Between the Dreamworlds: Savers of the Apocalypse - Chapter 1

[PeaceRibbon]

Noel would have asked about how a soul answered a call, but in the end the miraculous sight left her speechless. Besides, the answer would probably lead to more questions. Noel tried to calm down by focusing on the others. Shepard was staying surprisingly calm throughout this, and Fennel on the other hand was reacting the way one would expect. Well, in her own way Noel supposed.

[Snowy_One]

"Well, because we are from different worlds, at least in some sort of way." said Thyme. "I mean, I know what the tech in my world is like and I know we don't have guns designed like that." she pointed to Noel's pistols. "or like that." she then pointed to Shepard's weapons. "Not to mention how distinctly different we all seem to be acting. I'm a bit surprised we can even all talk to each other. When you apply the mages razor it's clear that even the simplest answer is that we all come from at least lands so far apart that they could be considered 'different worlds'.

Plus, well, this seems exactly like the sort of thing Hydaelyn could do, so I don't see why it would be unfair to say it's something impossible. The Father Crystal exists as well and, heavens knows, if we are from different worlds what other possibilities could exist."

[Enaluxeme]

"Yes, let us call them 'worlds'. Some of you came from worlds made out of a single land, while some worlds are made of billions of stars and planets. Regardless of how big or small the world, you were led to believe that it was everything. In truth, reality is much greater."

The entity continued to watch everyone, only lingering on Shepard when talking about the vast worlds made of stars and planets.

"Even so, the number of worlds is not infinite. Most importantly, these noticed that it inexplicably grew lower and decided to investigate. Thus, these discovered that someone is intentionally destroying worlds."

They stood quiet for a moment, looking at everyone's reaction.

"Do you now understand why these called you?"

[eclipse]

The hell is a mage's razor? Fennel wondered to herself. She turned her gaze to the source of the "voice", stood to her full height, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Perhaps you want us to do something about whoever or whatever is causing this disappearance, despite all of us coming from wildly different backgrounds. Or perhaps we're the last living samples of our respective worlds. Regardless, we're here and armed, so I hope it's the former." Her right arm lazily dropped down to the pouch that contained her formulas.

[Acacia Sgt]

Not infinite? So much for those multidimensional theories, Ricardo noted.

"Well, I wouldn't be entirely sure," he said. "I was only recently employed at my current job. There are others I'd say would be more capable than me. But well, I am here, and not they, apparently, so..." he shrugged.

[Moblin Major General]

"Whatever is attacking the worlds would think twice before attacking mine. There is a 66% chance there are warship-sized robots there to defend the galaxy." Shepard vaguely remembers his former foe, knowing he could destroy them, but possibly choosing to utilize them for the betterment of the galaxy.

[Snowy_One]

"Some major threat that, somehow, only a small group of adventurers can solve? This really is Tuesday for me. I'm really hoping this doesn't mean Hydaelyn is gone as that causes some huge problems for me, but if it doesn't I, obviously, like having my world alive and you want to help me protect it; most likely by saving some other worlds as well."

[PeaceRibbon]

"W-wait, me saving all of them?!" In the back of her mind, Noel wanted to save these worlds once she put the pieces in place, but she was staggered nonetheless. Especially since she herself landed in perilous danger many times before. What made her strong enough to be called here? However, Noel came to a resolution that helped clear her head.

"...No. Not alone. I have these people with me." Yes, she couldn't save them all, but Noel decided she could play a part in saving it. Assuming they could reach that point.

[Enaluxeme]

"Indeed, these want you to eradicate the group responsible for the annihilation of the missing worlds.

You were not choosen for your strenght, nor your bravery. You were given this opportunity by mere chance, and you already decided to accept it the moment you appeared in this place."

The figure made a motion with their arm, as if moving a curtain aside, and a glowing, light blue orb appeared before them, in mid air.

The orb autonomously divided itself in five smaller orbs small enough to be hold in a single hand. Each of the orbs flown to the nearest of the group, waiting for them to take it.

"You will use these orbs to travel the worlds. When the time comes to leave a world, you need only to join together."

Edited July 11, 2016 by Enaluxeme

[Snowy_One]

"An orb, huh?" said Thyme as she slowly mulled over what they had said. It was chance? Yet by being here they had accepted? Did that mean that the invites had been sent out by chance and she had, somehow, agreed and forgotten about it? Had they been yanked there by just happenstance? A question worth asking to be certain, but first to actually figure out from her teammates what had actually happened.

"I must admit, this feels... different. I was half-expecting a crystal. Thank you for the orb though."

[Acacia Sgt]

Admitedly, this is still too much to take in, Ricardo thought, looking at the orbs. But it has gone far too long to be a mere dream. Or who knows. It's gonna make one heck of a report once I make it back, though. Taking down Neo Axis is going to look like child's play compared to this, considering things.

He shook his head.

Mere chance... would that really be enough...?

[PeaceRibbon]

Noel smiled at the orb she held. Sure, she never used it before, but she found its presence warming when compared to the gloomy purple around her.

"Thank you...!" she said to the voices' figure. Noel still felt out of place here, and chance is a rather embarrassing way to get picked, but opting out seemed beyond her ability now. She decided her best option was to roll with this and hope for the best.

[Moblin Major General]

Shepard looked at the orb and put it in his armor. Say what you will about the tight fit, it has a lot more room than one would think. "Now that we got that out of the way, where should we go?"

[eclipse]

Fennel's mind wandered back to the chase that had led her here. I suppose this is better than having my guts spread across the labyrinth floor, but WHAT was the criteria for this so-called mission? "If this is our ticket out, thanks. Something tells me our first destination will be a world that none of us are from, even though it would be easier for us to travel to a world one of us is familiar with."

[Enaluxeme]

"You are now ready. Join your orbs together and you will be transported to a new world. These made the orbs so that they will choose the worlds where your enemies are located.

Farewell, guardians of the worlds. May you succeed in your mission."

With these final words, the entity disappeared in another flash of light.

Those of you who still had their orbs in their hands could feel them trying to move, attracted to one another like magnets.

[Snowy_One]

Thyme felt the small tug of the orb in her hands as it tried to move away, seeking out its fellow brethren. "Well, I don't see any reason to not join the orbs together unless one of you has a desire to be immersed in purple for your entire life. I mean, nothing more can really be done here without joining them together so, why the heck not?" she asked as she held up her orb for the joining.

[Moblin Major General]

Shepard took the orb out of his armor to join it with Thyme's. "Let's see where they take us first."

[PeaceRibbon]

"Yeah, I agree Thyme." Noel was glad someone else was eager to test the orbs. If it was only her, she thought it would be super awkward trying to make the first move since she'd stood at a bit of a distance from the rest. Noel could still see an image of herself clumsily trying to follow the pull, as if wielding a metal detector or a compass.

[Acacia Sgt]

"Well, might as well," Ricardo said. "So long we can finally get out of here."

"Although, I'd say we should probably double-check if we are really ready. Who knows where we may end up after all."

[Moblin Major General]

Following Ricardo's logic, Shepard put on his breather helmet, so as to not potentially suffocate within the first seconds of appearing in a universe.

[eclipse]

Rather than argue, Fennel followed the orb's lead. "Here goes nothing," she mumbled, hoping for the best. Will we disappear in a flash of light? Fade away? Something else? Man, why I am even thinking of these things?!

[Enaluxeme]

The moment all the orbs are united, they aggregate again. The resulting orb is the same size it was before at first, but soon starts expanding. The curious thing is that, despite the little orbs being definitely solid, the big one is completely ethereal, and swallows you all during the enlargement: for those of you who still had their arms forward, you can see the sphere cover them, then continuing until it reaches your eyes and you can only see darkness.

The next sensation you feel is strange, to say the least, and not pleasant. Not only you can't feel any gravity, but while your proprioceptions tells you all the parts of your bodies are in their respective places, you feel very tight, as if trying to pass through a very narrow tube. At least, you don't feel pain.

When you reach your destination and you can again see the light, you find yourselves on an unpaved road in the countryside. The road is on the side of a hill, and you can see that it keeps following the hills for quite a bit. From your high point of view, you can see a good part of the valley, which has, in order of nearest to farthest, plentiful of what appears as squared ponds, a village of wooden houses with sloping roofs and a river.

[Snowy_One]

"Ow...." moaned Thyme. Even if the pain itself hadn't been real her body was crying out saying it should have been. That she should have been squeezed tight, that her bones should feel compressed, and so-forth. Still, she was alright, so there was little point in not looking around.

"Well, this seems nicely quaint." she remarked before turning back to look at the others. "Okay, how about we get to that village and at least find a peaceful place. Then we can get to know each other better and figure out just what we're actually supposed to do here. Sounds like a decent enough plan?"

[Acacia Sgt]

If this is how crossing through space-time feels, I hope we don't have to go through that that much, Ricardo thought.

But for now, he could put that thought aside for now, and now focus on where they were.

"I suppose it does," he said towards Thyme's idea. "Assuming it is the sort of place we can just walk in as we are right now."

[Moblin Major General]

Shepard found several sackcloth cloaks on the ground by them. Seeing as though there was a chance 5 strangely garbed strangers would evoke suspicion, he picked them up and began distributing them amongst the group. "If, for some strange reason, we aren't welcome in our current state, we should have these on for the duration just in case."