Eldritch Factory - Forest of Bone (Midnight Stitcher, Vita Exosso, Ayako, Ethoya, Durnem)

Durnem was not fazed by Vita Exosso's anger, though she did have to wonder why she was so protective of her so-called baby sister in the sac. Especially when she mentioned the gods... there might be a possibility that that baby was a holy child, born of such a god an an Eldritch woman, in this case. Then maybe she was telling the truth after all... but she was still suspicious. Judging by what she said last before apparently planning to leave, she seemed to be some sort of trickster, taunting people with riddles and laughter. And then there were those hooved creatures, horse spirits by the looks of it^note Orenya doesn't have deer, but it does have horse-like creatures that are smaller and more delicate than the Earth version. They looked... like something worth investigating.

Meanwhile, she faced the bone wall blocking off the fleshy baby carriage and held up her staff, the clear orb on it taking on a faint glow. And with an abrupt and forceful swing of it, she sent out waves of aural energy, concentrated into visible beams that looked like curved blades. And when they reached the wall, they cut right through it, splitting the bones in half and leaving the wall more like a short bony fence.

And then she turned to Ethoya and Ayako. "I'll leave you two to do what you like - perhaps follow me and visit the so-called baby, or perhaps go treasure hunting as Vita Exosso suggested. I think I'll go see just what that otherworldly horse wrangler is up to."

With that, she turned around and swung her staff forward again at the broken bone wall, this time a regular ol' energy pulse that blew a hole in the fiery barrier before it. Then she promptly swung the staff below her and hopped right on it, zooming forward through the hole and over the broken wall. Several seconds later, the flames flared right back to life. Once through, she looked back at the Midnight Stitcher, who apparently was fireproof.

"Hope you don't mind my company - but I'll leave you two alone if need be. You can just call me Durnem by the way - sacred though Watimari is to me, it just seems silly to call a mage by their staff's name."

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

It's too bad Gon and/or Ari's not with them - that remark about Great Fairies would've been a perfect opportunity to make a video game reference.

Phoebe and Ashleigh listened with great confusion as Noire explained what Soul Synchronization was... Phoebe especially. So much so that after Noire was done, she tugged on Ashleigh's long olive-green skirt. "Did you get any of that? It sounded all Greek to me."

Ashleigh shrugged. "Sort of." She briefly thought of the same man who made her blush in front of Azure Knight, who was in fact an expert on the paranormal. She remembered him saying something about how the creation of zombies worked, and supposed Noire had a point about necromancers synchronizing with their souls... if long-since-dead corpses even had souls.

Noire went on to talk about vampires and banshees and changelings and even nekomata... which Ashleigh quietly explained to Phoebe as being a sentient cat with two tails. She couldn't believe she had to explain all this supernatural stuff to her, as she didn't even really believe in the lot of these creatures, even though they technically existed in Mystrica.

"Great Fairies?" Ashleigh repeated when Noire mentioned them. "I think I may have heard about them in the real world, but the only one who could count in Mystrica is Queen Mabel, overall ruler of the fairies. Then there's Lord Pan and Lady Gaia who are collectively the mayor of a town of mortals and flowers... and I think otherwise fairies either teach battle techniques to Mystripets, heal them, or battle them to test their strength."

Then Noire suggested going elsewhere, to which Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief. "Well I definitely don't wanna stay here - I don't like these icky floors." She lifted a foot and checked under her brown leather boot only to cringe at the red meaty fluid on its sole. "And I've had my share of creepy forests so... that red domey place I guess?"

"Sounds like a plan," Ashleigh agreed as she pointed her Scanner at the ground, and sent out a twice-human-size yet graceful remora-like fish. "I don't think Peggy can carry all three of us, but we can certainly ride on Geisha's waves... unless you can build an air bridge for us."

Haight and Shibuya (Gon, Ari, Ruka)

"Whoa, you're from the future? That's awesome!" Gon was wide-eyed with excitement, but soon began nervously rubbing the back of his head as he always did. "We're uh, from the year 2012... so not too long ago? We have a virtual world now, at least."

"Oh, that giant cat that popped up on your screen was Mythrine," Ari explained, with far less inflection in her voice. "She's one of the goddesses of said virtual world, and, well, she occasionally notifies us to her presence when Lucky here is around." She paused as Ruka apparently looked at something. "Is that your version of a Scanner? We Keepers use them to scan beings as well - though they're external devices rather than software." She took out the purple PDA-like device with both a touch screen and buttons.

"We usually do dat to enemies so we have an easier time beatin' em up," Triumph mentioned, perching atop a parking meter now. "Speaking o' enemies, y'all see dose walkin' shrooms across the street?"

"What the... whaaaaa? Triumph was right, and Gon was utterly bewildered by the mushrooms with legs for stalks gathering around in front of the smoke shop across the street. "Hopefully they're not enemies - they don't seem to be hurting anyone at least. Uh, so... how'd you get here, Ruka? Hopefully you didn't just wind up in a park full of hippies like I did."

"Or suddenly disappear from the evil Virtualmon's database like I did," Ari mentioned, while Lucky sat there next to her leg.

Misery Manor post coming later... for I anticipate it being longer than these three mini-posts put together.

edited 28th Aug '16 9:16:34 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.

Huh, no new posts since my last one? Looks like I'll have to double-post.

Misery Manor - Cellar (Sinistrina, Gabe, Half, Artemis, Lorraine)

Just after Sinistrina spoke, one of the ravens finally managed to catch Lorraine... by the pin stuck into the charm on her cloak, the source of the black wisps trailing behind her. It pulled it out, upon which Lorraine fell to the floor, her body vanishing leaving only her cloak behind, before she glossed over with data and automatically went inside Yamiko's Scanner.

Meanwhile, Sinistrina was focused on Gabe, who again asked her for a reason not to destroy the manor... except this time it was clearly an ultimatum. Although to her amusement, she saw a figure behind him, not unlike the types of undead creatures one might find in Necromere (or it at least looked like one).

Yet even with this, Sinistrina sighed and looked sternly at Gabe. "I told you early on that there was nothing I could do about the curse, and it sounds like your sages could even remove any traces of magic that could leak out. But, I would not appreciate it if they came upon this manor, just like I would not appreciate my sister's toy armies doing so. Truth is, not only is this manor under a dreadful curse... it is also my home, ever since I was banished to Necromere."

Suddenly, she remembered something, and she toyed thoughtfully with one of the smaller skulls on her staff. "Wasn't Lilith banished to the Inferno? Hmm, I wonder... what would she think if she knew you destroyed a place like this?"

Misery Manor - Celia's Basement (Yamiko)

Yamiko sank to her knees and glanced down at Anaissie, though in reality she was looking past her, through the floor and down straight into the Void itself.
It's over. It's really over. Anaissie can't fight, Lorraine has turned against me, and there's nothing I can do about it. What will happen now? I suppose I could go jump off Pearl Cliff. Or live my life out in grief like Celia did. That's why she cursed me... she wanted me to know that pain. And she's right. I have no choice... but to surrender.

A great sadness filled her, yet she did not shed any tears - more like a heavy weight inside her that would drag her down to wherever her gaze was pointing. In fact... she started to smile a tiny bit.

When she looked up, she was surrounded by stars and galaxies, but was staring right into a black hole, into which lots of yellow dust was swirling. Occasionally, though, an image popped up. There was her three-year-old self, acting as an assistant in her father's magic show. There was her seven-year-old self in a foster home, meeting the boy she would again meet eleven years later as Lupin. There was her fourteen-year-old self, experiencing a "preparation session" (read: makeover) with her foster mothers to make sure she was ready to face high school. There was her seventeen-year-old self, being utterly surprised at Remy asking her to go to prom with him, right after she ruined her ankle at the talent show. And then there was her, now, exactly as she was, in her purple and black lolita dress and her dainty hat and her fancy shawl... and yet, it was now just a shell, it too heading straight for the event horizon...

"Yamiko! Earth to Yamiko! Wake up!"

She blinked, and suddenly she was back in the basement of Celia's house, facing Mad Alice (Malice)... who was no longer pregnant. She was also middle-aged now, but oddly youthful-looking, her hair showing no signs of graying, yet her eyes were baggy and crazed. The black dress she wore was simple yet elegant, and she had her hands held behind her back. Celia was standing right next to her, looking the same as ever, though oddly uncertain.

"Is it true, Celia?" Yamiko asked her. "Was the curse really to spite me, to make me feel the same loss you did when you lost Kazuo?"

Celia was about to speak up, but Malice interrupted her. "Well very good! You figured it out!" She even clapped her hands. "BUT, you still have me to deal with. So what will you do now? You wouldn't even dream of surrendering, would you?"

Yamiko opened her mouth to speak, but a thought came to her. A dream... yes... that's right, this is a dream, isn't it? Duh, Celia's not really alive so... That should mean...

Yamiko smirked. Perhaps it wasn't over yet after all. Picking up the still-petrified Anaissie, she stood up, cupping the little fairy in her palms.
"Anaissie, lend me your power."
"What... I'm sorry..." Anaissie muttered.
"I said, lend me your power."

She waved a hand over Anaissie as if putting a spell on her, then clasped a hand down on her. Instantly, she vanished into pixie dust, which shrouded Yamiko. She felt a twitching in her back... and as she took off her shawl, she revealed the same diamond-shaped wings Anaissie had, except black and purple instead of green and pink. She even had the same round red nose, and little whiskers on the sides of her face.

"As I thought, in this realm I can bend reality to my very will. My turn then. Triple Force!"
She spread her arms out, and three flashes of light arranged in a triangle appeared before her These turned into the forces of fire, ice, and lightning, and much like Kazuo-kun's Yin-Yang Bomb, they swirled together and all hit Lorraine with full force.

...Or they would have. The attack went right through Lorraine without doing anything. "...What!?" Yamiko cried out. "But that's a Magic attack... it shouldn't..."

Malice laughed. "You're forgetting, this is our dream too, so if you can 'bend reality to your will' as you say, so can I. In fact, now, I'll bend my will to reality. Watch this!"

She stood behind Celia and removed her left hand from behind her back, waving it in front of Celia's face. "You are getting sleeepy..." Yamiko rolled her eyes. Hypnotism, really? Nevertheless, Celia did yawn and lie down on a thin mattress that had suddenly appeared on the floor. That's when Malice removed her right hand from behind her back...

...Which was holding a knife, the same one her teenage self had held. Holding it high above her, she plunged it down right into Celia's chest. This shocked even Yamiko, who gasped and took a couple of steps backward.
"But... didn't she..."

"Hahahahaha, you really thought it was my mother? Psh, you saw her - she was obsessed with fairy tales into her late forties! You won't believe how much I've heard her say over the years, Kazuo this, Kazuo that... 'my one true love'... Believe me, I knew that I wouldn't have been born if she had somehow stayed with him. But really, I'm mad! What's a life to me anyway? Celia said it herself! 'Mad Alice, she's a disgrace, she should be put into an asylum'. Yeah, damn well I should! But nooooo, she's such a freaking softie that she didn't have the heart to. So disgusting."

Yamiko scowled. Geez, no wonder Lorraine took such a liking to her.

"I had been looking forward to her cursing the family," Malice continued, as Celia and the mattress vanished away. "I even pulled Daddy into bed with me to help things along, and she blamed him for it! I mean, I know I was in my late teens by then, but she looked at him as if he was a freaking pedophile! But of course she's such a wimp that she didn't even divorce him for it. Pity. She actually even took care of Mai, and tried to deter me from tormenting her. Eventually I just had to send her across the country and be done with her, since she was kind of in the way anyway. I thought I was doing Celia a favor, seeing the family crash and burn because she couldn't have her happy ending."

"So... you killed her and cursed the family?" Yamiko sounded a bit uneasy... maybe it was Malice's mention about willingly sleeping with her own father just to spite the family. Yeesh.

"I killed one more person too, as the very sacrifice needed for such powerful black magic!" She held out the knife, which was still bloody. "Lorraine dearest, please demonstrate what I mean! Use your ultimate technique - Chaos Beam!!!"

Yamiko felt her heart racing again, especially when she watched Lorraine fire a beam of pure blackness out into the air, which traveled a few feet before disappearing. She knew what was going to happen next, and once again felt that heavy weight with her, and even felt Anaissie's nose and whiskers and wings fall right off her. When she closed her eyes she had a brief vision of the same black hole in her mind. Except when she held her hand out, she felt it right in her hand, and strangely, it seemed to have no weight at all. Suddenly, she didn't feel nervous anymore... she felt oddly calm.

Celia... so it wasn't you after all. That's why the curse held. It was Malice, using your hopeless romanticism to fuel her own spite.

She heard a deep rumble above her, and then a quiet yet bone-chilling roar. Opening her eyes, she looked upward, and saw the Chaos Beam, now at its full strength, with a draconic head with eyes burning with Malice. Feeling somehow the strange weightlessness from the black hole in her vision, she held her cupped hands above her head and gazed empty-eyed at Lorraine and Malice.

But just before crashing down on her, the beam made an abrupt ninety-degree turn, and rammed headlong into Lorraine. There was a terrible scream, and a silent explosion, and a great cloud of black fog through which Yamiko could barely see Lorraine vanishing into nothingness. Behind that stood Malice, the very same knife she used to kill Celia now lodged in her stomach. Yamiko's hands naturally lowered, and she realized that she was holding Anaissie in her hands.

"Is it over?" the red-nosed pixie asked.

"Yes... it's over."

And yet, she still felt a bleak emptiness inside her.

Note: Yamiko will not wake up in the manor just yet.

edited 29th Aug '16 12:13:21 AM 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.

[San Francisco/Tokyo ~ East Haight/Shibuya] (Gon, Ari, Ruka)

Ruka held her phone up, "Yeah, there's an app for that. Usually the database it uses has some information on virtually everything AEGIS encounters, either through verified historical records, in-depth lab analysis, or field observations. However," She tried scanning on of the walking mushrooms, only to get a message of 'Mushroom, Database Error', "I keep getting error reports and obvious observations." She scowled, "That only happened when I accidentally scanned Ms. Braxton..."

Ruka shook her head before responding to Gon, "I just appeared in the middle of an intersection over that way," She pointed back the way she came with her thumb, "Before that, I was exploring the Gaelatain, which definitely isn't in San Francisco." She hmmed, before her eyes lit up, "You mentioned a virtual world? That might explain why I keep getting errors..."

---

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

Ayako blinked a few times, "Wait, what do you mean, 'follow the will of the Eldritch Factory?'" She looked around before sighing as Durnem made her way across the fire and bone wall. Ayako willed her magic through the bow of her dress, before launching the ends of the fabric at the ceiling like a pair of grappling hooks.

With a swift adjustment of magic, the bow retracted, launching Ayako up and over the fence. As the bow let go of the ceiling mid flight, she got distracted by a slight ringing in her ears. Stumbling as she landed on the ground, Ayako shook her head before turning towards the Midnight Stitcher and Durnem, "As much as I'd like to go and collect treasures, I'd rather not go running about this place all by myself."

[Ritter Clinic - Parlor]

Even though there wasn't any malice nor ill-intention in the way Iveya formulated her question, Ruth couldn't help but to feel slightly threatened by it. The truth was that despite her straight-forward nature, she still had plenty of things about herself that she would prefer to keep hidden.

One of these things, a painful memory from before she was transported into another world, came to her mind as soon as Iveya made the question. While it only lasted an instant, it was such an intense and vivid memory, and Ruth was such a transparent person, that the mysterious magic would have no issue scrutinizing it and relaying it back to Iveya...

---

[Ruth's home world, a few weeks ago]

Located in the heart of Ruth's home city, there's a large park with an artificial lake, which is home to a great variety of animals, the most relevant to the current situation being its famous ducks. In one of the benches located on the lakeside, there were two girls and a group of ducks gathering around them.

One them seemed to be Ruth, who was wearing a far less ostentatious outfit than her current one, this one consisting of a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and black sneakers. The other was a moderately chubby girl clad in blue denim overalls, a yellow t-shirt and a pair of weary brown boots; she had long and wavy chestnut hair which almost matched the tone of her eyes, and a rather sweet face adorned by freckles and a charming smile.

-“I thought you had ducks in your farm, Maggie.”

Ruth said while watching the other girl feeding rice to the flock.

-“No, not at all.”, Maggie replied while turning slightly towards the other girl's direction, “We have cows, chickens, horses, chinchillas, sheep, pigs, dogs, goats, bunnies... But no, definitely not ducks.”

She recalled while using her fingers to count each type of animal she mentioned, before turning her attention back to the ducks.

-“I'm glad you like them.”, Ruth said while letting out a big smile, “I used to come here far more often when I was little, and I've always liked watching the ducks. I thought it would be nice to bring you here, so you didn't feel so homesick.”

-“It was a rather good idea. Thanks a lot, Ruth! I really like this place, and I'm glad we got to see ducks... And squirrels too!”

As her friend continued to focus on the flock, Ruth couldn't help but to feel strangely captivated, not by the natural beauty of their surroundings, but by the innocence and cuteness of Maggie herself. Ever since they became good friends, she couldn't help but to feel something really special for her. Then, out of nowhere, she felt compelled to deliver a gentle kiss upon Maggie's left cheek.

-“Ruth... Did you just..?”

The chubby girl uttered, mildly startled by the unexpected gesture, as she touched the spot where she had been kissed.

-“I'm so sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking, I-I just...”

Ruth tried to clumsily explain, as she blushed bright red, while trying to avoid eye contact.

-“Hey, there's no need to get nervous.”, Maggie said as she held her friend's right hand, “It just surprised me, that's all... I didn't know you were g-”

However, things turned rather sour in that instant, as Ruth suddenly stood up while slipping away from her friend's hold and preventing her from completing that sentence; an action which scared some of the flock. Her tone also shifted from embarrassment to indignation, as she raised her voice.

-“What?! No, of course I'm not! Why would I!? Those people are despicable abominations. I'm not like them at all!

And then, just as abruptly as that outburst came out, Maggie reacted by standing up and slapping Ruth across the face, as her expression shifted from consternation to anger, scaring away the remaining ducks.

-“I can't believe it... Why would you say something so horrible?! Ruth, I've always considered you a wonderful person and great friend, but those kind of hateful words are something I won't tolerate!

She said while looking intently at the other girl with outrage and disappointment.

-“W-what? Why?! I'm just stating the truth...”, Ruth said while avoiding eye-contact with her friend, as her voice started to crack, “That's what they all are, alright! Rapists, and degenerates, and adulterers, and pedophiles, and sodomites, and... and... and...”

She rambled as her breathing turned erratic and her eyes started to tear up.

-“...Ruth, are you alright?”

Maggie uttered as her previous shock was replaced with worry for her friend, whom she had never seen like this before.

-“Of course I am! I'm perfectly fine!”, Ruth shouted in a violent way, “One hundred percent fine! One hundred percent NORMAL! I'm not broken, I'm a good person, I swear- I just... I-I'm just... I... I-”

Ruth stated as her tears and rage drowned her voice, before running away.

-“Ruth! Wait, where are you going? Ruth!”

Those were the last words she heard from her friend, before they became lost in the distance as Ruth ran as fast as she could. From there on, the memory became a blur of incongruous sound and images; most likely a reflection of the confusion and agony the girl experienced. However, once that chaos faded into nothingness, another part of the memory was revealed. This time, it showed Ruth in a pitch black room, lying on a bed as cried over what had just happened.

-“... Why?...Why did I say all those horrible things? Is that really what I think?”

She could be heard thinking to herself, despite no words being spoken.

-“...Is that what I really am? A despicable blight and aberration? ...I'm so sorry Maggie...”

That was her last thought before the remembrance was cut short...

---

-“That was the last time I spoke to her before being dragged into all this mess...”, Ruth thought as she recalled that painful moment, “I hope she's alright... Oh, Maggie... Why did I have to mess up things so much?”

Regardless of her stirred up emotions, the young girl tried to keep the little fragment of composure she had left, though it was evident she was about to break any second now. As she apprehensively clutched her dress' skirt with both hands while keeping her head down to avoid eye-contact, she replied to Iveya's question in a barely audible and pathetic sounding manner.

-“No... I don't have anything to hide...”

"It's better to burn out... THAN TO FADE AWAY!"

The Graveyard (Moreena, Patches, Caleb, Sentinel)

Moreena once again glanced up at the giant form of the Sentinel, briefly wondering what sort of "preparations" the other deity might have been referring to.

"Of course," she said in response. "Being alone in this place wouldn't normally be a good idea, but I assume that you can look out for yourself?" The stabilizing effect that the Sentinel seemed to have on the chaos around her would suggest as much.

Next, Moreena turned to Caleb, smirking a bit at the rather blunt explanation of what "psychology" meant that he'd just given to Patches. She doubted that the odd entity would be much wiser for it.

---

Just as she was about to ask who this "Anoerith" that both Caleb and the Sentinel had apparently met was, she was interrupted by a soft, metallic clang as her foot struck something. She looked down, discovering a piece of silvery metal half-buried in the gravel. Using a simple spell to free it and lift it up towards her face, she immediately recognized what it was.

She grabbed her old crown - a simple, rune-inscribed circle with three sharp spikes on one side - and stared at it silently for a while.

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

Graveyard

"Wait, you know that name?" Caleb asked, looking up at the Sentinel, then paused. Ano wanted to hide what sort of being she was, and from what he saw and heard, people for her world wouldn't take kindly to her true nature. Was it safe to tell her? The Sentinel seemed nice enough with her interactions with Patches, but even otherwise decent people could be misled by hatred.

He responded with "before I tell you, why don't you tell me what you know of her."

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 Graveyard (Moreena, Sentinel, Caleb, Patches):

Her face an empty mask, the Sentinel listened closely to Caleb's words and the suspicion held in them. She could understand his distrust, considering how she looked to their eyes, and she felt it would be better to evade the question for the moment.

However, it was not her wish to play games of deception at the moment, specially when she had to play then with politicians every day for countless years before.

"I think you should look for that 'Knight' with the others now. I can catch up later to explain.", she said, and for a moment considered asking if people still said "catch up".

"I think you will feel more confortable not looking back while I prepare myself. Esculpting my body to a more elegant form involves many... inelegant processes, even if most will happen within a cocoon of sorts.", She said, not even remembering her earlier reluctance to change forms in such an unstable land. She now knew she was going to be protected.

This storm is nothing compared to the maelstrom inside you., she thought to herself with a voice that was never her own. Someone perceptive would notice that on tge ground besides her shadow for a short moment stood the much fainter image of a humanoid figure with large wings.

edited 3rd Sep '16 6:54:11 AM by EternaMemoria

"The dried flowers are so beautiful, and it applies to all things living and dead."

The Graveyard (Moreena, Sentinel, Caleb, Patches, ???)

All the time the souls in the Graveyard were arriving and conversing, one of the stone protrusions in the crater was watching. A round, clear eye was inserted into the stone, which was almost perfectly rectangular and sitting in the ashy rock with many stone fragments floating around it. It never moved, but on occasion it blinked. It was a small eye too, about the size of a small marble, and its lid was made of a light and shiny sort of clay, with obviously fake black lashes attached to it.

But just as the Graveyard folk were planning to investigate a knight, the stone block began to crack, and steam seeped out of the cracks which emitted a ruddy glow. And all at once, the stone block exploded, its fragments instantly melting into dust, leaving behind a cloud of steam.

When the steam cloud settled, a very fancily-dressed boy stood in its place. Actually, a doll, upon closer inspection, made of porcelain and about the size of a toddler, though he looked a bit older than that. He had the same eyes as the one that peeked out of the stone, the same clear-irised glass orbs. Or eye, rather, for he was missing his left one, a cracked hole taking its place. His straight black hair looked shiny even in the bleakness of the dark cloud cover, peeking out just to frame his ears below the blue plumed hat that sat askew on his head.

The rest of his outfit was no less flashy - an off-white frock underneath a silver-buttoned blue waistcoat, matching blue flared shorts that bunched up in black cuffs below the knees, high-heeled riding boots of black leather, and a black overcoat with a high collar and very long tails reaching almost to his feet. Attached to his hip was what looked like the hilt of a dainty little dagger, cross-shaped and silver with an encrusted black skull. And hanging from the neck of his coat, resting on the frills of his undershirt, was something of a faceless silver pocketwatch, covered in a faint tarnished pattern. The first movement he made was to hold a white gloved hand over this large round pendant, secure in the fact that it was still there. The second movement he made was to reach down and pick up his other eye, which had fallen out of the stone, pressing it securely back onto his face.

With a long and solemn nod of his head, he walked up the side of the crater and towards the departing foursome. As he walked, he was looking right at them, yet was not fazed by any of their appearances. He had almost a hallowed look to him in fact, his clear gaze looking seemingly right past them. Nor did he seem to mind the fact that he was tiny compared to the Sentinel, not even reaching knee-height on her.

He paused and looked around at everyone, and at that close distance they could make out many faintly visible crack lines on his porcelain face, the ones around his newly-reinserted left eye being the most prominent. Then he took a brief gaze backwards at the stone structures and strange black crystals in the crater before turning back to the group and clearing his throat.

"I've been watching you," he spoke, his voice high-pitched like a pre-pubescent boy's, but unsettlingly solemn, distant even. Despite being a doll, somehow his mouth moved like that of a real boy. "A matron of medicine. A man who is aware of dreams. A demoness who knows this place well. And a patchwork magical girl. Patches, was it?" He looked toward the latter. "Did you not come from the Deathly Glade? This place..." he looked around, "bears a resemblance to it, though I'd not expected to see something more desolate and twisted than it. Just as well." He turned back to everyone. "So correct me if I'm wrong - Moreena, Caleb, Sentinel, was it?" He gave an additional nod to Patches, feeling no need to repeat her name. "My name is Friedrich, and I arrived from the town of Solevaille."

Not figuring that anyone would want to shake his hand, he instead gave a light tip of his hat. It was then he noticed the winged figure in the gigantic dragoon's shadow. "And you are?" he asked it.

edited 5th Sep '16 3:28:50 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 -> Heart Dome] (Phoebe, Ashleigh, Noire)

Her general cheer not disrupted by Ashleigh and Phoebe's confusion, a look of intrigued curiosity forms on Noire's face as a new Mystripet comes out. Yet as Ashleigh brought up the idea of an air bridge, the voice inside Noire's head scoffs.

Ah, the Brittles don't understand the true world yet they ask for an air bridge anyways? I guess they really can't do anything without divine intervention. Truly amazing, yes? Turning her head towards the red domey place Phoebe is referring to, Noire's face scowls whilst they can't see her.

"You're quite an arrogant creature- Do you really believe humanity beneath you? The human species is why you exist so why not respect us hmm? Unless you're so bored trolling others is the only delight you have."

Feeling the mental expression of a smirk, the voice seems darkly amused. Bored? I suppose a Brittle would be bored, though luckily I am no such thing. Still, it seems educating you will be an absolute delight!

Making a face and thinking "Education?" the voice teasingly yet offendedly responds Oi, don't be like that- I have your best interests at heart. Rolling her eyes at the voice, Noire finally turns back to Ashleigh and Phoebe with that chipper look on her face.

Twirling her sword around with her right hand, Noire calls out casually warm. "No need to force little Geisha's fins, Death's Knell is more than sufficient to force an air bridge. Instead..." Twirling herself around with her sword held out to the side, Noire stops as she swings upwards- And the air proceeds to shimmer all the way over to the red dome.

Dismissing her blade and hopping onto the distorted air, the guro lolita miss continues in the same tone. "I would like to speak with your Mystripets, so is it alright if Geisha and Fooly stay out? Frankly I think they're adorable and wish to hear their opinions. Nonetheless..."

Walking backwards down the mid-air bridge, Noire's cheery softens before speaking casually serious. "The bridge won't hold up too long, so better make haste!" With her words spoken Noire turns away from the group and moves forward, faster than before but not as to leave them behind.

Still, as they approached the entrance of the red dome, the ground seems to become progressively redder- And once before the entrance an organic pumping noise became very clear. Gently hopping off the invisible bridge Noire paced a bit, trying to look at the entrance from different angles.

Yet, as she began to speak, the heart valve-like entrance opens- Causing Noire to unwillingly jump back upon noticing the verifiable pools of blood. However once she sniffed the air and noticed a lacking smell, her gaze spots something out.

Laying on the ground before them... "S-Some giant's entire system of blood veins? Why are they so intact?" Her gaze not shifting from the partially submerged remnants of a giant creature, a gentle but tired voice calls out.

"Visitors? You're not Grevidaes, nor that terrible beast here earlier... Would you please show yourself? I am still recuperating from that thing's attacks, so I apologize..."

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

[Ritter Clinic - Parlor]

If it had possessed a physical form, the Eyes and Teeth would have been smiling a very sharp, unpleasant smile. Oh, this was good. Absolutely hilarious. As much a the Eyes and Teeth enjoyed the old standbys — war, torture, genocide, all those lovely things — there was a flavor to this sort of self-hatred and hypocrisy that was delightful in its own way. Not every meal had to be a feast, sometimes a sweet little morsel like this was worth savoring.

Mind-reading always involved a little post-production on its part, even if it was just offering sub-conscious translations of little internal metaphors, clearing away of static, that sort of thing, but here it took the extra effort. It had to make sure both desire and homophobia were nice and readable to Iveya, put in a few sub-conscious notes. The Uelane weren't homophobic, so Iveya might miss exactly what had gone wrong there without a bit of help. Usual image interpolation; memories are always so fuzzy when you pull them out of an ape's think-meats. But a bit of a nudge on the color palette, an extra dose of intensity, to mark a nice transition at "despicable abominations". And... hmm... yes, there, at “Ruth! Wait, where are you going? Ruth!” Cut it. Cut it there. It was looking to make Iveya angry and self-righteous, and knowing how much agony (sweet, delicious agony!) Ruth was in wouldn't help, now would it? The Eyes and Teeth could not truly create, only corrupt, deceive, and steal, but that didn't mean it wasn't creative in its own way when it was in its element.

Iveya almost succeeded in hiding her brief trance as the message was relayed, but the way she blinked, momentarily stunned, suggested something had happened. She opened her mouth, then paused. There was something... some subtle discrepancy between the alarming memories the Eyes and Teeth had shown her and the expression on Ruth's face. Regret and pain that had not been quite so intense in the memory. Odd. Perhaps she was getting sloppy? There had been a few rare times now the mind-reading had missed something.

Despite the best efforts of the Eyes and Teeth to escalate the situation, Iveya decided on a more tactful approach. Iveya said, "I... never mind. I'm sorry I said anything; it really is dreadfully rude of me to pry at you like that." She frowned — sincerely, in fact. "I have... difficulties trusting people. I hope you didn't take any offense." Then, an experimental prod. "It reminds me of that dinner I had in Oriyith with Ayane last month. Her and her wife were such ordinary people, and being such wonderful hosts, but I just kept on thinking something was up... for no other reason than that they were showing me kindness." She sighed. "Heinreich, Friedrich, I hope you can forgive me for abusing a fellow guest with my suspicions so."

edited 11th Sep '16 5:44:35 PM by KillerClowns

[The Graveyard] (Moreena, Sentinel, Caleb, Patches, Friedrich)

Standing in place mulling over everyone's words, Patches' arms almost seem to swing without her recognition. Reason with him huh? Yeah, I wish... Well she certainly seems more knowledgeable than us. Besides, if we give up nothing is gained!

Though when Sentinel said to go on as she prepared, a saddened look beneath Patches' mask crosses her face. "Does she not trust us? She doesn't need to hide from her friends..." What makes you think she considers any of us friends? I, uh, I admit... That is a little weird...

Perking up as Caleb explained 'psychological' Patches smiled underneath her mask, her attention is suddenly caught as Sentinel asks about someone. Merely tilting her head in confusion as Sentinel seemed to explain her preparation, the fashion disaster of a girl blinks as she notices the second shadow belonging to Sentinel.

That was when she heard an explosion, causing her to turn around- And see a little boy approaching the four of them. Her head tilted in curiosity as he spoke, Patches folds her hands before her lips upon being asked where she came. Deathly Glade? I think he's asking if we came from an artificial afterlife- Though 'Deathly Glade' sounds like a bad afterlife...

Yet as he asked a seeming fifth person, Patches followed his gaze towards where she saw Sentinel's second shadow. Turning back to the little boy, Patches clears her throat before speaking nicely. "That's just one of her shadows silly. Oh, Friedrich right? Want to help us with Armory Knight?"

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

San Francisco - East Haight/Shibuya (Gon, Ari, Ruka)

"Gaelatain... is that in outer space or something?" Gon asked Ruka when she explained how she got here. Then he looked across the street at the walking mushrooms - only to realize that they had disappeared. What the... is something seriously wrong with this place?

Just a while after that, a shadow passed over the three of them. Gon looked up and saw a gigantic robot of some sort, shaped like an armoured person, with mechanical wings on his back. He flew right over them, heading off towards an area off in the distance that was obscured by fog. "What the... is that a mecha of some sort?" Gon wondered. This world was getting weirder and weirder.

Ari looked up as well, though her reaction was less pronounced. "That's Lord Metatronic," she explained. "He's the mayor of Beta Town. This doesn't look like Beta Town though - where are the other robots?"

"Wait, that's him?" Gon remarked. "Huh, I almost forgot what he even looked like. I mean, I read all about him on the Internet, but never actually seen him before - wait, that's right, I was looking for Beta Town, wasn't I... wait, where are Phoebe and Ashleigh and Yamiko? We were just heading through the... wait..."

Gon remembered something. He was with them for a while... they arrived at a weird orange tree with lots of other people, then reached a park where they met a teenage boy and a photographer, then found their way into a dark and creepy forest where they met a bunch of ravens... then they met the Dark Caller who wanted to take over the dream world... The dream world...
"What- this can't be another dream, can it?" He glanced at Ari. "Well... no wonder Ari's not with Virtualmon..." He heaved a heavy sigh.

"Are we really in Sleep Mode?" Ari inquired, then turned to Ruka. "Well then I would like to find the robots of Beta Town - if this is a dream, they might give clues as to how Virtualmon functions - maybe even the virus that corrupted him. Maybe you could help us out?"

"Ari!" Gon shouted. "You can't just... how could you even tell she has any fighting experience?" Sheepishly, he turned to Ruka. "Uhh... do you?"

"Psh, what do y'all think dat armor o'hers is for?" Triumph remarked, still perched atop the parking meter. Gon's face instantly turned scarlet as he realized that was a stupid question.

Eldritch Factory - Sanity's Descent -> Heart Forge (Phoebe, Ashleigh, Noire)

Phoebe laughed when Ashleigh asked if Noire could make an air bridge, but then her jaw dropped when Noire did just that. Ashleigh had to wonder if Noire really was a fairy... making bridges like this was not unheard of amongst the fair folk as she recalled, though what was all that business about a Death's Knell?

Noire suggested Geisha stay out because she wanted to talk with her and Fooly, but then encouraged them to hurry up before the bridge disappeared. Rolling her eyes, Ashleigh figured she might as well follow her. Fooly immediately dashed out in front of them, pulling out a unicycle from her reality-bending dress pocket and riding it across the bridge, even overtaking Noire.

"What a showoff," Phoebe scoffed - but all she and Ashleigh could do was run after Noire, Geisha swimming through the air after them.

When they reached the red dome, they saw a "door" open inside it - more like fleshy flaps opening. Inside, there were pools of a bright red liquid. Phoebe stepped backward in disgust when she saw it. "I hope that's not blood..."

Ashleigh was just as surprised, as she stepped off the bridge. "Kind of looks like a heart... just like that stomach we were in earlier. Are we inside someone's body?"

Just then, some sort of creature stirred just beneath the just-as-red ground, and spoke. This was at the same time that Phoebe stepped off the bridge, and realized that the floor here was even redder than that of the room they were in before, though it didn't have the smell of meat as that did. It still felt entirely wrong to Phoebe, so much that she gazed over at the white trees off in the distance, wondering if she should have told them to go that way instead.

"W-what is that!?" Phoebe stammered. "This place is even worse than the last one! Come on Ashleigh, we have to get out of here! This place is worse than Misery Manor!"

"I agree..." Geisha muttered, sounding very uneasy herself. "Whatever's in those pools, doesn't look like something I'd want to swim in."

Ashleigh cringed too as she looked at the creature, but she had a gut feeling that it was in trouble somehow, perhaps hurt from a battle judging by its words and its tone.
"We are no terrible beasts," she spoke to it - though she tried to sound calm, there was a notable shakiness to her voice. "We're only, uh, people. Who or what are you?"

"Ashleigh..." Phoebe whined. She remembered how Ashleigh had stopped to talk to Half in the Blackwood... how could she remain calm in that situation? All Phoebe could do for now was back away, glancing over her shoulder at the white forest in the distance... though now she was even unsure about going there, for what if it was even creepier than this place? If this was a dream, it was a nightmare indeed...

Misery Manor - Celia's Basement (Yamiko)

There was a long silence, as Yamiko gazed between Anaissie and the empty basement before her. It seemed... a lot cleaner than it did before - the smell of mushrooms had vanished, nor did she see any mushrooms around. And the only sound she heard amidst everything was... the sound of Artemis whimpering, struggling to get up after being struck by no less than four of Lorraine's magic attacks. Eventually the agony was too much for her, and she collapsed back on the floor again.

Wait - I think I have a Revive Sprite...
Yamiko took out her Scanner and opened the Inventory screen on it, then selected the "Sprites" option. Thankfully she did have a Revive Sprite... two of them, and nothing else in her inventory, it seemed. Immediately she used one on Artemis - the sprite shot out of the Scanner as a glowing ball of light, and when it touched Artemis, it vanished into sparkly dust which then vanished as well.

This gave the injured wolf just the strength she needed to stand, stretching out a bit before looking at Yamiko. "Thanks... perhaps I acted a little rashly there... but it was better than doing nothing I suppose." Yamiko nodded in understanding. "At least now I know what Lorraine's attacks really feel like..."

Suddenly she stopped, glancing around, then sniffing the air. A look of surprise came across her furry face, and she walked off into the darkness. Wondering what was up, Yamiko followed her, Anaissie still resting in her hands.

Once she was engulfed entirely in darkness, Yamiko became aware that Anaissie had retreated back into her Scanner judging by the flash of light she saw, and Artemis did the same, though not into Yamiko's Scanner... And right after, a bright bluish light appeared above her.

Yamiko looked up - it was a full moon. She looked down - she was no longer in the basement, but on the back porch. And Lupin was lying right there in front of her - but without all the mold and mushrooms. In fact, he looked entirely unharmed - though when Yamiko tried to shake him awake, he wouldn't respond. For the longest time, she peered over him, wondering if he was really gone after all. As she had already cried all the tears she could earlier, none would come out now - she still felt rather empty, remembering all too well that black hole in the vision prior.

Then she noticed his own Scanner lying next to him... that must have been what Artemis went into. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and she remembered something Malice said - "oh, I'm sure that if by some miracle you win, God will come right out the machine and bring him back to life". Then she remembered how there were two Revive Sprites in her Scanner... Hastily, she reached for her Scanner again and fumbled over to the inventory screen... would a sprite even work on someone who's not a Mystripet? If I could absorb Anaissie's powers... if my Triple Force attack went right through Lorraine... perhaps... anything's possible.

The ball of light entered Lupin and even he glowed somewhat... but when she tried to shake him again, he would still not awaken.

"Come on, you know what you must do."

Yamiko looked behind her at the source of the voice - and much to her surprise, Celia was standing there. Or the ghost of her, rather, judging by her completely white, transparent and faded appearance.

"Celia-" she started, but suddenly lost the emotion behind what she was about to say. She wanted to apologize for blaming her for the curse, but somehow... she felt she didn't need to, nor was she comfortable with apologizing in general. "...What do you mean?"

Celia's ghost smiled. "Well surely you know how most fairytales end - before 'happily ever after' of course. Did you not name Anaissie after a character in one?"

I did, didn't I? It was true - Anaissie was the name of a fairy princess she remembered reading about in a novella she remembered reading back in her early teenage years. But why should that matter now? Unless...

She gulped. "But it sounds so... cliche." Celia gave a slow, reassuring nod of her ghostly head. Gingerly, she turned back to Lupin. Will this even work? And yet, she knew she had been longing to do it for quite a while, though she wasn't sure how he would feel. Or how Remy would feel.

But then she remembered the scene in the jail cell, and pushed Remy out of her mind for now, leaning in closer to Lupin's face, but pausing.
In that story, Anaissie had thought that thief who she loved stole her heart. She blinked a couple of times, looking down at Lupin, and realizing how stupid that thought was. She shook her head. No, not in this one. In this one, I'm the thief.

She smirked, laughing a little inside at the thought. And then without hesitation, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Lupin's. There she paused again, shocked by a sudden feeling that she couldn't identify. When Remy had kissed her, it felt very passionate, almost to the point of smothering. But here it was somehow... more subtle, yet more profound, and certainly more dry. And when she sat up again, she waited with anticipation.

Finally, the dust that was supposed to come out of the Revive Sprite emerged out of Lupin's body, flying up into the sky and out of existence. When Yamiko looked back down, she saw that Lupin was rising into a sitting position, and gazing at Yamiko with the same astonishment that Yamiko felt.

"Erm... was that okay?" Yamiko asked him, still embarrassed by the whole ordeal.

Instead of responding with words, Lupin stood up and helped Yamiko up as well... or at least he tried to, as he seemed too weak to even stand properly himself. So instead Yamiko helped him up... and as soon as they were both standing, Lupin promptly removed her hat and pulled her into a hug. A broad smile spread scross Yamiko's face as she let her head rest against his chest, which was trembling. A few tears fell onto her head as well. She thought about asking him about it, but somehow she just knew that he was feeling the same way she did, though expressed differently.

"Well just look at you two," Celia spoke to them, wistfully. "Alice was right after all. It's just like..." and here she started to grow tearful as well, though she quickly wiped those tears off with her sleeve. "Well, the past is in the past. Kazuo can never come back. Sometimes, when a good thing cannot be... you have to be happy with what you have left. Otherwise it eats away at you... like a curse. And yet, sometimes when you least expect it..."

Another ghostly figure appeared nearby. A guy in an oversized leather jacket with his hair slicked back, with narrow, tired-looking eyes... Yamiko turned her head to look at him, and recognized him immediately, from the vision Celia showed her earlier. She looked back to Celia... who now appeared much younger, the same age she had been back then. Back when her name was still Tomoe. With a smile on her face, Tomoe took the also-ghostly Kazuo by the hand, and flew up to the moon with him, before the two disappeared entirely.

After watching the happy couple leave, Yamiko turned back to Lupin, who was wiping his wet glasses on a cloth retrieved from his coat, and a few stubborn tears as well. "All this time you were here in the manor... I can only imagine what it must have done to you."

Lupin put his glasses back on and handed Yamiko's hat back to her, then shook his head. "I, well..." Yamiko could see that he was still shaken. "It... doesn't really matter anymore, does it? At least... now that you're here."

Yamiko hugged him again, and for the longest time they just stood there, silent, bathing in the moonlight as well as each other's embrace.

Misery Manor - Cellar

While Gabe and Sinistrina were quarreling and Half was watching, Yamiko moved over to Lupin and lifted him into a sitting position, after which both of them opened their eyes and looked around the cellar.

"So this is the inside of Misery Manor..." Yamiko wondered, still holding Lupin's hand. "Sinistrina, it's a lovely place."

Sinistrina took a glance behind her at Yamiko and Lupin. So, they're awake at last... how convenient. "Why yes, it truly is," she spoke, though with much sorrow.

Yamiko smiled, and as did Lupin, though faintly. And as they gazed towards the cellar door, they faded away, vanishing in their own quiet bliss.

edited 12th Sep '16 9:22:30 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 Graveyard (Moreena, Sentinel, Caleb, Patches, Friedrich)

Hearing the sound of cracking stone, Moreena spun around, her newly rediscovered crown held tightly in her grasp. She raised an eyebrow at the recently arrived... - porcelain golem? - but he seemed both mostly harmless and rather polite, so there wasn't much need for alarm. The implication that he had been watching the group was slightly worrisome though.

"Those are our names, yes," she answered him. "But I haven't heard of this 'Deathly Glade' before."

She glanced over at the Sentinel, noticing her second shadow. Odd magical fashion statement, or something... more?

"I suppose that I should welcome you to this place, as unwelcoming as it might seem."

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

The Graveyard (Friedrich, Sentinel, Patches, Moreena, Caleb)

Judging by how Patches gasped in surprise upon mention of the Deathly Glade, perhaps either she had been there before and was frightened by its presence (rightfully so), or she wasn't from there at all. Her next comment tripped him up a bit though - he had forgotten all about the mention of Sentinel's shadow, and had been rude enough not to introduce himself by his surname.

"...Friedrich von Schwarzwald, a-at your service. I would suppose that visiting this knight is all we can do for now, lest we fade away into the barrenness of this world. And forgive me, I didn't realize that was your shadow," he added hastily to the Sentinel.

That's when he heard Moreena mentioned not knowing about the Deathly Glade either, and welcomed him to this place. Was this place of her creation, or was she banished here or something? Now that he saw her, there was something familiar about her - although he had never seen her before, it was a likeness nonetheless.

"Believe me, the Deathly Glade isn't much better," Friedrich explained, bowing his head a bit - though changing neither the expression on his face or the emotion behind his voice. "This place feels a lot like home to me, actually- if it even counts as one."

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.

[San Francisco/Tokyo ~ East Haight/Shibuya] (Gon, Ari, Ruka)

To Gon's first inquiry, Ruka replied, "The Gaelatain is... will be located in the western Pacific Basin, between the Philippines and Japan." She frowned slightly, recalling her travels there, "Though it did come from space."

Looking up at the passing flying robot caused her to bristle slightly, triggering mechanisms in her suit's left arm. Plates moved, forming a gauntlet over her hand, twin nine inch prongs extending forward.

Ruka took note of Ari mentioning that they were in a dream. That would explain how she ended up in a non-ruined San Francisco, and the shifting environment. "Sure, I'd be willing to help." She replied, a smile forming on her face.

Turning towards Gon, she grinned, "You bet I do!" Clenching her fist, she willed energy through her gauntlet. The prongs crackled with electricity before a pale violet blade flickered into existence.

The Graveyard

"Very well," Caleb said. When the Sentinel mentioned "inelegant processes", he was lead to add "just try not to hurt yourself. Your entrance here...didn't seem like a pleasant experience," almost as an apology for not trusting her. Seeing something odd in her new shadow, he was about to ask about it until he heard an explosion.

Turning to face it, Caleb saw a moving doll place it's eye inside it's-his?-head and approach them. He was about to respond to this Friedrich until he asked about the identity of a sixth figure. Caleb looked around confused until Patches said "That's just one of her shadows silly," he looked back at the shadow. Something or someone was in there, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

Turning his attention back to Friedrich as he and Moreena talked about the Deathly Glade, Caleb finally spoke, "I don't know of the Deathly Glade either. I think most of the dreamers in this realm are from different dementions. The places and laws people have talked about are very different from those in my own world."

Addressing Patches he asked, "who or what exactly is Armory Knight? What is it capable of and how do we neutralize it's threat?"

edited 16th Sep '16 12:40:34 AM by Novis

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 Graveyard (Moreena, Sentinel, Caleb, Patches, Friedrich):

Sentinel absently looked sideways when she heard the breaking of stone. It was just one of the strange noises provoked by the strange manifestations in the place, yet it carried a sensation unlike the others, a surge of movement from stillness instead of a life frozen mid-collapse. It was the sound of an awakening.

The now revealed being would give her a sharp shiver, if it wasn't for her almost complete control over her body's motions. Skin white like a polished stone, like a blank canvas, like the flames of the Final War, and hair black like the night, like ink, like the wings of Izem. Like the creations of Artisan.

Yet her worries were unfounded, and her sharp eyes soon saw the stonelike aspect of the being, not so different from some telens she knew, except for his diminutive stature and dark hair.

"I haven't come from any glade with such a name, and there are many.", Sentinel said, watching warily for the moment being.

She turned her head with a small degree of confusion to see who the small one was addressing and saw nothing, yet both him and the patchwork-covered girl spoke of her shadow. Her other shadow.

"Spirits follow the steps of magi, gods and saints. It will be better if you don't stare for long if it comes again.", she said staring towards the center. She wasn't sure anymore if it was safe to try to shapeshift in there, and Caleb's words were not reassuring, but it is worth the risk.

"Unfortunately, I must hurt myself. It is the safest way of doing this in here. Try to be careful."

She closed her eyes and prepared to shed her skin and craft new wings. Narrow holes appeared on her lower body between her ribs, hidden beneath her scales, forming two rows lining her lower flanks and allowing her to easily fill her lungs with air. Them out of habit she checked both her vital signs and the state of the enchantments that kept her body together, and heard the sound of a beating heart. That rhythm was not her own.

Opening her eyes and breathing deeply, she moved away from the rest of the group with long steps. No, she had to ward the area first, conjure by her other names, otherwise the spirit would keep pestering her. Sentinel turned her back to the crater and sighed. Was that how seers and oracles felt? Did the dream make contact easier?

"There is a time and place for those things, spirit.", she whispered, and then spun in a circle in a surprisingly gracious motion, the humanlike part of her body in the center and the tip of her trail tracing a perfect circumference in the ground with blood that bled from its tip like ink flowing into paper, without any visible wound.

"The blood is the life, the living my ward. The germs multiply, the trees touch the sky, and man lives, bleeds and dies. In blood there is life, with this circle I ward, for in life there is order against the evil light.", she said clearly and saw the blood surge as she finished that part of the invocation, flowing in a tight circle that would serve as a living circle against the power of the place.

"For I am Niru, giver of life and devourer of life. I am Riziem, steward of tyrants and keeper of minds. I watch over shadows, the blood is my ward, may the names of the Dragon light the void of the night." was the rest of the invocation, yet Sentinel hesitated. That form did not please her, yet the power in those names was too great to not echo in the mind of at least one of her companions. Was she really willing to call herself "devourer of life" in their presence when half of the reason she disliked her current body was because the title fitted it like a glove?

Slowly, she felt her whole being surrounded by something she couldn't see. The lights to her grew dimmer and the sounds muffled as a soft sensation fell upon her body, of being surrounded by feathers and plumes.

"Who are you?", she whispered.

A cold wind swept the wasteland beneath the black clouds, and Sentinel felt like the air grew denser, like her lungs were too weak for her to breath. Her eyelids grew heavier, and her limbs colder, yet her mind was more focused than ever, and the sensation of cold hands holding her own made her feel impossibly alone, yet comfortable in her loneliness.

"Are you Artisan?"

The hands pulled away, and through her half-closed eyes she saw stars dancing in the sky, and a shriek unlike anything she heard before, of metal piecing the atmosphere. She now regretted her arrogance, for being that held her in its grasp was no nameless spirit but a god of the first days.

"Please pardon me, your Holiness. Seven centuries of fire and blood could never make me wise.", Sentinel whispered in shame.

She felt the ancient move, and place his hands on her arms, as if wishing to guide her. Reluctantly, she transformed her nails into long claws and elongated her arms in an inhuman fashion and let the spirit show its wish while keeping herself aware and in control at all times, for it was said even the ancient archmages had their traitors.

She coiled her draconic part on the ground and pierced her skin with the claws, hitting her lower ribs. She did not cry, she did not waver, she did not show any signs of pain, yet it was there as terrible as it was real. Still, her concentration was unbroken and her right hand kept slicing through her skin while her left, with hooked claws, peeled it off.

After she managed to extract a big enough patch of skin, exposing flesh that did not bleed, she began to tear said skin apart. Not only macroscopically with her claws, but also down to its base components, turning it into a strange silklike substance she used to cover the hole she made and even more. She repeated the process faster and faster, until all that was left where Sentinel once stood was a large white cocoon, which then inflated to the shape of an egg and was covered in a red and porous substance that was vaguely reminiscent of coral. Outside of it stood the translucid silhouette of a winged man.

edited 16th Sep '16 6:12:33 AM by EternaMemoria

"The dried flowers are so beautiful, and it applies to all things living and dead."

[Ritter Clinic - Parlor]

-“No offense taken, Ms. Iveya.”, Ruth replied, her voice still drowned by her current anguish, “I don't blame you for being cautious... It's only normal, as I'm stranger clad in a weird dress to all of you.”

She paused for an instant as she left out a loud sigh, while trying to recover her breath in an attempt to compose herself, before folding her legs and pressing them firmly against her chest, as she wrapped her arms around them.

-“I know what it feels to not be able to trust people so easily. After everything that happened to me in that other world, I don't know I w-”

However, her sentence was cut short when something “odd” about Iveya's last words dawned upon her. It was so unexpected, that she even undid her apprehensive stance, and instead she clumsily transitioned from it to a cross-legged position, with her hands resting on her ankles, as she was struck by a spell of bewilderment and curiosity.

-“Ms. Iveya, are you sure you spoke that correctly? Because I swear I heard you saying 'she and her wife'. Didn't you mean 'he and her wife'? Because otherwise that doesn't make any sense. Women don't have wives! Can you even imagine how that would work?”

She stopped for a second as she straighten-up and cleared-up her voice, before speaking in rather goofy imitation of a solemn bass tone, while making some overt gestures with her right arm.

-“I now pronounce you wife and wife!”, she loudly spoke, before giggling nervously as she her voice returned back to normal, “...Yeah, right! I don't see that happening any time soon... Yeah... definitely not happening...”

She concluded as her tone went from playful to melancholic, her thoughts drifting into a particular idea.

-“...No matter how wonderful that would be... Wife and wife... If only it was possible.”

edited 16th Sep '16 8:07:59 AM by VPhantom

"It's better to burn out... THAN TO FADE AWAY!"

[Ritter Clinic - Parlor]

Friedrich set down a tea tray, just retrieved from the kitchen, and took off his glasses and pressed his hand into his face. Frustrated, he didn't catch her tone change at the end. Remember, she's a kid. She's just. A kid. Oh God.

"Ruth, it's important to keep an open mind," Heinrich said in his best attempt at a fatherly voice. He didn't pick up on the melancholy notes either. "Friedrich says he's traveled to countries where such relationships are commonplace and those people looked happy enough to him! You'd be the one who seems strange to them, if you think about it. It's all a matter of perspective. Even though my church—"

"That's enough, Heinrich. Thanks." Friedrich looked over at Iveya, eyes slightly narrowed. Could be my nerves, but is something stirring? Eh. I guess I should say something, but... fuck me, lecturing a kid who isn't your own is the worst. You just don't know what they can or can't take. Aw, fuck it, sixteen isn't really that far from being an adult, is it?

"Let's be very clear on this," he said flatly. "I don't let bigoted statements go unchallenged in this household. No matter where they're coming from. And especially when they're pertinent to people who happen to be some of my closest friends."

---

[Farm (inside barn)]

Ren Yangchao had to admit, it was a cute dog. They petted Lise idly, hoping she would realize that Seilaan was a much more worthwhile person to bother. She would be able to sense a vast amount of energy within Ren Yangchao, some of it reminiscent of Seilaan. Or was it the other way around?

Meanwhile, Seilaan shifted a bit in her seat, trying to settle more comfortably. It seemed like Mazra's adventures were the current focus of the conversation, which meant she had very little to say, because a very cynical and nasty part of her feared that an interaction with Mazra of any kind would lead to further irritation and possibly even another argument. Whether or not that was remotely true, the safest thing was definitely to stay quiet for a bit without looking totally disinterested, because then Mazra would get offended and things would escalate again. But Seilaan didn't want to seem too interested because she didn't want it to look like everything was completely normal between them. She would not give Mazra the satisfaction of not being the first to give up.

Wait, was she really being the weird one here? Did everyone else... really not care? But it was so—Mazra had been just—wasn't it fair to still be annoyed? It was fair, right? It couldn't be completely unfair. Besides, it was only logical that Seilaan be the most emotionally invested person. She was the only one who'd been arguing with Mazra. Yes, it was only natural, unfortunate as it was, to still have some negativity swirling around. The important thing to do was just to not let it show.

Satisfied with her conclusions, Seilaan raised her teacup to her mouth while looking in Mazra's general direction. There. That should do it.

edited 18th Sep '16 10:00:37 PM by SnowyFoxes

The last battle's curtains will open on stage!

[Ritter Clinic - Parlor]

Even though Ruth was slightly intimidated by the way Friedrich disclosed that particular house rule of his, what really upset her and confused her was what Heinrich declared right before that.

-“...Are you serious?”, she said as her sight alternated between the two men, “Do you mean, there are places out there where it's possible for women to marry each other?!”

She inquired in a rather loud and worried manner as she almost leaped out of her seat.

-“H-how does that even work?! I don't- I mean- What-? Really?!”

She babbled in bewilderment as she failed to string a coherent sentence, before stopping to take a deep breath as she lowered her head. Then, she spoke in a more solemn and subdued tone, as she interlocked her fingers and started rubbing her hands nervously.

-“All my life, I've been told that such kind of thing was unforgivable, as if it was some sort of terrible crime... And you tell there are places where it isn't frowned upon for two women to love each other...”

Then, she raised her head and looked Friedrich directly in the eyes, as she asked with genuine interest and anticipation; almost as if she was a child about to ask her grandfather for a bed-time story.

-“...Could you please tell me more about it?”

edited 21st Sep '16 6:19:27 PM by VPhantom

"It's better to burn out... THAN TO FADE AWAY!"

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

Mazra took the tea cup from the air, but decided not to take a sip just yet. Instead, she lowered it with one hand to hold above her lap, and with the other hand reached down gently to touch the parent wyvern. She assumed the animal would make itself clear on if and where it wanted to be petted or scratched or whatever. Her father didn't keep pets, but it was a reasonable assumption, right?

"Anoerith seemed like a person," she confirmed to Vince. "A sane person. Not an, um, post-human intelligence or something, but not very different from a human."

She glanced over at Seilaan, noticing that the other girl seemed to still be tense. The corners of her mouth turned up very slightly as Seilaan lifted her own tea cup to her mouth. Hiding negative emotions behind everyday rituals was a very Corinarchi thing to do.

Which is why she was annoying before, really. Doesn't she get that if something's been a way for a long while, there are usually reasons behind it?

Not that those reasons were always good, of course. Mazra wasn't stupid; she knew that many societies had resisted change mostly because it would upset their privileged elite. But actual stability was, pretty much by definition, not a bad thing.

Looking away, she continued her story.

I'm going to sort of gloss over the details of Mazra summarizing her previous plot, because I'm not sure how useful it would be for interaction or characterization, but I can change this if people prefer. Otherwise you can just look at those posts for any questions there might be, or shift the topic some.

The storm outside the barn let up into a soft, icy drizzle that was merely depressing and thoroughly unpleasant to trudge through, rather than the painful, unending torrent of before.

It didn't matter to the barn's next visitor that he had his own overkill way of keeping the rain off of him, or that his very fancy, overdressed outfit still looked impeccable- he was missing his veil, and that displeased him. His name was Tsadro Oriyand, chief of staff and right-hand man of the infamous Doctor Acquati, and even on normal days and by Rivari standards, he was an odd sight to behold.

He was dressed in his work clothing- a three-piece suit, impeccably tailored to his short height, and broad-shouldered island warrior's build. A double-breasted tailcoat more suited to an evening event, a waistcoat with a white enameled pocket watch hanging through the buttonhole, crisply ironed trousers and white linen dress shirt, a necktie, polished shoes that were merely a little wet, and custom-made, close-fitting white leather gloves. Tsadro made his approach with his gloved hands wrapped futilely around his arms and his coat balanced over his head, but close inspection would reveal that it was not for rain protection- a translucent purplish forcefield above him appeared to be serving that purpose quite well.

His hair was pulled back and bound tightly behind his head using some kind of complicated trickery that made it look like a single tiny, mother-of-pearl hairpin was the sole thing holding it all together. His hair, skin, and even the irises of his eyes all looked to be the same shade of cool-toned white gray as the sky outside, and his features, to someone familiar with Earth humans, looked curiously Nordic. His servant-mark, a black outline of a circle with outstretched rays like a stylized sun, encircled his right eye. If one looked closely they'd notice that he was wearing some eyeliner on his lower eyelids, and that he had a tattoo on the back of his neck of black, branch-like lines that climbed past his shirt collar and coalesced into an equilateral point. To those able to sense such things, his body pulsed soundlessly with aither too slowly for a human pulse, backed by the low hum of his cybernetic implants.

Doctor Acquati was standing with his back to the barn door, surrounded by wyverns and human girls. Wearing the suit he wore to senatorial meetings, for some reason. While one of the girls was talking, Tsadro knocked slightly on the doorframe and strode inside, then put his tailcoat back on properly once he was safely out of the rain.

Long before anybody's eyes diverted towards the door, Vince recognized their new visitor's aitheric pattern, and waited to address Tsadro until he saw others doing just that.

"Tsadro!" he said, turning around. "Welcome to the party." Huh. That wasn't happy.

To those who weren't used to Tsadro, his face only looked slightly less neutral than it usually did. "Tsadro Oriyand," he said, laying his hand across his chest, and giving the room a low nod.

He let out a breath and gently touched his still-smooth hair, then strode over to the teapot. After a quick 'may I?' and confirmation from Ren Yangchao that he could take some tea, he slipped his gloves off and tucked them into his breast pocket, revealing that he had tattoos on the backs of his palms and rune strings that twisted up his fingers. When he lifted the teapot's lid for a second to check what was inside, he found that it was full of the pale-green floral stuff that Ren Yangchao preferred. Satisfied, he lifted the cup that mysteriously appeared for him and filled it.

Lise smiled at Tsadro, licked Ren Yangchao's hand, then looked at him again with her paw raised. Noticing that Lise was trying to beckon him, Tsadro followed her with his teacup in hand over to Seilaan, Min, and a strange albino wyvern.

Tsadro's 5' 3"/160cm, to be exact. I'm leaving it open for anyone to introduce themselves to him at any point, strike up a conversation, or for Mazra to decide to continue her story.

edited 4th Oct '16 11:46:10 AM by CrystalGlacia

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

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

Min, uninvested in anything Mazra was talking about, had tuned the room out and sat back down in her chair, staring at the ebbing storm from out the window. She only looked up when she heard someone step through the door, and for a few seconds she was completely still, analyzing the newcomer.

The first thing Min noticed was the strange gray color of the man’s skin - could be a result of cybernetics or genetic modification. Could also be something unique to his world. Hard to tell, really.

The second thing she noticed was his clothing, and immediately her mouth curled into a smirk. Says a lot about someone when they dress up for a rainstorm like they’re going to a business meeting or something. This guy was just like the suits back home. He even had a fancy pocketwatch, which Min lingered on for half a second before realizing that since it wasn’t real it wouldn't be of any value to her.

When Tsadro gave out his name, Min just leaned back in her chair, regarding him cooly. Varris glanced at her with a hint of irritation, and then said to the man, “I’m Varris, and she’s Min. What brings you here?”

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

The Ruins (Gwenafer)

Gwenafer leaned against the base of a huge statue - a depiction of some strange looking fanged creature, though it's age made it hard to tell - and did her best to catch her breath. A collection of fresh cuts and scorch marks on her forearms were visible through her damaged sleeves, and as she began to walk again, she did so with a minor but noticeable limp.

Following a dried up canal through the ruined cityscape, she couldn't help but to let out a small laugh at her situation. What the Depths had she gotten herself into? Lost in some undead-infested gods-knew-where without so much as a single mushroom ale's worth of coin to show for it. Didn't even remember why or how, either. Maybe it really was all some kind wierd-ass magical dream realm, as her previous companions seemed to have suggested.

Whatever the case, she was determined to stick around until she could find some sort of payment for her troubles. A totally honest and legitimate procurer and transporter of unusual artifacts couldn't be expected to do things like these for free, after all.

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

Did you know that I change my mind a lot? Because I do. A lot.

[The Ruins]

Again, one minute, he closed his eyes, hoping to wake up and be back with his friends.

But when he opened them again, Nick found himself in another area. This time, his dead brother, the clown doll and it's friends, and the park, was gone. He gave an annoyed sigh.

"Fucking hell." he said under his breath, "First you bring up my truama, and now you won't even let me wake up? Christ alm-"

He was interrupted when he turned around, seeing someone familiar walking out the flog with some sort of flashlight on his arm.

It was another black teenage boy—this time, he had short blond hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a purple vest brown shoes, and blue pants. He also had goggles on the top of his hair.

On one hand, Nick felt relieved to see some sort of familar face; at least he wouldn't be lonely in this dream world.

"Jacky?" Nick asked, getting his attention, "What the hell, man? You're in here too?"

"Ah." Jackson said, with a cockney accent, "Nick. Fancy seeing you here...wherever here is."

"You're in the weird ass dream world too?" Nick smirked, "Aww, are you dreaming about me? Is this the part where you confess your undying love?"

Jackson blinked, unamused. "If that ever happens, pigs will start flying and it would be raining cats and dogs."

"Ass."

"Thanks. Anyway, I was sleeping in my tent, and when I woke up, I found myself here, in some sort of ruin. I don't know why I would be here, and I haven't seen anyone else but you since I've been walking."

"Seriously? I met a rhyming clown doll and other people with powers. Don't know why I would be dreaming about that."

It was then that both of them noticed Gwen by the statue, adding more to their confusion and suspicion of the place.

"..Are you also dreaming about girls?" Jackson asked, smirking.

"N-No! I never even seen her in my life!" Nick crossed his arms, his cheeks red, "D-do you're weird ass detective work or something!"

Jackson chuckled, then called out, "Hey! You! Do you know what this place is?"