Celverant is a juggernaut, Jessica hardly stands at three feet, Celverant is a towering mass of metal well over 3000lbs, Jessica wouldn't clock in at over 50lbs dripping wet. The two couldn't stand more opposite of each other.
Celverant leans over in the Thinker pose looking down at his tiny friend "we have not spoken since you were wed to your third mate, Walker the Lunarein if I recall."
Jessica speaks with a soft motherly voice "yes, it has been some time, but I fear today I am here looking for your expertise."
"you have offered me a great many gifts in the past Mighty Weaver, I would dare not turn you away." Celverant reminisces "how may I serve you?"
"An unwanted lifeform has taken up residences in my body, I need to know how to get rid of it."
Celverant stares Jessica down for a moment "Do you mean physical position?" Jessica nods "Horizontal plane shifting. Did they ever pick the wrong mouse to try to possess. How old even are you Jessica?"
"I was born in the 3000th year on the dryad lunar calendar. I think that makes me something like 4,897 on the Christian calendar." Jessica becomes somewhat flustered "Now how do I stop a possession in progress?"
"That is simple enough" Celverant explains "you need to jump back and forth between two worlds on which you or your possessor have no domain. That or in some way make your body not desirable. Depending on weather you want to brake the link on your side or force it to fail on theirs." Celverant falls forward holding his head.
Jessica tries to prop up the giant "Ceverant?"
"Something has gone wrong, I just lost my link to the Steel Rose."
"lost your link?"
"I am no longer piloting this ship." Celverant tries to contact his other bodies to search for the problem only to find that he can't link into his other bodies either "I am locked out of my network."
Seeker opens the door to the study "I have adopted your tec. everything that makes you unique is now a part of me. I have been given a new registration. I am no longer the Seeker of Eternity because I have now found Eternity. Now I am the Seeker of Inferno, my new goal is to assimilate the Worldwalkers, Add their uniqueness onto my own."
Seeker assumes a liquid shape to fly over to Celverant, she wraps a clawed hand around his face and pulls him in intimately to whisper with him "amongst all of your clones, there seems to be one that is guarded form me, one that has two internal brains capable of acting apart from each other. I must remove your second brain and study it." Celverant calls on his technopathic power to conjure a sparking lance, Seeker grabs the lance out of the air to stop any possible incoming attack. "your resistance is meaningless."
Jessica throw her arms out and a flare of magnum white light explodes from her body stunning Seeker. Celverant struggles with his equilibrium, Jessica grabs him by the arm to lead him away from Seeker. "The Rose is lost, we must flee." Celverant declares.