Dragonball M, Chapter 2: Lighthouse! Across the Shores of Shattered Time!

[MrSandman]

"......Where.....is this....." Etrina asked quietly.

She thought she had known every room in her old home, from years of exploration and hiding. But Aiden had surprised her when he opened a panel deep within the manor that triggered a bookshelf to open...revealing stairs leading downwards.

"......For centuries, the Stoltengarde family had been the greatest of the practitioners in Familiar Summoning. The Scion of ages past was able to summon beings of in comprehensible power to serve our needs. Parsic....Chrona....they were but two of the greater successes created by the great Scion. It is down here.....that the greatest of our family rituals were conducted."

Opening a door into a torch lit hallway that led deeper, he continued. "....at some point ages ago. A great battle of magic took place on this spot. Long before the formation of the families, The blood of hundreds....if not thousands of mages seeped into the soils and sank deep....deep into the earth. There, it fused with the leyline nexus that lay at the foundation....and it crystallized."

"Magicite?" Etrina asked in surprised. "....Hum.....no wonder they were able to produce familiars on this level....few chunks of magicite with the proper catalyst materials..."

"Hehe......it goes far beyond a few chunks..." Aiden spoke, amusement and a little madness in his voice. "We called it...Tiamat. A pure vein of Magicite. 100 yards tall, over 27 tons....all crystallized into one massive tower of ethereal energy. Its been growing underneth our family estate for millennium. Feeding our summoning due to sheer proximity. It wasn't until the first Scion discovered its existence that our art truly transcended what the plebeians were capable of. Come....we're here."

Aiden opened the large chamber door, and for a moment Etrina felt a sudden familiar rush of sickness as the temporal disturbance from before took hold....

~~~~

Ophilia Stoltengarde stood alone, illuminated only by the torches that dotted the room. On the table in front of her....the pale body of her only daughter lay in a peaceful pose of deep endless sleep.

"...." The mother eyes shone in the darkness with a grim determination and madness only known to those who have suffered great loss. ".....shhh.....don't cry......don't cry my dear..." She patted her daughters black hair. "....I know it hurts.....but you'll soon be whole again....and we can be a family......"

Taking her place in front of the alter, the mother channeled her magic into a shard of magicite she had placed upon her daughters head.

At that very moment, the door swung open. Fortenz stepped inside, his eyes wide with terror. "Ophilia....what.....what are you doing!"

"GET OUT! DON'T INTERFERE!" Ophilia screamed. "THIS WAS ALL YOUR FAULT! I'M BRINGING OUR DAUGHTER BACK!"

"It....Summoning doesn't work like that.....this isn't Necromany. I'm....I'm so sorry.....but this.......we can't bring her back like this...." Fortenz pleaded. "I know....it hurts me too.....but there is nothing we can do...."

"SILENCE!" Ophelia roared, the gem on elisas forehead burning to life as its magic reached its limits. "I....I won't let her go.....I won't let death take my only daughter."

All around here the hum of magic intensified. In that moment.....the failure of her husband, her hatred for the fate that brought pain to their family....her earnest wish to have her daughter returned to them.

Deep below the ground, a crystal larger then any other in existence hummed a song in response to her emotions. The magicite shard that lay on her dead childs forehead lit up a thousand times brighter then was thought possible.

"....NO! Stop!" Fortenz knew whatever would be spawned from such an unholy ritual would not be the daughter he had raised. It could never be.....no matter how much he wanted. In one final act of desperation, he lunched for the body as the room lit up. His scream turning to on of blindness and pain before being cut.

Then the light dimmed....

Ophilia opened her eyes. The ground before her feet held the drained, lifeless corpse that had once been her husband....perhaps in another time, she would have felt as much horror and pain as she had for her daughter. But that time was long past....

Her gaze rose....and was met the golden eyes of her daughter staring back at her. The daughter stood...no....floated over the alter, and for the briefest moments Ophilia sword she saw the outline of something....older....around her daughter, like an aura that slowly dissipated.

"....? The child opened its mouth but no words emerged, she then tilted her head and stared a moment. Ophelia felt something pierce her mind....probing her inner thoughts.

"Mother...." The child spoke, her face curving into a smile of innocence. All the horror Ophilia held in her heart seemed to melt away in the presence of her daughter reborn.

"Mother....I'm home."

~~~

"Etrina shook her head, coming to with her father looking at her. ".....Hmm.....what did you see...."

"Nothing..." Etrina responded, to which her father seemed to smirk.

"Very well...come...we are here..."

[MrSandman]

"It sounds like Ishtar and Asha'rah can defend themselves. But will *my* powers work in there? Will I be defenseless if it comes to battle?"

"As long as you have a strong will and a goal....you....maybe should be fine." Chrona answered., then patted the man on the shoulder. ".......Just do what you do best......suckers like you have to have wills of iron to be dating girls like her...right?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Ishtar's weeks-long absence hadn't gone unnoticed. It was a rarity around the palace for her and Sarada to be away from each other for too long. Once it had been noticed that Sarada was by herself, questions started to be asked. An investigative report by one of the online news sites had been initiated to get to the bottom of it. The answer came swiftly in the form of an off-the-record answer by Sarada herself, followed even more swiftly by an also off-the-record threat of violence if that answer was published, even under the guise of an “anonymous” source.

Sarada didn't want the truth to get out, so she made an official statement stating that Ishtar was undergoing some off-world training and would return soon. That her people were so concerned – or rather, curious – about the well-being of an off-worlder was encouraging. Then again, it may have been a morbid attempt to get clicks from the not at all small section of the population whose feelings for the blue-skinned consort ranged from disturbed to irate. It was usually either those two with very little in-between.

She didn't much care. As long as they kept in line and stayed in their lane, they could grumble and complain all they wanted. They were going to anyway, so there was little reason or point in getting overly stressed about it. She had enough on her plate as it was without the added irritation at knowing that her future mate wasn't as well liked as she wanted.

She supposed it was asking too much too soon. They were already wound up because their autonomy snatched away in the blink of an eye with the Tournament of Destiny. She already wasn't who many thought of when they thought of a monarch. Add in that she was a known meat-mixer – something that was still taboo in some sectors of the populace – and her expecting everyone to be cool with a bipedal goat woman – as they “affectionately called her – was a little too lofty.

At least some of them were warming up to her. Though, even if they weren't blatantly hostile toward her, like some, they weren't exactly overly neighborly. It wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Ishtar to receive curious or even wary glances from Saiyans as she passed them on the street. No one said anything hostile toward her – not ever since they saw what she did to Durian the day after she first arrived. Not necessarily because they were afraid of her, but because they respected how powerful she was.

That, of course, was the main reason why those who had warmed up to her had done so so quickly. If there was one thing a Saiyan respected, even in this day and age of heightened enlightenment and open-mindedness, was strength. Not just martial strength, but the strength of character needed to stand up for oneself instead of simply trying to shrug it off.

This was all Sarada noted on Vocado. As for the other worlds, she could only go by reports from the viceroys. On Ruco, Pepa, and Langal, Ishtar was well liked. She had been liked on Turrip. Callion, on the other hand... well, it came as little surprise to hear they still despised her.

And she wasn't the lone target of their hostility.

Sarada herself was the subject of many rallies held by influential Saiyans seeking to stoke the flames of discontent. Blame for Turrip being wiped out was placed directly at her feet. Words like ineffectual, immature, unreliable, and pinhead were being tossed around in regards to her qualifications for the throne.

Almost monthly, the Convention Multiplex – the sight where planet-wide events were held – was filled to capacity with angered Saiyans who demanded that changes be made on Vocado. They wanted someone who thought the way they did on the throne, not some, in their words, “soft snowflake who mates with animals”.

Changes were demanded, but there was no possible way to enact those changes.

Pinrit, former king of Callion and one of Sarada's most vocal detractors, was the one people looked to for answers. His usual method for handling situations like this was to gather an army and destroy any and all who got in his way. That, without doubt, was very much impossible this time around. Sarada by herself could annihilate Callion – the entire planet – without breaking a sweat; as could Ishtar, just as easily. That posed a very real problem. “His” people were angry, irritable, poor, and looking for someone to blame. If he didn't produce some kind of result soon, then they were quickly turn their ire toward him. He was still the strongest Saiyan on Callion, but that wasn't saying much.

He stood at a window in his home, his new home since he had been ousted at ruler of the planet. From there, he could see his old home, the palace at the peak of Mt. Pinrit, where the viceroy appointed by the Queen resided. “What am I to do?” he wondered. His mate, Callion, was sitting on the sofa behind him. “My people are crying out, but there's nothing I can do.” He gritted his teeth, incensed that he was so impotent. Was this what it was like to be weak, to stand idle while those with power did what they wanted, the wishes of those under them be damned?

“It's not fair! We shouldn't be trampled over just because we refuse to cow to the flavor of the month thinking started by that fool, Mato! There has to be something I can do. But, what?”

That his mate didn't respond was worrying. He knew what needed to be done, but he didn't want to do it.

No, there was another way than a civil war.

The next day, Sarada met with Pinrit in her throne room to discuss the unrest on Callion. When he explained, in full, their feelings on everything, she listened silently. It was as she thought. They weren't happy with the new establishment, and their being poor and impoverished wasn't helping.

After thinking it over, she offered him, “I can offer you a bailout package. I'm close to reforming the empire's education system, so that will only benefit the youth on your world. We'll send money so you can at least start up some businesses to generate job growth. After a while, your world will be better off.”

Pinrit frowned heavily. “Job growth? Education? What about our army?! We have no talents outside of combat.”

Sarada sighed and folded her hands across her lap. “And whose fault is that? I've only been Queen for... seven months. You had been King for over thirty years, and not once did you pay even a little attention to your people's educational values or occupational skills. That they're struggling now is on you, and no one but you.” She tilted her head to the side and watched his expression darken. “This is the best I can do. I don't want to rule over this empire with an iron fist, meaning each planet will have to be somewhat self-sufficient. The truth is, Pinrit, that Callion is at the very bottom of nearly every possible metric. Economy, education, social status, environmental welfare, you name it. They're even the weakest of all the Saiyan worlds. You can have all the rallies you want, but nothing you say or chant or scream or shout will change the fact that you are an embarrassment to our race.”

Her eyes narrowed. “That is my only offer. Accept it or let your people suffer.”

“Embarrassment?” Pinrit shook with unspeakable rage. “You dare call my people an embarrassment?!?!” Saiyans, the older ones at least, were extremely quick to anger when their pride was provoke. Even Sarada had lost her temper at a hair's trigger at one point recently. The amount of duress Pinrit was currently under only made his temper's fuse that much short.

Thus, it came as no surprise when he lashed out and fired an energy blast at Sarada.

She didn't even so much as blink.

The guard stationed closest to her throne dashed in the line of fire and slapped the blast away. It crashed into the energy resistant walls, where it was nullified into nothingness. “Impotent dog!” the guard spat, disgusted at the sheer insolence Pinrit had just displayed. He exploded forward and buried his fist to the elbow in Pinrit's abdomen, to the point that it nearly erupted out the other side.

Blood flew out of Pinrit's mouth as the strength in his legs evaporated in an instant. He collapsed to his knees, struggling to catch his breath.

“That's enough.” Sarada stood from her throne and slowly walked down the few steps leading to the floor. “I have no time to waste on foolishness. Consider my offer revoked.” She stepped around him and started for the hall. “Get this trash off my floor.”

Callion could burn for all she cared.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

When she entered the hall, she found Maiz waiting for her. “Milady.”

“I told you not to call me that,” she replied dryly. They walked step for step toward the back exit, which led directly to the garden. “You shouldn't have done that.”

“What?” When Maiz didn't respond, she sighed heavily. “It's his own fault.”

“You provoked him by calling his people an embarrassment.”

“It's what they are. It's the truth.”

“Be that as it may, you still shouldn't have voiced it.” She stopped, prompting Sarada to stop as well. “Listen, if you're going to be Queen, then you need to learn how to deal with people like Pinrit. Bluntly isn't the way to go. You need to,” she stopped and sighed, “you need to cajole them into reaching an agreement with you. Appease to their pride, and make it seem that whatever deal you're offering is in their best interest. And that doesn't include calling the planet they ruled for most of their lives an embarrassment.”

Sarada frowned and looked away. “It was true,” she mumbled.

“Regardless.”

“Tch.” She growled, but knew Maiz was right. “It's too late now.”

“You're right. And now, half a million of your subjects are going to suffer. Turrip fall wasn't on you, but this will be.”

Maiz's cold judgment cut right to the point and left no room for debate or argument. Sarada felt her shoulders slump as the realization finally dawned on her. “I... I understand.”

“Then, what will you do?”

She couldn't very well go back on her word. Doing so would make her look indecisive and easily manipulated by guilt. On the other hand, she couldn't go through with it, or else half a million Saiyans were going to die out when their resources eventually expired. Or, worse, secede. Callion wasn't going to survive if that happened. If Hilda didn't kill them off, then one of the innumerable enemies their exploits earned them would. “The education reforms will filter down to them. We'll send entrepreneurs there to start businesses and give them jobs. Once they start working and get some incoming flowing, then they'll start buying, that will jump start the economy.” She looked up into Maiz's eyes, hoping she said the right thing.

The older Guardian quirked an eyebrow until the realization crept up to her. “That's an optimistic plan. Perhaps optimism is what those people need in a time like this. Half a million are in poverty. Their resources dwindle by the day, and it won't be long before they reach critical level. Unless you wish to witness the depths a hungry Saiyan is willing to go to sate that hunger, you need to do more.”

“Give them food?”

“That you're asking me is concerning. Do you want to help them or not?”

“No.” She sighed and looked around to make sure no one but them heard that. “I don't. Theirs is an abhorrent society. You saw how they treated Ishtar.”

“Is that what this is about? Yes, they treated her poorly, but that doesn't mean they deserve to suffer for it.” Maiz's head tilted from one side to the other as she regarded her former ward. “It's your duty as their Queen to ensure their lives are as healthy and prosperous as possible. If you can't or won't, you'll find yourself replaced by someone who can and will.”

“No one can beat me.”

“That's what your sister thought, and look how she ended up.” The icy cold statement was the last thing Maiz said to Sarada before departing for Mt. Oozaru.

Sarada watched her leave, mouth slightly agape. How could she say something like that?! Why?? How could she compare her to Parsley? Parsley was haughty and arrogant, completely full of herself when they fought at the tournament. When she lost, she learned a measure of humility. From overconfident, to humbled, to dead.

She swallowed the hard knot in the throat and breathed in deeply. Parsley.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Pinrit returned, he returned a failure. His wife couldn't even look at him. “To think you let a child goad you so completely that you threw away our one chance at survival! She threw you a bone and you threw it back! Idiot!”

Callion, the woman, tossed her hands up and stormed out, leaving her mate alone to consider his actions.

Callion, the planet, wasn't nearly as forgiving.

“Hahahah! What a little baby man!” they taunted. “What kinda pussy lets some kid **** with his head? Ahahahaa!”

The mockery was cruel and cut to pieces what little of his pride had remained intact after being humiliated by Queen Sarada. Chants of “Baby Man” echoed every time he went somewhere. To the market, to the theater, to a sporting event. Everywhere he went, the mockery followed.

He had had enough. He was going to do what he should have done from the start.

The next day, he stormed into the home of the viceroy. When he was predictably stopped by the guards stationed there for this very reason, he demanded to speak with him.

“Let him through,” came a voice from up ahead.

Pinrit adjusted his armor and shoved past the two men who had just previously been easily manhandling him to step inside the viceroy's office. The viceroy was, like most Saiyan men, a muscular man, with short black hair and a stocky build. He was draped in sleek white clothing that put Pinrit in the mind of those Saiyans on Turrip.

“What can I do for you, Pinrit?”

“Your services are no longer required. Callion is going to take steps to secede from the Saiyan Empire.”

“Are you mad?” the viceroy roared with laughter, obviously thinking this was some kind of joke. “Callion won't last a month by itself.” He took a moment to calm down, then folded his hands on top of his desk. “Look, I've been doing all I can to keep this place running, but frankly, there isn't a lot to work with here. With war and conquest, there is absolutely no money coming in. There is nothing worth trading. You've all but alienated yourselves from the rest of the race, so most planets are reluctant to work with you. Then I come to find out that yesterday, you attacked Her Majesty herself when she offered you a bailout package.”

He frowned and tilted his head before continuing. “The fact of the matter is this: Callion needs the Empire and the benefits that will be filtering down from Vocado more than any other world. Even the newly established colonies are in a better position than you.”

The truth stung more than a thousand suns. Pinrit's hands balled into fists clenched so tightly, they shook from the rage that was building inside him.

“If that's all—”

“That is NOT all!” Pinrit shouted. “Put it to a vote. The people deserve a say in this matter.”

It looked like the viceroy wanted to argue, but sighed wearily. “Fine. I'll go through the steps, and inform Her Majesty of your wishes. Then, we'll let the people of Callion have their say. If they agree, then we'll draft the paperwork and send it to Her Majesty for approval. If she does, then Callion will be a separate entity, completely independent of the Saiyan Empire.”

Pinrit nodded once, then turned to take his leave. There was much campaigning and rallying to do.

“Know this,” the viceroy spoke before he could reach the door. “If you do gain independence, don't expect Vocado to give you any kind of aid, help, assistance, or anything of that nature.”

“We won't need it,” he replied.

__________________________________________________ ______

“HA! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH!!!!”

The council's response when they received word that there was talk of secession coming out of Callion was as unified as it was simultaneous.

“They won't survive,” Mato started.

“They have nothing. They've be eating each other before the year is out,” Becbaga followed.

“Fools! They should just accept our help and be done with it,” Botarega concluded.

Sarada sighed deeply. She didn't know what to do. While she would have loved nothing more than those prideful, hateful, bigoted animals to suffer from a circumstance of their own making, she couldn't stop hearing Maiz's voice in her head. As much as she hated them, they were still her people, and it was ultimately her responsibility to care for their needs. That she let Pinrit's actions goad her into retracting that help led to this, them voting in three months on whether to become an independent state or not.

Ultimately, the Empire wasn't going to lose much. Five hundred thousand or so off the cumulative population, and the dead weight of so much weakness. In fact, they gained a better reputation, as Callion was the last vestige of the ways of Otatop that man turned to when decrying the Saiyan race. Cutting them off allowed them to move forward into a new age without anything holding them back.

Yet, at the same time, this seemed too easy. It was the easy way out, if not the more preferable one.

Regardless, the debates and rallies on Callion were due to be interesting, and she would be paying very close attention.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

using Ki Althena inflates her muscles and bone a small bit , and her height increase from 7'6" to 7'8". she then says to Eva " this is Efficiency Mode it grants a 10 x boost in power and it's highly efficient ." "it's mainly use for conserving stamina my power level in this mode is 400,000 ." she then reverts to her original size.

after that she just uses Ki to increase the size of her leg and arm muscles just enough for there to be noticeable difference. she then says " this is boost mode it grants a 20x boost in power and boost strength & speed." " it doesn't sacrifice too much stamina but there's still loss of Stamina compare to Efficiency mode." " my power level in this mode is 800,000."

Althena then uses Ki to bulk up her entire body to the point where it's a mountain of muscle and her height increases to 10 feet . Althena then says to Eva" this is Power mode it grants a 30x boost in power and boost strength tremendously but suffers in speed and stamina." " in this mode my power level is 1,200,000." Althena than surges more Ki though her body until a red fiery aura surrounds her body and glowing red lines of Ki appear on her body, and her eyes turn completely white .


Althena then says to Eva " finally this is Max mode which grants 400x boost in power giving both a tremendous boost in strength and speed . " "however it comes with a great cost Max mode has massive Ki drainage. " "it is a technique that should only be use as a last resort." " in this mode my power level is 16,000,000 "


" in the book of Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam the most recommend mode to use is Efficiency Mode". " no Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam master include me would ever recommend going straight into Max mode ." " it's just not worth it." " even now as I'm in this mode I can feel my Stamina and Ki rapidly draining."

" you can see the visually see Ki leaking out from my body." " the mode is really powerful but at the same time impractical." in this mode my power level doesn't stay at 16,000,000 for long." " right now it has drop down to 800,000."

OT:

No way 16,000,000 is allowable, even if it’s a drug. That’s too powerful a thing to exist.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

OT:

No way 16,000,000 is allowable, even if it’s a drug. That’s too powerful a thing to exist.

note: Althena power level in Max mode is actually 800,000 due to the massive Ki drainage that comes along with the technique .

[bruceleegreyhulk]

using Ki Althena inflates her muscles and bone a small bit , and her height increase from 7'6" to 7'8". she then says to Eva " this is Efficiency Mode it grants a 10 x boost in power and it's highly efficient ." "it's mainly use for conserving stamina my power level in this mode is 400,000 ." she then reverts to her original size.

after that she just uses Ki to increase the size of her leg and arm muscles just enough for there to be noticeable difference. she then says " this is boost mode it grants a 20x boost in power and boost strength & speed." " it doesn't sacrifice too much stamina but there's still loss of Stamina compare to Efficiency mode." " my power level in this mode is 800,000."

Althena then uses Ki to bulk up her entire body to the point where it's a mountain of muscle and her height increases to 10 feet . Althena then says to Eva" this is Power mode it grants a 30x boost in power and boost strength tremendously but suffers in speed and stamina." " in this mode my power level is 1,200,000." Althena than surges more Ki though her body until a red fiery aura surrounds her body and glowing red lines of Ki appear on her body, and her eyes turn completely white .


Althena then says to Eva " finally this is Max mode which grants 50x boost in power giving both a tremendous boost in strength and speed . " "however it comes with a great cost Max mode has massive Ki drainage. " "it is a technique that should only be use as a last resort." " in this mode my power level is 2,000,000 but because of the rapid drainage in Ki it drops to 100,000


" in the book of Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam the most recommend mode to use is Efficiency Mode". " no Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam master include me would ever recommend going straight into Max mode ." " it's just not worth it." " even now as I'm in this mode I can feel my Stamina and Ki rapidly draining."

" you can see the visually see Ki leaking out from my body." " the mode is really powerful but at the same time impractical."

OT: I adjust the multiplier of the Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam technique Max Mode from 400x down to 50x. Cleric I hope my post is okay now.

[MrSandman]

The ritual chamber seemed no different now then it did in the temporal hallucination Etrina had experienced. Looking at it now....it filled her with a sense of historical scale she never quite realized having lived there without knowing its existence. Her family was old...yes.....but now that word held some weight to it.

"....Etrina. You came...."

A voice, meek yet regal, came from the center of the room. Where the alter had been in the past, a large chair now sat, occupied with a woman who looked fit to be royalty. Long blonde hair, red and gold clothes emblazed with her family design, a staff with a golden headpiece lay across her legs. Etrina knew this woman, even if she hadn't seen her in years....

Marina Stoltengarde, Her mother.

"She's finally here...I told you she would make it. Our daughter is finally ready to taker her place..." Aiden stepped up to Marina, and much to Etrina immediate surprise he dropped down on his hands.

Her mother payed him need heed, instead staring lovingly over him to her daughter. ".....Its been so long....Etrina. I had always hoped this day would finally come...."

Lifting herself from her chair, Marina moved forward.....and paused abruptly as she drove the tail end of her staff into her husbands spine, sending the man face first into the ground with a howl of pain and pleasure that made etrina jerk back in surprise.

"T...Thank you....can I.....can I have another...?" Aiden whimpered, to which Marina simpled stepped on the back of his head as she walked over him. "Maybe later dear husband.....right now my daughter is waiting, and she is certainly more important then a farm animal like you."

Etrina raised an eyebrow....unsure what exactly was playing out. She had always remember her mother as a meek but noble woman, but this was....rather.....

Now stood before each other, Marina clasped her arms around her daughter and embraced her. "Oh....Oh my dear Etrina....finally. I couldn't stand for us to be apart for so long...."

"....Mother......I..." The strangeness of the situation washed away in the sudden rush of hot wet tears in her eyes. "...No...I....Its ok......I missed you too...."

"I'm so sorry.....for leaving you alone for so long......sitting by while others used you for their own selfish gain. I let you down....I wasn't there for you.....can you ever forgive me..."

Etrina cried, hugging her harder. "Of course I can....what father did wasn't your fault. He....father...."

It was fathers fault.

Etrina felt something stir in the back of her head. Something wasn't quite right.....and as much as she wanted to melt into her mothers arm, it was itching at the back of her mind.

"Don't worry my daughter....I'll never let them control your fate every again. From here on....I promise you a life where you can exist in peace."





"Them?" Etrina asked outloud.

Who was them? Her father?

"Yes.....the guardian.....she took you away from me."

"I never....how did you know....about eve?" Etrina felt something enclose around her, the energy rapidly sapping from her body.

"Your my daughter....your fate is mine to decide. I'll make sure your happy from now on...give yourself to me...mind and body.....My dear Etrina."

"No....this....." Etrina felt the world fade, and in the dim light of reality she could see the faint outline of a spiders web wrapping around her body.....and the outline of something old hanging over her mother, a smile too wide to be human.

"This is your inheritance..."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

"Hungry, huh?" That was surprising, but not at all unwanted. There was no better way to celebrate a hard earned victory than eating with someone she cared about. "Well, there's an entire kitchen stocked with food back home with our names on it."

She wrapped an arm around Ishtar's waist, but not without giving her backside a nice squeeze. "Let's go find Meagan."

"Yes ... undoubtedly a side-effect of not subsisting on anything but a desire to not die, for a month." Ishtar muttered. "In any case, this sounds like a date."

The Oni then chucked as Sarada got a firm grip on her backside, before returning the favor.

"I am sure Meagan will want us gone, after you eat everything on Chroma."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

".....Yeah.....I suppose this is it...isn't it." Chrona smiled, but for a moment she seemed a little....melancholy.

"So.....Going over the plan once more, just to make sure your all on board. One...Each of you will tap into the link produced by the Mages foci, they can use translocation magic to transport each of you close to where you need to be. It's not 100% accurate....but it'll be enough."

"Second...Ishtar. You want to fight our aunt right? That's good...you'll need to pull her attention for as long as possible. Fight her if you have too....but you can't kill her. The goal is to stall and distract, you'll know why when you get there."

Ishtar chuckled.

"I am likely not strong enough to kill her outright, yet she holds no sway over me. I am quite sure I will prove a suitable distraction." Waiting for the Time Aspect to finish her explanation, then, the golden-eyed Oni stole some of Chrona's Popcorn.

"Whenever you are ready," the Oni muttered before popping it into her mouth.

"Not bad."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

With a last nod, Ishtar and Asha’rah are returned from whence they came.

Without missing a beat, Ishtar found herself returned to where she'd been pulled from, albeit somewhat wiser than before ... and decidedly more sure of her course.

Asha'rah laughed as she returned the hug, grateful once again that she did not need to breathe. To the extent Shek'hinah's hug hurt, it was a sweet pain. The pain of life and love.

"I cannot promise that. But I will endeavor all the more to emerge intact."

Turning to Asha'rah however, the Oni could only chuckle. "That Demon was far too weak to be worthy of blowing. Perhaps save that for someone more so."

[Tami]

"Yes ... undoubtedly a side-effect of not subsisting on anything but a desire to not die, for a month." Ishtar muttered. "In any case, this sounds like a date."

The Oni then chucked as Sarada got a firm grip on her backside, before returning the favor.

"I am sure Meagan will want us gone, after you eat everything on Chroma."

Meagan enters the room, "Good, I see you're feeling better. A change of clothes are over there and there are three Sisters in the Temple waiting for you. Whatever you need, food, a bath, a place to rest, they will assist you. I will join you later, after I've spent some time in the healing chamber myself. These burns are starting to bother me."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Yes ... undoubtedly a side-effect of not subsisting on anything but a desire to not die, for a month." Ishtar muttered. "In any case, this sounds like a date."

The Oni then chucked as Sarada got a firm grip on her backside, before returning the favor.

"I am sure Meagan will want us gone, after you eat everything on Chroma."

Sarada chuckled. "I'm sure I'm already on some kind of blacklist after the last time I was here." She wondered if that poor bastard tasked with washing her literal mountain of used dishes resented the very idea of seeing her again. Probably so. "Ah, well. I'll only eat a light snack here, then fill up when we get back home."

She couldn't wait to sleep in her own bed after as long a day as this had turned out to be.

Meagan enters the room, "Good, I see you're feeling better. A change of clothes are over there and there are three Sisters in the Temple waiting for you. Whatever you need, food, a bath, a place to rest, they will assist you. I will join you later, after I've spent some time in the healing chamber myself. These burns are starting to bother me."

Instead of venturing out to find Meagan, she found them, and offered them the use of three Temple Sisters. Food, a bath, a bed, anything they needed would be provided them. "Much appreciated, Meagan. Nothing like a good fight to work up an appetite."

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Nevanlinna emerged from Vaikuntha after yet bout of hard training, trailed by a young Saiyan girl. It had been... quite a year since her banishment. During her travels, she had picked up a distress signal from... some Saiyan colony, gone to investigate, and found most of its inhabitants dead--slaughtered by tuffles, of all things. Seri, the saiyan girl trailing her, had been the only survivors, and securing her safety had been... difficult. Some sort of tuffle-crafted android called Infa had stood in her way and very nearly been the end of her. However, she had managed to emerge victorious--if only barely--ensuring that no one else had to die that day... except the scores of tuffles she'd slaughtered, anyway.

While she had little love for Saiyans, she'd felt... compelled to take the girl with her. For one so young, with no family, and after having gone through such an experience... how could she not? She may have been arrogant, yes, but she was not unnecessarily cruel, especially to children, saiyan or not.

Seri had eventually recovered enough and, unsurprisingly, joined her in her daily training. Though weak at first, she improved quickly and was now a rather worthy sparring partner. Not ideal, but even a middling sparring partner was leagues better than none at all. And, in a strange way, she'd grown fond of the girl. She was like a little sister or younger cousin to her--a novel experience, as she'd been the youngest of her siblings back home.

As they emerged, Neva felt several strong powers at battle, some distance away. Actually, if memory served, those powers were off in the direction of the lookout. Most of them felt like people she knew--Ishtar, Zaofan, and Sarada among them--but a few were unknown, and gave her a rather foreboding feeling. A fight, perhaps?

Whatever it was, it was winding down, but...

"Hey, we should go find those people I sense!" said Seri, her tail wagging in barely-contained excitement. Clearly, she'd sensed those powers only a bit after Neva had.

Nevanlinna was curious, but she had thus far avoided the others, instead sticking to Vaikuntha for... most of the last year. She and Seri had made occasional trips to towns, but not often, since Vaikuntha contained everything one might need to live. Still...

"Hm, so soon after training and you want to fight, is that it?" Nevanlinna thought for a moment, her eyes drifting to the open, blue sky. "...hm, very well. If nothing else, a change of pace might be warranted." Her aura burst into existence and Neva rocketed into the sky, her trajectory aimed towards the lookout.

"Hey, wait for me!" yelled Seri, doing the same. She wasn't quite as quick as Nevanlinna, owing to being weaker in general, but the older woman slowed a bit to let the Saiyan catch up.

It was a quick flight, and Nevanlinna didn't suppress her power at all, to give the others fair warning that she was approaching, in a sense. Soon enough, she and Seri were floating above the lookout.

"Wooow, what's this?"

"This? This is where the guardian of this planet lives. Among others."

"The Guardian? Are they strong?"

"Their strength would be sufficient, in most cases, but compared to the likes of us... no, not in particular."

"Oh..." Seri's tone sounded disappointed.

"Come," said Nevanlinna, as she descended to the lookout's surface, touching down within seconds. Seri was, of course, right behind her. "Well then, it's been a long time since I've been here..."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

using Ki Althena inflates her muscles and bone a small bit , and her height increase from 7'6" to 7'8". she then says to Eva " this is Efficiency Mode it grants a 10 x boost in power and it's highly efficient ." "it's mainly use for conserving stamina my power level in this mode is 400,000 ." she then reverts to her original size.

after that she just uses Ki to increase the size of her leg and arm muscles just enough for there to be noticeable difference. she then says " this is boost mode it grants a 15x boost in power and boost strength & speed." " it doesn't sacrifice too much stamina but there's still loss of Stamina compare to Efficiency mode." " my power level in this mode is 600,000."

Althena then uses Ki to bulk up her entire body to the point where it's a mountain of muscle and her height increases to 10 feet . Althena then says to Eva" this is Power mode it grants a 20x boost in power and boost strength tremendously but suffers in speed and stamina." " in this mode my power level is 800,000 ." Althena than surges more Ki though her body until a red fiery aura surrounds her body and glowing red lines of Ki appear on her body, and her eyes turn completely white .


Althena then says to Eva " finally this is Max mode which grants 30x boost in power giving both a tremendous boost in strength and speed . " "however it comes with a great cost Max mode has massive Ki drainage. " "it is a technique that should only be use as a last resort." " in this mode my power level is 1,200,000 but because of the rapid drainage in Ki it drops to 60,000


" in the book of Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam the most recommend mode to use is Efficiency Mode". " no Mahtoesa Hetto no Hwe-Atkam master include me would ever recommend going straight into Max mode ." " it's just not worth it." " even now as I'm in this mode I can feel my Stamina and Ki rapidly draining."

" you can see the visually see Ki leaking out from my body." " the mode is really powerful but at the same time impractical."

for Cleric


OT : have adjust the multipliers for Boost Mode, Power Mode and Max mode. Boost mode is now a 15x multiplier , Power Mode is now a 20x multiplier and finally Max Mode is now just a 30x multiplier.