Bay 12 Games Forum

"X-COM? Exalt? Psi...w-what are you all even talking about?!
The young woman is even more panicked now at all these weird words being thrown about.
What the hell? Ryuko, what the hell did you get us into? This isn't......like home. No, I don't like it. Let me out, I need to-
Not now! Besides, you promised. You'd only come out if we're in danger!
Does this look safe to you? Does it?

Ryuko Inui was used to sleeping rough. With the state in which her world was in, it was hardly unknown to her that she'd have to sleep rough. Heroes didn't exactly have many places to stay any more, but it was getting better.

Of course, she at least knew where she was sleeping every night. And it was most certainly not here. The young woman rubbed her eyes, pulling herself up and dusting off her dirtied hoodie and tracksuit. She felt for her taser instinctively; maybe she'd have to fight, maybe not, but it was always useful to know where one's weapons were.
"Where.......w-where are we?"
Take a guess, smartass. We're not home. Can't be. No buildings. Too little chaos. And it can't be because of some hangover, because you never drink. Or get drunk, all because of me.

---

The Halls of Harmony
The last thing you remember is a bright flash of golden light. Wherever you were, whoever you are, whenever you were, it doesn't matter. The last thing that you saw was a golden flash of light, and then you knew nothing.

As you awaken, you awaken upon a large marble dais. Specifically, a large, ornate marble dais, with patterns of a beautiful lady in white painted across the floor. Dilapidated pillars line the dais, side by side, three on each side, as the realization hits you that this place is some sort of temple. Or was; it doesn't look like one anymore. The one thing that seems unusual is the giant pair of ivory doors, lined with gold, with two door knockers in the shape of lion's heads mounted on it. The doors do not seem to lead anywhere in particular; they stand just to the end of the dais, with no visible destination.

A dirt path leads to a staircase at the bottom of the dais, streaming from a nearby town, which appears to be nothing more than a collection of small cottages and shacks. Tiny chimneys pump small plumes of smoke into the air above the village. A strong presence seems to exude from the door, regal and warm, more akin to a queen than a mother.

It is midday. The sun is high in the sky. The air is quiet, and the atmosphere peaceful.

---

"Heat and cold, shadow and light, sword and shield, lightning and thunder. Always in tandem. Always together. Never one...."

"....without the other."

".....to do this is folly. We are twain, Discord and Harmony. The world cannot thrive without balance."

"What a fool you are, to think balance remains between Discord and Harmony. There has been disquiet already. You know what comes."

A brief pause, as the two presences faced each other, in a world above worlds, beyond perception and beyond knowing. One presence, golden and serene, the very seeming of Harmony, the other its antithesis, a formless mass of primordial nothing.

"No."

"I can make this right. I can fix this. Please, do not stop me."

The golden presence shied away, but the formlessness of her invader enshrouded her.

"N-no. Please. Do not do this. You know this is not-"

"I know nothing anymore, Harmony. All I know is that this balance cannot remain. Not if I am to achieve what I wish."

"There are better ways. Always better-"

"Not for what I desire."

The formlessness surrounded the golden presence, attempting to swallow her within itself. A golden flash, and then nothing more.

---

A cloak? Alright. Has there been any other trace of anything like this anywhere else in Tokyo?

"Just a moment, miss. I would prefer you were in a safer place before I tend to your wounds. It'd be less troublesome than having to fix them up again."
16,16, grab Sam, transfer her onto 17,16

Minato looks around for any clues that haven't been cleaned away.

16,13, heal Kaldach