Lorien Highlands - Rolling Hills

The gentle slopes of two hills roll into a soft U-shaped valley here.
The elevation climbs to the northeast, and descends the hillside to the
southeast. Patches of bare, dark-colored rock are visible among the green
earth underfoot, casting shadows here and there. A portion of the hill has
a sudden drop-off, and while short, would not be the ideal path to travel -
plays host to a stack of rocks.

In the aftermath following the realization that Gforte was iron-mindedly determined to see his plans through to the end (whatever they were), Jillian had willingly, though somewhat resignedly, made contact with her "superior(s)", and established a location for them all to meet, in which the final black shard of crystal would be relinquished. The western edge of Orendur Forest eventually gave way to the rolling hills of the Lorien Highlands, mountainous enough in their own way, but not by technical definition. Choosing to walk instead of ride, Jillian led the way to a split in the main path leading west, where one of the higher-peaked hills lay in waiting. It provided a decent view of the region as a whole, and it was here that she stopped, looking ahead around for something briefly, before speaking. "This location is satisfactory. Does it suit you as well?" It sounded like a dumb question, perhaps, but she was well aware of his bouts of time-to-time paranoia. In this case, it wasn't really dumb at all; just considerate.

The Lobstrocity, complaining as usual about walking through inclines in it's mechanical way, comes to a halt as Gforte opens up the hatch and looks around. Then then proceeds to grunt, rescend back into his cockpit, and back the mech by a good number of yards. He re-emerges, carrying a spear and shutting his mech securely. Walking back over to Jillian, he nods. "It'll do."

Jillian eyes him and his weapon for a moment, pondering asking if he was planning on a fight. But that question answered itself before she would've asked it, so she remain silent instead, and only nodded. She turned, then, and held up one hand toward the sky, which began to sparkle gentle. "Find my location in the highlands west of the Monastery. This is where we are; please arrive quickly, if possible." She speaks to the air in front of her, it seems, but it was likely obvious at least to Gforte that she was directing their incoming company.

In the sky high above, almost directly overhead, a ray of white light parts the clouds, angelic and holy in its presentation; it does not extend very far through the atmosphere, however, just enough to be visibly noticeable.

Gforte eyes the obviously holy portal, and scowls. "Not exactly subtle, eh?" He thumbs the box in his pocket, forcing his metal lobster to curl back up into it's 'defense' mode. "Doesn't matter though. This will work. Has to work."

Jillian idly brushes a bit of bangs out of her face. "The Mana Holyland is a separate dimension entirely. Most forms of interspace relocation involve some sort of light show; if people could just disappear and reappear whenever and wherever they wanted to, regardless of plane, this would be a much less-safe environment we live in." As Jill explains, a somewhat-high-pitched cry resounds through the sky, coming from the location of the hanging light. Coming in on the horizon, a large white beast, beating a total of four furry white wings, appears in the distance, carrying what can barely be made out as one, two, three... yes, three individuals, located upon the beast's back. Another cry resounds from this beast, piercing the air in its own brand of announced arrival. Jillian herself remains where she is, expression not really changing much as she watches it head toward the two of them.

Gforte eyes the beast, and also the three individuals riding it. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we were just meeting the kid." He scowls. Of course they would modify the plan. Not only arriving singularly, but bring some kind of giant... thing. Gforte shifts his weight, leaning against the spear and settling his hand in one of his pants pockets, trying to maintain the 'uncaring' image.

Jillian tips her head, raising her face toward the incoming creature and its cargo. "Actually, I did mention that we would be meeting my superior. When I spoke of "them", I didn't mean just the child. That would be a cruel thing to impose, anyway, given that he would arrive to me, a man holding a spear, and a large machine waiting just a short distance behind us; I can't fathom that being a very welcoming party to be invited to. But do not worry, I do not foresee any altercations taking place this evening, unless you plan to be the one to initiate them." As Jillian speaks, the quad-winged beast comes sailing in overhead, circling once before landing some several feet away, on a flatter part of the land, away from them and the Lobstrocity. At this range, the trio who have arrived can be made out as follows: a woman appearing to be in her late twenties, garbed almost entirely in red from a strawberry-hued dress and skirt with a matching waist-sash and sporting a short ponytail of midnight blue hair that is held in place by the stem of a long black rose; a young boy, the one in question, wearing a sizeable longsword sheathed across his back and wearing what can be assumed as standard leather boys' clothes, with short midnight hair and a short-stemmed black rose held behind one ear; and finally another lady, also looking to be in her mid-to-late-twenties, but dressed remarkably different; she is wearing a set of denim overalls over a pale pink under-blouse, and her brown hair is tied back in a red kerchief, hairband-style, and she wears no shoes to speak of. The three of them prepare to dismount, as the beast gives a breathy sigh and lowers its head to the grassy floor, eyeing Gforte a bit warily.

Gforte rolls his eyes, after examining the arrivals. "Cruel my ass. You're a friendly to him, the lobstrocity is tucked away, and the kid's got a sword slung to his back. How's that, what was it, 'infinite potential' working out for you? Been getting your dinner on time?" Gforte gives a tired grin at his small mockery.

Jillian sighs, glancing over her shoulder as the three of them establish their bearings before advancing upon them. "There's a lot about that boy that you don't know. For starters, he's just that; a boy. It doesn't matter what you give him or tell him he is, a child is still a child. Secondly, he's had it rough, too. Not rough in the same way mortals understand it, but his entire existence is an enigma." Jillian pauses, looking back toward the three of them as they approach. "But I'm going to assume that this doesn't matter too much to you, anyway. And it isn't important to our engagement, as well. So this is fine."

The three travelers stop a few paces away from them, both women standing in front of Ambience, who doesn't seem out-and-out scared, but would be lying through his teeth by his expression if he said he wasn't a bit nervous. Jillian and the overalls-wearing woman looking at each other for a long, long moment, and in that moment, one could see striking similarities between the both of them, ranging from facial features, to body frame (with a few obvious 'differences'). The woman opposite Jillian only smiles after this time, and inclines her head in a short nod. "Thank you, Jillian. You've done well, and exactly as I asked." Jillian offers a smirk, looking between her and the others. "It is what was expected of me. No more, no less. More importantly, do you have the crystal shard with you?"

The woman in red, and Ambience as well, tense noticeably as the as-yet-unnamed woman looks at them, then past Jillian at Gforte, speaking to her but without taking her eyes off of the latter. "We do. But first, may I speak with your friend? Just a few words, that's all." Though her question was directed at Jillian, her tone made it obvious that she intended for the answer not to directly come from her.

Gforte examines the speaking woman, ignoring the child and the woman in red for now. He looks to Jillian for a quick moment, though it could mean any number of things, before he nods. "Sure. You want a Q and A, I suppose I can run it. Might even do you the favor of not lying my ass off. Rare opportunity that, what do you want answered?"

The woman smiles, gesturing to Jillian briefly as she approaches gforte, but only in such a way as to take a stand a few feet away from him. She offers a half curtsey out of pure courtsey. "'Haut,' my name is Lillian. I'll spare you the long speech and get right to the point, if I may; you seek these shards of darkness, fully knowing that their intent, regardless of your own, is nothing short of malevolent. Realizing this, you pursue them anyway, heedless of the danger and potential tragedy you may instill upon their activation. Though I feel Jillian has asked you this once already, I would like to hear it from you, with my own two ears: Why? The fruits of your endeavour cannot possibly hope to outweigh the misfortune that will no doubt befall you and many others. If you know and understand this, why do you still continue your quest? The logic is completely absent from my understanding."

Gforte examines Lillian for a few moments, before sighing. "Fuckit. Sure. You want to know why I'm going out and causing this 'cataclysm'? It's not actually out of some misplaced want to become a hero. It's not even about subverting whatever damn destiny I have." Gforte pinches the bridge of his nose before he continues, eyes closed. "Yeah. Sure. I could stop this quest here. I could go away and live the rest of my life doing what I usually do. But."

"But then there's another big question that has to be asked. What happens next? Someone could take the shards and hide them through the land. They could put each at the bottom of their own massive dungeon. They could shoot them into the stars and pray to gods that they're never seen again. But we know what will happen." Gforte shifts, holding out his hand before him now. "After all, I'm not the only dumb son of a bitch who knows about these things, am I?"

"People will come. Doesn't matter who they are. They'll come hearing rumours and tales. Wannabe heroes and cultists of darker powers. They'll gather the shards, killing whoever they need to so they can get them. And then before you know it, the cataclysm is here again." Gforte closes his hand. "And it could be by the forces of good, or it could be by people who want the world dead. It doesn't matter because it's happened."

Gforte puts his hand back in his pocket, eyeing Lillian now. "The point of the matter is that I for one know there's going to be something terrible at the end of the rainbow. My intention is to stop whatever it is. Then, with luck, the shards become useless."

Lillian just remains there and listens to Gforte as he pours himself out, watching him with due intent up to the very last word. She gives a moment or three of silence after he's finished, perhaps to let it all sink in, and just... nods. She offers him a smile. "The 'sooner rather than later' approach, is it? I see. After all, why give someone else the credit of ending innocent life when you're perfectly capable of it, here and now? That's a perfectly wonderful thing to have on one's conscience, I bet." She pauses for a moment, turning toward Jillian, who has at this time more or less hung back like an obedient serving girl; it's a strange stance she's taken, given her forward approach to most everything she and Gforte had enacted upon up to this point. Lillian smiles at her. "And yet, a part of me understands his desire. Through the grim and the dark, the desire to simply cull the darkness before it has a chance to become worse than it already is, is a noble one. And yet..." She turns once more, one hand on her stomach in an odd gesture, eyeing his spear. "I fear you may need much more than that. But just the same, I want to make absolutely sure. You still desire the shard. Is this correct?" Her tone is somewhat serious now, where it had been easygoing and almost lilting up to this point.

Gforte nods. "No doubt in my mind. I'll take the shards, I'll get this all started. When I die, you can handpick any damn mortal you choose to be the new hero." His wording seems oddly set in stone, but Gforte carries a steady look to Lillian.

Lillian nods curtly. "Your will is acknowledged. Come, Jillian." She turns, heading back toward the woman in red and the boy, Jillian following obediently behind, spaded tail swooshing about in the air behind her. She stops in front of the red-dressed woman, and nods. "He has no doubt in his mind. For good or for ill, we will do as the Tree has asked, and give him the shard. He alone will decided this realm's fate, and we will bear witness to his decision and consequences. Aura, please take it from here." With that, Lillian and Jillian walk away from the group as a whole, heading back toward the winged beast that, at this time, has opted for a little snooze in the grass.

Aura, as she has been called, looking upon Gforte unnervedly, much less pleasantly and open-mindedly that either of the other two women. But, she has her orders. Looking down at Ambience, she nods. "Honey, we knew what was going to happen. Give him the shard you kept for us... and trust in the Goddess' judgment. It will be okay, he won't hurt you." This last sentence was spoken a bit... loudly, to say the least. As if to make specifically sure Gforte heard.

Ambience looks up at Aura, then at Gforte... and hesitates. The glint of something shiny and black is seen at the collar of his tunic, just below his throat, on a thin black cord.

Gforte doesn't bother softening his facial expression when he looks to the woman, and then to the child. "Unless you're any good at healing, give me the shard and run on kid. This is about to be a battlefield, don't you know?" Gforte looks back to the Lobstrocity, before returning his gaze to Ambience and holding out his hand.

Ambience furrows his brow. Nobody had questioned his healing ability before, but he hadn't really been of the mind to stick around and see what was going to happen after he had given up his shard. Regardless, he was as bound by the whim of the Tree as his mother and Lillian. With a short sigh, he removes the cord from around his neck, which does indeed wrap tightly around the final shard. He takes a few steps toward Gforte, holding up his chin in attempted defiance. "You're makin' a mistake. Why can't you see this?" But even as he says these words, he hands over the shard, placing it in Gforte's outstretched hand, and looking up at him with a frown.

Gforte closes his hand around the shard, and leans over a bit, looking at Ambience eye to eye, on his level. "You wanna know a secret kid? It doesn't fucking matter what I see." Gforte loops the necklace around his neck before straightening. He looks back at Jillian and the other woman, walking away before he frowns. He pulls a small folded sheet paper from his jacket, and hands it do the kid. "Do me a favor. Give that to Jill later, will ya?"

Ambience's frown doesn't disperse, but he does take the folded paper. "I will, yes." He looks upon Gforte for just a moment longer, and turns, heading back to Aura, where they embrace in a warm hug. "It'll be okay. We did what we were supposed to; it's out of our hands, now." Aura looks past Ambience at Gforte, seeming like she was attempting to understand his motives, but just not getting it. She coaxes Ambience to walk with her, toward where Lillian and Jillian are waiting at the Flammie's side. "Just remember, Ambi... you don't owe this realm anything. This was never meant to be your home."

Once the four of them have regrouped, they all turn back to look at Gforte, four pairs of eyes that show mixed reactions how what they've just done by handing over such a delicate and volatile artifact to him. But with unanimous realization that they are not at fault for what transpires from here, they all proceed to mount the large dragon's back, which spontaneously wakes up from its nap and blinks bleary golden eyes, yawning a big ol' toothy yawn.

The Flammie herself eyes Gforte as she gets to her feet, not really as "in the know" about what was going on as her riders, but what did she care? She was a dragon, and they rarely cared about anything. In so doing, she beats her large wings several times against the air, and lifts off with a whooshing burst of wind, taking to the sky and sailing off into the air, back the way they came. A piercing cry, familiar as it was from before, cuts through the air, signaling the great beast's departure from the middle realm.

Gforte grunts, raising a hand to his chest and fiddling with the shard before turning back to his own vehicle. "Nothing left now, I guess." He activates the Lobstrocity again, stepping towards the uncurling mecha while examining the final shard. "I am going to need about thirty drinks after this. And bitches." He sighs and examines his mech once again. "Lots of bitches."