001

[forceofnature]

[More information? One new arrival, at least, has all the information she needs. The influx of energy from this one is massive, completely unsubtle, almost as if purposefully designed to attract the attention of anyone with any sense whatsoever of the divine. It doesn’t fade away nor does it seem to be easily localized. This surely wasn’t ‘Magatama Energy’…

Whatever ambiguity this might present is cleared up almost immediately. Despite that no one may be in the vicinity, the voice of a young girl sounds clearly throughout the city of Hinoto-Ri to nearly every inhabitant, as intelligibly as if the speaker were standing right next to those she addressed. …Perhaps too intelligibly. The first sound they hear is an vehement, despairing cry.]

NO!

This can’t be…! The forests… The oceans… The deserts and mountains, the tundra and the plains! W-Where are they?! Who did this?! What did you do to them?!

[For a few moments, the speaker seems too overwhelmed with ire to speak.  The sound of her breathing eventually slows...]

Humans. Look at this world. Look at it!

I knew this would happen.  In every world across every dimension, it doesn’t matter! You -- you’re all the same! See for yourself! This is what will happen if you tear through all of nature without respect for anything but your own wealth and gain! Are you happy?! My children… 100 million species. One hundred million. There's almost nothing left...

I am Viridi, Goddess of Nature, ruler of the Earth and all living things! And I will not allow this land to be desecrated any further.

They say there are monsters ravaging what remains. If you stand against them, then... heed the command of a goddess and CRUSH them!

Comments

[forceofnature]

You're humans.

There is no world out there where you think through the consequences of your actions in favor of exploiting the bounties of the earth like the planet is your personal playground. What you think is 'fine' is already horrifying.

[forceofnature]

Humans broke off all alliances with me the minute they built their first cities. I can make my own allies.

[forceofnature]

But it works so well in the movies! We've practically got a song tailor-made for you; you want to Make a Man out of yourself, right?

Anyway. You know there is such thing as a middle ground, right?

[forceofnature]

Probably because everything you said is pointless and wrong and not worth discussing. The soapsuds must have been in your ears when I was talking.

[forceofnature]

Chocolate!

....No wait. Mint chocolate. I use peppermint leaves to attain my soft, dewy, radiant skin, you know.

[pastalishe]

Pointless?! Wrong?! [Cloche makes a wordless sound of rage.] How dare you! I said nothing but the truth--you just don't want to admit it because it points out several of the many flaws in your stupid argument.

[dodgecharms]

Uh. Have fun, then?

[forceofnature]

Now when did I ever say what happened to the world was your fault? What I said was that you should learn from it so you don't keep messing up your own worlds any further unless you want it to look like this.

[pastalishe]

You certainly implied it! You don't know how or why this world was destroyed--and yet, you are eager to blame the humans! Not only that, but you immediately jump to the conclusion that, since this world has met its end, all of our worlds will inevitably share its cruel fate!

[And to Cloche, more than being interrupted in her bath, that fatalistic way of thinking makes her furious. ... and she was pretty angry about being interrupted in the bath. That's a completely different temper tantrum.]

No! I won't accept it! I won't allow you to belittle the struggles and triumphs of my people--or of those from other worlds! I don't care what you've learned from humans, because you know nothing of the circumstances of those from other worlds.

[primordial]

First of all, the last time I checked, I wasn't in a movie. And second, I-I don't think Make a Man would really work on me, of all people...

Well, yeah. And your point?

[trulyworthit]

[Considering everyone in Luca's world lives on hunks of land in the sky, Viridi's probably right. But Luca's protective of those crummy hunks of land!]

Well, some of us are doing our best! You're just judging everyone right off the bat. I guess there's no sympathy requirement for being a Goddess...

[forceofnature]

I'll eat my staff if the humans had nothing to do with it. A human is a human is a human - weak, selfish, and greedy. Even the best among you doesn't have what it takes to change the world for the better.

But if you're so eager to prove me wrong... then tell me. What's your world like? Have you flourished? Has the rest of the world flourished? Plants and animals and humanity living in harmony -- Humans as caretakers of the bounties of the planet. That's the path you were intended to walk.

I'm not holding my breath.

[forceofnature]

The point is that you don't have to be a simpering recreant or a reckless fool. I know very few of you come anywhere near the ballpark of what a human ought to be like, but one or two of you manage it every now and then.

[forceofnature]

Sorry. I lost all my sympathy the moment you drove the first hundred species of my children into extinction.

And don't lie and pretend that's never happened.

[primordial]

So, to be human, in your eyes, of course, you would have to be in the middle of that? Both reckless and simpering and yet neither of the two?

[forceofnature]

To be an ideal human. It's hardly the only criteria, and obviously, none of you even come close.

[primordial]

Oh.

[A pause as he morosely mutters:]

Sorry. That I don't, anyways. Guess I just can't be perfect...

[forceofnature]

Stop sulking! My expectations for humanity are so low that I gave up all hope a long time ago, anyway.

[glassworkgenius]

I don't think it really matters with ice cream. No matter the flavor if you let it melt it gets sticky...

[ Ahem. ] But anyway, noted and stuff! How am I supposed to know where you are, though? I wouldn't want it to melt while you're walking over where I am...

[primordial]

I'm sorry that I sulk, s-sorry.

[A sigh.]

So, why talk with them if you've given up hope for them, though?

[pastalishe]

You're wrong! [Cloche doesn't shout, but her voice rings with passion.] I won't deny the weakness that dwells in the depths of humans' hearts--that weakness is part of what makes them human. But that is not all that they are! Humans are kind in the face of cruelty. Humans survive in the face of adversity. Humans can and have worked together to build a better world together! I know that humans are capable of infinitely more goodness then they are of evil!

[Cloche takes a deep breath. In part, it's to soothe her ruffled temper. It's also because she's a little short of breath from saying so much so strongly and quickly.]

The name of my world is Metafalss... but, for centuries, it has been known as the "Cursed Lands." [It's painful to admit that--to acknowledge that the land she grew up on, that she loves so fiercely, was a terrible place for people to live.] Below us lies the roiling Sea of Death. Above us is the poisonous Blastline. It is a difficult place to survive, with little arable land. Everyone, even children, work hard to help feed their families. Every inch of arable land that exists on Metafalss was born from the labors of the people who have made that inhospitable place their home.

[Despite her best efforts, Cloche's voice begins to tremble.]

These people, who have worked hard all their lives, have had to watch as their land sank and fell, foot by foot, into the Sea of Death. In the last two years alone, we have lost over half of our land. [Even though it's over and done with--even though some of that land had to be purged, so that the rest could last long enough for them to ascend the Tower--Cloche's heart clenches just thinking about it.] I can't describe how painful it was to witness our land disappear. It would have been so easy for everyone to give up. To accept that everything that they loved and cherished would, one day, fall and be lost forever. That there would come a day when Metafalss would no longer exist.

But they did not. That is because, since ancient times, my people have believed in the dream of Metafalica: the Song that gives birth to new, green land. A land where everyone can live, which is built upon the sacrifice of no one. [Just as quickly as it came, the weakness in Cloche's voice disappears as she hits her stride again.] That is why, when you say that none of us have what it takes to change the world for the better, I know that you're wrong. A single person can't change the world. It's impossible. But, let me tell you something, Viridi.

Together with the person that I hold most dear, I have sung Metafalica. When I sang, I opened myself and laid my heart and mind bare to the people. I allowed them into the deepest parts of my soul, to see every ugly thing about myself. And when I sang, the thoughts and feelings from everyone who lived on Metafalss flowed through me to my precious person. On that day we stood together, hand in hand, and crafted Metafalica--a land born from the pure, honest feelings of the people.

[forceofnature]

Don't worry about that. Offerings have a way of finding their way to the gods.

[forceofnature]

...
...
...

[Good question.]

D-Don't question the actions of a god! We work in mysterious ways. Superior, unintelligible-to-man, better ways.

[glassworkgenius]

Oh.

[ He has to admit, it would be cool if it levitated to the air or something. That's what the last god he met was doing. ]

Alright, I'll get you the ice cream.

[forceofnature]

Hm. Nice story. For melodrama, you score a ten out of ten.

[Viridi doesn't sound especially impressed.]

I have just one question for you. Minor detail you seem to have conveniently left out. The 'Sea of Death' and the 'Blastline' - Tell me, Lady Cloche Leythal Pastalia. How did they come into being in the first place?

As I'm sure we both know... 'blastline' is the point at which you measure an explosion. Like nuclear bombs.