2438/Deal with the Demon

Deal with the Demon
Date of Scene:	29 March 2025
Location:	Obsidian Tower
Synopsis:	Glimmer runs into a strange bird by the name of Fuku, who offers to help her rescue her mother... As well as introduce her to Fuku's master, Michel. To help her in rescuing her mother, they even offer her an amulet... which will definitely not have any long term consequences.
Cast of Characters:	Glimmer Brightmoon, Coco Kiumi

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Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon was in her room once again. The window was pushed open and smoke was billowing out as she coughed and hacked. She even opened the door to try and clear out the smoke...

Recent attempt at scrying magic? NOT a success. Very much NOT a success. Also, artichokes: Not a good substitute for some of the ingredients she'd hoped. She hated this world sometimes. She hated it a lot.

She sighed and finally walked over to the Moonstone, leaning back against it and closing her eyes. "Sigh... I'm sorry, mom... I really wish I had dad now... he'd be able to figure this out..." Daughter of the greatest mage in Etheria and an angel didn't mean as much when you didn't have access to most of what made Etheria Magic function in the first place.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Fuku sighs, flying just out of Obsidian's tower, doing her best to ignore the room through the windows looking upside down. She had just finished fuming (both metaphorically and literally) all due to Lanhua. Did she really have to blame Fuku just because she couldn't have gotten rid of some bunch of kids with some simple excuse? Should she start worrying Lanhua got resurrected without her brain?

No, no, this has to be a one-of incident. A shame that they haven't gotten any closer to figuring out where their enemies resided, or any clue about the other Ancients. Nope, the only trace so far was theirs. Cheer up, Fuku, with that orange princess you are off to a good start.

Certainly a better start than whichever Obsidian member tried to cook something, the Ancient fairy scrunches her nose at the smoke. Thank the Ancients she doesn't live here. Waaaait a minute, this energy... Here!?

Fuku starts flying in circles when she picks up on what her senses have telling her all along. Was it always this easy? She takes it back, this nasty smoke is the best thing that happened to her. To think she was about to miss not one, but two Ancients! (A kid and an asleep adult, judging by the energy).

Taking a deep breath, the white bird adjusts her halo and braves the stench of the smoke, flying in with special composure. Ok, here is the kid, sulking. Who can blame her, Fuku would sulk too if she had to live here. Where is the other...

A stone. The other Ancient is in a stone. A stone again. Why is her bad luck so abysmal? Weeeeell, let's hear it from the pinkette. "Hey, you, you are an Ancient, right? What do you have going on here? Why the smoke? And why is the other Ancient in that magic stone?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon was most definitely sulking... and then...

BIRD! TALKING BIRD! "Uhhhhh..." Glimmer said, staring at the bird with a very confused look.

... That. Was not a pigeon.

She could tell because A. It was talking and B. That was certainly a face.

Wait, an ancient? Was she... a first one? Is that what the bird was asking her? "Do... you mean a first one? Uhhhh... no. That'd be Adora. I'm Gl-- WHAT?!" she asked, before her hands came together. Magic spilled out from her in dark waves, coating the area in magic before the windows and door sealed themselves.

"You can sense my mom?" Glimmer asked. "Who are you? HOW are you able to do that? I'm Glimmer, Queen of Brightmoon, and I... do not have any idea who you are." She put a palm against the stone, the pink rock humming lightly with the touch.

Meanwhile, across the room, Fuku could also see a... strange... weird... cat? That was sleeping in the corner and didn't seem to be listening. The room was sparshly decorated, a big hammock, some gameboy games, lots of weird plants, the big pink rock...

She then paused and glanced around. "... Magic. I was trying to brew some magical potions. It didn't work. It had some effects..."

She coughed and, well... the window opened again. Cause, wow. It smells awful.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Fuku's eyes squint when Glimmer mentions the first ones. Maybe she knows the Ancients by some other name, but she wouldn't be referring to them as someone else. This kid seems very confused. Either that, or Fuku is...

Shoot, shoot, she is getting angry! "What is going with you?", Fuku raises her voice while she takes care to avoid the aggressive magic flying towards her. "Are you serious? One of your kind comes in and you attack them just like that?" she bristles at Glimmer's quick temper.

"You aren't very queenly for a monarch", the white bird mutters under her breath, taking a peek at the room. Definitely didn't give a royal feeling. What was feline however was the beast in the corner. That was a huge cat. Things could ugly if... Nope, back to sleep. Just as lazy, luckily for her.

Ok, she has never heard of Brightmoon, so this kid either isn't an Ancient, or names have become wildly different when she was busy searching. "I wouldn't be so quick to anger, if I were you. You said the Ancient in the stone is your mom? What happened to her? Where is Brightmoon?" There is a pressure for now very subtle coming from Fuku.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon narrowed her eyes on the bird, opening her mouth to object... then blinked. She sighed, crossing her arms and leaning against the Moonstone.

"... I'm not 'queenly'. I'm a princess who grew up in war. Me being queen wasn't... what was supposed to happen." She reached up and rapped her fingers against the stone. "My mom? She got trapped. I had to rescue her... and she got trapped again. Now she's in there."

"... As for what happened to her? Well... other dimension... thing. Catra kind of caused it but... mom saved us. Me, everyone, our world. And so I had to... try and find her. Brightmoon is the name of our home, the capital city of Etheria. I'm the queen there, now."

"... So how do you know what I am? And what do you mean by 'one of my kind'? No offense, but you're..." She trailed off. "Wait. You're... not kyubey, are you?" She'd been told to watch out for a weird looking 'mascot' creature... but... she'd been told he'd be more cute and poofy. Not... whatever... THIS is...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
It's official. She remembers nobody with Glimmer's history. A crestfallen look appears on Fuku's face that comes and goes in a blink. One would hardly be at fault for thinking their imagination was playing tricks on them. For a moment, she really thought... Disappointment is the order of the day.

But on the upside, she can make something out of this. After all, she knows fully well to what extent someone may go to help a loved one in danger. And Glimmer and her mother are similar enough to them, that Fuku may make use of them.

"Long story short, millennia of years ago, a race of beings like me lived together with other fantastical creatures and turned the Earth into a paradise. Nothing like what you see nowadays", she scowls. "But Lord Michel is bringing those days back", she smiles.

"You really felt like one of us, you still do. And you say your mom is trapped there. I don't really want to turn a blind eye to the closest person I have had to one like me besides Lord Michel. I... actually think I can help you. I want to try. We should be able to get your mom out." Not like how you want her, though.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon blinked a few times and... slowly, she held out her palm. "Are you okay?" she asked at the strange, sad look on her face. The poor thing... she didn't know WHY she was upset, but she did, at least, want to try and help.

"... Huh. Really? I wonder if there's any connection between us, then. Our world has been at war with these people called the Horde for... well. Longer than my life. It... might be possible we have some kind of distant, very distant, ancestors? I mean, something drew us here."

However, at the mention that this little bird could help her... were they really... alike? The bird? "Lord Michel?" she asked. "... And we're that much alike?"

... Catra was gone. Adora was still figuring her sword out. Riventon was a mess. Her mom was trapped... and Horde Prime was at the door. If she didn't do something soon...

"... Help me... how?" she asked. She was curious... wary... But... she also felt a lot of pressure from a lot of different places right now. Horde Prime was there and the sooner she could get her mom or the Moonstone away...

"... And you really think you could help me get my mom out?" And she was needy... more desperate than she wanted to ever admit.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Was... was she being pitied? Fuku stares with uncertainty at the hand that is being held out to her. It has been a long while since someone has given her a look like that. There is for a second a motion to accept, very very deep inside.

But the rest of her rebels at the notion. She has gotten this far on her own. She does not need Glimmer's help. Or Michel's even. She just needs the two of them to follow the path she has laid out for them.

But this is a sentiment she can make use of still. "Yes, thank you", she lowers her head with diabolical theatricals. "It's just I never thought I would have been able to make that happen even if I intend to do my best. To see someone like you in front of me, it's really hard to explain. You might be right there may be some common ancestry, though."

Fuku sighs deeply. "I am sorry your mom is stuck in there, but I do know how to help you. It's kind of selfish, but I want to see her free to have more people like me free", she looks at Glimmer with fake earnestness.

"We had studied many disciplines and learnt much, and while a lot of it is useless to me with what I have right now, Lord Michel, God of the Ancients, has the means to help you, and he recently got enough power to make it work."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon felt a little more remorse at this poor creature's suffering. If it was an ancestor or... well. Related to an ancestor... it wasn't like there were a lot of angels on Etheria. In fact, her mom was the only one she'd ever actually met. Most had died off or disappeared loooooong ago. Her mom was likely only there because of the whole immortal thing.

"God of the ancients?" Glimmer asked. Well, if the ancients were angels, and well.... if they were tied to the Moonstone in some way. She glanced back towards the Moonstone. Then forward to the bird.

Normally... she'd have shoved this aside. A deal with the bird was... not wise. She knew that. But...

Horde Prime was here. Catra was AWOL. Her attempts to free her mom had failed. Adora...

... They'd likely tell her it was too dangerous, too reckless. And then they'd ignore her, talk around her, shove her aside and do what they wanted. Her eyes narrowed for a moment.

"He could help me save my mother? How? And what... do you need from me to do it?" she asked. Still a little wary. Still a little cautious. But...

But the hope to save her mom, with all the other dangers present? It was too much for her to resist.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"That's right", Fuku smiles, bringing a wing to her chest with confidence once she feels Glimmer starting to give in. Maybe they are related, maybe not. But she is not one of the Ancients she knows, and that's all that matters to her. Believe it already. You know you need to.

"Michel is the God together with his people that visited this lone planet 10000 years ago, and granted the creatures there his blessings and knowledge. You can imagine how sad he is that he finds his chosen either relegated to secrecy or almost extinct, and the planet... Well, have a look around. Can you tell me humans are treating it well?"

The bird scowls then with palpable disdain. That feeling at least is sincere. They cannot be trusted, and with her plan, the creatures of the air, the Panthalassa, the mermaids... They will all be restored to how they were back then, no matter what she has to do to make it a reality.

"We don't need much. With the guidance of the Great One," - her guidance - "the blessing of Michel, and a few of the heart fragments Michel has taken from the Orange Pearl, you will gain the power to bring your mother back. Even if she is from another dimension, she is still an Ancient. This will be a sacred moment for both of us", she wipes a liar's tear from her eye.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon stared at the bird, looking.... cautious.... nervous.... slightly hopeful... A little willing to believe. Desperately wanting to believe.

The longer her mom was here, the longer she was TRAPPED under the gaze of Horde Prime... the more likely it was that something terrible would happen to her.

"It's true, the humans here are kind of... destructive," Glimmer said softly. "Worse than that, they ONLY know and seem to care about humans. Everything here is humans, people like us are the outliers. I can get by because I at least pass as one, but... well...." Catra didn't.

... "... Fine. So long as like... I'm not going to destroy this world or kill anyone. But... you have a deal," she said, reaching out with her other hand and petting the deal. "Help me save my mom and... I'll help you where I can."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Yeah, this girl understands how damaging the humans are. If Fuku weren't planning to sacrifice her mother, she would feel be feeling sad for her. But at least in the paradise they will bring about, she won't have to go through any of that anymore.

"Don't worry, soon enough you won't have to worry about passing as a human. You will be able to be your true self, the one you shine as", Fuku tells her pleased.

There is but a movement of her wing, and the world around them starts warping, the office floor replaced by a soil covered with clouds. Or perhaps the clouds are the soil. They don't feel like it, though.

Around them golden double helixes tower around them, holding within their bounds repeating lines of half-green, half-red segments in alternating colours. Catching the attention of any onlooker, a rock tower resembling what is classically known as the Tower of Babel rises in the short distance.

"That is our destination", Fuku points towards the rock formation, guiding Glimmer there. During this trip, many animals pass by them, cats, dogs, fishes, and more, all of them endowed with wings. The two will proceed up many stairs, accompanied by the sound of a flute above them.

Their destination is a large chamber, and the flutist sits at the center of the room, immaculate white wings decorated by small orange orbs of light spreading out from the androgynous figure, his eyes closed in contemplation. Long pale green hair frames the being's face.

"Why are you here, Fuku?", the man speaks with a melodious, enchanting voice, his eyes opening to reveal a striking blue colour. "Lord Michel, this is Glimmer of Brightmoon. I am sure you can feel it for yourself, but she seems to be one of our kind from another dimension, and also..."

Michel raises a hand, and Fuku falls silent, letting the angel's voice take precedence. "It is a honour having you here, Glimmer of Brightmoon. Yes, I can feel you are just like one of us. Is this why Fuku brought you to my presence, because you too wish to bring that splendid past back?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon gave a light snicker at that. "Yeah. Luckily, my friends know and like the real me. Well, most of them. Or... did. sometimes. Do..." And then she sighed. She really didn't know some days...

And then... Fuku teleported them out? Or warped them? It made Glimmer's breath catch. She hadn't expectd it and, frankly, forced teleportation was always a bit unnerving. Even for her. But well... They were there now, so she didn't have to panic. She just relaxed and looked around, before shrugging and starting to walk.

Animals were nice. She liked the animals, though he ones of this world were... strange sometimes. Smaller. Less bitey. all of them having wings was kind of weird, too.

And then... an angel. He was an angel. Like her mother. Her breath snagged and a hand covered her mouth. "S-sorry, I don't mean to stare," she said, her cheeks going red. "The uhhh... just... the only other angel I've ever met was my mother. As for... the past? Kiiiiind of," she said softly, her eyes wandering to his feet, up, then to his wings.

Her own wings felt... vastly... insufficient, now. And it had been so long since she'd seen one like....

"My world is... one embroiled in war. My mother is an immortal angel, but she... was... lost in the war," she said softly, before glancing to Fuku. "I've... for the most part... been trying to hide this from people in Obsidian. I managed to rescue her from place between dimensions, but now she's trapped inside the Moonstone. Fuku, here, told me you'd be able to help me save her. In return... I'll help you."

She then gulped and sighed. "And I should warn you. There's a... man, here. In Obsidian. Horde Prime. He's the one who was trying to destroy our world and the source of most of the destruction on it. He's... dangerous. Be careful when you encounter him. wha he lacks in magic, he makes up for with cunning, vileness and an army."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"No need to be flustered. This is God you stand in the presence of", Michel laughs quietly, and he stands up, flying towards her, looking at her with a smile. No, there is something more, perhaps fondness, perhaps intrigue in the possibilities that Glimmer's presence brings. His gaze lingers on her, his mouth recurve in sharp confidence.

Yet as Glimmer recounts her tale, a sad hum comes of Michel's mouth where previously there was only self-assurance. So, her world too is facing ruin, and she has lost her only kind even. How deplorable. "I understand your plight, and it is close to my heart, Glimmer. When I have restored this world to its glorious antiquity, you have my promise we will liberate yours next, and every corner of your land will sing the odes of Brightmoon."

An irritated look appears on Michel's face at the mention of Horde Prime. "That's a ridiculous weakness. We do not lack magic by any means, and yet he wants to bring his conquest here. I will be careful, and when this man will make his move, he will regret ever showing up, and will become part of me as well."

"So, Fuku, I presume you have something to share with me for her mother's return?", Michel's gaze turns on her assistant. "Yes, with the power of the orange princess' heart fragments and secrets from the Great One, we can give her freedom, if you extend to us your help."

That explanation makes Michel nod. "I don't mind at all doing that, I have plenty of them, and there is a lot more power to be absorbed." His wings glow, and a few of those feathers fall down in his hand, gathering in an amulet not unlike the mermaid princesses' shell lockets.

"You can take this", Michel offers it to Glimmer. The pinkette's eyes having lingering on his wings have not escaped his notice, however, and he picks up on her apparent lack of them. "Is there something else you would like help with while you are still here?"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon gave a soft sigh. "Actually... we did that already. In our world. We fought off Horde Prime, defeated him and... saved the universe."

"... And then it all went bad. In the war, my mother was... lost. Not killed. Trapped, between dimensions. But when we ended up being dragged to this world, I managed to find her and... somewhat save her."

"... But now it's like... time is rewinding. We beat Horde Prime... and now he's back. We were finally recovering and now all of our efforts are being undone. We're trying to stop him again but well... Trust me. He's a lot less dangerous than he looks. In the final fight he died a few times, but he has the ability to slip into other bodies and take over other bodies. To rewrite them to become him. Killing him isn't enough."

However... when he offered her the amulet, she looked shocked. Her eyes widened, but she took it. Holding it in her hand, she stared at it. That was it? He'd just... give it to her? Sure, she'd need to figure out how to use it properly. But...

But he just offered it to her.

Her hands trembled when she held it. She couldn't believe he was just... helping her.

No tricks. No objections. No threats or... anything. Just... help.

A few tears welled up in her eyes and she, well, she lunged forward. And she hugged him. And oh my gosh the girl hugged like a vice. Arms holding on so tight his spine might almost crack. And he could probably see over her head, to the small wings on her back that were... well. Only a little bigger than Fuku's. They'd grow, maybe, one day.

But, after a moment, she squeaked and pulled back. "I... uhhhh. Sorry. I ummm... its... been a long... long couple of months. Usually people don't... help me... and uhhhh... I got a bit emotional. I ummmm... t-thanks. This? This is plenty. Thanks. I'll figure it out and... and this... Great One, and... and my mom will be..." Finally.

"If you need anything from me, feel free to let me know, okay?" she said, the biggest grin on her face. "... You know... I never... met anyone else on my mom's side of the family, just her. But... I imagine they'd have been a lot like you two. And... thanks. I'll, ummm, try not to take up any more of your time, sir," she said, before glancing to Fuku.

Sure, he was a bit egotistical with that 'I am a god' talk, but eh. Who here wasn't? Egotistical, at least.