Behemoth Ascent

**Behemoth Ascent**is a Story Arc of the the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Interra and follows the perspective of the chaotic hunter Juniper.

## Main Arc

### Harsh Awakening

Juniper wakes up without a memory save for her name, in hostile ruins. All she has is clothes, a strangely built weapon, and a registered message from a woman called Acanthus guiding her towards the exit. As she escapes the ruins, she finds that brutal beasts attempt to kill her. She defeats them and exits the ruins, finding herself in a desolated, empty world. Perplexed, she looks for survivors.

In a small survivors' camp, Juniper finds a strange mechanical individual who greets her tonelessly and guides her towards a **Hunters' Guild**. In that place, she finds a woman called Ruffie who briefly explains the situation. According to Ruffie, Hunters are commissionned by the Ecclesiarchy, the current political power, in order to eliminate the **Behemoths** that prey on mankind. Juniper agrees to become a hunter.

### Secrets of the Ecclesiarchy

However, Juniper can't forget about the mechanical girl who talked to her near the camp's entrance. She asks about her and learns she is a Replica, an artificial, emotionless being. On a quest to give her back her emotions - an illegal process - she is contacted by Firefox, one of Acanthus's old friends and a smuggler. Firefox reveals Acanthus is an enemy of the Ecclesiarchy who once attempted to kill Euriel, the **Shepherd**, the world's savior. He then gives Firefox a device to activate a Replica's emotions before disappearing. Juniper restores the girl - known as Spinel - to a humanlike state.

Juniper runs away with Spinel towards another village, still looking for more missions. She finds out that a gigantic Behemoth known as a Harbinger is about to crush a nearby encampment. She rushes towards the Harbinger and attempts to talk to it, but the Harbinger is unable to understand her. Juniper hypothetizes the Harbinger is not as evil and destructive as the Ecclesiarchy makes it believe.

Juniper's attempts are interrupted by Euriel's arrival. The Shepherd himself attempts to slay the beast using his strange, red sword, but Juniper slows him down enough for the Harbinger to run away. Euriel attempts to dissuade Juniper from siding with the Behemoths, but Juniper remains suspicious of Euriel's actions.

### Uncovering the Past

Juniper keeps hunting Behemoths and actively trying to find informations on her past. Firefox gives her informations about Acanthus, calling her a rebel who opposes Euriel's dangerous plans. He keeps helping her, giving her another device, which she uses to awaken the young replica cook Citrine.

While exploring yet another dungeon, she stumbles upon another Replica, who seems to have awakened by herself. The Replica, named Garnet, seems to be angered with the Ecclesiarchy and appeals to Juniper's thirst for chaos and anarchy. The two quickly become friends and rivals, and keep following Ruffie in order to obtain more missions.

On a dangerous mission against an especially feral Behemoth, Juniper accidentally consumes some of the Behemoth's blood. She begins to experience seizures and visions, having a flashback of Euriel killing Acanthus. Euriel then orders his servants to "turn her body into a working Replica". A disgusted Juniper understands Replicas are born from the souls of dead people and correctly guesses Garnet is Acanthus's "reincarnation". Shocked with the revelation, she swears to defeat Euriel by herself.

### In the Blood

Getting more and more addicted to Behemoth blood, Juniper learns about Acanthus's role as "chosen by the Planet" to judge mankind and her desire to punish Euriel for mankind's errors. She keeps hunting and growing stronger, eventually facing the replica Amethys in an ambush. Juniper unlocks her emotions, but Amethys remains distant, telling her that Euriel attempts to save the world. She reluctantly joins Juniper, hoping to prevent her from going to far.

Juniper finally ends up drinking a Harbinger's blood, and suddenly has a vision of a monstrous entity, Kujata. She discusses with the entity and realizes she is Kujata's daughter and Acanthus's sister, born to defeat Euriel and punish mankind. Now ready for battle, she advances towards the citadel.

### Euriel's Devotion

The group is stopped at the Ecclesiarchy's citadel by Heliodora, Euriel's bodyguard. She begs Juniper to stop him, as Euriel is about to kill himself. Intrigued, Juniper rushes towards the center of the cathedral. There, she finds Kujata's body, buried in stone, with Euriel in front of it, working on a strange machine.

Euriel explains he is about to forcibly take control of Kujata, awaken it, destroy all Behemoths, then seal himself forever, saving mankind from the threat. Juniper confronts him as she finds his actions idiotic and becomes furious at him, attacking him ferociously. However, Euriel's superior swordplay puts him in a position of advantage and he activates the machine, losing consciousness. Juniper however refuses to give up and does the same, chasing him into Kujata's consciousness.

The two confront eachother, with Euriel revealing that he was never meant to be a messiah, just a man who lost everything and had nothing to lose anymore, risking everything to save mankind. Driven to despair by his wife Heliodora's death, unable to resurrect her except as a Replica, seeking to give up on his life to save mankind and redeem himself, he fights Juniper one last time, but she risks everything and gets impaled by Euriel's saber in order to disarm and defeat him.

### Kujata Reborn

Euriel and Juniper regain their respective bodies, with Euriel weakened and wounded, and Juniper close to death. They powerlessly assist to Kujata's revival, the holy beast rising and about to judge mankind. Juniper, remembering Ruffie's help as well as the suffering of the people, asks Kujata to reconsider, and she answers by healing Juniper's body, challenging her to a battle.

Juniper, although by far weaker, manages to make Kujata bow her head, which makes the proud Behemoth queen acknowledge Juniper's victory. She gives Juniper her blood and power, and tells her that the task of punishing mankind is now her own. Kujata then takes flight into the Moon, where she seals herself. Weakened but victorious, having saved both mankind and Behemoths, Juniper accepts that new task with a smile.

## Characters

* Juniper
* Acanthus (Garnet)
* Spinel
* Amethys
* Citrine
* Heliodora
* Euriel
* Kujata
* Ruffie
* Firefox

## Trivia

* Although not technically part of **Gaea's Legacy**, this storyline strongly refers to it.