Ovoid enclosure with sensor-resistant inner coating?
No.
An egg the size of a solar system... Even if the outside was similarly treated, it would
eventually be noticed... And probably have started a religion...
Extreme extra-galactic displacement?
No.
Too few stars for that. No matter
where you are in the universe, you'd see
something...
Planar displacement?
No. Thank you, blue me.
Yeah, that could easily have been a thing. Or the whole place might be inside a
very specialised Subspace pocket.
Little unclear on what that could even be. The solar system hidden inside some sort of cloud in space?
Not unlikely. Given advanced enough anti-gravity tech to resist the event horizon...
Surprisingly large stellar life form?
No.
Before anyone says 'bullshit', Pluto was a
Starro. Is it so hard to believe they might be inside the belly of some truly
titanic space whale?
Time-space magic, maybe. Ironically closest guess to the apparent truth, though. Literally a Wizard did it (or rather, a
Priest.)
Of course, this is hardly the best time for a puzzle. Shit's going down back at the planet, after all...
I know quite a large number of methods which could be used for enclosing a star system like, and testing isn't showing up anything helpful. After a certain point there's just nothing. Trying to fly into it results in me remaining stationary, relative to the star behind me. Constructs peter out. Projectiles vanish.
Mysticism it is, then.
And press play on your really trippy music,
now!
Hopefully, with Malvolio's full attention on his fight, I can pass into the Honden unnoticed. Opening my/her serpentine eyes I/we look around, trying to see the trails of desire that brought these people to this system in the first place. The Hall of the Green Flame had clear references to the initial colonisation-.
Nothing. Nothing. Empty halls, with the faintest tint of orange to show where desires might perhaps be if there were any to display.
Hardly subtle. A proper job would simply have hidden it from the Orange Light's perceptions entirely. If that's even possible.
Someone is trying to make a make a mockery of me/us in my/our own house. That is not something I/we can tolerate.
I/We expand ourselves into the walls, into the floors, into the ceilings and the spaces within, existing as them, feeling for every crack and crease and irregularity. We extend back, back towards where the people of this system connect weakly to the Honden, obscured by the overwhelmed green/will of their overlord.
Looks like the Ophidian isn't happy about this bit of redecorating.
All Things Strive.
There, there there! Tracings, etchings, residues not wholly scrubbed clear! Oh, you tried, savage, defiler! But I am/we are wise, careful, observant! I/we twist the way I/we look…
The metaphysical equivalent of plastering over detailed etching on the wall. Clearly whoever did this was not an expert.
And there is our corridor. There are our walls, there are our ceilings and our spaces and our needs and wants and desires. An enlightened soul came through here, but they did not understand, did not know what they were playing with! And there is our path, our connection to the wider universe. We could leave on our own now, but we would not leave our friends and we are not completely certain that we could shield them.
Yeah, the Sorcerers you brought through were experts in magical self-defence. Diana? Barry? Hal? Not
nearly so much.
The only question is, where is Lord Malvolio within these walls? Will his malevolence remain if we free him, or will he accept that as a trade for Barry Allen's treachery against him? Our instincts say to let him free, for we cannot control his actions but we can control our own, though that is… Technically a nonsense as we are confident that given time we are quite capable of controlling his actions, strong as he is. But we should give him the rope with which he could hang himself.
Rope the Guardians would probably happily loop around his neck as a noose, rather than a lead.
"Please do not."
I remember Guy 'spotting' me during an exercise session I did during that week I went without a ring following my initial bonding with the Ophidian, him having a laugh at my unfamiliarity with physical exercise and me needing to push onwards. The… Part of me that is the Ophidian merely hisses at the intrusion.
"Filthy Will... It burnsss usss..."
Our tongue flicks out, tasting for the desire to communicate, the desire which maintains this barrier. It takes a moment, for the desire is weak and the soul… Like a Guardian, cut off from other colours. It tastes like concrete: not malevolent, but something that should not be eaten.
The soul becomes aware of us regarding it as we become aware of it regarding us. We can't see it's body like this, though its general way of perceiving the universe implies a humanoid.
An echo of whoever did this, or a live feed from him now? Presumably the
Will makes it harder to focus on it...
"Who are you?"
"When I served the Guardians of the Universe as a Green Lantern, I was commonly called 'Priest'. And I must ask you to refrain from releasing Lord Malvolio."
"We are minded to ignore your request. Justify yourself swiftly."
Ah, the original gaoler. Let;'s see what he has to say for himself.
"I was once assigned to this Sector as a Green Lantern. My partner came from the world of Selsia Five. Many years ago I was alerted to his death, and travelled there to discover that his son had slain him and taken his ring. He took to it naturally, and to begin with the Guardians ordered forbearance. That was not a unique occurrence; the Green Lantern Corps frequently recruits from warrior cultures where there are lawful forms ways of fatally duelling someone, and since he was able to wield the ring I accepted that there was something worthy in him which the Guardians in their wisdom could see. Still, he had killed a friend and colleague and I made a point of having little to do with him."
And the Guardians do often recruit from families, as we saw with Arisia's. Presumably they assumed if he was strong enough to take the ring, he'd be strong enough for taking it away to be..
difficult, even with the on-board software disabled.
"It was not until many years later that the Guardians ordered me to kill him, in clear contravention of their usual policy on lethal force. I wondered why they were arbitrarily acting against a mere murderer, but when I investigated the extent of his misdeeds and discovered that they had been closely monitoring him for some time, I thought that they sought to use me as a tool to conceal their misjudgement. It was not until after I refused their order and created this void to contain him that I came to understand the true reason."
I wonder, if Priest had been more attentive, watched more closely, would Malvolio
still have gone the way he did? ...Probably
yes. He does strike me as
especially stubborn for a Green Lantern...
"You have felt Lord Malvolio's power. The connection he possesses to the green light of will. Have you realised yet how such power affects those around him? How it becomes natural to them to share his certainty in those subjects upon which he is certain?"
"We have not. He was not our primary focus. Though we know that what you say is possible."
Also the fact that he slapped you down when you tried to look deeper with your empathic vision. Like,
literally slapped you, from across the solar system...
"It is a curse of Green Lantern; for every one of us to believe bull headedly that ours is the only way. It is a belief that empowered our rings, but-."
"We are well acquainted with the intellectual failings of the Green Lantern Corps."
Hey, if it works for them, it works. You have your own issues, OL. Don't pretend you
don't.
"Power without the wisdom of restraint. A sufficiently powerful Lantern can turn all those around themselves into extensions of their own psyche without specifically meaning to. Even now, the people of this Sector are fixated with Lord Malvolio's restoration."
Con… Cerning. But… No. We've been keeping track of the desires of those around us on and off since we bonded. If we'd been fanning the desires of people closest to us we would have become aware of it. And if people on the Earth generally wanted what we want then our life would be a good deal less frustrating.
Yes... But we're talking about Malvolio, and do you think he, with his Lordly pretensions and clear 'colonialist' instincts, would be so reserved? Also, reminiscent of 'Tangseid'...
"And are they fixating quietly and peacefully?"
"I would not describe their response in that way. Two of the largest groups are in what I can only describe as a theological war."
To be clear: over the nature of Malvolio's divinity; whether he is or not; which of them is his favoured people; just on some article of worship; what? 'Theological war' covers such a wide, wide variety of topics... On the upside, that makes it clearer that this is a live feed.
"Sounds like it would be better if we released him."
"They will learn to live without him, eventually."
Like an addict can learn to do without their drug... But it's a long, painful process, isn't it? How many are
dying right now?
"Almost certainly. But we are not prepared to make a decision on the rightness or wrongness of their heartfelt desires after a short conversation. Goodbye, and-"
We fortify the link between the desires within and without, restoring the links between the rest of the universe and this small severed part. We feel a resistance, but we are stronger and older, and the universe remembers its proper shape.
...Oh, this is gonna piss off so many people, both
in-universe and
out...
"-goodbye."
I open my eyes and the stars are back! We're in Sector 1634, a short hop from home. I
Great. Now how are you going to keep Malvolio here? Have you thought about
that at all? Or is that one of those problems for
someone else to clean up?
step out
and appear on the planet's surface next to the refugee fortification.
"Jordan, time to leave. I've got the prisoners."
I expect everyone out there noticed the sudden return of, you know, the entire
universe to their skies...
"Understood. I'll-."
His face vanishes, and a green-burning image of Lord Malvolio's head replaces it.
Oh, dear... Looks like he
does have some communication facilities available... Hal better be sending a priority call to the Guardians ASAP.
"This is not the end."
"It is for now."
And as we've seen with OL before, he is past caring. Job's done, he's taking his shit home. And leaving the mess for others to clean up...
Argh, this is going to bite somebody in the ass, isn't it?
I grab my refuge and its inhabitants in a construct excavation bucket, set a course for the middle of nowhere…
And we're gone.
...To avoid Malvolio following you, I hope? Also... What about the Castle Revolving?! Or do you expect Hal to pick that up?
