Cadmus
"What are you waiting for, an invitation?" Cadmus asked her servant. "Being a Roman makes you uniquely qualified for this situation."
Rick
"Hey so Cassius, did you know that guy when you were alive?" Rick asked, looking over at the two Caesars. "It would be a good time to speak up if you did."
Saber and Caster
Caster's face remained impassively serious.
"What a shame." he said, his voice painfully neutral. "Regardless, it is of no import to me what happens to you and your lot. You cannot go through this door. Either you find another way out, or you give yourself to the darkness and put an end to your suffering. Perhaps you will find asylum in Elysium, rather than in this murky place."
Saber seemed a bit shocked, what with how his face hung open. "Caster, you can't just tell someone to go d-"
"Shut up. Now, you may either leave and no conflict will arise, or you can try to break past and thus face the might of a god."
Finally, he removed his arm from pushing away Saber in order to move them around in a wide circle in front of him. As he did so, his hands collected sparking prana from air surrounding him. The light from this magic danced along his armor, revealing that it was covered in intricate designs that were clearly religious in nature. There were scenes of conquest, of destruction, of rule, and of life.
Saber, on the other hand didn't seem so keen to this idea, judging by how begrudgingly he raised his sword. He seemed set on following Caster's direction, but he wasn't happy about it.
"Make your choice."
Aaliyah
With his servant gone, Thahab decided that his best bet for protection was to go with whoever it was he deemed most important. Since he had noticed Aaliyah talking to Dr. Roman earlier, he pinned her as the most important and thus probably the strongest of the masters.
He made his way close to her and sat down along side her. From one of the numerous pockets of his coat he pulled out another piece of wrapped up nougat and offered it to her. "Are you sleepy, lady? Now's a bad time to sleep. A fight could happen any second now."
G was here - 2/9/24Ching
Ching sighed, rubbing her temple. This wasn't going well at all. It seemed the Caster of the duo was adamant about not letting them pass to leave this place. The fat Saber seemed the most reasonable, if only that he seemed reluctant to actually fight.
"Master," Ching said looking over to Sally. "Your thoughts?"
Cadmus
"Well, you're being uncharacteristically silent," Cadmus said to Huangdi. She wasn't quite sure if it was a good or a bad sign that the Chinese Emperor wasn't talking her ear off for once. "As they say in my master's time, cat got your tongue? If you have any suggestions, best say them before things get violent. I'd prefer to resolve this business with the Romans while we're all still young."
Rick
"When you say a god, are you talking about someone else?" Rick asked, having to shout a little to make himself heard from his position. "Or do you mean yourself? And if you do, wouldn't that be two gods, since you're both the same person from alternate universes that happened to have been pulled into this here particular locus of space-time? Or is one of you the dom and the other the sub?"
Longinus
"You will not threaten us, Usurper of the Republic." It seems that Longinus' patience was wearing thin. "You are not a Lord of mine and if you seek to usurp godhood, you will be sorely disappointed."
"Unless you wish to heed Saber's reluctance and relent, so perhaps this discussion can continue being one." Nevertheless, Lancer's spear was resting in his hand, not yet pointed at either of the two. "What is behind these doors that you wish to stop us from seeing it?"
Sally
{Uh... I still feel at a loss, honestly.} She replied back to Ching. {Out of the three sides around here, I'd rather just we all sat down and discussed all of this.}
She glanced at Huangdi with a small frown, then back at the scene. {The Emperor is also sketchy. Who's to say he won't stab us in the back once we deal with Caesars?}
edited 3rd Apr '16 5:28:49 AM by FergardStratoavis
Jeanne
In Jeanne's mind she started to realize something. So far just about every villain she's faced has claimed some kind of divinity. Did they need to do it? Was their ego so fragile that they absolutely needed to see themselves placed in the highest point of society, even it was forced? Regardless she was now very much past talking to these two.
Jeanne's sword materialized in her hand.
Aaliyah.
She accepted the nougat from Thahab. "Thanks, I'll be fine" she said to the boy as she turned her head to look at him. This was her first time actually looking at him. She made some kind of surprised half snort and quickly looked away putting her hood up for good measure. "Thanks for the candy, really. I'm awake now."
edited 3rd Apr '16 8:53:20 AM by Azure
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850Gabby
"...Whoa, hey, how come?"
Gabby poked her head out a little more, her brow furrowed sternly but her little heart pounding fiercely and anxiously in her chest.
"This really, probably isn't worth it, y'know. I mean, seriously, we're not necessarily gonna, like... stop from doing whatever it is you wanna do so bad. How would us walking through that door and leaving you guys alone again frick with your plans?"
As she spoke, one hand shakily made its way to the zipper of her backpack, where she kept her "beloved" copy of Atlas Shrugged. If this egotistical butthole kept it up, she would need a lot more than Skullfricker to get her through...
Günther
As he silently listened to the paltry attempts the others were making to sway the Super Julius Brothers from their planned course of presumably stabbing and blasting the shit out of all parties present, Günther could not help but notice the telltale signs of reluctance and guilt on the objectively better Caesar's face. An idea slowly, sluggishly crept its way into his mind.
"...Heh! Get a load of this guy, huh?" He coolly began, peeking a little out from behind his cover and looking right at the Saber while gesturing towards his Caster counterpart.
"That's a textbook tightass if I ever saw one. What's a guy like you doing hanging around with him? I mean, he may be you, but... What he's suggesting, that doesn't really seem to be you at all, does it?"
He wore a calm, friendly little smile (and also something resembling a toga, don't forget!), as if to say, "C'mon man, let's forget about this guy and have some pizza or something." The Caster, clearly, was impudent and could not be swayed at all, but perhaps the weird Asian kid and her apologists may have had a point about the diplomacy thing. It would be easier fighting against just one Caesar, maybe even with assistance from the Saber. At any rate, it was worth a shot.
make it through this year if it kills you yet | 2001-2019Saber and Caster
Caster looked disgusted at Rick's accusation. "I speak of Jupiter, stranger, and only him! My strength comes from him, the same as my blood comes from Venus herself. I was a priest, and even in my dictatorship this does not change. What a stupid thing to assume."
Now his expression changed from disgust to anger. "Regardless of whatever Rider has to say about it, I am not a god."
As Longinus spoke, his expression did not change. Instead, he looked over towards Saber. "Do you see? Usurper of the Republic. What talk!" The prana in his hand exploded outwards in a dramatic burst. "I foresaw this betrayal, Saber! Do not doubt my word any longer!"
Saber didn't seem to want to believe it, especially now that Gunther had appeared and spoken his piece.
But Caster seemed set in his decision. "Hoc Voluerunt! Quibus rebus nuntiatis tantus repente terror invasit!" he yelled out, in his native tongue.
He moved his hands in a circle once more, then thrust them out at the Chaldeans in front of him. Arcs of golden lightning shot forth from them. What was strangest about them was that Jeanne's Magic Resistance didn't seem to be cancelling them out.
Saber sighed, then jumped forward towards Gunther. Tears were streaming out from his eyes. "Oh sweet handsome stallion... I am sorry for having to do this.. please forgive me.." he weeped. Even in this pitiful state, the sword in his hand danced through the air as if nothing was wrong. The golden blade cut down through the air, threatening to bisect the boy if he did not act quickly.
Thahab
The homunculus was startled by the immediate sounds of combat. Despite his claims that he was ready for everything, he was still clearly shaken by whatever he assumed the fighting outside was going to be like. He huddled closer to Aaliyah, and latched onto her arm.
Agrippa
"I knew it!" Agrippa cried out, before shoving her arm through the magic circle she had been forming. The lines of glowing magic bound themselves to her arm before she leaped over the column and joined the battle.It wasn't a very fair battle honestly. It was a group of people against two servants, but it wasn't like she cared at the moment. The first thing she saw was the fat man attacking one of the masters, so her immediate response was to unleash a 10 count aria's worth of a magic beam directly at his face.
The beam struck true, and Saber was sent flying backwards, doing multiple flips on the way. He angled his body in such a way that his feet touched the wall opposite him, where he landed and shot himself forward again. The wall did not fare as well as he did; it shattered violently on impact.
Huangdi
The Emperor fell backwards out of surprise. He hadn't expected the fighting to start this quickly and this violently. Scrambling to his feet, he summoned his shield once again.
"Wanli Changcheng!" he cried out, raising it into the air. The shield activated once more, and a holographic image of China and its encircling dragon appeared, followed by a glowing wall that separated him (and the masters near him) from the battle ahead. Ching just so happened to have been on the edge of his shield, so she was pushed out into the battle-area.
edited 3rd Apr '16 9:40:36 AM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24Aaliyah
This is happening now of all times. Aaliyah took slow slow deep breaths. She couldn't afford to lose her cool here, she was on a mission, and nothing was going to distract her. "Err..." Comforting people wasn't exactly her thing either, so she just attempted to shift the two of them farther behind Wanli Changcheng.
Jeanne
Jeanne was confident her magic resistance would protect her but she only had a moment to notice that it had passed the usual radius without dissipating any. It was just enough time for her to shift her torso to the side, feeling the beam scorching the skin of her shoulder. She'd have to be careful, but she'd also have to finish this quickly, otherwise she'd be at a great disadvantage.
She moved her feet and small boom resounded in the chamber and Jeanne was gone from the spot she was standing in. She was ducking and weaving through the lights in an attempt to get close to the Armored Caster is and stab at him.
edited 3rd Apr '16 11:36:51 AM by Azure
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850Cadmus
"Oh, so that makes you the children of Aeneas, in part? My, oh my, that's such wonderful news," Cadmus called to the Romans. "I stole his sister and then stole her heart, I suppose that makes both of you my dear long-lost nephews. Would you two be so kind as to help out your kin, and let us go to the door and see what lies within?"
As she spoke, though, she called up her magic into her staff. Seeing the effects that Agrippa's aria had had, she began calling down Rain of Light spells on the Saber.
Rick
"Okay, so you're a priest..." Rick said. He took a few steps to the side and ahead so that he was between Thahab and the cluster of Romans.
"Keep the children away from them!" he hissed out to Aaliyah, speaking softly to try not being overheard by the Caesars.
Ching
As Ching was pushed into the battle by Huangdi's Noble Phantasm being deployed, she glared at him while scowling. This cowardly man was definitely not going to win any points with the pirate queen with this.
"I'm going to break his legs after this." she thought angrily, turning to join the battle.
Pistols appeared in the pirate's hands as she raised them towards the enemy Caster. Ching deemed him as the primary threat of the duo, should he fall the Saber would be easily picked off. Ching pulled the triggers of her weapon, firing them off rapidly as she strafed to the side to get a better aim at him without catching any of the melee fighters in the crossfire.
Günther
Günther merely cocked his head to the side as Saber's killing blow was narrowly thwarted by Agrippa's intervention. He calmly turned to face him again, though still keeping his axe at the ready.
"...Hey, come on now, that's quitter talk." He called out. "You're not just going to let that guy bully you into doing things you'd rather not, are you? That's not a very friendly thing of him to be doing at all."
Despite the increasing severity of the present events, he kept a calm, even tone as he spoke and wore that same friendly little smile.
"Look, it isn't too late, just ditch that chump and come with us. We can both be handsome stallions, together, surrounded by gorgeous women. You're going to have to stand up for yourself, Saber, for your self."
Gabby
"Rrrrrrrrrghhhh...! Okay, fine then, frick you too!" Gabby spat, putting an extra growly emphasis on certain words. "Guess that'll teach me to expect fricking decency and goodness out of people..."
She turned to Lancer, her eyes aflame with righteous frickin' indignation.
"C'mon, Lancer, time to show both them and me what exactly the frick you got. RUN 'EM THROUGH."
edited 4th Apr '16 10:56:57 AM by MobileLeprechaun
make it through this year if it kills you yet | 2001-2019Thomas
"...Oh dear, it's gotten loud again."
Thomas had been perfectly content to let his Master the others handle the negotiation process, not wanting to add any more to the cacophony of voices speaking in tandem. However, seeing golden lightning arc from Caster's fingertips made it readily apparent to him that negotiations had broken down, and his Master's inflection telling him that the time to be passive was over.
He smirked to Gabby, eager to please. "Very well.....allow me to dazzle you with my talents!"
He held out his hand and summoned the shabby, rusted halberd into it, twirling it with both hands before adopting a combative stance. "It's been too long since our last adventure, Dear Colchester!" He spoke aloud, "Allow me to make it up to you with an exciting tale of regicide!"
With a confident shout, he ran into battle, leaping and bringing his halberd down at the occupied Caster in an incredibly mundane attack.
edited 6th Apr '16 11:17:50 AM by MacDuffy
Saber
While Saber's original intention was to jump into the fray again in order to attack Gunther once more (Agrippa too), Cadmus's Rain of Light forced him to reconsider. There was not enough time to dodge, however, so he had to make do with what he was given.
"Crocea Mors!" he cried out, brandishing his sword in the direction of the beams of light. Gone was the lack of grace this rotund individual had been displaying moments before. Instead, the golden blade smoothly transitioned between locations, but it did so at ludicrous speeds. Wherever a beam of light was to strike Saber, his sword was already there to intercept it.
What should have rightfully been a killing move, or perhaps even a stand still, merely slowed Saber's advance. The area around him was a flurry of light and steel, singing with a force that should not rightfully been his.
After some swift analysis, Agrippa decided that Cadmus was better suited for direct magical combat, at the moment at least.
"Pentalpha Venera!"
The pink flower that generally orbited her now spread open, revealing its five points and spreading them equidistant from the center. An iridescent glow now suffused it, and the unnerving feeling of being close to raw ether now spread out from it. Agrippa's hands now swirled around in front of her as she chanted a 10 count aria. It didn't take much time, but right as she spoke the last word a pink beam shot from the flower straight into Cadmus's back.
In the back of Cadmus's mind, there was the faint sound of a choir. There were 7 distinct voices, but they harmonized nonetheless. The Song of the Spheres.
Caster
Caster acted quickly. Deeming Jeanne as the greater threat, he generated a white-colored aura of magic around his left hand, which he then thrust out at her.
Unlike the magic from before, which had weakened but was not cancelled out by her Magic Resistance, this magic was untouched by it. In fact, this magic seemed extremely out of place in the hands of someone like him.
This was a Sacrament, specifically a Baptismal Sacrament.
The outstretched hand had almost connected successfully, and would have probably sublimated her, when Caster jumped away suddenly. Since Mallory had gone for a leaping strike, Caster had enough time to leap away and dematerialize before the attack connected.
He materialized a few feet away, then repeated the circular motion he had made before.
"Libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." he stated plainly.
Ching, Thomas, and Jeanne would feel a sharp pain enter their minds. Ching, however, felt it less than the others. This was a psychic attack in the guise of words. This was the specialty of Caesar, which meant that Saber probably had it as well.
Huangdi
Caster's wayward blasts, Cadmus's redirected rays of light, copious amounts of debris, all were slamming against the Emperor's Shield. It still held steadfast, but he definitely did not seem to be enjoying just how much was hitting the wall at the moment. He didn't seem afraid that it would falter, just that he would prefer this to be over quickly.
Thahab didn't seem to mind Aaliyah's movement, but he still clung to her tightly.
G was here - 2/9/24Ching
Ching winced from the pain the racked her mind from the Caster Caesar's psychic attack. Fortunately, her Bravery skills mitigated the effect of the attack somewhat, making it more manageable on her end. Despite the pain, Ching aimed her firearms at the enemy Caster once more, pulling the triggers and releasing another volley towards him.
Jeanne
Jeanne was a little surprised, seeing the Batptism Sacrement being preformed by someone who didn't recognize her God. But she knew she had nothing to fear from it. God would not turn his wrath upon his faithful servant in the name of a heretic, and it alone was meant to combat wraiths, demons and other such spirits. A Servant was on completely different level.
Her face scrunched up in pain, when the psychic attack hit, but Jeanne wasn't about to let a headache stop her. She moved just as fast as before gripping La Pucelle in both her hands, she swung as hard as she could at the filthy arm that dared to invoke her Lord's name while worshiping another.
Aaliyah
"Yeah a got it," she said as she looked down at Thahab. She somewhat tenatively reached over with her free hand and rubbed his head. "Hey uh....don't worry about it alright? Our Servants are really capable." speaking of "{Berserker where did you go goddammit? This is your chance!}" she said over her mental connection.
edited 9th Apr '16 9:21:32 PM by Azure
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850Cadmus
Taking advantage of this new-found mana from Agrippa, Cadmus made seven astral projections manifest - one for each of the celestial voices - and they all began channeling magical energy for a volley of Rain of Light spells. Each one was a different color of the rainbow and was generating a similarly colored beam of light.
"Red - For the anger in my blood made into light and death!"
"Orange - For the fear in your heart when you accept your last breath!"
"Yellow - For the energy of the sun that burns bright and strong!"
"Green - For beauty of nature where you no longer belong!"
"Blue - For the peace to escort you to the next life!"
"Indigo - For my power to be sharp as a knife!"
"Violet - For the mystery of the seventh element sealing your fate"
Each beam focused in on her staff, which she used to combine the seven colors and redirect them in one large, powerful beam at the Saber Caesar.
Thomas
Thomas' eyes widened, and he clutched his head with his free hand and gritted his teeth from the pain of the mental assault. Another servant with power over words? Thomas had little defense against a man who could harm him with but an utterance......
And then....inspiration struck! He quickly fell to one knee, ripping off some the tattered prison cloth 'round each of his manacled ankles and wadded them up, succinctly plucking them into his ears to deafen himself.
"Hah hah!" He declared to Caster as he rose back to his feet, feeling victorious. "Let's see how well those words of yours work when I can't hear them!"
edited 7th Apr '16 6:03:21 PM by MacDuffy
Longinus
"Your Latin does not impress me, tyrant." Lancer sneered, swiftly evading the initial attack and moving around to get a better angle to skewer Caster from.
And then he used a Sacrament.
If Longinus didn't know any better, he would assume that their enemy is a misguided Christian who fights them for reasons beyond faith or pride, but this... was nothing sort of blasphemy.
But this was a blasphemy he would punish with utmost importance.
"You will fall, You who gave Imperium Romanum the cult of personality that would be replicated and still went on as my time passed away." Though he spoke calmly, the very air about him changed into something far more fierce. "I will take your life and see it driven before my feet, cast away into oblivion, for God wills it!" The Spear of Destiny shone with faint red light this time.
And this time, Longinus was going for a kill with his charge, swift as wind, intent on striking Caster's heart with a stab.
Sally
The familiar sense of helplessness was brought back again. It was almost like back in Troy when the Servants fought Achilles Kimaris and the Masters could only watch from the sidelines.
Of course, given that Gunther, unfortunate to find himself in the middle of the scuffle, narrowly avoided death from enemy Saber, perhaps it was best that they just stayed here and observed.
{Hey, uh... for all it's worth, best wishes.} She addressed Ching mentally. It was perhaps a little late to send such encouragements, but really, that was the only thing Sally had to offer.
Günther
Seeing that his half-hearted attempt at peacemaking could not sway even a big ol' softy like Saber, Günther sighed and had Echion give pursuit, hoping to strike him while he was encumbered with fending off the Rain of Light attack.
Charging him from the side, he swung Kekadmai at Saber's neck, hoping for a nice, easy decapitation. He didn't really bother electrifying the axe, as it wouldn't really matter for this sort of thing. Despite his warmth and joviality earlier, he felt not an iota of remorse about this action.
Gabby
"Frick!"
Gabby winced a little seeing her Servant take on the psychic attack. Thomas may have been rather annoying, but... geez, ouch. She silently wished the wall wasn't up so she could go and maybe help him out or something, but she knew dang well this would be suicidal.
"...Yeah, there ya go!" She cried out (completely in vain) as he creatively cottoned up his ears. "Frick that guy up, Lancer, FRICK 'IM UP! KICK HIS FRICKING BUTT!"
make it through this year if it kills you yet | 2001-2019Caster & Saber
Caster quickly assessed his situation. His eyes darted among all three of his opponents, each brandishing their weapons with intent to kill. This settled it: there was no other way.
"Menses Intercalaris!" he yelled out, raising his hands. Jeanne's sword slowed down to a crawl as it reached his right arm. Longinus's spear nearly froze as it reached his heart. Time slowed down around him, and he stepped back.
The massive multicolored beam of Cadmus's creation slowly expanded outwards towards Saber and he had ample time to move out of its way. The same with Gunther's attack, which remorsefully would leave the young homunculus directly in the line of fire.
"Caster, I see you've decided to use that again." Saber said, with surprising calm. His voice was echoed in the sluggish time.
"Well it's all I c-" Caster began to say, before his eyes widened.
He blinked, then continued blinking again and again. His muscles stiffened and relaxed multiple times. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head. His mouth gaped open as the muscles in his neck tensed up like iron coils.
He collapsed to the ground. His breathing was stilted and ragged. His entire body convulsed on the ground as he reached an agonized arm out towards Saber, who reacted by covering his mouth with shock.
"Caster!" Saber yelled out, tearing his own arm away from his mouth.
Caster's eyes were beginning to glow and his mouth started moving on its own. His words were quiet and inaudible, but it was clear that he was speaking much faster than he had been earlier. His body continued to be wracked by his violent seizure.
Saber looked around indecisively. His hands shook as he finally decided to sheathe his sword and rush to Caster's aid. He picked him up in his arms, then immediately bounded away down the hall they had just been protecting. The force of his escape was enough that it shattered the floor beneath them.
... and now the way was clear.
edited 10th Apr '16 11:56:12 AM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24Cadmus
With the Brothers Caesar gone, Cadmus bent the beam of light to avoid hitting Günther while Echion dodged it, and then had the seven voices re-absorb the magical energy. "Child, I gave you a weapon to keep you alive and defended, just, not as a way to indulge your bloodlust," she said to the homunculus sternly.
She turned to Agrippa. "Thank you," she added with a grin and a nod to the other Caster.
Rick
"Weeeeeelllll..." Rick said with a whistle. "That was weird. Oh well, let's go."
He started walking ahead.
Jeanne
She was a little frustrated that she had missed her target. "Hmph." But that was all she could muster for the two Ceasers. She turned around and headed though the door they were gaurding.
Aaliyah
"Uh....hey...you can let go now." She said to Thahab who was apparently still holding onto her arm.
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850

"…!!!"
The young girl blanched when Jeanne boldly made her move and gave the parley option an early start.
"...Gah, what the fri—... we were gonna use the democratic process..."
Sighing very deeply and pinching the bridge of her nose, she poked her head tentatively above cover and called out to the Caesars.
"...Hey, uh... Yeah, all we're doing is trying to find our way out, and we were wondering if you guys were, too. Look, if we're both lost here, why not just quit with the hostilities and, um... band together or something? We seriously don't want any trouble if we can help it..."
Günther yawned boredly at the present happenings, keeping behind cover, yet also holding Kekadmai at the ready.
It seemed as though his compatriots were humoring the little girl and her foolish diplomacy idea. Troubling, deeply troubling, but there was no sense worrying about something out of his hands entirely. He silently hoped that this would be a learning experience for the others, that they would not be so naive in the wake of this encounter, and readied himself to dispatch with both men.
make it through this year if it kills you yet | 2001-2019