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Arrival - Amaterasu - 12-12-2017
Quote:Previous thread: http://omniverse-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=9432
Amaterasu was the first of their group to set foot into the Oververse, and while the others followed her through the portal she stood there, drinking in the sights without even trying to restrain her amazement. Clouds of the purest white formed platforms on which stood marble buildings and pillars of stone adorned with gold and silver. More of the winged creatures like the one they had seen in the black expanse that was now behind them were flying between these buildings. Amaterasu could now see that they were humans with large feathered wings with a golden ring above their head and emitting a glow, greatly reminiscent of the divine aura that a Kami displayed.
She heard Oki, Urist and Fiara setting their feet onto the cloud behind her, and turned her head slightly to see how they too admired the splendor of this place. They just stayed for a while. None dared break the silence, as if it could shatter the magic of it. They heard the laughter of the angels but it was a sound so pure, so melodic, that it seamlessly fit into the scene.
"These buildin's... they're perfect..." murmured Urist. "Ah've never seen such... marvels... o' architecture an' craftsmanship..."
"Not just the buildings", Fiara now spoke up, encouraged by the dwarf's words. "These flying spirits, they're so pure. So free of darkness."
"The very air we breathe seems to be filled with energy", said Oki. "I can feel the weariness of this journey falling off my limbs like dirt that is washed off."
"Without a doubt this must be the realm of the gods", Amaterasu spoke last. "A realm of perfection, of light and purity... come. I feel like we are but starting to explore the marvels of this place." She pointed forward. What they had first thought to be a sun, solely existing to light up this realm, was in fact a resplendent golden city built on gigantic clouds. A city of such magnificient proportions that Amaterasu caught herself wondering whether it was larger than her palace in Tamagahara.
Fiara jumped and was carried far higher than any time before, before descending slowly again as if she had wings. She laughed with happiness and so did the others as they mimicked her and tested the limitations of this area. Like children on a trampoline they toyed for a while, even the otherwise stoic Urist and the self-restrained Oki. First they just jumped up and down on the cloud that they had arrived on, then they began to hop forwards, never afraid of falling to whatever was lying below. To their eyes they were gracious dancers hopping from one cloud to the next, slowly but surely inching their way to the golden city of Valhalla where they had been heading to all along.
The occasional angel accompaigned them for a few jumps, though none spoke a word, they just laughed with those pure voices who rung like the chime of a bell. Whether they were amused by the exuberant behavior of these strangers or simply expressing their good mood, none of them cared. They were far too immersed in their own happy little worlds for negative thoughts to find their way into their minds. Urist tired not with pointing out marvels of architecture and art that flew by as they jumped forward. Were they the dwellings of angels or pure constructs built for the sake of beauty? And what of the enorous pillars, were they too pieces of artwork or had they some function? On the other side Oki pointed the dwarf to the rare sight of nipponese buildings constructed among the various other architectural styles, buildings that he recognized. Others seemed so beyond this world that neither of them could comment on it, for no words they knew would do these things justice. And these marvels only increased in magnitude once they traversed the gates into Valhalla itself, and from there to the resplendent hall in the city.
Amaterasu landed and though she was still beyond joyous, the giddiness, the euphoria and childlike amazement slowly dissipated as more serious thoughts took her mind. As the others jumped much like astronauts on the moon, as someone from a more modern era would comment, she walked through the corridors, and here once more her feet left behind a trail of plants and grass that dissipated as quickly as it appeared. The cold of the Frozen Fields was no longer suppressing her, quite the opposite - here she felt at the height of her power. The certainty that everything was how it was meant to be solidified with every dignified step she took towards the hall.
Urist, Fiara and Oki calmed themselves enough to walk instead of jumping once they entered the hall, as without words spoken between them they could feel that a little more seriosity was appropriate now. Forming a diamond shape at whose tip walked Amaterasu, they approached the throne.
RE: Arrival - Omni - 12-12-2017
Omni sat, arms draped over his crossed knees. As Amaterasu and her entourage approached, he looked up expectantly, and his smile blossomed into appearance as though it had always been there. He said nothing until they were fully close enough to survey him, and in that moment they were all silent.
Omni broke it: "Has someone been leaking my location on the Dataverse?" His tongue was stuck out.
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 12-13-2017
For a moment, none of the four reacted as they found themselves surprised by how Omni greeted them. Not that they'd have expected a red carpet and celebrations, but... and what was that about a Dataverse? Amaterasu was the first to speak up, towards the others in a low tone. "He's talking about this... thing that they have here in the Omniverse, it's like a blackboard to which anyone can attach information from anywhere."
"Who is that guy anyway?" asked Fiara with a side glance at the grinning deity.
"That's Omni, the creator of the Omniverse and the one who brought me here. But let's not keep him waiting... it sounds like he's gotten several visits in the recent past, we should avoid making a bad impression." It was, after all, bad manners to be whispering among one another instead of talking to someone. Amaterasu turned back to him and bowed deeply with her palms together, as was the traditional greeting in Japan to a superior. The others soon followed suit, even Urist, though he did so more awkwardly than the rest. "If anyone has done such a thing, I am not aware", she responded to his inquiry. His joke passed far over her head. "We did not realize that our journey up the mountains of the Frozen Fields would lead us here, though I believe that it was more than mere coincidence." Of course it wasn't. She was fated to arrive here. After a moment she added: "It is a great honor to meet you again."
RE: Arrival - Omni - 12-14-2017
"The pleasure is all mine, Amaterasu," Omni said, smiling and nodding but not rising to his feet. Just in front of him was a small black orb, no bigger than the child-silhouette's closed fist. "Why don't you tell me ... what did you hope to find at the top of those mountains?"
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 12-15-2017
"Well..." Amaterasu started, then didn't continue. She needed a moment to think this over. Then she just smiled. "Actually, no. I believe that one of the friends I have brought along is better suited to explain this. Urist?"
The dwarf blinked, but stepped forward. He stroked down along the full length of his beard as he eyed the grinning figure atop his throne, the black orb strangely out of place in such a white, golden and otherwise light-colored world, and opened his mouth a few times only to close it again without saying a word. "Ah... me name's Urist McGlodsson, an' me da' is Glod McJerrowsson... 'e engraved an image into tha walls o' Dwarfholm, 'e did. An' there was this thing..." He thought a moment, to find words for what he wanted to say. "Ehh, we can't see tha summits o' the highest mountains, because o' the clouds. Bu' me da' engraved a rip inta the stone, aye? 'e said tha' the mountains reach so high up tha' they cut open tha... tha bubble tha's all around the Fields."
One did not need to be an omniscient deity to see that the dwarf was struggling with this. "'e got called a madman fer it, he did. Woulda been fine if 'e 'adn't insisted tha' the image was real... bu' 'e's never seen tha summits so 'e had no way o' knowing, an' yet 'e went stubborn like granite. So tha dwarves think 'e's a crackpot, now. Ain't colorin' off well on me either." He looked back to Amaterasu and the others, then back at Omni. "Ama... she's seen somethin', ah think. In the carvin'."
"That would be about right", admitted the Kami. "I did not know what we would encounter, but we did not undertake the journey solely to prove Urist's father to have been right all along. I thought that there may be... perhaps an exit out of the Omniverse, or the revelation of what lies beyond the verses. If they are like nine bubbles hung in space, what would be beyond them?" It was only the partial truth, but she was waiting for her turn. Right now it was Urist's.
"Aye... an' ah'm thankful ta all o' you", Urist said towards Amaterasu, Oki and Fiara. Then he faced Omni yet again and fidgeted. His next words were spoken with a greater amount of nervousness than he'd already shown so far. "Bu' even if ah've got three witnesses now, it ain't like me fellow dwarves couldn' jes' say tha' they're lyin' fer me, their friend. So, eh, if ah may be so bold... could ah ask ye fer a favor? Some... some sorta proof tha' ye've put a portal up there, tha' ah can show to Dwarfholm?"
RE: Arrival - Omni - 12-15-2017
Omni shrugged flippantly. "Sorry, no can do! Frankly, if everyone believed in the gate, it'd be a problem for me." Seeing Urist's crestfallen expression, he added: "But hey, who even cares about what they think .... right?"
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 12-19-2017
Urist stroked his beard again and finally nodded. "Ah guess that ye don' wan' everyone an' their mums comin' ta meet ya. Ah can understan' tha'." Well, at the very least this journey had given him closure. He knew that his dad wasn't crazy after all. He could tell him that, and let the other dwarves think what they would. Right?
Well, not quite. He did care what the other dwarves thought. He did care that they would always see him as the son of the crazy engraver. He did care that it would mean odd looks from dwarves until the end of his life. He did care that his father may never be buried with the proper dwarven rites of passing. And on the other hand, he felt less and less like a Dwarfholm dwarf with every day he spent out in the Fields trading goods for a living rather than staying in the city to become a blacksmith, leatherworker or something sedentary. He looked at the grinning god again, then back at his friends. "Ah'll have ta think 'bout this", he finally said and stepped away from both Omni and the others, to think about this for a little time.
And for a moment, nobody else moved. Amaterasu knew that both Oki and Fiara had questions burning on their tongues, but neither of them wanted to cut off the other one by going first. That is until Oki decided to speak: "Fiara, you go first. I only have questions stemming from curiosity, you have got a more serious request."
"... I guess. Thank you, Oki", the phoenix said. She stepped forward and faced Omni, breathed deep a few times, and finally spoke up while bowing to him. "I have a request... or maybe a question." Not knowing if Omni really was omniscient to everything in the Omniverse or he could just read her mind, she decided to explain: "I was... no, I mean, I participated in one of these 'Dante's Abyss' events and I died, which... well, it made me lose all the memories that I had of that place, of the people I met there and such. I've only been able to witness second-hand what happened through recordings, but... is there any way that I can recover the memories that I lost - first-hand?" She was purposedly talking about how 'she' had died, because as per the logic of this world, she understood that she, the current Fiara, was a different being altogether than the Fiara who had died in Dante's Abyss. Two different incarnations of the same person. Yet the possibility remained that these two incarnations could be rejoined, and that was what she was there to ask.
RE: Arrival - Omni - 12-28-2017
Omni smiled. "If you really want." He held out his hand, closed but for his index finger, extended as a clear invitation to touch.
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 12-31-2017
To someone with a background from a modern world, Omni's gesture would have looked more like a "Pull my finger" practical joke. To Fiara, it was what Omni offered her. "Of course I want to... those are..." She hesitated for a moment, then her expression became determined and serious. "Those are my memories. Even if it means I have to remember my own death, I want them back." Gingerly she reached out and their fingertips touched.
A flood of visions, impressions, feelings and thoughts washed over her that moment, but though their sheer number seemed overwhelming they cleanly arranged themselves into her brain like film strips to be viewed at a later date. The impressions she had were fleeting, an entire lifetime squeezed into less than a second. They were not meant to be experienced all at that time. Even the fleeting moments that coursed through Fiara's head could have driven a mortal insane by overwhelming their senses. Was the Smiling God to thank for that her brain did not short-circuit at the time? She never remembered to ask.
Waking up in the midst of a desert, it felt like she had been there all her life. Perhaps that was it. She knew what she had to do. Above her, written in the stars, the constellation of Moegami, the phoenix god of flames. Below, nothing but the evershifting sands, and a community in the distance. She had to find her. She had to find Amaterasu, and bring her to this desert.
Dante's Abyss. The chaotic beginning of it all. Arturia Pendragon, the knight-woman of the western lands, their meeting short yet informative. She had met Amaterasu. Friendly tones were exchanged. Then, the separation. She had never quite discovered what this all was about. Only that they had been stranded by some misfortune on an island where everything was hostile. Many had taken off, but the Plaguelord had stayed behind to lead the remaining ones. Him, and the red-skinned man... Vision was his name. Then, the attack, the cave collapse, the underground mine for raw Omnilium veins. Reuniting with Arturia for a brief moment, and with the ally she had made. And finally, her death only moments before the chance of rescue. What irony.
Fiara gasped and stumbled backwards, nearly falling over had it not been for Oki who, fortunately, was close enough to catch her before she could hit her head against Valhalla's ground and give Omni or his angel janitors a puddle of blood to clean up. She quickly regained her composure though and stood on her own two legs again, then, though shakily, bowed before Omni. "Thank you... I'll be sure not to lose them this time." Then she hurried back to Amaterasu. There was something important that she had to tell her, and she almost wanted to beat herself for having forgotten. Oki was left alone standing closest to the throne.
"Ah... it looks like it's my turn?" he asked and, in the same manner as the others, bowed before Omni and cleared his throat. "Unlike the others I did not come with a wish or request - I am quite satisfied the way things are for myself. But seeing how I am here, I suppose I should not squander a chance that may never present itself again, so... if I may ask a question. That black orb, it has caught my attention since we stepped into these halls... it seems oddly out of place in a hall of nothing but white and gold. Did someone other than you or... those winged humans bring it here?"
RE: Arrival - Omni - 01-04-2018
Omni scratched his head, and for once gave a straightforward answer as he looked down at the orb. "Yes. You can take it if you want."
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 01-09-2018
Oki was quite surprised to be offered the orb, just like that. "Well..." he replied after a moment. "If it was brought here by someone else, wouldn't they want you to have it? It would not be okay of me to interfere with their wishes." However there was a glimmering interest in the Oina warrior's eyes. He was given the opportunity to take an item belonging to Omni who was, as far as he knew, the highest Kami of the Omniverse. Of course it would not prove anything about their journey if he showed it around, like what Urist had asked, but Amaterasu, Fiara, Urist and he would always know where it truly came from.
"If I may ask..." Oki added to his previous statement: "Who was it that brought the orb here? And... what is it?"
RE: Arrival - Omni - 01-11-2018
"The person who came here before you had a single wish that I was willing to fulfil. The ... creation ... of that orb. I might as well tell you. He wanted to transmute himself into an artefact of great power. But to say more than that would be taking sides. Take it or don't; I don't care." Omni's words were devoid of any anger, but for once, he wasn't smiling.
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 01-11-2018
Oki looked at the orb, then at Omni, then at the orb again. To be frank, that face without a smile was more unsettling than with the enormous grin he had been bearing earlier. Then he looked at Amaterasu. Finally, back at Omni.
"I couldn't possibly accept a gift of such great value", he said finally. "However, I will happily accept it on behalf of someone who is fit to wield its power." The way he looked over his shoulder made it obvious who he intended to give it to. Turning back to Omni, he added: "I could however not simply take it... not without offering something in return. I doubt that it would be much use to you or that you couldn't just summon your own, but... let me trade you this." With that he unhooked Kutone, his sword, from his backpack along with the sheath. Before he could proceed however, Amaterasu stepped forward, a frown on her forehead.
"Oki, you're going to give him Kutone? Just like that? That sword is your..."
"It's just a sword", Oki interrupted her. "It has fulfilled its duty when it broke open Laochi Lake for you. To be exchanged for an artefact of such power is a honorable addition to its story. Besides..." he added with a grin. "You can summon a new sword for me."
"Well... I guess", Amaterasu admitted but didn't look entirely convinced. "Do what you will, Oki."
The Oina warrior nodded. He unsheathed the blade and stepped forward, coming within some three steps of Omni, then knelt before him and placed the sword and sheath on his palms which he held up. The God would only need to reach out to grab the sword. "While I happily accept your generosity, I wish to offer this to you, Omni-sama. It is yours to take if you want it."
Quote:(reference image for Kutone)
RE: Arrival - Omni - 01-11-2018
Omni's stoic image broke into one of childlike glee as he reached out for the sword. "Cool! Very cool. I'll accept your gift, Oki."
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 01-11-2018
Oki gave a breath of relief, having held it while waiting for a response. The blade and sheath were light and cold to the touch, but for Omni that should be no problem, with or without gloves. "That makes me glad. I hope you enjoy it."
He picked up the orb with both hands before standing up, then walked back towards Amaterasu, holding it in his hands. The exchange had been observed by someone else, though: Urist, who stood by and had watched, now stepped forward, stroking his beard again. "If ah may place another request, Myl- ... Omni? Ah've come ta terms with yer refusal, an' ah'm okay with that. Bu' can ah offer somethin' else? If ah may not take away anythin' from this, may ah leave me mark 'ere in yer home verse... by summonin' somethin' fer you? Ah only ask that ye grant me the power fer a short while, so ah can summon somethin' ah've got in mind. Or ye can probe me head an'... an extract the idea if ye don' want ta do that."
RE: Arrival - Omni - 01-11-2018
"Hm." Omni seemed to actually consider it. "I guess I can do that. C'mere."
The dwarf approached slowly, with serious eyes. Omni reached out with casual swiftness and slapped a palm onto the Urist's forehead. His palm glowed white, and the dwarf staggered back.
"Try to imagine the object really exists. It should come pretty easy for you; I made it that way."
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 01-13-2018
Urist felt as if overwhelming power surged through his body. Power wielded by the gods, meant not for mortals, a power that should pulverize a lowly mortal as himself by simple contact. And yet, it did not. He huffed several times, looking at his palms. Amazing...
"Ah... ah see. Lemme jes'... give me a moment." So this was what a Prime must feel like. His shocked face turned into a broad smile. Words could not describe this feeling... none besides "amazing".
He reached out before him and closed his eyes, imagining before him an item that he wanted to leave here. An object for Omni to have. One that would not be as practical as Oki's sword, but one that would hopefully be worthy of being displayed in the Oververse.
Before his inner eye he sculpted a grand stone wall, made of marble and with great detail. He wanted it to be lifelike, as if it was a photograph made by the newfangled technology of Coruscant, imprinted into stone. He could feel the eyes of the others resting on him and it spurred him on. Nothing but silence surrounded him but he knew, somehow, that it was working.
When he opened his eyes the results of his work surpassed his greatest expectations: a huge slab of marble, five meters tall and some ten meters wide, stood before him. It was good that he had thought of facing sideways from Omni's throne, otherwise it would have created a wall between the group and him. Carved into the marble was a depiction of a snowed landscape dotted with rocks and frozen trees, with a dwarf driving a sled through the snow. That sled was pulled by two thick-furred dogs and had large crates and sacks of cargo on it, secured in place with ropes and a net. Though it was a carving it looked so realistic that one would think that the dogs and the dwarf would start moving at any second, jump out of the painting and ride the sled through Omni's throne hall. It had such detail that one could almost see the happiness shining in the dwarf's eyes - the unbridled happiness of someone doing what they loved - and feel the dogs's soft fur under their fingers. It captured the scene with absolute perfection.
And that was what Urist disliked. He realized that what he had just created was not comparable to a real carving, it was in no way equal to the weeks, months, maybe years that one spent minutiously working with chisels and hammers to carve out the shapes, with rags and files to polish the surfaces, with drawings and sketches to capture one's intent. It was devoid of the errors that made a drawing truly good. Spots where the artist had chiseled away a tiny bit too much, discolorings where the marble was imperfect, scratches and faults caused by the artist's slip-ups - they made the carving "dwarven." This was pristine, exactly as he had willed and imagined it, without the tiniest fault. It did not look like it was made by a dwarf's lifeblood, with years of learning and more years of work. It looked like it had been created by a higher creature, effortlessly and easily.
He felt strangely empty as he eyed his work. "Well... tha' didn' feel as good as ah thought."
Amaterasu stepped up to the marble and ran her hand over it. "I can see why", she said after a moment. "I have yet to conjure a piece of art here in the Omniverse, but I know from experience of my life before I was brought here what happens if you do it by methods than the labor of your hands."
"Is tha' wha' it means ta be a Prime?" Urist asked, glancing towards Omni to see if the deity was admiring the carving. "Ta accomplish anythin' ye want effortlessly, an' better than any work could do?"
"Would you call this better because it looks so, Urist?" the goddess asked in a serious tone. "A Prime can obtain anything they want with Omnilium, but sometimes taking the hard way feels more rewarding. Sometimes you have to use your powers, but if you have a choice you should think it over. For a first timer though, you've outdone yourself", she added and smiled heartwarmingly at the dwarf.
"T'was a picture ah've been meaning ta carve me someday", Urist replied. "Ah been picturin' it back an' forth in me head fer a year or so. Somethin' ta remember me days o' transportin' goods across the Fields." He turned back to Omni. "Well... ah hope ye like it. Hang it from a wall or somethin' if ye do." Well, obviously. He didn't expect Omni to leave it in the middle of his throne room like that. But he didn't know what else to say, and just awkwardly ending the sentence didn't sound too good either. Then something else popped into his head. "Oh, yes. Do ye need ta touch me again ta remove yer... ehh, yer Prime-power blessings?"
RE: Arrival - Omni - 01-13-2018
"Nah," said Omni, an amused look upon his features. "Already did it."
RE: Arrival - Amaterasu - 01-14-2018
"Ah, eh... right", the dwarf said, looking down at his hands as if it was written on them whether or not he had the powers of a Prime anymore. Then he bowed. "Well, ah thank ye fer lettin' me do this. Ah'll never ferget." He withdrew after another look at the big carving, to rejoin Oki and Fiara who had returned from her brief withdrawal. All three looked rather happy with themselves, and all three looked at Amaterasu. She was the only one who had yet to voice a question or request directly at Omni, though she had helped the others with theirs.
Amaterasu however looked around them, into the smiling faces of everyone else, then said: "Well... it's time, then." And she stepped forward with slow, dignified steps, stopped before Omni's throne, and spoke.
"I imagine that you knew this all along, Omni-sama, but... I've come to claim my place here, in the pantheon of the Omniverse as Kami of the Sun. I'm here to stay, for now at least." There was not a hint of doubt in her voice, only a light shake attributed to her giddyness about the situation. She just knew that this was where she belonged, that this was the entire reason she was in the Omniverse in the first place.
Of course, her companions did not take to that so well. Urist and Fiara's faces turned from curiously anticipating what Amaterasu had to say to shocked, and in a very bad way, while Oki displayed great surprise. The realization hit them not just that this meant, if it went according to Amaterasu's plan, that she would leave the three of them behind just like that, but also that this wasn't a spontaneous thought. She had planned this long ago.
"How long have you known?" asked Fiara before Omni could respond.
"Wha' about tha' orb Oki's got fer you?!" added Urist.
Amaterasu turned around. "I'm sorry, guys... Oki, you can seek out Arturia, give the orb to her. I want her to have it, and whatever it is, I cannot think of better hands to wield it. Perhaps she can summon a new sword for you, too - I'm sorry that I won't be able to do that for you. And Fiara... I guess I knew since my first day. But that spark really turned into a fire when I saw Urist's father's carving in the Dwarfholm halls, and his depiction of the rip in the sky, and saw itself confirmed when we traversed the blackness and found ourselves here."
"But - what about Moegami?! I know where-"
"I will seek out the remaining Kami of the Celestial Brush in time, Fiara. Once I have things sorted out up here and achieved my apotheosis I will descend once again to free them from their seals. Moegami will have to wait just a little longer... I'm sorry about that too." When Fiara gritted her teeth and wanted to get closer, Oki reached out and held her back gently but firmly. Amaterasu turned back to Omni and bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry about the interruption. Where was I?"
RE: Arrival - Omni - 01-14-2018
"Yeah, no."