New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Inside New Eden, many things happened at once, as all the players in the world disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The first one of these things was widespread panic, as protectors, employers, patrons, and friends suddenly disappeared, leaving some in better positions than others.

Many Natives died that day, with no more protection, as the adventurers they hired suddenly vanished, and a few villages burned to the ground, as monsters that were being pushed back by militia and adventurers suddenly lost half their manpower.

But that wasn't the only thing that disappeared from the world that day.

Seven beings were having a heated argument in a cage made of golden light, deep in an empty part of the cosmos.

"How could you pick a side in an argument between gods?! Look at where that has landed us! Could you not think before you acted, Edith?!" Aravelle shouted.

"I told you I didn't pick a side! I just tried protecting the mortals that were below us! It's not my fault if Gaius is a pretentious prick who thinks that anyone who doesn't bow to him deserves to be imprisoned or die!" Edith replied, raising her hands in the air.

"Can we not argue, right now?" Necen, the Fey progenitor, asked, her face wincing whenever someone raised their voice.

"That's right. We should be looking for a way out. This isn't the time to fight amongst us. If Gaius returns and we aren't back in the mortal realm, there is no telling what he'll do to us. You can fight all you want once we are back on our home turf," Beseag, the Dwarven progenitor, agreed.

In the meantime, the Gnomish progenitor, Hispos, was studying the cage's bars, seeing way past the energy they radiated.

"This is not a common Aether cage. It's covered in runes. Has Gaius been studying our work? The complexity of the commands is not unlike the ones I scribe into my golems, but the runes are entirely foreign to me. Edith, could you come look at this?"

Edith turned to help him, but Aravelle stepped before her.

"Don't fucking ignore me, Edith! As the junior of this group, you owe me at least that respect," Aravelle spat, his ear tips red with fury.

"Step aside, you old codger. You should be getting us out of here as the oldest of the group. Instead, you are more focused on admonishing me. I don't intend to die here today. Instead of punishing me now, help me. You'll get your chance at the former later."

Necen hated conflict and was busier covering her delicate ears than listening to their words.

As for the other two, Egbert, the Vampire, and Sensez, the Orc, they were in a corner, talking in hushed tones.

"I always knew the light side of this group would drag us into a conflict, eventually. It's in their nature. They can't stand by and let bad things happen," Egbert said, voice heavy with disdain.

Sensez huffed, looking at the other five with contempt.

"I should have cursed every one of them when they talked us out of ascending to godhood. Now, we are stuck behind bars at the mercy of the God of Creation. Freaking goody two shoes…"

Beseag looked at the two of them and shook his head in disappointment.

"I can hear you, you know? I can feel every vibration in a fifty-mile radius; perks of living underground. Stop moaning and pissing, and help us. We won't be able to leave this wretched prison without all our power."

Both of them clicked their tongues disdainfully, but approached the bars as well.

They didn't want to stay here any more than the others. If they could help, they would.

But then, they wouldn't speak to them ever again.

"I can't understand the runes. But if you give me an hour, I should be able to come up with a cypher. As for the construction of the cage itself, it'd be better if Hispos dismantled it. I'm a terrible builder, and pulling at this thing recklessly might lead to unknown results," Edith said, focusing on the lettering of the runes.

Hispos nodded. He started looking at every bar encapsulating them, etching a blueprint in his mind, both to know how to dismantle it and to understand how to reconstruct it later.

What kind of builder would he be if he held no interest in trying to construct such a complex structure, right?

In the meantime, Aravelle walked over to Necen.

"I'm sorry for screaming earlier. It's just…" Aravelle started saying, trailing off.

"I know," Necen said.

"This puts all our efforts back to zero. All the Aether we pushed into the world's veins was sucked right out when Gaius blew up Edith's tower. But you should stop and think about how she feels. She put centuries into growing that tower. And now, it's gone." Novel Fire - novelfire.net

Aravelle sighed, realizing his blunder. Necen was right.

Those mage towers were like their homes. It was the place they could always return to and be safe. And now, Edith's tower had been vaporized.

"It will take a while before Gaius can return to our realm with what he just did. All those mortals he killed…"

"All those trees and animals he killed," Necen added, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Aravelle put his hand on her shoulder.

"Help us get out, and we can replant as many trees as he burned. We may not be able to bring back the lives he snuffed out, but at least we can make sure the planet recovers from his actions."

"Mm," Necen responded with a nod.

While they discussed and examined, a battle of untold proportions was taking place in another part of the cosmos.

Gaius and Nemus were at each other's throats, each spell, strike, and word aimed to end the other.

There was no compassion in Nemus' eyes, regardless of her attachment to all life. Gaius had crossed a line that no god should ever cross.

He had taken mortal lives.

"If I don't kill you here, Gaius, someone else will! The gods will no longer obey your every command! You broke the covenant!" Nemus howled in anger.

"Shut up, you half-assed copy! You couldn't lay a scratch on me back then, and you have only weakened! Like you could ever defeat me!" Gaius shouted back, his black eyes crackling with gold electricity.

Both of them shot a beam of pure Aether at each other, tinted with their domain's power, and they collided in the center, exploding.

Anything that would get caught in a blast like this would cease to exist.

Such was the power of a battle between gods.