Almost like a monastery hidden in the clouds above Terra, this palace compound exists in a realm of eternal night. Brightly lit by the billions of stars overhead and dozens of sorcerous braziers below, it is a serene paradise for the studious and the thoughtful, and even more so, for those who love peace. Generally off limits to mortals, this place is inhabited by divinities and demons of a dozens sorts, all watched over by an enigmatic ruler known only as 'Pretender'.

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Helantri Deru

Aster Archive I

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The little ear-marble things that Lysaria had given Fel some time ago hop into her ears just in case as she appears in the Aster Sanctum, bearing a stabilized but still badly injured messenger-goddess-friend.

The energy here is amazingly intense. Probably due to the dozen angels who meet Felina when she arrives, each there for Lysaria. Pretender is among them, standing tall and somber, a commander in every way.

"Felina," she greets the Serinian. "Is she alive...?"

"Yes," Felina nods, as willing to get straight to business in what's quickly becoming a military setting, despite the gentleness of her grip on Lysaria. "Part of her energy was turned infernal so that her body and energy did a good deal of damage to itself. I created a temporary separation of her energies so that the infernal part routes through this pendant instead of her natural core. Her power's hindered, badly, but I'm sure that you and yours can fix that now that she's stabilized, with some time. She could survive like this indefinitely, barring upset. I just lost track of her brother's energy, though, quite suddenly."

"Yes... your friend Makyon assaulted him, it seems, at Niven Ai." Pretender crosses her arms over her chest. "It seems that no one is safe from this, no matter how good hearted. I need your help, Felina, to put an end to this."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Enlist your friend Ansendul and his maze. There are a number of beings still left to be recruited... some people have no choice." A package containing Pretender's Letter floats towards the Serinian, as an angel moves to take Lysaria. "You and your family and friends must get to them before anyone else does. I don't care if you recruit them for me, or yourself."

Felina nods thoughtfully as she carefully hands Lysaria off to the angel, noting quietly for him to be careful of the pendant. Takes the letter and looks it over briefly, and nods. "Anything else for now?"

"Yes. Some of these people hate each other. Getting them to work together will be a task. Some of them I would not trust to your family, either. Vayen and the Malufel in particular should only be handled by you or Mara. Keep your incubus out of it. He is too closely allied with Stasiel, whatever he might tell you."

Felina frowns a little, and nods slowly. She's torn, of course...she trusts Yue with her life, but...she's a bit skewed on the matter of trust, having just been betrayed by her own apprentice. "All right." Looks up. "I trust you don't mind me asking where your forces will be now that things are breaking open?"

"With Sxavior taken, my focus will be to counteract the jinneyeh's efforts in this existence. I anticipated many things, but not a fifth faction of enough power to matter. Things were too neat." Pretender's eyes lower. She's not wrong often, and admitting it is damnably hard. "Even so. My forces cannot penetrate Il'sha, and it will be purely reactionary."

Felina's eyes soften. She understands the difficulty...but then, Pretender had admitted it. That's saying...well, a lot, about how much she cares about this working out right as opposed to making it neat for herself. She nods. "I'll do my damnest to sequester the rest of these people. Parting words?"

Felina! Felina, problem! Yoru's little voice rings out, straining to reach as far as the sanctum. There's a hint of Mara's energy in it too, almost as if Mara is serving as a relay point for Yoru's thoughts, so they can reach. Which is how it is. They've got the god damned Abyss...!

Felina's ears press straight backwards, eyes widening a touch. "Yoru...what? Abyss? Where?"

Silence, for a moment. Then...

Fel? Mara's voice calls out. I lost her. Shit! Shit! I think something happened to her.

"Fuck...." Eh, proper language for some of the highest divinies around. That statement just barely precedes Felina vanishing with the list, back for Helantri Deru.