Raise the sword!

Sofia 2023/03/17(Fri)12:27 No. 1058838 ID: 0ba437
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...

Sofia 2023/03/17(Fri)12:27 No. 1058839 ID: 0ba437
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You open your eyes again. You're sitting on a bench. It's dark, but you can just make out the shape of stone pillars all around you, hanging down from so high up that you can't see the top. There's a sort of heavy fog laying close to the ground, and when you kick your feet you get a glimpse of the polished marble beneath as the fog wafts away, before slowly reappearing to hide the ground.

Humphrey is sitting next to you. They seem to be asleep.

Sofia 2023/03/17(Fri)12:27 No. 1058840 ID: 0ba437
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On your other side is the void king's broken sword hilt. You pick it up.
“Huh... how'd this get out of me?”

"Ahh, good afternoon!"

Sofia 2023/03/17(Fri)12:27 No. 1058841 ID: 0ba437
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You look around and notice a desk with a snake lady sitting by it. She has several smaller snakes on her head, all looking in different directions.

She looks between a piece of paper and a small clock with several hands on her desk.
“At least, I think... afternoon is the right time? I’m sure you’re a little disoriented, so please take all the time you need to get your bearings."

You nudge Humphrey awake. "Hzaa.. wha? What happened? Are we still inside the void? I think I passed out. Did we win?"

The snake taps her fingers together awkwardly, "Aah. I'm afraid I have some difficult news for you about that. You have unfortunately ah... perished."

Sofia 2023/03/17(Fri)12:27 No. 1058842 ID: 0ba437
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"Wh-what?" you choke, "perished? What about the monster, what about Mirrow? What about the guild?"

"Mmm..." she shuffles some papers around for a moment, "Well... There's no other names than yours and your sword's on the report, but the ahhhhh...." she squints at the documents again, "'Lake Beast' has been 'successfully destroyed thanks to your sacrifice'. Um, also there's a note here? Miss Grace would like to see you, apparently. Strange, she hardly ever makes requests like that.. you must be something special."

A: Go Meet Grace
B: Ask about...

Oh hey, afterlife! Cool.

But, uh, if you're dead... isn't there someone missing?

>>1058842
Wait, hold on, who's this "Grace"? Why's she asking for us? Why did the void sword somehow cross over with us?

>>1058843
Mirrow left with Godrender a few updates ago. >>1057165

"... Oh. O-okay. Um... Who is Grace, and who are you? ... Wait, the sword's on the record?" Look down at the sword. "Uh... hello there? Sorry you didn't get a say?"

The sword has a soul?

>>1058842
A

As much as I'd like to ask about the sword being on the record, what it means that we're dead whwn we know another of our pieces is alive and we've been shattered before, if the Goddess and/or Candyfloss are dead, or even what thos means for our fungal friend, I think becoming no longer dead as soon as possible is more important. A. Let's meet Grace and hope she has good news.

oh, how dead? Mirrow could theoretically re-absorb the rest of our core, assuming we didn't get pulverized
Though I imagine Miss Grace has more answers on that front

B: Ask about... timekeeping and deciphering clocks.

A.
Save the questions for Grace.

Wait, the name is on file? We've been wondering what our real name is. Do tell.

How's this afterlife thing work overall? Lots of theories (religions), but now we can just find out by asking!

>>1059015
Seconding the name thing.

>>1059015
Our original name is the name of the Grand Slime, and the Grand Slime didn't just die. We know for a fact at least one component is alive, and probably several more, so that name wouldn't be on the list right now.

Ask the sword what its name is. After all, it's been with you longer than even Humphrey and you never got acquainted. Well, more acquainted than having it stuck in your core.

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:45 No. 1059252 ID: 0ba437
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"Can you tell us anything about where we are? Who are you?" Humphrey asks.

The snake lady stands up and crosses to a door you hadn't noticed, looking very regal and proud. "My name is Jordon, and my job is to greet new souls. Right now we're sort of between spaces, as it were. New arrivals show up on that bench, and once I get their paperwork in order I escort them to wherever it is Miss Grace has decided they belong." She opens the door and waits for you to follow her down a long hallway.

"In this particular case, she hasn't specified a fate for you three just yet. That doesn't happen very often, so I wouldn't keep her waiting too long."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:45 No. 1059253 ID: 0ba437
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"This sword had a soul?" you look down at the broken blade.

"Oh, uhhh," she shuffles through the papers again, "So, that's... mm.. it's only part of a soul, just like you and Humphrey are both parts of a soul. It's not yours, but it doesn't seem like it can walk on its own, so you'd better carry it with you."

"Does it have a name?"

"It doesn't seem to have one, it just says 'fragment of soul' in the name field."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:45 No. 1059254 ID: 0ba437
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"What about this Grace lady?" you ask, "Who is she, and why does she want to speak with us?"

"She's the guardian of the underworld!" Jordon says proudly, "She's pretty big around here, takes very good care of the souls. Well, she does play with some of them, but I think they either deserve it or enjoy it when she does. As to why she wants to meet you, I haven't a clue."

The hallway opens up to a very long bridge, stretching a great distance ahead of you. Above you are thick, clouds, out of which stick the ends of great stone pillars. They all hang at different lengths, but are all of various sizes, and some hang down, dipping into what appears to be a gentle sea of darkness. There appear to be stars in the fluid.

"That's the Void," Jordon says, gesturing to the ocean below you, "It belongs to the Void King, technically, but she has a small amount a sway over it, by nature of it being in her domain."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059255 ID: 0ba437
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You walk down the bridge for a while and eventually come to a door in the middle. The bridge appears to continue further behind the door, fading out of sight in the distance. "Alright then! Miss Grace is just beyond this door. Good luck and all that!" And the snake lady turns and flounces back the way you came.

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059256 ID: 0ba437
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"Alright, well... I guess we go see Grace," Humphrey says, "I hope Tricky and Mirrow are ok.."

"Maybe Grace can help us get back to them," you say encouragingly, tho you're feeling uncertain yourself.

You turn the knob and open the door.

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059257 ID: 0ba437
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You're in a large, bright room. Several of those pillars fill the ceiling, and the floor is made of an immaculately polished marble. There are hundreds of giant cushions filling the corners of the room, and all the way at the end is a giant golden throne. Sitting on the throne is an enormous black cat, several stories taller than you. She smirks and waves as you enter and close the door behind you.

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059258 ID: 0ba437
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"Well well well! I can't begin to tell you how delighted I am to see you. Or, perhaps I should be devastated? It makes no difference to me how you feel about it. You're here now, after all!" she laughs for a bit and sits up straight.
"I am Grace of the Underworld, caretaker of lost souls, big cat, etc etc. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, O Grand Slime, and I'm sure I have a lot of answers. I also am curious about the world beyond my realm, so let's trade secrets, shall we? Don't be shy now."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059259 ID: 0ba437
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"Uh, well, I guess first would be, what... what happened?"

"You were masticated by the jaws of a monster, and thusly crushed to death. Nemo's core is very badly broken. Little Humphrey fared somewhat better, tho still it shattered enough to send you here."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059260 ID: 0ba437
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"Is there any chance we can go back?" Humphrey asks meekly.

Grace erupts into laughter. "Getting right to it! No need to rush your revival, sweet things, time flows differently in my domain. We have time to discuss things, so please, relax."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059261 ID: 0ba437
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A couple of giant soft cushions puff into existence before you, and the two of you sit down on them.
"My turn, then," says Grace, "Tell me your story so far. What do you remember?"

You and Humphrey recap your adventures together, as well as the few details you can recall about your original death. "Hmm hm hm hm hm hm. Very interesting. A lot has happened in such a short time..."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059262 ID: 0ba437
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"I'm a little confused about why we're here," you say, "When we died before, we just split into different fragments of ourself with new... selves? Why didn't that happen again?"

"You're a unique creature as a Grand Slime," she says, "When a slime core breaks, the slime dies. When a Grand Slime core breaks, it has the ability to create smaller selves. That can only work so many times before the core becomes too broken to hold a soul inside. You've done it once before, but doing it again might be a bit much, considering you've shattered into at least four pieces already, possibly more. You're at your limit. Well, you specifically have surpassed that limit. That's why we're here talking about it."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059263 ID: 0ba437
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"What's the deal with this sword?" you ask, holding up the broken void sword, "It belonged to the Void King, and he killed me the first time with it. Jordon said it's a fragment of someone's soul. Is it part of the Void King?"

"It is part of the Void King, yes. As for its 'deal', it had sworn to protect you, tho being one half of a sword, it hasn't been particularly actionable about it."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059264 ID: 0ba437
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The sword vibrates angrily in your hand at her words, and a monotonous, sort of artificial voice you swear you can recognize speaks aloud.
"I have kept her core alive for eternities, and have tried to guide her to safety. She can barely hear me speak, and she doesn't understand my song when she hears it. Do not mock me for my failure."

"Touchy," she smirks, "Alas, it is correct. The Void King can explain it better, but the gist is they left their sword behind specifically so you wouldn't die by their hand. As for the singing, that's a void thing, I can't explain it as well as him."

Sofia 2023/03/21(Tue)20:46 No. 1059265 ID: 0ba437
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"What about our name?" Humphrey asks as you stare dumbfounded at the sword, "What were we called as a Grand Slime?"

Her face breaks into a wide grin. "Well, I shouldn't say, really. You're merely pieces of that name now. But there is a piece of yourself out there who does know your name. Wouldn't it be nice to hear it from yourself?"

A: Ask More Questions
B: Bargain for Resurrection
C: Something else..?

B.

Ask more questions. Is the void king here too, and can we ask him what the hell he's doing?

C. Want to have a drink? You're a pretty cool cat.

>>1059265
B

Plenty of quetsions:
What IS the Void exactly?
Where's this Last Piece of us? (And other piece of the sword, as well)
Should we try and contact the Void King ASAP if we return?
Are there any OTHER Grand Slimes still living?

Who's that funny menace we accidentally released?

We can ask the void sword if it wants to be fused with God-Render now, and we may as well ask if we'll keep our memories of this if we revive (we might want to lock the memories so Mirrow doesn't get emotionally destroyed). Ask how Grace would describe herself, and the sword how to understand it's song, also ask grace what it's like to be Ruler of... the realm of the dead? what IS this places name! what is this place! what's that white thing on her head? is Grace the Cat Goddess? is OUR Goddess down here?

How's your day?

A bit of A and a bit of C: Ask her what other questions she could possibly want you to answer. You don't know very much at all, so you can't really trade more secrets for secrets.

Other things to ask:
Why is the sword hilt dead? It didn't get shattered.
Who was that wizard fucker?
How badly have you fucked up?
Can she maybe shed some light on the Goddess, Candyfloss, and/or whatever gem the Voidkin are looking for?
Are (or rather, were) you the last surviving Grand Slime?
Are there any more non-petrified Slime Titans around in some form or another, or was Godrender the only one?
Can the Slime Titans ever be unpetrified?

I don't think we need to bargain for resurrection, she seems to have already decided to do so. So maybe ask her how and why. Also, is there anything you can do to help her?

What is the difference between Core-Crystal and Titan-Crystal? can Void be fused to Core-Crystal?

Whats her take on Evil Cyclops Void Wizard?
Nice thighs by the way!

Jordan said something about being played with. Maybe we should play a bit with Grace?

Oh, those little lines from when the evil wizard shot us up must have been from the sword, that's neat. Thank it for keeping us alive, even if, that isnt currently the case...
Yo why would the void king kill us but also not want to ACTUALLY kill us, and make sure we stay alive instead? That's pretty weird.

A - You've told her your tale. Maybe she can tell you the story of the world and what happened to it? In brief strokes, from her perspective.

Accidentally unleashing wizard guy - who called himself the parental figure of the Void King here - and getting killed by his big mean mutha-monster means you're not so keen on remaining ignorant, is all. Especially if you're to return, facing something that powerful or his puppets. Like, Mirrow swung Godkiller at his gob like vengeance incarnate - and they got shrugged the heck off! How are you even to stop someone like that?

Regardless of if she can answer those questions or not, you'd be grateful to just return to the living again if it's possible. If nothing else, leaving Mirrow alone to deal with this, success or failure, isn't something you feel is alright. You pulled her out of her funk before. You'll do it again!

Or Humphrey will. That's the thing, innit? You're too mashed. Humphrey's not as bad. If he can incorporate the parts of your core that's left, maybe he'll be okay... unless some other solution to revival exists that you don't know about?

>>1059265
Does the sword have another half?

>>1059265
A.
So, like, if we were to find all our pieces, how would that affect our sense of self? Would we all fuse into one consciousness, or stay separate?

--

>"Well, I shouldn't say, really. You're merely pieces of that name now. But there is a piece of yourself out there who does know your name. Wouldn't it be nice to hear it from yourself?"
Doesn't the wording of this sort of imply that she already has decided to send us back?

Suggestion 2023/03/22(Wed)21:18 No. 1059336 ID: b01382
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>>1059265
C: Something else..?
CASH IN YOUR SILLY DANCE POINTS!!!!

>>1059336
Hey now. Lets not do anything rash. First, lets ask what we can cash them in for. We don't want to squander them.

Be rash. Gamble those silly points with gay abandon! Why even bother to earn them if not to squander?