Sceval, Early Saturday Morning, Fandom Time

[glacial_queen]

"Mother Night," Karla whispered. "Mother Night."

The group had stepped out of Raven's netherverse on a flat-topped hill that was one of Sceval's official landing places, the gently rolling land spread out below them. Large meadows provided good grazing. Stands of trees provided shade on summer afternoons. Creeks veined the land with clean water.

She had stood on this hill a handful of times in the past five years, looking down on unicorns while the stallions kept careful watch over the grazing mares and the foals playing tag.

Now she looked down on a slaughter.

Turning to the north, Lucivar shook his head and swore softly. "This wasn't a few bastards who had come for a horn to take home as a hunting trophy. This was a war."

Karla blinked away tears. Of all the Blood, of all the kindred races, the unicorns had always been her favorite. They had been the stars in the Darkness, the living examples of power and strength blended with gentleness and beauty. And now that gentleness and beauty was marred by violence, torn white bodies hacked and brutalized and left to lie in the dirt. There were foals as well as pregnant mares in the carnage, protected by rings of stallions and juvenile males who'd been overrun.

"No," she said, shaking her head at the scene. "No. We can't--we can't let this happen. We can't let this stand." Her hands balled into fists and she shook with reaction and rage. "Call them," she said, slashing a glance at Raven and Emma. Surely, together, they could figure out something. "Call them. Call them all. Everyone and anyone you can think of. I want the largest cavalry in the history of Fandom riding to our aid."

She looked back over the hill and buried her face in her hands. "Call them and tell them the unicorns are being massacred. And we need their help."

Raven	Raven stared numbly down the hill at the slaughter, fighting against the sorrow and rage burning cold within her. The darkest parts of her wanted vengeance. She wanted to find the one responsible for this and make them pay for murdering such beautiful and peaceful creatures. She wanted them to feel...no, she tried to cut off that line of thought before it could form. This wasn't about what she wanted, right or wrong. It took her a moment to realize Karla was talking to her. She drew in a breath and collected herself. "I can create the way to bring our friends here," she said, thinking of not long ago when she'd opened like a portal rather than merely teleporting. If she could do that again, it would save precious time moving between worlds to collect people. "But I do not think I would be able to tell them why they are needed," she continued. It wasn't like her Soul-Self, able to express itself away from her. She'd just be a blazing purple portal. She looked to Emma. "Do you think your gifts would work with mine, to send the message about how they are needed, as I open the pathways?" she asked.
Emma	Emma's eyes were already changing from their normal icy blue to the glowing white of her powers uncoiling from their usual passive state. "You open the path," she answered, almost absently, as her psi-signature flared to life around her. << Leave the rest to Auntie Emma. >>
Raven	Raven nodded and closed her eyes, concentrating. She closed off her mind to everything around them, banishing the horror and anger, and let it fill with thoughts of friends, not just the ones she shared with Karla, but all she knew that Karla called ally. And then further still. She began to glow with purple light, softly at first, then blazingly bright as she threw out her arms and turned herself into a doorway to the netherverse. Pieces of her sped off to Fandom and the worlds where their friends lived to open portals there. She'd done this once before, but only to one place, not spanning multiple worlds, and she was worried some of her attempts might not reach their mark. Send your message. The path is open.
Emma	To anyone with the slightest bit of psionic sensitivity, Emma was lit-up like a pretty, pretty, fire-y pink candle as she stepped into the purple doorway, but not out any of the other ends. Instead, she remained in limbo as she projected her powers into the minds at other ends of the Netherversal-gateways, simultaneously scanning for people located across the multiverse with images of Karla in their memories and relaying her message. << Queen Karla of Glacia formally requests your assistance in the territory of Sceval. We have unicorns to bury. >> Landing pad coordinates, the scene from their spot on the hill, Emma's un-verbalized but crystal-clear intention to slowly dissect the minds of whomever had done this. All sent as a direct download to their brains, and without any telepathic knocking. << Portalocity unnecessary. Come immediately. >> It was instantaneous. It took a thousand years. She was everywhere at once and all the lights were shining in her mind like a thousand glittering stars for one incredible moment, each one awake and alive across all of time and space. Then Emma was stumbling back out of the portal; not completely back in her own head yet, but no longer attempting to encompass the entirety of sentient existence and use it as a phonebook. She coughed, swallowing painfully as she tried to remember how to speak. Bodies. Vocal chords? Vocal chords. "Incoming," she managed after a moment. "...I need to sit down."
Karla	Once again, Karla caught Emma and helped her sit. "Thank you," she said, watching as people began stepping through Raven's doorways to other dimensions. "Thank you to all of you."

[Once again, many thanks to trigons_child and icecoldfrost. Descriptive text taken from Anne Bishop, Emma and Raven's awesomeness is purely their own. FB is someone wants to report people on the island getting mental messages (fine if they don't!) and this thread for any actions and reactions of people on the receiving end. Actual interaction with Kaeleerans and plotty bits go in the next post.]

Comments

[furnaceface]

Jono jerked out of bed with a start at Emma's voice in his head, tumbled to the floor, and then immediately started casting around for his collar.

A few moments later, once he was slightly more awake, he realized exactly how pointless that knee-jerk reaction was, and after taking a moment to get mostly dressed, he ran out into the town to find the doorway that was waiting for him.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Black Canary had been out on the town, stalking a carjacker with Huntress.

She nearly fell off a roof when Emma's voice hit her brain.

After a second to recuperate, she called in to Oracle, grabbed an extra bandolier of weapons and equipment from Huntress - then swung into the portal glowing on the street.

[genesishero]

It was funny, but after a couple of years on the island, Evan still hadn't been called to run in the cavalry.

There was a first for everything. He did take a moment to make certain he had his rocket boots, but he didn't take that much time. People were doing horrible things right that very moment, and he couldn't, wouldn't let that stand.

Genesis hit that portal running.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal was reading and listening to music when Emma's voice hit him. After taking a moment to sort through the experience and everything she'd sent, he assessed his suit (reasonably sturdy; not terribly disposable, but he'd manage), grabbed a bag he'd packed with both quick escape and Fandom in mind (surgical supplies, weapons, change of clothing), stuck his tablet into it, and headed for the portal.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack's wolf side didn't come out often when the moon was waxing, but there was something more beast than man about him as he dashed off to the portal after hearing the message. He knew he should have insisted on accompanying Emma to Kaeleer; something always went wrong there.

[heromaniac]

Momoko pulled her jacket around her and frowned. "I didn't want to affect the whole field. I just wanted to knock down a tree." Momoko eyerolled as they crossed. "Blast Of Earth. If I can't use it against the creature-"

"Which you can't because it's a Flying Creature..."

"Which is totally stupid, since we both know ground attacks can actually affect flight, but fine. So instead I wanted to use it to knock down a tree to hit him."

Jaime rolled his eyes fondly as they continued their way across the UTEP campus. "But you can't attack anything except the player or the monster."

He stopped just as he turned to lead Momoko into the passage way between buildings that was his shortcut to Iola and Alex's dorm. A giant blazingly bright purple portal had opened suddenly in front of them... luckily hiding between the buildings. It wasn't giving off the normal Portalocity readings... in fact, Khaji Da was saying it was actually Raven standing there in front of them.

"But you made it go dark..." And Momoko bumped into him as he stopped suddenly. She was about to say something when she finally saw the portal. She stiffened slightly and grabbed his arm... then the telepathic call from Emma suddenly struck her. The image of slaughter that accompanied the call had Momoko going weak and the only thing keeping her up was holding onto Jaime's arm. "The unicorns..." She'd visited them. Laughed with them. Played with the children...

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime shook his head to clear it of the weird ringing he still seemed to hear in his ears. "Let's go," he said, nodding toward the portal.

[heromaniac]

Momoko was feeling sick, very sick, but she kept hold of his arm, and didn't follow. In fact, she was tugging him away from the portal. Her "no" was weak, but firm.

[weldedtomyspine]

He came up short, then turned to look back at her with a frown. "What? Why not? You heard the call!"

[heromaniac]

"You heard it?" Momoko had. She totally had. Why had Jaime been called, too? And why Emma and not Karla? Still... "You can't go."

[weldedtomyspine]

"What? Why not?" Yeah, he was repeating himself, but Jaime was confused.

[heromaniac]

"You have class on Monday! And that big test." She took a breath and straightened up, trying to smile at him. "We don't know how long this will take. Besides, this is my job, remember?"

[weldedtomyspine]

"I can make the test up if things take that long," Jaime pointed out. "And you're not the only hero around here."

[momslilassassin]

Ben woke up with a jolt, grabbing his head and whimpering. "Ow, Emma. That hurt."

[heromaniac]

"I'm the one who goes to other worlds and fights for them! Being a heroine of justice... that's my dream..."

She was being a bit emotional about this, but she didn't want him to lose his dream, his happiness, because of hers.

"Jaime, you can't make up a test! And what if this lasts for weeks? You can get kicked out of school! I don't want you to be unhappy." It would be her fault!

[weldedtomyspine]

"And knowing that people need my help, asked for it directly, and I didn't go is supposed to make me happy?" That was crazy, Momoko.

[endsthegame]

Ender sat up at the same time, wincing. "Ow," he agreed, reaching up to rub circles into his temple.

[momslilassassin]

"You heard that too?" he said, looking surprised. "Saw it too?"

[endsthegame]

"Yes," Ender said, scrunching his eyes shut. "'s not the Hive Queen. She's more careful."

His own mind was not as used to dealing with any other kind of telepathic communication.

[heromaniac]

"That's now! People ask for help all the time! We have to use our judgement, right? And I'm going!"

It was totally crazy, but she was afraid, okay?

"I want to be a hero, you want something different. And if you can't become a dentist because you're helping me... I don't want you to hate our friends, hate being a hero, hate me."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime blinked, trying to take a mental step back. "Wait, what does that have to do with anything? How is that even possible?"

[momslilassassin]

Ben reached out to rub Ender's temple. "Must be important if Emma's yelling at everyone, regardless of their skills."

[heromaniac]

Wasn't it obvious?

She let go of his arm to wave her own as she spoke. "I mean, if you go and it takes months, even here that's time you will miss. Classes! And being away from family! And if you get kicked out of school, you'll never be a dentist! And then you lose your dream and it will be my fault for letting you come help me be a hero on some world you've only been to because of me in the first place."

Well, and because Karla and Raven and Warren all lived in Glacia, now. But Momoko was being emotional; dead unicorn babies were on the other side of that portal, you see.

"How long until you resent me for that?" sound familiar?

[endsthegame]

"It's Karla-related," Ender muttered. "Of course it's important."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime's eyes narrowed.

"Momoko. I love you, but you're not responsible for the choices I make. So how would it be fair for me to resent you if I decide to go help my friends?"

[momslilassassin]

"You can stay here," Ben offered.

[endsthegame]

"Let's survey the situation before we make any tactical decisions," Ender said.

He was running on soldier-mode for the sake of his own sanity.

[heromaniac]

"It wouldn't, but..." She sank in on herself and then dropped her head to his chest. "It sounds totally stupid when you say it."

[momslilassassin]

Ben recognized it immediately. "I'll get the bags and let Val know where we're going."

Emotions after. Logistics now.

[weldedtomyspine]

Watching her deflate like that took the wind out of Jaime's sails, too. "Would it really bother you if I came along?" he asked quietly.

[endsthegame]

"Tell her to call us if we're gone for more than 24 hours," Ender said. "She'll appreciate it."

Though he didn't have much hope it'd serve as anything near a useful reminder that Karla's problems were not, technically, his problems.

[heromaniac]

She shook her head. "I wanted you to help even before. And if the scene we saw is an example, we'll need lots of help; the unicorns have Craft but no weapons."

"They're like us, Jaime. They talk, love, worry... I played tag with the foals just like I did your cousins at Thanksgiving and they laughed the same." She breathed deep. "I'll protect them the same. Have you seen me fight like that?"

[momslilassassin]

Ben's lips quirked up. "I will," he said, heading out the door. "Back in five."

[weldedtomyspine]

"Like what?" he asked softly, not sure he was following.

[heromaniac]

"Like it's war."

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime considered that. "If it's different from the usual heroing you do," and it sounded like she thought it was, "then, no, I haven't seen you at war."

[heromaniac]

"Don't hate me for that either. I don't kill, but... people die." She inhaled deep, taking in his scent along with the smells of a normal Saturday in El Paso. She didn't now how long it would be until they came back, so...

"We should call Iola and Alex and let them know we won't be over to play cards afterall."

[weldedtomyspine]

That got a slow nod. "Texting is easier." He could have Khaji'Da take care of that.

He tightened his arms around Momoko for a moment, then stepped back. "Let's go."

[heromaniac]

Momoko straightened and nodded.

If he didn't become a dentist later, she was totally going to be mad at him for this. Which meant they should probably talk about it. Later. For now, Blossom and Blue Beetle were needed.

She took hold of his hand and walked through the portal.