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The Utopia Realm, Twilight's Castle, Time: 12:00 AM
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Above the sky of the Utopia Realm, a bright white castle is covered by clouds. The castle rivals the size of the biggest mountain, adorned with a flag on top resembling tree branches.
On the castle floor, a giant tree rests in the garden, seemingly transparent with colorful orbs rising upward toward the bright light above the tree. It shimmers as the orbs make it bigger and brighter.
A lone wooden desk and the fanciest chair occupy the space, with a person sitting on it radiating an intense aura.
The man has long, fluffy platinum hair, looking surprisingly young for his appearance with his golden eyes.
He wears a hoop golden earpiece and a large, rainbow, ruffled cravat. A white cape with golden trim forms a swirly wing pattern along with his jacket, which has a similar design. Black pants with golden trim and swirls at the bottom complete his outfit.
Pouring tea into his marigold-colored cup, he enjoys the serene moment. It's a calm and peaceful time even for a god.
"Nothing could ever ruin these divine moments for someone like me..." The man mutters, savoring the perfection of the day.
"Seems like you're enjoying yourself, eh? Volo?"
Volo snaps out of his daydream, glancing over to the figure addressing him. He maintains his smirk as his partner in crime has arrived.
A tall, averagely-built woman with pale white skin and long black hair adorned with neon green highlights stands before him.
Their wavy hairstyle contrasts with her attire—a black collared shirt, a dull greenish-gray blazer, a necktie, long suit pants, gloves of similar color, and black dress shoes and socks.
The blazer, suit pants, and tie all feature a geometrical diamond design with bright green accents, primarily on their left hip and shoulders.
"Ah, Aether. You have arrived," Volo invites them to sit on the other side of the desk.
Aether strides over to the ornate desk where the fashionably dressed god Volo reclines, an amused smile playing about their black lips.
They settle smoothly into the proffered seat, adjusting their suit jacket and gazing out at the peaceful sky view unrolling beyond Volo's soaring sanctum.
"Quite the picturesque setup you've cultivated here," Aether remarks wryly, gesturing at the surrounding opulence. "Tea and tranquility, no troubles to wrinkle that noble brow. Must be blissful being First Leviathans when no crises come calling."
Volo takes an unruffled sip of his tea. "My dear, every rose has its thorns. Even paradise requires upkeep. But..." He raises his teacup appreciatively. "...I will grant you there are worse occupations for an eternal deity."
Setting his cup down with a soft tinkling clatter, Volo folds his hands, his nonchalant demeanor shifting to keen interest. "Now then, you clearly bring tidings that will disrupt my peaceful interlude. So let us skip straight to business, shall we? What stirs in our glittering realm?"
Aether allows herself a thin smile. Trust Volo to remain unflappably cordial even when anticipating potential catastrophe. They activate a glowing sigil, projecting images between them - signs of some ominous awakening churning within Gaia's depths.
"I will leave interpreting these portents to your reputed omniscience..." They tap slender fingers on the desk. "But whatever's down there is angry and looking for a fight."
Golden eyes narrowing, Volo studies the omen sigils intently as Aether looks on. Neither is a stranger to quelling unruly eruptions, divine or otherwise. But both sense this disturbance heralds something more volatile than their past skirmishes.
Aether waves their hand and the ominous sigils hovering between them dissolve, replaced by four glowing images - mugshots of the Lucky Inquisitors. Volo's gaze sharpens with interest as he examines each photo in turn.
"So these are the notorious upstarts causing such chaos below," he murmurs. A slight smile tugs at his mouth. "Rambunctious lot, aren't they? I must say, they do liven things up around here."
He glances back at Aether. "I take it you disapprove of their antics? Understandable, given the disruptions they've unleashed on your meticulous empire."
Aether replies dryly, "I'd be more impressed if their stunts showed a bit more strategy than wanton property damage. Though I'll grant their powers bear watching..."
They tap the image of a smirking pink-haired girl, electricity dancing across the mugshot frame. "This one especially - she'd put some of Cleric to shame. If she seemed to possess this much power input by her Custodiae, that would mean..."
"She's possessed by a Birth Eldritch." Volo's tea suddenly went cold as his expression changed from smug to angry.
Those inbred pests just kept breeding everywhere, even after 30 years of wiping all of them out.
Aether trails off ominously before continuing. "In any case, the other realms grow restless with these upstarts threatening trade routes and energy channels. It's time they learn to walk the line, like the other submitted champions. With respect, will you finally intervene?"
Volo strokes his chin thoughtfully as he gazes at the Lucky Inquisitors.
"All in good time, my dear. For now, let us see how our fledgling dragons choose to fly..." He waves a hand and the images dissolve in a scattering of light. "They may yet surprise us."
"It seems you are angry, dear," Aether stated, raising her foot on Volo's desk. "Is it because those pesky Eldritch came back to haunt you after so long?" Aether smirked a little; they didn't care if they were birth Eldritch or not— they just wanted to have fun.
"Yes, I am. But an angry god is just a fable's tale," Volo said, looking down at his tea. "A god's job is to be calm and collected all the time, and you mustn't be blinded by the primitive rage that mere mortals possess." Volo suddenly sipped on his tea, finishing it quickly.
"Your tea is going to run cold, dear," Volo stated. Aether hadn't touched their tea yet.
"Nope, not really a tea kind of gal," Aether said before putting a newspaper on the table. She quickly got up.
"I will get someone to go to The Culture Festival so we can get those upgrades for our Messengers of The Beyond." Aether winked and stuck out their tongue before quickly leaving.
Volo pulled up the newspaper; his mind was way faster than humans' as he finished reading it. Volo suddenly slammed his fist on the table, creating a crack.
The tea was shaking as a single drop went on the table. He was breathing heavily before he quickly calmed himself, clenching his forehead with veins showing on his hand.
Volo took a deep breath before he finally calmed down. He looked at his tea before stirring it. "Mortals are more dangerous than I thought..." Volo glared at his tea before his expression changed into anger.
Volo pulled up his right arm sleeve, showing his cut arm scar. It was still healing, and that angered him a lot as he knew who caused it. "Sugar..."
Volo sat brooding, staring into his tea as he traced a finger over the slowly healing scar on his arm.
The wound dealt by Sugar's chaotic blade still stung, an irritating reminder that even gods could bleed.
Volo rose from his carved chair and strode to the expansive window overlooking his realm.
"Those wretched mortals grow more insolent by the day," he muttered, golden eyes flashing. "Meddling in affairs far above their station, wounding immortal flesh with their pathetic weapons."
His scowl deepened as he recalled Aether's news - one of the upstart Inquisitors was tainted by eldritch power, an ancient force meant to be purged from the realms long ago. That the child of a banished people now wielded such unstable gifts was an insult he would not abide.
"The time has come to remind these mortals of their rightful place." Volo raised a hand and black storm clouds swirled at his command. Thunder rumbled menacingly through the sanctum.
"No more gently chastising their transgressions. Any who dare challenge the natural order will face my full wrath."
Lightning cracked, backlighting Volo's silhouette with a vengeful glow. His eyes narrowed, fixed on the distant horizon where the offending realm lay.
But Volo isn't going to do that.
"I have time," Volo muttered to himself, he looked down at the realm that he started, and he grew it into the most fruitful society and highly intelligent utopia that any mortals wish could be their own.
"I have people who are willing to be my blade and shield without lifting a finger." Oh, how he could have forgotten about The Leviathans. The people who reject their mortal husks into the best of the best species of all time.
Volo's shadow started to form a domain around him before everything around him changed.
The starry sky was blight with a comet going around in about a minute or so. The floating part of the ruined arena was breaking the law of gravity as it scattered around into the sky.
The sun somehow existed in this realm but was mostly dimly lit like an eclipse. We could see the planets in the distance, it seemed out of the solar system with stars growing as big as the planets.
Volo's feet landed on the cold, hard ground. "Ah, how I miss my own goal."
He finally turned around to see what he was fighting for, what he was dreaming of, and what he was willing to sacrifice for.
A gigantic gate with cosmic writing on it, a constellation that they could know of. It was glowing in blue light on the writing, with language that only a god could decipher. The gate was sealed shut as it didn't open in almost a megaannum.
Volo was slowly walking toward it, "I am going to bring you back, Father. No matter what, these mortals need to be crushed for the new world." He finally looks down at what is in front of the gate.
A pedestal with 10 identical shape slots on it.
In the center of the design, there are two main slots, one for the shape of the sun and another for the shape of the moon.
These two slots are positioned apart from each other. Below them, there are two smaller slots, one with a water drop symbol and the other with a prayer hand symbol.
At the bottom of the design, there are two more slots, one with a heart symbol and the other with a star symbol.
These two slots are positioned in a circular formation around the two bigger slots.
The final two slots have already been filled with the Chaos and Gaia symbols, one on each side of the other four slots.
"Once, I finally collect all of them. I will finally open my heart for you." Volo looked up at the gate, letting out a cold smile.
"The Sacred Frontier."
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