Aivi gently grasped her necklace and took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet, heavy incense floating in a cloud around her. A relaxing sense of heaviness flooded her body, her body becoming unmoving as stone, and her head grew light and empty as air. She gazed into the flickering brazier before her, mesmerizing flame softly burning away her mortal ties as the melody of trickling water washed away her thoughts. Her chanting, soft as it was, echoed mystically through the forest as each enchanted syllable pulled her deeper and deeper into a trance. Her eyelids fluttered more and more as she chanted, and as she spoke the final phrase, they fell shut. To an observer, she would appear merely to be in a deep, relaxing sleep. But in truth, her spirit was anything but asleep...

Aivi's spirit passed through the elemental plane, the roiling chaos hardly catching her notice as she effortlessly followed the path she knew by heart, the path her predecessors had known since the World Herself was born. Moving safely by a cyclone of blazing heat, she stepped into the small core of aether before her, the arcane element soothing her spirit by touch. She respectfully held up a hand and bowed. "Great Spirit of the World, I humbly request your attention." The elements around her started to pulse and whirl faster, breaking apart and refocusing into thousands of forms in an instant. Out of the chaos soon stepped a lady with skin of the loveliest stone, hair of the gentlest waters, eyes of the brightest fire, voice of the sweetest wind, and soul of purest aether. She was beautiful... Yet also sick. Her once smooth skin was pockmarked with dents and cracks, impurities flowed within her hair, her eyes flickered erratically, and her breaths were slightly measured. Yet despite this, she smiled serenely down at Aivi, as kind and motherly as always. 

Aivi looked upon the World in sorrow. "I am sorry humanity has done this to you..." The World smiled kindly. You need not apologize for all of humanity, my child. It is not your dominion. And was it not humanity that stopped this great blight, as well? Look upon me. I am resilient as I have always been. Aivi shook her head. "But it was humanity that caused this great blight! As it always has been! A human filled with greed, or powerlust, or anger, turning to forbidden magicks or destructive techniques to achieve their selfish goals, destroying you in the process! It takes a thousand of us to start reversing what one can do unassisted!" The World looked sympathetically down at her. Humanity is... Many-faceted, yes. But that is why I love you. Some of my children carelessly hurt me, but many more love me as I love them. I would not trade them away for anything. And whatever humanity may do, I always have you, my Worldspeakers, to help defend against those who would harm me. She gave a loving smile, gazing kindly into Aivi's eyes.

Aivi met her gaze with a determined stare. "Yes, but it would be far easier to protect you if you gave us more power! Power to strike down those who would harm you, power to demonstrate your majesty to the uneducated, power to pacify the disasters they cause! This cannot continue! Please, give me power so I may stop this from happening once more!" The World gave her a stern, yet still kind, look. I give only what power is necessary, my child. I wish not to curb the free expression of humanity through force, and I wish not to stifle my speakers' creativity through unrestrained power. I adore your care for me, but I caution you not to let it cloud your view of humanity. You are my shield and salve, my child, not my sword. Aivi nodded sullenly. "...I understand." She touched her necklace again. She had hoped it would not have to come to this... But she always knew it would. The World was too naive for Her own good...

Aivi smiled sweetly up at the World, innocently stepping closer. "I did not wish to speak with you merely as a request for power. I wished to show you something amazing." She held up the necklace, letting it gently dangle from her fingers. The World leaned down, gazing at it in awe. Is this... Crystallized aether? She smiled, intrigued. Humanity never ceases to astound me with its cleverness. Aivi nodded. "Yes, a pure mote of creation itself. Recovered from the hor... the machine that caused the blight." Aivi restrained the disgust in her voice for now, keeping her tone soft and even. "That is how it was able to affect you so much... It was a part of your very soul..." The World stared at it in wonder. It is... Beautiful... I suppose I have never seen my own soul this clearly... The elemental chaos outside the core slowed slightly, and Aivi smiled. "It catches the light around in such a curious way, does it not~?" The World nodded. "Especially when it swings from side to side~... Like so~..." She began swinging the necklace back and forth, letting the mote of creation spin around and around. Oh... How... Pretty... Aivi continued to swing the necklace back and forth, watching it spin around and around. It seemed to absorb all the firelight around it, sending gentle spirals pulsing outwards with every spin that felt like a warm embrace. Every swing gave off a calm, soothing hum, the weight of the mote pulling the necklace into a perfect, unbreaking rhythm. Aivi found her own eyes unable to look away from the gentle, unceasing rhythm in her hands... Her mind, already light as air, was growing soft and blissful... With incredible difficulty, she screwed her eyes shut. She needed to stay lucid... She could still feel the perfect rhythm in her hands, unceasing, unchanging... And she could feel all around her as the World slowed down... The chaos slowing, becoming quiet, relaxed... All Her attention fixed on the mesmerizing mote of creation swinging before Her... The World stood still... Completely hypnotized. 

Aivi carefully stopped swinging the necklace and cracked open her eyes. The World was standing limp before her, a dazed smile on Her earthen face. All around them, the elemental chaos had stilled, becoming placid and serene. An almost tangible sensation of bliss and relaxation filled the core. Aivi smiled, relieved. Part of her felt guilty, deceiving Her like this... But it was the only way to convince Her to do what must be done. She was too naive... Too trusting... 

Careful not to break Her trance, Aivi whispered, "Can you hear my voice~?" The World nodded slowly. Aivi softly caressed Her smooth but damaged cheek. "Just relax~... Listen to your speaker~... I know what's best for you~..." The World smiled sleepily, leaning into Aivi's touch. Listen... Aivi continued to caress Her, lulling Her deeper and deeper with her soft voice. "You've been through so much, and you just need to accept my help~... Let me take over for a little while~... I'll make everything better~..." Everything... Better... Aivi nodded. "Yes~... Feel the bliss of not having to think~... Not having to choose~... Just letting me guide everything~... Isn't it wonderful~?" The World's eyes were dim and flickering, and Her murmur sounded like a soft breeze. Wonderful... "All you need to do... Is Obey~... Now listen closely~..."

---

Lia looked around the clearing. Everything was peaceful and quiet... But... Too peaceful, if that made sense... She normally loved peace, but... This felt wrong somehow. Like the World was... Asleep. Her partner looked over at her. "What's wrong?" Lia furrowed her brow. "I... I'm not sure... The World feels... Wrong..." Her partner looked worried. "You think it's another blight?" Lia shook her head. "No, I... I'm not sure what it is... But She's quiet... Unusually quiet..." She closed her eyes and began chanting softly, letting herself fall into a trance. The World's voice was quiet and hard to discern, but... She didn't seem distressed. She seemed... Happy. 

Lia reached down and touched the earth, feeling Her voice from below. A gentle, relaxed rhythm, softly pulsing outwards, a soft hum in the air all around. It was soothing. The closer Lia listened, the more she felt safe and relaxed... Everything was okay... Just feel the rhythm... Let it guide you... Lia smiled softly. She felt wonderful... But... Too wonderful... She remembered feeling this way before, quite recently... When she had been dominated by a rogue Maenad... Forced to fight against her partner... A jolt of fear pierced through the gentle relaxation, and she tried to pull away. But it wasn't that simple. She'd broken out of the Maenad's spell, but the Maenad was just a mortal. The World was everything. The hypnotic rhythm pulsed through Lia's body, her soul being lulled deeper and deeper with every pulse. The air around her began to sing of rest, of submission, of obedience... She could feel the overwhelming, comforting power of the World surrounding her... And of course she had no way to resist... In a matter of seconds, she was utterly hypnotized. 

Lia opened her eyes and stood up from the ground. Her partner looked at her, worried. "What happened? What did the World say?" Lia turned to them and smiled serenely, her mind completely overtaken by the World's bliss. "She told me my new mission... To spread her bliss..." She waved her hand, a swirling mote of flame appearing over her palm. "Stare~..." Her partner's eyes widened, but they were even more powerless against the might of the World than Lia was. Soon, they smiled serenely as well, their mind washed away, filled only with the World's mindless bliss...

---

Humanity never could have resisted. The Worldspeakers fell under Her bliss immediately, but the World needed not to use Her voice to spread it. From the earth sprung lovely flowers that dazzled all who saw them and produced a scent so alluring that none who smelled them ever thought again. From the sky came entrancing storms, swirling clouds that dazed the mind and gentle rain that washed away thoughts and worries with but a drop. From the sea came tremendous waves that fell against the coast with the force of a gentle hug, sending all caught within into a peaceful slumber full of bliss and comfort. Within the day, humanity was nothing more than a docile pet... No longer could they hurt the World with their greed and callousness... They obeyed Her every desire now, their free will but a distant memory. And the World was happy, forever more... Just as Aivi had planned…