Meanwhile....
"Uhhh..." Zlata's shifting left and right, walking here and there as she placed her hands on her head. "E-ermmm!" she looks to the top and bottom, looking for an answer that's not even there.
"Madame, w-what has gotten into you- I-"
"Jhason, I don't know! I don't knowidontknow! I. Don't. Know." Zlata's hands were trembling with worry and anxiety. "I... err, I don't know!"
"Don't know what, Madame?" Jhason asked, his face confused as he tried to approach Zlata and calm her down.
"I don't know what's gonna happen! I... I don't know if my hunch is true! But I wanna believe it's true! I want to know! But... I don't know if it's even necessary! W-who will be attacking? I don't know! I just don't know! I don't know when, I don't know how, I don't know where! And at this point my paranoia will kill me before these unknown Warlords come and attack me! So... So, I... I don't know..."
Zlata was panting, her breath uncontrollable, shaky, gasping for air when she needed not to. Her eyes were scrambling to look where, her hands finding nothing to hold on to except her clothes, gripping it tightly.
"Just... calm down, madame. We'll... We'll find a way, just sit there an-"
"Sit here and what? Do nothing? Just... let you all work for me while I'm here naive of everything? Is that what you're trying to say?!" Zlata immediately stood up, her body trembling.
"Rusty called me Naive, Nakya sees me as naive. Heck, m-maybe Maria and Arthur think of me as naive- the whole world thinks of me as naive!" she took some time to think of a way to continue, slowly counting to ease the anger, "I... I wanna prove to them that I'm not just some pitiful idol who doesn't know how to rule her territories! I want to prove to them- to the entire world that I'm not to be trifled with!"
[LEVEL 10 - 21 CHARGES]
Her body flares up with such esoteric magic, before she weaves her hands in an elegant fashion.
"If I cannot know what will happen, it's simple, I just need to be prepared for everything. Each what-if scenario in my head will be answered by this..."
As she focused her mind into two things: Offense and Defense. One to attack and defend at the exact same time. Thus, she expanded the idea in her head— Collective Unconscious— spreading it across all territories that she owns. Though she had thoughts of placing it further on to her allies' owned places, she figured it'd be condescending and hence decided against it.
Formed from the collective unconscious, a new realm was born. "Metaverse..." she calls it, her territories now fusing with this newfound dimension. "Given Warlords would need to come into contact to place their Signifiers, all that's needed to do is to simply prevent them from touching it in any way..." Zlata explained, looking at Jhason, "There's rules to this, of course:
1. Shadows are to indiscriminately attack any enemy Warlord that would arrive.
2. Palaces are the citizens' safe haven, those who can fight will be equipped with the necessary power.
3. My allies can come in and out, but would be attacked in a case of betrayal."
Zlata sighed deeply seeing this, however, her words that she said rang across her head like a gong louder than anything conceivable.
In this world, people with strong desire to reject something....
"
Arggghhhh!!!" a mask— no, more so a bear trap clamped down her eyes— as if hiding the truth to her.
"
Are you simply letting this world think of you as this weak, pathetic, little girl? One who cannot even stand up with the help of her allies? I think otherwise, Zlata."
A million voices spoke to her head, their sound cracking and coiling, shattering her very mind.
"I- I'm not-" Zlata whimpered in pain as she fell on her knees, unable to get up.
"
Do you think you will simply let them go? What thou see isn't a lowly, defenseless, vulnerable woman. She's powerful, unmatched, almighty, and unstoppable in any way... Don't you think?"
The walls of the room, began to crackle and fizz apart. The pungent scent of the unknown, the indescribably mushed, unexplained and remained to be left for no one to ever witness.
"
Didn't you promise to change this world? Didn't you want to purge those enemies intending to just invade them? Didn't you say that? Are you taking those words back? Or are you willing to make them reality?"
"I... agree..." Zlata tried her best to nod despite the immense and immeasurable ago she's going through.
"
It is settled then. On your feet!"
Flashes of eyes, mouths, and countless tentacles. The uncountably infinite formless chaos, appearing in and out, like a bulb broken but still functioning. Power fluctuating, increasing forevermore.
Zlata grabbed hold of the bear trap, its cranking sound. Her fingers slipping only for them to sink further than before, causing her to scream loudly in pain.
"
AHHHH!!!"
The room— no, the very space around her wobbled and ducked under— as Jhason watched in awe. No words could ever be formed as he stared in amazement. Horror, perhaps? Excitement? No one knows.
"
I am thou, thou art I. Thou is All-in-One and One-in-All. Be unbounded by the chains that once beckoned you to sit. Stand up, forge your own reality. Tear this twistedness asunder. Recreate the world according to your dreams! Now, say thy name!"
"
REFORM THE WORLD, YOG-SOTHOTH!!!!!"
@everyone
Zlata grabs hold of the trap biting down at her head, tearing it apart as she stands up, unleashing a torrent of pure eldritch power, all over the world— all throughout reality. Her screams of sheer rejection and rebellion could be heard, shattering the glass as her aura emanated a new person.
Her apparel had changed, the mask shattering as an amalgous mass surrounded her, black blood dripping down her tear-filled mystical eyes.
"
Now, how do you feel?"
"I feel... better..." Zlata replied, gripping her hand tightly, as she was surging with power.
"
How about we give them a performance they'll never forget?"
"Yeah. It's showtime!" grinning Zlata's resolved was anew.
....Persona.