Court Of The Ascendants Ep. 2 [FINISHED]

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Note: Do not post here unless you've been accepted in the Out Of Character Thread.

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Some time has passed since the Court Of The Ascendants and the Realm Of The Adversary both obtained new, promising allies that vowed to serve their respective factions. However, with the war between the two Planes raging forth, they will soon realize that all is not what it seems...


Court Of The Ascendants
City Of The Celestials - Garden

Rodrick sat on a sturdy branch of the dark-blue tree that had become his favorite amidst that strange Garden. He was playing his guitar, while at the same time looking at the Garden Tower. It was a tall, ivory-colored building (Most Ascendant structures were), cylindrical in shape, with several windows on every floor. Considering it had a lot of floors, this meant that it had a lot of holes on it's walls. Each floor was given to one of his comrades, with the seventh floor being given to him.

On the distance, he saw the young Ascendant with purple eyes approaching. Rodrick couldn't help but notice that the little guy visited the Garden rather often. Of course, he was unable to determine exactly how often, since day and night were no longer a thing in the Court. Since he hadn't exactly told anyone his name either, Rodrick choose to just call him little guy.

"Hey there." Rodrick greeted him. The little guy looked up and then flew over, sitting down on the branch of a nearby tree that appeared to be made of ruby.

"Maku is coming." He stated. Rodrick nodded. Maku was the Ascendant with the black mane that had given Rodrick his powers and later had given everyone an upgrade. Maku was only a nickname, as his real name was impossible to pronounce for most races.

"Why?" Rodrick asked.

"A mission." The little guy replied. Rodrick nodded again. It had been a while, or so he felt, since they had their first mission, so he assumed it was only fair for them to get another one. They didn't just become Ascendants for the title, had they?

"I see. Are you coming along?"

"Yes. You, me, and all of them." He said, pointing at the Garden Tower. "So I hope they wake up soon."

[Nature-Spirits]

No sooner had the little guy expressed his wish for them to wake up when Tak'mar walked out. He was on the bottommost floor, and he'd spent several hours - or so it seemed, time was hard to judge in this strange land of timeless wonder - meditating. He didn't think that he'd spent very much time in total since their initial arrival sleeping, though it was, as aforementioned, difficult to judge. But no, he spent most of his time meditating, sometimes in the Garden, sometimes in his personal quarters, but always in seclusion. He still clung on to the practises that he'd known all his life, and peaceful tranquility, with only thoughtless darkness, was one of them; it didn't matter where.
Seeing the young Ascendant and Rodrick speaking, he walked over to them, his webbed feet taking him quietly and slowly over to them. He bowed his head, greeting them with a prayer for peace and fortune: "T'lak'feh'mant'arr'xecton'ha."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Court Of The Ascendants
City Of The Celestials - Garden

Upon hearing Tak'mar speak, Rodrick looked in his direction, and once he had finished his prayer, waved at him. "Hey, Tak'mar. Good morn... Hmm... Nevermind." He said to the alien anchorite.

The little guy, though, flew down instead. "Hello." He said. He then crouched and began poking Tak'mar's webbed feet, before speaking again. "It seems that you have been adapting well to your new... Hm... I guess you could call it 'life'." Was the meaning he conveyed. "Do you know if the others are awake now?" He said, standing up and pointing at the Garden Tower once again. "Maku will come soon to give us all a mission, and if they miss the briefing that will only mean trouble for us."

[Nature-Spirits]

Tak'mar looked down at the little guy with amusement when he poked his feet, but when the inquiry was made he frowned. "No, I haven't seen anyone recently, so I do not know. I am not a very social being due to my background; please forgive my ignorance. Would you like me to check on them or shall I wait here? I just spent much time meditating, so either is fine with me." His frown had faded away while he'd spoken, and he now stared into the Ascendant's eyes calmly.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Court Of The Ascendants
City Of The Celestials - Garden

"How can you not have seen anyone recently when you all live on the same tower?" The little guy said, raising an eyebrow at Tak'mar. But he then simply closed his eyes. "Nevermind. It is nothing worth further inquiry." He said. He then opened his eyes and adopted a more friendly expression. "Do what you please, Tak'mar." He said. "I will go inform them." He stated afterwards.

"Not necessary. I'll go." Rodrick said, jumping down from the dark blue tree's branch and landing gracefully next to the two Ascendants below. "I was just thinking of waking them up, so it's no big deal. You two wait here. I doubt Maku will be here by the time I'm back." He said, and then walked to the tower. He then placed his hand on a symbol next to the entrance. "Vincent? Silveria? Charlotte? Lind? Roland? Come down, we've got work." He said, the contact with the symbol causing his voice to be carried throughout the tower, delivering his message without fail.

He then walked back to the two. "See? He's not here yet."

"You said you would look for them, not just call them." The little guy said.

"But it works just as well, doesn't it?" Rodrick replied. The little guy sighed.

"I will never understand sloth."

[Plactianation]

Roland quickly awoke. He had heard the message from Rodrick, and quickly got dressed and armed, and jumped out the window of his room halfway up the tower. He quickly manipulated gravity to allow him safe passage to the ground, so the impact was similar to what one would expect would happen on the moon. When he reached the garden, he approached the group.

"I'm here. What are we supposed to do?" Roland asked.

After facing against the agents in the outer realms, Roland's powers had been enhanced greatly, but he still had not been able to use his terrakinesis, as he had not fought anywhere that had a ground for him to use.

[Stattr]

Silveria having been an early bird all her life was just walking around the garden. Since she has no concept of time and apparently time here was of no importance she guessed it was day time. Judging from the feeling of a character she had felt come to the garden often when she had woken up. She wondered around a little more before coming the the small group. Roland, the kid and Rodrick.

She leaned agaisnt the tree he was sitting just before he jumped down and raised a brow when he called their names. "I'm an early bird, so you wouldn't have to call my name, Rodrick." She smiled slightly and lifted her walking stick off the ground and slid down the tree and sat on it's roots. Staring at nothing in particular.

[Escalan Corps-Star Island]

Nathan Wyralkin glided effortlessly over the ground, landing just outside the gate. The City of the Celestials never ceased to amaze him; even Teniana was not so clean and brilliant. The entire thing still seemed like an odd dream. One moment he was watching a wave of fire from a bomb race towards him, the next he had wings and was being led through the gate. He had been directed to this garden to meet others with the same set of tasks. What they would be like he did not know, but he was sure that they would further perpetuate the strange, compelling power and beauty that pervaded the city.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Court Of The Ascendants
City Of The Celestials - Garden

Rodrick waved at Roland once he arrived, then at Silveria as well, although since he knew that the gesture would mean little, since she was blind, he also greeted her. "Hey, Silveria." Was what he said.

When Silveria arrived, the young Ascendant walked over to her. Since she had not seen a walking stick before, he walked over and began poking it. However, soon enough, he lost interest in it and turned his head to the sky instead.

He then spoke. "Almost all of us are here." Was the meaning his voice conveyed. "Maku should arrive soon." He said. Then, all of the sudden, his power of soul detection kicked in, causing him to feel the presence of another Ascendant nearby, although the presence was immensely different from Maku's. Looking in it's direction, he soon noticed that it was another human, Nathan. The little guy walked over to him, opening the gate and motioning for him to follow. He then arrived with the others.

"Another member of the team?" Rodrick asked.

"Yes. I suppose Maku sent him. Now all we have to do is wait for him to come."

[Stattr]

Silveria nodded at Rodrick. "Hello Rodrick and hello little one." She looked close to his direction and felt him poking her walking stick. She chuckled and nodded. "It helps me find my way around. Due to me being blind." She smiled again as he walked off and went back to what she was doing before.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Court Of The Ascendants
City Of The Celestials - Garden

The young Ascendant nodded his understanding at Silveria and then looked around. "So we are all here now. All that is left to do is wait." He said. It was true, now that everyone had gathered at the garden, the only thing left to do was wait for the person that was to give them their next assignment. And so the moments passed. Soon enough, the Ascendants would feel a powerful presence that was also quite familiar to all of them.

The next moment, a small ivory gate appeared before the group, and an Ascendant with a long black mane and gray wings that appeared to be a combination of a bat's and a bird's stepped out.

"Greetings." He said. "I'm sure you've been waiting here for a while, and apologize for being somewhat late. Now let's get started." He explained, and then, above his hand, he caused a map of sorts to manifest.

"This" He said, pointing at the golden sphere. "Is where we are. The Court Of The Ascendants." He explained. "As you might know, there are five planes in our Existence. Your mortal plane, this one," He said, now pointing at the green sphere. "Consists of the thousands upon thousands of realities in which mortal beings live. Most of you come from a single one. Then there's the Realm of the Adversary." He said, now pointing at the red sphere. "This is where our foes are. Now, connecting all three is the Outer Plane." He said, pointing at the purple ring. "This is where, at all moments, we fight off the hordes of the Adversary to protect our Court." He explained.

"Now, your mission consists of going to help out one of our inner camps. We are short on personnel and they are having a hard time fending off the few Agents that make it there on their own. Since it is relatively close to our lands it should not be a particularly dangerous mission, but it will teach you many things." He explained.

"Now, if anyone needs to gear up, please do so now. I'll wait here." He concluded, and sat down nearby. "If anyone has any questions, then I'll answer them now as well."

Rodrick listened to the briefing and nodded at Maku when he asked them too gear up. He walked back to the tower and flew straight to the seventh floor, where he took his sword and his cannon. Once he had them, he flew back down and waited.

[Nature-Spirits]

Tak'mar watched and listened to Maku's presentation attentively, nodding when he'd finished and spreading his wings to skim along the ground to the base of the tower. He entered his room and retrieved a new wooden spear that he strapped to his back and a short metal spike that he strapped to his wrist (he'd been allowed to get new weapons after their first mission, seeing as his spear had been damaged and then left behind after the fight with Fragt), then exited the tower and flew back to the others, pulling his wings to his back while he waited for the portal to appear.

[Stattr]

Silveria listened and since she can't actually see the map sje listened to the colors beging said. But she went up closer and listened and followed his finger. She then had a somewhat close image of the map in her head and followed somewhat along. She ahd everything she needed so she just went back to her tree and sat down. Playing around with her walking stick.

[Escalan Corps-Star Island]

Nathan understood the map and the mission, but he had no weapons with which to defend against the Agents. He walked over to the Ascendant. "Where might I find a suitable set of weapons?," he asked.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Court Of The Ascendants
City Of The Celestials - Garden

"Yes, of course. I had assumed you were already equipped, but apparently, I was wrong." The Ascendant said. He then turned around and muttered a word, causing an ivory gate to manifest before him.

"Step through and equip yourself." He said. The gate in question led to the training room the others were already familiar with, and thus, there were more than enough weapons to fit all of them well enough.

"If any of you needs anything else, feel free to step into the training room as well and grab anything you need." He said.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Court Of The Ascendants
City Of The Celestials - Garden

Once the group was truly ready, the Ascendant spoke the same word as before, causing another ivory gate to appear before the others.

"This gate will lead you all to one of our inner camps in the Outer Plane. As I have already told you, your mission is to assist them in fending off the incoming waves of Agents of the Adversary that will inevitably attack it and try to wrestle it from our control. Word has already been sent that we are sending help." He explained. "Now, go forth in the name of the Ascendants!"

Rodrick nodded at Maku and then stepped forward, entering the portal. Before following him, the young one turned around and looked at the others. "Hurry." Was all he conveyed, before stepping through as well.


Outer Plane
Inner Court Base

The group would step out to notice that they were in a vast, nearly empty space. However, it was not the same as Roland had experienced. For starters, instead of looking like a void, the place actually looked more, shall we say, 'existant'. The ground beneath the group was of a blue-ish color and was, for the most part, smooth. The only things visible around other than the ground and the empty black sky were some hills, far and few inbetween, deforming the otherwise perfectly straight line that divided the blue from the black, known as the horizon.

And, of course, the camp.

Not far from where the group had appeared, there was a strange barrier of sorts. It was as if there was a glowing aura of protection around the inner camp, shielding it from unwanted visitors. The field was translucent, so it would have been hard to spot from the air, and it also helped conceal the camp, as it appeared to be translucent as well. Thus it would be difficult for the group to make out anything inside until they stepped through the barrier.

Upon coming out on this side of the portal, the young Ascendant wordlessly began walking towards the translucent barrier. After looking around for a while and noticing that there was nothing else around, Rodrick followed him.

[Nature-Spirits]

Tak'mar stepped through, bowing his head and muttering a prayer of protection, more out of habit than perceived necessity. When he looked back up he was in the empty space that was this place. He looked around, fascinated; that such a landscape could exist was strange. Of course, since his death strangeness had permeated his afterlife, so he knew that he really shouldn't be surprised.
After a moment he followed the little one and Rodrick towards what he now realised was the camp, cocking his head and smiling at its strange appearance. He now found that he thought of strange things as comforting, that his previous life seemed somewhat dull and alien. Who would have thought that death could be such an amazing thing?

[Escalan Corps-Star Island]

Court of the Ascendants
City of the Celestials - Garden

Having armed himself with a nice sword to complement his handgun, Nathan shrugged and flew towards the gate. He saw what was going to happen seconds before it occurred, but there was nothing he could do. Thud! Nathan hit the wall hard, falling around twelve feet to the ground. He got up looking dazed.
"Well," he remarked, "I guess I'm still getting used to this flying business." He staggered through the gate after the others, still rubbing his sore head.

Outer Plane
Inner Court Base

Nathan looked curiously at the blue ground beneath his feet, bending down to touch the strange, smooth surface. Not wanting to be left behind, he jogged to catch up to the others. The translucent barrier posed another mystery. Admittedly, this whole business was a bit. . . odd. Nathan decided that he would make a point of finding out more later. Swinging the sword aimlessly, he stepped through after the rest of the group.

[Mortelatuzia]

Vincent woke up abruptly, not recognizing where he was or how he got there. It was all blurry, he couldn't make out left from right or stick from stone. He slowly rose from the ground and looked around him, still unable to see. "Hello? Where am I?"

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Outer Plane
Inner Court Base

The young Ascendant that led the group towards the Inner Camp was a good deal ahead of the others, apparently being able to walk much faster in relation to them with seemingly no effort, though his wings did beat every now and then. In a short time, he was already at the edge of the defensive barrier, and before stepping through, he looked back at the group. Rodrick was following, though he was closer to the others than to him. Nathan was waving his sword around, apparently. Vincent on the other hand seemed to be disoriented. Sighing, he simply looked at Nathan.

"Be careful with that thing." He conveyed, before stepping through the barrier.

Rodrick stepped away from Nathan upon turning around after hearing the little guy and seeing him swinging his sword at nothing. He didn't want any friendly fire incidents, and, though he doubted Nathan would actually stop doing that if he was close to any others, a little precaution was never out of place. Hearing Vincent once he woke up, he turned around and looked at him. Apparently Maku just sent him there without waking him up. So much for his mental image of his Ascendant 'mentor'.

"We, uh... We're on a misson. So, come along." He said, and kept walking towards the translucent barrier.

Inside the barrier, they would see what the base truly looked like. There were a few buildings made of a white-bluish material somewhat similar to the one the buildings in the City of the Celestials were made from. This color made the camp very hard to spot unless one was already inside the barrier. The most noticeable building was one in the middle, with two hexagonal towers on top of it, presumably for keeping out for enemies, as the field only hampered vision to those outside. Around, beings of all kinds moved around, the common denominator between all of them being of course the wings. And near the entrance to the building was one of said beings. A creature that was of human size but tall nonehteless, with a skin that was unseen, covered in white, lustrous scales. It had no limbs and it's shap was more or less like that of a diamond, with numerous eyes made of hollow spaces with almond-shaped suspended crystals around the top. It's body was held afloat by two wings that seemed to be made of nets of small blue crystals.

Once the whole group was inside the barrier, the being floated over to them. From the depths of it's body and out the hollows of it's eyes, a deep and raspy voice emerged. "Greetings, Ascendants. I am Rhgokk'mudrhtel." It stated, leaving it clear upon pronouncing it's own name that for a human to do so was impossible. "Are you the Ascendants sent here by Maku?" It asked.

[Mortelatuzia]

Vincent growled and got off the floor. "Another bloody mission? Didn't even bother to wake me up first?" He followed behind everyone else, occasionally yawning and trying to not fall over.

[Stattr]

Silveria stepped through the gates again and sticking her walking stick out she felt the ground change and she knew again that she was in one of the camps. She stopped and frowned, hearing all this chatter. So she knelt down and tapped the ground with her fingers and saw the group, she followed silently and stopped again to tap the ground. She was getting irritated by this but didn't show it. She followed the group into the hall and to the creature.

Since it was not on the ground she sighed and sat down on the ground. Hearing the voice she nodded slowly at the question. She felt the ground and moved her fingers across it, feeling and hearing.

[Nature-Spirits]

Tak'mar stepped through the barrier with but a moment's hesitation, hurrying after the others as fast as he could. He stopped in front of the crystalline being and nodded deferentially. "Greetings, R'ok'm'd'el," he said, automatically abbreviating the Ascendant's name in the way that he'd been taught as a child on Scry'ptor'a, head bowed. "Yes, we are indeed the Ascendants sent by Maku. I was known in life as Tak'mar to'x Fhan'heih, though most now call me Tak'mar, as my name is too complicated for my companions. What is the reason for our being here?" He now straightened, towering above his human friends by at least several centimetres, and looked into the eyes of the odd-looking creature.

[Plactianation]

Roland stepped through the portal into the outer plane. It was much different from the last time that he had been there, so he assumed that he must have been transported to a different part. He had his bow strapped to his back, as long as a quiver of many different kinds of arrows. He noticed the ascendant standing in front of them, and nodded when asked if they were sent by Maku. Roland wondered if they would get the chance to do another mission soon.

[The Inritus Extraho]

Lind nodded, coming out of a half-asleep stupor. Despite being able to manipulate time, he still couldn't bear to go to sleep early, and as a result, he was always extremely tired and couldn't think straight. He shrugged, and then took a deep breath, shaking his head, now ready for anything. "Erm... what's happening again?" he asked, hoping someone would recap what he had missed while still half-asleep.