Princess: The Hopeful - Garden of Despair

Apartment

Vanessa shrugged as she leaned against a nearby wall, her hands in her pocket. "It's difficult for me to say. I have access to a charm called Books in Running Brooks which is supposed to make me temporarily an avatar of the Queen of Diamonds or something if you believe the flowery language." She explained, waving her hand at her phone. "But it also only permits me access to knowledge of the human race, so it might just be temporarily jacking me in to a Gestalt."

She shrugged again. "Anyway, so I'm relatively new to this so what exactly is this Cataphract? One of the Darkness' heavy hitters based on the name, am I assuming that correctly?"

Seeing as the situation was resolving itself and he didn't feel like wasting more jade after it had been proven the young man wasn't going to spring up and devour them all he stepped away. "Gods you people just live for the drama don't you?" he leaned against the wall, quietly disappointed he wasn't able to use the button on someone. But not all pranks could be so easily pulled off he supposed.

"Cataphract is what you get when someone falls into such despair that death is a mercy to them. The pure despair, hatred, and pain of the dearly departed spirit becomes a lightening rod for dark energy, creating the one of the baddest beasties the darkness can make outside of its spawning grounds. You were right to bring everyone together for something like that," he leaned against a wall. Part of him was afraid of going against something like that, but more of him was consumed by the sadness of the idea that if only he could have met this person before...maybe he could have done something. Helped, made them laugh, gotten them help. He became a Spade because more then anything he believed that humor could be a better way to fight the dark then just bashing evil in the face.

"Of course I hope we have a plan that isn't just us all gearing up and busting into a hospital. Even if we win it would cause more harm then good in the short term."

"...So you want us all to team up, then?" Liz said, a bit calmer now that she wasn't fearing becoming tardy. "Can't say I'm opposed to the idea, since I've teamed up with Tsu before. Besides, many hands make a lighter load."

Her voice turned a little darker as she heard what exactly a Cataphractoi was. "Though if what that guy's saying is true, we're definitely going to need a plan of action at least. These things sound tough to deal with as it is, the last thing we want to do is to make it easier for it to take us out."

An Apartment.

He blinks, surprised at Loke's unbridled enthusiasm. He looks at Elise. 'I'll keep an eye on her, make sure doesn't open up any old wounds.'

Warren leans back, eyes moving back and forth between the group. He gave Tsubaki and Liz a small grin and a wave. 'And ... that's everyone.' The sound of rustling then the soft scratching of pencil on paper. His eyes dart from person to person, as numbers and simple descriptions slowly fill the pages. He walks around Quinn, taking a minute to study him in detail.

'Well, I'm tied at the hip to these guys. I'm not sure what we need to do, but someone's gonna fight. And someone gonna get hurt. Nothing a few stitches and some warm drink can't fix.' He chuckles. 'So, if the Cataphract is a problem, then I guess it's my problem.'

edited 29th Aug '17 11:48:13 PM by AbsentMinded

APARTMENT

"Well, we can't just sit around...in fact, actually, take me to the hospital!" She gestured to the deep gash on her side. "I can make this worse if I need to, but I think this should be enough to say I'm injured. Just take me to the hospital and I'll serve as bait for the thing!" She smiled.

"Just think, this way we might lose less to spring a trap!" Loke said, before going silent. One of the hopefuls who died sacrificed herself to make up for Loke's mistake. She'd been a warrior for a year but that was her first cataphract. Well, this time? Loke was going to take this one's head.

edited 29th Aug '17 11:54:39 PM by TroyandHawk

"Something that powerfully dark would be able to sniff out a trap like that much to easy, plus I would rather not put one of us at risk so needlessly. Plus we can't start the fight inside of the hospital...at least not while there are still a ton of people inside of it. The second we attack is the second that thing summons allies or goes full beast and starts eating babies until we hold still." there were too many variables, and walking right into the dragons lair and calling it a 'trap' wasn't funny in even the most sick sense of the word.

"Plus even without all of that, you yourself would be at too much risk, I would rather not see someone killed because we were too gung ho to help." it hurt sometimes, but the simple fact of the matter was that normal humans were next to useless against the Dark. If it meant one or two more people hurt to put an end to the threat and keep them okay to keep fighting after then its what it came down to. It wasn't fun or a perfect set up, but a Seeker always looked at the big picture. A Spade Seeker simply looked at said bigger picture sideways.

The Apartment

"...I'm glad you're all willing to band together. Merci beaucoup. Truly, thank you all." Elise said, a relieved smile appearing on her face, and it seemed a bit of the weight on her shoulders had lifted.

After Adrian and Liz had finished speaking, Elise spoke again.

"That's what we're here for. No one here is suicidal enough that they'd want to charge into a Cataphract's lair shouting Leroy Jenkins."

Until Loke did just fucking that.

"Loke, I know the feeling, you know I do, but calm down, mon amie. I'd rather not let anyone in this room get hurt or worse because of being rash."

She paused and took a deep breath. "Look, Wizard's description is right. A Cataphract is a person who died in utter despair, reanimated by the Enemy into a grotesque parody of who they were. The person is gone. It might look human, but that thing inside the hospital is long dead. The help we can give is to give it peace."

She clenched her fists again. "Before we do anything, we need a plan. Most of you have never faced something like this before, so listen up. First point. Cataphractoi are the Enemy's answer to the Hopeful. They are Generals of Darkness. They aren't mindless beasts like Darkspawn, no, these things are sentient and cunning. Don't assume we're smarter than it. We're not."

She started pacing. "The last time we fought one of these things was four years ago. We went out hunting it at night. We knew where its lair was, we knew its routine. It ambushed us anyway. Do you guys remember that scandal a while back? Local politician whose life was destroyed? That's him."

Her voice choked up. "It damn near killed all of us."

Elise was washed by a sudden surge of grief and loss, that day...she failed them, those girls who fought with her. She was supposed to be the veteran. It hurt, they had their lives ahead of them. Young, much too young.

"Second point. They do not fight alone. The Cataphractoi can command Darkspawn. The one we fought kept calling them in, and we were nearly overwhelmed. That's a priority, we limit the enemies we fight. We have to keep it from summoning."

"Third point. A Cataphract is strongest in its lair, in its Tainted Place. It's damn near suicidal to fight one in its lair. We're not doing that. The Hospital isn't just a Taint, it has people, patients. We will not risk collateral damage. We fight it here. Consecrated, Warded and abandoned. Another priority: lure him here."

"Fourth point. A Cataphract is dangerous. Even in human form it can use the Dark as we use the Light. It is not just a physical threat. And, as I said, it is the Enemy's answer to us. It can Transform into a monstrous form, unique to each one. The last one turned into a Hydra."

Shaking slightly, Elise sat back down.

"Roi, my Shikigami, has been scouting the hospital for the last week. He's still in there right now. Here's the info we have on the one inside St Damian's."

"His name, so he says, is Doctor Phillip Brewster. He's been working at St. Damian's for little over a month. There were no records of someone with that name dying recently, so either it's not his real name, or this is an old Cataphract or from outside Domremy. Brewster's a surgeon, has an office in the fifth floor, and is always first to arrive and last to leave. No one knows where he lives. The Hospital is Tainted now. You can feel it. His colleagues are Darkened. We have to purify them after we destroy Brewster. No deaths yet, but multiple patients had their condition worsen since Brewster started there."

She looked at everyone in the room.

"....That's it. Let's get to work. Thoughts? Suggestions?"

APARTMENT

The look on Loke's face told Elise just what she thought of that idea. The Hydra had killed two Princess and nearly killed them all. Elise was giving this one time to get stronger! Tougher! Loke enjoyed a good fight, but this was a predator!

"You think it's too smart for a trap but it will have no problem being lead to an apartment building?" Deep in her bones, Loke could feel Terra becoming displeased with her sudden rancor. She forced herself to calm down.

"How...How does it kill people?" She asked. Her voice shaking somewhat, a farcry from the carefree woman that was overjoyed at being wounded in a fight.

edited 30th Aug '17 1:35:15 AM by TroyandHawk

Apartment

Quinn glared at Amelie, a slightly sour face on before a hint of a laugh escaping. "Oh now you're a funny one. Meanwhile..." He read the phone he was handed with great interest. "You... People are all serious about this. Hoooooooly fuck. And you say I have the potential?" Quinn thought for a bit, taking all they I had into account. "Well what if we use that to our advantage? We need to lure that thing here right? Well, if you guys are so crucial to stopping this, then wouldn't this thing just LOVE to stop one from awakening? After all, an active one is one thing, but potential is limitless." Quinn suggested, smiling at the small moment of self praise.

"Not to mention, I know how to act. Who knows, maybe this is also the reason I was brought here. Course, being used as bait is pretty terrifying."

edited 30th Aug '17 1:49:47 AM by SolusLupus

The Apartment

Amélie giggled girlishly. Never let it be said that Amélie didn't have a sense of humor.

"Thank you for the offer, but before you make any rash decisions, I need you to listen," she said. "The life of the Hopeful is difficult and fraught with horrors. You will never again be able to turn your eyes away from injustice, because it will pain you physically."

She gazed at Quinn with serious yet kind eyes.

"— But if you are hearing the voice of a Queen, that means you are marked. Whether you like it or not, you will — short of compete avoidance of any life changing experiences — Blossom into one of the Hopeful."

She sighed. Her limp rabbit plushy collapsed into her lap.

"In fact, we may be pushing it right now with this very moment — I daresay it's life changing in its own right. So if you'd rather not pursue a dull life, I think we'll need to prepare you for the inevitable. But that doesn't mean you need to throw caution out to the wind immediately."

Turning both wheels in opposite directions, Amélie faced the window once more.

"We know when it leaves? What route it takes, and in what transport? I am a very good shot, but that is still a risky proposition. If, however, it somehow believes this building is cover, especially since it is abandoned and shows signs of a potential Tainted Place ... "

edited 30th Aug '17 2:17:31 AM by opnerf

The Apartment

"I am trying to keep everyone alive, Loke! I refuse to take unecessary risks and that includes letting you just jump in willy nilly! We can't just do that! Not again!" Elise snarled, pounding the wall with her fist and glaring at the other Hopeful. "We don't even know how it kills yet, although if I have to guess, well, it's pretending to be a doctor, there's a damn good chance it'll sabotage treatment. It won't go big and expose itself in one swoop!"

She let out a breath before turning to face Quinn.

"I am beginning to see what the Queen of Spades saw in you. You are a courageous one, fille. But non, what I said to Loke goes for you as well. Ah, forgive me, we were never introduced properly. Annelise Wattson, pleased to meet you."

When Amèlie spoke, Elise considered.

"Midnight, on the dot. He walks. Oui, a sniper with your skill might make a difference, however I am doubting whether one shot can kill le monstre."

"...Hmm. The opportunity to lure it here is a good one as well."

edited 30th Aug '17 2:25:40 AM by GrimHelm

The Apartment

They wouldn't throw any of their kind to the wolves this time. Not like last time. Amélie still remembered being unable to keep up with the tide of Darkspawn.

"Quelle chance, Annelise. Yes, thankfully I've never seen it drive. A car crash would be dangerous to stage," Amélie said. "In this case one shot is not necessarily one kill, but does it need to be? If it believes itself in danger out in the open, where might it run to first? Assuming, of course, its behavior is predictable — which is never the case for a Cataphract, unfortunately, but I'm at a loss to think of better ideas right now."

Domremy, Apartment

Seeing that everyone had calmed down and the meeting progress, Alissandra sheathed her sword consequently reverting her into her normal form. To get us all so worked up over nothing, the Queen of Spades really is fond of a good laugh. She shook her head with a smile of relief.

Now, everything started to get serious once more with talk of a Cataphract. If they were all veterans under a seasoned commander, taking care of one would be a walk in the park - albeit under heavy rain, howling winds, and cracking skies. No, it was that thinking that had reduced the Kingdom into what it is now. The stakes were higher and the risk much greater, now.

"Basically", she started, "we'll have to ambush him from the shadows while dissuading him from going back to the hospital?" She mulled it over for a moment and then turned to the girl in the wheelchair, "You're probably going to need a lot more firepower to give him a scare. That, and very good concealment or a few bodyguards. Meanwhile, the others can work on keeping the doctor away from the hospital. Unless, of course, you want to shoot him from the apartment so that he'll come here. I'm just not sure if that would be safe."

edited 30th Aug '17 5:02:10 AM by DemKimochis

An Apartment

Warren taps his pen to his check and thinks for a second. 'So we need to distract, separate, pull, and conquer... Looks like we have our hands full.' He taps his foot against the ground. 'I can't believe that the entire hospital has become tainted.... damn it.' He looks up at Elise. 'Does he have ... I dunno, some sorta weakness? Something that can make him abandon sense for a good moment, even a few seconds?'

'Otherwise, maybe we set traps for them in this building. Like a floor net that can grab a bunch of darkspawn the moment they step into the room. Or a loud bang that can distract an oncoming foe. Oooo, yeah....' He begins to scribble more notes, every now and then muttering something under his breath.

Adrian closed his eyes and took a slow breath, blocking away everything but his own mind from the world. Brain, run through collected knowledge on current situation Single target, able to summon multiple. Currently disguised as a human doctor. Hasn't caused any major incidents yet. Last point, elaborate on significance Creatures of Dark are born to cause pain and misery, often going the shortest route to said goal. However this one hasn't done anything of great significance So in other words it wants to keep victims alive and in pain until the point where it can garner no more misery...possibly trying to create more...

"Shit!" Adrian yanked himself out of his mind and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think I have an idea of what it might be trying to do by hanging around the hospital, and if I am right we might need a more direct approach then any of us are comfortable with." he looked around at the group . "These things are created by people who are in great despair dying in utter hopeless agony. If my prediction is correct it is trying to turn the hospital into a breeding ground, slowly draining the will to live and hope from the patients until it can deliver a death blow. In a place that is already tainted the darkness could easily latch onto the departed and create even more of itself."

They still needed to play it by ear, and rushing in recklessly would just end up with it trying to push its plans ahead. "We might need to think in reverse, put a hold to the Taint and then flush it out. If we started making a dent in its plans we could get it to follow us, especially if we were to play smart and go in as just normal humans. That is my two cents at least."

APARTMENT

"So, we let the thing take a walk, we ambush it and kill it-can't we assume he'll leave some of his servants at the hospital?" Loke pointed out. "We need to kill this guy tonight- Of what use is the grass when the horse is already dead?" She added, something her father used to tell her. "Every day we waste, hundreds of people die and I need to take my uncle into the hospital in two days!"

edited 30th Aug '17 5:29:29 PM by TroyandHawk

Apartment

Quinn nodded at Amelie, his face serious. "I... Understand. But hey, if I turned away now, I couldn't necessarily forgive myself could I? If I have the potential to do this, then I need to do the absolute best I can. The utmost best that I know I can achieve, and if it means throwing myself into danger from the beginning then I am willing to do it." Quinn considered what Elise said. "Though... I guess it would be best to play at safe if that is what is needed..."

edited 30th Aug '17 5:29:19 PM by SolusLupus

The Apartment

Elise considered what everyone had to say, a frown appearing on her face as everyone gave plans.

"While Adrian is right that we can't do anything risky, Loke is also right that we can't delay. Every day that we wait, things will go wrong. And we cannot lessen or remove a Taint as long as the Cataphract is active. As long as that thing is still alive, things at the hospital will not, cannot get better."

APARTMENT

"Are we sure we want her-him-what's your pronouns?" Loke asked Quinn before getting an answer. "He hasn't even awakened, and for his first fight to be against a Demonyo? She frowned, "In Hawaii, we called that covering someone with blood and throwing them at a shark." It wasn't a saying, but it seemed an apt comparison to her.

Apartment

"Is there any other abandoned area we could perhaps try luring it to, Elise? Because I don't think you'd want this place trashed so soon.", Tsu noted. "I'm all for keeping innocent lives from getting caught in this."

Apartment

Vanessa raised a hand and spoke up. "Uhh, if we want to lure him into a trap, we've got a perfectly good swamp nearby. Not a whole lot of people out there at night and you never know, maybe alligators like the taste of evil monsters from outside reality."

They weren't getting anywhere, of course this was a first meeting and he didn't even know the courts and classes of his fellow nobles. There were too many unknowns and too many gung-ho heroes ready to just jump at a fight without thinking first. If this dragged on any longer someone was bound to just walk out and pick a fight they weren't ready for. "The problem is that we have nothing it wants and it has surrounded itself with hostages. Even if we tried to snipe it it wouldn't chase us, it would find the nearest place with people and rip them to shreds to prove a point."

"Is there anyway we can get at the human persona? Fake blackmail or send a threat that would matter to its disguise and force it to meet us. If it thought we were just run of the mill scum that it could kill it might walk into a trap."

The Apartment

Elise fidgeted impatiently as everyone suggested and debated.

"This place is consecrated, and no one comes here anyway. I prepared this place to be the battlefield, Tsubaki." she responded.

Then, she looked at everyone in turn, glancing at every Hopeful in the room.

She glanced at Adrian and shook her head.

"Nothing. Brewster has no records at all. Like I said, no one even knows where he lives. My Shikigami tried to follow him home a few times when he leaves the hospital, but seems like he just...vanishes. Besides, how the hell do you blackmail a Cataphract? It isn't human, it doesn't care one lick about anything."

"We have to decide now. Every day we delay, there's a chance someone dies. But we also have to be careful or one or more of us will die."

"....I think Amèlie's idea is the best we've got, considering. She'll take a shot and lure it here, where we prepare the battlefield, set traps, limit his movement. In order for us to do that, I propose two or three of us engage the target briefly, making him think it's a frontal assault. When Amèlie takes the shot, have the vanguard attack, and then run, do not engage more than necessary. Run here if you have to, chances are it will follow any Noble who attacks it directly."

"I think the best moment to strike is when it's leaving, but we need to time this perfectly. We need it out of that hospital and into here."

The Apartment

"Thank you," Amélie told Quinn. "That's a very practical way of looking at it."

Amélie turned away from the window and shook her head at Adrian.

"Attempting to flush him out of his current position under accusations such as— say, medical malpractice—is a longer-term game, and requires time we don't have," she said. "If the hospital has already become a Tainted Place, it means he has worked past the inherent Blessings afforded to the place, which means he has been there some time before we discovered him."

She wheeled back to the center of the room.

"It may not be pleasant, but I can position myself on the roof of the hospital before the doctor leaves at midnight. An assault pushing him into the apartment block should swiftly follow. The rest is up to you."

She smiled and clapped her hands together.

"Ah, but shall we all exchange names, those of us who are new, before we run headlong into danger? I am Amélie Belrose, and I have been here for eight years. I hope we can all work together."

edited 30th Aug '17 11:15:20 PM by opnerf

Apartment

"Um, excuse me, sorry, just want to ask one question..." Quinn said as he leaned against a wall and held up a finger. "What... Exactly am I supposed to do?" He had a face of actual confusion and worry on, as he realized more and more that he wasn't even aware how he was supposed to, or, even COULD contribute.

"And umm... My name is Quinn Yuukihana. Yes, I'm a guy. Completely. I just like to look cute~ Might as well flaunt my androgyny." He said this with a smile and twirl.