[Market Place]
Adam tiredly looked over at Rin. "Well...that's the problem. It hurts everywhere. It's like I'm being jabbed with a thousand needles."
When asked about the gems in his pocket, he glanced down, noticing how violently they were glowing. "Oh? These? They...never did this before."
"Those are gems Jacky gave us so we could power our weapons and the rest of his inventions." Nick said, "Usually, to activate them, you gotta put force on them—like I wear metal gloves, and I slam them together to get them to work." He then worriedly looked back at the gems. "But Adam's right; they shouldn't be doing this."
Marie looked at Frendrich's owner. "We're not sure if they're magical or not—Jackson got these a long time ago when he still lived in Oxford—but I assure you we never seen this before. The only person who can really examine these is, like, thousand of miles away." She put a gentle hand on Adam's shoulder. "Sweetie, I know you're worried about the water, but we need to keep you hydrated."
Adam nervously looked at the bottle, shifting himself to be more comfortable on his friend's back. "...O-Ok...How cold is it? I think I saw you guys nearly freezing when you touched it."
[Castle-Market]
To his relief, the doctor—who was a hell of a lot younger looking than he expected—arrived. And even better, Giloslem made the gate appear.
"Don't worry." Jackson said, "If anything happens, I'm prepared. You just focus on getting your wings recovered."
Without waiting, he went through the gate. To his amazement, they ended up in a market area—no longer covered in snow. It was almost like they went to a totally different dream realm.
There, he saw Rin and his friends.
"Guys!"
His three friends turned around, huge smiles on their faces.
"Jackson!" Marie said cheerfully as he rushed over.
"Thank fuck." Nick said, "We got a bit of a situation here.."
Yukijou-minato ~ Snow Castle [Main Keep 1st Floor ~ Parlor] (Megumi, Raven; Gliosem; Jackson)
Raven had taken out a small note pad, and began jotting down notes as she observed her patient. "I've familiarized myself with some of the aftereffects of spells; certain treatments are ill advised in certain circumstances due to possible complications," she said, glancing up from her writing, "and while I'm not exactly well versed in spellcraft, I can proscribe you a generic aether suppliment. It may help with any fatigue incurred through excessive magic use."
She moved Gliosem's cape out of the way to get a better look at the sumiri's injuries. "Hmm, wings, thora-type, neopteran, unknown subspecies... ambassador caste?"
"She's not from Aria," interjected Megumi.
Raven scowled slightly, "You could have fooled me," she commented, "still, her wings bear a striking resemblance to those of the thora, standard treatment for them would most likely work here as well; her injuries do not appear to be all that serious, however, agitating them too much may create further problems," she said, before addressing Gliosem, "No flying in the near future for you.”
The cat-eared maid tapped the tengu doctor, herding her towards the portal, "You can finish your inspection on the other side; right now we have higher priorities to attend to."
"But she mentioned evil—"
"All the more reason to hurry, your services may be needed."
Shinkyo Market District (Megumi, Raven, Rin; Friedrich, Sinistrina; Adam, Jackson, Marie, Nick)
The merchant raised his hands slowly, "Okay, okay, I'll stop trying to sell the slime to you— would you be interested in it, ma'am?" he asked Sinistrina, "Not only could it be used in necromancy," to which the slime recoiled slightly, "but you mentioned not being able to communicate with the dead. If I recall correctly, that is essentially Necromancy 101. Speaking of which..."
The man moved slowly, as to not upset the doll again, and retrieved another book from his stock, creatively titled Necromancy 101. "While it is geared more towards beginners, it does cover the core skill of communication with the dead," he said, "fifteen flan."
Meanwhile, Rin shook her head in response to Sinistrina; "I am afraid I can not make even a decent cup of coffee with my powers; from experience I know that I would pass out from exertion before I would be able to heat it up sufficiently enough."
To Friedrich she said, "My castle is a military base and the headquarters of the Northern Fleet. Not only that, but the Balamar Empire has limited options when it comes to getting there, the fastest route involves sailing through a giant wall of ice," she said, tugging on one of her gloves, "and yet I still worry."
"Intelligence has indicated that the Balamar Empire has been researching more esoteric and morally dubious technologies, with mad artists in the place of rational academics," she stated, pinching the bridge of her nose, "and this is on top of their capital ship, while being a logistical nightmare, single-handedly routed the total naval might of their neighbor, the former Vargas Empire."
Taking a deep breath she turned back around to face the others. "These gems seem to be similar to aether crystals," she mentioned, "if that is the case, I have an idea to temporarily contain the problem. I can form a barrier of ice capable of withstanding the blast of an artillery shell, so in case these gems prove to be volatile..." she trailed off as she began forming the start of a circular dome of ice, leaving enough room for Adam to deposit his gems should he choose to.
"That bottle is chilled, but no longer frozen," she told Adam, "speaking of which, I can administer a soothing chill which should ease the pain," she said.
She was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of those who had been left behind at Yukijō-minato. "Megumi," she briskly said, "I see you have brought along another child—"
"I am NOT a child!"
Megumi gave a curt head nod in return, "The tengu doctor I called for, m'lady," she explained, before stiffening up when she noticed Adam's condition, the troublingly glowing gems, and the merchant, her hand sliding towards her hidden pouch of combat needles.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Garden in the Sky (Emriel, Amiluet, Claire)
So Claire said she was theatrical, but didn't perform? Emriel scratched her head. "There's a difference?"
When Claire complimented Amiluet on the song, the short and stout sumiri bounced on her heels and smiled. To Emriel she said, "See? She thinks I'm more than decent!" And to Claire, "Thanks! Uh, leprechauns? Is that what they call tantan where you're from?"
Emriel facepalmed. "Isn't it obvious that she's not from Orenya?" To Claire she said, "I dunno what a leprechaun is either, but tantan are these really furry and colorful animals covered in arms. Love to climb trees and steal fruit and trinkets; they're considered pests 'round here."
Amiluet grumbled. "How the raekra was I supposed to know she's a foreigner? She wears a cape!"note Then she looked back at Claire and smiled, proudly tapping her staff on the ground (a few images of flowers hovered around the brushlike faux flame). "Well, the fairy didn't give it to me; actually she let me borrow a magic-boosting hairpin and I created it myself with said magic. I... what?" She saw how Emriel was staring at her.
"Way to put your foot in your mouth, Lute."
"As I said, I gave the pin back! So ha." Amiluet stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Psychedelic eggnog place?" she asked Claire with a tone of confusion. "Did you have to take a drug of some sort to go there? A place like that sounds fun."
"We took a drug of some sort to end up here," said Emriel, growling in exasperation. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some seeds to plant."
While they planted all the plants they could plant, Amiluet scowled at Emriel upon seeing she only managed to salvage three seeds. For a while the two sisters caught up, with Emriel telling of how she found Eneritan and Amiluet telling of how the Twilight Ball was suddenly attacked by sunestre mages. Amiluet's complaint of her solo performance at the Twilight Ball backfiring horribly solicited a groan and a "What did you expect?" from Emriel; Emriel's mention of the quadruple eclipse causing Eneritan to fall elicited a similar groan and a "How could you forget that tale?" from Amiluet.
Finally Amiluet noticed the large green seed Claire was holding, and glided right up to her, perhaps a bit too close. "Aha, so you're the thief!"
At the mention of the word "thief", Emriel listened in, took a moment to think about what Amiluet was getting at, and then her eyebrows tried their very hardest to reach her hairline. "Oh! Duh. Why did I not remember that story?" To Claire she explained. "You see, there is this legend on Orenya of the Emerald Seed. It is said to be the source of the Hall of Healing's magic. Back then the healers of Eneritan were very restrictive about what sort of people it would cure. Well, there was this one thief who stole the seed from the sky when all the moons and sun were in a line. He planted it on the land, so that the hall's magic would be accessible to all. Only problem is, that seed was also what kept Eneritan afloat, so it fell. Not only that, but too many people picked the healing fruit of the tree that grew out of the seed, rendering it useless."
"And then once the field where the tree was planted ended up in Zurem - a world of eternal night - its healing magic actually reversed, and now it's the evil evil Field of Souls, barren and with soul-sucking crystals as its 'fruit'." Suddenly Amiluet looked at Emriel. "He? HE? The thief was a girl, you know!"
"No, it was a boy. And I'm pretty sure it was a sune."
"The story does not specify! And sune are not sunestre!"
"They're not humans either!"
And so they continued bickering in this fashion for several minutes, given no interruptions of course.
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Lacriment, Alex)
Once the vampire emerged from the Pool of Despair, Lacriment wrapped a cloak-wing around her shoulders. "I would be either impressed or filled with pity for anyone who would want to enter the Pool of Despair more than once. And on the other end, I would all but expect people to want to enter the Pool of Wishes more than once. The pools use the same water, interestingly enough. They feed into each other. Once one ruminates long enough over desires, it can be all too easy to flow into the realm of despair. And once one is willing to face their own inner fears, it is easy to turn more proudly to one's own wishes."
Releasing her "wing", the priestess moved - floated, seemingly - in an arc until she faced Alex. "You wear the face of mortal fear, but you are undying. You bore witness to horror that left a scar upon skin that was still soft." She sighed. "What troubles you, and have you found any answers?"
Briefly her gaze diverted to the instrument of crystal pipes, still sitting on its cart in front of the altar. One undying, another undead. And one in a sort of third state between. And Emperor Imeriz and myself. It is a blessing indeed that this reminder of the harmony I stand on one end of came to this cathedral.
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.
Garden in the Sky (Claire; Amiluet, Emriel)
"Yeah," she quipped, "performers get paid for what they do. I... don't," she said, her face downcast.
She brightened up slightly, "Oh no, leprechauns are little bearded dudes who make shoes and screw people over. I still can't figure out how they managed to get so many treasure chests full of pipe bombs so quickly..." she said, shuddering slightly, "Any who, I'll keep an eye out for somethin' that looks like a rainbow monkey-thing, especially since they like trinkets and stuff. One of those little buggers will most likely have found one of my rings."
When Amiluet pointed out her cape, Claire smiled and gave a twirl. "And it is awesome," she said, before narrowing her eyes a bit when the sumiri explained how she made the staff. "Awesome," she said sarcastically, "a stick made from borrowed fairy magic. It'll be like a bugzapper for fae— hmm, I wonder..." she said, her annoyance giving way to an amused smirk.
"Anyway, you don't really need drugs to go to the land of the fae, just abysmal luck, I guess. It's nice at first, and then the unseelies show up. Ugh..." she shuddered again, "Imagine a sugar coated nightmare. That wants to violently maim and/or kill you slowly and painfully. While smiling and giggling with glee when they're not ultra creepy."
As the planted the seeds and plants, Claire listened intently to the sisters adventures, and before she knew it, she had a pig-tailed sumiri violating her personal space. "Oh my, that must be a new personal record for infamy, and I'm not a thief, I'm a salvager; the place was comin' down around my ears, it looked valuable, so I nabbed it for safe keepin'," she told Amiluet, before edging away slightly as the sisters bickered.
"Ya know," she said, interrupting the sisters' argument, "I guess I could see why they were so stingy about who they allowed to get the fruit if that's what happened. Happens. Will happen? Urg, time travel is annoyin'..." she shook her head, "Anyway, I think a bunch of facts got lost durin' story time, the first two you lovely ladies pointed out: one, I'm a chick; two, I'm a human; three, everything was crashin' down before I took the seed; four, we haven't planted it yet; and five, what's a sune?"
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Alex, Lacriment)
Enveloped by the comforting wing of the priestess of the void, Alex was able to calm down and relax. "I fear that I am far from powerful enough to confront my uncle; instead, I am merely a pawn for him to use against my father," she quietly said, holding her arms tight to her chest, "And my power is barely sufficient to keep the strange bedfellows I call my associates safe."
"As to any answers... My uncle doesn't like having his plans interfered with, he acts irrationally. Unfortunately, my mother died pointlessly endeavoring to do just that, and my uncle still succeeded," she said, sighing. The vampire glanced up, red eyes met those of a mask, "It is much too soon for me to confront my uncle now. I will stick to what I've been doing for over a century now; continue my search for a trump card, hunt monsters, gather allies, become stronger."
edited 11th Dec '17 4:10:17 PM by WillDeRegio
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Shinkyo Market District (Rin, Megumi, Raven, Nick, Adam, Jackson, Marie, Gliosem, Friedrich, Sinistrina)
Curious, Sinistrina opened the book and glanced over the table of contents. A chapter on the anatomy of the soul, an overview of theories about the afterlife, many chapters on the various fates a soul can face when trapped on the mortal plane, an overview of the planes of life and of spirit, a very brief introduction to reanimation... ah, communicating with souls, the longest chapter in the book. She raised her eyebrows. Well, I went about this backwards, didn't I? I learned the more advanced forms of this magic first, it seems.
And then she heard the price. "15 flan? Do you expect me to pay you in desserts?" She looked around, and there in the distance was a building standing amongst all the stalls, with a sign saying "Lovely Patisserie" on top. "I jest of course..." though the distinct solemnity to her tone of voice made it hard to believe, "...and all I have are buttons anyway." From her hand bag (that had replaced her staff, apparently) she withdrew a coin with two holes in it.
A coin which Friedrich quickly snatched with a dark tendril conjured from Totenschatten's deathly tip. "Don't waste your time with him. That book looks like something you can write yourself. Try the empty one." Sinistrina did have to admit he was probably right... a quick flip to the chapter on communication with the dead revealed a ritual similar to a practice she learned from the local fortune-teller, but failed to pull off herself. Not to mention the content on souls...
She put the book back down. "I will have to think about it. And what I can accomplish with the slime, I can accomplish with..." and a quick glance back at the group, "...my own magic, which, incidentally, can also trap souls," she decide to finish with. Picking up Friedrich, she turned away, for there were important matters to attend to.
Meanwhile, after everyone was through the portal, Gliosem followed, feeling the fog in the portal seemingly flow through her mind once more, empowering her, making everything paradoxically clear...
...And diverting her focus from her body, because she barely noticed having tripped over a loose cobblestone and fallen to her knees. The pain was sharp, but she was able to take a moment to calm herself, as if magically easing the pain away. She knew her knees were still bruised though, and so she stood up and held Megumi's shoulder for support. And there she nearly fell back again, for she saw a prominent dark spot amongst the group Jackson had run over to. Two actually - a big one and a little one. She quickly looked away, as looking sent a shiver not through her body, but through her soul somehow.
And Megumi was walking right towards that group. Sighing, Gliosem had no choice but to follow, but she decided to be very wary. In fact, after Megumi introduced the crow tengu, Gliosem whispered to the alert maid, "Be careful; see those two there, the little boy and the woman in the tall hat? They have an evil aura about them; I think they're what I sensed earlier." In fact, to her, they seemed to be cloaked in a thin layer of black mist. The boy, especially, looked as if there was something utterly wrong about his identity.
And that boy, who Gliosem didn't even realize was a doll, was pondering over what Nick and Marie said about the gems. They glowed when force was applied to them... but what mysterious force was causing that now? He even explained to this new teen, Jackson, gesturing the blunt blade of Totenschatten at the gems. Then to Rin's comment on the Balamar empire he said, "Sounds like a needless worry. You might just need a distraction to help you relax. Maybe experience something warm once in a while."
Sinistrina, meanwhile, heard what Rin said about her idea to contain the gems in an icy shell; her remark on "aether crystals" was what really grabbed her. After a quick glance at the gems, she said, "Ether crystals you say? But I do not see any ether in them."
"Neither do I," said Friedrich. "They apparently store energy created by physical force."
Sinistrina pressed a finger to her chin. "Energy created by physical force..." She glanced between Rin and the teens. "Sealing off potential volatility is one thing, but what about preventing it altogether? I may be able to drain the energy out of those gems; from the sound of things they may be overloaded somehow." She looked over at the teens, especially Jackson. "Does that sound about right?"
Gliosem's eyes flew open. "I don't think draining the energy out of them is going to help! I don't even think they're magical... and what if draining them hurts Adam as well?"
Sinistrina took a step back... but then recovered. "They do not contain any ether... so they couldn't be connected to his life force." She looked at Jackson. "Could they?"
It was Gliosem's turn to step back. So that is where that evil aura came from... "Um, let's try healing him the standard way first."
"Come to think of it," said Friedrich to Sinistrina, "couldn't you also administer a soothing chill that can ease his pain? Two would be better than—"
"Friedrich!" Sinistrina gave him a look of shock.
The doll briefly lifted his arms in a shrug attempt. "I was being sarcastic." He looked back around the others. "But really, healing his body may help temporarily, but if those gems are the problem, and if they're not supposed to glow, then eliminating that glow may be the best solution." Resheathing Totenschatten, he held out his arms as if to accept the gems.
Sinistrina, meanwhile, took a closer look at the new arrivals. A felinoid maid on guard, a little girl who appeared to be half bird, and a... fairy? It was surprising to see one as large as a human. But for now she decided that introductions would have to wait.
edited 11th Dec '17 11:25:04 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.
[Market]
Marie's eyes widened at the little girl.
"Oh my goodness!" she said, patting her head, "You're just a little cutie patootie!"
Jackson blinked. "...She's a doctor."
Marie twisted her lip. "Doesn't make her less cute! Just look at her, aww!"
"No, I mean she's probably not liking you patronizing her." He looked at Adam, "And we really should be focusing on helping him get better."
Adam slowly pulled the gems out his pocket and handed him to Jackson. The pain didn't go away immediately, but his dizziness started to subside.
Nick laid him on a nearby bench, then anxiously looked at the others. "Ok...let's hope this healing thing you guys are talking about actually works."
Shinkyo Market District (Megumi, Raven, Rin; Friedrich, Sinistrina; Adam, Jackson, Marie, Nick)
Rin rummaged through her pocket, before beaming a few coins at the merchant, who deftly caught them. "I am fairly certain that that should cover the cost of the book, so begone," she told him.
Turning around, the Admiral took the book and handed it over to Sinistrina. "Consider it a gift," she said to both the witch and her doll. She then glanced over at her maid as she responded to Friedrich, "I suppose you might be right..."
She gave the pair a slightly intrigued look at their mention of seeing ether, but said nothing of it. Instead, she focused on the gems; "If they store power like a battery or an aether crystal, and they are overloaded with energy, would not the logical choice of action would be to expend energy until they are at a safer level, either through their intended use or by either of our means of energy draining?" she asked, before pausing for a moment. "Speaking of which, you remind me a little of one of my fellow Admirals," she told Sinistrina.
Megumi, unaware of what Gliosem could see, stood by the sumiri's side, staring cautiously at the duo her master was interacting with, "The woman seems innocuous enough, barring the outfit (but that's nothing to complain about, you should see Admiral Matsui); I'm more concerned with her automaton," she quietly said, fiddling slightly with a trio of needles.
Raven, meanwhile, glowered at Marie. "Thank you for the compliment, but please don't ruffle my feathers," she petitioned, readjusting her hair slightly, before flipping to an empty page to begin jotting down notes pertaining to a new potential patient: Adam.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Catacombs of the Four Swords (Ferisen, Milly)
"A prison?" said Ferisen in response to Milly's remark about her staff. "For what? For all the undead fauna? For..." she gulped, "...for souls?"
Taking a glance back at the stairway, she said, "Moving those stone blocks is actually a psychic art called telekinesis. Some argue that the psychic arts are easier than spellwork, as they involve a direct interaction between one's mind and the collective will that permeates all of existence. I like to think of telekinesis specifically as moving something from a shadow." And then she cocked her head in confusion. "It does not defeat the purpose at all. A phylactery is an object someone has transferred their soul to, and the process creates a tether of sorts to the body. This tether wants to maintain itself I think, and that's why magic that would bring me closer to mine works especially well."
Then with a look of shock she realized she had left her latria in the main chapel, and instinctively wondered if it was safe. Especially now that she felt not only its presence, but that of two other people inside the chapel. One was Lacriment. And the other... just felt utterly wrong. So did Lacriment in a way, though her presence was an overpowering, calming shadow upon the place. This made Ferisen feel a little better, as it overshadowed that other being that was just not quite right.
For now she watched as Milly retrieved some books on otherworldly miasma, two of which she couldn't read. Confused, Ferisen approached her. "I suppose these fish have no way of knowing which language you speak. Lacriment mentioned the language of emotion... but these are books. Books do not use that language, which I believe would be uninscribable." She looked down at a salmon, holding a hazelnut over the mists. "I need you to translate this into something she can understand."
A giggle penetrated the walls. "You cannot change the form of what decides to present itself, you know. That would be like receiving a tarot reading and swapping out one of the cards after reading them." Of course, Ferisen, and probably Milly, had no idea what tarot was; whether Lacriment intended this despite that fact was left to question. "You know, fear has a tendency to shut down the mind. And books have an unfortunate reputation of being judged by their covers - and overlooking the words is another form of a cover."
Asking the salmon questions was not allowed, but asking a person was, and Ferisen did exactly that. "Otherworldly miasma?" With a small shudder, she remembered the Field of Souls, which was the first unfortunate step on her journey to lichdom inside the Dream. "Are you perhaps looking for the source of all those undead dangers? It seems to me that either a curse or a particularly powerful mage may be reanimating those things."
While awaiting Milly's response, Ferisen tossed a hazelnut right into the mouth of a salmon that happened to yawn at that moment. "Please bring me a book about the characteristics of liches, so I may know what to expect." An easy request; the salmon brought up a book entitled "The Price of Immortality". But she didn't open it just yet.
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Lacriment, Alex)
There was.... not so much a glint in Lacriment's eyes, but an almost imperceptible increase in feeling that could only be read by the heart. "Can you die? Vampires do have their weaknesses, but guns and swords seem like they would only briefly inconvenience you. And if the two of you are related, perhaps your own weakness could give an insight to his own."
She glided right over the altar, stopping next to the latria, which had just begun to play an ethereal melody into both of their minds. One with a strange note of curiosity. Shaking her head, she flourished her cloak at the cart, pushing it against a wall and covering it with a blanket of pure shadow. If that thing keeps playing, she'll give her soul away. Though she did mention she was a performer...
"You said earlier that sunlight does not affect you that much," she said to Alex. "Do you know what does?"
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.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Garden in the Sky (Claire, Emriel, Amiluet)
The bickering between the two Bardic Sisters halted when Claire posited some questions about the story. It was Amiluet who answered first, fiddling with a pigtail as she spoke. "Will happen. I think right now we're in the middle of the story... and this is the part where the seed is planted. And it looks like the story's been altered and now we have a happy ending! Gee, the saying is true, time works differently inside dreams."
Emriel nodded, then shot a disapproving glance at Amiluet. "You didn't answer her questions." And back to Claire, "Well, three, I think the eclipse at least partly explained the place falling as well..."
"Eclipse?" Amiluet interjected. "That happened before the thief took the seed. But eh, dream time. That's the only explanation I can give. ...You know, now would be a good time to plant the seed."
"By the way, a sune is one of Orenya's ancient races, inhabiting the land. Just like how the sumi inhabited the sky - Eneritan included - and the fylin inhabited the seas. The sumi and sune evolved over time though, sumi becoming sumiri like us, and sune becoming sunestre, our enemies in the war. Sune are known for having pointy ears."
Emriel frowned when Claire pointed out how performers got paid. "So in other words, you don't get much of an audience." She shrugged. "You're a bit clumsy, sure, but you do have some neat tricks up your sleeve. Heck, if I were to count the number of times I've sprained an ankle on stage..."
Amiluet's expression was more of a pout. "It's not about money you know. If you present something to the world, you're a performer! Simple as that! Art in general is like that - you create something and you show it off, hoping to bring inspiration to those around you. That is the true reason why Reel and I perform; the money is just a nice side effect." Of course, she failed to consider the likelihood that Claire's world was more capitalistic than Orenya's economy was.
After everything was planted, flowers began to spring up all around. In fact, for a moment, the ground reminded Emriel of Magdalene's world, only the flowers came in many colors besides just yellow. And there, in the midst of it all, was a nice patch of dirt just longing for something to be planted in it.
Eldritch Factory - Heart Forge (Noire, Ashleigh)
Ashleigh frowned when she saw the black buglike wooden creature emerge from the fleshy mass. A creature that was called... Blackwood. Eyes briefly widening, Ashleigh held her hand up by her shoulders. "...Oh, my apologies, seems we're talking about different Blackwoods entirely. Yours is that creature there; mine is a place. ...Well, it isn't exactly mine; I just accidentally wandered into it inside this dream, along with my companions. One of whom was Phoebe," she added to Noire.
"Anyway, it is curious; that Blackwood had trees that looked uncannily like your child, and a ground made of skin." She cringed; that place definitely had an evil air about it. "Inhabiting it was a sentient raven called the Dark Caller. The other Guardians and I wound up having tea with him, and it was then that he told us that we were inside a dream. That is how I know."
To Eternus's other comment, Vertilia released Ashleigh from the vine she held her with and used that to bow as best she could for a tree. In lieu of blushing, knobby protrusions appeared on where her cheeks would be on her trunk-face. As she giggled, leaves, as well as a few cherries and flowers, fell out onto the floor where they vanished. "Oh no, Vi Willow is not exactly a goddess, though she does occasionally manifest in a form that is like one. She's the one who created the world of Mystrica."
Ashleigh turned her head to look back at the earth goddess. "By that definition, she would be a goddess. Just like how G—" She was about to say "how God created the universe", when she remembered how Noire went on that tirade about the Servants of Humanity. She did not want to have to repeat that conversation. "...Well, on the other hand, perhaps not."
That was when Eternus threw Blackwood against the wall, where it dissolved away. All the color drained out of Ashleigh's face as her hands covered her mouth. When she removed them, she pointed one, shaking, at the dissolving creature. "You... you just killed your own child! Do you have so many that you don't even care?! No wonder Noire doesn't like you!"
Turning to Noire, she tried to speak more mildly, though her voice was still clearly shaking. "Noire, where is your mother? And is there any way to contact her in this place?"
Shinkyo Market District (Rin, Megumi, Raven, Nick, Adam, Jackson, Marie, Friedrich, Sinistrina)
While Sinistrina and Friedrich were thanking Rin for the book, Gliosem gave Megumi a look of surprise, and then a closer look at the boy. Indeed, there was something unnatural about his face and his overall proportions... he looked like a very well-crafted doll, in fact. A doll that moved and talked and wielded black magic. To say that Gliosem was uneasy about all this would be an understatement. However, the appearance of Phantom had gotten her a bit used to soul-bearing automata, at the least.
For now, Gliosem just nodded at Megumi and watched the conversation from a distance. Right now Raven seemed more interested in Adam than her.
"I do, do I?" said Sinistrina when Rin mentioned the resemblance to another admiral. "Is this other admiral a necromancer as well? They would make effective - and terrifying - military officials." That she knew from experience, although thus far the Deathly Glade received no threat significant enough to warrant a battalion of zombies.
Then she noted how Adam felt a little better when he handed the gems to Jackson. She nodded. "I agree with Rin. If the gems caused Adam such discomfort while they were in his pocket, then as you hold onto them, it is only a matter of time before they affect you as well," she told Jackson.
Friedrich, meanwhile, took note of the odd bird girl, looking her up and down. At first glance he thought she was another doll, but that definitely looked like skin on her face. "I've never seen anyone quite like you before. How'd you get to be part bird anyway?"
edited 17th Dec '17 12:41:55 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.
Catacombs of the Four Swords (Milly; Ferisen)
Milly shook her head, visibly aghast, "No, nothing like that; it's for storing the miasma. At best, it can be repelled or contained, but not destroyed, no matter what we've tried," she said sadly.
Giving Ferisen's explanation on what she did, and the nature of her abilities, Milly gave an understanding "oh" and said nothing more on the topic.
Instead, she turned to taking a crack at understanding the texts provided to her. Opening the last book, the one least likely to fall apart in her hands, she skimmed through the pages, looking for anything that caught her eye. "Dionysus?" she said, recognizing a familiar name among many unfamiliar ones, "I've heard of him, he's Vespia's patron god of the arts... but this book is from another world...?"
She puzzled on the anomaly and what it could mean, until Ferisen asked her about the miasma. "Ah, yes, the miasma is the source of the animate dead, and it is the result of a curse," she said. "The specifics are lost to time, but long ago, there was a man who was exiled from his homeland. In his travels, he arrived in Magna Terras. We showed him hospitality, but there was an incident of some sort, and he grew furious at us. In his blind fury, he cursed our country by invoking some unknown deity he worshiped. And that's when the miasma began showing up."
"The miasma is a strange, shadowy, "purple" substance, which takes the form of either a gas or a liquid. Its properties are erratic; it doesn't always reanimate things immediately, things not native to Magna Terras may or may not be reanimated, and it in its base form, the miasma is only found in Magna Terras," she said.
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Alex, Lacriment)
Alex paused for a long moment, carefully thinking over what to say. She didn't exactly want to go on about what made her tick, but it seemed— felt like the appropriate course of action to take. The priestess didn't seem to be the type to actively harm her.
"I can indeed die. I can only heal so much before needing to feed on blood," she said, "and overtaxing my regenerative abilities results in blood lust, and that would lead to a downward spiral into becoming a very kill-able mindless monster with many of the "traditional" weaknesses."
She took a deep breath before continuing, "Sunlight weakens or even prevents me from using some of my more esoteric abilities," she informed Lacriment. "Getting impaled in the heart, while not fatal, does immobilize a vampire. Fire is also rather efficient in slowing down a vampire, though some are capable of shrugging it off. In addition, vampires are prone to developing OCD and having no sense of direction in cities."
Alex tapped her chin a few times, "Of course, using sufficient enough amounts of explosives would work. But that would be rather impractical for me to utilize against my uncle."
Garden in the Sky (Claire; Amiluet, Emriel)
"OK! Let's go plant the Doom Tree of Doom!" exclaimed Claire, clapping her hands together. Grabbing a trowel, she began digging a hole in the conspicuous patch of dirt, "I'd rather not do unnecessary meddlin' with time; it's as confusin' as it is. Perhaps through this dream, you guys can figure out some way of fixin' the tree situation or somethin'," she said.
She glanced back over her shoulder, "So, two sides in conflict. Classic. What happened to those felines you mentioned?" she asked.
"Anyway, I'm not clumsy— OK, maybe a little— and I don't exactly perform for audiences; I'm more of an adventurer," she said, shrugging casually, "as for money, I could always fight a mummy or somethin'."
[Market]
Marie gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, pumpkin. Couldn't resist; don't worry, I won't do it again."
Jackson glared at Raven and lowered her book. "Hey, I believe Megumi called you to help Gliosem, right? I think you should do that first. We'll take care of our friend." He looked over at Adam, "How are you feeling?"
Adam looked up. "It still stings a little, but I'm not dizzy anymore."
"Ok, so we have some progress." Jackson looked wearily at Rin. "Are you sure you want to handle these? My biggest concern is the same thing happening to you...especially since we literally just got you back."
"If she can control it like she said," Nick said, "Then maybe it won't be a big deal! Don't be so paranoid, Jacky!"
"Don't call me Jacky, asshole." Jackson sighed, "And it's not paranoia; it's a safety concern." With some reluctance, he handed the gems to Rin. "Please be careful."
Marie sat next to Adam and let him lay his head on her lap. She rubbed his shoulder gently, like a mother soothing a child.
"I'm so sorry." Adam said, "I-I didn't mean to make everyone do all of this for me. I feel awful..."
"Oh, sweetie!" Marie said, "You have nothing to be sorry for! What's more important is that you start to feel better, ok? We're gonna let these people heal you and then we'll see what's next on our agenda."
edited 20th Dec '17 12:46:36 PM by Masterofchaos
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Garden in the Sky (Emriel, Amiluet, Claire)
While Amiluet helped Claire plant the Emerald Seed, she giggled at the mention of felines. "It's fylin, not feeline." Since Orenya had nothing resembling cats, she had no idea what the word "feline" actually meant. "They are pretty neutral in the war, though once in a while a specific clan will aid one side. They're not really important anyway."
"Yeah they're kinda uncivilized," said Emriel as she pushed some soil over the seed with her foot. "Anyway, you say you're an adventurer? So you perform for uh, people who get in your way? By the way, a mummy... isn't that like a funeral practice?" She scratched her head.
"I think so. Some process of wrapping up a corpse to preserve it. I can understand why that would be a moneymaker though. When someone winds up undead, they can cause all sorts of trouble."
"Also did you mention meddling with time?" Emriel asked Claire, scratching her head. "Yeah it can be taxing. Not only does it mess up a lot of stuff, it also shortens the life of anyone who attempts it. Travel too far or meddle too much, you die."
"Have you ever time-traveled, or known someone who has?" asked Amiluet. "I've often wondered how it works... though I'd never use it of course."
While they were talking, the planted seed sprouted, bearing a stalk the exact emerald-ish shade as the seed it left. If one paid attention to the sprout, one could even see it growing taller.
Catacombs of the Four Swords (Ferisen, Milly)
Ferisen nodded as Milly explain the miasma of Magna Terras. "Usually the best way to remove a curse is to eliminate the source of it, but it seems a deity has placed a curse upon the land. If that case, the best option is to first identify the god that caused it, then try to communicate with it to see what it wants, and then undertake whatever quest is required for the curse to be removed. Perhaps some information about the gods of your world would be a good place to start."
"There is a similarly cursed land on Orenya called the Field of Souls. It does not animate the dead, but it does draw people's souls out of their bodies, where the crystals in the field can trap them. But this specific one animates the dead, obviously." She touched the crystal on her forehead. "There is a legend of a tree stolen from the heavens that is said to be the source of its curse, but the source is long gone. Fortunately it is only a small part of the planet, so everyone just leaves it alone." Or takes advantage of it, she thought with a shudder.
Leaving Milly to find more info, Ferisen opened the book the one salmon had given her. And... it was written in a language Ferisen couldn't read. However, she recognized it as something similar to the fabled languages of Earth. Sighing, she flipped through the book, seeing if any of the illustrations revealed anything... when she came across pages written in Orenya's native language, Latori. And it so happened to be a chapter titled "Path 6: The Phylactery". Eyes widening, Ferisen spoke to Milly once more. "Milly, you might want to take a look at those books you cannot read. Some specific parts may be in a language you recognize. ...I wonder why that is..."
A familiar giggle resounded through the room. "Then perhaps it is destiny that you find that part, and only that part, of the book. That all other information is irrelevant."
How odd... Then again, this was a dream; surreal occurrences like this were likely the norm. Ferisen even recalled a scholar on the psychic arts saying that these occurrences were important lessons learned nowhere else.
She took a quick peek at the chapter. It began with a brief overview of the methods one can use to seal their soul inside an object, and how that object then becomes their weakness. One interesting bit she read was that someone's body does not necessarily die depending on the method, but that they usually become something less than human if they don't. And that if they do die, typically their magical abilities become more powerful as they decay.note
Somberly, she closed the (rather short) book and dropped it into the mist. She spoke only to a salmon as she held a hazelnut over the mist: "I need to know what happens when a soul becomes locked inside an object in a dream, and whether it can return to reality."
All that appeared was a pool of fog, which quickly vanished. No feelings or visions or books or anything. Gazing into it, Ferisen asked, "What does this mean?"
Another giggle. "It means you already know what you seek."
''I already know what I seek? But then that means..." If the color had not already drained from her face when she died, it would certainly have done so now. "Oh... oh no. No no no no..." She took another gaze in the direction of her latria, which felt obscured by shadow.
"Well, Milly... have you found anything useful yet?" Her tone was very grim.
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Lacriment, Alex)
Lacriment nodded when Alex told of her weaknesses. "I am not sure how much your uncle knows about all this, but it seems that imprisoning him may be an option if you are to kill or at least weaken him. The former if you have mercy on him, the latter if you want him to truly suffer for a long time."
For a moment she glanced up at the bells, then gazed deep into Alex's eyes. Lacriment's were hidden, and in that moment there seemed to be a void behind the mask. "But I will say this. Though it may seem a step back, pessimism has its virtues. You fight and you train for years and years, but as you grow stronger, so too does your foe. You can sharpen a sword until it is as sharp as you can make it, and yet it will never be able to slice through a wall of reinforced steel. Often I say that when one cannot face their foe in the light, they must lurk in the shadows a while and launch a surprise attack from there."
She took a step forward and rested a winged hand, cold yet comforting, on Alex's shoulder. "Rest with me. Enjoy the silence within these walls." A very grim silence, at least at that moment... but it matched the overall feel of the place quite well. "The most common fear is of the unknown, and it encompasses the vast majority of other fears."
Taking a step back, she turned her gaze back up to the bells. "Do you know why I created this space? I wanted to set up a lightless beacon for those wandering lost in the darkness, so that people could appreciate the beauty that lurks within it. Oh, and it was the perfect trap for the minions of the Dark Caller who sought to take over the dream world," she added with a giggle. "Ravens make a very nice meal, you know. Except for the bones and feathers of course. The best part is the soul."
Her head tilted a full 90 degrees, an angle that would break most mortal necks. Yet there were none of the grotesque sounds expected of such a body, even when she straightened it out again. "You have never tried a soul, have you?"
edited 25th Dec '17 1:46:22 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.
Shinkyo Market District (Megumi, Raven, Rin; Friedrich, Sinistrina; Adam, Jackson, Marie, Nick)
Rin gave the witch and her doll a curt head nod in return; "It was no problem," she told them.
The Admiral closed her eyes for a brief moment before continuing her conversation with Sinistrina. "The Red Devil, Akane Matsui," she began, "while not a necromancer per say, she can hold sway over the living and dead alike, and yes, she can be quite terrifying at times. And she bears some resemblance to you: she's a witch, though with a much different, more peculiar sense of fashion and she has a similar shadowy vibe as you. Though, she is quite tanned, a bit unhealthily so for my tastes."
She then accepted the gems from Jackson, "Fear not, I shall do my best to ensure the safety of us all." Taking the gems a few paces away, she set the gems down on the ground before holding her hands out towards them. Focusing her power, ice began forming in a circle around the gems, slowly at first, before rapidly coalescing into a sturdy, opaque dome.
The Admiral tweaked the makeup of the dome, projecting unseen spires inwards to the surface of the gems, and used the ice to begin sapping the excess energy from the gems.
Meanwhile, Raven raised an eyebrow at Friedrich, "I was born this way; have you never seen a tengu before?" A brief moment passed before the doctor smacked her forehead, "Of course you haven't; you wouldn't have asked if you had," she said.
She then turned her attention to the others stating her help wasn't needed, "If you insist; once I'm through with the young lady, I'll offer my services again," she told Jackson, before heading over to finish her examination of Gliosem's wings.
"Maid," the diminutive doctor called out to Megumi, "I have some proscriptions I need you to fill for me; there should be a pharmacy hereabouts somewhere," she said, handing over a few slips of paper to the cat-eared maid, who then quietly departed into the crowded marketplace.
Raven returned her attention back to Gliosem, "Don't worry, we'll have you patched up in no time," she told the sumiri.
Garden in the Sky (Claire; Amiluet, Emriel)
"Uncivilized Swiss? Weird," Claire commented as she continued her gardening work, "I was kinda thinkin' that maybe the fylins could help out, but I guess not."
Toying around with a strange seed she didn't recognize, she grinned, "Yup, my audience is generally those who stand in my way, and of course any who happen to be followin' me. For the former, it usually ain't good for their health," the magician said with a laugh, "and sometimes it ain't for the latter, either."
Sticking the seed in some soft soil, she disregarded the conversation the sisters had regarding mummies, and instead clenched her right hand at the being asked if she had time traveled before. "Yes, once," she replied, “time travelin' castle, don't know how it worked," she stated with a casual shrug. "As for meddling with time..." she started, before grinning.
Claire turned her attention to the growing seedling, captivated by its rapid growth. "Oh, this reminds me of the stuff I can do with my Wood ring," she stated, "Neat!"
Catacombs of the Four Swords (Milly; Ferisen)
The healer stared pensively at Ferisen, "I suppose that would work," she said, before feeding another hazelnut to the shadow salmon, "I request information on the deities of Aria, please."
The salmon departed and returned with another book. Opening it, Milly was relieved that this one too was one she could read, befitting a book pertaining to knowledge of her home world. She skimmed through the book, skipping any deity that didn't fit the profile of "god who creates dead reviving miasma", leaving her a rather short list of a few death gods; the Vespian goddess of the underworld, Kate; and, oddly enough, a foreign goddess of snakes.
Having gotten all the information she felt she could glean from the book, she set it aside and returned to her prior research materials. Taking Ferisen's advice, she carefully went through the books once more. The wood prints seemed easiest to decipher; they portrayed a tale involving a giant snake monster. Skimming through The Theogony, she found mention of a different giant snake monster. And finally, perusing through the unreadable-to-her text of the ancient tome, she found a passage that she expected to find: brief mention of a giant snake monster.
Putting two and two together, she came to the most logical conclusion; the snake goddess was the culprit. With this, she now had a better grasp of the situation, and when she awoke, could figure out a means to contact said goddess and end the curse on her land.
About this time, she noticed Ferisen's panicked state. "Uh, yes, yes I have," she told the sumiri. "What's wrong?" she asked as she got up from the floor, visibly concerned for her companion.
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Alex, Lacriment)
Alex scowled, "I'm sure my uncle is fully aware of his own weaknesses, and has probably found ways of negating them to some extent; capturing him would be an exercise in suicide as much as trying to kill him."
Listening to the priestess' advice, the vampire crossed her arms. "A surprise attack..." she muttered under her breath before casting a glance towards her gun, "That— that would be do-able," she more loudly stated, "and I think I know just the means to do it," she said, a shadow from outside briefly crossing her face.
Feeling a bit more at ease, she glanced around at the spacious room, appreciating the architecture Lacriment had created earlier that eternal evening. However, the priestess' giggling came off as off-putting to the vampire; turning her attention to the masked woman, her mood turned aghast at the discomforting display of flexibility and the mention of devouring souls.
Taking a step back, she held a hand to her mouth, "WHA— No, no I havn't," she quickly replied.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Shinkyo Market District (Rin, Raven, Nick, Jackson, Adam, Marie, Sinistrina, Friedrich, Gliosem)
Sinistrina watched with much interest as Rin summoned the dome of ice around the gems. For a while she was indeed worried that Rin might suffer a similar fate that Adam did, but that turned out to not be the case. And now the gems were guarded so that they could not release any energy to have any sort of harmful effect.
"Fascinating. I have never seen this sort of magic used before... and it seems it enhances the durability of this ice. Which is fitting, given the rigid nature of ice in general." Just like how the shadows she and Friedrich cast had energy-draining properties, since shadows are associated with an absence of such energy.
And she listened with much interest as Rin talked about Matsui. She had to wonder just how peculiar her sense of fashion was, but decided not to ask. Instead she pondered over just what Rin meant by holding sway over the living and the dead; thinking about it proved suspiciously more difficult than usual. "So she has power over their bodies, but not their souls," she guessed. "I can see why that would be terrifying - does she simply puppeteer them?"
Friedrich, meanwhile, considered what Raven said. "I have never even heard of a tengu before. Clearly I was never an expert on otherworldly folk."
After that, he decided to inspect the icy dome, placing a hand on it and discovering that it was ice all right. Looking up at Rin, he said, "This will contain the gems so they can't do any harm, correct?" Backing up, he drew Totenschatten, and his shadow extended along with its tip. However, rather than passing under the dome like he had hoped, it traveled up the side of it. Grumbling softly, he resheathed the shadowy blade. "I don't suppose it can absorb the energy from the gems as well?"
Gliosem was also watching, but when she saw that same "evil aura" hovering above the shadow Friedrich conjured, she looked away and moved over to Adam, facing him. "Are you still feeling dizzy? Here, this may help. Just close your eyes for a moment."
Once he did so, she placed a hand right on top of his head, pressing down very gently. Whether it was the pressure alone or some sort of magical effect was difficult to discern, but it sent a small wave of calmness throughout him. While not completely curing the dizziness, it would at least ease it up a little bit.
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.
[Market]
To Jackson's relief, Raven was going to tend to Giloslem. Despite his egarness to get to his friends, he knew that she was already strained and that making a portal here was stressful to her; the least he can do was have her heal.
Speaking of healing, whatever that spell Giloslem did was, it helped significantly. Adam closed his eyes, and soon, the pain and dizziness disappeared.
"Thank you so much." he said, a small smile on his face, "I think I'm a whole lot better now." He sat up, "How are your wings? Are they better?"
Jackson looked at the ice barrier around the gems, rubbing his chin. "Strange...maybe it's because of the dream world, but then again I'm sure if they're acting like this outside as well. I have to look at these when we wake up."
"I'm just glad they won't hurt anyone else." Nick said, "Christ, that was scary."
"Truly." Marie said, rubbing Adam's back. She looked at Rin and Giloslem, "Thank you so much for your help." She then glance at Raven, "Honey, I'm curious...how old are you?"
Shinkyo Market District (Raven, Rin; Friedrich, Sinistrina; Adam, Jackson, Marie, Nick)
"She garners their fear and respect through her power and charisma, not by subjugation of the body or soul," said the Admiral, "And while she sounds like she is intimidating, Admiral Matsui is actually a rather easygoing individual most of the time, unless she has sufficient enough reason to play her hand."
Rin then glanced over at Friedrich, "You are correct about that," she stated. She blankly watched the doll as he attempted something with his sword, but didn't say anything about it; Friedrich hadn't done anything to damage the structural integrity of her complex and intricate barrier. "I am currently attempting to do just that," she told him as he wondered about the energy draining capabilities of her ice construct.
Meanwhile, Raven chimed in with Adam, "I haven't done anything yet to fix her wings yet; I've only just set the maid to fetch some supplies for me," Rummaging through her bag, she procured a dark brown medicine bottle, and offered up a round tablet to the sumiri, "Acetylsalicylatenote ," she explained, "it's for the pain and possible swelling."
She then turned to Marie and bluntly answered her question, "I'm thirty."
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Catacombs of the Four Swords (Ferisen, Milly)
Ferisen had to pause for a while after Milly asked what was wrong. Although normally she was calm about things, right now she felt a sickening feeling within her (despite being, y'know, a walking corpse), the sort one might feel upon discovering an awful truth. Solemnly as before, she responded. "Well, this place brought up a suspicion I had in the back of my mind, one I hoped wouldn't be true. As it turns out, because my soul is locked on this plane, I am stuck on it. Forever. Never to return to reality." Quickly she redirected her gaze to Milly. "You should be fine, because you entered the dream in this condition, it sounds like. I, on the other hand, was alive at first."
She pondered. "Unless by some miracle I could be brought back to life, perhaps..." She remembered how long ago on Orenya, there was a place called the Hall of Healing, where there were healers fabled to be able to heal anything, up to and including death. But of course, that was long ago. She had a sneaking suspicion that there may be another way, but...
In desperation, she dropped another hazelnut into the mists. "I need some material on the manipulation of souls."
The salmon brought a tome so thick that Ferisen had to levitate it to move it around. It was a grimoire, bearing the title Encyclopedia of Spells. And as she skimmed through it, she found every single page legible. Sure enough, there was some content on the manipulation of souls... as well as every other branch of magic imaginable. The pages were even in all sorts of different colors, corresponding to the type of magic; the material Ferisen was looking for was on some gray pages and some black ones.
The first page she randomly opened to detailed the process of transferring souls between vessels, and described a ritual by which one may try to weaken and overwhelm someone's soul by inserting a foreign soul to take over their mind. Naturally, this made Ferisen turn the page to something different.
"But why this whole book when all I need is this specific topic?"
Apparently hearing her, the giggle echoed throughout the library. "Just in case you feel the need to... stay much longer than you anticipated. I have seen people all but die in here because they fail to take care of their body or mind while studying."
Though Ferisen's heart was motionless, it sure sank when she heard that.
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Lacriment, Alex)
Priestesses are typically known to display remarkable insight. Of high priestessesnote , it is all but expected. Despite presiding over all that is dark, this high priestess displayed politeness as well; she resisted the temptation to giggle at Alex's aghast reply to her question on soul eating.
Instead she took a light bow. "Oh, my apologies. There are many different kinds of vampires throughout the universe, and some do in fact eat souls. It is a bit more the hallmark of a demon though." She glanced briefly at the front door. "Anyway, it is wonderful to hear that you have gained a new sense of direction. Is there anything else this place—and I as an extension—can do for you? Anything else on your mind, or any questions perhaps? Regardless, you are welcome to stay as long as you like. It has been rather lonely here up until recently..."
Shinkyo Market District (Rin, Megumi, Raven, Nick, Jackson, Adam, Marie, Friedrich, Sinistrina, Gliosem)
When Rin explained how Matsui "controlled" others, Sinistrina flashed a smirk. "Reminds me of my sister - only she is less terrifying and more plain silly. But how does one manipulate the dead with that sort of power? That would require speaking directly with their souls." Not even I can do that, she thought.
"Hmm, ice that can drain energy... never heard of that before," said Friedrich to Rin, watching the dome. He couldn't see any evidence of energy being drained, but remembered vaguely something about ice draining heat, at the least. "Of course, you can't keep the gems in there forever - they belong to Jackson. That shadow I cast was my own attempt at draining their energy by the way... but it seems not even it can get through." He looked up at his creator. "Sinistrina, I don't suppose you could drain them through the ice?"
The witch didn't respond; in fact, she seemed distracted, and rather uncomfortable as well.
Friedrich blinked. "...Sinistrina? You all right there?" Then he walked over and tugged on her dress; that seemed to get her attention. "I said, do you think you could drain those gems through the ice?"
"...Right, sorry." She shook her head. "If the gems contained ether I could, but clearly they do not. There would have to be a way for us or the mists to... touch them." Feeling rather unsteady standing for so long, she sat down on the bench, holding her new book in her lap.
Meanwhile, Gliosem inspected the pill Raven had given her. The people of Aria had interesting names for herbs - "acetylsalicylate" was a new one.note But, figuring she had nothing to lose, she took and swallowed it.
"...What are you going to do with my wings?" she asked the tengu. "Set and splint them or something?" That was the usual treatment for broken wings, particularly if the blood vessels - of which there were many (the black veins in Gliosem's contained such) - had burst. Given that those vines Magdalene sprouted had thrashed them to shreds, that was more than likely the case.
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.
Catacombs of the Four Swords (Milly; Ferisen)
Milly gasped. "That's awful!" she exclaimed, suddenly wanting to hug her fellow lich and tell her everything would be alright. But it wouldn't, if what Ferisen was saying was true.
Furrowing her brow, the healer went over her skills and experiences in her mind. "Back to life you say?" she pondered aloud, "I have experience in that; I was in a similar position as yourself when I came back to life," she said, before pausing to cough, "My body wasn't in the best condition, (it still isn't what it used to be), and I could barely move. But slowly and steadily, I was able to bring my body back to working order; I could do the same for you," she said with an optimistic smile.
She quizzically peered over the sumiri's shoulder at the massive book she was reading, "Wow, that is a lot of spells," she noted, "I'd love to take a look at that after you're done," she stated, before turning to address the room, "If that's alright with you, ma'am."
She then readdressed the downcast sumiri, "Don't worry, I can stick with you until we get this straightened out," she said, placing her hand on Ferisen's shoulder as a comforting gesture.
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Alex, Lacriment)
Alex nodded tentatively, "So it is," she said, "as for the kind of vampire I am, I only require small amounts of blood on a weekly basis for sustenance," Alex stated, sighing slightly.
Gazing towards the front entrance of the cathedral, Alex looked slightly downcast. "I suppose it is wonderful; I will finally have an end to a century long conflict." A faint smile crossed her face, "Anyway, I don't have any current plans for the immediate future, so I suppose I can stay for awhile; it's nice to relax in a calm place such as this," she told the priestess.
HI I'M FUCKING PISSED RIGHT NOW BUT IM GONNA POST SO I WON'T HOLD YA'LL UP LOL.
[Market]
Marie almost fell backwards.
"Thirty?!" she repeated, "Why didn't you say that earlier? I wouldn't have done all that if I had know you were a grown woman!"
Nick quirked an eyebrow.
"Yeah right." he said, "You're seriously thirty? If you wanna admit that you're a child prodigy, then just sat so!"
"She could be telling the truth, Nick." Jackson said, "I mean, considering the people we've met today..."
"...Yeah, you're right. I still find it hard to believe. She looks no older than my sister."
Adam looked at Raven apologetically. "Sorry for what happened earlier, Ms. Hopefully you aren't too mad at us..."
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Catacombs of the Four Swords (Ferisen, Milly)
As Ferisen browsed through gruesome ritual after forbidden practice in the necromancy section of the book, wondering if she'd find a not so dark way of working with souls, she heard Milly remark on bringing people back to life. Of course! She specializes in healing magic after all...
She closed the book, sitting down on a block of stone hidden in the mists. "Thank you... and I am quite surprised; resurrection is one of the more difficult forms of magic. But yes, I have heard that those who are brought back from of the dead do not come back the same. Where I am from, many who did so wanted to die again not long after due to the condition they were in. But if this is a dream... then I should be okay once I wake up. It is worth a try at the least..."
She looked over at the stairway. "Of course, I'd need my soul in order to be resurrected... one moment while I fetch it." She handed Milly the large spellbook and walked, oddly smoothly, over to the entrance. In her current state she felt less that she was in her body and more like she was telekinetically puppeteering it from the head down.
When she returned, her latria floated over on a black disc, gently landed on the mist where it spread ripples, and then drifted about as if the mist was still water.
"What odd magic, allowing it to float like that..." muttered Ferisen as she beckoned the instrument over to her. "But yes, my soul is in there. My latria, which I play in my sisters' performances. How to remove it though..."
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Lacriment, Alex)
Lacriment took another light bow. "This is a dream... so the immediate future is irrelevant except for the impatient. If you like you may even sleep here. In fact, that is one way to leave this realm and return to the light, so to speak."
There was a long silence, wrapping around the cathedral's occupants like a blanket. One that broke with a crumbling noise coming from in front of the organ. The entrance to the catacombs was open, revealing the ominous glow from the teal mists. And a human-sized fairy—undead on closer inspection—was walking out. But she approached neither Lacriment nor Alex; instead she faced a spot in the corner engulfed in shadow, reaching her hands out to it.
A strange instrument made of crystal pipes glided out of the shadow and towards the fairy, who backed down into the catacombs and levitated the instrument in after her. Seeing this, with a wave of her cloaked arm, Lacriment formed a shadowy disc for the instrument to rest on, and dismissed the fairy back into the catacombs.
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.
Shinkyo Market District (Raven, Rin; Friedrich, Sinistrina; Adam, Jackson, Marie, Nick)
Rin paused for a moment, her hands still held out towards the dome of ice, before simply shrugging. "I know naught how she does it, just that she can," she said to Sinistrina.
The Admiral raised an eyebrow at the witch as she seemed to fall into a trance, "Is something bothering you, Sinistrina?" she asked.
Meanwhile, Raven gave the sumiri a quick nod, "Yes, something like that. I will be coating your wings in a medicinal resin that will keep your wings in place while they heal."
The doctor then turned around to address her juniors; "I was a child prodigy; had to be in order to get into university, especially for someone like me." She gave Nick a disapproving look, "Not everyone can grow up normally," she said, "sometimes there are hiccups along the way."
She crossed her arms, "Anyway, I'm not terribly upset; I've grown accustomed to people's incredulity over the years," she said with a wave of her hand.
Catacombs of the Four Swords (Milly; Ferisen)
When the sumiri departed to fetch her soul, Milly was left with the task of holding the over-sized grimoire, which she found to be quite heavy. It didn't take long for Ferisen to return, with her odd instrument in tow. Milly nodded in agreement with the sumiri's musings on the odd nature of the spell keeping the latria afloat, "Perhaps it's electropyralic in nature?" she guessed.
Milly pursed her lips as she stared at Ferisen. "I'm not exactly accustomed to the mechanics of the soul; I was merely planning on resuscitating your body and repair any damage incurred," she said. The healer leaned on her staff for a moment, "I can at least bring your body to a vegetative state, and from there we can figure out how to put your soul back where it belongs," she said, lightly touching her chest, "otherwise your body will continue to decay, making that much more difficult to fix in the long run."
She then turned her attention to the latria. "How did your soul end up in there in the first place?" she asked.
Cathedral of the Four Swords (Alex, Lacriment)
Alex quietly watched the strange individual cross the main hall of the cathedral, her brow furrowing as she sensed something off about her. She didn't move from her spot; the winged person seemed inoculous enough, merely fetching a bizarre collection of crystals and returning to the ethereal mists.
The vampire turned to the priestess, asking, "What, pray tell, is down there?"
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Garden in the Sky (Emriel, Amiluet, Claire)
Emriel and Amiluet looked at each other and shrugged, deciding not to press further on time traveling. Emriel, especially, suspected any further discussion would make her head not only ache, but possibly break as well. But the mention of a wood ring caused Amiluet's eyes and mouth to widen.
"Wow, you mean you have a magic ring that can make plants grow?!?" She glanced off toward Dureminda, her staff... which earlier in this dream could do just that. I wonder if I still could.
"Not at present of course," Emriel remarked with a glance over at the magician. "I think she lost all her rings. Probably went too fast and ran into trouble."
"...Oh." Amiluet, downcast, let her eyes wander toward a round spiky rodent that was eating a strawberry off of one of only three plants Emriel had planted. "Well then, do you remember what any of your other rings do?"
While they were conversing, the tree grew even taller; by now it was taller than any of the three, and growing leafy boughs. Little flower buds also began to appear on them.
Shinkyo Market District (Rin, Megumi, Raven, Nick, Adam, Jackson, Marie, Sinistrina, Friedrich, Gliosem)
Gliosem's eyes widened when she heard of the situation with Raven's age. "You mean you are incapable of growing up? Or aging past the point you are at? Are all tengu that way, or is it only something that happened to you?"
She nodded at Raven's suggestion for her wings, deciding to let her do whatever was necessary to help make them better.
Meanwhile, Rin asked if something was bothering Sinistrina. Hands grasping the book on her lap, the witch looked up at her. "Do your powers of ice ever cause you to feel unreasonably cold or randomly freeze up? If so, then perhaps you can imagine the consequences for powers of death."
Friedrich, who had spent the past few moments shifting his gaze between the icy dome and the teens, directed it toward his "coordinator" instead. "Speaking of which, may I have that watch back?"
"What? Oh... of course." As Sinistrina took the watch out of the hidden pocket on her dress, two things happened. One, her hand brushed by the handle of a hand mirror that she knew all too well... but left alone for now. Two, the watch seemed to contain traces of the powerful dark magic that had "cursed" it until recently. Still, she had no problem handing the pocket watch to the doll, who fastened it at his collar - the same place where it had been before.
And then he walked over to Raven and the teens. "Dolls don't grow up either," he decided to contribute. "Our bodies simply do not allow it. But we are never less mature either. So, uh..." he mentioned, feeling at a loss of what to talk about, "...where are you all planning on heading after this? Or are you simply wanting to shop around?"
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.
[Market]
Nick frowned. "Ah shit...now I feel bad. Sorry for what I said."
Jackson's eyes perked up. "Though, that is a good question. Is your growth stunted, or are most tengus like you? As in...adults that look like kids. I apologize, I don't now how to word it properly."
Adam tilted his head. "Well, her story made it sound like that only happened to her. Rin and Megumi do look a little older."
"Now ya'll are just being extra nosy!" Marie said, crossing her arms, "Don't ya'll know its rude to do that to girls?"
This is short, sorry. x_x
Garden in the Sky (Claire; Amiluet, Emriel)
Claire gave a sheepish grin as she gently rubbed the back of her head, "Yeah, I tend to loose my rings a lot. But I usually get 'em back in short order." Tossing her head back, she held up her currently bare fingers, "Eight rings, eight elements: air, lightnin', fire, metal, earth, wood, water, and ice. A handful of offensive spells and a utility spell apiece, those babies allow me to tackle pretty much any challenge, no matter how complicated or how ugly it looks."
Crossing her arms, Claire's mood turned visibly glum. "Course now I'm gonna be resortin' to pokin' things in the face til they die. Which is gonna suck."
Glancing up at the tree, she frowned with concentration. "Ya know, if I didn't know any better... nah!" She dismissed the whimsical notion of one of her rings being somehow tied to the rapidly growing tree as terribly anticlimactic; her rings tended to end up in the possession of some entity, be it a feral monster or a dark lord's lieutenant (not that those were necessarily mutually exclusive).
Instead, Claire moved to needlessly antagonize the rodent by poking it with her a-little-over-two-foot-long wand.
Shinkyo Market District (Raven, Rin; Friedrich, Sinistrina; Adam, Jackson, Marie, Nick)
"Rather the opposite," Rin told Sinistrina, "my powers allow me to tolerate colder temperatures than most others." She sighed softly, slightly downcast, "Which means I probably will not understand what you are going through." She then returned her attention towards the gems for the time being.
Meanwhile, Raven shook her head in response to her patient. "I've been like this for over twenty years; it's just a condition of mine. The same— the same with my wings as well," she said hesitantly, her cloak rustling as she wriggled her wings. A few feathers floated to the ground. "Normal tengu of my age are taller, stronger, and faster than me. Most importantly, they can fly."
She sighed and gave Adam a mildly irritated look, "The Admiral's a human, the maid's a thilakin, and I'm a tengu. What makes you think we all age the same?" Gently massaging her temples, she glanced back up at the young man, "I'm sorry, I can be a bit snippy at times."
She then glanced down at Friedrich, a slightly puzzled look on her face, "Could— couldn't you just get a bigger body if you wanted to "grow up"?" she innocently asked, mistaking the doll for an automaton just like Rin had earlier.
Raven stood up straighter, "Anyway, as for plans, I'm just here to help my patient," she said.
"And I am not terribly keen on shopping," Rin chimed in.
The Eldritch Factory - Heart Forge (Ashleigh, Noire)
Jumping away from Vertilia's branch, Noire looks distastefully at the fleshy bodies as they smile with amusement. The mysterious Eternus herself(?) seems less amused upon receiving Ashleigh's misunderstanding. Still, as Eternus turns a few of those bodies to watch Ashleigh's Scanner curiously, Noire stands still for a few moments.
Then, sounding a little distressed, the 'Reaper of Light' responds. "I have no idea okay!? I can't exposit about something I don't know, and I've clearly underestimated this thing! It called itself an angel, and if I didn't know better I would say this is Eldritch Prime itself! Gah, Mom could deal with this thing..."
Having said that, Eternus cooes affectionately before replying. "Sweetikins, I would never hurt you. Carefully designing those cute little eyes, that marvelous hair, you're simply another perfect creation of mine." Noire, for her part, just flips Eternus off and screeches "Shut up you liar!"
The many disturbing flesh constructs pouting woundedly, they smile cheekily again as she finally addresses Vertilia and Ashleigh. "My my, the goddess has her own goddess? Ooh, a meta-goddess! Exquisite, exquisite, exquisite indeed! My gods, however, don't much care if our names end up sounding stupid."
With that said, some of that bubbling mass takes on a vague form resembling a large six-legged creature made of blacken wood. Some of the flailing bodies wrap themselves around it, gently stroking and cooing at it before Eternus speaks once more.
"Blackwood is one of my many children, though he's not at all whatever your thing is. I prefer to let my children earn their names or pick it themselves. Blackwood might be one of my sweeties, but... I wasn't there when our gods named him. Frankly though, it isn't like having a generic name makes him weak."
Suddenly the vague approximation of 'Blackwood' is smashed into the wall, both of which begin bubbling over with new flesh. "But I digress, it is just quite fun being reunited with a daughter of mine and seeing a non-Eldritchian superbeing after ages. I'm in no hurry to do anything, but I must say how did you realize this is a dream little Brittle?"
"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."