[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/T7qbbS2.png[/img][/center]

[center][h3]Nowhere — A blank slate[/h3][/center]

“We don’t have much time…” so spoke the colossal figure of stone and greenery that was the only other thing in this void with her. So spoke Gaia, so spoke life, death, and rebirth itself “there can’t be two of us at once”

“Two of what?” the small figure floating before Gaia, Rayne, asked

“Every living being is connected to you. You share their life, their strength. They trust your judgment. They have faith in you. That is all it takes to be me” the goddess explained, and Rayne knew that the first half of this at least was true. She could feel them through the link, that magical connection that gave her the power to do the things that had gained her that faith in the first place. She hadn’t known it was everyone however. Or she had, deep down she knew it was everyone, but she’d hoped there were more people out there, that other places had survived the splitting of the sky.

They hadn’t. 

She had the faith of everyone who was left alive.

“Am I… a Goddess?” she asked, as she came to the conclusion Gaia was leading her too, before attempting to reject it “But… I don’t care about the Link! I never did! I just wanted to help people! I don’t want to be a Goddess!”

“If you were chasing personal ambitions, you wouldn’t be here” the Goddess replied simply, before attempting to be reassuring “Do not worry, You are confused, and sacred… Like I was when it was my turn. But, with time, you will do fine. We have done this many times before.”

Then she did perhaps the least reassuring thing, and began to fade away as she declared with a measure of finality that “My cycle has ended, and so your cycle begins…”

Rayne could not simply let the moment be, still reeling from it all, and crying out “Wait, I don’t know what to do!” which was an entirely reasonable concern to have when the burden of all that lived was placed on your shoulders.

“Just close your eyes. See the patterns in nature. Rearrange them - find the balance. Life can sustain itself indefinitely when it is balanced.” the goddess replied, which was less than reassuring when the reason that they were here was because people had repeatedly knocked it out of balance “After that… you’ll simply inhale death, and exhale life.” 

“What if I can’t find a way?” Rayne called out, reaching a hand towards the goddess as if she might be able to grasp the fading Gaia, as if she could hold back her end.

“You’ll find it…” the goddess replied, almost silent, almost gone now “You’ll make your own cycle. You have all the time in the world” and then her time ran out, and she was gone.

There was silence, and then Rayne was truly alone in the nothingness. It took her several long moments to break the shock and then that silence.

“Ok. Ok. You can do this Rayne. Everybody was already counting on you to save the world, making a new one is basically the same level of responsibility… right?” she lied to herself, before her natural honesty forced her to admit “No. No, it's so much more. But… I can do this. I just have to breathe. Find a rhythm. Close my eyes and then-”

And then in a flash of light she was gone

[hr]

[center][h3]??? — Ruined Church[/h3][/center]

Rayne tried to shield her eyes from the glare, and started to ask herself “did it work” before she realized something was oh so wrong.

“Wait. What. no no no no no no what happened, where’s the Link? Where did everyone go?” in a panic as she realized she’d lost her connection to all the people she’d saved, and even the people she’d saved them from. Lost her connection to Akai…

The only thing that stopped her absolutely freaking out was her vision returning, and forcing to ask the more immediate question of “Where am I?” as she laid eyes on the unfamiliar architecture, and unfamiliar people. 

Many of them were strange, but she had no eyes for them, only the wounded pair who she immediately stepped towards while asking “Are you alright? Who did this?” before having that question somewhat answered for her when a volley of arrows smashed in through the window.

Despite the Link having vanished, and that meaning she had functionally, no power, she still stepped around them, putting her armored body between them and the entrance. “Stay behind me, I’ll protect you” she told them, causing her to feel the faintest bit of Link, to feel the promise of a start of a whole new network burgeoning in her soul.

As she did that powerless act, another of the strangers acted with sorcerous might, sending bits of paper out of the windows, and forming a barrier around the church.

The little promise of Link faded as hope was redirected towards this savior, but Rayne didn’t mind, even if she could see how that feeling had sent one of her fellow Knight Witches spiraling into madness. She was just glad someone had bought them time to work out what was going on.

She didn’t move from her spot however, just in case the barrier went down, and instead simply turned to face the others.

“Thank you for that” she said to the stranger in the starry dress who had created the barrier, before starting to ask “but who are you?” before pausing that line of inquiry and saying “No wait, that’s rude, let me introduce myself first. I’m Rayne, Knight Witch, and nice to meet you, despite… whatever the circumstances we’re in are?”

One of the people among them, a cloaked knight in gray armor, guessed that a good source of how to find that out would be the ones who were, unlike the rest of them, hurt (presumably by whoever was outside) and so asked them about what was going on as a small pale girl knelt down to aid one of them in some way.

“I’ll help too,” she told the pair, perhaps redundantly given her first action being putting herself in between them and danger, before broaching what she now realized was a slightly awkward topic to bring up right now, namely that she needed Link to be able to help “but I need you to believe I can help in order to help. I know that sounds weird and cyclical now that I say it out loud to someone who probably doesn’t already know what the Link is, but if you” she paused and then addressed everyone “if any of you believe I can help, then I can”

"Even if you don't I'll do what I can anyway" she clarified, "Build a barricade or something like that"