MISSIONS - Outskirts Investigations
MISSIONS - Outskirts Investigations
Epilogue (Part 2)
Epilogue (Part 2)
Embedded Files
With thanks to our incredible staff artists for the NPC icons!
With thanks to our incredible staff artists for the NPC icons!
(Click for artist credits!)
✦ Stein & Skresleni icons by tomcatblep (Discord)
✦ Evil-Eye icons by StarlitMayorKillager
✦ Wynton icons by Sungeist
✦ Wyndam, Orion, & Andromeda icons by littleforestcritter
✦ Cassiopeia & Tempo icons by Star_Shine
The trip back to Ethovalon from the Grass Continent is quiet, if not a little uncomfortable given the events that had unfolded only a mere hours before.
As Andromeda ferries the branch leaders of the GCSF and their two otherworldly visitors back into the city, she promises to provide an explanation once they arrive back at the guild headquarters and have given Orion a place to rest.
The boy's form is undoubtedly changed, not unlike that of those who undergo evolution. But what triggered such a reaction remains a mystery, even to the vaulted Mistress of Space herself. As Orion remains deep in slumber even after the long journey back, the guild leaders leave him in the care of the nurses at the infirmary while they mentally prepare for a talk with Andromeda.
The doors swing open to the branch leaders's shared office space, revealing two figures already inside and making themselves comfortable.
Tempo
Ah, there you all are! I was beginning to wonder if we'd arrived much too early.
Skresleni
S'up.
Andromeda
I hope that you don't mind. It was best that Tempo and Skresleni were here to discuss matters as well, and so I called them here ahead of our arrival.
Evil-Eye
Ha ha, if all three o' you are here, that must mean things are really bad!
Each of the guild leaders take up their respective spots around a table in the center of the room. While chairs are similarly offered to their guests, only Andromeda and Tempo accept while Skres opts to sit on the table itself with only most of her body turned towards the others.
Andromeda sighs deeply and straightens herself out before she begins.
Andromeda
After I'd aided you all in arriving at the meeting point, I left you to your discussion to search for the little ones myself. If I managed to find them first, I would return for you. If you were able to locate them first, then I assumed you would somehow signal me.
This, we spoke about before I left. But judging by the expressions on your faces, you don't remember.
Evil-Eye
Nope. Honestly, everything after showin' up on the island was a bit o' a blur 'til we heard that yell.
Wynton
And it was all of us, which is concerning to say the least. It's like our timeline of events are all different, but how can that be possible?
Tempo
Perhaps I can shed some light on that!
Tempo
By now, we're all well aware of the myriad potential futures and even pasts that exist across time. Many of your own guild members are from some of these "alternate timelines" and the ways in which they arrive here is varied to say the least.
As much as I'm sure we'd all hate to admit it, the hold that Andromeda, Skresleni, and I have over time and space and the powers besides can be... questionable at times. Though we watch over such things and have some measure of control over them, they exist independent of us.
That's how it's possible for people to... slip through the cracks and end up being transported across time, winding up in an entirely different era to the one they came from.
Skresleni
Get to the point, T.
Tempo
I am.
What I'm saying is that somehow just before you were transported across space by Andromeda, you all ended up in independent timelines that played out differently. In one, you traveled to the Grass Continent. In another, you all decided to meet at the Lanier Isles. In another, you went to the Draconian Peaks.
Now, I unfortunately can't tell you exactly what happened because... I don't know. But my guess is that the parallel timelines merged into one another, making it so that all three potential futures became reality.
Wyndam
Just... let me try and get at what you're saying. All of the branches got different intel on where the kids went:
The Wayfarers found them being attacked by the Rampart at the Draconian Peaks in one timeline of events.
The Rescuers found them somewhere on the Grass Continent with the Fireworks in another.
And the Bounty Hunters found them on the Lanier Isles with the Parasite in a third timeline.
Wynton
So, normally, it would be impossible for all the reports of them being in three places at once to be true. But the timelines merged and that's why things were weird after we arrived on the island to try and find them.
Evil-Eye
Wait! But there should've been guild members there defendin' them, right? There were so many people out there lookin' for 'em, there should've been somebody there in the clearin' with Orion 'n Cass--
Cassie
There were.
All of the adults turn towards the window. There, Cassie sits, leaning forwards on one of her crutches and staring at the floor.
Evil-Eye
Ach, shite -- when did you come in?
Stein
Evil-Eye. Language.
Cassie
There were people with me. But they disappeared.
Wynton
Disappeared?
Cassie
They were protecting me and fighting the beast. But then I saw the beast look away... like it heard something. I thought that it would lose because it got distracted.
Cassie
But then... the other people just disappeared. They were just gone. I ran away while the beast was confused. But...
Stein
Oh, it's alright, sweetheart. You're safe now.
Stein leaves his seat to go and comfort Cassie. She seems open to his offer of a hug, unlike the other times he's offered in the past.
Andromeda
In all likeliness, there were guild members defending them in one of the timelines of events up until they converged. Their efforts weren't for naught, if that's any consolation.
In any case, you need not concern yourself any longer with what was just described. It seems that things returned to relative normal after Orion transported the beasts away.
Evil-Eye
Aye, that's all well 'n good but puttin' aside the whole "time shenanigans", do you even know where those blasted things are now?
Andromeda
...admittedly, I do not.
Andromeda
But what I can say is that the distortion of time and space that's happened here is not the work of myself nor Tempo. It falls to us to investigate matters more closely.
I was working with the Guardians at first to search for the anomalies, hoping that I would be able to find out where they had come from if I could see them for myself. But now that the beasts are gone, that isn't an option anymore.
Evil-Eye
Oi, wait! I still got a question for ya -- why'd you stop us from goin' over to the boy in the first place?! You haven't explain y'erself yet!
Andromeda
It was to protect you.
You saw what the little one did under duress. I had sensed that the space around us had grown unstable and was unwilling to risk your lives should it end in disaster.
Andromeda
Still... I apologize. I'm sorry that there was nothing I could do to prevent what happened next.
But the little one... Orion. His outburst and the sudden summoning of the wormholes proved to be blessing in disguise. Whatever he did, it's left enough latent energy in the air that we should be able to follow where they lead to now.
Wyndam
Well... a lead is a lead. What do you think we'll need to prepare then?
Andromeda
You misunderstand. When I say "we", I mean that Tempo and I will be looking into the wormholes. You and your guild will remain here.
Wynton
What?! You're cutting us out of the search now?!
Andromeda
Watch yourself. You've been lucky enough to have some of the most powerful beings in existence by your side up until now to watch over your people. But the matter of these wormholes is beyond even us. It is far too dangerous to be letting you accompany us this time.
Andromeda
What you should be doing is staying here and recuperating. You've all worked so hard to protect your world.
Let us do our part now. Please.
Skresleni
Aw, don't miss us too much! We'll be back in no time. Chronos's party's coming up pretty soon and I wouldn't wanna miss it!
Andromeda
Skres... you're not coming with us either.
Skresleni
Wh-- wait, what?! How come you and Tempo get to have all the fun?!
Tempo
Someone's got to watch over the place whilst two of the Creation Trio are away. And we normally participate in this season's Holiday Hills anyway, no? Chronos still needs a hand in setting up.
Skresleni
Oh, whatever. Fine! Geez...
Stein
...Andromeda's right. Besides, we have to see about Orion's condition now too.
Wynton
Gah... I hate it when you're right.
Evil-Eye
Well, I for one am lookin' forward to some rest 'n relaxation. A couple o' months in the docks will do us some good in preparin' the ships for the winter anyways.
Wyndam
This does give us some time to look over those lower priority requests we've been neglecting for a few weeks now too.
Wynton
That's true... we can turn our focus to less space-and-time-concerning matters in the meantime. That'll be a welcome change of pace for everyone, I'd wager.
Stein
Right. There's always work to be done, but slowing down couldn't hurt. Especially after recent events.
Wyndam
Well, I think that just about wraps up everything we needed to discuss. If you don't mind my asking though, how long do you think you'll be gone for? And when do you leave?
Andromeda
Ideally, we leave as soon as possible. As for how long we'll be gone... I'm uncertain.
Time appears to function strangely around the space surrounding the wormholes. At the very least, whatever forces give form to the wormholes can alter the flow of time in strange and unusual ways. We're unsure if time will flow at the same rate there as it does here.
We could be gone for days, weeks, months... possibly years or even minutes.
Tempo
Well, if it does turn out that we're gone for the next several years, I'm sure I could find a way to bring us back to the right era.
In the meantime, you seem to have your own plans well in hand already. And Skresleni should be more than capable of providing both entertainment and a helping hand in our absence.
Skresleni
Man, shut up.
And so, the path forward was set clearly: while Tempo and Andromeda were conducting their own investigation into the matters of where the wormholes lead, the GCSF would return to much smaller operations until such a time that they were needed.
Barred from accompanying her siblings, Skresleni would stay behind to watch over affairs in their absence.
For now, the GCSF had a backlog of much smaller requests to attend to as well as the matter of Orion's condition and what they were to do about it. Though they were given some reprieve in the form of the summer vacation Tempo had afforded them in the aftermath of their previous excursions, yet another one of Chronos's famous Holiday Hills was now right around the corner...
END.
END.
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