[Misery Manor]

Gabe looked at the groups of fighters, mild alarm crossing his face. "Oh," he said, "oh dear." Moreena and Sentinel particularly grabbed his attention; one such demon, he would prefer to avoid but could theoretically handle. Two, especially not attempting to kill one another, was a bit much. The large grey brute they seemed to be fighting against, along with the humanoids, struck him as slightly less of a threat, not being (as far as he could tell) demonic in nature, but he nonetheless kept an eye on it as well. He'd been on the receiving end of enough surprises to not dismiss anyone or anything too hastily. "You two," he said to Sinistrina and Half, "might want to deal with the diplomacy here. I fear someone as glittery as I am might offend our new friends." He indicated towards the hectic scene before them, pointing with a folded fan.

edited 7th Dec '16 4:20:56 PM by KillerClowns

Misery Manor / Graveyard (Sinistrina, Gabe, Half)

Once Sinistrina led Gabe and Half out of the manor, she took a moment to look around before them. The front porch was the same, as was the patch of gray earth before it... but there was something else there that surprised her. There was a perfectly circular pond right near the porch, with a perfectly smooth surface, surrounded by a ring of perfectly crystalline stones. Well that's strange... that pond should be deep within the black woods. Oh, right, this is a dream. Then there must be a reason why it's here... Of course!!

Once again, she felt that sense of hope that seemed so alien to her. So she took a couple of steps towards the pond, but before she could get there, Half spoke up, mentioning something that she should see. When she turned to look at Half and then what he had been looking at, she saw a collection of characters off in the near distance. Most notable among them was a large grey beast with a cannon on its back, against which all the others seemed to be fighting. Then there was a dark-skinned man and a woman who looked hauntingly similar to her former self... wait...

She remembered the vision the raven had shown her back when it was still in the manor - of a gathering in a place that looked a lot like this. And she remembered that those two were in it - in fact, the young woman was using a shielding spell that looked very similar to something she could have cast herself. She didn't see the large draconic being though... instead there was a girl in a patched outfit, and a winged being that looked kind of harpy-like with a child in her arms. Though she couldn't make out said child's features too well in the distance, it definitely seemed familiar.

"You two," she heard Gabe say, "might want to deal with the diplomacy here. I fear someone as glittery as I am might offend our new friends." At this Sinistrina just had to laugh - though a rather mirthless one, more like a low chuckle.

"You think you are the offensive one here. I never thought I'd hear anyone say that in my presence, and Half's as well." And then she took another glance at the battle, gesturing her free hand towards the scene. "Does that look like something that can be handled with diplomacy? Especially to a demon hunter, no less?" She looked back at the strange gray beast. "Though I have to admit, I'm not even sure that beast even qualifies as a demon." I'm quite sure I'm more of a demon than it is. "Still, I doubt you'll have much to do over here, so you should probably come along anyway. Since you're faster than me, I'll give you a head start."

After a quick snap of her fingers, Sinistrina took off at a run. Though she couldn't travel nearly as quickly as Gabe could, she didn't tire from it, not having any breath to run out of. Seconds later, the same black widow spider that had approached her earlier came running from the opposite direction, scurrying right past Gabe and Half and back inside the manor.

Graveyard

Friedrich was so focused on his little spell that he didn't even notice his pocketwatch opening and the undead spider within leaping out and spinning a small black web into a parachute, drifting off towards the manor and crawling the rest of the way when it landed.

edited 8th Dec '16 12:59:06 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.

[Farm: Barn -> Marble Corridor (Seilaan, Mazra)]

Mazra had remained quiet as the argument continued along its excruciating-to-witness path. More than once she had second-guessed her decision not to make up some excuse and leave. But she wouldn't run!

And then... everything just seemed to flicker again. The barn, the argument, and everyone nearby was gone. Except for Seilaan, who was continuing to berate her over her projected issues. I'm getting very tired of this.

But it wouldn't do any good to escalate. She should instead consider what this new part of the dreamscape represented, and see if -

Actually -

"What's wrong with me? I have had just about enough of this holier-than-thou act of yours, if I may say so!" she snapped back at the other girl. "I don't know who you're seeing when you complain about me, but it's not me." She put her hand on her own field-sword hilt without even thinking about it, though she did half-notice it when her clothing started to take on a metallic sheen again. All trace of the corim silk was gone. "Yes, I could see they were upset. I'm not an idiot. That's why I tried to change the subject - because frankly, somebody who's been stepped on all her life by the higher classes isn't exactly going to be very receptive to hearing sympathetic advice from members of those classes that she's just met! Maybe sighing wasn't the best way to respond, but at least I'm actually paying attention to what's going on in front of me instead of trying to appease my guilt or grudge or whatever your problem is!"

She glanced around. "And where the First Emperor is my tea?!?"

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

Patches looked towards the Armory Knight, her hands clenching and unfurling thoughtlessly, with one voice above the others speaking. We're going to be back together, understand!? I'm gonna make this right, and we'll-

Yet that was when the changed Sentinel swooped Patches up, the young girl limp like a doll in her grasp. Though there may of been no flare of power, to any who could sense it, an overwhelming sense of silent could be noticed coming from her very being.

Though whilst Patches was in the air, the beam of light fired from Armory Knight violently crashed against Moreena's barrier- Even with it in the way, the beam itself continued to fire and the sheer force had caused dust & dirt to be sent flying.

However the moment Caleb shot the armored beast, it had ceased its attack to inspect where it was shot... Yet the strange being hidden behind, or perhaps above, existence stared straight at him- And so did the Armory Knight, wasting not a moment in locating his presence.

Standing up on its hindlegs and presenting a humanoid look in the process, showing to them all the damage Caleb managed to inflict on its armor- Which thus quickly sealed over with a new layer. The cannon on its back splitting into two and its clawed hands morphing into maceheads, it shrieked in accusatory rage.

The barrels on its back spewing flame and launching it through the air, the Armory Knight was quickly & surely going to strike Caleb. However, when Sentinel had touched down and released Patches, her gaze focused on Armory Knight once more. Her fists clenched, the power inside her flared again.

Monsters, that all anyone can see huh? You can hardly blame someone for their instinctual reactions... Even Magical Girls don't try to befriend every single monster they fight... Seeing Armory Knight leap towards Caleb, Patches' power surges once more, and she cries out "Don't!"

...Before rocketing forward, wrapped in that translucently contained lightning, and intercepting Armory Knight's attack before anyone else. The shield enveloping her unbroken, the metally beast bounces off.

The strange golden being looking at Patches from wherever it is, it flickers its eyes back to the Armory Knight- And from its back several missiles launch into the air, whilst its left hand morphs into a machine gun of unknown make.

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

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

The power of the armored beast's attack was immense, but fortunately enough, Moreena's shield did not break. As the creature stopped firing - seemingly distracted by the shot from Caleb's weapon - she stopped channeling her magic, and let it fade away into nothingness.

While preparing her next spell, she noticed that her form had changed, as was to be expected given the situation. Her already long nails had turned into intimidating talons, her mouth was now an unnaturally wide grin filled with sharp fangs, and her eyes were somehow even darker than before. Even her clothing had changed, surrounding her body in a mass of shredded black cloth and liquid shadows, with thin pieces of silvery metal - remarkably similar to the crown that now lay at her feet - forming a ribcage-like armor of sorts around her torso.

As she watched the beast stand up on it's hind legs, Moreena finally got a clear look at the being that seemed to control it, attempting to hide itself behind the folds of reality as she herself often did. She glanced over at the Sentinel, but figured that there wasn't much point in holding back anymore, and spoke to the glowing, divine entity with her true voice, more thoughts than words.

   Your pet will stop. Will you make it, or shall I?   

Before Moreena got an answer however, the armored beast launched itself towards Caleb, only to bounce off against some kind of lightning bubble projected by the patchwork girl.

Deciding to take advantage of the brief distraction, Moreena conjured a set of black tendrils - physical recreations of how mortals usually perceived her true form - that extended from between her shoulders almost like a pair sinister wings, and shot off towards the beast, in an attempt to snare and immobilize it.

Those missiles were going to be a problem though.

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

[Manor —> Graveyard, (Friedrich, Sentinel, Patches, Moreena, Caleb, Gabe)]

Father Gabriel transformed into a hulking white mastiff with golden lines painted on his fur, and then charged towards the fray at truly impressive speed, leaving a wake of shining flowers as he went. He honestly didn't know which side of the battle he would find himself on. Perhaps one side or the other would attack him unprovoked, and settle the matter for him. Otherwise he'd have to observe, deciding which side of the fray to join, or perhaps if he should to try and find a way to calm the battle. Probably the first one, given how trying to stay neutral had gone for him previously.

Graveyard (Friedrich, Patches, Moreena, Sentinel, Caleb, Sinistrina, Gabe, maybe Half)

Friedrich was quite surprised to discover that the black mists he emitted from his dagger didn't do anything at all to Armory Knight^note based on the fact that Kkutwar's post didn't even take it into account. But he could only figure as much - after all, he was a fragile little doll, and accompanying him were two goddesses, a magical girl, and a man with clearly some sizeable combat experience.

Once Patches left the Sentinel's arms, he looked around, and saw a large white and golden dog running towards the group, followed by a raggedy witch holding a staff. A raggedy witch holding a staff?

"Sinistrina!" He called out to the latter, though she didn't seem to hear him. But at least now he felt a bit... safer. And so as the distortions around him lifted his light body into the air, he gathered a cloud of black mist about him and gliding on it as if it was an amorphous pair of wings. He glided right towards the aptly-named Armory Knight, noticing again the shining presence near it... and also a missile headed right for him. At once, he brandished his dagger, which reacted to the black mists around him and extended into a thin shadowy blade, so that the dagger looked more like a rapier. Once it hit the missile, the impact sent a semicircular energy wave outward that looked surprisingly like the shield Moreena conjured. And when he swung the "sword" to the side, the missle moved with it, moving right around him and losing its steam, falling towards the ground.

Counting on his small size letting him go relatively unnoticed, he glided around until he was behind Armory Knight, looking for an opportunity to strike again.

Meanwhile, Sinistrina noticed a large white and gold dog - a mastiff by the looks of it - running right past her and leaving a trail of flowers behind. She raised her eyebrows as the creature ran by. Well... Gabe never told me he could shapeshift. Then again, I never told him about what sorts of magic I could use...

When she accidentally stepped on one of the flowers, it felt as if she had stepped on a thorn, sending a sharp pain through her leg and up throughout her entire body. But she recovered quickly, finding her footing again and continuing off towards the grey beast that was now standing on two legs and sprouting more odd-looking projectile weapons. It was then that she saw a porcelain doll surrounded by a cloud of black mist gliding off towards the side of it, deflecting a missile fired at him with some sort of shadow-infused sword.

"Friedrich!" She called out to him, but he didn't seem to hear her. Meanwhile, she heard a voice that seemed to penetrate her very mind, and yet it was a very familiar-sounding voice, from a source she knew all too well. Something about a pet, and coming for the beast... it must have been referring to the shining being she saw hovering near it. Aha.

Gesturing her staff upward, she let the three dark purple flames out of the skull in the center of the gnarled wooden ring. The will-o-wisps flew right at the shining being, and along the way, one of them passed right through one of the missiles without doing anything to it. Once there, they circled about the being, and as they did, if the being had such, they drained away some of his willpower, such that he might have less control over the beast, shine less brightly, or perhaps even fall if it was weaker than she expected. Sinistrina watched these flames closely, for she knew that if the being experienced any sort of emotion, she would be able to see it in the flames.

At the same time, she gestured her staff back towards the manor, where the three zombies who had been hanging out in the living room left through the door and ran towards the group as well. But in their under-coordinated nature, it would take a bit longer for them to reach the group than Sinistrina did.

edited 11th Dec '16 3:09:47 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.

Misery Manor

With the other two off Half followed, his legs carrying his light body in long strides, though not as fast as Gabe's new form. As he drew nearer, he noticed Caleb. This was going to get interesting, Half told himself.

Graveyard

At first Armory Knight seemed to relent, ending the beam after Caleb's shot hit. Caleb himself lowered his rifle to the ground, remembering Patches' desire not to kill him. But then he saw the beast heal, transform, and come right for him. Caleb shot two more times, but the sudden panic killed his accuracy and both missed. There was no way he could survive Armory Knight's full onslaught; he had assumed if he died here he'd just wake up in his own world, but Caleb didn't know that.

A ball of lightning knocked Armory Knight off course, but the creature once again grew new weapons; missiles that threatened to cover the whole area.

Snaping out of his brain-lock, Caleb released his eidolon around both his companions and Armory Knight. He had held off doing this earlier for fear of what effect the Graveyard would have on a piece of his spirit, and indeed, contact with it didn't feel "healthy" even now, but the need was too great. Around the creature he noticed the glowing being. What felt like Moreena was going for it, and Caleb took this opportunity. He spoke no louder than a whisper, but it carried to all of his party, "Moreena, keep the Knight in place; Patches, try talking to it; Sent...Senty, if you notice that being near him, distract it. I'm going to target his weapons and hopefully provide temporary relief." Caleb was about to tell Friedrich to get away, but then noticed that he destroyed a missile and decided to let him keep doing that.

In the back of his mind, Caleb realized with some measure of dread that he had just given orders to beings possibly on the level of the engi, if not beyond. Still, the situation called for communication and he could provide that. Putting such concerns for the future, Caleb focused his eidolon on Armory Knight's weapons, enhancing his aim far past his normal limits, and fired on them.

edited 8th Dec '16 11:55:47 PM 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.

Graveyard

Like a hurricane rocking a boat on the sea, nothing was a sure thing anymore. With some effort, Sentinel peered through the turbulent fluid she rarely found the need to touch so directly in the last decades, and her world was overtaken by shadow and light. Each of her companions showed details, possibilities, paradoxical shifting images around them, and Moreena in particular was clad in immeasurable storms. In the distance, she saw a blazing comet leaving behind a blooming trail, and above the grey monster a faded, restrained light. The monster shifted as its attack was repelled, turning towards Caleb and rising to its feet with mace-like hands, reminiscing her of the semblance of a crazed knight. Turning her golden eyes towards it she focused her mind, and called upon the weight of the Altar, the symmetry of her temple, the safeguard against a ocean of chaos, and...

Another blazing light cut through her vision, crashing against the knight-beast and repelling its attack. Patches' power was truly formidable, but with its instability she was unsure if she could repel another blow. And she certainly wouldn't be able to shield herself for long from that machine-gun and those... self propelled projectiles? Running even faster than before, hearing a wave with each step and summoning the winds of her ocean with a thought, she soon returned to the field of battle and with a single movement of her wings she flew high in the air, noticing that Moreena and Friedrich were also unconstrained by the ground. Really? Is there anyone here who can't fly?

Locking her eyes on the beast's guide, she heard two voices, one surely belonging to Moreena, piercing her painfully with its chaotic power, and another from Caleb, whispering in her mind. Unfortunately, she had to stop those mindless flying death things before taking part in any plan

Extending her arm and pointing the palm of her hand towards the threat, she released a small drop of blood through her skin, and focused on it, shaping into a winged glob of flesh the size of a fly. She spread the command through the fissures in reality, so wide in that place, pulling strings of shadow-matter and bounding it to the shape of the first. Soon the pattern spread, and for each unstable glob that dissipated due to distraction or energy fluctuations, two more manifested and flew towards the projectiles, pushing them away from the group or making them clash into one another and release a wave of sound and a burst of flame in the air.

As the attack was repelled, she revealed the silver scale in her hand, which was covered in a pattern made with the beast in mind, and stared at the knight-beast with her golden eyes while she flew around it, trying to avoid its aim. "The water dissipates, the stone never fades.". With her words, she called upon the memory of her temple of granite, and its library of sleeping mages, each preserved for the Empire's time of need. The sky grew darker to those hearing her words, and seven small lights lit above the horizon. "What once moved must now sleep, the stone cracks and never bleeds." With the enchantment placed, the beast's power to morph along determined shapes and heal would hopefully submit to Sentinel instead, and it would be unable to shapeshift and be partially petrified unless it escaped the aim of her eyes. Or unless the being above it designed a enchantment of its own fast enough, which was unlikely considering Sentinel was unmatched in the arts of transmutation, at least in her home planet.

That was, of course, if the newcomers weren't hostile or if Moreena wasn't planning something undesirable. It was almost like the universe wanted her to stop holding back.

edited 10th Dec '16 10:12:00 AM by EternaMemoria

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

[Yukijou-minato ~ Snow Castle (Southern Outer Ward) —> Snow Castle (Inner Ward)] (Rin, Gwenafer, Adam, Nick, Jackson)

Rin led the group down an alley between a set of buildings and the back wall of another courtyard. She tilted her head towards Nick, "Yes, I can have Megumi—" She stopped, scowling as she clenched her jaw. She'd get an explanation from that maid, one way or another. "I can have someone make us some tea." Rin stated, her face returned to a state of calm.

The Admiral looked to her left, jolting slightly in surprise. They were surrounded by fully grown orange trees... that came up to one's mid calf. Somehow, they had arrive at the bonsai garden just west of the main keep in the inner ward of the castle much sooner than she had anticipated. Could this be another result of this dreamscape?

"Well," Rin said, "the entrance to the main keep is just up those stairs." She pointed across the garden and adjacent thoroughfare towards stone steps leading into the small courtyard in front of the looming yet elegant tower. She beckoned for the others to follow as she navigated around the tiny trees towards a path that led out of the garden.

Twilight Ball (Four Bardic Sisters)

Once Emriel made it over to the buffet table, her pink face brightened, as she saw a dish of a clear dough-like substance topped with various spices. "Ah, they do have taberi!" From the end of the table she grabbed... wait, what are those round stone things? Are they stone? Or painted glass?

Utterly confused, she picked up the plate and inspected it. It was flat, white, hard, smooth, and perfectly circular, with a circular depression in the middle, and ornate metallic trim around the edges. "What is this?" she said aloud. "It's smooth like glass, but looks more like stone..."

"It's porcelain," said a nearby man - probably one of those "humans" she remembered hearing about once. "Or china, as it's often called. Do they not have it on this planet?"

Emriel shook her head. "No, we use either wooden bowls or broad leaves." The man gave her an awkward look. "What? You calling us primitive?" She scoffed, turning away from the man and happily placing some of the "taberi" stuff on her plate, along with a bunch of nearby fruit slices. But as she walked away scarfing them down, though, she had an odd feeling inside of her, and heard the voices around her slowly drain out. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by fog...

Meanwhile, Gliosem had stepped outside the hall and turned her gaze upwards to the sky. Although the large round skylight in the hall provided a good view of the moons, she couldn't get a proper view from the stage, and out here it was less crowded. All four gathered close together - the announcer was right; this was indeed a very rare event. Spreading her darkly-shaded wings, she took a moment to feel the combined magical energies emanating from the moons. Although she wasn't as attuned to such energies as a wingless race native to this planet was, she did see a myriad of colours on their surfaces and in the sky around that some of the foreign "humans" back there could not perceive. Although all the moons looked about half-full, even on the unlit halves she saw slight purplish shades about them, contrasting their usual surfaces' colours - forest green, silvery white, very deep blue, shiny amber...

And as she took a brief glance over to the bright indigo star in the darker part of the sky, she was reminded of a song she had recently come up with about that world of darkness beyond, a world which the sun never touched. And so, turning towards the dark horizon and letting her eyes close, she began to sing said song.^note Normally this would be in another language, but for the purpose of simplicity (and also because I wrote this song in English), let's assume Aliens Speaking English is still in place.

"In Zurem, be it might
The land of eternal night
I'm still here, and I hear distant song
What persuades me to stay
When the sun has gone away
Mystery, whereupon grace I see

"In absence of the sun, without her loving rays
Lacking vision and warmth
Oh there must be something more where the light is never day
Across my thoughtful face blows a cool and misty breeze
I see rivers topped with steam glowing blue from lunar gleam
And I start to feel at ease"

But during the second verse, she drifted away into a strange foggy landscape, though she was so focused on her song that she did not notice.

Back on the stage, Ferisen and Amiluet just finished closing the box that contained the strange glass-piped instrument known as the latria. "So what shall we do with this?" Amiluet asked. "Are we all wheeling it back behind the stage for now?"

Ferisen smiled at her little sister. "We aren't done just yet. Weren't you going to play your instruments a bit more, to provide atmosphere to the place? I'll go look for the others, as I don't see Reel or Glee anywhere..." The willowy fairy-like being squinted her emerald-green eyes and scanned over the entire audience, but she couldn't pick up even a trace of either of them, not even the traces of their auras that she had trained herself too see better. Indeed, of the four she was the most magically adept.

Amiluet put a cheeky smile on her soft, round face, her curly amber pigtails bouncing along as she gathered the large stringed instrument and sent several of the little drums floating all over the stage, waving her hand around at all of them until they fell into place. Then she did the same to the flowers scattered about the stage, which came to life and twirled about the stage like ballerinas, leaping onto the drums and jumping on them to make a soft timpanic sound. Meanwhile, she withdrew a polished wooden rod and drew it across the strings of the lute-like instrument, making an echoing sound that included soft plucking tones, like plucking at a harp in a room with rigid metal walls.

Yukijou-minato (Gliosem, Rin, Gwenafer, Adam, Nick, Jackson)

As the group headed over to the courtyard, they might have heard a song ringing throughout the space. Sung by a woman with a very clear, somewhat low-pitched, and obviously well-trained voice; and carrying a melody with a calm and almost somber air that seemed to echo somewhat around the courtyard. By the time she arrived she was on the third verse of the song:

"To the stars do I gaze
Swimming in the aural haze
Dim in hue, and so few choose to show
The horizon looks bleak when my psychic sight is weak
And I might never know true delight

"I look up to the moons, the only things aglow
There are four moons up high, circling around the sky
Their full faces here they show
I come here over time, each moon's in a different place
And I look around and see all the darkened scenery
In the same old wondrous space

"And I travel around misty sky and... icy... ground..."
During this line, Gliosem bumped into a wall, though gently as she walked very slowly. Opening her eyes, she noticed it was the wall of some sort of tower. But deciding not to worry for now, she continued to sing.
"...I see whales, dogs, and dragons galore
Lovely gardens I pass, and I wonder how they last
Everyone, when no more is the sun"

Then she turned around and realized she was facing a courtyard, a rather fancy-looking one, and noticed snow on the ground in places. There was also a group headed up the stairs leading up to this courtyard. But still she felt the need to finish her song, but sang the final verse somewhat faster, so she could check out the group.
"And then I realize, looking to the darkened skies
All the mist's from where it's always day
Chilly seas travel there, Zurem gets its warmer air,
And the life, it does stay where it's always night"

Having finished, she walked - slowly as usual - towards the group, refolding her wings beneath her wide billowing cape as she did so. Here she took note of its members. Three dark-skinned teenage boys, one of whom had goggles on his head and another who had long red hair (the third looked more... plain). A leather-armored young woman with one eye and some nasty scars on her face. The lightest-skinned of the group (though not more so than Gliosem herself) and also the oldest-looking was a woman in a fancy blue and gold uniform carrying a sheathed sword. Despite the variety of appearances, they all looked like humans, leaving fairy-like Gliosem to feel quite out of place. Her pure white skin and blue hair didn't help either, as those were not normal for a human.

edited 12th Dec '16 12:42:17 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.

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

Though he had called out the unknown beast, The Midnight Stitcher's widen in surprise as it went for Ayako instead- Locked into place even as his body shuddered to move, because one thing kept racing through his mind. "How... How do I save her?" Strong and mighty the humanoid abomination may be, even as the giant skeleton tossed Ayako aside The Midnight Stitcher didn't know how to save her. "I've only known destruction and death, to catch her only to kill her..."

Snapping out of his stillness as Ethoya went over to assist the mage girl, the monstrous male's fingers curl as his face hardened- Anger and shame, all mixed together at both himself & the beast that assaulted his mage girl. Even seeing Durnem subdue the beast didn't alleviate his feelings, yet once she spoke The Midnight Stitcher calmly rotated his head to face her... And spoke "Dead is what this creature is."

Those tendrils of his bursting forth from his forearms, the black stitching lashes out with lightning speed to grab the skeleton creature- Lifting it upright and into the air, forcing its arms outright as the stitching pierced them and forcibly sewed its legs together. The tendrils latching onto the walls and the floor to keep the creature sustained in midair, purple bled through his eyes as The Midnight Stitcher snarled at it.

"Fool, arrogant, and stupid are other things this creature is- Deeming us prey? How insulting something so pathetic and lowly was allowed to exist this long. Making it suffer for its sin against us is more important... For its sin against mage girl..." Breaking the tendrils off from his forearms and leaving the creature suspended in midair, The Midnight Stitcher turns towards Ayako.

Looking down at himself a little uncertainly, the unnatural man gives a sweeping bow and holds one arm high towards the dangling beast- Speaking towards Ayako whilst avoiding her eyes "That thing tried treating you like prey... Tossing you aside like a ragdoll. Seeing what a debased creature it is, it is only right that you alone are allowed to end it. Show that insult to life, what a mistake it made in seeing you as prey- As something to kill... Show it that your life cannot be taken."

---

The Eldritch Factory, Heart Forge (Phoebe, Ashleigh, Noire)

Noire's eyes narrowing upon hearing Ashleigh call her a Eldritch, her expression flickers to a more baffled yet lightly amused one when Phoebe called her a Wight. "Set myself up around a kid, cue the inevitable. Hmm, I wonder if Demon Goddess Lilith and Ura's sheer childishness would resonate with her... Nah, she might be too freaked out instead. Pfft, seeing the sheer confusion on Temp's face being called a Wight would be worth seeing though." Observing that the others have finished their talking, Noire clears her throat before looking towards Ashleigh.

"I'm not an Eldritch, my abilities come from my sword Death's Knell..." Waving her six foot sword of shifting white & red for emphasis, the guro Lolita continues "I can summon and dismiss it at will, being stored in my soul. Ultimately though, I'm just a normal weird probable human- Never got an explanation for my white eyes, but Eldritch was long ruled out." Little mischievous smile creeping up on her face, as Noire wraps her arms over her sword again she speaks teasingly "Unless ya wanna taste my blood and have cute white eyes too~"

Slightly sticking her tongue out and giving a catlike smile, her general amusement looking incredibly weird against her damaged & bloodied(?) dressy doctor outfit, Noire advances towards the bloodfall-parting black archway. Yet before she could pass it, the amusement drained from her face as a familiar voice spoke to her. But of course sweetikins, the term would be Eldritchian anyways- Much cooler ya know? Angel is also acceptable, but the Brittles have awfully small reference pools for us to do that.

Her hands clenching tightly onto her sword, Noire keeps moving forward so the others can't see her twitchy face. "I swear, if you try claiming you're the mythical Angels who brought forth the Age of Magic, I'm going to be extremely pissed that you pitted all of Earth against itself." Getting the mental impression of almost-sarcastic denial, the incomprehensively teal voice responds Of course not, that would be our creators the True Gods- You would love them! Oh wait, Eldon right... I'll let ya process, bye sweetie~  

Her eyes widening at that, Noire yells within her own mind "No you don't, this isn't funny! If they did this on purpose, they'll pay for their sins!" Turning her eyes up in her sockets towards the ceiling but not moving her head up, an angered expression crosses her face. Yet with no response, Noire eventually takes a deep breath and just snorts. "Guess I can't leave this place until I find out the truth. I swear if this thing is just trolling me though..." With that thought she passes through the black archway, and stops at the sight before her.

Copious amounts of dried blood splattered around, enough to make up a limb or two for that Eldritch they just encountered. Stringing down from the walls and ceiling is more black stitching like the archway, yet the sheer unorderly & chaotic nature of them makes it clear they aren't part of the design- Especially the ones caked in blood and hanging over the various splashes. What finally catches her attention, however, is what looks like part of that giant human vein system... The one that's the basis for Sanguine Shaper's form.

Gently stepping forward into the room to further observe it, as the angle shifts she notices a pit- With the blood and stitching in its vicinity as well, yet no signs any entity ascended from it. Looking over to the right to notice a door, it seems to be the only thing in this section to really represent or reference hearts- "Is this some kind of control room?"

---

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

Its gaze lazily shifting over to Moreena as the Armory Knight's missiles fly, the golden being at its side hardly seems amused... And then it spoke- No, not at all like it had done when attempting to converse with Patches. It, it intoned in an impossible way, not through the air or the mind- But rather Moreena's very soul, a shadow of a hint of a vague smile on his 'face'. "Is that what progeny of existence call their bodies, their pets? Fascinating..." Though it didn't so much as flicker a glance at Friedrich as he approached, casting aside one of Armory Knight's missiles, the golden being glazed curiously over at Sinistrina- Before it should of even noticed her will-o-wisps.

Yet as that was occurring, the Armory Knight took witness of the black tendrils surging towards it- His blackest pupils narrowing within his golden eyes, the look of predatory revenge if one bothered to notice. Its machine gun left unfinished, it growled softly- Not in rage or offense, but as if it daring Moreena to try. Thus as the barrier around Patches broke off into the ether, confused and disoriented by what happened, she looks up to Caleb confused by his speech... Only for her eyes to widen in horror as the tendrils grabbed the Armory Knight.

Turning towards Moreena, body shivering, Patches cries out "Stop it, please! Don't hurt him, don't don't don't!" Clutching her head in pain, her voices scream If you kill him no god will save you from me!! The Armory Knight is, was, my brother and if we must I will be his salvation. Hell no, he's still human- Nobody is gonna 'mercy' him like a dog!! Even a drop, even a drop of his blood is unacceptable!! Cowering and turning to Caleb as he fired on Armory Knight, the young girl's mask is completely & unmistakably stained with her tears- A look of hurt & betrayal from beneath her mask.

Though as the sound of a buzz, a hum, fills the air Patches' eyes widen in conflict as she looks towards the Armory Knight: Blades of plasma pointing out from all over his body, tearing himself free as he struggles against the tendrils. Even the flame cannons on its back were already repairing themselves into something new, metal and armor appearing from nowhere even as Caleb's shots landed true.

Gazing on the beast, it almost seemed annoyed by all this, becoming even moreso as the Sentinel intercepted its missiles and circled around it- Snapping at her derisively, as if saying 'buzzard' at the deity. The golden being, however, hardly seemed concerned with it all- Giving the Sentinel nothing more than a glance, dismissing her words. The will-o-wisps, though, those caught its attention: A stronger, bigger smile on its 'face', mocking amusement if you could even tell. Its smile only grew bigger as he finally snatched one, the existence of the air around the wisp rippling softly like water.

-And then he intoned, not with 'words' or to Sinistrina, but giving it the very thing she wanted to know through her wisps: His emotions. His impossible emotions, being forced and translated on his part into something she could understand... Amusement, a-a humble superiority, and most of all justified entitlement. With that it lets the wisp go, only to abruptly appear before Sinistrina. Staring at her, with eyes that aren't there, his cruel smile still plastered on its 'face'... He intones into her soul.

"You have no comprehension of what I am, do you? Is your world truly a virgin, to my kind? The Gifts of Gods, the Hidden Skills of the Soul, the Marks of Divinity, the Subversions of Reality and countless more: Absolution, Holy Sin, Ruler's Decree... We are Defiance Itself, the Ultimate Power, cast into the entirety of Existence- No power can defy us, either science or magic, for we are not progeny of existence like you. Even if all was cast into Oblivion once more, we will be there, waiting for its birth anew..."

Teeth that aren't teeth flashing, its smile too wide, it intones "By the way, mind calling off your imitation? The humans from where I originate might call it a golem, though whatever it is he's not worth it- You're not doing too well yourself, if only you had a Gift: Even if our power does not serve our host's needs, our nature leaks to them, letting them Defy easier than others. Hmm, that's actually..." Yet as the being began considering, the Armory Knight continued to struggle.

Patches, though, wouldn't sure what to do: Though she wasn't quite aware, she could feel it all anyways. That backstabber wants us to talk him down? Fine!! We'll get him out of here then, to safety! Just, stop being so stupid- That monster broke us all, leaving my brother this... This thing, instinctual and becoming a harbinger of destruction... Tsh, not to quote goldie, but the power of love is a freaking Magical Girl trademark- That's exactly what the doll thinks it is!

Her budding soul shivering at this turmoil, as Patches blinks she suddenly sees... Herself, most of a face smiling at her, her other self's body not there yet: No, empty, like something that should be there and knows it- But unable to simply be, instead merely an impression on reality. Rubbing at her own face and sniffling, her other smiles sadly before cooing "I know this is all very unfair, but Patches! As you, obviously, we know what to do: Armory Knight is unfortunate yet unstable. Subdue him, and we can get battle-mommy to help or the cutesy doll boy or whoever wants to- But we can't let him get away, so let the me that's you guide you, okay?"

To those looking, the fact Patches is suddenly nodding would seem strange- Only those capable of witnessing souls could possibly notice the other, and even then such a fragment isn't easy to notice. Thus the girl that is and isn't Patches laying a 'hand' on her shoulder, she stands up straight with her hands clutched against her chest- Finally speaking with strength, even as sadness and anger licked at her voice.

"P-please stop, C-C... Knight, please stop this. You know who I am, I-I know it! The swings, h-how you said the snow would chill me and I sat down anyways just to prove you wrong... R-really, I think I became so quiet just to prank you! B-but, Armory~ Its too embarrassing to say, I was so mean then~ Yet if you don't, d-don't stop we can't ever go back! If you force my hand, I'll never forgive you!!"

Her soul spiking and her left hand unconsciously grabbing her head as pain throbs throughout her body, the Armory Knight's eyes... Blink? Whatever it is, the gunmetal grey beast turns its head to her, pulling its left arm free to point at her: Morphing and shifting, yet whatever its trying to become the transformation is too... Wrong, like something had- Flickering over to the Sentinel, the golden being hisses for lack of else and intones "Filthy and insulting, treading domain you don't understand!!"

Not even looking at the Armory Knight, the golden being merely flicks its right arm towards it, fingers outstretched- And thus the magic that had wormed itself into Armory Knight shattered, the twisted knight's free arm abruptly moving towards the Sentinel. To those who could sense, a burst of power comes from the Knight's left arm: Shifting far faster than previously seen, cannons upon cannons growing upon its arm, each already crackling with power. The golden being, however, has lost its smile- Snarling phantomly, as it intones.

"You have power, I won't deny that- And if we were still normal, your filth would of been a nuisance. Your knowledge of my kind is sorely lacking however, so your little tricks will not suffice in suppressing me. However, can you say the same for my body's own?" Thus, did thunder boom from the cannons, lightning crackling & branching from Armory Knight's barrels to the deity who tried to defy Defiance Itself. 

edited 11th Dec '16 7:43:39 PM by Kkutwar

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

[Graveyard (Friedrich, Patches, Moreena, Sentinel, Caleb, Sinistrina, Gabe, Half)]

Sinistrina had clearly decided her side, and Gabe decided he might as well join it. Friends were hard to come by, and frankly, the demons seemed more sane and potentially amenable to reason than the living weapons platform. He glanced with brief annoyance at the darkening sky — he did better in light, for obvious reasons — he reverted to human form. However, the darkness made the light one clearer. Another angel? Not quite, but perhaps something akin.

Demons and angels rarely walked in the same planes as mortals, traveling instead in Limbo. The Golden Being — something about it merited capital letters in Gabe's mind, and he had no better name — was similarly outside existence, but for a demon hunter of Gabe's skill and age, dealing with this was the least of cantrips. In swift, practiced motion, he traced a golden circle in the air with his closed fans, intricate runes forming within. Then he flew through it, entering the same plane of existence as the Golden Being so that he could rip it apart personally. Spells such as Sinistrina's had their place, but the surest way to end a thing was to break it the old fashioned way...

["Light World" (Gabe, "Golden Being")]

Gabriel flew now on wings of golden light, bladed fans of angelic steel within each hand. The light of this realm was different, but while he could not easily draw upon it, nor could it pose a threat unless directly weaponized in a focused attack. His weapons were meant primarily for demons, but angels and their agents sometimes had disagreements with one another. From being on the wrong end of several such disagreements, Gabe knew his weapons could end beings of light almost as well as those of the dark.

Then he studied the Golden Being as it manifested in this realm, coolly deciding how best to put this particular beast down. "Sorry you aren't seeing me at my best," he said, his voice casual with a hint of mocking flippancy. "Had a bit of trouble earlier and still haven't gotten a chance to fix my make-up. Although I'm thinking maybe it's just a chance to try something new. I've gotten good results from the slate-with-lavender you see me wearing right now," he indicated the makeup currently above his eyes, precisely chosen to bring out the blue of his eyes while pairing with his pale skin, "but I was thinking maybe adding some gold glitter. Not too much, don't want to get tacky, but a subtle hint. Do I leave the color as it is, or maybe throw in a touch of... periwinkle, hmm? What do you think?" He wasn't genuinely interested in the Golden Being's fashion tips, of course. (And had already decided on the precise alteration to get a shade that would best complement the addition of the glitter.) He just wanted to piss the Golden Being off, and for a being like this, such idle small talk seemed more like to do it than the usual routine of bold defiance.

This was also an act of distraction; if Gabe suspected correctly, the Golden Being had vastly underestimated the demons it had attacked. And he was more than happy to give them a chance to take their retribution while the Golden Being decided how best to deal with his intrusion and his refusal to be cowed by the sorts of displays of grandeur he'd yawned through more often than he could count over the centuries.

While I'm shooting for Awesome Ego here — battle is the one thing Gabriel knows he's good at, so he hams it up to make up for other insecurities — I admit I'm playing with fire and might have overdone it. Apologies if Gabe's casual mockery in the face of such a legitimately powerful and eldritch being is a bit too much.

edited 11th Dec '16 9:12:27 PM by KillerClowns

Beta Town (Gon, Ari, Ruka)

Gon smiled with the occasional chuckle when Ruka described AEGIS. "Haha, so you're in the same boat as us then! Like seriously, just like every video game protagonist ever, we have to do everything the utterly helpless civilians can't do themselves. But no, instead the Ghostbuster and the two Digimon Tamers have to take care of everything."

"Oh Gon, stop being such a ham," Ari remarked. "And Natsu, it's not nice to touch people's hair without permission," she added to the electric butterfly who had been attracted to the static electricity building up in Ruka's hair and was about to land in it. Upon hearing the remark, Natsu sheepishly floated away.

"Regarding the Scanning, I suppose it's possible," Ari spoke to Ruka. "Normally Scanners can't scan anything that didn't originate in Mystrica, but since this is a dream, the laws of programming might be broken a little."

"Ari!" Gon said sharply, but then sighed. "Yeah, what she said - you ever wanted to know what lucid dreaming feels like? Now you know." He surprised himself - he only knew about lucid dreaming in the first place because A) he heard a friend of theirs who was a paranormal investigator go on an entire tirade about it, and B) not too long ago he saw a movie in the theater that heavily featured it.

"Houston, we have a problem," they heard Galaxeon announce from atop the building across the street. To which Gon shouted back, "It's Gon, not Hou- oh." Damn that space knight! I'm the one who makes all the pop culture references around here!

Galaxeon was pointing upwards to where Lord Metatronic was flying around with a bright flashing list on his chest, which sent out pulsating red beams of light across the entire perimeter of the town. A few robots nearby promptly looked up at the beacon, and started to panic, rushing into buildings and into manholes (or robotholes, rather), some crashing into each other and sending nuts and bolts flying as they went.

"What the... the robots are going berserk!" Gon was glancing around at all the robots - it seemed they were all trying to flee from something.

"And I think I know why." Ari pointed up to the sky which looked notably more cloudy... but the clouds resembled less real clouds and more the fog between the dreamscapes. The gigantic winged mecha known as Lord Metatronic faced this "cloud" patch, morphing both of his boxy forearms into machine guns ready to fire, and swapping out the alarm beacon on his chest for a glowing ball of silvery light also ready to fire.

Graveyard (Sinistrina, Friedrich, Patches, Sentinel, Gabe, Half, Caleb, Moreena)

At some point, the surroundings darkened, which pleased Sinistrina as it was fitting of the type of magic she used. In the relative darkness, her will-o-wisps became more visible, and after watching them for a while, she saw them suddenly flare a very bright red - much more brightly than she had ever seen them shine before. Red, she knew, was associated with passion, excitement, or sometimes amusement - leading her to believe that spirit might have been thoroughly enjoying this fight. That is, until she heard it speak...

Though she knew the voice was speaking to her, she heard it from Misery Manor instead of her current location. Indeed, when she closed her eyes, she felt as if she was standing inside the manor instead of where her body actually stood. And it was not so much a voice, but a feeling. As if her very soul was being touched, and in that touch was a message. She knew the being had to be speaking directly to her soul - why else would she feel it from within the manor that contained it?

The first part she kind of expected from a spirit - for some reason many of them seemed to be rather arrogant, and the color her will-o-wisps had turned confirmed this. Especially since this one was claiming to be able to defy all existence. If anything, the part about all being cast into oblivion reminded her much about what she had read about the creation myths of a few of the world's religions - perhaps, then, this being was akin to a god.

The second part, she was less pleased with. She knew the "imitation" meant Friedrich - to which she had to inwardly shake her head. I believe you mean creation, she thought, not caring whether the Being could pick up on it. And she was even less pleased when the being mentioned Gifts and toyed with the idea of her obtaining one. This one struck a chord with her very soul, especially the casual mention of serving a host's needs. Such that if the Being didn't "hear" her previous thought, it would certainly have this time, a combination of an automatic response from the soul and the "voice" of Sinistrina's very will. To Defiance it might have manifested as a deep understanding that defied^note see what I did there? all mortal senses, but something inside Sinistina's soul felt the need to spell it out in words anyway:

"No. I will not be fooled by such an offer after seeing the results of one made for me. I know all too well how power can corrupt - I have seen it both in myself and in my twin sister, who got drunk on the power of a queen over a kingdom. I have no wish to place an additional burden on my soul, especially after barely being able to accept the previous one."

Once again the memory of her attempt to survive in the Deathly Glade surfaced in her mind. In a way she had, though she didn't quite know it at the time, took the Glade itself up on a similar offer to what the Golden Being was now proposing. The power to survive in an unsurvivable place - to defy death - all so she could find a way to escape it. Such an escape never happened, and her "survival" condemned her to an existence she knew she could never undo, not even through death. Although she realized the power to defy might just allow her to be mortal again, she couldn't even imagine what sort of toll such a power would have on her existence, and given her experience, it might make it worse.

Meanwhile, Friedrich heard the same "voice" that Sinistrina did, as the souls of the two shared a special connection - it was as if Sinistrina's soul left a mark on his own when she constructed him. As with her, the whole speech about incomprehensible forces didn't faze him, but the part that impacted him the most was the mention of him being an "imitation", and the comparison between him and a golem. What utter rubbish. Sinistrina and I are "imitations" in the same way that she and Lucina are - more like twins, who yet act independently and develop different personalities.

By that time he was losing gliding power, and thus found himself descending towards Patches. He heard a cry coming from her - no, a plea, for Armory Knight to stop his attacks. It was similar to a plea she made earlier to Moreena to call off her attacks. At first he thought she was sounding like a silly, whining peacemaker, but something deep inside of him resonated with her words, agreeing with them whole-heartedly. Instinctively, he cast a brief glance at Sinistrina, but quickly re-focused on and landed right next to Patches, who had told them earlier how Armory Knight was not to be harmed.

In fact, both Friedrich and Sinistrina realized something just then, but only Friedrich voiced it towards the Golden Being, and though his voice was as tiny as his body, he willed the thought behind it into Golden's very Being. "You made a similar offer to Armory Knight, didn't you? And he accepted, didn't he? I read about that somewhere - I believe it was called a deal with the devil." Then he turned to Patches. "Am I correct in presuming how this golden being enslaved Armory Knight? That it was in exchange for the power to defy reality?"

Sinistrina, meanwhile, watched as Armory Knight prepared to attack the Sentinel. She thought about helping the latter out, but since Gabe could get there faster than any of her stronger spells could, she instead turned to him... just in time to see him vanish into a portal of some sort. Well... that's just great. So she took the matter into her own hands (or staff rather), conjuring a spiral of black mist between the Sentinel and the lightning blast, that condensed into a flat disc of the darkest black, aiming to absorb anything energy-based that touched it. The disc did come out a little small though, so it was possible that the edges of the blast could bend around it - though in that case it might come out weaker.

Eldritch Factory - Heart Forge (Emriel, Ashleigh, Phoebe, Noire)

After a while, Emriel emerged from the fog into a red space, where she heard some sort of heartbeat off in the distance. Noticing this compromised her grip on the plate of food she had been holding, such that she dropped it and some fruit pieces and flattened balls of the mochi-like taberi spilled out onto the ground - though she still held one of the latter in her mouth. Not for long though, as she instead held it in her hand and looked around. But as she glanced behind her, the Twilight Ball was nowhere in sight.

She gulped, and immediately regretted that she had swallowed more of the taberi, because did somebody slip an herb into it? I couldn't taste anything off though. It seemed absurd to her that anyone would drug food served at a public event, leaving only one other possibility. But spells can't do anything that powerful - I've heard of illusions, but this is like a whole nother world...

And it was a strange world indeed. Fleshy walls and floor, a black gate between waterfalls of a deep red fluid... She cringed slightly at the latter - and gingerly, squatting down to touch some of the fluid, she inspected it, first sniffing it and then tasting it... and immediately spat it out. "Tai di da fourte!" she blurted out, not even realizing she was speaking in her native tongue^note must be a glitch in the Translator Microbes. Her suspicions were confirmed - it was in fact blood.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she walked towards the black gate, still incredulous as to how she could have possibly ended up here. Especially in a world so... unusual, but just as real as any^note read: just as (not) real as any of the dreamscapes. Along the way, she finished the taberi piece, mostly to take away the taste of blood in her mouth, and then decided to run the rest of the way due to mere impatience.

Meanwhile, as Ashleigh and Phoebe followed Noire through the gate, Ashleigh thought about her reply, saying that she wasn't an Eldritch being - just a (possibly) human with unusual abilities. The sword she mentioned reminded her of a much more futuristic-looking sword wielded by one of Gon's Mystripets, except this one was much larger - and interestingly enough, reminded her of the blade of a death scythe wielded by another Mystripet she knew about with its red and white colouring. But she was taken aback by the little joke about her eyes. "Well I never-" But seriously, drinking her blood? Did Noire think she was a vampire or something? In fact...

"Ashleigh's not a vampire!" Phoebe protested, then looked uncomfortably at Ashleigh. "Are you a vampire?"

Ashleigh uttered a brief grumble. "You're being ridiculous." But then she saw what Noire was looking at, and heard Phoebe cry out in fright behind her. Understandably - there was blood splashing out from the walls, a weird black substance on the walls, and a collection of veins that looked not unlike the Sanguine Shaper. While Noire stepped forward and looked around, Ashleigh stayed put, glancing uneasily around the room. Curiously, there was another door off on the right, clearly their next destination as Noire was looking at it as well.

"Alright Phoebe, are you okay to go?" She glanced behind her... but Phoebe was not there. Nor in the doorway, nor past the gate, nor anywhere in the room... but when she looked back at the gate, she saw a person walking through - no, running through. "Phoeb-" She stopped herself - it wasn't Phoebe... unless Phoebe had gone on a diet and through puberty after consuming enough strawberry milkshakes to dye her skin and hair pink.

Once Not-Phoebe approached what was apparently just Ashleigh and Noire now, she leapt forward into a somersault on the fleshy ground, stopping neatly on her feet. As the strange pinkish woman rose effortlessly into standing, Ashleigh could see that her outfit was red and white to match Death's Knell, and that she had large butterfly-like wings extending out underneath her narrow white cape. Is that a fairy?

But figuring it would be rude to ask straightaway, Ashleigh instead chose the neutral question of "Who are you?"

Her cheeks flushing the same raspberry hue of her hair and eyes, the exotically-dressed "fairy" cleared her throat and replied. "Emriel Baoshra, of the Four Bardic Sisters. And you are?"

Ashleigh thought that was a rather strange name - though her mention of bards sounded kind of interesting, given her own interest in music. But first, formalities: "Ashleigh Sable, of the... Elemental Guardians," she decided to mention. "Are you from Mystrica?"

Emriel scowled. "What's Mystrica?"

"Oh, I'm sorry - you're a different sort of fairy then."

"Excuse me?" She took a step backward. "Fairies are a very ancient race - you calling me old? Didn't you never see a sumiri before?"

"Oh, I'm sorry - I shouldn't have assumed you're a... you're a what?"

Emriel heaved a sigh, not feeling at all like explaining. "What is this place anyway? One minute I was at the Twilight Ball and next I'm in this flesh chamber... this place doesn't look like any place on Orenya I know." She turned to the guro lolita girl. "And who might you be?"

edited 12th Dec '16 1:17:45 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.

Graveyard (Sinistrina, Friedrich, Patches, Sentinel, Gabe, Half, Caleb, Moreena)

Caleb's plan seemed as good as any, and Moreena - her form a twisting mass of tendrils and talons by now, with only something barely humanoid still visible at the center - coiled herself around the beast, lashing out towards the weak spots in it's twisting armor and attempting to pull it's weapons away from their targets.

The unexpected response from the Golden Being caught her off-guard, but that, in combination with the pleas of the patchwork girl, made her change her approach. She continued her attempts to restrain the beast - Armory Knight, which seemed like a fitting name - but retracted her talons and turned what remained of her face towards the crying girl on the ground.

"I... I won't hurt him," she shouted as she struggled. "I believe he's possessed."

Briefly turning her attention away from Armory Knight, she noticed the new figures who had appeared and joined the fight. One of them carried the same kind of familiar sensation that Moreena had previously felt from the strange building on the horizon. For a second or two, her whole physical form tensed up - Necromancer! - but getting distracted like that turned out to be a terrible idea...

The scorching plasma blades that shot out from Armory Knight's body severed her tendrils, and sent her crashing into the rough gravel and broken asphalt below with a piercing shriek and a nasty crack.

Repairing her damaged form would be a relatively simple task, but at the moment Moreena was confined to the ground, her tendrils weakly reaching up towards the Knight as a pool of thick, black blood formed around her. She watched as the Knight fired a massive bolt of lighting towards the Sentinel and struggled to weave a spell that would stop him, but channeling magic through her broken body was not an easy task, and her eyes widened in surprise as the necromancer beat her to it, forming a shield very similar to the one she herself had conjured earlier.

Meanwhile, the necromancer's fancily dressed companion disappeared into a golden circle of runes. Of course... Struggling with the Knight wouldn't do much good as long as it's master was still around. With an eerie, hollow sigh, and the distinct feeling that she had once again taken on something much bigger than she could handle, Moreena let go of her body - leaving it motionless on the ground and seemingly dead - and followed.

"Light World" (Gabe, "Golden Being", Moreena)

Light. Bright, unnatural light everywhere. Even in her true form as pure Will and raw Magic, the light felt painful as it touched Moreena, and the terrifying entity at the heart of it all didn't make things much better. Even so, it was too late to back down now. She had to at least appear confident. The Goddess of Death expanded her chaotic form - it's swirling darkness a stark contrast to her surroundings - to make herself as intimidating as possible, though she doubted it would have much of an effect, and addressed the Golden Being once again:

   I can't help but notice that your attacks haven't ceased. I did not expect a being like you to be hard of hearing.   

This is it. I'm finished. Shreds of spirit in the Depths of the Storm. She glanced over at the colorful, winged creature at her side in an effort to calm herself down.

   I tend to prefer darker colors myself, but some periwinkle might suit you.   

Yukijou-minato (Gliosem, Rin, Gwenafer, Adam, Nick, Jackson)

Gwenafer raised her eyebrow, wondering who this "Megumi" was, but didn't ask. Instead, she focused her attention on the tiny orange trees. "Heh, this is pretty neat," she commented. "Are they supposed to look like this around here, or did..."

She stood up, her gaze drifting across the walls around the garden. "Do you hear that?" she asked, as she suddenly heard the sound of someone singing, seemingly speeding up a bit towards the end for some reason.

At the top of the staircase leading up to an adjacent courtyard, she spotted an oddly pale - and blue-haired - woman, and caught a glimpse of something moving beneath her wide cape. Gwenafer turned her head towards Rin. "One of yours..?" she asked, before turning back, raising her hand in a greeting.

"Hello there!"

edited 12th Dec '16 10:28:58 AM by Corvidae

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

Graveyard

Sentinel immersed her senses deeper in the sea of shadow, dispersing the swarm she conjured and expanding her mind through the folds and cracks in creation, listening to the faint disharmony of beating minds in the ruins. The being she faced, the guide of the beast she suspected to be Armory Knight, was bound tightly to its host, yet their minds were not one. She felt a transmission was sent to Moreena, its power manifesting like ripples to Sentinel's mind, while Patches minds each flashed a dissonant frequency, each trying to outglow the other, while the girl begged for the beast to be spared from wounds, as if none of its tricks were meant to kill them all.

Almost as if answering to her thoughts, the monster unleashed blades of plasma from its body, tearing the all too ephemeral tendrils Moreena projected from her form, and making her fall to the ground, but thankfully her mind was not dead. The fulgurous mind above Armory Knight caught one of the lights conjured by the new sorceress, who seemed to be bound to the manor that wasn't there before, and it flashed with a translation of its thoughts, clad in the burning red of its arrogance.

As the minds inside Patches seemed to reach a consensus of sorts, she tried to beckon the Knight to stop fighting, a noble yet very, very foolhardy effort, which seemed to cause an undesirable sort of recognition as he pointed his arm towards the girl. When Sentinel asked herself if the spell, due to its hastily improvised design, had failed to instill itself in the being's essence, she finally saw the opposite, as the beast's attempt to transform began paralyzing its limb. Peering through the threads of space and time, she stared into the fulgurous mind, the tip of each of her horns shining like a distant star.

"Filthy and insulting, treading domain you don't understand!!", it said with a fulminant voice, to which she replied by cocking her head to the side, amused. Did the sickness understand the body it occupied and devoured? Did the hawk understand how a small mammal digs his burrow? Did that ardent mind understand how a mortal wove dreams from shadow and light?

Her amusement soon faded however, as with a wave of its hand the furious being destroyed her enchantment, and Armory Knight produced a new weapon to use against her. She didn't focus dodging or stopping what was to happen in the few seconds she had, only looking defiantly at the spirit, ready to shrug off the impending barrage of metal like it was a gust of wind. Until she saw that whatever that weapon was, it wouldn't shoot her with bullets.

As soon as all pride left her face, the new manor-bound sorceress projected a shield of false-matter, but it was far from enough and she felt the sudden impact through her body, like she was hit by a massive hammer, and her wings closed in midair, making her fall head-first on the ground. Her eyes were blinded by the afterimage of the blazing light, her ears rang with incessant buzzing, and in a minute of lost lucidity, the enchantments she held in the back of her mind for centuries were interrupted.

Slowly as she lay on the ground, he skin started peeling off, sliding from her flesh and melting down into dark liquid. Her conjunctive tissue started to follow, revealing dark-red muscles and bones the color of mother of pearl. Limbs started to fall off finder by finger, bone by bone, and golden eyes now blind stared high in the sky, but her seven horns were still alight, and the seven lights in the sky shined brighter. Slowly, she inclined her head to stare at the enemy one more time, and released a thundering roar from between sharp teeth. The archmage was vexed, but the beast was still hungry and Sentinel was tired of trying to make this painless for her opponent.

The cold air growing heavier still, Sentinel's body and the pool of dark liquid she was melting into disappeared in a black swarm while the roar echoed on painted, sculpted walls of a maze in her mind. The indistinct forms pulled more and more strings and wisps of unbounded matter from behind the tears of the world-tapestry, so wide in that accursed place, and the twisting forms multiplied and surrounded Armory Knight and his arrogant guide, pulsating like a heart and dissolving into one another like shadows, orbiting faster and faster while the very fabric of reality grew less solid, not as much being torn apart as dissolving under the caress of the dark cloud, collapsing under itself and forming a new microcosm wildly different from the space outside.

Within the swarm of indistinct forms flesh and blood divided, fused, bent and turned as wings, scales, claws and talons coiled grabbed, shrieked and tied, sometimes forming birds, snakes or maggots, while seven lights shined even brighter than outside, and a skeletal form with seven horns and golden eyes flashed like a shadow cast by a lighting, every time in a different place, time and sometimes even form.

Every time its claws cut through Armory Knight, even if not deeply, the swarm tasted it and let its unnatural lifeblood fill the wound, trying to attach itself to the Knight's skin and fuse with it before it could regen, in order to make him more attuned to Sentinel's power. Every time it moved to attack, they moved away, and when the spirit saw Sentinel, her seven horns released a pulse of light. After enough attacks, she said:

"You do not understand. This is my domain.", and with it more engraved silver scales emerged from her flesh and were carried by the swarm to the place where the fulgurous mind should be, was it not part of the knight. This time, all had different versions of another enchantment, this one not meant to change its target physically, but to expand that land towards another part of the cosmos. One where Sentinel could reach the shining spirit without having to divide Armory Knight into millions of pieces and then put them back together without the haughty spirit that accompanied him.

And with the sound of a crashing wave, the world was no longer the same. The swarm dispersed as a knee-deep layer of fog rose from the ground and started to rotate around the crater, forming a vortex on its center. Shadowy outlines of people and places appeared and faded before one's eyes, and the previously still air was overtaken by buffeting winds with the scent of saltwater. Sentinel was now the size and shape of a short human, and her body was only flesh and bones covered by the phantasmagorical image of a dark-haired woman wearing red and gold robes with many rings with large emeralds adorning her fingers.

Armory Knight was still the same, but now ribbons of white mist condensed around its guide, and strings of the light of the seven strange stars in the sky coiled around it, their ends connected to Armory Knight. Soon the creature had a vague physical form, not a true body or even a good representation of how it should look, but something that could be interacted with more directly. Trying to destroy it would be fruitless even if she was interacting with in its home plane instead of having pulled it domain, as it generally was with any immaterial being, but thankfully she had other methods in mind. With a wave of her hand, Sentinel made conceptual strings stronger than steel manifest, binding the golden being to the ground, more as a mockery than anything else, and looked towards two figures also not fully in that plane, one large shadow enveloped in dark mists and a smaller being in white ones, both of which must have been caught in her enchantment, and seemed familiar. Moreena and... someone else? The blazing light she saw before?

"What are you?"

edited 12th Dec '16 12:10:36 PM by EternaMemoria

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

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

Pain. Her neck was sore, probably bruising under the collar of her dress. Deep, dull pain came in from her arms and chest, bones were definitely broken. She was slumped against a wall, leaning on one arm. She tried move herself off it— the burst of pain made her scream... the only noise that came out was a hoarse rattle.

Aware of Ethoya nearby, the injured magical girl took stock of her situation. This wasn't the first time she had had bones broken, nor the first time she had been blindsided. Still, it aggravated her that she had let her guard down. Focusing on her magic, Ayako began manipulating the fine threads that were woven throughout her body, cutting off sensation to her arms as she pulled her bones back together.

Meanwhile, the false youkai found itself in an unexpected predicament. Its lightning fast assault was met with bewildering resistance. Slamming into the ground, the creature was quickly bound to the ground by Durnem's magic tendrils. As it looked up, it watched as black tendrils wrapped around it, lifting it into the air, and impaled it.

The beast screeched a roar of defiance. And then it noticed its prey. The skeleton tilted its head in confusion. The girl should have been broken. She should have been dead.

Ayako stood to her feet, a twitchy flick of her wrist brought her dropped gun to her hand. Rather than trying to shooting it to death with a magical handgun, Ayako opted to go the quick and easy route: recoilless rifle. Adding more material to the gun, it transformed into a three and a half foot long tube, which she rested on her shoulder.

Taking aim, Ayako began forming a magical projectile in the barrel. "Stay back," she warned. Ten seconds passed, and spell was ready to fire. She pulled the trigger, the portable artillery booming as it released a backblast of purplish white magic, sending the magical projectile spinning towards the monster's head. The accompanying recoil knocked Ayako off balance, sending her stumbling backwards.

The gashadokuro roared one final time before the magic shell punched through its face, detonating in a blast that enveloped its skull. As the plume cleared, the skeleton fell apart, bones clattering to the ground.

---

[Beta Town] (Ruka, Ari, Gon)

When Galaxeon warned them of danger, Ruka looked up towards the foreboding fog bank. As she fired up her lighting blade again, she glanced over, noticing the alarm light was on. "Messanger incoming!" She shouted as she lept backwards, before a beam of brilliant white energy blasted a crater where she had been standing.

The clouds parted, as a white and blue figure sped towards the ground. It was twenty five feet tall, humanoid in form and made of white metal. A ridge of blue metal ran down the center of its body. Behind the body floated a rotating wheel of white and blue. Floating several inches from the main body where the shoulders and hips would be, there was a rectangular plate of blue metal, with a narrow limb tapering off to a slim point below with no sign of a joint. The head was a vaguely simplified skull shape, with an absolutely featureless face and blue fin like projections were ears would be. A plume of blue metal flowed behind it like a ponytail. Each 'hand' was melded around the hilt of a thirty foot long lance of blue metal.

Its decent was slowed by a trio of vents that produced jets of enigmatic energy. Its head swiveled towards every target, performing brief analyses on everyone. The Messenger's attention snapped towards Ruka, pointing a lance at her before unleashing a sweeping beam of golden energy.

Ruka barely dodged aside as the beam ripped through the ground. She charged the Messanger while the dust cleared, her blade crackling as she swung a strike at it, only to be swatted aside by its lance. She hit the ground and rolled to her feet, bring up her gauntlet to block any further attacks.

[Yukijou-minato]

Looks like another person decided to show up.

"Cool!" Nick said, looking very unimpressed, "Just what we need; more people we have no fucking clue about!"

Jackson whacked Nick in the back of his head.

"Ow! Dick!"

Adam just sighed, then turned his attention the woman with blue hair. "H-hello there. Um...are you Ms. Rin's friend?"

[Monument (Mourner)]

A monument stood in the fog, doused in a cold, hard rain. Three steps of black granite led up to a marble statue of a tall, handsome man of Olympian build, dressed in a fine business suit, his hair tied back in a pony tail. The statue seemed almost too big to be real, but in truth, it was life-sized. It just represented a very large life, both literally and figuratively. In his right hand, the man depicted held up a test tube, glass filled now with rain, in a triumphant pose.

Before it, a woman laid down a wreath of white roses. She looked up at the statue, and sighed. Through tears, she said, "boss... y'know what you always said you liked about me? How I'd always tell you when you made a mistake? Well.." she took a breath. "You shouldn't have chosen me. I..." she sobbed, then collected herself. "You stood for hope. For the possibility of a better future. I'm just... an attack dog," she swallowed, struggling to speak, "you decided to treat with more affection than I deserved. And..." she took another deep breath. "I... thank you. Thank you for everything. But it shouldn't have been me. I don't deserve this power. I'm..." she fell into a fit of helpless laughter. She recovered and, in a monotone, said "I'm batshit insane. Of course I don't deserve it." She sighed and resolved herself. "But I'll try not to fuck it up too badly. Sigmund, rest in peace." A few moments of silence. Then... "for all you've done... for me, for Izzy, for all of us, thank you." There were very few people had ever witnessed this woman saying anything with the sincerity she put into these words. So, forcing a bit of dark humor, though her heart wasn't really in it, the mourner added, "Hadia kept telling you to take a break. Chill for a while. Guess you've got plenty of time to chill now, you fucking workaholic." She didn't really think the joke was funny, but given how she had bantered with Sigmund while he was alive, she felt obligated to try in honor of her memories of him.

The mourner was in her forties and stood somewhere slightly below five feet, with sickly-pale skin, greasy black hair, and steady brown-black eyes. Her build so slight that, with loose clothing, dye to hide the touches of white at her temples, and makeup for her lines, she could pass for, and had occasionally passed as, a lanky young girl. Presently, she wore a matching set of white blouse, black jacket, loose ankle-length matching skirt, practical dress flats. A corporate outfit with hints of cyberpunk, but perfectly fit for the funeral of the man whose statue she now struggled to look at through tears. But what she wore over it would be the first to attract the eye: a bandolier containing a sleek 10mm pistol, an Uelane one-handed blade somewhere between a dao and a machete, and three grenades that looked to contain some sort of tear gas. Why had she armed herself? She wasn't sure herself, but trusted whatever instincts had led her to do so.

In a span of a few days, her world had changed, shifted, in a deep and fundamental way. Anyone who had seen this woman before would see immediately that she had been deeply affected. With effort, she could regain that twisted, ironic grin, and that air of detached madness. But Sigmund's death had shocked her to her very core. There was a grimness to her now, but more than that. As she finally collected herself, finally resolved to honor her mentor's legacy, a new purpose and certainty danced in her eyes. A... will to power, perhaps? Her aura of Anti-Magic, dependent on her ability to remain focused, slowly began to coalesce once more, though for now it would only shield her from the least of cantrips.

Barring another joining her, she will be moving on sometime this weekend. But I figure a full intro post will help establish why she's likely to behave very differently than is usual for her. And for the record, killing off Sigmund is an idea I'm merely toying with; for now, his death is a nightmare she's having, not an actual event.

edited 19th Dec '16 7:14:20 PM by KillerClowns

Beta Town (Gon, Ari, Ruka)

Both Gon and Ari gasped with fright as a blue and white armored being Ruka announced as one of those dreaded Messengers landed before them. Even though it was about a quarter the size of Lord Metatronic^note who is about a hundred feet tall, it somehow looked even more intimidating than the gigantic mecha, especially with that lance and the lack of a face. Although they knew of a Mystripet that also wielded a lance, this weapon looked bigger and much more powerful, not to mention it seemed to be glued to the Messenger's hands. A chill ran up the siblings' spines as the Messenger looked at them - was this its way of "Scanning" them, as Ruka had done?

The Messenger immediately picked a fight with Ruka, firing a golden beam which she barely dodged. Her lightning blade was no match for its lance, which swatted her aside as if she were a ghostly armored fly. Ari was confused. If she's Ghost class, then shouldn't she be immune to Melee attacks like that? Then she turned to Gon. "The fact that the Messenger's lance is able to keep contact with Ruka must mean that it's also a ghost.^note In Mystrica, Ghosts can only be hit with Melee attacks if they come from another ghost. Ari fails to realize, though, that the laws of Ruka's world are different. I don't think Galaxeon will be of any use in this fight."

Gon sighed. "I think you're right. If Ruka's sword couldn't match it, Galaxeon's probably won't either." The space knight seemed to agree, as he said to his Keeper, "That is a fair point. I would be glad to continue the fight, but it would not be wise to do so if I am at a disadvantage." So after making his blade of light disappear into thin air and re-attaching its hilt onto his hip, he let Gon put him back in his Scanner.

"All right Ari," Gon said to his little sister, "if what Ruka said about the Messengers is true, then we've got to go all-out in this fight. Why don't you Scan this time, while I unleash the firepower?" After a confirmational nod from Ari, he sent out Triumph from his Scanner.

"What da hell is goin' on here?" said the sassy feathered salamander. "That ain't like nuthin' I ever seen in Mystrica."

"Triumph, there's no time - you've got to unleash your full power immediately!" And he held up his Scanner higher. "By the power of Fire, I invoke the goddess Kinaga!"

"Hells yeah, baby, time to unleash the firepowah indeed!" And then Triumph began to transform. As she grew in size until she was just a bit larger than a human, her tail lengthened and sprouted red and golden scales. Her birdlike feet retracted into her body which also sprouted scales, and at the same time, little scaly arms sprouted from just below her neck. A small simple dress made of a thin red cloth covered the humanlike upper part of her body, the lower part consisting of the snakelike tail. Her feathered golden wings spread out and grew even larger, infusing with flames, and those same flames sprouted out of the outer corners of the eyes on her still-draconic head. And finally, she held onto a staff which had just materialized, looking like an elongated metal torch with its flame blazing at the top.

"Okay your majesty, just in case that thing's Machine class, start with a Ranged attack," Gon instructed. And the fire goddess complied, with a tap of her torch-staff on the ground. "There is no need to call me royalty. Dragon Flame!"

With a flap of her wings, she rose into the air, and once airborne, she enveloped herself in flames. These flames separated themselves from her body, and as her form was already dragonlike, it easily assumed the shape of a dragon, before transforming into a tight flaming spiral that shot right at the Messenger. And if the Messenger tried to dodge, it would only change direction, homing in on it.

"The perk of the Goddess class is that their attacks never miss," Ari explained to Ruka. "They can still be blocked though." As she was saying this, she pointed her Scanner at the Messenger, hoping to gain information on it... but as soon as the scanning beam made contact with the Messenger, it blinked out of existence, and Ari saw on the Scanner's screen a display of "ERROR" and then "WARNING!". Then it short-circuited and electric sparks flew around it, giving Ari a shock that caused her to drop it. Once it fell on the street, a little trail of black smoke rose from it.

"What!?" Ari exclaimed. "Is that thing really so powerful that it could break my Scanner!?" She turned to her brother. "Hiroshi, we have to be really careful with this one. Guess this means I'm stuck with Natsu."

But then Natsu blinked out of existence, causing Ari to shout another "What!?". Thankfully, with its remaining juice, the Scanner sent out her as-of-yet unseen third Mystripet. This one looked kind of like an icy version of Kinaga at first glance, though she wasn't a goddess. Instead she was just a regular ol' dragon, and like Kinaga, had arms but no legs - though instead of a staff, it held a blue glass orb in its hands. Instead of flames, its deep blue wings were covered in ice crystals, but out of the corners of her eyes sprouted not more crystals, but long ribbon-like streamers that billowed in the breeze. Unlike Kinaga's noticeable snout and fangs, this ice dragon's face formed a simple cone shape with a rounded nose and a fangless mouth. Her eyes were the same deep shade of blue as her wings and the crystal orb, a smaller version of which was nested in the middle of her forehead, and also blue were the fishlike fins on the very end of her tail.

"What!?" Ari shouted for a third time. "How'd Natsu get automatically swapped out like that? Looks like I'm stuck with Satori..."

The icy dragon called Satori took a quick glance around at the surroundings, keeping a particular eye on the Messenger as the crystal orb in her forehead glistened. "I see. That metallic being is a very dangerous one, one that threatens its very existence. There is no time to waste. Aurora Helix!"

Though the attack manifested as a spiraling wave of crystals, said crystals were not made of ice, but entirely spectral - but unlike Kinaga's attack, this ethereal spiral could miss.

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

While Ethoya took care of Ayako, Durnem watched as the Midnight Stitcher enveloped the skeleton creature in even more tendrils, these ones black and seemingly material. They pulled the creature up while Durnem's pulled them down, leaving the creature heavily restrained and almost pulled apart between the two.

Meanwhile, Ayako seemed to be badly hurt, and yet, despite that, she was able to pull herself together, make her gun bigger, and shoot a projectile from it that shattered the beast, leaving it as a pile of bones. Durnem could see a bright aura around the projectile, indicating it was clearly a magical one. What she did not see was any sort of lingering aura around the pile of bones. This made her feel a bit more secure, as it meant the creature was likely unable to put itself back together, but especially with the laws of this place being all wacky, she couldn't take any chances.

So after a brief look of concern towards Ayako, she turned to the bone pile, directing her magic tendrils over to it, where each one wrapped around each of the bones. While that was going on, she layered another spell on top of them.
"Zhinga-no sethema, nemethe-ya."

The tendrils filled up with a black substance, which leaked into the bones they were holding. This dark fluid was corrosive, eating away at the bones, slowly dissolving them so that they had no hope of reassembling. Retaining her gaze on the bones, she walked sideways towards Ayako, while fumbling around for something in the pouch at her hip with her free hand. Eventually she took out a glass bottle filled with a bluish oily fluid, which she handed over to the magical girl.

"In that bottle is a healing salve," she explained to her. "You'll find that it might help with your pain, though your joints might sting a bit when you apply it. It is made with magical herbs, so it should act quickly. The bottle is made of flexible glass, so you need to squeeze it." In that sense the material was more like a tough plastic - after being bent it would return to its original shape.

edited 17th Dec '16 6:25:27 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.

At first they seemed to be managing: Sentinel has averted the missiles, Moreena was grappling with Armory Knight, Caleb's bullets were striking his weapons, and best of all Patches' call seemed to calm the beast down. But hopes of stopping him without a fight had already been dashed, and hopes of victory were not best assumed. The beast grew a new weapon, far more cannons than Caleb could damage, if his shots were even harming the weapons in the first place.

The cannon fired on Sentinel and bright blades cut Moreena,sending them both down. Caleb focused his eidolon on them: Sentinel was alive and moving, and Moreena still had life in her, though it seemed to be...elsewhere from her body.

He thought they've been defeated, not knowing the struggle against Defiance, happening where not even his eidolon could sense. Caleb sent it back to speak, though his lungs felt a sharp pain from bringing in the corruption from the graveyard. Reeling back he processed what he heard around him: enslaved, possessed. Was this "golden being" the distortion he perceived earlier?

Shaking it off Caleb turned to Patches and Friedrich saying "unless someone still has something they haven't tried, we need to retreat. You two get out of here and I'll see if I can wake up Moreena." With that he made his way to her, grabbing and shaking a tenticle. "Are you awake?" he asked with a wavering voice, "if you can turn into something lighter-" he didn't internally debate the physics of that right now, "-I can carry you away."

Glancing up, he saw Armory Knight pelted with many small creatures, though suspecting that this attack was from Sentinel that may have just been his way of making sense of what he was seeing. Either way, it was a possible distraction to buy more time with.

Further away, Half saw Gabe's new form vanish, but perceived his presence faintly. Of more concern was the gray creature causing all this mess. Half tried to reach into it mentally, only to have his grasp slip. Of course, after coming to Yula the only things his predecessors could affect were skylings; no reason to assume it'd be different for him. How annoying. Realizing that Caleb was one of those and right here, he focused his attention to him. It was a possibility, but risky.

Seeing no alternative, Half began approaching him.

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.

Gonna let Defiance respond to Gabe's taunts before I post for him.

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

Ayako's strange self-restoration earned an oddly raised eyebrow from Ethoya, but she nodded in approval. "You recover quickly," she noted. She glanced at the pile of ash that had once been the skeletal horror and added, "that thing won't be doing the same. What was it? I've encountered beings able to form mockeries of life from death. But only ever in the Spirit World." Once she was satisfied Ayako would be fine, she moved over to the remains to study them with a thoughtful frown.

[Snow Castle] (Gliosem, Rin, Gwenafer, Adam, Nick, Jackson, Alice)

...and now where was she? She'd wandered off from the monument to deal with something... hmm. Maybe she'd screwed up in a battle with a mage and lost some of her memories to their meddling? Or maybe some piece of Songtech had gone futzy? Or... maybe it was one of those curious trans-dimensional anomalies she'd wandered into. The last one made the most sense. Though she'd never reached one by accident before. It was usually meddling with that artifact she'd stolen. Back when she was still young and cocky. Funny how things changed.

Alice rubbed her head as she considered the group, hiding behind a wall while trying to look casual enough that she could claim she wasn't actually trying to hide. Was that a fairy? She'd read enough fairy tales about such beings and mistrust them. Some teenagers, Terrans^note humans from Earth by the look of it. Always nice to see some of her kind in a place like this, though they likely came from subtly different histories. Poor SOBs might not even have Captain Galactic comics where they came from. Then again, maybe their world also wasn't dying like her version of Earth was, so who was she to mock? (There were always Terrans in this realm. She had a theory about that...) A woman in a military uniform. She had mixed relations with military types; she was one herself, in a manner of speaking, as Chief Security Officer — no, former Chief Security Officer, now Chief Executive Officer — of Western Amalgamated's private military arm. But actual nation-state military forces tended not to appreciate mega-corporations raising their own armies. She'd have to avoid mentioning that she was technically an up-jumped mercenary. And a woman covered in scars. Reminded her of Samira, though hopefully this one wasn't a self-righteous hypocrite. And was that an artificial eye? Magical, or technological? In the latter case, Alice was impressed, but the if it was the former? The very idea of putting something like magic in her own skull made her physically nauseous.

She wasn't sure off-hand if any of them were magical; she could usually sense the tainted long before they entered visual range. But her head was still reeling from the funeral. Fragmented memories, once happy, now reminders of grief, drifting in and out of consciousness like chunks of jagged ice in the flowing river of her thoughts. She latched onto the metaphor, trying to will them to break and melt so she could just focus. And on that note, she inadvertently revealed herself as she groaned aloud, still massaging her temples. Well, best to show herself now.

Doing her best to look innocent — she supposed the tear-stains running down her face helped — she approached the group, hands in the air to indicate no intention of using the weapons she carried. "I... sorry, I'm lost." Very slowly, and keeping her tone diplomatic and professional, she said, "I... I'm Alice. I was just heading home from my friend's funeral, and uh, I think there was a spatial anomaly? Because this," she waved a hand towards the surrounding, still keeping it high and away from her weapons, "isn't Minneapolis."

edited 18th Dec '16 1:03:01 PM by KillerClowns

[Yukijou-minato ~ Snow Castle (Inner Ward)] (Rin, Gliosem, Gwenafer, Adam, Nick, Jackson, Alice)

Rin raised an eyebrow as she rested a hand on the hilt of her sword, listening to the stranger's song. Somehow, this curious individual had managed to slip in ahead of them. With her unique appearance, she would have been noticed by the guards, one of which would have told her about it. Most likely this was another one of the dreamscape's shenanigans, something that was beginning to annoy the Admiral.

Approaching the stairs, Rin observed this new woman. She seemed reminiscent of a geisha, with her makeup, her slightly fancy outfit, and her singing talent. As for the woman's blue hair, it wasn't unheard of to have hair that deviated from norm: her own second-in-command had black and pink hair.

"No, I have never seen this person before." Rin said, shaking her head. "She is not from around here." Taking a few more steps, Rin began ascending the stairs. She wasn't about to stop and chat with the stranger outside in the cold. While the weather didn't bother her in the least bit, the others weren't exactly dressed for below freezing temperatures, and considering Nick... "You complain a lot," she noted to the boy dryly.

Rin stopped in her tracks when she noticed the newest arrival. The woman, while clearly armed, showed no intention in being hostile. She pinched the bridge of her nose as the woman, Alice, stated that she encountered a spatial anomaly. The Admiral was beginning to sympathize with Nick, she was mildly annoyed at finding foreigners randomly popping up in Imperial territory.

"I am Admiral Rin Tachibana of the Senjima Empire," she said, projecting her voice to be heard by the two newcomers. She gestured with her hand towards their surroundings, "This is Yuki-jō, headquarters of the Imperial Navy's Northern Fleet. I'm more than willing to accept you here as guests at my home."

---

[Twilight Ball] (???, Amiluet, Ferisen)

A rather distinct young woman approached the buffet table. She was fair skinned, average height, slim, and modestly endowed, with a lovely freckled face. Her long auburn hair was drawn up in a ponytail that reached her waist. Her outfit consisted of a black tee shirt with an "I am the Queen" graphic printed on it, and a blue and green tartan miniskirt with thigh high platform boots. She wore a silver pendant beset with a red gem with a matching pair of earrings, which contrasted her emerald nails.

Looking around, she could have sworn she saw one of the performers there, but she couldn't find her now. Her brilliant green eyes fell upon a scone, or at least something that looked like a scone, which she liberated from the table.

Taking a bite from the pastry, she retreated back into the crowd, looking for someone else who might be interesting to follow around.

---

[Beta Town] (Ruka, Ari, Gon)

Ruka was briefly awed when Triumph transformed into a what she could best describe as a winged naga mage. Judging by the way Gon spoke of her, Kinaga would be a most powerful ally in this fight. And considering how dangerous Messengers are, they would need all the help they could get.

Ruka nodded in understanding towards Ari's explanation of Kinaga's attack. When Ari's scanner decided to malfunction, Ruka decided to step in with some brief exposition, "All Messengers are capable of adapting to what you throw at 'em, and they have a tendency of being pragmatic when they fight. This particular type of Messenger is what we call a Knight. It's highly mobile and packs a mean punch, but doesn't have terribly great defenses. They- GET DOWN!" Ruka tackled Ari to the ground as beam of white blazed by, narrowly missing them.

Helping Ari back up, Ruka turned to face the Knight, which was currently air hopping backwards faster than the Dragon Flame. She began charging up a bolt of electricity with her gauntlet, intent on scoring a hit on the evasive machine.

The Knight wildly fired beams of red and deep blue from the tips of its lances at Satori and Kinaga respectively as it continued to evade the oncoming flames and avoid the spiraling crystals. Looking around, the Knight locked on to Gon, before launching one of its lances at him.

At this moment, Ruka unleashed a bolt of lightning at her enemy, only for it to veer off and chase the thrown lance. Stunned, she failed to notice the Messenger swoop down and grab her with its free "hand". The machine tossed her into the path of the oncoming Dragon Flame before pursuing its thrown lance. Ruka collided with Kinaga's attack and was enveloped in a ball of fire.

As it retrieved the lance, a bolt of purplish white lightning struck the Knight in lower left leg. The Knight reflexively looked down at where it was struck. Upon noticing the melted metal and scorch marks, it began shaking, as if enraged, before raising both lances and unleashing twin beams of bright, blue-white energy at its attacker, blanketing the ground in frost and filling the air with mist.

[Yukijou-minato ~ Snow Castle (Inner Ward)] (Rin, Gliosem, Gwenafer, Adam, Nick, Jackson, Alice)

Gwenafer was just about to ask the blue haired woman for her name, when a second person stepped into view. At a first glance, she seemed to be a young girl, but upon closer inspection of her face she actually looked to be several years older than Gwenafer herself. A very pale face clearly stained by tears, strange but expensive looking clothes, and an impressive collection of weapons... Gwenafer wasn't sure what to make of her. At the moment, she seemed friendly enough though.

"The name's Gwenafer," Gwenafer said to both of the new women. She gestured towards Rin. "And yeah, what she said. But this is also some kind of crazy-ass magical dreamworld, or so I've been told."

As she looked over at the most recently arrived woman - Alice, apparently - again, her right eye suddenly decided to make a loud clicking noise, and her vision became blurry for a few seconds. Strange.

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

Yukijou-minato (Alice, Rin, Nick, Jackson, Adam, Gliosem, Gwenafer)

Gliosem was quite confused when two of the humans asked her if she was associated with "Rin", the fancy-uniformed lady. The two of them clearly looked very different, and why would a warrior (judging by the sword), especially one with an aura that suggested seriousness and formality, associate with a carefree musician?

But before she could say no, a sixth person arrived on the scene. Another sword-wielder by the looks of it^note that blade doesn't quite qualify as a sword, but it looks like one by the standards of Gliosem's planet of origin, though she carried a few more weapons as well. A few of what she guessed were some sort of explosive device given the detonation pins, and a strange barreled weapon she had never seen before. But as she gazed further at it, she felt something off about this woman, and focused more on her aura to get a better read on it - but gasped in shock at the sight. It was more like an anti-aura, as she couldn't really see it, but could feel a presence that seemed to mock magic itself.

Turning away from the otherwise neatly-yet-plainly dressed woman, she instead listened to Rin introduce herself, followed by Gwenafer. Confusion returned to Gliosem's face when she heard the scarred young lady mention a "magical dreamworld" - this place certainly didn't look very magical. There was a distinct lack of ambient magic about the place, such that she had to actually focus on the group's auras in order to see them. Gwenafer's looked a pleasant shade of yellowish green, indicating calmness, but didn't look any different over the scarred portion of her face - apparently if there had been an injury there, it didn't bother her now. However, the artifical eye definitely had some sort of magic about it. Those of the three teenage boys varied from reddish-orange to yellow, as a spectrum of annoyance and/or unease. And looking back to Rin, she saw that her sword also had some aural traces on it.

As Rin had included a last name introduction, Gliosem decided to do the same, and even follow the example of the rest of her greeting. "I am Gliosem Baoshra, of the Four Bardic Sisters of Dren- I mean, of Orenya." This place clearly wasn't even the same planet after all, as the sun^note I couldn't find any indication of the weather besides snow on the ground, so let's just say the sun is out? was far brighter and impossible to look at directly and the sky was more bluish than purplish. She looked to Rin. "I have not heard of such an empire, but is this by any chance the planet Earth?" It had to be - the presence of humans, the exceedingly bright sun, the blue sky... She looked around at the rest of the group for confirmation.

When she glanced back at Alice, she felt that same tinge of apprehension, as well as a sharp pain in the middle of her forehead, right underneath the gem on her circlet. "I... I apologize for being so taken aback," she said to her, her voice still as smooth and melodic as ever despite the slight nervousness, "but I couldn't help but notice the great interference in your aura - it seems you have quite a curse placed upon you." She shivered, not only out of nervousness, but also because of the cold - even her long sleeves weren't enough, so she lifted her cape forward with her wings and bundled herself up in it.

edited 20th Dec '16 12:04:09 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.