Pristine, beautiful, and eternally lit, the plane of the gods is full of life. Set on a series of levitating islands far above Ehrgard, it is home to, among other things, the valkyries, the gods, and a race of 'illuminated mortals' who bear a striking resemblance to traditional elves.

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Yggdrasil Minor - the world tree

Svastheim - upper layer of the 'gods'
Dame Astra - city-palace of the gods.
Falumine - woodland plane of spirits

Ehrgard - central layer of mortals
Sessenheim - mountain home of giants and lamia

Mitregard - lowest layer of demons and monsters
Julengard - where the unchosen dead go to await reincarnation
Sengurd - a den of dragons
Umliad - home to a the undead.

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Yue is waiting for them at the edge of the pristine bridge, whose length seems to fold inward so that the trip is much shorter than the eye would suggest. The pale-faced humanoids with which he has been speaking bow their heads and totter off, towards a massive palace in the distance.

"Hello, everyone. I was securing permission for this fight." His eyes pass over Moorn, and though he shivers he maintains his brave face. "Those thin fellows were Alves. Elves, if you prefer. They own this particular island, it seems, so I thought it prudent. They were able to confirm my theories on the rebirth cycle, so there should be nothing to worry about. So, if no one has any reservations..." he steps back, letting the wind pick up his hair and the lacy hem of his dress.

Moorn touches his daughter's shoulder briefly, and Mara's, before stepping out. "If you all want to go on, I would understand."

Mara, who looks on the verge of bursting into tears, shakes her long-eared head. "Someone needs to witness," she sighs, "Yue is doing something unprecedented. Someone needs to be able to tell about it."

Dewei is quiet a few moments, deeply torn. Finally, he turns to Ai, and notes softly... "I don't want to leave my aunt alone in this, Ai. I don't know about you watching it, though..." not because she can't take blood, he certainly knows that she can, just because it might not be wonderful for her to see a side of her father she necessarily turns a blind eye to. "Do you think you'd rather go on, and we'll catch up later?"

"I suppose I could do that. Thank you for being so considerate." The goddess leans close to kiss his cheek. She doesn't know why it feels so critical that she take her time with it, just that it does, and finds herself kissing his lips, too.

Moorn smirks a little, though if he's displeased it is not an obvious thing.

Dewei, predictably, blushes at this. Smiles a little, and kisses her, though not taking very long about it. He's more than a little self-conscious about her dad being right there. He looks over to Yue and Mara.

Mara is turned away, staring out over the sectional, levitating islands of this unbelievably green land. Yue is chatting more or less mutually with Moorn, discussing the how and why of the impending fight. The sorcerer is unusually open to Yue's thoughts on the matter, probably because his family is there.

Ai disentangles herself from Dewei. "I will see you later, Dewei. I miss you." At the urging of the armored woman Ai turns to walk towards another bridge, leading to the palace Dame Astra. Inexplicably Ai feels herself compelled to look back, and she does, a worried doe expression on her face. It is all she can do to keep from running back into Dewei's arms. But go she does, led by the patient woman in the emerald mail.

Dewei smiles after Ai a moment, and then just heads over to his aunt, not really trying to say anything. It really is pretty, though. It's amazing to think that this was a little tree not so long ago.

Mara looks up at him, eyes still so sorrowfully thoughtful. "Dewei. I have a bad bad feeling. This just doesn't sit right."

Yue and Moorn are already heading a bit apart, neither apparently looking forward to this impromptu contest. Yue has the look of an actress with stage fright. Radivishe Moorn seems almost unwilling, like a person unwilling to put an animal out of its suffering.

Dewei nods slowly, bites his lip a little. "No...I have a sick feeling in my gut." Not just vaunted 'gut instinct,' psychic. "But...Yue is about to die...I can't figure out if that's just what's triggering it." He's not trying to talk her out of anything. Although Dewei's much more acutely aware of his fomidable psychic abilities than his sister, neither twin had inherited Felina and Mara's full power.

The angel charges bravely, his expression revealing the fact that he knew perfectly well how it would end before ever embarking upon it. The water sprinkler gleams in Svastheim's pearlescent light.

Radivishe Moorn does not move an inch, until the club descends across cheek. The crack of bone splitting draws a shriek from Mara's little lips, and her eyes are quickly hidden in Dewei's jacket.

Yue hops back, a confused look in his eyes.

Dewei's arms are quickly wrapped around his aunt, but he looks about as confused as Yue, eyes just a touch narrow as he tries to gauge what just hapened. One face for another...?

The sorcerer lifts his head, making certain that Mara isn't looking before gazing that way. His orbit is crushed, for lack of a better term, but still he smiles at Dewei.

Yue rushes again, a more satisfied, if still grim, smile on his pretty face. This time his enemy does not remain stationary, though... a blinding flicker of his arms sends the signature of a fire elemental spell ripping across the spectrum, but there is no sign of a fire.

The angel drops almost instantly, smoke pouring from his mouth and nose.

Mara clings to Dewei's jacket ever more tightly.

Dewei's face is fairly grim, although he's perfectly aware of the details of what his mentor had just pulled. His mother would be as pleased as possible, he's sure. He smiles a little, but then turns his attention to his aunt, ready to intercept any glance in Moorn's direction until he's fixed his face.

A shred of Yue's energy remains, though he is certainly gone. A final impulse, a shred of a thought, floats across the spectrum almost like the echo of a shout in the mountains, and Yue's body bursts into a cascade of feather wisps that glow with a soft blue light and vanish.

I'll miss them... but what can I do? I hope they aren't sad. I will have to ask them when I return.

Radivishe Moorn reaches up to cover the ghastly wound he's suffered, grumbling that he is far too soft these days. "It is over, Mara," he calls to his beloved kitten, at the bones in his eye pop and crack back into place.

Mara looks up to Dewei, her cheek stained with kitten tears. "Then why do I still feel so worried, Dewei...?"

Dewei shakes his head a little, as he retrieves one of the pieces of cloth tied around his scabbard to give to her to wipe her eyes. They're there to clean blood from his sword, if necessary. "I don't know, Aunt...is it psychic, or high emotions?" And gods above it can be hard to tell one from the other sometimes.

"Psychic. I'm almost sure of it." She blinks, looks around. "Where's Ai?"

About then, one of the alves comes sauntering back over. He is a neutral looking thing, of even tone, expression, height, and pretty much everything else. He and his fellows had watched Moorn incinerate Yue just now with a strange placidity that bordered on disinterest.

"Well then. Now that you have finished that, are you all going to accompany master Dewei to be reborn as well?" He looks between them.

Dewei blinks. Considering the method he'd just seen... "Ehm...reborn?"

"Yes. Whenever someone is to be made divine, that person must be subjected to the cycle of rebirth and imprinted with the rune of creation. This is why we allowed the shark-eyes to murder that woman right in front of us just now, knowing the intent." The alf nods his green-haired head. "You and your lady friend are our true gods, our creators. We have known that since the beginning, that you would be coming. But, to completely accept your presence, you must be homogenized as gods of Hjadrasil."

One of the others nodded his much smaller head. "I believe that your lady friend is being subjected to the cycle as we speak. Do not worry, though, it is quite humane. Unless she resists, but she came knowing this would happen. Right?"

Mara squeaks, covering her mouth with both hands. Her eyes have grown wider with every sentence out of the tourmaline man's mouth. "Oh... shit!"

Dewei is agape. All that keeps running through his mind, whatever else is said, is that they're killing Ai. "No!" he manages after a moment. "No, we weren't aware of this detail! Where are they now?"

"In the palace at Dame Astra I'm sure. That..." the alves look to one another. "They didn't know? Not good, not good at all. You can catch them if you hurry up the bridge there."

Radivishe Moorn doesn't hesitate, or speak a word. In half a blink he's gone, heading off that way.

Dewei is bound that way only a split second later, heart in his throat and every speed trick he knows helping.