Skelebattle
The Dragon Tooth Warriors were doing an excellent job keeping the fallen Hoplites at bay. However, they were having decidedly more trouble fighting off the Spartans. It seemed that in this specific case, they were basically matched in terms of strength.
By the combined efforts of the Chaldea employees, the second wave was showing noticeably fewer enemies than it did at the beginning. It was mostly due to the cannon shots. They tore straight through multiple soldiers at once, sending the ones at the back hurtling into its allies, damaging them as well. Thankfully for all those present, the shots lost momentum (due to the number of soldiers in their way) before they could make it to the temple.
Inside the Temple
The mutterings grew in volume until they could actually be heard from outside. It sounded like a mixture of different languages, all combined haphazardly into one primeval noise. At the same time, light flashed out from the temple, blinding the people closest to it (especially Alinia) for a fraction of a second.
In their minds echoed a few words:
"Wait.."
"Friends?"
"Allies?"
"No..."
"Like the rest.."
"Treachery!"
A blast of force knocked Alinia from the entryway. Out of it flew a Servant:
A woman dressed in purple robes. Her hair was disheveled, barely kept back by a single band of the same purple cloth as her robes. Raw Magic, that of the Age of Gods, poured out of her hands. Maddened eyes darted to and fro, attempting in vain to discern friend from foe. Her expression was not one of a maddened warrior, but that of a cornered animal: fear and desperation wrapped up in some inhuman thought process. Her madness was madness through fear and despair, not through bloodlust or rage.
"Just! Just leave me alone!" she wailed, heading straight for Alinia (her closest target). Her fingernails were like claws, and they were headed straight towards her enemy in order to tear her apart. "Why do you all attack me? Have I not suffered enough? Is it so wrong for me to rest, even for a moment?"
edited 6th Nov '15 2:42:06 AM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24Lancer would not let this proceed that way.
In a moment he was in front of Berserker, halting her assault with a block of his spear. "Thou has raiseth a hand upon a Master and for that thou shalt receiveth your rest in short order." Then, perhaps a little unortodoxically, he went ahead to slam his forehead against the woman in hopes of dazing her and distracting her enough for other Servants to come in for a kill.
"...frankly, we shouldn't have intruded in the first place." Sally mused as she lurked behind Caster's skeletal warriors, her weaves of heavy smoke passing through them harmlessly and striking at the Spartans, the spell meant to impede their fighting ability so that the impasse would be broken in their favor. "Well, now it's too late to think about it, I guess."
Rider had stood in front of Aliana, having gripped his whip with both hands to intercept Berserker's claws. He nodded his thanks for Lancer's intervention, then glanced back to his Master.
"Milady, are you able to continue?" He asked Aliana, before directing a solemn gaze to the enemy servant and lashing out to bind her. "If that is what you truly desire, Child, I shall guide you to eternal rest."
edited 1st Nov '15 3:28:42 PM by svenorzokarkoff
Temple (Outside)
"Yeah just... keep doing that, Lancer, good job," Rick said, confident in his servant's abilities as the Lancer took off into the temple. Staying with the majority of the group, he kept his KA-BAR gripped tightly in his right hand and stuck close to the other masters. As dangerous as it was out here with all the reanimated fighters, he figured that at least it was wide open, so the masters wouldn't be as much of a liability as they would in the temple.
Balling his left hand into a fist, he opened it again with a throwing motion, sending out a dozen large hornets with the intent of attacking the eyes of the Spartans.
Temple (Outside)
"No, dear Alba, 'tis not the work of the gods," Cadmus said to her master. "Simply the work of servants at odds. You will be safer out here, but I must go ahead, lest these battling fools find themselves dead."
With that, she picked up her staff and floated her way into the temple.
"I'm fine, don't worry!" Alinia said. "And - look, Cassandra, we just came here seeking shelter, we didn't want to disturb you, just -" Well, if she was a Berserker then telling her to calm down wouldn't do anything. Alinia raised a hand, and the wind began to pick up, the air pressure shifting to pin Cassandra in place. "Listen, I know you must have gone through horrible things, but we don't want to bring you any more pain."
edited 1st Nov '15 3:08:29 PM by KarrinBlue
Exist, pursued by bearAaliyah.
"Cassandra...." Aaliyah clucked her tongue. So this was their opponent. The ancient greek mad woman. She knew that there was no way she could face a Servant. Espeically one that seemed actually spooked, normally running would first come to her mind but they needed to get into the temple. She'd have to rely on Jakuta...but exactly how would he react to an order?
"Archer! Help the others!" She pointed at Cassandra and poured every bit of willpower she had into that one order.
Jeanne
Continuing her dance Jeanne maneuvered around the spears of Spartans, knocking them away with her sword when she needed to. The real enemy had appeared though, it was time to stop playing around with these puppets. She slashed though armor, rotting flesh and bone alike, in order to dispatch the Spartans as quickly as possible.
She looked back at her Master, "Kasumi, I should go join the others, please stay away ." Jeanne stepped once, and it was as if she disappeared from site. All that was left behind was a cloud of blue where her form once stood. She didn't teleport however, this was simply the extent of Jeanne's speed, it was possible some of the other Servants saw her.
Once she slowed down enough to be seen she was standing near the other Servants fighting against Cassandra, sword at the ready. The close proximity to her would give them all a slight boost.
Before engaging she gave an order to the opposing Servant, her Charisma causing her to sound naturally authoritative. "We would request entrance into this temple. Stand down, or we'll be forced to fight."
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850Skelebattle
As one would expect of the undead, the Spartans barely registered the insects stabbing their eyes out. It was a rather grotesque scene, honestly. They continued their relentless assault, though a few of them now seemed to ''specifically' target Rick. A few javelins headed in his direction.
Jeanne ended up finishing the actual Spartans off thanks to the aid of her master (which only really made the act faster as opposed to easier). The only thing left now were a few shambling Hoplites and Cassandra herself.
Cassandra
The maddened Servant hopped back and away just in time to not be hit by Lancer's head, but just in time to be struck and wrapped up by Rider's whip.
The whip wrapped around Cassandra, binding her for a moment. She struggled for a few choice moments, but then managed to overpower her opponent and swing him away and into Lancer.
"If you want to leave me alone, then why are you attacking me?! You're all with the Greeks, aren't you! Liars and cowards, all of you!" she yelled out, tears now streaming down her face.
She jumped back again, soaring a bit into the air. From that vantage point, she roared loudly. From behind her appeared a sizable array of violet circular magical arrays. And from them, pure, formless, destructive magic came down like a waterfall.
Inside the Temple
Within the temple was nothing but an Altar. An altar and a whole lot of blood. Regardless, the Leylines surrounding and encircling the altar were of usable quality. These would work for contacting Chaldea.
Barring that, the place was devoid of life.
Aaliyah
"And I was just starting to enjoy being a glorified fly-swatter." Jakuta replied snarkily. The entire time, he had been picking up rocks and launching them with his Prana Burst. He was actually content with how surprisingly effective it was at clearing away the undead. He had been shooting at both Cadmus's Warriors and Cassandra's reanimated soldiers; he didn't bother to discern between them.
He turned himself now to face the actual battle. "So.. would helping basically just mean shooting her down from here? Is that all I have to do?" he asked, pulling out his bow and aiming it at Cassandra. A golden bolt formed again as he pulled the drawstring back.
edited 1st Nov '15 4:10:07 PM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24"We are not with the Greeks, and you attacked first, even when I asked for your hospitality!" Alinia yelled back, grabbing a few small marble-sized spheres of metal out of a side pocket. She muttered hurriedly in German before throwing them into the air as hard as she could, where they shattered into sparkling fragments while a glowing shield appeared in the air before the group. "I came into the temple because I was worried about you!"
Exist, pursued by bearSkelebattle
"Jesus!" Rick muttered to himself, rolling to the side and using his special brand of reinforcement to toughen up his skin in case he couldn't dodge everything.
Cassandra
"המכשול מחזקים!" Cadmus shouted, creating a magical barrier just under Alinia's, providing a severe amount of reinforcement to the original. She simply nodded in encouragement at the mage.
"Do it." It was a simple command. Aaliyah trusted that Jakuta would understand, that the woman needed to be brought down.
Jeanne Moved again, this time to shield the others from the magic. The blast would disperse on a sphere of energy surrounding Jeanne, but the force of it held her there.
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850"Tch." Swiftly, Lancer backed out to carry Rick outta the danger zone. "No negotiations will be of use. The witch must be striketh down." He urged, glancing at other Servants. They were the ones that would be able to bring an end to that insane woman.
Realizing that she's in a pretty bad spot, Sally launched herself away from the fray, reinforcing herself to run faster, back to the safer zone.
Jakuta
The Archer grinned a positively evil smile. "My pleasure!"
Between him and Cassandra, a line-array of four circular golden disks materialized in the air. It was only a series of C rank NP's, Orisha-Ilu, so the mana drain wouldn't be that bad. Plus, Jakuta was using his own mana for this as well.
"So long, Witch."
The lightning bolt left Ofa Ti Imole, and struck the first instance of Orisha-Ilu. Said disc exploded with a single thunderclap, propelling the lightning-arrow into the next disc and so on and so forth. The speed growth was exponential; before the second thunderclap had occurred the arrow had already struck true.
Cassandra
The array paused for a moment. Cassandra remained suspended in the air, held up by her own magic. Her hands went to her face, holding it, while she smiled and blushed profusely. She wiggled around in the air nervously and happily. She looked anywhere but at Alinia.
"Y-you.. you were worried about me? W-well, I don't know I... we just met and.. Oh I don't know... Don't you think this is a little too fast..?"
Her eyes closed and she giggled. She was already starting to imagining a happy relationship with Alinia.
Of course, all of that was cut short by a lightning bolt impaling her and running straight through her chest.
She screamed, from the searing pain of it all, before falling unconscious in the air and plummeting downwards. The single arrow strike wasn't enough to kill her, but the damage was definitely fatal if not treated immediately.
edited 1st Nov '15 5:01:11 PM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24Cassandra
"Everyone, BACK OFF!" Cadmus immediately shouted at everyone in the vicinity, lips curling into a scowl. Her barrier over the group collapsed in an instant, and in a moment she was floating over to catch the falling berserker, gently guiding her to the ground.
"קסם להמיר לחיים" she started chanting as she held her right hand on the injured woman's wound, a flow of magical energy coming forth as she tried to heal the damage.
edited 1st Nov '15 5:01:18 PM by nman
Alinia blinked in surprise at Cassandra's reaction. That... was a bit easier than I - Of course, it was at this time that the arrow struck her. Oh, come on! Alinia ran forward as Cassandra hit the ground. Stupid, should've kept track of all the Servants in the temple... She winced as she took stock of the damage, but gritted her teeth and set to work. Healing magic wasn't exactly her forte, but it was considered required knowledge for anyone in her family.
edited 1st Nov '15 5:03:41 PM by KarrinBlue
Exist, pursued by bearAlba Pryce, after trying to help clear the way of undead spearmen, was left with quite a scene. The legendary Cassandra, the cursed seer of Apollo, had just appeared as a magically empowered raving lunatic and after a few traded blows had just as suddenly dropped to the ground half-dead, and her Servant was healing the person just trying to kill them?
Even a shut-in like this could see this was quite a series of events. Exhaling and brushing some hair out of her face, she walks over to Cadmus as she works her magic.
"It...seems you divined correctly, Caster. It was the work of a Servant. But then...where is their Master?"
We Are Our Avatars Forever (Now on Discord by invitation, PM)Aaliyah.
She watched Cassandra fall, her expression unreadable. It looked like she was about to calm down just before the arrow struck. She could blame Jakuta, but he only follwed her orders.
It was her that struck down the scared lonely Servant, indirectly as it was.
The others rushed to heal the girl, so there'd be no need for her help as well, too many cooks spoil the broth. Instead she calmly, seemingly calmly, strolled into the temple, and sat down.
She began to concentrate, chanting out her mechanical lines, and connecting herself to the flow of magic in this land. She tried to reach out to HQ.
Jeanne.
Jeanne simply returned to her Master's side, but watched the others as they cared for Cassandra. One part of her was glad the others had some decency, while the another couldn't see her as an ally just yet.
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850Outside The Temple
Kasumi continued to help in the most useful way possible! Being sub-servant to her servant and doing absolutely nothing! Well, other then trying her best to avoid getting impaled by something, with quick but not magical movments, this lasted about as long as it took her to hear the clap of thunder from inside the temple itself.
She pinned her ears, although that was really not visible just yet, and took a deep sigh as she finally determined she should probably actually do something, despite being told not to.
Pointing her hands down twords the ground they began to spark with electricity, and the same electrical current flowed over her boddy as the illusion faded, the strong electrical current allowing her to hover slightly off the ground, as she began to rapidly float her way into the temple.
Inside the Temple
She quickly cancelled the spell upon arving onto the scene however, floating gracefully back to the ground as she just kinda stared at the aftermath, unable to really do much due to not being a medic, and having arived too late to do any real fighting, she went back to being passive wall decoration.
Rider appeared by Aliana's side, his head secured under one arm after it had been knocked off. If Berserker relapsed and aimed for a nearby ally, he would be ready to intercept an attack. And if she did not make it, he could at least do his duty and grant her safe passage to the afterlife.
With Dullahan Physiology, he could see Berserker's soul clinging on to its life, and communicate with it.
I ask that you remain still if you wish to survive, child. My Master and her ally are doing their utmost to heal you.
Jeanne
Now that things had calmed down Jeanne turned to her Master once again. "Ah....Kasumi. I do not mean to raise any objections to your...preferred methods, however, it is usually the Master giving orders. I simply took charge because you seemed frightened. I do not mind if you would simply rather me go off my own Judgement in battle but..."
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850Kasumi looked to Jeanne pausing slightly as she tried to form words, one ear pined the other raised, once she was confidante enough she had some up with the correct ones she responded, "I-I am no tactician Lady Jeanne, contrary to the legends I have heard about you, while it is not the traditional roles of a Master and a Servant I would not mind if you were the one who took charge here, I am notable due to my power with lightning, not my training in the arts of battle, and... it would kind of be a waste of our skills to have the one who knew about warfare being commanded by the one who does not"
Jakuta & HQ Contact
Jakuta did nothing but smile. "How did that feel, hm? Changing the course of everything with a single direction? That's what it's like to rule."
As he finished speaking, he dematerialized into sparks and motes of golden dust.
Aaliyah would feel a successful connection. It felt almost like getting shocked by static.
A holographic image of a fluffy-haired man
◊ appeared before her. He seemed desperate, as if he had been searching for a day or two without sleep.
"Hello? Oh thank God, finally someone showed up! You're one of our Master candidates, correct? I assume someone high enough in the rankings to know what to do with this connection.. well, anyway it's good to see that you're alive! I've been searching for the past day for some human contact but.. well, that doesn't matter!" The man laughed, a hint of triumph in it.
"I'm Dr. Roman, your Medical Adviser. I'm here to serve as your contact between your current timespace and Chaldea. What's happened since you arrived? Are there any more survivors other than yourself?"
Cassandra
Her wounds were sealing up, but she still did not have enough Mana to survive the wounds. Her life was slowly fading, and she did not have much time left.
Cassandra's eyes fluttered open for a moment. Her first sight was Alinia, and she smiled as a result. Slowly and shakily she extended a hand out in an effort to touch her, but she could not muster the strength to do so. Her eyes closed. Her spiritual form was beginning to slowly fade away at the edges, turning to golden dust.
Dullahan
What Rider would hear was the magical equivalent to static. Before his eyes flashed an image of Cassandra's soul. However, connected to it via something like a spiderweb, was a chaotic route all the way down to Akasha itself. It spiraled downwards to the route, where it occasionally received a pulse of something.
This was a representation of her ability: Manteia Hages. The Curse of Prophecy. Apollo's Gift.
edited 1st Nov '15 6:25:50 PM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24

Alba Pryce watched the decayed bodies rise up and mindlessly attack, only to crumble like dust before the might of magically empowered humans and Servants and be replaced by spear-wielding ones. As Caster provided support to the other Masters with her magic, Alba prepared her own magic by infusing a few sheets of paper in her pocket and folding them into something akin to throwing knives. Then her eye momentarily glanced at the decapitated statue.
"Er, we are sure it is the woman inside the temple doing this and not the work of some angered deity, right?", asked Alba.
We Are Our Avatars Forever (Now on Discord by invitation, PM)