[Mari]

(( heirtothemonado Coolshaymin ))

It was time to confront Viridi about what she'd done. Arle needed the goddess of nature if she was going to really push to restore the planet, and that meant she had to confront some really hard feelings she'd previously been unwilling to. It wouldn't be fun, but she wouldn't be doing this alone. She'd asked Phosphora to come see her so that she could have some emotional support. They'd been spending some time together while Arle recovered, and she was feeling pretty amiable. All that was left to do was find Viridi. There was the problem. See, Viridi was gone. She wasn't at the Lunar Sanctum, and the people who could normally detect her couldn't. That is, until she brought it up to the other girls at the lodge. "...Huh? ...Oooh. I forgot you don't really watch TV much." Blue replied. "--Huh? What's on TV?" Arle asked, somewhat confused as to how this was related to Viridi. "Let me just throw something on..." Blue replied, fiddling with the humble TV they had at the lodge. It wasn't much, but it worked! Arle was greeted by a recording of Valorie's stadium match with Viridi. She watched until the finale, her eyes widening as Viridi got eaten. But not only that, Valorie appeared to absorb her powers. What exactly did that imply? She wasn't sure, but it made her sick. "I'm pretty sure that's the last time anyone saw her." Blue awkwardly explained. "Oh... Is that so??" Arle replied, shuddering slightly with a barely concealed anger. She promptly stormed off to confront Valorie who, conveniently, lived here.

...

"Spit her out, now!" Arle demanded. "...Gee Arle, do you carry your food around for months??" Valorie sarcastically replied. "You better hope so!" Arle replied in an overtly threatening manner. Valorie flinched. "...I-I thought you hated her!" Valorie nervously asked. "That doesn't mean you can kill her! What's wrong with you?? You killed mother nature!" Arle accused. "Wh-Why do you need her anyway?? I'm mother nature now! I can do anything she could!" Valorie sorely protested. "How are you motherly??" Arle retorted. Valorie just kinda froze up like a deer in headlights. "...When a mother has someone in her stomach, it's usually to shelter and protect them, Valorie. When have you ever done that?? You can't even say you were just trying to teach her a lesson because she can't learn any lessons if she's dead!" Arle added. "...I-I still have her soul." Valorie murmured, averting her gaze, seemingly guilted into cooperating. "...Oh yeah? Are you going to give it, or do I have to beat her out of you??" Arle asked.  A few moments later, a petrified looking Valorie complied by fleeing to get some privacy. She then returned not long later with Viridi's soul in her hands, freed from the prison of her body where it couldn't reform. because all its excess energy was being perpetually drained from it. Arle promptly moved to take the spirit from Valorie.

Arle gave Valorie one last dirty look before turning her gaze down on Viridi's soul. "...Speaking of shelter and protection, you should probably find some before Viridi comes back." Arle remarked rather distantly. "--Huh?? You're reviving her here??" Valorie blurted out in alarm. Arle shrugged. "...I don't see any reason why she should have to suffer like this any longer. Maybe you can ask Phosphora if she wants to help." she replied, presenting Phosphora the opportunity to express her own feelings on what Valorie had done and the imminent danger of reprisal. Meanwhile, Arle began channeling some of her own energy into Viridi's soul to help her recover and regain her form much more quickly if not immediately, though she'd likely be in a weakened state at first. Nearby, Valorie turned a bit red in the face and kinda hid her face in her hands, all sorts of panicky right then.

[heirtothemonado]

Phosphora followed Arle out of her room. They had just had a bit of a heart to heart, and Arle thought she was finally ready to confront Viridi about her attitude towards humans. But therein lied the problem. Phosphora couldn't sense Viridi anywhere. She wasn't at the Lunar Sanctum, she had double checked with Arlon for that. And there was no sign of her on the planet itself. It was like she had just vanished into thin air. Arle brought this up to the other girls in the lodge, and their attention was directed to the TV, which was broadcasting a re-run of a Stadium match.

 Phosphora watched in horror and rage as she saw what had happened to Viridi. She slowly turned to Valorie, stray bolts of lighting flickering off her being as she tried in vain to contain her anger. "You....." She muttered. Like the calm before the storm, Phosphora was quiet. But there was no mistaking the rage in her voice. As Arle grilled Valorie about what she did, Phosphora glared daggers at her. "You best find some cover. Quickly. Because when Mistress Viridi wakes up, her wrath will come like a hurricane. But, in case that isn't enough to convince you, how does a couple thousand volts sound? I could probably make due with that. Or do you think you can outrun lightning?"

With her stance on the matter clear as day, Phosphora stood by Arle, who was working on restoring Viridi to her normal form. She'd lend a hand, but she wasn't sure how this process worked, and also wasn't confident enough in her magic ability to not be sure that she wouldn't cause more harm. 

[Coolshaymin]

The released soul of Viridi was... an odd one given no one has ever seen her when she was not in her appearance meant to be observed by mortals. A magenta like orb with writhing vines, branches and plant matter clinging to it like some bizarre ball of earth. It then began to accumulate... what literal natural energy it could since the Life Sphere was fewer on that these days but thankfully Arle's magic helped as rocks, winds and cherry blossoms circled around Viridi's soul, the body seeming to take.... a very alien appearance at first until it corrected itself into the human like features those that interacted with her was familiar with. She did not wish anyone here to witness the bizarreness of her true appearance even if it consumed a bit more of the energy she just regained.

With her eyes opening she looked to glare at Valorie for a moment. That girl has done something unbelievably reckless and stupid and Viridi was not above showing retribution but she winced a bit as her energy was still drained from forcing her human-like form. "... Thank you, Arle, Phosphora," the Goddess greeted after a moment, ignoring Valorie unless she stayed long enough for her to actually have the strength to punish her. "A couple thousand volts sounds nice for what could of happened due to her actions... And could still happen," she added with a bit of a warning tone... Probably her last warning until she had the strength to act on such a thing.

"... Ignoring that for now though, I can't imagine you two finally came because you just happened to find out now. I have nothing better to do right now so I can talk as long as you like," she said, her look clearly really fatigued. She was already severely weakened by the lack of nature on this planet, that girl leeching off her strength did not help at all as there were still petals floating around her, trying to regenerate her strength.

[Mari]

In truth, all Arle was doing was releasing magical energy into Viridi's soul and letting Viridi do the rest. She knew Viridi would simply reform on her own once she had the strength, and so she didn't bother with any fancy resurrection spells. She wasn't sure those would work on a goddess anyway. They were usually meant to be used on corpses, after all, and Viridi didn't have one. At all the threats, a very sore and irritable Valorie just kind of huffed and wandered off, making a point to leave the room granting the remaining girls some ... faux privacy.

Arle was moments from hugging Viridi when Viridi... called her out. Oh. Oh right. She had something she needed to talk to her about. She'd entirely forgotten about that in the rush to rescue Viridi. "...Oh--I..." Arle replied, trailing off. A flustered blush formed on her face. "...H-Hehe, you really think we just left you in there? I mean..." Arle timidly replied, withering a bit under Viridi's gaze. Phosphora, help, she's choking! ...Metaphorically speaking, anyway.

[heirtothemonado]

Phosphora watched as the soul of Viridi slowly reformed into...a shape she had never seen before. Before correcting itself into the short teenager form that Phosphora was more familiar with. 

"Welcome back, Mistress Viridi" Phosphora greeted her commander. It had been....a while, since they'd last seen each other, even before Valorie's horrendous deed. She rarely had time to stop by the Lunar Sanctum nowadays. But she was here now, and now they could get to the issue that had been bothering her.

….Or at least, they could, if Arle could actually get the words out. Was she really choking so soon? Rolling her eyes slightly, Phosphora decided to step in for the poor girl before she could embarrass herself any further. "What Arle's trying to say is that she has something she wants to tell you. Something she's been holding in for a good while....And I'm standing by her." Phosphora moved a little closer to Arle, providing her a little more support, both in words and actions. Turning to look Arle in the eyes, Phosphora gave her a small smile. "You got this. Go on."

[Arle Nadja]

Arle glanced up at Phosphora for a moment, smiling weakly in appreciation at her. “Thanks...” she murmured, before taking a deep breath to recompose herself and returning her attention to Viridi.

“...Actually, I only just found out now. I--mmh... I guess you're probably wondering why I've been out of contact for so long. ...It's... because... I saw something I wasn't supposed to. ...A vision. ...Of you wiping out humanity. ...Entire cities, just wiped out. Everyone in them, gone. You were... laughing and... cheering.” Arle explained. You could hear a strong hint of nervousness in her tone.

“...I knew in my heart there was nothing you could've said that would've changed how I felt. So I... left, until that changed.” she added, once again glancing to Phosphora. She was silent for a good long moment, considering her next words carefully.

“...Until... I changed.” she clarified. “...While you were gone, I lead an insurrection against Sonic. I know you told me not to, but I just couldn't stand by while he tried to destroy the planet any longer. ...I won, and as of now I've taken his place as leader of the life sphere. Some of his supporters are still resisting the change, but largely the life sphere is under my control.” Arle explained, catching Viridi up to what she assumed must have happened while she was within Valorie.

When she next spoke, there was an audible note of pain in her voice. “ . . . Now that the 'free world' is depending on me, I realize I've run out of time. If I don't find it in my heart to forgive you, terrible things might happen and it'll be my fault. ...Because I wasn't strong enough. So... I'm trying.” Arle finished, going silent for a long moment. It kind of looked like she was about to cry. It was then that her mental connection with Viridi would finally re-open, the first words coming through like whispers on the wind. <...I need you.>