First day in this world, already in trouble.

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⌈June - 2022⌋

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My my my, here we are again. We apologize for the radio silence, but as life has been keeping both admins busy like bees, we are happy to finally write a small news update for you. Things are happening on our small site, and we …

Activity Check and In-Game News!
⌈December - 2021⌋

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It is time once again for some news. The year is coming to an end and what a year it has been! We've held our first world event, welcomed new and old players and seen as your creativity has sprung freely in the …

What's Next?
⌈September - 2021⌋

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Wow, has it really been 5 months since our last news update? Well Summer has come and gone, and today we close up the world event that has been running since December of last year. But with the event ending we are now faced with the …

Happy Easter and a Couple of Updates!
⌈April - 2021⌋

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First of all, happy easter for those who celebrate! Though we'll all be celebrating differently, we'd like to wish you a good time either way. 2021 has now had it's first three months, and as we are now entering …

Finishing Off the Year & Upcoming World Event
⌈December - 2020⌋

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With the year of 2020 nearing its end, we thought it would be optimal to do a small round-up of how the year has been, what has happened and unveil some plans for the future. 2020 has for many been …

Saoirse stopped Aurel with worry in her eyes. "I'll see you back at the library ... I have to check on my father," she explained. She clearly didn't know how to say her goodbye to him anymore, so she just nodded before heading off.

After bidding the two goodbye she wringed out her clothes and hair before heading back to where they came. Opting to change into something more dry, she soon enough entered the throne room where her father seemed to spend most of the time. Her eyes once again fell on the map, touching the rugged edges as she went around it. "Father, are you here?" She called out, mostly to see if she had to go out and find him. Saoirse still wasn't sure how to feel about her father just yet. Sure a year had passed, but they hadn't taken the time to talk about what had happened back home. She was still upset with him, but she was trying not to let it get in her way of co-existing in this lonely realm.
Looking over at the box that kept the artifact she sighed to herself. They hadn't known what they had signed up for, but somehow she hadn't come to regret it. She was stronger, even if she missed home, she knew they were safe now with the portal closed.

A year had passed and it wasnt like there had been much done in all that time. Learning the language was hard without a teacher but yet it was like something within translated it with ease. Some words were however forgotten and meanings were lost in the full picture as he went through scroll after scroll. His hand was still gone so of course there was also the fact that he only had one functional hand to use.
“I am here, my little light.” He said as he stepped out from between a few bookshelves. He shortly noticed her damp clothes but didnt comment on them. “Come, let me show you something.” He said, walking over to a table with an open book. He pointed to a few lines, letting her read before he looked at the book. “It’s quite peculiar that all this history and these family trees quite line up well with our own. Boadicea having a brother, Belial a sister.” He explained.

Seeing him she wasn't sure what she expected. She had gotten used to the fact that he only had one hand, although it had taken some getting used to. She could still remember hearing him groan and grunt when he was trying to learn himself how to stabilize things with the handless arm. Joining him, she looked in to the book as he pointed, frowning at what she saw. Looking at the family tree she noticed a name she knew quite well. Aurielan. Not that she dared say that name out loud, but she knew who it belonged to. The more she stared at it the more she felt her head spin a little. But then she looked at the children that Boadicea and Belial had. First a daughter, then a son and daughter and finally a son once again. This record hadn't defaced the name, and she read it silently in her mind before looking at her father. "Are you trying to say that this is some sort of parallels of the lives we've lived?" she asked. But she wasn't quite sure, but it did make her wonder, looking at the eldest girl name. It was not similar to hers, but it did start with an S and she wondered if that was a theme throughout their similarities.
"Father, I have something I'd like to discuss with you ... It's about mother," she said, frowning at her own words as she moved away from the book. It wasn't like she wasn't impressed, she just needed to hear what he had to say about all of this. She explained the plan of bringing her mother to this realm, trying to introduce the light back in to the Abyssus. But with it came the risks. Risks that couldn't just be ignored. "I know that I have a purpose here, and I think that bringing mother here, despite the risks, might do more good than harm," she argued, although she couldn't know for sure.

“It may be. Though I do believe us now seeing this will change our own path and make it different.” He said before he looked over the children that Belial and Boadicea had. He did feel a slight jealousy and longing towards the same because it felt like they had had more time together. And now once again he was seperated from Buffy. Saoirse spoke and he looked at her, though the mention of her mother made him listen more intently to what she had to say.
“Will this possibly restore the realm to it’s original state?” He asked, looking at the books on the table and towards the big map. His fingers tapped a little thoughtfully against the table. “We dont know if any of us can leave this realm again. If Buffy comes here and is bound to stay like I am…” he said before he sighed. “It’s not my decision to make. Unlike her, I havent had much family to leave behind in our own world to begin with.” He said, looking at Saoirse with serious eyes. “Do what you feel is right.”
The more time they spent here the more she looked like her mom. “I do miss her. So much.” He admitted, looking down at the family tree, while his eyes lingered on Boadicea.

Did he honestly think that her mother would think twice about the risks if she got promised to see her father again? She doubted it. Saoirse knew her mother, although with the change it was hard to say how much she knew by now, but Saoirse also had a feeling that a personality such as Buffy didn't just change over night. It felt nice to know that her father trusted her decision, but what he said next made her sad. "I miss her too," she said, walking over to her father's side, placing a hand over his that was still intact. "But for this to work I need you to trust Aurel to some extent ... He's currently retrieving a book that might help us," she said, trying to be hopeful, but she could feel the darkness within him.
"And for this to work, you have to stop treating me like a little girl," she said in a more serious tone. She knew her father was trying his best, but in doing so he was infantalizing her to such a degree that she felt like she was being choked. "I know you wanted me to grow up slower, I know you and mother both look at me and see the loss of the little baby you had, but I know now why I had to grow up so fast," she said gesturing to the castle around them. "If I was still a small child, I wouldn't have been able to help you rebuild all of this, I wouldn't have gotten to experience pain and loss and happiness and love yet," she said. He blamed himself for a lot of the harm that had befallen her, but looking back she could see why and that every painful interaction had been a learning moment for her.

He looked shortly to their hands as she had placed hers over his, he knew she had gotten a new mark in some sort of change but he hadnt really had found the time or place to ask about it. It was as if there was still some sort of strain between them after everything that had happened with his absence and when she had been held back against her will in south. She spoke of Aurel and as much as it seemed that he had been nothing but help, Baal just couldnt trust easily. "I only need to trust you." he was sure of it.
She went on to speak about them and he drew in a deep breath as he looked at her. "You are right. But when I look at you, I will always see the little baby girl that both your mother and I worked so hard to keep." he explained, shaking his head. In the end, did it matter how he saw her anyway? "I could never not want to hold onto that silence before the storm, when you were nothing but a small child just wanting to explore the world." he said as he moved away from her and moved over to the map. There was much to restore, so she was of course right. "But if you truly want to be shouldering the newfound responsibility that comes from this place, I will try not to make you feel like a child." he said. "Then I'll start by saying that I cannot trust this boy that you've found friendship in. But since I trust you, he can be as much help as he wants to be."
He looked at the map again, having drawn a path to a nearby portal that never seemed to move out of place. Somehow the map was amazing in it's entirety, changing itself as the realm changed. "Do let me know if there's a part I have to play. I know at a time like this without that book of importance, it's hard to say." - "Is there more on your heart?"

He would try, and could she honestly ask for more? She knew how hard her parents had fought to keep her alive, but it was time that she fended for herself. Not that she wouldn't ever call upon her parents for help, but every baby bird had to leave the nest someday. Breathing out in a sigh as he said he couldn't trust Aurel was fair enough. She guessed she just had an easier time finding trust in people, even if they ended up hurting her. Maybe she didn't know everything yet, but the abyssal dweller sure knew more about this realm than her and Baal combined.
"There is a part that I need you to help me with," she said, "I need to figure out a way in which I can find the portal back once I've reached Gambion; Aurel told me it moves around and is unstable, and although traveling anywhere isn't a problem with my newfound gift, it's the matter of locating it that might be a tough one," her eyes darted across the map, watching as it moved on it's own accord. It looked enchanted, but she wasn't sure if it was just a matter of magic or something else entirely. Touching the edge of the map her eyes went back to her father. "And there is more ... So much more that I wish I could find the words to say, but mostly I have a question," she said. Her eyes turned sad as she thought about everything that had happened, but most of all she needed to know. "Why did innocent people have to suffer back in Gambion? Couldn't this have been resolved in a more humane manner than simply tearing a portal open in the middle of a city?"

It was quite a quandry that she had ended up in. The summoner hummed and looked to a certain spot on the map, touching it where he knew a portal would reside. “I dont believe they move. It seems more that they close and open at certain times.” He said. He had of course went on to study the portals as it seemed to be what he had specialized in the last year they were in Gambion. “Though it’s only speculation. I cant say that I’m certain that this is how it is.”
He was curious to whether she had more to say. It was probably about time that they finally spoke rather than just exchanging a few words a day. He could understand that there was much she wanted to ask but didnt know how to. And he wouldnt think he had a proper answer for such complex questions. “I cant say how it would have turned out. I do think that had a similar been opened in even the most desolate places, the Abyssus had been a balloon with a growing mass inside of it. When means to deflate it had been set in motion, it simply bursted and would have spread. If not in Churchill, then someplace different.” He said as he had also thought it through.
“But that is also the difference between then and now. We get to think and ponder. Where as back when it happened there was only two options.” He said before he went to sit down. He went on to explain, at least what he remembered from when Simeon had used another body to ambush him and Buffy. But his memory from that time was tainted with black holes as everything had gone on too fast. Or maybe it had been lost in everything that had happened after the portal.

So the portals worked on a certain schedule, or so it sounded like. It was definitely something they had to look in to further, but she had to trust that her father would do just that. Only she couldn't be sure of the schedule once she was in Gambion, but that probably wouldn't be easy regardless. She changed the subject and her father finally seemed to open up. Was he actually treating her like a grown up as he had promised? It seemed surprising, but she did listen and rather intently at that.
Hearing her father's side of the story and how he had been forced to swallow her mother's soul made her skin crawl. Was it really the same Simeon who had trained her and seemingly cared for her not so long ago? She still had a lot of things to make up her mind about regarding that undead daemon, but for now she wanted to focus on mending the bond she used to have with her father.
"Would you have harmed me back when you were in South?" it wasn't like she didn't have her questions about what he had done and why, but if his memory wasn't complete, then perhaps she needed her mother's side of the story as well. "And if yes, how am I supposed to react to that knowledge?" she asked for guidance. Never had she really thought that her father was capable of doing all of this horrid business with the cultists, but she had a feeling he hadn't been himself. As if something had tried to overtake him in the process. "And don't hold back on me, you promised."

It was like the further they dove into what now was history, he could still feel some of the feelings, in a passing non-threatning way but it was enough to make him feel that remnant feeling of emptiness and anger alike. Her question made him clench his jaw as his eyes shied from hers for a moment. She really wanted to tear off that band aid right in this moment, didnt she? “Yes.” He finally answered as he turned his eyes back to hers. He had to be upfront with her, even if it hurt to admit. “I would have harmed you because I chose an egotistical path of not having to feel a thing about all the hurt that I had caused.” He further admitted after a small pause. “And how you should react? To whatever you feel in your heart knowing it. We’ve always wanted you to go after your gut feeling, but we may have pandered you far too much to ever let you get close to something that could harm your heart.” He said. He got up and went to grab her hand, holding it gently in his. “I understand that I’ve betrayed you and while it’s pointless to plead for forgiveness, I would like to mend at least some of damage that I have caused.” He said, letting her go if that was what she needed now.

She could feel her eyes well up with that one word. Yes. It was ringing in her head, making her feel nauseous and sick to her stomach. She didn't even know how to emote properly, which probably meant she just looked betrayed. The person who she had looked up to, who she thought no matter what she could count on, had just said he had been willing to kill her. Maybe not directly or with any malice, but it had been plausible. He got closer to her, taking her hand and she couldn't object. He started talking, but the words meant nothing right now and as he let go of her hand she took a step away from him. It felt like she couldn't breathe. He had been her safe haven, the person she knew no matter where he was or what he was doing, he had her back. But that wasn't the case. He had chosen the easy path, numbing himself up to not register fully the extent of his horrid ways.
"Tell me how this bond we share can ever be mended when you have torn it apart so easily?" she asked, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. It was too much. Too much to take in, too much to comprehend and yet she was still standing in the room with him. Maybe she should've run off, hidden away, but that was his way of reacting. Not her. No, she was better than hiding and choosing the easy way. Why else would she be here right now? "And tell me ... Why I can't bear the thought of cutting the last string that is holding us together," she whispered after a while of silence. She couldn't run from the fact that he was her father, and it seemed that no matter how much hurt she had gone through because of him she came back to him. "I do want us to mend ... But it will have to take more than simple words to rebuild what trust I had to you," she said, wiping her cheeks with her fingers, feeling them shake slightly as she did so.

She looked so betrayed but he couldnt blame her for it. He had been the one to hurt her and as much as he wished it hadnt been, it couldnt be changed. But she had wanted the truth, so he would say it. Even if he wasnt even fully sure if that was so. A lot of things could have happened and even if he hadnt hurt her in the end, he believed he could have had the intent to. It just didnt seem likely to be different. She wasnt the only one he had almost hurt. He had almost truly killed Buffy when she had been captured by the cultists too. Her question however made him blink a few times as he left his thoughts before he thought of what to say.
"You are asking good questions, but I dont think I have a good answer to them." he said, drawing in a deep breath as he watched her tears roll down her cheek. He wanted to comfort her, but she had said that she didnt want to be treated like a child so he kept his distance. "It is not me who has to forgive, but I know that you wouldnt find resolve in cutting me off." he said, as that was his take on it, her whisper having only confirmed it.
He could understand that it would take time, if anything he would've probably had something to say had it just been swept under the rug. She was already so strong for saying when he had admitted to it, and he did believe it was another good thing she had gotten from her mother. "I dont want to be too much of a lecturer, but you will have to trust me to some extent if you want to bring your mother to this place." he then said to shed some light over the current issue.

"I don't have to trust you when it comes to my mother ... When it comes to her, everything is almost as if written in stone for you; Her life comes before even your own, even when you took the easy path," she argued, and this was perhaps the first time Baal had ever seen her speak so truthfully. She understood her parents, because she was made by them. She had been molded by her mother's kindness and her father's wise words. She had been shaped in to the person she was now because she knew where she came from; Two lovers who were never meant to be, and yet they were. "I am not asking you to keep her safe, because deep down there is not even an atom in you that could hurt her, not even if that is what you are trying to convince yourself," swallowing, she finished wiping her tears away, clearing her throat slightly.
"My bonds to Amos and Connor are gone, so I doubt that they will want much to do with me," she said softly. She knew she was alone, and yet she had come to terms with it. "But I do expect there to always be a place here, and I trust that you will make that happen, that you and mother might make this world whole again," it was a lot to ask, but she also knew that nothing less would cut it. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down she looked at the map. "I should go see Aurel now ... He should be back," she said, sounding much more put together, but it was only because she didn't have time to linger in these sad emotions. The darkness only amplified them, and she would not waste away sobbing to herself.

She argued but he could have easily disproved her there, at least to his own beliefs. But that would only add fuel to the fire and though he had promised to not treat her like a child, he did want to shield that image she had of her mother and him. Tarnishing that just wasnt possible. But it was like he had lost the chance to disprove either way as she claimed that anything he'd say would only just be to convince himself.
"Arent you brushing them over with the same comb when you say that? Connor might not have been there, but I do think that Amos would not be happy to hear you say that he wouldnt care about you." he then argued, though he didnt know why. Maybe he had just accepted that she chose to be with who she wanted, even if it wasnt conventional. He nodded as she spoke of heading off to see Aurel. "Do keep me updated on your findings." he said, before he drew in a deep sigh. "And if you want to talk more about... Well the things that happened, I'm open to tell you all that I know."

"I'm saying it so that I won't be hurt if I'm true," she admitted. She hated the thought of Amos with someone else, she hated thinking of him not caring, but she had to. Because how else would she survive the heartache when she would return to Gambion? Looking down she took a few seconds to gather herself. Amos was someone she loved. He was always going to be the one who showed her what love really meant, but returning to him was a scary thought. What if who he saw wasn't who he had fallen in love with? And worse yet, what if he had found this freedom from their bond to be liberating? Not daring to spend another minute thinking about it she nodded at her father's words.
"I still have much we need to talk about - so much - But spending our time with that now might be more of a hindrance right now," she said a bit more confidently. Looking at her father she nodded, leaving the room and heading back to the library. Entering she sat down in one of the window sills, her eyes wet once more and she felt like such a cry baby. Shaking a little bit she wiped her cheeks, but every time new tears seemed to roll down the old paths. "I need to grow up," she muttered to herself, hating that she was actually sitting here crying about herself when this realm needed her.

After leaving Valerian, he just went directly to the library. At least he was hoping to find her there, and not with the king that he hadnt really spoken to much while he had been here. It was just weird to see someone that looked so much like the king that had ruled this place before. "Found the book!" he called out in a tryingly enthusiastic tone. He saw her by the windowsill, frowning a little as she didnt seem to be okay. "Did something happen?" he asked, but also didnt want seem overbearing.

Hearing Aurel enter she quickly wiped her face, rubbing her eyes but it only made them more red and puffy. Getting off the windowsill she simply shook her head, "I'm fine," she told him, but she wasn't really. She would be eventually, but right now she wanted to focus on their task at hand. "Did he give you much trouble?" she asked, touching the book as she felt small shivers run down her spine. It felt strange. Like the words within it was calling to her or something like that.
"C'mon, let's crack it open," she said, clearing the desk for him to place down the book. She was dying to know more about it and to take her mind off of everything that had happened today. Everything with Aurel and her in the pool, with Valerian showing up and the beginning of mending with her father. It was all too filled with emotions and she needed that distraction right about now.

She didnt look fine but it was what she said so he would leave it. Her question made him press his lips together to a faint forced smile before he grit his teeth and breathed in. “No, he was just annoying like it has always been.” He said, wanting to put it more simple than it was. He let her touch the book but she didnt seem to take it. Instead she cleared the table and he placed it down. “Should I translate or do you feel like you know the writing?” He asked, as he wouldnt mind if it was difficult for her.

"Yeah, family can be annoying," she muttered in agreeance before she stood by him. There it was. The green bound book with silver letters that she could barely read. She knew some of the words, but when her mind was all over the place, it was hard to focus on simply reading and translating to herself. "Yeah, please translate it," she said, sending him a faint smile as she sat down at the table. Maybe this was information she better receive sitting down. "I just really hope this will help us," she said, feeling nervous that this book might be another dead end. Opening the book she looked at the index, how it was scribbled down in beautiful handwriting. It was some of the harder stuff to read, because she had to take in to account that the letters could be shaped differently than what she had learnt herself.
"Maybe just skip the introduction part? Get straight to what we need," she urged him.

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