The Hill :: Golden Hall(#439RJh) This place is not so much a hillside as it is a series of plateaus with buildings on them. The dirt road of the thoroughfare gives way to stone steps in some places, and cobblestone roads in others, allowing for the passage up the hill, corkscrewing through the neighborhood. It's a long jaunt if you follow the road--which you must, if you're in a cart, and want to make it to the castle at the top--but if you're on foot and willing to take a lot of stairs, then you can go straight up. This place is well monitored and patrolled; men of state and women of standing can be seen here and there, and every morning, services are held in the temple of Phoenix. On the other hand, only those who've done something wrong or are helping do the right thing can be seen by the Hall of Justice - not that it sees to much use. Contents: Maya Seifer Cagalli Kira Mahito Obvious exits: Phoenix Castle Village Markets Temple of Phoenix Hall of Justice Parade Grounds Apartments From the Skies: The sky is clear and blue and has been that way pretty much all day. Despite the rain and the snow in various places on the board, it has cleared out and left the sky bright and blue, allowing the sun to shine down unobstructed throughout the entire world. Even in the coldest of places, it has been a fairly nice day, nice enough for work to go on as normal, cleanup for the various disasters that have happened the world over, and even a few people risking ventures into the wilds to find food or attempt to travel to discover news of the world. And the news seems to be oddly quiet. The Chaos attacks have ceased, despite Thunderbird's resent manifestations, the last reported ones having been yesterday evening. There used to be so many outside that not an hour went by without at least a sighting, but today? ...Nothing. And then, the world over, a wind comes from above, pushing down against the game board in equal amounts no matter where the piece is placed on the surface. As long as they are outside, it buffets down against them. The wind is not natural. Not only does it go downwards instead of to the side, it isn't even made of air. It is a wind of emotion and feeling, a challenging hatred that seems to call out for battle... And then something comes between the sun and the world below. A shadow races over the board, touching the entirety of it at least for a moment before it stops and allows the light to illuminate the source. Only an unlucky place in the Wilds is trapped under the shadow. The figure is huge. Yellow and green with feathers slicked back with water, as if it was just rolling around in the ocean before it came here, one eye black, one eye yellow. And if he was huge when he stepped on those buildings, he looks even more large now, but... so far away. No matter where a piece is, he can be seen in perfect detail, but looks so very, very far away. Bigger than the sun, but feeling just as distant as that. Thunderbird's wings flap, no ruckass reaching the land below, only panicked people running for cover in each city, or setting up defenses seem to be the physical effects. So high up he can't touch the world... But the world can hear him. He lets out a roar, as if to answer something. Then something black and bigger than the Chaos God himself but still seeming so far distant at the same time... comes barreling out of the south so fast he's a streak of pure black and slams right into the grotesque God, sending them both spinning through the air. Seifer had been hard at work on unearthing the temple, like he has been for the past couple of days...partly because it needs to be done, and partly because he's angry at himself for having been laid up when the stupid thing fell over. The balmy weather coupled with the gunblader's fiery nature means he's ditched his coat and is working bare-armed, hocking chunks of broken masonry and wood into their appropriate piles for removal. So far, today's been pretty good. Hasn't found any bodies yet. The first thing that gets his attention, of course, is the wind, the sudden rush taking him offguard and causing him to lose his balance and land hard in the pile of rock he was working on. Briefly stunned, he just sort of lies there for a minute or two before dragging himself up to one knee and trying to figure out what the Sam Hyne is going on around here. Once Thunderbird manifests, though... ".... Hoo boy," is the Knight's deduction of what's about to happen. He's pretty quick to respond, though, turning to the rest of the people working on the temple and bellowing, "Get everybody inside! Into the cellars! /NOW!/" It probably won't even help, but what else are they going to do. "/HURRY/." With her Temple destroyed, Cagalli has been staying in the Palace most the days past, stomping about in anger over Mwu taking off after Thunderbird like some kind of IDIOT and then NOT COMING BACK. How dare her! She is totally going to punch him for doing that to her when he gets back. He was NOT ALLOWED to disappear like that! Not so soon after showing up! And especially not after saying he would be around to help her out! No, the Priestess of Phoenix is not happy. ...and that just about mirrors the mood of her God and many of the others, for that matter. She's hurrying about, checking defenses of the city in case of another attack when the 'wind' hits her. She actually does fall to her knees, because to her spirit-vision eyes it was like a furious aura pushing down upon her like the sky just opened up and dumped down dirt from above. She's never seen or felt an aura so powerful or angry, and she might wonder why no one else is going down around her. "Wha--" ... it passes enough that she can look up towards the sky, through the saturating God's Aura... and see one of the Gods themselves. She never saw Thunderbird before. Not when he attacked. She was inside. She didn't see a thing... but her Sowilo-blinded eyes /SEE HIM NOW/. A Chaos aura. So painful, so... so much... it hurts. It tries to claw at her brain and shut it down. But she can't look away. She can't look away. And the black streak appears and slams into the bird, an aura of the purest evil and hatred. None of his pieces ever looked like that. Sowilo isn't supposed to be able to show her much from those of evil. They are supposed to be so pale. But when it is the God himself... the aura is so strong and so bright she tries to close her eyes to shut it out. She can't even hear the words being yelled around her. Or those yelled inside her head. Phoenix knows what is going on, but 'God Sight' is overwelming. The sudden, unnatural wind is, naturally, the first thing that Ishida notices, as he walks down the Hill, back from delivering a package to a customer. Staggering under the brunt of it, he bites back a startled exclamation and looks up, shielding his eyes against the wind, one hand rising to his throat to keep a firm hold on the cape that wants to fly away on the wind. What on earth...? And then the reiatsu strikes him. Strong--so strong, stronger than anything he has ever felt before, even more than Aizen--it buffets at him, sending him down to one knee and the other hand rising futilely to ward it off. He has no more protection against such things, now--it pins him in place, watching the two clashing streaks overhead with the stunned gaze of prey in the face of descending talons. Maya's been pitching in to help with the clean up at the temple, she's got her recently scvanged up I-pod playing some of its tracks, she's still not heard everything that's stored on this unit yet. Then she pauses at the wind and pulls her old desert cloak about her, it's not much but its to help. She stops the music, and p ulls out her ear units as she looks up and feels a chill she's not felt since the day she felt the bite of Gemma's Blade. She realises something akin to an twiste version of Gemma's and Marduk's clash is about to happen. Hearing Seifer's call and after the two Game Cube Maya's come to turst the man's judgement in pressure situations. She Also calls out "He's right to the SHELTERS!" Maya's own Patron is watching her as well but nothing obviously is said to Maya. As the blue hairned woman is now starting to direct some of the workers to get to cover. Kira for his part has been shying away from people. Strong emotions are what he doesn't like to deal with, although he's been helping people wherever he can - errands and the such. But mostly, his worry has been for Lacus and most importatly Cagalli. That's the only thing that's strong enough to get him to actually move about the city and do things. During the day he slogs through everything, but at night, he disappears to the least populated section of the town. Today though, his rounds take him near the temple where he's paused, staring at the ruins and looking rather pensive. That is, until the wind strikes. The emotion of pure hatred takes on a new dimension when one's sensitive to such. It's enough that he'd have staggered from that and not just the wind. His first thought, of course is to go and find Cagalli.... or Lacus whichever the pull seems greater. From the Skies: The tumbling continues for quite some time, almost as if it is slowed down or exagerated. The larger of the two birds, huge and black with a scar over one of his eyes, stops the tumble, finally, compensating with his wings. The size seems so over exagerated, but then, this place is a dream. How else would one of the Gods look to the pieces they brought in. Black hooked beak, like a giant bird of prey, catches a hold of the slicked scaley bird's neck, ripping. Yellow puss sprays, falling down in large droplets, showering various places across the world in the grotesquely smelling goo that must be the bird's blood. The wound isn't deep enough, though. Thunderbird thrashes out, bending to pull his claws up and latching talons onto the dominating bird of ultimate evil's leg and tossing him away. Roc corrects himself and just jumps back in, a little blood shining on his wound and a few drops falling to the world below. All the cities get at least some of each, the first physical evidence besides the killing intent in the air a moment before. Evidence that this really is happening and not some kind of optical illusion in the sky. Screams rip through the air as they fly at each other again, Roc's sheer size overpowering the smaller bird, but Thunderbird unleashes his feathers, just before they slammed into each other. The black bird with a heart of ice takes the feathers on his face and chest, burying in and causing him to bleed more. The feathers that missed begin to crash to the world below, slamming into places in the wilds; none falling onto the cities by luck alone. It wasn't as if the bird was trying to miss them, after all. When they met this time, even though injured, Roc's talons dig into the scales of the yellow-green bird, ripping away at his chest again, bringing forth more blood and rotted skin and scales float down as well. ... Scales that look as if they must be large enough to flatten a house, but by the time they breach the barrier between distance and optical size, they are only ten feet wide at the most. ...and a few of them do slide into the cities, cutting through buildings or half buring in streets, though no more than one or two in any one place. Seifer gets up in fairly short order, since he's about as empathic as a dull rock, and is thus spared more than the most superficial effects from the emotional wave. The physical one is as bad for him as anyone else, but at least he's a big strong kid. Skidding down the ruin, he starts helping people down and giving them a bit of a shove in the right direction, then yells at Maya, "Go with them and make sure they get there! I'll check around for anyone else!" That said, he starts making his way around the periphery of the heap, only to find out that... wow. There's quite a few people lying around, isn't there? Including the Priestess. Growling a curse under his breath, he makes his way in a beeline for Cagalli, fully intending to simply pick her up and cart her bodily off to safety. She /is/ Phoenix's priestess, after all, and is a) blind and b) obviously not doing well, so she gets priority! Not that he won't pause and heft anyone else he happens to pass back to their feet and give them a shove toward some vague hope of safety... and hopefully not a building that's going to get scale-bombed. Once he reaches Cagalli, he crouches over her, trying to either get her to stand, or just trying to pick her up if she won't come along. And, failing either one of /those/ he's going to hover agitatedly. ".... Is Phoenix okay?" She hasn't made an appearance, and if anyone would know, she would. The whole idea of rooting for /Roc/ really bugs him, even if it is a case of 'the enemy of my enemy' for the moment. With the fact that Cagalli can barely stand up? It isn't any surprise that she's the one giving off the feeling that Kira will respond to the most. She reaches for her pendant, knowing she can not watch this through Sowilo's eyes, but she can't bring herself to look away, and the furious conversations going on inside her head from the God she is Priestess of is just as overwelming. Roc. Thunderbird. Stupid. Wrong. Shouldn't have done this. Could have stopped this. A voice rings in her ears over the cries above, drawing her eyes away from it finally, and saving her from the headache that was treatening to leave a mark on her brain. "...Seifer..." the Eagle patron. The Wyrd Knight. He's asking a question... The girl blinks, eyes still blinded by the Rune, cause even taking off the pendant isn't enough to remove it fully. "Phoenix.. Phoenix is trying to-- she couldn't stop it. Roc-- Roc wanted revenge. He was tired of-- tired of--" She touches her head. "Getting everyone inside won't help. If this fight continues... they'll destroy the world." Maya watchs out of the corner of her eye even as the strange stuff is falling, one of the blood splatters nearly gets her she doesn't even wanna think what it would do. She doesn't get hit by the wave so much she feels a bit well disorienated for a moment but she's quickly hot on Seifer's heels and she says "Right!" She now goes to makes sure they are getting in. She's not able to hear what Cagalli said but she does yell out. "SIEFER! GET THEM TO COVER!" Nop not quite aware this is an end of the world level event /yet/. She'll possibly find out in a bit... It's that sensation that draws Kira forward. He's alot stronger than he looks and finding Cagalli is the most important thing right now. And it's what at least helps guide him - at a full Coordinator sprint - towards her. Ten feet or not, watching a feather casually slice through a building is grounds for caution. Not to mention the foul smelling blood that Kira is pretty sure now, that he doesn't want to get anywhere near. "Cagalli-!" Kira calls out finally reaching her side. At least their twinnage isn't evident. At times like this, Kira does wish he had Freedom... and that well it would even theoretically cause damage. She doesn't seem HURT yet... although the battle overhead isn't looking too good. "We can't just stand out here." Well at least they can watch the puddles fall and play a bizarre form of dodgeball vs the blood splats and ginsu feathers. Pinned in place, a wingless fly below the foot of a casual, cruel boy, Ishida continues to stare up at the spectacle in the sky--until a hand roughly pulls him up by the arm and shoves him toward--somewhere. The unexpected push sends him flailing, and he executes a perfect, elegant nosedive into the street. So much for dignity--but at least it pulled him out of his stunned reverie. He still feels as weak as a kitten beneath the overpowering reiatsu that flows down from the sky, but at least he can move, albeit stumblingly. And right now, the concept of shelter sounds like a good one. Nodding--at first dazedly, then more certainly--he continues to make his slow, halting way toward the shelter, having to dive out of the way of a falling scale at one point. From the Skies: The yells increase, Thunderbird obviously not feeling too well after that last lash across the chest, but his wings wrap around Roc, the claws at the ends latching onto him to keep him into the air and he digs his own beak into the bird of evil. More blood sprays about, all red this time, landing in small and large droplets throughout. A shadow casts over the sun as they tumble across it in the air, losing altitude and seeming to get bigger as they do... the wind picking up as the sounds of their fight get closer to the world below. The ground starts to shake, buildings give off life tremors for those who fled inside, but so light for now. The birds break apart in their tumble, both flapping their wings, bringing up the winds as they rise away again. The darker bird's feathers are slick with blood, tears in his flesh plainly visible, but he doesn't stop. He tucks his wings close and dives towards Thunderbird, beak catching one of the bird's wings. There's a sickening crackle and thunderous scream as the wing breaks away, bones fracturing into tiny pieces and skin tearing away like old rotted leather. The wing itself crashes down towards the ground, landing in the vacinity of Middleton, a little outside the city, closer to the Knifewind Sands, but luckily in an uninhabited area, but when it lands there's a heavy shake of the ground around that area, the quaking of the earth moving out in waves and eventually touching the whole board, though heaviest around the already wrecked Middleton, and lighest in the further areas of Winterheart and Golden Hall. And Thunderbird doesn't fall, claws reaching up and talons latching onto Roc's side, digging deep and causing the brutal God of evil to cry out in pain. But this keeps Thunderbird in the air... or threatens to pull them both down to the earth below. Seifer remains half-hunched over Cagalli, as if to protect her from...what? It's not like any of Thunderbird's scales would exactly be stopped by coming into contact with his thick skull, but it makes /him/ feel better. There's a grunt, "It may be the end of the world, ma'am, but you could at least stay alive long enough to be there for the credit roll." And this time, Cagalli is going to be pried bodily off the ground and either guided or /carried/ to someplace where at least the splattery gunk from the god-war can't reach. He waves Kira to come with, ending up in the lee of the rubblepile that used to be the temple, before he settles again. "... So... Phoenix is complaining about not being able to stop them. What about Simurgh, isn't she, or he, or whatever supposed to be dealing with this balance thing? Those two are all screwed up, the both of them ought to be able to pull them apart, shouldn't they?" His tone is a bit irritated and harsh-sounding, mostly because he's feeling extraordinarily stressed out right now. Surely the Great Goddess of All Good isn't going to stand on the sidelines and wring her hands like a huffy schoolmarm while the bullies on the playground tear each other to shreds. "..../ANYWAY/... is there anything we can do -besides- brace for what we can? If everything gets turned into shrapnel, then fine, but I'm not going to whatever comes after this disaster being pissed at myself because I didn't /try/ to do something." "...Get them inside," Cagalli finally says, pushing herself to her feet and avoiding looking at the sky above. She does look towards Kira, though and says, "I'm fine, just... help people get inside. ...And don't get any of the blood on you! The green stuff will need to be washed off immediately!" She yells out, so that the soldiers and others around can hear her and know to get water to remove the green blood as soon as possible. What to do... what to do... What /can/ they really do? "We can't do anything, Seifer! It's like two people playing chess duking it out over the board. We can't do anything! We're just pieces that they brought in here!" It is a little harsh, but it's true. As true as she can make it be. "And Phoenix and Simurgh are trying to break it up. Do you think it's easy to physically manifest!? ...And if they all get involved they might really destroy the gameboard. Imagine if more than two of those fell from the sky. What would be left then?" As if to echo what she's saying, the small tremors hit as she finish. From the Skies: As they start to fall towards the earth below, a black streak appears in the sky. Much smaller than the two involved in the fight, a still quite large black raven, indentifiable by the black beak she bears, pushes against them, trying to force them back up. She caws, trying to tell them something, but neither of them listen. Thunderbird's remaining wing lashes out, the claw at the end of it catching Raven across the neck, ripping out flesh and skin and feathers and sending her tumbling down towards Promethea in a spiral of black wings. Her head hangs in an odd angle, as if it was nearly ripped off by the blow. There is a second blur that appears, grabbing onto the falling bird before she impacts and pulling her to safety. A large crow, the same size as his sister. Their impact is never heard, but they land close to Promethea, Crow leaning over the body of his fallen sister. Visible only to those in Promethea, he leans over her and slowly starts to disappear... and the wound begins to close and heal, as he sacrifices his God-Power to restore the life of his sister. A second bird appears, this time over Winterheart. Devilbird, shining and pale with black and gray wings, much smaller than his father fighting up in the sky above, sits perching on top of the Shinra building. He doesn't damage it, just watching the fight above, not planning to interfer in any way. Above Bluefinger Port, a long necked bird joins him from the ocean, flying in with wide wingspan that rivals that of the sea-man God. Why Anhinga has chosen to appear is probably of much debate. Maybe she just wants to watch the destruction that will change the world... In the center of the sky, still visible to all, Roc and Thunderbird continue to tumble, as if some force is keeping them from falling to the earth. Some unseen force is holding them aloft as Roc's wing-strokes leseen. The hold Thunderbird has on him should be pulling them both down, but something, or someone (or someone/s/) are holding them up, wrapped in this brutal tangle of a God fight. Even then, they still slip down closer and closer. Whatever is holding them up won't hold them up much longer. Maya is finishing getting the few workers to cover, like heck she's going to leave Seifer and the others out there. She tells them to stay and back out she goes dodging the falling globs of evil blood and chaotic blood. However as this happens one of the black feather falls slamming into the ground, while no one is harmed the entrance to the shelter she'd got people to was blocked for the moment. She arrives at the others pausing at the order about cleaning "I can help with that... and that's unture. There is always something you can do even if it's not obvious." Then the battle rages aon as more gods join and they starts to fight, and she winces Waqtching as the battle rages on, it doesn't look like they will remain up much longer... This is as good a point for Kira to do as his Sister orders, "You'll be all right...?" He's casted a glance at Seifer, trying to really decide if it's all right to leave Cagalli alone to do what she wants him to. Mainly - deal with some of the clamoring he can sense - the panic of people who weren't in the safely of the garden. Their call is stronger at this moment it seems. Kira rests a hand on Cagalli's, squeezing it in an age old gesture of ressurance before letting go. "Take care of her," Kira says to the unknown blond-haired man. Ignoring things, Kira starts running to where he feels the greatest call, in this case a residence that had a feather cut through it before part of it caught fire, blocking things. Maybe they'll rebirth fine but they're alive now... and that's what makes it so important to ge to them before they're injured furthur. Non-perma-death is not an excuse to leave people behind. He's watching the fight above, mindful of new things that are going to come falling down, and admirably dodging another splash of blood that falls nearby - mostly, he's worried about when - not if - the gods hit the ground. Finally reaching the (perhaps dubious) shelter of the shelter, he halts at the last second. It's a hesitation that saves his life, as one of those familiar, ugly razor feathers slams down before him, cutting off the entrance to the shelter. Stumbling back in shock, he fumbles and nearly slips, but catches himself at the last moment. "..." Well, so much for that.... but his attention is once again drawn inexorably back to the sky. It may be safer in a shelter, but... he wants to see. Along with hundreds of other people whose curiosity is greater than their regard for safety. Seifer grunts. "How the hell should I know, I'm not a god!" the blond half-snaps to Cagalli's chiding. They could be able to turn into flying pizza if they felt like it, if they're bloody gods, in his mind. Of course... speaking of pizza, there's about to be some -non- flying bird-flavored pizza about any minute now. Kira's words get a nod before he turns back to the priestess, "Look," he tells her, "There are people getting the civilians to safety. But I'll be damned if I'm just going to let you stand around and get squashed by flying debris or covered in goo." Like, oh, the splattering of gunk that's flecking his pants, for example, but there was a reason he was standing over her. At least it didn't land on his head while he was distracted. "If you're going to stay out here, then I'd -assume- you have some kind of plan, and if that's the case, I'm damn well going with you. If you really -are- convinced that there's not a damn thing we can do, then we might as well get out of the range of spew and let the world come crashing down, right? Either way, I'm -not- walking away from this." Stubborn bastard. "I want to see." Cagalli finally says, looking back up towards the sky as the information once again threatens to fry her mind. A God's Aura is so much different than seeing the piece of a God that they attach to the souls they bring in. So bright, so powerful... and she can feel the presense in the air. What they are preparing to do. But Seifer is right, as a bunch of goo threatens to fall down on her any moment and turn her into a brain-eating zombie. "...inside," she agrees, moving to follow, but not taking her eyes from above. She /wants to see it/. If the world is going to disappear while the Gods fight it out, then she is going to /watch it/. Heck, she'd rather be standing right in it if it comes down to it too. Just like her father did. If Golden Hall is going to be destroyed... "Somewhere with a window." That's as much as she demands, though she is sure it will be too late to get to shelter. Maya watches an god go down, she not utterly shocked, her home worlds analog to rock was slain by one of gods of light of her own world. She's stunned obviously but not to the point of standing still and not doing anything but she's looking spooked, such power is being tossed about with wonton abandon. "Seifer? Don't die. Same to you Cagalli" Is all Maya says before departs to try and help where she can in this mess. She has a gut feeling its only going to get worse... Mwu has left. Kira does his best to ignore the gods - although not so completely that he doesn't notice god bits dropping down. People he can help, he does - either helping to get them out of buildings they're trapped in or simply just dragging a child with him to get them to someone that will help them get to safety. He can't fight the god's battle - he CAN do some good by helping the panicked citizens. Despite the panic that hits him in waves, Kira's managed to find his center of balance and will work until either the board is destroyed or he's incapacitated somehow. From the Skies: The slow motion thumbling continues, as if the Gods are falling through air thickened with power, but Roc isn't going to accept defeat so easily. He is the strongest of the Gods and he will prove it. Right here. Right now. His talons grip into Thunderbird, pulling him closer, as close as he can, causing the Chaos God's claws to dig deeper into his own flesh. Gritting against the pain, the mighty beak of the coldest God in the Pantheon lowers, finding the head of Thunderbird and clasing it. He's just enough bigger than the other god to grab his head in his beak. The curved upper bill digs throat, while the lower bursts Thunderbird's black eye, spilling liquid and forcing the God to emit a roar so loud it really does shake the earth with like nearby thunder, everywhere. The claws buried in Roc's stomach pull out, legs flinging around trying to free the head that has been grabbed, but black talons lash out, grabbing hold once again of the smaller, yellow-green bird... And he rears back. The sickening rip of the wing being pulled out is made a dwarf by the tearing of rotted flesh and muscle that comes with the head of the Chaos God being pulled off. The leader of the Evil Gods throws the head aside carelessly, and it goes crashing somewhere into the Dark Forest, knocking down trees and sending the monsters who have long inhabited that forest to their deaths. And then... Roc vanishes. Fading out into nothing in the sky above. And the ravaged and torn body of Thunderbird begins the long fall to the earth below, and no thickening of the air does not seem to be enough to stop him... Devilbird takes off from the Shinra building and flaps up into the air above Winterheart. Anhinga glides over Bluefinger Port, and circles around to cry out as a brightly colored bird appears, perched atop the Temple of Parrot. A bright red bird appears above Promethea, flapping his wings in a display of his red-colored beauty and he is joined by a bluer version of himself. Cardinal and Bluejay have never been pals, but they appear to be willing to work together this time. They are joined by a myriad of small birds, many sizes and colors. Promethea was once the 'home' of the 'Little Birds' and once again they seem to want to protect it as their own. Above Middleton, a single bird appears. As big as Roc was, wings spreading so wide they cover the entirety of her city, protecting it. She's multi-colored, shimmering blues and greens and other soft colors. Her neck is long and magestic, with a long crest visible as she extends her protection. The sense of outside assistance can be felt, as if someone invisible and hidden is giving her power. After all. Great Horned Owl might be Simurgh's campanion, but he always tended to keep himself rather elusive in his guardianship. Golden Hall hears a roar of fire, as a bird wrapped in the burning feathers bursts out of the ground where the Temple that she called home used to stand. She rises up above the city, spreading her flaming wings out in an attempt to shield it. Beside her, a tall white bird appears, princely and strong, long neck stretched as if to offer her the little power that he can. Other birds, birds of prey and hunting, Falcon, Hawk, Eagle and Saker, fly beside their leader God, offering her their strength, and showing their concern for the pieces below. Seifer had already started to usher Cagalli to safety, but when the fight with Roc and Thunderbird escalates to the Chaosbird losing its other wing... Seifer just stops, turns Cagalli around in the middle of the street, and rasps near her ear, "....If you wanna watch, I think you better just look now, because we aren't gonna get much farther than this..." In the meantime, the blond gunblader is just going to stand behind her, watching the sudden eruption of personae with an expression of somewhat slackjawed awe. ....Sorry, it's just... okay, so maybe dying after this wouldn't be -so- bad, because it's not like he's likely to ever see anything this exciting again in his entire existence anyway. He's not -quite- too distracted, however, to loop a hasty arm around the Priestess' midsection as the tumultuous tremor of Thunderbird's head hitting the ground rocks the city, bracing himself as best he can while keeping her upright. Even as scarlet phoenixfire washes over him as his own city's goddess erupts into manifestation, he remains planted pretty much where he is, the seal etched on his arm flaring up in echo of the fiery icon right over his head. But for once, the gunblader is silent. There's just...nothing to be said right now, really... is there. This is what she wanted to see. The horrible sight that her Sowilo eyes was fixed on is covered by a warm light of love and protection. ...Phoenix has appeared. She finds herself clinging to Seifer as soon as the ground shook, but now she's clinging again, needing him just to remain standing. If anyone else could feel the love, the concern and the sheer beautiful that is above them... well... she hopes they all can. She can see it and feel it. And it stretches down into the buildings, seeking out those who are injured and trying to grant them peace in healing fire that she lets off. It can't reach everyone, and it can't fix the buildings, but the God of Rebirth will make sure that those who fall will stand back up. As long as she is there to make a difference. "...Wow." No. There's really nothing that can be said. Wow covers just about everything. WAtches as even more gods come out to play she watches the flock of little birds rise up and pauses as Phoenix appears befoce them all. She watches in awe at this ans she now works to free a trapped person but knows things are about to get really really interesting then she sees a swarm of them arises in the direction of Promethia and spys one she knows remebing from the dream that lead to her freedom into the game board all she can do is just watch as things play out... Maya did that really. Ishida likes to think of himself as a worldly 15-year-old, one who consorts with things beyond the ken of most ordinary mortals, but this... this is just beyond him. He can only gape up at the manifested gods--and idly wonder if one of them is his; he has no idea, still--holding shakily onto the corner of a building and staring and staring until his eyes might swallow his face. So when Phoenix bursts from the ground, her heatless flame shielding the city from the impending fall, he flinches back--but the assurance, the warm and vitality that flows from the bird-god, can't help but give him new strength. The reiatsu is strong, more than anything, and logically should push him to his knees with its strength... but somehow, it's different. It bolsters, instead of oppressing, and warms instead of freezing, and somehow, he feels much more confident. One hand goes up automatically to push his glasses up his nose, and he comments to no one in particular, "... strangest dream I've ever had." Kira has helped a child out of a house, feeling something slimy.... vile... he calls for a guard with water - although the man hesitates, his attention focusing on the sky where something terrible has happened. Sensing the shift, Kira turns to look up in the air. There's nothing to describe the sight. Terrible yet, inexorable. Kira feels the suffusing power that is Phoenix - and the peace. It brings everything back into calmer focus as What Phoenix can't fix... the people that Phoenix can't reach - the people that care for the people and the city itself will do what they need to. But for now, all that can be done is to watch as one of the Gods falls and the other Gods brace for the impact. From the Skies: The sky above Winterheart is oddly... empty in comparison to the other places, but Devilbird gives a loud cry, and order, and suddenly a few more birds appear. Both share Devilbird's pale body, dark winged features, but they are more predatory in shape. Goshawk and Osprey. Another bird, with black tipped wings and a gray body, flies out to offer his assistance... Harrier. They extend their power, picking a small area to protect and a black shield appears above Winterheart, encompassing about sixty percent of the city. As soon as the shield lowers... all the tremors within it stop, as if it is pulled out of the realm of danger. Above Promethea, the Gods focus all their energy into a silver shield, reminicent of the moon, which wraps over the land, covering it the old city as well as the new, and the mountain which made the land special. Above Bluefinger Port, Anhinga and Parrot conserve their power, choosing only to protect the tiny port itself and the docks, their shield as brightly colored as the bird who claims the port as his home, with a swirling aspect of Chaos that seems to touch to Anhinga's tint. The blue and green wings of Simurgh lower down, embracing her city and the immediate surrounding area entirely, while a gray barrier forms above and around her. Golden Hall's is bright gold and dazzling red, formed out of Phoenix's burning feathers, reaching out to embrace the wilds around it as well, fueled by the added power of her lover, Swan, and the birds of prey who lead her court. Or at least, most of her court. Hawk lets out a sudden yell and breaks off, flying towards the direction of Winterheart, joined oddly enough by a small yellow Canary, where they join the Evil Gods in protecting Winterheart, or particularly the outskirts, creating a small bubble of purple and yellow that touches the black bubble. ...Even then, Thunderbird's impact can still be heard. His body hits the ground between Bluefinger Port and Middleton, throwing up the mountains and the earth. The ground not protected by the Gods... shatters in many places. As if the gameboard was flat and hollow, rock is thrown up all over, splintering the earth. Pieces of the gameworld crash into the shields erected by the various Gods, bouncing off. The seas of the Wild Tide expand, crashing up against the shield of Bluefinger Port, coursing into the game board and into the cracks created by Thunderbird's fall, creating an ocean the world over, with the protected areas becoming the new islands. The main cities are intact, except for Winterheart. The unprotected portions of the city, mostly the slums and outter regions like the Bog and the Gulags... crash into the rising waters, breaking off, leaving the people there to fend for themselves, though the added protection of the two Good Gods who decided to throw their lot up with Winterheart help protect small portions of the Wilds connecting to the city itself. Seifer can't hardly see anything beyond the curtain of scarlet and orange flames, but as far as he can tell, the world outside the firewall has gone oddly silent. He almost wonders if this place is a bubble floating in nowhere, now... but at least the thunderous earthquaking seems to have stopped. Gingerly, he releases his clampdown on the Priestess and makes a vague yet well-meaning attempt to brush her clothing off. "Are you okay?" He looks around, doublechecking his immediate surrounds, then adds, ".... I don't -think- we're all dead." He's pretty sure he wouldn't feel this gritty and gross if he were. Ugh... white knight needs shower, badly. Maya can only watch in aw at a display of power that actually out does the activation of the gift of the creator on her home world. She's not sure what to think but she watches now as the waters slam into the shield itself as the water slams into it she only watches shocked, well its a whole new world it seems now, a whole new world..if they surive this mess. Maya checkes herself over, she's alive, still human and not a soul in a jar so she didn't wake up! Hey, watch your hands! Cagalli looks down towards Seifer's spirit-hands brushing at her body and then looks up at him, giving him a look. "Yes, we're alive. Now be careful where you touch me." She looks up towards the sky again, narrowing her eyes. ...Well, now she knows where Fllaga ran off. Cause Hawk went flying off to save him and some innocents up in Winterheart. Just perfect. How many of her Knights (and possible Knights) will she end up losing to Winterheart. She should be surprised that Swan or Saker didn't break off to go up there. "...We're alive, but... things are going to be very difficult after this..." ...Now what? "Come on, let's go help the people. I don't think we'll feel any more impacts tonight... It's tomorrow and discovering what's left out /there/ that'll be the hard part. ...But we won't have to worry about Thunderbird as much anymore, at least." She hopes. They aren't burned up. They're still standing. He hears his heart beating - all too loudly. It takes several moments for Kira to remember to breathe - the finale - the restructuring the world.... It's like... the break the world.... all over again.... The only difference is that it appears there was divine intervention to keep civilization from completely failing. The thought is... distressing as what he sees here blurs with memories. For now, Kira's too in shock to deal with the gooey child and the goo on his own hands. The vile stuff doesn't really quite rate up there in comparison to watching the world get reshaped before your very eyes. Finally though the creepy crawly sensation gets the best of him, and Kira is reminded that he has a child covered in thunderbird's blood and gets the attention of the guard to help him get the girl cleaned off. Seifer blinks and looks down at her, then coughs, waving his hands at her a little, "Hey, just trying to help, eesh." Women are so /TOUCHY/, dammit... you'd think he was being /untoward/ or something. "Can't a guy help a lady dust off after a worldshattering crisis?" .... And to be honest, he -didn't- mean anything by it, which is why he's all 'bwuh?' about her snipping at him. He's harmless! Really! He settles when she changes the topic, frowning slightly up at the still-fiery 'sky'... "Well... yeah. But it could be a hell of a lot worse," he points out, before setting off to go tend to the /new/ mess. "... We're gonna have to rebuild most of the city," he grumbles, then after a bit, adds, "....You think we could get electricity installed, maybe?" Hope springs eternal. From the Skies: The crashing sounds of the earth outside and the rushing of water take time to fade out, but when they do the various shields disappear. Canary and Hawk are the first to disappear, before the Evil Gods can focus their attention elsewhere. The Gods over Winterheart go next, not willing to feel guilt over the shattered parts of the city they could not protect. After all, they should get credit for protecting it at all. Roc certainly didn't, even if he ended the Chaos madness in revenge for his Priest and the Hall of Justice that stood to show his power for thousands of years. The protection above Promethea and Bluefinger disappears, the various small gods fading into the sky as they are weakened by their attempt to protect. Parrot lets out a loud cry before he does, "Arr! The oceans a callin' me matties!" ...Yeah, go figure. Golden Hall and Middleton are protected the longest, as they guarded the largest areas and are afraid of the edges breaking off if they release it too quickly. The other Gods helping Phoenix vanish first, drained of power, and then the flaming wings fade out, and a sheen of ash falls down on the city below, as the God burns herself out to be reborn again later. Simurgh rises up, wings giving a light tap, and one of her brilliant feathers falls of, landing on the place where the All God's Temple used to be, and sticking there without causing extra damage. A piece of her to stay behind, as she disappears to rest. A few small chunks of the newly made islands do break off, and others begin to create beaches in places and cliff-faces in others. Various islands appear in the wilds, high areas protected from the falls, or freak dream twistings created by a Lucidi or a Font, long protected by during creation process even from the destruction of today... But Thunderbird may have indeed got what he wanted. The Game is broken and he is free now. Free forever, a part of the surging wild ocean that threatens to one day fully swallow the world that he was denied. If Maya could hear Seifer she would indeed say yes she's got the know how and the skills to make some technowizardy stuff to do it! For now she comes out to see what's happened. "... This is freakish and ocean should be air not water." She mutters to herself, the dream got even more odd...for the Septerran... Kira hasn't felt any distress from Cagalli so knows she's well, and will simply check on her later - for now he has people to help. It's better than standing around and rubber-necking at something so distressing. What he'd really like is a quiet moment with Lacus but she's likely very busy too. There was no shaking. There was no impact... but there is the loudest sound Ishida has ever heard, bar none, and it's nearly enough to push the skinny boy over by itself. He doesn't, mostly through force of will and a grip on the building, and the desire not to appear completely wimpy--which he hasn't done a very good showing of so far. As the fiery presence overhead fades into a shower of ash, he lets out a long breath in a sudden whoosh, and slides down to plop into a seated position, knees now weak from simple adrenaline drain rather than overpowering spiritual strength. That was... an experience, to say the least. After a moment, he stands again, brushing his clothes off. The whites are smudged and dirty, but there's other things to attend to right now. All things considered, he rather thinks his boss is going to give him the rest of the day off... but he has much to think on, working or no. "...I'm fine." Cagalli says, though now she has a nice smattering of ash on her from her God. Good ash, but still.... "Just get everyone who needs it to a healer. We'll send out search parties to see what they can do for those who might have been on the farms, though I'm pretty sure she protected most of them..." ...But you know what she needs? SLEEP. So she won't argue if they force her to stay in the Palace and get some rest and let the others go out and explore. In fact her lacky acolytes show up to make her do just that, taking her from the Wyrd Knight and her brother to make sure she actually does sleep, no matter her protests. Maya turns her IPOD back on, might as well listen to some music right she sets it for speaker play as she stats to move. Then as she hits random on the play list... a song comes up. The song is? It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine! Said song plays and Maya just stares at the thing! Seifer nods. "All right, will do. And -you- need to go rest," the gunblader rumbles, doing his best to sound authoritative. "We can take care of everything out here." And don't think he won't come back and check on her to make /sure/ she does, too! He turns back to eye the city, then, and just groans. ".... aw.... man." There's ash and gunk all over everything, half the buildings are flat and the remainder are damaged in some way, and.... well, at least he can be pretty sure everybody else is in the same straights. Heaving a deep sigh, he sets off to go find people and make sure they get where they need to go. And today started out so /nice/. Kira just keeps on with his work, usually grabbing the nearest guard whenever he feels people trapped or has at one point caught whiff of someone dying so that they need to clear out the rubble for them to come back safely. Overally, it could be worse. Phoenix did some of the work when she/he manifested. Now, if only there was something less brain-shattering to do. Sadly this is probably the most constructive at the moment. You win some, you lose some....