882 - Getting Blackballed
Adagio had to resist the urge to laugh as she felt the curses Lex had bound her with fall away.
Instead, she sang.
Rising up, she lifted her voice in a melody of triumph, an ode to herself once again coming back from the brink of total defeat. No matter what happened – regardless of where she was banished to, or how thoroughly her powers were sealed, or who betrayed her – she always found a way to beat the odds and keep going. It was her prerogative. Her birthright. Her destiny.
That was why she couldn’t lose, no matter how many fools or self-righteous hypocrites stood in her way. Star-Swirl. Twilight Sparkle. Iliana. Sonata and Aria. Kryonex. Nenet. Lex Legis. They had all defied her, driven by jealousy or stubbornness or wanting to possess her, each of them having just enough power to get in her way.
But not enough to stop her for good. That was something no one could do.
After all, the universe itself adored her, and so would keep setting things right until she had everything she wanted.
And right now, what she wanted was in the desk drawer opposite her.
The cage of black crystal had already shattered, splintering into a thousand shards the moment she’d raised her voice, and Adagio stepped over the broken fragments as she crossed the room. The undead – both the billowy specters and the mangled corpses – immediately lunged at her, which was no surprise; even when they were no longer alive, the twisted creatures recognized that she was the most deserving of their attention.
But that didn’t mean they were worthy of hers. Quite the opposite; the disgusting creatures were just as awful to see as they were to hear, and that alone was enough reason for her to destroy them. All she had to do was adjust the pitch and tenor of her voice-
And they went flying back...only to rise again.
Inwardly, Adagio snarled, realizing that without aristeia, her innate magic wasn’t nearly as powerful as before. Worse, her mental repertoire of spells was still depleted, and since the undead were notoriously difficult to mentally manipulate, she couldn’t simply bring them to heel.
Taking a moment to swallow her irritation at how everything was always so difficult, she glanced at where the foxgirl was pulling Nenet’s well-chewed form to one corner of the room. “You!” she snapped. “Distract those things so I can finish preparing!”
The foxgirl – who had turned back into human form in order to better drag Nenet out of harm’s way – gave her a panicked look. “But Nenet is injured very badly!” she protested, one hand going to the sphinx’s throat. “She is still alive, but I cannot-”
“I don’t care!” growled Adagio, taking enough time to vent another sonic scream at several of the spectral undead, blasting them back through the wall. “Shut up and cover me!”
Flinching, the foxgirl hesitated just for a moment before changing back into her vulpine form, moving to stand in front of Nenet protectively before breathing lightning at the corporeal undead. It accomplished little except to draw their attention to her, but that was all Adagio needed, striding across the room and ripping open the drawer of her desk.
Inside was the cedar box, just as she’d left it.
Forcing herself not to pause, she flipped the latch open and threw the lid back, grasping the adamantine length of chain that was the necklace within.
Immediately, she felt a tug in her mind. It wasn’t a voice, nor was it a presence. Instead, it was as though her attention was being drawn elsewhere, her awareness shifting in a particular direction, like a song that she couldn’t get out of her head, albeit one with no lyrics or melody.
Gritting her teeth at the unsettling sensation, Adagio brought the necklace over her head, laying it around her neck and pulling her voluminous hair through it. With the length of metal now draped across her, the sensation in her mind was stronger, but that was the point; it allowed her to more easily channel her concentration in the appropriate direction...and control the artifact that the talisman was connected to.
Ignoring the shrill cry of fear from the foxgirl as the undead swarmed at her, fighting their way past another blast of lightning, Adagio closed her eyes and focused.
And she felt the artifact respond almost immediately, moving at her command.
“H-help!” screamed the fox, backing up against Nenet’s prone body in a panic as the undead came within paw’s reach of her. “Please, hel-, AAAUGH!!!”
The foxgirl screamed as jaws closed on one of her paws, and Adagio grit her teeth in irritation, trying to keep her focus, knowing that it if wavered she not only ran the risk of misdirecting the weapon, but of having it backslide toward her.
That was something that had to be avoided at all costs.
But maintaining her concentration was growing more difficult as the foxgirl’s wailing grew progressively louder and more agonized, Adagio’s brow furrowing as she aimed the artifact in the little loudmouth’s direction. I’ll just let it swallow her, Nenet, and those monsters all at once, she decided with vindictive glee, feeling it move to within a few yards of its targets. Then feet. Then inches...
And then the undead were gone, as a perfectly black orb two feet in diameter rose up out of the floor and consumed them.
But Nenet and the foxgirl were still there, the orb having come up slightly off-target, causing Adagio to snort in irritation.
Damn it. That stupid brat’s blubbering threw off my concentration.
Fortunately, it had at least shut the girl up, leaving her stupefied as she stared at the artifact hovering right in front of her, cradling her mangled foreleg.
Perfectly spherical, it had no shine or luster to it, reflecting nothing. It didn’t bob or weave as it hung in the air, instead holding perfectly still, with only a hole in the ground to mark where it had risen from. Nor was there anything left of the undead creatures it had touched, being pulled in and obliterated from having made the slightest contact with the thing.
That cowardly mage who had given it to her had said that it wasn’t the only one of its kind, with several such things having been known to different civilizations at different points in time. They had given them numerous different names, calling them “voidmatter,” “spheres of annihilation,” “weaponized nothingness,” and other equally-ominous titles.
To Adagio, however, it looked like nothing so much as a tiny black hole, albeit one that didn’t radiate the gravity humans had claimed those deep-space phenomena emitted. Quite the opposite, the sphere didn’t pull anything in that was beyond itself; half an inch away from it was no different than half a world.
But anything which touched it was instantly annihilated. Body and soul. Irretrievable and unrecoverable. Even a demigod was supposedly vulnerable to it.
That, however, hadn’t been something Adagio had been eager to test. Even leaving aside the fact that killing Kryonex with that would have left nothing to harvest, the darker-than-black sphere in front of her could only be moved by one thing: willpower. Something even the weakest of gods, she knew, had in spades.
Adagio had no idea why the thing responded to concentration when it simply destroyed everything else, but the fact remained that concentrating on it hard enough could force it to move. The proof of that was in how stronger concentration could increase its speed, though even then, the wielder had to stay in relatively close proximity to it in order to manipulate it. Any sort of remote control, beyond a few dozen yards, simply wasn’t possible.
But that worried Adagio less than the fact that, if for whatever reason the user’s concentration wavered, the thing would instead make a beeline directly for them.
That, combined with how the slightest touch meant instant destruction, was reason enough for her to be wary of the thing. It was simply too easy to turn against its wielder, and that was before taking into account telekinesis, teleportation, or other ways of hurling a would-be controller into the thing. Even though her necklace had – somehow – a connection to the sphere that boosted the effects of the wearer’s concentrating on it, it was still possible to mess up, as her having failed to destroy Nenet and that little brat just now had shown.
But maybe that’s not such a bad thing, decided Adagio as she moved the sphere back ever-so-slightly from where the fox was crouched atop the sphinx, making sure that it was brought to a complete stop before she took her attention off of it.
“Take Nenet’s rings off and give them to me.”
The three-tailed fox blinked, needing a moment to tear her eyes away from the black sphere. “Wh-what?”
“Nenet’s rings,” repeated Adagio impatiently, one hand going to her hip. “Give them to me. Now!”
“But...but she is injured!” protested the fox, still looking at her dumbly. “She needs help! We both do! We-”
“Give. Me. Her. Rings.” Snarling, Adagio moved the sphere just a bit closer to the fox. “Right now, before I really lose my temper and-”
She didn’t have a chance to finish as several angry shrieks came from behind her.
Whirling in place, Adagio swore as she realized she’d forgotten about the spectral undead. They swarmed in from the back wall of the room, where they’d already destroyed the barrier that Lex had put up, and Adagio found herself beset by them in an instant, translucent fingers reaching for her face. Stumbling back, she-
Had a rush of panic as she realized that she’d been concentrating on the sphere when those things had distracted her.
Whirling around, she looked at the orb, finding that her single moment of broken concentration had allowed it to halve the distance between itself and her, and it was steadily bridging the rest of that distance. Gritting her teeth as the undead’s cold touch raked across her cheeks, shoulders, and back, she concentrated on the sphere, moving it around her as she circled it, letting the undead single-mindedly pursue her.
Just a little further...
There!
Waiting until the specters, ghosts, and wraiths were between her and the lightless orb, Adagio gave another sonic scream, letting the power of her voice push them back.
Directly into the path of the black globe.
If there had ever been any doubt that it had the power to annihilate souls as easily as physical matter, it was dispelled in an instant as the spectral creatures made contact with the sphere. Just like their corporeal counterparts, they were immediately pulled into it, a single touch serving to scoop them up like bugs into a vacuum cleaner.
This time making sure to bring the artifact to a complete standstill before she released it, Adagio let out a slow breath, trying to keep her hands from shaking at what had almost happened.
In the entirety of the cosmos, there was no life as important as hers. She was the person that everyone else was destined to adore, whose purpose in life was to be worshiped and revered by others. To be so close to something that could erase her from existence, completely and utterly wiping her out with just a touch, was beyond terrifying.
But I have it under control, she reminded herself, taking a slow, steadying breath. I have the necklace, I have the willpower, and I have the element of surprise against Lex and Kryonex. Which means the one who walks away from this victorious will be ME!
“Now,” announced Adagio, turning around. “I want those rings-”
But as she glanced back, she found herself talking to an empty room.
Swearing softly, she strode across to the entryway, spotting the foxgirl – now back in her humanoid form – dragging Nenet down the hallway, redoubling her efforts when she saw the Siren looking at her.
Adagio almost went after her, deciding against it only reluctantly. She’d seen this exact scenario play out in a hundred different movies back on Earth; some idiot would wander off, stupidly leaving their mcguffin alone, only to come back and find that it was gone. Nor was chasing after them with the sphere advisable either; after what had just happened with those ghosts, the last thing Adagio wanted was to wander around the narrow hallways waiting for that foxgirl to jump out and distract her again.
Nenet’s rings were powerful, but they weren’t worth putting herself at risk for. There’d be time to recover them – and wipe out her treacherous daughter and her furry new friend – after she’d killed Lex and Kryonex.
Satisfied that she’d made the right call, Adagio took a moment to change her clothes, stripping off everything except the necklace before going over to the shattered remains of her wardrobe and rifling through what was left of it. Those curses that Lex had put on her equipment were still there, in all likelihood; Nenet had said “abeyance” when she’d cancelled them out, which probably meant they were only suspended temporarily. Wearing them outside would almost certainly result in Lex turning them against her again. That wouldn’t fix the curse on her voice, but she’d just have to deal with it.
As it was, she couldn’t fight back a snarl, recalling how that arrogant bastard had made her dance like some penniless stripper at a sleazy club. Sirens didn’t need to writhe and gyrate to get attention; with beauty like hers, a gentle sway of the hips or a simple flick of her hair was all that she needed. To be forced to display herself so wantonly – and by the guy who’d turned her down even after seeing her naked! – was an unbearable humiliation. One that only his total annihilation could make up for.
From outside, a massive boom sounded, and Adagio felt the mountain shake, reminding her that time was of the essence. Wrinkling her nose, she quickly picked out a pair of slip-ons, one of her sexier sets of underwear, and a black dress with a hip-length slit on the left side.
Lex Legis would get one last look at the beauty he’d spurned before being consigned to oblivion. It was more than he deserved, but that was something Adagio could live with.
It wasn’t like she was the sort of girl who held a grudge.
Smirking as she congratulated herself on being the more evolved being, Adagio concentrated on the sphere, hips swaying and humming a soft tune as she moved it ahead of her, making her way toward the exit.
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Yeah...no. Sorry Lex, but I don't think you'll be able to keep your promise to Aria and Sonata. WAY too far gone to her narcissism to ever be able to trust she wouldn't kill you or anyone she can't dom at the first opportunity. Luckily, she may have brought out the key to your victory though...
ahh Adagio, you hate to love her, but love her you must...
If its a variation enough on a Portable hole, then Lex could use it to Astral Plane himself away from the resulting throwdown between Adagio and Kronex?
11736184
It's not, it's a sphere of annihilation. It's basically a ball of nothing that destroys anything it touches. Utterly. The medallion Adagio has is an amulet of the sphere, which allows her to more easily control it. The one good thing about it is that it's probably one of the few things that might be able to kill a god outright, meaning Lex has a fighting chance if he can avoid Adagio using it on him or if he can take control of it himself.
11736299
Couple things this reminds me of. https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-123 Is the first, but its too fuzzy etc, but then I remembered hearing theyd got the mass energy required for the Alcubierre drive down from several million times the mass of the universe, to a ton or so, through a mathematical trick. Taking all the bits in the middle and squeezing them to the edge. I cant remember the article details, but Numberphile? did a video if extreme values in sampling called Runge spikes, andcertain space time metrics I thought Id seen called Runge Kutta manifolds?
Is SciFi Ive read over teh years it would be related to Alan Dean Fosters stories of Commonwealth, where the ships are powered by constrained gravity fields, Kurita-Kita, or Kurita-Kinoshita drives, or even older, EE Doc Smith used an extreme gravity gradient as a defense mechanism on The Hill, An Earth based fortress in the Lensmen stories?
If the graph of field strength verses radius is used for resonance circuits, it could be said that an impenetrable sphere is just slightly different, going from totally attracting to totally repelling. This also leads to the intresting trick of putting one behind the other, and having a sphere where a short distance away you feel nothing, on touching things gets dragged in, a fraction of a distance before it get repeles back, leaving the center of the sphere hollow, for unknown values of center and hollow?
Theres also some fun things with Kerr holes, Flat Torus and Holographic event horizons that can really abused by someone wanting to mess with Hollywood script writers.
This is getting far into game regions Ive never seen before, so very intreste to see what subset of rules etc is being used. Which is what stories are?
11736124 At this point the idea of Lex winning Adagio's love does seem beyond reach, doesn't it? Kara herself implied, during her conference with Lex (while the Night Mare was raising him to titanhood), that her blessing alone wouldn't make her love him, which is actually a rather damning implication, because her blessing was that those individuals who could love him would...suggesting that a relationship with Adagio like he has with Sonata and Aria is beyond Lex's reach.
Of course, Kara also promised Lex that she'd give him Adagio if he got revenge on her (Kara's) behalf, so maybe she has something else in mind? Or was that more of her manipulative tendencies coming to the fore? It's hard to say at this point, especially given the huge fight that's going on, but I suppose we'll find out.
11736127 That is kind of her thing. Even when you love to hate her, that's still love.
11736299
11736398 One funny thing about this is that, if you look up what a sphere of annihilation can actually do, there's a caveat right in there which flat-out says that direct divine intervention can restore someone destroyed by it. But this is a bit of a problem, because we have an instance of a sphere of annihilation being used against a demigod in actual first-party sources (specifically, Dungeon magazine issue #135, page 56), and there's no indication that said demigod can simply restore himself if it hits him; quite the opposite, as while he's able to potentially survive being hit with it, he's still seriously injured, and if he's injured enough it can kill him.
Now, we could say that's the difference between a demigod and a full-fledged deity, but this leads to further problems in that we don't know the exact divine strata of the gods of Everglow (which is one of the reasons I wish Pathfinder had kept divine ranks in their listings for gods, instead of having them be beyond all stats and comparisons between each other, something Ponyfinder kept). They're clearly above demigods (mostly), but given that I prefer to have things given stats and formally delineated, just having a blanket "any gods above demigod can bring back something destroyed by the sphere" strikes me as unsatisfying. And since contradictions and undefined areas are up to the GM to fill in, I'm therefore going to be taking a slightly more strict interpretation of that particular clause...
11736762
Trouble is, gods are Atemporal, so for the Sphere to destroy them, it would have to destroy All parts of their world line, how theyve interacted with all of reality over all of time. That would make the present change to somethinbg else, one that doesnt have the presence of that deity and so not require the Sphere. So a God cant be destroyed by the Sphere, at best, only diverted for a period of recovery.
Consider trying to take out a Q with a Sphere. Or Discord, or Celebi.. anyone with immortality and time travel and continous communication or link can patch a new form to continue after the Spheres existance and they can come back in return?
11736792
No, they're not. While they have some ability to see through time, that's about it as far as temporal-based shenanigans go where deities are concerned. Even they're still subject to cause and effect, which is why gods can die without it necessarily retconning things.
Ideas like this are why I prefer to use RPG systems, which have objective standards (i.e. rules) to measure things by. People have different ideas about the powers and capabilities of gods, which is why you see some people classifying Princess Celestia as a deity while others hold that deities have the ability to manipulate universes with a thought. I've previously noted several different standards for presenting gods in the d20 System, but in none of them are they beings who stand outside of time (well, notwithstanding the use of godfire in Eclipse, but that's more about its actualization than its impact on causality).
11736809
I apologise for my misunderstanding of the specifics of the system, I was apparently taking the generalisation.
And Pinkie.
11736859 It's all good. To be fair, I was hedging my bets a bit; the Immortal's Handbook does allow for temporal shenanigans, but they're (typically) reserved for cosmic entities above the other systems classify as "gods."
Okay, so that's how Lex's soul will get destroyed...maybe? It's hard to be certain given the twists and turns this story has thrown at us so far. Still, if this sphere Adagio has can even destroy divine beings, then Lex as a titan/demigod(?) is in trouble unless he had another contingency for her. Bright side, Nenet and Mei Li are hanging in there though if Lex's soul does get destroyed then I am curious on how it would affect Nenet and Solvei/Akna.
11737148 I hope I'm not mistaken to take it as a compliment that this story has kept you guessing, rather than telegraphing how things will play out (at least insofar as this fight goes).
That said, Adagio's having a sphere of annihilation does, taken in conjunction with what Soft Whisper said, seem like very bad news for Lex. Hopefully he'll be able to overturn things somehow, but that seems kind of doubtful where a goddess of death speaking with regard to something from her own portfolio is concerned. Maybe Nenet or Mei Li will be able to help, though given how they seemed when we last saw them, that seems like an unlikely prospect.
11737577
You are not mistaken.
As for Nenet and Mei Li, I'm not holding out too much hope on them doing anything significant, especially with Nenet in her current condition. Even with Lex essentially back again, I do wonder how it had affected their connection. I assumed they also died when Lex was erased and stabilized when Lex came back, which is probably quite a shock to their system so to speak. Though I am morbidly curious on what happens to them if and when Soft Whisper's prediction comes true.