Mission accomplished, hopefully, Tarvek deactivated the jetpack as he landed, with as little noise as he could considering his power armoured self's size and weight. Fog, thick, and dark, and cold surrounded him, and the spirit-avatar sitting astride his metallic shoulders, as he landed, weapon sheathed, taking off the fake horns from his helmet with gauntleted hands. They had been silly additions, and the ugly paint had to go too when he had a chance, as the disguise was no longer needed now the actions agreed upon were completed. At least judging from her happy cheers, arm and leg waving, along with general words that were sufficient to stand as completion of the task.
Behind him, distant down the hill, the clinic was burning on his drone feed, but otherwise was hidden by the magically, divinely, summoned fog swallowing the valley and settlement. It would drain the natural leylines, badly, especially with all the chronomancy...but that was the little goddess's prerogative and concern, not his as an orc warrior. He had done what he'd been requested to do, and now came getting paid his, their, side of the bargain as Janet appeared with Mayuko and the little priestess in tow. The shrine was also on fire behind them, with the indicators of gasoline the cause; gasoline and Janet, having confirmed the young priestess, Rika, requested it to cover up the bodies.
"The male?"
Janet motioned off into the woods, a heat signal visible against a tree on Tarvek's HUD "He's sleeping it off over there. All the bodies are…well, in the fire now"
He nodded. That was good. The remains would survive, yes, but the most obvious evidence would be burned away, and with his appearance….very likely to be the less important part of the events for the natives. Or so they hoped. Being gone from here meant that such matters shouldn't be his or his companion's problem when the situation arose. Though he was still wary of betrayal, even if the sprit was Oath Bound, but Tarvek was polite and maintained decorum despite the, mildly grating, nature of the goddess avatar at times this miserable night and dimension. She was their means of navigating many dimensions, quickly, after all, and it did no benefits to offend such a being based upon paranoia. So he spoke to that being, whose avatar sat behind his helmeted head.
"Is that sufficient?"
"RIKA?"
The goddess spoke to her priestess excitedly, the tiny human female with purple hair, a blanket wrapped around herself, nodded with an impassive, stoic look upon her face. It was an interesting difference between priest and deity, in cheerfulness against stoicism, but she too seemed to agree "That is…everything that can be done"
"Excellent" Tarvek vocalised "Does this fulfil our portion of the Contract then, Lady Hanyuú?"
'Because your presence disturbs me' he did not say, along with 'Please let this be done'
"Hmm, Hurray! We are done if all is well!" the spirit avatar announced "Now we go forward!"
'Ah, of course, that would make sense' he told himself, then motioned at Mayuko and Janet "Come, stay behind my armour. We follow the spirit"
"We're, uh…" Mayuko motioned oddly with her right hand "…going forward in time?"
He motioned with his armoured hand, the avatar spirit 'floating' off of him, waving arms at the little priestess and talking excited, as Tarvek's companions moved to behind him. Janet merely nodded in her hazmat suit, Mayuko looking more confused than anything, but they obeyed and that was what mattered. They, after all, had no means to sense the magic in the air, nor see what the being before them was. No, from his two companions point of view they merely watched the being interact with her priestess, then wave at the girl-adult, and then motioning at Tarvek to follow her. No…they did not see the disturbing energies in the air, or the world warping and shivering as they followed the deity. All they saw was they walked in the fog around the shrine that was currently aflame, but was then burnt out in an instant, followed by being rebuilt moments later it seemed to the females' eyes he silently suspected.
Power was always disturbing to witness when it could seem so mundane as they walked around the shrine…
"Hanyuú. Guests"
"What. The. Fuck"
"Mayuko" he said, firmly, in response to his short companion's muttered statement as a purple haired human female, an adult in more casual clothes, came in view, a fog around. In her twenties he judged now, though the fog remained…
'Or has returned again deliberately' he figured, seeing the ornately decorated shrine, his drones near him, and what might be fireworks over the still existent settlement. Time, clearly, had progressed without issue…and Tarvek wondered if the 'little goddess' had been here all that time, talking to her priestess in those years that had passed. If that wasn't obvious by the human girl child turning into a tall adult. Even though he pointed it out to his companion "This is Priestess Rika"
"She's really tall and has boobs now!"
…Tarvek…wasn't sure how to respond to that startled, bizarre, statement…
"I know!" the priestess agreed with a beaming smile, reaching up and placing hands on her chest "You have no idea how late I bloomed! It was…"
"Ahhh…." Tarvek interrupted. Yes, pleasant and all…but he wanted confirmation aside "The fair and beautiful priestess aside…can we agree our task is completed?"
The priestess blinked "Oh, I forgot, it was just…moments ago for you?"
"Yes" Tarvek stated simply, eyes on the deity-avatar-spirit "Our task?"
"Well, everyone is alive, so…yes" the priestess answered "Though the town is constantly visited by government officials, and everyone is currently hiding because…the fog and demons that come in it"
Janet frowned "There's fireworks? I can hear them and there on…"
"To scary away the evil" came the bland replied, the priestess bringing her hands together under the sleeves of her red-white robes "Or something, I never understood it. I think it is just an excuse to drink and have hanky-panky judging from talking to Keichi"
'Probably. It has been decades after all' Tarvek thought, but merely motioned at the hovering goddess, before either Janet or Mayuko decided to interrupt "That is good. All is well?"
"Hmph! Hmph!" the hovering deity's avatar agree happily, dancing in mid-air "Now you can travel wherever you want where Hanyuú can see-reach-feel-touch!"
The word(s) translated oddly, in that way such talk of multi-versal thing always did when one tried to explain such complex things to another of a different culture/species/entity. He turned to Janet and Mayuko, pressing a button on his wrist-comp pip-boy to free a line from his suit that could be clipped to Janet, and then back to Mayuko's suit as if climbing "We are to travel forth. For extra safety, secure these to your belts"
"Why?" Janet queried, curiously more than unhappily as she did as he'd asked "You never did so before?"
"One was not travelling with another force guiding before" he answered, though it was more complicated than just that. Technically he would be doing the 'guiding', but the fact remained he could not watch the pair at the same time as watching the Planes and the Goddess. To seek forth any sort of beacon towards the general realms he wished would be difficult enough without those as well, adding in small adjustments to guide the two with him would be too much this time. Simply linking them in this manner was seeing to their safety, much like climbing a mountain or diving into the sea.
"So, soon, we're not…"
He shook his armoured head for emphasis "No. It is best we do not linger here"
"Probably not, much as it is a pleasure to see you all again" the priestess seemed to agree, looking off into the think, dark, fog "I'd rather not have to spend another year having agents poking and prodding and demanding answers"
"Yay! Okay!" the avatar hovering before agreed, cheerful as ever "Then let us…do your magic thing! Then I do mine!"
Again he nodded for emphasis, giving brief, careful directions to Janet and Mayuko to simply…walk behind, and not to lose the lead as he pulled out his Compass. The 'pushing' forth energy into it, carefully bringing forth shimmering energies into the foggy night as they reached out and 'swirled' around the tiny but titanic little goddess as her reach expanded…
"URRHHHHH" Tarvek winced, going to one knee a moment, steading himself at the sheer volume brought to bear. Or rather in the transfer of knowledge – ideas, concepts, realms, and other things that gave forth links and bridges to those places. Waving off Janet "It is fine. Just…the nature of things"
Forcing himself to stand again the power armoured orc pathfinder, focused his mind and magic upon the Compass, on the Celestial Etherscope, and began to form a 'map' in his mind/soul for what was being given forth to him. Around him the fog twisted and swirled, then falling away, and being replaced by a twisting, roaring, abyss of not-fog and not-stars. Even the ground beneath them was real yet not-real, a reflection of a thousand thousand realities…
Even a minor deity as this was, exhausted even perhaps, was aware of, and thought, in ways that Tarvek's mortal mind struggled with. Mental defences and training strained under the pressure at first, but soon was looking out from the ocean, seeking some light and direction. A way, a path, back to where he belonged as he centred himself, linking to his Waystation, and then starting to 'Walk' through the 'Fog/Ocean/Path' towards faint whispers and flickers of light. Like a whip of golden light a 'Path' opened before him, after what felt like ages, and he trudged forward after it, as it 'hit' a point, forming a connection. Reached out, guided, and pushed through into a new dimension, closer than when they had started…
