Dragonball M, Chapter 3: In Blood, Bone, and Ash! The Way Forward Unlocked!

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

As Praxat babbled on about something or another, Parsley opened the notebook and flipped through its pages. Specifically, she was looking for where Jinzi's plans for this Project Parting Glass.

It was written in some sort of code. Clearly so The Doctor, if he ever discovered it, wouldn’t be able to read it.

Which means their Jinzi is probably the only one who can decipher it.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

It was written in some sort of code. Clearly so The Doctor, if he ever discovered it, wouldn’t be able to read it.

Which means their Jinzi is probably the only one who can decipher it.

"Tch. Another bullet point in this assignment." It was code, meaning it was indecipherable to Parsley. Much like the equations and mathematical gibberish etched into the walls, only Jinzi would be able to figure this out. And with nothing else left to discover, there was no reason to remain.

"Unless there's something else, we need to get back. We have a date with a goddess shortly."

[grampagen]

As Wilhelm starts trying to access the computer, Ochazuke you find amidst the detritus two wadded up photographs. One of the whole group plus several unknown people, all smiling at a party. The other being Jinzi, Meagan, and two children. A young boy and a baby girl.

Lifting it from the clutter, Ochazuke held the photograph. Even to calloused fingertips, he noticed how the faded surface felt thinner where he grasped it. Brushing his fingers through the surface upon that blunted corner between them, perhaps the picture had been put through this motion countless times before. The edges of the image frayed, whitened where the creases mottled the memory, exposed without a frame, and despite Wilhelm's floating lights, the flickering of the Capsule house obscured the shapes held in the surface.

In an instant, there lay in brilliant colour an array of familiar faces, come together in a shared moment. What silent words did they speak? What was the course of their halted momentum? The gathering of warriors he had known and several strangers, an instance frozen forever.

It could not have been too far a distance, this past, from their present. The unfamiliar faces Ochazuke paid particularly close attention to.

The fixtures of the Capsule House trilled, and with one lapsed angle in the light the shapes were obscured and faded flat grey like all the rest. But for the surface of the thing grasped in his hand, would he have known it to be real? The man who had taken this image held onto it desperately, afraid to let it go.

He could feel all through the worn surface where Jinzi's grip tightened. The shape of this memory had twisted.

The videos Wilhelm noted he found were ready for viewing. What she and they saw was sad. Jinzi had apparently been on his own for around seven years, give or take. There was very little indication about what happened to reduce the planet's population to one, but he kept referring to a woman who opted to keep him around as an experiment.

"Seven years in isolation. No wonder he went mad," she murmured.

At this point, he had made over a hundred attempts to... something. The purpose of his attempts were unrevealed, but she silently posited that they were either attempts to escape this broken world, or attempts to fix it. Regardless, he was met with nothing but failure.

"Play the other videos," she said to Wilhelm.

"Was it isolation, or was it a forcible removal?" Continue to survey the homestead as the videos played, Ochazuke produced a capsule. "Perhaps he'd taken it for granted, how glibly he would call and all the Universe would answer. A thought and he or Meagan might have it."

Tech Rot... He rest a hand on the house wall, analyzing the resonance of the structure once more. "But somebody wouldn't let them leave. She stole their way out."

A daft theory began brewing in Ochazuke's mind. He would let it steep as the Doctor's words continued.

Before Wilhelm began the next video, Parsley's eyes narrowed in contemplation. "Curious how Jinzi claimed the tech rot was eating away at the building itself, to the point that he could barely maintain the outer walls. Yet, the building remains long after his departure. Unless he somehow managed to find a way to negate it before he left." She rubbed her chin in thought. It wasn't much more than an idle thought that popped in her head at the moment, but it was interesting enough for her to voice it aloud.

Make that fifteen years at minimum. Fifteen long years of isolation would make any idea that had even the smallest mote of success one worth driving towards with every ounce of fervor manageable. Hence, his insane plane to undo time itself to undo whatever this Desolation woman did.

Parsley wished he had given a name, but other than desolation and genesis, there was none.

"Hm."

She recalled hearing that word before, genesis. Not as a description, but as a name. "Genesis." She glanced at Ochazuke. "You all met someone who went by that name, didn't you? Some years ago on the Junjo asteroid, right?"

Ishtar mentioned a Genesis during her tirade against Asha'rah some days ago. Afterwards, Sarada filled in the details as best she could. It was scarce, as was often the case with second hand stories, but she could the gist of it.

The mystery behind The Doctor continued to unravel, yet there were still critical details missing. Who was the woman responsible for the planet's condition; Genesis or someone else? Why did she do whatever she did? How? And would something like this happen in their timeline?

Parsley said nothing, but snatched several fries out of the Majin's hand and ate them. "There should be two more videos and the audio recording, right?" she asked Wilhelm.

Genesis. The name was familiar, and certainly not one spoken lightly.

"You're well familiar with the Junjo," Loathsome merchants, "It was during one of their bazaars, selling off plunder and quarry to the highest bidder." Many were ensnared by the prospect of obtaining something rare, exclusivity measured dauntingly by material worth. Plunge deep enough into the darkness and it is possible to take possession of anything, for a price.

"It was here she outbid your sister with five million credits for a cache of Katchin. What designs she could have for it, well..."

A little over a year ago, yet only now did the ripples seem to converge.

"With the manner Ishtar and Asha'rah have spoken of Genesis, perhaps with what she has contrived, one might scheme to fight the gods themselves," he said, turning from his current task to exchange a look with Parsley. "If this is she. Though, it is ironic."

Praxat hands Parsley the notebook." I can't believe it, he drained the energy from the Sun that's just nuts. The Sun contains proximally 384.6 yotta watts of energy. Draining all that energy from it would cause it to turn into a white dwarf, and he did it. Worse still a even more massive star, if it was drained of all its energy would collapse into a black hole," Praxat said.

"Is it any less believable than deciding the worth of a book without reading it?"

[bruceleegreyhulk]

Lifting it from the clutter, Ochazuke held the photograph. Even to calloused fingertips, he noticed how the faded surface felt thinner where he grasped it. Brushing his fingers through the surface upon that blunted corner between them, perhaps the picture had been put through this motion countless times before. The edges of the image frayed, whitened where the creases mottled the memory, exposed without a frame, and despite Wilhelm's floating lights, the flickering of the Capsule house obscured the shapes held in the surface.

In an instant, there lay in brilliant colour an array of familiar faces, come together in a shared moment. What silent words did they speak? What was the course of their halted momentum? The gathering of warriors he had known and several strangers, an instance frozen forever.

It could not have been too far a distance, this past, from their present. The unfamiliar faces Ochazuke paid particularly close attention to.

The fixtures of the Capsule House trilled, and with one lapsed angle in the light the shapes were obscured and faded flat grey like all the rest. But for the surface of the thing grasped in his hand, would he have known it to be real? The man who had taken this image held onto it desperately, afraid to let it go.

He could feel all through the worn surface where Jinzi's grip tightened. The shape of this memory had twisted.



"Was it isolation, or was it a forcible removal?" Continue to survey the homestead as the videos played, Ochazuke produced a capsule. "Perhaps he'd taken it for granted, how glibly he would call and all the Universe would answer. A thought and he or Meagan might have it."

Tech Rot... He rest a hand on the house wall, analyzing the resonance of the structure once more. "But somebody wouldn't let them leave. She stole their way out."

A daft theory began brewing in Ochazuke's mind. He would let it steep as the Doctor's words continued.



Genesis. The name was familiar, and certainly not one spoken lightly.

"You're well familiar with the Junjo," Loathsome merchants, "It was during one of their bazaars, selling off plunder and quarry to the highest bidder." Many were ensnared by the prospect of obtaining something rare, exclusivity measured dauntingly by material worth. Plunge deep enough into the darkness and it is possible to take possession of anything, for a price.

"It was here she outbid your sister with five million credits for a cache of Katchin. What designs she could have for it, well..."

A little over a year ago, yet only now did the ripples seem to converge.

"With the manner Ishtar and Asha'rah have spoken of Genesis, perhaps with what she has contrived, one might scheme to fight the gods themselves," he said, turning from his current task to exchange a look with Parsley. "If this is she. Though, it is ironic."



"Is it any less believable than deciding the worth of a book without reading it?"

" When did I deiced that? I'm planning on read that notebook . No what The Doctor did isn't any less believable than what you said, but as a scientist I can't condone it. I find such action as drain the sun of power appalling ," Praxat said.

Praxat holds out her hand " Parsley can you please hand me that notebook I would like to read it when we get back. Also when we get back I will be working with Jinzi. I have projects I would like to work with him on mainly a project on molecular miniaturization," Praxat said.


Praxat takes out a blue print from her Jobox and tears a piece of it and puts it the blueprint back in her Jobox. The piece she torn off contains her highly complex untested formula for molecular miniaturization which she looks and writes a quick note on before put it in her pocket. the note she writes on it reads, note to self I'm going back to college to work on my PHD in mechanical engineering.

[bruceleegreyhulk]

ignore this.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

When Ishtar opened her eyes, she found herself staring up at a place she knew well. The grand stairwell, and arched doorway, illuminated by the flickering of the ritual flames that could be seen alight and burning within, flanked at either side by twin statues depicting a God the golden-eyed Oni alone could recall. Yet even though Ishtar knew that this place was nothing more than a facsimile of the distant and immutable past, recounted; she hesitated at the sight of it all the same.

The crown jewel of the 'Jeweled City', Aka'Tiel ... the Temple of the Twin Luminaries.

For many years, this place had served, and had been served by the Priestesses and their Moonsworn; and for many years, herself had Ishtar served as Priestess. Assisting the High Priestess in her offerings to the Gods, while also overseeing the funerary rites of those recently departed. Yet it was not the remembrance of her service rendered, nor what had ultimately been the result of such within the Temple's ornate sandstone walls. It was instead Ishtar's swift realization -- thanks in no small part to the screaming that had welcomed her to this long-forgotten when -- that the memories of how she brought about the end she knew was coming.

After all, it was by her hand that the Jeweled City had been shattered. By her hand that Ilargi had been ripped from the heavens and used as a makeshift weapon against the planet beneath ... yet despite knowing what she'd done, its ramifications, and where she had drawn the power from -- through a battered door barely-held by a seal -- she had no idea the means by which she had done so. Which was exactly why she'd come ... and so the glowing-horn Oni reminded herself of that. Despite her aversion to knowing this particular truth ... Ishtar understood that the knowledge was now necessary, as was whatever 'training' such knowledge might afford her in the moment.

So as she stood, rocked back on her heels ... she labored to remind herself just that.

"... it will not do, to stand and stare; when you came for an understanding." The Oni muttered, before all but forcing herself forward after still another moment staring. "Not to mention ... this is five thousand, one-hundred and twenty years overdue." With that, Ishtar found the strength of will, and with slow deliberate steps she mounted the steps and slipped in through the doorway. Yet once inside the Temple's first antechamber, the clamor of the dying remained a distant sound, serving only to set Ishtar on edge as she continued ever forward; and in the eeriness of the scenario the golden-eyed Oni found herself wondering if this might have been a ... poorly conceived idea.

There was, for starters, no denying she was not ... quite well. The events of the past week -- Sarada's poisoning til now -- had proven quite disastrous after all, both for her physical state and her mental well-being. Surely this would simply fall into grouping with those other disastrous events and revelations ... and yet a part of her felt that was not sufficient given all she had risked beforehand -- 'Death ... multiple times. Dismemberment. Suffering ... enough to fill multiple lifespans. -- to sate simple curiosities or stand for, and do, what she believed was necessary.

So what was this, the potential for a few moments worth of discomfort, in the face of what she'd done before ? Nothing. Yet this aversion had a source ...

The thoughts ebbed momentarily, as the golden-eyed Oni passed through the second antechamber; this one serving as the entryway to the Sacrificial Chamber through the left archway, and the first of the internal 'courtyard' spaces held within the pyramidal structure. It was here too, that the first true signs of what -- and whom -- she sought revealed themselves ... the screaming here was louder, added too it was the muffled sound of boots on sandstone tile, and the clatter of the Moonsworn's ritual weaponry ... and for a moment Ishtar's lip curled in a silent snarl, anger even now finding its way to the surface in her remembering yet it dissipated just as swiftly.

The damage was already done. This was merely a retelling of the past.

Ishtar sighed, and began to mutter as she walked, once more. "Where was I ... ah yes."

Aversion.

There had to be a reason. Even addled, afraid, and all but completely disheartened; she had never been one to want to turn away. Yet here she was, set to turn away again before she found a full understanding of what she had done in this place, "... hm." Was that it ? This place ? Or was it something more specific ? Perhaps to do with her concern over becoming the very thing she fought against, and would continue to fight against ...

"My alternate self." A subtle tightness in her chest at the muttered words, seemingly confirmed it; and for a moment Ishtar found herself annoyed ... hadn't she moved past this ?

"..."

Her own failure to respond, both mentally and verbally was answer enough; and another sigh forced its way from parted lips and she made her way to the far side of the internal courtyard and slipped through the archway to her left. Her feet now carrying her with somewhat more confidence -- albeit with a modicum yet of hesitance -- as she retraced her old familiar steps. Though she did not remain silent, even as the din of voices and clatter of ancient arms grew louder.

"What a mess I have become, these past few days ... though at least now, I have found the root of this uncertainty ..."

From here however, as Ishtar turned a corner and continued down a hallway toward an archway she knew would deposit her square in the heart of the Temple ... there came a shift.

The clamor that had been steadily growing, was all but sharing the hallway with her; and with at least her bearing back -- at least in this scenario -- that meant the golden-eyed Oni would find herself soon face to face with what she came to find:

Answers, and hopefully a way forward.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Before she could slip into the 'heart', however, two Moonsworn rushed out to greet her. The armored guardians making a beeline for her, only to veer around her in the last moment and disappear behind her ... and with the sounds that followed them, Ishtar couldn't blame them.

Yet that was where she meant to go ... and she saw what the Moonsworn fled from not soon after. A creature that was itself, familiar, in more ways than one; was engaged in combat -- if it could be called such -- with a rapidly dwindling contingent of Moonsworn.

"No ..."

It was the selfsame visage of Ishtar's subconscious that had spoken with her, briefly, when the golden-eyed Oni's mind was in the process of rebuilding itself. The one who had spoken of balance, and of 'waking up' ... it had not simply been a projection then, a way to process what was happening in a manner easy to digest. Yet the eloquence and manner with which she had carried herself then ... was wholly absent now.

It thrashed and flailed about with no method, or reason; haphazardly skewering a target, or target(s) with the two spiked tendrils it possessed. Those individuals impaled rapidly disintegrating as the energy that was pumped into them simply erased them from existence.

Yet as Ishtar watched this, eyes wide and feet planted firmly from shock, what was stranger still came when the Moonsworn managed to strike. Their weapons all struck true, surely ... impacted the surface of its ... 'No her ... my body.' with all the force they could muster; yet the blows themselves did nothing. The weapons however ? The ones that did not shatter on impact, found themselves dispatched in a manner similar to their former owners, the Hakai that sheathed herself currently serving to erase any and all trace of them.

A technique the glowing-horn Oni herself was not in possession of, and yet the memory of its use seemed to ... resonate.

Looking behind her past self, then, Ishtar also saw the collateral damage done in the wake of this feral rampage, the same energy turned on the Moons worn for their actions being turned upon their Temple itself; with massive holes punched through the monolithic sandstone walls and polished sandstone tiles ... the residual Hakai slowly disintegrating the surrounding stone as it began the slow process of consuming the entire Temple.

So it was then, that even as this Creature of Ruination drew closer, Ishtar found herself unable to do more than watch. ... this was how I did it then. Hakai as a weapon of grief, and blinding pain. And as she continued to stand there, lost in thought and her realizations ... something struck her, ripping into her with a speed she barely registered, before the second and third blows themselves did. Realizing what the injuries meant, the Oni swiftly clutched the damaged area and leapt back with a sharp cry before beginning to pant from the pain, as her own Hakai began to slowly but surely eat away at the wounds.

Though thankfully ... and the only saving grace to be found in the moment, as she stared across at her alter was that:

"... all in m-my ... head."

... The creature hesitated a moment then, clearly taken off guard by the voice. Before the significance of this could be considered however, one of the few remaining Moonsworn attempted to stab it; and with an almost dismissive flick of one of the tendrils, the armored Khosian was beheaded and erased from existence.

Then It ... she ... Ishtar, turned its attention back toward the dying golden-eyed Oni; who for her part simply stared back.

The staring contest between the two then lasted several more heartbeats, neither moving or speaking until Ishtar, the pain and damage from being slowly but steadily consumed; dropped to her knees.

... and then she chuckled, the distorted voice echoing back what was said not a minute prior.

"... all in m-my ... head ?"

Ishtar nodded weakly, and managed to fall back onto her behind, the corruption spreading from the ragged claw marks to her upper torso and thighs. "I will die ... and wake up soon ... but I have seen some of wh-what I came to see." With many more questions ... besides, and yet ... perhaps not.

This was a singular instance, an unfathomable event resulting in a catastrophic outcome.

The other Ishtar, however ... her subconscious ? Stared on a moment yet however, before shaking its head once, slowly.

"Hehe ... Not yet ... this is a night to remember."

Turning away then, Ishtar flicked her wrist and the world around them disappeared; a thing Ishtar herself thought impossible ... and yet again, given the changes that had happened not a week ago with Parsley, who was to say ?

That all ceased to matter however, the moment Ishtsr realized what was happening.

She found herself in the center of Aka'Tiel now, the sky above obscured by a thick cloud of acrid smoke. All around her for miles -- were she to look -- the building's cities lay broken, and slowly disintegrating; and she stood with her palms planted firmly upon the groud below. Yet there was ... energy, flowing up into her, from the contact.

Seemingly from the entire moon, itself, and after a short delay it seemed she had siphoned all she could.

Then, with the sounds of a civilization at its ending, borne along by the streams of acrid smoke ... It ... she ... Ishtar ... spoke.

"... End."

Without another word then, the energy Ishtar had siphoned away was dispelled in an instant, returned to the source it was pulled from in a cataclysmic burst. A sound like thunder echoed through the city then, and as Ishtar's consciousness began to fade; she saw the ground buckle before the Moon was ripped to pieces ...

Yet before she 'died' and her foray into the Pendulum Room was at its end, she heard herself speak a final time.

"Time ... to wake up."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

in her room at the Lookout Qaztoh looks at a extremely complex machine and her skin color turns bright green as a satisfaction emoji appears in her pendant." At last I'm finally finish building the Virtual Testing Simulator . Now all that's left to do is to program the software," Qaztoh said. Qaztoh then gets to work program the software for her Virtual Testing Simulator.



temporary image until a cooler one is found.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

" When did I deiced that? I'm planning on read that notebook . No what The Doctor did isn't any less believable than what you said, but as a scientist I can't condone it. I find such action as drain the sun of power appalling ," Praxat said.

Praxat holds out her hand " Parsley can you please hand me that notebook I would like to read it when we get back. Also when we get back I will be working with Jinzi. I have projects I would like to work with him on mainly a project on molecular miniaturization," Praxat said.


Praxat takes out a blue print from her Jobox and tears a piece of it and puts it the blueprint back in her Jobox. The piece she torn off contains her highly complex untested formula for molecular miniaturization which she looks and writes a quick note on before put it in her pocket. the note she writes on it reads, note to self I'm going back to college to work on my PHD in mechanical engineering.

"It's written in some sort of code," Parsley answered. "It seems that whatever was left of Jinzi's psyche determined that to be the best way to hide it from The Doctor once he eventually got his hands on it. Meaning that our Jinzi is the only one able to decipher it."

[bruceleegreyhulk]

OOC: Okay I'm going to get some rest I'll post later.

[Sion Reaver]

" When did I deiced that? I'm planning on read that notebook . No what The Doctor did isn't any less believable than what you said, but as a scientist I can't condone it. I find such action as drain the sun of power appalling ," Praxat said.

Praxat holds out her hand " Parsley can you please hand me that notebook I would like to read it when we get back. Also when we get back I will be working with Jinzi. I have projects I would like to work with him on mainly a project on molecular miniaturization," Praxat said.


Praxat takes out a blue print from her Jobox and tears a piece of it and puts it the blueprint back in her Jobox. The piece she torn off contains her highly complex untested formula for molecular miniaturization which she looks and writes a quick note on before put it in her pocket. the note she writes on it reads, note to self I'm going back to college to work on my PHD in mechanical engineering.

Aleka didn't have a bone in some of the fights going on, and it seemed, for the moment, nothing more was to be gained here at least unless the last survivor had something.

She did however had to point something out from what the Toadian said. "Science isn't set in stone. When new information that shatters old conventions, you shouldn't be as quick to dismiss the new idea. Its fluid, not static as some would think." She didn't have much interest in the whole thing, but some of the things her husband had said when he was around the world of the living did stick with her.

[grampagen]

" When did I deiced that? I'm planning on read that notebook . No what The Doctor did isn't any less believable than what you said, but as a scientist I can't condone it. I find such action as drain the sun of power appalling ," Praxat said.

Praxat holds out her hand " Parsley can you please hand me that notebook I would like to read it when we get back. Also when we get back I will be working with Jinzi. I have projects I would like to work with him on mainly a project on molecular miniaturization," Praxat said.


Praxat takes out a blue print from her Jobox and tears a piece of it and puts it the blueprint back in her Jobox. The piece she torn off contains her highly complex untested formula for molecular miniaturization which she looks and writes a quick note on before put it in her pocket. the note she writes on it reads, note to self I'm going back to college to work on my PHD in mechanical engineering.

"As it is, it is a cipher only one man might be able to read. You would have known its contents, had you chosen to open it rather than sought to capture a specimen."

Ochazuke continued to pour his efforts into analyzing the very walls of the Capsule House. There was a moment there, a choice to make before the chance was surrendered.

"Humour me. As a being with some regard to thought and reason, Praxat, what is it that you see when you survey the field?"

The Tech Rot. That was the term the Doctor spoke of in his video, but the absence of life entirely - seventeen recorded years without sustenance within this little homestead - suggested it was not a singular mode of decay. Blue-green eyes...

"Is it to see something for what it truly is? To find with a different angle the undiscovered, something new within the established law and structure?"

It had resisted the taint of that perfused the rest of this dead world. Genesis...

"Or is it to search for flaws, and to impress your design as a correction?"

Already it seemed Praxat's mind had moved on to the next thing. The mind of a compulsive virtuoso. Ochazuke's palmed the Capsule within his hand.

"Miniaturization. It will change the world, indeed," he said flatly, then spoke openly to the others. "We came here to find out more about the Doctor. There is a difference between him and Jinzi Pantaloon. Do you know what that is?"

"It's written in some sort of code," Parsley answered. "It seems that whatever was left of Jinzi's psyche determined that to be the best way to hide it from The Doctor once he eventually got his hands on it. Meaning that our Jinzi is the only one able to decipher it."

"Some of this may have already been revealed. Perhaps...we might make a connection," he said. "You were there that day, Parsley. You heard him speak."

He lift the photograph of this timeline's Jinzi and Meagan before them all. A lifetime ago they stood as one, the words of the vows they had witnessed their bond. Who could tell if there was a Guardianship to come between them? If there was, they wouldn't know it. A young boy stood close, a baby girl held in their arms. The Chromatic brilliance seemed to shine through them both despite the wear and age of the image.

Whatever weighed upon them behind their smiles? A moment unguarded and it had all burned to ash around them.

"Did he say anything before he sacrificed Koolard? More about his mission? About any of this?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

"Was it isolation, or was it a forcible removal?" Continue to survey the homestead as the videos played, Ochazuke produced a capsule. "Perhaps he'd taken it for granted, how glibly he would call and all the Universe would answer. A thought and he or Meagan might have it."

Tech Rot... He rest a hand on the house wall, analyzing the resonance of the structure once more. "But somebody wouldn't let them leave. She stole their way out."

A daft theory began brewing in Ochazuke's mind. He would let it steep as the Doctor's words continued.

Parsley reflected back on the remaining videos as she ruminated Ochazuke's opening question. Isolation or forcible removal. Both seemed to accomplish the same, but the means the either came about would greatly vary. If it was incidental isolation, why did Jinzi of all people survive, while much stronger people died off?

The circumstances of his degradation into insanity lent themselves toward him being forcibly removed from everything. Or, perhaps everything was ripped from him, leaving him alone.
For what?

The mysterious woman taking a piece of the nexus for herself after displaying satisfaction in his accomplishment was a clue. Parsley's gears began turning. She took a piece of his creation for herself. What if it was her intention to guide him toward creating the nexus for her herself to use?

"Or, perhaps he was simply a means to an end," she intoned after several moments of silence. "You saw him say that the woman who was responsible for his torment took a piece of the nexus for herself. Perhaps she knew he'd be able to harness the latent time energy from this timeline's creation and simply made an environment best suited to maximize his desperate ingenuity."

Genesis. The name was familiar, and certainly not one spoken lightly.

"You're well familiar with the Junjo," Loathsome merchants, "It was during one of their bazaars, selling off plunder and quarry to the highest bidder." Many were ensnared by the prospect of obtaining something rare, exclusivity measured dauntingly by material worth. Plunge deep enough into the darkness and it is possible to take possession of anything, for a price.

"It was here she outbid your sister with five million credits for a cache of Katchin. What designs she could have for it, well..."

A little over a year ago, yet only now did the ripples seem to converge.

"With the manner Ishtar and Asha'rah have spoken of Genesis, perhaps with what she has contrived, one might scheme to fight the gods themselves," he said, turning from his current task to exchange a look with Parsley. "If this is she. Though, it is ironic."

So those were the circumstances of their encounter with Genesis. At the time, she possessed a power that far exceeded Sarada and the others; a power that terrified Ishtar when they briefly touched minds.

"Genesis was on Terra shortly after we departed." She combated Ishtar's father figure, the being known as Sihn, and the falled GoD and an angel. She robbed them of their creation energy and hakai, gone in a flash shortly after her assault began. "She was also here in our timeline."

These were two inarguable facts. They proved beyond doubt that Genesis had some ability to travel between not just timelines, but entire universes. Something only Jagam and Ishtar showed the capability through Threshling magic.

"That means she has some ability to cross between universes. Is it possible for the nexus to aid her with that in some way?" This wasn't necessarily a question directed at Ochazuke, but rather just one in general. If, as he alluded, her intention was to battle the gods themselves, then traveling through time was the best way to accomplish that. But, why? A question to be considered another time. Certainly not until they confirmed that it was actually her and not just yet another party added to the board.

"I would hope it's her and not yet another player. Too many goals intersecting as is."

[grampagen]

Parsley reflected back on the remaining videos as she ruminated Ochazuke's opening question. Isolation or forcible removal. Both seemed to accomplish the same, but the means the either came about would greatly vary. If it was incidental isolation, why did Jinzi of all people survive, while much stronger people died off?

The circumstances of his degradation into insanity lent themselves toward him being forcibly removed from everything. Or, perhaps everything was ripped from him, leaving him alone.
For what?

The mysterious woman taking a piece of the nexus for herself after displaying satisfaction in his accomplishment was a clue. Parsley's gears began turning. She took a piece of his creation for herself. What if it was her intention to guide him toward creating the nexus for her herself to use?

"Or, perhaps he was simply a means to an end," she intoned after several moments of silence. "You saw him say that the woman who was responsible for his torment took a piece of the nexus for herself. Perhaps she knew he'd be able to harness the latent time energy from this timeline's creation and simply made an environment best suited to maximize his desperate ingenuity."

"There is a story of a fighting man, a warrior of such prowess that he could repel an army single-handedly...provided his back was to a wall," Ochazuke mused. "Many take it to speak to his might, that the removal of a blind angle prevents him from being outflanked. But that is the difference between mere words and experience."

What did the isolated dreamer know of life, having lived none of it with which to examine? All they had were gilded words; to live hardship was an unpleasant crucible.

"The Doctor was once the same man who reached from Earth into space on a lark. From turning his dream to reality, he'd forged alliances across the universe," he chuckled. "I recall him boasting that he even slipped into the edges of your empire and lived to record the designs."

His brief smirk faded, and he nodded in agreement. "We know it well. A cornered will, desperate to survive, will find a way." Drawn deep within, under duress a persons true character surfaces. "But for the man who has the answers for everything, to finally be at a loss, by then it was too late for him. If anybody fought for him, they were disposed of. Any means to escape, denied. Even death was denied to him, or perhaps that was the last spectre of the man's prode left."

"Whatever the case, in seventeen years, he had become somebody else entirely, and here we are."

So those were the circumstances of their encounter with Genesis. At the time, she possessed a power that far exceeded Sarada and the others; a power that terrified Ishtar when they briefly touched minds.

"Genesis was on Terra shortly after we departed." She combated Ishtar's father figure, the being known as Sihn, and the falled GoD and an angel. She robbed them of their creation energy and hakai, gone in a flash shortly after her assault began. "She was also here in our timeline."

These were two inarguable facts. They proved beyond doubt that Genesis had some ability to travel between not just timelines, but entire universes. Something only Jagam and Ishtar showed the capability through Threshling magic.

"That means she has some ability to cross between universes. Is it possible for the nexus to aid her with that in some way?" This wasn't necessarily a question directed at Ochazuke, but rather just one in general. If, as he alluded, her intention was to battle the gods themselves, then traveling through time was the best way to accomplish that. But, why? A question to be considered another time. Certainly not until they confirmed that it was actually her and not just yet another party added to the board.

"I would hope it's her and not yet another player. Too many goals intersecting as is."

"The weight of destruction and creation in her hands." This was a motif near to their group. The Creator that dwelt among them was content in her way, to set others to drift toward finding their answer, even all she had brought to bear. Days had passed since then, but the cold frustration Ishtar spoke with seemed to renew itself even here.

"The last time that happened, it set everything into disarray. But there was still one threshold even Asha'rah would not cross. Time, and the natural progression of things, as she would present it." The energies of the Nexus, the intersection point between universes. It was through Zurvan's guidance that the interplay between divergent timelines only began to make sense, but this was within fixed points of a familiar, linear structure. Even the smallest ripple expands.

"If it is a New Genesis this one is after, the pieces have been in motion for over a decade. But it is a familiar pattern, wouldn't you say?"

He continued to trace his hand across the wall, searching for some difference in structure beyond what was apparent.

"Those who speak of new beginnings can never create them, only rip them forcefully from a destructive womb."

[Tami]

“There is an elderly psychic in Ash Peak City that owes me a favor. Her name is Morgana. She’s......a bit unique, but most likely she could help Charco.”

Her worry eases a bit, as she looks back up at Eva, "Thank you, Lady Eva. The big question now is, will Charco agree to this? or will he back out? Men can be so strange at times. It's like... asking for help is an unforgivable sin. Yet they expect you to read their minds and know everything." Cyanna then wraps her arms around her chest and leans back slightly, "If Charco refuses to ask or help, maybe I'll go in his place. Either way, he's going to get help. Too many people have helped me out all the time. I'm old enough now to take care of myself and others, I'm not a little kid anymore."

She then relaxes, letting her arms drop to her sides, "There is something else. I have heard from Dash that she met another Dash, yet no one has said that they have actually met other versions of my sister or me. Then again, I guess the odds of actually meeting alternate versions must be pretty high, huh? Do you think there are alternate versions of you? Of Charco?"

Shrugging her shoulders, "Guess I'm being silly again. It's just, it feels like there is a cosmic conspiracy against brother Jinzi. If anyone tried to hurt him, or Charco, or Meagan, and I saw it happening, I'd knock their lights out. I just want them to be happy. "