Eien's Realm

A group of interconnected planes bound together by a complex labyrinth, this is the main bastion of Eien's power. All visitors unless personally brought in by Eien are sent to the Labyrinth as a defensive mechanism. The Labyrinth connects to everything but the Inner Sanctum, Eien's private space. There is no direct access to Eien's Inner Sanctum, only with the correct understanding of the functions of the realm can one find and access it. Supposedly, there are two 'keys' that allow this to become possible.

Anti Logic Labyrinth
A mysterious maze full of traps and enemies, the exact way it works is unknown.

Factory
The place where Eien's technological creations are manufactured and tested.

Biospheres
Areas which appear to be planet sized micro realms can be found throughout the Anti Logic Labyrinth. Eien produces them for experiments regarding souls and life forms. Manufactured with Infinite Finite Spaces.

Sanctus Librarius
A mysterious library within the deeper parts of the Anti Logic Labyrinth. What it contains is unknown, but it appears to be almost endless in size.

Gurin's Dimension
A world contained within a Infinite Finite Space, it is Gurin's current place of residence, as well as the first realm she controls as a goddess.

Vaults
Contained within the lower reaches of the realm, it is the deep dungeon of the Anti Logic Labyrinth. Monsters are at their most powerful, but the most valuable treasures are found here.

Laboratory
Eien's labs, most of his testing and experiments occur here. They have direct access to the Factory, Biospheres, and the Sanctus Librarius.

Inner Sanctum
???

The Place That Makes No Sense
D'Ranjo appears from a bolt of lightning in a dully grey metal corridor, with two distant branches up ahead.

D'Ranjo: *looks around in confusion* Uuugghh.

He hears a faint rumble, then a single loud bang inside the wall, and a bump forms about the size of a quarter in the nearby wall.

D'Ranjo: Oh. *takes a deep breath and takes a closer look at the bump*

He hears another sharp bang even louder, and a small hiss of some sort, and the bump gets even more prominent.

D'Ranjo: *gets into his traditional fighting position and waits*

The hiss grows loud and violent, then a piece of shrapnel flies out of the wall and embeds itself in D'Ranjo's skull, as a massive explosion of steam detonates.

D'Ranjo finds himself laying on the floor, his head sore, the incident that happened only seconds ago feels like a dull memory, and the same scene he saw before his 'death' is seen again.

''You can manage to dodge a bullet to the head without even looking, yet a piece of metal finds a way to your skull. Pathetic.''

D'Ranjo: *breathes, and hastily removes the shrapnel out of his head and gets up*

''A true soldier is weary of his surroundings. Whether old or new does not apply as a soldier adapts too. If this were the battlefield you would be mocked greatly. Get up, you fool.''

D'Ranjo: *breathes harder and gets to his feet*

A soldier learns fast or he dies.

He hears two sharp bangs in rapid succession, followed closely by a hiss.

D'Ranjo: *stands ready*

Another explosion of steam goes off, with shrapnel flying at high speed.

D'Ranjo: *dodges by bending backwards*

He is scorched by the cloud of steam, making him fall over.

His scales and aura grow more apparent and his eyes turn into that of a dragon.

''You are not putting enough effort into it! An old cripple could move faster than that! Again!''

The area falls silent for the moment, though very faint rumblings can be heard echoing down throughout the area.

D'Ranjo: *looks around him*

''What will you do D'Ranjo? Simply stand there like unwary prey or are you going to live?''

A sound like a train's horn becomes audible.

''The predator comes, D'Ranjo. What does the prey do when the predator draws near?''

D'Ranjo: *begins to run from the sound*

The two branches in the tunnel get closer.

D'Ranjo: *he takes a right and continues to run*

He comes to a dead end, until he realizes there is a deep pit with a ladder going down.

D'Ranjo: *slides down the ladder*

He smacks right into what appears to be an upside down latch door.

D'Ranjo: *opens the latch door and crawls through it, closing the door behind him*

He comes out into into a vast Savannah.

D'Ranjo: *his eyes widen at the site of his land*

A rumbling from below begins to reach his ears.

D'Ranjo: *continues to run*

The ground erupts just behind him just as a strange metal dragon fashioned somewhat to look like a train bellows forth from the ground, and lets out a train like roar.

D'Ranjo: *turns and looks at it as he is trying the grasp the sheer frightful awesomeness of the sight*

The dragon bellows forth a cloud of toxic coal dust and burning embers.

''This is your home, D'Ranjo. Willl you let it be defiled by such monstrosity only the outsiders could make? Or will you fight this land like you've always have!''

D'Ranjo: *his aura begins to show as his soul rages in anger*

''You are bound to the grounds that gave birth to all life on the Earth! You we're trained to preserve these grounds with your very life! That hasn't changed!''

D'Ranjo: *lets out a dragonic roar*

Now go!

D'Ranjo: *sprouts his wings and flies up towards it*

The dragon blasts D'Ranjo with the cloud, hoping to score a direct hit.

D'Ranjo: *inhales the cloud and right into its mouth*

Once inside, an orange light emits followed by a huge fiery wave of explosion reducing the dragon into piece,which then turn into vapor

D'Ranjo: *lets out another roar*

The dragon's claws swat him from the obscuring cloud caused by the explosion, only part of its right side has been damaged. It opens its mouth to reveal a machine gun.

D'Ranjo: *gets back up and runs towards it*

The dragon opens fire, peppering the area with bullets.

D'Ranjo: *dodges the bullets and stops for a moment and fires a mouth blast at the gun, blowing it up*

''If there's one thing a machine lacks, is intuition. Imagination. Use everything you have at your disposal.''

The dragon roars, then spins, its tail forming a chainsaw which it brings down on D'Ranjo's head.

D'Ranjo: *catches the chainsaw*

How far will you go for your home?

D'Ranjo: *flies into the air and brings the chainsaw through the dragons torso*

The dragon retaliates with a bite to his torso.

D'Ranjo: *throws up blood and yells in agony. He manages to teleport out of the dragon's mouth and onto the ground, groveling in pain*

''Get up, fool! This isn't like the day you died! This is a new day. Don't loose it.''

D'Ranjo: *manages to get to his feet*

The dragon seems pretty damaged as well, though it too is managing to remain functional.

D'Ranjo: *breathes heavily*

How far will you go for your home?

D'Ranjo's aura flares up intensely as he roars to the top of his lungs until his aura completely engulfs him and after a few seconds, his aura lessens until a dragon man is visible.

The dragon's wings become missle launchers.

D'Ranjo: *simply walk towards the dragon, leaving every step he takes ablaze*

The dragon launches the missiles at him.

D'Ranjo: *eyes widen and the missiles blow up right before they could touch him and continues walking.*

The dragon starts shooting blades at him.

The blades strike him in different parts of this body, but the blades melt away.

D'Ranjo: *stops where he is and looks up at the dragon*

It smashes him with a fist.

''The dragon's fist suddenly explodes and D'Ranjo stands there. He then opens his mouth and a spirial mouth blast comes out and obliterates the dragon into mere flakes of embers''

The dragon takes minimal damage, and the fist knocks him back several hundred yards.

D'Ranjo: *runs towards the dragon*

It spews forth molten metal at him.

D'Ranjo turns into a whirlwind of molten metal and flies right towards it with all the molten metal surrounding him as drills straight through the dragon's chest leaving behind the trail of molten metal

The dragon finally collapses into a heap of tarnished metal, though in the center of it, he notes something that looks like a handle in the center.

D'Ranjo: pulls the handle*

A sword comes out of the dragon, it appears to have a technological aspect to it, but is hot with a molten core visible in its translucent blade.

D'Ranjo: *observes the sword* What is this...

''A weapon, genius. ''Eien's voice rings in his head.

Ahead, a volcano, a lake, and a village come into view from a fog D'Ranjo didn't realize was there.

D'Ranjo: *walks towards the village*

As he approaches it, it begins to faintly burn in his mind, as though familiar.

D'Ranjo: *continues making his way to his village despite this feeling getting stronger*

The path to the village eventually becomes more difficult when invisible walls start forming another maze.

D'Ranjo: *sighs* *he starts jogging through the maze*

He starts hearing something like running water.

D'Ranjo: *begins to jog abit faster*

As he turns the corner, he sees a pool of glowing green liquid flowing in his direction.

D'Ranjo: *stands still and puts both hands foreward, making the liquid flow right above him*

The liquid seems to drip down toward him as if it has a mind of its own.

D'Ranjo: *closes his eyes and a few seconds later, the green fluid turns into water*

It suddenly bursts into a shower of acidic rain on him, while recollecting on the ground as many smaller blobs.

D'Ranjo: *takes forth his hand and all of the smaller blobs form into one big ball. He then stretches out his hands and blue glowing chains appear and strike the blob. D'Ranjo pulls the changes and literally drags out the conssiousness out of the monster and tears it apart. He turns the acid into water and drops it*

The blobs ignore his manipulations, and he doesn't feel any conciousness being pulled, and he starts feeling a burning sensation on his skin as they start to swarm.

D'Ranjo: *moves out the way and begins to run*

After a while, he manages to lose the monster, and soon finds a path that leads to the village. However, he feels the air is heavy and still.

D'Ranjo: Hmmm...*slowly reaches his village*

The village looks like it had when he had lived there, but without any of the people.

D'Ranjo: No one is here...I predator must lurk here...*carefully scans around*

Nothing is apparent, but as soon as he steps in the middle of the village, the invisible walls change and become a dome, completely cutting off access to the outside, and locking him in. A hole opens in the roof, and a strange giant missle like object flies out of it and smashes right in front of him, quietly hissing. A Phoenix Emblem is embedded on the front panel, glowing red softly.

D'Ranjo: *slowly scans it with caution*

A fist suddenly smashes the panel open right into D'Ranjo's face, and what looks like an Epsilon comes out, and kicks the container aside, smashing it into a nearby building.

D'Ranjo: *tosses the panel aside* Another one...finally!

The Epsilon remains stationary, though its six mechanical wings unfold.

D'Ranjo: *gets down into a track running position*

The Epsilon remains in a relaxed pose.

D'Ranjo: *flies straight towards the Epsilon with his sword at hand, ready to strike*

The Epsilon flies at him, and just when it looks like it is going to go with a straight punch, it leaps back from his sword swing and smashes D'Ranjo's head with its wing and smashes him into a building. Immediately afterward, six circles of light surround it on the ground, and one speeds in D'Ranjo's direction.

D'Ranjo: *teleports out of the way and appears behind the Epsilon. The tip of his tail is set ablase and tail-whips the Epsilon into a building*

It side steps him and whips out a blade sparking with electricity and cuts off D'Ranjo's tail.

D'Ranjo: *moves his tail out of the way and rushes right for it*

The circle it had made swings around abruptly and D'Ranjo steps in it, and is immediately blasted by fire from heaven.

D'Ranjo: *A red dome of light of surrounds him as the fire encompasses him in flames*

The being pierces through the dome and grabs his face, and at point blank range fires a missle into it.

D'Ranjo: *teleports out of the Epsilon's grasp and reappars behinds it. He has the Epsilon in a choke hold*

The Epsilon rams its elbow into D'Ranjo's chest, and a blade comes out of it, impaling D'Ranjo right next to the heart.

D'Ranjo: *takes his sword and stabs the Epsilon from behind, he twists the sword then pulls it out leaving a molten hole in it's back and all the way to the Epsilon's chest*

"...You shouldn't have done that..." Its voice says in a vaguely familiar tone, as it dies.

D'Ranjo: *breathes heavily* You're right...how can I save lives...if all I can do is take them...

"It's only the life one, while there are many more lives you can free."

D'Ranjo: If I can't save one, I can't save any.

"Enough! I will not stand to here your wallowing! A soldier does not look at the facts of reality, but at possiblities of the presumably impossible. You fight despite the despair of life. You are nothing in comparison to others who are being oppressed and cannot do anything about it. You have a purpose: To free the oppressed or die doing so. That is the only reason you fight and nothing more. Now get going."

The mask on the being comes off, revealing the face of his brother, before flickering in static and disappearing, as suddenly the whole of the village bursts into flames.

''D'Ranjo looks at the burning village and amonst the blaze, he sees a vision of a bearded Afrikaan male weilding a special scythe and as more flames clear, he sees that the man is fighting an Afrikaan woman dual-weilding twin iklwas that he's all too familiar with. At the sight of the woma, his mind instantly begin implode with pain and he falls to his knees.''

In the center of the flames a figure begins forming, and a female chuckle can be heard mixed into the flames.

D'Ranjo: *slowly takes a step back, anticipating the worse*

A female figure takes form from the flames, and begins approaching him, wearing a mask and bearing a scythe.

D'Ranjo: *his eyes teams with hatred at the sheer familiarity of the woman as he simply stares at her, letting his anger fester*

A chuckle emits from the being, as her form takes a more solid appearance, bearing blonde hair and black shadow like armor. The fire still flows about her as though she was one with it.

D'Ranjo: *his eyes soften abit* Hm...You...Are Death?...No one told me Death was a female. Much less had a gender.

Six black feathered wings sprout from the being's back, the gust of wind blows away the flames, revealing only a parched landscape. With the darkness and the flames gone, he sees her skin is composed of obsidian black scales, from her elblows flows a strange energy, and a similar presence, but strangely, much duller than a usual Lambda. Rather than reflecting color in the light, she seems to absorb it.

"Heh, there are more Death Gods than you might imagine..."

D'Ranjo: Is there any need? Isn't the existence of Death itself enough?

The ground beneath her feet begins to blacken and crumble, the infection begins spreading toward him.

"Now... that's a rather pointless question..."

D'Ranjo: Just as pointless as Death Gods.

There is only a chuckle as skeletons begin emerging from the tainted ground, and the taint spreads faster in his direction.

"Man should not question the forces that govern Creation... his role is only one among many countless grains of sand... he doesn't not know how the web connects to him... just as he cannot see the full scope of the Universe, he cannot see beyond his own little isolate world..."

D'Ranjo: Not one being can see beyond creation asied from the one who created it. Even the ones on this world can fully grasp it.

The being only shakes her head as the bones of his people rise up from the ground, and the taint grows dangerously close to him.

D'Ranjo:  My people deserved better than this. To have their bones risen from our mother's never-ending embrace...*sighs*

"The sanctity of the dead means nothing to this world."

D'Ranjo: Why can't hey leave us soldier dead?... *looks towards the ground and sees the darkness closing in on his feet. He flies up*

The taint sprouts up in the form of long ropey tendrils and chases him.

"In a world such as this, there is no respect for what really matters. Life, and Death. Both are sacred. The world needs someone to make the world respect those things again. Such trivial things like man's grudge mean nothing. Nor does your own mean anything."

D'Ranjo: *tries to avoid the dark tendrils as much as he can* Then what is the point of this world if everythin we do, everything we believe means nothing?

A bolt of shadow erupts from her and smashes him into a cliffside. Several more rapidly fire at him after.

D'Ranjo: *after it stops, he reappears right behind her and fires a mouth blast at her*

She deflects him and his attack with a flap of her wings, yawning.

D'Ranjo: *rams himself into her back*

Her scales become long black spikes that easily rip through his body and impale him. The same black taint that was infecting the ground is now spreading inside his body.

"Hmmph." An invisible force repels him.

D'Ranjo: *lets out a sharp yell of pain. He get's back to his feet and he stretches forth his hand and ethereal teal-looking chains wrap around her as he closes his hand into a fist*

The chains as soon as they form begin to decay.

"I possess the power of entropy and death... before my will all of Creation rots."

D'Ranjo: That's what you're lead to believe. *puts both his hands on the ground and an explosion erupts right infront of her, knocking her down*

The explosion does little to nothing, and when the smoke clears, he is hit by an even more powerful mouth blast and sent flying into one of the invisible maze walls, shattering his bones.

D'Ranjo: *yells. He slowly forces himself up to his feet*

His vision starts failing.

D'Ranjo: *is fighting through the immense pain and does his best to keep himself alert. He begins to walk towards her*

Suddenly everything goes black, silent, dead.

"Heh, idiot... thought I'd stop you on your way back for a quick chat... oh, and don't even bother trying to attack me, you're dead." Her voice echoes, even though he can see her ahead in the darkness.

D'Ranjo: *can only hear one final word echo in his head* Weak.

She swings her scythe at him. "Pay attention doltz."

D'Ranjo: *gets to his feet*

"I thought this would be a good time to illistrate something for you. Technically, you can't die. Technically. But you can. But notice how you're not among the angels now either. There's a reason for that."

D'Ranjo: *sigh**he clutches his fist as if he was troubled by something. He lightens his grip* ...What is it?

"Because you exist in an entirely different creation. A different life and death. I believe Gurin tried to tell you that..."

D'Ranjo: What about it then?

"Technically speaking, Gurin and I are your deitys, is what that ultimately means. Your life and rebirth is tied to us. You also have asked, 'why you', right?"

D'Ranjo: Yes...What is it that makes me so different from the countless others that could've undergone all this?

"Why? Because someone has to. There is always a loser, always a winner. The way I look at it is, well, there are infinite possibilities. It's simply those with power who determine which become the reality of the weak."

D'Ranjo: Why are you telling me all this?

"Because the why is not important. It's what you do that matters. Our creator gave us the power of gods, so that we would become gods. We all have roles to play... what's yours?" A flash of light blinds him, and he lays amidst the tall grass once more.

D'Ranjo: *looks around confusingly*

Now only the lake, and the volcano are visible, the location of the village seemingly gone, in its place are mountains. When he tries to walk in that direction, the invisible walls of the maze stop him, leaving him only with the two locations.

D'Ranjo: *head towards the direction of the lake*

The sun appears to be setting on it, causing a meriad of colors.

D'Ranjo: It's just as beautiful as I remember...

He thinks he sees things moving in it for a moment.

D'Ranjo: *stops for a moment and observes*

Something urges him to dive into the water.

D'Ranjo: *stares down at the lake for a short moment, then flies up into the air and dives down into the lake*

He hears a voice.

"What do you think of the world and those within it?"

D'Ranjo: It's hard to say...I know ignorance and hatred of others was killing our Mother. We fought to protect her aswell as save her children, despite them hurting her so much. We disliked outsiders, fearing they would rape was left of her purity. Still, even after knowing how bad this world was, aswell knowing how the whole world was against us, we still saw them as our brothers. We knew they needed us to guide them back to a better world without hatred.

"What do you think of the ones who surround you?"

D'Ranjo: Not too highly, I can say. But I know they are human, just as much as I am. I cannot fault them for who they are now, but for the ones who did this to them. They will soon find their rightful places in hell. I can't say much since I haven't interacted with them, but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

"What is it you seek?"

D'Ranjo: I seek alot of things, but the one thing I want more than ever know is to release this anger I have for the people who robbed me of eternal rest just so I can be their tool for conquest. But not just for me, but everyone else they've dammned to this fate...My heart rages with hatred...Everyone else around me fuels it. I have yet to release it, but all I seek now, is Vengeance.

"''Thy writhe with fire, venom is thy blood. Burning thee, thou walk among the coals, walking, walking, walking into a pit of the most hellish fire. What is thy purpose, other than kindling for fire stoaked by the mutal passions of all, than food for a vicious flame that sears an everlasting wound whose purpose is to be self harm? Thou are a crusader, with no eyes, no ears, no voice, no soul. Thou are vengance." ''

D'Ranjo: *closes his eyes and the water around him boils until he enters his Dragon Soldier form and is engulfed in an aura of flame as he let's out a roar*

The water instead freezes from the heat, rather than boils, trapping him inside a glacier.

D'Ranjo: *turns the glacier around him into steam as he begins to ascend out of the lake*

The landscape is now a barren frozen wasteland.

D'Ranjo: *looks out at the landscape, then begins to walk out into the frozen expanse*

As soon as he leaves the lake's vicinity, it vanishes, leaving the place barren, save for the tall volcano far ahead.

D'Ranjo: *flies towards the volcano*

He almost immediately smashes into an invisible wall.

D'Ranjo: AH! *rubs his nose* Rggghhh...*descends to the ground*

He eventually reaches the slopes, and as he does, giant boulders begin to appear randomly and roll down toward him.

D'Ranjo: *begins to run up the slopes dodging and blasting a few of the boulders*

After he gets halfway up, the boulders disappear, but he starts hearing a loud rumbling from behind.

D'Ranjo: Who's there? *turns around*

A boulder smashes straight into him, as all of the boulders he had dodged are now traveling in reverse, defying gravity.

D'Ranjo: Rggghhhhh! *gets to his feet and and begins to destroy, reducing them ti rubble with every punc, kick, and mouth blast*

A boulder smashes him from behind, as they begin falling from above again.

D'Ranjo: *turns around and fires a mouth blast that seperates into multiple shots. The shots reduce the boulders to pebbles*

The mountain quakes violently.

D'Ranjo: *tries to scale the rest of the mountain the best he can*

A burst of lava erupts from the top.

D'Ranjo: What the...

The heat of the lava causes a mudslide of gargantuan proportions, which is also superheated.

D'Ranjo: *runs up towards the mudslide*

The mudslide rams into him at high speed and burns him within seconds.

D'Ranjo: *manages to plow through the mudslide even though it's burning him, he continues upward*

The lava is now pouring down the side of the volcano.

D'Ranjo: *throws a blue square chain up the side of the volcano and begins to pull himself  up*

The chain starts to melt.

D'Ranjo: That...Can't be...*he breathes through the lava and begins to move slightly quicker up the lava flow* I should be getting closer now...

The volcano's peak slowly looms.

D'Ranjo: Damn it! No. Can't stop now. *plows harder towards the top*

He reaches the smoldering top, which has lava on the interior not actually bellowing up, but flowing down in a spiral to an unseen depth.

D'Ranjo: *looks down at the depth for a moment the fires a spiral moth blast at it just to see what happens*

Nothing happens.

D'Ranjo: *flies up into the air and dives down into the depths*

The burning tunnel extends a great depth, but when he gets far down enough, he finds a strange shimmering portal.

D'Ranjo: *flies through the portal*

He soon finds himself in a endless sea of clouds.

D'Ranjo: *is stunned at the glorious sight* ''Am I...Am I home? Did...I finally make it...to The Cloudscape...''

A giant bird suddenly dives at him with talons extended.

D'Ranjo: *flies out of the way and fires a spiral mouth blast at it*

It bounces off the bird and it simply grabs him.

D'Ranjo: *teleports out of the birds grasp and dive bombs ontop of it's head*

It screeches, and smashes him with a wing.

D'Ranjo: *flies back barely dodging the wing, then rams into the bird. Then grabs on to it and his body is engulfed in a demonic red aura, which also sets the bird ablaze*

The bird does not seem affected by the fire.

D'Ranjo: *fires a spiral mouth blast through the bird*

The bird screeches loudly and dodges. D'Ranjo notices the exterior is made of steel, but the interior is flesh.

D'Ranjo: *looks confused* What kind of bird-?

It dives at him, mouth still open.

D'Ranjo: *fires a spiral mouth blast into the birds mouth*

The bird explodes in a rain of fire and metal.

D'Ranjo: *looks up at the raining scraps*

Far below him is a massive cloud of rain, while far above is a city in the clouds.

D'Ranjo: *dives downward into the clouds*

Suddenly he finds himself back in Gurin's realm, though there is only Gurin's Tree present.

D'Ranjo: *looks around silently* Gurin? ... Hm. Where could she have gone?

He feels her energy everywhere. He suddenly notices a woman in a yellow cloak with goat horns. She looks toward him. "She's in the tree."

D'Ranjo: In the- *looks at the tree for a moment* What happened to her?

"She's been isolating herself. Not my concern."

D'Ranjo: Gurin, why have you turned yourself into a tree?

...

He feels the faint acknowledgement of her consciousness.

D'Ranjo: Gurin, don't do this to yourself again. When will you stop hating yourself?

''...It doesn't matter if I do or don't... ''

The yellow cloaked woman creates a portal for them. "You two be on your way. The master of the realm doesn't have any need for you."

D'Ranjo: *looks over at the portal, then back at the tree* Are you coming?

She repeats what was said before, but she appears to slowly emerge from the tree regardless, and quietly joins him.

They both step through the portal at the same time

A Realm Within A Realm
When Nanashi arrives, he finds himself in a mossy corridor, and after a few minutes of awkward silence...

"Oh. Well then... forgot about that. The realm kicks strangers out except for me and specified people, and puts them in the A.L.L. My bad. This'll take a minute..."

Nanashi simply starts meditating. "Initiating IRT."

Eien speaks up. "''Ok, fixed. Now let's try it." ''

Nanashi is now transported to what seems like a entire world, the first thing he notices is that the entire world's aura feels as though it is composed of Gurin's own energy, though he feels the most powerful concentration of this energy in the form of a huge tree, whose roots seem to weave into the very fabric of the world. From it, he feels powerful fluctuations of energy, he notices there is a subtle but steady increase in energy every couple of minutes.

"I was expecting something more reasonable when you said tree, but I have a sea serpent two thirds this size as a familiar, so I can't complain." He calls out to Gurîn, quietly.

At first he doesn't feel anything, but after a moment, he feels a hazy, almost confused feeling, soft as a gentle morning breeze.

"So you are there... Can you explain how you feel?"

Eien looks bored. "Yeah, this could take a while."

He isn't able to feel any sensations like thoughts, but he feels a slow, tranquil lull, he gets the impression of processes such as photosynthesis on a monster scale, the various forests he can see around him to get another sensation, almost like a vague explanation, that they are just offshoots.

It's not until at least ten minutes before he starts to truly feel her actual consciousness stir.

Nanashi mutters something that feels utterly wrong and confusing. The word or words comes out as something unintelligible and abstract in such a way that it leaves an impression only to have that impression fade within moments. For a brief instant does the space before him flash blue and from the light emerges a sketchbook and pen.

He finally hears her voice. ''What do you... want? ''Her voice is incredibly sleepy.

"Just checking up on you. Some people are a little worried about you." He proceeds to draw the entire scene before him down to the most minute detail.

At the base of the tree, he sees a small iridescent flower begin to bloom and grow large enough to easily fit a humanoid inside, and from within, a green glow can be seen. After a moment, it opens up, revealing Gurin, but in a completely different form. Her wings are composed of sigils and runes of green light complex enough to make his brain hurt, and her body is nothing more than hyper condensed Ether, Aether, Life, Positive Spirit, and Creation energies. The power contained with her frame easily dwarfs a star.

Nanashi proceeds to draw Gurin in the same manner of the planet, omitting no details.

"What are you...." She says as she begins to open her eyes, which appear hauntingly vacant.

"Drawing you from observation... Unless you mean what I am, in which case I have no answer that would make sense to you or him."

"...Why....?"

"Why not?"

"...I am... ...pathetic... lonely..." She slowly begins burying her face in her hands, and Eien, who is standing nearby, has a slight twinge of unease on his face all of a sudden.

"You aren't pathetic, Gurin."

"Yes I am...! My whole life has been in the shadow of my sisters, spent chasing after childish hopes of love and friendship, of happiness! My whole existence is nothing but garbage!" The flower turns red, and grows thorned vines around its base.

"So you've chased dreams and lived in shadows, how does that make you garbage? The title of Garbage only goes to those with irredeemable faults and no moral character or honor, those who have disgarded their hearts to commit great evils without remorse or hindsight, those who go out of their way to harm others for self-satisfaction. I've yet to see any of those traits in you."

Eien watches as she seems to be retracting into the flower again.

"Yeeaaaaaaaa... the other one kinda made her snap. Now she goes on and on when she's not sleeping about how she is gonna be alone without anyone to love her. And I mean and she means the kind you apparently have with the Red Lambda. You did know she never had any childhood friends except her sisters, right?"

"I see... Need my smiting stick for about thirty seconds..." A mechanical staff akin to the Caduceus appears in his hand. "Is he luck proof?"

"Don't believe so, but look at it more as 'the last weighted ball and chain' that was merely an addition to the ones already pulling her to rock bottom. This was going to happen if her life's fortunes didn't change regardless of whom triggered it."

"The straw that broke the camel's back is still to blame for contributing to the eventual break." Nanashi smiles in a rather frightening way as the staff crackles with cloudy lightning. "Besides, if he contributed to something like this..." He gestures to the planet and tree. "My wrath is the least of his concerns."

"Sending unauthorized data of any sort will get you kicked," Eien says. "Again, blame the automatic defense system. Plus, do you really want to project hostility with Planetary Bomb over there?"

"Hostility? Not really hostile to anyone in the area, only at odds with you and concerned for Guri. Besides, the A.L.L. seems like a great place to meditate and continue my IRT."

"It's not a toy, you know. Oh, and by kicked, I mean out of the realm all together. The... 'entity' I made this realm out of is very... ...peculiar."

"Ah well," He shrugs and puts the staff away. "Everything has its time. By the way, breathing exercises and meditation are gonna be your friend. You may not know this, but I'm kind of a genius when I need to be. Also, really work on your breathing, helps with the punching and the smiting and the retaining of the sanity when problems arise."

"Trust me, there is a lot I know, about you, and that's a very minor thing I know about you."

Eien looks at Gurin. "She has been developing rather robustly. There is a lot of evolution going on there... to think her familiar is still unknown, just like Ikania's... oh wait, you don't know who that is, right?"

"Well... You know how I gather information by just being in places or around people? Yeah, I could kinda see her through Leg's and your presence. Also Naki's rather odd predicament, the reincarnation incident and so on." Nanashi stretches. "On the topic of knowing things, you should know that I really have no interest in the upcoming conflict at the fortress and that I'll be sitting out on that unless something comes up."

"I would find that strange, considering that the majority of the time, I merely project, and even in personal encounters cloak my presence... though I'm not quite as good as your brother. Perhaps that's the advantage of Ether, I would guess. In either case, thank you kindly (sarcasm), for bringing that up. Make the wound fester why don'tcha?

Thanks to that whole bullcrap, Ikania is pretty much stuck incomplete. I wasn't willing to admit defeat originally, but I no longer have the time to just make an exact replica of her anymore. You all have seen to that. A pity, really. Ikania really hasn't been taking it all that well..."

"I actually didn't have a role in that, but..." He shrugs. "Can't really do anything about that without her clearing her end of the reincarnation. I mean theoretically, and this is really pushing it, you could rework a Banish Spell into a universal nexus for about a second by splicing it with a Teleportation Spell and an Infinity Stone, but there's also a chance you'll summon something from the Seam..."

"Yeah, I'll just find a replacement. Much easier. Humans are like rats. Everywhere."

Gurin seems to have come out fully after a period where she had stopped going inside the flower, but seems to have moved away from them. He notes a strange swell of energy beginning to form in her, like a small sphere condensing within her. It appears to be moving to escape her body, and he soon sees it emerge as a bubbling plume of life energy flowing out of her, and Nanashi watches as what appears to be a soul is developing inside the plume, which appears to be beginning to balloon at the top.

"So that's what's happening... Or so it seems."

"That would be her 'giving birth', one could call it. It first started with plants and trees, then animals, then it moved up to her giving birth to a species of humanoids I call Aculi."

"I was referring to the energy signature fluctuations actually."

"Well, yes, that's what's causing them. Each time she does this, her overall being grows... stronger? Bigger? Powerful? Whichever terms apply best. ...Ah, this one's an Aculi, like I thought." The form inside the plume is beginning to grow mass, taking a humanoid form, which Nanashi soon identifies as a female.

"Hmm... I've seen enough."

"Sure, don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Nanashi vanishes in a plume of fiery blue light.

"...Need to make a door that does that. Would be so worth it. Hmmm..." He watches Gurin until the newborn Aculi is completed, which promptly scampers off into the forests in fright.

"They certainly are fascinating little creatures... ...now for the talk..."

Looming
Eien stands within his sanctuary, gazing upon Earth.

"...It's time to begin..." With a click of a button, Eien opens nine rifts in space and time, orbiting around Jupiter. One by one, nine iridescent crystals rush forth from the rifts, which close behind them. Appearing like comets in Earth's sky, they begin a rapid approach toward the planet...

The nine crystals begin to orbit Earth in a perfect ring, all of them glowing brighter over the course of an hour. After an hour passes, a loud humming can be heard across the planet, as the crystals charge. Eien prepares to create a gateway...

A violent oscillating noise begins as the nine satellites begin to shoot beams of red light at one another, upon doing so, a series of nine Anti Conceptual and Magic Circles burst into life over all of Earth, restricting all mythological phenomena to a significant low, while over the entirety of the region of America all conceptual and magical power in the region is completely disabled.

Eien pauses, and walks over to a white casket, with a blonde haired girl with vacant blue eyes inside.

"...Today's your birthday, sister. Today, justice will be had. I'll see you when I get back... ...sleep a little longer." With these final words, Eien activates his gateway and descends toward Earth, ready to finally begin the long planned final battle with his rival...

...Inga Kankei.

Resuscitation
Drake and Daikeim find themselves laying on warm grass.

''Daikeim is the first to stand, he surveys the land. ''"I can already tell that this isn't Earth... Or Fantasy."

"It isn't Echo either..." ''Drake groans and stands up, looking around before sighing. ''"He better have a fucking reason to bringing us here... Or back at all."

They feel watched, and upon looking up, they see a group of seven hooded figures all different colors, including a yellow one in the sky. After looking up though, everyone but the yellow disappears. The yellow one descends and lands near them.

While it feels like Eien, it is also different, as they sport much longer blonde hair can can be seen drifting to their chest, seemingly almost androgeynous.

"You're in our domain. That is all you need to know of Moura." They speak, a light but neutral gender tone speaks, though in the manner Eien would speak.

"Your very existences are indebted to us, though we sense you are more familiar with us as Eien, so that is how we shall appear hence."

The hair shrinks, and Eien's voice resumes its normal sound and quality.

"Need to remind Moura it's ok to speak like normal people..." He grunts. "Anyway, you're indebted to me and Moura now, the both of you. As I said before you now owe your very existences to me, so expect me to call you in for favors now. That's my polite way of informing you that you are part of my new Creation, and I have sway but prefer to treat you like grown ups, not puppets.

Now then. Before anyone loses their shit and we know who we're talking about, I'm not above being generous for those who help me with my ambitions. Long as you do as you're told, you can have access to my resources, knowledge, perhaps even blade if it means something to me. I could even in theory give Tank Boy his desired prize. But that requires him to grow some pears and get his boots dirty."

Eien sits back in a stone chair. "Now then, any questions? Also before I have you leave, you need to thank Gurin over there for giving you your new life."

He indicates a gargauntuan tree that towers into the heavens and is larger than a mountain, just from a glance and the general feeling of the realm they are in, Drake and Daikeim are able to sense this tree gives life to everything inside this fertile plane of existence.

''Drake shakes his head. ''"Hahahaha! The tree can fuck off, this place can fuck off, they can fuck off and you can FUCK OFF! You expect me to put my life into the hands of someone who not only was behind the CE program, but also turned against the Moonlight Family, and who's chimed in for me before with bullshit results?"

Daikeim doesn't respond, instead keeps his eye on the tree.

"I believe you misunderstand," Eien says simply. "I own you now." As if to stress his point, a Phoenix emblem appears on Drake's forehead and suddenly he punches himself in the head until he passes out.

"That should be an acceptable time out."

He looks at Daikeim. "Magnificent isn't she? She's becoming a fine goddess. This specific slice of heaven is her realm, my realm simply supports it and shields it from unwanted intrusions. Though if he sasses me, he'll have a trip in the ALL."

"Please, don't try to have a contest of who one-ups eachother, it makes you both look like fools..." ''Daikeim sighs and approaches the tree. ''"But of course, I have questions, are you willing to answer them?" He asks, calmly as he examines the tree.

"That depends on the questions. Ask and you might recieve." The tree's essence literally flows through every single blade of grass, speck of dirt, every leaf, and every tree, even the air radiates it. He is able to detect a powerful conciousness inside the tree. Though he is also aware of some manner of beings watching from a nearby forest's edge, Eien seems to heed them no attention.

''Daikeim sits down in front of the tree, not moving his gaze at all. ''"Well first of all, I'm curious as to why you would come to our aid. Second of all, is what makes these favours so... Different, that you would require us. And the third is a history of sorts, only between you and Drake. That's all."

The tree seems to grow a small but beautiful pink flower as if recognizing his approach in peace.

"Well it's less a matter of interest in you all as it is a matter of the right time, right place. You were already there and I was about to be reborn anyway. You two have special roles in all of this, but that doesn't mean I have to babysit you. Though really if I'm honest, there was two other possibilities awaiting you if you refused me, but believe me, both would leave you wishing, begging for death."

Eien ignores some of the beings that emerge from the forest, watching Daikeim with an incredible timid air, almost in the manner a deer would.

"As for your second question, you are indebted to me and that's all there is to it. I simply expect it to be done when I call. You might have to do something you morally may not enjoy, but that really depends on my mood and what I seek to accomplish when I call. No different than mercenary work only a strict contract is in place. As for third, Drake involved himself with Phoenix early on when you two met Kado the first time, and since I've been observing you two, most of us tend to refer to you as the outside factors.

Later on I revealed myself to him to warn him of the path Noriko's fate was headed and simply advised him to think about how he wanted to spend his time with her before she was lost. From there he deluded himself with the idea that I was to blame for it, becoming more and more antagonistic as fate led its natural course. He also poked into my business, and as he has said, yes, I am the one who conceived the idea of the Chaos Engine project. However White is the servant only in lip service and does things I do not approve of but will not intervene in as I consider the rest of you perfectly capable of taking out trash.

My main and primary objective is the creation of beings like the one slumbering within the tree before you. The Whites are the ones who perverted the intent to become tools of war. My intentions are more... ...complicated. Just understand that I desire to reshape things into a more... ...almost Utopian way."

"Your objective is to create gods and goddesses, I assume in the hopes in making an ideal world... But making a world that's considered perfect is quiet the goal, plus it'll probably be not what you expect." ''Daikeim stands up and lightly brushes his hand on the petal, his eyes gazing over the beings in the forest before turning towards Eien. ''"Afterall, perfection is simply perceptive, it changes from person to person. For example, White's idea of perfection differs from my own and vice versa." ''He looks at the realm around him. ''"I could also say that this realm is considered perfect to the goddess in the tree, and imperfect to you." ''After a moment Daikeim chuckles once more. ''"Excuse me, I am rambling on."

The beings bolt in fright back into the shelter of the woods.

"You can consider them a small piece of an infinitely larger puzzle. You're not the first to speak to me of such things, but then again, the path I take is not one you could ever understand."

''He has a faint smile on his face. ''"Well I've seen many different paths with many changes, if you explain it to me, I would be more than happy to listen."

"Hmmph. I'm not looking for sympathy or understanding." He begins walking off, kicking Drake's head until he wakes up, snapping his fingers, and a blue portal appears in the distance.

"Take care of the White bitch for me, but do it smartly. If you go poking about carelessly without a clear understanding of where to hit, you're wasting your time. White is untouchable when she has alternatives to fighting, namely minions and weapons to rely on instead. You won't get a shot in the dark if you don't first cripple her war machine. And do not just fight alone. You have no idea what you're up against or what the stakes for you are."

He continues walking off. "If you two die again because you were idiots, I will not be saving your hides again."

To Give, To Take
Torem suddenly finds herself in a blackened, obsidian covered world, with little to no atmosphere. After a moment of intense pain, she suddenly has no need for oxygen. Soon after, Gurin appears, though not affected at all. She puts her hand on the ground, and the place she touches glows a soft green, before a tiny patch of fertile dirt appears, along with a single tree seed.

"First off, try to make this seed take root and grow into a small sapling, but not any bigger. This will be important later. We'll need it small for a World Tree."

Torem points her finger downward and black drops, begins to slowly drip from her finger tip and inserts itself in the patch

The seed seems to swell slowly. "I would try utilizing Aether to assist." Gurin remarks, and just as Torem is about to ask how to do that, a stream of Etheric information crosses between them, and Torem becomes aware of the mechanics of the ability.

Torem closes her eyes and the seed glows

A black stem poke from out of the ground and the stem grows and grows until it begins to grow branches and vines begin to wrap around the tree and dark blue leaves begin to sprout from the branches.

"Very good. Now, I want you to slowly coax your energy into this plant until it envelopes you and you achieve a union with the plant and understand all of its processes. Once you do that, make the tree mature as far as you think you can take it. Regulation is incredibly important. I will provide ample resources for the tree, just focus on the maitenence. This will take all of your concentration. Alright?"

Torem: Easy enough for me. *looks at the sapling*

''The sapling continues to grow inch by inch. The sapling begins to reach out towards Torem and latch onto her as it continues to grow.''

Gurin gradually feeds her sapling with nutrients and water, and Torem begins to feel information from the plant enter her body, such as the photosynthesis rate.

Gurin also provides a miniature sun to provide the plant warmth and light to aide in the growth as well.