"The Bridge: the Eternal Dilemma" Promo · 6:33pm Jun 10th, 2019
Harmony observed the events transpiring with a cautious optimism. There were definitely concerns that she was keeping an eye on, pooling what influence she might have so she could reach out and help if absolutely necessary. The trick was knowing exactly when that was supposed to be. With so many to keep track of far away from any regional height of influence she might have, it was difficult. A vast majority of the time, she could only watch.
Sometimes being limited to observing most of the events from a distance just about killed her, especially in this world. This was where she saw her first mortal friend, someone with a happy marriage and young children and who deserved a long life, perish.
Wysteria… the name was still an aching scar years later. Harmony could have worried herself into depression and agony mulling over fate of the guardian retainer, the greatest of the Gaea Everfree and first bearer of the Element of Empathy. She could tell herself she sent Wysteria to her fate by not having discouraged her from taking up the mantle when she was deemed worthy, by maybe not being quick enough to rip part of her own essence free of herself to forge the 7th element of that world, by not trying harder to talk her best friend out of confronting three demons.
But she could spend 20 years faulting herself for Wysteria's choices, or she could try and live up to that heroic legacy. And the Nexus of Light magic would not wallow when there was good to be done.
Mortals, they were such amazing life forms that she admired so much. They truly could be great if they wished it upon themselves. If anything, the amazing ability in mortals to accomplish feats of bravery and heroism despite their comparatively miniscule power only invigorated her more in the past thousand years than she had been previously for billions. Wysteria, the Bearers, the Pillars, and more passersby in the sea of time than any could hope to count. There was good reason she left her fragments, especially two extremely precious to her, in the hands of mortals. They may have been but mayflies to her weathered, thousand-year tree, but that didn’t make them expendable or anything less than precious. Facing down three windigos, a storm, a dark magic enchantment, a quartet of vicious dragons, and more recently a kaiju would be pest-control for her. Barely worth a footnote. But to them, to the mortals, it would be a titanic struggle.
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The goddess steeled herself, letting a calm suffuse her form while embracing the past for counsel to the future. The fact she knew it would be wrong, that choice. That was precious and for the ten thousandth, ten thousandth time she had felt the temptation, Harmony stowed it away as a reminder.
She quickly shut herself off from thinking about that possibility before the tremors grew too great, gasping a bit in breath. It took an hour to collect herself.
The course would be stayed. She would help the mortals as she could, fostering and guiding with counsel and tool. Losses would happen, failures could happen, but she would have to trust that mortals would be able to make the right decisions in the end regardless of their past and action. Perhaps a few times would arise she could bestow a blessing or enact the creation of the gift to them, right down to whittling further and further at her power to leave it in the most capable hooves. One day, she might not have much power all. And she would cheer in elation.
And, in the quieter moments she could take solace in the knowledge she had done some good and helped others onto a righteous path despite their pasts. Monster X had slain thousands in war as a weapon of mass destruction, unleashed upon those that would fight back. Had his path gone unaltered his wrathful side would have won out, becoming the heir to the King of Terror. Aria Blaze was a sea witch spawned from the seed of Grogar’s own creation with the specific intent of spreading misery and strife. Had she more time to grow unopposed she would have burned the bridges with her family, lashing out at everyone around her with war, violence, and suffering that could have potentially made her sire seem feeble.
Conflict was all the two initially knew from one another. But when a dire threat came upon the world with no Bearer or Retainer to oppose it, she set a course for a monstrous weapon and a sorceress of strife to prove themselves better than the origin of their blood. It was a long shot, but it worked out more spectacularly than she could have hoped.
In the dark of a small cabin within the campgrounds, two figures sat together in bed with one reaching over to turn off the lamp. Illuminated only by the subtle glow coming from Aria’s necklace, two pairs of hands slowly raised to one another’s cheek. Aria removed a mask and jacket, leaning in to nuzzle and kiss an old scar crossing a cheek. X removed a set of hair bands and sweater, running his fingers along the back and pressing his forehead to her’s.
Harmony shifted the viewpoint to allow them some privacy, but couldn’t resist letting out a small snicker when she saw Adagio pace by the cabin. The eldest siren took one look at the massive amount of love magic, visible to her as red smoke, billowing out from under the door and clouding the windows; before promptly turning on her heel and pacing away, red embarrassment staining her face.
Okay, maybe it was fine that Aria didn’t share everything with her cousins, and X likewise might not be entirely inclusive of his team in all activities; but this was definitely an improvement from before.
Harmony instead refocused her efforts to monitor elsewhere. For the time being, this was the most she could do: Monitor and hope. Especially for this realm, where her reach was already limited and only became more so when a battle between gods temporarily wounded her connection to the realms even more. It would take time for a stronger bond to be reestablished, for the bridges to heal. Only one realm remained easily connected to her own starry void of magic. And it wasn’t any she was involved in.
In fact, until its latest master slaughtered all of the demons, some might have called it an echo of hell.
And said master walked back in through that door.
Harmony, a near blinding mass of light in the shape of a horned equine, turned and looked across a near infinite space at a mass a near infinite distance away. One could not easily tell how long it took for said distance to close over the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of kilometers. A dozen minutes, a couple hours, a few days. But it closed nonetheless.
Bagan had once again come to the Harmonium.
Wohooo! Yeah! It’s nice to see the preview and it’s certainly cool to see what Harmony is planning. It’s adorable to see that X and Aria have become closer and joined BD and Xenilla in the intimate couple section, though I laughed a bit when Harmony and Adagio realized what the happy couple were up to. That being said, the ending of the preview kept me on my seat, especially since Bagan is hinted to appear.
Guess the chapter will come soon.
Thanks for posting this preview, Tarb. You’re the best.
Can't wait to see what you got PlAnNeD.
Seems like the situation is gotten serious
Oh boy...
So Bagan has decided to pay another visit to Harmony. Can't wait to see how this one plays out.