forum A More Ambitious Crossover Than Infinity Wars // Closed with @Morals-are-for-mortals

Started November 14, 2023 by @the-void-phantasmic group

tune

@Morals-are-for-mortals

As my rp rules warden I trust that you already know and will follow the rules so not much is needed here

Tseth and Lili suddenly appear in the Daylight Prairie in a flash of light. But not the one they know. They’re surrounded by grassy, colorful plains, with some hills here and there. There’s a pair of children running around and chasing each other, their brown and yellow capes fluttering in the breeze.

Two people sit on a hill nearby. They look like polar opposites. One of them is wearing modest clothing in warm tones, his black hair kept in a short cut, and the other wears bright, flamboyant clothing, their similarly colored hair kept in a long ponytail. The long-haired one is laughing at something they said as the other rolls his peepers, seemingly annoyed with his companion.

(I tried)

The last thing Tseth saw before closed his peepers was a blinding white light. The light itself gave him a headache. It made him bring his hands up to the sides of his head and curl his wings around to his front in an attempt to block out the light.

But perhaps what was worse was after he opened his peepers again and rested his appendages back at his sides. He was in a completely different place, in what looked to be the Prairie. Looking around, there were others as well. That was a problem. He turned around to view the rest of his surroundings, and nearly ran into an equally-as-disoriented Lili. Her black, motorized freckle-like peepers were wide as she looked up to face him.

“What the heck just happened?! And what are you doing here?” Lili frantically glanced around at her surroundings. Her wings fluttered anxiously. This isn’t the Prairie she knew. That flash of light. . .

“If I knew, I would be gone already,” Tseth said while still looking around. He spotted the two people on the hill and watched them for a moment. Maybe they know something, he thought.

(immediately switches to using their names cus I can’t be bothered)

Pollux sighs dramatically at their twin’s annoyed expression. “Castorrr, why do you hate me so much?” They whine.

“Shut up,” Castor mumbles, tilting his head as two new people suddenly appeared from thin air. “…Lux, are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

Pollux looks in the same direction that Castor is looking, making an identical head tilt. “Yeah. Which either means they’re real or we’re hallucinating at the same time.”

“Even if we were, it’s highly unlikely that we would have the same hallucination.”

“Stop being a nerd, Cas.” Pollux punches Castor in the arm, much to his offense, then stands up and walks towards the two new people. Their wings flutter slightly as they look back to make sure Castor is following, and as always he is. Very reluctantly. Pollux turns their attention back to the other two. “Hey! You two! I don’t think I’ve seen you before,” they call out.

(Mood)

Lili immediately looked over at Castor and Pollux, peepers still wide. She subconsciously took a step back as if she were about to turn and dash at any second. Tseth glanced down at her for a moment and sighed, already resigning himself to his fate. “Do not worry. I will talk to them,” he said in a lowered tone. His tail flicked as he turned to face Castor and Pollux. “I do not think we have met. And I will say, we seem to be lost.”

Lili stared at Tseth as she thought about her options. She could either run and figure everything out from there, or she could stay here with him. Neither option seemed the best. Oh, come on. If Daphne can be around him, how bad is he? . . . Still reasonably bad. But in this situation, she should probably stay. Maybe he will scare the two people off.

(Her taste in friends isn’t that bad ☠️)
(Also ack short response)

Pollux’s grin falters as they get closer to the other two. “…Yeah. You look pretty lost to me. Uh, by the way, why the absolute fuck are you so giraffy?” They gesture towards Tseth, looking more bumfuzzled than anything else.

Castor crosses his arms and narrows his peepers at Lili. “There’s something right with your peepers,” he says. “And you have antennae. What are you?”

Pollux places a hand on their hip and looks at Lili. “Yeah, what’s up with that?”

(We don’t know how bad her taste in friends is she doesn’t have that many)

Tseth looked surprised at Pollux’s sudden inquiry. “Genetics would be my best guess, though I could also ask why you two are so short.” He crossed his arms as he looked down at the two of them.

Lili looked at Castor. Her brows furrowed in both confusion and offense at his statements. “There’s- there’s nothing right with my peepers! They’re normal. . .” She looked down at the ground. What do they mean? Have they never seen a flitter-flutter sky rhythmancer?

(Castor you shit-)

Pollux looks at Tseth again, placing a hand on their chest. “Excuse me? We’re average,” they say, clearly exaggerating their offense. They huff at him. “Sweetheart, if that’s just genetics, you must be Megabird’s favorite.” Pollux absentmindedly examines their nails as they talk to Tseth. “Tallest person I’ve seen is over a groundhand shorter than you. Without the help of magic, of course.”

Castor steps toward Lili. “There’s nothing normal about them, actually. That’s what fascinates me.” He notices Lili’s demeanor and sighs. “I don’t mean to be a jerk. But to be fair, nobody’s seen someone like you before. Except maybe your giraffy friend here.” He jerks his head toward Tseth.

(Love how in all of our roleplays we talk in parentheses so much)

Tseth smirked. “Well, sweetheart, your average is far from what I’m used to seeing. And trust me, I am far from their favorite.” He leaned forward the slightest as if to exaggerate his point.

Lili looked up again and eyed Castor. From his statements, she had several questions already. “Nobody? But aren’t there other- uh- flitter-flutter sky rhythmancers? Here?” She looked up at Tseth when Castor jerked his head. Tseth seemed to know he was being looked at, because he turned his attention to Castor and Lili.

Tseth regarded Castor’s comment with a head-tilt. “I can assure you, I am far from the only one.”

(The scrunkles are scrunkling uh oh)
(Anyway cutely changes my writing tense bc it’s bothering me)

Pollux glanced up at Tseth and raised their eyebrows. They grinned and tilted their head. “You’re laffy taffy.”

Castor blinked. “…Yes, there are flitter-flutter sky rhythmancers. I don’t see how that pertains to our conversation. Unless you think that you’re a flitter-flutter sky rhythmancer?” He looked at Tseth and stared st him for a moment. “You two aren’t from here.”

Pollux rolled their peepers and looked at Castor. “Where else would they be from?”

Castor shrugged. “Maybe they came through a portal. If portals between different islands exist, then who knows how long the distance can be?”

Pollux thought about Castor’s statement for a moment. “For once, I actually kind of agree with you. Kind of,” they said, adding the extra phrase at the end so Castor didn’t suddenly think them agreeing would be a normal thing.

“I am a flitter-flutter sky rhythmancer- I don’t see how it doesn’t pertain to our conversation.” Lili said, her frustration becoming evident through her tone of voice. She tried her best not to seem rude, but she was finding it difficult.

Tseth stared at Castor for a moment. “Maybe not,” he said. It makes sense, but at the same time it doesn’t. Where was he, then?

Lili interrupted the conversation with a small cough. “Sorry- what are you two talking about?”

Castor arched an eyebrow at Lili. “I’m afraid our definitions of a flitter-flutter sky rhythmancer are very different,” he said, in a judgmental tone of voice.

Pollux looked at Lili, then elbowed Castor. “Castor, don’t be an ass,” they hissed, then spoke to Lili. “Just trying to figure out how you two ended up here. Because clearly you’re not from our Islands.” Their tone was much more lighthearted.

Castor glared at Pollux. “What, is being truthful rude now?”

“Yeah, sometimes,” said Pollux. “Now shut up. I can’t believe you say that I’m the one who talks too much.”

Lili glared at Castor and made a sound that could only be described as a series of whistles and clicks. Whatever it meant, it was clearly supposed to be an insult of some sort. She then looked at Pollux. “I’m not from any island, so you’re right.”

Tseth sighed. “Never took you for the argumentative type, m’lady.” He looked down at Lili with a raised eyebrow. “It seems we are guests now. We should not wear out our welcome so soon.”

Lili looked at Tseth and blinked. She was not being argumentative. This Castor guy was just being an ass. But she saw Tseth’s point. The two of them were definitely in the right place, especially if these two people didn’t even recognize their species, let alone who they even were. “Right- uh, sorry.”

Pollux tapped their groundhand slightly, furrowing their brows. “Well, I have no brain bubble what to do. Cas?” They looked over at their twin, who was still staring down Lili until Pollux spoke.

Castor glanced at Pollux and shrugged. “Best thing to do would be to talk to Juniper. She’s in charge here, and she can talk to the other Elders.”

Pollux wasn’t really sure if there was a ‘best thing’ to do in this situation, but nodded anyway. Their brother was the smart one, even if they weren’t fond of admitting that.

“Okay, then.”

The two children who were running earlier now stand still, staring at the four with curious peepers. Mostly Tseth and Lili. The ankle-biter with the yellow cape points at Tseth, looks at their friend, and puts their hands in the air, seeming to comment on his height.

(Would you like to see the babie)
(No? Too bad-)

(I would die for these children)

Lili, who had been doing her best to avoid Castor’s gaze, now looked at him inquisitively. Juniper must be their leader here. But what would the Elders have to do with this? Wait, what did he mean by other?

Tseth on the other hand got distracted from the conversation. He noticed the two kids looking at the four of them, and the gesture that the yellow-caped one had made. I guess I’m even more of a giant here than I am usually. He waved at the two of them, giving them a small smile.

(:D)

The yellow-caped ankle-biter looked over again. They hesitated, then waved eagerly back at Tseth. The other ankle-biter hid behind the first one.

Castor tapped his fingers against his arm impatiently. “Well, we wouldn’t want to waste any time. I have a feeling these two wouldn’t like being stuck here for longer than they need to.”

Pollux glared at Castor. “And I have a feeling you’ll survive if we don’t immediately leave in the next two seconds.” They gave Tseth and Lili an apologetic look. “Sorry about my brother. He’s a piece of shit sometimes, if you haven’t noticed.” They shrugged, then looked at the children. “Oh. Forget there’s a bunch of kids here. Try not to scare them off,” they said, smirking at Tseth at the last sentence.

Castor sighed. “I suppose you’re right. But still.”

Seems some things don’t change. Not surprised. Tseth turned his attention back to the conversation in time to catch what Pollux said. “I am sure he has his moments. And no promises either on that, I’m pretty terrifying.” He winked at Pollux, and then promptly got elbowed in the side by Lili. When he looked down at her, she was looking at Castor and Pollux with a polite smile.

“I agree with Castor, I’d like to get home as soon as possible. But uh, if you are going to be talking us somewhere, maybe we should have some actual introductions-?” Lili glanced between the twins.

(sneeze)

Pollux laughed. “I will admit, you’re a little scary.” They glanced at Castor. “Well, if he does, I sure haven’t seen ‘em. He’s always a judgmental bastard.”

Castor flared out his wings slightly at Pollux’s comment, then quickly composed himself. He resisted the urge to roll his peepers at Lili. “Sure, if that’ll make this go any faster.”

Pollux shoved Castor. “How about I do the talking from now on?” They said in a strained tone of voice. They took a deep breath, then smiled at Lili. “That sounds like a great brain bubble. I’m Pollux, and this is my twin brother, Castor.” Castor nodded tersely.

Tseth sighed a little before he introduced himself. “Tsethlekai Stryker, but you two may refer to me as Tseth.” He bowed his head slightly as a formality. He decided he would spare the details of his status—he didn’t think it would be important in this situation. And hopefully Lili would decide to do the same. He didn’t want to listen to a discussion on the validity of her or his own claims.

After Tseth had introduced himself, Lili spoke up. To Tseth’s relief, she did follow suit in her introduction. “Just uh- just call me Lili.” She glanced to the right, once again avoiding looking at anyone.

Pollux gave the two a small, yet still flamboyant bow. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” they said, then burst into laughter at themselves. They stood up straight again and shook their head. “Sorry, sorry. Ahem.”

Castor tilted his head at Tseth. “Interesting name,” he observed, his tone providing no indication of how he meant that statement.

Pollux glanced at Castor, then flipped their hair back into place, putting their hands on their hips. “Well, now that we’ve gotten to know each other…s names, shall we go?”

(Tseth: “Here’s my last name, and my last name 2 electric boogaloo”)

Tseth looked at Castor and mirrored his head-tilt. “I thought so myself.”
He had noticed a pattern about the twins. Castor rarely showed his emotions by face, but it was easy to tell by his actions. Pollux, on the other hand, was much easier to read overall. It wasn’t a particularly hard observation to make, but Tseth regarded it as an important one.
Tseth then looked at Pollux and nodded. “Lead the way, then.”

Lili still had a couple more questions that she wanted answers to, but she saw it was the right time to try and ask any. So she simply nodded as well, and clasped her hands together.

Pollux pointed towards a spot in the distance. “Onwards!” They said, raising their voice a notch. They laughed a bit again, then started walking through the plains. They wanted to fly, for time’s sake, but walking would make it easier for the others to follow them.

Castor rolled his peepers, then followed after Pollux, taking a spot right next to them. He didn’t bother to check on the other two.

(I fuckin love Pollux they’re precious)

Lili watched Castor and Pollux for a moment, letting the two of them take the lead. She was half-expecting Tseth to follow along with them, but he stayed where he was as well. He looked at Lili and gestured in the direction Castor and Pollux were moving. “After you, m’lady,” Tseth said in an overly-formal tone of voice.

Lili sighed and started following the twins, speeding up her pace to catch up with them. “You’re insufferable. . . ,” she muttered under her breath.

Tseth then followed as well, staying comfortably at the back of the group. And despite hearing Lili’s remark, he didn’t reply.

The group makes their way through the Prairie, and after a while they start on a dirt path. The path leads through a large valley with cliffs on either side, but otherwise it looks just like the rest of the Prairie. This area is slightly more populated with children.

They make it through the valley to a stone land-connector, leading to a separated piece of land with a large stone building on top of it. The temple. The temple has a few gold details on it, and there’s a koi pond in the middle of the flower field in front of it, with a land-connector stretching over it to the temple’s wide open entrance.

Pollux watches the fish swim around as the group passes over the land-connector. Castor is watching the flitter-flutter sky rhythmancers fluttering around. The place was practically swarming with them.

As they enter the temple, a soft, melodic voice can be heard singing somewhere in the temple.

”Are you, are you, coming to the leafy tower… where they strung up a man, they say who murdered three.”

An awfully dark song to match up with the voice.

”Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be… if we met at midnight in the hanging leafy tower.”

(This song is not canon it just feels like something she would sing-)

Lili took in the surroundings of the unfamiliar Prairie, and especially the view of the Temple they were fast approaching. There was the odd sense of familiarity to it, but at the same time it was still terribly foreign. The Prairie Temple she had seen and visited so often looked much different than this. And there were considerably more people roaming about. Though, the fact that it consisted mostly of children eased the creeping feelings of heebie jeebies.
She watched the flitter-flutter sky rhythmancers fluttering through the air. They didn’t seem the same as her own people. It was unexplainable if anyone were to try and ask her why. They just seemed. . . right.

Tseth himself observed the Prairie as well, in his own way. He had rarely ever visited the Prairie before, so this was an unwelcome difference. It was fucking hot in this realm. And flat. Well, not terribly flat, considering the hills. But until he had reached the valley that lead to the temple, there were no actual mountains to speak of.
And then the Temple. At the sight of it he had visibly tensed. Tseth never visited Temples, let alone the temple of Ayin. If this even was the Temple of Ayin. The twins had mentioned Elders, but never said anything more about them.
The land-connector up to the temple. Tseth froze when he saw it, taking several seconds to decide what to do before quickly walking over the land-connector and diverting his thoughts to essentially anything else.

As Lili listened to the melody that echoed through the temple, she got the slightest bit unsettled by it. Though she was being unsettled by everything. Everything was wonky-donky and the only person she knew here was a murderer. But she held hope that the owner of the voice singing the song wasn’t as morbid as the song they were singing.

Pollux listened to the voice for a bit.

”Are you, are you, coming to the leafy tower… where the dead man called out for his love to flee… strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be… if we met at midnight in the hanging leafy tower…”

Pollux looked over at Lili, sensing her discomfort. “Don’t worry. She’s a lot nicer than her taste in music.” As if on cue, a small woman rounded the corner, her hands folded in front of her. Her long, blonde hair was tied into two braids draped over her shoulders, and she wore a light green sundress with purple flower patterns. Her wings, folded neatly against her back, resembled that of a Luna moth’s.

“Oh. howdy, partner, there.” She said as she saw the group. This was the owner of the voice singing that morbid song. She walked toward them, smiling and tilting her head curiously. As she got closer, one could notice the odd way the light reflected against her right peeper,, and the scarring around it. “What brings you to the temple?”

Pollux smiled back. “Hey, Juniper. Me and Cas just found these two, and… we think they might not be from the Islands. Cas said it might be a portal to a different world.” Castor stared silently at the woman named Juniper, shrugging slightly.

Juniper furrowed her brows in confusion. “Well, that’s a new one. I’m not exactly sure how that would work… but I can certainly see why you’d think that.” She looked at Tseth and Lili, and while she was bumfuzzled and slightly creeped out, her gaze held compassion towards the newcomers.

(Are the Luna moth wings a nod to. . . Luna?)
(Also I’m realizing I probably should have had a better description of Tseth and Lili’s clothing in the starter post oops but we’re both pretty familiar with them)

Lili glanced at Pollux dubiously, but took a breath and willed herself to be more calm. Which quickly disappeared when Juniper appeared so suddenly. Lili’s wings flared the slightest, but she quickly composed herself once again. She glanced at Juniper’s injured peeper for a moment and wondered what had happened to it. And then she realized she had been staring, and looked down at the floor. Such noice stone.

Tseth had a very different opinion than Lili regarding the melody. In fact, it was almost soothing to him. Side effects of growing up in a culture that has songs such as those. Regardless, his posture was still stiff as a wooden board after entering the Temple. His wings were tightly folded behind his back, uncomfortably so.
But still when Juniper appeared he gave her a smile and a nod. “A pleasure to meet you, madam.”