[center][color=Goldenrod][h1]Ruin and Revival[/h1][/color]
[i]Collaboratively written by BBeast, Cyclone, Double Capybara and Muttonhawk[/i][/center]
 
 
An instant to travel was not fast enough. Every fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the time Toun spent speeding to Pictaraika defiantly slowed in his hyper-aware perception. Acres of land and sea fed their details to his eye. Every drop of water taunted him. Every speck of earth punished him for not being at his quarry. Even with his enemy at the edge of his perception, the valley before Toun embraced a dark tempest rolling with mocking laughter.

Swirling clouds of black dust and smoke driven by scorching winds billowed about the valley. The blotted sun cast deep, twisting shadows. Bolts of lightning and magic crackled within and clapped upon the ground. The mountainsides facing the valley glistened with dark, glassy, fused earth at what they had seen to cause it.

Directly beneath the turbulence where sheets of fire and lightning danced, the ground had twisted into dark igneous stone. Sparks and flames danced on the shards and leapt up and into the storm. Closer to the centre, the ground grew soft and malleable. The dark stone lurched and bubbled like a black, glowing slime. It inclined up as the earth peeled away to reveal the jagged lip of a grand crater, within which the eye of the polluted storm swirled and roared over endless thunder.

Crackling motes of light born by the currents of the great whirlwind flew in the churn. Invisible pieces merged and split. Flickers, spawned from raw magic like tiny flames from kindling. The countless little djinn ignited into existence like so many dizzy insects. They fought the raging elements, they fought and devoured one another, and most perished in short order.

The very middle instigated it all. A blinding light. Around the epicenter buzzed residual energies of raw Change. Photons, electron-positron pairs, and more exotic particles fizzled in and out of existence. Atoms in the air and earth cycled through elements and isotopes thereof. Molecules were torn into their constituent components and blasted away. Energy and impossibility resolved into the protest against the physical rules bending around them; the vast storm engulfing it all.

Laying below, past the vaporised matter and buzzing energy, was a figure glowing with white-hot incandescence. Unmoving. A super-heated suit of metal armour. Holes had blistered the surface open, revealing charred god-flesh underneath. Golden ichor cauterised by raw power. Above the wounded figure was a rippling disturbance in the air -- a scar where the fabric of reality had been torn by a recent collapsed portal.

And in the still-glowering air besides, amid the violent core of the shockwaves, there stood one utterly black and motionless shape. It loomed over the fallen god like death itself, as if inspecting its own handiwork. It spoke with soft words that cut perfectly through all the din, [color=00FF7F]"Hmph. For good measure..."[/color]

It held up a tiny pearl that radiated a light and a heat that darkened everything. The portal reopened and there was a second explosion that carried all the fury and cataclysmic effects of the first. It ceased after a few moments. Zyus finally relented his assault and rested with some measure of ease.

And then he was gone.

In a sound-breaking wake, the storm clouds blasted open in a cone of clear air, momentarily flooding the crater with natural light. At the cone's point was a white spear. Holding the spear were a pair of shivering clay hands. These hands lead into flowing clay robes worn by Toun. Coming with Toun was a single-minded focus that broke like a bottle against a wall.

Toun drew up his spear and glanced about the clouds. The realisation of Xos' absence sublimated his temper to gas.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"XOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!"[/i][/color][/b]

The god's shout echoed halfway across Galbar. Even the storm sounds were cowed, and crept slowly back to noise.

Toun angrily pelted his spear into the ground, burying it halfway in the still-molten rock, and then threw his elongating arms to clutch Teknall's armoured shoulders. His fingertips hissed with the heat. Toun's head stretched by the neck with his arms to loom over Teknall's glowing helmet.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Where is it!?! WHERE IS THE MURDERER!?"[/color][/b] 

Toun hesitated. The clouds finally darkened them. Teknall's lack of immediate response drew him away from his rage. Toun's entire chest sank and his eye rounded in disbelief.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"...Brother?"[/color][/b] Toun almost stammered quietly. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I expect you to persist, brother. Cease hiding your last pieces of self this instant!"[/color][/b]

As desperation grew in Toun's voice, his eye shone with a light that searched for Teknall's essence. Miraculously, there were still traces of Teknall's life-force within the body encased in the armour. But the wounds were grave. His essence was weak, and fading.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Fool!"[/color][/b] Toun shouted. He dropped to his knees, looking frantically over the wounds. One of his hands twisted and morphed into a needle point. He brought the point down into the largest hole at the front of Teknall's armour and clinically pierced the wound. The care he took belied his voice. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Stone-headed... bauble-shaping...sentimental FOOL!"[/color][/b] Toun fell to a murmur. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I cannot allow this mistake to be your end. Not you..."[/color][/b]

The point in Teknall's body stopped just short of his heart. Tiny porcelain roots branched out to wrap around Teknall's heart and elicit a golden glow.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"...Especially not you."[/color][/b]

Pale blue light ran from the roots, weaving around the golden light of Teknall's heart like so many spreading capillaries. As a wave receding, the blue lines ebbed back into the porcelain and no golden light remained.

Toun slowly removed his arm and at its end was a shining golden pearl. His hand regrew around it, his fingers holding it preciously in his fist.

With his other hand, Toun grabbed the well and truly lifeless armoured husk by the arm and looked into a direction in the roiling clouds. Beyond, somewhere, was Ilunabar.

[hr]
A few moments before, the goddess had watched in powerless horror as the battle unfolded. Every moment was filled with fear, but also temptation. The temptation to burst the powers of Pictaraika against Xos, the temptation to reach deeper into the wave and see if she could change this reality to one where Teknall was safe. But Zephyron's banishment was alive in her memory. The trauma of once again being an eyewitness to the loss of a sibling was dwarfed by the terror of breaking the unspoken rules between gods and primordials. Her hands stood still, but her mind raced, the pages of the Index flying about in a chorus as all the archives were consulted.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod][i]Ilunabar, sister,[/i][/color][/b] Toun projected in his mind nearby. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod][i]We are not too late. He needs us.[/i][/color][/b]

No questions, no context. Toun's voice called for action and brought her hope. It was the time to act, now or never.

The bells of the temples of Pictarika rang, the white clouds going back to black, being reabsorbed by the facilities. The ringing, however, did not stop, and would be used to counter and dispel the storm of change inflicted against the goddess' realm. The sound lulled the raging atoms and particles of the battlefield. Soon after, the molten glass impervious to the actions of elementals started to rain against the breeding flickers, trapping them within the clear substance. Though the technology was developed too late to be used in battle, it could at least be used to suppress and normalize the region.

In the seconds it took for Ilunabar to do the above, she took one more action. Mercury from the solar furnace mirror and the ones melted or destroyed in the battle flowed down the mountain face, creating a large mirror portal near Toun. From it, the goddess emerged, clad in her long cape and with a serious, almost frozen, expression. She knelt near the two others.

[color=ec008c]"You arrived in time...Thanks."[/color] her voice was tired but held true sincerity. 

Toun blinked at his fingers closed around the golden pearl. He gave Ilunabar no apparent regard.

[color=ec008c]"Indeed, of the fates I predicted, we are already in one of the best branches, yet the battle rages on...I wish I could directly use my powers, but..."[/color] no further words, only a frustrated expression. Nevertheless, thinking back on the very design of Teknall and Ilunabar's creations, she started to mutter. [color=ec008c]"The girls' hearts...the essence holder...originally designed with Teknall's powers in mind...the design, if repurposed..."[/color] she rose her hand to the mirror, and from it, two bands, one of gold and one of bronze, along with few gems, flew into her hand. Quickly, Ilunabar assembled a primitive copy of what Kinesis and Conata held in their chests. She handed forward the weak stabilizer, meant to delay the dispersion of the soul.

Toun's half-closed eye lifted to it.

[color=ec008c]"And if we look into Thacel...your calligraphy...Do you remember the words? We need to keep him with us."[/color] she told in a voice that was suppressing mountains of anxiety.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"We do,"[/color][/b] Toun responded. He let Teknall's corpse in his other hand go and reached for Ilunabar's makeshift god heart. With the care of a machine-like jeweler, he uncurled his hand to reveal the golden pearl and fitted its bright form into the apparatus. There, the last vestiges of Teknall's essence were sustained without Toun's grip trapping it.

Toun flicked his gaze up to meet Ilunabar. He reached and took Ilunabar's upper arm. His grasp was not quite painful. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Focus,"[/color][/b] He said quickly. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"This is where we renew."[/color][/b]

A stream of meteoric flame plummeted from the sky and impacted the face of a mountain across the valley, throwing up a cloud of dust and gravel with an earth-shaking boom. A moment later a ten-limbed mahcine wreathed in mirror-like reflections leapt out of the dust cloud and landed with a clunk on four legs several metres in front of Toun. The being stood, silently assessing the scene. Then, it stepped forward and reached out with its six hands for Teknall's body.

Toun stood up and turned his head as the creature slid its master's remains off the ground. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Witness,"[/color][/b] he dryly said. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"His avatar yet functions. Until its connection runs empty, Teknall may be saved."[/color][/b] He raised his voice. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Shall you remain passive to this, child!?!"[/color][/b]

The words echoed out of the valley. There was no response.

Goliath turned its head towards the edge of the crater. It stepped towards Toun and offered Teknall's body to him.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Leave that here and carry out what you intend,"[/color][/b] Toun said dismissively. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"[i]Our[/i] next step is more important..."[/color][/b]

Goliath deposited the body on the ground and then walked away in the direction he was facing.

Toun stepped to face Ilunabar. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I remember the calligraphy. I remember our efforts to remake Kyre were aberrant. It will not be sufficient to perform the same act here."[/color][/b]

[color=ec008c]"Of course I would not want to repeat that."[/color] she declared in a cutting tone. [color=ec008c]"But not all of that was useless. A few concepts work. I just want stability until we can restore him."[/color]

The goddess did not wait for an answer. Looking around, trying to keep her mind clear, she started to wonder out loud. [color=ec008c]"The creations of a god anchor them to this world. This is what I believe. With Teknall, it is no different. Yes. It is obvious."[/color] she mumbled, a hand over her mouth and eyes moving erratically.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"But how does that help us, sister?"[/color][/b] Toun said softer than usual. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Are you suggesting we could make use of Goliath over there? Or that piece of machinery on Vestec's shoulder? Some sleeping urtelem?"[/color][/b]

[color=ec008c]"If I were to be in the same situation, I am sure the divas would be the key to..."[/color] she immediately stopped and rose one finger as her mind absorbed one of the pieces of information Toun had shared. [color=ec008c]"Machine? On Vestec's shoulder?"[/color] she questioned with a heavy emphasis on each word.

[hr]
Outside the valley, under a rocky outcropping on a mountain slope facing away from the valley, Kinesis sat hugging her knees around her ears, a pair of hands clapped over her mouth, hair matted in front of her face, rocking back and forth trembling and crying. She hardly noticed Toun's call.

Even the hissing, winding, and thumping of Goliath's walking legs could not move her. She was oblivious to the construct's approach.

[color=Peru][b]"Your father sent me to protect you."[/b][/color]

Kinesis' head perked up suddenly at the sound of Teknall's voice. Her eyes turned to the voice's source. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Father?"[/color] Hope against hope crept into her voice.

Goliath stood silent and motionless. As the seconds ticked by, it appeared to sense something was expected of it.

[color=Peru][b]"Your father sent me to protect you,"[/b][/color] it repeated, in exactly the same tone as before.

Tears rolled down Kinesis' cheeks she bit her hand to hold back sobs. Goliath reached down, gently pulled Kinesis' hand out of her mouth, then stood back up to its full height. Kinesis looked at Goliath for a moment, puzzled, and then let her eyes contort into grief. She wrapped her arms around Goliath's leg and wept into it.

[hr]
In the distance of the crater, Toun gesticulated with one flat hand as he calmly explained his interview with Vestec back in Teknall's workshop.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"...After the prosthesis was attached, Vestec expressed no struggle in assuming it as if it were his previous arm. Our brother Teknall builds to purpose."[/color][/b] He gave the remains of the mirror armour a look. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"However, I fail to see how Vestec's narrow escape from Xos helps us here, either, sister."[/color][/b]

[color=ec008c]"The...The interaction between machine and essence. It is the key, brother, it is the key factor to save Teknall. It all comes together."[/color] she told in an anxious tone, one hand resting on Toun's shoulder. [color=ec008c]"If you can patch a limb, you can mend a whole body. "[/color]

The goddess almost smiled, but then the hope wavered, her hand going to the side of her face, eyes closing with the frown as she felt her plan hit a wall. [color=ec008c]"Yet I have no knowledge of how such fine machinery works to replicate it. What cruel irony, Teknall is the only one who knows how to save his own life..."[/color]

Toun looked down at his hands. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I am a creator. But, if I tried now, without knowing Teknall's methods, my own essence would interfere. We do not have time for such a pursuit."[/color][/b]

As if emptying his lungs, Toun's shoulders sank. His hope ebbed as well. And yet, seeing Ilunabar's anxious frustration, his expression changed. His hand lifted halfway, hesitated, and then gently took Ilunabar's wrist to bring her hand away from her face. 

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Please, do not be upset,"[/color][/b] he said with more softness and sympathy than Ilunabar had ever heard. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Please, sister. There is a way. There must be."[/color][/b]

He glanced in different directions. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"When we tried to recreate Kyre, the body produced was merely a mix of our own essences. There must be another way to create the body. It would have to be from Teknall's essence alone. Or...at least enough to be compatible..."[/color][/b]

In that moment of hopeless quiet, the wind calmed over the battlefield. In the pauses between the light breezes that carried the white smoke away, the sound of Kinesis' sobbing echoed across the crater.

Toun lifted his head to the source of the sad sound. His eye narrowed, not in scorn, but with the glint of inspiration that Ilunabar had seen in countless beings before. The goddess looked up, first at Toun then turning her head around to hear the sound. Then the same thought sparked in her mind.

[color=ec008c]"The girls…!"[/color] she gasped. [color=ec008c]"They might…They might be the ones who can do this."[/color] 

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"They will have to be."[/color][/b] Toun took a single, instantaneous step across to Kinesis' hiding spot with Ilunabar still held by the wrist. 

Toun let his sister go and showed Kinesis the bejeweled godheart in his other hand without any preamble. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You, niece of mine. Put your hand to this device to see your chances of saving your creator's existence."[/color][/b]

Kinesis looked up at Toun, momentarily puzzled. She reached out and put her hand on the mechanical heart without thinking. She sniffled and wiped tears from her face with two other hands. Only then did Toun's words and the device in his hand begin to register in Kinesis' consciousness.

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"What? My...father? In there? How?"[/color]

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"He is not dead, niece,"[/color][/b] Toun said plainly. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"He is dying."[/color][/b] He rolled his wrist back to pull the device away.

In a frightening rush of movement, Toun's other hand snatched Kinesis' outstretched arm. One of his fingers grew in a pointed hook. It pressed painfully into Kinesis' hand.

The previously unmoving Goliath blurred into motion. Two swords sliced through Toun's wrist and forearm. Thunder clapped as Goliath's mirror armour amplified in intensity. The severed heavy clay limb clacked into two pieces on the ground, while the hand remained clasped to Kinesis arm.

The robot's other four arms lifted up their weapons as Goliath advanced towards Toun.

To his credit, Toun's reaction was not physically aggressive. He lifted the stump of his arm up to inspect it, before turning his cross brow to Goliath. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You crude machine. Is violence and investigation inseperable to you?!"[/color][/b] His stump arm bulged and forked into a fresh hand. He closed it into a fist.

Not one for conversations, Goliath was about to strike when Kinesis stretched out one of her free arms and with eyes wide in terror cried out, [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Stop!"[/color] Goliath froze. After a moment it lowered its weapons and returned to its vigil beside Kinesis.

Tense seconds passed before Toun removed his attention from the avatar.

Kinesis felt a hot moisture on the back of the hand. Seeing it, she beheld a tiny droplet of glowing rose gold blood weeping from the porcelain hook point intruding her flesh. Kinesis took hold of the porcelain finger and, in trying to bend it, broke it from the severed hand, releasing her from its grasp. The pieces fell away.

Toun knelt to bring himself to Kinesis' eye level. His blue glowing eye squinted in its fleshy socket at the droplet of ichor. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You are of his essence. Blood of his blood. But you are a mixture."[/color][/b] The blue eye flicked up to bore into Kinesis' pupils. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You will need your sister's help to save him."[/color][/b]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"Right. Um."[/color] Kinesis was still trying to figure out what exactly Toun was talking about. But she was starting to piece things together. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Yes. Yes, maybe Conata can help."[/color]

Kinesis glanced up over her shoulder at Goliath, who was still poised watching Toun, weapons in hand. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Toun's helping us save father. You can trust him."[/color]

Goliath sheathed its weapons and reduced power to its shields. It then walked back towards the crater. Toun stood to his feet and watched it stomp away.

Ilunabar, still and unresponsive since their arrival, suddenly looked to the side. [color=ec008c]"I have sent a diva to search for Conata; it is of my knowledge she is in Alefpria. Of course, it will be necessary to explain her the context of this emergency, but she should be here soon."[/color] she told in an objective manner. Her finger rose as she thought about commenting on what transpired, but she had trouble finding the euphemism to describe her opinions on the stubbornness of Goliath.

[color=ec008c]"Your sister's situation is quite peculiar, she will probably be overburdened with the current situation. Kinesis, I will need you to be considerate, but also to be firm and take the lead."[/color] she told, now looking at her creation.

Kinesis bowed her head. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Yes, Ilunabar."[/color] A moment's thought passed. Kinesis looked back up and tilted her head. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Does Conata know yet? Did father meet her before…?"[/color] Her eyes looked to the bejewelled godheart in Toun's hand, and her sentence hung unfinished.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"They met, briefly,"[/color][/b] Toun answered. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"It was shortly before this attack. I cannot know exactly whether Teknall restored her memories. I could restore her memories myself if it is required, but I doubt the subsequent time spent in revelatory panic will be a cost worth paying here."[/color][/b] Toun clasped his hands behind his back with the godheart still in his grasp. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"How well do you and your sister know one another? Can you cooperate?"[/color][/b]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"We haven't had much time together, but…"[/color] Kinesis smiled as the happy memories came to the fore. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Soon after Conata was made, father left us alone in the Celestial Citadel for a time as he found Conata a dress. We decided to make a machine, so we foraged for materials and worked together to make a clockwork dog. That was a good time."[/color]

Toun blinked. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Keep that memory in your mind. It will hold the means to synthesise with your sister and craft a new body for Teknall."[/color][/b]

Goliath returned, carrying Teknall's maul, railgun and the Shard Conduit. It looked to Toun and Ilunabar and offered the items to them. Toun regarded the machine with near-indifference at first, glancing tiredly at the items.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"The Mountain Builder...the Realta Bane...and..."[/color][/b] Toun's arm snatched up the shard conduit like snake and held it up to his eye. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Hold this."[/color][/b] Toun pushed the shard conduit into Kinesis' hands and stepped to the side. He prodded into an unseen space with one finger, and before them the disturbance radiated into an ovoid rift, through which Teknall's workshop could be seen.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Ilunabar, has the second child been found yet?"[/color][/b] Toun asked behind him. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"And you, machine, bring the corpse."[/color][/b]

[hr]
[i][color=Peru]"Watch your step."[/color]

[color=Orange]"...Where are we, daddy?"[/color]

[color=Peru]"This is the Celestial Citadel. A grand palace which I built long ago. It floats high above the world of Galbar, which- well, I may as well just show you."[/color]

[color=Peru]"This is Galbar. It is a whole world. Many people of many different kinds live down there, who will someday soon grow to become great civilisations."[/color]

[color=Orange]"There is...so much there! I want to see it…"[/color][/i]

Conata's eyes opened to see the sun shining on her pillow. The birds of Alefpria sang their morning song. She usually woke up earlier than this.

The sheets slid as she propped herself up with one arm. Her other hand rubbed her face and slowed over her eye. The dream felt real, she realised, because it was a memory. Her breathing halted.

A dull scrap of her consciousness asked herself where these memories came from. The question was drowned out by the events before her childhood overwhelming her. All those missing moments. In a few short seconds.

He had left her behind.

Her next breath came and went fast and sharp. She swallowed. [color=Orange]"No, it's...he said..."[/color]

The memories of the previous night finally caught up. It jumbled her thoughts to a mess. She clutched her forehead and tried deliberately to breathe while reminding herself of the reality around her. When she opened her eyes again, she saw a clean sheet of parchment on her bedside table. Without anything else to focus on, she took the parchment and sat up. On it was a handwriting she knew but had not seen before.

[i]My dear daughter, Conata,[/i]

She read as she emerged and stood up from her bed. Her nightgown weighed on her shoulders. Slow steps took her to the door to the kitchen. She pushed it open.

[i]I am afraid an urgent matter has come up. I hope you do not mind waiting a little longer for…[/i]

Conata stopped after stepping through the door and looked up from the page. A woman was waiting by the table near the window. She looked somewhat human and had long steel colored hair -- not anybody Conata knew. On the table, there were a couple of plates, a few teacups, and a teapot, none of which belonged to Conata and all of which looked too expensive to be anywhere but in the houses of nobles and Lifprasil's officials.

[color=d7dcf6]"Good morning, Conata."[/color] she told, filling a cup with tea and sliding it to the side of the table closer to the demi-goddess. [color=d7dcf6]"Please join me, we need to talk about urgent matters."[/color]

Conata glanced at the top of letter in her hand and then back to the woman. Perhaps she was still dreaming. In groggy confusion, she scrunched her eyes shut and pressed the heel of her hand on her temple. [color=Orange]"Sorry, have we met before?"[/color] One red eye peeked open. [color=Orange]"And how did you get in here?"[/color]

[color=d7dcf6]"It depends on how much you value mutuality when considering if someone has met others."[/color] she told, gently. [color=d7dcf6]"Albeit, even then, you might know me from the statues? Or might have heard my name when asking about who designed this great city?"[/color]

Conata winced apologetically.

The diva's eyes suddenly shot to the side, as if she was focusing on something beyond the room. [color=d7dcf6]"Someone just… told me, I should be direct as the situation is quite dire. My name is Piena, Diva of the Goddess Ilunabar."[/color]

The name made Conata open her eyes wide. [color=Orange]"You serve my mother?"[/color]

[color=d7dcf6]"Yes, but that wording might surprise her. Nevertheless, sit down."[/color] she pointed to the table.

Conata stepped up and eased herself onto a seat. She kept her arms by her sides and looked at the tea cup. It took her a moment to reluctantly reach out for it. [color=Orange]"What's the...dire situation about?"[/color] she asked.

[color=d7dcf6]"I do not know if your father explained it or not, but there is currently a war in the heavens. One more serious than any of those which came before."[/color] she assumed that Conata would have already listened to Lifprasil's tale and therefore understood how big that statement was. [color=d7dcf6]"Your father got into a fight to protect your sister and, well, he succeeded in his objective, but the battle left him…in need of assistance. Assistance which only you, as his daughter and a destined master crafter, can provide."[/color]

Conata saw the surface of her arm break out in pits of dull, anxious magnesium. It spread over her neck and face. [color=Orange]"He...No, he didn't tell me any of that."[/color] Her brow knitted up. [color=Orange]"Is he okay? What should I do?"[/color]

[color=d7dcf6]"Well, in the vaguest sense of okay possible, yes. He is in a bad situation, but we know how to help him out of it, and you are part of that."[/color] Finishing her cup, she stood up and looked around, searching for a floor mirror tall enough for them to pass through. Conata sipped her tea as Piena walked around. A home made sheet of polished metal standing in Conata's small bedroom was large enough. [color=d7dcf6]"We need your essence and your forging skills. You will understand once we arrive."[/color] She extended her hand towards the demi-goddess.

[color=Orange]"Oh!"[/color] Conata tipped her head back to pour the rest of the tea down her throat. The cup rang down onto the table and she shot up to her feet. [color=Orange]"I don't know where we're going, but the door is that way."[/color] Conata pointed a thumb off to the side, away from her bedroom.

[color=d7dcf6]"We need a better door than that. There is no time to lose. We need to bring you to your father and sister."[/color] she said, holding Conata's wrist as she guided her. Conata only got to protest for a confused instant before Piena took a sudden step across the mirror and pulled her through.

[hr]
[color=Orange]"-ait!"[/color] A set of cold footsteps hit the concrete floor of the workshop.

Toun turned his head to behold Piena tugging Conata along by the wrist. Conata was silenced by her surroundings. She walked along absently behind Piena, facing the walls and the machines around her with a look of overwhelming recognition.

Conata's reverie was interrupted when Kinesis rushed up and embraced her sister. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Conata! It's been so long!"[/color]

Kinesis was still taller than her. Conata froze. [color=Orange]"...Kin...Kinny?"[/color] Conata's skin bloomed into a shining silver. [color=Orange]"I know you."[/color] Conata wrapped her own arms tightly around Kinesis. Tears sprung out of her eyes. [color=Orange]"I know you! Sister!"[/color]

A sudden onset of heavy sobbing caught Conata up with years of unknown grief. Scrambled recollections in her head caught a thread and assembled, starting from Kinesis' warmth and love and spreading out to all her earliest memories. [color=Orange]"Oh, gods! I remember...I remember it all now! It's..."[/color] Conata was unintelligible under her weeping.

Kinesis stroked Conata's wire hair in an attempt to be soothing. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Oh, Connie. It's a lot to take in."[/color]

Goliath approached the pair with heavy footsteps. Kinesis glanced over her shoulder at the robot and mouthed ‘not now'. It hesitated before returning to its watch over Teknall's body.

Kinesis continued to hold Conata. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Let it out. Father needs you now."[/color]

Conata's weeping slowed. She held on tight.

Meanwhile, Toun looked coolly on from behind a steel table, his hands clasped behind his back. The device with Teknall's remaining essence sat softly pulsing on the tabletop beside him. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"If she is only remembering now, she shall need calming,"[/color][/b] the porcelain god said, ostensibly to Ilunabar. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Sister, if you or your avatar would intervene? Teknall can ill-afford the frivolities of reunion just yet. He decays as we speak."[/color][/b]

The goddess looked at him for a moment, as if she too was just now suddenly remembering something about her brother Toun. Her surprise turned into a sense of "of course he did this," and she sighed. She stepped closer to Conata and placed her hand on her back.

[color=ec008c]"It has been a long time, Conata."[/color] she said, having had interacted with the girl only a few times before.

Conata turned her head up to Ilunabar. Tears had already spread down her face.

[color=ec008c]"However, I fear we will have to wait to truly enjoy this reunion. Time is short and Teknall needs you two."[/color] Ilunabar said. She meanwhile tasked Piena with taking the schematics she could find and sorting them by relevance. It wouldn't take more than a few moments before the ones they needed were over the steel table.

[color=Orange]"I...You're Ilunabar, aren't you?"[/color] Conata asked. A dumb smile spread on her face. [color=Orange]"My mother. My real mother."[/color]

[color=ec008c]"In a…vague sense, yes, somewhat."[/color] she said, flinching at the words.

A large parchment unrolled with a crackle on the table. The sound snapped Conata out of her stupor. She scrunched her ruby eyes shut and finally let her arms slide away from Kinesis. Her eyes opened to her family and she let her silver skin break out in determined iron. [color=Orange]"Right...Teknall, father, he needs help, right? Where is he? What do I need to do?"[/color]

[color=ec008c]"Recover his body…Or reconstruct it? Well, in all honesty, the most I can say is that he needs a working body. How, I do not know, but I fully believe it is possible to do whatever must be done. The technique is there, Teknall has done something similar before."[/color] The goddess pointed and drew Conata's eyes specifically to the unrolled schematics of the arm made for Vestec. The metal girl pitted.

[color=ec008c]"But beyond this, I do not know, it is an area far beyond my domain… but entirely within yours."[/color] Ilunabar looked at both Kinesis and Conata.

Conata's face flecked with a green patina. She looked to Kinesis.

Kinesis glanced over at Conata, then Toun, then Goliath, and then back to Ilunabar. Everyone was watching her expectantly. She bit her lip in thought. An idea struck. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"We built Jydshi."[/color] Kinesis moved over to the bench full of schematics and pulled aside the plans she and Teknall had made for her many-legged friend. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"That wasn't too hard. She was purely mechanical. But then a golden djinn granted my wish to make Jydshi able to speak, and she stopped being mechanical. Umm…"[/color] She floundered for a few moments as she caught the flaw in her logic. But then another schematic caught her eye. She slid it closer and as she inspected it a knot formed in her stomach.

Conata stepped beside Kinesis and read over her shoulder. The words on the page meant little to her, as did the schematic. She only understood the look on her sister's face. [color=Orange]"What is it?"[/color]

Kinesis answered. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"This is…me. But it's…different."[/color]

She had never seen what she was intended to be. The plans had a mithral-titanium skeleton, carbon nanotube nerves, a semiconductor-based brain, and mechanical devices serving the role of every organ. Even her heart was to be very similar to the device currently holding Teknall's ichor. Yet in stark contrast to Kinesis herself, there was not a trace of flesh in the schematic.

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"What happened?"[/color] Kinesis asked in a pained tone.

[color=ec008c]"Resonance."[/color] Ilunabar answered. [color=ec008c]"Or something that felt like it. We had added our essence to the prototype you. Along with the plans, the thoughts, the expectations, it was enough to kickstart something. Things started to happen one after another, and then you were born."[/color] She sighed. [color=ec008c]"A common theme with godly creations. Time means little. If it was gardening, it would be like having the fruits of a tree first and its own root last. It is an unclear process. You will have to embrace far more than conventional logic. Keep a perfect, technical and possible process in mind but paradoxically expect the flawless to fail."[/color]

The meeting of Kinesis and Conata's efforts, the goddess believed, would be the spark necessary. She wondered if the planning and schematics were truly needed. In her view it was almost ritualistic; a token act of creation and effort that works because it must work. As such, she kept certain details of her thoughts to herself.

Conata's lips thinned. [color=Orange]"I won't lie to you. Even with everything coming back to me, I have no idea how to do this. But if this is where it starts, let's try it."[/color]

Kinesis looked over to Conata then back to the table of schematics. She took a fresh sheet of paper and pulled a pencil out of her toolbelt. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"We should start planning, then."[/color] The pencil hovered hesitantly above the paper. Kinesis bit her lip. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Umm…"[/color] She looked up. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"What do we have to work with?"[/color] Her gaze looked over to an obscuring screen. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Perhaps it would be easier if we started with father's body?"[/color]

[color=Orange]"His body? Is he...?"[/color] Conata asked. She only then realised the porcelain statue across the table, the one silently present the entire time, was staring down at her.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"The corpse is Teknall's creation,"[/color][/b] Toun explained. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Filter its damage from your perception and the patterns are present for all to see. As long as it lasts, that is. His attacker's touch is rotting it ceaselessly."[/color][/b] He turned an open palm around to his front, gesturing to the Promethean Manipulators tending to something behind a screen. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"If his less elaborate attempts at metallic life have finished removing his armour, inspect it for every detail useful to either of you."[/color][/b]

Conata gulped. [color=Orange]"Are you a Diva, too?"[/color] she asked obliviously.

Toun's expression was blank. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"No."[/color][/b]

The Promethean Manipulator tending to Teknall's body cast aside the last of the warped adamantine plates stuck to Teknall's skin. Another of its arms slid the screen aside, and then stepped back to make way. Kinesis and Conata gingerly approached.

Conata stopped short to press her knuckle onto her lips. Her eyes locked, broad and shocked at the sight. Her magnesium and iron skin was overtaken by gritty, near-white calcium.

Every surface of Teknall's goblin body was burned in varying severity. Where the armour had been breached the flesh was thoroughly charred and blackened. Where the armour had remained much of the skin had peeled off to reveal raw sticky flesh. What skin was left was blistered or charred. Teknall's head lolled to the side, the left half severely burned and the other half less so, with dried ichor around his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Teknall's lifeless eyes stared forwards, the left one scarred white.

The sight made Kinesis queasy, but she gathered up enough courage to get closer. After visually inspecting the body for a few seconds, she gently prodded its chest. She could tell there was bone and flesh underneath, but she could tell very little else. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"I can't see inside,"[/color] Kinesis said. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Whatever is undamaged is inside. I need a way to see it."[/color]

[color=ec008c]"And done."[/color] The goddess placed a transparent glass box in front of them. While initially clear, it soon formed an image of Teknall's body. Focusing caused it to reveal organs hidden by his charred skin.

A metallic clatter drew attention to Conata as she backed away into a tool rack. A wrench pounded onto the concrete floor behind her, falling as she tried to rebalance herself on its perch. Her dark grey face wore pure panic.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You find this worthy of fear, child?"[/color][/b] Toun spoke. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You are correct. This was the work of a creature far worse than even a [i]realta.[/i]"[/color][/b] He emphasised the last word with a pointed glare at Ilunabar, Kinesis, and Piena.

Kinesis looked between Conata and Teknall's burned body, and as her mind recalled some of the stories her father had told of Conata, she was the first to react. She walked up to Conata and held her hand. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Oh Conata, it's terrible, I know. But please, father needs our help,"[/color] she pleaded.

Conata's throat tightened. Her head shook in a tiny denial. [color=Orange]"He's gone..."[/color] she whispered.

Kinesis tried to think of what more she could say to calm Conata down. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"This…It...It doesn't have to end this way. We can change it. We can change how it ends. But I need your help. Please, sister."[/color]

[color=Orange]"No...[i]NO![/i]"[/color] Conata all but screamed out at Kinesis. Lines of orange rust flared out from the corners of her eyes. [color=Orange]"Don't say that! It's just a corpse!"[/color] Her breathing quickened. [color=Orange]"You don't fix that! Don't lie to me."[/color]

Kinesis staggered backwards. She looked back at the table holding the body, which was indeed a corpse. There was also another object on that table.

[color=Orange]"Why did you bring me here!?"[/color] Conata directed to Piena. [color=Orange]"You said he was alive! [i]You said he could be saved![/i]"[/color]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"Get me the heart,"[/color] Kinesis commanded the Workshop. A mechanical arm slid along a rail and collected the mechanical godheart. Mouth ajar, Conata traced the device's movement as it floated across to Kinesis' hands. 

Kinesis approached Conata again, moved around and pulled Conata's arm to turn her away from Teknall's body. Her corroded calcium face stayed down in a pathetic kind of dread.

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"Look at me. Look at me Conata."[/color]

She complied.

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"Father's not gone. He's in here,"[/color] Kinesis put Conata's hand to mechanical heart. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Can you feel it? Father's still here."[/color]

A resonant [i]cling[/i] vibrated through the heart. A tiny sound, no more present than a bead dropping. Conata lifted her red eyes to Kinesis. The shock stilled her lungs. In crackling patches up her neck and around her eyes, the calcium gave way to silver and tin. [color=Orange]"It's him..."[/color] she breathed. [color=Orange]"How?"[/color]

Kinesis glanced over to Toun and Ilunabar.

Toun slowly blinked from the corpse to Kinesis. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"There is a repeated part of you in everything that you are. That is your essence. Every deity, in their omnipotence, spreads it upon all they influence. It is proof of your existence and the signature of your life. In that device is the last of your father's own essence."[/color][/b]

Conata peered down at the godheart.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"The device is postponing the essence from scattering to chaos. It requires a stable body."[/color][/b] The middle of Toun's face almost wrinkled. He had no nostrils to flare but just enough anatomy to express the sentiment. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Now, delicate niblings, have you any further means to waste the precious time Teknall has remaining or are you now ready to begin in earnest?"[/color][/b]

Conata shut her eyes. A dull orange glow engulfed the inward curves of her skin, ironclad. [color=Orange]"He's our father! You don't have to be here if all you've got is doubt!"[/color] She did not even let Toun answer with more than a mouthless scowl before she lowered her head and added. [color=Orange]"Kinesis, can...I'm scared, okay? Just tell me the truth. Can we save father?"[/color]

Kinesis hesitated for a moment. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"I…I think we can. He made our bodies. We should be able to make a body for him."[/color] Kinesis looked past Conata to Teknall's body, then back down to the godheart in their hands. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"I'm scared too. But it will work. It has to."[/color]

[color=Orange]"Okay."[/color] Conata squeezed Kinesis' hand and looked glumly at the ground. Her voice still shook, despite her best efforts. [color=Orange]"I think I saw something that looked like a design for an arm amongst father's schematics. Just show me what pieces to make – you're better at putting them together, Kinny."[/color]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"Right."[/color] Kinesis moved over to the desk, pulled out the schematic of the arm and passed it over to Conata. The rest of the schematics she perused herself. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Here. These should be enough to get started. I'll start figuring out what exactly we need."[/color] She turned around and ordered a Promethean Manipulator, [color=Darkgoldenrod]"You, help Conata make what she's making."[/color]

Conata and the Manipulator exchanged a glance. She turned away quickly and pushed open the designs in front of her. Meanwhile, Kinesis procured Ilunabar's special viewing-box to inspect Teknall's body.

Despite the time constraints, Conata spent the first while simply to breathe.

Even then, the process started slow and deliberate. Their attentions focussed first on discovery, and discover they did. Their father's works led them through an exhibit of concepts which they took into their minds through intuition and deduction alike. The designs could only have been made with certain materials and mixes, Conata found. The pieces could only have fit together in a certain way, Kinesis observed. Kinesis found the tools she needed as if her hands knew where to reach. Conata beheld the Elemental Siphon as such a sensory rainbow before her and knew immediately which band held the metals she could use. There was no pause for awe with such a project consuming their thoughts.

Action grew from their learning. Toun and Ilunabar noticed the change of pace with the maidens' thoughts and movements. Their time to act started with a complete diagnosis of Teknall's corpse, mostly with Kinesis' keen eyes. Xos' touch had been decaying the godly flesh since before they had started. Even a complete restoration of his original body would see Teknall fall apart in short order.

The demigoddesses put their heads together to find a solution, in spite of Conata's unease around the scorched flesh.

[color=Orange]"I could test where it is, maybe we can cut it out,"[/color] Conata suggested first. With her eyes closed, she directed shreds of iron into the corpse to map which of areas corroded away first. The decay was not homogeneous, but neither was it isolated. They could find no effective parts worth removing.

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"I could try sterilising the wounds,"[/color] Kinesis suggested. The Workshop brought forth ethanol which Kinesis applied to a wound, but testing with an iron shred revealed no change in the rate of decay. Kinesis called forth progressively more toxic substances, such as hydrogen peroxide, formaldehyde and chlorine, but none stalled the withering curse.

Conata remained undefeated. [color=Orange]"Maybe it works with heat or cold. I could sink the heat out and see if the decay stops."[/color] Wrapping the body in a tight sarcophagus of aluminium and willing the metal to move its 'wakefulness' to the outer edges left the remains frozen solid. And still it was crumbling. Turning the heat inward did nothing either.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Sister,"[/color][/b] Toun murmured below the busy demigoddesses' hearing, [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I fear their power may not suffice."[/color][/b]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"Perhaps we could counter it with the power father stored here."[/color] Kinesis ordered two large coils brought over and positioned on either side of Teknall's body. The same coils that had previously been used to empower the Tomb Weaver. Kinesis adjusted the coils to better project their energy into the body. Conata showed nervous magnesium. Kinesis applied power. 

While the lights of the Workshop flickered and dimmed, Xos' corruption was not displaced. Kinesis grew anxious.

Conata held her elbow in one hand and her chin in the other. Her eyes bored into to the schematics stretched out on the table. [color=Orange]"...What else do we have?"[/color] She peered up at Ilunabar and Toun. [color=Orange]"How does this decay work? Can't you help us?"[/color]

Toun responded flatly. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"If I knew how to remedy those wounds, Xos would not have had the opportunity to inflict them."[/color][/b]

[color=ec008c]"If it was a mortal body I could try to bruteforce a solution, but being a god, I fear that is far beyond the boundaries of my power."[/color] Ilunabar added.

The magnesium flared further around the sides of Conata's worried brow. [color=Orange]"There must be something we can do in time! Something we haven't tried."[/color]

Kinesis rubbed her temples and closed her eyes in concentration. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"We're trying to fix this problem blind,"[/color] she eventually said, [color=Darkgoldenrod]"We hardly know what it is we're trying to fix. We need to look closer. I need a microscope."[/color]

Ilunabar took a few seconds to prepare one. The whole thing was made in a rush and had a rougher design than usual. [color=ec008c]"Here, let's not waste time."[/color]

Kinesis took a swab of Teknall's flesh under the microscope and adjusted the focus to bring the minutest details into view. With the cells comprising the flesh in view, they could see cells slowly withering and dying. Here the necrotic effects of Xos' corruption were most plain, but there was still no apparent way to halt the effect.

Conata could see it on her sister's face. The details gave no further insight.

Kinesis put her head in her hands. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"What will we do?"[/color] she despaired.

With a sigh, Conata placed a hand on Kinesis' back. Their work had neared on hours, with little progress to show. The dim sounds of the workshop did not take away the silence they had.

Then Toun moved his eye around as if he spotted something hiding. The others felt it as well. A warm presence filled the room, imperceptibly slight. Someone was peering in, or trying to, as best as they could from another realm. It was a very familiar aura to Toun.

Words refracted like water, bending through space and time to find their way to the pocket dimension.

[color=goldenrod][i]"Outside I knock at thine door
just as death does his.
You must permit my entrance.

My voice be his salvation."[/i][/color]

[color=ec008c]"What is that?"[/color] Ilunabar asked with a tense tone. She had never met the aura, and was clearly distrustful of whatever she was sensing.

Kinesis' brow furrowed. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Where do I know that voice from?"[/color] she pondered aloud.

Everyone's ears had prickled. Conata looked around the workshop and found no source for the sound. Her only hint at any connection was Toun's smooth face contracting into a sneer.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"You..."[/color][/b] Toun growled. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Do not come to gloat so soon, elemental. Our brother has not perished yet. Your prophecy need not be celebrated in his presence."[/color][/b]

Conata's eyes darted between the gods. [color=Orange]"What? That wasn't an elemental. There aren't elementals here, right?"[/color]

Toun ignored her and continued. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"...Or have you finally decided to swallow your words and take action against your foresight? No. You proved yourself unwilling in the past and you will be unfit here."[/color][/b]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"The wish djinni!"[/color] Kinesis exclaimed in realisation, [color=Darkgoldenrod]"He brought Jydshi to life, maybe he can save father."[/color] Kinesis looked up and called, [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Wish djinni, can you save father?"[/color]

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Kinesis, do not be so quick to let..."[/color][/b]

The air in a vacant corner immolated into a glow of golden light as the speaker entered and became manifest. Conata stood dumbstruck.

Though Teknall's fading remnants were the centerpiece of the room, Aihtiraq's gaze looked only to Toun; the djinni had no doubt already seen Teknall in his visions. From amidst the chaotic storm of magic, a face emerged and from its mouth came words,

[color=goldenrod][i]"This one acts as Fate decrees.
Teknall does not die;
that I have already seen!

My mere touch can break his curse."[/i][/color]

Kinesis was elated. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"You can save him? Yes please!"[/color]

[color=goldenrod][i]"Were it only so simple!
[b]He[/b] shall forbid it--"[/i][/color] Aihitraq began in the same breath that Toun chose to speak, surely enough.

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I shall forbid-"[/color][/b] Toun hesitated and glanced at Aihtiraq. He held his head forward, fuming. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"I [i]shall[/i] forbid it. Apparently, I need not explain why, elemental."[/color][/b] 

Conata jabbed an iron finger forward. [color=Orange]"You do to me, you bald creep! If Kinesis thinks he can stop the decay, it looks like the best option we've got right now. You've been nothing but discouraging-"[/color]

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"If he touches your father, he will be done for."[/color][/b]

Toun's interruption stopped Conata in her tracks. [color=Orange]"That...doesn't make sense."[/color]

[b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Little girl, did you not ever wonder why you and your sister are here, performing this task, in spite of the presence of beings and creations well beyond your power before your earthen eyes?"[/color][/b] Toun did not let her answer. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"This creature's essence is unlike yours and unlike Teknall's. His hand in the process of repair shall taint your father, make him something wholly different to what you know. It will not save him -- it will destroy him and replace him with a stranger. I shall forbid it."[/color][/b]

Ashamed tin broke out on Conata's face. [color=Orange]"Then what else are we meant to do?"[/color]

Toun squinted at Aihtiraq. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"We may start by banishing this odious wind from our presence."[/color][/b] He raised his voice [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Think not to defy me, elemental. I can turn all of your futures to mere vanity whilst here. Begone!"[/color][/b]

Since he had been interrupted the djinni had grown completely silent, though his body had visibly grown unstable. Tiny arcs of golden energy crackled through the air he occupied and his makeshift face trembled, but when it was over he turned toward the demigoddesses and away from Toun in complete disregard. Peace manifested upon him once more when he resumed, with the [i]exact[/i] pitch and meter that he'd left off on,

 [color=goldenrod][i]"...and shortsighted though he be,

It needn't prove a hindrance.
Listen carefully:
his body feeds on itself,

a snake devouring its tail.
That is Zyus' fate
and the nature of this curse.

Imagination his cage,
he's watched you both die;
all his works reduced to dust.

His essence fades away now
because [b]he[/b] seeks death,
trapped in a nightmare prison.

So you must break the circle!
Call out, [b]shout[/b] even,
for his spirit can still hear.

Banish the lies and free him."[/i][/color]

He finished and remained staring at the bewildered sisters for a moment or two longer, an eerily calm and pacifying smile upon his face. The aura of his mere presence was a calming one; it helped to relieve some of their hysteria and enable them to focus upon his words and the task at hand.

Conata faded to copper and looked to the floor. The riddle made her crevices brighten into a teal patina that crept and wandered.

But just as suddenly as Aihtiraq offered his revelations, in a small whirlwind, the djinni spun back around to face Toun, who was looking no more impressed than before.

[color=goldenrod][i]"You bite at the saving hand,
yet remain in debt!
I found need for your favor,

and trust your oath remains true?"[/i][/color]

Toun slowly straightened. His eye stared, calculating, boring through Aihtiraq's calm visage. One arm swung slow around his body, showing a fist so clenched it crackled as he opened his fingers and lifted his palm level. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Present my token. Name your wish."[/color][/b] His blue eye flashed. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"But I will not break [i]any[/i] of my oaths."[/color][/b]

Fingers of golden vapor brushed the fabric of reality, found purchase, and made a tear imperceptible to mortal eyes. Through the portal was the open sky of some remote place on Galbar; a gentle breeze swept through carrying an earthy scent.

Another arm materialized, and from it a hand, and from that the porcelain disc that Toun had begrudgingly offered the djinni for proof of his foresight...or perhaps a mere replica woven from nothingness. An eddy formed an updraft potent enough to lift the thing, bear it across the room, and set it down perfectly upon the other god's open palm.

[color=goldenrod][i]"An urgent matter demands
we leave at once.
Teknall shall live, however

the dead forbid we tarry."[/i][/color]

Toun lifted the disc, turned it to see each side, and then flipped it in his hand. It winked out of existence behind his fingers. He blinked his eye to Aihtiraq. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Your sense of urgency may make sense to a rat, for all it is worth to me. If your wish is that I accompany you there, away from here, so be it."[/color][/b]

[color=goldenrod][i]"Your warm, exalted presence,
though generous, true,
is not what this one demands.

Travel is merely the start!"[/i][/color]

With an ecstatic spin, the brazen whirlwind twisted its way through the portal, softly tugging at Toun's porcelain robes to little effect more than annoyance.

Toun turned his head to Conata and Kinesis. [b][color=PaleGoldenrod]"His life depends on you both."[/color][/b] His body flowed like a magnetised liquid into the opening and it closed silently behind him.

The workshop hummed on around them, now a little emptier, and a measure more relaxed.

[color=Orange]"We just...shout out to him, then?"[/color] Conata asked. She turned her head around to the godheart, sitting inanimate on a workbench. [color=Orange]"That's what that...face said. Can father even hear us?"[/color]

Kinesis scratched her head. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"We could give it a go."[/color] Kinesis picked up the godheart and spoke into it. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Father, can you hear me?"[/color]

Silence.

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"If you can hear me, do something."[/color]

They waited. No response.

Approaching the table, Ilunabar gently touched the shoulders of both girls as a call for attention. [color=ec008c]"This is not something the realm of sound can provide. Have you ever seen a mortal pray? Is it the sound of their voices that reach for their gods? You must make your will known."[/color]

Conata turned from Ilunabar to the godheart. Her eyes wandered then to where her hammer normally sat in her belt -- neither were there on her nightgown. Remaining calm, she looked to a tool rack and stretched out an iron hand. A hammer flew across and into her grasp.

She briefly inspected the tool. Kinesis and Ilunabar only got a glance from her before she placed the hammer carefully on the workbench. [color=Orange]"We'll reach him."[/color]

[hr]
It was getting closer.

Teeth, claws, tentacles, hands, fire. They were getting closer. That Thing was closing in. Around Teknall reality dissolved and fell away into a void darker than the deepest black. A darkness beyond mere shadow and out the other side into a regime of anti-light incompatible with all sane forms of reality. Tentacles slipped around Teknall, smothering him. Barbs sank into his flesh and drew ichor from him. Tongues licked acid over Teknall's skin. As Teknall's form and psyche tore apart, the escape of death called to him.

But he felt something else. A presence familiar and warm and coppery. He could just make out a surface of corroded calcium and orange rust beneath his feet. She was worried and afraid. She needed comfort.

Teknall tried to reach out his hand, but the Thing let out an ear-splitting screech and the coiling appendages tightened. A mouth bit down on his hand and yanked it upwards. Tentacles gripped around his other arm and pulled in the opposite direction while lifting Teknall up. Teknall thrashed against the pull, but the creature was stronger. He could see the metal floor beneath him being pulled further away. Resistance seemed hopeless.

He could still feel something. Something gave him a little push he needed.

Teknall extended his will to the metal floor beneath him and pulled. Metal sheets sprung up and sliced through Teknall's restraints with a [i]cling[/i] which resonated through the entire domain. The Thing writhed and screamed, tentacles and teeth falling free as Teknall plummeted to the ground. The floor of calcium and rust shattered and Teknall fell through into a space coloured silver and tin.

It was calm. For this moment, the nightmares were distant. Awareness managed to find a feeble foothold.

[color=Peru][i]I'm...dying.[/i][/color]

The moment passed. The metallic sheen diffusing all space fractured and twisted away. Around him now was the city of Alefpria, the sky blood red as rods of metal fell from the heavens and blasted apart buildings and skewered Father Dominus. The rubble of the destruction washed over Teknall and he stumbled out into the worm-dug tunnels within Mirus. The shadows clawed at him and as Teknall twisted out of their grasp he fell. He kept falling as space warped around him. Past him raced Heartworm's laboratory, the rooms in which the Sculptors had performed cutting edge research exploding around him, spewing forth flames, acid and poison. He fell past the bloodied corpse of Serandor, the mutilated halves of Heartworm, the battered remains of Tauga and the ashen body of Keriss. Teknall crashed against the airlock and he burst through into the void of space.

Around him spun the stars, which were also windows to destruction and also eyes of a horrific beast. And then he saw Kinesis drifting just out of reach and getting further away. There was a look of panic in her eyes as she gasped breathlessly and frost crept over her skin. Teknall tried to reach out but she was too far; he could do nothing but watch helplessly as Kinesis went pale and limp and froze over.

Then the stars fell from their places, now motes of fire converging on Galbar below. White fire swept over Teknall. As the light washed out his vision Teknall struck stone and rolled along the ground. He was in a cave now. On one side was dear Conata. On the other was a realta, pouring forth consuming plasma. Conata shielded her face with her arms, but those blistered in the heat. She was heated beyond incandescence and her outer layers sloughed off, spattering the walls behind her with molten metal. She screamed until the liquid stumps of her arms let the heat past to gouge her chest and face open in flows of sticky molten fluid. She gurgled and discorporated into a heap of slag.

The realta was now Xos, and its flame replaced by the Primordial Spark. The shade's arm reached out and lifted Teknall by the neck, the very touch rotting his flesh. A low hum echoed through the cave, growing in intensity until the power was released as a single cataclysmic pulse. The world exploded and Teknall was flung far away.

Teknall drifted in ruins and destruction and death. All had been destroyed. All creativity, mortal and divine, was lost forever. Everyone he held dear was dead. All purpose was gone. All that remained was for Teknall to accept oblivion. The shadows bent, then those corners blossomed, and the blossoms imploded and tore holes in the fabric around him, consumed by horrific mouths which spewed forth barbed tentacles tipped with eyes. A fog of static settled over Teknall's mind and numbed his senses to all but pain. There was nothing left. Let death come.

Yet as it was getting closer, Teknall felt another familiar presence. How could there be nothing left if there was still that presence? Yet eldritch chittering and slurps of bottomless silence drowned out all logic and thought. And every moment the Thing was getting closer.

Then there was a voice. A small, sweet, coppery voice.

[color=Orange]"Father. I hope you can hear me."[/color]

The voice caught Teknall's attention. He looked up.

[color=Orange]"You were badly hurt. We've been trying to get you back to us."[/color]

Clarity and awareness cut through the droning psychic pressure. [color=Peru][i]Conata…I…[/i][/color] The Thing let out a wail that split the heavens and lunged forwards.

[color=Orange]"I'm scared. We're all scared."[/color]

A tentacle swept Teknall's legs out from beneath him. A chitinous spike-limb pinned him down. A kaleidoscopic maw of teeth opened up above him as mind-burning chittering engulfed him.

[color=Orange]"I went years without knowing about you. I don't want to lose you again."[/color]

[color=Peru][i]No…[/i][/color] The maw descended, but Teknall raised up his hands and gripped it, holding it away from him. His arms strained and trembled. [color=Peru][i]Won't…lose…you…[/i][/color]

[color=Orange]"We're reaching out. A djinni told us what you're going through before he took that statue-monk away."[/color]

The maw shifted and twisted through warped space to try to slip past Teknall's arms. Eldritch shadows crept up around Teknall.

[color=Orange]"You've got a curse. It's eating you. Your body is decaying."[/color]

The shadows lunged and sunk their terrible needles into Teknall's flesh. His arms were pulled down. The maw re-focussed for another lunge.

[color=Orange]"But whatever it is, you have to fight it!"[/color]

As the maw descended, Teknall pulled inwards. The world imploded and space inverted. A dark broiling fog surrounded him.

[color=Orange]"I know what it is to feel like giving up. To feel like you'll die."[/color]

There was nothing but fog and his thoughts. [color=Peru][i]Ì̜'m ̡́goin͌͟g̠̀ ͆ͅt̝͒o ̲̓d̩̓ȉ̳e. It̉͟ ̣̏wil̯͋l find m̫̉e ag̊ͅã̝i̛̗n̳̋.̢͠[/i][/color]

[color=Orange]"You have to go against what your heart says! You have to keep fighting!"[/color]

[color=Peru][i]Keep fighting. The̔͢rè͔ i͈͆s̨͒ ̬̋no̩͂ ̋͜p̡̏ô̭in͚͡t͉̑;̢͒ ̠̕Ï̢ ͓̾c̢̉an̬̎'''t̩̐ es̲̍c̝̋apé̙.̙́[/i][/color]

[color=Orange]"Like I found my way to you."[/color]

[color=Peru][i]There must be a way. B͖̐ut̙̔ h̼́ô̧w?̼̅ It i̻͐s̼̔ ị̚mpo̤͐ssi̹͗b̯̔lȅͅ.̫̽[/i][/color]

[color=Orange]"Come back to us. We're all waiting."[/color]

[color=Peru][i]They're waiting. They must be waiting by something. M̯̐y͍̑ bó̤dy. ̰̍I̙̐t's̤̕ ̟͡d̫͌è͟cay͉͒i͕̚ng̑͜,̳̽ ̜̒dyin͓̍g͕̈,͕̄ loṣ͊t̟́. C̦͒ȁ̘n̥̎n̞͆ot be ͉̌r̦̔e̘͌co̝̓v̬̔ê͕ṟ͂ed̳̕. B͓̊eyo̪̐ň͙d h̘̒op͖͒e.[/i][/color]

[color=Orange]"Kinesis, mother, and me. We're waiting for you, father."[/color]

[color=Peru][i]Yet they still hope. I am [/i]not[i] lost.[/i][/color] The fog parted, revealing the godheart hovering in space. [color=Peru][i]The̜͘r̮͘ê̜ i̤͗s͇͞ ̝͠so͔̎ lit̻̃ṭ͋le͖͠ ͉͘le̿͟f́ͅt.͔̓ ̰̔İ̱t ̤̾iś͇ so̜͡ ̛̬frail. Í̢t ̳́c̙͡anno̗̚t bë̫́ ̗͒f͙͆i͇̒xe̱͐d.̢͒ But I must try.[/i][/color]

[color=Orange]"Come back to us."[/color]

[color=Peru][i]I̘̕ ͓͊h͇͠a̩͑vḙ͛ ̙͋no w͍̑ã̱y t̤̓o̩̍ r͔͡ea͓͑c͇̋ḩ͞ ̠̅t̫̔ḥ̈́eḿ͓. No way yet.[/i][/color]

[color=Orange]"Please."[/color]

[color=Peru][i]But I can make a way.[/i][/color] Teknall extended what little willpower he had remaining into the godheart.

[hr]
[color=Orange]"Please."[/color] Conata opened her eyes. She and Kinesis stood hand in hand before the hammer on the workbench. Conata did not know why such distinctions counted. In truth, in that empty moment after her words, she thought herself a fool.

The godheart was silent. It had been silent for the entire prayer. The essence in the godheart was waning still.

[i]Ting~[/i]

Conata gasped. The godheart rang with a faint note which could easily have been missed if it had not been the focus of all attention in the Workshop. The sisters leaned forwards eagerly.

Lines etched themselves across the godheart, intersecting and winding in tight spirals. They ended in knobby protrusions in a complicated pattern of sigils and connections. After a second the note wavered and faded, the pattern stalling in its growth. Yet Kinesis had seen enough to understand. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Electromagnetic Telegraphy,"[/color] she breathed.

Kinesis stood up and hurried over to the workbench holding the schematics. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Conata, I need coils of copper wire, as if wrapped around a child's little finger. Make some pairs wrapped around a ring of iron with an insulating layer separating them from the iron."[/color]

[color=Orange]"On it!"[/color] Conata caught streams of powdered metal in each palm from the Elemental Siphon before Kinesis finished her first sentence. [color=Orange]"Uh, workshop! Insulating layer!?"[/color] Conata turned her hand around the other, willing pure iron into a ring that she tossed, still red hot, at a waiting machine arm. She did not wait for the workshop's response before drawing out wire as her sister ordered. She was not clear on what kind of insulation Kinesis intended.

Kinesis pulled out the designs for a Promethean and the tunnel-exploring drones. She circled the relevant components. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Workshop, transistors, diodes and capacitors."[/color] The forges and reactors flared into action.

As the parts started to arrive, Kinesis stood beside the godheart and began arranging the components. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Ilunabar, I need a resonant quartz crystal."[/color]

The goddess had such a focus on the machine that she was almost spooked by the request. [color=ec008c]"Resonant quartz…right, I will…"[/color]

[color=d7dcf6]"These machines can create it. Or so the documentation says."[/color] Piena interjected. 

The goddess nodded, [color=ec008c]"Good to know, but I do not need help to make some simple quartz, do I?"[/color] she said, creating a small crystal within her hand, following the specifications she saw in those papers. [color=ec008c]"Say if you need any adjustments."[/color] 

Kinesis glanced briefly to the side to look at the crystal and nodded. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Looks good."[/color] She turned her attention back to the godheart. She traced lines and patterns similar to those which had appeared spontaneously using ink. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Conata, I need you to install wires and components where I draw them. Ensure the metal parts don't touch any other metal parts unless they are meant to be connected."[/color]

Conata busily willed her wire to snake around her complete iron ring, freshly coated in a layer of a sticky transparent glue. She spoke, bewildered. [color=Orange]"I don't know what we're making, but I can do that!"[/color]

The completed wire-coiled ring landed on the nearest table. Conata drew her wide eyes to Kinesis' drawings. Flowing movements of Conata's arms orchestrated a formation of electronic pieces into place. They welded themselves in as Kinesis drew, several at a time. Tiny lines of stray vapour rose from the alien device that took shape. [color=Orange]"Is this right?"[/color] Conata asked as she moved.

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"That's good,"[/color] Kinesis replied. More parts came together, including the wire-coiled ring. As the device was nearing completion, Kinesis picked up the quartz crystal and handed it to Conata. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"Cap the two ends in metal and attach it to the device."[/color]

Kinesis' drawings followed her words and Conata's movements followed the drawings. She swung both arms back, hands splayed, and then drew them forward. Metal from the Siphon flew in two symmetrical streams into shapes matching the crystal's opposite facets. Conata bent her fingers and the plates clapped into place on the quartz. She willed wires to drift to each end and the last connections were made.

Kinesis gave the godheart a final check. Wires, coils and little electronic components protruded from the godheart and tangled around it. Satisfied, she brought over an electric cable to the workbench, spliced the wires onto the godheart, then flicked a switch on the wall.

There was neither sound, light, nor movement. It all seemed in place. Conata stepped back and exhaled.

A few expectant seconds passed. Conata gave Kinesis a sideways glance. Her sister was unperturbed. [color=Orange]"What happens now?"[/color]

Kinesis stood up and looked around the Workshop.

Conata turned to her. [color=Orange]"Is this some alchemical thing?"[/color]

[color=Darkgoldenrod]"It's an electrical thing,"[/color] Kinesis explained. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"The machines here communicate via invisible signals. I've connected father to this network of signals so he can communicate with us."[/color]

Conata nodded and closed her mouth. She looked around at the machinery and ran a hand back over her hair, making the strands audibly slide. [color=Orange]"I've still got a lot to learn, huh."[/color]

Kinesis kept searching until moving lights on a screen caught her eye. [color=Darkgoldenrod]"There!"[/color] She rushed over to it and Conata followed. Shining text and images already displayed seemingly random information -- coordinates, offsets, observations. The telemetry was cordoned into boxes labelled with various 'unmanned scout' designations. But other letters had appeared on the screen, out of place. Kinesis pressed a few keys, making all but one box disappear.

The remaining box contained just a few characters.

>Con
>Kin

[i]<Continued in the next post due to server errors not honouring the character limit...>[/i]