Character Dream II

Misery Manor - Room of Blackness (Sinistrina)

Now that was odd. Although the room seemed to be empty save for the source of the sound (which she had not found yet), it did at least seem to have a solid floor. Made of what, Sinistrina couldn't tell. However, this satisfied her in a way. The presence of the floor meant that her the spell she had in mind might work.

"No light can illuminate this room of pure blackness," Sinistrina spoke solemnly. "Darkness, on the other hand..."

She brought her staff close to her body, keeping it upright and firmly planted on the floor, the ring at the top nearly touching her face. As she closed her eyes (not that it would've mattered as she couldn't see anything anyway), she felt a sensation akin to melting, although her body remained intact. Although it was invisible in the blackness, a shadow spread across the floor, like water spreading out from a leak. As this "fluid", just as dark as the room itself, moved across the floor, hands began to sprout out of it, hands made purely of shadow.

As the shadow spread, the hands grew out of it with attached limbs, reaching out and around the room. If they felt anything, Sinistrina would feel it as if they were her own hands. The shadow spread quickly, certainly faster than Sinistrina could walk, until it either covered the entire floor of the room, seeped into a hole or crack in it, or disappeared entirely like her will-o-wisps did earlier.

Eldritch Factory - Forest of Bones (Durnem, Midnight Stitcher, Ethoya, Ayako)

True name... Durnem had heard that term before, but never really thought about it, now that the grey-skinned tendril-armed man mentioned it. At least he confirmed her suspicions about this place defying the very laws of magic - and whatever "science" was. He also said something about the planet Earth and other universes and such. She remembered reading something about Earth... it was apparently the location of a world she knew about within a portal from her own.

But before she could say anything, Midnight Stitcher opened the jaw gate, and what was inside appeared to be a fleshy bedroom of sorts, with two hallways leading off of it. There was something about the right hallway in particular that got Durnem's attention - not quite an aural presence, but maybe an instinct of sorts.

And then the golden bird transformed into a person, grey-skinned just like Midnight Stitcher, except female and bald, and clad in golden feathered clothing. Durnem saw a very bright aura of pure gold around her, even covering her so that she appeared to glow.
She's a shapeshifter!? That is a rare form of magic indeed... the kind reserved usually for so-called gods.

Indeed, given her introduction, she seemed to in fact be a goddess of some sort, of luck in fact. She even confirmed that an evil presence beyond the gate seemed likely, and Durnem could bet anything that it was down the right hallway. Given that Ethoya mentioned an adopted child harmed by a "predator", perhaps said predator was in fact inside it - though she couldn't tell.

As Ayako examined the fleshy bedroom and listened to what Ethoya said, she introduced herself and pledged to be at her service. At this, Durnem nodded and spoke up at last.
"As will I, as it is my duty as one of the Oradamin, a warrior seeking to keep the peace."

And then she remembered what Midnight Stitcher said, so she turned to face him. "Hmm, I knew something was weird about this place," she spoke, in her same peculiar tall-voweled and airy-R'd accent. "Where I come from magic is in all things, and this place did seem to defy it. And Orenya's not on Earth - it's its own planet entirely. But eeeh, souls?" She scoffed. "Humi-no kraguor, I'm a warrior, not a philosopher! There's a whole 'nother organization on Orenya called the Miamin which deals with such matters. As far as I know, souls are the source of the aura. As for true name..."

Here, she redirected her gaze towards her staff, moving it in front of her slightly and inspecting the sharp black lily-like charm at the top. "Well, on Orenya, there is a long tradition of the staff, which I seem to remember something about it being the extension of one's soul, focusing magic through it or such. My staff is named Watimari, a name that means "celestial spirit". I guess that would be a true name?" She shrugged.

At any rate, she decided to enter through the gate and walk through the bedroom, heading right for the right hallway. But she stopped in the room, turning back towards the others to see if they were going to enter as well.

Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.

[The Eldritch Factory, Forest of Bone] (The Midnight Stitcher, Ayako, Ethoya Uvalex, Durnem)

Ethoya blinked, taken aback by the responses. Certainly, mortals respected her, and with good reason. But... "I... I am no 'goddess'. Some of my kin have called themselves such, yes, but..." she took a breath. How to explain this? It was a complex distinction. Simply, she decided, even if it meant simplifying five hundred years of philosophical and theological thought and study to a brief summary of a particular denomination she personally favored. Collecting herself, she said, "I appreciate your respect, but I am not a 'goddess'. Merely a servant of the Xayu", this word was too complex and laden with implication and subtlety to translate even approximately, "albeit one more blessed than most."

She cleared her throat and answered the Stitcher's questions. "I don't remember where I came from. I don't remember the beginning... it was so long ago. It's all a blur, before writing... no way to keep records, remind myself." She bit her lips. "I guess I... I just am." She shook her head; something had apparently brought up a bad memory, but whatever it was, she kept it to herself, and said, "no matter. I have long taught that it is not what one is that matters, but who." She looked to the group. "Do not judge me by my power, or my nature, but by my deeds... and I shall do the same for you." And with that, she strode forward, joining Durnem to see what awaited beyond the gate.

[Clinic/Henry]

"Well I was thinking about risking going out into the storm if you had extra overcoats for me and Iveya to use." Henry said putting his hands into his suit pockets.

There was a knock on the door and Friedrich went to go answer it. As he did that Henry felt something in his pockets and pulled them out. In one was a couple of floppy disks that would go into a computer from the late 1980s, and in the other pocket was a cell phone from the same era.

"Oh!" He said exited at the items."I forgot I had this stuff one me!"

Just as he thought of the possibilities a teenage girl in a pink dress came into the parlor. Judging by the dress it looks like she didn't expect to show up in the middle of a snow storm.

"Hello." Henry said to her before looking at the disks to make sure they weren't damaged in the explotion. As he was doing this the others were in a conversation about drinking ages and Iveya asked about telling secrets to Friedrich and Heinrich which prompted the girl to say one of the funniest things he's heard since he got here.

Henry laughed. "I'm sorry girl but..." He said between laughs. "You are really bad at lying." He said before getting into more laughter.

[Farm (inside barn)]

Seilaan turned away from her to check her arms. The bandages were still nice and white. And yes, her fears for Min were subsiding, but... not enough. But she did say she was going to leave it at that, right? Being too nosy and going back on her word would be very bad things.

"Well... since you promise..." She turned back to Min and smiled faintly. "I'm sure you'll find a way through this."

Now what? I'm so bad at this. Should I offer to do her makeup again? Is that just going to be awkward? But she did say it was all right the last time I brought it up, didn't she? And there's no way it could be more awkward than last time! Does she even like makeup or did she think it would make me feel better?

Then, in a very tiny voice: "Do you... want a hug?"

THAT'S EVEN WORSE—

---

[Ritter Clinic (Parlor)]

Friedrich grunted in acknowledgement when Ruth gave her beverage preferences. Before he disappeared into the kitchen, he frowned at Henry and said, "Even with all the coats in the house, I doubt you can get very far in that storm. And don't forget to consider how you're going to find your way back here."

"Your chances are probably slightly better than he's making them sound," Heinrich said cheerfully as soon as the kitchen door closed. "Now, Henry, don't laugh at her, she really doesn't need that during these trying times! What've you got there, anyway? They look... interesting."

The last battle's curtains will open on stage!

[Farm – Barn (Min, Varris, Seilaan, Vince, Ren Yangchao)]

Min sat up in her chair and stared at Seilaan, once again finding herself wondering if this was sarcasm or some kind of joke. But Seilaan seemed… completely sincere, if a bit awkward. Would it be more awkward if Min said yes or if she said no?

Oh god she’s still waiting for an answer what do I-

“Um, a- a hug would be nice,” she stammered, immediately looking away after she said it. Varris jumped out of her lap and onto the table, peering intently between the two of them with his tail slightly wiggling.

Tried to add more to this, but couldn't think of anything.

Gave them our reactions, our explosions, all that was ours For graphs of passion and charts of stars...

Black jungle

Caleb walked deeper into the underworld, lost his footing and fell forward. The floor was surprisingly soft, and muddy. In fact it felt nothing like it did under his feet, and it was safe to assume it wasn't the same thing.

Pushing himself up, Caleb saw a forest of black trees and leaves, one of the southern tropical ones to be specific. Was this supposed to happen?

He called out "Mazra, Ano?" No sooner did he hear something rushing behind him and slam him in the back of his head. Knocked down again, Caleb rolled over and saw a colorful bird attacking him. Trying unsuccessfully to ward it away with his hands, he grabbed hold of a fallen branch and whacked the bird, causing it to fly away.

"Swoopers in Yula, those things from before, and now this?" Caleb asked himself, "what do birds have against me?!" Getting up he began looking for the other two. Behind him four ravens landed and began following him.

Misery Manor - scintillating frontier

The beings attacked Zexal with spears made of the same material around, but surely they couldn't live solely of it? No time to think on that, a thrown spear struck Zexal and caused great pain, but not enough to slow him down. Batting away the nearest humanoid, he leaped onto a surprisingly soft ledge and made a sound at them not altogether natural. Zexal looked at them and felt something deep inside flowout to his assailants, turning them against each other. As they killed their former allies Zexal watched in terror at his deed, yet not entirely without satisfaction....

And then Half was back in the room, standing on a couch pillow. Coming down he said to himself "so I suppose that's what happens here."

You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.

[Misery Manor]

Gabe looked, eyebrows raised, genuinely surprised but trying, and mostly succeeding, at disguising it as mild bemusement. "Indeed," he said. "I was wondering if it would effect you." Then, he quietly added, "I won't ask what it did to you. It has a way of getting under your..." he hesitated the briefest moment as he looked Half over, "...skin." He then gave a slight, approving nod. "You seem to have done better than most... although for beings such as us, more magical than most, sometimes it comes and goes; illusions and images, rather than the prison." He bit his lip. "I can't promise it's done with you yet. It even seems to harass its alleged owner; it's been hinting at more about her past than..." he stopped himself. "No, that's her business."

edited 20th Jul '16 5:24:41 PM by KillerClowns

Eldritch Factory - Sanity's Descent (Phoebe, Ashleigh, Noire, Azure Knight)

When Ashleigh scanned the strange blue-armoured robot, she received the following info on her Scanner as the scanning beam of light disappeared:

Ashleigh's brow furrowed. What? So it isn't a T-Bot or a V-Bot according to this... then again, I bet there are many creatures here from other worlds. I should be surprised Scanning even works on these beings. Moreover, he isn't even Machine class...

"It says nothing about what this robot is either," she said to Phoebe. "Just says he's Metal-element and Android class. Doesn't even reveal his stats either." Just as she was saying that, the "robot" used his own scanning device on the fallen Ribeye Butterfly.

"Android?" Phoebe asked, clearly confused. "You mean he's not a robot? What if he's a Keeper instead? He seems to have a Scanner!"

"Scanners don't work on humans, silly. I think he might have a completely different device unknown to Mystrica."

Meanwhile, Noire was shouting at the not-robot, complaining about his death threats, and introduced herself as the daughter of Demon Goddess Lilith and bragged (Phoebe thought) about her accomplishments. At this, Ashleigh took a step backward, gazing warily at her.
Did she say Lilith? Does that mean... no, she can't be a succubus, can she? I'm not lesbian or a man, so how would I know? There is definitely something unearthly about her though... what with all the talk about Homunculi and all. Come to think of it, I remember Merlin mentioning that term once...

Ashleigh blushed all of a sudden, and Phoebe smirked at her. What, did she have a crush on the cyborg or something? Speaking of the cyborg, he actually seemed friendly, and even apologized for threatening them. This plus the fact that he wasn't a robot led Phoebe to believe that maybe they could trust him. He did seem dedicated to protecting others, after all, and even introduced himself as "Azure Knight".

"Wait- so you're a friendly robot?" Phoebe asked him. "...I mean, mechanic-ized person? There was a name for that - I forgot what it was."

Ashleigh shrugged. "I was never much of a science fiction fan myself. It's too bad Gon's not here... he would know."

"Gon is one of our friends," Phoebe explained. "We too are dedicated to... WHAAAAAAT!?"

Phoebe was interrupted by a stirring over behind Azure Knight. The Ribeye Butterfly they thought they had defeated wriggled for a moment, and then stretched out its wings, which pulsated once and pushed all of Fooly's knives out of them. It got up and took flight, not even seeming to care that Noire's blade had chopped its head off (which slid comically off its neck as it rose into the air). In fact, it spread its wings and sent bone shards flying everywhere. Fooly leapt around to dodge them; the rest flew at Noire, Azure Knight, and Ludwig. Though they passed right through the latter without doing anything, Ludwig noticed and looked at what was going on, and promptly pulled out his baton.

"Ah, alas I may conduct mon symphony after all!" he cried in his heavy European accent.

"Wh-what!?" Phoebe cried. "Is that butterfly a zombie or something?" She staggered backwards a bit.

"Well it's not Undead class," Ashleigh remarked, as she pressed another button on her Scanner. "Perhaps Eldritch creatures can somehow regenerate as well. Ready, Ludwig?"

With a nod of his head, the ghostly music conductor fluffed up his powdered wig with one hand, thereafter waving his baton around as if conducting the very stomach walls around them. The walls themselves seemed to vibrate, and somehow they produced a tune like a pleasant solo of strings. Little vibrations could be seen in the air, focused on the Ribeye Butterfly. However, they didn't look that strong...

Frantically, Phoebe pushed a few buttons on her own Scanner. "Hey Fooly, looks like he's trying a Crescendo. Why don't you distract that butterfly with a Silly Trick?"

"When fleshy danger comes to you, laughter helps you see it through!" the clown doll chimed, pulling a comically large horn out of an invisible pocket on her dress and placing it on the floor. The horn was larger than she was, allowing her to dive head-first inside of it, so that when the horn honked, it made a sound somewhere between a honk and a fart, while shaking with Fooly's striped-stocking legs flailing about inside. Said legs pedaled around as if on a bicycle as the horn fell over, Fooly struggling to get out of it. Nearby, the butterfly was shaking in apparent laughter, while Phoebe was audibly snickering.

"I'm sorry, it's kinda funny to me too," Phoebe mentioned between snickers. She looked at her Scanner, and a blurb saying "Offense -1" appeared above the butterfly's icon.

This bought Ludwig just enough time to build the "Crescendo" technique, sending more musical vibrations throughout the stomach walls, hitting the Ribeye Butterfly with increasing power. At the climax of this, Ludwig was tensely holding his arms out, baton extended, while the walls reverberated even more, until a flash of light enveloped the butterfly.

"Time to finish it off with a Bomb Throw!" Phoebe called. Obeying, Fooly pulled a lit stick of dynamite out of another invisible pocket and threw it into the fray, and it made a cymbal sound when it exploded in the butterfly's non-existent face. Ludwig even treated this as part of the "symphony" and waved his baton at the exploding dynamite. A string movement later, and the musical number was finished, upon which Ludwig took an aerial bow and Fooly leapt around and clapped her mittened hands repeatedly. The Ribeye Butterfly was left in meaty shreads, before slowly vanishing away into nothingness. Then Phoebe and Ashleigh's Scanners simultaneously beeped.

"Nice, Ludwig leveled up," Ashleigh said aloud.

"No fair, Fooly didn't!" Phoebe complained. "Oh, but Zippy did for some reason."

Nonchalantly, Ashleigh turned to face Azure Knight again. "So, where were we? Ah yes, names. I'm Ashleigh and this is Phoebe. We are two of the Elemental Guardians of Mystrica - her of Air, myself of Earth."

"So technically, we're also adopted daughters of goddesses," Phoebe added to Noire.

"More like 'chosen ones'," Ashleigh corrected.

edited 20th Jul '16 10:52:34 PM by ladytanuki

Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.

[The Eldritch Factory, Sanity's Descent] (Noire, Phoebe, Ashleigh, Azure Knight)

The glow of her eyes returning to normal, Noire's expression returns to a more casual one- Yet with a touch of unease and suspicion, her eyes lingering & examining the knight in greater detail. You know, he could easily be another product of this place... Who's to say he isn't organic metal? Everything can be tricked, manipulated, and fooled- Basically, how can those Brittles prove their results are undeniably correct?

Looking away from the Azure Knight and turning to Ashleigh, Noire notices just as the woman looks at her warily. Raising a brow in curiosity, Noire looks up at the ceiling as she ponders. "Nothing I said should of been weird... Is she afraid because I've managed to kill some Aberrations? Sure it wasn't easy stopping those Shades and Demon Goddess Lilith assisted me- But just surviving an encounter is reason enough to fear someone I suppose..."

Glancing towards Ashleigh & Phoebe to notice their expressions, Noire turns her attention back to the proclaimed knight. "I don't really get it... He's at best a person in powered armor, and more likely a cyborg or sufficiently humanoid robot- Either way, even if he is attractive crushing on a person who just threatened your life is a little insane... Hmm, though how-"

Even as she thought to herself, Noire was listening enough to the others to hear the startled yell. Her sword abruptly reappearing in her right hand, Noire quickly scans the area around the group- And stops in shock upon noticing the Ribeye Butterfly yet lives. Her mind drawing a blank as she witnesses the beast's actions, the shock & confusion is readily and unmistably apparent on her.

Still, aware enough to raise up her sword and causing the air to shimmer & distort before herself and the knight, realization crosses Noire's eyes. "Wait, I didn't-" Yet as she turned to the others, Noire saw the shards harmlessly pass through the other Homonculus. Some curiosity crossing her features as it speaks and Ashleigh clarifies it isn't undead, Noire returns to looking at Ludwig- And then noticing the vibrations.

Her attention, however, is so grabbed by Fooly. "What a very strange Homunculus... And thus stranger creator..." Witnessing the sudden beam of light enveloping the Ribeye Butterfly, the explosion going off, and finally the vibrations coming to an end- Noire's eyes narrow as the slain creature fades into nothing. "That can't be right..."

Though, turning her attention to Ashleigh & Phoebe as she hears their devices beep, Noire glances over their Homunculi as they mention 'levels'. Yet once they speak to herself and the knight, she speaks with a more serious-than-usual friendly tone, an interested smile on her face.

"Who are your adoptive mothers? Though, are they like Demon Goddess Lilith and also from the Age of Magic? She's rather proud of being one of the first mages and inventor of Soul Synchronization, so what feats have your adoptive mothers accomplished? However..."

Her voice becoming more serious and soft, the young woman glances back to Azure & then focuses on the device possessed by Ashleigh. "How accurate is that device? Because I would like for you to scan me as well, to ascertain nothing is wrong with it."

Sword lazily swinging by her side, Noire turns towards Phoebe, soft smile on her face before continuing with the same tone of voice. "However, I need some input- If the Ribeye Butterfly is a Homunculus, then how it faded is very odd correct? Yet nothing else living lacks ontological inertia so..."

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

Misery Manor - Living Room (Gabe, Half, Lorraine)

Lorraine watched with profound amusement as Half writhed and wandered around the living room, before jumping up on the couch and flailing about some more. But after no more than a few minutes, he looked around the room and spoke, which apparently meant he had regained consciousness. Even Gabe confirmed it, being just as surprised as she was.

"Psh, well that was boring," Lorraine scoffed. "I was expecting you to..." and here she grinned, "...suffer more. To writhe in utter terror upon seeing what the manor had to offer. Perhaps it's as you say, supernatural beings like you two are less affected. That's why I like Yamiko. She's mortal, so she's more fun to play with." She finished with a giggle.

And then she heard what Gabe was saying about Half and the manor, and also spoke of Sinistrina and how the curse seemed to be affecting even her. At this, Lorraine laughed, a loud and obnoxiously high-pitched laugh.

"Oh how interesting! Sinistrina von Schwarzwald, so-called Mistress of the Dead, afraid of a little ol' curse in her own manor! ...Oh?" She looked to the side; something had caught her eye in a corner of the room near a heavily cobwebbed lamp. "Hahahaha, look, there it is again, and Sinistrina's not even here!"

Near the table was another framed picture on the wall... but this one was damaged. The glass covering the print had been broken, and there was a large black smudge upon the face of a lovely blond-haired woman whose portrait was depicted. Notably, she was holding a scepter with a golden octopus on top. Also, several nails and pins had been stuck into the print, all on parts of the woman's body (plus a few on the smudge on her face). Beneath this picture lay a few dolls, which either had missing limbs or cracks and holes all over their porcelain bodies.

"This is a picture of Lady Lucina of Alpenhaus," Lorraine explained. "Also known as Sinistrina's rival and twin sister. Can you believe the two are twins?" She laughed again. "Interesting how she stuck pins into the picture. Sometimes I do that to myself if I want to put a curse on someone." She even reached out with her hand to grab one of the pins, specifically the one stuck in Lucina's heart. And she held it close to her, pondering it for a moment. Little black wisps were swirling around its point.

Misery Manor - Cellar (Yamiko, Artemis)

Yamiko was a bit unsettled at how friendly Celia appeared - she had put a curse on the entire Murakage family, after all. There didn't even seem to be a trace of malice in Celia's eyes. It was almost as if she was ready to alleviate the curse immediately, the battle being just a formality. But if there was one thing she knew about curses, it was that often they required a very specific procedure to break, so perhaps the battle was in fact the only way. So, with a sigh, Yamiko took out her blue Scanner, while Celia took out a gray Scanner of her own.

"As a courtesy, I will send out my Mystripet first," Celia said to her, her voice as pleasant as before. "Give you a head start, so to speak. Kinotake, come on out!"

A beam emerged from Celia's scanner, and what emerged was a mushroom-like creature with a round and flat brown cap, with rainbow-coloured gills beneath that seemed to be glowing slightly. She had little feet beneath her short and stout stalk, and little mold strands for hands.

"How appropriate," Yamiko remarked. "Kenji was a mycologist, so of course you have a Shroomba."

"Ooooooooommmmm..." Kinotake chanted, her wide, flat eyes closed, as if meditating or something. Rainbow-coloured spores were raining down gently from her gills.

Yamiko thought for a moment. Which Mystripet could she use? She remembered Shroomba having quite strong magical defenses, and all her Mystripets used primarily magic... Meaning if she did use magic, it would have to hit hard. She grinned as she made her choice.

"Okay Lorraine, time for you to come out!" And she pressed a button on her own Scanner, and... Lorraine did not come out. Suddenly Yamiko remembered something. "Well duh, you were outside this entire time. Lorraine, where are you? Lorraine!"

She called out to that ghostly sorceress, but Lorraine did not answer her calls. "Come on Lorraine - Celia's using a Shroomba, so you might get poisoned! Wouldn't you like that? Lorraine!" She waited a few moments, but still no sign of her. She tried the button on her Scanner again; that didn't work either.

"I'm waiting," Celia said calmly, but impatiently.

"Let me fight her!" Artemis growled from beside her. "My lupine blood is boiling with revenge!"

"But you're not my Mystripet!" Yamiko protested. "Normally I wouldn't mind cheating, but if we break the rules here, the curse may not be undone. Better play it safe for now." She sighed. "I know it's risky but... Go, Melusine!"

The elegant blue sea serpent emerged from Yamiko's Scanner, slithering a while before facing Kinotake.
"Melusine, go set up a Mist Veil so I can Scan this thing!"

Obeying, Melusine slithered around in a circle, and a cloud of sparkling mist formed around her. The mist lingered, forming a thin yet protective layer around her. In response, Celia pushed a button on her own Scanner, and Kinotake shouted "Grow!" She grew slightly bigger, and this was a move Yamiko knew to boost Ranged attacks. Yamiko bit her lip; she knew Melusine would be weak against her Poison attacks. But meanwhile, she pointed her Scanner at Kinotake, and information appeared on her Scanner.

Hmm, as I expected, her Will is pretty high, but her Defense is lower, so Ranged and Melee attacks should work better. Oh? Shroomba is Earth-element as well as Poison? I didn't know that! And Flower class? What the... Mushrooms aren't even plants!^note Mushrooms actually are kind of like flowers, in that both are fruiting bodies, spreading seeds in a flower's case and spores in a mushroom's case. But Yamiko smirked, for if Kinotake was Earth-element, that meant she was weak to Water.

"All right Melusine, are you ready? By the power of Water, I invoke the goddess Cerula!" She held up her Scanner which glowed with a bright blue light, and Melusine transformed into a full-on Eastern dragon, with scaly legs and majestic whiskers and fins, almost big enough to fill up the entire chamber.

"Golly, I forgot you had an Elemental Key!" Celia remarked. "Well now, this'll be interesting. Kinotake, time to hit 'em with all you got!"

"Deadly Toxin!" Kinotake shouted. A wavy purple beam shot at Cerula, who was drenched in a poisonous fluid. The Water Goddess winced, squirming around a bit before getting back on her feet. "Freeze Ray!" Cerula called back, launching a beam of ice back at Kinotake, who frosted up a bit on impact. But then she winced again. "Urgh... I think that toxin's affected me..."

"What?" Yamiko asked. "But you had that Mist Veil, you shouldn't have been..." She looked down at her Scanner, and saw a skull-and-crossbones icon on Cerula. "What the- you are poisoned. How... Oh, duh. It only protects against Effect-category moves, not status effects caused by an attack. How could I not remember that. Better finish this one quickly, then. Magic won't work as well, so use another Freeze Ray!"

That did the trick. Before Kinotake could make another move, the second Freeze Ray caused her to roll over on her side, completely wiped out. Sighing, Celia returned her to her Scanner. "Well, I couldn't exactly expect my little Shroomba to stand up against a goddess. But don't think you've won just yet. It so happens that Kinotake was my weakest Mystripet." There was a devilish smirk on her face. That was a little more of the Celia Yamiko knew... but it still wasn't quite right. Next to her, Cerula winced again, taking more damage from the poisoning.

edited 22nd Jul '16 5:20:55 PM by ladytanuki

Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.

[Farm (inside barn)]

As she wrapped her arms around Min, Seilaan realized that something about this felt oddly foreign. As if she hadn't hugged someone in a very long time. Was that true? She tried to think about the past few days, but it was all terribly murky.

Oh, whatever! This wasn't the time to brood about her problems. She could save that for later. Right now she had to be there for someone.

This conviction translated into squeezing Min a bit tighter and for a slightly longer period of time than was probably necessary. She felt slightly guilty about it, but she really needed it. When she let go, she looked up at Min, deadly serious. "You and Varris are going to be fine. Because someone out there really cares about you fighting." It was almost as fierce as an order. "Even after I wake up in my own world, I'll keep you in my thoughts."

Ren Yangchao stood up, stretched, and walked to Vince, holding their teacup and swirling the liquid idly. "Not sure how much of this she's going to remember when she wakes up, but it's the thought that counts. Or so they like to say. I was never good with this 'feelings' business."

The last battle's curtains will open on stage!

[Farm: Barn (Min, Varris, Seilaan, Vince, Ren Yangchao, Mazra)]

Mazra hadn't thought the dream could get any stranger and more disorienting than it already had. Then the entire Tranquil Underworld just seemed to... fall apart. She experienced a sensation much like being sucked down an enormous whirlpool in the air (or, at least, what she guessed that might feel like) before abruptly materializing over solid ground again. She stumbled and fell down, barely registering the presence of others in the area or the loss of dignity inherent in her fall.

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "That was extremely strange, even by the..."

She trailed off as she noticed where she was, who was present, and what was going. "Ah. Is this a bad time?"

[farm, inside barn]

"Well. Who knows?" he said, idly scratching Lise behind the ears.

The scene was very abruptly interrupted by a sudden return. Mazra Ji was back on the floor of his barn. Somehow.

"Welcome back, Miss Ji." Vince retrieved his jacket and slipped it back on.

Lise peeked over the hay bale she'd scurried behind, making sure that the loud noise was, in fact, nothing more than a new person. After determining from Master's reaction that the girl was okay, the Samoyed hopped over the bale and, with her tail down and ears perked, gave her a tentative sniff.

edited 4th Aug '16 7:21:11 PM by CrystalGlacia

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

Misery Manor

Half listened to Gabe's explanation. "So I take it that this place uses one's past against them for...something." This could be interesting, Half had many minds with many pasts within him, he wondered how well the Manor could pick out which was truely his. "You could say I have some protection."

To the Lorraine he said, "I'm sure I have a lot of ammo to give it. Just be patient." The intent was to convey sarcasm, but his voice didn't quite pull it off. As she mused about the painting, Half turn his head to the wall and asked "anyway, did anyone else hear that? From downstairs I think?"

You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.

[The Eldritch Factory, Forest of Bone] (The Midnight Stitcher, Ayako, Ethoya Uvalex, Durnem)

Taking note of Durnem's words, The Midnight Stitcher's face scowls a bit upon hearing her scoff, though quickly his attention is drawn by her staff as she talks about it. However, once Ethoya states she is not a goddess, a look of both confusion and curiosity cross his face as he looks over the entity. One sad little smile, the mutant man looks after the others as they each through the gate.

"An angel and another soul-ignorant mage... Hmph, this is quite nice... I won't be seeing this kind of peace again will I? Better not waste my time with simple questions- So let's go The Midnight Stitcher." Calmly striding forward into the disgusting meaty room, he slows down as he approaches Ethoya & Durnem, not stopping yet calling out.

"Angel, Watimari, Ayako- Be prepared for anything." Yet, as he steps into full view of the room past the right hallway, The Midnight Stitcher briefly stops. Amongst the small, disturbing blend of humanoid and cervidae with grey coloration- Is the mysterious young woman from earlier, her body just as unnaturally white. "Or, is it perhaps more bone white?"

However, upon becoming aware of their presence, the freakish diminutive clicker in distress & panic- With the mysterious woman stepping past them and holding out her arm to the side. Her bone white eyes examining the group, she calls out lightly & sweetly to the creatures behind her, not taking her eyes off the group. "Now now my little ladies and gentlemen, no need to panic- Just get her out of here, I'll hold back these dangerous superpowered entities for you."

The creatures' gaze shifting from the group of travelers & the mysterious woman, they clicker more calmly before turning their attention to the pulsating fleshy sphere- Pushing away at an organic control board. Nonetheless, The Midnight Stitcher's gaze focused on her so tightly, the woman shrugs & playfully sighs before giving a little smile.

"So let's see if I got this right... We got a shameless shapeshifting streaker, a merwoman who looks a little standard-vampire-ish, a ten year old who styles herself a Puella Magus- And one very strange humanoid Eldritchian who treats his Red Baron title as his True Name. Now, how right am I?" Tendrils sprouting and waving about lazily, The Midnight Stitcher speaks with a touch of desperation.

"Who are you, who made you- How do you handle it!? Existing, existing is hard, but you're like me aren't-" Stopping his own words as five three foot bone spikes erupt from the ground before the mysterious woman, she gives a sweeping bow before speaking up. "Call me Vita Exosso, we're all self-named- As for my creator, take a wild guess. Still, we're in the midst of something important, so no aggressive behavior- Some metal psycho has been running around so..."

"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."

[Farm – Barn (Min, Varris, Seilaan, Vince, Ren Yangchao, Mazra)]

While Min had been expecting the hug, the sheer warmth of it still majnaged to catch her off guard. It’d been so long since she’d felt someone’s arms wrap around her, almost protectively, even though Seilaan was a lot shorter than she was. Deep down, Min almost wished she could stay this way forever, that she would never wake up.

But eventually Min forced herself to pull away, the warmth still lingering. When Seilaan spoke, she couldn’t help but smile. “I… I hope I remember you, too.” But what if I don’t? What if all of this vanishes when I wake up?

Before she could dwell on this too much, Mazra suddenly appeared in the barn, to which Min was torn between feeling annoyed and feeling relieved. Eventually she decided to go with the latter, and said, “No, it’s fine. We weren’t doing anything important.”

“Welcome back,” said Varris, nodding in Mazra’s direction. “Wasn’t expecting to see you again in this dream. Glad to see you’re still in one piece. So, what have you been up to?”

Gave them our reactions, our explosions, all that was ours For graphs of passion and charts of stars...

[San Francisco-Hashburry/Lauren]

Still in shock Lauren looked over at Demo, "No that was definitely me when I was a little girl."

She then took a step into the kitchen and looked around and back to Demo, "Am I the only one getting the feeling this place is trying to tell us something? I mean I may not be a psychologist but I do know enough about how the mind works to know that dreams sometimes try to tell you something."

Black jungle -> San Fransisco

Caleb kept walking, keeping a lookout for Mazra and Ano and periodically sending out his eidolon to sense them. But each time all he noticed were trees and birds, and it became clear they probably weren't here.

He gradually slowed down before coming to a halt; at that moment look of casual annoyance dropped and he looked downward sadly. "I wish I could talk to Zane, he'd know what to do." Behind him Caleb heard a caw, and looked back to see four ravens.

"I don't have any food," he told them, then remembered, "I guess I could dream up some." With that some unshelled walnuts fell on the ground, but the birds were uninterested. Caleb changed the nuts into breadcrumbs, but still no response. "Well, I guess dreamt up food isn't as nourishing. I mean, it'd probably just vanish from your stomach the moment I stopped thinking about it. Alright, let's see if we can find something else."

With that he continued on. After several minutes he heard the sound of cars and music, and through the trees he saw roads and buildings. As he entered the city he wondered if he had come awake, but the quality of the air was the same as the rest of the dream. Turning to face the ravens he said, "we should find something good here," and began walking further in.

You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.

[The Eldritch Factory, Forest of Bone] (The Midnight Stitcher, Ayako, Ethoya Uvalex, Durnem)

Ethoya raised an eyebrow as she considered the situation. A new, freakishly pale woman, and her herd of... she wasn't quite sure. Vita Exosso, she called herself. She struck Ethoya as a touch pretentious, and it seemed she had some sort of history with the Stitcher. "I have no quarrel with you," she said, "or them," she added, giving the creatures behind her a nod of confirmation. For now, she thought. As long as they didn't start anything, she'd let them be. She then crossed her arms and added, "and... streaker? Dead Gods, but I'm wearing as much cloth as Durnem." Granted, in different locations; Durnem has a short skirt and vest, Ethoya just a long skirt, but strictly speaking, the amount of material was comparable. Then, to Durnem, she added, "no offense."

[Misery Manor] (Gabe, Half, Lorraine)

Gabe took an instant dislike to Lorraine. If she wasn't a demon, she was close. "If it's suffering and pain that fascinating you, creature," he said, his perfectly trimmed eyebrows arched in an expression of contempt, "I have associates are would eagerly teach you about its finer points." Then he turned to Half and said, "hear something? I think so, but I'm not sure. Perhaps we should investigate; it's not like sitting here and waiting for another vision will prove especially productive."

edited 2nd Aug '16 5:38:45 AM by KillerClowns

[The Eldritch Factory, Forest of Bone] (The Midnight Stitcher, Ayako, Ethoya Uvalex, Durnem, Vita Exosso)

Ayako lowered her weapon, pouting with annoyance, "Hey! I'm fifteen!" She crossed her arms and stomped, only to regret having her shoe squish into the meaty floor. "I'm also a magical girl, not a Puella Magus, there is a difference."

Shaking her shoe, the girl turned towards Ethoya, "I think Vita-chan is referring to the fact you are not covering your..." She blushed, "breasts." She shooed away some thoughts that meandered through her head. She had to behave herself in front of others.

edited 2nd Aug '16 4:55:32 AM by WillDeRegio

Eldritch Factory - Sanity's Descent (Phoebe, Ashleigh, Noire, Azure Knight)

After explaining their situation, Phoebe and Ashleigh listened as Noire asked them about their adoptive godly mothers, and mentioned Lilith's origins once more. Ashleigh's eyes grew wide.

"God no, of course they're not like Lilith! And I'm not sure what you mean by age of magic, or soul synchronization - we're not familiar with either."

"Or Hum-onic-lie," Phoebe wondered, struggling to think of what Noire called their Mystripets. "But, we were chosen by the Elemental Goddesses of Mystrica! There are five of them, of the elements Air, Fire, Water, Earth, and Spirit, and they kind of watch over this virtual world we came from. One of our Mystripets is a not-adopted child, a kind of mini-version of them, but using our Elemental Keys, we can invoke them so they can become the actual goddesses!"

"It's not Fooly or Ludwig who can do that though," Ashleigh explained further, and she returned Ludwig to her Scanner in the meantime. "Because obviously they're not Earth or Air element. The Elemental Keys contain the goddesses' power, and they were entrusted to us. The Air Key went to Phoebe, the Earth Key went to me, and the other three went to three of our companions who are not here. The goddess of Air is Zephoria; of Earth, Vertilia; of Fire, Kinaga; of Water, Cerula; and of Spirit, Mythrine."

"I don't think they really created Mystrica though," Phoebe mentioned, taking off her cowgirl hat and scratching her head, while Fooly had fun jumping on the fleshy floor next to her, making squelching noises each time she landed. Phoebe turned to her for a moment. "Can you stop that? It sounds all creepy." Fooly promptly stopped, deciding to sit on the floor instead. "But yeah, Mystrica's like a really elaborate computer program or something, and I think the goddesses themselves are part of that program. So if anyone created it... wouldn't that be Vi Willow?" She turned to Ashleigh.

"She did say she could be Mystrica's supreme god if she wanted to," Ashleigh mentioned to Phoebe, then turning to Noire. "Vi Willow's pretty much the mastermind behind Mystrica's programming. She's not a goddess though - just a person like us."

And then they heard Noire's request to be Scanned. Ashleigh and Phoebe exchanged looks. "But Scanners don't work on..." Ashleigh stopped herself - maybe Noire wasn't quite human. "Never mind. Phoebe, why don't you do it this time?"

"Okay!" Phoebe took her own Scanner out of the back pocket of her shorts, which was yellow as opposed to Ashleigh's green one, and pointed it at Noire. The fractal-like scanning beam ran up and down Noire's body, and Phoebe looked over the Scanner's screen, puzzled. "Yeah, it doesn't show your stats either, and your classification is a bunch of question marks."

"That's the same thing mine said when scanning Azure Knight," Ashleigh remarked. "Does it say anything else?"

"Hmm... whaaaaaat? I think my Scanner's broken." She gave Ashleigh a confused look, but all she got in return was a sideways nod, telling her to go on. "Well, it says her element is Light and her class is Fairy. That can't be right, can it?"

Ashleigh shrugged, and looked at Noire for confirmation. She certainly didn't look like a faery, unless there was something Noire wasn't telling them.

Eldritch Factory - Forest of Bones (Midnight Switcher, Vita Exosso, Ethoya, Ayako, Durnem)

Durnem watched in slight confusion as a group of half-animal-like creatures appeared in the room, led by an almost ghostly-looking woman who introduced herself as Vita Exosso... and made some startling assumptions about everyone present. Durnem smirked when she misjudged Ayako's age, though she had no idea what a Puella Magus was, nor its distinction from a magical girl. Nor did she know what a streaker was, or why Ethoya replied by comparing her clothing to Durnem's own. Durnem didn't even hear Ethoya's aside to her, because she was pissed off about something else...

"Excuse me?! Do I look like a humi-no mermaid? What do you think these are?" She stood on one leg and shook the other, then did the same on the opposite side. "Merpeople don't have legs! Nen kraguor... I'm a fylin! Aquatic folk from the seas of Orenya - though I might give you a pass if you never heard of the place."

She cleared her throat. "My apologies. If I do look like a vampire - and I'm not - I shouldn't act so..."

But she was distracted by something... some strange pulsating sound. And it was coming from the right hallway. Gazing down it for a moment, she was shocked to discover a large sack of flesh there... and moreover, it had an aura. Not the strange aura fragments that surrounded Midnight Stitcher (and Vita Exosso, as she noticed) - an actual aura. She turned back to the group and gestured her free hand (the other was still gripping her staff which was firmly planted in the floor) towards this hall.

"Eeeh, just a hunch, but it seems there's a non-Eldritchian stuck in that meat sac."

edited 2nd Aug '16 10:28:58 PM by ladytanuki

Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.

[Clinic/Henry]

Still chuckling Henry looked up at Friedrich. "I'm sorry I can't help it."

He then looked back to the phone and floppy disk. "But to answer your question, these are a cellular phone and a floppy disk. The cellular phone works like a regular phone but is able to call another phone from anywhere as long as there is a signal, and the floppy disk is a memory storage device that has the coordinates for my home dimension. If I can reconstruct my machine I'll be able to use this to get home and my wife has her own cellular phone so I may be able to call her and find her."

[San Fransisco - Demo, Lauren]

At Lauren's question, Demo stopped for a moment to think. Removing the riot-helmet style mask, he looked at Lauren's surroundings.

"To be honest lass, I'm not a psychiatrist either. But, yer granddaddy, I have a friend who's like that. He doesn't believe anyone should be given anything, that we should work for everythin' in our lives and that if we end up wit' nothing, well, we just didn't work hard enough."

He paused for a second, then looked at Lauren with a semi-apologetic tone in his voice.

"Well, at least the lads should. Lassies get a gentler lot accordin ta him. He's a bit ol' fashioned like that."

He turned back to the room and continued. "Maybe this has somethin' to do with how ya got here in the first place. You said you an' yer husband were playin' with explosions right? How'd you get in that jam in the first place?"

edited 4th Aug '16 12:29:17 AM by gameknight102xx

[Farm (inside barn)]

Startled by the noise, Seilaan whipped around and brandished her sword at—

She looked down at herself. Witch form again? When did that happen? Maybe Cyrus was right, she was too jumpy. Then again, she was really letting her guard down with Min just a moment ago. Awfully sloppy of her, no wonder she was so surprised. So who was this?

Oh.

It was her again.

Why?

It wasn't even about the fact that they disagreed! Yes, people disagreeing with you is annoying, but it's... fine! It happens! And maybe she did get a little too worked up about it but that's also! Just! A thing that happens! And she was feeling better about it for a little while!

But the way Mazra responded to her was just—she wasn't even trying, was she? It was like she didn't even care! As much as Seilaan wanted to punch Jonathan right in his stupid face she could at least respect that he cared about whatever they were fighting over as much as she did!

"Sei."

Ren Yangchao was glaring at her. That was when Seilaan finally noticed she was still holding her sword in a rather... threatening manner.

... Ah.

"Sorry, you startled me a bit there," she said coldly, lowering her sword.

The last battle's curtains will open on stage!

San Francisco - Lauren's House (Gon, Lauren, Demo, Moreena)

"You said your sister was missing? Captured?" Moreena asked Gon. "In your world or this one?"

The feathered fiery salamander known as Triumph didn't seem to care about this question, just scratching her draconic snout with her bird-like foot.

"Well, initially she was captured in Mystrica," Gon explained. "Kinda weird how it happened - she was kidnapped right through her computer screen. It's a shame really..." and here he slouched a bit, feeling his heart sink a bit. "ever since moved to America from Japan, she's been basically a shut-in, and when we moved to Mystrica, that was finally convincing her to go outside sometimes, since she was excited about having Mystripets and all. We finally got to do stuff together again... and, well, that was cut short. It's strange though - in this world, I just came from the 'dream version' of Misery Manor, which is a location in Mystrica, and I found out that Ari was in there this time. I dunno if she's even still there."

Gon took a peek inside the house, where Lauren and Demo were talking about the brief vision Lauren had of her family... and then something about working to get what you want, but according to Demo, that only applied to guys.

"No kidding, right?" Gon said to him, half-jokingly. "Girls can get away with anything! Take my little sister, for instance. She glues herself to a computer screen for three years and neither of my parents bats an eye. I skip one day of school to go buy the latest Pokemon game, and they both lose their minds!"

Misery Manor - Living Room (Gabe, Half, Lorraine)

Lorraine abruptly ceased her giggling when Gabe mentioned his associates, assuming by that he meant angels and other such beings of Paradiso. Which meant they likely wielded light-element magic, which was her greatest weakness, and produced the kind of pain that she did not like, one that quickly seared away at her very spirit. If she had one fear, such light was it. But she managed to hide any expression of worry, and instead casually turned away from Gabe.

"We shall see about that," she said calmly. That was when she heard Half ask about hearing something coming from downstairs, and Gabe suggesting that they check it out. "Oh, Yamiko and Artemis are still down there," Lorraine mentioned, "so maybe that's who you're hearing." She floated close to the cellar door, and then phased right through it... but after a long pause, she let out a very shrill shriek.

Just an FYI, Gabe and Half will have to descend down into the cellar in order to find Lorraine.

Misery Manor - Cellar (Yamiko, Artemis)

As Cerula sat there, wincing slightly from the poison Kinotake afflicted her with, Yamiko gazed at Celia, waiting for her to send out her second Mystripet. Celia smirked back at her, and then heaved a sigh. As she did, the surroundings faded away, leaving only her and Yamiko, and they were in an old run-down city, probably in Japan judging by the characters on the signs. They were in a back alley, where a bunch of tattooed guys were giving each other the staredown.

Occasionally, one of the hoodlums spoke in a threatening voice, and Yamiko couldn't tell what they were saying due to not understanding Japanese. Two in particular were having a heated argument... and then Yamiko heard one of them say "Tomoe". The other guy protested back loudly about Tomoe, which got him grabbed by the shoulders and shaken by the other guy, who complained about something while spitting in his face. The first guy suddenly had a smug look on his face, and smoothly sassed his assailant... who promptly punched him repeatedly in the face. Then he said something to his mates, who soon came after him with knives. Even though nobody could see what was going on, somehow Yamiko knew that that guy had been murdered... which, if anything, caused her to raise an eyebrow. What did gang violence had to do with... wait...

Yamiko turned around into the opening of the alley and saw a young woman peering from around the corner, a deeply concerned look on her face. She recognized this woman - this was young Celia, or Tomoe as she was known then - she had seen her in an earlier vision Alice had shown her. As soon as she thought that, the scene faded away, and they were back in the cellar, Artemis and Cerula re-appeared, and... Celia had tears in her eyes?

"Oh Kazuo..." she mourned, daintily wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. Yet, she didn't weep too heavily, for Yamiko knew that this had happened many decades ago, and while haunting, the event must have seemed very distant to her. But Celia appeared much more serious now, staring solemnly at the floor. "I should have seen it coming - he was in quite a rivalry with that other gang. What made it all the more painful was that he knew I was a liability, but was determined to stay with me nonetheless. He was reckless... and yet, I loved him so." Then she looked up at Yamiko. "At first I didn't mind settling down with Kenji instead - we lived quite a happy life once we moved to San Francisco. But then he defiled our daughter..." She held a clenched fist before her. "He was like an angel that had fallen from Heaven. I couldn't trust him since. If only Kazuo had not died in that stupid fight..."

A lightbulb went off in Yamiko's head. Was this the reason she cursed the family? Because she wanted to marry Kazuo instead of Kenji, and hated the name of Murakage? Next to her, Cerula was wincing some more... and Yamiko couldn't do a thing about it because Celia hadn't yet sent out a Mystripet. It was as if she was purposefully stalling.

But she didn't stall for long. With a newfound spite, Celia sent out another Mystripet... appropriately, a fallen angel. Well, he still had half an angelic apearance, complete with a blue-eyed doll-like face, neat long white hair, and a white robe fitting for an angel... but half of it was torn and charred black, his left eye was red and glowing, and his left arm was black and spindly and red-clawed, holding a rusty scythe. A single white feathery wing stretched out from his right shoulder. Yamiko recognized this Mystripet - it was a Luceraph, and for a while she had contemplated having one of her own.

"Now Kazuo's memory lives on, as my Mystripet!" Celia declared. "Kazuo-chan, start off with a Yin-Yang Bomb!"

Yamiko smirked and made an awkward snort. Kazuo-chan? That's what she named him? Pathetic. Just as she was thinking that, the one-winged angel's attack - a spiraling combination of light and dark elemental beams - hit with quite an impact, but barely pushed the massive sea serpent back a few inches. Still, Cerula did lose a fair bit of health, and Yamiko knew it was time to use Cerula's ultimate technique.

"Sacred Ocean!" A powerful bluish glow enveloped the Goddess of Water, and the entire surroundings changed again, this time to a stormy island. Cerula promptly dived into the sea surrounding said island, whose waves were crashing violently against the shore. Heavy rain fell upon Kazuo-chan, drenching the fallen angel within less than a second.

"Kazuo-chan, quick, Anticipate!" Celia's Luceraph braced himself with his death scythe before him, just in time for two massive ocean waves to crash upon him from both sides, swallowing him up in the sea and trapping him in a whirlpool. The surroundings disappeared, and Kazuo-chan was left on one knee, panting, his scythe on the floor below him. Near Yamiko, Cerula had used up all her energy and transformed back into her child form, the little blue sea snake she was before.

What - he survived that?! Yamiko thought, utterly surprised. But I thought Luceraph had very low HP and Will... even with Anticipate he should've... But now was not the time to be complaining. Before her, Cerula - or Melusine, rather - took more damage from the poison, and then collapsed on the floor. Yamiko watched with worry as she saw Melusine's HP bar on her Scanner drop to zero, and the poor snake return to said Scanner.

"Well would you look at that!" Celia laughed proudly. "The almighty Goddess of Water, defeated by an act of true love!" Yamiko scowled at this remark. "Kazuo-chan may almost be out of action, but he still has punch left for one more attack!"

Yamiko smirked. "Well then, I'll have to use someone fast. Come on out, Anaissie!" The tiny red-nosed felinoid pixie emerged, gazing with wonder at the scene before her. "Attack that Luceraph, quick!"

Anaissie nodded. "Petal Flurry!" Countless flower petals flew at the exhausted Luceraph, knocking him out before he could land an attack. Sighing, Celia put Kazuo-chan back in her Scanner.

"Well, this is a bad situation," Celia lamented - Yamiko could almost see the defeat in her eyes. "You have two Mystripets left..." "Three," Artemis corrected before Celia continued, "and I have only one. However, my third Mystripet is not in my Scanner, so you'll have to wait a bit before she appears."

Yamiko sighed too - was was Celia trying to pull? One one hand, she knew the battle was almost over, but she still had that eerie feeling that something was not right... and it was confirmed when she heard the familiar giggle of a little girl. Alice re-appeared, walking up next to Celia. "Remember me?"

"Yeah - what are you doing here? I know you're Celia's daughter but..."

In response, Alice merely repeated the giggle.

edited 6th Aug '16 6:05:23 PM by ladytanuki

Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.