Final Kingdom MUSH - User contributions [en]

Shadow Noodles

2013-08-05T00:25:29Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/08/04 |Location=Traverse Town - Wildcat Cafe |Synopsis=Periodic catchup session go! Now with noodles. |Cast of Characters=Will Sherman, Riku, ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/08/04
|Location=Traverse Town - Wildcat Cafe
|Synopsis=Periodic catchup session go! Now with noodles.
|Cast of Characters=Will Sherman, Riku, Will Cutout
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Shadow Noodles. Riku sits at one of the booths near the back with his head in one hand. He looks intently at the purple/black strands of noodles as they fall through the chopsticks and back into the bowl with the remnants of a slice of dark beef and an egg on top of it all. He stirs the concoction around in the bowl and then lifts more noodles. He pauses, as if trying to decide whether to actually eat them and then just lets the noodles slide back into the bowl for a second time. Plop. Riku pushes himself up out of the seat, moving over to the Jukebox and looking over the music. He pushes the button and scans the titles, not really looking at them. After awhile he goes back to his seat and stares at the noodles some more, as if irritated they were still there and that he was still here and just generally irritated in general.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' When Riku turns back around to the noodles, he see's a familar hat on a head, that is also familar and probably punchable. Going into said head is a bowl of noodles at a high velocity. Will Sherman, is on your seat eating your shadow noodles. "Could stand to be more cheery." he says, with a grin and looks back at Riku, trying to get a firm grip on the situation Alma told him about...again, the look is slightly unsettling... But you get used to him looking at you like that. Really, if it wasn't something he told you he could do, you'd just think it was just an intentful stare. And then Lean on me plays. Yeah. Someone is abusing luck magic.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks.. tired, but he smiles just the same. It's not self-depreciating. It is a little /irritated/ because 'Hey Man. Where are my noodles?' but it's genuine just the same. Anybody looking intently would see nothing. Well, not nothing.. but considerably less than other intent looks of before. Riku's darkness has so diminished as to be barely noticeable above the background that most people carry with them all their lives. It's still that amalagation of white threads and wispy black, but so low-profile as to be almost difficult to pick out. The smile turns into a lopsided smirk, raising his eyebrows as he stares to /glare/ at Will. "Will. You are scamming my noodles off me." a pause, then a snort. "I guess I better get some more." he then turns away and orders another bowl before sitting down in the booth across from Will. "I assume you are well?" He blatantly ignores the jukebox. So ignore.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "I'm fine." Will says, "Are you?" He asks. "I mean, you don't look fine..." he pauses, "I was freekin' scared <GOOSEHONK>less when you didn't come out...but I guess all well that ends well.." he shrugs, "Yeah...it's been a thing. Ugh..." he rubs his face, "The dreams stopped, I guess...the filth...or I guess, Blot is gone for the moment...though I know it wants me...or a part of me." he shudders. "But that's not why I am here." he says, "Alma said something about a problem." "...And I just can't stop myself from sticking my hands where they don't belong apparently." he says with a slight smirk. "But...you know, your darkness is...really diminished. Like, really low."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku raises an eyebrow. "The.. blot?" he then shakes his head. "Lemme guess. Big spooky eldrich horror." he nods. "I think I should start a naming system for them just like I've got one for the various forms of Scary Armor." he frowns slightly at that but then shakes his head, looking into the distance for a few moments before looking back at Will. "Yeah. I was..really occupied right then. I didn't even really notice time going by. And, well, I can't do anything with what's left so.. maybe that's for the best." he looks pained for a moment and then shakes it off, smirking. "So.." he sighs. "I'm mildly curious. How much did she tell you and how much am I going to have left to use in Darkness Charades, the home game?"

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' Will looks a bit haunted, but he smiles it off, "Well, I think the Blot IS a nickname of a sort. I mean...it litterally looks like Ink. Like, black Ink." he shrugs, "And yeah...super corruptive...bad <GOOSEHONK>." "...Well...she told me something about that jerkface from the end of the boat trip...and that he didn't die, and that he somehow lived IN your darkness...and also somehow is now also trying to get into HER...and she wants ME to try and wrestle him out. First...if I am going to do that, we need a lava lake or a fire near by." Will says, "...Secondly, I have no idea what will happen if I do this..."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Wait.. WHAT?~!" Riku thumps hard into the table as he tries to sit up far too quickly, the pain sharp and immediate as he thumps right back down in the seat. This is the most awkward of times for noodles to be delivered, so of cousr, there is now noodles. Riku stares at them blankly. "no.. No..no.. that's.. not. /possible./" but there is a faint hint of doubt there, the color draining from his face. "I.. Excuse me, Will." He then walks a short distance away and lowers his voice into a subvocal range as he lingers near the jukebox.

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' Will blinks. Will shrugs...okay that's normal. Will sits there for a moment, and eats some more noodles. And suddenly drinks a rootbee- Where did you get tha-MY ROOTBEER! WILL THAT IS M- "That's enough third wall out of us." He mutters.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku walks back to the table, still looking about as white as printer paper as he sits down and toys with the noodles with an absolute lack of appetite. "Yeah. This is where I hold up the screwball sign, Will. Now. Either Alma is lying to me or you totally missed the mark there." he pauses for a long time. "But no. The.. " he snorts. "The jerkface in residence isn't anywhere anymore. Alma killed them. I think.. she's trying to sever her own magic." he sighs in exasperation. "I'm sure that won't go /horrible/ for her or anyone else." Riku rubs his head. "Let me guess. She said the /absolute/ minimum and in the process, got all the details wrong? As opposed to her other mode where she drops a detailed summary on your feet like a ten ton brick." he facepalms and just stays there, shaking his head from side to side. "Sigh. How's Mercade and the TDA doing? Do you know? Yes. I'm stalling from actually having to explain this mess. Humor me."

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' Will nods once... "Okay see, now I know how I can respond to this." "/Hell no/." Will says, "YOU remember what happened when that bird bit me. The last thing we need is me touching a string connected to mortal magic in anyway." He says, "...I have no idea what it'd do, besides explode catastrophically." he shrugs. Oy... "They are good, Mercade got back from a thing...he got something but I can't say what until he reveals it. I am just going to say I am very proud of him." Will litterally beams. "What about you...besides this thing...and the shadow thing..."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks at Will wryly. "Come on." he laughs, although it is very shaky. "Mercade got back from a thing. That you won't /say/.. what kind of thing are we talking about here? Usually you aren't this way about the usual grand adventure." he chuckles. He seems to just shake his head and push the /entire/ deal with Alma off to one side with just a nod. He looks momentarily sad at mention of the bird and then shakes it off. "Why is it such a secret?"

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' Will shakes his head.. "Sorry, but I can't say. Not here...listening ears, dark things love listening into both of us right? He'll reveal it when he's ready, but I don't want it out...not because I don't trust you, but because..." he looks around, and then back.. "If something were to happen to Mercade before he is ready...I'd never forgive myself." He says, "...Nor would the worlds, I think." He says, with a frown. "...Oh the bird...man, sorry. I know that had to bring back a bad memory...you liked that bird, right?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks at Will intently and then leans back against the booth. He looks defeated, closing his eyes hard for a few moments before opening them again and smiling. Shove to the side. "..alright. I get it." he takes a small breath and shrugs a shoulder. "Yeah. I guess so. But he's beholden to bosslady, and I'm not exactly toeing the evil line these days." he chuckles sadly. "Not exactly getting it together with my cadet training either. I guess.. to answer your question, I'm just peachy."

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' Will sighs.. "Yeah, I know...I pick a helluva time to learn the meaning of the word discreet...trust me when I say this though...it's worth the wait. Just believe in Mercade, okay?" Will smiles, he is really trying to be positive. "Oh no, what's going on with the Cadet training? Or are you just not grocking the training?" he says, and also frowns, "...Oh that thing is her's huh? I met her recently...tried to get close but she wasn't having that stuff." he shakes his head... "...That woman...I have seen many things in my life...but never a heart so twisted."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "She brought me warm milk and took the nightmares away for awhile." Riku says frankly to Will. "But yeah. Nobody knows that more than me. She is an evil woman. And she has one of my best friends in her grasp. And there is nothing I can do about it." Riku rubs his head and like Will, really tries to veer into something positive. "No No. It's been going well. I mean, the accelerated program was kicking my ass but I got used to it. I just.. see everyone else being promoted and graduated and well.. not me." he shrugs a shoulder. "Not ready yet, I guess." Riku eats noodles for a bit. "You know. I took your advice. Took Alma somewhere nice." he smiles a little. "Thanks, by the way."

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' Will smiles, it is genuine, "That's good...that's really good. You should take some time to actually act your age once in a while." Will says with a grin. "Though I was afraid the two of you would mix and explode....but it seems you're both good for each other..." Opposites attract. "Well, you are early...and.." he says, "You are still trying to find yourself. Your center, your reason to do what you do? Something other than survival." he says, "But...if you want, maybe I can help with the training? I need to work on my KUNG FU grip myself."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "That.. sounds refreshingly like something normal." Riku nods to Will. "I'd like that Will. I've been running from eldritch horror to eldritch horror and horrific war for the past two months." There is a long pause. "Any good movies playing in Manhattan?" Completely flat delivery. "I think I need a break from the rest of my life."

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' Will laughs, "Yeah...they are playing reruns...some people are talking about actually making more movies, sense...well we don't have a hollywood anymore! Then again...blessing in disguise or not is yet to be seen..." he laughs, "Ugh...tell me about it...these Horrors are starting to get to be too much...even for the guy who houses a sleeping one." he says, with a exhasperaited sigh, "Though...I am glad you're getting to be somewhat normal. I was afraid the strain was going to kill you.."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku rubs the side of his head. "Yeah." Noodles. So much noodles. "I guess so. Everything was gone in one direction. And now it's not, so I'm sort of.. left at loose ends." he shakes his head. "Long story short, okay? I've been watched most of my life. The pet project of some guy named the seeker. The guy on the boat, right? There are shards of them. They eventually go crazy and die. Except this one. This one didn't because well.." he smirks. "Because I'm a special snowflake." Noodles. "This shard got betrayed by his boss and was sort of torqued about it. So he and I.. had a deal. I absorb darkness from the other shadow lords, like Lord Ombra. And he helps me take down Malificent and save Kairi." he shakes his head. "That was the plan anyways. He broke the deal. And.. then Alma got involved and.." he sighs. "Yeah. Most terrifying thing I have ever seen in my life. A light spellcaster so zealous that it makes Faruja look heretical."

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' Will stares at Riku for a moment, "Man...you had this going on and you didn't ask for my help? Come on." Will says, with a frown, shaking his head, "God, just like you going off and doing things all by yourself! Ugh.." He says, in a not actually angry but FRUSTRAITED by this guy voice.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "I dunno Will." Riku says with extreme dryness. "Accepting the help of an evil shadow entity that's screwed over my life because I have literally no other recourse that won't get people I like killed or worse." a long pause. "It doesn't matter, does it?" he shrugs. "It's over... it's done." Riku rests his head against the back of the booth staring up at the ceiling. "I wanted nobody to get hurt. I just.. wanted to fight back. To do.. /something/.. and that's gone now. For my own /good/ no less, from the person I'm supposed to like." Riku just throws up a hand. "I just don't even know, Will. Yeah. It was a dumb idea. I KNOW that. I just.." he sighs and falls silent.

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' "...Kinda like ignoring a glaring problem for centuries until it exploded in the death of your world?" Will says, "Yeah...no I get it. No, I am not mad...or even blaming you." he says, rubbing the back of his head. "How about this...in the future, if we got problems? How about we do the NORMAL thing and talk to each other? Like, normal people? I like this idea. Like, we both know what happens when we team up, lets do the unbeatable team thing."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku nods ruefully. "Yeah... does normal blow up in your face? I'm not aware of this thing anymore. It might be poisonous." he chuckles faintly. "As long as it doesn't do that. I've been picking out shards of exploded life out of my hair for awhile."

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' "Normal can sometimes...but it is also easier to pick yourself up when you got an extra pair of hands to help." Will says. "Ugh. Yeah me too. Freekin' life gets messy."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku nods. "So, which eldritch horror would make the best zombie movie?" he chuckles. "They should make a movie about the TDA. Except everything is set up like a heist movie. Which would make sense since Max is a guy with a super death kitchen. This is why Alma is so good at cooking. Death kitchen. Literal. Death kitchen."

:'''[[Will Cutout]] has posed:''' "Heh heh heh..." Will says, "I am totally responsible for that." Will grins, "She wanted to cook, so I introduced her to Max."

Fragmentary Passage: Shiki

2013-08-04T20:20:52Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/03 |Location=???(Destati) |Synopsis=Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices. |Thank..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/03
|Location=???(Destati)
|Synopsis=Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices.
|Thanks=Shiki
|Cast of Characters=Stormfall. Shiki Misaki
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Sleep takes a long time coming, but eventually it seeps in. Pieces of dream and memory weave together to form landscapes to be visited in the small hours of night. Sometimes this can be a good thing, a flight of fancy. And others.. well.. they are constrained by no rules of reality to be nice, and nightmares are banished only with the coming of a new day.. or by facing their origins. This dream however.. This is not a place you have been before. Except.. perhaps you have? There is a distant familiarity to the stained glass underfoot but it is tarnished and shrouded by silt and ocean water, partially obscuring the picture. The stained glass serves as a floor with a column of darkness as the walls and a ceiling of rolling storm clouds. This place is completely empty save for a single trailing staircase. It has the look of a covered walkway of a familiar design. The metal and architecture somewhat modern with a stripe of spraypaint making a long mural that circles alongside the metal stairway up the side of the column. Someone is speaking. Her own voice? Reize? but they are so far away.. as if heard from a distance underwater. There is a feeling of the voice but too distant to make out. They seem as vaguely familiar as the stained glass. "..such a far way... the road.." There is a crack in the side of the world. A ragged slash somewhere above where the stairs join up to and run alongside it before continuing their ascent upwards into the stormclouds. There is the sound of music, and street noise drifting vaguely from above.

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' Its the end of any given night for Shiki Misaki. Following her busy adventures, shes been settling into a relatively quiet time, training her staff skills and working as a seamstress in Fluorgis. Thus the days of June have gone by in peace and quiet, and her dreams are no different. Except, it seems, for tonight. This dream is different, and yet familiar. She remembers this place... in a manner of speaking, because she isnt conscious yet, and she doesnt have the awareness straight away to realise where she is. But theres a feeling of dread, of wrongness, here. Shiki finds herself in the middle of the storm, a sick feeling creeping into her chest as she walks. She doesnt know how she arrived here, or why she is walking, but... This reminds her of dark places. Not the cool nights of Fluorgis or the torch-lit comfort of Daguerreo, but of the cold, empty desert where monsters lurk. Of the misty, bleak forest where we tangoed with the shadow of Garland, and the more literal shadow of Leida. Of Shibuya. This staircase makes the comparison clear most of all. Shiki clutches herself, becoming more and more aware of her surroundings by degrees. Lucid dreaming begins to creep in, that state of mind where you are aware and can think about the events in your dream rather than being a blind participant, unknowing that this isnt the real world. Dont remind me of there... Shiki speaks to the storm, walking forward- because a staircase that stretches before you always means to be climbed. As she goes, she steps past the silt-covered stained glass, the appearance tickling her memory. Wasnt there someone there she didnt recognise? Its maddening, once she hears the voice. She doesnt recognise it either. So many things about this fill her with dread. The ruin, the environment, the weather, the mystery. Shibuya on rainy days was the worst, when the driving rain turned it from a bustling, happy place to a miserable one, full of an oppressive neon glow and people milling around with their heads down. Like a cyberpunk story vision... a breeding ground, she was sure, for Noise. But Shiki climbs the staircase and ascends, because shes not a victim. She hears the music just beyond the driving rain, and where theres music, theres people to make it, or so she hopes. So she takes the rail and begins to climb, hoping shell find someone else.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Shibuya beyond the reach of the tear in the world was broken. It lay like a shattered mirror with hundreds of islands. Some of them small enough for a single object floating above a dark abyss of roiling clouds. Some large enough to span buildings or part of city blocks. Everything hangs in the void at numerous heights both above and below and it looks like a jumping puzzle just crossing Scramble Crossing to any of the familiar buildings looming overhead. Nothing seems to be broken except the terrain. The buildings are bright, billboards gleaming in the silvery light that seems to come from nowhere. People are moving through the square but.. more like the echoes. There is an echo of music that thrums through this place and the echoes of people move as the music does. Barely anything there except pale, indistinct silhouettes and a feeling of their passage-- ghosts on the move. In the middle of the 104 building is a gigantic digital readout, it's bare red numbers pointing straight at 12:00 and flashing there like a disconnected alarm clock. There is another sense that someone is talking, that it might even be urgent, but only the tone comes across. And then a voice, vaguely male and completely composed speaks right at her elbow. "Hmm.. Shiki Misaki." The voice says this as if abstractedly surprised by something. "Do you know where this path leads?" there is a pause, then they continue. "..well. It leads where it has always led. Is it the shield that repels all ills, or simply one that pushes people away?"

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' And yet... Despite everything, theres a thrill to be here again. Perhaps its only a dream, perhaps its mangled and broken, but despite everything its still Shibuya. It will always be home, no matter what it looks like. And when youre dreaming, you dont know its a memory, so your joy isnt at all muted... Is this a dream? Shiki steps forward, as far as this little island will let her, and pulls the brow of her hat back to get a closer look. Its all there, and if anything... a part of her feels even MORE excited. She imagines jumping from island to island, strengthened by her psychokinesis, hunting down the secret to what has made this change to the world. A riddle, a secret, an adventure... Except, she thinks as she continues to move and observe, it would be a little... dismaying surrounded by ghosts. When she first comes across these echoes, it stabs at her, diminishes her greedy sense of adventure significantly. Immediately, the thrill decreases, as she remembers a key fact- Shibuya is packed with people, hundreds of them... people which, in a perverse way, stand in front of her now. Hundreds of lost people. Its like the reapers game again, standing in the centre of Scramble Crossing and seeing the people mill around you as an invisible being, except... Except now Shiki is alive, and they are phantoms. It brings a tear to her eye, one she hasnt cried in months. She tries to hold it in, but even trying to listen to the source of the phantom music, something to distract her, a hypothetical goal to reach- this makes it just as bad. And so, for a few moments, Shiki simply mills back and forth at the crossing, feeling the chill of the ghosts walk past her, seeing the huge sign flash like a reset clock. By now the sense of adventure has entirely dissolved- shes not walking around an adventure or a mystery at all, so much as she is walking around Shibuyas empty shell. Its corpse. And that maddening, tickling voice wont-- Shiki jumps as she hears something right at her ear. She spins around, but theres no-one there... But the words have weight to them nonetheless. ...I want to know where it leads, she says, her voice trembling from her emotion. Shibuya wasnt a path before, so if someone arranged whats... left of it into one, then they did it to lead the way to something. The memories come back, and something falls into place... yes, she remembers now why that stained glass was familiar. She remembers her previous dream, of the stained glass stations, the shield... I never push people away. I always-- I reach out, even when someone else doesnt reach back-

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' There is a sound of footsteps and a man makes his way down across the winding and fractured street. As he does so, the concrete heaves and flows together again. Asphalt mends. Everything settles back into it's proper place as he approaches, creating a line of restored cityscape in his wake. The beat of the phantom music follows their footsteps, a black coat with white spirals edging from the wide cuffs shrouding their figure. The hood is pulled over their face which can only barely be seen but itself is mostly shadow. The voice itself is strange. Sometimes fragments of people she'd known, other times something entirely alien and strange. A vaguely male voice, calm and sophisticated. An avenue of terrain shifts and totters together, a part of Shibuya twisting back into shape leading into the 104 building. "Do you really?" inquires the hooded man. Not condescending or snide. There is a flat edge of curiosity and a complete lack of judgement. "This path goes where it wants to go. Into the past.. or the future. Into questions not yet asked or answered. It is there if you wish. And Shibuya is here also.. if only in memory." The voice pauses and then adds. "For now." Evaporating like a curl of smoke leaving only the shattered city and the restored pathway to the 104 building and within.

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' Shikis eyes widen as... someone else approaches, and with it, everything is restored. She doesnt understand what it means. By now, of course, the difference between dreaming and lucidity is becoming hard to define, the amount of concious awareness Shiki currently has is uncertain. But the music is there... She wants to say who are you, but when he speaks, with that disconcerting voice, she wonders if it might be a moot point. But he has a question for her... and Shiki, who hasnt had anyone to really voice her own insecurities to recently, is willing to reply. Well... Shes thinking about Priel Aylin. Of course she is. Im not naive... I hope Im not... if there was anything I could do... but if someone doesnt WANT to be helped... But anyway, theres a path to follow, and Shiki is happy to do so. She reflects on what this figure says... both the past and the future are important to her, but she doesnt want to focus exclusively on either. Until I can come back here, Id like to keep that... memory... she says, although the statement is cut off as the figure disappears. A little tense now, worried about what he... it... he said, she walks into the building.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Inside the 104 building there is a feeling of pressure, as if moving through a barrier. The pressure is mild though, only a prickling on the skin and a feeling of slightly cooler temperatures on the other side. The spiral that loops through the massive shopping mall is completely empty. There are no echoes of people here. The walls, floor and ceiling however are littered with gleaming fragments. These echoes of ancient and rusted blades number in the hundred, thousands... maybe tens of thousands. Some are proud and elegant. Others are simple, almost harshly so. All are broken and rusted and barely shadows that disappear or reappear depending on the angle of the light. There is also that clock. The digital readout is still present everywhere. In every shop front, on every television screen and billboard and clock. There is the same time. 12:00 -- In flashing red letters. Amongst the hundreds of echoing fragments that glisten in the air and along the walls like motes of dust, there are shop signs. The advertisements are small and colorful and eye catching. Each has a small decal like a pin and the stylistic curves and graffiti lines that is almost like a noise symbol except not quite the same. Here are the words to each advertisement, which stand in a number of shopfronts throughout the mall. Endless-- A black and yellow advertisement in front of a clothing store. Tower of Voices --- A starkly white and red advertisement in front of a food court. Zero Point --- A silver, black and purple sign on a electronics storefront window. Utter Silence --- A grey advertisement on a stairwell. Wayfinder --- A white and blue advertisement on an Accessory shop door. Dark Margin --- A dark and purple advertisement on the floor near a shoe store. There is also a note on the wall at eye level, in Shiki's own handwriting. It says simply. "There is never enough time to do everything."

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' How frightening. Shiki takes a step through, barely noticing the prickle as she goes inside. Shes being propelled forward by this intense urge to understand, to try and make some sense of this journey, to figure out what it all means. And even so, for a moment, even that desire is eclipsed by this amazing sight. Oh, yes, its more bizarreness, to be sure. But its... fascinating. In a way, its... beautiful, in the same way a silent, untouched ruin or castle is... heck, in some ways, theyre similar. Shiki is an urban explorer, moving through the abandoned ruins filled with blades. Even though theyre rusty, even though theyre broken- they interest her. Its like looking at the piles of junk that sometimes cropped up in the realground, assembled by an unknown sculptor into an abstract art form. (If she knew that was Sho, it wouldnt make it any less interesting.) But she cant touch them- she cant even see them all clearly. Of all the things in this dream, she hopes she remembers this the most. Theres just so much to see... So she walks through it all, seeing the building as if for the first time, looking at the bizarre shop signs. Some she lingers on, such as Wayfinder, which makes her smile. Others, like Utter Silence, seem to perturb her, and so she moves on-- Right in vision of the sign. A paper sign she apparently wrote herself. Shiki walks over to it, takes a look. There is never enough time to do everything, it says? She thinks, fingers against the paper. She decides its true- even with a second lease on life, you have to just decide to do what will be the best for yourself and for others. Shes never really been a do-everything girl, anyway. Always, shes done what would help and support other people, or so shed like to think. She turns around and looks at those fragments again. She hopes that she can at least remember everything she has seen. She wants to hold onto these memories- even if theyre of a ruined Shibuya; an empty Shibuya, its still her precious home.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Music comes over the speakers of an empty 104 building. Enforced BGM Change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J5FPglf9o8 The music vaguely thrums and sparkles and the symbols on each advertisement begins to stir and to move as if straining to be freed from the paper that they are printed on. There is a sense of unreality, as if each of the advertisements were pockets of dream reality and that touching them would disturb that delicate surface tension.

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' Oh my. Shiki gasps as the music- something thats familiar, and yet not- well, its a remix, after all- fills the air, as do many other things. She likes this song. Interesting new take on it. She listens to it for about two minutes, watching the advertisements shudder and waver in such a beautiful way. She walks back over to the one she was compelled by a while ago... Wayfinder. Who doesnt want more direction in life? When youre walking a path, and all that... She feels as if touching one would... Little by little, I feel a bit better. Let me know, set me free... Shiki cant help it. She touches the Wayfinder advert.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The ocean. Phantom water laps at Shiki's feet as water spills from over the upper tiers and the storefronts, turning the entire mall into a series of tiered waterfalls and pools. The light filtering through the water makes it sparkle and dance. There is a pressure and then the smell of water. The feeling of baking sun on skin and a wind that flutters the advertisements and a warm, moist wind that comes from inside storefronts. A woman's voice, tinny and indistinct like hearing their voice through far away headphones shivers from the advertisement. "Somewhere out there." The smile can almost be heard in the voice. The hope. And-- behind that.. doubt. Worry. All so carefully wrapped away. "--there's this tree with star-shaped fruit. And the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. As long as you carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You will always find your way back to each other. An unbreakable connection." Golden sand. Sa distant and dusky shore comes in for a moment -- and then goes out like the tide. The mall returns to how it was before but there is something in hand. It's a five pointed star. It's pieced together carefully, constructed well even if it looks flimsy. It's a paper star made from stickynote paper but oddly shining at the same time. Holding it brings to mind the connections made and lost. The paths that have lead to this day and this hour.. and the choices, good or bad, that make up those connections. The advertisement has disappeared. There is another pressure wave and a horrible sound of many clocks at the same time chiming at once. Four notes. All of the clocks that are plastered everywhere now read. "8:00" The hooded figure is leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "It's true." they say. And the voice is discernably Riku's although.. It has an odd echoing overlap quality to it. "..We all stand together in this and we all make choices, and then live with them. What will you choose, I wonder?" --and again, they fade out of sight like a plume of smoke.

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' Another gasp. The 104 building has never looked so beautiful! Although now her shoes are we... wait, its a dream, silly Shiki. Just enjoy it! Shiki laughs airily as the beautiful sparkling water runs from walls and staircases, hands out and amazed at... everything. This is beautiful! Its a beach unlike any shes visited before, for the amount of time it lasts. Not like Junon at all! Oh, and-- theres a voice. Shiki has learned by now to listen carefully, and she stands absolutely still, ears sharp- because its a tiny voice, and yet so important... its surely got something to tell that she has to remember. Just like the empty streets, and the mysterious man, and the rusted yet strangely beautiful blades, she has to remember this, make sure it doesnt fade... And when the sound passes, theres something in her hand. Something intense and emotionally charged, even though its paper- something that resonates with her incredibly. Bonds. Shikis important thing. Good and bad; the people shes seen and met and interacted with. Faces come to her mind as she considers it, as the clocks chime: Reize and Neku, Lily and Lenn, Ping, Gilgamesh, Relm, Tifa and Uh-Oa, even that huge crab... and of course, Priel and Hades and Sho and-- Riku. Riku. Riku?! ...but hes gone again before she can go to him, as soon as he came, just a message and then he disappears. It hurts her heart a little, that. Although he disappeared, he still left an impression on her... hes a person she wants to find again... She holds the wayfinder delicately, taking care not to crumple it, but at the same time making sure that water doesnt drizzle onto it from above. She walks away from the advertisement- or where it used to be- looking at the countdown. Or so she guesses. Is it time to look at another advertisement? She guesses thats the course of action to take. If its still there, she wanders through the dancing lights and over to the food court. Tower of Voices. Voices belong to people: precious people, both friends and the masses of Shibuya. And enemies, too. If its still there, she reaches out to touch it and see what comes of it.

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' This was unexpected! Shiki gets a terrible thrill of fear, a momentary consideration that shes made a mistake. But-- She can only go forward. And she has to stand on her own. So she walks up the steps, although shes afraid, listening as each step makes a note. Past thrones, past terrible danger and the lurking presence of something horrible. The staircase squirms like a snake, shakes like a dragon-- But-- She has to press on. She has to. Something is rising within her, something-- an urge, a need. Shes been feeling it for a while now. Her steps become more confident as that feeling cements itself within her. Junons plight. The birds of the Tiki Room. Leida. The terrible power wielded by Sho and Hades. Someone has to be brave. Someone has to stand up for whats right. Someone has to be a hero. She has to be a hero. Before, she thought it was Neku. She followed his lead in the Reapers Game, even though ostensibly they were partners, but he always had more of something, more drive, more authority-- But Nekus gone now. She cant follow any more. She has to be strong. And as she goes, as she hears the voices all around her-- Shiki feels this even more. She can hear them- a fearful thought wonders if these are the people of Shibuya, tangled up in Noise, lost in the darkness. Are these her people? She cant do anything for them as she is. Her hands cant crack stone, cannot tear them out of these thrones. But as she hears them... Shiki begins to feel as if she has to do something for them. As I am now... Shiki says, hoping they will hear. I... cant help you. Im not strong enough. I have to learn... I need to get stronger. I need to be able to fight... I need experience... but if I can get those things, Ill help you... I will... She has to keep walking, even as the sound grows and grows and grows. Its painful, and her hands shake as she continues to climb the staircase. But never once does she think about turning back. Even if her words- her thoughts- are drowned out, she keeps going down the path. And at the apex of it, she finds... a sword in a stone. A weapon of unimaginable power. But before that... for just a second... it was nothingness, an absence. Shiki stares at it. She looks at the blade, like the ones shes encountered before. Whereas they had a strange beauty to them, this just has power. Power overwhelming. Power is all it is. Pure, unimaginable power, absolute. Didnt she just say she wasnt strong enough? Well, isnt this the answer to that? Shiki glances at it. This weapon promises absolute strength. But strength without skill... I rejected the sword once before, Shiki says, staring right at the sword, then turning around and looking around the empty room, searching for a person, for an answer. She looks back at the way she came in... at those poor, tortured voices. Wouldnt a sword like this just cut them up too? Absolute power without the skill to use it is pointless. I dont just want to take some super-mega-sword and chop all the bad stuff to bits. This isnt the kind of strength I want!

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' When Shiki turns around, the tower is gone. One way or another the vision is banished. The sword. The voices. The noise. It is all gone. The wayfinder glows with a faint warm light and the mall has returned. There is another imperious series of chimes from shopfronts and billboards. The clocks now read "4:00" in their luminous red. There are a number of cracks in this version of the 104 building, as though the entire construct was as thin as an egg-shell and ready to burst into a thousand pieces if brushed too hard in the wrong direction. The advertisement for the Tower of Voice disappears to wherever it came from. Perhaps time for one more of these bits and pieces of strange dreams before.. Before what?

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' Shiki is back, and so is the wayfinder. She is no longer so carefree. She was engrossed by this place before- although it was intertwined with fear, there was at least familiarity and beauty. But now shes painfully aware that this is... that this has some sort of purpose. Theres something important, something that means her sense of aesthetics shouldnt be her driving force. That she shouldnt be naive. She shudders. Those voices still ring in her ears. Whats left? Endless, Zero Point, Dark Margin... Utter Silence... all of those have very ominous names, dont they? Shiki makes her way back, but even as she does she treads lightly. The 104 building feels different. She wonders if this is what the mysterious figure meant when he said that this place was only here for now. If it could disappear soon. She takes a moment to think- just a moment. She has to make a fast decision. Dark. Silence. Both of these sound like bad ideas. Darkness is not a good place to venture into, and even though she would like a little quiet time, absolute silence is a terrifying idea. So... Endless and Zero Point. Opposites, almost. As she passes by the window of Endless... she thinks. She casts her mind back. There is never enough time to do everything. Live with your choices. It is here for now... No choice is right or wrong. In the end, Shiki goes with her instincts. Shed always go for the fashion over the electronics. Off into Endless she goes!

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' There is another pressure wave as the advertisement is touched. This time it pulls rather than pushing and the entire world seems to invert as Shiki is pulled quickly and inexorably towards the paper, passing through it and the wall like they were made out of fog. Trailing wisps fade as Shiki finds herself in the deepest reaches of space. Stars and planets stand out starkly on the carpet of inky black. Nebulae and comets and a howling solar wind swirl and rip through the cosmos, through the unfathomable reaches between worlds. In this titanic place, how can anything be connected to anything else when they are so far.. far apart. A single heartbeat shudders through this pocket universe. It is not a sound in itself, not a music in and of itself but it has elements of both. A single pulse that makes the walls and ceiling and floor of what is now revealed to be a room on which the sea of stars has been painted ripple as if the material she was standing on, the air she breathes, the walls around her ripple like liquid. It moves slightly underfoot. Surface tension of a pond disturbed by that sound, that event. Again. Sound / Music / ..something else. Emotions. Not quite words or thoughts. Intentions. Wishes. Hopes. Hearts. The universe lights up for a split second and every interconnected heart is shown, a delicate infinite tapestry of the interconnections life shares on a grand scale. A cosmic scale. A shining thread of song and sight and emotion shivers from some far flung edge of the universe where all of these threads converge. A nexus in the weave, a core melody at the heart of the song. Darkness here as well. A great blanket in which light is embedded. Threads of chaos everywhere seeking to ensnare, to entrap.. but also part of the pattern as well. And something else.. An absence. Places in the universe where there is no song. No sound. No life. Empty places in the universe where it is all starting to unravel. Then the journey of the thread again. It flashes bright and silver brilliant against the cosmos and travels that shivering line of interconnection to Shiki. And the universe neatly inverts itself again. It's her song. Her innate music on display now. Her connections to others. How they have changed. How she has grown over time, a microcosm of the bigger picture. All hearts connected. Even separated by so much distance. So much pain and suffering and tragedy. So much darkness. And still. Still light. And still, them interconnected-- just like everything. Surprise Shiki. The World Begins With You. The Mall returns with the force of being flung backwards, of a rubber banding away from that universe-in-a-box. The wayfinder paper star is gone, and replaced by a small pin with a star and a outlined white heart on a black and starry field. All of the clocks read "1:00".

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' Shiki draws her hand back a little as the wall dissolves in front of her, just long enough to make sure nothing blows into her face. Once her minor concern is satisfied, she takes just one step- But she neednt, as the transition is doing the moving for her. Its a frightening feeling for a second, the small girl holding her arms out to try balancing. Shes weightless, of course... Deep in space... She bites her knuckles. What is she supposed to look at first?! Shikis head darts back and forth for a moment, as she gradually begins to realise something important- because of the light pollution, shes never really been able to see a field of stars in Shibuya before. Oh, yes, shes seen starfields since then, but she never made the connection... But is this really a starfield? As the room ripples, shes unsure for a moment, testing to see if she can move, or perhaps swim, in the strangle, rippling environment. Does she need to? Is she already at the centre of this tiny universe? Shiki looks around herself, turning in 360 degrees as she tries to see everything around her. All it does is make her realise that this heartbeat is coming from everywhere. And then. My gosh, Shiki says, narrating as the sudden change occurs. Its full of hearts. Her eyes widen- as far as they will possibly go, the starfield reflected in both of them. Shiki stands there, seeing the proof of something she has always romantically believed- the interconnectedness of peoples hearts- taking in this entire amazing truth.... But the fact of the matter is when you see the whole truth, you also see the bad parts along with the good. Shiki stands there looking, slowly taking in everything. The sea of stars; of hearts. The void. The chaos. The darkness. And the places where the world itself is coming apart... And as Shiki burns that starlight into her mind, another image she doesnt want to forget- the world around her changes once again, whipping up her hair, forcing her to hold onto her hat with one hand and the wayfinder with the other-- When the mall returns, she gasps in shock, worried for a second that in the chaos shed crumpled it. But she opens her hand and... theres a pin there instead. An incredibly precious one, she knows. She KNOWS. Her hand is hot and trembling,, the tiny piece of metal already growing warm, so she pins it to her hat. The hat, after all, is precious too, so... She turns around and looks at the clock. She blinks. She thought that once she returned, then the count would be over, but... theres one thing left, she supposes, to do. And... That means the only destinations she has left... Are the ones with the ominous titles. Zero Point, Dark Margin and Utter Silence. She gulps. What now?, she wonders. Does she have to pick her poison? She steps away, needing to sit down for a moment, having to think about everything shes seen and witnessed so far. On a bench, she sits and looks at her hat. Well, not technically her hat, but really, whos counting? Its an important hat. Maybe shell buy one of her own some time. She looks, too, at the pin she put there... the wayfinder-pin, seeing the silver thread that connects her to everything. Zero Point, she says. This has been all about journeys and paths, right? Every path begins at zero... So thats where she finally goes. Shed considered going here before, and it makes sense. In a way. Shes not going to silence; Shiki hates the idea. And shes not going to darkness. This is the only one left that... makes sense? She guesses? Shes not going to back down now. Off into Zero Point.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Crack. The cracks around the Mall spread. There is a sound of splintering glass as Shiki puts her hand on Zero Point. There is a feeling, only for a moment of a dark shore before the cracks spread over the advertisement and the mall /explodes/ outwards like a eggshell. The 104 building is all but destroyed, leaving only small platforms and the place where Shiki is standing on now in the whirling maelstrom below and shadowy miasma around that holds Shibuya embedded. The hooded figure returns, the one who sounds like Riku but also sounds like many other snatches of people in that calm and composed voice. "There is never enough time to do everything." the man says blandly, Shibuya piecing itself together again as he walks sedately towards where Shiki was standing. "But time enough. You seek knowledge, do you not? Experience?" A faint chuckle. "Perhaps you are a seeker of truth like myself. I too.. come from a shattered world. What would you do.. if someone offered to help you restore yours? All those people. All that life, restored to the places where they should reside."

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' Crunch. Shiki steps into the electronics store doorway, and theres a feeling like stepping on thin ice... And the cracks spread and spread and spread. She wondered, deep down, if something like this was going to happen, but it doesnt make this any easier to bear. She is standing in the middle of the 104 building as it all falls down, and she cant- Help-- But imagine the time this happened before, when the Heartless tore the world apart.... This time, its an explosion. Shiki holds her hat on and crosses her chest with her other arm, because this burst of wind and shock is even worse than before, rattling her bones and forcing her to squint as everything shatters, herself at the epicenter. Shes surrounded by maelstrom and miasma in the middle of nothing, a swirling storm of debris and darkness. For a moment she tenses, waiting for the last piece of ground to collapse- And it doesnt. The mysterious man is there once again, and he makes everything better again. The explosion is reversed, after a fashion, as everything reassembles under his feet. Shiki cant help but stare...she mouths, but does not voice, the words who are you?. He has a question. She has an answer. "Id offer to be their friend," she says, the words coming easily. "Id tell them about everyone else thats trying to restore the lost worlds. The Shard Seekers, the Zodiac Braves, all of those other people- wed work together, use the things weve been inventing, go on adventures to find it..."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' "Hmm... I see." The hooded figure slowly walks around Shiki, hands behind their back as they stroll and take everything in. Cracks begin to spread onto the platform that Shiki is standing on but very slowly. Sudden movement might disrupt the whole thing and bring it all crashing down. The hooded figure extends a hand and there is a small sharp /flash/ of energy. A black and blue keyblade appears in their hand, an intricate design. They place it edge down on the Shibuya terrain and it starts to fit itself together again. There is a moat of distortion and cracks around Shiki. The quickly restoring Shibuya on one side. The isolated and slowly crumbling floor on the other. "This.. is the key to restoring your world, Shiki. Restoring all your lost worlds. Helping your friends. I can help you... but I cannot simply give it to you--" a faint chuckle. "As with all things worth having, it must be earned." The hooded man extends a hand towards her. "Come with me. And I will show you how and where you might begin."

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' Shiki gasps. Shes seen this before. Soras... Soras keyblade. It seems long ago now, when they ran out of the desert and rested in Fluorgis... now she understands what happened when she met him in Traverse Town. The look in her eyes is... strange. Its... strange to think, and although it makes sense, it makes her feel... a stab of regret, in a way. Why didnt she reach out to him more? Why did she let him wander? Not because she suddenly covets that power, but because... She advised him to travel and find friends. Why didnt she...? Oh, of course, she couldnt, because she had the Seekers, but... Shikis heart hurts. She cant be everywhere at once, cant travel with everyone. But she suddenly regrets not being there for him more. The brow of her hat shadows her eyes... and then, she nods. Un. And Shiki follows, treading delicately, as if walking on soap bubbles... off to the key to her destiny.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The light in Shibuya dims down as if the world was passing through noon to twilight and evening in the space of a few heartbeats. The clocks, all of them read 0:00-- and then go dark. The spreading miasma rolls across the building and the streets, folding the city away as if a treasured memory. The shattered Shibuya in this one instant is whole and complete and perfect... and then the field of vision contracts. All is returned to that cylinder of darkness from which this all started. "Very well." The hooded figure says with their calm voice of certainty. "Then seek me.. here." There is a picture, an image, a flash of rolling green hills and a white expanse of castle in the middle of that green. Castle Oblivion to those who know its name. A forgotten place of memory to those who do not. And it is never the same. A dangerous path outlines itself in Shiki's mind. A way to get to that place. "And we shall begin." The last light goes out. Destiny or distortion. Dream or prophecy or nightmare. All things in their places, and at their own times. And as Shibuya at last fades completely into the fog, Shiki wakes up. In their hand is still the small, smooth pin with the heart design and the paper star.

:'''[[Shiki]] has posed:''' A trail to blaze... Shikis vision begins to darken as the lights go out, as time runs out- "Wait!" she says, too confused to move "Will you tell me your name?!" But perhaps its too late... because in Fluorgis, a new day is dawning, and the sunlight is coming through the window frame. Its time for another day of training and work for Shiki... She opens her hand, and looks at whats inside it. OK, maybe it wont be another day of work after all.

Present Possibilities: Angantyr

2013-08-04T20:02:17Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/23 |Location=Castle Oblivion |Synopsis=The past is prologue. The present? Dark and terrible. |Thanks=Angantyr for patience. |Cast of Chara..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/23
|Location=Castle Oblivion
|Synopsis=The past is prologue. The present? Dark and terrible.
|Thanks=Angantyr for patience.
|Cast of Characters=Riku, Angantyr Vespar
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' And apparently, it has a plan. Or this place has a plan for the heartless surge forwards and the very first stroke rips a hole in the world. It peels back like curling ash to reveal VALKYRI HQ in the aftermath of it's destruction. Angantyr stands at ground zero of that battle and all the heartless have evaporated like storybook monsters tucked away into a different tale. There is still the feeling of them outside this building, lurking on the edges of perception. There is no sign of the people who owned this building. Destruction well warranted, perhaps, but destruction nevertheless. And the heartless are waiting. Maybe at least a /little/ thrashing is still in order.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr looks around...wait... VALKYRI HQ? Why was...ugh, this place. He looks at the blade again...frowning for a moment. This place...VALKYRI HQ after its destruction...he knows what he did here...he knows why he did it too. But... The burden was...still here, the heaviness of his deeds, even if it were protect them and the people around them...his deception was revealed in the end...but... He regrets it, regrets he had to do it...maybe if he were stronger he could have stood against Garland...maybe he can now? But...first...this test. Angantyr squeezes the weapons hilt, and he steps forward, towards the exit as he holds the weapon at his side, the heartless were there, he was just going to have to cut his way through them, because no matter where he ran, theyd follow him forever.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' The first group comes around the corner just as he exits the remains of the headquarters. But they stare at him, twitching.. as if waiting for something. The Traverse Town streets are completely black save for a few small places to stand on the sidewalk. An oozing tar from which countless yellow eyes and claws strained and pushed against the barriers to be free. The darkness had even begun to crawl up the sides of the buildings like black moss or a virulent mold. An armored figure stands on top of one of the buildings looking over the ruins, gauntleted hands sitting on the pommel of a sword. Streamers of darkness periodically rose from the joints in the black and gold armor, the head cast in the snarling horned visage of a behemoth. The figure gestured casually in Angantyr's direction as he came out of the ruins. All at once the tension broke on the barrier and hundreds of heartless spilled from the street and the surrounding buildings and falling on Angantyr. Gargoyles swooped and pirates slashed and rolled. Shadows skittered around the edges of the combat while Soldiers with Lances and some with giant dogheads in the midst of great shields pressed in from all sides.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr looks around...darkness everywhere, the city has fallen? Was such a thing possible? Where would people go if Traverse Town fell? ...But this wasnt reality, right? Still...it could probably still kill him, fake or real. Angantyr turns the blade to the side, eyes narrowing as the figure stood before him. Familiar...yet not. Angantyr draws upon the darkness too, what was needed was strength...Angantyr would provide. The armor changes, as darkness infuses itself with it, forming interconnected plate. Nothing was visible, except for the eyes, which glow crimson as he stares towards the figure.. "ARCADIAN!" he shouts, running forward and slashing through the heartless even as they formed ranks. They were no doubt being controlled, and Angantyr wasnt going to allow him the oppertunity to do so easily. He dives, slice and dicing before leaping over the heads of the last squad, aiming to try and come down on the Armored Soldiers head. "Who are you!?" he shouts, trying to shove the weapon down, trying to break through his guard and end this quickly...before the heartless dogpiled on him.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' There is a different feeling to plowing through the heartless. As they explode, as they turn into vapor there are brilliant flashes of light. Small snap flares around a crystalline heart that rises from the dark vapor and then winks out of existence. A fragment of that dark vapor steals into the sharp, jagged lines of the keyblade. For each heartless that falls, it gets slightly stronger. The dangerous gleam of light and darkness becomes more pronounced, almost an aura around the weapon as he dives, slices and dices. The black sword comes up and there is another antipode of opposing forces. Windows shatter. Buildings shake. The armored soldier takes a single step backwards and then lashes out with a smaller blade for his sword arm, blade scraping across the interconnected plate for a joint, trying to lessen his strength advantage. It happens in a flash, almost too quickly to be believed as they then attempt to crash a foot into Angantyr's knee just as the heartless descend on him. As the heartless mob Angantyr, the figure evaporates like a curl of smoke. They reappear down the street, disappearing around the corner.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr is surprised by the force which the heartless explode...more than that...they explode, releasing their captive hearts. Something tells Angantyr that...he struck something more of an actual victory, than normal...that those heartless wouldnt come back. He dives in, aiming to smash through, but the figure was faster...something Ang is not used to. The weapon hits the arm, but Angantyr is made of sterner stuff, the weapon draws blood...but not enough to drop his weapon. Instead, he clenched tighter, but the figure jumps away, and books it. Heartless crash down on Ang, but he responds in a terrible swing of merciless swipes and whirlwinds of blades, aiming to drive them all away. Angantyr was no fool, he saw what the armored figure was trying to do...lead him into ambushes, wear him down because he couldnt win straight on. Angantyr knew the strategy well...and instead of following, moved down a different alley. He knew the city, he was familiar here...and he used that as a advantage... He tried to come up around the figure, aiming to try and find the street he was on, going a bit farther down, and then coming back around to ambush from behind, aiming to drive the blade through heartless, and the figure... Should he prove more wily.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Carving through the heartless is effortless. It's almost natural, the blade becoming stronger with every destruction. But when he comes around the next corner it is not the armored soldier that he finds. It is Garland. The armored destroyer stands at casual ease with one hand behind Maira's neck as she lay kneeling on the ground, her light all but extinguished and the expression on her face grey and nearly unconscious. As if the light and fire had been muffled by force. Or simply extracted. The heartless draw back from around him, skittering away into the fallen city like roaches under light. As suddenly inconsequential and meaningless as air. "How sickeningly predictable." The voice states in the calm and well assured voice of an executioner. "This is what you've chosen to throw away my work - my /gifts/, my /teachings/, my /infinite patience/ for?" A small and deathly silence. The echoes of these words have time to reverberate as they did once before. Maira looks up at Angantyr, and the entreaty there would have pulled the sun down from the sky. But at the same time, wishing that he would run. Wishing him not to be harmed, despite being the hostage in this situation. "What a pity, that you do not even know how it works. Nor why it would choose you." Another patient eons worth of jagged edged silence. "..or the consequences thereof. Again, a grim lack of foresight."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr glares at the sight...Maira, despite their issues...she is still close to his heart. The weapon comes forward, the blade points forward, but he does not stop to shout speeches, that was something for Mercade or Sora. Angantyr let his actions speak for him, and he takes a step forward. "You fear the thing so...that you would stoop to this? You hold the cards, so you say...and here you are trying to wield her against me." Angantyr says, with increasing anger. The issue though...is how to get her out of his grip without him breaking her neck. What can he do...what can he do... "You hold the cards, you dont need her." He says, calmly, blade still held up, ready to strike...he just needs one shot...just one... "Unless you are so afraid of your former apprentice that you think you need to use a little girl against me." he tries for his ego.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say, or perhaps this was in the cards all along but as Angantyr advances his mentor continues to stare straight at him with mild curiosity. The look of a patient father examining the slipshod work of a pupil only partially paying any attention. Maira lets out a strangled cry and the light goes out in her eyes as she slumps forwards in a broken heap at Garland's feet. "Ever the poor manipulator, boy." a shake of the head, "Ever the disappointment." his mentor turns away from him, disregarding him utterly as they begin to walk away. He is of no consequence. useless. "You will learn." A beat. A vague bemused irritation as they walk. "Or your descendants will. Eventually." Maira lets in a small cry. Whatever Garland did, it did not end in the dusk princesses death. Although.. worse.. is still on the table.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' N...no! Damn it...no no no! Angantyr runs, Garland turns off, Angantyrs rage rises, but he focuses it...Maira first...he grabs her, trying to see what he did...was it darkness...? Was it...something, what was it?! He looks, "Shh...Maira Im here just...hang on, youre not allowed to die." he says, "Not allowed to die, or anything...Im right here, so dont you go!" he says, biting his lips...be okay...please be okay. What does he do...he doesnt know healing magic...where was the ghost? No...it was gone, right...damn damn damn! "Maira, can you hear me?" He says near franticly.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Her light was going out. It was indeed darkness and he could feel it trying to smother her. Trying to drown her and when it was done, everything that had been Maira will have been twisted by that darkness. Whoever lives after the darkness is done will not be anyone he knows. And she would live. His mentor would not make such a point of instruction so banal as to merely kill her and allow her to become a martyr, if only in memory. No. He would destroy everything at her core and let her do the rest herself. "Ah.. damnit. I always hate this part." It's his younger self again, crouching down on the other side of Maira and taking her hand in both of his. Her face was ashen, stricken with such agony that the screams never ever got past her lips. She shuddered, trembling as if in the midst of a terrible blizzard instead of a street corner. "Her light's not enough to fight this off." The younger Angantyr frowns with worry. "And you and I kinda know we're the last people on the list to go looking for that." A pause and then a moment of uncertainty. "If it's even in there." He looks over his shoulder to where Garland disappeared and then over at Angantyr again. "But.. you didn't follow him. You left. So.. maybe it is. Just locked away."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyrs face twists...anger, but he keeps himself together... "How do we find it? She cant fight the darkness alone, no...but we can." He says, with a narrowed gaze. "Weve learned to fight in it, and around it for years, we can...either destroy it, or take it out of her..." he says, desperate at this point. This was a fear of his...Garland did more than kill, he destroyed. He looks at Maira, then back at his younger self. "Well, stop the idle chat and tell me how I get to her light?!" he says, determined and desperate. About Garland he shrugs, hes made his choice, there was no reason to dwell on it.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Well it's a /keyblade/ isn't it?" His younger self snaps, his face going through the same expression of swallowing anger as his hands clench slightly around Maira's hand, which is starting to become alarmingly cool. "Isn't it supposed to unlock things?" He shrugs one shoulder, as if 'shouldn't this be obvious' is written six inches in front of his face. "You better hurry.." he says, looking up at the rooftops. "I think that archadian's coming back soon. With company."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr looks to his weapon...he looks towards Maira again... How does he do this...he has the weapon, but that doesnt mean he knows everything... Gritting his teeth, he looks at his younger self and takes a breath, letting go of her hand. It can unlock things huh...Maira needs help, her heart being swallowed by the darkness. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes once. And he lifts the blade to his own chest, aiming to stab it right into his own heart. Here goes nothing...

Past is Prologue: Angantyr

2013-08-04T19:49:55Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/23 |Location=Castle Oblivion |Synopsis=The past is prologue. All else is chicanery and nonsense. Until it's not. |Thanks=Angantyr for patie..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/23
|Location=Castle Oblivion
|Synopsis=The past is prologue. All else is chicanery and nonsense. Until it's not.
|Thanks=Angantyr for patience.
|Cast of Characters=Mystery Box (Aka: Riku), Angantyr Vespar
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' There is another feeling of distortion and perspective shift on going through the doors. Lucas says nothing but simply allows Angantyr to pass him into the next room. Beyond the white double doors is.. a perfect copy of the corridor (sans sorcerer) and since there is no longer a sorcerer on THIS side as well it is an even more perfect reflection. --Which turns out to be an accurate wording as the pillars, the blue markings, everything is a mirrored reverse. There are the doors he came through (although the glyph above the door has changed shape on the door's opening) and several doors down the corridor that they passed on the way here. There is also the mural, although this time it's a cracked and close up picture of bubbling magma, the livid red cracks spuming vapor. The heat can almost be felt baking from the moving picture. Although there is no blue line on the floor, there is one cutting it's way across the ceiling. It ends in front of a door on the far left those symbol is similar to that on the golden piece of metal from the dream. There are in total four doors not including the way he came in, and more further down the corridor, but this is where the blue line ends.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr looks around... What a love of doors the builder of this place had, he muses to himself. He could start kicking down doors...but something tells him that might not be the best idea. The blue line is there, on the ceiling leading to the golden piece of metal...He is wondering if the place itself wants to show him something...or if the wizard himself is trying to guide him to see what he wants? Angantyr decides that he'll see what he needs to see here...he can always kick down a wizard's door later if he has to...or find his own answers at the end of the day. The mural with the magma is concerning...if even art can be dangerous, he wonders what might be behind door number 48593. Still...he muses to himself, there is no harm in seeing...or if their is, there isn't much he can't do to pull himself out. Angantyr set asside his recent problems...survival was important. Moral quandries can come when he's not in possible uncertain danger. Uncertain death is probably worse than Certain death. So he follows the blue line and pushes the first door open. "And I swear to god if this is a key fetch quest I am going to punch me a wizard."

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' Another white room. Room 4223455 in fact. The builder was very fond of white rooms as well. Searing. Blank. Empty. As Angantyr enters the glyph above the door freezes and then evaporates like so much smoke. There is a stairway leading upwards into another part of the castle. There are several heart shaped symbols, the bottom edges almost jagged, that dot the walls. At the top of the next flight of stairs? The sound and smell of animals. The rustle of cloth. Footsteps and cartwheels on dirt and stone. The stairs lead up to a small and plain walled hut with shuttered windows and a single door leading to the outside and the creeping sense of the familiar.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Oh 4223455...how similar you are to 48593. Yes, Angantyr and his player are racist against rooms. Especially the pretentious looking ones. At least it wasn't a good day for a White Wedding. Angantyr walks, frowning again, "A staircase, that's different." He shurgs, yeah, he was getting sassy with the castle. It's going to get this alot, but he does at least continue on. Slowly at first...but the familar sounds get to him. He starts moving faster, but not quite a break neck run as he finally reaches the small and plain wall...a hut? He pauses for a moment, this can't be... Angantyr takes a deep breath, steeling himself for whatever might be beyond the door. It's just a memory...just a memory. And then he opens the door.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' If it is a memory, then it is a perfect recollection. Every house. Every shopkeeper in their stall or merchant wandering the streets. These sounds echo like ghosts in the evening stillness. The clatter of metal on metal. The glowing cherry heat of a blacksmith working over their wares. Calm. Precisely focused sounds. The sizzle of metal into water and those phantom echoes also die away, giving way to the sound of animals at nightime. Crickets. A faint drone of frogs and whisper of wind. The smell of a storm already past clearing the dust from the air and making everything smell fresh, smell clean and new. Angantyr's homeland stretches away from the hut in all directions, the hut having been very centrally placed but slightly off the main thoroughfares. In this evening stillness, light is sheltered in each of the houses. Islands of light in the gathering gloom. What Angantyr can also see is his own house, even if it is in the slightly far distance. Another island of becknoning illumination, the details lost in gloom.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr stares for a moment... Dreams were all he had for the longest time. Dreams...memories...mostly bad, but some good. Despite his family, he loved his country...maybe if he were born less noble... He takes a breath, so many memories...so much pain and suffering...after all this time he stood here again. Dream, memory...or whatever...this was...he could remember every detail, experience every sight. He took his helmet off, let the wind run through his hair. His eyes close, just for a moment he wants this to be real...not just a phantom of his troubled nightmares. Then, he slides the helmet back on. He could not lose himself like this. He rubs his eyes, no, he would not subcome to it. It tears into his heart, his very being...but he has to be strong...he /must/ be strong if this place would ever truly stand again. He takes a step forward...than another. He walks towards his old home. The place was large as he remembered it. It was a nobles house, and not just any nobles...they were the soldiers and protectors of his home. Every member of the family was expected to become involved in the military in some reguard... The large grounds were really large by necissity, house Vespar was never one for extensive and fancyness...the ground were large because there were training grounds...archery, swordsmanship, even a smithy. Other nobile familes sent their aspiring chilren to be taught by the Vespar Nobles how to weild a blade, to shoot a bow... Of course, House Vespar always used this for political power and favors...but even to lesser houses and even to commoners who proved exceptional at a young age...they were to be the sword and shield of thier homeland... It is, ironic, it's end was brought by a traitor... He still continues..

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' Although it is dark, all these details can be made out. The estate stretches ahead and around as he approaches it. Like the other houses, there are lights inside the building and the shadow of movement. There are people inside the house of Vespar. The first flickers of movement outside begin while crossing a courtyard. There is a brilliant, fiery glow in the smithy attached to the property. A golden white luminescene too bright to be metal or a lantern. Like the sun glinting of water it comes and then is swallowed by the gloom again before returning with every step, every shift of position. The darkness becomes more palpable in the evening air. There is something out here with him. Yellow eyes begin to appear from behind trees and underneath archery targets. Slithering from around the corners of buildings. A few. Then a dozen.. then a dozen more. But they are not focused on Angantyr. In fact.. it is as if they cannot even see him. All eyes are turned towards the village and the light and life in those houses. Towards the house of Vespar, the soldiers and protectors of this realm.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Oh no... "Even here..?" He mutters...the mace comes from his back, and drawn. They might not see him, but he doesn't care. Was it the night he wasn't there for? The night the world collapsed...? No...he wasn't there for that...he was himself lost in the dark paths, the places beween light. Garland had found him there... Angantyr turns, they couldn't do anything about the heartless if they weren't warned...and despite the fact that he has...issues with his family they need to be warned. His home was at stake...even if this was an illusion, the desire to protect it was strong. Garland's training had never taken that from him, while he stroked the fire of revenge, the love of his home only intensified. "To arms!" he shouts, trying to wake the whole place up, "Monsters are in the city! Wake up you slacking guards, now is not the time for idleness!"

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' For a moment there is only silence. That he is alone against this painted backdrop against the heartless that have slunk out of the shadows. And then there is commotion in the House, and they come at his call. Guards and soldiers in the well heeled precision of long practice scan the darkness and form up. There is a scramble as these soldiers, many of which he knows, scramble to make themselves ready and come out just in time for the first attack. They are hit with a furious intensity like the crackle of heat lightning. A dozen soldier heartless and a small swarm of shadows lunge at the soldiers to tear into them and are /immediately/ rebuffed. They might as well have thrown themselves onto a wall of spikes. They explode effortlessly in dark clouds of vapor. A brief pause in the conflict. Although the soldiers heard him, or at least reacted in the defense of the house, their eyes scan past him as if he was not even there. The heartless gather together again, and again their efforts are rebuffed. The moment of surprise passes and orders are barked in clipped and precise tones.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr pauses, they aren't reacting to him...it's like he's not even there? Angantyr decides to test something, he swings his mace at a heartless, attempting to disemcoperate it before it can get near the defender's line. Could he help..? Or perhaps was he only here to watch? This was...weird to him. A place he was so close to, but yet...was he really still so far away? Reguardless, unless he's stopped by being revealed, he decides to enter the house, he didn't see his father or mother, nor any sign of his bastard of a brother. Perhaps they are occupied?

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' The mace crashes down on the heartless, causing it to evaporate in a cloud of black vapor from which three heartless spring almost immediately. All three pounce on a defending soldier, managing to knock him down but the others defend the creatures away before they can do any lasting damage and get him back on his feet again. And his family is indeed occupied. When he enters the stately but pragmatic estate, he can see them through the windows. Each window is like a time lapsed picture throwing the battle forwards in fits and starts. His brother Rellius defending another part of the estate with a handful of guards. His father and Rellius and their own guards descended into the village, where heartless are battering their way into the houses. A titanic darkside, a vaguely humanoid creature of shadow with a head and face of writhing snakes crushes a house underneath a massive hand. In each window a different picture and in each window, a battle being gradually lost despite skill and courage and strength of arms. The estate itself is ghostly quiet, the servants having fled to safer places. The gleaming light from the smithy flashes from one window, a window from which heartless are streaming in a black tide from everywhere but that lone building. A moment later, several heartless smash through a window nearby and there is another twisting, jagged sense of distortion. They look towards Angantyr and then away from him, hunting the servants still in the house. There is a sound of screaming soon thereafter. He is inconsequential to this fight. Meaningless. Useless.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyrs response to that is vicious and probably meaningless... However, he will not stand idle, he will not be considered useless...he will /not/ let it happen again if he has something to say about it. He cant tell anymore of its desperation, anger, or something else that drives him...but he can not remain idle. He can not stand idly by and watch everything he knows and holds dear (and Rallius) fall into darkness. They might think him meaningless... But Angantyr wont bend because they underestimate him. Angantyr swings, mace tearing through darkness and shadows, they underestimate him at their own peril, he does not stop, he refuses to stop, Angantyr tears through heartless like a man possessed. He does not let wound stop him, he does not let their indecision stop them, he does not let their attacking of other people stop him... He just fights, and fights...and fights some more. Screaming in rage and despair...he knows nothing he can do will have a meaning, but it doesnt deter him one bit.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Vicious? Perhaps. Meaningless? Hardly. Angantyr plows into the heartless. The mace tears shadowflesh and pounds the heartless to vapor. There is a jolt of darkness at each destroyed creature. They claw at him but all of their attacks are in a purely defensive way. They part like oil across a hot surface, skittering away and making them chase them down and destroy them as they break apart and then reform like dark rivers. They climb on the walls and ceiling to get away from him, but not out of any concept of fear. They do not want him. He is simply in the way. And with every strike there are more of them. Every heartless he destroys causes three more to rise up in their place, leaping from the plumes of dark smoke to bolt into corridors and hallways. They find where some of the servants are hiding and the screams begin in earnest. % His father slams open the doors, retreating with a bare handful of soldiers remaining, one of which falls with a scream as the doors are closed and barricaded with a loud /BANG/ They are bloodied and exhausted, his brother holding himself very carefully against the pain of many wounds. Blood trickles down the side of his father's face as he turns to look in Angantyr's direction. "What are you doing here?" he questions finally with the air of finding a child sneaking around where he isn't supposed to be. "Nevermind. Thrashing around like a landed fish. You're no help to me anyways." Rellius looks to their father and then to Angantyr.. and says nothing. Heartless fall on the beleaguered group who are suddenly hard pressed between the door and the rest of the room. There is almost a sea of heartless separating this small group from where Angantyr is laying waste to the heartless and creating that ocean.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' "Good to see you too father," Angantyr spits out, "No loving embrace? No how have you been? No spewing lies from Rellius mouth about how the Arcadian invasion really went?" He shrugs, "Well I guess I can give you a break this time. You know, heartless and all." He says, swinging again, and again and again. "You may not want me, but Im all you got right now. I guess you get used to it..." Angantyr swings trying to make his way towards his father. He was unstopping, unyielding, he digs into himself, digging into that perfect warrior that Garland tried to mold into him...he needs that strength, the strength to keep stopping no matter what. They may not focus on him but he makes himself a target they cant ignore. "Light barrier if you can to try and force them back. They arent focusing on me so I can try and destroy them as they come, but this is a losing battle!" Angantyr shouts, "But youre no more going to stop fighting than I am, are you?" He calls back again, "Well, this isnt something either of us can win, so I suggest trying to get SOME people out of here to live and tell our story." Angantyr continues, "Unless one of us becomes a Princess of Heart or a keyblade wielder in the next five minutes, we aint going to do a thing here...were just flailing at the wind." he continues, he just tries to push himself towards his father."But nice of you to at least scoff at me like the old days, makes me feel right at home."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Five minutes is a long time. But in the meanwhile.. Let there be light. Angantyr pushes himself towards the group but with every swing, every destruction never seems to thin the hoard. Only strengthen it. The light is scathingly brilliant as a barrier goes up once the heartless have ebbed for a handful of seconds. The heartless are forced back only several steps before they fall once again on the shields. "Yes, and we'd appreciate it if you'd STOP making things worse, like you always do." Rellius snaps back, slamming back the heartless one foot at a time, fighting them back. "/FOCUS/ Rellius." Their father demands. "..You are hereby nominated. Take the remaining soldiers and go." "I will--" "You will do as you are commanded to do." Whatever else is supposed to happen here never has the chance to. The entire estate shakes from one of the creatures outside slams a fist into and through the estate wall like a battering ram. The sea of heartless at the same time bears down on the light barrier. It's over in a matter of seconds, as is the wont of battles. In true combat. One mistake. One miscalculation. One distraction. The seemingly endless heartless, many of which created by the destruction of their brethren, roll over Angantyr's father and Rellius and their few remaining guards. Leaving nothing behind as the heartless spill outwards through the hole made by the darkside like liquid from a punctured container, spilling out to find new victims

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr growls... "You little.." he mutters, but now wasnt the time for petty insults...but it was true...every strike wasnt killing them? But why..? It was painful, but...he sighs, what could he do..? Then the fist comes down, the building breaks apart as the sea of heartless explode through them. Angantyr screams, trying to reach out for his family... "N...NO!" he says, but it was...it was far too late. This was a vision of something he couldnt see...Rellius somehow got out, but....his father, his mother...his entire house, the city which he loved...the country that he devoted everything too.. And then heartless stand all around him. He lets the mace fall from his hand...there wasnt anything he could do after all. Fighting darkness with darkness seems...rather stupid in the end isnt it? But what can he do? Thats all he has. And then...the light he was robbed of to make his family stronger seemed to not aid them any. He falls to a knee...gripping the mace to keep him on his feet. "Damn it!" he shouts. "Damn...it."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Useless. The word seems to reverberate in the air like a plucked string. The heartless leave him, turning their eyes away. The titan outside descends on the rest of the city without pause. Nothing seems to have done anything but harm. He's left alone in the husk of the estate and there is a ghastly and terrible silence now. The world is blackened, darkness stealing color and detail and life. Eating in at the corners of this reality towards the middle. Waiting to swallow up city and country and estate and Angantyr as very last. But there is one place that it does not dare go. That flash of light on water shines again through the cracks of the smithy, even more brightly now as if /insistent/. Soon that place will be one of the only bastions remaining of this collapsing dreamscape. But what does it matter? It's all gone. Wasted. Spent. Light and Darkness rendered powerless. What hope is there for anything?

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' The Smithy... He can see it now...they avoided it before..he didnt notice because he was trying to barrel his way through it...fighting through to his family first. Which brings up another question...why? Why did he...nevermind. He can reflect later, he can think about his reasonings another time. He has to get to the Smithy, he tears pushes against the Heartless storm if there are any left getting in his way, but with the city as it is... Useless, the world hangs above his head...but he ignores it. As long as he can fight...as long as he draws breath...he can win. He might have to do something he isnt used to, but he can win...Angantyr lets pure determination drive him forward...he does not back down, he does not run away...he stands against whatever in his way, and tears through it. Then he breaks through the door to the smithy if it doesnt let him in, and throws the door closed behind him. There has to be something here...something that is keeping the heartless back. Angantyr just has to find it. If not for his hands...then he will find whose.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "It's about damn time." A kid sits on the anvil that Angantyr would recognize as himself much younger and with just about as much snark as the adult variety. Their boots bump against the side. There is a gleaming.. something laying across their lap. It's a blade certainly but it shifts in an eye defeating melange of light and darkness that shifts even the details of it's form from moment to moment. The light casts mottled shadows across the inside of the smithy. There are images there, but they are there and gone before they even register as anything but dreamlike shapes and imaginings. "But hey.." a shrug. "You do what you've got to do." There is a mild tone of something, maybe approval, maybe annoyance in the voice. "Here." Angantyr's younger self (or.. whatever apparition they really are) lifts the blade out of their lap with both hands and throws it towards Angantyr. "You're going to need this. They.. uh. They've caught on." Then Angantyr is alone in the smithy. The blade sends a powerful JOLT of strange energy right up Angantyr's arm towards his heart, and there is a brief but very fierce antipode between light and darkness that resolves itself as the two intertwine together. And Angantyr can feel the attention of an entire city's worth of heartless turn on him in that same second. They know he's here. And they know he can beat them.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr is greeted by... Younger Angantyr. "Oh great, good to know Im still as snarky in the past as I am in the present...I cant wait to see what the future me is like." he says, sassing himself. This has officially gone inception style sass. The blade in his hand shifts...there is a familiar feel to it...something...special. Something that calls specifically to him. "Yeah, I did have to do what I had to do...you know as well as I do despite how much grief we get...this is home. No matter how rough the road is...this place is always in my heart." he frowns.. "Good or ill I guess.." he says, shaking his head. "Not that much is going to be done at thi-" The blade is tossed to him. Angs reflexes are good, he catches it and the antipode of light and darkness catches him off guard as it races through his arm and into his heart... He jerks back. The weapon changes...the light forged weapon takes on elements of the darkness tied to him. But it does not fully corrupt...both Angantyrs control and the lights natural resistance shapes the blade...it becomes a thing of destruction...light steel and red steel wrap around the blade as it takes its new shape...it is a jagged looking thing, sharp and dangerous.. Something that destroys threats... Angantyr feels it. Every heartless turns his attention on him. There is a smirk...is this it? A keyblade? He doesnt understand why him...but there isnt time for that. He can reflect on this when he isnt facing down the horde of heartless. "Well..where do we go now?" he asks the sword, treating it more like a partner than a object. "You wouldnt be here if you didnt have a plan." He guesses.. "Or do I just slaughter heartless non-stop until we get somewhere?" He says. "The heartless have to have been here for something...it cant just be you.." He pauses... "Or is it..?"

Future Tense: Angantyr

2013-08-04T19:28:58Z

Raenas:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/24
|Location=??? (Destati)
|Synopsis=It is decided.
|Thanks=Avira, Maira, Angantyr. For patience and for awesomesauce.
|Cast of Characters=Riku,Avira,Maira,Angantyr Vespar
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' There is no sensation of pain even if it was expected. Instead there is a feeling like falling out of bed, a swift and sudden impact that is more pressure than movement. A moment of whiteout and sunglare strips the fallen Traverse Town all all within it from sight. There is a sense of time having past in that single eyeblink of reality breaking glare. How long had he been kneeling here alone, in his own room? Sunlight filters through the windows and there are no heartless assaulting the lands outside. There are soldiers training yes and people moving about. Many more than he'd seen before. It is morning and already everyone is about their duties. In the wake of that rush, of that feeling of falling out of there.. everything seems to click into place. There is nothing of the bizarre and semi staged feeling of the other locations, which themselves seemed to almost be set pieces. This land has seen the lash of war, yes.. it is no longer a faery tale imagining that Arcadia never marched on it, but is a land scarred but healing at last. It seems the world stretches on and on forever, familiar landscape stretching to every horizon. Home again, Home again. Jiggity Jig.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' His...room? Angantyr jolts up, looking around himself. He looks at his hands, looking for the weapon that he just shoved into his own chest...was it here still? What was even going on...why was he /here/? Looking out the windows, he looks over the courtyard...sure he was a disgraced son of the head of the house...but he was still the son of the head of the house, the room was...nice, though Rallius still had the best. It was no matter, he made do with what he had... The land...it was scared...no this had to have been after the occupation...but it was also restored from the darkness? How... This was a lot to take in, how did he come to this place? There was no distortion, no jumbled mess...this was...real as he could see. He rubbed his head, looking over the soldiers going about their duties, crossing his arms. Was this...a dream too?

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Everything seems as it ought to be from outside the window. Especially when a small error causes one of those soldiers to be lambasted by their superior. House Vespar trained it's protectors well and mistakes, while impossible to prevent, were drilled as soundly as possibly out of those who came here to train. The smell of something cooking wafts through the slightly open door. Smells are sharper. Vision so much clearer here, almost crystalline in nature. The keyblade is still there, though it is conveniently not embedded in him at present. It was lying in front of him where Maira had been lying only moments before. Already that seems slightly distant and unfocused, a dream fraying at the edges. Power incarnate, it lays there patiently waiting for the time in which it will be put to use again. It is an end to all threats. There is a light knocking on the door and his mother appears in the doorway. She looks towards him and her shoulders relax and she smiles. "Breakfast, I am told, has been prepared. Will you join us my son, or must I drag you by the ear?" She is looking straight at him, amusement in her voice with no trace of wariness. She looks older than when she was last seen, but she has aged gracefully and well.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr looks towards the blade...something about it was unfocused, but he wasnt sure what...he takes a breath, and slides the weapon on his back, the weapon was larger than most, easily two handed...but right now he did not need the end of all threats, right now...he was getting over this dream. He smiles a little as one instructor started going at one of his charges, while it might seem harsh now, it was something hed remember not to do on the battlefield...and besides, todays troubles seem like tomorrows good times...or fond memories...usually. Angantyr can smell something...even if it was just a dream at least hed get something in his belly. He turns only to see the door open first, he pauses... She had aged, sure, but she was still regal and graceful, but there was a motherliness to her...even when he was harshed at by his father, she was still there for him...at least when she could be. Open affection was not tolerated in house Vespar, and more than one time she had to leave him in a state of...well.. But the regal looking woman, long black hair and weathered, but still chiseled features. It had been ages, but he manages a small smile, I must be still getting over being here, He says, leaving out again. He walks with her, down towards breakfast, We can avoid boxing my ears today...mother. the word itself was something he hadnt said in a long time... Besides I think Id have to lean down for you to do it...or maybe have a servant get a stool? He chides.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Down at the breakfast table, Maira is waiting, sitting beside Angantyrs brother, chatting. Rellius seems slightly uncomfortable, the smile he wears not touching his eyes. Maira looks up when Angantyr and his mother arrive, smiling widely to him. She is giddy, excitable, bouncy. Shes Maira. Shes wearing a very nice dress that suits her curves perfectly, displaying ample bosom but not enough to make the family blush. The young woman stands from her chair and bounces over to take Angantyr by the arm, pulling him down toward her to plant a kiss on his lips. Morning Angy....come sit by me. We were just reminiscing, she says, glancing to Rellius and flashing him a smile which he returns, but again seems slightly uneasy. If Angantyr sits beside her she motions for a servant to fill his plate with all the foods he loves, then leans toward him to whisper breathily in his ear, I have a surprise for you later... she says, looking up at him through dark eyelashes, coyly.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Perhaps I will." she says in favor of the stool comment. "And you will be the poorer for it, at that point. Good morning, Maira." She looks long-suffering but tolerant as she and her attendants come to the table which is already occupied. Rellius looks at Angantyr and then looks down and away, still smiling that slightly uneasy smile. There is a faint glaze over his eyes as he looks towards his father. He is not sitting in the favored chair at the table. It instead lay empty while their father continues his more than slightly caustic assessment of their recent candidates from the other noble houses. He looks up at Angantyr as they around and gestures for them to take a seat. "Ah. There you are." a brief, almost too quick moment of pause when Maira flourishes into the room. Then he continues. "Come lament with me the poor state of the realm, Angantyr." he says with infinite dryness as the food is served.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' There are some things that do not sit right...this has to be a dream... It is too perfect to be reality...but is this...what he wants? The look passes from his face, as he manages a smirk at his mother. He whispers to her about Mairas exuberance, "It could be worse, it could have been an elf." He mutters, "Knew a real snooty one." he teases. Maira embraces him, the earnest of her kiss betrays probably his real feelings on the matter, despite things being confused between them, there is more than just genuine affection...this woman means a lot to him, enough to stab a keyblade in his heart. Friend or more...maybe his heart is more honest than he is? He notices Rallius...he had said many things about killing him...but could he really? Angantyr still knows not the answer...but is his desire to see Rallius humbled? Why...he never did anything to him as they were growing up. Well, besides the Betrayal thing...if anything he had tried to prop him up...even now in Arcades...he is concerned for him...if not willing to beat the crap out of him for his crimes... That didnt quite fit...Angantyr places a hand on his brothers shoulder, he would not have him treated like he was. Assuming he could ever forgive him...ugh, emotions are hard. "It could be worse, it could be swallowed by the heartless swarms, or back under Arcades rule." Angantyr quips, "Itll recover...it always does, one way or another." he says, "Besides, statesmanship was always more Rallius field than my own. I just know how to hit things really hard and make sure they dont come back." That wasnt completely honest...Angantyr knows strategy, knows how to lead men but governing? Eh...wasnt his thing. "Are there any problems though? Anything that needs to be overseen besides the general wounds still healing?" he says, and shovels a fork into his mouth, looking back at Maira. :"A surprise huh..?" he pauses and then whispers, "Good thing I slept in this morning, I think."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' "Good morning Lady Vespar," she says, dropping a smooth curtsy, though the impression of wild energy still dances around her like a flame flickering in the breeze, all energy, passion and potential. Maira pulls Angantyr down to sit beside her, looking over toward Angans father and sticking her lower lip out slightly in a pout. "Cant I have him for just a little while before you steal him away? Pleeeaaase?" she asks, her smile saccharin. Leaning toward Angantyr, she reaching up to twirl a bit of her red-gold hair around a finger while the other hand traces a brazen line up his thigh beneath the table. "I worked very hard on the surprise, I do hope you like it..." she purrs. Maira leans back then and focuses on her meal for a little. She eats like a lady now, slowly and neatly, though she continues to be full of nervous energy, one foot tapping incessantly beneath the table.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Lady Vespar looks at Angantyr and then back at Maira and gives a small sigh. "I suppose so." "Oh, I don't know brother.." Rallius says quietly, some genuine warmth leaking into it as he snorts faintly. "I figure hitting people hard enough that they don't get up has to be at least /half/ of diplomacy." he looks real and present then, squaring his shoulders and restraining the impulse to roll his eyes up towards the ceiling. "Some learn that lesson better than others.." he says much more quietly. That sense of focus seems to ebb in and out like the tides as the conversation continues, brow furrowing slightly from time to time as if trying to recall something that keeps slipping sideways out of his grasp. Nobody seems to notice, but it's in that nobility 'not noticing' which means it's been going on awhile and nobody says anything about it. Lord Vespar schools his face carefully as he says "After breakfast, perhaps. I think you capitalize more than enough of my son's time as it is." There is a very, very slight expression of amusement there, flavored with something /much/ more acidic than what he's been favoring the nobles with. He gives a sour look to his breakfast and grunts, his teeth slightly grit as he moves to another subject. "There have been more of those reports again. Mercenaries and bandits moving in from the borderlands. A different crew this time but the same leader." he looks very sour. "The infallible ambush apparently had one or two flaws, such as checking to see if an enemy is fully dead."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr smiles a little at Maira, "I fear he has you there, Maira..." he sighs, As much as Id like to stay around and let you have all my time, Maira..." he shrugs, But there is always another trip once things are stable." He notes. Things already getting back to business, with a laugh he grins at Rallius, I dunno...I am sure most politicians crumble when you point a bladed weapon in their direction. Some even spin their heads screaming they are just a politician." He says, putting a bit more breakfast from the plate into his mouth...he was starved. He watches his brother for a moment...and after a moment he mutters to Rallius, Something the matter?" he asks him, on the sly. Mairas hand gets her a smile, and a look of later. His father takes his attention again, Hmm...I fear that it might be time to send a message to the leader then. The normals shouldnt have a problem cleaning up the bandits...why not send a vanguard of elites with me and my companions to cut off the head of the snake at last." he says, with a shrug, At the very least even if we dont find him, hell run away and give us a bit more time."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira just bats her eyelashes at Angantyrs father, smiling lightly before she looks back to Angantyr, quiet for a time as they speak. When he mentions putting together a team to deal with the trouble however, Mairas eyes brighten and she turns toward him, taking him pleadingly by the arm. "Oh you must let me come with you Angy! Oh please oh please? I wouldnt want to miss your....decisive actions..." she says, a smile curving that is slow and sweet as molasses, her amber eyes sparkling with excitement. She dials it back slightly, tilting her head to the side as she continues. "Besides, you will need a healer along in case any of your men happen to get injured...you know I can handle that. I wont be in the way, I promise," she says, looking up at him again as she leans forward eagerly.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' There is a faint tingling rush as Rallius murmurs "Always and forever." in a bone dry tone. Another faint pressure wave that pries at the edges of this reality like the tides. It comes in and sights and smells, sounds and tastes. It's all just a little more clear. A little more intense than they were before. When the tide goes out, it pulls at recollections. This was still a dream.. wasn't it? ..but there are no watercolor edges or black tar streets or frayed edges to pick at. Everything is almost brutally sharp. Rallius snorts. "Yes, maybe it would be.." pause. "best for the lady Maira to not be left idle too long." That moment of sharpened focused again and then.. lost. His mind seems to wander and he begins to pick at his breakfast again with only half an ear to the conversation. There is a moment of thoughtful pause as his Father considers him gravely. Eventually he nods in a somewhat perfunctory fashion. "Indeed. Perhaps this is the only way these vermin will scuttle back into their flattened and scoured holes. Take whom you need to get this job done." "They are not all so terrible." Lady Vespar says blandly and off hand. "We did assume /some/ rough passage was going to happen with so many refugees at the door." "Yes. And they should know their place." Lord Vespar gripes. "Which is under the meanest /rocks/ I can find for their kind."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr frowns, staring at Rallius for a moment...there is something here...something. He frowns, focusing on him for a moment...Then Lord Vespar agrees, causing him to nod once...then Maira comes to beg him to come...and he was pretty sure he wasnt leaving her without her. "Yes, you can come." he says, trying not to roll his eyes at her, "I wasnt going to leave you here anyway," lest his mother shoot him on the way out, he thinks for a grin, "Well be happy to have a healer along." he says, with a grin. He frowns at Rallius though, but he dismisses it for later conversation. This is a dream, he is sure....but it is so real. Where is the ha ha? Where is the trick? He wonders...he remember where he was, and what he was doing...but... "Calm, father." he says, "We can handle this...refuges are not all bandits after all, we can handle the bandits easily enough, or at least encourage them to give up their highwayman ways." he shrugs. The sense seems as normal as it always was...or at least how he expected it to be. He taps his finger, and takes another bite. It would be time to go soon, he thinks. But...he wonders, where is the twist going to come?

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "They are when they do not have the common decency to stay destroyed." Lord Vespar says with cooling ire. And the preparations are made. Transport is made ready and the finest of their elites are chosen. All accords in steps and stages. There is no immediate and jarring transition between one place and another. A single contiguous line leads out into the countryside to this small wooded enclave near a waterfall. This is where the reports said were the last known locations. It's an idyllic scene and unmarred by conflict. There is even birdsong (thankfully, they are not disney enough to start a musical number, which may be terrifyingly cute at this juncture) The elites dismount and begin to scout the nearby terrain for signs of passage.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira hums to herself, seemingly merry, as they make the journey, her red chocobo Mao prancing along proudly beside Angatyrs mount if he has one. With his long strides, she generally needs a chocobo just to keep up with him. She is in a very good mood, though her eyes are somewhat distant as she hums a simple melody. As the scouts dismount she brings her chocobo closer to Angantyr, flashing him another coy smile as she begins to complain; "It has been so boring lately, there really hasnt been anything for me to do...I grew so...used to the war," she says, a small shiver running through her briefly, though she does not appear to be afraid. "I have not seen you in action in too long Angy," she adds with an adoring smile.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' The forest around them falls silent for several tense seconds. Not a single bird chirps, not a single leaf crinkles in the woods. There doesn't seem to be any sign of passage when the nearby woods is inspected save for a single set of heavy tracks. The size and depth suggests someone wearing heavy armor passed through here not too long ago. But where were the rest- Growls suddenly permeate the woods. From behind the waterfall and the nearby small grove of trees, wolves emerge. Enormous and black-furred, they don't hesitate for a single moment before launching themselves at the expedition party that Angantyr is leading. They seem to strike at everyone, Maira included, but leave Angantyr himself altogether alone. "They're here." A low voice murmurs from behind the waterfall. "After you. You deserve the honors. But be quick. If you do not finish him, I will step in to intervene."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr is riding on a mount. A Chocobo, though he usually does not...this one is a large variant of the chocobo family, a red. He rides taller than Maira, and smiles at her after a moment, "Yeah.." he says, "Though it is not anything Id want returned...I could use a long amount of rest after such a long tim-.." he pauses... Woods should not be this silent. He holds a hand to her, motioning for her to be quiet, and nods to the men...they start forming defensive lines...this are not untrained men, they are just the opposite. But... Wolves..? Angantyr almost immediately remembers them, Aviras wolves...but they attack everyone, /even/ Maira?! He swings the weapon, aiming to fend off the one going for her, the keyblade in his hands as he aims to not harm, but subdue. "The hell..." he says, "These are Aviras." he says to Maira, "Form with the men," he says, and he takes his mount off, he heard something nearby...he pushes it towards the waterfall. "Come out! I know you are there." he says, demanding, keyblade still in his hands. He hopes the wolves are still as good as they were before...he knows his men, the Wolves would not be a match, but maybe they could get away after taking a few licks.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' CRUNCH. It's the Arcadian Soldier from before, the blackened armor in gold trim with the helmet of a behemoth shrouding their face. They step down from a rocky ledge to thump in front of the son of Vespar as they call out. They slowly straighten, voice resonating with a heavy growl from the helmet. "I'll be quick. After all, I would expect /Salting the earth / and other such empire-building would be downright exhausting." A sword flashes from the scabbard. "But we can accommodate in some /eternal/ rest for the lord of /rats/ if you are so inclined." and without further comment a wave of concentrated darkness pulses from their outstretched hand, forming a whip that attempts to grab Angantyr and dash him against a tree and dismount him.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira shouts in alarm as wolves come bounding out of the forest, one of the beasts leaping for her and her chocobo. There is a flash of bright light and the wolf goes up like a torch, the smell of burnt fur and flesh permeating the area around them as Mairas magic roasts the wolf alive without so much as a gesture. As he looks to her to inform her that they are Aviras wolves, Maira simply tilts her head slightly to the side, her smile still present. She does not listen to Angantyr as he says she should stay with the men, following after him toward the waterfall. When the man in armor steps out Maira narrows her eyes, growling as he whips out to attack Angantyr. The mage retaliates with another ball of fire launched toward the armored man, the heat painfully intense. "Uh uh..." she clucks, then looks toward Angantyr, flashing him another smile. Highly unsettling. "Oh may I have this one? Please?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' The wolves are vicious. They fight relentlessly and do not retreat, remaining a cruel ball of snapping teeth and clawing paws until they breathe their last breaths. They are not rabid but they clearly fight like they are. The one that had set Maira in its sights clamps its jaws around Angantyr's keyblade, tugging ineffectively for a few seconds before retreating backwards with a snarl. With Angantyr there, it does not take another step forward and instead tries to circle around. There is no answer from the waterfall. Not until after the blackened-armor individual has leapt down and engaged Angantyr. Only then does a second, fully-armored figure emerge. This person is clearly female based on the armor's design. It is brilliant gold and blue with a winged helm. It's hard to say how this person looks out of their armor since there are no eye holes visible. The faceplate is a smooth surface from jaw to forehead. All this mystery is immediately dispelled as the figure's weapon is raised. It's the Spine. Right away, a blast of ice is thrown from the weapon, immediately intercepting the flames launched by Maira. The flames are extinguished. "Hurry." Avira's distorted voice growls from behind the helmet. "Before I lose the ability to contain myself." The golden-armored Avira launches herself directly at Maira, her weapon swinging out with its least-serrated edge. "Why did you come this time? Out to satiate your taste for atrocity, /old friend/?"

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr gives Maira a look, "...The Hell got into you? Thats not like you at all, go back and su-" The darkness whips around his arm, the man might be as strong as he is now, but... Angantyr is still a very large man, he is dragged from the mount, but he manages to flip to his feet, digging into the ground as the man in the armor would find that hes not easily moved once hes exercising /HIS/ strength. Especially over the darkness, he cuts through it with the keyblade, and... No.. "/No/..." he says looking at Avira. No no no no no no no no no no no no... This is wrong, this is not right, this is...he glares at Riku. "Boy." he says, taking a tone that might resemble Garlands for a moment, he bites it back down...no he is NOT that man...he is not. He holds the keyblade to the side, and swings it ONCE, aiming to cut the air right between Avira and Maira, he glares once, he is a powerful man, and he moves like one to separate them. "This is NOT how things are..." "I dont sense the darkness in you Avira..." he says, looking at Riku, what did you do to her? Is this like what you did in Traverse town to Ma.." he pauses...did he save Maira? Or are we still in Mairas heart? He pauses... What is going on here, something isnt right, something isnt making sense. He moves viciously to try and grab Avira and tear the helmet off of her. "Answer me!"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "I don't have any quarrel with you Maira." The armored man says softly, the fireball exploding against a shield of shifting darkness and dusk. "Not after what he did to you." A faint sigh as the armored woman with the spine goes past him. "But my friend will.. at least keep you entertained." Riku gets in the way, slamming viciously into Angantyr's side. "Don't you TOUCH HER." he screams in black fury, standing protectively in front of her and the blade catching against the keyblade, pressing against it. "What did you do to Rallius, lord /vespar/? Do you keep him on a leash like your broken firebird or did you eliminate him like any other judge. Like any other threat to your homeland?" He lashes out for a kick and as he does so, there is a wave of crackling pressure. It's a faint pulse, a shockwave covered up by the combat. A rush of fragments in the tingling air. Bits and pieces as the tide goes in. Now sight and smell have become too sharp, too omnipresent as if pushing for attention along with the cutting words. Then pulling back, a little harder, a more insistent tug of the fraying carpet separating this reality from the other one. An empire of dark glass and ashes. The tomb of an empire. A scream. He deserved to be brought low for his crimes. For his betrayal. She was going to leave. He couldn't allow that.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' As her flames are extinguished by Avira, Maira pouts petulantly. Oh well, plenty more where that came from! Maira has always had an abundance of fire, of passion. Life had always practically overflowed from her like the primal powers of creation. Her eyes move toward Avira, blinking in momentary confusion that appears to be genuine before they grow distant, some part of her retreating. Those eyes... there is simply something /broken/ in those eyes as the girl peers down upon the blue and gold armored form, a person that use to be her her best friend. Maira barely seems to recognize her. "I dont know what you are talking about," she replies, frowning briefly before she looks back to Ang. Suddenly, she looks to be in pain, reaching up to press her hands over her ears. "No no...burn...burn burn...ashes, ashes and embers..." she chants, beginning to rock back and forth atop her chocobo. Her form lights up, the air around her building up heat for a ten foot radius around her, easy. "Burn, burn...Angy...Angy make it stop..." she pleads, then lashes out again, this time at Avira, with a whip of flame she doesnt even appear to be in control of.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' As the keyblade comes down in the air between Avira and Maira, Avira quickly jerks backwards, lifting the Spine into a defensive position. Slowly, she starts to circle, helmeted face turned towards the dark knight. "Of course there's no darkness in me. You know I can resist it. Do you even remember me resisting yours that one time? Tch...every time I see you, you've lost more of yourself to your /power/!" She doesn't advance on Angantyr, even as he lunges at her. In fact, she seems to recoil as he makes that grab, "No-!" She chokes out before Riku violently intervenes, slamming Angantyr just out of grabbing range as the armored mercenary dives in the other direction. Avira recovers from that small moment of panic, whirling to 'face' Maira. Maira can see her own face reflected in the golden surface of the helmet. "Maira, there has to be some of you left in there! Come on!" She doesn't lunge, waiting, perhaps, for that wild and uncontrolled fire to lash out again. Once more, the spell is met with more ice, Avira expertly wielding her chosen element against her former friend. "I see your control has regressed. It's a lot like when we first met. Don't you remember that, Maira? Your control over your fire magic was so bad that you would burn your own clothes off!"

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' This... This is not what he wanted...this is not what he wanted to do...not what he would ever want. This is absolutely disgusting to him...the power of the keyblade was to do this? Or could...he felt sick, because he now realized what this future was...it was not the dream he wanted, but a nightmare. A nightmare where he threw away everything good about himself... Angantyr felt sick, he never felt more disgusted in all of his life...choices and freedom were things he held dearly, but this...this slavery... He doesnt even know how to make words come from his mouth, the blow from Riku is barely guarded as he slams into a tree, he watches in abject horror as Maira goes completely uncontrolled, as Avira reacts like... Like on the boat... Angantyrs face is one of horror, but he remembers the sense in the house. Why his brother was the way he was... Something rings in his head, temptation...trying to get him to make him want this, but he rebukes it out of hand. He growls...this is /NOT/ what he wants. NEVER. The rebuke is violent, he grabs the keyblade in a swift action. "Ill kill this nightmare even if it kills me." he mutters, and sticks the keyblade in again, this time to seal his head. If he does this, then he cant control these people...this nightmare would end one way or the other. "Whatever it is worth...I am sorry." He says, to everyone there.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' But it does not end. It is not done with him yet. The world collapses to a single room. A single place of darkness in which somewhere a distant and dark shore can be heard, water lapping across the silvery sand. The dark armor, the interlaping plates and the glowing eyes is facing him. There is a moment in which they approach and the younger angantyr is seen, very briefly, like still frames out of the animation.. and then they are in front of him. "You know." his own voice says back at him. "It doesn't have to be this way." Those fragments are now crystal clear. His homeland. His family. Everything dear to him. Do not fear this fate. Words that are more /felt/ than heard. Angantyr has something.. or someone's /complete/ and utter focus, stripping straight down to the bones. To the soul. The armor seems to drain the darkness from the surroundings. A thousand, million strands of darkness connect to them. An image of Angantyr's corrupted future embodied. You Can Still Be Strength tempered by Compassion. Let Yourself Be Better Than this. The armor is contempt itself. But worse than that, there is no humanity there. It is simply an armor that moves and speaks and is nothing. Nothing at all but darkness. It would not be an easy task, to tear down such an edifice. To conquer himself. Another flicker of Angantyr's younger self, staring up at him in silence. Waiting. Destroy That Dark Future. Purge it from memory. ..and you will be.. truly blessed.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' "I will not..." Angantyr says, "Forget it." Angantyr says after a moment, listening to those talking to him...no at him. "To forget it means that I learned nothing. I could me that man...I could be. That threat alone..." he pauses, "That threat alone should be enough to forever keep me away from it." he says, looking at the younger self, at this armor. "I can never forget it. I will never forget it...I will hold the memory of what could be to my heart..." He looks at the dark ocean, there wasnt anything there, he was stripped. But... "I can be strength tempered by compassion...I can be. I will be." he says, after a moment, "I can not unsee the horrors wrought upon me...my home...the nature of my birth...but I keep playing the victim card." he says, "I keep acting out against the world because I think it owes me something." he says again. "Not anymore." he decides firmly. "I wont forget, I wont let it control me though. I will make sure that dark future never comes to pass." He finally steels himself. "I will take you both with me, light and darkness."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Reality ruptures like a soap bubble. As quickly and as silently as in any other dream where you fall out of bed. There is a moment where light and darkness slowly nod in agreement before they too vanish into white walls and an empty white room. It is truely empty. There is no smell or sound. There is only white in room number 4775543 (room number changed for effect) There is no eldritch presence. There is no laughing madman whose hand was behind it all. The keyblade is there, in hand. But it is not the uncertain, shifting concept of a blade. It is a real thing. It is real and tangible and glimmering with a fierce inner light. But nothing else. There has never been anything in this searingly white room. Nothing but himself. And one way or another. It is decided.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr holds the blade in hand...it was a dark red and light steel thing...it was jagged, it screamed power...but it wasnt just power, it was something else... He takes a breath...the keyblade...his keyblade sits in his hand. "...Huh." he says, and turns to leave. "...I was at least expecting one boss fight." he mutters, not turning off Genre-savviness for a moment. "...I still dont get why...but I guess I get to decide that.."

Future Tense: Angantyr

2013-08-04T19:27:43Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/08/04 |Location=??? (Destati) |Synopsis=It is decided. |Thanks=Avira, Maira, Angantyr. For patience and for awesomesauce. |Cast of Characters=..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/08/04
|Location=??? (Destati)
|Synopsis=It is decided.
|Thanks=Avira, Maira, Angantyr. For patience and for awesomesauce.
|Cast of Characters=Riku,Avira,Maira,Angantyr Vespar
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' There is no sensation of pain even if it was expected. Instead there is a feeling like falling out of bed, a swift and sudden impact that is more pressure than movement. A moment of whiteout and sunglare strips the fallen Traverse Town all all within it from sight. There is a sense of time having past in that single eyeblink of reality breaking glare. How long had he been kneeling here alone, in his own room? Sunlight filters through the windows and there are no heartless assaulting the lands outside. There are soldiers training yes and people moving about. Many more than he'd seen before. It is morning and already everyone is about their duties. In the wake of that rush, of that feeling of falling out of there.. everything seems to click into place. There is nothing of the bizarre and semi staged feeling of the other locations, which themselves seemed to almost be set pieces. This land has seen the lash of war, yes.. it is no longer a faery tale imagining that Arcadia never marched on it, but is a land scarred but healing at last. It seems the world stretches on and on forever, familiar landscape stretching to every horizon. Home again, Home again. Jiggity Jig.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' His...room? Angantyr jolts up, looking around himself. He looks at his hands, looking for the weapon that he just shoved into his own chest...was it here still? What was even going on...why was he /here/? Looking out the windows, he looks over the courtyard...sure he was a disgraced son of the head of the house...but he was still the son of the head of the house, the room was...nice, though Rallius still had the best. It was no matter, he made do with what he had... The land...it was scared...no this had to have been after the occupation...but it was also restored from the darkness? How... This was a lot to take in, how did he come to this place? There was no distortion, no jumbled mess...this was...real as he could see. He rubbed his head, looking over the soldiers going about their duties, crossing his arms. Was this...a dream too?

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Everything seems as it ought to be from outside the window. Especially when a small error causes one of those soldiers to be lambasted by their superior. House Vespar trained it's protectors well and mistakes, while impossible to prevent, were drilled as soundly as possibly out of those who came here to train. The smell of something cooking wafts through the slightly open door. Smells are sharper. Vision so much clearer here, almost crystalline in nature. The keyblade is still there, though it is conveniently not embedded in him at present. It was lying in front of him where Maira had been lying only moments before. Already that seems slightly distant and unfocused, a dream fraying at the edges. Power incarnate, it lays there patiently waiting for the time in which it will be put to use again. It is an end to all threats. There is a light knocking on the door and his mother appears in the doorway. She looks towards him and her shoulders relax and she smiles. "Breakfast, I am told, has been prepared. Will you join us my son, or must I drag you by the ear?" She is looking straight at him, amusement in her voice with no trace of wariness. She looks older than when she was last seen, but she has aged gracefully and well.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr looks towards the blade...something about it was unfocused, but he wasnt sure what...he takes a breath, and slides the weapon on his back, the weapon was larger than most, easily two handed...but right now he did not need the end of all threats, right now...he was getting over this dream. He smiles a little as one instructor started going at one of his charges, while it might seem harsh now, it was something hed remember not to do on the battlefield...and besides, todays troubles seem like tomorrows good times...or fond memories...usually. Angantyr can smell something...even if it was just a dream at least hed get something in his belly. He turns only to see the door open first, he pauses... She had aged, sure, but she was still regal and graceful, but there was a motherliness to her...even when he was harshed at by his father, she was still there for him...at least when she could be. Open affection was not tolerated in house Vespar, and more than one time she had to leave him in a state of...well.. But the regal looking woman, long black hair and weathered, but still chiseled features. It had been ages, but he manages a small smile, I must be still getting over being here, He says, leaving out again. He walks with her, down towards breakfast, We can avoid boxing my ears today...mother. the word itself was something he hadnt said in a long time... Besides I think Id have to lean down for you to do it...or maybe have a servant get a stool? He chides.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Down at the breakfast table, Maira is waiting, sitting beside Angantyrs brother, chatting. Rellius seems slightly uncomfortable, the smile he wears not touching his eyes. Maira looks up when Angantyr and his mother arrive, smiling widely to him. She is giddy, excitable, bouncy. Shes Maira. Shes wearing a very nice dress that suits her curves perfectly, displaying ample bosom but not enough to make the family blush. The young woman stands from her chair and bounces over to take Angantyr by the arm, pulling him down toward her to plant a kiss on his lips. Morning Angy....come sit by me. We were just reminiscing, she says, glancing to Rellius and flashing him a smile which he returns, but again seems slightly uneasy. If Angantyr sits beside her she motions for a servant to fill his plate with all the foods he loves, then leans toward him to whisper breathily in his ear, I have a surprise for you later... she says, looking up at him through dark eyelashes, coyly.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Perhaps I will." she says in favor of the stool comment. "And you will be the poorer for it, at that point. Good morning, Maira." She looks long-suffering but tolerant as she and her attendants come to the table which is already occupied. Rellius looks at Angantyr and then looks down and away, still smiling that slightly uneasy smile. There is a faint glaze over his eyes as he looks towards his father. He is not sitting in the favored chair at the table. It instead lay empty while their father continues his more than slightly caustic assessment of their recent candidates from the other noble houses. He looks up at Angantyr as they around and gestures for them to take a seat. "Ah. There you are." a brief, almost too quick moment of pause when Maira flourishes into the room. Then he continues. "Come lament with me the poor state of the realm, Angantyr." he says with infinite dryness as the food is served.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' There are some things that do not sit right...this has to be a dream... It is too perfect to be reality...but is this...what he wants? The look passes from his face, as he manages a smirk at his mother. He whispers to her about Mairas exuberance, "It could be worse, it could have been an elf." He mutters, "Knew a real snooty one." he teases. Maira embraces him, the earnest of her kiss betrays probably his real feelings on the matter, despite things being confused between them, there is more than just genuine affection...this woman means a lot to him, enough to stab a keyblade in his heart. Friend or more...maybe his heart is more honest than he is? He notices Rallius...he had said many things about killing him...but could he really? Angantyr still knows not the answer...but is his desire to see Rallius humbled? Why...he never did anything to him as they were growing up. Well, besides the Betrayal thing...if anything he had tried to prop him up...even now in Arcades...he is concerned for him...if not willing to beat the crap out of him for his crimes... That didnt quite fit...Angantyr places a hand on his brothers shoulder, he would not have him treated like he was. Assuming he could ever forgive him...ugh, emotions are hard. "It could be worse, it could be swallowed by the heartless swarms, or back under Arcades rule." Angantyr quips, "Itll recover...it always does, one way or another." he says, "Besides, statesmanship was always more Rallius field than my own. I just know how to hit things really hard and make sure they dont come back." That wasnt completely honest...Angantyr knows strategy, knows how to lead men but governing? Eh...wasnt his thing. "Are there any problems though? Anything that needs to be overseen besides the general wounds still healing?" he says, and shovels a fork into his mouth, looking back at Maira. :"A surprise huh..?" he pauses and then whispers, "Good thing I slept in this morning, I think."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' "Good morning Lady Vespar," she says, dropping a smooth curtsy, though the impression of wild energy still dances around her like a flame flickering in the breeze, all energy, passion and potential. Maira pulls Angantyr down to sit beside her, looking over toward Angans father and sticking her lower lip out slightly in a pout. "Cant I have him for just a little while before you steal him away? Pleeeaaase?" she asks, her smile saccharin. Leaning toward Angantyr, she reaching up to twirl a bit of her red-gold hair around a finger while the other hand traces a brazen line up his thigh beneath the table. "I worked very hard on the surprise, I do hope you like it..." she purrs. Maira leans back then and focuses on her meal for a little. She eats like a lady now, slowly and neatly, though she continues to be full of nervous energy, one foot tapping incessantly beneath the table.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Lady Vespar looks at Angantyr and then back at Maira and gives a small sigh. "I suppose so." "Oh, I don't know brother.." Rallius says quietly, some genuine warmth leaking into it as he snorts faintly. "I figure hitting people hard enough that they don't get up has to be at least /half/ of diplomacy." he looks real and present then, squaring his shoulders and restraining the impulse to roll his eyes up towards the ceiling. "Some learn that lesson better than others.." he says much more quietly. That sense of focus seems to ebb in and out like the tides as the conversation continues, brow furrowing slightly from time to time as if trying to recall something that keeps slipping sideways out of his grasp. Nobody seems to notice, but it's in that nobility 'not noticing' which means it's been going on awhile and nobody says anything about it. Lord Vespar schools his face carefully as he says "After breakfast, perhaps. I think you capitalize more than enough of my son's time as it is." There is a very, very slight expression of amusement there, flavored with something /much/ more acidic than what he's been favoring the nobles with. He gives a sour look to his breakfast and grunts, his teeth slightly grit as he moves to another subject. "There have been more of those reports again. Mercenaries and bandits moving in from the borderlands. A different crew this time but the same leader." he looks very sour. "The infallible ambush apparently had one or two flaws, such as checking to see if an enemy is fully dead."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr smiles a little at Maira, "I fear he has you there, Maira..." he sighs, As much as Id like to stay around and let you have all my time, Maira..." he shrugs, But there is always another trip once things are stable." He notes. Things already getting back to business, with a laugh he grins at Rallius, I dunno...I am sure most politicians crumble when you point a bladed weapon in their direction. Some even spin their heads screaming they are just a politician." He says, putting a bit more breakfast from the plate into his mouth...he was starved. He watches his brother for a moment...and after a moment he mutters to Rallius, Something the matter?" he asks him, on the sly. Mairas hand gets her a smile, and a look of later. His father takes his attention again, Hmm...I fear that it might be time to send a message to the leader then. The normals shouldnt have a problem cleaning up the bandits...why not send a vanguard of elites with me and my companions to cut off the head of the snake at last." he says, with a shrug, At the very least even if we dont find him, hell run away and give us a bit more time."

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira just bats her eyelashes at Angantyrs father, smiling lightly before she looks back to Angantyr, quiet for a time as they speak. When he mentions putting together a team to deal with the trouble however, Mairas eyes brighten and she turns toward him, taking him pleadingly by the arm. "Oh you must let me come with you Angy! Oh please oh please? I wouldnt want to miss your....decisive actions..." she says, a smile curving that is slow and sweet as molasses, her amber eyes sparkling with excitement. She dials it back slightly, tilting her head to the side as she continues. "Besides, you will need a healer along in case any of your men happen to get injured...you know I can handle that. I wont be in the way, I promise," she says, looking up at him again as she leans forward eagerly.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' There is a faint tingling rush as Rallius murmurs "Always and forever." in a bone dry tone. Another faint pressure wave that pries at the edges of this reality like the tides. It comes in and sights and smells, sounds and tastes. It's all just a little more clear. A little more intense than they were before. When the tide goes out, it pulls at recollections. This was still a dream.. wasn't it? ..but there are no watercolor edges or black tar streets or frayed edges to pick at. Everything is almost brutally sharp. Rallius snorts. "Yes, maybe it would be.." pause. "best for the lady Maira to not be left idle too long." That moment of sharpened focused again and then.. lost. His mind seems to wander and he begins to pick at his breakfast again with only half an ear to the conversation. There is a moment of thoughtful pause as his Father considers him gravely. Eventually he nods in a somewhat perfunctory fashion. "Indeed. Perhaps this is the only way these vermin will scuttle back into their flattened and scoured holes. Take whom you need to get this job done." "They are not all so terrible." Lady Vespar says blandly and off hand. "We did assume /some/ rough passage was going to happen with so many refugees at the door." "Yes. And they should know their place." Lord Vespar gripes. "Which is under the meanest /rocks/ I can find for their kind."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr frowns, staring at Rallius for a moment...there is something here...something. He frowns, focusing on him for a moment...Then Lord Vespar agrees, causing him to nod once...then Maira comes to beg him to come...and he was pretty sure he wasnt leaving her without her. "Yes, you can come." he says, trying not to roll his eyes at her, "I wasnt going to leave you here anyway," lest his mother shoot him on the way out, he thinks for a grin, "Well be happy to have a healer along." he says, with a grin. He frowns at Rallius though, but he dismisses it for later conversation. This is a dream, he is sure....but it is so real. Where is the ha ha? Where is the trick? He wonders...he remember where he was, and what he was doing...but... "Calm, father." he says, "We can handle this...refuges are not all bandits after all, we can handle the bandits easily enough, or at least encourage them to give up their highwayman ways." he shrugs. The sense seems as normal as it always was...or at least how he expected it to be. He taps his finger, and takes another bite. It would be time to go soon, he thinks. But...he wonders, where is the twist going to come?

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "They are when they do not have the common decency to stay destroyed." Lord Vespar says with cooling ire. And the preparations are made. Transport is made ready and the finest of their elites are chosen. All accords in steps and stages. There is no immediate and jarring transition between one place and another. A single contiguous line leads out into the countryside to this small wooded enclave near a waterfall. This is where the reports said were the last known locations. It's an idyllic scene and unmarred by conflict. There is even birdsong (thankfully, they are not disney enough to start a musical number, which may be terrifyingly cute at this juncture) The elites dismount and begin to scout the nearby terrain for signs of passage.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira hums to herself, seemingly merry, as they make the journey, her red chocobo Mao prancing along proudly beside Angatyrs mount if he has one. With his long strides, she generally needs a chocobo just to keep up with him. She is in a very good mood, though her eyes are somewhat distant as she hums a simple melody. As the scouts dismount she brings her chocobo closer to Angantyr, flashing him another coy smile as she begins to complain; "It has been so boring lately, there really hasnt been anything for me to do...I grew so...used to the war," she says, a small shiver running through her briefly, though she does not appear to be afraid. "I have not seen you in action in too long Angy," she adds with an adoring smile.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' The forest around them falls silent for several tense seconds. Not a single bird chirps, not a single leaf crinkles in the woods. There doesn't seem to be any sign of passage when the nearby woods is inspected save for a single set of heavy tracks. The size and depth suggests someone wearing heavy armor passed through here not too long ago. But where were the rest- Growls suddenly permeate the woods. From behind the waterfall and the nearby small grove of trees, wolves emerge. Enormous and black-furred, they don't hesitate for a single moment before launching themselves at the expedition party that Angantyr is leading. They seem to strike at everyone, Maira included, but leave Angantyr himself altogether alone. "They're here." A low voice murmurs from behind the waterfall. "After you. You deserve the honors. But be quick. If you do not finish him, I will step in to intervene."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr is riding on a mount. A Chocobo, though he usually does not...this one is a large variant of the chocobo family, a red. He rides taller than Maira, and smiles at her after a moment, "Yeah.." he says, "Though it is not anything Id want returned...I could use a long amount of rest after such a long tim-.." he pauses... Woods should not be this silent. He holds a hand to her, motioning for her to be quiet, and nods to the men...they start forming defensive lines...this are not untrained men, they are just the opposite. But... Wolves..? Angantyr almost immediately remembers them, Aviras wolves...but they attack everyone, /even/ Maira?! He swings the weapon, aiming to fend off the one going for her, the keyblade in his hands as he aims to not harm, but subdue. "The hell..." he says, "These are Aviras." he says to Maira, "Form with the men," he says, and he takes his mount off, he heard something nearby...he pushes it towards the waterfall. "Come out! I know you are there." he says, demanding, keyblade still in his hands. He hopes the wolves are still as good as they were before...he knows his men, the Wolves would not be a match, but maybe they could get away after taking a few licks.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' CRUNCH. It's the Arcadian Soldier from before, the blackened armor in gold trim with the helmet of a behemoth shrouding their face. They step down from a rocky ledge to thump in front of the son of Vespar as they call out. They slowly straighten, voice resonating with a heavy growl from the helmet. "I'll be quick. After all, I would expect /Salting the earth / and other such empire-building would be downright exhausting." A sword flashes from the scabbard. "But we can accommodate in some /eternal/ rest for the lord of /rats/ if you are so inclined." and without further comment a wave of concentrated darkness pulses from their outstretched hand, forming a whip that attempts to grab Angantyr and dash him against a tree and dismount him.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira shouts in alarm as wolves come bounding out of the forest, one of the beasts leaping for her and her chocobo. There is a flash of bright light and the wolf goes up like a torch, the smell of burnt fur and flesh permeating the area around them as Mairas magic roasts the wolf alive without so much as a gesture. As he looks to her to inform her that they are Aviras wolves, Maira simply tilts her head slightly to the side, her smile still present. She does not listen to Angantyr as he says she should stay with the men, following after him toward the waterfall. When the man in armor steps out Maira narrows her eyes, growling as he whips out to attack Angantyr. The mage retaliates with another ball of fire launched toward the armored man, the heat painfully intense. "Uh uh..." she clucks, then looks toward Angantyr, flashing him another smile. Highly unsettling. "Oh may I have this one? Please?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' The wolves are vicious. They fight relentlessly and do not retreat, remaining a cruel ball of snapping teeth and clawing paws until they breathe their last breaths. They are not rabid but they clearly fight like they are. The one that had set Maira in its sights clamps its jaws around Angantyr's keyblade, tugging ineffectively for a few seconds before retreating backwards with a snarl. With Angantyr there, it does not take another step forward and instead tries to circle around. There is no answer from the waterfall. Not until after the blackened-armor individual has leapt down and engaged Angantyr. Only then does a second, fully-armored figure emerge. This person is clearly female based on the armor's design. It is brilliant gold and blue with a winged helm. It's hard to say how this person looks out of their armor since there are no eye holes visible. The faceplate is a smooth surface from jaw to forehead. All this mystery is immediately dispelled as the figure's weapon is raised. It's the Spine. Right away, a blast of ice is thrown from the weapon, immediately intercepting the flames launched by Maira. The flames are extinguished. "Hurry." Avira's distorted voice growls from behind the helmet. "Before I lose the ability to contain myself." The golden-armored Avira launches herself directly at Maira, her weapon swinging out with its least-serrated edge. "Why did you come this time? Out to satiate your taste for atrocity, /old friend/?"

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr gives Maira a look, "...The Hell got into you? Thats not like you at all, go back and su-" The darkness whips around his arm, the man might be as strong as he is now, but... Angantyr is still a very large man, he is dragged from the mount, but he manages to flip to his feet, digging into the ground as the man in the armor would find that hes not easily moved once hes exercising /HIS/ strength. Especially over the darkness, he cuts through it with the keyblade, and... No.. "/No/..." he says looking at Avira. No no no no no no no no no no no no... This is wrong, this is not right, this is...he glares at Riku. "Boy." he says, taking a tone that might resemble Garlands for a moment, he bites it back down...no he is NOT that man...he is not. He holds the keyblade to the side, and swings it ONCE, aiming to cut the air right between Avira and Maira, he glares once, he is a powerful man, and he moves like one to separate them. "This is NOT how things are..." "I dont sense the darkness in you Avira..." he says, looking at Riku, what did you do to her? Is this like what you did in Traverse town to Ma.." he pauses...did he save Maira? Or are we still in Mairas heart? He pauses... What is going on here, something isnt right, something isnt making sense. He moves viciously to try and grab Avira and tear the helmet off of her. "Answer me!"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "I don't have any quarrel with you Maira." The armored man says softly, the fireball exploding against a shield of shifting darkness and dusk. "Not after what he did to you." A faint sigh as the armored woman with the spine goes past him. "But my friend will.. at least keep you entertained." Riku gets in the way, slamming viciously into Angantyr's side. "Don't you TOUCH HER." he screams in black fury, standing protectively in front of her and the blade catching against the keyblade, pressing against it. "What did you do to Rallius, lord /vespar/? Do you keep him on a leash like your broken firebird or did you eliminate him like any other judge. Like any other threat to your homeland?" He lashes out for a kick and as he does so, there is a wave of crackling pressure. It's a faint pulse, a shockwave covered up by the combat. A rush of fragments in the tingling air. Bits and pieces as the tide goes in. Now sight and smell have become too sharp, too omnipresent as if pushing for attention along with the cutting words. Then pulling back, a little harder, a more insistent tug of the fraying carpet separating this reality from the other one. An empire of dark glass and ashes. The tomb of an empire. A scream. He deserved to be brought low for his crimes. For his betrayal. She was going to leave. He couldn't allow that.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' As her flames are extinguished by Avira, Maira pouts petulantly. Oh well, plenty more where that came from! Maira has always had an abundance of fire, of passion. Life had always practically overflowed from her like the primal powers of creation. Her eyes move toward Avira, blinking in momentary confusion that appears to be genuine before they grow distant, some part of her retreating. Those eyes... there is simply something /broken/ in those eyes as the girl peers down upon the blue and gold armored form, a person that use to be her her best friend. Maira barely seems to recognize her. "I dont know what you are talking about," she replies, frowning briefly before she looks back to Ang. Suddenly, she looks to be in pain, reaching up to press her hands over her ears. "No no...burn...burn burn...ashes, ashes and embers..." she chants, beginning to rock back and forth atop her chocobo. Her form lights up, the air around her building up heat for a ten foot radius around her, easy. "Burn, burn...Angy...Angy make it stop..." she pleads, then lashes out again, this time at Avira, with a whip of flame she doesnt even appear to be in control of.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' As the keyblade comes down in the air between Avira and Maira, Avira quickly jerks backwards, lifting the Spine into a defensive position. Slowly, she starts to circle, helmeted face turned towards the dark knight. "Of course there's no darkness in me. You know I can resist it. Do you even remember me resisting yours that one time? Tch...every time I see you, you've lost more of yourself to your /power/!" She doesn't advance on Angantyr, even as he lunges at her. In fact, she seems to recoil as he makes that grab, "No-!" She chokes out before Riku violently intervenes, slamming Angantyr just out of grabbing range as the armored mercenary dives in the other direction. Avira recovers from that small moment of panic, whirling to 'face' Maira. Maira can see her own face reflected in the golden surface of the helmet. "Maira, there has to be some of you left in there! Come on!" She doesn't lunge, waiting, perhaps, for that wild and uncontrolled fire to lash out again. Once more, the spell is met with more ice, Avira expertly wielding her chosen element against her former friend. "I see your control has regressed. It's a lot like when we first met. Don't you remember that, Maira? Your control over your fire magic was so bad that you would burn your own clothes off!"

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' This... This is not what he wanted...this is not what he wanted to do...not what he would ever want. This is absolutely disgusting to him...the power of the keyblade was to do this? Or could...he felt sick, because he now realized what this future was...it was not the dream he wanted, but a nightmare. A nightmare where he threw away everything good about himself... Angantyr felt sick, he never felt more disgusted in all of his life...choices and freedom were things he held dearly, but this...this slavery... He doesnt even know how to make words come from his mouth, the blow from Riku is barely guarded as he slams into a tree, he watches in abject horror as Maira goes completely uncontrolled, as Avira reacts like... Like on the boat... Angantyrs face is one of horror, but he remembers the sense in the house. Why his brother was the way he was... Something rings in his head, temptation...trying to get him to make him want this, but he rebukes it out of hand. He growls...this is /NOT/ what he wants. NEVER. The rebuke is violent, he grabs the keyblade in a swift action. "Ill kill this nightmare even if it kills me." he mutters, and sticks the keyblade in again, this time to seal his head. If he does this, then he cant control these people...this nightmare would end one way or the other. "Whatever it is worth...I am sorry." He says, to everyone there.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' But it does not end. It is not done with him yet. The world collapses to a single room. A single place of darkness in which somewhere a distant and dark shore can be heard, water lapping across the silvery sand. The dark armor, the interlaping plates and the glowing eyes is facing him. There is a moment in which they approach and the younger angantyr is seen, very briefly, like still frames out of the animation.. and then they are in front of him. "You know." his own voice says back at him. "It doesn't have to be this way." Those fragments are now crystal clear. His homeland. His family. Everything dear to him. Do not fear this fate. Words that are more /felt/ than heard. Angantyr has something.. or someone's /complete/ and utter focus, stripping straight down to the bones. To the soul. The armor seems to drain the darkness from the surroundings. A thousand, million strands of darkness connect to them. An image of Angantyr's corrupted future embodied. You Can Still Be Strength tempered by Compassion. Let Yourself Be Better Than this. The armor is contempt itself. But worse than that, there is no humanity there. It is simply an armor that moves and speaks and is nothing. Nothing at all but darkness. It would not be an easy task, to tear down such an edifice. To conquer himself. Another flicker of Angantyr's younger self, staring up at him in silence. Waiting. Destroy That Dark Future. Purge it from memory. ..and you will be.. truly blessed.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' "I will not..." Angantyr says, "Forget it." Angantyr says after a moment, listening to those talking to him...no at him. "To forget it means that I learned nothing. I could me that man...I could be. That threat alone..." he pauses, "That threat alone should be enough to forever keep me away from it." he says, looking at the younger self, at this armor. "I can never forget it. I will never forget it...I will hold the memory of what could be to my heart..." He looks at the dark ocean, there wasnt anything there, he was stripped. But... "I can be strength tempered by compassion...I can be. I will be." he says, after a moment, "I can not unsee the horrors wrought upon me...my home...the nature of my birth...but I keep playing the victim card." he says, "I keep acting out against the world because I think it owes me something." he says again. "Not anymore." he decides firmly. "I wont forget, I wont let it control me though. I will make sure that dark future never comes to pass." He finally steels himself. "I will take you both with me, light and darkness."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Reality ruptures like a soap bubble. As quickly and as silently as in any other dream where you fall out of bed. There is a moment where light and darkness slowly nod in agreement before they too vanish into white walls and an empty white room. It is truely empty. There is no smell or sound. There is only white in room number 4775543 (room number changed for effect) There is no eldritch presence. There is no laughing madman whose hand was behind it all. The keyblade is there, in hand. But it is not the uncertain, shifting concept of a blade. It is a real thing. It is real and tangible and glimmering with a fierce inner light. But nothing else. There has never been anything in this searingly white room. Nothing but himself. And one way or another. It is decided.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr holds the blade in hand...it was a dark red and light steel thing...it was jagged, it screamed power...but it wasnt just power, it was something else... He takes a breath...the keyblade...his keyblade sits in his hand. "...Huh." he says, and turns to leave. "...I was at least expecting one boss fight." he mutters, not turning off Genre-savviness for a moment. "...I still dont get why...but I guess I get to decide that.."

Tower of Ombra

2013-07-22T07:57:00Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/21 |Location=Neverland |Synopsis=The Missing persons TP finale. Welcome to Bleak Horizon. We're all happy here. |Thanks=Everyone who parti..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/21
|Location=Neverland
|Synopsis=The Missing persons TP finale. Welcome to Bleak Horizon. We're all happy here.
|Thanks=Everyone who participated. Excellent times were had.
|Cast of Characters=Rapunzel, Will Sherman, Riku, Peter Pan, Kyra Hyral, Serah Farron, Alma Hyral, Argider, Gerad Iron Fogair
|Tinyplot=Missing Persons
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Bleak Horizon. A name and a feeling for the place hidden away by a gloom ridden fog in the chain of Roving Islands. The pirates know of it and steer clear for any treasure to be found on the island of Bleak Horizon is guarded by spectral creatures and the remains of Lord Ombra's victims. There are reports of black eyed children inhabiting ruined villages at the coast but few have returned even with that much information. The fog is as good a disorienting maze as anmy labyrinth and many who move ashore find their way turned around to the sharp, grim coastline once again. The indians and the mermaids know of it and do not speak, for to speak of the isle and the grim tower that pierces the heavens is a sure recipe for calamity and illfortune. There are ways to get there, by land or by sea or air. It's just a matter of /wanting/ to. The fog is thick and the sky almost permanently overcast. The coastline is a thick line of dirty sand pockmarked by withered grey wood and plastic detritus. A half buried jack-in-the-box tilts sideways in the sand, half buried and spring corroded. Beyond the coast is a dark forest and the ruins of several buildings of the same wood and stone. They are patchwork, things lashed together by an inexpert hand with only the tools available and very frail. The woods are choked by a bluish grey fog, the pines no more than silohuettes in an everpresent gloom. Finally crownint the dark words is a stone spire that slashes into the sky, an obsidian thorn of crystal and metal. Riku bends down to examine the beach. He frowns at the broken toy, not touching it. There are signs of multiple sets of tracks leading into the ruined village. "Oh, this is going to be fun." he exclaims very, very softly in an annoyed voice.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "Yeah." Will says, right behind Riku. He didn't like the water...but he swallowed his fear to come across here and look at the gloomy beach. How weird this place looks...his eyes are a bit different, but even so... Nothing...this place is hollow. He doesn't need special eyes to see that. A shiver goes down his spine, even a godling can be afraid. "Lets get those kids back, before anything bad happens to them." he says, giving his friend a nod. "I mean, Unless you think you've finally found a place to read your dark poetry." he chides Riku. "I'll even snap a few times." Grinning, Face the darkness with humor and light...maybe they might even win.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Bleak Horizon. BGM change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFEJlAU0B3c She'd passed by Neverland once before on a ferry, which was remarkably bereft of pirate attacks. She remembered thinking that she wanted to visit the land of eternal innocence one day... ....but not like this. This tower, shrouded in oppressive gloom was the antithesis of anything she wanted to see here. Like a dirty little secret that was swept to the corner, waiting to be rooted out... She gave the woods an abstracted look before her gaze trailed upwards to the tip of the hazy spire. She actually took off her glasses for a moment to see if they required cleaning... ...they didn't. She was wearing her typical White Mage Robes, nothing more than that, a pair of leather boots peaking out from below her the hem of her robes. She gives Will a bemused look, the gloom on her expression shattering as she offers a grin, "Very funny. What is Lord Dark and Scary going to do with you, if you keep on killing the mood he's trying to set?" Beat pause, "...also his poetry isn't /that/ bad. A dark corner of a coffee shop would better serve. Maybe wearing a beret..." She looks at Riku out of the corner of her eyes, allowing the smile to carry over his way as she steps forward, her feet crunching on the damp sand.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' GERAD HAS NEVER LOOKED more like a complete stud. He's traded in his desert rags for a much cooler bandana and eyepatch, his trademark clean-shaven face is now covered liberally in *gristly beardgrist*, and he's wearing a raggedy justacorps (A PIRATE COAT!) in the colors of dismal crimson and gunmetal gray. As before, his spear and crossbow hang from back and hip. Completely differently from before, he's on a boat (with T-Pain). While kings may not pay taxes, they -are- taxes. So he doesn't get away from the changes. --- "Yarr," grunts Gerad for about the seventieth time since he's been here. He's been *practicing*. For what it's worth, he looks good, all Captain Morgan'd on the prow of a landing boat. Some nameless pirates get all grumbly-rumbly behind him, something along the lines of 'That's annoying!', but Gerad isn't listening to them. He pulls out a spyglass from within his justacorps, and examines the distant shoreline before him. Seconds later, the landing boat *thumps* into the shoreline. Gerad collapses his spyglass and sets it into his coat. "Yarr, me hearties! Land ho! Or something." He hops off of the boat and lands squarely on the beach, barely within sight of Alma/Riku/Will way down thataway. Immediately, he's frowning. This place looks really crappy! "Alright. Need to find out why everybody's been pointing towards this place. What's going on here?" He sees Alma and some friends over there - eh, too far to walk over just yet. He needs to see what's going on. 

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron is all about children! She wants the best for them, shem ight even teach them one day too! Although maybe the Neverland kids won't like it, but she might like to try. Oh well. Either way, kids disapearing is not a good thing. She follows the others, mostly Alma, who she seems to feel closer to than many others, because of their magic affinity, and soft personalities related to healing powers too. Although hers are a bit different, and she's not a stuttering shy girl like Alma, she still is fond of the girl right now, they already shared a few adventures. She looks at the tower int he distance "So we know they are over there?" She wonders where the information came form... it might be a trap after all. In fact, she better think of it as a trap, might be safer for everyone, not letting their guards down. "I don't like this place really..." She sighs, her pink hair bouncing as she moves through the vegetation along the others members of the expedition.

:'''[[Argider]] has posed:''' Argider's crew was skeptical of their captain's plan. They were officially no longer military officers after the fall of Roz. Besides, it should be the Archades Fleet who should be hunting for the lost children and not them. The sky-pirate himself would have none of this. In his mind, the matter was relatively simple. They go in, take enough treasure to make it worth their while, rescue the children, and become big darn, rich heroes. Unforunately, there was a little more to this then a mundance combined hostage rescue/smash and grab. This was evident as soon as they hit land. Neverland was not quite what any had expected. They had heard stories of the wild transformations that people may undergo. Argider's crew remained -mostly- the same due to their already eccentric clothing choices. However, a good portion of the crew now found themselves to be impromptu baby sitters for pirate children. And then the situation went from bad to chocobo plop bad when Argider learned of the nature of the kidnappers and the remote location where even -pirates- were loathe to travel. Argider was no mere simple pirate though. He was a sky-pirate and this made things totally different. The intrepid Captain finds himself seperated from his crew at large. This fog was and woods were really putting a hamper on their search party. Argider emerges from the brush with cutlass in hand and an eyepatch over his left eye. Funny, he didn't remember putting any of those on. Eh, maybe he was just a tad hungover. He soon finds quite the variety of fellow explorers in the clearing. Argider flips his eyepatch up to reveal a perfectly normal eye underneath. Nope, he doesn't recognize a single soul here. He does not sense any real hostility from this group whom seem to be relatively familiar with each other. "Howdy," greets the tall man as he casually tips hit cutlass against his shoulder and strides forward. "Guessin' y'all are here for the treasure..." Argider coughs into his non-sword holding fist. "....treasured kidnapped children?"

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "I've got a bad feeling about this." Kyra says dryly, hoising her messenger bag farther up upon her shoulder. Something about this place dug up memories of nostalgia and long days spent with her family. Kyra Hyral disliked that quite a bit. Forcing down the bile of the recalled sheltered childhood-which, frankly, was but a handfull of years ago, she steps past Riku and Alma, pausing to survey the group. Her eyes fall upon ~studly pirate~ Gerad. Of those here... ...he seemed like the best candidate as a meat shield at the moment. Alma had dibs on Riku, Serah was a healer, and Will was both dodgy and frail. Shame she couldn't coax Kamon into comi- Argider shows up. ".../hmmmmmmm./" Kyra hums thoughtfully.

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' A dark and mysterious forest on a mist-wrapped island in an unfamiliar land. As entertaining as this little adventure sounded in theory to someone who's only recently started to see the world, the reality of it is a great deal more dreary and frightening than Rapunzel had anticipated. The young woman, apparently unaffected by the strange laws of this land, leans forward at the prow of the small rowboat, peering into the gloom with a wide-eyed look of awe and concern that is mirrored in the googly eyes of her lizard companion. Pascal scampers from his usual perch on her shoulder to roost in her thick hair, his skin shifting to match the golden hue until only a pair of eyes are distinguishable. Much like the pirates who row their little vessel to shore, Rapunzel gives the rugged thief a sidelong glance every time he attempts to play up his part. She's almost glad when they make landfall and quickly dismounts. Her bare toes wiggle in the cool sand as she stretches back and forth to work the cramps of ocean travel out. It isn't until she's finished gathering her hair out of the boat, which took up a fair amount of space all on its own, and turns to join that others that she spots the ominous detrius littering the beach. Rapunzel draws up short, clutching her frying pan to her chest protectively. "What is this place...?"

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan had been in a far too serious frame of mind, well for him anyway. Over this whole children kidnapping thing it had taken a good deal of time tracking Lord Ombra down. Peter had been trying to one make sure he was not going after any new children, and two? Seeing if he'd been hiding somewhere else. This is not the truth it seems he's been in Neverland all along. The last place Peter would have looked, seriously even Hook would hide something major elsewhere given his new found mobility since the world had broken. Lord Ombera had figured out Peter's behaviour pretty well, or had just lucked out. It would be hard to know given how much of an unknown he really was to the worlds at large. Peter however had managed to get his head screwed on right thanks to Tinkerbell and a stop by at the TDA. Where he'd also basically looted the heck out of their fridge and driven Mercade to go drink later. Why? The idea of there being another Will out there was that much of a shock. Peter had been flying towards the island it was not a place he liked he's made the lost boys stay home, told them to guard the lair. In truth he didn't wish to risk his friends becoming food for what he was hunting. Too many children as it is has been taken, one was too many as far as Peter was concerned. He comes in for a rather lazy landing on the beach right beside Riku and Will. "Lostboy here help with the children right. I see you brought friends." Alma gets a look from Peter stares at Alma for a moment. He has no idea what a beret is and seems to be pretty confused. Then comes a pirate he's about to say something to Riku but there is a pirate here, and Pan's already turning to face him. "I told the pirates they could help by keeping out of this!" Peter looks annoyed now shifting gears mentally at a rather high speed and now there's another pirate here as well. This just keeps getting crazy but the pirates almost seem to want to help or don't seem to be spoiling for a fight. He does not like it but he will likely need their help the more he thinks about it. Riku gets a strange look from peter. "So who are you lady, I haven't seen you before. Your all with Lost boy right?" Then comes a girl with a hair Kraken on her head. So much hair it might just try to eat the very children they are trying to save. Tink just meanwhile flits about Peter and is face palming right now over his comment's to Riku. Some days Peter really did drive her insane. "Well if your here to help even the /pirates/ we need to go rescue the children and should not waste more time." Things are so bad Peter is thinking about the concept of time, that's how real things are right now.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks at Will, then he looks at Alma. There is absolutely no change of expression on his face as he raises both hands and begins to artfully snap along to the silent beat of the darkness bongos, like some extremely avante-garde coffee shop goer. After a couple of ironic snappings, he smiles thinly and lets his hands fall to his sides. He looks around at the surroundings. "Come on. The faster we find them.. the less time we have to be here." Riku shudders at the brush of something, a tendril of darkness that sweeps invisibly across the beach like an errant wind. A boat bumps into the shore completely with pirate(?) and spyglass and a stout 'Yarr, me hearties' "Yes?" Riku responds to Sarah with a shrug of one shoulder. "The information I gathered just took awhile to sort out." What info and why? Sore Wa Himitsu Desu. "Yes." he says /very/ flatly to Argider. "Aren't they precious." with a very dry note on 'precious'. He nods his head in greeting and then continues to make his way up the grey beach towards the ruined buildings. Then Peter speaks up. There is a very slow anime moment as Riku turns towards Peter and regards him levelly. He then rolls his eyes up almost to the overcast with a long-suffering snort, putting a clamp down on his temper. "I think.." he says very levelly. "In the interests of /living/ .. we should work together, no matter where we come from." The next section of territory after the coastline was the abandoned buildings. The ramshackle little town built on the edge between the forest and the coast. There are more abandoned and discarded toys here, some of them peeking from the half-created shelters or laying by firepits in the blackened soil. The fog is even more thick here, cutting down visibility to only a dozen feet or so in any direction. It swirls actively around feet and overhead, blocking the view of the forest and the tower periodically only for the winds to change and the destination to be made clear again. There is no main avenue through the buildings, which the forest has already overgrown with sickly foliage and spongy black moss. The air is full of the smell of fungus and mold and forgotten things. At the far end of the village is a ramshackle bridge over a small lake made of found pieces of driftwood. Small platforms leading from the near side to the far side at the edge of the forest. The waters are dark and completely opaque.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Wow, a lot of people actually came to the call to rescue the childr.. err treasured children. She might have sighed, but Will's cheer had infected her just a little bit, enough that she was still in a relatively good mood. Riku's ironic snapping almost makes her snort with laughter as she covers her mouth up with her hands and composes herself. When Serah asks the question, she nods, "It pretty much screams dark and evil sanctuary of lost dreams, innocence, and emo music, so I'm guessing this is the place." Her smile cracks just a little, "I'm not really fond of it either, but we'll be alright..." And then Gerad shows up, practicing his masquerade as a pirate and Alma's bemused look returns to her, as she calls out to him. "Is it talk like a pirate day? I didn't get the memo. But come ashore. I'll explain on the way. And hey Rapunzel." She waves to her cheerfully, looking at Peter, "These are different sorts of pirates, don't mind their appearances. They're here to help." Argider gets an abstracted look for a moment. Her smile seems, slightly forced, but it eventually does come... "Good evening Sir, good to see you again. And that's right.." For some reason her gaze just lingers on him, for a while longer. Giving Kyra a sidelong glance she observes her for a while, before grinning, she /knows/ that look, she adjusts her glasses, before leaning over and whispering to her in an almost conspiratorial manner, "So many choices... I say you just pick a pirate and go from there." Following along through the abandoned buildings on the coastline, she looks at the toys, little examples of innocence lost as they appear, then fade away in the thick fog... that almost dampens her mood again immediately, as she trails along in silence behind Riku and the others as they navigate the village. The smell of mold and noxious fungus causing her to cough every now and then, and cover her mouth as it exacerbated her asthma. The bridge of driftwood gives her intense pause, as she examines it, giving it a skeptical look... due to factors that would put her in less danger than others should it not be all that sturdy, she volunteers, "I'll go first.. just to check the stability.." Which she does with one tentative and careful step after the other. If there's any handrails of rope or wood, she keeps a death grip upon them with each step...

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will grins at Riku's ironic snappings. Then others start coming, He doesn't know the first two pirates...he shrugs, "Well...the more the merrier...and if they think they can hurt kids I'll break their butts." Will is kinda over confident... but he turns towards Rapunzel, "Oh hey!" he says, remembering her, "Remember me? From Manhattan? Will Sherman? King of the Hobos?" he pauses, "Huh...of all the weird places to meet again." he says, but... "Well, frying pan is had. We shouldn't have any problems now." He says, and turns towards... The pan! "Hey!" he says, and then pauses...he laughs at the Pan's confusion over Riku. "No no, this is Riku, Peter. Riiiiku. He's a guy." he says, "A little pretty for a guy, I know, but he's a guy." he shrugs. He slaps the Pan a high-five. "Anyway, lets get movin' on..." he says, looking towards Alma and Kyra... He does not talk about their last meeting with the Dennous. That will never be mentioned again. Nor what came of it.. One bad thing at a time. The area turns into moldy ruins...broken toys everyhere. "...So sad." he says, "...A place once full of life...now drained of it." he shudders, and then the bridge up ahead... Will of course reflexively makes fate help them get across.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' Gerad sees some kid in the distance, flipping out about something or other. His focus seems mostly on the silver-haired, androgynous woman leading the group - Gerad gives the kid a thumbs up, and looks back to Rapunzel beside him. "Eh? Y'know, I have no idea. It's kinda dreary, but, that's where all the folks from Agrabah kept pointing us towards, right?" Gerad shrugs. He doesn't understand Arabic, or whatever they speak over there. And everybody talks so fast! "Just keep your fryin' pan ready, and we'll be fine, I'm sure." Gerad walks off after the group, falling in behind Alma and giving her a quizzical look when she mentions Talk Like A Pirate Day. "What? Every day's talk like a pirate day." "Yarr," he says to Peter, by way of greeting. And then his attention is back to Rapunzel, because he feels responsible for her. "Don't touch anything. Everybody's actin' like this is somethin' special - it's not, but it seems like it's suckin' the life out of them. Avoid the water and the... plant stuff?" Gerad pauses when the group comes to the bridge, and crosses his arms while Alma volunteers to cross first. "Easy there, Lightfoot. Think that water's gonna be worse than anything we've seen yet." He's frowning.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "Well, I've basically got my choices narrowed down to two." Kyra mentions casually to Alma. "But you know, as a white mage, I need to take certain precautions." Though really, she'd feel best if Kamon was here since she'd rather not have to sidle up to strangers if she didn't have to. "I think I know who now though." As the mold comes into view, Kyra zips her hoodie up all the way and tugs on the drawstrings, which brings the bottom of the hood up a little more, over her mouth and nose. It's a little uncomfortable, but it beats breathing in copious amounts of mold spores. As they walk along, Kyra moves over to walk next to Argider. "Excuse me. But I couldn't help but notice that you seemed a bit out of place amongst our little group. Maybe you're missing a crewmate or two? For the duration of this expedition, I'd like to propose that we...work together." Her green eyes peer out at Argider from beneath her hoodie. "You look to me like a very...physically capable young man. I, on the other hand, have /extensive/ training in the medical and magical arts. So I am in a prime position to provide you some very lucrative support. What do you say? Partners?"

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' Rapunzel glances around at the various assembled pirates and youths, recognizing a few faces in the crowd. One face in particular, belonging to a dirt-stained young man, seems to recognize her as well. She gives a bright smile despite the opressive atmosphere and waves back at Will. "Hello there! It's been a while!" There's no way you can forget someone like Will. That smell is pretty unmistakable. At the joking mention of her frying pan, she smirks and spins it around by the hole at the end of the handle on one finger. "Nat-ur-ally. I can handle anything that comes our w--!" Her sudden boast is cut off mid-word as a mis-timed spin causes the hard iron skillet to clonk into the side of her head. Rapunzel winces and rubs her face. "Gotta learn to stop doing that..." Moving ahead with the crowd, the long-haired teen lingers near the back of the group, constantly casting her gaze over her shoulder back towards the shore, growing more and more worried as the wide beach fades into grey obscurity in the fog. Only the bright gold of her hair, trailing along behind her like a lifeline, makes it possible to see what direction they've come from. "Okay, heh heh... that's a little creepy. Just... don't touch anything and you'll be fine..."

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron nods to Alma, smiling "Well there's strength in numbers, so as long as we're not in this alone, we'll be fine, right?" She's been with a few of the others too. Will is always so loud and odd... but he seems to be on their side at least, so she's okay with it. Kyra always seems to be with Alma, maybe they are good friends...? She doens't know about everyone much yet it seems. Peter Pan she saw before too, hard to miss a green-dressed flyign boy after all. She moves between the buildings, looking through open doors and windows, mostly curious "Not a soul here... what happened, are those the people we're living more normally living here?" She wonders, looking around for any signs of recent life.

:'''[[Argider]] has posed:''' "Pirates?! Where?" Argider smirkingly remarks before turning to see Pirate Prime. The Airship captain places a hand sheepishly on the back of his neck. "Nevermind, I think I found'em." The brown-haired man remarks as he tosses the cutlass and useless eyepatch away. He then tips an imaginary hat towards the group at large. "Young ladies and gentlemen, a pleasure to meet you." His eyes then focus on Alma. Oh wait, there is someone he recognizes. It just has been awhile since she fainted right before his eyes. "Young miss, it seems we meet again. Can't say this is the best of places to catch up though with all those precious children to save." He says with a slight knowing nod being afforded to Riku. The other 'pirate' gets a raised brow. "Quite the welcome we got here. Looks like you woke yerself up from the same party I went to," casually remarks the captain as he gestures towards his discarded cutlass and eyepatch. "Anywho, I can't speak for him, but me and mine are here to help." When Kyral saddles up persay next to him, he glances over at the teenager in the hoodie. "Seems that way. But I reckon they can manage on their own until we meet up back at the ship." A demure smile is leveled towards the teen when she offers a helping hand. "Young miss, you got yerself a deal there. Always helps to have someone watching your back and even more so if they know how to sew a person back up together with some magic." He extends a half-gloved hand towards the hooded one. "Deal. The name's Captain Argider by the way." Argider would then take a look at the creepy surrounding and let out a low whistle before resting a hand near his hostled sidearm. "Looks like we jus' might me on the right track." That's right. Just follow the creepy trail of broken toys further into the creepy village that is surrounded by creepy fog. Whatever could go wrong?

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Panhas this thing, the mental filter most people have? He does not have one, there's no real malice in the boy though. He just he says what he thinks. This can get him into so much trouble however. Thankfully one Riku's quickly able to smash through Peter's confusion, which leaves Pan with a baffled look on his face for a moment. he then makes a bit of an Oh look on his face and all seems to be okay with him now. He's actually walking, flying would just paint a big sign going hey Pan is here. Which could end up making things so much worse so he sticks to the ground. The village doesn't make Peter feel any better seeing all the toys here and there? Makes him unsettled about this place, this place was wrong. Something like this should not exist in Neverland, it had no place here. Will also doubly enforces Riku is a guy. Very pretty but seriously a guy, Pan just thankfully is distracted by everything to think about it too hard for who knows what might be lurking about for them. He takes a concerned look at Alma for a moment as she goes to check the bridge it should hold right? She's being careful so she should be okay. Kyra had a good idea about the spores Peter takes off his new hat and puts it over his mouth for all the good it might do him. "You should be careful some of you are young enough he may want to take you as well." The Pirates might actually be a huge boon it would be unlikely that adults could be fed upon by Lord Ombra. Serah gets a look from Peter and he answers her question quickly though his voice is a bit muffled due to the hat. "I can't remember to be honest no one's really liked to come out this way. Even Hook's men avoid this place, not even they like it. Hook actually hates Lord Ombra too." Rapunzel?s hair may be a fairly big boon given it's effect may keep them from getting lost, right? Or maybe it will eat some of the bad guys. Gerad gets another look from Pan but he's seeming rapidly less hostile when he remember not even the Pirates like it here. Also Argider seems to be pretty polite all things considered. He's also given his word to work with them right? That should be enough? He gave his word in this situation it should be enough. Tinker bell meanwhile lifts off of Pan's shoulder and flies a bit ahead of the group using her own light to aid the party in moving ahead, she's also keeping an eye out for trouble that might be laying in wait for them.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku snorts with laughter at the comments being made but shakes his head. "Be careful Alma." he murmurs as he keeps a hand on the sword belted to his side while constantly scanning the empty seeming village. He gives Argider an annoyed look and another to Will, but then his shoulders hunch. Dark shapes can vaguely be sensed in the forest to anyone with the senses to spy them. They are almost completely dark presences, only a faint glimmer of light at their core remains which makes them difficult to track in the otherwise pervading gloom. "This place isn't empty." he murmurs, turning towards the water is a swathe of darkness cutting through the terrain like a sword, a withering presence that leaves the shores barren, stinking of rotten things with the occasional floating piece of detritus. Riku pointedly ignores Kyra and her. well, meat shop assessments of who she was going to work with. Well. Pointedly after looking at Kyra, then at Argider with both eyebrows raised way up for a moment before looking back at Alma. It's a rickety and slow passage. The islands dip low into the water which sloshes over them frequently but they stay firm and the connectors do as well, although one creaks ominously at the end when she steps onto the other bank. Looking into windows and through open doors, there are stuffed animals. Blankets. The detritus of recent living. On one wall there is a crayon drawing. There is a group of vague humanoid shapes, perhaps people. They stand on the beach which is drawn in bright shades of yellow, with a blue ocean and a green forest. The eyes of each of these children have been crossed out in black. On the forest side of the lake there is a rustling and a snapping of branches. The bridge, although sound, will not take everyone on it at the same time. Some who are not able to fly are going to wait for others to cross or risk the wholesale collapse of the rickety construction.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' She replies to Argider in a mild tone, "Perhaps we'll.. catch up under better circumstances... once the children are out of danger." To Serah she just grins, trying to give her a confident look, "We'll be better than fine... don't worry." Alma suddenly gets a flash of chibi-Kyra at her wedding as she listens to her talk to Argider with an almost surreal proposition. In her vision the other individual who may or may not be either Kamon or Helena(In less dodgy form, maybe with some emo looking Odynar Iron spiked armor) is just labelled Odynar_Tank_001, with the rest of them blurred out with a question mark. The celebrant states, /I now declare you tank and healer. You may now kiss her mana bar./ It takes /everything/ she has not to burst out giggling. As they cross, she doesn't look back at Riku, she just states in a low voice, "Hey, I'm the soul of caution, Solo." She crosses the bridge with light-footed steps. She didn't weigh all that much and when you could literally... alter your gravity, you didn't worry too much about falling. Even so, she holds on with a death grip which belies her rational mind telling her that nothing will go wrong.. as the bridge sways a little back and forth. As soon as she gets to the other side.. she looks like she's clearing the forest.. she looks left, then right, then up... scanning the branches. Almost like it was some sort of precise ritual for her. Waiting for the others to cross... she tries not to think of the ominous pictures she saw in the houses before the crossing, that wouldn't happen.. it just wouldn't.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will pauses... "JUST MAKE OUT ALREADY! We got work to do!" he shouts towards Kyra before moving on ahead. Geeze really, why do people gota be so dodgy about this <GOOSEHONK>! Will dances across the bridge, hitting the other side and looks around, and starts walking forward. He waits for the others...but starts looking ahead, trying to find something...anything on the other side, but the fog and the...well, forest. Will sighs..this is seriously a problem. Frowning, he looks around again, and then back towards Riku, "I think...we are going to wana hurry up soon...I have a feeling." he frowns.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "Perfect!" Kyra beams, reaching over to meet Argider's hand with her own free one-as the other clings to the strap of the messenger bag slung over her shoulder. "I guarentee you will not lose consciousness under my care! Well, unless you /want/ to but I strongly recommend against it in this situation! Anyway...the name is Kyra Hyral." Her handshake is pretty firm for someone who allegedly hides behind Odynar tanks all day. Her face turns bright red and she whirls on Will. "This is a /professional/ arrangement!" she snaps at him, "How /dare/ you suggest it is anything else!" In spite of that exchange, Kyra's mood is gradually dragged down by their ominous surroundings. She does quietly confide to Argider why she has her hood drawn up, explaining that over time, inhaling black mold spores can cause some respiratory distress. Especially for those with allergies. Seeing the construction of that bridge makes Kyra certainly wait-and encourage others to wait as one person crosses at a time. "Right, I'll go next." she murmurs, swiftly moving after Will once he's no longer occupying the bridge.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' Gerad is probably the heaviest person here. It means a few things - he's likely got the best chance against anything untoward, and it also means he's going to be a major problem when it comes to bridges and their fickle desires. By the time he and Rapunzel come to The Crossing, the dark-haired man is rubbing at his beard-gristle for approximately the sixtieth time. "Yarr," he mumbles, thoughtfully. Bridge could use some reinforcing. Buttressing beneath, some more solid footsteps, maybe -- hm. He turns around as though it were a statement, and sets his spear down in front of him, leans on the thing, and keeps an eye on Freako Village. "YARR," he says, a little louder! Until he gets attention. Yes. "I'll be goin' last, me hearties! All the armor and musket-lead means that bridge is goin' ta hate me, yarr!" It also means that he can keep an already unfortunate situation - the rustling branches over on the other side - from turning into a situation where there's a terrible PINCER ATTACK. Gerad smiles to Rapunzel. "Be careful on the bridge, alright? I'll catch up. Don't let your hair get wet in that water."

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron nods to Peter's answer "Well that's not reassuring... that must mean there are some very bad things there, right?" At least Alma is confident about it, so she smiles to her. She took note of what was inside the houses too... That's not nice looking either, there was kids here, obviously. Well, this is Neverland. She hops a bit over the bridge, careful of her stepping around it. "Can't they make bridges actually not a circus act for once?" She wonders outloud too, shaking her head, carefully weighting down on every plank of wood...

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' When they arrive at the bridge Rapunzel bumps into the outer post, constantly looking back as she is. One startled yelp and frying pan to an inanimate object later, the girl winces sheepishly and lets out a nervous laugh. "Uh... right... careful." With some hesistation, she begins to reel in her hair. Even if she wanted to use it as a guide back towards their landing point, her hair isn't /that/ long. By this point it's probably long since ceased to be useful as a string in the labyrinth of fog. With her bundle of golden locks in hand, Rapunzel starts to make her way across the bridge. Her lack of footwear makes the slimy old wooden planks difficult to navigate, especially since she can't steady herself on the ropes with both hands occupied. Once or twice she has a close call, a bare foot slipping into the edge of the water when she stumbles, but ultimately she manages to escape the shoddy bridge and arrive safely at the other side. The girl drops her hair into a pile and collapses against it, exhaling deeply as if she'd been holding her breath the entire time. "Ugh, I think I got slime between my toes."

:'''[[Argider]] has posed:''' Argider keeps his smile as the business agreement is concluded between healer and super trustworthy pirate. "A pleasure, Miss Kyra." He affirms easily before chuckling. "Sage advice. I'm a little on the heavy-side compared to the rest of you. Wouldn't dare dream of making myself a burden to such lovely company." And this is just about when Argider gets yelled at by Will. The airship captain turns with a smirk as he watches the intrepid hobo king advance onwards. "Quite the colorful company you got here miss. I think I'll feel right at home. " The older man remarks nonchalantly before turning towards Alma with a nod. "You got the truth of the matter there. No time to idly flap gums here." And speaking of flapping gums, Argider blinks at Kyra's assessment on the black mold spores and covers his mouth with his hand after giving a thankful nod towards the healer. "Case in point," quips the captain as he follows after Kyra onto the bridge. Ladies first of course. Despite being an sky-pirate, Argider doesn't fancy that he should look down anytime soon due to the wonderful state of construction that is the bridge they are now trusting their lives to. Just one step over the other and this will all be over soon enough.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan gets this utterly confused look at Will's shouting at Kyra? Make out already? He just doesn't get it and it's best he doesn't not he' be going on about mushy stuff forever. Peter knows there's something he should recall about here but can't place it. Memory was never his strong point and he knows that. IF it's really important he will remember if later right? Still the picture picture? That chills pan for a second, and all the signs of children having been here don't help much. He doesn't walk across the ground he's hovering a bit above it flying slow and low. Riku is right this place isn't empty there are people here, but they are not right where the party is. Tink doesn't seem happy about this place at all from sounds she's making she seems slightly jittery about this place. "We should be ... careful. I can't recall what he might have waiting for us here and he might try to steal all out shadows." Peter did remember that much given how fresh in his mind it was. He also lost a really good hat to that. "Moogle Girl we have the kids to find you and Lost Boy can argue later!" Pan just looks at Gerad, his pirate speech was a bit odd to Pan. Given Hooks crew tended to not quite talk like that. "That's not the worst thing that could happen here." Rapunzel does have Pan a bit more on the alert and he has totally forgot to fully introduce himself. He now remembers he has not, so he goes to fix that. "Oh...ya I'm Peter Pan." While he may seem to not be fully paying attention he actually is and just trying to not think too hard on the implications of this place. Bad things have happened on this island

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku snorts, muttering. "Right." to Alma's commentary. He stays on the banks continuing to sweep the surroundings which persist in being deathly silent and calm while others make their crossing across the lake, the bridges made of lashed together logs staying afloat on the stinking surface of the waters just enough to cross. Riku stares at the lashed together rafts for a moment too long before continuing to look around. He's jolted out of it by Will, with a small startled laugh and a guilty look before he realizes Will is looking in a different direction. Will dances across without problem although the wood creaks ominously. Looking into the fog? There is nothing but more fog, and very rarely a hint of forest terrain. The ancient black pines are relatively close set with shrubs and rocky terrain poking out and making it a less than straight forwards journey. "Yeah." Riku nods at Will on the other side, making a gesture of impatience. "Come on people. Quickly." He stays for awhile. "The Yar needs more practice." he says to Gerad flatly before starting to cross. He's about halfway across the bridge when a pale hand with ragged fingernails grabs his ankles and wrench him off the bridge with almost lightning speed. He has time for the beginnings of a yell before he goes over and disappears with a splash into the dark water. At the same time, there is a sound of a horn from deeper within the forest. Alma, Will and anyone on the forest side of the lake is assaulted by ragged figures in dirtied clothes, their faces hooded. At a look at their dirtied and pale faces, their eyes are completely black. An older boy and girl make a grab for Alma, pulling in one direction trying to disappear into the fog. They are accompanied by the heartless, swirly eyed ghosts lunging from the fog. These converge on Will and Rapunzel as other children, two shorter boys and an older one try to grab Rapunzel by her hair and pull her into the fog. On the bridge more pairs of hands emerge and try to either pull Kyra, Serah and Argider into the drink or shove the lashed together logs hard enough to disrupt their balance. A number of heartless flow out of dark portals that appear near the houses, soldiers clattering and clanking as they lunge for Gerad the pirate. Several nets are flung from the branches of the forest trees towards Peter Pan.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' On the banks of the forest, Alma makes a sweeping motion with her hand, clearing to the left.. just as she seems a flicker of movement in the hazy cloud of fog. A radiant Sigil appears in the air and expands, a yellow light within the dark, just outside of her palm. Her fingers play against the surface of it... Dark figures emerge from the fog in a pincer attack straight at her. All it would have taken is just a small movement of her fingers.... And she hesitates.. as the visions of a green-haired girl, with a hole through her chest and spine play in her mind. She was thankful for that hesitation as they came closer. These weren't monsters, or heartless.. they were children. Even if they were older. The sigil flickers and dies away immediately... she wasn't going to use deadly magic against children. She just wasn't. She turns and tries to fall back towards the bridge quickly. But not quickly enough. She's grabbed by the grubby hands of two older children and gets dragged towards the darkened fog, kicking and flailing as she fights a losing battle. She was weak physically, and very light. The outcome really isn't in question. She just repeatedly yells out, "LET GO OF ME!" On the way, she tries to grab ahold of /anything/ she might see in sight. Anything that can be used at least as a temporary weapon to free her and as a last resort, even tries to lash out with her mouth to bite at the limbs gripping her... but as she disappears into the Mist, it seems less likely that she's going to be able to free herself.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' There isn't much time to react. One moment she's carefulyl walking over the bridge... the next moment, there's a 'splash' where she used to be, as hands suddenly shot out of the water, grabbed her ankles, and pulled her in, not even giving her much of a chance to yelp for help! But she made enough noise, she hopefully will alarm someone of her disapearance. Under water, she tries to hold on to what breath she has left before she was dunked in, her eyes growing wide at the 'undead' child that apparently is the culprit for her situation. She would let out a noise, but she has the reflex of keeping it in, for what precious air she still has at least. Athletic as she is, she tries to kick at the girl to get freed up. She tries to get back to the surface!

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' "Yarr!" comes Gerad's enthusiastic reply to Riku when the young woman passes him by. He frowns once she leaves. He's going to need to understand why kids these days are so *into* androgyny. The king/thief/pirate/technically hobo stamps his spear into the ground, leans, and waits, to watch the houses with weary eyes... The village explodes. "YARRRRRRRRR!" Gerad's to his guard in an instant, frowning *mightily* at the Heartless as they pour from houses to overwhelm him! In fact, he's so on his guard, and rolled so well, that he looks like a *complete* badass in this instant. Like, spear vault-into-dropkick awesome. Two Heartless are knocked back by the assault, a third is punctured by a heartless (haw!) thrust, and a fourth is shot in the face by a hidden flintlock. Gerad frowns at the flintlock, but doesn't have time to conjecture. More Heartless are coming. "EVERYBODY GET GOING FASTER! WE'VE GOT COMPANY BEHIND US!" Gerad is unaware of the company -in front- of us. And on the bridge with us. He's not going to step onto the bridge just yet, though; he's the heaviest one here, and if the bridge falls, it's all over. Also, he's being overwhelmed. "MAGIC!" Gerad raises his hands, like an illusionist! A hemisphere of chemical flames sparks into life around the bridge's town-side landing, tightly controlled, and keeping Gerad safe-ish. For now.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will is looks back towards the bridge, just in time to see Riku go off of it! Will looks white as a sheet for a moment, before heartless come out for them. The hobo can handle THIS threat... He swings a fist, aiming to smash one...but he tries to avoid them, aiming to move close to the edge! "RIKU!" he shouts out for him, and then.... He jumps off, aiming to land into the water. He aims to fight the current and his own fear, aiming to try and grab ahold of Riku and try to swim them both towards one end of the shore or the other...

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' There is only a few moments for Rapunzel to rest before the world turns into a chaotic storm of activity. She sits bolt upright when the first cry of distress rises from their group, holding her frying pan out defensively infront of her as she whirls around to find the source of the noise. "W-what was that?!" She gets her answer. A solid tug on the back of her head pulls the young girl backwards and she shrieks as she falls over and lands with several pairs of black eyes staring down at her. There is a horrible moment as Rapunzel freezes up in terror, unsure of what to do. But then her instincts take over and she lashes out, smacking the hands away from her hair with a resounding series of clangs. Scrambling to her feet, she yanks her hair to the side and lashes it upwards around one of the thick branches of the nearby trees. A running start gives her plenty of velocity and Rapunzel swings Tarzan-style into the fog after Alma. "Hang on, I'm coming!"

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' A wise ninja once said pay attention to your surroundings, it is very solid advice, this is sadly something Peter Pan often forgets and it gets him into so much trouble. It hasn't so far thankfully, and Riku gets a laugh out of Pan. "His Avast needs some work too." A little bit of humour can be a great sanity saver and Pan will always be Pan after all. Then comes something, something that has no place in Neverland. Children who do not seem right. Pan pauses for a moment he stares for half a second but he's already trying to move. They have found some of the children but they don't seem happy to see people coming to save them? This is so not a good thing, at all. "Look out!" Is his warning too late it's hard to tell, Pan's doesn't want to hurt the kids so he's not going for his knife. He is trying to get ready to make a move to get them to keep their heads down. This does not go as planned, this does not go as planned. Alma and Serah are in dire straight he's going to help Pink Lady and Uptight girl but well? The minions of the dark have prepared for Pan well. They had to know he would come and bring help in all likely hood. So they have nets and Pan's brought down hard as he's just blind sided by them and he's on the ground he lets out a shout and is now trying to get to his knife to get him self lose. "HEY NO FAIR! We're here to save all of you!"

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' As Kyra crosses, she sees a flicker of something out of the corner of her eye. Looking downward, she sees movement and immediately bolts across the bridge, leaving it shaking-but holding-in her wake. The white mage makes it to the other side untouched, but breathing hard and shaking a little. "There's something in the water-" she starts to warn, only to see Serah dragged under by the ankles. "Whoah! Argider, the pink-haired girl fell in!" Wait, she knew her name. Serah! Not sure if Argider did though. Tossing her messenger bag aside, she starts to wade into the water but stops after a few feet, getting the feeling that this was a pretty /bad/ idea. She paces for a few seconds before leveling her hands at Serah, summoning up some of her more basic utility magic that's typically reserved for carrying things. Hey, with a low STR score, she has to figure out how to cheat somehow! "FLOAT!"

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' Gerad shouts, from the middle of a *buttload* of Heartless and clanging metal and grunting, "THIS WATER WAS BAD! I SAID THE WATER WAS BAD, DIDN'T I?!"

:'''[[Argider]] has posed:''' Many things happen at once as the rescue effort quickly goes all pear-shaped. Ghosts appear, Heartless attack, and poorly maintained bridges fall victim to gravity plus time. "Alright young ladies and gentlemen, there's no need to pan..." Ghostly grabby hands suddenly decide to make Argider's life a little more difficult. The sky-pirate is successfully grabbed, but he quickly spins his left pistol out of its holster and blasts away at the hand in a flash of light from the high-tech looking weapon. Phew. That was a little too close. "...panic." He finishes weakly. Argider then realizes that he recently met business partner could be in mortal danger. Pistol in hand, he turns to leap to the res...She has already made it to the other side?! Looks like Argider might be getting a little long in the tooth. Argider watches helplessly as the 'pink haired' one gets grabbed. Kyra seems to have a plan, so it seems that he will be following her lead in on this. Without any magic to call on, the captain takes a note from Rapunzel and prepares a loose rope for Alma to maybe grab onto should she successully float UP thanks to Kyra. The one end of the ropes is tied into a loose lasso for Alma to hook herself into and Argider prepares himself to do something quite stupid in the name of trying to save a girl he only met a couple times before. Whelp, that is the price of trying to be a big darn hero afterall.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' The kidnappers look withered, some of them twisted or without limbs. All of them are pale, their eyes black and their expression angry and embittered. There is sorrow there, but it is paved over by hatred and fear. The older boy with Alma is black haired with a scar down the side of his face, one eye missing. They don't seem to be immune to pain as you bite into the arm of one of them and they flinch noticeably before dropping Alma with a surprised yelp, allowing them to temporarily scramble away from her pursuers. Meanwhile the heartless are being flawlessly fended off by Gerad and his magic(?), sparks and flame in their tightly controlled way causing the creatures to go up in plumes of dark vapor or at least keep them at bay, an ever growing amount of heartless pressing up against the flame barrier or simply staring at Gerad. A field of hungry yellow eyes on the other side of the barrier just sitting... and waiting. Serah manages to kick away and free herself, the water draining strength rapidly and getting steadily colder in the process. However, Kyra's float spell makes it easier and the bank is close by but the distance seems warped and distorted. The water as it hits Will is almost arctic cold and it steadily gets colder. It is almost literally infused with a withering darkness that attempts to drain strength at the very touch. It's also completely dark, the waters murky and opaque. It's his luck that gets him close enough to see Riku pound a fist and then a foot into a stocky boy about his age, breaking free just long enough to thump backwards into Will and flail, thrashing around to face the new opponent when Will grabs him and when recognition comes back, try to help get them back to shore. It ends up being the forest shore and Riku gasps and chokes on the deathly cold water, spluttering and shaking as he collapses on the shore. The children grabbing after Rapunzel fade back into the forest. In fact, all of the children who have made failed attempts at an ambush fade back into the ever-present fog. "OWEN!" someone screams from the forest as Argider fires into the water. A dark smear of blood rises up onto the stained surface of the lake. "Save us?" a girl sneers in contempt from the treeline before she too disappears into the murk. "..You're a bit late for that. Even if you cared." Riku turns over and splutters out some water. He rubs his eyes, taking in a few steadying breaths and then keeping his eyes closed, looking like he had the worst of all headaches. He gripped his head as he lay on his knees on the shore. "Will?" he coughed, rubbing hard at his head and his eyes. "..You okay?" he snorts. "Man. That was a dumb thing." Although him or will directed is unclear. There are still a LOT of heartless on the town side of the lake, the heartless on the forest side evaporating like the children into the fog. Now might be a good time to cross. Quickly.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron coughs a bit as she reaches the surface of the water, sputtering, but Kyra's float spell makes it easier to get back to land at least. She doesn' tknow what's going on or who those was though "There was people under the water, like zombies!" She drags herself out of the water as best as she can, its a good thing her clothes are not too terrible at soaking water. She looks at the others, as she tries to find a way back toward the bridge to rejoin "Is everyone alright?" She watches at the kid that disapears into the woods "Maybe that's why the pirates don't even want to get close to this place..."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Serah will keep floating a few inches off the ground from Kyra's magic. It isn't exactly like flying though walking still propells Serah foward. Earth-based attacks and traps won't really work on her right now, though! "...apparently." she says warily, eying the spot in the water where a small cloud of blood drifts where Argider had fired. "Maybe they are zombies." Kyra says grimly, "Maybe those children that were taken..." She makes a face, as if she didn't like to entertain that particular thought. Unfortunately, given the words of the children she begins to suspect this is exactly what happened. Her leather boots make silly-sounding squelching noises when she walks now. Despite that, Kyra ignores it. "Let's go, we have to keep moving, like Gerad said before he got swarmed."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma saw the hollow black pits of their eyes. Those expressions. It scared the ever-living /Chaos/ out of her. But in her fear-stricken mind, she saw the eyes as yellow, an empty yellow. This /freaked her out/ enough that she actually screamed, and her yells became terrified sobs. And because of that fear, she panicked and bit down on one of the hands grasping her. Her teeth digging into the flesh. The older boy flinches and falls back. This allows her to lurch forward out of their grip, as she lands hard. For a moment she just lays there, completely stunned, before in her panic, she finds her way back up, running towards Rapunzel as she Tarzans her way. Her hands were trembling, she was out of breath, and she was still sobbing. It takes her a while to compose herself in Rapunzel's presence, as she brushes away at her eyes with her sleeve repeatedly, "T-That was.. e-embarrassing..." After she catches her breath, she straightens, and makes her way back to the bridge, having not seen what happened, it doesn't register that one of the children got killed or at the very least maimed terribly.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' Gerad looks over his shoulder, furtive, concerned. The Heartless are *not* going to stay where they are for very long; on the bright side, the bridge seems empty! He can take his heavy self across its weak-looking planks with all due haste! So he does. Upon reaching the other side, the tallish pirate slumps over, heaving, mildly out of breath - he turns to face the bridge, and the Heartless beyond, in the village. With a snarl, the man removes a *handsaw* from beneath his pirate's coat, drops to a knee, and sets to sawing through the bridge's supports! Then he pauses. Looks up. Are the Heartless even going to chase? Maybe they aren't. Maybe he's being stupid. Gerad opts to swap his handsaw for an elaborate-looking crossbow with a giant ammunition box strapped to its underside, instead. This, he aims down the bridge, to the swarming Heartless beyond. "Keep goin', kiddos~! I'll get the rear." Unseen, Gerad winks - mostly to himself. He kills himself with these jokes. Anyway, the Heartless will have to face down a long, unwieldy bridge and *billions of Autocrossbow quarrels* if they try to chase.

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' Rapunzel swings through the fog, squinting to see in the thick cloying atmosphere. She almost plows right into the small white mage. Digging her feet into the ground, the golden haired girl manages to stop just in time and wraps Alma up in a protective hug, peering over her into the mist to make sure she isn't being followed. A gentle pat is given to the girl's head as she recovers her composure but Rapunzel quickly turns the two of them back towards the bridge. Lingering out here where no one can find them could end up getting them seperated or lost in this place. Frying pan in hand, she hurries along behind Alma, once more casting worried glances all around them. A quick snap of her wrist brings her hair down from the branches above and the incredible length drops into the mist, trailing out beyond visibility. "Is everyone alright?"

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' Gerad looks to Rapunzel and Alma as they pass his crossbow-totin' self. Winks. "Ladies~"

:'''[[Argider]] has posed:''' Argider's pistol noisily vents itself and opens slightly to release a puff of steam as the weapon goes forth with recharging itself. The weapon itself is kept in hand as he too notices the blood trail of where he shot the thing. Eh, it looks like it wasn't a kill shot. Or maybe it was. It really was hard to tell with zombies, demons, ghosts, heartless, and the other miscellaneous malevolent forces that inhabit the connected world. The sky-pirate decides not to dwell on such matters and merely carries on. With an easy twirl of his hand, he reholsters his weapon and rejoins the others. They seem to be doing as alright as the situation demands and the other pirate has equipped himself with a chainsaw and a auto-crossbow. It's always nice to have some toys at your disposal when you cover the rear. "And here I thought our plan was going to go on without a hitch." Argider deadpans with an open-armed gesture. "Guess we already have seen what passes for hospitality in these parts. I think we should keep going before they decide to make us permanent guests."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will is still mortal... The air escapes his lungs when he hits the artic cold water, but the secondary effects fail to effect the Hobo, His fate was something not easily effected, and right now he was putting EVERYTHING he had into saving his friend...into making sure his fate remained his own. He draggs the younger boy, only thinking of trying to save them both and with some effort they both get on shore. Will coughs and sputters for a moment, shivering...it was stupid, he knows... But he just grins at Riku. "Yeah." he says raspily...the children...he...they... They'd free them. He swore... He shivers again, trying to warm himself, and stands, "Yeah...lets not stand around here, lets try to make it back to the others.." he shudders again. "I hate..the water.." he mutters.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' It's a real horror show, this place just keeps proving it should not be a part of Neverland. It turly has no place here everything was twisted and wrong here. Pan is meanwhile trying to get lose from the net with knife. There are heartless here? This makes it even worse, but it shouldn't be unexpected given the nature of what they are hunting. The one behind this place has a lot to answer for. Even as Pan is struggling he sees one of the pirates raise and gun and fire there's a look of horror on Pan's face as he tries to get lose even harder he manages to cut him self free. "I do care, that's why I'm here!" he knows it's not the kid really talking given the state of mind they have to be in. the Pirates known as Argider has an very angry looking Pan at him. "We are here to save the children, not kill them!" Why do adults always seem to do this, Pan's now not in a good mood and on edge. He prays that the child is alive he knows they can be saved but they are now being thrown against them which makes him even angrier about everything. He looks to make sure everyone is all right Serah calls a head count and he does reply to her. "I'm all right." Pan is now going to check on Alma along with Rapunzel for a moment. Pan is thinking the children how they looked and behaved? It may be jarring something lose in his head finally. Something that could be of importance seeing Alma is all right save for his pride he also see there's a whole lot of Heartless as Gerad so helpfully is pointing out. "We have to go faster we are wasting time, they can be saved if they are brought away from Lord Ombra. I remember now the more he feeds they start to become a bit like him..." Pan knows there's more he has to remember but he can't place it so he presses on and ties to keep focus getting too angry would put more of the children at risk. He's preparing to move onwards the longer they stay the more likely they will bogged down. "All these children have been warped by Lord Ombra, hurt them if you have to but don't kill them. They are ... under my projection here I owe it to them to save them all." It was hard for Pan to say even that but the children have to be protected, but they need to get to Lord Ombra...to save them.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' They chase. The heartless ALWAYS chase. And billions of autocrossbow quarrels is almost not enough. They trod on the long and unwieldy bridge with complete abandon, the bridge collapsing underneath them as they clamber towards Gerad with single minded intensity. The individual lashed together logs pull apart as the heartless scramble NOT to be in the water, evaporating into it like dark clouds of vapor and rolling away until there is nothing but silence again. There is still the forest to traverse, in which the fog is thick enough that only two or three feet can be seen in any direction. Gnarled tree roots, rocky terraces and thornscrub make this treacherous territory to move through. Riku slowly pushes himself to his feet looking around. "yeah. I know." he says to Will quietly. "..Thanks." he smiles faintly and when he sees Rapunzel and Alma, his shoulders minutely relax. He looks half out of it and stares abstractedly into the forest as if looking through the fog. "Come on." he says with a wet cough, looking around at the others. "They went this way." he staggers a moment, then moves into the forest. He looks at Peter for a long, long time. He then nods. "..if they can be saved." he says very softly. Fog. Fog and more Fog. But Riku seems to know his way, or to know /A/ way and makes progress through the dark forest.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' Gerad has been shooting and shooting and -shooting-, ultimately to no real avail against the snarling, shrieking mob rushing him. Real terror begins to dawn over his gristly features, but then at that veeeery last moment, the bridge collapses, and Heartless tumble into the water beneath. One of them was six inches away from grabbing his face! *KRAK-THOOM* is the sound of the bridge collapsing. Gerad stares out into the inky abyss. The timing is perfect. "...-Yarrr-." He turns, shoulders his crossbow, and jogs to catch up with the others. Specifically the girls. Specifically Rapunzel. ---- And Alma. "Hey, you two are okay. Told you to stay out of the water. Was it cold?" He looks up to keep an eye on the increasingly distant Riku and the increasingly thick fog. Eventually the fog is *so* thick that Gerad is reaching into his coat and withdrawing his trusty-- Shutter lantern? Where did the steampunky flashlight go? Distraught, Gerad turns the lantern on and directs a beam of light forward, then to the sides. To be as freaked out as possible, you know, all that.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "It's all we can do at this point, Argider." Kyra says, sticking close to the pirate. Her eyes search the surrounding mist and trees for any sign of life (or unlife), fearing these black-eyed children might come out of nowhere to drag people away again. "I know one thing is certain though.." She looks over her shoulder at the village Gerad fought his way out of, "...we definitely can't go back that way. It's all or nothing at this point!" Kyra scoops up her messenger bag as she passes it, slipping it over a shoulder again. Progress is slow in her clunky boots upon this difficult terrain. She even stumbles over roots a few times, quick to pick herself up with no small amount of embarassment (or even helped up by one of the others). Somewhere along the line, Kyra draws a gun of her own from somewhere beneath her hoodie and keeps it at the ready.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron is floating. She's not sure what to make of that, but it looks like she can still walk around, oddly enough. But not touching the ground. So very weird. But at least it lets her cross over without touching the water, heading toward the forest after Riku "What do you think they want? What can we do for them?" She wonders, as the float spell gradually loses in power until she touches the ground. At least everyone is okay, but with the heartless nearby... noone is safe yet. "I don't want to stick around those heartless either..." She's had bad encounters with them before after all. Nothing pleasant.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' After hugging Rapunzel and releasing her. Alma takes some time to just make sure she's one hundred percent mentally, recounting what occurred in her mind. "Children with dark eyes..." She murmurs to herself. Not yellow. Not yellow. That was important. She scans the waters, and sees that both Riku and Will are alright. Then up across the bridge and sees that Kyra is alright. A knot of tension releases within her. She gave Gerad an annoyed look as he walks on by and /Ladies~/ at her, pushing back up her glasses. She then rubs a hand across the edge of her forehead, "I was never /in/ the water, so I wouldn't know... thank you for your concern." Once they're all across and moving, she follows after Riku through the hazy shroud of fog... just trusting that he knows the way.

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' Quite visibly shaken herself, Rapunzel sticks near the others once they break clear of the fog. The sight of the heartless swarm causes her to clench her hands around the handle of the frying pan almost painfully tight, preparing to defend the others despite her fear. But a stroke of luck saves them of the necessity for a battle here. She almost passes out from relief. Gerad's strangely upbeat cat-call causes her to stare at the man with a concerned expression for a moment but she ultimately just turns and follows after, trailing along behind the rest of the group. "I can barely see anything in this... How do we know where we're going?"

:'''[[Argider]] has posed:''' Argider looks rather annoyed at Peter Pan when he comes up and lectures him at using his weapon to free himself from the clutches of those dread children. This was a world where he has seen people survive airship barrages, meteors casted upon them, and getting skewered by what should be fatal blows. There was no proof that a blast from his pistol did anything at all. "Sometimes you can't save everyone and sometimes you can lose worse for even trying to do so." Whether or not the sky-pirate had heard Riku, he doesn't give any hint that he did besides a slight look in the teen's direction. And Argider himself had seemed rather nonplussed by everything so far, but an unhealthy infusion of cynicism is present in the former military officer's voice now. He then openly shrugs his shoulders and turns to the others present. Kyra's voice draws the pirate captain out of his sullen mood. "Eh? Oh. You got that right, miss. Only can look forward from now on out, that much is for sure." His anger fading, Argider slowly goes back to his old ways as his smile returns and he does offer a helping hand to Kyra when she stumbles. The visage of the bitter old war vet seems to have disappeared just as quickly as the ghost children did.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "No problem." Will says, "It's what friends do." He says, shivering again. Will moves with Riku, the children are disturbing, but it's hard to be afraid when you are litterally trying not to loose your teeth with chattering. "Lets...lets just try and find this jerk.." He mutters...

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Shutter lantern at the ready? Check. Gloomy and ominous forest filled with an unearthly silence? Double check. Massive tower ahead? Yep. Welcome to the Tower of Ombra, I hope you enjoy your stay. Riku doesn't answer any questions or even look at any of the party. He seems almost sleepwalking as he moves over the forest terrain, often tripping as he trudges through in his sodden clothes. He occasionally grumbles something under his breath, the words inaudible as he peers through the gloom myopically as if trying to track invisible forms in the cloying fog. The obsidian tower looms up abruptly through the fog after what seems like a /long/ trip. Several hours of walking at least where it seems to be the same landmarks repeated again and again. The tower doors are open but at this point Riku just looks up and up at the tower, then turns to face the group. His face is slightly haggard, posture exhausted as if the aura, this atmosphere of gloom was weighing heavily on him. "I don't know about you.. but I don't feel like just walking in the convieniently open front door. Any ideas?" he looks up at the tower, peering into the upper reaches. Branches snap and the wind blows through the nearby trees, swirling the everpresent fog.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Conveniently open front door is convenient. But it is also likely a trap. Her eyes scan the length of the tower upwards, all the way to the top, where she spies the few openings up there.. Alma gives Riku a speculative look at that point "Well.. I can get people up to the top one at a time, maybe one or two more if I do.. something else but how much you want to bet that we have a cranky dark and scary final boss up there, who won't be pleased that we tried to skip ahead? So unless we could all go at once... it wouldn't be wise." She looks to the others, "Anyone got other ideas? Pan, could you carry one?"

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' Gerad is less than thrilled at Alma continuing to be Miss Snitty Pants with him. In the middle of a haunted zombie-kid forest! He makes a snide little face while he continues walking along behind the rest of the group. He's about to say something -scathingly- flirty to Rapunzel, but everybody stops walking all of a sudden! Right, the tower. Find a means of ingress. Gerad is an engineer, technically. This is -his bag-. "Welp - I've got no idea!" The pirate scratches at his head, and looks upwards, evaluating the tower and its everything. "The windows are *way* too high up for me to get a rope up there. Don't think the crossbow's gonna stick to the wall too well, and I left my grapnel in my other pirate outfit." He walks towards the open door, past Riku, and scratches at his newly-there beard, which he has determined he loves. "Hmmm. Don't see anything fidgety about the doors. I mean, I agree with you, lady--" Gerad tilts his head towards Riku. "But how else do you plan on getting in? Dynamite?" Gerad shines his lantern into the yawning portal in front of him. In the name of science, he picks up a stick and kind of chucks it through the door.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan says "They will be." Peter says it with a certainty that he truly believes it like that fact the sun will come up. The honesty and faith of a child whose not been broken by life. It's what Pan is but he doesn't rib on Riku. Peter knows what the world does to everyone else over time. Riku has come to help, he cares that's enough for Pan. he moves onwards with the group seeing that Gerad is fined and ha taken down a good deal of Heartless from the looks of it. He's also looking funny at the girls. Peter wonders if this place is already effecting him badly? Pan has no idea what actually going on nope. He speaks to Kyra for a movement also seeming to have stuck with a nickname for her, too. "Your right Moogle Girl. We got to go and it's always all or nothing." Serah is floating and Pan looks over to her for a moment. "They have to be gotten away from him. I think Tink can help a little but but a lot of it will be time with him no longer feeding on them. We will have to destroy Lord Ombra." he's not people he's a monster, he's the thing under the bed, the horror, everything about the real world that Pan doesn't like taking to monstrous level. Life tends to eat ones hope and joy but this thing? Devours it rapidly and horribly twists the victims of said power. "...How could he get in here? Neverland should have repelled him..." Pan shakes his head again no more thought are coming to him. Pan looks right at Argider for a moment. "This is why I don't like adults. They always think you can't. The moment you think you can't fly you can never do it again." He's pressing on now an look up to see the Tower ahead. It has been quite a while from the feel of thing then again? Time and Peter have not been on speaking terms for a long time after all. However As Riku asks does anyone have ideas? Pan totally does he's not sure if will work for everyone but it might work on a few of them! "Tinker Bell can make people fly with fairy dust all you need to do ... is think in happy little thought any happy little thought at all." Peter does bounce back pretty fast from the looks of his demeanour as Tink gives him a look like are you sure Pan? She sighs a moment later and is soon flying over all the party raining fairy dust on them. It remains to be seen as Pan said you need to latch on to one happy little thought. Given the state of things could be a problem but hey it could work! Pan himself is already lifting off, he might be able to carry someone small like say Will if it comes to it.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will blinks... He's been covered in WORSE things before... Happy thoughts...happy thoughts... Umi's smile. Will suddenly is soaring right towards the top of the tower! "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he says, yes, he is litterally LEROY JENKING in.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' AWKWARD POSE INTERRUPT GO! At Gerad's comment, Alma's eyes narrow. She looks between Gerad, to Peter Pan, and back to Gerad. Her mind literally sproings a few gears. More than a few. MORE than a few... given what happens subsequently. She walks over to Riku, and without a word, assuming she lets him, puts a hand around the back of his neck, draws him in close, and presses her lips against his. After a few moments she moves away from his, just murmuring to him, "For good luck..." And then as she looks back to the group, glowering at both Gerad and Peter as she pushes back her glasses on her face, "Now does anyone /else/ want to make any implications about my boyfriend's masculinity?" And then glaring at Pan she just states, "Now let's make everyone fly and kick a spectre's <GOOSEHONK> to kingdom come."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Kyra will take Moogle Girl as a nickname. She friggin' loves moogles! She's been called much, much worse too and she'd rather not think about that too much. "It could be the Heartless, Pan. Maybe his control over them gives him a way to somehow exist and corrupt Neverland?" Nothing was sacred when it came to the Heartless. Speaking of flying, though, when they arrive at that very tall tower, Kyra stares up at it, daunted. "It'd be nice if we could skip all that stair-climbing." Kyra can feel her knees hurting just at the thought of it. What other choice do they have, though? She glances to Argider, as if he could somehow produce his airship from his pocket and solve this. Instead, she is sprinkled with fairy dust and instructed to think happy thoughts. Kyra blinks slowly and tries to look for the fairy dust residue on her but cannot find anything. A few moments pass as Kyra's mind seems to be elsewhere... ...and after those moments, she lifts into the air, "Oh! How fun! This blows Float out of the water! Come on, Argider!"

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' By the time they reach the tower, Rapunzel has adjusted to the dark and dreary atmosphere fairly well. It's still creepy and unpleasant and there's always the possibility that things might jump out at them again but she's not the sort to worry constantly about what /might/ happen. She has her trusty frying pan, after all. The girl strides along fairly confidently near the front of the group so she gets a good look as they break through the mist at the base of the tower. Her head tilts back as she looks up and up. "Wow. And I thought my tower was tall." Suddenly, Rapunzel looks contemplative as the quandry of getting inside without using the front door comes up. A finger taps slightly on her cheek for several seconds but eventually she just shakes her head. "Well, if we can find a ledge or a window, I could climb up and let you all climb in on my hair but..." PIXIE DUST. Rapunzel wrinkles her nose in surprise as the golden mist rains down around her. Her face scrunches up in a familiar way and she lets out a girlish sneeze before she can stop herself. "Fly...? Are you sure...?" Rapunzel looks skeptical for a moment but then people start taking off around her, much to her amazement. "I-it really works?!" Almost unable to contain her excitement, the girl closes her eyes and concentrates for several seconds. Happy thought, happy thought. Oh! There is a brief moment where nothing happens and then the young girl lifts into the air, moving slowly upwards at first. She opens her eyes, face filling with delight as she realizes her feet are no longer on the ground. "Look, Pascal! We're flying! Haha! Flynn will never believe this!"

:'''[[Argider]] has posed:''' Argider looks at the dark tower before him and frowns slightly. The structural integrity of such a structure was unknown to him. But his airship did have a rather mean assortment of cannons onboard that use the same technology that Argider's pistols use. The main cannons just might be able to knock this tower down. These thoughts are intrerrupted when Pan gives his rebuttal. The kid's naiive, but Argider chooses not to get into a philosophical debate with a flying man during the middle of a supernatural hostage rescue. The pirate then looks around at the rest of his comrades. If they would object to him using violence before, then they really would on such a large scale. That is if he can even CONTACT his airship with all this darn magical interference in the air. He notices the look from Kyra and nods. "I wish she was here too. My airship would have helped speed things along. It aslo might have just been the thing to transport all of us back out." The captain supposes aloud as he gets sprinkled with fairy dust and instructed to 'think happy thoughts'. Pan's words come back to him. Once an adult thinks he can't fly, he never will again. Argider grumbles something to himself and tries to do so despite what logic might dictate to him. At first, it looks like he was about to get somewhere, but the pirate remains earthbound. Roz falling to Darkness was still too fresh of a wound in the man's mind. "Well shucks. Looks like I'm going to have to climb the hard way. Careful Miss Kyra, I'll be up there soon enough." Unknown dangers lurk within, but maybe unknown treasures as well. For the upteenth time this day, Argider does something stupid can runs into the tower with his pistol in hand.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron was floating... and now is flying? She's always fill of happy thoughts, mostly called hope in her case, so she doesn't take very long to take flight "... Well this is interesting... kinda fun too." She smiles, and tries to direct herself up the tower along with the others "Beats climbing at least." She reaches a hand toward Alma as well, if only to stabilize flight for the two of them. "How do you control this exactly? Just by thought or by push?" She waddles a bit in the air, as if she was trying to swim.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' "Ahhhhhh..." Gerad looks at the pixie dust falling around him, bemused. It's not really doing much for the guy, but that's fair - he's not Robin Williams. At the sight of all the children floating into the air, the spearman's expression hardens; he needs to catch up! But how! "Alright, pal," Gerad turns to look to Argider - who is sprinting past him. What?! Gerad runs in after Argider, sweet coat fluttering behind him! "What are you doing?! It's dangerous to go alone!" Gerad shines his lantern ahead of him, futilely!

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku says dryly. "Would you rather walk in the front door and get trapped in Lord Crankyspooks Multiple Chambers of Horror and Discomfort /before/ the final boss? Because I'm --- I don't believe this guy." Riku watches Gerad approach the front door of the spooky doom tower, pick up a stick and lob it into the interior. The stick clatters across the stone floor of the empty foyer, sliding across the tiles to come to rest at the broad stone stairs where all at once.... nothing happens. A whole lot of nothing. Riku looks up at Peter pan and snorts faintly. "A happy thought huh?" he looks around, his expression abstracted. "..little enough in supply, I think." he looks over at Will. "Hey Will." he smirks wearily. "Can I borrow your surplus?" Riku glowers at the fairy dust, sneezing quite loudly from the touch of the glittering powder. And-- then the aftereffects of said pose interrupt catch up and awkward project pose interrupt is a go. There is a moment (just a moment) in which Riku does not let Alma go as she starts to disengage, then he chuckles and jerks a thumb at Will. "I thought that's why he was here for." he tsks, then looks at Will disappearing into the distance. He still remains anchored to the ground. He looks down at the ground and then at Alma. He reaches out for her hand. "Come on." he says softly. "I think that's /exactly/ what we should do." There is a very tenative few moments, but then he starts to rise off the ground. He laughs in a very small, sharp surprised noise.. like he can't really believe it himself as he and they make their way up the tower. Will Sherman. Leroy Jenkins Im"Welcome to my home, meddler. I do hope you've--" A snort. Sniff from inside the volumnous cowl. Yessssss... You've brought the Pan with you. Meanwhile, Gerad and Argrider are heading towards the front doors. This cannot possibly mean bad things for them. The doors, when they enter the tower, shut behind them automatically with a thunderous boom.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will lands. He looks up...ahead of the group as he sees it. The darkness infesting these children springs from the Umbra...the fact that he sees this, he sees the dark eyed children. There is a shift. Umbra will feel it. Red power seems to radiate from the hands of the Hobo, and his eyes change. They are sharp, sharper than anyone might have seen before. The red energy on his hands explodes like a bondfire around each one, as he starts walking slowly towards Umbra. "Release those chilren." He says, and then... "I said..." Will dives forward, aiming to drive BOTH hands into the shadow, the burning hands aiming to break right into the strings of fate themselves, Will can't shatter them...no the magic is too strong for him with just a single force of his RELEASE THOSE CHILDREN Hopefully, this will open Umbra up for the others.

:'''[[Argider]] has posed:''' Argider barely takes a single step into the tower before the doors slam shut behind him and seals itself. Fantastic. He turns around and looks for a way to open the doors back up. Nope. Nothing. He knew he should or just bombarded this blasted tower into oblivion. No treasure, no nothing and now he was stuck in here with his fellow pirate. The brown-haired captain sniffs the air audibly. Hmmm. That's an odd smell. "Arrrrrgh!" shouts Argider as a burst of flame catches him quite by surprise. The force of blow is enough knock the man on the ground and singe him quite completely. But the flames are not done with and Argider scurries towards the stairs upwards in all haste. "Run, run for your blasted life!" He offers Gerad in ways of advice.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' *CRACK* "Ah, shi-" Gerad's rating-breaking is obscured by the sound of fluid flowing across the tower's stony floor. Immediately, he flips his lantern around to see what it is! Queue the dynamic zoom-in on his face and those wide, horrified eyes. His nostrils flare, and he's immediately running for higher ground. Something *flammable* is streaking across the ground. Gerad's already expecting the sparks, so he's not too worried about those when they start raining down from the ceiling. Luckily, the man's quick-thinking and derring-do save him from being lit aflame; he makes it to the staircase with barely any time to spare, practically tumbling to a halt on the steps! GERAD HAS LOST: SHUTTER LANTERN "We have to go up! This place is gonna be an oven if we stick around!" Gerad makes his way up the staircase, and withdraws a small canteen from his coat. He dumps it over Argider's head. It is kind of like spitting on a bonfire. Anyway, once Argider's next to him and they're *both* on the next floor, Gerad kicks the trapdoor shut behind them with a declarative BOOM.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Without another word, a yellow Corona around her blazes into life, banishing some of the gloom around her with it's soft luminescence. She didn't need to think happy thoughts to fly.. even if she was sort of grinning like the cheshire cat right now. Riku remains earthbound, at first, but she takes his hand. Serah takes hold of her other, and she just nods to her with a grin "Just leave it to me on the control part, Serah" And then looking at Riku, "...here we go then." And then the girl just tells the laws of physics to shut up and sit down, as gravity doesn't seem to have any effect on herself any longer any longer. With a hold upon both Riku and Serah she directs them all upwards, streaking upward rapidly with a large trail of light behind her. They reach the top of the tower almost alarmingly in the rapidity of the pace... since Riku and Serah are flying under their own power, he lets them go the moment they arrive to feel the pulse of darkness. And to her horror.. she sees the children all in a circle. She feels the pulse of darkness... and she watches. And she watches... and her expression twists into a mask of anger in almost an instant. There's such a thing as righteous anger that burns it's way right through any sort of serenity that she could dredge up, and something in her just snaps, like a crack, or a pane of glass. There's a flicker over her image, almost like static from a television distorting her image, drawing a line against her midsection. And then she's behind him, appearing in a flurry of light and static. A fist flies out, but doesn't make contact with him. Instead when her fist flies out... there's a burst of scathing luminescence. Before the blow even strikes, there's another flicker of static and she's on the opposite side of him, another fist flies, and there's another burst of radiant power his way. Another flicker of static, and she's floating at his elevation in the air, exploiting her weightlessness to turn into what would appear to be a round house kick, her leg trailing a wave of effulgent burning light which carries right towards his cowl. Another flicker of static.. and she wasn't even in his view anymore if he didn't strike back during that time. Reappearing some distance away with a cold expression on her face. She doesn't say anything, her expression is entirely flat in it's affect. But the way she stares at him.. its clear she just wants to do nothing but annihilate this shadowy being.

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' Rapunzel is the last to arrive at the top of the creepy obsidian tower. She watches the ground grow steadily more distant as she drifts upwards, still not quite able to believe that she's actually flying. The girl's mirth fades in an instant once she sails through the open window and faces the horrible sight that awaits at the apex of the massive spire. Pascal shrinks into her hair as her eyes widen, a hand going to her mouth. The moment of surprise doesn't last long. The attacks on the dark shrouded figure spurs her into action but rather than lend her strength to the assault, Rapunzel zips down to the floor and starts to untie the bound children. "Don't worry! We'll get you out of here!"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Meanwhile. Back at the Ranch! Another room about the same dimensions as before. Heat rises up from below through a column in the center of the circular room. At the top of this column/pedestal is a brilliant ruby, a fabulous treasure to be certain. A faceted gem of sparkle and radiance that almost shimmers in the heat haze rising from vents in the column. The stairway continues on the other side of the room, which is very uneven. It's a maze of broken toys, bits of glass and sharp rock and all sorts of uneven terrain that would make crossing this room slow but possible. Then the gem starts to rotate, several brilliant moonlight beams slowly spanning towards Gerad and Argrider and rotating across the circular chamber.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' A few moments pass in which Kyra tests the parameters of this flight thing. How fast, how high, how well the handling goes. There might even be a few moments of prancing up the side of the tower like a gazelle. The cheer fades a little when she realizes that Argider cannot come with her this way. Maybe it is as Pan says-he didn't believe that he could fly like this. She considers for a few moments possible solutions-maybe she can cast float on him and drag him upwards? It's too late, though, as her partner opts to go through the ominous open door instead. "...good luck." she whispers to the pirate, tapping his shoulder before he goes. A faint pulse of white magic-a blessing-settles over him that would hopefully bring him luck. (Turns out, maybe not?) Up, up and away, she flies after the others, following Will once he discovers the openings in the top of the tower. Sailing in to the window, a moment or two is spent processing the scene. The Archadian Child. Ombra right there. Anger floods the "Moogle Girl's" mind and abruptly she comes crashing to the floor. "How could you!" Once she has at least struggled to her knees, she opens fire on Ombra, her particular equipped weapon being one that fires darts filled with something poisonous and unpleasant.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan sees that everyone but the two pirates are able to find a happy thought. Part of him wonders what his companions have thought about, yet? He won't pry that's their special happy thought telling it might ruin it for them. He's not one to who would intentionally wreck their happy moment. Still he has to ponder for a second longer, what's going through Riku's head. It is a mysterious that may leave Riku with Random Pan visits. "See I knew you could do it..." The Pirates were pirates sure but the more Pan thought about it they were pirates trying to help save the kids or at least bring an end to the one behind it. He's still grumpy with Argider but? The anger ha cooled due tot eh hike and well there's been a heck of a distraction Pan will likely forget it about it soon enough. "I have come for the children. You have no place in Neverland! You came when the worlds stated to fall and have no place here! I am the King of Neverland and I say you are done!" Pan is being perhaps cocky or is he just being deadly serious as he crows loudly at the source of all this evil. Then Will does something he does not see coming he doesn't hear the words no he feels it he sees it. There's something about Will that's as angry as Ombra as Peter is. He's already pulling out his blade and is getting ready to fight. He's far from along with Rapunzel, Alma, Will, Riku, Serah and Kyra at his back. Also two Pirates who are totally on their way right?! "Let them go, leave Neverland and never feed upon another child again. This is your only chance."

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' What the...?! Gerad looks quizzically at his flaming companion, then even more quizzically at the malevolent ruby in the middle of this malevolent room. What is even going on in this tower? The toolsman starts creeping his way across the room and its BEVY OF MUNDANE TRAPS. Luckily, his boots keep most of the detritus from injuring his feet. Unluckily -nobody in the entire world could have predicted that the gem would start shooting lasers-. "Hey! Guy! Hurry up and get over here!" Gerad is creeping even more quickly than before, now, inching past glass and broken bears, and leering at the crystal with its lasers. One's almost near him! He frowns, pulls out that flintlock pistol, and *shoots* the gem. That will fix it. He can't deal with the lasers, not right now, not with the glass here and a guy on fire.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron nods to Alma, glad for the guidance from someone that is used to flying at least. She can barely float on her own for now, but at least she's not crashing to the ground. She waddles a bit, and then when at the top, she attempts to land down, surveying the area. The children are there... and that voice. Hasn't she heard that before? Like last time she was with Pan? She can't remember for sure, but it seems like it knows Peter at least. And if Alma is ready to attack that figure, she's all too glad to help. She has some attacking magic as well, a salvo of holy magic shaped like arrows, that are sent toward it. She supposes there's no need for conversation here. If Alma goes for the 'strike first talk later' approach, who is she to go against it!

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Lord Ombra seems completely unaffected by the redshift, gripping their human shield a little bit tighter as Will Sherman leaps forwards, driving those flaming hands into the cloaked shadow. There is an unearthly SCREAM from somewhere outside of the cloak that is joined by the screams of the black eyed children who simultaniously scream in pain and collapse, one after another. They whimper in pain, leaning against the wall, some of the older ones holding the younger and staring with their malevolent bitter anger now leavened with dread. It does open Ombra up for assault by another and in fact all interested parties. Alma's righteous anger comes next. A flurry of light and static and scathing luminescene sears through the room. And is effortlessly blocked by a careless hand. A pulse of darkness and light antipode as Lord Ombra pushes back at the light user. The black eyed children flinch away from it, covering their faces and crying out in fear as the strikes come again and again and again. The righteous fury eventually wins out, the luminescene of that round house kick sending the cloak flying backwards.. right into a waiting Riku. "You.." he says quietly. "..made a grave.. /error/ in hunting in Archades." the sword slashes the cloak nearly in half in a single fluid motion. There is another unearthly scream as the pieces of fabric flutter to the ground and dissolve into vapor. He starts to lower the blade when a hand reaches out from and grabs him by the back of his neck. "And.. you ..boy. Made a grave error as well." Riku struggles as it starts to lift him into the air in front of Kyra's shots. He manages to twist out of the way, the poison unloading it's payload into the cloaked figure which returns to full visibility, the cloak massive ragged from the bottom to the middle like a heap of rags come to life. Riku neatly pivots, taking a step forwards to bring the sword down when the cloak reaches out and envelops him. There is a step, or two, a heartbeat, and then he is gone. Swallowed up without time even to scream with another pulse of darkness that makes the children, both black eyed or otherwise, shudder and begin to sob. One of them clings to Rapunzel reflexively, sobbing with hysterical furor, asking her to keep the boogeyman away in a tear choked whisper. A salvo of holy arrows pierce Lord Ombra, sending the cloak staggering backwards. He raises a clawed hand and the air pressure abruptly drops right before spears of darkness crystallize out of the air, spiraling around the cloak before launching themselves at the party, each one shattering into another disorienting burst of doubt and despair no matter what they hit.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will is not sure rather to grin or shout for Riku... He'll go with anger. Richous fury... "Let..." He says running towards cloaked jerkface, and tries to slip under him. Aiming to come from BEHIND him and drig those hands RIGHT into the back of the man again... "HIM!" he booms, the grould shaking a bit as he tries to force his vision of reality on the Eldrich horror. "GO!" he commands, aiming to drive the red strings of fate into the dark strings, he is trying to choke them out, trying to seperate them...he needs time, but it will be not pleasent for those involved...he winces at the cries...he has to do this...if they can stop the monster, then they can go home... He just pushes forward, because... Nobody hurts children while Will Sherman can do anything about it.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Meanwhile, in strongbad's cave of awesome-ness. The ruby shatters. It was, after all, only cheap colored glass that explodes when hit. The lasers immediately die away leaving the room only a difficult trial to cross safely. The stairs are littered with these toys as well making the passage difficult. Towards the top where the next trap door is within easy reach there is a thin wire and a pressure plate besides that, both of them probably to do something unpleasant with the staircase. very unpleasant. The next level is a barracks of some sort. There are unoccupied beds here and the detritus of people living here. It's all unoccupied down whil the sounds of combat drift up from the ceiling and the stairway leading upwards.

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' Rapunzel clutches the child to her as the bonds come loose, rubbing the little boy's head to try and calm him down. However, she doesn't have time to be comforting at the moment. Her gaze drifts up towards the other children still bound around the room, biting at her lip as the forces of light and darkness clash. "It's okay, it's okay. Sssh." She turns her attention back to the young boy, cupping his face in her hands to turn it towards her own. "Listen. I need to get the others free. If you think you can help with that, go start untying them. Be quick, alright!" She doesn't wait to get his answer, hopping swiftly to her feet and running to the next bound child. It's times like this a knife would be useful. Darn blunt weapon focus. The second child's bindings come free just as the darkness takes shape into crystal spears. Rapunzel gasps and reacts reflexively, bringing her frying pan up to smash aside the deadly projectile and, amazingly, she succeeds. The magical construct shatters into a dozen fragments, each vaporizing with hisses of dark mist in the air. Not about to risk a repeat performance, she ushers the newly freed girl towards the others with instructions to get them loose.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' Gerad clomps across the rest of the room, empowered by boots. He's frowning - basically constantly by this point - as he moves up the staircase, and observes the pressure plate and tripwire up the stairs sort of in the same way a father observes some adorable project his child's made. Some machinery later, Gerad's kicking open the door to the third floor of the tower! Yes! He can even hear the fighting up top. Of course, right now, there's some subterfuge and examination to tend to... Gerad is frozen. What, exactly, is wrong with this room??! Are the beds alive? Is there a dog in here? Gerad hates dogs. He takes his *sweet time* getting through the room, until, of course, he hears shrieking and a frying pan going *BONK* from the upstairs. VALIANT CONCERN shines in Gerad's eyes, and with a shout, he's sprinting for the staircase! Maybe he's an idiot!

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Kyra will not be disoriented. Not when her anger is so galvanized by what she's seeing here. It is furthered along by Riku's stand and subsequent disappearance into the cloaked bulk of the monster. Gritting her teeth, the sole weapon she seems to have on her is spun away and slipped into a holster at her waist. Her hands spread out, fingers splayed. "Will. Serah. Pan. Alma!" she calls out, "Riku! If you can hear me too...get back! I'm going to unleash something /big/." Alma can feel it. Oh boy can she feel it. The wild energies within Kyra stir and rise dangerously. To Will, her threads become a strange kaledescope of colors, the threads of fate around her flickering with all sorts of urge and emotion. Light and dark. Kyra's right hand lifts, pointing out in front of her at Ombra, pointing, then drawn downwards in a straight line. That line in glowing gold is repeated on the floor beneath Ombra. That same finger lifts again, this time tracing a horizontal line through the air that perpendicullarly intersects the first. This becomes apparent when this second line appears on the floor as well. "For you, defiler, I call down the highest form of judgement, wrought from creation that sought its own destruction. Feel its curse. Feel its desire to return to nothingness." As she speaks, wild golden lines etch themselves outwards from the simple ones drawn upon the ground, centering Ombra in its chaotic pattern. Alma can firmly admit that she has never, ever seen her sister cast this before. She'd be hard-pressed to discover rthe spell's origin but one thing is certain. It is definitely not white magic. "GRAND CROSS!" Golden energy explodes upwards, continuing in its own blinding blaze for several seconds before dying down to a dull glow that remains, smoking, on the tower floor. Afterwards, Kyra's eyes roll back and she falls to the ground. Alma would recognize this as a textbook case of mage fatigue.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron rogers that. If Kyra is going to just blow the entire place up, she certainly doesn't want to stay close to be part of the fireworks! She uses her newly acquired flight skill to move out of the way, floating away from the tower. She woahs at the release of magic. Well, that was rather impressive after all. But Kyra slumping down... that doesn't look like a very good thing. "Are you alright Kyra?" She swoops in, trying to help Kyra up, at least sitting, if she's still concious at least. She might need help to lift her up if not, she doesn't know how good this flight really is.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Static. Riku struggles against Lord Ombra. Static. Riku gets picked up by Lord Ombra, and vanishes into his cloak in the midst of the struggle.. /Ker-CHACK/ goes something in Alma's head. Riku was gone, and she had no idea what happened to him. At best, he was lost in whatever darkness Lord Ombra dredged up. At worst.. he was.. ...No... A spear of darkness thunks against the radiance surrounding her. Then another. There's a sizzle as they strikes her aura, and they grow smaller, diminished and dying away before they ever strike her robed form. She screams, but it isn't due to the I AM GOING TO END YOU...IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE! And that's the last coherent words she states Kyra unleashes the full fury of her magic, in a grand display of magic which explodes outward from Lord Ombra of the likes that she'd never seen before, there's a flicker of light and motion. Will grabs at his fate lines... Sigils appear everywhere around Lord Ombra. Forming into a great serpent of translucent blue light. Which coils around him suddenly. Serpentarius forms. And it's angry. It coils around the bottom half of Lord Ombra, then exploits that to surge out of the tower, carrying Lord Ombra with the animated hard light construct. Will only had solidified it for a moment, by grabbing and strangling it's fate lines, so after a time Lord Ombra slips out of it... Which is when he might note the distortions appearing in the air. Little prismatic tears within the darkness, where light floods through, as if being brought by an unseen source, and focused through a prism. Another flicker of light and static, and she's in front of Lord Ombra, floating suspended outside of the tower. Lord Ombra begins to hear something which is muted at first... BGM change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2zFwvIomw And then that indistinct sound came suddenly to the forefront of Lord Ombra's mind.. the notes were at first separate, enunciated things.. such that the melody didn't even sound connected. But suddenly they were part of a refrain that made perfect sense to Lord Ombra. It had a serene sublimity to it. And then there was a voice singing lyrics that just didnt make any sense, and perfect sense at the same time. It was as if he simply didnt have the senses to perceive what the lyrics actually meant, as the voice shifted from alto, to tenor, to soprano and baritone. From man to woman, old to young, to something utterly alien... and yet he felt it was always the same voice. It brought with it a feeling of tranquility and focus that seemed to spiral through the shadow's mind, bringing connections where none existed before. His psyche expanded to grasp the myriad of contradictory truths of existence in the universe. And yet even as it began to perceive them.. grasp them, they'd slip away, and something else would instantly replace it to fill that vacuum.. repeating. These things were not meant for any mortal mind to know. Most immortals as well.. It was a song of light and order. A song of universal truth. A song of creation... A song of how anything and everything was interconnected.. Whether it came from her goddess or not.. who knew? Alma certainly didn't. Lord Ombra and Alma faded away, from the outside, it looks like there's a dark void that's roughly cube shaped at about a hundred feet by a hundred feet. On the inside, it's dimensions appear infinite to the spectre. Alma looks like an entirely different person, the sigils which make up her magic entirely encompass her eyes now, dwarfing out the sclera, the irises, and the pupils. She just stares at Lord Ombra. And then she opens her mouth and begins to sing herself. There is some slight dissonance, as her voice is quite different from the one she heard. And then there's a slight glimmer of light behind Alma.. It looks like it is coming upon a distant horizon.. from an impossible distance away. And then suddenly it isn't just a small glimmer anymore. It's a large wave of effulgent light which dwarfs the entirety of the space they're in. For but a brief instant.. darkness in this area ceases to exist, save for that which Lord Ombra brought with him. It scathes and scours as it washes over the shadow with annihilating brilliance. But it's over in an instant. When Lord Ombra's vision clears, he appeared to be in space. And yet not, at the same time.. there was still oxygen here if he needed to breath, not a vacuum. There was still heat here, such that the absence wouldn't have frozen over and slain a mortal being. Space however, was hardly empty. It was like looking through a high-powered telescope. There was darkness, certainly but there was also light everywhere, nebulas danced in the dark as multicolored plumes of light and cosmic space dust. And there were stars, stars everywhere, thousands of them, of many different colors and sizes. All scaled down perhaps, but Lord Ombra could make out the details of each... Everything in this duplicate representation of the universe was moving, rotations upon rotations, revolutions upon revolutions. It was dizzying to watch.. But he wouldn't have time to... As suddenly every single one of them started to move... ...towards him. She didn't bother with any sort of fancy light show. She didn't animate constellations and strike at him. She just sent hundreds of thousands of pinpricks of luminescence at him. Each one surging and streaming through him and his form before retaking their place suspended in the heavens. From the outside.. it only took about ten seconds. Ten seconds to create a representation of infinity and eternity and have it rebel against the foul shadow. But all the observers on the outside saw was light playing against the surface of an otherwise darkened object. Cracks started playing across the surface of it.. a moment later, it shatters, like sugarglass whose pieces then dissolve in turn... She looks much diminished from the effort, her aura flickering, and dying away as she wavers, then swoons.... ...with nothing holding her there any longer she starts to fall, before she comes into consciousness once more. Her aura comes back into existence a moment later, as she moves back inside the tower with agonizing languor.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Static. Riku struggles against Lord Ombra. Static. Riku gets picked up by Lord Ombra, and vanishes into his cloak in the midst of the struggle.. /Ker-CHACK/ goes something in Alma's head. Riku was gone, and she had no idea what happened to him. At best, he was lost in whatever darkness Lord Ombra dredged up. At worst.. he was.. ...No... A spear of darkness thunks against the radiance surrounding her. Then another. There's a sizzle as they strikes her aura, and they grow smaller, diminished and dying away before they ever strike her robed form. She screams, but it isn't due to the I AM GOING TO END YOU...IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE! And that's the last coherent words she states Kyra unleashes the full fury of her magic, in a grand display of magic which explodes outward from Lord Ombra of the likes that she'd never seen before, there's a flicker of light and motion. Will grabs at his fate lines... Sigils appear everywhere around Lord Ombra. Forming into a great serpent of translucent blue light. Which coils around him suddenly. Serpentarius forms. And it's angry. It coils around the bottom half of Lord Ombra, then exploits that to surge out of the tower, carrying Lord Ombra with the animated hard light construct. Will only had solidified it for a moment, by grabbing and strangling it's fate lines, so after a time Lord Ombra slips out of it... Which is when he might note the distortions appearing in the air. Little prismatic tears within the darkness, where light floods through, as if being brought by an unseen source, and focused through a prism. Another flicker of light and static, and she's in front of Lord Ombra, floating suspended outside of the tower. Lord Ombra begins to hear something which is muted at first... BGM change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2zFwvIomw And then that indistinct sound came suddenly to the forefront of Lord Ombra's mind.. the notes were at first separate, enunciated things.. such that the melody didn't even sound connected. But suddenly they were part of a refrain that made perfect sense to Lord Ombra. It had a serene sublimity to it. And then there was a voice singing lyrics that just didnt make any sense, and perfect sense at the same time. It was as if he simply didnt have the senses to perceive what the lyrics actually meant, as the voice shifted from alto, to tenor, to soprano and baritone. From man to woman, old to young, to something utterly alien... and yet he felt it was always the same voice. It brought with it a feeling of tranquility and focus that seemed to spiral through the shadow's mind, bringing connections where none existed before. His psyche expanded to grasp the myriad of contradictory truths of existence in the universe. And yet even as it began to perceive them.. grasp them, they'd slip away, and something else would instantly replace it to fill that vacuum.. repeating. These things were not meant for any mortal mind to know. Most immortals as well.. It was a song of light and order. A song of universal truth. A song of creation... A song of how anything and everything was interconnected.. Whether it came from her goddess or not.. who knew? Alma certainly didn't. Lord Ombra and Alma faded away, from the outside, it looks like there's a dark void that's roughly cube shaped at about a hundred feet by a hundred feet.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' On the inside, it's dimensions appear infinite to the spectre. Alma looks like an entirely different person, the sigils which make up her magic entirely encompass her eyes now, dwarfing out the sclera, the irises, and the pupils. She just stares at Lord Ombra. And then she opens her mouth and begins to sing herself. There is some slight dissonance, as her voice is quite different from the one she heard. And then there's a slight glimmer of light behind Alma.. It looks like it is coming upon a distant horizon.. from an impossible distance away. And then suddenly it isn't just a small glimmer anymore. It's a large wave of effulgent light which dwarfs the entirety of the space they're in. For but a brief instant.. darkness in this area ceases to exist, save for that which Lord Ombra brought with him. It scathes and scours as it washes over the shadow with annihilating brilliance. But it's over in an instant. When Lord Ombra's vision clears, he appeared to be in space. And yet not, at the same time.. there was still oxygen here if he needed to breath, not a vacuum. There was still heat here, such that the absence wouldn't have frozen over and slain a mortal being. Space however, was hardly empty. It was like looking through a high-powered telescope. There was darkness, certainly but there was also light everywhere, nebulas danced in the dark as multicolored plumes of light and cosmic space dust. And there were stars, stars everywhere, thousands of them, of many different colors and sizes. All scaled down perhaps, but Lord Ombra could make out the details of each... Everything in this duplicate representation of the universe was moving, rotations upon rotations, revolutions upon revolutions. It was dizzying to watch.. But he wouldn't have time to... As suddenly every single one of them started to move... ...towards him. She didn't bother with any sort of fancy light show. She didn't animate constellations and strike at him. She just sent hundreds of thousands of pinpricks of luminescence at him. Each one surging and streaming through him and his form before retaking their place suspended in the heavens. From the outside.. it only took about ten seconds. Ten seconds to create a representation of infinity and eternity and have it rebel against the foul shadow. But all the observers on the outside saw was light playing against the surface of an otherwise darkened object. Cracks started playing across the surface of it.. a moment later, it shatters, like sugarglass whose pieces then dissolve in turn... She looks much diminished from the effort, her aura flickering, and dying away as she wavers, then swoons.... ...with nothing holding her there any longer she starts to fall, before she comes into consciousness once more. Her aura comes back into existence a moment later, as she moves back inside the tower with agonizing languor.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan knows he's not human, he's not sure what lord Ombra is other than the darkness come to life. He sees Will going in, and the rest of the group starts up their assault upon the slayer of hopes and dreams. Pan is angry but he manages to keep focus his righteous anger only fuels him. He's not moved yet he gave the horror a chance. The chance that has been ignored so Pan launches himself at the darkness. This is so not going to end well as something strange happens. Pan is going to try to caught the one of the arrows come and Peter isn't quick enough not this time one catch him in the shoulder and he's sent spinning form the impact, He's hurt but alive as he is trying to get back up. Peter attempts to focus though the pain, how the heck did someone hit him. Even Hook could only do it once and a while it's not supposed to work like this. It's really how he sees things, but thankfully while he's dealing with the terrible arrow wound Rapunzel's already on the kids. Then again Pan knows he makes a very good distraction given how much the big bad is confused on him. However Tink's not been idle he's been getting something now if this was more open it would be easier but someone might notice there is a crocodile outside hovering at the window thanks to Tink's work it's yes, that crock. It seems she's dragooned it to help and what is it doing? Why the old Hook hunter bunch a water being held in it's mouth! Tink and the crock wait for a moment once Lord Ombra is in clear view he sticks his snout in and just starts spraying water like a fire hose at him! As for the Crock's happy thought? What do you think it was?

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan knows he's not human, he's not sure what lord Ombra is other than the darkness come to life. He sees Will going in, and the rest of the group starts up their assault upon the slayer of hopes and dreams. Pan is angry but he manages to keep focus his righteous anger only fuels him. He's not moved yet he gave the horror a chance. The chance that has been ignored so Pan launches himself at the darkness. This is so not going to end well as something strange happens. Pan is going to try to caught the one of the arrows come and Peter isn't quick enough not this time one catch him in the shoulder and he's sent spinning form the impact. He's hurt but alive as he is trying to get back up. Peter attempts to focus though the pain, how the heck did someone hit him. Even Hook could only do it once and a while it's not supposed to work like this. It's really how he sees things, but thankfully while he's dealing with the terrible arrow wound Rapunzel's already on the kids. Then again Pan knows he makes a very good distraction given how much the big bad is confused on him. However Tink's not been idle he's been getting something now if this was more open it would be easier but someone might notice there is a crocodile outside hovering at the window thanks to Tink's work it's yes, that crock. It seems she's dragooned it to help and what is it doing? Why the old Hook hunter bunch a water being held in it's mouth! Tink and the crock wait for a moment once Lord Ombra is in clear view he sticks his snout in and just starts spraying water like a fire hose at him! As for the Crock's happy thought? What do you think it was? "HA! Didn't see that coming did you?!

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Righteous fury, go! Cloaked jerkface takes a pummeling, Will digging right into the back of the cloak, reality shuddering as pulse after pulse of dark energy pounds through the chamber. The dark strings wither and screech as the red strings assault them and another wail of fear and torment rises up from the black eyed children, who in their madness, several unsheathe knives. They look at the Arcadian captives. A girl whispers in terrible pain. "Stop. STOP" she screams. She looks at the others who are suffering and when those cries go unanswered, she narrows her eyes at the other children. The ones helping Rapunzel untie the others with unsteady trembling fingers. Rapunzel herself. "...this is all YOUR fault." eyes bleeding from both corners she screams and lunges at the children with knife raised. Another reaches out a hand to grab her back, wrenching her away from the torqued adventurers. They hold back her struggling hatred. And it is a good thing she does, for charging across the room towards the children would have put her in the middle of the Grand Cross. (tm) The giant glowing gold lines etch into the floor and then flare with Ombra trapped in the midst of the pattern. A blinding FLARE of energy consuming the cloak and unleashing a scream that shakes the very foundations of the tower. In the aftermath of this, Peter Pan very thoughtfully puts out the burning fire with a crocodile fire hose. Then the cloaked figure and Alma disappear into the space time anomaly that is the limit break cube and the entire universe screams towards the darkness at top speed. There is a SCREAM of denial. "NO." screams the voice. Then a longer wail as the cloak shreds apart. The light completely scours it away. Fate and magic and holy universal light destroy it utterly. The children under it's fell influence call out and then collapse into unconsciousness wholesale in a heap. Meanwhile. ...we are sorry Gerad, but there was just one more trap in this mundane and otherwise ordinary room. Underneath a blanket near the stairs was a primed sleep crystal. Any touch is liable to set it off.

:'''[[Gerad Iron Fogair]] has posed:''' IN THE ROOM ABOVE: Muffled shouting and increasingly loud clomping can be heard from the room below. There is, finally, a penultimate shout, a dramatic *THOK* against the trapdoor leading downwards, and then the sound of metal striking a staircase a crossbow going off, firing no less than sixteen quarrels into the ceiling/floor a loud *SZZ-POP* and a burst of light visible *through* the trapdoor a *WHIRR*, followed by a completely *unspeakable odor* and more crossbow bolts. Snoring.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will breathes heavily... He looks around...black eyed Children are....still corrupted, but it's lessened. He frowns...he isn't sure if he can touch that...maybe Alma and Kyra can work on that? He doesn't know... Or maybe it'll just go away... He looks around again... Riku.. Will frowns. The power fades from his hands and he sinks against the wall. "<GOOSEHONK> it.." he says, rubbing his eyes.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma is kind of laying down near the edge of the top floor of the tower right now facing outwards towards the spot where Lord Ombra last existed. Her rational mind was sort of shut off during all of the Limitbreak Cube (tm). Now that it had rebooted... ..she was in all out horror mode. She just lays there in a plaintive pile, sobbing. Not just because he hadn't reemerged.... ...but because she'd lost control, and what she did during that time, may be the reason he hadn't reemerged. She doesn't move from that spot.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron helps by dragging Kyra away, but moves her over to Alma, bringing the two together to make sure Alma is alright too "You both used too much magic didn't you? You better rest up..." She looks around, setting Kyra down next to Alma. She looks at Alma, and pats the girl consolingly as she sees her sobbing. She doesn't really know what to say though, but offers a simple "Are you okay? Everyone is alright..."

:'''[[Rapunzel]] has posed:''' Rapunzel goes about her task with great haste, pulling the rough knots free as fast as she can without harming the already frightened captives. It's not as fast as she'd like. Pascal hops down and scampers over to another child, pulling at the rope with his tail without much success. A blinding burst of light fills the room suddenly, forcing her to shield her eyes and leaving spots in her vision when the flare of holy energy fades away. When she can see again, Rapunzel immediately notices the lack of the cloaked figure and sighs softly, but she doesn't sit idle. The rest of the kidnapees are set free in short order with each new child freed going to help their fellows until all of them are huddled in a big mass of sobbing frightened bodies. Rapunzel kneels down and, unable to wrap her arms around all of them, uses her hair instead, pulling them into one big group hug. "It's alright now. The bad man is gone." She hopes that's true. Her gaze drifts over to the corrupted children and for a moment she considers trying to sing for them. Perhaps her magic could fix their condition. But there's no guarantee of that and revealing her power inside of a tower of evil where there might be Heartless lurking seems like a foolish idea. "We should leave this place as soon as possible."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "Except for the missing boy." Will says, "Riku." Will says, no he can't be sad now...they have to get these kids out, and right now they need someone strong. "Rapunzel's right. Lets go. We need to get these kids out of here...and back with their familes." he says. And then he has to talk with Gabranth... And then find Riku.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma's eyes are glassy, looking in an unfocused manner on the last spot she saw Lord Ombra... She just continues to sob... not answering Serah, whose words don't seem to reach her. Fortunately... Will answers for her. She doesn't seem to want to get up from that spot.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan can only watch at what happens to Lord Ombra, Alma, and everyone else just bring forth the fires of justice upon the creature of shadow. he rises to his feet and watches the cloak figure now just having been wiped from existence more of less. He's gone the nightmare of Neverland is over for now. The Darkness is out there still but a victory has been won, a force of darkness has be struck down. Pan looks back to the crock and grins for a second "Owe ya one! Tink get out friend back to the water." If Hook ever hears about the Crock being able to fly. He would never sleep again, as funny as that would be it's perhaps for the best the big old crock goes on its way for the day. The clock goes tick tock but grows distance as the heroes surprise help is heading on their way back to the water. He looks to see the faces of everyone who has helped the children here Peter is grinning widely as he first lets out a heck of a rooster crow of victory then actually says something. "Thank you on behalf of all of Neverland thank you." he'd say he'd never forget but well even Pan knows his mind suffers memory leaks. With that there's many kids to help and work to do. So of Peter goes.

Meetings in Oblivion: Angantyr

2013-07-22T00:44:42Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/21 |Location=Castle Oblivion |Synopsis=Anganatyr arrives at Castle Oblivion to have answers questioned and questions answered. |Thanks=Anga..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/21
|Location=Castle Oblivion
|Synopsis=Anganatyr arrives at Castle Oblivion to have answers questioned and questions answered.
|Thanks=Angantyr for patience.
|Cast of Characters=Suspect Cheese, Angantyr Vespar
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Suspect Cheese]] has posed:''' Castle Oblivion. A long way and a hard road and very near to perilous concentrations of the heartless, yet there are no immediate signs of lingering darkness in the surrounding countryside. There is not much in the way of landscape here. A long and narrow passage that juts crookedly in several haphazard directions ends in a broad clearing in the middle of a murky abyss from which the castle juts from the turf like a dragon's tooth. It's in fact the right term for the castle and it's pointed, angular green towers which poke every which way like the hands of a demented clock. It's less of a full castle and more a structure folded roughly over on itself multiple times by the inexpert hand. There is a vague feeling of unreality here as well, the faint smearing of the edges and a slight blurring of colors like a slightly off kilter watercolor painting. No melting clocks certainly, but enough to frame the boundaries of this silent space in an unusual way. Another thing to discover is this place has little in the way of natural sounds. Even footsteps of approach seem to be muffled. Yet here you are. The gates are open. And you are expected.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr arrives at last. He does not even know why he showed up at this point, besides needing something to do...something to work towards. His brain could not handle no goal...he wasn't sure if he could live without something driving him anymore. Worse, the realization that his hands have caused another...cycle. Playing into Garland's hands... Angantyr shakes his head...no focus on what's ahead of you, something is...wrong. This place...unreality? Unrealness? Something is off...and this place is wrong to him some how. He walks forward, the only way to go was forward, and Angantyr is nothing else was good at driving ahead. His eyes looking around for threats...heartless or otherwise. Then the doors open... He steps in, looking around. White...white on white...annoyingly bright.

:'''[[Suspect Cheese]] has posed:''' The searing white continues into the distance. Geometric designs march along the insides, ridged columns and delicate artwork all crafted in the same white material. The shear blank whiteness is broken only by the ceiling where diamonds of light blue against a darker background strolled into the distance. The sense of distance is distorted and there are traces of darkness like echoing footprints coming and going through this space. The corridor stretches, or seems to stretch for much longer than it should without any visual cues that should have it stretching towards the horizon. There are a number of closed doors with symbols above them. They are engraved neatly in a foreign and slightly eye-defeating series of glyphs that seem to shimmer slightly out of focus when any attempt is made to read it. Eventually though the hallway does end, a small staircase leading up to a platform where a trio of white archways are inset into the walls. One goes forwards, another to the left and a third to the right. The one going forwards is closed. A small and well apointed study can be seen through the open door to the right. Strangely enough, the glyph on the left door is similar to the gold white circle that was the only thing to come from the dream. There is even less hint of noise than the outside. Footsteps make no sound. Even the ringing that ears ring in silence has been stolen, making this place seem utterly abandoned.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr grunts... "Bright as hell...I mean, eldrich places can't afford a few colored drapes or a few damn rugs?" Angantyr mutters to himself, questioning the design capabilities of whatever caused this place, without knowing the history. He often makes such guesses, because why the hell not? Still...it looked like he had a choice... "...Of course, the middle part is blocked...probably have to go through the two side doors before the middle one opens...might even have to kill monsters or heartless to get a key fragment or something." Angantyr knew how this stuff worked... Left and right...well, the symbol was on the left door...the right door was a study? He scratched his chin for a moment...and... Went right.

:'''[[Suspect Cheese]] has posed:''' The inside of the room is completely different than how the castle hallway is appointed. There is a faint aura of pressure around the door somewhat familiar from the dreams if the threshold is passed. An old radio sits on a wooden bookcase. It's jarring and immediate because passing that faint pressure returns life and sound again to the world. Something soothing and instrumental drones with a faint crackle from that radio on the bookcase. Bookshelves line the small and comfortable space, the wood varnished to a dull sheen. There is a small reading lamp on a small table and several comfortable chairs tucked into the space. A tall black haired man in a white greatcoat and vest with a red lining opens a door at the far side of the room. "Then take care of it." The man says with calm finality to whoever was behind him, the voice the same as the dream except this time grounded in reality rather than dreamlike fiction. There is still that faint sense of changing tone and inflection underneath the surface of the calm precision as he turns to face Angantyr. The door closes behind him with a click. He gestures with a hand, moving over to a bottle on the table. "Ah. Come in, Sir Vespar. It is good to see you have safely made your way here." He uncorks and pours a sinuous red liquid into a short pair of glasses set on the table, which perhaps had not exactly been there on first examination. "A drink perhaps? Questions are a thirsty business." a small chuckle. "And sometimes required, when the world seeks to loop back on itself."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr looks frankly out of place in this kinda deal...but eh, he hasn't let being out of place bother him before...he is a very road worn man. Especially with the worlds as they are... He observes the office...reminds him of the movies he caught from Manhattan, the detective ones...the ones Mercade seems to have fashioned himself after of a sense... The tall Black Haired man catches him, having felt like he walked in on something, but takes the seat when offered...no reason to be rude, yet. "Sure." he takes hold of the glass and gives it a customary sniff. And a taste. Angantyr has a taste for alchohal, but more to the point a taste for shennanigans. "I guess you're the man with the answers, or am I the one being asked questions? It seems positions are everywhere these days...but if I had it right the first time, then your comment about the world looping on itself seems.." "A good place to start."

:'''[[Suspect Cheese]] has posed:''' No hint of shennanigans here. Honest. The liquor is something exotic and possibly expensive, for any measure of exotic to those who have traveled so much and so far. A well aged spiced wine that is sharp and tingling with warmth and smoky undertones. And the black haired man drinks as well, or appears to, lips curving into a faint smile around the edge of the glass as Angantyr sits and begins to question. "Yes. I suppose it is. There have been others that came here searching for answers and in each case I have sat and fielded them as best I can for a man who employs the good sense not to simply dump trivia on a person from a great height." The man stretches slightly as he sits on the edge of the chair and raises his glass slightly as if in a toast. "If you are familiar at all with the world of Manhattan, one has put it to me that I am the antithesis of Yoda." Another chuckle. "If you are not aware, this character was a reknowned and learned sage, a mentor who taught others in a specific way." A brief pause before continuing. "I show people the way but I do not tell what they will find there, and neither do I know." The radio falls quiet and then clicks over into another instrumental piece in the brief silence. "I asked for your presence here because Castle Oblivion is a place of.." another brief pause and another careful, small drink. "uncertainty. The aid I spoke of and the power of the old traditions lay here, but they lay here unformed. It must be earned like anything of value and while I have the key to such trials, I cannot partake of them myself. Magic works in that fashion sometimes, in which you can never give to yourself."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "You have power, but only to give onto others." Angantyr echos, trying to get this right. "Truly, that must be a frustraiting power." Angantyr muses, taking a sip. Comfortable in the fact that he probably won't end up dead...or worse, in a tub somewhere in Mahnattan missing a vital organ with a card saying to call 911 immediately. That would be...a issue. "Alright...so...The reason I really came here was to hear your speal and see what the great cosmic destruction and the fat lazy wizards thing was about, but apparently I got more than I bargined for here, huh?" Angantyr muses. "Oh and thanks for sparing me the on high treatment. If I gota hear another on high statement, I might have just punched someone." He means it too. Pow. "...Okay so, where do we start first."

:'''[[Suspect Cheese]] has posed:''' "Well then." The man says with faintly teasing alacrity. "Perhaps it will be sunshine and rainbows after all." He raises from his seat and crosses to the door, opening it to reveal a white span of corridor. "It is a somewhat significant walk to the place where everything starts but not entirely overlong. Depending on one's perception. I do warn however that there is a blue line across our path in the corridors beyond." He steps out into the corridor leaving the door open for Angantyr to follow. "Many of which are folded in unnatural spaces and ways. If you happen to get.." a pause. "--misplaced. Follow that line. It will eventually return you to the main foyer."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr shrugs. "Right. Blue line gets you back to the main white hall." Angantyr says, "Gotcha." he stands finishing the drink and steps forward, towards the opened door...well, there was only one way forward, it seems. "Right. I guess we'll see what is there." Angantyr says, not entirely getting everything, but at least lets hear the message, or...experience this place. Angantyr steps forward, into the corridor and stats following it. What is the worst that could happen?

:'''[[Suspect Cheese]] has posed:''' "This place is truly a marvel" And Angantyr's guide moves down the corridor with ease and no great hurry. "There are many rooms, hundreds perhaps and many ways to get lost. It does not abide intruders fondly, as my associate Xemnas has discovered. But many things are lost within it as well, including the memories which he studies." He makes a waving gesture as they pass several doors. The corridor is blank and empty save for a thin line of blue which snakes across the floor near the corners. "Although whoever created this place was overmuch fond of the grandiose and the pretentious color scheme." There is a turn in the corner and then a sharp feeling of disorientation as if the perspective has radically shifted. The corridor seems the same, but two steps takes them to a small contained garden courtyard. The flowers are a riot of color in this stark white maze, and this place seems almost completely disjointed from the rest of the castle. A small island like the study. The man lingers in this garden for awhile, hands loosely clasped behind his back. "There is a certain irony to this place. It tends to create more questions than it answers."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr walks... He listens, a rare thing these days... Xemnas is a name commited to memory...a name freely given. It is almost...subtle. "Yet you seem to come and go as you please." Angantyr seems to point out right as they hit the flower Garden. Whatever it was...it seemed less important to him, and more t the mysterious man. "Well, don't answers themselves sometimes create more questions? The truth is arely such a grounded thing." He points out, "Though I will agree with you on the pretentiousness. Mirage tower only rivals this place in that degree...and also dangerousness. It might not tolerate intruders, but it doesn't seem to be actively trying to murder us with every step." Yeaaaaah... "I never did get your name..."

:'''[[Suspect Cheese]] has posed:''' "I am Lucas Sheridan, and I come and go exactly where proper safeguards will allow." The man explains genially, moving back into the corridors again. "But in a land folded over and over on itself, even a handful of safe places is a triumph." The distorted landscape becomes increasingly esoteric as they move along. There is a time or two in which the gravity seems to be inverted with no actual change of perspective wrenching around. This usually results in a slightly escher-esque portrayal of white on blue. There are windows that look into other spaces than the dark abyss of the outside. An endless field of sky unmarred by any sight of land. A great swarm of luminescent jellyfish can be seen making the sky glow in long wavering streaks. "We use the tools we are familiar with.. and I am a man whose temperment tends towards reasoned argument. The sorcerors believed they were clever. They were not. There is a balance to the universe and believe or disbelieve as you will but the heartless play a role in that design. Light and Darkness are meant to coexist in these worlds, but they do not. The keyblades are a means to an end. Them and those who wield them are supposed to retain that balance." he shrugs. "You can already see what their absence has caused. Too much chaos has put it's claws into the design."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr walks and continues to listen, This place is certainly...weird. Too weird. He stares at the Jellyfish for a moment, at least it wasn't Eels...not even Eels like Eels. He continues to move, walking behind Lucas, "I see." He says finally to the safe places, it is better than no place at all, but still... "So the Heartless are...natural?" this is new to him.. "I haven't seen them before the world's collapse..or rather, when I was accidently thrown into the space between worlds..." That was a memory he'd not like to repeat. "So are you saying they've always been there?" And then... "Well, Light and Darkness do seem fairly..." he shrugs, "Uncooperitive...it is likely that each side seems to think the other needs to go away." "Keyblades huh? Well we only have the one..well two. King Mickey and the Sora kid, but in the dreams I saw that too many keyblades caused some sort of massive war too. So...too many keyblades bad, too few bad..." "And who even decides who gets a keyblade anyway?"

:'''[[Suspect Cheese]] has posed:''' "And from conflicts generations of soldiers are expended." Lucas says with an obvious tone of distaste. "Uncooperative is a word of charity." he shakes his head and then continues on. " In a way I am, in giving you the opportunity for it yourself. In a way the sorcerers were, by casting their wide net and fishing the cosmos for those worthy. In the manner of many things. It is those who have the power to believe they can make such decisions that often change the world, for good or ill. " A long painting up against a blank white wall. It looks like rolling hills but the view is sideways and it is snowing heavily, everything blanketed in a sheer sheet of white blizzard. A suddenly, abrupt flash of red streaks across the window while Lucas continues. "-- And here we are. The beginning, as many worlds have beginnings." He stands in front of a double sided door, white and featureless save for the engraving. "This is where you start, should you be of the mind to do so. There are trials beyond these doors. And you may face them or not as you wish."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr wasn't sure about this now... Did he just say what he thought he said? Nah...just reading too much into it. Instead, he frowns, "Sometimes I'm charitable." Angantyr says...though he decides he could learn to be a bit more often. Then the double doors...everything around him is starting to get a bit weird... "Always with the tests." he says, muttering, "One way or another, there is always a test...or a challenge, or a game of Chess where I am forced to also avoid death." Angantyr mutters... "What's one more.." he shrugs, and pushes the doors open, walking through. He wasn't going to back down...he had to keep moving forward...showing weakness wasn't something Ang did to anyone...at least not lightly.

Future Tense: Mercade

2013-07-15T01:59:55Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/14 |Location=Castle Oblivion |Synopsis=It is decided. |Thanks=3 times COMBO! |Cast of Characters=Mercade Alexander, Avira, Narrator, Perc..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/14
|Location=Castle Oblivion
|Synopsis=It is decided.
|Thanks=3 times COMBO!
|Cast of Characters=Mercade Alexander, Avira, Narrator, Percival
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' The stairs for once lead where they should lead. The second floor of the Twilight Detective Agency and it's multiple apartment style rooms again has that feeling that someone just walked out of the room. Some of the doors are closed and others open. The open rooms are occupied by the things that should reside there even if the people are not in those rooms at present. Sunlight filters through the windows and for once Manhattan can actually be seen through it instead of a reality-warping stretch of corridor. There is a sound of a door opening and closing with a faint chime downstairs. With that chime a faint tinkling rush passes through the air. There is a quiet here punctuated by something on the radio. In the wake of that rush, everything seems to click into place. It has nothing of the empty, hollow feeling of the other rooms. City noise punctuates the quiet from a half-open window.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Well. That's a pleasant surprise. Mercade looks around at the familiar halls, feeling that... sense of habitation. It feels alive, and within reach. He begins to relax, slightly. He's certainly still in Castle Oblivion, but at least it's not /overtly/ messing with him. The Detective walks to one window, looking out upon the streets of Manhattan for several quiet seconds. The recent situations have been... draining. He turns away from the window, walking farther into the apartments after his moment of respite. Something's going to be here. But what?

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' A breeze stirs through the halls, pleasantly cool and oddly sweet-smelling for those from a city. Perhaps Mercade will find the faint sent of chocolate on that breeze, plus baked bread. Sunlight streams through one doorway, half-opened, painting a stripe of brilliant yellow across the hall. But moments later, something obscures that strip of sunshine. A person-shaped something, clearly. Should Mercade peer inside the room, he will find the window there pulled open, curtains swaying in the breeze. Standing before the window with her back to him is a tremendously familiar figure. If this is a future, following the pattern that Mercade has endured in his journey so far, Avira has aged well. She stands there, clothed in a whispy white sundress that flutters in the breeze behind her. White sandals adorn her feet, fastened with ribbons that criss-cross up her ankles. Her hair remains unbound, blowing slightly in that sweet-smelling breeze. The woman suddenly tenses when Mercade looks upon her, but does not turn around.

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' There is a rustling of activity downstairs. A clatter of cups from a kitchen cabinet downstairs and something mixing with the smells. Even in the brilliant sunshine, someone is making coffee to actually wake up to it. A television is turned on and mumbles to itself in the background but nothing seems pressing like it before. There is no longer than oppressive aura of urgency and so the moments ease by with the gentle ticking of a clock.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade walks down the hall, the smells evoking memories of a sort. Chocolate. Baked bread. They are good scents. He tilts his head with the sound of people below moving about. Celina, no doubt, prepating herself some form of breakfast. Mercade's always just eaten at the bar instead. The appearance of a shadow in the sunlight is caught by Mercade's senses. But who or what could it be? Another Heartless? The Detective slides around the corner, looking into the room carefully. When he sees Avira, he relaxes. She's there. She's all right. She's alive. And she still looks radiant. "Good morning, Avira." Mercade says, smiling as he leans in the doorway.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "Mercade..." she says softly, her hands tightening their grip just so slightly on the windowsill before she pushes herself away, turning to face the detective. A slow, sleepy smile forms upon her face that does not quite reach her eyes. "You sneak." she teases as she crosses the room, walking to him. "I guess you weren't so asleep after all when I snuck out of bed." Walking right up to him, she looks him in the eyes, and for a split second there is...something that flickers in hers. It's unsure what exactly it is. She lifts a hand to brush the side of his face with the back of her fingers before tilting herself upwards, kissing him on the cheek. "Breakfast should be ready soon. Come on down when you're ready~" She steps past him swiftly."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' As far as futures go, this one is not looking bad at all. Mercade arches his eyebrow as she scolds him. Everything feels pleasant and right, but... Something about this triggers his detective-sharpened senses. A tightenss arround the eyes. The way the hands move. It's like listening to an orchestral piece with one violin out of tune. He nods, letting her pass and sweep along as she wills. "See you downstairs!" He says, pleasantly. He doesn't follow immediately, moving forward to put his own hands on the windowsill, his expression clouded as he considers what's going on here. He sighs, shaking his head. Everything seems fine. He just pushes that slightly odd feeling down and turns around to head downstairs. Well, may as well see what's for breakfast.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' There's quite a drop out that window. It seems like the same kind of drop Mercade endured ages ago when he first encountered the Heartless as they descended upon Manhattan. It was a miracle he survived that, Avira had remarked when he had recounted that tale to the huntress ages ago. Over pizza. Mercade will find that Avira moves like her hair had been set on fire. He'll see nothing of her until he's descended the stairs. As he walks into the kitchen, he'll see her back again, alongside of Celina. They seem to be talking softly to each other but as he nears, Avira's shoulders seem to tense again. She turns around with that smile upon her face, a cup of coffee in each hand. One is held out to Mercade. "So what's the mighty Knight of Manhattan up to today, hm?" She asks, sipping her own coffee, her dark brown eyes never leaving the detective. Breakfast smells like something with bacon. Lots and lots of bacon.

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' There are clippings on the bulletin board. Some of them are starting to weather a little from being up there so long. A half dozen pieces of handwriting. Also newspaper clippings of cases the TDA has solved, some of them unfamiliar but the notes written in Mercade's handwriting. There is still trouble in the city, but apparantly there has been some tangible traction made. There is no mention of the heartless, though crossworld clippings means Manhattan is still connected. The television is showcasing a quick segment about about the memorial put up in central park to honor those who fell while restoring the world from darkness a second time. Celina gives a pursed lip smile at the bacon, fingering the necklace for a moment before flipping over the pancakes in their separate griddle. Sadly, no bacon pancakes will feature in this sequence although there may be bacon / pancakes. "Good morning." she says with a smile. Unlike Avira's, it reaches all the way through although her eyes are ever so slightly glassy as if she was not quite focusing as she looked up at him. "Everyone's out and about. " There is a pause. She applies coffee to her own mug and grips it firmly, looking out the window at the city. "Going pretty far afield now.." the tendons rise on the back of her hand as she raises it up to her lips. After that moment she goes back to levering the sizzling bacon onto a plate and grabbing the syrup.

:'''[[Percival]] has posed:''' The telltale familiar click clack of talons are heard on the stairs as the Gargoyle descends from the rooftop. Descending all the way into the kitchen, the Gargoyle had aged rather well. He looked just the same as always, except now on his body were lines of blue paint, marks of his fondness for Atlantean culture. Upon catching sight of Mercade, he locked eyes with the man briefly. For but a moment, there is tension, perhaps a chill in the air. But then it fades as the Gargoyle offers an affable smile, his eyes showing no hint of his feelings.. "My apologies, Sir Alexander, I'll remember to use the front door next time." And then with his wings cloaked about his shoulders, he places one hand over his chest, and bows only slightly, but then he turns away from him. The sizzle of bacon and the smell of pancakes brings him over to the kitchen where he states to Avira, a hint of warmth in his voice, even if his words seem excessively stilted. "Avira. It's been ages. Maira wanted me to pass along that the two of you ought to.. catch up, some time." He offers Celina the same smile. "That smells heavenly, Celina."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade steps downstairs. Avira moved fast as hell, which doesn't really surprise him. She's fit, does acrobatics and such and she is more than capable of hustling when need be. He doesn't notice anything unusual about her talking with Celina, and he takes the coffee. "Thank you." He says, smiling as he takes a sip. "Good morning Celina!" He says, pleasantly. Avira asks him a question, but the clippings draw his attention. He walks towards them, looking them over in detail. Things that haven't happened yet. Could happen. Unlike Will, he doesn't concern himself with ponderous issues like paradox and predestination, but there could be useful information here. Also, it would look weird if he answered the questions ignorantly. "I haven't quite figured out yet what's on the to do list for today." Mercade replies to Avira, rubbing his chin. He turns to say something else, when he looks to Celina. The eyes are the most important thing to look at when interacting with someone. It's how they know you're paying attention to them. They are also called the windows to the soul for a reason. And again, there's something off here. He takes another drink of coffee to hide the pause of noticing. Something continues to be off here. It's a normal day with normal things. No crises at the moment, but... Something is just off. Something that bothers him deeply, like a splinter in the back of his mind. But he can't figure out what it is. "What are the others up to?" He asks Celina. "Anything unusual?" He turns as Percival arrives, and he waves in greeting to the Gargoyle. "Hi there, Percival. Don't worry about it. Why would I care if you use the front door or not?" He asks the question before he even realizes he said it. Huh. "So what's the latest?" He asks the Gargoyle."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Avira smiles at Mercade distantly, apparently placated by the nonspecific answer. "Well when you make up your mind, let me know so I can change into something more appropriate." She lets out a laugh that seems slightly on the edge of forced before she walks to the table, preparing to sit down. At least until Percival swoops his way in. She freezes, watching, perhaps with a hint of apprehension as the Gargoyle looks at Mercade. Then she turns to face him fully. "Percival." the warmth in her voice sounds geniune. There's a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Oh? Well she's...free to come visit anytime, you know." Her eyes shift from looking directly at the gargoyle to Mercade. "We can meet up here. Have some lunch. Manhattan is the safest place she can be right now. Thanks to Mercade." There's no small amount of grateful emphasis on that last sentence which matches the intensity of the smile on her face.

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' "Then park yourself and have some, Percival. There's enough for everyone." Celina gives him an admonishing look, the older den mom sending those wavelengths at Percival and mom'ing at him for several distinct seconds before returning to breakfast concerns. "How is Maira doing, by the way? Still holding up well, I hope." There is the faintest tingling rush, another faint pressure wave that pries at the edges if this reality like the tides. It comes in and sights and smells and sounds all sound just a little bit clearer, more intense than they were before. When it goes out, it pulls at recollections. This was still Castle Oblivion... wasn't it? But there are no watercolor edges and frayed camera edges here. Everything is sharp. Almost brutally so. Crisp and vivid as Celina steps in front of Percival's sightline with a plate of pancakes and bacon that she offers to him. "Thanks to all of us." she adds to Avira, in the tone of someone faintly correcting, that glassy look in her eyes again. "And Traverse Town as well. Everybody deserves some safe shelter after everything we've been through together."

:'''[[Percival]] has posed:''' As Mercade offers him that question, he looks over his shoulder and gives him a look of consternation. In fact, he does not respond to it at all, instead moving on to the next question, as his expression returned to one of smooth neutrality. He turned as he addressed him, "Nothing of real note, Sir Alexander. Our services have been in high demand as of late. For mark-hunting mostly." When Avira answers his questions, he turns to face her quite swiftly. Such that one would wonder if hed ever faced Mercade in the first place. There is mild disappointment in his tone, and a notable pause, as he takes his time in framing his words, "Of course. Ill let her know. Manhatten gives succor to so many... VALKYRI finds such little cause to visit it as of late." Percival knows better than to argue when Celina decides to /Mom/ his way. His gaze lingers upon her for a moment as she steps into his sightline. "Maira... is well, Celina. Shes keeping herself busy. Taking life one day at a time." Despite the power of /Mom/ though, he doesn't sit down immediately, instead standing behind a chair.. waiting for something, or someone.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' That rushing sense works over Mercade, giving to him... And taking away. His sense of position erodes. Where was he, again? Manhattan, right. The TDA, breakfast time. Everything is comfortable... Right? An edge of confusion enters Mercade's expression as he stands there, lost in thought for a moment. When Avira talks to him, he blinks, and nods. "Yeah! Sure." He takes another drink of coffee. Silly absent-minded detective! "Is there anything you wanted to do, Avira?" He asks her. What /should/ he be doing? Mercade listens. Maira? What happened to her? They talk like something bad happened. "Is there anything we can do to help Maira? It sounds like she's having a hard time." But Avira lays the credit for Manhattan at his feet. "Look, Avira, there's no way I could possibly have done it myself." He doesn't know what exactly happened, but it kicks his natural self-depreciation into gear. The Detective sits down to one side. There's a growing feeling of something... His Detective Hunch is pointing at something going on here but he's not sure what it is.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "...me?" Avira seems genuinely surprised for a few seconds as she sits down at the table. "Well I...uh..." she fumbles before putting a smile on her face, "Spend time with you? I mean...if there's..nothing we need to do today." The smile starts to falter. "Maira just misses me, is all." she says hastily. "You know. We've been busy. There hasn't been the time to get together again lately." There's another laugh-one of those just-off ones that she had let out earlier, "Right, right, you're both right. It was all of us together." she puts a hand over her chest. Over her heart. "Not just Mercade and his keyblade. -hey, would you pass the bacon, please? I'm starving."

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' "It's a crime how they spin that on television." Celina says with a wry snort, putting a hand on her hip as she divvies out breakfast to Avira and then to Percival. "You want some?" she asks Mercade as he sits down, waving away what she said earlier. " It's what you expect with a media outlet owned by Xanatos. But then.." she purses her lips slightly as she looks at the skillet, the spatula clattering a little loudly against the surface. "Maybe some of it is." A pause, looking towards Mercade. " It's been different since you came back." She turns away again and nods. "Better." In a much fainter voice. "..at least the memorial was finished." a beat. "..that needed to happen."

:'''[[Percival]] has posed:''' The Gargoyle's gaze lingers upon Avira as they discuss what theyd like to do for the day. There's a flicker of emotion in the Gargoyles eyes as Mercade mentions how to help Maira, and he turns to face her. He smiles at Mercade for the first time, with some warmth, though his eyes belie this with their same neutrality, "No, I don't believe so Sir Alexander, though thank you for asking. She just needs time to adjust. It is as Avira says." He even lets out a soft chortle as Avira answers, though his laughter dies out quicker than hers does, "It was a glorious battle, I admit, with the Knight of Manhatten at the lead..." He looks briefly abstracted, and once Mercade has taken a seat, so too does he. The chair offers an alarming creak, but he eases up on it, rebalancing until he seems secure. "....Yes, please Celina, Bacon makes everything better." He snorts as Celina offers her insight into the news, "I rarely watch television any longer. It is a true shame, I remember the days when the news networks were relentless in their pursuit of truth. Now it seems that only detectives seek the truth in this world..." His voice appears to connote a touch of irony.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Sure, Celina." Mercade responds. Bacon and pancakes are awesome, even if they are not bacon pancakes. And then he sees Avira's response. The look on her face. The way she's behaving. Something in it... Makes his stomach churn. He pauses. "On second thought, Celina, I think I'll... keep it light right now." He says, as he watches Avira carefully. The conversation about the television flows around him. That churning feeling continues in his stomach, moving with some... uncertainty. Percival metnions a battle, and Mercade gives a quick, 'uh huh' before mumbling to himself, "Wish I was there." He tilts his head slightly. "Truth, huh." He says, before he looks back to Avira once more... And finally asks. "You've been acting odd all morning, Avira. What's wrong? Is something causing you trouble?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "You'd think they'd never seen a real hero before." Avira mutters to Celena in relation to those news reports. "Or realize the kind of sacrifices people need to go through." She reaches forward, stuffing bacon into her mouth quickl, perhaps distracting herself with delicious food. But she pauses abruptly, turning to stare at Mercade for a long moment before looking down at her plate. "/I'm/ acting weird? If anything, you're the one acting weird." she starts shaking, her hands balling up into fists. "Is this another one of your little games, Mercade?!" she blurts out, unable to contain herself in front of Percy or Celina as she usually does. "Wake up one morning and start acting like the happy-go-lucky detective again?" She looks up at him, staring, fear building in her eyes, "W-why? What did I do wrong? I've stayed safe...I've happily accepted the...gifts you gave to make me whole again..." One of her hands clutches the fabric of her dress. "I haven't left Manhattan...and..and I love you, Mercade, I love you with all my heart...but I honestly don't know what you want from me now!"

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' RECORD Scratch: BGM Change. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LApkHzyKxrw Celina gives Mercade and sets phasers to 'Mom' "You know." she says with a faintly teasing tone. "Eating healthier doesn't mean not eating at all." but she doesn't push either bacon or the ubiquitous pancakes on him. Her movements freeze up when he asks that question and she looks at him consideringly. A moment of disquiet purses her lips. "Avira." she scolds. There is a faint afterecho of another voice with hers as she moves over and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Avira.. don't do this again. Nobody's playing games here." Her words are calm and soothing like a comforting blanket. Another faint pulse of tingling air. The rush of fragments. Bits and pieces as the tide goes in. Now sight and smell have become too sharp, too omnipresent as if pushing for attention along with the cutting words. Then pulling back, a little harder, a more insistant tug of the fraying carpet separating this reality from the other one. He gave her everything. He gave her love and safety and everything he promised. He put the world right again. Why was that not enough? Why has it never been enough?

:'''[[Percival]] has posed:''' Percival watches the interaction between the two while munching on bacon, and before long the Gargoyle stands up, and walks over to Avira, putting a hand upon her left shoulder, before he moves just enough to interpose himself only slightly between the pair. He turns his head towards Mercade, stating in a mild tone, as he attempted to try and clear the air, "She's just a little distraught, Sir Alexander. I can't imagine it's easy being married to the perfect man." He looks back towards Avira, smiling just slightly to her, lowering his voice in a sort of soothing way, "Isn't that right Avira? Maybe you need some time to clear your head."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Everything starts falling apart. Mercade reels at the accusations, like knives shoved into his heart. He opens his mouth, about to respond when another dizzying wave sweeps over him. He stumbles over as his memory is threatened, his personality, his sense of self. He hits the floor, his coffee spilling as he grips his head. "I... Who..." Everything is so real. It floods his senses, obliterating thoughts as they race through this mind. Memories appear, recalled as if through a haze. Sharp and real. "Gggh..." He struggles. Something is trying to change things. Change his memories of what happened. Change him. It's hard to resist. Or does he need to resist? Is this really so bad? The dissonance is intense as his mind fights for some form of equilibrium. Everything is changing too fast. He clings to one thing he can attatch to. "Avira..." He says, holding his head as if he's having a migrane. He looks up to her. "I love you. I have always... Loved you. Safe, and happy, and secure. But..." Something twists in him, a deep revulsion, and a hollow, gnawing feeling. His face looks agonized for a moment, and he leans backwards on his knees for a moment, trying to sort everything out in his head. Everything is clouding his mind. He has to grasp it. "The truth..." He says. "What is the truth!?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Fear turns to guilt. Guilt over acting like -this- in front of Celina and Percival. "I..." she says in a tiny voice, clasping her hands together. She shivers beneath Celina's touch as she admonishes her. The Gargoyle does not receive a similar reaction. Sucking in a breath, she barks out a laugh that sounds altogether pretty pathetic. "Y..yeah...I think you're right, Percy, I just need some air." She pushes her chair back and abruptly stands. Just as Mercade collapses to the floor, reeling as if his brain was just backhanded like an insolent child. "I love you too, Mercade but..." she says in a tiny voice, "..but..but you've changed...I mean..I know you've had good reasons. I know you have responsibilities and expectactions to protect everyone. And we love you for it...we all love you for it, Mercade. But sometimes it's..." She looks away, a look of profound sadness on her face.

:'''[[Percival]] has posed:''' Avira stands, and there is a low, rumbling noise in the Gargoyle's throat as she offers her explanation, like a repressed snarl, but it's not directed at her.. His hand slips off her shoulder a moment later. His expression for a moment directs his ire at Mercade, but then it smoothes out.. perhaps into a look of, self-righteous pity? "I should go." And then he takes Avira's hand, and squeezes it lightly, "I'll see if I can't convince Maira." He murmurs unto her in a soft voice.

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' What price, to be the bastion they need? Celina looks towards him, then away as if in resignation. Her shoulders lower slightly as she turns away towards the window, taking up her coffee and simply absenting herself further. As if blocking herself away from this conversation, this pain. It looks like she had had a lot of practice at it. It need not be this way.. The fragments go still and allow for a moment of clarity as the voice or.. presence.. neatly pushes it all aside with an elegant and invisible hand. In that moment of clarity everything looks so blazing sharp as to be carved from crystal. .. full of doubt.. and pain. There is Avira. And there is Percival. Everyone is turning away from him. Everything is falling apart. Celina stays looking out the window, her fingers trembling only a little as she raises the mug and lowers it almost mechanically. but I did not lie. It is /A/ truth. And it is in your grasp. That moment of clarity continues to stretch and stretch like a single note of a piece of music held and held while the rest of the world grinds on. Do not fear this fate. You are better than it. Stronger than it. You Can Still Be The Hero. Justice tempered by Mercy. Let Go. Let Yourself Be Better Than This. And you will be.. Truly Beloved. Let Go.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Everyone turns away. Everyone shrugs off what's happening. Everyone tries to ignore Mercade having a mental breakdown. How can they accept it from this guy? He's apparently been an invincible hero for a long time, creating... What has he created? An island of safety and security in the worlds, a utopia, perhaps? Everything is different. The air is sweeter. People are happier. Worlds connected to worlds as the Heartless menace was driven back, interdimensional trade giving everyone rich opportunities for the future. Everything is golden and shining in Manhattan, the center of... Of what? The Empire of Mercade? Is that what this is in all but name? People have been declaring him their hero, the Knight of Manhattan. But the being does not lie. It is a truth. It is within the Keyblade's power to do this. To bring justice and peace. Whether they like it or not. As the being demands that he let go, his mind and soul war.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' No more doubt. No more pain. But at what cost? There is no cost! They gave up everything a long time ago! What about what /you/ pay? Who cares about what you think? How you feel? This is a twisted abomination of everything I am fighting for. You've won. You won't need to fight. You have sacrificed enough already. She will love you forever. This is not love. It is fear. In the end, does it really matter? She has given you everything. Even her Heart. This is not what I wanted! Of course it is. Just laugh it off. Go to bed, everything will be better tomorrow. And if it isn't, you can make it better. This is wrong! Who decides what is right or wrong? You have the power! You and no one else! You are giving the people paradise! What are you getting in return now? Nothing! More pain! More uncertainty! No one should have that kind of power. You bring them justice. True justice. This is not justice. This... This makes me sick. This weakness will pass in time. This isn't weakness. It's having a <goosehonk> conscience. If you don't hold on... They will leave you. They don't need you and they never have. She will find someone better. SHUT UP! You can't make me shut up. I'm you. However, you can stop it from happening. Only you. ... The moment passes. Mercade's eyes open. The agonized expression is gone.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' He stands up, slowly, looking over the people present, and he nods. "Celina. Percival. Avira." He says to them all in turn. "I'm sorry. What I did... It was wrong. I hurt you. I hurt all of you. You were right, Avira. I changed. I became a monster. Go, be free. I would rather die, or worse, than to hurt you like this one more time, Avira. You do deserve someone better. And maybe one day, I will become that better man." Mercade then turns away, looking uI'd rather be alone for the rest of my life than to manipulate and twist everyone around me to force them to stay. DO YOU HEAR ME?" He then grimaces, staring at the exit. "No more games, you bastard."

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' Reality ruptures like a soap bubble. As quickly and as silently as in any other dream where you fall out of bed. White walls and an empty white room. Truely empty. There is no feeling of echoing passage. There is no eldritch presence. There is no laughing madman whose hand was behind it all. The real truth settles into the silence that grows and grows, stretching out to the plain white walls as the angry words reverberate. The keyblade is there, in his hand. But it is not the uncertain, shifting concept. It is a real thing. Real and tangible and glimmering with a fierce inner light. The truth is.. There has never been anyone here.. in this featureless, plain, unassuming room. Nobody but you. And the door is open, leading out into the corridor. One way or another. It is decided.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade screams his way out of the illusion. You carry into it only what you bring with you. Mercade looks around, his body shaking in the aftermath of the catharsis. He says nothing. He can say nothing. He does, however, look down at the object in his hand. The Keyblade is desceptively simple. It is a construction of brass, polished to a dark patina. The handle is wrapped in deep brown leather, the key-guard ornate, A gold fitting at the base sets off the brass shaft of the Keyblade, whereupon a sharp, starlike flare is seen from one side. Complex, mysterious etchings run through the head of the key, forming what looks a stylized eye pattern. A gleaming glass lens sets off the 'pupil' off the eye, and a brass sphere sets off the cap of the hilt. Mercade holds up the weapon, feeling its heft. "It's done." Mercade says, to reassure himself more than anything else. And then he walks forwards, out of the door, leaving the illusions behind him. 5r Whereupon he turns to the waiting man outside. "You are like the opposite of Yoda." Mercade says, simply.

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' How much time has passed seems irrelevant. The man is still there, Lucas leaning away from the wall in which he had been reading a text. He puts the notebook away fastidiously and looks up at Mercade. His expression is amused but.. a titch disappointed. He then looks calmly resigned as his lips quirk in a smile. "Perhaps." his voice is calm and certain. "But no cryptic statement will make me Mercade Alexander, detective. And the trial is ultimately, only against yourself. For good or ill." He shrugs in a rather magnamious fashion. "I am curious. After what you have seen, are you quit with me and this place entirely?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade doesn't even need time to answer that. There is a flash of light as Mercade banishes the Keyblade, sending it away until it is needed. It is not needed here. "No. Why would I be? The problems I faced in those rooms were my own, made manifest. It would be a jerk move to blame you and yours for my own stupid ass being so screwed up." Mercade tips his hat. "I'm trying to not be a jerk." He says, with a grin. "So, now what do we do?"

:'''[[Narrator]] has posed:''' "Apologies. A moment of caution is always in order. Especially in the wake of whatever you experienced." Lucas genuinely does not seem to know what transpired because he moves onto the next easily. " And now, detective, we find a venue that does not give either party a conniption." he says this in a very dry voice. "Possibly there will be a drink involved. Either for you or myself is up for debate as this truly.." he chuckles. "..has only been the beginning." He leans away from the wall and begins down the corridor, following the blue line. "But it is a worthy enough start."

Present Possibilities: Mercade

2013-07-14T04:11:32Z

Raenas:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/13
|Location=Castle Oblivion
|Synopsis=The past is prologue. The present? Is full of sass.
|Thanks=Mercade. for 2x patience
|Cast of Characters=Mercade Alexander
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' The apartment he exited leads to a bland corridor. The walls are some vague and washed out greenish hue with a white trim near the bottom. Something that would be walked by and never seen for years. The walls are pock marked by newspaper clippings, neat notebook scrawlings and even marked up pizza boxes piled up here and there on the floor, which is carpeted in a faded and worn blue. There is no immediate sign of the lady in white although the corridor turns sharply to the left at the end, obscuring immediate sight. There is nothing that immediately draws the eye about these papers. They seem to be a scattershot timeline of events. They start like the newspapers. Corruption. Murder. Crime. And in that sense these words printed out so blandly seem like a mottled stain on the walls. Kidnappings. Arson. Theft. But gradually the tone of the timeline shifts. It becomes notes on investigation. Files pinned to the wall with pictures attached. The small tokens and wishes of those the TDA has helped. Communications between members. Reports pasted because others had sinned by not writing them fast enough (hence the pizza boxes) And he's not mentioned. In the places where it SHOULD be his handwriting, it is someone elses. There is a moment of dislocation, as if someone has excised him from his life and he is looking at it from the viewpoint .. of an outsider. The events are correct. There IS no trace of fakery, no trace of falsehood except that single and glaring occurance. And turning the corner leads to an empty TDA building, the one in Traverse Town that was rebuilt after the fall. It looks recently unoccupied, as if the last customer had just walked out the door of Cloud 9. There is even the faintest ringing as if the door had been just shut. The lady in white is sitting where he would usually sit, looking out the window as if waiting for something or.. listening. But again, she is separated by a barrier of glass. The pane looks on this opposite version of Cloud 9 where there are people. Avira is sitting at the bar stirring her drink around thoughtfully, her back turned towards this mirror image. All the customers. All the life, is on the other side of the glass. And Mercade is ultimately in an empty building, and a quick look outside would confirm.. empty streets. Empty buildings. An empty town.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' It's like a cruel knife. Something keeps jabbing into him as he moves through the hallway. He sees the clippings. How can he not? Each time he sees that other hand, that other /person/ who has taken his place, it's another cut. While he's one of the most... temperate... of the TDA, he is not without emotion. He is logical, but he cannot deny his soul, his Heart. And something is striking him there. He can't do anything, however, but accept the reality thrust upon him until he can figure out what the rules are of this... environment he finds himself it. It is falsehood, right? This can't be real... And he goes from removal to... Nothing? Mercade steps into the emply Cloud Nine, feeling that last warmth, a vague presence like he just missed someone... But it is gone. But for the woman, he is all alone. His jaw clenches, emotions rising within him, but he clamps down upon it as he turns away... And sees through the glass, the other side. Where everyone is. Where the life and the people are. Where Avira is. He steps forward, putting a hand on the glass as he suddenly finds himself outside. It feels... cold, to him. A strange sensation that runs through him independant of anything so urbane as temperature. The warmth is in there. With the others. He fidgets, a pressure being put on the window as he watches... And then he tears his gaze away to look at the woman who sits where he was. He doesn't need to ask the question, here. He forces himself to move away from the window, and sits down next to the woman in white.

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' The Lady in white is looking over something from where she sits at the table. She sits pouring over the notes, looking at the pictures. There are photographs and names and information about the TDA here. There is another file with Mercade's picture in it from when he was younger, a photograph of his mother. She looks over every picture with small, precise gestures. Every movement seems calculated and well reasoned. "The heartless will be coming again soon." She says without preamble. In the mirror universe Avira looks up at the mirror when Mercade puts pressure on it, but it can be seen that she doesn't really see anything at all. Something catches her attention and she looks away again. The murmur of conversation from the other Cloud 9 is a constant background murmur in the silent spaces here. "They will find you.. and you would not want to put them in danger.. would you?" The Lady says this without looking up from the pictures. A long time passes before she continues. "No." A faint smile. "You will be the bastion they need when they falter." she takes a minute sip of water from a glass near her elbow. "And they will.. for there is no end to the heartless. Isn't that what you said?" She then looks up at him, smile curling one edge in a razor thin smile with slightly pursed lips examining him thoughtfully. She catches at the brim of her hat, adjusting it just slightly downwards. "But now they can be stopped. And those behind them...? They can be brought to justice."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Something about this woman rankles him. He specializes in trying to know things about people. To get information. Mercade shakes his head, banishing it amidst the welter of other emotional pressure around him. He has to remain focused. "Everyone falls eventually." Mercade says. "But we can win. We can stop the Heartless. With the Keyblade, we can destroy them permanently." He looks at the Keyblade in his hand, and he sets it down on the bar. "I'll fight as long as I have to. For them. For everyone. It's..." Mercade pauses. "I need to do this." He folds his hands before him, still fidgeting slightly. "But you basically have the long and the short of it."

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' "But why?" The woman tells him in a curiously neutral voice. "For them..?" she gestures to the mirror image. "Or for yourself?" A faint chuckle. "And is that wrong, either way?" The woman turns her head towards the door just as the heartless decide to be horrible bar patrons. A cluster of swift moving nocturnes clatter with the sounds of that door chime. They swirl in patterns of red, blue and yellow. Fire explodes against a table, setting it alight. Shards of ice slam against bottles and bar alike. A jolt of lightning leaves a heavy smell of ozone. Something strikes the mirror and with it, the lady in white vanishes in the rustle of broken glass. Soldiers and pirates clatter into the bar, breaking the door glass and tearing down the frame. Each sound is layering over on itself with other noise. Car alarms. The catcalls and cries of a street gang rendered down into wordless hooting and chattering. Gunshots. The cries of desperation from the Tower. The heartless have brought it with them as they smashed their way into this place. Not as faceless voices, but again, like physical representations. Like all that loss and horror made real and hungering. The host of heartless train on him, several soldiers leaping with claws extended while bolts of ice and flame shoot across the defiled bar.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Why? Why indeed. Mercade opens his mouth to answer, but then he stops. Who is he doing this for? Who /really/? His Heart is of two minds about it. He's not actually sure. But there is one thing he's sure about... And that is that the Heartless need to be stoppes. Mercade picks up the Keyblade, turning and pointing it at the incoming Heartless. He can hear the cries. "You..." He pauses, setting himself. "You guys are as much victims as anyone else, aren't you." He says... And then he lunges. The Detective spins, the weapon moving much faster than it might seem from the unwieldy nature of the weapon, and he lunges forward, lashing out with the weapon at the incoming Nocturnes. Fire and ice explode around him, and he reflexively parries some of it, fields of light washing up around him even as the rest explode. When the light and noise vanish, Mercade is not there. He descends, his clothing ragged from the overwhelming incoming firepower, as he drops down upon the Noctures, striking out with blurred motions. The Keyblade is the weapon of the Heart... But considering the turmoil within, what does that mean for him?

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' There is a surge, an almost palpable drop in pressure as the keyblade impacts with the heartless. The keyblade cleaves through them like the smoke that they are made of, although many like the Soldiers take several passes to fully destroy. And each time there is that snap of light and a crystalline heart comes into distance for only a second or two before vanishing. Each one takes some of the voices with them. It's subtle at first but as the smoke parts. As the fire and ice explodes across fields of light and the nocturnes are felled, the movements become easier. The blade itself drawing a part of that energy left behind and strengthening. The volume of the clamor starts to die in the bar until finally, with the felling of the very last soldier.. there is nothing but himself in the empty reaches of Cloud 9. And then there is a thunderous BOOM from outside. The repoire of a shotgun and the flash across the broken doorway of a only briefly glimpsed shape.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade fights. He emerges victorious, but not without incident. Several gashes mar his coat, wounds that rob him of energy and vitality. It could be worse, he tells himself. And then he curses himself for even thinking that, as he reflexively leaps behind a table when the shotgun goes off. He peeks out, unsure if something might be aiming at him, but... He grimaces. No one is there to tell him what to do, but he knows. "Avira. Will. Wait for me." He whispers to himself, as he steps forward to confront the thing in the doorway. This one will not fall so easily, he is sure.

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' It's a hobo with a shotgun! But Will and Isaac are being hard pressed by the heartless at the other end of the street. The entire 'floor' of this empty Traverse Town has turned into a single strip of black from which an endless sream of shadows spawn. Entire streets painted black like a dark river, sucking everything down into it. Mercade can move on it like it is real ground but anyone else is slowly being pulled down by innumerable claws. Tom and Max and Celina are on a low building some distance away. Each of them are doing what they can to hold on as the heartless batter them from the little cover they've been able to secure on top of buildings or cars but there are many more claws then there are hiding places. "Hmm. This is troubling." The Lady in White says as she walks across the broken glass out onto the street. "And they are so far away." The woman looks in one direction and then the other. "It stands to reason.. that you can't save everyone." A faint smile. "But I know better. As you should." "You can be the hero here. If you want to be."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade steps out onto the street and witnesses the horror before him. "No." Mercade whispers. "Not again." His hands tighten upon the Keyblade as he sets himself.... And then he stops as the woman addresses him. He scowls for a moment. The words make him stop. Question himself. "I..." He looks between the two areas. Logically, he can't reach them both in time... Can he? He can't just let them die. How can he choose? How /could/ he choose? Is this even real? He's still in Castle Oblivon... right? Is he even doing the right thing? "What kind of <goosehonk> questions are those?" He scolds himself. He has no idea what you can do with a Keyblade. He just has to trust to it and kick reason to the curb."I'm not going to leave anyone to die!" Mercade yells, as he levels the Keyblade, and points it at the countless Heartless, the Darkness consuming everything around them. He closes his eyes, reaching deep into himslef. He was told about what Keyblades are supposed to do... And right now, all that matters is that he gives it everything he has. And then he remembers to say the magic word. "Please." Hey, it worked once.

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' Please is the magic word. But it had started to work before he remembered, so perhaps it was not so much the word as the intent that conjured up whatever animating force or magic that lay within the still shifting blade. Innumerable bronze flares explode outwards and around, twisting and shimmering as they explode one after another on the endless tapestry of claws and yellow eyes. He can hear them, his friends, calling for him somewhere in the din. There is a sharp splintering of glass as the floor seems to buckle and give out underneath but really it only sags about a foot or so. The fall though, one inch at a time, seems to take much longer than it should before speeding up all at once to another CRUNCH that comes from the floor underneath rather than bone. It's a short, jarring stop and when it is over.. there are no more heartless. The blade thrums with life and power, a little bit from hundreds of the swarming shadows. One for each voice quelled and heart released from it's prison. He is back in the the TDA Offices again, the ones that were lost when Manhattan fell. A place still full of memories but again with the feeling that it's just been recently vacated. Something sleek and faintly jazz purrs from the radio as the Woman in White sits in a chair across from the desk. Her hands are neatly holding a small book as if she had been waiting for him. She chuckles faintly. "So." a long pause. "With belief, anything is possible after all." she tells him as she turns a page. "..and you have only just begun." with the faintest chuckle. "But there is still more to see. If you still wish."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' The sensation of power flowing through him is electric. He blasts the shadows, destroying them in a swath with the seemingly endless power of the Keyblade. How could he do this? It makes no sense whatsoever. He had no training, no knowledge. No understanding. But then, it's just this kind of thing that could result in the devastation that he had been shown. The Keyblade War. This kind of power, in the hands of anyone... Even in the exhiliration, a part of him suddenly recoiled. He shakes his head, snapping himself out of the flush of victory as he sees the environment change. He almost drops the Keyblade, even... But he pauses, holding onto it as he walks forward towards the Woman in White. "You make for a very mysterious guide." Mercade replies. "Do you get a lot of practice in it out here?" He must be feeling more normal, a little bit. Some of that sassy wit is coming back.

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' "Perhaps it is well that I do not. I do not think you could take TOO much more mystery." The woman sasses back at him with a quirk of her lips and a tip of her hat, the same as one master would bow to another on the practice mat. (If it was made of sass anyways) "So. You know that it exists." she gestures, and there is a small television on which is the image of the small and dingy apartment with the open hokey box inside. "So at least you know where you've been." she then gestures to the keyblade. "And you know that it works." she smiles slightly. "For the present. With the right words." A chuckle. "But where does this path lead?" she lets that hang in the air between them for awhile, looking at the staircase leading to the next floor of the apartment, then back at him. "I think that's up for you to decide." She quietly closes her book and lays it on the desk. It's a detective novel, of all things.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' The world is, perhaps, not ready for the sassmat. Mercade glances between the TF, the office, and the stairway as she indicates them. He scowls slightly at the comments, however. This is a high level of Mysterius Sass. "I'm here to find answers, not guess at riddles." He sighs, shaking his head. "But then, I guess you just can't help yourself, can you?" He turns away. "Well then. I can't very well leave this half-done." He replies. "You and I both know that." He shrugs. "Enjoy your book, ma'am." He tips his hat, looking over his shoulder, and walks away towards the stairwell. Past. Present. Future. Time to end this.

Present Possibilities: Mercade

2013-07-14T04:11:17Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/13 |Location=Castle Oblivion |Synopsis=The past is prologue. The present? Is full of sass. |Thanks=Mercade. for 2x patience |Cast of Chara..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/13
|Location=Castle Oblivion
|Synopsis=The past is prologue. The present? Is full of sass.
|Thanks=Mercade. for 2x patience
|Cast of Characters=Mercade Mercade Alexander
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' The apartment he exited leads to a bland corridor. The walls are some vague and washed out greenish hue with a white trim near the bottom. Something that would be walked by and never seen for years. The walls are pock marked by newspaper clippings, neat notebook scrawlings and even marked up pizza boxes piled up here and there on the floor, which is carpeted in a faded and worn blue. There is no immediate sign of the lady in white although the corridor turns sharply to the left at the end, obscuring immediate sight. There is nothing that immediately draws the eye about these papers. They seem to be a scattershot timeline of events. They start like the newspapers. Corruption. Murder. Crime. And in that sense these words printed out so blandly seem like a mottled stain on the walls. Kidnappings. Arson. Theft. But gradually the tone of the timeline shifts. It becomes notes on investigation. Files pinned to the wall with pictures attached. The small tokens and wishes of those the TDA has helped. Communications between members. Reports pasted because others had sinned by not writing them fast enough (hence the pizza boxes) And he's not mentioned. In the places where it SHOULD be his handwriting, it is someone elses. There is a moment of dislocation, as if someone has excised him from his life and he is looking at it from the viewpoint .. of an outsider. The events are correct. There IS no trace of fakery, no trace of falsehood except that single and glaring occurance. And turning the corner leads to an empty TDA building, the one in Traverse Town that was rebuilt after the fall. It looks recently unoccupied, as if the last customer had just walked out the door of Cloud 9. There is even the faintest ringing as if the door had been just shut. The lady in white is sitting where he would usually sit, looking out the window as if waiting for something or.. listening. But again, she is separated by a barrier of glass. The pane looks on this opposite version of Cloud 9 where there are people. Avira is sitting at the bar stirring her drink around thoughtfully, her back turned towards this mirror image. All the customers. All the life, is on the other side of the glass. And Mercade is ultimately in an empty building, and a quick look outside would confirm.. empty streets. Empty buildings. An empty town.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' It's like a cruel knife. Something keeps jabbing into him as he moves through the hallway. He sees the clippings. How can he not? Each time he sees that other hand, that other /person/ who has taken his place, it's another cut. While he's one of the most... temperate... of the TDA, he is not without emotion. He is logical, but he cannot deny his soul, his Heart. And something is striking him there. He can't do anything, however, but accept the reality thrust upon him until he can figure out what the rules are of this... environment he finds himself it. It is falsehood, right? This can't be real... And he goes from removal to... Nothing? Mercade steps into the emply Cloud Nine, feeling that last warmth, a vague presence like he just missed someone... But it is gone. But for the woman, he is all alone. His jaw clenches, emotions rising within him, but he clamps down upon it as he turns away... And sees through the glass, the other side. Where everyone is. Where the life and the people are. Where Avira is. He steps forward, putting a hand on the glass as he suddenly finds himself outside. It feels... cold, to him. A strange sensation that runs through him independant of anything so urbane as temperature. The warmth is in there. With the others. He fidgets, a pressure being put on the window as he watches... And then he tears his gaze away to look at the woman who sits where he was. He doesn't need to ask the question, here. He forces himself to move away from the window, and sits down next to the woman in white.

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' The Lady in white is looking over something from where she sits at the table. She sits pouring over the notes, looking at the pictures. There are photographs and names and information about the TDA here. There is another file with Mercade's picture in it from when he was younger, a photograph of his mother. She looks over every picture with small, precise gestures. Every movement seems calculated and well reasoned. "The heartless will be coming again soon." She says without preamble. In the mirror universe Avira looks up at the mirror when Mercade puts pressure on it, but it can be seen that she doesn't really see anything at all. Something catches her attention and she looks away again. The murmur of conversation from the other Cloud 9 is a constant background murmur in the silent spaces here. "They will find you.. and you would not want to put them in danger.. would you?" The Lady says this without looking up from the pictures. A long time passes before she continues. "No." A faint smile. "You will be the bastion they need when they falter." she takes a minute sip of water from a glass near her elbow. "And they will.. for there is no end to the heartless. Isn't that what you said?" She then looks up at him, smile curling one edge in a razor thin smile with slightly pursed lips examining him thoughtfully. She catches at the brim of her hat, adjusting it just slightly downwards. "But now they can be stopped. And those behind them...? They can be brought to justice."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Something about this woman rankles him. He specializes in trying to know things about people. To get information. Mercade shakes his head, banishing it amidst the welter of other emotional pressure around him. He has to remain focused. "Everyone falls eventually." Mercade says. "But we can win. We can stop the Heartless. With the Keyblade, we can destroy them permanently." He looks at the Keyblade in his hand, and he sets it down on the bar. "I'll fight as long as I have to. For them. For everyone. It's..." Mercade pauses. "I need to do this." He folds his hands before him, still fidgeting slightly. "But you basically have the long and the short of it."

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' "But why?" The woman tells him in a curiously neutral voice. "For them..?" she gestures to the mirror image. "Or for yourself?" A faint chuckle. "And is that wrong, either way?" The woman turns her head towards the door just as the heartless decide to be horrible bar patrons. A cluster of swift moving nocturnes clatter with the sounds of that door chime. They swirl in patterns of red, blue and yellow. Fire explodes against a table, setting it alight. Shards of ice slam against bottles and bar alike. A jolt of lightning leaves a heavy smell of ozone. Something strikes the mirror and with it, the lady in white vanishes in the rustle of broken glass. Soldiers and pirates clatter into the bar, breaking the door glass and tearing down the frame. Each sound is layering over on itself with other noise. Car alarms. The catcalls and cries of a street gang rendered down into wordless hooting and chattering. Gunshots. The cries of desperation from the Tower. The heartless have brought it with them as they smashed their way into this place. Not as faceless voices, but again, like physical representations. Like all that loss and horror made real and hungering. The host of heartless train on him, several soldiers leaping with claws extended while bolts of ice and flame shoot across the defiled bar.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Why? Why indeed. Mercade opens his mouth to answer, but then he stops. Who is he doing this for? Who /really/? His Heart is of two minds about it. He's not actually sure. But there is one thing he's sure about... And that is that the Heartless need to be stoppes. Mercade picks up the Keyblade, turning and pointing it at the incoming Heartless. He can hear the cries. "You..." He pauses, setting himself. "You guys are as much victims as anyone else, aren't you." He says... And then he lunges. The Detective spins, the weapon moving much faster than it might seem from the unwieldy nature of the weapon, and he lunges forward, lashing out with the weapon at the incoming Nocturnes. Fire and ice explode around him, and he reflexively parries some of it, fields of light washing up around him even as the rest explode. When the light and noise vanish, Mercade is not there. He descends, his clothing ragged from the overwhelming incoming firepower, as he drops down upon the Noctures, striking out with blurred motions. The Keyblade is the weapon of the Heart... But considering the turmoil within, what does that mean for him?

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' There is a surge, an almost palpable drop in pressure as the keyblade impacts with the heartless. The keyblade cleaves through them like the smoke that they are made of, although many like the Soldiers take several passes to fully destroy. And each time there is that snap of light and a crystalline heart comes into distance for only a second or two before vanishing. Each one takes some of the voices with them. It's subtle at first but as the smoke parts. As the fire and ice explodes across fields of light and the nocturnes are felled, the movements become easier. The blade itself drawing a part of that energy left behind and strengthening. The volume of the clamor starts to die in the bar until finally, with the felling of the very last soldier.. there is nothing but himself in the empty reaches of Cloud 9. And then there is a thunderous BOOM from outside. The repoire of a shotgun and the flash across the broken doorway of a only briefly glimpsed shape.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade fights. He emerges victorious, but not without incident. Several gashes mar his coat, wounds that rob him of energy and vitality. It could be worse, he tells himself. And then he curses himself for even thinking that, as he reflexively leaps behind a table when the shotgun goes off. He peeks out, unsure if something might be aiming at him, but... He grimaces. No one is there to tell him what to do, but he knows. "Avira. Will. Wait for me." He whispers to himself, as he steps forward to confront the thing in the doorway. This one will not fall so easily, he is sure.

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' It's a hobo with a shotgun! But Will and Isaac are being hard pressed by the heartless at the other end of the street. The entire 'floor' of this empty Traverse Town has turned into a single strip of black from which an endless sream of shadows spawn. Entire streets painted black like a dark river, sucking everything down into it. Mercade can move on it like it is real ground but anyone else is slowly being pulled down by innumerable claws. Tom and Max and Celina are on a low building some distance away. Each of them are doing what they can to hold on as the heartless batter them from the little cover they've been able to secure on top of buildings or cars but there are many more claws then there are hiding places. "Hmm. This is troubling." The Lady in White says as she walks across the broken glass out onto the street. "And they are so far away." The woman looks in one direction and then the other. "It stands to reason.. that you can't save everyone." A faint smile. "But I know better. As you should." "You can be the hero here. If you want to be."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade steps out onto the street and witnesses the horror before him. "No." Mercade whispers. "Not again." His hands tighten upon the Keyblade as he sets himself.... And then he stops as the woman addresses him. He scowls for a moment. The words make him stop. Question himself. "I..." He looks between the two areas. Logically, he can't reach them both in time... Can he? He can't just let them die. How can he choose? How /could/ he choose? Is this even real? He's still in Castle Oblivon... right? Is he even doing the right thing? "What kind of <goosehonk> questions are those?" He scolds himself. He has no idea what you can do with a Keyblade. He just has to trust to it and kick reason to the curb."I'm not going to leave anyone to die!" Mercade yells, as he levels the Keyblade, and points it at the countless Heartless, the Darkness consuming everything around them. He closes his eyes, reaching deep into himslef. He was told about what Keyblades are supposed to do... And right now, all that matters is that he gives it everything he has. And then he remembers to say the magic word. "Please." Hey, it worked once.

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' Please is the magic word. But it had started to work before he remembered, so perhaps it was not so much the word as the intent that conjured up whatever animating force or magic that lay within the still shifting blade. Innumerable bronze flares explode outwards and around, twisting and shimmering as they explode one after another on the endless tapestry of claws and yellow eyes. He can hear them, his friends, calling for him somewhere in the din. There is a sharp splintering of glass as the floor seems to buckle and give out underneath but really it only sags about a foot or so. The fall though, one inch at a time, seems to take much longer than it should before speeding up all at once to another CRUNCH that comes from the floor underneath rather than bone. It's a short, jarring stop and when it is over.. there are no more heartless. The blade thrums with life and power, a little bit from hundreds of the swarming shadows. One for each voice quelled and heart released from it's prison. He is back in the the TDA Offices again, the ones that were lost when Manhattan fell. A place still full of memories but again with the feeling that it's just been recently vacated. Something sleek and faintly jazz purrs from the radio as the Woman in White sits in a chair across from the desk. Her hands are neatly holding a small book as if she had been waiting for him. She chuckles faintly. "So." a long pause. "With belief, anything is possible after all." she tells him as she turns a page. "..and you have only just begun." with the faintest chuckle. "But there is still more to see. If you still wish."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' The sensation of power flowing through him is electric. He blasts the shadows, destroying them in a swath with the seemingly endless power of the Keyblade. How could he do this? It makes no sense whatsoever. He had no training, no knowledge. No understanding. But then, it's just this kind of thing that could result in the devastation that he had been shown. The Keyblade War. This kind of power, in the hands of anyone... Even in the exhiliration, a part of him suddenly recoiled. He shakes his head, snapping himself out of the flush of victory as he sees the environment change. He almost drops the Keyblade, even... But he pauses, holding onto it as he walks forward towards the Woman in White. "You make for a very mysterious guide." Mercade replies. "Do you get a lot of practice in it out here?" He must be feeling more normal, a little bit. Some of that sassy wit is coming back.

:'''[[Lady in White]] has posed:''' "Perhaps it is well that I do not. I do not think you could take TOO much more mystery." The woman sasses back at him with a quirk of her lips and a tip of her hat, the same as one master would bow to another on the practice mat. (If it was made of sass anyways) "So. You know that it exists." she gestures, and there is a small television on which is the image of the small and dingy apartment with the open hokey box inside. "So at least you know where you've been." she then gestures to the keyblade. "And you know that it works." she smiles slightly. "For the present. With the right words." A chuckle. "But where does this path lead?" she lets that hang in the air between them for awhile, looking at the staircase leading to the next floor of the apartment, then back at him. "I think that's up for you to decide." She quietly closes her book and lays it on the desk. It's a detective novel, of all things.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' The world is, perhaps, not ready for the sassmat. Mercade glances between the TF, the office, and the stairway as she indicates them. He scowls slightly at the comments, however. This is a high level of Mysterius Sass. "I'm here to find answers, not guess at riddles." He sighs, shaking his head. "But then, I guess you just can't help yourself, can you?" He turns away. "Well then. I can't very well leave this half-done." He replies. "You and I both know that." He shrugs. "Enjoy your book, ma'am." He tips his hat, looking over his shoulder, and walks away towards the stairwell. Past. Present. Future. Time to end this.

The Past is Prologue: Mercade

2013-07-13T22:02:37Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/13 |Location=Castle Oblivion |Synopsis=The past is prologue. All else is chicanry and nonsense. Until it's not. |Thanks=Mercade. for patien..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/13
|Location=Castle Oblivion
|Synopsis=The past is prologue. All else is chicanry and nonsense. Until it's not.
|Thanks=Mercade. for patience
|Cast of Characters=Mercade Alexander
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Mysterious Can]] has posed:''' There is another feeling of distortion and perspective shift on going through the doors. "Yes." Lucas says with a bemused smirk. "I believe we would have much to speak on." Beyond the white double doors is.. a perfect copy of the corridor (sans sorcerer) and since there is no longer a sorcerer on THIS side as well it is an even more perfect reflection. --Which turns out to be an accurate wording as the pillars, the blue markings, everything is a mirrored reverse. There are the doors he came through (although the glyph above the door has changed shape on the door's opening) and several doors down the corridor that they passed on the way here. There is also the mural, although this time it's the rolling green hills in the grip of high summer, the grass prickling yellow and scarred brown in places. The heat can almost be felt baking from the moving picture. Although there is no blue line on the floor, there is one cutting it's way across the ceiling. There is a door towards the far left those symbol is similar to that on the wayfinder charm. There are in total four doors not including the way he came in, and more further down the corridor.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade walks out of a hall. And into a hall. He looks up, blinking, as he considers the complete amount of utter <goosehonk> this place is. He allows himself a couple minutes on this because it deserves a thorough mental expounding. Once complete, Mercade walks down the hall, glancing at the picture as he passes. Hmm. He looks over the doors, considering where to go next. Lucas gave him an obvious choice. The Wayfinder will be the guide. He flicks his hand, reproducing the object from his sleeve. He looks at it to see if it gives any indications, or if he should just go through the obvious door which is obvious with the star and all on it. Because sometimes words have two meanings, and at the moment he might be in the market for a stairway to heaven.

:'''[[Mysterious Can]] has posed:''' Obvious door is no long obvious by virtue of no longer being a door. The wayfinder shines, the smooth glass starting at one edge and moving across the face to the farthest point. There is a brief shifting flash and the obvious door makes a faint but noticable 'click-clunk' as if something has been unlocked on the other side. The glyph above the door freezes, then evaporates like so much smoke leaving the door so sheer that it almost completely fades back into the texture of the surrounding walls save for a thin shimmering line that drops away like a curtain. Since the room beyond is as white as the corridor, there is a visual distortion when the door is no longer there, just a white doorway leading into another white room Apparantly, he was taken seriously about that stairway because there is one leading upwards into another part of the castle. There are several more of those heart shaped symbols on the walls, the bottom edges almost jagged. At the top of the stairs? City noise. Cars. People talking. The buzz of electricity. Come up the stairs leads out.. onto street level manhattan, or at least somewhere that looks mighty close to the Southern reaches of it.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade is just... He just makes a face at this turn of events. "Well, it's doing what it's supposed to do, I guess?" He says to himself as he looks up at the ex-door. This door is no more. It is no longer here. He frowns, and walks through it, looking around at the decor. Hearts. Huh. Interesting. Mercade walks up the stairway, following the path as he moves upwards, heading for the top of the stairwell. There's nowhere else to go at the moment. When he reaches the top, he looks around, blinking. Southern Manhattan? "Well, this is a surprise." He says to himself. He examines the area in more detail. Should he be heading somewhere? Maybe there is something he can pick up on as to the purpose of this... apparition? Is this even real? IS ANYTHING REAL? Magic is <goosehonk>.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Magic is indeed, goosehonk. And the room as it comes into focus seems to echo the same. The details of the room slowly come into focus, a general sense that only starts to come into focus when examined carefully. It is small and everyday, almost defiantly normal in a place that outside was full of impossibilities. It is a small and dingy apartment. In some vague sense it could be called an office but that would be an act of charity. Newspapers line the walls. "Manhattan DA asks to pass Gov's Anti-corruption bill" "Crime on the rise: New york crime wave continues unabated" Manhattan DA implicated in ongoing corruption investigations There are shelves for books, many of the tomes well thumbed through and annotated. Others are simply worn, the spines broken in and slightly peeling with age. A small television in a comfortable corner spits nothing but white noise and peppery static, a constant low drone that quavers and shifts back and forth as the room is examined. This place looks lived in. Every inch of it used or crammed with ameniable clutter. A comfortable feeling of the familiar has soaked straight into the slightly unappealing carpet. It looks like this place has been just vacated, as if the owner only stepped out for a moment. There is a desk and on the desk, well worn by age is a rather hokey looking box. It is almost magnificently hokey. An exercise in self-aggrandizement in posters and faded circus colors. It is not big enough to be a trunk but carries all the timeworn elements of one. It jars with the rest of the surroundings like the jagged edge of a tooth scrapes across a wound. It is tired and almost resigned, not loud or colorful as it might have been it might have been once upon a time. The bindings are old and worn but polished to a dull lustre. The surface is covered with postmarks, a closer examination showed the pages of fiction not just glued to the outside but part of the outer exterior itself. An advertisement for a magic show, with the face of the magician always shrouded is placed center stage and tilted across the top of the trunk. Tap. Tap. The TV abruptly clears with a hissing feedback noise and crackle of static. It reveals a monochrome image of an identical small apartment and an identical box. Only in this recounting there is someone standing next to the desk, sitting with casual elegance in a white suit that is far too classy for the dingy surroundings. Her face is hidden by a white hat, her slender fingers drumming ever so lightly on the top of the box. In the TV image she opens the box and peers into it, her face and expression still shrouded. She pulls something shining and glorious from the box like a conjurer pulling a sword from a top hat. It can't be seen plainly, but the feeling radiates from the image. Radiates from the television like a heat mirage. It's a similar feeling as in the dream, in the tower of voices. Only here it is not a crackling, static filled /something/ but a physical representation. A presence that dominates the TV as it begins to flicker. The TV reception fades and there is a shattering of glass. A breaking of wood. Darkness crowds into the picture right as the TV goes dead with a crackling snap and power down of something breaking inside. The woman looks up, eyes visible and peering out of the television with a quiet and smoldering promise as everything goes dim and dead. Somewhere a clock chimes. Not an imperious and commanding tone but the gentle scything of seconds from an everyday clock on the wall somewhere.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Everything comes into focus as Mercade looks up, everyhing changing around him. He looks over the surroundings, examining them intently. Some of the headlines bring back his own past, prickles dragging across his memorry, claws digging in... And then everything snaps, coming into focus. It was just like his old apartment-office... Before he met the TDA. Something cleanly cut from the past and pasted into the universe... No. Not so cleanly. Ragged edges, fuzziness, mars his recollection. Things seem subtly different to him, as he runs his hand over the desk, feeling the cheap material. Everything was cheap. The coffee. The disposable plates and silverware. Endless cups of coffee. He looks back over his shoulder at the tapping, and his blood runs cold. "What is this?" He says to himself. Something is dragging up his past. The woman... He never saw her again after the events which led to- "No!" He says, moving forward and reaching for the TV. He stops. He can't reach into the screen, that'd be stupid. Also, this is the wrong MUSH for that. The sensation of the Darkness rises, Mercade being thrown backwards as the screen blows out. He falls to the ground, slamming his head against the desk as he lands with a loud thud. He grunts, holding the back of his head and glaring up at the edge as if it had personally offended him in some manner... A few seconds later, he stands up, and looks over at the festooned chest. Magic, huh. Mercade shakes his head. There's only one way to go at this point. He opens the trunk and looks inside.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Behold the power of.. the stick? Inside the hokey old box is a cheap red felt lining, a threadbare covering with a smattering of magical paraphenalia. Only. It is magic as Manhattan knew it before the fall. As a hoax and a trick of the light. Possibly swamp gas, but this is the wrong genre for men in black suits and an explaination of a gas main explosion. So instead there is a stick. Completely ordinary and plain, slightly gnarled towards the base and again towards the tip. Someone has painstakingly peeled the bark away although small strips of the brown bark can still be seen here and there. Nestled on top of the stick is a small note where in a flowing and elegant hand, these words have been enscribed on the starkly white paper. "Say the magic words." The clock stops. Between the next whisk and the last, there is a long and held breath of nothing punctuated sharply by something crashing into the door. The impact makes the floor shudder and the air vibrate. The door does not survive a second assault, a menacing crocodile with swirly eyes ramming their head against the door and battering it open as the lock fractures. There is no view of outside but instead another room as the crocodilian heartless arrives. It is a bizaare shade of magenta and jars just as obviously against the surroundings as the trunk. It opens it's mouth in a loud hiss, jaws splayed wide before it charges straight at Mercade.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' He stares into the trunk. At ome moment, he sees exactly what he expects to see: Useless sleight of hand stuff. The next, there's a stick. Like some kind of quantum craziness. Mercade went to college, he knows the science and stuff. He was always /entertained/ by this stuff. He even uses some of their tricks occasonally to 'acquire evidence' and give out business cards. But this? Mercade reaches in and takes out the stick and the paper. The magic words? There is a moment of utter confusion. And then the onslaught begins. Mercade knew this was going to happen. He was /warned/ after all. He spins around, paper in one hand and stick in the other as he sees the huge crocodile Heartless appear. It's ugly. Ugly like the dark side of the city. Ugly, garish.... And very, very hungry. Mercade's brain seizes up. He should go for his gun. It could hurt Heartless, right? But he can't get to it in time. There /is/ no more time. The charging crocodile is almost upon him, when Mercade, in desperation, thrusts out the stick and yells one word. It is not a majestic word. It's not anything arcane or eldritch. It's nothing he stole from Celina's books or Isaac's iHex in all those times he tried looking over the technomage's shoulder. "PLEASE!" He only knows one magic word.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' And this is disney. Please works as a magic word. There is an ear-splitting CRACK and the jolt that goes all the way up the arm like a bone-breaking recoil. The repoire echoes in the sudden stillness as if the whole setting had flash frozen, or maybe that was just his arm. It was not an unpleasant sensation, not entirely. The flash frozen moment gave way to a tingling rush of pins and needles somewhat like waking up too quickly. A feeling of disorientation with a sharp abrupt shock like falling out of bed. The stick in hand is abruptly not stick-like, in the sleight of hand fashion of exchanging one object for another. The blade is simple and well worn, the same bronzish color as the underlying structure of the magic box. There is a feeling of unreality about it as strong as the dreams before. As if it could look like anything if he looked away for too long, as if it were still inbetween several states and still shifting even in this instant of Oh Hell Look it's a CROCODILE. And a pulse of energy, an arc cuts through that gaping maw like scissors cutting through paper. And the heartless explodes in dark fragments of newspaper clippings and dark vapor. A crystalline heart rises from the smouldering ash and then vanishes with a faint noise, almost inaudible, like relief. Please works as a magic word. Go figure.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade remembers that once Avira told him that magic requires belief, intent, and willpower. Being someone firmly grounded in the much more /normal/ side of Manhattan, Mercade grew up with a certain amount of skepticism. Being a detective tends to wear away on you, grinding down your dreams as you run into the darkness again and again But this ship doesn't run on noir. In that moment of abandonment of simple, sane logic (get gun, use gun on heartless, do victory dance) he, perhaps, yielded to a belief that something else could exist out there. It's not like he didn't have ample proof even in the face of his skepticism. But old habits die hard. Regardless, in that moment the Heartless explodes, vanishing as the brilliant power tears through it. Mercade stands there, left with one arm covering his face in an attempt to ward off getting it chomped, while the other holds out... "Wait, that doesn't feel like a stick." Mercade slowly lowers his arm, looking up into the air as he sees the crystalline heart rise up and vanish. "That's... different." He mutters to himself, his mind seizing upon the mystery and beginning to disassemble it. When he's fought Heartless before, that's never happened. They always just vanish in blackness. He has, however, seen that happen before. When Sora killed a Heartless. It released a Heart. He pauses, and slooooowly looks to his hand, and what exactly he is holding.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The blade that Sora wields is simple and unadorned and in some respects, this is likewise. The bronzed metal still shifts slightly when it is being examined. There is an aura about it that it might never truly be known, even to him. Not completely. This ship may not run on noir, but there is a slick and classy feel to the metal underneath his hand. The grip is the color of rain-washed bronze. The handle has a guard that folds around the hand, two small arcs that meet at the end of the hilt. That glassy star from the dream before, the only element that he took from that dream except for the memory of it, is attached there, It is attached in miniature but it's now connected as if it belonged there all along. The blade runs in a smooth, clean lines to where three short tines extend from the end. In a way, the tines in profile look a little like the symbol he saw on the walls on the way into this apartment. But it's more than a sword. It shimmers with that soap bubble tension just by existing. With that held-breath moment of possibility. There is a rough babble of voices and static as the Television turns on in the next room, which from the battered doorway looks identical to the first. The scene inside the next TV is that of the TDA offices. People are coming and going. But there is an noticable absence to these movements. It looks a little like security footage, with a little datestamp in the corner of the picture. Even though the movements are normal speed, the date and the hour flicker by. There is no Mercade Alexander in any of these pictures. They were carrying on without him. Worse. There is no conversation. There is no search. He was not being looked for. The woman in the white hat sat watching the television with her hands in her lap very elegant and properly. She looked up at him, looking up from the television.. and smiled. "Hello Detective."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade, for the moment, feels afraid to hold this object... This... Keyblade..? tightly. As if by holding it too tight it might pop like the bubble it resembles. Pure potential in his hand. How does that even work? Once again, Mercade's analytical mind rallies to make sense of the senseless, but he firmly puts a stop to it. There will be time for that /later/. He looks over as he hears the television in the next room. He walks forward, wondering what he'll see next. And what he sees is... The TDA moving on without him. Where is he? How long has he been gone? Is this like one of those <goosehonk>ing faerie realms where you come out 100 years later? Worry and uncertainty seize Mercade's chest as cold dread spreads down the back of his neck like ice water. And then the woman, again. He looks over to the woman, and blinks, frowning, immediately beginning to ask the first question that comes to mind. "Who..." He pauses. No. That question doesn't matter. "... Why are you here?" Better.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' "Because you asked for me." The woman says in her demur, elegant voice. "After all." she says with the thin razor edge of amusement. "There has to be an explaination for everything." She slowly stands, straightening her shoulders. The fabric and in fact, the woman shimmers slightly, frayed at the edges like an ancient photograph as she walks over and turns off the television. She speaks down towards it as the image fades and goes dull. "And I can give you that, if you wish." There is no sound but the faint chuff of her shoes on the carpet as she walks to the door, opening it and saying over her shoulder. "But there is so much more than that, Detective." A faint smile. "..as I believe, you are beginning to suspect." She pauses at the door. "I will not say it will be an easy road." a gentle chuckle. "But then that would be a lie. And I'd prefer.. the truth. Wouldn't you?" And she walks through the door into whatever else waits, whether or not he follows her.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade frowns at the response from the woman, and his mouth opens to retort... But words don't come. He pauses, something in what she says and how she says it causing him to hold back. An explanation for everything. She says it like it's a joke. Something in him rebels against it, a challenge to his innermost assumptions on life. When she leaves, Mercade follows. He could certainly stop. Let her go, and turn back and try to find a way out... But that would just be turning one's back on the truth he's seeking. A detective is a seeker of truth. Mercade adjusts his hat, drawing down the brim as he scowls. This is going to just get more and more complicated, isn't it... Mercade immediately follows her. If nothing else, he will be true to himself.

Broken Mirror

2013-07-13T17:14:34Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/08 |Location=Costa Del Sol |Synopsis=One cycle of vengeance begets more vengeance. Go figure. |Cast of Characters=Riku, Angantyr Vespar |..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/08
|Location=Costa Del Sol
|Synopsis=One cycle of vengeance begets more vengeance. Go figure.
|Cast of Characters=Riku, Angantyr Vespar
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr arrives in Costa Del Sol... It seems that either he was forgiven or that he was never fingered in the first place...which is good for him because this is a major port hub. He walks through the town, and towards the port. Yes, he can use corridors, but he is trying to minimize his use of them lately...he has enemies in the Shadow Lords now...and Garland not withstanding. Not that Garland has trouble finding him, but every little bit to spit in Garland's eye... Of course, this makes him easier to track by Arcadia. Right now, he is focused on securing transport back to Traverse Town, and getting some food. The last trip was very good for his wallet...but now that he hasn't been focused on making an army....he finds he really only continues to fighting marks for... He hasn't figured that out yet. It was something to do...while he tries to find the place in his dream...and think about what they showed him. Was it too late to step back out of the dark? And of course...the stuff with Maira...his feelings asside.. Ugh...stop thinking brain.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Ugh.. He needed to get away from Archadia for awhile. Just for a day or two before thoughts of the graduation exam exploded his brain. He was /worrying/ about it in a way he should not be worrying. And Costa Del Sol was alway a place to get away. Riku strolled along the beachfront with a disposable camera, occasionally taking a shot of the coastline. He wandered back into town after a long walk along the beach, the little box up to his face as he spotted something through the viewfinder. Riku lowered the camera to look over it in the direction the camera had been pointing. His fingers dug into the little plastic box and then he mastered his expression. He moves along the same path, tucking away the camera and moving to get some food himself. "Angantyr." he says with an obvious attempt to keep a neutral tone. "Looks like you found that decurser."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "Yeah...cost me a pretty penny." Angantyr grumbles, "Stupid cats." He looks towards Riku, and motions towards a cart. "Street venders tend to have some of the best most unhealthiest food known to man." he says with a grin, and gets himself a Gyro from the vender, "But this stuff? I have no idea where it comes from but these things are delicious and filling for their price." he says, and hands one to Riku. He doesn't accept any money in return. "So fancy meeting you here." he says, "Taking a break?" taking a sniff out of reflex... He doesn't seem to have remembered Riku with Arcadia...but a lot was happening then. TOO much..

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "With the various extremely scary guys roaming around in armor, a cat is at least variety." Riku says with infinite dryness. He walks along the town and then lets out a sour laugh. "Yeah. World Travelers dilemma. Having no idea what the food is. So I guess as long as it doesn't try to crawl away." he shrugs one shoulder and takes the gyro from the mercenary. "Yeah. Mark chasing and adventure tends to give me a headache after awhile. I see your still in good with Fluorgis. What have you been up to ?" He takes a bite of the Gyro, grimacing slightly and rubbing the side of his head gingerly.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr is walking right to the beach, he actually likes the beach despite his... Yeah. He takes a bite out of his Gyro, the lamb is really good, it almost reminds him of home with the high hills surrounding the sea...Lamb was almost as common as fish. He had been thinking alot of home lately... "Variety yes. I have no love for the Chaos these days...especially with Scary Armor the Greater as you call him." He shrugs, "Eh, some of the crawling away food is okay if you know how to cook it. Sometime you just have to eat something...caring about what it is ...less important when you are hungry enough." He cracks a smile, "I chase marks less because of the money these days...it feels like I am looking for something, but no idea where to go." he says, "And...lets be honest, we both know what I've been up to. I assume you at least have seen the news, or are somewhat friendly with Arcadia given your actions." he pauses, "And yes...I am on good terms with Fluorgis. Helped them out against some Baren shennanigans."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku nods, taking a bite from the gyro and then looking mildly surprised. He picks some of the lamb away from the skewer and eats it, wiping off his fingers. He looks at Angantyr thoughtfully for a long time and then away at the resort town. "..Well. That makes this a hell of a lot easier. I just want to know one thing." he takes another bite and emphasizes the next word as he looks back at Angantyr. "/Why/?"

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr looks out at the water for a long time. "Look around you." He says...almost demands. "This is a town...not too far removed from my own home. It rested on hills, large hills...next to the sea. We weren't a large country. I wasn't treated the best by my family...but I loved my home. I loved my brother..." "All of that was taken from me by that /man/. That greedy old man that launched war on my home for his own desires...for his own greed. He destroyed everything I held dear, killed everything about my home that made it great..." he says, "I was honest when I was there, I did not want Arcadia to be destroyed...I did...do not want the normal person to suffer as I have...But.." "That man. That monster destroyed my home, he turned my brother against his home...against me. Because of him and his pet dog I had nothing left but darkness. Because of him I fell into Garland's service..." "That's why."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku listens to the story, occasionally taking a bite of the gyro and picking the meat away with his fingers. It was the great thing about food. You had a perfect reason not to talk. And he had to enforce that on himself to keep from spluttering out a series of extremely unpleasant curses in the middle of the mercenaries explanation. That completely was against his sensibilities as a storyteller, so he bit into the gyro, finishing it up and putting the skewer aside whiel Angantyr completes his story. He stretches his arms up above his head and something pops as he lets them fall down to his sides, one of him resting on the hand and a half sword at his hip. "I see." he says quietly. "Thank you for telling me that. Now let me you a story in turn." Riku gestures to the water. "..I didn't come from a place even half this. I came from an island world so becalmed that storms rarely visited it. Where the tide was gentle, like the people. Not too many adventurers come from there because everybody was happy. Everybody knew where they belonged.. except for a very few.. who never quite fit in." He takes a moment to compose his thoughts and continue as a simmering trail of dark smoke rises from his hands that he quells almost instantanously, getting control of himself again.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' WELL NOT ALL OF US ARE STORY TELLERS YOU HIPSTER. HIPSTER! HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPSTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER! Angantyr listens, silent as he eats his Gyro, and nods to indicate he was listening. Yeah...he knew the feeling, he knew about not belonging. He knew all about that...but then again, Angantyr DID feel like he did belong in his home...just not in his home. He shifts...and continues to listen. "Sounds nice, actually. I've always had a love of the ocean."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' The sound of a pair of bongos flying across the fourth wall in Angantyr's direction is loud and obvious. There are fish painted on the hipster bongos. FISHBONGO HIPSTER ATTACK. And then 4th wall spackle is applied and the story continues. "But I lost that home. And I wandered a long time without another one, being passed from hand to hand. I stayed in Hollow Bastion because it was nice to have a place, even for a moment, where I didn't have nightmares. She used me until I decided I wasn't going to allow her too anymore." Riku glares at Angantyr, his voice raising. "You know what that /MONSTER/ I got in your way for did after you had gone? He took a boy too afraid of what his darkness had done to others and gave him something to believe in. Not the flaming empire that you remember. I've read the slanted histories and heard the lectures. I've seen the entitled nobles and the empire that COULD have been. But Archades was not that place under Emperor Gramis. Not NOW, with most of that world lost to darkness. Gabranth believes.. no. He believed in what Archades COULD be. Because it was his home and he loved it. He gave me a home. An actual place to BELONG. And you took that from him. You took that from /ME/." Riku is now shouting at this point. "Let me tell you a tale, VESPAR. About a mercenary so greedy as to put the ghosts of the past who murdered the emperor of a sleeping kingdom and aided in the deaths of so many people FOR HIS OWN DESIRES. For his own /vengeance/. No matter that it wouldn't bring his home back. No matter that his brother made his own damn choices." He takes in a breath, darkness beginning to boil off him in a palpable wave. "Angantyr, You destroyed everything about my home that made it /different/ than the way it used to be. Do you know what Lord Vayne is going to do to Alexandria? And who knows who else will get involved then? He dissolved the senate. Any political book I've ever read says that means BAD THINGS. You did WORSE than destroy my home. You maligned it. You /crippled/ it and left no other option than you had with GARLAND. I bet he must be SO PROUD. And so, I think I am going to indulge in a little vengeance myself." He takes a breath and unsheathes Avakyr, the shimmering sword gleaming with energy. "/Angantyr Vespar/. You are under arrest for the murder of Emperor Gramis. I have no illusions that you will STAY imprisoned, so I am just going to kick the living shit out of you for my satisfaction as a Judge of the Archadian Army. Ready a weapon, Vespar. That's the only warning I am going to give you."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr listens to the boy's rant. He takes it all in, he doesn't say a word, he doesn't frown, smile, laugh...anything. He just stares at Riku, listening to this surreal statement...these words...this richous indignation pointed at him. He listens to the boy's words...if this had come from anyone else...ANYONE else...he'd have drawn his weapon and already started swinging...but this boy...this boy with darkness just like he...this boy who did not know the atrocities...did not understand what the Empire had done...how many nations? How many ruined lives...killed loved ones...broken families? But in his quest for revenge...in his desire to take back from the Empire that was stolen from him...he has created another person. The revilation struck him like a bolt of lightning...Even the words make him angry, but the soul crushing horror of what he has done...Angantyr looks down for a moment, he had created someone like him at the end. Anger and hate has just created another cycle...could he stand and fight this? What about if he let him take his blood? Would not VALKYRI want Riku's head? Riku too had... Angantyr sighs...he could not talk sense into the boy...no more than anyone could into his own head. "Oh fates...you laugh at me so. To see something I had created...just as I have been." He mutters... Angantyr wasn't easily moved to tears, but this was almost there... "Will you fight me here, Riku? Fight me in such a place where others will get caught in the cross fire? A fight between us will wreck the area, might even create someone who will come after you as you come after me. You do not want that on your concious." Angantyr says solemly...but he realizes that he will probably not convince the boy.. The weapon, slowly, and with great weight comes into his hand, slowly lowering into a battle stance. "I will not allow myself to be captured....and lest you forget, I shared no hand in Alexandria's perversities...I warned them of the incoming attack...and Garland's goals. I did more for Arcadia than it deserves..." Angantyr tries to stroke the fire of indignation in his own heart...that hate he felt for so long... "You were not there to bare witness to the Empire's deeds before the World of Ruin. They only reason they did not expand...was because of the lack of Magicite, they focused on keeping their own resources up...their own citizens happy and placated...well, the ones that matter. Nevermind those in the slums that will wither and die from disease, hunger, or being killed by each other in their sick desire to ascend." "You say the Emperor was a good man? That man ordered many contries such as mine destroyed and absorbed...one of which still exists. Go ask a survivor of Rabanastre what happened....if they are not too afraid of you because of the colors you ware. I killed a monster...I regret that innocent people died and were hurt to give me that oppertunity...but I took advantage of what I could not prevent...and had tried to prevent. What you are angry about is their suffering, and that...you will have to look at your own..." he sighs. "I can't even say it. I do not have the heart any longer for this Riku. Simply let us be done with this meaningless cherade. Let my blood quench your thirst for revenge...lest another victim of this pointless cycle be born."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "oooh no." Riku says softly, gritting his teeth so hard that his head aches. "We'll go somewhere /private/ let me assure you. If I have to build the arena myself. Nobody has to get hurt but us." He shakes his head. Darkness still boils off him in waves, the surroundings becoming smeared as if the area around them was painted in watercolor instead of being a real place. "And I never said he was a good man. I never said Archades was a good place. I'm not that foolish.. and people like me go to places like they deserve to go, but it was /sleeping/ and the Judge Magisters were for a MOMENT permitted to dream of what it COULD have been instead of what it was." Riku lowers the sword a little, although it's still kept ready. The anger starts to seep out of his voice. "And that dream died with the emperor, and so many others that suffered for unknown whims..I barely even believe Alexandria was behind the attacks either because why did they STOP? Why haven't they come again? No.. you were just an opportunist with time and blood on his hands. And that does not excuse what you did." Riku lows the sword further. "...I stood up for you." he says quietly. "..It was wrong. What they did to your home. It could have been mine. I /RAGED/ at them.. about these same things. But I hoped.." he takes in a shaky breath. "..but I hoped to make a difference. To see fairness and justice where there had only been death if I had to carve it out myself." He shakes his head. "I still hope that. But it is a dying one, seeing how people have been twisted by the assault. Now every voice is turned back towards war. Congratulations, Angantyr. The Dragon of Archades is awake again. And since it was not slain.. it will trample, and claw and consume others in it's wake." The surroundings of Costa Del Sol shatter like thin sugarglass, leaving a dark and silent place behind with a shimmering golden light at the far extreme. "You want this to be finished? Fine. So do I.. but what did I say? I said beat the living shit out of you. I do not require you to die." He spins the sword around again and levels it at Angantyr, smirking. "That would let you off too easy." He then sprints forwards across the endless darkness, cutting low at the knee and then high at the shoulder.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "Do you think I know not?" Angantyr says, "Too late did I realize what I had done when it was my former master's words through my Ma Belle to tell me what I had wrought." Angantyr says, mellow...he was focusing on something, letting the words flow from him...so the boy did not require his death, maybe...there was some glimmer of hope. Faint as it maybe... "I do not...nor will I ever regret the death of the emperor...nor will I back down from putting down the Dog of the Empire. Somethings will not...no must not be forgotten.." Riku comes in with a quick strike, Angantyr swings the mace to catch the blade with his own, the two weapons clash for a brief moment, before Angantyr swings again, aiming to try and catch Riku in the weapon's range...but the boy was quicker than he gave him credit for... Angantyr does not stop, he steps forward to follow the boy, aiming to swing his weapon down in a merciless strike for the boy...while he might regret his actions, he can not fall here... "War was going to come no matter what...but let it be known, Garland's hands are at work in Arcadia...with or without my actions...this would have happened. The result would have been the same...does it escuse me? <GOOSEHONK> no. But if you are...so keen on trying to change Arcadies, then maybe you should be better armed than you are. I have no desire to see you..." he shrugs, "Destroyed."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku shifts his stance and using his other hand, clashes with the downswinging mace in a clean arc that snaps the mace to one side as he is already in movement. He grunts faintly in pain as the shock literally numbs his arms for a moment but he literally steps into Angantyr's range, pressing a hand flat against Angantyr's chestplate. "I don't know.." he says vaguely, his eyes going distant for a moment as if he is searching for something, reaching down.. and a flare of brilliant light explodes outwards from his hand as he attempts to grab Angantyr by one shoulder and kick him straight into the air. Riku marks the air with a rune that flares to life behind him and then shatters as he swings the sword straight for a double slash for Angantyr's ribs before fading backwards. "I'm still waiting on that part. So I suppose I have to make due." he snorts. "And I would NOT be surprised. Scary Armor the greater seems to be everywhere these days."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr is surprised by the brilliant flare, the kick sends him flying...which isn't something he's used to by something half his size. Riku has a strength beyond his years...and that is something that is going to be interesting as he matures... Angantyr corrects himself midair, just in time for Riku to come at him. The double slash hits his armor, causing Angantyr some pain...but he immediately dives towards the ground, aiming to use the mace to drag the young boy with him, and plant him right into the earth. On the ground, Angantyr finds his stance again, and swings the mace in a powerful arch towards his legs, aiming to try and hit the boy where it would hurt the most...his nimbleness. "He is more preverlant than you realize. His hands are in Arcadia and in Alexandria..." Angantyr says with a moment to look around... Good, he didn't burst into flames, nor is his former master here to strike him down. Small miracles.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku appears to be ready for something like that and the sword whips across the air, a shimmering aura around it as he attempts to fend off the blow. He miscalculates the timing though and the mace crunches into his leg, causing him to topple over into a loose roll with a cry inbetween grit teeth. "Aggh.." he curses softly. "I .. ugh.. suppose that's why you think it's inevitable." he snorts painfully, staggering painfully to his feet. He lowers the point of the sword and extends a hand to the surroundings. A tangle of dark thorns explode in several places, not under Angantyr's feet but in places around him to the sides. The tendrils reach out for him, attempting to wrench him off his feet and slam him bodily into the 'walls' of his shadow enclosure. "There has to be some way to stop him." Whether or not the thorns actually grab anything, he capitalizes on the distraction to try and make up for his lessened mobility. He tries to lay into Angantyr with two more slashes, runic images flaring and then shattering like glass in his wake.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "It is." Angantyr says, as he tries to adjust for the next strike. Riku was fast, but so was Angantyr...Riku could not use his speed to escape him, while he came in, he would brutally follow... Riku's blade digs into the Mercinary, drawling blood and nearly knocks the wind from Ang...but he steps forward, through the tendrils...they slam him, but on the ground it is hard to move Angantyr anywhere...he weathers the blows, even as Thorns tear through his armor...and he steps through finally, and drives the weapon down, aiming to take Riku's last advantage from him. "If you think there is a way to defeate him...then let me give you a taste of what his lessons bring!" Angantyr shouts, before darkness starts to wash off his body in waves... He does not summon the armor, he was not given enough time...or desire. This was not to be a killing blow, but a painful one. Angantyr swings once, aiming to try and bounce Riku off of the ground with the blow, while his right hand shifts...darkness pouring through his body as he aims to GRAB Riku by the front of his armor... And then the blood spilled by the Dark knight can be seen all around him, pooling into a series of red claws that aim to repeatedly strike out and up at Riku, aiming to tear into his body and drain his very life into the Dark Knight... "This is but a small drop in the bucket compared to Garland."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Optional BGM: http://www.listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=dE1eCoj2D1s Again he saw it coming. He raises the sword to block and is battered aside, the mercenary tearing through his guard like tissue paper. His back rebounds hard enough against the theorhetical 'floor' of this dark space with enough force to jar his senses and knock the wind from his lungs. His head cracks against the unyielding darkness and stars swim in front of his eyes. He's jerked roughly forwards and into the waiting grip of the bloody claws. They claw up the sides of his legs as he struggles and thrashes, gasping in shorter and shorter breathes as the claws reach up towards chest level in a roiling red barrage. Riku locks eyes with Angantyr, his body twitching and convulsing as he swallows scream after scream that batters against the inside of his mouth. He never looks away, even when his eyes become glassy with shock and pain. A foot slaps ineffectively against his armor as if Riku was trying to get his body to respond to him again and push him away from the fel grasp. The teenager twitches and struggles a final time before going completely still, dead weight lolling forwards limply as his eyes go dark. A second later it seems the fire that had gone out was rekindled, flaring to life behind his eyes as Riku attempted to slam a foot into Angantyr's chestplate as he hands struck a numbing blow at their wrist, attempting to flip backwards into a crouch. He tries and then fails to return to his feet, digging the sword into the ground to help him wrench himself to his feet. He retrieved the sword from the darkness, the same unyielding expression set on his features as he spins the sword and levels it at Angantyr. "..I guess you're going to have to get a bigger eyedropper then." he heaves in several ragged breaths, a dark wind blowing around him. The many tearing gouges and slashes begin to close and heal. Slowly the sword lowers to the ground again and he just stares at the mercenary, face set in an expression of quiet defiance to the urge to pass out.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr pauses... That look...that defiant look... He remembers that look because it was a mirror, that look he had when he stared down his brother and Gabranth...that look when he stared down Garland on their first meeting. Angantyr has been moving from battle to battle...strife to strife...only after meeting...people had he realized what it was to live, and he forced himself to push on. And here he was...staring at another... Angantyr lowers his own weapon. This fight had lost all meaning...in reality, everything probably just lost meaning. What was the point, he had become what he hated in the end. He was the harbringer of destruction like Gabranth was before him. The difference was he did so out of hate fuled revenge...instead of blind loyalty. The mace lowers, to the ground... "You're better than before. You've found something to believe in, to fight for. Something to die for." he says slowly, "Don't...never ever /EVER/ lose sight of that. Don't give in to stupid revenge...petty hatred." he says, "Don't become me." And then Angantyr turns. He doesn't care of Riku strikes him from the back. He can't take this anymore.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' And the thought appeals to him. He could do it, and the only way he WOULD be able to do it is now. He had turned his eyes from Angantyr once, several times before. Had stood up for him. Had believed.. Riku narrows his eyes and his shoulders relaxed. He looked hard at Angantyr for a long time, staring into his back for even longer. What would it cost him to do this? What would it cost.. so many unknown others if Angantyr decided to veer once again into vengeance? Riku closes his eyes and shakes his head. No. It... It wouldn't be just. And wasn't that what he had aspired to? Had strived for? He had to be better. "Hrrrn.." he growls between grit teeth. Riku turns before he can say anything else, snapping out a hand to the surroundings. It shatters like glass, returning the world to the resort town surroundings as he steps into a dark corridor without another word.

Fragmentary Passage: Luso

2013-07-08T03:05:34Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/07 |Location=??? Destati |Synopsis=Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices. |Cast o..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/07
|Location=??? Destati
|Synopsis=Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices.
|Cast of Characters=Mystery Box, Luso Clemens
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' Night falls and strange dreams crowd around the edges as the past comes filtering through a hazy lens of dreamscape fog. An empty playground shrouded by mist from the days before he ever touched the grimoire. There are voices but they are only echoes, dim and unclear and distorted. A sky of thunderclouds roil low and menacingly. There is a sound of cracking ice. The playground begins to show these cracks as if it were made out of thin ice on the top of a dark lake instead of grass and concrete and asphault. The cracks quickly spread until with a sound like splintering glass there is a sensation of falling. A splash of water. Drifting through a cylinder of darkness to the bottom where a stained glass image lay mostly obscured by dirt and sand. To a place that seems.. distantly familiar, but with a staircase winding around this place of darkness that wasn't there s econd ago.. winding up to a ragged slash in the cylinder through which the sounds of a city are distantly filtering through.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Luso stood within this dreamscape, lacking his usual Ivalician clothing. He was in his familiar school uniform, standing at the playground. "...Wow, I haven't seen this place in so long..." But there was no one to be seen. Only echoes. "Hey...! Is anyone here?" He called out to the noise, wondering if someone would answer. No one did. But what he did notice were cracks forming within the space. They quickly spread until the entire place shattered. "W-Whoa!" He cried, feeling himself falling back. A sensation of rushing water washed over him and he instintively tried to hold his breath, only to realize moments after that he didn't need to. ...Hadn't this sort of thing happened before? With the breaking of the dreamscape, Luso was back in his usual flameboyant outfit, the memories of his school days vanished for now as he landed upon the surface of the obscured stained glass. ".....Where the heck am I?" Luso mumbled, taking a bit to walk across the surface, trying to discern the image below him. After a bit with no luck, he decided that his time was better spent elsewhere. Wait a second, when did that staircase get there? The boy blinked a couple times before shrugging his shoulders and moving towards them, aiming to go upwards. It sounded lik activity was up wherever it was leading. Time to see just what was up.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' At the top of the stairs there as a green Ivalician countryside under a heavy rain. At the very edges were buildings that he could not quite place but who looked vaguely familiar. A dirt road already starting to churn to mud cut through the green hills. The rain oddly fell through Luso instead of on him, as if he were some sort of ghost only observing this land stretching out ahead of him. There were also blades. Hundreds, many hundreds of thousands of blades peppering the hills around him. The ancient blades are embedded in the turf under the constant rain. Some of them are intricate while others are simple. Some proud and others humble. But they are all dull and broken and very lifeless. A vaguely male voice says abruptly at his elbow. "Where do you think this path leads?" In the backdrop, shrouded in mist until the voice had spoken (or simply had appeared like the staircase had) A luminous clocktower stands in the midst of the background, dominating it. Violet fire illuminates the place where the numbers are, numbered from I to XII with the big metal hands pointing to 'I' There is a hooded figure there along with the voice, just like the staircase and the clock. An older boy about twice Luso's age pulls back the hood, silver hair sodden with the rain. "Forgive the theatrics, Luso Clemens. They are somewhat inevitable." They speak with a voice that is not quite one thing ot another. Like bits and pieces of different voices put together. "I needed a moment of your time.. unobserved, and that time is beginning to run short. Would you walk with me, perhaps only for a minute or two? I won't be long." The unknown figure gestures to the winding path cutting through the countryside.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Coming out to the top of the stairs, Luso paused as he bore witness to the sight before him. It looked like a countryside, and those buildings in the distance. They were...somewhat familiar. But he'd need to get closer to be completely sure. And let's not forget about the rain. "Whoa, that's some heavy rain!" He exclaimed, reaching behind him for some manner of umbrella perhaps. It only dawned on him moments after that...hey, he wasn't getting wet at all! The rain was actually going /through/ him. "...Now this is just weird." He mumbled after, raised a hand a bit to watch as nothing hit it. A voice broke the boy out of his reverie soon after and he looked down by his side in surprise, and then back ahead, this time spying the literal sea of swords before him. All broken and dull, but swords nonetheless. And beyond them all, a clock tower looming. "Where it leads...?" He couldn't rightly answer that question. Considering the fact that he didn't know. ...Or did he know? "...I don't know. But...there's only one way to find out!" Apparently that would be his answer. Calling it out to the mist, Luso watched as the clock gradually winded all the way up to I. And then the hooded figure. Wow, this sure was an intricate dream... "Huh? Who're you?" He certainly didn't know anyone like this guy before him. Seeing the hood pulled back, it didn't help matters at all. ...Oh well! "A moment of my time?" The boy asked, crossing his arms in feigned thought. "Well. I guess it can't hurt. Not like I have a lot to do otherwise." That said, Luso nodded and moved forward to join the older boy on the winding path.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' The older boy handwobbles. "Call me Lucas. That's as good a name as anything else." he chuckles faintly and walks along the road for awhile. "Hey. Do you know why your here?" He gestures. "I mean.. why your here before I showed up. Did they tell you anything or just keep you in the dark? A lot of people have been asking questions. About the worlds. About things that happened in the past. They didn't say anything?" The boy makes a gesture with one hand. "Old guy. Big pointed hat. Long beard? Goes by the name of Merlin?" The older boy continues to walk and the Clock never seems to get any closer although the buildings in the background do. Gradually they find themselves in the midst of a town, the features indistinct like running watercolors. It could be any town although the architecture is vaguely something from Ivalice just like the countryside.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Lucas then. Alright." Withh a name to go to the face, Luso nodded and walked alongside him, listening to his questions. "Ehhh...why I'm here? Not really. I do sort of recall the place before this. Some voice telling me about darkness and...light. I thought it was just a weird dream." He paused then, bringing a hand to his chin to consider. "This IS a dream, right?" He shrugged then, not seeming too bothered by things just yet. He watched the buildings in the distance get closer and closer while answering the next question. "Merlin? ...Ohhhhh! That guy! Yeah, he explained /some/ stuff to us. Like about how certain shards are needed to respore worlds, and how the Keyblade is needed to lock the world heart or something like that..." Crossing his arms then, Luso looked about as they arrived in the town. ...It looked vaguely familiar, but at the same time, it wasn't. It was rather disconcerting in a way. "...But that's all I know for sure."

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' Lucas walks over to a message board and looks at the postings there. He picks one up and moves it, revealing another one underneath it. "You know this has been going on for thousands of years?" he says over his shoulder as he examines the board that seems, like Luso, not to be effected by the rain. He turns to lean on the board, crossing his arms. Whether this is a dream or not is left up for debate. "Heh. Of course not. The sorcerers don't tell people anything but what they want to hear." he shakes his head. "But I'm not the sort of guy who just tells people things. There's this whole history behind keyblades. Some of it's in there." he jerks a thumb at the clanhall. "About the way they were given to others and about the war that nearly shattered the universe once. But.. the sorcerers don't want anybody to know, because they think it'll happen all over again." Lucas shakes his head. "But it's only some of the answers. And you can always just go back. I am, of course, all about people making choices." The older boy evaporates in the heavy rain, leaving the doors of the clanhall open and the winding road that cuts back through the hills.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "What we want to hear...?" Luso asked, furrowing his brows slightly at Lucas' words. But even more than that, this keyblade thing has been going on for /how long/ now? It sort of blew his mind. "I had no idea..." And now he was curious. Oh so curious. Was this something he wasn't supposed to know? The notion gave Luso pause for about a second. And then it was tossed to the wind. Watching Lucas evaporate in the rain, the boy was pretty sure this was a dream now. But...all of this begged investigation. And investigate he would. Steeling himself, he examined the message board for a moment before forging on ahead. His destination? The clan hall. He would get to the bottom of this. Or at least take the first few steps.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' The message board is like any adventurer board anywhere. Some advertisements, some postings.. but they were mostly bounty postings. Messages between people. Taken as an overall picture, it was people calling out for help. Calling across the distance. Inside the Clanhall, a number of papers have been strewn about the empty space. Some of them have been tacked to the walls like impromptu messages. Some of them are crammed into tight spaces near the ceilings, only accessible by careful reach. Others are partially hidden under chairs or rugs. The Clock, which ostensibly had been left behind or SHOULD have been, is easily visible from a window where it should be visible. Each notice has a single word on it that is highlighted and circled. These are what they say. Victory-- circled in red pen on a bounty posting underneath a chair. Dividing Line-- Crossed out on a advertisement pinned to a map of Ivalice. The Last Key-- Underlined several times and crammed into a jar on a high shelf. Endless -- Circled in blue pen and halfway hidden under a rug. Tower of Voices -- Written forwards and backwards on a folded piece of paper near the door. Zero Point -- Taped to the back of a chair. There is a tattered notice at eye level near the front door. It reads only. "There is never time for everything."

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Entering into the Clan Hall, Luso searched high and low, occasionally coming upon various papers all displaying some word or another crossed out, circled, folded, or some other manner. Eventually having found what he figured was all of them, he sat down at a table, spreading out all the papers in front of him. "Victory...Dividing Line...The Last Key...Endless...Tower of Voices...Zero Point...And finally, there is never time for everything..." The boy repeated everything he had found, bringing a hand to his chin and stroking thoughtfully. "...Wow, this makes no sense!" Was his initial reaction, but he shook his head and thought a little harder. "Okay, okay...The Last Key must be referring to a Keyblade, I bet. Dividing Line...maybe that's the divide between Light and Darkness? Victory...I'm guessing one side won maybe..." Luso went on in that manner, poring over the notes tirelessly. "Tower of Voices though...Maybe that's an important place involved in all of this, but...I've never heard of it." A sigh escaped from him then as he turned his gaze away from the clues and over to the window and out at The Clock. "...Huh."

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' When he looks back to the notes, all of the papers are blank except for the words that are underlined or circled. There is a faint aura of pressure that moves through the room. The papers seem somewhat different now in the wake of that pressure wave. Each of them has a tenuous feeling of unreality, like whatever they might be holding back could rupture at any time like a soap bubble. They lay not together but slightly apart. They lay in no specific order. They just exist. Pockets of investigation waiting for a priming touch.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Looking back to the notes, Luso was surprised to find that only the clues were remaining on the paper. "Whoa..." But something was off. He just couldn't help but shake this /feeling/ permeating throughout the room. And he was no closer to solving things. This was some sort of puzzle, wasn't it? ...Only one way to find out, again. Deciding to try something, he began to rearrange the clues into an order that he figured made sense. Starting off with... Tower of Voices, Dividing Line, Endless, Zero Point, Victory, and finally, the Last Key. "There, that looks good!" Luso exclaimed, nodding and then standing up to look over the arrangement of clues once more.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' There is a surge of voices. A mental whiplash as one after the other is touched. There is a sound of bubble wrap popping in quick succession. Images and sounds and knowledge trying to cram itself sideways into an already crammed shelf of the mind. White thrones. A feeling of dread. The smell of dusty air. A single heartbeat. A woman's voice. The drawning of swords, a blast of energy fierce enough to be a detonation. Then more, and more, compounded on itself until hundreds, thousands of different images are trying to crash into the same space at the same time. It takes only a moment, and then it passes. Each of the clues burn slightly luminous as they fade back into actual ink and words again. Maybe.. you should only touch one piece of paper at a time.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Luso blinked, feeling disoriented for a moment as the visions hit him all at once. "Whoa...!" Okay, that didn't work, but he was closer now. Deciding to sit down, lest he trip over his own feet now, the boy reached out nd took hold of the first piece of paper in the order he set. The Tower of Voices.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' The world is white. It is so stark. It is blindingly so. A white room. There are a number of what can only be called thrones winding up the sides of a spiraling staircase. Each of them is absent but there is a feeling, a sense of dark and terrible presence in each of these empty seats of differing heights. The stairs continue to spiral upwards. Sometimes it will twist and the perspective will shift and what had become the top of the stairs is now the bottom of the stairs. The dark presence increases as each empty throne is passed. There is evil there, if there is anything with a CAPITAL E. It feels like passing each throne is like passing through a series of barriers and with each barrier, the voices get louder. People in trouble. In need. People crying out. There is a need, crushing and immediate, for someone-- ANYONE to answer them. The sound of breaking glass. Angry voices. Landing blows. At the very top of the stairs is the last and louder barrier. Beyond it is a small and blindingly sparce white room with a single last throne. It is utterly silent, a ringing silence where an echoing nothing sits-- an ABSENCE so great that it nearly draws the silohuette of that dark presence in the air as a shimming place of void. Perspective shifts and it's a sword in the stone. A crackling, shimmering something jutting from the throne like power incarnate. Power enough to defeat all evils and repel all foes. Power enough to do.. anything.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Luso found himself staring at white. Or more specifically, this room was white. Almost blinding in it's purity. Yet, someone seemed wrong still. Traveling through, Luso found himself going up a spiral staircase, passing by what seemed to be thrones of some kind. Each holding a presence more disconcerting than the last. It was horribly confusing. Sometimes, it seemed like perspective was shifting. Sometimes, it felt like he was moving all wrong. But eventually, he made it to the top. The journey there was accompanied by the growing sounds of voices. People seemingly in trouble. Luso frowned at this and spoke up. "Hello? I'm here! Who's out there?" There was no answer, just the sound of glass shattering and people yelling. Finally up at the top, he could spot one last throne. There was no one sitting in it, yet, the very fact that no one was there seemed to create a presence all it's own. The pressure was so great that Luso wound up taking a step back inadvertently. "What the..." But before he could deliberate upon this mystery any further, perspective shifted once again. This time what was before his eyes was a sword. A sword embedded into the surface. "......" Quietly, Luso regarded this sword. This power. It was incredible. ...But it wasn't his to take. Shaking his head, Luso turned his back on the sight.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' The clanhall returns. There is a chiming and the Clock outside reads "IV" with four chimes almost shaking the entire clanhall underneath his feet. The tower was there in one moment and then gone the next. Everything has returned to the way it was before, with the papers stretched out on the table. The Tower of Voices paper is completely blank.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' And then everything went white again. Once his vision returned he was sitting back in the clan hall. The rumbling beneath his feet gave him pause and he looked out of the window at the clock. "...I get it now." Luso mumbled to himself, looking over the papers. There was limited time to see only a select few of these...clues. "So I won't be able to look at all of them." That was his theory anyway. "It's IV now, so...I can look at two more before the clock strikes XII. ...I think." Nodding to himself again, Luso pondered just what to see. He already checked out Tower of Voices, so... Luso reached out, picking up the paper with the words 'Dividing Line'.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' The ground cracks and splits apart with a sound like splintering glass. It is a short fall to the next series of clues. A short fall through dusty air that parches the lungs and reddish black stone carved by massive amounts of force. Ravines and craters are commonplace on this battlefield. The landscape is broken up into small areas of frozen time. There is a /massive/ tower in the distance made up of darkness and starry sky. Above it is a radiant moon, vaguely heart shaped through which a grand radiance pours down. The battlefield has been chopped up into these artfully displayed dioramas and filled with empty suits of armor bearing ancient and rusted blades. In between these places are corridors of dark glass that extend out into the distance. In fact, the entire battlefield, seen from a sufficient height would paint out a stained glass window much like how this dream began. Each island tells a silent story of loss and struggle. Victory and defeat. This is not just one time. One place. The tower and the moon is a constant as much as the clock was before. They are changeless. Enduring. Every other scene.. comes from an endless stream of variations. Clothes and attitudes and armor change, but the reasons stay the same. There are just as much cry for vengeance as cry for salvation. Just as many big dreamers whose whims would save the world from itself or conquer it. Just as many who reach for the impossible. For the return of those lost to darkness. For the salvation of a town or a city or a nation. For the very resurrection of the dead. And the moon overhead and the tower is the line drawn in the sand pitting all these hearts against each other. Other forces can be felt in the background as well. The agents of some fell chaotic force sowing discord. It is sometimes innocuous and sometimes overwhelming and ominous. All profiting from the bloodshed, no matter which side 'won' -- prolonging and escalating the conflict. Lucas stands regarding a trio of warriors in armor, an unarmored and elderly man holding one of their number by the head. Holding them off the ground as a stab of ice races across their armor. He walks his away around the small island unhurriedly. "Things don't stop simply because their reasons are forgotten. The sorcerers meant to hide it. To bury the worlds in forgetfulness and rewrite the story to their liking. But that is not how things work. This story.." he gestures to the picture before him and then around them. "And every story begins the same way. And it will end the same.. without caution."

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Finding himself in a new place, Luso looked about, finding the tower of darkness in the distance and the vaguely heart shaped moon in the sky above to be the only things that seemed to persist. Everything else though; keyblades, armor, dusty ravines and craters...this place looked terrible. Like a massive battle was fought here time and time again... "Just what is this place...?" The boy wondered, walking along and observing every instance. There were slight variations in the people, the weapons, the armors, but the base conflict remained the same through each one. But there was more than that. The tower and the moon seemed to be drawing a line. A dividing line that separated the two sides and brought forth this conflict. It was terrible. "All of this fighting...for what reason?" Luso mumbled to himself, eventually spotting Lucas. He slowed down to a stop a few steps away from him, following the sight all the way to the scene of three people in armor facing off against an elderly man. And he seemed to be holding his own all the same. "What the..." Lucas' words cut into his question and he listened. "...Wait, you mean that this is what really happened? This is the truth behind the worlds, the darkness, and the keyblades?" He looked all around at the various similar outcomes. Different people, different times, all the same conflict. "...This is ridiculous. Why in the world is all this fighting necessary any? There has to be reason!"

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' "Because of that." Lucas points up at the luminous moon. "Kingdom Hearts. The source.. no.. have you ever heard the expression that all worlds are connected to the same sky? That is why." The older boy shakes his head. "Everybody wants something. And Kingdom Hearts is the very essence of a wish. The universe is out of balance because of what happened so very long. The heartless are a symptom of that imbalance." Lucas shook his head. "They thought they were being clever. They would not choose and uplift aspirants as in the old traditions. In the traditions that led to the fate that youve seen." He gestures to the blades. "All of these? Keyblades. Wielded by knights in the service of light or darkness. But the sorcerers feared the darkness and so chopped off their arms to spite their bleeding fingers." He begins walking amongst the frozen tableaus. " They cast a wide and subtle net that would niggle and fish for those who were strong and stalwart. Those who were wise and compassionate. Those who were champions -- and eventually, to send dreams and visions to those chosen few. Chaos and darkness cannot intervene if they do not know whom to shatter." He laughs quietly. "It's a flawed plan from the start. But.. then aren't they all?" Lucas disappears and so does the dusty graveyard stretching to the horizon, leaving only the clanhall in it's wake. Everything seems washed out and somehow grey, everything taking on a monotone as the Clock chimes out "VIII"

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Luso remained quiet at Lucas' explanation of Kingdom Hearts, The essence of a Wish, and the imbalance of the worlds. "....The same sky..." He still found all this fighting ridiculous, but...suppose that one couldn't solve everything in one night. And then there were the sorcerers. Apparently they knew a whole lot more than they were telling everyone. It was suspicious enough on it's own. And it certainly seemed like it was all that effective, like Lucas had said. But then, what /did/ he know? Watching Lucas disappear, the environment soon followed and then it was back to the table. "....." It was VIII now. One more clue to pick, and then it was over. Which to choose? Luso's eyes swept over the remaining pieces of paper slowly before his eyes settled on... The Last Key.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' The light this time at the touch of the paper is more of an explosion. A collison of great forces against each other that reaches out and rends the paper thin tissue of this dreamlike reality. Another flare of brilliant and piercing light sears across the reforming landscape like a spear. A curtain of stars and galaxies makes up the terraced pathways of this tower to the heavens. It's the massive tower seen from far away now seen VERY up close and personal. The tower itself seems crafted out of starstuff with the empty space in every direction giving an incredible vista of a ruined and barren world. Great scars and ravines have carved the landscape. Darkness has tainted and and corrupted the land. Light has seared and scorched. A beam of darkness from the top of the tower collides with the spear of light and a pressure wave explodes from the antipode of forces that sets the tower to noticeably quaking. Straight overhead, large and close enough almost to touch is a pillar of twilight energy. A spire that reaches up to the moon of this world which is a luminous blue and vaguely heart shaped. A powerful radiance pours down along with that eerie blue, pure energy pouring down along that spire of energy like a waterfall. It is the nexus of perfect interconnection. A web that spans a universe. A complete and terrible unity waiting for a controlling hand. Power in it's purest context without mortal filter or constraint. The price, and the stakes, of this contest going on all around him. Along the stairways and corridors of the starlight tower are the dead. Armored figures lay where they fell, discarded soldiers in an unknown war. The battle continues unabated up about, massive surges of light and darkness exploding against each other. Shards of crystal rain from the sky at every impact.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Whoa!" Luso cried, shielding his face with an arm at the explosion of light, rending the dreamscape and bringing forth another reality. This would be his last journey into the past, would it? Deciding not to think too hard about it, Luso lowered his arm, staring upwards at the tower and then out across the terrace and into the empty space. Down below, the land was ruined, barren. It looked as if great and powerful forces warred on this land, and this was all that was left in the aftermath. It reminded him of the Jagd. But now wasn't the time. Watching the opposing forces collide, Luso was forced to grip onto a guard rail to keep himself from falling. "Holy cra-Gah! What the heck is going on up there!?" Quickly deciding that complaining wasn't going to solve anything, the boy steadied himself and then rushed off, aiming to try to ascend this tower to get to the bottom of this. Motionless armored figures littered the stairways and corridors, painting a grim backdrop to the scene. "Was this another keybade war...?" Shaking his head, Luso pressed onwards, climbing the stairs. He could hear the sounds of battle going on above and outside in the empty space...crystal shards were raining down. This looked like an absolute disaster! "I've got to get to the top!" And so he looked forward and resumed rushing up the stairs.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' There are several more cataclysmic crashes in which the entire tower seems on the very threshold of coming apart. At some point, darkness devoured the endless vista of the world below the tower and now this single last foothold is left as contested bastion. This looks like the very last place left in the world, in the universe. The darkness reaches up to the lower reaches of the tower, and there.. the millions of eyes can be seen. A solid sea of heartless in many thousands of different forms are clawing their way up the tower towards the spire. They crash against the base of the tower and it trembles. They will be here soon. At the very apex of the spire there is nothing to mark the great contest of wills except the energy spire that connects the starlight tower with that immediate moon. Even the din has been sucked from the air leaving the spire in ringing silence. Hanging in the middle of that pillar of energy is a sword. Well.. actually. It's no more a sword than it is a concept. The intricate traceries jutting from the entwined spirals and curves are completely unsuited for a weapon that is more than decoration -- but it is far from decorative in bearing. It is all that stands between anyone and entering the spire of energy. A last battered guardian with massive cracks and battle damage having wounded the ancient weapon, glowing lines tracing each and every one of these faults.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Ah, sheesh! It feels like this Towers gonna come crashing down at any moment...!" And that would not be the best turnout. Not at all. But something else catches Luso's attention then. Looking downwards, he can see darkness swalling up the lower reaches. ...And then countless yellow eyes. "Oh crap!" Not wasting any more time, he bounded up the stairs, finally reaching the top where the energy spire could be seen. All was silent, but there was no time to rest. The Heartless were coming. They would be here soon. He had to move fast! But wait... "What the heck is that? ...A sword?" No, not exactly, he could have sworn he saw one, but...maybe not. But there was certainly something there. "...Wow. ...Oh wait, the Heartless!" Luso then brought himself back to reality and dashed forward, stopping at the side of the last remaining guardian. "Hey! hey! The Heartless are coming! You've gotta do something!" He spoke frantically to the figure, urging him to move and fight. He must have forgotten that this was a dream.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' The figure does not move but there is a definite feeling of presence, although not from the empty armor but from the sword hanging suspended in the energy field. The heartless begin to scramble onto the platform and worse, they begin to tower overhead. A living wave of darkness. There is an intense feeling from behind as if something was observing. The sword? Weighing and considering. It is not good or evil. It is simply proud. And it reads.. reads.. and reads.. and reads.. Memories and emotions and intents. The energy field expands slowly at first. The heartless reach up in an endless black tide, stretching far overhead and crashing down towards Luso. The energy field feels like cool, refreshing energy and passes over him without a sound. The field is shielding him as they make ready to defend against such terrifying odds. The darkness crashes against the light barrier with that presence looking on. White flash. And there is a explosion that pushes Luso back into the clanhall. Everything is completely grey and lifeless. Monotone and filled with a ringing silence. In hand is a sharp metallic fragment of white gold, like a shimmering part of the sword.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' No response. The armored figure was already gone. "Gah, fine then!" Luso looked upwards as the literal wave of darkness loomed over him and then crashed down. Ready to stand and fight. Luso stood at the ready, showing no fear...or maybe it was just false bravado. Either way, the power of a mysterious barrier protected him from the torrential force of darkness. And then everything went white again. Once his vision returned, Luso found himself back in the clan hall. Everything looked grey and...lacking. The life had vanished from this place Or at least what little was left. "Tch...! These memories..." He grumbled, clenching a hand over the shard he held. Wait, shard? Glancing down, Luso finally noticed that he was holding something. "Huh? When did this...?" Raising his hand, he examined the object closer, momentarily putting aside the lifeless state of his surroundings.

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' And there was Lucas again, near the doorway where he had not been before. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He lifts two fingers and makes a faint wave with them. "So now you know a little bit more than you did. About power.. and the past.. and all the things that have come before." He gestures to the fragment. "Keep that close. It might help you in times to come." he gestures for Luso to walk with him again and walks out of the clanhall. Outside however.. it's the playground that started this dream. There are the echoes of people playing, just silohuettes like faded memories. "I'd like to ask you for something, Luso. You asked me if this was a dream and I didn't answer. But I wanted to see how you would react first. If I could trust you." Lucas shrugs. "Believe me paranoid if you want. But I need help. To restore the old ways before the worlds, and everyone on them cascade into even further peril."

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Holy cra-" Luso jumped upon hearing Lucas, looking over that way and calming down. "You really have to stop doing that!" He paused at that, and then added on to his statement. "Or better yet, teach me how to do that! I'd be the ultimate ninja! Ahahahaha!" Finding a laugh in that statement, he straightened up and moved to follow after the older boy out of the clan hall and outside... ...to the Playground? What? He can hear voices of people playing again and there were no cracks about this time. That was a relief. Slowing down to a stop by Lucas, he glanced aside at him, listening. "Huh...So that's how it was?" Luso looked ahead at that, watching the various silohuettes moving about. "To restore the old ways..." This seemed like a huge issue, and if what he saw wasn't a lie...it was even more important than anything he's ever seen before. "...Alright. If there's any way I can help, I'll do my best to do so."

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' Lucas grins wryly. "I might just do that. It's very handy for sneaking around." Lucas seems to be standing on one side of the playground. Some white lines separate him from Luso and he makes a 'come on' gesture. Color starts to come back into the world, but only on Lucas's side of the line. Luso and the place he was standing was still grey and lifeless. "Alright. Come on then. Walk with me a little while longer. I'll tell you where we can meet up again." He extends a hand to Luso and this seems important too for some reason.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' "Heh, right, coming, coming." Luso moved along, heading into the colored side of the world and taking Lucas' offered hand. He put the fragment away in a pocket meanwhile, sparing once glance back at the grey, lifeless side of the area before looking back on ahead again. "Okay."

:'''[[Mystery Box]] has posed:''' Lucas pulls him across. Color and life returns to the plaground. The silohuettes are no longer just echoes but rather people playing. Everything seems perfect and how it is supposed to be. The clock hands move to XII and somewhere, it begins to chime twelve loud tones. "Look for me .. here." There is a picture, an image, a flash of rolling green hills and a white expanse of castle in the middle of that green. Castle Oblivion to those who know it's name. A forgotten place of memory to those who do not. There is also a route sketched out in the air and mind. "And we'll get started." They walk as the clock chimes, and the world contracts a little. Fog rolls across the playground and everything is folded away. The view contracts until the stained glass and the darkness returns. Light dims and Lucas evaporates at one point as it does so. Moving from noon sunshine to sleepy dusk and evening. Let the pieces fall where they lay. Destiny or distortion. Dream or prophecy or nightmare. All things in their places, and at their own times. And with the last light dying awa, the dream ends. The sharp fragment with it's intricate weave is still in hand. A keepsake of a strange dream.

:'''[[Luso Clemens]] has posed:''' Stepping across into the color and life filled side of the playground. Luso nodded, seeing an image flash in his mind. A castle. One he's never seen before. But the name. He knew of the name. Castle Oblivion... "Alright. I'll be there." He answered, looking off as the clock struck twelve. Just at that, fog rolled in and everything began to vanish. "Oh here we go...I guess it's time for this dream to end." And with the last light vanishing, the dream ended. Returning to reality then, Luso shot up in his bed. "Whoa! .....Oh. So it was a dream after all." But it felt so real at times. "....." He then remembered and reached into his pocket...

Illuminating Tales

2013-07-07T04:42:54Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/06 |Location=Archades - Lower |Synopsis=The source of the Archadian kidnappings shows up. Peter Pan's hat is ruined in a fight with his sha..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/06
|Location=Archades - Lower
|Synopsis=The source of the Archadian kidnappings shows up. Peter Pan's hat is ruined in a fight with his shadow. Things get real.
|Cast of Characters=Will Sherman, Stormfall, Peter Pan, Ariel, Kyra Hyral, Serah Farron, Alma Hyral
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Dateline--Lower Archades The troubles with the lost children is that after a few days. After all avenues were exhausted. After it was decreed that the heartless were responsible for the kidnappings.. the search took a serious blow to morale. People continued but the heart seemed to have gone out of them. An entire week after the illuminators and the heartless had been stopped and no activity since then. No straws to grasp for until tonight, when an entire sector of Lower Archades went dark. The unnatural and oppressive darkness was an almost liquid barrier, the stars blotted out and even mechanical or magical sources of illumination having difficulty functioning inside the area of influence. Inside, reports of heartless activity and skirmishes with Archadian imperial soldiers start to trickle in from the borders of the darkened sector. Refugees fleeing the area tell stories of large creatures holding lanterns that burned with a grisly violet fire breaking into houses while swarms of shadows harrassed and harried from the borders, where a quarantine has been erected and frequent assaults from the heartless are common, as if trying to impede the Arcadian military from entering the zone of darkness as much as possible. The zone is practically a mile of residental homes and small businesses in a tangle of avenues, corridors, alleyways and looming apartment complexes. The source of the unnatural darkness and the heartless attacks are somewhere within that zone which you stand at the outer extreme of. The barrier is almost fairytale in it's dimensions. Everything is normal on one side, and on the other? Light simply seems to fall away into midnight gloom.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' It was reported over the Judge-Magister channels that an entire sector had fallen preternaturally dark. An all-consuming umbra that held within many large creatures holding lanterns. Almost assuredly heartless. A certain someone was probably going to kill her, but she was immediately en route to the district. She'd seen the head counts of children dwindle at the refugee camps over the past week... Archades had wept enough. She didn't want to see any more tears shed. As she steps towards the border of the darkness.. she looks into the oppressive gloom with a tentative look. She didn't have him here this time to keep her safe from the consequences of traversing within so much darkness. And she hadn't brought her detail, for a reason.. Taking a deep breath, she allows a yellow corona about her to form into being, limming every part of her body with radiance, before she places her hand within the tenebrosity experimentally with a tremulous look seeing if the darkness would consume it, or harm her... she can feel it actively trying to draw away the light, and she gives it an inquisitive look. She speaks to noone in particular, "How strange..." Usually it was the other way around... She subtly tries to adjust the flow of energy within her to compensate, allowing it to self-regulate a little better so that the light wouldn't be stripped away, before stepping in entirely.. she felt like a lone candle in the dark. It was not a pleasant feeling as she continued to walk down the way, observing the changes to the district now stuck within the pitch.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' In stark contrast, Kyra's 'problems' lately have been exceptionally trivial. She's been out and about a lot, helping out, earning her own money, and generally refusing to coast off of Alma's excess and privledges granted by her work with the Archadean Empire. Sure, she doesn't /mind/ having it, but there's something about taking her own success into her own hands. Not that she hasn't had some successes prior. The argument about retrieving Vector's shard plus the idiocy with the junk mail (whom she is certain she knows the true culprit of but has not said anything quite yet) has left her in a very foul mood. It's actually the perfect mood to be dealing with children-kidnapping monsters for because the target meant she didn't have to hold back in any sort of fashion. Geared up with her usual loadout of potions and handy technology known as "flashlights." "Yeah." Kyra flicks on a flashlight, not even bothering with magic for this one quite yet. "Strange. Let's go."

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Following Alma, the other healer-of-service follows. She also heard the news, children disapearing, noone should ever have to be subjected so such news. No matter if the parents are there or not, its the future of this world after all. She couldn't let that go either, and sharing the same mind as Alma, she decided to come after her. She tilts her head a bit, looking at the almost palpable darkness there "What do you make of this? I don't like the looks of this at all... Its like the darkness is able to literally swallow you." And she had her share of darkness nearly ripping her heart out too. Being dipped in it doesn't seem more appealing right now. But she sighs when Alma just steps right in. She wishes she had some kind of protective light too. But, Kyra doesn't either, so... there might not be any immediate danger at least. And in seh goes.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' A loud monsterous sound comes from one of the allies. Though...even in the oppressive darkness it sounds like someone is sawing wood. Like litterally. Snoring. LOUDLY. If you investigate the Alleyway, you found a certain hobo, sitting against a wall with his hat covering his eyes taking an impressive snooze. He twitches every once in a while, helping out Arcades is HARD WORK, and he needed A NAP. "Zzzz.."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The street is narrow and crooked in a jagged fashion. This is one of the lesser damaged places in lower Archades but with the darkness comes a silence. Footsteps reverberate louder than they should across the dirt and stone pathways. The air has a tinge of rotten seaweed and sea salt to it, along with something like hot metal. In the silence, a hobo snoring in an offshoot alley can be like an entire sawmill, grinding through lumber at an unprecedented pace. There are a number of passageways and each building they pass has been broken into or trashed. There is the crunch of glass underfoot from shattered shopfront windows. Doors have been wrenched off their hinges, baring their empty contents. Clawmarks on stone and wood are frequent. There is a small intersection where several roads meet and where the evidence of the heartless becomes first hand. An Illuminator roams the road, it's ghostly lantern held high but empty save for a glowing, spasming speck of light ricocheting off the inside.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Snoring. That's to be expected, isn't it? Wait. No. No it's not. Drawing her gun-the real gun that shoots actual bullets (!)-Kyra slowly edges down the alleyway to the snoring, weapon trained in front of her. Her flashlight flicks up, falling upon the curled form of...Will Sherman. "This guy again?" Kyra comments, knowing she's met him before. Edging closer to him, she nudges the hobo a few times with her foot, then kicks him if that doesn't wake him up. "Hey! You need to get moving, this zone was put under quarantine." That noted, she's quick to leave the alley and join with the others. Just looking at the area tells her that something's definitely had their way with this place. It makes her sick to her stomach. Spying the Heartless ahead, Kyra doesn't hesitate for one moment as she lifts up her gun, taking aim at the Heartless from afar. Out of sheer pettiness, she shoots at the lantern.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma's expression was pinched, as she strode through the darkness alongside Serah and Kyra. This was not a comfortable feeling. She looked at every single building which was unlatched, which had it's locks, windows, and doors broken, it filled her with an all-consuming sense of dread for the implications. "This darkness isn't quite as..." She shook her arm, trying to ward off some of the tingling. "...isn't quite as terrible as I thought it would be." The sound of snoring draws her eye as well, as she waits for Kyra to wake him up, "Hey Mister Sherman. Glad that you're here too to investigate the situation." ...even if he likely just woke up here on chance, "..or were you here to visit Riku?" As she spies the Illuminator, and her sister opens fire, she just watches and waits to see how it reacts for a time, trying to make sure it was indeed a Heartless/Undead/Monster.. they'd had a really bad experience with misjudging that recently. Seeing that it was unlikely to be alive or sentient she decides to test something else. Instead of attacking it via offensive magic, she tries healing magic instead. Covering it with a soft white healing radiance, just to see if it would react as the Undead did.

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' Ariel, unlike others, is not here with a purpose. She happened to stumble by. But there seems to be adventure to have here, and that intrigues her. Her job, if she can be said to have one, is bringing music to dark and difficult places. This is certainly one of those. But the place seems too somber for music. Not sure who she might encounter, she approaches cautiously. For the time being she seems to be alone.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron blinks as she almost stumbles on the guy snoring. Its hard to see after all! "How can anyone sleep here..." She wonders. She'd have nightmares herself... She prods the sleeping hobo with her foot. Hasn't she seen him somewhere before? She can't remember. But a loud guy like that she would probably remember. She looks around as she spots Ariel following them. She wonders if she didn't just get lost... "Do you think the children would disapear in here?" She cares for the children too after all, even if she doesn't know them well. She jumps as Kyra starts shooting "What's going on!?" Half panicked, wondering if they are already getting attacked by something. She can't see after all!

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will get a kick or two in the foot, and he jumps up... "Huh...wha? I'm awake! I'm movin' mister judge...just stop kickin' me.." He mutters, and slides his hat back and staggers towards the main road... Yaaaaaaaawn... Will immediately stretches, catching a shadow right across the face with his bare hand. "Huh..?"

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The lantern shatters and the speck of light flies out of it as it collapses in a heap of dark shards and vapor. There is a very high pitched noise, which can be only termed as ultimate ire as the floating speck of light circles around the heartless once. It clumsily tries to grab for it again, distracted as the healing magic seems not to greatly effect it. The heartless looks at the spark, then it looks at Alma. The heartless goes : as it tries to decide which to go again. This is hard. Mooks are not supposed to make choices. They are mooks! It raises it's lantern, and then realizes it has no more lantern and throws the jagged remaining shards at Kyra petulantly before it and half a dozen shadows surge on the group. One of them is still smarting from being punched in the face, it's eyes swirly.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Someone is kidnapping children, a whole lot of children. This has not gone unnoticed by forces beyond the city and even the world of Ruin itself. Beyond even that someone has noticed that someone was targeting children. They would have none of this, it was maybe the only thing in the world that would make him be in any way mature or serious about anything. So here he was perched up on a building and it was time to act. The echoing call of a roster crow can be heard in the darkness if anyone looked up, they would see perched up there a young man clad all in green. Peter finishes crowing and drops from his perch and drops towards one of the lantern like heartless. The young man pulls a boot knife out and is upon it with surprising skill and speed. The shadows are caught off guard as the blade's strike come rapidly many are reduced to whips of darkness before he turns his attentions on the Illuminator and it goes down quickly. The small group of children inside are freed and he smiles at them. "Come with me! I'll take you somewhere safe." It would be so much easier if Tink hadn't run off on him. Just fairy dust and, but what's he going to do? He's not quite paid attention to the others. He's just so focused for once he's not paying attention to his surroundings entirely.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' "Not Undead.." She notes, talking to Kyra and Serah. "..I suppose we'll have to.." The shadows surge at them, a half-dozen of them or more, alongside the Illuminator, and she throws up her arms reflexively. And then she hears a rooster's crowing. This puzzles her enough to look up, only to watch a flying young man in green tights dispatch all of the shadows and the Illuminator handily with a boot knife. She actually has a sort of awed look at that. "..Wow, that was really something..." She pushes up her glasses on her nose, smiling gratefully as he reassures the children. "Do you need help with escorting them out of here?" She looks sidelong at Will, Kyra, and Serah, before nudging Will again with her foot, giving him a bemused look, "We'll fill you in as we go. But basically, the darkness is back again and these things are kidnapping children."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "...well that's new." Kyra mutters, momentarily distracted by the very animate light. "Wait, Alma, did you just try to /heal/ it?" Kyra almost sounds hurt. She remembers what happened in that volcano lair with Lux's creations and...look, how was KYRA supposed to know it was becoming sentinent? How was SHE supposed to know it wasn't going to rip all their faces off or tear them apart like it had done everything ELSE in that lab?! Last thing she needed were the people around her second guessing her judgement all the time. Hell people were already doing that enough earlier regarding the Vector issue. "Heartless, that's what's going on." she quickly informs Serah. "Look over there-" she lifts her flashlight to point at the illuminator just in time for Kyra to see it fling its lantern pieces at her. Unfortunately, this knocks the flashlight from her hand. Quite wisely, Kyra does not fire her gun into the darkness. She shoulder checks a lunging Heartless as she scrambles for the flashlight. Then a flying man comes down to their rescue, much to her surprise. "That /was/ something." Kyra echos.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will's hand immediately falls on Kyra's shoulder. For a moment there is a pause, the hobo's eyes are older than they should be, and he stares at her. The pat is...reassuring. And then he yawns, as if turning the switch on and off. Will, wordlessly, strikes out at a heartless Shadow and sends it flying right back to the sender. "Another heartless kidnapper...why Children specifically?" he muses...this is targeted...but the Shadow Lords aren't the center of this one. And heartless don't direct themselves like this...Will looks, seeing if he could prehaps see a string from the heartless to...something...

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' Ariel catches up with those ahead. She DOES look a little bit lost, but, she's here now. She doesn't carry a weapon with her. She looks up at the sound of a cock's-crow... backing up, when Heartless come near, she's delighted when they are rescued by the young man. But she has a lightning spell at the ready... which she nervously hides behind her back. Though she's not mute, she's acting like it at the moment as she's quite nervous.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron sighs at the mention of heartless "I don't know what's worse, undeads or heartless. I hate both." She shakes her head "Why couldn't it be something like them playing hide and seek or something simple..." They probably wouldn't need her if that was the case, but still wondering... "... I hope the kids are alright, I had a near death encounter with the heartless before... I'm pretty sure that its a one way trip when they catch you..." Yes, she's worried. She hopes. She blinks as the green boy appears in "Uhm... hi?"

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The children do not get safely away as intended. The spiraling spark flies at Peter Pan, and there is another perhaps unprintable screed as the spark, resolving itself as a fairy grumbles at him with emphasis. Another swarm of heartless come across from the top of a building but they all, simultaniously burst before they can reach combat area. They turn to vapor instantly without being touched. There is a LOUD and very wrathful sound from somewhere that echoes around the darkened streets. As the children attempt to escape, another illuminator appears with it's small escort of shadow heartless. The children back up. One of them whimpers in fear while a small brown haired boy puts the rest behind him. "It'll be okay." he says, swallowing hard. They back towards the party and the boy in green, a girl and the two boys looking nervously at the group and then back at the heartless who seem to now menace but not approach.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan suddenly notices something there are people here and a young girl is talking to him about the children to him. "Oh hey uptight looking lady! I know what's going on! Lord Ombra is stealing children. I followed him here from Neverland." looks to the children and gestures for them to go to Alma. He really doesn't seem to think much about what he called her either. Maybe it wasn't intentional? "You know it!" he replies to Kyra, Peter loves to show off after all Ariel is noticed sure as is the magic she has that seems to surprise Peter a little bit from the look on his face. Will on the other hand gets Peter's attention he looks at him and then calls out. "Hey what the heck are you doing here? I told Nibs and everyone else to stay behind in Neverland! If your here, come on. We got to stop Lord Ombra!" Peter seems to know Will or has mistaken him for someone else, it's really hard to tell given the sort of person the eternal youth is. Serah gets a tilted head for a moment Peter grins without any hint of shame. "Hi there Lady."Heartless, they made things terrible ever since Captain Hook got them. He doesn't want to duel anymore it's terrible.." Oh looky a whole bunch more heartless,s Pan shifts into serious mode and gets his knife ready he looks back to the collected heroes for a moment. "Hope you can fight! We're going have to stop all these things! I'll not let them take anymore children!"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will see's something... "Huh?" He looks towards the Pan... a fairy? Magic? ...someone like h-PAN! "Hoooly crap." He says, "Wait no I didn't come t-..." But Pan just does what he does best. He laughs a little... Will, however, grabs something. "Uh Pan." he says, pointing to the held string, and runs off. "If you don't keep up you'll never find Lord whatever. I know where to find him." Will says, with a mischevious grin. Zoom!

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' "I can fight," Ariel says, though she seems a little unsure about it at first... then she clenches her fists. "... If it comes to protecting them, I'll do what I have to do!" Still, the Heartless aren't attacking, so, she's unsure. But she has a spell at the ready just in case.... Of course, Will looks like he's more interested in ... leaving. As long as he knows where he's going that's okay!

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma gives Kyra a perplexed look, "I couldn't see if it was a Heartless or not, from this distance, so I was just testing if it was Undead like those spectres we fought near Cosmo Canyon. I mean, if they were then you'd able to disintegrate them with a single spell, like you did last time, right?" But they were Heartless, so no harm, no foul. She now knew what sort of magic to use. Wait what, did he just call her an uptight looking lady? She suddenly looked very cross, until she realized that made her look even more uptight, she just grumbles a little to herself before looking back to Peter, now in a slightly foul mood, as she lets out a single breath before speaking to him again, "So, um.. who is Lord Ombra? Typical, scary darkness, Shadow Lord? Or something else?" More Heartless. Alright, first priority was the children. She strode forward ahead of the retreating children, making sure they were clear and behind her before she started what she intended to do. She was still on the ground, and every step she took, she reached out a hand, as a rotating Sigil of radiant energy formed, at different points in the sky. At the end of her trip forward she stops, and puts four sigils in rapid succession in a kite like pattern. Representing a plumed tail. And then she closes her eyes and concentrates. This wasn't going to be quite as easy in the darkness. Sweat beads upon her brow as she tries to coax the necessary energy needed to ignite the magic. Phoenix of the White Tiger of the West, and the Southern Asterisms...patron of Physicians. Your rebirth is at hand. The sigils all flare to life as one, and a translucent blue outline of a firebird appears around them. The bird's outline then ignites with white flames, as the living constellation begins to surge towards the Heartless, avoiding any others amongst her allies that might be charging to prevent from harming them... Alma just stands back in front of the children, placing her hand within a yellow Sigil by her palm, subtly tapping it, coaxing it... and hardest of all, maintaining it within this oppressive gloom.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "Lord Ombra?" Kyra frowns, "Who in the name of Cosma is that?" She looks ahead to the sudden large swarm of Heartless gather toward the cowering group of children. Grinding her teeth, Kyra slips her regular gun away into her currently empty holster. A hand starts to dig around into her messenger bag, which is clearly heavy and bulky, filled with stuff. In this case, the first thing withdrawn is a large flask the size of a cantaloupe filled with frothy red liquid. Still no magic from Kyra. She might be trying to conserve it right now. Instead, she goes for some old-fashiond explosives, but not after pushing her way through the cowering group of children, "Excuse me. Pardon me. Coming through. Just going to, well, you know..." With a mighty heave, she chucks the heaping helping of liquid napalm right at the group of Heartless. Upon hitting the ground, the glass breaks and fire immediately explodes forth once it comes into contact with the regular air.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron goes for the children right away. Especially with Kyra's explosives going on, she's pushing and shielding the children out of the way "Can't stay here, this is very bad." She opens a hand out toward the heartless, shooting out a salvo of holy energies, just to keep them at bay, not wanting them to get any closer to the children as they flee. She's going to protect them the best she can while they escape at least. "At least we found the children... Just gotta make sure they stay safe now." Despite the darkness surrounding her, she gets serious at the task too, concentrating to get the most out of her magic.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Zoom! Will follows his nose (or maybe just a thread) across several darkened avenues to a place where four illuminators are gathered at the cardinal directions. They shine with stolen illumination, several children held by heartless near the figure in the center. The figure extends a hand towards them. The figure isn't anything but a shroud. A big black hooded cape without any definition at all except for clawed hands that appear to also be made out of material. A child cries out as they extend a hand and there is a dark flash, a smear of fog and greater darkness in which they disappear with a piercing cry. A bass rumble of laughter comes from the cowl.. The children being shielded by Alma gasp a little in wonder and a little bit of fear at the sigils and constellations coming to life, but keep close to Alma and stay close to the group. They keep especially close as the liquid napalm explodes, burning the heartless to ashes as they thrash and claw at it. (Although one child says 'whoa' in an awe-filled whisper at the pyrotechnics) Strangely the fire itself seems muted. It produces a wave of heat, but the light is lacking and distorted, almost choked out before it can really spread. The holy salvo seems to keep the heartless at bay but they don't seem to be advancing just yet. Pan... The voice shivers, a crawling whisper like spiders across the skin. Just the voice itself seems to pull at the light, mechanical or magical both and make it quaver. Another chuckle. I thought you might eventually attend. I have something of yours.. The cloth fingers manage to snaThey should have sent more of their tin men instead.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' It seems Will speaks Peter Pan very well as he the reply about Lord Ombra. "Good work, Let's go! The longer we wait the more children, he will kidnap!" Ariel offers to join them? That's enough for Peter, The Heartless are not attacking it's a very odd thing even Peter is aware that this? Is not a normal behaviour for them. Something is holding them back and that something is likely a someone, is likely Lord Ombra. Alma's questions get an actual answer out of Peter before he's going to bolt off after Will who clearly knows where his foe is. "He's the darkness. He has heartless, that's all we need to worry about. He's after the children, we shouldn't wait." For once in his very long life, Peter is actually concerned about the passing of time. Time is important. The more time that passes the more likely something bad will happen to the children if only he could remember. Well he's got to stop this guy and he's got help so it's all good. Then Alma fires off a flare oh pretty, no he is not to be distracted. Time to go as Peter takes flight after Will and calls out. "These are not the only ones he has Miss Pink!" Even if Miss Pink seemed a bit on the older side she was actually thinking about the kids well being so that was enough for Peter for the moment. Then comes the laugh Pan knows it very well. While not known to the world at Large the thing they face is right up there with Captain Hook on Pan's enemy lit. This guy is perhaps to Peter /worse/ than Hook. Hooks the Pirate king sure, but this creature of shadow is something far worse than a mortal man. Peter?s got his knife out and has it prepared and he looks actually serious. "You have taken the children, return them now. You have nothing of mine!" There's something strange if someone is paying attention to Pan? Pan is no longer casting any sort of shadow. He has no shadow, he's not even noticed that it's missing yet. "So stop lying like the old man you are and give the children back!"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will looks down at Peter's feet. Why? Because this guy was made of shadow, and is holding a shadow and it belongs to... "...Oh boy.." He says, with a frown. However, one of Will's special skills is knowning how to not draw attention to himself, Mercade is the LARGE HAM, Will is only a LARGE HAM when he's really angry. He looks to Ariel! "Oh hi. Could you do me a favor..." WHISPER WHISPER WHISPER... Will then ducks, and starts aiming to try and use Peter as a distraction to try and get behind the shadow dude... Aiming to try and punch it right in the back of the head, right as Ariel SHOULD do something...or not. Will's target here, of course, is to free the Shadow using SHENNANIGANS.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Sweat continues to bead on Alma's brow as the Heartless fall before them. This.. this was not comfortable. Now she knew why Riku warned her so thoroughly about calling upon the Light within the Darkness. And this Darkness was not nearly so deep, so all-consuming as the other she'd experienced. But she continues to concentrate as the last of the Heartless fade, following behind to where Will had travelled, to the large figure in the shroud, her celestial firebird made manifest following along above her. She just murmured to the children, in a soft voice which was nearly crooning, Stay behind us. She sees the thrashing figure in it's hand though and holds off. She remains still not daring to move, barely daring to breathe. Attacking now would certainly mean the doom of what was almost certainly a child. /Cosma give me strength/. She looks upon Lord Ombra, waiting for an opening. She doesn't even notice Peter's lack of a shadow in the dark. /Come on Will.../ He gets into position.. /Come on.../ SHENANIGANS ENSUE. Her firebird inches forward ever so subtly as if in anticipation of Will freeing the child.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' How interesting, Kyra thinks. That fire was not burning as brightly as it should given the amount of ingredients that she'd mixed together for that batch. This definitely had to be an effect of this mysterious 'dark zone' that had overtaken this area. The doings of this Lord Ombra fellow Pan was talking about? Kyra hears that voice and shuffers. The light of her flashlight flickers unnaturally and Kyra smacks the side of it. A few moments later, they meet this 'man' face to face, sporting a strange shadow that seems alive-but is definitely not one of the Heartless. The way he taunts Peter Pan makes her pause and, very carefully, squint at Peter. He doesn't cast a shadow, she realizes, "What the...PAN! You don't remember this guy taking something from you? At all?"

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' Ariel is a little startled, but is given a quick instruction. She nods over toward Will.... And she faces the shadow person head-on. Well, no one needs to tell her twice: this is bad! So she gathers a ball of lightning in her hand... and fires it out in an arc toward the cloaked figure. The lightning may not even hit him directly, but, it's not every day someone shoots lightning directly at you so maybe he'll find it a little distracting, or even damaging. She hopes!

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron decides... she's not going to add more attacks and take a chance of harming the children. She's making sure they escape safely, before turning her attention back to the 'master of ceremony' there. Did he just say 'Pan'? So they know each other or something? Well it looks like that boy is on their side at least, so she'll leave it at that. Maybe that's why the boy is here, running away from people like that. More questions, but later. She looks toward Ariel that is helping out as well. She notes the nice red hair, but probably would be better if it wasn't in the middle of darkness right now. Maybe something she can ask her later. "Seems like he doesn't like Alma and Kyra either..."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Tinkerbell has to pretty much shout into Peter's ear to get his attention. "Watch out. He's got your shadow!" which, like navi sprites everywhere is something that is immediately obvious when pointed out. Lord Ombra is comYou are a fool, pan. And you will always be-- OOOOFH SHENANIGANS! They are in full on mid-rant when the little arc of lightning crackles across the intervening distance. The children cry out and cover their ears at the thunderous BOOM of the magic. While it grounds itself on Lord Ombra's outstretched hand, Will Sherman's fist grounds itself into the back of Lord Ombra's head. He punches almost up to the elbow through the cloth and doesn't find anything to connect with. It's more than enough to cause them a moment of distraction and irritation. The cloak swirls around as if blown by an invisible wind, attempting to cover Will and trap him. The shadow is freed but it just drops limply to the ground, arms crossed over where their sides would be while a baleful red aura flickers to life. The voice booms in an empty place near where the cloak is attempting to trap Will. //FOOOLS!// I'll leave you to them, Pan after I've dealt with this one. I've already gotten what I wanted. Here.. have my little present to you as well.. as reward for your attendance.]

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' Ariel looks a little embarassed. It's always too powerful when she doesn't want it to be, and too weak when it counts. Maybe she should consider lessons... But, well, no time for embarassment. Will is in trouble... Reflexively, she gets between the children, and what might come out of that dark cloak.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' The moment Will connects and starts getting dragged into the realm, Alma punches through the Sigil right by her hand, light flaring. The blue translucent image of the Celestial firebird, with it's skeleton of conjoined stars and white flames dancing off it's surface surges forward at the being. It's taloned feet try to grasp the surface of the cloak, each one a tiny razor of light, which raises burns rather than lacerations and other cuts. Grasping ahold of the cloak, it raises it's wings. A moment later, the flames playing off the surface of it's wings all blaze downwards into the upper half of Lord Ombra's torso, as all the light used to animate it is suddenly used to explosive effect. The Sigil in her hand disappears, and Alma suddenly just looks very tired. She glances sidelong to Kyra... pursing her lips, as she considers something... "Kyra, I have an idea..." And then she taps her Linkpearl on, starting to speak a plan to her over the radio.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' The Hobo Class has IMPROVED EVASION. Will is snatched by the cloak, but he ducks, rolls...and PUNCHES it right in the...cloak. He barely manages to avoid being dragged to a DARK FATE...and instead rolls to his feet and points a finger... "TOO SLOW I, Will Sherman, KING of the Hobos and defender of Children, Hobos, and dames will not let you get away with your...children napping. And also SHADOW STEALING! This is a crime of the HIGHEST order, and as a Detective, I will..." He cocks a SUDDENLY SHOTGUN, "Will bring you to justice."

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan is in a rare mood, those who might have ever run into him before or even heard of Peter Pan? Likely have never seen him like this or heard of him acting actually mature about something. Pan's giving off a bit of a papa wolf vibe at the moment. He's seriously is giving off that vibe as his allies of the moment are working their own plans. Lost Boy also known as Will the Hobo King is engaged in Shenanigans. Peter likes this guy, he actually kinda likes everyone here standing along side him. Even if some are borderline adults? They haven't become selfish jerks like all adults are. "No I don't! I have my Knife, I know where Tink and my friends are! There's nothing else to take from me that's important" Then comes Will, the boy is Pan brand crazy, Peter like that and he halts for a second at the lord?s word. "What do you mean, old man. I just hear a whole lot of nothing....Wait! MY SHADOW! You stole my shadow!" The last time it got lose, it was quite the adventure but it also was quite the pain in the rear to deal with. Worse something isn't right about it. Peter isn't going to waste any time, the eternal kid dives bombs at his stolen shadow. "Be careful! Something is wrong with it! It's not like the last time it got away from me!"

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Fortunately, Peter eventually Gets It. Inwardly, Kyra sighs in relief. Kyra certainly has more napalm where that came from. Yet she's not busting it out right now, perhaps out of fear that she would disrupt the extremly helpful SHENANIGANS. After all, it was those shenanigans that have seem to have freed Pan's shadow. She will be thankful for that a little later. Involuntarily, she feels a shiver when that empty cowl turns her way and clasps her hands together. "Well if that's how we're going to play this..." She turns her attention to Will and concentrates, calling upon the power of the Goddess. As she had been expecting, in this deep darkness, it is hard for her to bring the power to her. Conserving magic earlier had served her well as she prays for Cosma's blessing. Naturally, this blessing is not bestowed upon herself. She turns it to who happens to be the sturdiest guy here. Yeah. This is /Will/. That's how flimsy this group here looks. Congratulations, Will. You are tank. A soft white light surrounds Will Sherman, defying the unnatural darkness that Lord Ombra has brought with him.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron doesn't like this at all, but at least the children are safe. The attacks are starting, the aggression toward their small group is almsot tangible, so that's only normal. She wishes there was a way out by talking, but within the darkness... who would listen? "I have your back, leave the healing to me!" She announces out, not even caring if the bad guy listens and targets her directly. You know, kill the white mage first, right? Either way, she extends a hand spreading protective magic over Kyra and Alma, who seem like they could use more protection. She won't ignore the others, but she's limited on what she can do in a single move, she found out. Would be nice if she could cover everyone at once.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' As the celestial firebire swoops down and digs into the cloak, flames blasting downards one of the hands reaches up from the empty cloak and grabs the firebird. As the creature begins to explode.. There is a CRACK. All of the light dies in the animating sEnough of this. I have no patience for any more fools. HERE, PAN. What is the phrase you are so fond of? ..Oh yes. /Stop. Hitting. Yourself./ Then the cloak collapses in on itself as Will Sherman punches it again right in the cloak. And the shotgun cannot avail you with a villain using an Egress Card. They disappear with another dark flash of energy. The shadow twitches and spasms again. The illuminators at the cardinal directions all explode as well as the surrounding heartless, all of that energy coalescing into a much greater shadow. A dark purple, vaguely humanoid figure rapidly grows until they are almost the size of a building. Long tendrils of shadow hang over their indistinct featuress, a ragged hole in their chest where a heart should be. Picture reference: http://www.khwiki.net/File:Dark_Follower_KHD.png BGM change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR9pKzaHyTc The massive heartless lets out a cry of anguish, raking across the ground with massive hands to try and batter people into walls or crush them against the ground.

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' Oh, no, a Heartless! Well... at least Ariel is not so confused now about what to attack. Attack that! It's clearly bad. She gets ready for another bolt of lightning, when a hand claws into her. It knocks her against a wall... she's a bit bruised, but, she gets back up to her feet. Her hair is in her eyes a little, and she blows it aside as she regains her balance. "All right. Let's... do this..." She charges up a little more lightning in her hands, and opens it up on the Heartless. Hopefully this bolt is strong enough... and doesn't scare the children too much!

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will dives back, the shotgun of leadership in his hands as he looks at the shadow... "Guys! It's not a heartless...not yet anyway! It's still Pan's shadow! I dunno what that jerk did, but it's all twisted and hurt from the inside...we have to free it! Pan, you have any ideas?" Will says, as he narrowly avoids some PHYSICAL striking. Will jumps back and forth, avoiding being struck, as he tries to position himself closer. Will's fist strikes out... And then he aims to provoke one of those hands aiming to try and jump onto it... TRIANGLE... SHOTGUN TO THE FACE!

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Serah casts her protective magic and she smiles at her gratefully. Alma looks like she's barely hanging on in this darkness, despite not taking any injuries. It really is that is exhausting for her just to maintain. She murmurs a plan over her Linkpearl to Kyra. Will punches through the cloak of Lord Ombra, and a massive Heartless appears.. and she has no time to contemplate her fatigue. No time for introspection. Just time to act. The massive fist swings at her with talons outstretched... she concentrates, Time out. And suddenly time dilates and the Fist is moving at a languid pace, and she's corkscrewing upwards, a little yellow orb against the dusk backdrop. She sweeps her gaze back towards Serah and the children. And then she's looping downward, back towards Serah and the gaping children. And she's trying to usher them back and away from the Heartless. "Get back! Get back!" If any children are frozen with fear, she's touching them and /moving/ them rapidly. Trying to get them out of range of the Giant Heartless' claws. And then she takes several deep breaths, trying to catch her second wind. Darkness distorts in the air around her as she draws some of it into herself. This was wildly uncomfortable for her, but she manages to just maintain. Light washes over her and Kyra, as her aura begins to blaze white hot rather than it's normal yellow.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Moving her hands from clasped in front of her chest to pressed, palms-forward, out in front of her, Kyra manages to summon up a shell spell. A shimmering green shield surrounds her just for a few seconds at precisely the time the shadow's hand comes raking across the field. The magic manages to defect the hand over her. "It's still his shadow!? It must've been filled with extra darkness to make it behave like this! This is unnatural! A person's shadow just doesn't turn into Heartless!" Experimentally, she brings out one of her vials. One of her vials filled with something /nasty/. She's not sure if it'll effect a Heartless or a shadow but it can't hurt to try.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron is pretty agile even for a mage. As the talons sink down toward her, she jumps backward, a backflip enhanced by L'Cie powers that she's only just started to understand, rebounding against a rock to avoid the next swipe, and then jumping straight up, out of the way from harm. While in midair, she gets a good view of the battleground. Well, as much as she can from the darkness at least, its like a fog. But it gives her good vantage to target new spells toward the others. Will and Peter gets helped by her magic, but rather than their defense, she focuses on their offense instead.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan says, "Tink would have a better idea! She's busy with something else! I think she's just sulking because I left Neverland to chase after this guy!" He stares at his shadow for a moment, just shocked for once in his long life. Pan is about to attack it, when he is hit by some support magic from his allies. Oh right he can do a little bit of that. He notices Pink Lady can heal, Uptight Lady and Mog Girl could use a hand. He pulls out a thimble that Tink has given him for emergencies. Now is a good time for such he flies over, Alma, Kyra and Serah. They'd got a nice dose of fairy healing magic, their wounds would start to knit themselves up at a slow but visible rate from the spell's effect. Peter is always flying, always moving, never sit still. He's made of paper if you can mange to somehow nail him down. Though doing that is a huge feat few have ever managed to pull off. He looks at the twisted shadow still somewhat in shock and says to it. "You are not me!"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "NO! DON'T SAY THAT" Will shouts at Pan. "NEVER SAY THAT TO A SHADOW!"

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The bolt of lightning crashes into the heartless and explodes harmlessly against the rippling liquid skin. The thing lets out a nasty little laugh and flicks one of it's massive hands at her. A number of purple hued heartless shadows swarm upwards from the ground and attemot to lunge at Ariel and knock her down. As they are looming over Ariel and focusing on them, Will oTRIANGLE! SHOTGUN to the face! The shotgun goes off and the darkside's head snaps backwards. There is a roar of petulance frustration and another swarm of heartless are flung in Will's direction. Alma has to move one of them but the others are scrambling backwards. This time spurred by genuine terror. Some of the heartless attacking Ariel peel off and start to circle the children, lunging at them. The heartless explode in streamers of dark smoke causing the children to scream in fear, too afraid even to bolt. The vial shatters across the Darkside and it moans, making a pitious 'BLLEAH' noise as if it had tried to swallow something it didn't like. The giant hands brush at the shards and rake the ground in frustration as they cannot get it off. The noise turns into a roar of anger. The darkside slams both fists into the terrain, then POUNDS again. Dark shards of crystalline fire rain fron the surrounding darkness. Another grisly laugh ensues as Peter Pan proclaims such a thing. It's a bad thing to do that. A blasting aura engulfs the area. A psychic shockwave of lost dreams and broken promises. It's all the niggling little disappointments and hardships that people grow from and compressed into a hammer, a spiked mace that comes down as the darkside brings their fists down straight at Peter.

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' Ariel frowns in a crooked way... it seemed her magic had little effect. She braces herself and gets ready for another when a Heartless sneaks up on her and knocks her down. She feels them pulling on her hair, and clawing into her. She reacts physically, throwing a little fist at one, and grabbing at another. Finally, she gets back up with a fairly surprising upward kick that knocks one Heartless up, and brings her back onto her feet in the process. She's getting used to fighting with legs, at least. Though she's still surrounded by them she thinks she can try to hold her own here.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will is caught by the DARKNESS RAIN. He withers under the spell, unable to get out danger range, causing some minor wounds and painful memory lash. He grits his teeth...he won't quit here. THIS IS BAT COUNTRY! Shattering the rain, he dives through again, aiming to try and roll under the thing's legs, aiming to take advantage of Peter distracting it. He unleashes a storm of attacks, aiming to try and litterally knee cap Darkside, punch, punch, SHOTGUN. "Looks like you.." Will doffs his hat, "Don't have a leg to stand on!"

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan says "What that's silly! It's a shadow and it is not me!" There he goes living dangerously and totally unaware of what's going on. The Darkside however is a horror and it's just attacking. Pan knows it's his shadow, he's going to smack it till it behaves itself and gets it's sorry self back where it should be. Then comes a mace? He does not want a Mace to the face! Peter is quickly and perhaps rivals Will in his shear volume of life experience or perhaps more? Pan doesn't know he has no idea how old he is and does not care really. The Mace misses but it catches his hat, it's torn a sunder and Peter gets this look of horror on his face. "My...my hat! You ruined my hat!" Pan starts to make like a World War One Flying ace buzzing the huge shadow thing, attacking with his knife in place of a machine gun. More helpful magic comes his way and he continues his attack.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Carefully, Kyra notes for future benefit that Heartless are succepable to genetically nodified bacteria. Certainly that will come in handy-but later. For now she had to think and plan and despite her misgivings with Alma recently, she is willing to follow up on the plan. Even as she starts to have a sudden surge of doubt that seems to come from nowhere. At the time, she doesn't know that the darkside has produced these feelings and it actually delays her with following up on the plan that Alma suggested. But after yet another moment of struggle, she clasps her hands together and starts to shape an enormous ball of light that the surrounding darkness will have to struggle to suppress. Slipping both palms open, she turns the spell and, in fact, casts it in front of Alma.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' This time, she's unable to fully dodge the attack. The darkness surrounds her, but doesn't defeat her either. But it burns like fire, all emcompassing. Its similar to when she almost lost her heart. Not pleasant, at any rate. But her focus soon comes back. Maybe its the fight's adrenaline. Either way, she has people to help out, she won't let them down. Some of them seem to be more seriously wounded, so she casts healing spells toward them "I'm with you!"

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' She's struck by a shockwave of Lost Dreams and Broken Promises, transforming it into nightmares.. For a moment, she sees twilight claws with streamers of darkened energy reaching into her chest. Grasping her heart.. squeezing. She gasps, as fear grips her mind.. and then a spiked mace formed out of her disappointments.. she'd had so many as of late, clips her, causing her to fly backwards. She tries to think back, trying to hold onto that image, but it's already slipped from her mind. What in /Chaos/ did she just see? But she has no time to dwell on the echoes of past dreams and nightmares. She senses that Kyra is ready, and she closes her eyes, mentally preparing herself. What she didn't tell Kyra about this plan is that it was /really/ going to hurt her. Especially given the wild nature of Kyra's White Magic. Her sister really was so much more powerful and stronger than she was, in so many ways. Except for one. It used to make her incredibly jealous of her, despite.. despite everything that was done to suppress it. That she was naturally special. It spurred her to make so many mistakes that she wishes she could take back, that she regrets. Her timing had to be perfect. She draws her arm back, waiting, allowing herself to listen, to focus, time dilates around her as she feels the first sensations of the magical power above and just in front her, like a buzzing, or a tingling on the back of her neck... and it comes as enormous ball of roiling holy energy, akin to an endless font of burning radiance, and luminescence. She'd told Kyra to cast it in front of her to alleviate her fears.. but Alma moves underneath it the moment it manifests. Her aura, was a singularity for magical energy, and it soaked it in like a sponge. Alma's white hot aura began to glow even brighter and blinding immediately, to the point where she couldn't even be seen within it. Her first thoughts were that she'd miscalculated, this was beyond her ability to contain or control. Kyra could barely do it and it came naturally to her At first her body just shuddered as she takes it into her aura, but then she literally let's out a scream as it threatens to consume her. But still she waits, and draws it in.. suspended between the ticks of a second. One fraction of a second passes, then another tick.. then another... and then in slow motion she cuts her arm across in front of her suddenly. The blinding mass of holy energy, rolls along off her body, along the length of her arm, to the tip, and she barely has time to scream out the words, GET.....CLEAR! In slow motion, she watched it continue to roll off her arm, her arm sizzling with wisps of smoke as it passed by, even protected as she was...even with her flesh regenerating under the fairy given spell from Pan and light given energies of her own. And then it continued onward. Time sped up all at once... it looked like it was catching up to her, as the roiling singularity containing both her light and Kyra's wildly powerful light carried forward into the giant Heartless. And if it struck the Heartless.. it would continue to carry it backwards with staggering force, until ultimately it collapsed into an effulgent explosion that seemed akin to the heart of a star.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The heartless explode, some of them knocked back into eachother while another gets kicked straight into the air where it lands on it's back and explodes with a puff of smoke. There are several more waiting for a chance. One of the children yells. "Watch out!" as three heartless with wide smiles painted across their helmeted visors clatter and leap for Ariel from behind. BLAM -Kerchunk. Kerchunk. BLAM. Will dives in close again, the shotgun exploding chunks out of the darkside which howls like a child with a scraped knee. They stomp their feet, each stomp aimed at Will and helmeted soldier heartless rising up with each stomp. The cheerfully smiling heartless lunge at the hobo king, swirly eyes wide as the darkside above them lets out another anguished howl. The arms flail and thrash like a King Kong movie, the darkside trying to smash Peter Pan into a building as he opens up several slashes in the arms and head but against such a large creature is difficult to determine whether they are seriously hurt by it or not. But what really was going to hurt was the ball of rolling energy that strikes the massive heartless straight in the chest and keeps going. They are shoved backwards as if by an even more titanic hand and slam into the wall of a building so hard athe entire structure cracks and shakes. Then there is the detonation, as brilliant and fierce as any star that overwhelms this dark zone and bursts a ragged hole that lets the brilliant starlight of true evening and moonlight come back into the area for a handful of seconds. In the aftermath, a much diminished shadow much more in the shape of Peter Pan lays against the cracked building. A dire red aura still pulses around them. They reach up tenatively and take something off of their shadow head, looking at it speculatively and then the dire red aura flares. /You Ruined His Hat./ --- The shadow slowly pushes themselves up, putting shadow hat firmly on head and tilting it forwards. It is so on. It starts very gradually instead of the petulant smash of before. It seeps up from the ground, attacking from all angles as the very atmosphere of darkness seems to bear down on the party with crushing force and then is reabsorbed into the shadow which grows to not quite it's former height but is limmed in the dire red of pissy boss mode. The psychic LASH hits like chain lightning, using loneliness and fear. Doubt and bitterness and resentment like a rain of swords. Trying to steal hope and light and rip it away with the childishness of the scorned. A psychic temper tantrum.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will finds it /exceedingly HARD/ to avoid darkness itself. Cloaks, sure. Massive fists? Usually... He is swallowed into the attack...darkness, pain, anger, angst aim to consume him..it was like watching a Twilight movie. The darkness eats at his body...it wants into something DEEPER... No Those sensitive to hearts and the emotions of others can FEEL something change in Will. Somethind deeper, older, and more potient sleeping within the Hobo comes to the surface. His eyes sharpen, his hands glow red...and he stands back to his feet. He can see it...the strings. He dives in, surge of power flowing around him as he aims to try and LEAP right towards the face of the Shadow, aiming a series of quick jabs aiming to roll down it's back, aiming once more to try and kick out it's legs with a much more STRONGER potient strike... Then he litterally aims to PUNCH the thing straight into the air... Then Will's strings aim to tear through it, aiming to litterally try and HOLD the giant thing there... "NOW!" he calls for Ariel and The Pan.

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' Ariel starts up another charge. She hopes if she concentrates this time -- Darkness tears into her. It lashes at her and eats away at her. For a moment she feels... bleak, hopeless. Maybe a little homesick. The shadows effect is draining her will, and she feels her knees buckle... But Will helps to set up a shot for her. She knows that they can do it if they all work together. Her fingers sparkle with a little lightning as she starts to call a storm... She actually is surprised what she can accomplish when she puts her mind to it, and works with a good team. A cloud forms over the shadow Heartless, dark and stormy at first, but beginning to swirl with light. It opens up and blows fierce wind at him... and lightning, which jolts from the cloud to the ground. The light flashes brightly enough to distort any shadows. Hopefully, the Heartless Shadow will dissipate when it's struck with the overwhelming fury of the storm.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron should have been swallowed by the darkness this time. It was filled with so many strong, dark emotions. She was standing near the children, and she wanted to protect them from the incoming wave, even if she had to lose herself there and then. Children should never have to life through this kind of pain. And yet... the darkness doesn't harm her. It rolls over her instead, an orb of shimmering light surrounding her, and pushing the waves back behind her, and over the children, leaving the group unharmed. She doesn't even know what this was about... maybe its a helping hand from the shadows. But it doesn't matter, she can still fight. She brings out more of the curing powers to help the most wounded ones of her friends, countering the intense darkness with pure light and warm energies.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Such force. Kyra can appreciate that, even if her spell was not aimed at the Heartless proper. But the environment weighs heavy upon her. At that moment she realizes the oppressive darkness is hurting her as much as it did the others in her little party. Despite this, she's prepared herself mentally, which is also the reason the second shock to the senses perpetuated by the Darkside also fails. She's just too resilient to start worrying about fear and uncertainty. But there was still something eating away at her. Kyra can feel it. That in mind, she brings a small vial to her and presses it against her skin, coaxing the special leech contained within.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan is the very concept of childhood, he can not be ended not by something like this. He is Peter Pan, the one human who is not allowed to grow up, to become old. To lose the sense of wonder that a child has, that can never be taken from him. Somewhere under all his childishness is the understanding of how precious childhood is to those who grow up. In a way he protects it, and will strike down those who prey upon them. Pan is fast, it's all that saves him even as the attack catches him and starts to drain some of his life force? Peter endures he has to for the sake of the children who were taken, for the sake of his Lost Boys, for Wendy and her siblings. Everyone in Neverland, even the damn Pirates have their place in the strange little world. But the thing that did this? Peter can't recall what only that he knows are worse than Hook. Hook is still a man, he is evil but he is still humans. He has his hopes, his twisted dreams but still he has them. There's some strangled bit of light in the Pirate Captain. For he was a boy once who dreamed of the sea. Lord Ombra has no light, there is nothing human there, if there was it's long drowned in the depths of his darkness. Lord Ombra is as much as creature of the Darkness as Garland or Maleficent. Peter hears Will's call and replies back. "Here we go!" Peter rises up into the air flying higher and faster he got an idea of what Will is going to do and like Ariel from how she's fought so far. He knows what a gun is, the pirates have a few after all and he knows they have power even if they are not magic. He doesn't discount them. He continues his flight upwards even as the Princess Of Heart prepares her own power to join Will in their combination attack. Peter lets Ariel's spell play out before he flies right at the thing, there's no anger in what he does, he's just focused he does allow him sell to call out. "WATCH THIS!" Peter Pan will grab the thing in a bear hug to latch on and fly downwards at the ground aiming to suplex, the thing into the ground below as hard as he can. the speed is intense but Peter will hang on and only let go a second or so before impact and try to fly away. His allies have set him up perfectly, hopefully he can finish what he started.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' In the aftermath of the blinding display of holy magic, Alma's aura dims away to almost nothingness, looking like just a thin outline of on her skin that makes it look jaundiced. She looks tired, diminished. Wisps of smoke are still rising from her robe and skin as her breath heaves within her chest. None of the damage was lasting thanks to the regeneration aura that was a part of her. And then she looks up and sees that the Shadow was getting up...a dire red aura surrounding it. She didn't have time to move. She's lashed by psychic loneliness and fear. Her fear of rejection, her fear of living, her fear of abandonment, her fear of living alone. It scours and scathes her, it brings her to tears. She looks up at the Shadow, gritting her teeth. This, pisses, her, off. Pushed to the point of exhaustion, she nevertheless moves forward at the Shadow, drawing from her deepest reserves, slipping into the height of her focus. There's a blur of motion, and she's behind the Shadow. Small distortions appear in the air, little rips in the air. And suddenly the darkness is rended by multi-colored light that was akin to a prism, forming into a perfect cube of rainbow colored light over the Shadow in dimensions of about one hundred feet cubed, shunting anyone else who might get caught in the way out. A moment later... the Shadow and Alma vanish. And there's only a dark cube anchored to the ground, extending into the air, quite solid to anyone else who is in the way. Anyone close enough might hear a low background hum, which sounds infinitely peaceful, despite being able to barely make any of it out. BGM change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2zFwvIomw Seconds pass. One.. Two... Three... The outside of the black cube flares with impossibly bright light, which dies down immediately, perhaps only leaving spots in the vision of those who behold it, and it's a darkened cube once more. ...four... ... five... ...six... Then suddenly there are countless flares of multi-colored light playing over the surface of the darkened cube, hundreds of blue, white, yellow, and red lights playing across it's surface.. ....Seven... ...eight.. ...nine... The cube shatters at the count of ten, like it was no more than a pane of tinted glass, the shards vanishing almost instantly into the oppressive gloom. Like it never even existed. And then Alma wavers, and sags down to the ground behind the shadow, on her knees, her expression distant, abstracted.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Crouching Hobo, hidden Jab Punch. The darkside moans as they are repeatedly struck, collapsing heavily to one knee as their balance is disrupted by pure force of the red punch. (Which someone has in fact spiked) They are launched into the air and it is held there, entrapped by those tearing strings just in time for the rest of the triple tech to arrive. The full fury of the storm is unleashed, lashing the darkside again and again, the red aura flickering and then pulsing to life again stubbornly, the enchantment extremely powerful even under so much direct abuse. More abuse is hurled onto the darkside as they are picked up and suplexed into the ground hard enough for the ground to shake and the children to fall over from the aftershock. 10 seconds of the universe then floods the darkside as the cube anchored to the ground starts to play it's lava lamp panoply of the universe over the outer sides. The flaring light punches another hole in the dark zone which quavers as those flares of light punch outwards like needles, flares of light ripping holes in the preternatural darkness. The cube shatters outwards with a shattering down of glass and vanishes. The shadow, what little there is of it, has retracted back to the shape and size of Peter Pan. The shadow crumples to a heap, almost completely washed out and pale. They sit down hard as if greatly disoriented. The red aura had gone. They rock back and forth uneasily before leaning over to pat pat Alma on the shoulder. Both consoling and also 'Whoa. That was neat' as the shadow then promptly falls over sideways and sinks into the ground, sneaking back to Peter Pan with the aura of a sleepy child collapsing back into bed and pulling the covers over themselves. The dark zone collapses, letting moonlight and starlight back into this sector of Lower Archades. The remaining heartless quickly scatter.

:'''[[Ariel]] has posed:''' Thanks to another timely heal, Ariel is still on her feet, and feeling better. She gives Serah a nod. And then she tries to give Will a hug - well, she goes for that, but it does depend on how up for that he is. After that, she looks at Peter, and is a bit perplexed about the situation with his shadow. But it seems to have stopped for now. "Thanks! You did great! Everyone did."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' HIS POWER IS OVERFLOWI- Hug. Will immediately is normal again, because he's being hugged by a cute girl who helped him beat a kid's shadow out of evil. D'aaaaw. Will gives a hug back, because it's what you do. "I'm good...I'm fine, thanks..." he says, and holds up a hand for a HI-FIVE from Pan.

:'''[[Peter Pan]] has posed:''' Peter Pan would lie if he said he didn't have fun. This will be a story that will be told for the longest time of the Magic Lady, Mog Girl, Uptight Girl, Lost Boy and Pink Lady!. Man the Indians would likely love this tale some time around the camp fire. He also see his shadow is now back under control, also where it should be. He doesn't say a thing to it, it's already been punched enough, right? Pet goes to recover what's left of his hat and grimaces, he'll have to get a new one made or fixed. He seems in a good move "Did you see that? I was amazing...no we all were amazing!" Peter's cocky but this isn't something he can steal the credit on. Will gets his hi-five returned. It seems Peter may have brought some kids from Manhattan on a trip at some point. How else could he get new hip things? However after the high five he snaps back his head and does another rooster crow in victory then suddenly it cuts off as a look of horror crosses his face. You know that feeling of horror when you slept in on the day of your final exam and missed it? That's the sort of look on Peter's face right now. "I remember now! Lord Ombra...I remember why he wants the children. They are his food, he'll eat their hopes, their dreams until all their innocence is gone...."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' For a while, she looks almost catatonic. The Shadow pats her on the shoulder, and the stimulus dimly registers, as she lifts her chin just slightly to give it a glassy-eyed look. A few moments later she's smiling, as she returns the favor by reaching out and patting the shadow back before it slinks into the surface of the ground and back to Peter Pan. She puts a hand down and lifts herself back to her feet.. She takes a moment to adjust her glasses, and then she looks to the back lines to make sure all the children are still safely out there, doing a mental headcount. She then walks over to Kyra and allows her lips to crack into an impish smile, "That was good.. but I think I can do better next time to get an even greater effect. I kind of mistimed it a little." She cheerfully looks at Pan, "You were pretty amazing.." But all that cheer fades away the moment he speaks of Lord Ombra's aims. As she sucks in a sharp breath, "Then we'll stop him again, just like we did this time."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "OH no! He's going to turn them into.." He pauses for dramatic effect.. "Republicans..."

Wizardly Tech Support

2013-07-05T07:50:20Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/07/05 |Location=The Inn |Synopsis=A pair of wizards make trouble for a long-suffering barkeep. Wizardly tech support is exchanged. An owl snar..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/07/05
|Location=The Inn
|Synopsis=A pair of wizards make trouble for a long-suffering barkeep. Wizardly tech support is exchanged. An owl snarks.
|Cast of Characters=Isaac Hanlon, Merlin
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' The World of Ruin has three consistent institutions. No matter where you go, you will find the same three buildings in nearly every town, without fail: an item shop, an armory, and an inn. Even the smallest towns have them, though they vary wildly in size and quality of weapons. It isn't until you get to the last one you ever find that you find the /good/ armor, anyway. In one of the many scattered settlements in the World of Ruin, there is an inn. It doesn't have a name; it's just 'the inn,' because locally, that's all they've got. It's active tonight, with a decent-sized crowd scattered throughout the well-lit interior. Strains of music can be heard coming out the door, from the voice divine, accompanied by the piano at the back of the room. o/` Each morning I get up I die a little Can barely stand on my feet Take a look in the mirror and cry Lord what you're doing to me o/` Nobody is at the piano; it is playing itself, and does not appear to be designed to do so. Similarly, nobody is sitting near the young blue-haired man at the bar, from which the voice is coming. He's not actually /singing/; the glassware hanging over the bar is actually producing the sound, against all odds. He hums along with it, pausing only to take a mouthful of the amber-colored liquid sitting in front of him. o/` I have spent all my years in believing you But I just can't get no relief, Lord! Somebody, somebody Can anybody find me somebody to love? o/` "Somebody to looooooove..." Isaac sings along quietly. He's not really looking at much of anything. The bartender is looking at the slightly beat-up robotic hand of his, apparently concerned. He might be considering whether or not to cut him off.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The World of Ruin, like many other places in the universe have a couple of universal truths. One of them being the fact that inebriation is the best distraction. Most of the patrons are too focused on or already too drunk to care that the piano is playing it's soulful tunes and the glassware is crooning dolefully out into the slightly smoky atmosphere of the inn. It's quite a pity too because as it goes unabated. The bartender continues his ruminations about whether the man has indeed had enough when he's given more on his plate to think about by virtue of the sparkling WHOOSH that apparates as a comet that explodes harmlessly against the floor, an old man in an extremely loud and hokey hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, camera, colorful shorts and a beard almost as long as he is tall skids to a stop practically in one's lap. He reaches out a gnarled hand to steady himself. "What is this?" he asks nowhere in particular, seeing the man's spilt drink and looking chagrined. "Ah. Sorry about that. A bit of a.. miscalcuation I'm afraid. Terribly sorry." he gestures with a hand, the fluid flowing back into the cup that he rights in front of the patron as he steps back to look around with something of confusion. "My.. my my.. This isn't Bermuda." "OH?" A caustic voice rasps in exasperation as they fly into the inn and flutter into the rafters, the brown owl scolding. "And what gave you THAT idea, Merlin? Why.. I can feel the sun baking my feathers already." The bird gestures to the glassware. "Why. Isn't this the lounge?!" Thunder rumbled from the storm outside. Merlin gave the bird an equally thunderous scowl. There is a thin tablet like device in his hand that he is sharing the scowl with. He touches several places on the pad and it blatts at him imperiously. "None of that, Archamedes. Leave very well alone, if you please." he nods to the patrons, chuckling abashedly as he moves over to the barkeep. "Excuse me, pardon me. Be out of your hair in a moment." He looks at the glassware, then the piano. "My. That's got a good pitch to it. You've got a good ear, lad. Pardon me. Stout Yeoman." he proclaims to the barkeep, taking off his glasses and cleaning them off. "Perhaps a stout mead would be in order." "What are you doing?!" "Now now Archamedes. Might as well take advantage of this minor delay." "It's only an error because you don't know how to use it!" Merlin turns around and shakes the tablet at the owl. "Very well, YOU make the blasted contraption work properly, but only after my drink." "Hmph." There is an owl crossing their wings and looking sour up in the rafters. There is a wizard in extremely loud tourist gear and a camera sitting himself fastidiously at the bar, enjoying the music.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' WHOOOOSH!! Isaac takes a second to finish his drink before he turns around. He peers at the loud shirt, and the gnarled hand, and the also-loud bird. He hasn't had a /ton/ to drink; enough to get a nice buzz going, but not enough to rob him of total control of his faculties. He's a wizard. He doesn't want to ever not be in total control of his faculties. "The mead's good," Isaac asides. He taps the side of his glass, letting the music play. He drums a couple fingers along the bar-top, trying not to ask. He does not want to know. There's a specific thing he could offer, and if he does, he's going to ruin the point of his vacation... though it looks like Merlin's ruining his, too. Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed, Isaac thinks. "Hi, Merlin; Hi, Archimedes. There, uh... should be a narrow power button on one of the shorter sides," Isaac calls over his shoulder, face in his flesh and blood hand. His tablet is tucked away in his pocket for safe keeping, because changing the music is something he's figured out how to do without all the funny motions. His drunkenness makes him think maybe he doesn't need those at all, but that's crazy talk.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' "Hmm?" Merlin is engrossed again in the very serious business of waiting for his mead and poking at the tablet with a gnarled finger like one would poke a suspect jello mold. "Oh. Very right. very right." he says to Isaac without paying him too much mind. "Eh-- What?" he asks, and peers at Isaac curiously as it seems the rest of his mind has caught up with the conversation. "Oh!" he proclaims as he picks up the tablet gingerly between two fingers and turns it, bringing it up to eye level in order to spy the button in question. "aha!" The tablet lets out a cheerful blip and Merlin puts it down on the counter. "Look at that. Well, I have to thank you that--" BLAT. The wizard tilts his hat forwards in an unamused fashion, the crooked golf cap over his white hair hanging almost treacherously over his face as he glares at the tablet. "System warning?" he reads off the tablet. "Oh dear." he pokes several other places at the tablet then sighs, not even noticing when his mead arrives as he peers myoptically at the screen. "AHEM." Archamedes says from the rafters. There is an owl /ostensibly/ clearing their throat, Merlin's shoulders hunching and ostensibly ignoring said owl as he scowls, takes the mead without looking at it and nearly drowns himself by taking a larger drink than he bargained for. He coughs and splutters, combing mead out of his bread. "Confounded technology" he gripes to himself distractedly. "One modern muddle shattered into a thousand different-- " "AAAHHHHAAHHH--EM." "What is it, Archamedes?!" The owl silently points a wing at Isaac. Merlin readjusts his glasses and looks rather sheepish, but.. as a gentlemen, pointedly does not ask. "Never mind him. He's a grumpy old thing and not much for subtlety." he says instead, to the spluttering consternation of the owl. "You.. your the one who came asking about the whole Manhattan business, weren't you?" He peers at Isaac and then nods to himself, raising the mead in toast before taking a more sedate drink. "My, that was a unfortunate business. Here's to happier times, yes?"

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Isaac flags down the bartender for another refill. He has to do it twice, because the tender is a little wary about the second crazy wizard (and his talking animal accomplice, no less) and having to get closer to either of them. The bartender is probably a smart man, all told. Isaac glances aside again. He squeezes his eyes shut, putting his hand back on the bar. He pushes himself off it, turning on the stool. It's remarkably modern, compared to the aesthetic of the place. He looks at Merlin with an expression best described as ':|' for a solid fifteen seconds. Does this guy remember anyone from anything, or is this just a case where he's going to have to start wearing a name tag? "Yeah, that's me. Isaac. We spoke for a bit." He shrugs his left shoulder, the real one. "I was going to ask you for some reading material, but I never really got around to it. Some things came up." Nightmares. Watching your friends die, over and over. Confronting your worst fears come to life, wielded as a weapon and as a place of instruction and to release something awful all at the same time. Letting them down all over again. There's a moment where Isaac inhales slowly through a clenched jaw. He forces himself to relax. What's done is done. He snags his refilled glass off the counter. "Happier times," he echoes, lifting it in a salute and taking a drink. "So --" He nods at the tablet. "-- I thought you hated modern technology. Do you need some help with your tablet?" Innocent enough thing to have a problem with. Isaac is good with technology. Tech support isn't saving the world. It's alright.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Probably go with the name tag. Probably be easier. Merlin nods, eyes glancing to the mechanical arm for a split second. "Right. Right. Ah. So it's that one, is it?" he pushes the glasses up on his nose and looks genuinely regretful and sympathetic for a moment. Although about /WHAT/ exactly is a question for the ages. "Now let me see here." He turns back to the tablet, explaining as he pokes and prods at it. "It's not ... so much-- hmm." he snorts. "I'm very much a fan of modern technology. Indoor plumbing. Washing machines. Daytime television. It's just made so /complicated/ sometimes." he sighs and makes a waving away gesture. "But that's people now isn't it? Everything has to be so blasted /complicated/." Snicker from the Avian Gallery. Merlin gives an apologetic look to the barkeep but in no manner of speaking stops being a wizard with a loud companion and so very much there is little he can do to assuage the man's woes. He turns back to Isaac, gesturing with the mead. "And well it's a all just a little bit of a fascinating system now isn't it? And I thought I might--" he gestures at the tablet. " I might 'port' over some somewhat finicky bits and pieces to see if anything could be made of it, sometimes magic can be a dreadful mess. Bottled this and dried whatever.. but it's being rather.. obstinant." The wizard gives a very sour look at the tablet, poking it and getting another sour blat in return as if the feeling was mutual. Inanimate things tended to do that in Merlin's presence and the tablet gave off the feeling of being very put out just by the glimmer of dim light over the dull grey of it's casing. "It /should/ work." Merlin evinces with a shrug. "I put all of the.. programs into the .. system.. in the correct order, I believe but it gives this blasted BLATTing noise whenever I try an access a particular thing." Eventually. Defeat. and a rather sheepish look. "..you... wouldn't happen to be of a mind to look at it for me, would you Isaac?"

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Isaac gives Merlin a quick look when he talks about the arm. He makes a mental note, and then doesn't say anything about it, because Merlin is hard enough to stay on-topic. Though, then again, sometimes he thinks it's all a big act. Isaac knows from acts. "Complicated isn't bad," Isaac argues. "Sometimes making something too simple is a bad thing." He doesn't have much more than that for an argument, though; his central debate cortex is currently down at the bar a few neurons over, which makes him incapable of offering an example in counter. He takes another drink instead. That's the ticket. "Well, that's... not terribly hard," Isaac says slowly. "I mean, once you get it all setup. That's how I do all my magic; I've got the reference materials saved to my drive, and I compile the spells from pieces that look compatible from all over. Only need focii for when it's weird ritual mumbo-jumbo. Like looking at auras and stuff." He gestures vaguely with his mechanical hand. It moves stiffly. Isaac gives Merlin a sidelong look. He looks like he's considering whether or not to charge the old man, or just hold it over his head for when he next needs a favor. He mulls it over for a second, tilting his glass back and forth as he does. The liquid inside swirls gently. Isaac's eyes track it for a few seconds. "Hmmm..." Not saving the world, he reminds himself. This is all a coincidence. Merlin is just stopping over on his way to Hawaii for /his/ vacation. Nothing to worry about. Finally, Isaac holds out his mechanical hand, palm up. He wiggles his fingers a little. "Yeah, sure. Give it here. It's probably just an error in the configuration or something."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Merlin takes another drink, eased along the path of inebriation by something that tastes good enough to finish and not good enough to have again within reasonable limits. "HA." Archamedes snorts from the rafters. "If Merlin tried to use Occum's razor, he'd just cut himself on it." "There is such a thing as properly reduced complexity, Archamedes." "Yes. For any threshold of 'complex'" snorts the owl. "Which is /contextual/ as you well know." Merlin glares at his mead and says to isaac quietly and conspiratorily. "Be very thankful you don't have a familiar, although if you are of a mind would you graciously take mine?" "I HEARD THAT." The owl grumps at the wizard. "You were very well meant to hear that, that's what the term 'sotto-voce' is all about, don't you know." This bickering continues unabated while Merlin absent mindedly hands over the tablet to Isaac. He turns in the stool and glares at the owl, taking the hat off his head and shaking it at the owl, sometimes wringing it between his hands in sheer frustration. The tablet handed over to him is tangentially similar to what he is familiar with. The layout is a number of icons on a background of cheerful bubbles with the occasional fish swimming by. Each glyph is neatly labeled. There are a number of neatly labeled books that reads 'Library' with several games including the epitomous Angry Space Mice. Each spell is set up in a neat little packaged icon which when opened displays the parameters that customize a spell to a particular situation. It's essentially a highly sanitized and idiot-proofed version that proves the universe will provide one way or another. Merlin wrenches himself away from his argument. "Ah!" he says, noticing Isaac again and seeming to do so for the first time. "The little world symbol, I think it was."

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Isaac snorts a little at the Occam's razor crack. That was pretty good, he thinks. There's a reason he likes Archimedes, too. Largely it's because the bird seems to know what's going on when Merlin doesn't, and their exchanges illustrate that. And also because it's hilarious. Holding the device with his mechanical hand, Isaac puts down his glass and wipes his flesh and blood hand off on his pant leg (ew, condensation) before he reaches over to check the thing out. It's a little awkward, since he's so used to his personalized one; it used to be a market standard device, but it quickly became something else. This one is similar, but just different enough to throw him. Isaac thumbs through the contents of the tablet like the two of them bicker. Isaac idly asides, "I'm not in the market for a familiar, no, sorry," despite it being a thing he doesn't really have to do. He eyes the glyphs and the books, but doesn't touch any of them. He just peruses the icons and the interface, and looks for a way to check the settings and various options. It doesn't look like it's going to make a funny noise and spit out errors and noises at him or anything. "This?" Isaac pokes the world symbol with his forefinger when its pointed out. He's expecting to see an error message, or maybe a web browser on a site that is full of malware.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Flash. The error message comes up with an annoyed 'BLATT' of denial as the program refuses to open. Merlin nods with irritation. "Yes, Yes. That's the one." Archamedes ruffles up into a ball of indignation and feathers. "Merlin. I am /NOT/ a market commodity." The wizard makes calming motions with his empty mug. He looks into the bottom with an abstracted expression before putting it back down on the bar and putting his hat back on his head firmly. "Of course not, Archamedes." The unspoken 'who would buy you?' is prompted by another "I HEARD THAT." to which Merlin gives a very innocent, sweet kindly old man expression to his familiar. "Pinfeathers" the owl mutters dourly, preening some feathers and ignoring the old man. The wizard fiddles with the settings on his camera while Isaac quickly finds the settings and the task manager functions which control the basic general settings and then the individual program settings themselves along with statistics like data usage and so forth. Wait. A moment before the sound and the error. Was there something? A solid wall of code that filled the screen for that split second? Surely not.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' Flash. BLATT. Isaac blinks -- after the fact. Blink before and you missed it. "What was that?" he mutters. He tries to find any trace of it on the device. He shakes his head a little bit, blinking a few more times. He feels like a camera just went off in his face, and he didn't even get to see the offending picture-taker. He taps the icon again. He blinks. BLATT. "Did you --" He looks up at Merlin, thoroughly distracted with his hat and camera. Then at Archimedes, who almost certainly knows more than he's letting on. "-- nevermind. Must've been my imagination." Except it /couldn't/ have been, because he remembers seeing... /something/. What was it? It's going to drive him crazy. He shakes his head again, more sharply. Isaac spends a minute going through the thing and setting up a bunch of ease-of-use options for Merlin, and adding shortcuts to the main screen for common applications he might want to use it for. He glances at the date and time stamps on each particular icon, and the data usage as well. Then, he holds it back out to the wizened (read: old) wizard. "Here. I dunno what's up with it. I think you might just have to reinstall that program. I think it might be spitting out some kind of junk-data; I saw something for a second, there..."^t

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' That world icon was taking up only a little processing power. There were several background processes that were taking up considerably more data but each of them corresponded to a program on the desktop that ostensibly should be there. Archamedes flutters down to the counter, crawling one foot at a time up Merlin's arm to his shoulder. "GULLYfluff." the owl pronounces. "Another wasted hour when we COULD be in Bermuda." "Now now Archamedes. This has been a very productive side venture. After all, it wouldn't work very much at all except for Isaac's help now would it?" "Annnd whoooose fault is that for not reading the instructions?" "It looked straightforwards." Archamedes snorts. "An On-button is too complex for you. The worlds save us when THAT is beyond the reach of the great wizard Merlin." Merlin reaches up and gently closes Archamedes beak who miraculously doesn't bite down on his fingers. He just looks extremely cross. "That's alright lad. I'll do just that and see if anything turns up. Junk-data you say..?" he looks completely puzzled. "That's.. not dangerous is it?" he frowns and looks at the tablet speculatively. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." Archamedes sighs. "Forget it Merlin. I'll explain it to you when your older." Merlin looks over the new additions and flicks his eyes up at Isaac. He smiles very slightly, glasses gleaming before he leaps up from the stool. "Well! Let's see if that routine works a little bit smoother this time, shall we? " He turns away and then turns right back again. "Eeh.. do feel welcome to drop in some time about that reading material. I know Archadmedes would enjoy the company, if nothing else." He then spins right back around and .. for a SECOND time turns right back around and pays the barkeep graciously for the drinks and his tolerance. Merlin taps the glassware curiously, poking at it a bit with raised eyebrows. A rather different tune taps itself into existance Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" forming a counterpoint to the wizard's exit. Another comet of sparkles and light zooms out of view as he mulishly taps at the tablet and then slams a foot in irritation as it blatts at him again. "This time, for SURE." At the foot stomp, he disappears and the music plays for awhile in his absence before winding down like a music box with the tension all let out of it.

:'''[[Isaac Hanlon]] has posed:''' "Harmless, just kind of annoying. It's entirely possible I've been drinking and seeing things, too," he adds offhandedly, "so take that as you will." Isaac smiles a little. "I'll do that. I've got some, uh... things to do first, you understand," he remarks, gesturing vaguely at the bar, "but I could use light reading at some point or another I'm sure." 'Light,' he says. He actually means 'hilariously heavy and complicated to literally anyone else.' Isaac's a smart guy, and sometimes he takes that for granted. He watches the wizard (and familiar) take their leave via sparkle-comet. Then, he turns back to his drink. Isaac frowns a little bit at the bar-top. He waves his left hand, the music winding back up so he can listen to it to completion without the distortion that comes with Merlin taking off. "Good choice," he mutters. He lapses into silence and stillness. "Dammit," Isaac sighs. He digs his tablet out of his pocket and thumbs it on, opening a little text editor widget. He closes his eyes for a moment, trying to remember what he saw, and starts writing it down. Vacation, he reminds himself. Stay on-task by staying off-task. ...right after this one.

Fragmentary Passage: Zia

2013-07-01T01:04:47Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/06/30 |Location=??? Destati |Synopsis=Dreams. Prophecies. Nightmares. ---and choices. |Cast of Characters=Mysterious Bacon, Zia |pretty=yes ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/30
|Location=??? Destati
|Synopsis=Dreams. Prophecies. Nightmares. ---and choices.
|Cast of Characters=Mysterious Bacon, Zia
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' Sleep can rarely be a safety although it can be a balm as well as a curse. As sleep draws down at last and the world of light fades to inky darkness, this time things are again different. There is a faint smell of the sea and the calling of ocean birds heard as if a far distance away. The force of water around Zia is light but constant. Air bubbles up from the deep, shining spheres lit by some distant light underneath. It seems free and easy enough to breathe in this drifting dream of water. This cylinder bounded by darkness has a bottom which she touches after some time of gentle falling. The stained glass underneath her is partially obscured by sand. The feeling of water fades away as the bottom is reached and there is a sharp CRACK of splintering glass as part of the cylinder breaks. A staircase of gently luminous blue crystal and silvery metal flows upwards from the floor of the cylinder to run alongside it and then upwards into a ceiling that is now roiling clouds. There is a feeling, almost an insistant and urgent voice. A howling refrain but the words. The words are scattered and so very far away. "Such.. far away.. the road."

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' The still of sleep can be peaceful for some, but for Zia, it had become a strange place as of late. There were dreams that seemed like more than dreams, and nightmares that she couldn't escape with the hold of stone sleep. Yet, the feeling of this is familiar, too, as if treading the line between sleep and awake. The smell of the sea is what draws her first, a deep breath drawing in scent of salt to her lips. It reminds her of Scotland, of the first rocky reaches that she'd called home. Then later, there was the smell of the ocean that came across Manhattan at times, blown in from the Atlantic. It's something that she's missed since moving to the dry, desert city of Fluorgis. This isn't the first time that she's felt herself beneath the water, both in her dreams or while awake. The faint light seems familiar, too, as her talons touch down on the sandy floor of the platform. Expectation drawn from her last dream expects to see familiar faces in the glass, but the sand blocks them from view. The crack has her flinching, though. Though she'd fallen from one of these platforms before, it doesn't make the sound any less startling. And then, there's the stairway. Blinking, the gargoyle glances around before approaching. There seems only one way to go, but the voice stops her just at the first step. Ears tucking back, she turns, unable to resist the urge to search for the source of that voice. "Hello?" She offers back. The clouds above may roil, but they don't frighten the storm mage, at least not for now. "Skoll?" It had sounded like him before in her dreams, but this time it seems even more strange. There's no way to go, but to continue, step by step.

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' A silvery light shining down on the Scottish highlands, as seen through a crack in a dreamworld. The smell of the water and the feel of the air as a light breeze curls around the cliffs and the high places. A silvery fog curls across the rich earth and grasses, shrouding the rolling hills. The turf littered with hundreds, thousands of ancient blades. They stick from the terrain like the remains of ancient caerns. The battered and rusted remnants of a battlefield long since turned to ash. Some of these ancient and strange weapons of artifice are intricate while others are simple. Some of them are proud and others humble. But they are all dull and lifeless and broken. Skoll's voice may have been heard before, just for a moment, for a flicker... but the new voice has nothing to do with them. It is a nameless and only vaguely male voice that announces frankly from her elbow. "Where do you think this path leads?" There is a chime, a single lonely tolling as the fog reveals a grand and terrible clocktower that protrudes from the fog like a thorn of stone. The ancient clockface with it's tarnished face is as luminous as the moon overhead with violet flame underneath each of the archaic numbers. The wrought iron hands point to 'I' The nameless voice continues. "Where these paths have always lead.." There is a faint chuckle and there, where there was nobody before there is a figure whose manner and bearing are very calm and controlled. Their coat is black and tied at the neck in the same draping manner as wings, though it is not quite certain if theya re gargoyle or human. A hood shrouds their face, what little can be seen of it at all. "Good evening. Forgive the theatrics. They are somewhat inevitable in order to secure a moment of your time.. undisturbed. Would you walk with me, perhaps only for a minute or two? I shan't delay ye long." The figure gestures to a pathway moving through the hills in a gentlemanly gesture.

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' One moment, it's part of a familiar dream and next she's back in the highlands. The transition takes her breath away, causing her heart to falter for a moment. She had last seen these cliffs as a child, back before everything changed. Yet, this is not some idyllic place, but something more ancient and dark. The cool sea air, rich green grasses, and silvery mist seem like home - the strewn battlefield does not. Perhaps some great battle had been fought here, but just what had brought so their rest is lost to the hands of time. Her father had many stories of wars that he had told to his bright-eyed children, but seeing it first hand is another matter entirely. Crouching, Zia touches the edge of a ruined blade for a moment, her expression distant and sad. Before she can come to terms with any of it, there is that voice. Turning towards it, she finds nothing at first, her pulse racing slightly in genuine surprise. Her tail tucks towards her, blinking into the fog, but at first, there is no one. The chime pulls her attention, though. The great clock appears like some monolith from long ago, but it doesn't feel like any ordinary clock. The voice spins her gaze back again, but this time it is no phantom but some creature of flesh and blood. Watching for a moment, Zia lets out a breath, her head canted slightly. "Who are ye?" She asks in a soft voice, though he does go on to explain his presence here in this strange dreamscape. With a sidelong glance towards the battlefield of ancient blades, the gargoyle nods once. Once, she might have been frightened by such things, but she's met her share of strange people since her world first fell. Now, she's driven more by curiosity. "If ye wish, though Ah admit tha Ah'm a wee bit puzzled as te wha yer doin here. Though Ah cannae say wha Ah'm doin here, either." Dreams were like that sometimes, but Zia moves along the indicated path none the less, her tucked tail showing that she's hardly at ease in this place.

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' "A seeker of many things, knowledge being one of them. Until we meet, perhaps it is best only to choose that for my name." The man(?) strolls through the mist of this ancient and shifted dreamland, hands loosely behind his back as he asks, in a voice that seems to shift and distort and become many people and none of them. "There is nothing more important than the things we choose for ourselves, is there? Often. We have our choices made for us and our freedom stolen from us. Even by those who believe they have our best interests in mind." A faint chuckle. "I admit I drew you here for the sake of sating a curiosity. Tell me, have the sorcerers deigned to tell you anything of the path they have set you on by catching you in their nets? Did they aid the world you call home when the heartless came, or did they shroud their path in one of obscurity and feigned apathy and mistrust?" Another pause. "Not even the Atlanteans know much of the things they have made sure the universe has forgotten. Even if it could have saved your world. ..And still.. very much could." The Clock seems to follow them where they go, always omnipresent as if it were part of a background that always shifted so that the ancient clock was always in view.

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' Names have never been part of her culture, although many gargoyles now use them. The answer he gives is moer than enough to sate her, as titles fall more naturally to her tendencies than names ever have. "So be it." She inclines her head then, a polite sort of measure of introduction, because clearly he has some idea of who she is, otherwise he wouldn't have sought her in the first place. It's his questions that take her time to mull over, because there are so many ways of answering them. "Ah suppose so, although Ah'm startin te wonder about the threads tha bind people together." Though she might have once scoffed at things like 'fate', she'd seen Avira saved by 'true love' and the power of those who seemed wise enough to know the paths for things to tread. "Ah've had m'freedom taken away b'fore. Ah dinnae plan te have anyone take it away again." Then he goes on to ask about sorcerers and the heartless. This stops her slightly, causing the white gargoyle to look at him peculiarly. "Ah'm afraid Ah dinnae know wha sorcerers ye mean. The only ones Ah've met are the old man 'n the strange woman in the swamps." She's likely referring to Merlin and Mama Odie. "Ah dinnae know if they played any part in the fight for Manhattan, but they did help us find the way te bring it back." Yet, her words remain questioning, uncertain if these are the people he means, or if there is something else going on that she doesn't yet understand. The clocks ominous presence causes her tail to tick back and forth, as if it were counting out the seconds. "The Atlanteans seem te have lost a great deal aboot themeslves 'n their past, 'n the power they have is goin' te put them in danger. Manhattan is too busy tryin te protect itself from the evils of other-worlders te be preparin for the real threat of the Heartless." Neither were in a great position these days, but perhaps she and her friends had managed to hold off the Heartless for now. "If there is a way te help, it's somethin' we need te seek out 'n find. Things cannae remain the way they are just now."

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' "Indeed. Many things bind hearts together, and not all of them pleasant or.. even safe. Things very much cannot remain how they are now, if your worlds are to survive." The apparition shakes their head slightly. "Although, if you wish to learn more of their folly. Of what has been possibly before and may be again. If you wish to learn of the deceptions of both those you mentioned as well as others then I am more than happy to point you in the direction of them." The seeker makes an expansive gesture with a gloved hand, pointing towards doors that hang in nothingness somewhere approximate to where the 'base' of the clocktower would be if it didn't keep always moving away. "I am of the belief that learning answers for yourself is more honest than simply telling someone what they must believe, or how they should act.. even.. if it is what they dearly need to hear." And then they are gone. Evaporated in a plume of smoke.

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' It's an odd thought - to wonder if someone else has been pulling her strings all this time. Yet, the first steps had been her own choosing. She'd met others who had brought her out of her shell and into a world that needed those strong enough to stand up and fight. It's hard to examine her own past and try to see where things could have been different. "Ah dinnae know much aboot these sorcerers ye speak of, lad, but there's a great deal in this world tha Ah dinnae understand yet. It'd be foolish te turn aside any insight." The doors beyond remind her of the doors that once lead out of her dream, but these don't seem to be those kind of doors. "Ah'm willin te see wha it is tha ye have te show me." She moves towards the doors, although the twitch of her tail tells that her bravery may not go as deep as it seems. What if there is something she doesn't want to know beyond? Perhaps it's better to know now than to wait and find out later.

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' The inside of the clocktower is a place out of memory. Everything is where it is supposed to be. Every book, every item, every candle. There is only one thing missing in this study out of memory. There is no Valen. No trace even though the candles are lit and the room looks only recently unoccupied. Eerily so for a dead man. As if he might walk in at any moment to resume his studies. There are a number of small eccentricities that mar the perfection of this memory. There are small statues, chess pieces even scattered around the study. Pawns and knights and kings all carved as small gargoyles. Each of them is faintly luminous, with an aura of unreality like whatever they held in check would emerge if the faint surface tension of their binding was disturbed. On each piece scattered around the study there is a name engraved and made obvious by the faint luminous glow of the letters when Zia approached any of them. That menacing clock, even though it should be around her, can be seen from the outside still frozen on 'I' Near the wall, at eye level, is a tattered notice that reads only. "There is never time for everything." And these are the words graven on the statues. Endless -- a small praying gargoyle. Zero Point -- A small gargoyle, sitting, head tilted upwards to look at some far distant obkect. Utter Silence -- A gargoyle, hands over their eyes. Wayfinder-- Two gargoyles with clasped hands Tower of Voices -- A gargoyle sitting against an empty throne. Dark Margin -- A gargoyle standing, half of their body ragged and worn away.

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' The sight of the room within is enough to take her breath away. It's been many years since she'd last stepped foot in Valen's study, not since the day she took back her own freedom. So many dark memories were built from this place, and yet it had also been her home for centuries. Some of the very books that line these walls, she now kept hidden back at the watchtower, but they remain in this memory none the less. It's eerie enough that she can't help but turn around, checking the stairs behind her for any sign of the dark sorcerer, but - of course- she is alone. 'There is never time for everything'. The note catches her eye, the writing looking as if it had been scrawled in the dead man's handwriting. Outside, she can just see the clock. "Alright." Turning back, her eyes sweep the room, over the various gargoyle forms that should not be here. Though she can't claim to understand what they mean, it's a matter of finding those things which speak to her. The choice isn't easy, as she has no idea how many choices she will have in this strange place. Yet, her hand is drawn instinctively towards the small praying gargoyle. Endless. Even the people of Atlantis were not immortal. What about Skoll? Clearly, even the worlds were not without end. So what could this token mean?

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' There is a faint sound and a drawing forwards. It pulls Zia towards itself and the entire world seems to invert as the gargoyle is touched. There is a flash of light, quick and startling as sudden sunlight and the study is gone. The last few wisps of that dream depart as the dream seems to have shifted to the deepest regions of space. Stars and planets stand out statkly on the carpet of inky black. The darkness between the stars in which they are inbedded spiral with comets, nebulae and a howling solar wind. They churn and ripple through the cosmos, through the unfathomable reaches between worlds. In this titanic set piece where all seems so small and so lost, how can anything be connected to anything else? A single heartbeat shudders through this pocket universe. It is not a sound in itself but a single pulse that makes the walls and ceiling ripple. Revealing this place to be a room on which the universe is painted. The air ripples and there is a faint feeling of that sensation of water again. The floor moves slightly underfoot. The surface tension of a pond disturbed by that sound, that event. And then again. Sound. Sound. Light. Emotions. .. something else. Not quite words or thoughts. The pure language of intentions. Unspoken wishes. Hope, both newly minted and greatly battered. Hearts. The universe lights up for a split second and every interconnected heart is shown. A delicate infinite tapestry of the interconnections life shares on a cosmic scale. A shining thread of song and sight and emotion that blazes from some far flung edge of the universe where all threads converge. There is a core at the very center of this pocket universe. An empty place in the universe where all hearts begin and end. A flicker of luminous blue. There is darkness here as well. It is a great blanket in which light is embedded with threads of chaos everywhere seeking to ensnare, to entrap.. but for all it's destruction, it is also part of the pattern as well. And.. there is something else.. Empty places in the universe where it has all started to unravel. Places of no life. No light. No hope. A raw wound, an absence in the universe. Another blaze of light. Brilliant like a cerulean star against the cosmos, traveling that shivering line of interconnection to touch Zia. The universe neatly and without fanfare inverts itself again. The light, the life is hers. Her heart briefly and painfully on display for all it's joy and sorrow. Her connections to others. How they have changed. How she has changed.. and it is all a microcosm of the bigger picture. All hearts connected. Even separated by so much distance. So much pain and tragedy. So much darkness. And still.. light. The study returns with the force of being flung bakcwards, of rubber banding away from that universe-in-a-box before it begins to burn. A small searingly white piece of icy stone is in hand, which dulls down to a cool fire like smouldering coals set in blue flames.

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' It's a sickening lurch that has her feeling as if her stomach was left behind somewhere in the past. Thrown forward, it is almost as if she hovers somewhere, wings flexed against a wind that doesn't exist. The instinct to catch herself from a fall ebbs, but in the aftermath, she's left to let out a single breath, taking in the wonder around her. On a night, a long time ago, Zia had sat up on the cliffs with her father and brother, learning about the stars. It was a stark contrast to the dim lights she could see from Manhattan in the years that followed. Yet, she'd found it again with Skoll, watching the stars fade and the sun rise over a foreign world. This is something even beyond that. The universe stretches on forever, and the expanse of it all takes her breath away. Words fail her then, replaced only by the sound of that distant heartbeat. Not one heart, but so many that stretch out from so many places between. Light and darkness and chaos. Joy and sorrow. Song and sadness. Creation and destruction. It's a balance that seems to weave this greater tapestry, and yet some parts have come unraveled. Her heart sinks. "Lost worlds..." She whispers to herself. She'd understood what it was like to lose her own world, but that was one sorrow, where as these are many. It's hard to see those places where the connections have been brutally severed. Then, there is her own heart among so many others. It is a small thing, but even one light can sometimes be enough. Memories come like flashes back to her. Faces of her parents, her brother, her friends. Some are gone now, and yet some remain. One tiny part of the greater whole that remains. A hand reaches out, but then she's seized again and flung backwards. The feeling of returning to the real world is enough to knock the gargoyle off-balance, causing her to have to catch herself against a nearby table. Her heartbeat pounds in her ears. "Ye didnae tell me there'd be a roller-coaster involved in this, Seeker." Though he's not there, she seems to be trying to divert her own uncertainty, rubbing a palm across one eye. Where her hand has touched down on the table though, another of the tokens lies. The image of two gargoyles, hand in hand. It reminds her so much of her parents, or perhaps of Percival and the love he never had. And then... she thinks of Skoll. Steeling herself, Zia swallows and then touches this second icon. Her way has not always been certain, but just what do the words mean by 'Wayfinder'?

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' Again. The sound of the ocean. The phantom sensation of water laps across the floor of the study. There is a pressure, then the smell of the ocean. The soft baking prickle of sun on skin. The warm and moist winds blowing through the study, ruffling the pages of open ooks. A woman's voice, tinny and indistinct like hearing their voice through a seashell. "Somewhere out there." There is a smile that can almost be heard in the voice of the woman. The hope and at the same time.. doubt. Worry. All so carefully wrapped away. "--there's this tree with star-shaped fruit. And the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. As long as you carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You will always find your way back to eachother. An unbreakable connection." Golden sand. A distant and dusky shore comes in for a moment, impossibly remote.. and then goes out like the tide. The study returns but the blazing comet star has become a five pointed star that blazes with that same constant cold light. It's pieced together carefully, like fragments bound together by wire, holding with it the connections made and lost. The paths that have lead to this day and this hour.. and the choices.. good or bad.. that make up those connections. The small gargoyle is gone and all sensory information of that distant shore goes with it. There is another horrible clamor of notes. The Clock, which can be seen from the outside reads 'VIII'. So much time has already flown past. The hooded figure is examining one of the books. He says without looking up. "It's true. What she said." he closes the book gently, carefully. "We all stand together in this. We all make choices and have to live with the consequences. What will you choose, I wonder?" --and again, they fade out of sight.

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' The ocean. It seems to come back to water a lot in these dreams. Where the rocky cliffs of her homeland had been familiar, though, this place is not. Though some part of her still feels connected to the study, her talons can just about feel the sand beneath her feet. Her tail shits, brushing past it, trying to find the edge of what is real and what is not. Then, the voice twitches Zia's ear, drawing her attention. "An unbreakable connection?" She asks, but it doesn't seem to be to anyone in particular. The idea seems impossible, but so much of what she's seen lately is impossible. Some part of her wants to talk to this girl, to find out what it is that she knows about such things, and yet, this vision seems to fade even quicker than the first, leaving her once again back in Valen's home. The bright sight of the Wayfinder burns into her mind, though. She looks at it, blinking against the brightness. Then, the clock chimes. "How in the..." She starts, but then cuts herself off, realizing that the note had been true enough about the passage of time. She wouldn't be able to see everything there is to see here, but perhaps she can find out enough. The return of the Seeker to this dream is met with a startle from the gargoyle, who flicks her tail once and peers in his direction. Valen had so many volumes, and the one in his hands isn't familiar to her. "Aye. Ah wouldnae be here if it werenae for those who have stood by m'side. Ah wonder if..." And he's gone again. She narrows her eyes, "Bloody phantom." Muttering, she can almost feel the time ticking down. She'd make her choice, and live with the consequences of not knowing the rest. "Ah'll choose wha'ever it is tha m'heart tells me te choose." He may not be talking about the little gargoyle tokens, but for now, that is the choice she has to make. There is not enough time. It's the gargoyle, sitting, looking upward towards some unknown horizon that she chooses. Once, a long time ago, she had sat like that upon the ruins of her family's castle. Her father joked about her head being up in the clouds, and perhaps that wasn't far from the truth for a storm-witch. It reminds her of herself, and that is why her hand reaches for it: Zero Point.

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' Darkness. It surges up and around and blots out the study in seconds. There is a sensation of falling, of drifting out into that darkness and then again, returning as recurrent as the tides, the sound of the ocean. Now an otherworldly illumination. A silvery sphere lay like a sun in the distance, casting it's pale light on the beach and the waters and the strange arching protrusions that form a partial cage over the sky. The air has a thrumming silence to it. A silence so complete save for the movement of the dark water that thought seems sluggish and difficult. Willpower and memory seems to fade like a sand castle being worn away. There are footprints along this dark shore. In the near distance, a blue ahired woman sits upon a dark rock looking out at the ocean. She looks in Zia's direction and smiles. It is the smile heard from an unknown shore, full of hope and that squirreled away doubt. She looks a little closer as if trying to remember something that slips away from her and, with a look of faint resignation she lets whatever it is go. She gestures for Zia to join her and sits with her hands in her lap. "I.. " she chuckles but it is a sad sound. "I do not know where I came from.. or who I am, but I am glad for the company."

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' Darkness first, and then the sea. This time, the sand beneath her feet feels real enough. Taloned digits leave strange impressions next to the footprints that line the sand. Once again, the sounds of the ocean fill her ears. Crouching, Zia takes a brief moment to feel the sand between her fingers, wondering if this could be a real place, or if it is just another illusion or memory. It's too quiet here, without the sounds of life that normally accompany a place like this. The silvery light casts an eerie reflection of the water, making it look as if it were depthless. Yet, she isn't alone like the other visions, and the moment her eyes come across the blue-haired woman. Rising quickly, Zia dusts the sand from her hands and steps forward. Though she can feel the pull of the waves on her mind, for now she manages to resist losing herself to this place. "Ah didnae realize there would be anyone here." Her wings cape, trying not to look quite so monsterous. Wherever this woman came from, it's probably not a world that had creatures of her kind. The sad tone of the woman's voice pulls on her heartstrings, causing her own ears to tip down slightly as she approaches closer, tail curling faintly against her ankles. At first, there seems little she can say to offer comfort, but she has to try. "Ah'm sorry for wha'ever brought ye here, lass." Though it may be another vision, it feels real enough, leaving the question to linger: Will she be trapped here as well? Pushing that thought from her mind, the gargoyle comes to stand behind the blue-haired woman, "Is there anythin Ah can do te help ye? Anything at all? Ah'll do wha Ah can, even if it's jus' te stay here for a wee while."

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' The woman looks out at the ocean again. She looks over and the absolute faith in her eyes shines out as she shakes her head. "I don't know if I am dreaming or not.. this has seemed like such a long one. So.. I'm not sure I can answer that question." The smile again, ticking at just one little corner. "I've been waiting for so long. Company /does/ seem like.. it would be nice." In her hands are the broken pieces of a stained glass charm much like the wayfinder that Zia found in her hand after the other dreams had past. "..All of us who come here are waiting for something. Wishing for something." she shakes her head. "Moving around in circles. Saying the same things.. hoping.. that one day I would be saying them to someone who remembered me." A single tear slides down her face, a moment of broken control in an otherwise straight and calm and confident bearing. She reaches up to her shoulder, to a place where armor should be but is not. "..We promised to stay together but they got.. lost somewhere." A painful breath. "But I have hope. And visitors.. and time. Sometimes. That's good enough."

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' In that moment, Zia looks out across the sea, herself, trying to imagine what it must be like to only have this sea for solace. "Ah know the feeling... sometimes, yer just nae sure if yer awake or still dreamin'. This feels real. Ye feel real. Ah'm just nae sure if Ah'm really here or not." It's a daunting question. If this woman exists somewhere, then surely her fate has been a sad one. "Maybe ye'll wake up someday, too." So long as people believe, then some hope has to exist. When her eyes look back to the woman, it takes Zia a moment to recognise the charm in her hand. If it weren't for the glimpse she'd had into Wayfinders, the gargoyle might have never been able to guess what it might have been. "Even things tha are broken can be fixed. Nothing is lost so long as people fight for it." Reaching beneath her scarf, she plucks out her own crystal. Though it still shows the scar from where it had been cracked, it has regained the power it had once lost. "Keep faith, lass. Maybe they're out there somewhere, still tryin te find ye." Though, she doesn't know this woman, it seems wrong to leave her here without some reassurance. Maybe, if she remembers, then whomever this girl was won't be lost cmopletely. She wants to tell her that wishes can still come true, but it sounds false on her own lips. Without knowing the circumstances, there's not much she can do but be here, and try to remember every moment. Reaching out, Zia tries to place a hand onto that same shoulder, trying to offer some support where she can offer no solution. This is another mystery, but what does it have to do with everything else? Pieces of a greater puzzle. "Well, Ah'm glad te offer some small comfort. No' one deserves te be alone. No' like this." After living so long by herself, she'd learned just what it is to need and care for other people. Being separated from them seems like an unfair curse to be placed on this woman's shoulders.

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' "We'll find eachother again." The woman smiles at Zia, looking curiously at the crystal and then back down at the wayfinder. The wattage goes down for a split second and then returns. Her voice becomes tinny and indistinct. "I just have to believe." The darkness recedes and the study returns. The hooded figure is sitting in a chair with a book as if waiting for Zia to return. The Clock reads XI and is preceded by eleven massive tolling chimes. "An image." The voice says in an echoing voice. "..Preserved in memory. A knight trapped in amber, forever hoping for a rescue that may never come. Her friends came and went and made their choices. They chose freedom for countless others.. and left none for themselves." The seeker tsks softly. "A casualty of sorcerers and their machinations, as many are still trapped and lingering between the worlds. Waiting for saviors." He gestures that Zia follow him and walks out to the streets of Manhattan, with all of it's life, and noise and hum of life. Only all of the people are only echoes. Silohuettes without form. "But it's a tenuous thing, all that you have struggled for so far. Without knowledge.. without a way to secure this fragile peace. It could be lost.. without a sound." The soap bubbles of the silohuettes pop and the city of manhattan is suddenly cold, and silent and empty.

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' It's with a heavier heart that Zia returns to the study this time, tucking her crystal back beneath her scarf as she emerges from the vision. Though the Seeker offers up some explination, it doesn't do much to lift her spirits. "Ah dinnae know her or her friends, but maybe they made the right choices. Maybe if they cannae come for her, someone else can." Sure enough, the gargoyle would try to hold on to this part of the dream if she can. No one should be lost forever. It comes as little surprise that there may be others, lost and waiting for rescue. The dangers that have recently shown themselves to her world, must have existed before. In the end, she may be stuck making the same choices. Could she really live on that distant shore, forever, even if it iwas the right thing to do? It is a question to think about, and the chimes tell her that there is little time for it. When he becons, the white gargoyle follows, leaving behind the choices left unmade. As Valen's study fades, giving way to Manhattan, it doesn't lift her spirits as she might have expected it to. So many questions left unanswered, and so much to do. "Ah willnae let m'world fall te darkness again." She'd been there at the end, and felt the weight of that failure. The sight of the world going dark and cold sends a shiver through her. Like many of those who had fought to ressurect Manhattan, she'd seen the way the world looked in that state. The Heartless, the press of darkness, the emptiness of everything that made it real and living. "We're stronger now. we'll find a way te keep it safe."

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' "Will you?" No air of judgement follows that statement. no disbelief. It is only a flat and unassuming question. He reaches out a hand and there is a quick flash. A snap of energy that reforms into a blade of black and blue. A keyblade if one has been seen before and similiar to the rain of broken blades in the scottish highlands of dream that they began with. "It comes always down to choices. I would like to offer my experience.. offer what answers I have to give you in helping you find and restore those lost worlds and make your own safe. Perhaps.. even restore all of it, instead of a single small island amidst an ocean of darkness." The keyblade is lightly pressed into the earth and the man(?) extends a hand towards Zia. A streetlamp shines down a circle of light on which the hooded figure stood just barely outside the reach of. "Walk with me a while longer. Let us see if we cannot save those who deserve so much better than they have been given."

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' The question doesn't so much catch her off-guard, but causes Zia to pause briefly, considering herself. Since the day that Manhattan had been lost, she'd gone out of her way to do whatever she could to bring it back. She'd sought shards, went into hell for Avira, and faced the darkness of the lost city. Step by step, she'd grown stronger as a person, but also as a fighter. Her own will to do more has changed her from a scared girl into someone who isn't afraid of standing up and taking initiative. When he reveals the keyblade, some measure of understanding hits her. She'd seen Sora unlock the shard for the Pride Lands. "You're like the spikey haired boy." Her head tilts, "Though Ah cannae say Ah've heard of any others like 'im." It's yet another question about this man's identity, but for now, she decides to leave him with his title alone. Everything is a choice, and for now, she chooses to follow this thread wherever it might lead. "Ah'm listenin. There's a great deal tha Ah dinnae understand, but Ah need te." She looks towards his hand, then reaches out for it, nodding her head once. "But te answer yer question, lad... Ah will find a way. Someone has te. Things cannae stay like this." She shakes her head, ears drawn back against her hair.

:'''[[Mysterious Bacon]] has posed:''' Fog rolls across the city of manhattan, beginning to shroud it and fold it away as the hooded figure pulls her out of the circle of lamplight. The Clock overhead (still here, even in manhattan) strikes XII. The last violet fire goes out and the clock goes silent, fading into the spreading fog that folls across buildings and streets. There is a flash of light, the field of vision contracting further until all is returned to that cylinder of darkness from which this all started. The hooded figure says with calm certainty. "Then seek me.. here." There is a picture, an image, a flash of rolling green hills and a white expanse of castle in the middle of that green. Castle Oblivion to those who know it's name. A forgotten place of memory to those who do not. "And we shall begin.." The last light fades. Let the pieces fall where they lay. Destiny or Distortion. Dream or prophecy or nightmare. All things in thier places and at their own times. And with the last rays of light failing, the dream ends and Zia begins to awaken. In hand is the wayfinder, the smooth glowing stone of the star as if from a passing comet.

:'''[[Zia]] has posed:''' A white castle on a field of green. A clock chiming in the distance. Though she had never seen Castle Oblivion, herself, there were others she could depend on to show her the way. All it would take, is asking. Soon. "Soon." She repeats the thought out loud, nodding once as the world around her falls again into darkness. Like so many times before, there is that uneasy feeling of falling. For a gargoyle, it is even more disconcerting. Her wings twitch. Then, with a gasp, she returns to the waking world. Sitting up, Zia runs a hand through her hair and groans slightly, her mind replaying the images of the dream. It takes a moment before she realizes that the wayfinder remains in on her palm. "How..." There are no answers, but at least she has somewhere to start. In the kitchen, there is the sound of whistling and the rattle of pans followed by the smell of bacon cooking. "Might as well get up. Otherwise Ah'll be dreamin of bacon next." So, she drags herself out of bed, already steeling a new set of goals in mind. She'd find her way to the Seeker. Soon.

Kidnapping Spree

2013-06-30T04:00:53Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/06/29 |Location=Lower Archades |Synopsis=A kidnapping spree done by swarms of heartless and dastardly Illuminators is foiled. But is this trul..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/29
|Location=Lower Archades
|Synopsis=A kidnapping spree done by swarms of heartless and dastardly Illuminators is foiled. But is this truly the end? (Answer: Probably not)
|Cast of Characters= Will Sherman, David Xanatos, Negaduck, Maira, Bucket O'goons (Aka: Stormfall), Setzer Gabbiani, Emi Dennou, Gabranth, Myla Mason, Kyra Hyral, Souji Murasame, Malicia, Ryusei Isshiki, Merlock
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The city of Archades -- Dateline, Lower Archades The lower Archadians are still struggling to return some semblance of normalcy to their lives. Most of the city is powered now and most city services have been restored but the hardest hit to morale has been the recent rash of kidanppings. Children have been stolen from their homes in both the upper and lower archadian households, slicing across faction and class lines as the numbers slowly rose. Heartless activity has been almost more rampant than the looting, which has started to taper off as the security and surveillance net tightens around the city once more. Refugee camps have been a common target of these hit and run attacks and several days after concentrated attacks, a kidnapping always takes place in the area. As the attacks seem to be progressively in a blatant spiral pattern, with forces spread off to several possible targets in the path of the attacks. The relief camp here has been evacuated, leaving an empty and desolate encampment looming in the pre-dusk gloom of approaching evening. A scouring wind blows through the city, still hot and harsh from the heat of the day. This is the third night after the last sequence of attacks on this sector of the city. Trouble is sure to be here soon. ..Lots of trouble.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' The Murasame Zaibatsu is here to assist Archades with their... issues... as a sign of goodwill. Many signs of such have been necessary of late with their... certain mutual issues. The heir of the corporation has taken the field himself, standing among those preparing to meet the Heartless. He has not spoken as of yet, staring into the distance of the Archadean ruins. Perhaps he sees something there. Perhaps not. Regardless, his hand never strays far from the hilt of the blade he carries at his side.

:'''[[Negaduck]] has posed:''' There is a whole lot of chaos going on. There are children that have been stolen from their homes all overthe Archaian households, Heartless activity has significantly risen. The security has beem rampant and they haveupped teir game. While the security and surveillance has tighten their hold along the city, there is only one thing to say about the Archades security. Challenge Accepted Enter Negaduck, who is on the roof of a building with a pair of binoculars. He stars down at the city like a hawk, watching, waiting. "The security think that they can handle me, eh?" He grins, "Time to do some lootin' and recruitin'." Of course, Negaduck is not alone. 

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' After her little adventure with Alma and the others, Maira had decided to stick with them for a bit and come to Archades. It was not a city she knew overly well, but it was the site of a lot of trouble as of late and the mage thought perhaps she might be of some use down in lower Archades. Having grown up in the slums herself, she had a great deal of interest in helping those the rest of the world would happily forget about. Maira sits on the doorstep to an extremely modest home with an older woman, her husband, and two of her grandchildren. One of the grandchildren has gone missing. It was from these kind and distressed people that Maira learns about the kidnappings and Heartless activity. The young woman reaches forward to take the old woman by the hand, giving it a gentle, comforting squeeze. "I'll do whatever I can to find her. I have some resources I think I could use to be of assistance. Until then though, you should stay in--keep the kids inside, alright? I feel...something is going to happen," she says, her voice solemn. The old woman nods, thanks her, then shuffles the children inside. The old man looks to Maira, then places himself in front of the door with a kitchen knife in his hands, determined to do what he could. It was no use urging him inside, so she simply hands him a couple of health potions in case they ran into trouble. "Stay safe," she calls, then pulls the hood of her dark cloak up over her head and begins moving, her expression one of determination and concern. Heartless. <GOOSEHONK>.

:'''[[Setzer Gabbiani]] has posed:''' Archadia is in peril... No wait, that didn't come out right. He couldn't care less about Archadia. Actually, that is a lie. He cares enough about that city. And he cares about the children. And children stolen from their households? The gambler would get ot the bottom of this. So he strides through Lower Archadia, the wind making his gold-trimmed-coat and his hair sway epically in the empty place. His hands are already clutching his trusty deck of cards. How that thing never runs out, we may never know. Setzer doesn't care either. Especially now. Now, he's hoping to place a bet that will end with Heartless being sent packing.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Unforgivable. There are lines. Lines that Kyra will not cross. Lines that, beyond that, she cannot rationalize or make excuses for. Such was the case in crimes perpetuated against defenseless children. Kyra has become a well-known figure in the refugee camps lately when she is in the city. Not only did she have some, although hard on her, white magic to spare, her various mixtures and potions have brought relief when needed. Her aid is by no means painless but it works. On top of that, she had been getting quite a bit of practice driving off Heartless, though in most cases it is in the form of support provided to squads of guards fighting them instead of engaging them directly. Kyra was pretty much a back row kind of girl. Catching on quickly to patterns, Kyra has packed up her basic aid materials as dusk approaches, switching to a different load-out entirely. Very patiently, she checks her various guns and mixtures to make sure they are all in working shape and proper order. It's not unlike witnessing an action hero preparing to invade a heavily-armed island filled with guards that cannot aim.

:'''[[Malicia]] has posed:''' "Ugh. What a dive." Malicia is not too far behind Negaduck, looking down on the city as though its inhabitants are mere insects. "I find it hard to believe these people have anything of value worth stealing." But, then again, sometimes the best surprises were found in the most unexpected places. And really, what villain could ever pass up the chance to do a bit of burning and pillaging? Emphasis on the burning. Malicia wonders what roasted Moogle tastes like...

:'''[[Ryusei Isshiki]] has posed:''' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gMX1eyznWg Battle preparations BGM, to set the mood right!) Ryusei had promised Alma that she would do anything to help the people of Archades in this, their moment of crisis. And so, when the alarms sounded, announcing an incoming wave of Heartless getting ready to charge into the city, she didn't think about it twice. With diligence, she ran towards the frontline and joined the many other people gathering there, preparing to fight the shadow. She doesn't recognize most of the faces. She doesn't know their names, nor their stories. But she doesn't care. These people are fighting for their homes, and she's gonna give her all to help them out. She promised a friend that she would.

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' David Xanatos is not in Archades. He is, in fact, in Traverse Town, working in his new Traverse offices (still under construction.) However, Archades is still high on his list of things he's paying attention to. Specifically, he's been working on a rapid-response system to Heartless attacks, and has needed a testing ground for it. Given the reports he's heard Archades has been having, he knew it was the perfect testing ground for the system. He placed some agents though Archades some time ago whose orders were to observe, wait for a major incursion and then sound an alarm. They weren't to attempt to assist or to try and work out patterns, targets or motives. Xanatos isn't trying to prove his ability to outwit this enemy in one particular battle, but perfect an ability to quickly respond to any attack, and for that he /has/ to be surprised by the attack when it comes. Still, as Xanatos sits at his desk doing paperwork for the construction, he finds himself looking at his reports from Archades more and more often, checking and re-checking the status of his response team. He can feel it'll be soon now. Very soon.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason had just finished fishing in the desert some time ago, it has been good fishing far more treasure than she expected also some darn good fish. Now she'd made her way to Archades given the nature of their group as honestly she was looking for somewhere else other than transverse town and she'd been very curious about this nation for some time now the rumours of missing children had come her way and it didn't sit to well with the Levitani at all. She'd been poking about the rumours not to mention reports of heartless there?s be more and more of them it was sooner or later she'd be able to run into them and she was about to find this might be the start of something much bigger than even what it looks like!

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' SCROOGE MCDUCK FAILED US. YOU MUST NOT. Emi wakes up from her strange dream, having a strange urge to go to Archades and deal with its problem of the week. She has Umi harass Will into coming along because they HAVE A GUT FEELING that some chicanery is happening in Archades. (hero point spent on 'GOT A FEELING THERE'S A CASE HERE'). She makes her way into Lower Archades. She has brought along gear, both Umi and Emi have their goggles on, and Umi is carrying her assault rifle (she named it: Tickles!). "I have performed some questioning." She tells Will. "There seems to be an issue with kidnapping in the area. The Network cannot say whether Alexandria or Baron is responsible but--this is similar to how matters went down in Fluorgis, Heartless and monsters cause trouble for some time before the proper invasion begins." "I don't know who they are. I don't know what they want. If they're looking for ransom, I'll tell them I don't have any money. But what I do have is a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long--" "You haven't had a long anything." Emi says. "--a very long career." Umi continues. "Skills that make me a nightmare for people and/or monsters like them. If they let the kids go, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for them, I will not pursue them--" "You will anyway." Emi says. "--You're ruining the mood, Emi." Umi frowns.

:'''[[Merlock]] has posed:''' A large bird of prey with a thin moustache in two strands flaps through the air. Occasionally cawing, the huge bird keeps an eye on what is going on below. Children being kidnapped? Heartless swarming everywhere? Looting? Knowing the lay of the land and knowing your enemy are both key tools for directing troops. These Heartless may not be under his control but as the bird lands upon a convenient perch -- even if it is some ways distant from the actual activity -- the true identity of the large beast wearing a green talisman about his neck is revealed as a glowing magical aura of emerald energy ripples and surges over him, giving him a far more 'humanoid' shape... Even if Merlock is by no means human. The immortal sorcerer runs a hand through his bushy gray beard thoughtfully. He has a minion on the street gathering information as well, but... "...Where //is// he? He was supposed to make sure I could find him!" Merlock grouses. Meanwhile, a much smaller and scrawnier canine man of some kind in desert-appropriate clothing is busy tip-toeing through the area, keeping an eye out for anything important, and keeping his other eye out for anything that looks valuable. If he finds the former, he remembers it for later. If he finds the former, he stuffs it in his turban or shirt or pants also for later. Dijon is not exactly a great minion.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will is walking with Emi and Umi, with a look around as they walk. In reality, Will had been looking into this...maybe because of Riku, and Cirra. They are his friends, and Arcades DID come to the aid of Manhattan during it's time of need...which might be their turn now because with the heartless activity up...perhaps they are looking for Arcades' World heart in all the chaos. He just thought of that... Earlier... Umi walks up to Will, "Hey will wana come with us to Arcadia?" Will looks at Umi, with a picture of Arcadia in his hand trying to find a pattern in the Kidnappings...he blinks at her as if she has something on her face, then answers.. "Yes." Now... "I think they are looking for the World Heart." Will suddenly says, looking at Emi, "I'd fit with how Shadow Lords do things...manipuate one country to do the hard work, then use heartless to sniff around while there is lots of chaos...and of course make more heartless." Will frowns, "I think we need to put an end to this quick, and maybe talk to the Judges with what we have.."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' It's starts with one. In many cases, it always starts with one. A single shadow raises itself from the ground just enough for the slick of darkness that is it's body to become slightly distuinguished from the rest of the regular shadows being cast by the somewhat tumbled down and abandoned wreck of what used to be a shopfront. It has been gutted by fire and looters of a less maniacal nature. After the first pair of yellow eyes comes several more, then a dozen, then another.. small nocturnes with their twisted wizard hats. Their much bigger and more dangerous cousins the Wizards in much floppier hats and magical staves glowing with dark arcane energies. A cluster of search and hover ghosts pour out of a dark portal, swirly yellow eyes and crooked smiles wide as they pour down the sides of buildings and slink along the floor like plumes of dark smoke. Wherever you are. Walking along a street. Waiting and watching. On the frontline and the spear of the oncoming attack. There they are... and there are a LOT of them. And then suddenly there are a LOT more as portals open up in the walls. In the ruins-- It's a Flash Mob, Heartless style. Ryusei finds several Shadows leaping out at them from an alley. Kyra finds her action hero loadout disrupted by a pair of Wizards casting Fire and Wind spells in her general area. Setzer is assailed by several small swarms of Nocturnes flinging chilling Ice spells. Myla finds herself assailed by a combination of shadows and Hover ghosts, one of which is trying to /lick/ her from behind with a ghastly cackle. Negaduck and Malicia find that security, such as it is, is still no match of shadow lord ingenuity, tact (and a large chainsaw and or crowbar) and the first couple of houses go pretty decently. Some of them, even the better looking ones are empty. Others filled only with the whimpering and the cowering wretches. There's none of the really GOOD stuff though. A disappointing start. Dijon does not find anything tasty or valuable just yet. Although later.. he might need a bigger turban. WIll, Emi and Umi are assailed by Wizards who, while being full of ham, also cast Fireball. So much Fireball. Wave 1: Not so Friendly Ghosts.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will finds a clue! He bends down to pick up a Gil... FIREBALL. Will manages to somehow avoid the majority of the fireball because it washes over his back, singing his clothes and causing his back to smoke a bit. He looks up, feeling warm and blinks. He looks at the Ghost, and then towards Umi and Emi and frowns. "YOU ARE NOT VERY FRIENDLY!" he says towards the heartless, with a large frown. He is also a heartless, he decides and moves to touch both Umi and Emi on the shoulder. He fiddles with their strings for a moment, and then pulls his hand back. "You two alright?" He asks, as his hands still seem to be connected to strings for a moment, "That should help us all." he says, with a grin. "Lets kick some hamfilled wizzard <GOOSEHONK>." he says, "And make sure to make action flick references whenever you can Umi."

:'''[[Negaduck]] has posed:''' "They better, they better," Negaduck responds to Malicia, "--if they know what's good for them." Security is thankfully no match for Negaduck's ingenuity. Sure, Negaduck COULD go hack happy, but there are times when you need to prove your worth as a criminal. In fact, Negaduck does show his ingenuity by reaching into his pocket to procure a large rifle looking ray gun. There are a few prongs at the front. "Ohoho! Now then, with the security about, we'll approach this a more tactful way." The laser disintigrates the entrance. First few houses go decently, but the better-looking houses turn up empty. MOMENTS LATER "..." Negaduck growls with annoyance. "WHAT?!" He turns at the wretch of people, cowering before him. "You do not have any good stuff! What sort of rich people are you?! This is pathetic! This is worthless!" He snarls, but then he taps his chin, "But you know, I have an idea." He kneels in front of the little boy, holding out a small lollipop. "Here ya go, kid." The little boy kneels takes the candy, that hopeful, elated look fills his eyes. As the boy leans to take one lick--- --SNATCH! "Okay, nice mood over," Negaduck has a sadistic grin on his face. As the boy WAILS with his spirit crushed, the family takes the child and hugs him close, cowering before the criminal. "We need to rob a few more places. There's GOT to be a more lucrative stand. A mansion. SOMETHING!"

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' "Tell the magical team to move up their timetable, Owen. If their research isn't yielding any tangible results they should table and move on to the next batch o--" Xanatos is cut off from his administration when a red light flashes on his computer screen. Then another, and two more, then six in rapid succession. "Well, I guess we got our signal," Xanatos comments dryly as he looks up to his assistant Owen, standing as he usually does to the side of David's desk. "So it would seem, Mr. Xanatos." David pushes aside his paperwork and focuses on his computer again. Without any input from him, a wing of Steel Clan mechs have powered up, received targeting data and launched from a nondescript warehouse near a portal close to the target. The machines have been specially fitted with single-burn boosters to get them to their target quickly, and as soon as they are in the air, they fire the boosters and accelerate rapidly to the portal leading to hotspot located via Xanatos's spotters. "Response team is away," Xanatos comments to nobody in particular. "Now let's see if they're able to accomplish anything."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Archades has been investigating on what has been happening. Just as much as Gabranth has put a good deal of his time in reviewing reports given to him by his judges not only on this matter, but also over the corporation they are getting medical supplies from. The most recent of reports though.. With those images... He isn't a very happy Judge Magister. However with a meeting soon in call, he decide to personally go to Drace's office to not only check on the female Judge Magister due to the missing of Larsa-- and no leads what so ever-- but to also give her the paper regarding the meeting. He knocks on the door. "Your honor, Drace." He says calmly, and then gets nothing. He goes to knock again, only to hear her voice beside him. "You seem a bit distracted more the normal, your honor." Gabranth turns his head to face her; to face Drace; and just stares at her as she stands in her more casual clothing leaning against the wall. He just stares at her, before she walks over to him and then snatches the paper from his hands, before moving to then unlock her door. "..also don't you know it is very rude to stare at a woman? I thought you were taught better then that, Your honor." Gabranth stays frozen for a moment before he stiffens his shoulders up. "I was simply surprised to see you out of your armor, Judge Magister Drace. That is all and yes-- that letter is for you. Regarding the call I am putting forth for as many Judges and Judge Magisters we can get." Drace gives a nod before she turns to face him. Resting her head against the door for a moment in silent though. "I will see what I can do, your honor. You know. One day. Maybe you should try to not be so..." She pauses and shakes her head. "Oh nevermind, I forget whom I speak too. Good day, Your honor." Gabranth just stands there and watches the door close. He just stands there and then takes a step back. He places up his hand as he gets ready to knock again, however then suddenly his pear lights up with suddenly communication. Those blue eyes suddenly turn gold as he turns to look out the window, before he growls lowly. "..as if I don't have enough problems.." Then he takes off to head for Lower Archades. This could take him a bit. Meanwhile however Archadian troops are on the move swiftly to defend from the waves of heartless coming in. Including all the Judges who command these troops. They would do what they can to defend the people; even if it means giving their lives. They have already lost enough. They will not loose more.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira has been hunted by the Heartless for a good while now, and it is getting pretty darn old. Not that they had a care for how she felt about the matter of course. She couldn't change it. What she /could/ change was her reaction. This time, she was going to hunt /them/. Because of her heart, she senses the darkness keenly as the Heartless appears, and she is ready for them. She evades a strike that merely glances her, lashing out with a circle of fire the surrounds her, blasting outward to keep the Heartless at bay. The cloak remains, as if she were trying to disguise herself--which is silly really, it probably won't help, and in time it's likely just to burn away anyway. Maira's eyes scan the area. With some many heartless, there is likely to be a shadow lord or two lurking nearby. She spots others in the streets being attacked by the Heartless and frowns deeply. A few are familiar to her. "Emi, Umi! Will!" she calls, waving to them before she extends her protective magic to include them, the glowing flame descending to send a warm aura or protection over them. "Be careful!" she calls, then begins to shuffle some scared non-combats inside the nearby buildings.

:'''[[Ryusei Isshiki]] has posed:''' Ryusei barely has any time to react when a Bucketload Of Goons appears out of nowhere and charges at her with no other intent than beat the everliving crud out of her. They start to pile down on her like an angry mob, their claws rending, their talons scratching, their hands... Groping her? There was a limit to what she could accePERVEEEEEEEEEEEEERTS!" A pair of huge serpents made of pure energy exploded from her hands and made a whirlwind in the center of the mob of Heartless, blasting them away from her. Ryusei proceeded to carve a path through the tsunami of Heartless, intent on reuniting with other people. She would have no chance against so many if she was alone. "Get out of my way, disgusting regiment of ink blots! There's people in need of help, I have better things to do than waste time with you!"

:'''[[Malicia]] has posed:''' "Shut that brat up, or I'll do it for you!" Malicia brandishes a flaming fist in the parents' face. "That horrible noise is going to give me a migraine!" Suddenly, an idea occurs to her. "I imagine that in a city like this, they keep their most valuable possessions close to them. Perhaps even /on/ then." Looming over the family her golden eyes flicker mischieviously. Finally they settle on the mother, and in one quick movement she swipes out at the woman's neck. When she pulls back, she's holding a small, shiny locket. "Please, no!" The mother pleades. "That's a family heirloom. It's barely worth anything on the market, but it has great sentimental value to me. Please... don't take it." "Is that so?" Malicia croons darkly. She dangles the jewelry in front of the woman, allowing her once last sad gaze before the demonness places it around her neck. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for sentimentality."

:'''[[Setzer Gabbiani]] has posed:''' The first clue that something is wrong is that the wind doesn't seem to blow the same way as it did a moment ago. And that's when Setzer finds himself in a interesting situation, in the Chinese sense of the word... wait, where did that China come from? Jumping to the side, he almost avoids all the ice shards... but still gets hit by one, his coat now filled with small ice crystals. He's also a fast thinker. Even as he landed, a rock that was on the graound was already finind his way towards the nearest... ghost's head. And hit it. A rock hit a ghost. How's that for intangible, eh?

:'''[[Negaduck]] has posed:''' Negaduck chinrubs at Malicia's maliciousness towards the sentimental values of the necklace, "I like your style, Malicia. I like it a lot." He has a maniacal grin, "Let's pain this town red while the do-gooders are likely around dealing with the Heartless." 

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' It comes like a tide. The blackness comes, striking out at the defenders and looking to consume them all in a simple wave of destruction. Shadows and Nocturnes and ghosts, the massive wave strikes out. Souji is among them. He turns, eyes narrowing as he sees the mob incoming. "Murasame. It is time to feed." With a swift motion, Souji draws the ancestral blade of the Murasame Family, the crimson runes on the dark weapon throbbing with a deep hunger. "Come. Show me your power." Souji says simply to the oncoming wave. They show him. There is an abrupt impact as Souji is struck from all sides, and he falls back, attempting to gain a moment's respite from the deadly wave tactics of the Heartless. He slashes one. Two more appear. This is the way of the Heartless. "ENOUGH!" Souji calls out, an explosive wave of air roaring outwards to scatter the Heartless around him and buy him a critical moment. A moment later he is slashing through the Heartless near Kyra, diving amongst them with his weapon leaving crimson traces in the air. Lightning shears through the path as he strikes, leaving crackling St. Elmo's Fire washing outwards to consume what it can. He dives past Ryusei, lashing outwards with another brutal cut. "Somehow, I doubt that, Isshiki." He says dryly. He whips his blade forward, sending another blast of lightning cascading forward. "Hyral. Isshiki. Let's support each other and crush these Heartless."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Kyra takes stock of the others here as she checks her regular gun for the third time. There were a few familiar faces-that Maira person, for example, she's certain she's met somewhere before. A healer and extremely powerful fire mage. Good, but not somebody she could 'get behind' in a literal sense. Her thoughts are interrupted-as is her preparation-as a fire blast of magic mixed with wind knocks her sideways ont the ground, her gun clattering out of her grip. Her head slams against the ground roughly and she groans. "Curses, I must pay more attention..." she gropes for her gun with one hand, the other one reaching for her /second/ gun. The second gun is of the syringe-tipped variety with a remedy-type concoction already slotted into the chamber. Quickly, Kyra scoops up her first gun and stuffs it away into one of the holsters criss-crossing her hips. The syringe is pressed up against her skin, breaking into a vein with expert practice. Kyra inhales, pushes it down entirely, and quickly rolls up to her feet. Just as she does, she sees Souji blur past her, cleaving through the wizard-type heartless that were harassing her. There's no surprise on her face to find the samurai here and in response to him, she calls back, "Let it be done!" A second remedy is slotted into the gun. Another dial is turned, swapping it from simple syringe to straight-up dart gun mode. Very carefully, she aims at Souji. "Incoming!" she warns so the very fast teenager doesn't accidentally dodge it.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason pauses at the shadow she feels a sense of dread she knows what it likely is and in second it proves what it is there's a bit of chill after her past experience as cut as the heartless she can't get the memory of some things out of he mind even as she's going for her pistols. Heartless are coming ghost heartless? Then she's freaking slurped by a heartless from behind it feels bad she feels kinda violated. She's also hurt pretty badly by the other heartless that come for her and she's already moving to attack her pistols do not fire no she turns about and tries to shove something into the ghost heartless mouth and then throw some other things at the others. She's not even sure what the heck these chaotic magical devices will do but hopefully they will taste terrible and get her off the slurp menu forever. She's aware of some allies and friends are here and other people whom she does not know are responding to the assault. Wait was that Negaduck? yes it is and the are other but it seems hopefully there are troops on the way as there's so many heartless here they could use the back up. "Watch it Kyra! Ryusei they are ... gods these things are disgusting I got slurped like I was a Popsicle!" Also sudden Souji sighting what's this?

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Fireballs! Yipes! Emi lashes out with her hand, electrifying the area--but is far too slow to avoid the fireball blast that slams into her. Luckily for her, Maira was in the area and she manages to summon a glowing wave fire on her too. DOUBLE ON FIRE? Maira's magic makes the current fireball consuming Emi a lot more friendly. And also nonpainful. And also she isn't melting, somehow. Fire magic can be weird sometimes but Emi can't complain since she has healing lightning herself. "Thank you, Maira. THe Network is pleased to see you again and will inquire as to personal details at a later time." She smiles at her. Will runs strings over Umi's body. Or something like that. Either way, the effect seems to be beneficial because she manages to roll away from the fireball heading towards her. "Woops." She says, cricking her neck. "Let's get these dirtbags! I'm getting too old for this, The Network quotes another movie." "That's specifically from a movie?" Emi asks as Umi opens fire with her assault rifle--Emi elects to supplement this with electric bursts for the wizardly heartless assaulting them. They have their hands full at the moment with Heartless and don't immediately notice looting, though they'll probably notice soon!

:'''[[Ryusei Isshiki]] has posed:''' Ryusei is taking her sweet time just punching and kicking and blasting through the mountain of Heartless, pushing any that leap towards her with a well-placed backhand, when, of all people, Souji comes to help her, quickly followed by Kyra, Alma's sister. "I have to admit it, you couldn't have chosen a better moment to show up, Murasame." She then chuckles at the whole contrived coincidence. "But I also have to admit that your help is very welcome right now. The more we are, the less chances they have of eating us." Cracking her knuckles, Ryusei redoubles her efforts. "Let's get to business! Strike true! SOUHARYU!" Dashing forward, she throws two more pairs of energy serpents at the bunch of mooks, before adopting a combative stance and channeling energy through her body. The air around her bursts with fury, and Ryu charges forwards, leaving afterimages before her as she lands rapid flurries of strikes, one after another, sending mooks flying. Then, after one final leaKYOSHIN! KYOGEKI KEN!"

:'''[[Bucket O'goons]] has posed:''' Hamfilled Wizardry will not be easily denied! The circle of fire keeps the heartless at bay but it's also a bright light that draws their attention. There is a very creepy feeling of something watching behind those many eyes and studying her. There is a cry from inside the house as she helps shuffle non-combatants out of the frontlines and a massive CRASH as something in an upper floor falls down with a heavy thud. Then, the sound of a scream. Archadian troops are assailed by shadows who fall in waves to gunfire but, like any good zombie horde, simply seem to keep coming through the dark vapor of their brethren to close to melee range. Ryusei plows through the heartless perv-wave. The serpents tunnel through the mob, shredding shadows and battering a path through the narrow streets. More shadows pile into the narrow avenues, piling themselves up into tall and menacing waves full of many yellow eyes and claws. A rapid flurry of strikes plows through one heartless after another. Meanwhile, Souji and the murasame rip through the heartless swarm. Fire washes outwards to consume while crimson traces are left in the air as the heartless fall in streamers of dark vapor. Further meanwhile: A gambler throws a rock at a heartless. It goes BONK and looks really confused, swirly eyes turning towards him. Several search ghosts lunge at him while the other heartless pull back like a dark tide and recoalesce while the one who licked Myla explodes as a gun is stuck into it's gaping maw and it is no more. Several other magical devices are thrown into the mass and there are several small explosions. % Shadow claws burst up from the walls and floor attempting to slash at anyone close. Because no action movie is good without proper one liners or explosions. The electric bursts plow into the heartless, popping them like soap bubbles. One. Two.. three and more. A wizard hat drifts down to the ground to disappear in munny and green health orbs. However., There are more wizards. Any airborne Attack Round: Heartless! Wave 2: Shadow Soup!

:'''[[Malicia]] has posed:''' Malicia pauses to cock a non-existent ear in the direction of the open window, where she can hear the war-cry of 'PERRRRRRVERT!' and what is no doubt an all-out brawl against the Heartless. "You're right." She says to Negaduck. "It sounds like they're already here." Her lips pull back to reveal a fanged smile as she beckons at the Shadow Lord to lead the way.

:'''[[Setzer Gabbiani]] has posed:''' The gambler's eyes narrow as the Heartless vanish. He could feel the bluff, and he reacts accordingly. With disdain. 'Amateurs.' Setzer then takes off to the air, just in time to see more heartless trying his luck on him. Grinning, the gambler flicks whis wrist, letting... something fall to the space between his thumb and his pointer, just before he throws the object with a flourish. Darts. And the Heartless just became the target. Have fun!

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will gets tossled with electricty. Electrical stuff is hard to dodge...even with luck. There aren't any large metal things near by...or Tom. Which is LIKE a large metal thing. The metal is in his head, it is why his head is so thick. Will looks sizzled, frowning as he looks towards Umi! "Bat!" he calls out and leaps up, aiming to catch the Bat that HOPEFULLY starts throwing up at him. He reaches up...grabbing it, and aims to SMASH a wizard heartless down. He lands right next to it. Taps the bat once... Yes, he saw that Malicia...but first thing's first. "HOME RUN!" he says, and swings the bat after pointing the end of it towards Negaduck.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "Mason! Watch yourself!" Souji calls to the machinist. Kyra gives him a healing injection, and Souji straightens, feeling the clinging power of Darkness debliitating him lessen. "Whatever you believe of my reputation, Isshiki, I have my own reasons for my actions." He is caught be a ghost and drawn upwards, being licked by the creature. This causes him to reel backwards, moments before the bombardment of the Heartless Wizards ensues, cascading lightning, fire, and ice shaowering down over him. He forms a magical barrier, hexagonal energy plates forming aroung him, but it is too little to prevent the assault. Souji is forced backwards, blood staining his suit and sweat rolling down his face... And then the claws come, striking from all directions once more. Souji cleaves through the first, but the second and others lash into him, drawing painful wounds across his body. "This enemy cannoy be fought alone." He looks to the others here. "Who sent these beasts, or if they are preying on their own volition, I do not know, but these are the same beings who destroyed our world." He brings his weapon to bear. "Vengeance calls." He says, simply, before drawing his hand across his blade. "Sword art... Aurora Wave!" He lashes out with repeated strikes, the Murasame Blade leaving gleaming arcs of multicolored, crackling light that hammers into the mass of Heartless. All he can do is keep fighting!

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason has had enough of her own weapons going she's managed to do something she thinks to them she can never tell with this darn things however. There's too many of them to hold back and comes the magic it's not fun it's rather shocking and Myla's left not only harmed but with some frizzy hair on top of the pain. She pulls a small bottle out of a pouch and downs the content before opening fire with her pistols. "This is really how you breast want to play today!" It didn't help there were also tentacles smacking her about earlier either she is not a happy girl, she is so not a happy girl as she fires spell round after spell round into the swarm of heartless before her. Will is notices as is another stranger who would be Setzer yet there are too many for any one person to handle. Souji has a point there and additionally the things that ate their world? Ain't going to get much mercy, less so for those that wilfully control them. She keeps firing rounds changing elements as she's preloaded the clip to never have the same type of round in a row in case something ends up being immune to the spell shots. Also damn Ryusei certainly can unload a good deal of pain without the need for guns like Myla does she's frankly impressed buy any comment will have to wait until they have handled this situation.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira smiles brightly to Emi in response. "Likewise Emi! Take care!" she replies, closing a door to a building behind some fleeing people before she turns once more to face the Heartless. It would appear there are a couple of weird looking ducks looting, the darkness radiating from them both. Maira's eyes widen. Could they be Shadow Lords? ...As ridiculous as that may be? Unfortunately, she cannot deal with that just now because she is being absolutely swarmed with Heartless. Maira lets out a scream--of ANGER! She lashes out with her fire, infused with the Light of her heart to rip through the darkness. When Maira hears a loud thud from inside followed by a scream, Maira rushes through the door to find out what happened and protect the people inside she'd promised to protect! And she would, even if that meant being a better target than they were. "HEY!" she cries, an aura of bright light erupting around her. "Leave these people ALONE!"

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "Tch! They're so many, no wonder they seem to be getting their hands on children." Kyra scowls with disgust, running along to keep up with both Souji and Ryusei. She's pretty swift on her feet so despite their respective speeds, she's easily able to keep up. Not only that, but she seems pretty adept at reloading and resupplying on the run. "We must hack through as many as possible-AUGH!" A lightning bolt strikes Kyra in the back, knocking her flat on her face forward. This time, at least, she seems to keep ahold of her weapons. Shuddering, she picks herself up again and keeps going, eager to stay close to her other current party members. "Ryusei!" seems Kyra's picked up her name from somewhere. Likely their little radio channel! "I'm going to hit you up! Hold still for a second!" Kyra reaches down into her messenger bag and pulls something out that turns out to be yet...another gun. This one is much heftier and, after shaking it which unfolds a telescoping barrel, much longer. "I promise this won't hurt that much!" That is a lie. This particular model launches high-velocity hi-potion rounds that break apart upon impact. The impact does break skin a little, which is actually the point, though given the nature of the potion contained within the wound quickly heals, followed by a significant portion of other damage done to Ryusei.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' The Judge Magister moves through the city quickly as he can. He even uses his dark runes to quickly move him along. Leaping up on one of the floating cars, before jumping off and heading down to a building roof top. From there he can see the heartless. His cape gently moves in the wind as he narrows his helm slightly. Observing it all. He can hear the cries of the people. See the gun fire. Many fighting to protect the people from the heartless. Yet his attention turns as he spots two individuals not far from Will's location. Soon the Judge Magister pulls out the Highway Star and the Chaos Blade. He runs along the roof top before he suddenly leaps down right at the two oddities of his world. The one was a massive cleaving swipe for them both, before followed in with a quick strike from the smaller Highway Star. No words were spoken. He was in no mood for words.

:'''[[Ryusei Isshiki]] has posed:''' The martial artist is finding herself overwhelmed. She keeps carving through more and more Heartless, but they just keep coming and coming and coming! And what's worse, this time, they flail tentacles at her. "What the heck's wrong with you guys?" Says Ryusei as the tentacles wrap around her limbs, pining her in the air before starting to lash at her. Some of the images and sounds, however, have to be covered with <GOOSEHONK BRAND RELAX-O-VISION>, due to the nature of what's going on right now. When Kyra tells her that she's gonna hit her up and hold still for a second, she just shouts. "These things have me pinned up with tentacles! Not much moving I can do right now!" The bunch of injections were nailed on her back, their payload discharging into her body, pumping her with energy. With that infusion of power, Ryusei manages to free herself from this horrendous act of perversion against her person by letting out a roar of anger and throwing her arms forward, shooting yet another pair of Souharyu that tore the tentacles away. Grabbing one of the disintegrating tentacles, she flings herself against one of them, aiming her foot right to its face, then spinning in place and slamming her other foot on the same spot and propelling it downwards. She followed by throwing yet another pair of Souharyu at a Heartless nearby.

:'''[[Negaduck]] has posed:''' "Just as I figured," Negaduck rolls his eyes, sighing at the sound of battle. "Ordinarily, I would not mind joining in and causing mayhem for the do-gooders, but we have an opportunistic situation to take advantage of." That fanged smile is returnedtowards Malicia as she beckons for him to lead. Negaduck is making his way out of the village. ... Just in time to see Will prep for a homerun smack of the Wizard Heartless his way. "YOU!" Negaduck exclaims as both eyes widen before he gives a maniacal grin. With a twirl, Negaduck is no longer in his fedora and jacket but is instead wearing a tennis outfit; a red shirt and shorts while wielding a tennis racquet. "So you want to serve?! Take---" WHAM! Negaduck's face is smacked pretty hard with the Heartless and he is sent flying across the house, landing at the wall. "Oh ho.... that grinds my gears." He growls pushing himself off before he looks at a familiar face. Why hello there, Maira. "YOU AS WELL!" Negaduck whips out a chainsaw, "...This is getting good. I will finish what that nitwit Baigan should had started!" And then, a quick swipe from Gabranth comes to interrupt his attempt to go Archades Chainsaw Massacre on a couple of familiar faces. The slash rips open the shirt. ...And rips the shirt entirely. The tennis shirt falls off, revealing Negaduck's DUCK CHEST! "I JUST BOUGHT THAT IN TIME FOR THE SEASON!" He growls, spinning around to switch back to his original attire complete with the red fedora and yellow jacket. "Malicia, let's make waste of these losers." A bazooka is pointed right at Gabranth and Will, "Click. Click. BOOM!" A heavy explosion bursts from the launcher, the shell aiming to explode at both Will and Gabranth. 

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "Bat!" Umi shouts, throwing a LIL SLUGGER style golden bat towards Will, it's even bent at the angle, mysteriously. She spins around and-- gets swiped by some Heartless Claws in the side. "Tchh!!" She hisses, running back to try and get some cover. Unfortunately, the cover she chooses is a wall that grows a shadow claw that swipes her. "Ugh! This isn't fair!" "Umi..." She says. "...The green orbs." She turns and nods once to Umi, who nods back and then-- --they run around, magnetizing munny balls to them and collecting everything while using the green balls to heal themselves. HA HA HA! Eat on this heartless! "Will!" Umi shouts. "Do some teamwork thing with me, like I don't know--uh..." She frowns. "Knock a heartless this way?"

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' The boosters on the Steel Clan robots run out of fuel just as the machines reach the main part of the city, and each robot discards the boosters. With luck they can be recovered later, but for now they're just extra, unnecessary bulk. The machines lower their cursing altitude in response however. Without the extra speed, they're vulnerable above the skyline. Xanatos, meanwhile, makes some notes, and then sends a quick text message to one of his agents in the area to attempt recovery of those boosters. They aren't too expensive, but hey, waste not, want not. While being lower down does make them less of a target, it also brings them closer to danger, and the machines are immediately beset by claws that erupt out of the walls of the building they pass. They shadowy assault manages to deal some good damage to several of the wing, but they keep flying on, following programed assault patterns. Xanatos is monitoring the situation, but he wants to be 'hands-off' as far as the actual test goes. No point in running an experiment and then mucking with it halfway through. The machines do have their own combat programming though, and it's quite effective on its on. The machines fan out into a delta wing, with the three most forward machines leveling particle blasts into the crowd of heartless, while the rear machines sweep low and conduct quick strafing blows. One of the machines in particular scans Negaduck and flags him as a priority threat, and directs a particularly focused assault against his support people: Malicia.

:'''[[Bucket O'goons]] has posed:''' Reaction command: Batter up! The wizard heartless goes flying to crash through a window and land almost at the feet of the evil looting duo. It has very swirly eyes. As it pulls itself up, it /CRACKS/ almost in half with a weird jerking spasm that looks extremely unpleasant and would require the services of a chiropractor to put back together. The heartless advances on Negaduck's back while he's turned towards Gabranth, raising it's staff and taking a swing at Negaduck's head, flaming scepter leaving a trail of fire, then ice, then thunder in it's wake as the wand spasms and malfunctions(?). The game is darts, gentlemen. And like a bunch of lawn dart flamingoes the heartless look tacky and decorative as they explode one after another. Myla vaporizes a couple of tentaclaws who are getting entirely too fresh. They flop around uselessly before turning to ash. In the midst of it all, a much larger Heartless and a smaller group of shadows and nocturnes emerges from the ruined shop where the invasion started. The large heartless which carries a large glassed in lantern with it starts to float towards the first series of houses closest to it. Picture reference: Illuminator http://www.khwiki.net/File:Illuminator_KHIIFM.png Inside the upper story building is a second Illuminator already trying to herd a struggling child into the lantern. They reach behind the table where they have taken refuge and pull them struggling and kicking from their hiding place. It turns abruptly to face Maira. It blinks it's solid yellow eyes once and then it rocks backwards with a massive moan as the light strikes it. It drops the child who scrambles to the other side of the room. The illuminator reaches out a massive claw for Maira to try and snatch her up. Ryusei's attacks against all that is wrong and completely indecent seem to be going strong, the shadow flash mob being booted in the head and disintegrated by the energy snakes. The seething horde of heartless starts to break apart in places, their numbers thinning appreciably enough for wizards and hover ghosts and shadows to be found now only in scattered groups that merge and break apart like drops of oil on paper. Heartless Action Event: Illuminating Circumstances. Prevent the Heartless from capturing NPC group, Archadian Children and returning to ruined shopkeep portal.

:'''[[Malicia]] has posed:''' Malicia is following along with Negaduck, about to ask about their next plan of action when a human leaps down in front of them, wordlessly swinging a weapon. But she catches on quickly and dodges out of the way. "Fool!" She taunts him. Suddenly Negaduck has switched outfits, which causes the demonness to do a double-take. "What?! How did you even manage--" Aaaaand now his shirt has been ripped open. Hubba hubba. Gawking shamelessly at the Shadow Lord, she doesn't even register the machines that have locked on to her. KA-BANG! The force hits her so hard she's thrown sky-high, mildly stunned. Regaining her wits, her let's out an enraged screech and lashes outward.

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira is not about to let these children be snapped up under her watch. No <goosehonk>ing way. "You will have to go through me!" she yells in defiance at the Heartless, who then replies; "okay!" and reaches for her. Maira screams then in alarm as the Illuminator tries to shove her into the lantern instead of the child. Alright, sure, but the child probably isn't exploding with fire and holy light. The princess of heart ignites, her form wreathed in flames, the cloak she wore simply burning to ashes in a flash. "Run!" she yells to the children and their guardians, then turns the full fury of her righteous wrath on the Heartless trying to take her, the light of Holy shining from the windows.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will finds himself flying through the air, avoiding the bazooka shot aimed to BLAST him to death! Will flies, getting SICK AIR TIME, as he rolls himself into a ball and performs the legendary... YOUTH ROLL to avoid claws, magical attack, and various heartless shennanigans. Will, however, ends the legendary move a bit earily, being blasted to the ground by Malicia's fireball? It didn't seem to hurt him, he feels slightly tired though. He is on the ground though. He blinks, looks at himself...looks at her, blinks. However, he has a bat! A heartless runs by him. and he swings the bat, aiming to SEND it on it's way...right to Emi and Umi! "TEAMWORK IS THE WEAPONIZED FORM OF FRIENDSHIP!" And then he looks at Malicia. He wiggles his fingers... And then decks her in the face with the other hand. He also tries to steal the necklass back.

:'''[[Setzer Gabbiani]] has posed:''' Setzer feels it. Something is doing... something to him. He can feel the things around him. But he doesn't care. Not when there's children at stake because some heartless decided to sneak off while everybody was fighting the good fight. "Oh no you don't! Not on my watch!" the gambler says, wall jumping like one of those balls, trying to approach the heartless. "Let me show you my hand! Here, take a look!" he said, throwing first a sickly green chip, followed by a dozen or so of red ones, before finishing with an Ace in his sleeve. Literally. Because if you have to do it, then hit fast and hit hard.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' The Judge Magister suddenly conjures up a rune of darkness and blasts it forward smashing into the rocket which explodes in the air as Negaduck attempts to counter-attack. "You will do no such thing. I am head Judge Magister of Archades. Your sentence is death." The Judge Magister states as he points his blade at Negaduck. "I will save you the details as to why." Gabranth states very calmly. Then suddenly magic fire ball. The Judge Magister raises up his sword in defense. The fireball impacts and brings him down to almost his knee for a moment. Those gold eyes glowing from behind the shadows of his helm. He then comes at them both once more with another quick slash of only this time his Highway Sword. Keeping his Chaos blade at ready.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji comes cleaving through the battlefield with constant waves of energy lashing from his sword in scything crescent blasts. The Heartless strike down towards him, spiking towards the ground, when he lashes his weapon upwards, the impact radiating outwards... Time, for him, seems to slow as he moves with practiced precision. He slashes forwards, blurring through a cluster of Heartless and tentacles, moments before everything speeds up again, the Heartless blowing up in a cascade of lightning and crimson. A gash opens across his cheek, drawn there by one of the HEartless assaults, and he reaches up to touch it, looking down at the blood with a curious expression. His expression darkens, then, as crimson power wreaths around his hand and lashes out towards the Heartless, attempting to bind them towards the ground with dark powers of his own. The blade hungers.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "Thanks!" Umi shouts, jumping into the air, spinning once and landing on the heartless, sliding one foot forward as she glides through the air, like some sort of Air Surfer. "Ha ha ha, Emi! Emi! I'm flying!" "You're not flying!" Emi shouts back. "You're falling with style!" She gets clobbered away by the Heartless, tumbling across the ground--though--and she spins across the ground for a few moments before Umi calls back down to her, "Let's do that thing!" Emi nods, "Understood. The Network will attempt this technique." She rolls up to her feet and then reaches into her pocket, withdrawing the money she had collected by running around earlier and flinging them up into the air towards Umi. Umi charges up electromagnetically as she fans her hands forward, catching the munny electromagnetically before calling out, "SECRET LIMIT BREAK!" Suddenly the munny bursts away from her at near super-sonic speeds, ripping into Heartless all over the place, each one like a tiny railgun as it plows through Heartless left and right! "SUPER GIL RAIN <Goosehonk>!!!" Umi laughs like a pirate before crashing into a nearby trashbin because, again, she was only falling with style.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "They're thinning out! Good!" Kyra announces, scouting around from her...presumably safer position. No. It's not safer, really. Just as she turns her attention towards the ruined shop front, a search ghost grabs her upper arms from behind and actually lifts her off the ground. A yelp escapes her and she squirms hard enough that the Heartless drops her! ...which is actually part of the problem. She lands hard. "There!" she calls out, pointing at the shop front to Souji and Ryusei, "Look at that thing! It's leading those other Heartless!" Her free hand gestures at the Illuminator. Scrambling, she quickly reloads the hi-potion rifle and takes aim at Ryusei again, "And don't make me bust out Life!"

:'''[[Negaduck]] has posed:''' "I'm a hit, aren't I?" Negaduck winks. Then, he looks towards one of the gargoyle machines, particularly, the Steel Clan, as they make their presence known. "...Tsch. Figures Xanatos would show up to intrude on the fu---" Oh hey, unfortunately, Malicia is attacked. Negaduck winces for a moment, but then he turns to see that the heartless advance at him. "YOU DARE ATTACK ME, NUMBER TWO-SIXTY FIVE?!" Negaduck brings his hand out, manifesting a trashcan to deflect the blow. However, he reaches over towards one of those creatures, "Here is a lesson for you of what happens." TIME TO REMIND THE HEARTLESS OF THE PECKING ORDER! NEGADUCK >>>>>>>>>>>> /EVERYTHING/. EVERY. FRIGGIN. ONE. And thus, Negaduck is going to use that particular Heartless that /dared/ raise its staff at him and attach it to a rope. NEGADUCK HAS AN ELEMENTAL MORNING STAR! People have avoided his munitions, Negaduck is going to have to take this physically. Gabranth decides to declare for Negaduck's sentence to be death. When the sword swings at his chest, Negaduck fails to guard against it with the flail and is instead, slashed with it. That slash hacks against Negaduck and releases a tear on his jacket. "...Not if you die first." Negaduck tosses a ball toward Gabranth. "Don't blink." Why? Suddenly, Negaduck's in a Monster Truck. That's right. Negaduck is in a massive monster truck and boy does he look angry at the judge. "You'll die first." Negaduck trains all of his sights on the judge, bringing the monster truck's engine to roar as it races off. He activates a jump button, bringing the weapon into the air. And... Negaduck is landing on top of the truck's hood. "WWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" That Heartless flail? Negaduck is smacking the hell out of the machine, and then he rises the weapon up. And then he slams down on it, seeking to explode Gabranth where he stands. The impact will unleash a devastating explosion. 

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' The attack from Malicia forces the wing of Steel Clan mechs to the ground, one of the mechs taking some damage across one wing as they land. The mechs spread out a little as the lead recalculates their tactical position. The Shadow Lord's position is unknown, so the steel clan units reform into a wing and, as one, take off back into the air. The mechs form into a claw formation, with four robots taking point in front while the rest form a web behind them. The formation flies off into the sky and swoop around, not moving to attack, but instead positioning themselves to make a full attack run. Xanatos looks at the combat data, pursing his lips a bit. "We're going to have to work on target prioritization. Owen, remind me to write Shadow Lord contact protocols."

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason is continuing to lay down what punishment she can, even as the heartless come down upon her she reduces several of the heartless to little more than wisps and soon there is nothing of those beast that got far too fresh with her. She's had those things handled even as those more powerful than her go after a pair of shadow lords that are making use of the heartless attack. It's more likely they caused it in the first place when she thinks about it for a second but there's still too many and she notices something Wait what was that she holsters her pistol and draws her cutlass from it's scabbard across her back it's blade humms with electrical energy as she moves to follow up after the heartless she saw she also hears clearly children. There is no time to waste as she moves, bolting into the building and trying to make her way to the next floor. She hears Maira's words and one of the last of the Levitani lets out a cry as she keeps her cutlass ready. "You will not have them, I will send you back to darkness from which you all came!" She starts chanting and her cutlass is encased in a blade of living water and she then descends upon the heartless with all the fury she can manage there's a lot of power and anger behind each strike. Every fight with the heartless is a personal thing to her. With them targeting kits it's even more so. "TIDAL SABRE!!!!" The strikes continue and hopefully Maria will be able to help the kids get the heck out of here.

:'''[[Ryusei Isshiki]] has posed:''' Ryusei pants for air angrily, not relenting on her pummeling of the Heartless Horde, more and more creatures vanishing and coming back to the darkness from where they came from. She starts smiling as she sees the horde diminishing little by little. Their efforts were paying out, the city would stand for one more day. When suddenly a vile force of Darkness appears behind her and grabs her with its vile claws, trying to put her inside a cage on its tail! She has only enough time to place her hands tightly on the ends of the cage to avoid getting plunged into it. After some minutes of struggling against the persistent Heartless, Ryusei manages to pull herself away, landing on the ground and looking at the various similar Heartless that are entering into the houses and snatching defenseless children into their cages. So THESE were the ones who were kidnapping the children, after all! This fills her with rage! LOTS AND LOTS OF RAGE!. She already held a grudge against the Heartless for destroying her world, but doing THIS as well? It was beyond evil. It was MONSTROUS! And Ryusei would not allow this as long as she was breathing. "Okay... You asked for it, you mother<goosehonk>ing <goosehonk>s!" Closing her eyes and focusing her body and mind into complete unity, Earth energy started flowing into her body, coincidentally mixing with the power injections from Kyra nailing themselves on her body once again and discharging much needed healing fluid into her... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57jD2KhOM94 LIMITE BREAK THEMESONG IS GOOOOOO!) "ARMS OF THE SKY-BREAKING MOUNTAIN! EXTREME TECHNIQUE!" As power flowed through her, her veins turned a brilliant orange, like rivers of lave flowing inside the body and covering it completely. They became visible through her skin as the pink haired martial artist roared in fury. "FLY! SOUHARYU! Throwing her arms to the sky, a pair of fiery, golden Souharyu flew from her hands, then spiraled around her and confluxed into a single one which nestled Ryusei on its mouth. Ryusei then flew at vertigo speeds, roaring like a savage beast and beating the everliving <goosehonk> out of every Heartless that stood in her. Each impact leaving enormous shockwaves. In a moment she was over there. Now over there! And now right over there! Ryusei was moving with such speed that it was almost impossible to follow her with your eyes! For the finisher, Ryusei leaped into the sky, rising her fist, then roared the name of her final technique as she flew down onto the ground with the force and speed of a meteorite. SHINHA! KYOGEKI REPPAAAAA! The raging impact turned the bunch of Heartless into a smoking crater.

:'''[[Malicia]] has posed:''' "KAPOW!" This was not Malicia's day. Will's fist connected square with her face and she stumbled back, holding her bill. Her expression of shock quickly melted into seething rage that boiled over. "How DARE you hit a lady. I'm going to flay you alive, you bald mutant monkey!" Or not. Because suddenly she was sliced from behind by Gabranth. Now it was HER turn to deal with a torn-up outfit. Fortunately, due to the magic of a PG-13 rating, her dress remained mostly intact. Not so much for Malicia herself, who dropped to her knees dazed.

:'''[[Merlock]] has posed:''' Merlock decides he's a bit too noticeable up here and he can't see Dijon anywhere, so it's time to relocate. All the amazing fighting and firepower being thrown around and the Heartless seemingly getting pulverized just now is totally not a factor. Dijon will just have to fend for himself, because Merlock has turned back into an eagle and is out of there!

:'''[[Bucket O'goons]] has posed:''' The illuminator has this problem. It is supposed to trap light. So. Light is something it traps. The windows go black and a sickening miasma begins to fill the lantern as Maira gets roughly stuffed inside. The light of righteous wrath burns through the miasma and boils off the shadow. The glass starts to crack more and more quickly as the holy light pours through the chinks in it's armor. It /explodes/ in jagged spaces of dark metal, glass and vapor, freeing Maira from the prison. Every single shard turns into another shadow in the wake of the explosion though.. and all those shadows are simultaniously looking straight at Maira. And then the <Goosehonk> gets Meta. Munny bursts away from the legionettes at super-sonic speeds, exploding entire clouds of heartless and felling entire swathes of the remaining forces with the power of munny and Mcguyver Action. So.. So. BEHOLD THE POWER OF CHEESE ... Wait. Never mind. The power of a great deal of wrath from multiple quarters. Some of them stylish and corporate, energy waves plowing through heartless like a scythe through fields of wheat-eating squids. .. Wait. (Assorted sounds in the background. Hammering. A few rattling noises) --The Narrator apologizes for the disturbance. Emi's Metaness broke the description machine. At last, there is only rage and roaring energy serpents against the might of giant columns of heartless. The falling star SMACKS into the base of the pillar, reducing the heartless and part of the street to a smoking crater. However-- the giant tower of heartless still stands, wobbling back and forth -- until it starts to topple very slowly and like a jenga pile, collapses down almost right on top of Ryusei, all the heartless turning to smoke before they get anywhere close to the raging fighter. The last vestiges of the heartless assault retreat from the region. The one remaining Illuminator halts in it's task and disappears through a dark portal along with the remainders of it's minions. A chilling echoey voice bellows from inside the dark lantern as a thick and choking miasma fills it. It's a cheated scream of rage and frustration. If there was to be a cliche here. Something along the lines of 'I'll get you next time gadget!' Then there is a definite sense of that in the retreat of the heartless and the wordless mental broadcasting of dreadful ire. And then everything is quiet.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth glares at Negaduck. What an annoying creature. Then suddenly the duck man is now with a Monster Truck. The Judge Magister crouches down. He stands ready. His eyes focused as he watches the machine start to drive. However not only was he watching the monster truck, but also keeping an eye on Negaduck. He pretty much was ignore Negaduck's ally for now. He would get to her in a moment. Then as Negaduck fires, the Judge Magister suddenly runs right at the Monster Truck. The explosion rocks the area and Gabranth slides right under the vehicle. He then comes out the other side, before suddenly making a hard turn, and sheathing his swords. He runs right up the side of a building sideways. Each step has a dark rune right under his foot, before he jumps off, impacts a run and then lands onto of a roof. Now he has Negaduck perfectly in his sights, including his friend. "Welcome to Archades." Gabranth says lowly as he places out his hand. Suddenly the very shadows seem to come to live around them, there own shadow created by their neck line starts to squeeze their necks. If it takes hold he then lifts them both into the air for a moment. "You should think twice before attack my city. Perhaps you have not heard." The squeeze becomes harder now should it continue to hold. "I am the law of this land. What I say, is the will of Solidor and it shall be done." This is a perfect chance for someone else who has been fighting these two. A perfect chance indeed. How well can the dark knight Judge Magister and a hobo work together? Lets find out.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will is suddenly running something over his fingers...back and forth, back and forth... He is holding the Necklace she stole, back and forth over his fingers, before he slides it onto his neck. He looks back towards Umi, and he sniffs once...she is such a great student...it brings a tear to his eye. He turns back to Malicia... "Yes, I shouldn't hit a lady...good thing you are /not/ a lady." he says, and dives RIGHT TOWARDS her aiming to aim a SINGLE punch towards her... She can see strings...these are normally invisible. They are strings of fate, what connects her to the world around her...to her friends and enemies...to the darkness and beyond. Will litterally tries to ERASE those strings, tear through them in a single powerful strike aiming to not just punch her /PHYSICALLY/ but metaphysically too! He walks away from her, explosions no doubt ringing out as he starts walking towards Negaduck... Who is being forced choked in the air. He too, glows as he brings his hand down, aiming to repeatedly strike Negaduck in the back. "Kidney punch! Kidney punch! And pauuuuuuuse..." "FATE PUNCH!" he says performing the same strike twice on Negaduck. "Give it up Negaduck, you can't beat us. We have the power of Justice, Love, the law, and GIANT <GOOSEHONK>ing metal Gargoyles on our side. Also a baseball bat."

:'''[[David Xanatos]] has posed:''' The Steel Clan robots return to formation and move in to attack the Heartless again, particle beams and missiles raining from the sky as they sweep down. However, they barely have time to begin engaging before another red marker flashes on Xanatos's computer. Xanatos selects it, enhances, and sure enough, one of the Steel Clan machines has reacquired the Shadow Lord. "Hmm..it seems we found one of the people on the list. Owen, where does this one rank?" Owen, without even looking at whatever 'list' Xanatos is talking about, responds, "Seventeen, I believe." "Hmm," Xanatos says evenly. "Well, we did make the list for a reason." He reaches over to his computer, presses a button, and commands, "Steel wing, stop assault. Prioritize shadow lord and reengage, maximum firepower." Immediately, all the Steel Clan robots stop in mid-air, turn, and sweep as one towards Negaduck. They briefly charge their weapons as they swoop into range, and then once they're there, they unleash doom from the sky. Rockets and particle beams fire heavily from the sky in massive numbers. No, more than that. Even MORE. Yeah, /that/ many.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji prepares to bind his enemies before him and then strike... When the combined power of the defending forces crash into the army. Souji holds the thrumming, hungry blade as the remaining Heartless are scattered to the winds for mow, anc he pauses, considering the situation. Perhaps, other potential targets. And he shakes his head. "We are done here." He inverts the blade and sheathes it, the Murasame Blade having to be content with what it has taken already. He walks to the midst of the victorious heroes, looking over the battlefield. "The Heartless are driven away..." He pauses. "For the time being. Is everyone all right?" Souji pulls a potion vial from his suit and drinks it in a smooth motion, letting the healing power reinvigorate him.

:'''[[Malicia]] has posed:''' "ENOUGH!" She was like a wild animal, cornered and about to be caged. Her eyes were glowing bright yellow now, and her hair lit up into a bright, wild flame. Oh, she was not happy. Not happy at all. "I'LL BURN THIS TOWN TO ASHES, AND BRING YOU DOWN WITH IT"

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Maira is grateful for a little back up in the form of Myla, for as she bursts out of the lantern and shatters the miasa, all the shadows turn and stare directly at her, yellow eyes filled with hunger. Maira gulps, but she's still glowing like firework and ready to light them up. The children need her help though, and thus she lets Myla take over for a few while she shuffles the children down the stairs, casting a healing spell over them to soothe any of their injuries. "Shhh shhh its alright, it'll be alright," she assures the children, looking over her shoulder only to see the Illuminator opening a portal to escape, the Heartless withdrawing. "YES!" she says. She avoided getting kidnapped again! Victory! She's not completely hopeless! Maira rushes out and guards the people who run to another building. The Heartless are leaving, but it might not be over yet! Maira comes down and looks about, searching for the injured. Then, she spots Negaduck. He'd yelled about Baigan. He remembered her. Really? After so long? BAH! "That guy wasted a perfectly good donut, okay!?" she retorts, then throws a fireball in his direction. Suddenly, the steel gargoyles catch Maira's attention. She gawks. WHOA. Whoa now! What is this!? "Gargoyles!?"

:'''[[Setzer Gabbiani]] has posed:''' "Hahaha! Looks like you are out of the game now." Setzer laughed, seeing the Heartless fall for good. His laughs, however, quickly dissapeared as he remembered why he was going there at full speed. The children. "They're safe, thank the stars." he breathed in relief. Looks like the heroes won this game. Good. Jumping down, the gambler hears a swordsman's question. "Some scratches, but pain is fleeting. There might be others worse than I'm faring right now."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Umi hangs upside down in the trash bin, and uses electromagnetics to hop her trash bin around towards Emi. Emi herself uses the opportunity to walk over and tug on Umi's legs, trying to pull her out. This is /all very difficult/, strangely enough, because Umi is really wedged in there and Emi doesn't have much leverage. "Hopefully this will encourage them to consider our worlds regarding the Black Mages..." Emi murmurs to herself.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason lowers her blade as the savage attack is finished she banishes the water and sheathes it back across her back even as the Heartless meets their end she looks to the children her expression changing from ranging force of anger to one much more compassionate. "It's going to be okay, just keep hidden until it's safe there's till more fighting to be done." With that Myla is gone racing out of the building at this point as she's got a duck hunt to carry out. She's not even thinking about the Mummy she's picked up that was never her concern all right. She now is moving out and she sees Negaduck has not fled yet, she looks to him for a moment. "Don't think I have forgotten about you." She pulls her pistol and fires several flare shots at the most fowl villain to ever come from the world of Duckberg and Saint Canard.

:'''[[Ryusei Isshiki]] has posed:''' As the smokes settles out of the crater, Ryusei gets up and walks out of it, dusting herself off and panting for air madly. "Ha... Ha... Wow... We annihilated them!" Despite the thorough beating she had taken, she felt full of life! Of course, her body's opinion was different. The moment she made a few steps towards Souji, Ryusei found herself wobbling and hissing in pain. "Ah... It seems that those tentacles lashed a bit too much on my left leg. The pain is coming up right about now." The Isshiki heiress laughed lightly, and leaned back against a wall to rest. "Apart of that little inconvenience, I am doing fine. Even better, knowing that the children are doing fine, as well."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Kyra lowers her rifle and lets out a long breath as she sees the Heartless vanish. She's quick to advance, lowering the barrel of her gun to the ground as she moves. Even encumbered with as much gear as she carries, she has no trouble moving, likely due to some creative application of magic. "Nice job there, Ryusei." Kyra compliments with a grun, letting the barrel of her rifle slot back into its shorter state. "Pretty impressive moves you have there." She grins and gives her classmate a two-fingered salute. Turning, her eyes fall upon Souji and linger. Swallowing, she walks to him, but hesitates as she hears the sound of fighting still throughout the city. Those fascinating-looking Steel Clan gargoyles seem to still be after something!

:'''[[Negaduck]] has posed:''' Negaduck wanted to drop a monster truck at Gabranth. In fact, Negaduck wanted to ATOMIZE Gabranth to feel good about destroying /someone/. However, it was not meant to be. As the Judge Magister runs right at the Monster Truck... IT BECOMES THE MISSION: (K)IM POSSIBLE 2 MOTORCYCLE SCENE! As Negaduck charged, Gabranth slid underneath the vehicle. Negaduck is no longer in the vehicle. And yet, when he attempts to use the shadow created to strangle him... Negaduck's aura becomes darker as his eyes become gray as a sneer erupts. I AM THE A SHADOW LORD, FOOL! I CONTROL THE DARKNESS! Gabranth will feel the resistance of his hold, before Negaduck's hand clutches out to squeeze at his neck. I AM PUBLIC ENEMY #1! I AM ABOVE THE LAW! I WILL BRING LAW INTO RUIN! Unfortuntely for the dastardly mallard, he is so distracted by his rage at Gabranth that he gets SO MANY KIDNEY PUNCHES! "OW OW BADNESS OW OW OW!" And.... two strikes at his back, sending him hunching over with a glare. "Grrrrrrr.....!" Negaduck turns to face Will, and then the snarls, "I will not be defeat by the likes of you! I am---" The sound of whistles become louder as Negaduck turns to see a barrge of rockets and particle beams. "Uh oh." There is a thunderous explosion. The blast factor is pretty intense that one would need a pair of shades to shield the eyes. The smoke clears, leaving Negaduck charred. "HA! I CAN TAKE MORE THAN THAT!" Insert the fireball from Maira and the flare shots to start impacting against Negaduck. The erosion of flames ignite and combust together. For a brief moment, Negaduck looks like Peking Duck. GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE HOT! "...On second thought.." "TACTICAL RETREAT!!!" Negaduck is running towards Malicia, swooping over to scoop an arm around the partner-in-crime. And the Shadow Portal manifests around him and her before it disappears. ...Why did Negaduck take her along with him instead of abandoning her? ...She has his motorcycle keys, and his keys to his arsenal stash. 

:'''[[Malicia]] has posed:''' As the two deadly ducks made for a hasty retreat, Malicia paused only to snarl at Will. "YOU." She sneered. "This isn't over. I am going to hunt you down, strangle you with those strings, and cook you for dinner!" Cue the classic vengeful shaking of a fist as they exit, stage left. Just wait until she looked in the mirror and saw the horrendous black eye she was sporting.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will yawns, looking not threatened at all at Malicia. "Bye!" he says, and then looks back towards Gabranth. He holds out a hand, awaiting a hi-five, because they just TOTALLY drove off two shadow lords. He just smiles like this: :D :D :D. Are you going to leave him hanging?

:'''[[Maira]] has posed:''' Then Negaduck proclaims himself a Shadow Lorn, gets absolutely slammed with attention of the very painful and burning variety. Maira winces. That had to hurt. Speaking of hurt, she's bleeding and bruised, but surprisingly? Surprisingly alright. And unkidnapped! Maira jumps up and does a ballerina twirl of absolutely delight, laughing. "Hahah! No kidnapping me today! Eat THAT you buttheads!" she yells at the retreating Shadow forces. It is a personal victory for her. Even better? She doesn't think any children were taken tonight. Maira starts passing out potions and healing, though she is making her way toward one of the steel gargoyles because she is extremely curious. She stop before one and looks up, wide-eyed. "Hi!" she greets with a smile.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth almost gets darkness chocked by Negaduck, until will Inturrpts. The Judge Magister then glances over the area, correcting his cloak a bit, then rolling his shoulders as he watches the Shadow Lords leave along with the heartless. The city was protected, not just by the Archadian might.. but by outsiders as well. Then Will looks for a high five. "You fight with a rather impressive display." He says to Will. He looks at the hand, then at Will. He glances away, but he does give the man a good high five. He does take notice of the machines in the air. They were impressive for what they were. Mechanoids was something Archadians lacked, though one day they will figure it out. After all, they had Airships that were highly advance compared to many worlds out in Ruin. Perhaps only two cities rivaled their technology power. However once it was done. The Judge Magister turned about and started to make his way back to some of his soldiers and the Judges. Mostly to talk things over. He would reward the people later.

Meetings in Oblivion: Mercade

2013-06-22T22:51:44Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/06/21 |Location=Castle Oblivion |Synopsis=Mercade arrives at Castle Oblivion to have answers questioned and questions answered. |Cast of Char..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/21
|Location=Castle Oblivion
|Synopsis=Mercade arrives at Castle Oblivion to have answers questioned and questions answered.
|Cast of Characters=Mystery Meat, Mercade Alexander, Mysterious Can
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Mysterious Meat]] has posed:''' Castle Oblivion. A long way and a hard road and very near to perilous concentrations of the heartless, yet there are no immediate signs of lingering darkness in the surrounding countryside. Rolling hills of grassland extend out into the distance with the castle jutting from the turf almost haphazardly. Jutting is in fact the right term for the white castle and it's pointed, angular green towers which poke every which way like the hands of a demented clock. It's less of a full castle and more a structure folded roughly over on itself multiple times by the inexpert hand of an origami enthusiast. There is a vague feeling of unreality here as well, the faint smearing of the edges and a slight blurring of colors like a slightly off kilter watercolor painting. No melting clocks certainly, but enough to frame the boundaries of this silent space in an unusual way. That is another thing to discover. This place has little in the way of natural sounds. No sound of water. No sound of insects or field animals. The wind ruffles the sea of grass and the sound is so faint as to be barely a whisper, an echo as if all these sound were falling into a deep well. Yet there it is. And here you are. The gates are open. And you are expected.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' It took Mercade a while to get information on how to get there. Much bribery of Will Sherman was involved. Will never could resist the power of muffins. Especially when the alternative was to put smiley faces on them and give them to Riku. Yes. He is a very silly person sometimes. The Detective is, nevertheless, not very silly at the moment. The appearance of Castle Oblivion sets him on edge. He was warned that this place was dangerous, that it brought back the past. He wasnt sure what that meant. How did it do such a thing? Mercade is, as always, full of questions. Answers were less forthcoming. What he did know, however, is that the mysterious man from his dreams told him to come here for further answers. So he did. It could certainly be a trap. It could be many things. But he believes in himself and his friends. He looks down at the star-shaped ornament he mysteriously gained, cleaned up. Something about it feels unreal to him as well, considering the situation in which it appeared. Well. Theres nothing for it except to go forward. Mercade says to himself, before he walks in through the entryway. Lets find out how deep this rabbit hole goes.

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' The inside of Castle Oblivion is searingly white. Geometric designs continue on the inside, great ridged columns and delicate artwork all crafted in the same white material. The shear blank whiteness was broken only by the ceiling where diamonds of light blues against a darker background marched in stately procession. Despite the ceiling being colored and highlights of those same blues can be seen here or there, the sense of distance is distorted. The corridor seems to stretch for much longer than it should without the visual cue of stretching towards the horizon. There are a number of closed doors with symbols above them. They are engraved neatly in a foreign and slightly eye-defeating series of glyphs that seem to shimmer slightly out of focus when any attempt is made to read it. Eventually though the hallway does end, a small staircase leading up to a platform where a trio of white archways are inset into the walls. One goes forwards, another to the left and a third to the right. The one going forwards is open and leads to a white stairway going upwards. A muffled and angry conversation can be heard through the door to the right. Strangely enough, the glyph on the left door is similar if not identical to the strange marking in the middle of the star found in hand at the end of the dream. There is the sound of footsteps resounding from the stairs connected to the archway straight ahead. Someone is coming.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' So much white. How can someone allow themselves to decorate an area like this? Its bugged Mercade since he saw the place the first time. Now... Its no easier on the eyes. Then it occurs to him that this place might not have been made... For human sensibilities. The thought chills him, for a moment. The Detective works his way down the interminable hallway, more than once wondering how he could have walked this far and still be inside the castle. It didnt look this big on the outside. The doors draw his attention as he passes them, the sights causing him to examine them for the same of something to break the whiteness. The glyphs cause him to scowl, however. This smacks of Stuff He Should Have Isaac Here For. He hates that kind of stuff. Its something he hasnt gained any kind of proficiency with, even with practice. Some things just have to remain out of his reach. Or do they? He focuses on the end of the corridor. It feels right to go this way, and he often trusted his instincts. The Detective, when he finally reaches the three-way path, looks between them all and frowns. Its clear he needs to make a choice here, but... He doesnt have to make it blind. Someone is coming. Mercade waits, folding his hands together to see who it is.

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' It's immediately obvious from the entrance that the man was expecting Mercade to be here because there is absolutely NO surprise on his face other than a slight smirk. "Well Well." he says in a sardonic voice with a faint chuckle, the black coated man taking the Detective in at a glance and then walking to the sound of angry voices. He knocks in a rather off hand and premptory fashion, two fast snaps before opening up the door. "He's here." is said, again, in a cheerfully sardonic tone. Not unfriendly exactly, but definitely cutting. The argument stops, the two men inside absorbing this new information in an icy silence before the silver haired man on the left looks away from the other man still out of sightline from this angle. "..Thank you, Axel. You may go now." The man runs a hand through his red hair and makes the most perfunctory of salutes to Mercade with two fingers before sauntering down the corridor past him and into another room. The glyph above the door pops and flashes for a second, and is not the same one as moments before as the door closes. "We'll continue this discussion at a later time." says the other man, and the voice is the same as the dream voice except grounded this time in reality rather than dreamlike fiction. "Come in, Detective." The silver haired man eyes Mercade in the doorway with ill-disguised distrust, then annoyed resignation. "If you will excuse me." He brushes the sleeves of his coat as if washing his hands of the matter, turning to leave through another door. The inside of the room is completely different than how the castle hallway is appointed, and there is a faint aura of pressure around the door somewhat familiar from the dreams if the threshold is passed. An old style radio sits on a wooden bookcase. Something soothing and instrumental drones with a faint crackle from it. Bookshelves line the small and comfortable space. A small reading lamp on a small table and several comfortable chairs are tucked into the space. A black haired man in a white greatcoat and vest with a red lining sits in the chair with a glass in his hand. He sets down the glass next to a bottle on the table and stands up. Calm in demeanor and bearing, the man somewhere in his vague mid thirties extends a hand to Mercade. "I will have to apologize for my associate. He is less abrasive with his disciples, but he does not trust outsiders. Which I can respect, if not condone his behavior."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Others. Mercade looks over the black-coated men who keep looking over those present, and he frowns, running a thumb along his jawline in thought. There's a lot he doesn't know here. This is not what he was expecting. However... Mercade waves to the man addressed as Axel as he passes, and Mercade looks to the silver-haired man. He arches an eyebrow at the unusual person, nodding slightly before moving forward to pass through the doorway when bidden. He pauses at the threshold, feeling that pressure... And he looks up at the door, holding out a hand and testing it for a moment, a curious expression on his face before he passes through. He enters the study, listening to the radio. Music, so different than what he has heard before. It brings his senses in sharper focus: This is not like home. His eyes look over the area, considering everything and taking in details as he has been trained, how he has trained himself. He looks over the man in the greatcoat and vest, and accepts the hand. "I have the feeling that the situation is not the usual one for your... association?" Mercade says. "It's certainly nothing to worry about. There is a great deal we will all be learning in the near future, it seems."

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' "Indeed not. He views outside interaction as an unfortunate and slightly distasteful necessity, whereas I see it as an opportunity. One of the many points where our philosophies diverge." The barrier is faint enough to be almost a trick of perception, a slight difference in the air quality and a thickening at the doorway that is no more than a prickle on the skin. There is an actual hearth which accounts for the slightly warmer temperature, surrounded by a mantle of bare stones and well shielded by metal and glass. The hand is shaken firmly and then released. "Indeed. We may walk or we may sit, though I caution you that both are dangerous for their own reasons, even if it is only to ones alcohol levels." The man who in the dream had called himself the Seeker smiles slightly in bemusement. "My associate and his disciples visit here frequently for their research and so some paths have been made safe enough. Where is a more ironic location to answer questions than a place that is a labyrinth of them? I thought you might appreciate the humor." The man takes the glass off the table, taking a small sip. Every movement of the man is precise, calm and efficient. He fits this room like his clothes fit him, an extension of thought and action. "After all. Life does not require us to remain solumn at all times, though we still can remain watchful even so."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Never a dull moment." Mercade says, smiling faintly. "I can appreciate the irony, yes... And even more so, really, considering each answer seems to create more questions. It gets labyrinthine even metaphorically." Mercade chuckles. "But hey, whatever gets the job done, right?" He seems to relax a bit after getting more of a handle on the situation, and nods. "All right. Let's take a walk. If this is your place, I'd be interested in seeing what you're working with here." He folds his arms behind his back, and looks around again. "I admit, you certainly know how to put together a nice study, though. It is a very introspective place." He turns his full attention back to the Seeker, then. "So, you called me here. What do you want to speak about? As much as I love the decor, you didn't call me here, cause this disruption with your associates, and interrupt your ongoing work to discuss interior decorating." He pauses. "Though we could do that too if you really wanted to. Seriously, who decided everything had to be white out there?"

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' The Seeker smiles fractionally around the drink glass as Mercade speaks, putting it down again with a faint 'clink'. He straightens and gestures to the doorway that the other man left through in the rear of the well appointed study. "Someone utterly overfond of the stark and grandiose nearly to the point of nausea, I would expect." He opens the door which leads out to an empty white corridor, shutting it behind them when they have passed the boundary (which again has that vague sense of pressure differential) "This is not truly my place, or even the place of my associate though he claims otherwise in the name of his research. --Let us say that we are both borrowing it from a derelict owner we have not had opportunity to meet or deride the good sense of." The white corridor has a stripe of faint blue painted across the floor that's just enough to distuinguish itself from the floor. "Well. The first thing I believe I owe you is a name, and the next a warning." he introduces himself as Lucas Sheridan, and then continues with his warning."Imagine a city of tall and imposing spires stacked atop itself, folded over like a piece of paper and there is something of that analogy to describe this castle. There are many rooms and many ways to get lost. It does not abide intruders fondly, as my associate has discovered. But many things are lost within it as well, including memories which he studies. Now how one may lock or unlock a memory I am syntactically uncertain but I am assured it is a fascinating process and only easily accessible from certain places in this great maze." he makes a waiving gesture as they pass several doors. "I certainly will not halt you from opening any door we pass or walking down any pathway, indeed. Some may even call to be opened and in later times, may require it but you will not always know what is behind said pathway or door," There is a turn in the corner and then a sharp feeling of disorientation as if the perspective has radically shifted. The corridor seems the same, but two steps takes them to a small contained garden courtyard. The flowers are a riot of color in this stark white maze, and this place seems almost completely disjointed from the rest of the castle. A small island like the study. "--and if you should find yourself lost at any time simply find a blue line and follow it to the grand hallway again. I or one of the disciples will be sure to find you within a day or so." Sheridan smiles slightly in bemusement at this. "What I wish to speak to you about is the reason why your world fell and was restored. The young boy, Sora, I believe? He had a curious artifact with him.. one of a very small handful still active. Keyblades, they are termed."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade snerks at the comment. "Well, it's a perfectly good castle, may as well make use of it, right?" He shrugs. "I've known what it's like to make do with what you've got, though this is on a different scale entirely. Maybe one day we'll meet this guy and we can all laugh over a glass of wine about silly color choices." He pauses. "I hope that they're that easy to get along with, anyway. Hope springs eternal, right?" He shrugs at that, grinning. He follows out into the white corridor and walks along with Lucas. "Unlock and lock... memories? Whose memories? Their own? Someone else's?" He frowns. "That's a strange thing to keep here. As far as the danger is concerned... Well, if you can't predict it, all you can do is work with it the best you can, right? Have a plan, but don't get married to it." He walks into the garden, blinking at the sudden change, and he kneels down next to one of the flowers, looking it over, smiling. "Well, at least some things never change. Flowers always brighten things up." He looks over his shoulder, then, as Lucas gets to business. "Sora. Yes, I know him. And about his Keyblade. I've been trying to find information on them myself, because, well... The Heartless." He shrugs, as he stands back up.

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' "But you were blocked and harried at every turn, were you not?" Lucas seems to let most of the rest pass without comment this time, putting his hands behind him in an idle gesture and strolling a few steps through the garden with calm appreciation. "Every corridor you turned, every lead you thought you had in your grasp turned to cold ashes? Am I correct in these assumptions?" The question hangs there like an accusation flung at an unseen audience, the answer written on the face of the man whose calm demeanor has darkened with the first flickers of a slow burning anger. "There is an outside reason for this, rather than the simple entropic turn of the universe. They are those who proclaim themselves protectors yet do so through sowing apathy and deception. They bury their acts in the mundane and that which would be passed over unnoticed but such acts are inevidably flawed in some respect. Chiefly, in that their plans do no good for the world while they are shielding so desperately from ill."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "I was." Mercade replies. He stands, focusing on Lucas. "You are correct." He shakes his head. "Even if they are misguided, there has to be a kernel of truth in what they do. What is it about the Keyblades and those who use them that makes it so dangerous to even /learn/ about them? The obfuscation has been massive." Mercade looks down, a flicker of anger crossing his face. "IF what you say is true, their inaction led to the destruction of my world... And others. The fact that it was restored is irrelevant. The damage has been done."

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' "Here." Sheridan moves from the island of calm anf tranquil gardens back into the white corridors. He makes a sweeping gesture towards one of the many doors. "See for yourself. Decide on your own if their actions were 'just'."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade Alexander nods, and follows Lucas to the door, stepping through the one indicated by the man. "All right. Let's see your side of the story."

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' Barren wastes. A broken and butchered landscape that extends to the vanishing point, great melted chasms and tortured ravines cleft into the lifeless stone. A hot and scalding wind whips past the door as it's opened. Thousands... hundreds of thousands of the ancient blades once again dot this ancient crossroads, the road almost buried by the dirt and sand and beaten down by time. Empty. Broken. A battlefield stripped of sense and meaning, only an empty graveyard populated by only the vaguest remnants of those who came before and all this greatly warped and indistinct. The very air smears with the slightest turn of the head, this place, this recounting so fragmented and sparce that the watercolor shifting of detail is near constant. When seen as a series of still shots, things are almost painfully clear but it does very poorly as a moving rendition. There are things.. echoes in the searingly dry, wavering mirage of the air. The crash of blades. The flickering images, there and gone again, of great flares of searing light and crawling hordes of darkness. Armored shapes jump in and out of the frame, sometimes distant and sometimes close enough to touch. A blue armored warrior in gold and green slowly turns their helmet, the eyeslits trained almost as if they could see him. As if he was known for a flicker of an instant before the armored shape vanished. "This is what they hope to prevent. What they've already seen come to pass." Lucas says very quietly, not having strayed very far away from the door at all. His words carry strangely and echo in the distorted space. "But you cannot simply cover your eyes and turn away and wish a thing from existance."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade is hit with the devastation first of all. Everything has an undercurrent of dull horror to him. He can't really comprehend the utter desolation, as part of his mind tries to reject the totality. But here it lies. "They can cause... this? But Keyblade have no will of their own, do they? They can't force people to create this. The fault lies with people, not their tools." He pauses. "Nobody is perfect."

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' "A keyblade is a tool, yes. But it is formed in part by the will and heart of the bearer. It is a sacred contract and a tradition worth saving. A tradition that cut across the boundaries of affiliation and creedo. Light and darkness both took up these weapons for as many reasons as there are stars in the night sky now. Love. Friendship. Salvation. Greed. Wrath. Vengeance. Restoration. Ruin." he chuckles again very softly. "In the sky above, all reasons are tied together. For all hearts come from the same place." he points upwards. In the distance, above a cracked and distant tower is a large and immediate moon, luminous blue and vaguely heart shaped. /IT/ rather than anything else is the source of the distortion, as if the power radiating from it-- the sense of interconnection, reached out a fine tendril to every shadow. Every blade. Every sound and sensation rippling through this lost place. Lucas's voice continues almost like an afterthought. "Many.. if not most wielders died here. The few that remained faded and drew dividing lines in the sand and eventually were lost entirely. But there is an imbalance. You know them as the heartless, and others like them you may not know. That imbalance can only be eased with a keyblade, yet they chose not to take the old paths and the old ways." Lucas looks as the sounds of combat increase and then fade away again, sound coming in waves like the tides of an invisible ocean. "---Instead, they chose yet another layer of deception. The sorcerers cast a wide and subtle net with their magic. A spell that would snare their champions in dreams and in secret. You were amongst the ones that they tagged, like a wild bird, and perhaps in time they would have chosen to guide your actions by dream and portent and spontanious misfortune. They have traded your world and the worlds of others for the sake of a greater good and a graveyard."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade looks back to Lucas, listening to his words, and then looks back to the tableau before him, shielding his eyes against the distortion and strange light of the heart-like moon above them. "What is that place? You said it was the source of all hearts?" He pauses, then, shaking his head as he steps back, his hand closing before him in a loose fist. He looks down at it, falling deep in thought. "Dreams and deceptions?" He looks back up, frowning as he thinks back to the first dream. "Avira, the choices... And then the Darkness." He looks back to Lucas. "You are telling me that it was all a plan by the sorcerors to manipulate me? To try to filter me out according to some arcane thing? They chould have just told me! They could have told me what I needed to know. I didn't even care if it was me who was chosen, I just wanted to protect my home. Are you telling me that my world was sacrificed, how it was obliterated and the best efforts of all of my friends were for naught, was because none of them were willing to help us find the weapons we needed to actually stop them?"

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' "You and others like you, and to prevent interference from anyone but themselves." Lucas continues to be calm and precise, though the smouldering ember of anger still lies in his voice like a banked fire. "They would say that you acquitted yourselves well, but that is only an excuse. They gambled. They gambled on your future and won. Temporarily. But realistically, all they have bought is time. Time that will be used by the shadow lords and those of the void to further entrench themselves. They will say, you are not ready. That it is not time. But I am here to put to slay that final lie, and unravel their entire tapestry of apathy and foolishness." he inclines his head very slightly to Mercade. "I believe you are as ready as you wish to be, and who are they to say otherwise."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' The anger is evident. Mercade's expression is one that is feeling the sting of possible betrayal, one who has trusted others and had that trust questioned. The fist he is making tightens, the play of emotions visible as Lucas makes his case and at the same time, an offer. But there is a pause, and one sees the anger banked, controlled. Honed to a finer point and brought under heel. Mercade, slowly, turns to fully face Lucas. "What you say is certainly possibly true, but I have to ask you something in return." That sharp gaze is brought to bear upon Lucas. "Perhaps everything you say is the truth. From a certain point of view. But I must ask of you this, Seeker Lucas. Did you not come to me in a dream yourself? Did you not show me visions? How do I know these are true or false, things that could have been manufactured or taken out of context? What makes your interpretation of events more valid than theirs? Tell me, Sorceror Lucas. Do you have any evidence to back up your assertions? I would certainly be doing you ill if I did not question you like you seek to have me question others. Perhaps the path might not lie with the others, but you will need to show me why it would lie with you, other than the simple point that you are willing to talk and others would not." He also pauses, and then points to him. "And where were you when my world was destroyed? You knew so much of it, and yet you did not act to assist either in any way I know of."

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' "Have I shown you anything that you, yourself did not choose to know?" Lucas shakes his head. "I did not. I do not bar you from verifying the truth of my words, as I have not barred you from anything." He meets Mercade's gaze flatly, his words calm and sincere though his expression is also one of someone holding on very carefully to their temper. "And what you make of them, dream or statement or nightmare, is of your own manufacture-- not mine. Many came to the defense of your world, as well they should for your need was great and immediate and victory within your grasp. And there were those who obscured your trials and those of others to prevent the grand interference of perils even greater than Malificent and her lords." he snorts softly, fingers twitching and chin raised slightly. "Yet we cling to memories and to hopes and to cooling fragments within labyrinths or dusty tombs for a /trace/ of former lives. Worlds lost to darkness for so long even their NAMES have been ground to dust and the apprentices of that abandoned home grown complacent and narrow-sighted." A very.. very thin smile. "Believe me selfish, Detective Alexander. But also believe me honest about it. Do not trust any path you have not paved for yourself, and yourself alone. I can point you towards any door. Offer any prize. But it is you who ultimately chooses what to do and where to go. It is you who ultimately decides not to be enslaved by fate, or chance, or misfortune. Train your anger on me if you must, but I must ask in turn if I am truly worthy of it.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "At ynu? No. I am not angry at you, Lucas. I question you. My anger is reserved for others. My apologies if you thought otherwise." Mercade reins himself in, standing down. Whatever the man says, was enough to satisfy the Detective for now. "I value your selfish honesty more than a well-intentioned falsehood. The company I keep should be evidence enough of that." His expression smooths out, and he looks away from Lucas. "Maybe I spoke out of turn, but if I do it is out of ignorance, not malice. Something I am planning to remedy." He sighs. "You have one thing for sure. We all choose our own shackles." He rubs his chin, then folds his arms, looking upwards, thinking for a moment, then back to Lucas. "All right. Now comes the real question. Knowledge aside, where do we go from here?" He looks back out onto the plains. "You're waiting for me to ask a question. Make a choice. Very well." There is a pause. "So how does this Keyblade stuff work, anyway? How do they relate to the Heartless? I've been told bits and pieces by Merlin and Mickey, but what's your take?"

:'''[[Mystery Meat]] has posed:''' The Seeker listens and then nods, his stance relaxing fractionally as he takes a look around at the blasted landscape. "Very well. Walk with me, and we will correct that egregious error right now." he then turns and re-enters the white corridor, leaving the graveyard behind.

:'''[[Mysterious Can]] has posed:''' Where do we go from here.. So many questions and yet never really enough answers. A fractal series that has one reaching for the 'X' button to skip the text ahead. The two walk for a small time afterwards and the distorted place becomes even more esoteric as the corridor continues. There is a time or two in which the gravity seems to be inverted with no actual change of perspective wrenching around. This usually results in a slightly escher-esque portrayal of white on blue. There are windows that look into other spaces than the green rolling hills of the outside. An endless ocean unmarred by any sight of land. A great swarm of luminescent jellyfish can be seen making the dark water glow in long wavering streaks. "Perhaps we have strayed somewhat amiss. Forgive a streak of dramatic theatricality, Detective. I believe it is a trait that all those who use magic develop over time. I said I would not answer your questions for you and yet I was content to show you places and events without the proper context." The man chuckles very softly to himself as he walks. They pass another window that looks like it looks right out onto space itself, a panoply of swirling stars separated from the open air by a barrier the consistency of liquid, those same stars dancing and swirling at the touch. "We use the tools we are familiar with, and I am a man whose temperment tends towards reasoned argument. We all choose our own shackles, Detective but sometimes it is only because we know there is a key hidden away on our persons." Lucas smiles thinly at that. "So I will attempt, in my way, to treat you as any aspirant of the old teachings would be treated and respected. My own take is that the keyblades are a neccessary tool, and like any magic, a terrible master. There is a balance to the universe and believe or disbelieve as you will but the heartless play a role in that design. Light and Darkness are meant to coexist in these worlds, but they do not. The keyblades are a means to an end. Which end? Well, perhaps that will have to be discovered." He chuckles softly. "I myself cannot say honestly that I am not biased in this regard. As such, the answers you seek lie behind these doors. The star you recovered will aid you. It is a wayfinder, and will see you on your way past and open doors and pathways that would otherwise remain closed." Another long painting. It looks like the rolling hills of the outside but the view is sideways and it is snowing heavily, everything blanketed in a sheer sheet of white blizzard. A suddenly, abrupt flash of red streaks across the window while Lucas continues. "--I will not follow you and place my thumb on the scales as they are measured out. You will have to weigh them, and their consequences, for yourself. And any seeking answers is also warned that these trials can be perilous. Especially when enacted in a curious place as this, where space and memory collide at odd angles. The world is full of beginnings. But you may not return the same after this one." He stops in front of a large white double doors, looking down the corridor for a moment before reading the glyph overhead. He touches the doorknob when it has stopped shifting, freezing at one particular glyph. The older man turns to Mercade, raising an eyebrow. "Are you prepared to take those risks?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade walks with the man. There is so much alien around him that more than once he considers just giving up trying to make sense out of it all. But to do that would be... Well, giving up. He's a stubborn bastard sometimes. He looks out over the vistas afforded by the architecture, watching in new wonders at each one. The universe is so... large. Mercade shrugs at the admission. "I live with a sorceror. He is the same way sometimes, but he's got enough sass and sense to move on sometimes." He grins. "You should meet Isaac sometime, I think you two would get along. He has a low bullcrap tolerance too." He chuckles at the joke. "I am pretty good at getting out of cuffs. But hey, self-awareness is the first step, right? That and the ability to laugh at ourselves. You would not /believe/ how depressing I would be if I didn't find myself absurdly silly sometimes." He taps the side of his head. "So yeah, balance. No one's all good or all evil. People can't exist that way. And that's why the balance, right?" He shrugs. "Well, I can't say I'm so, uh... existential, but I can work on it." He grins. The mention of the wayfinder causes him to pull out the star again, and he holds it up. "Huh. So it's like a fancy compass?" He flicks a hand, and the star vanishes. It's probably up his sleeve. "So you can't interfere. Fair enough. I have to succeed or fail on my own recognizance." He does squint at the last earnings, however, as he steps in front of the door... But then ne nods. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Fragmentary Passage

2013-06-20T06:35:55Z

Raenas: Created page with "'''Description:''' Fragmentary Passage is a series of personal tinyplots in which the Keyblade Aspirants (those who have weathered the first cycle) are approached by a..."

'''Description:''' 
Fragmentary Passage is a series of personal tinyplots in which the Keyblade Aspirants (those who have weathered the first cycle) are approached by a mysterious dark Seeker (a couple of guesses as to Whom. Bonus points for Jazzhands) and given opportunities to learn more about the lore and fate of the worlds as well as their own part in it. Also, the plotcandy bag is shaken mightily.

Come.. stay awhile and listen.
{{tinyplot}}

Fragmentary Passage: Angantyr

2013-06-20T06:28:32Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/06/20 |Location=??? Destati |Synopsis=Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices. |Cast o..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/20
|Location=??? Destati
|Synopsis=Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices.
|Cast of Characters=Mysterious Voice, Angantyr Vespar
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The world of light fades with the coming of sleep. Generally this means dream, nightmare or memory. Pieces of all of these spun together to form landscapes to visit in the small hours of unconsciousness. This dream however.. it is not of a place he has been before. Or perhaps he has? It seems there is a distant recollection of the stained glass underfoot but it is tarnished and shrouded by silt and ocean water, partially obscuring the picture. This column of darkness with it's floor as the stained glass and it's ceiling as rolling storm clouds is completely barren save for a single trailing staircase illuminated by shrouded flames. These sparks of light like embers or fireflies dance within their sheltered orbs of glass and look very much from a certain angle like the night sky. Maira's voice can be sensed more than heard, as if calling from a great distance away. There is the feeling of her voice but the words are almost too distant to make out. They seem as vaguely familiar as the stained glass and taut with meaning. "..such a far way... the road.." There is a crack in the side of the world. A ragged slash somewhere above him, where the stairs join up to and run alongside it before continuing their ascent upwards into the stormclouds. A silvery illumination and the sound of the ocean filter faintly from that distant tear in the dreamscape.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Sleep...a familar thing to Angantyr. A thing that comes and goes, he has not abandoned his humanity, he has clung to it...for good or ill he has become more human these days than previously under Garland's consul. As he falls towards the stained glass...again? He notices that something obscures the sight from him...silt or water? Darkness? Has it claimed such a foothold here too? Has his actions taken him this far from the light? Up revealed...nothing but a illuminated staircase...down was more darkness. Always the shadow of, huh? He wonders if this is something that will always be...or will he become the night eventually. However, too much introspection isn't what Ang focuses on right now. He moves towards the only place he can... Then Maira's voice...it's painful to hear with everything recently...she is close to him, but...not in the way she wants. Will it be like this forever? Who knows...but he knows she hurts because of it. "Maira?" He calls out...not this again...but it's even less audiable than last time...what is going on? There was only one direction to go...he knows not retreat...only to advance. So he climbs the stairway to the ocean.

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' Her voice continues up the spiral but the words are so distant.. just the intonation. The general lilt and feeling to her voice and the way it fell into the empty silence of the surroundings. At the top of the spiral lay a dark shore with arcs of crystallized darkness forming a vague lattice. Beyond the lattice a starless expanse of pure and unblemished darkness. There is a pressure here but not an oppressive one. Power crackles in the air but it mingles with a strange sort of peace that the ocean and the vague silvery orb picks out of the surroundings. Here the ruins of buildings jut from the sand peppered by hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of weapons. The ancient blades are embedded in the silvery sand. Some of them are intricate while others are simple. Some of them proud and others humble. All of them are dull and lifeless and broken. A voice having nothing to do with Maira, a nameless vaguely male voice announces frankly from a patch of darkness from which it protrudes. "Where do you think this path leads?" There is a pause and the voice continues, resolving into the shape of a hooded figure who stands at the very base of a titanic anomaly of the landscape. In the thickest patches of ruin, shrouded by gloom until the voice had spoken (or perspective and reality simply shifting to reveal it) A luminous clock stands in the midst of those ruins. Violet fire illuminates the place where numbers are, numbered from I to VII with the big metal hands pointing to 'I' The hooded figure continues. "Where these paths have always led. Power and Destruction." the figure bows respectfully and inquires frankly and upfront. "Good evening, sir Vespar. Forgive the theatrics. They are somewhat inevitable in order to grab a moment of your time.. unobserved. Would you walk with me, perhaps only for a minute or two? I shant delay you long." The figure gestures to the endless dark shore in a gentlemanly gesture.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr walks...the voice is distant, but the feeling is there. He follows, because in the end it is what is in his heart. The beach...a dark one. He looks out at the darkness, the unending...space... "The Dark Relm.." Angantyr mutters, only being here but a brief time before...once, when he was younger, hot headed...and landed at the feet of Garland. It was but a short time...but the place left it's mark on him. But here...the ocean was always a place he loved, here...he... always felt most at home, more than anywhere. He walks, but then... buildings, destroyed, blades embeded into the ground everywhere. "What...is this?" He asks, a sight of a long hard fought battle? What are these weapons, that jut from the earth as their final resting place? Then a voice, he turns towards it, surprised by getting snuck up on...but.. Where does this path lead... "Yeah." he agrees...these paths always lead to such places. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage, sir." he muses, the clock at the center of the ruins catches his eye... What is that..? "Sure...let us walk. Maybe I will even get your name."

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' "A folly so ancient that even the questions have worn away. A desperate last struggle against the forces of light and darkness." The hooded figure chuckles, hands held behind their back loosely as they stroll with a scholarly pace along the silvery sand. No matter how far they walk however, the perspective of the Clock seems completely detached from that of the rest of the scenery. It is always completely visible and always just far enough in the distance to set a background to the ruined buildings and the shattered blades. The hooded figure whose hands are gloved is only a silohuette of a man, an hooded black shape and a cultured voice from within a drawn up and empty cowl. "As for myself, I am a seeker of many things and so go by that name. There is nothing more important than the labels we give ourselves, is there not? A man may call another man a monster, a wretch, a creature of darkness -- but that accused man is nothing save the names he calls himself. Have the sorcerers deigned to tell you anything of the path they have set you on by catching you in their nets? Have they told you that their path, a path of obscured riddles and feigned apathy and mistrust has run them around in circles while the forces of Chaos crystalline in all corners of the universe, preying on the imbalance they themselves have caused?" The seeker chuckles softly. "I assume not, but I will not lecture you. If you wish to learn more of their folly, of their deceptions then I am more than happy to point you in the direction of them. I believe learning answers for yourself is more honest than simply telling someone what they must believe, how they much act-- or even, what they dearly need to hear."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' The clock...always there on the edge of their awareness...annoying. One of those things, maybe it was the representation of the thing that is there, around you, but just out of reach? Maybe. "The Seeker huh? A name, if anything...though I find it more of a title...it will have to do for now." He muses, and continues to walk, and listen. "The Sorcerers?" He asks..wondering just who he ment by that, but lets it go... Angantyr pauses to look at the destruction again, before turning back to the man. He isn't being pushy...it's a quality that he is respecting... "I don't often deal with such people...if they can not do what needs to be done I go without them. I don't play to the tune of those who can't see what is infront of them, and would risk everything to play at one upance." Angantyr shrugs, "But...if you're willing to point, I am willing to at least see for myself. I can not promise I will draw the same conclusions as you...but isn't that why you are simply pointing me, and not telling me?" Angantyr asks... "But...who are the sorcerers you speak of?"

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' "But of course." The seeker says in a very dry voice. It is not precisely easy to know what he sounds like because every time he talks the inflection and tone is different, as if he were taking on and discarding different voices with every step down the shore. "As to the sorcerers.." he gestures idly and a series of images appear. A wizened blue robed man with a pointed hat. (In fact, two of them, one looking much more addled and whimsical than the other) and an ugly old woman in a cottage of tangled briar. "They are the players of a game those rules have been discarded. While they argue about the right path, the worlds slip further and further into Chaos. You know, inevitably.. where that leads." The walk has taken them into the ruins and the hooded figure evaporates like smoke as they turn the corner. There is a feeling of pressure and a pulling together of worlds and the ruins are what remains of a home destroyed. The ashes of a place betrayed and trodden under an Archadian boot. The ocean has flooded this place, making islands of dark water where buildings poke through the sand. There are notices, pale and fluttering on the scattered ruins which are empty of life both friend and enemy. This small place of fractured memory flooded by dark waters is as contained by high walls and the ocean as a snowglobe. A relatively small and enclosed space in which different objects gleam with resonance and purpose. Each gleaming flame placed atop a ruined building, on a windowsill or atop a crumbling wall is bright and shining. Some of fireflies. Others are bright and piercing flame, almost searingly bright. The light they cast never seems to penetrate far into the sodden gloom, but where their light falls. The stone and the wood are sound. As if the homeland destroyed was perserved perfectly in a memory before it's fall within the influence of that light. The ruin only lay in the darkness outside their radience. And there was a notice, a word, a symbol painted on each gleaming source of light. And these are the words they each announce silently to the fallen world. Victory -- A lantern set on a crumbling door. Dividing Line -- A globe held in the grip of a cracked statue. The Last Key -- An orb that has halfway rolled into the dark waters. Endless -- A lantern set on a half crumbled wall Tower of Voices -- An open flame carefully banked within the ruins of a charred house. Zero Point -- An orb stuck in a twisted part of a roof, embedded there like a fallen star. A tattered notice at eye level on a broken wall reads only. "There is never time for everything."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Hmm... "Merlin huh.." He muses, and the woman...unfamilar, he had not ran into Mim. Still.. "Isn't that the beauty of free will? In the end, there is no truth, only what we think is right..?" He turns... Huh. So this is where he has to go alone, or perhaps he was guided here. But... Here...his heart sinks. He closes his eyes, and takes his helmet off...taking a knee near one of the burned and destroyed homes. He places his helmet down for a moment, lowering his head at the sight of his destroyed home...no matter how far he went...how deep he delved...this was home. A place he so strongly wants to find again in his heart. The man, who holds himself like a mountain against fate, finds himself wiping his eyes...he still feels this way. He puts the helmet back on, standing up as he notices the six points of light. There is never enough time... He moves towards the Orb stuck in the roof first, towards the Zero point. It seems logical to start at Zero...

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' There is a feeling of unreality around each of the points of light. They are not only heat up everything warmth can give. Life. Hope. There is a disruption, then a warm rush of sensation as the ruined space dissolves into another place on the endless dark shore. There is a woman there on a flat rock overlooking the dark ocean. She sits straight and strong in the light armor of a warrior, brushing blue hair back behind one ear as she looks at the silvery orb out there near the horizon, fixed and unchanging. Her arms are wrapped around her knees and she looks lost but unbroken. Bowed but not shattered. The woman slowly looks in his direction and smiled. It was a warm and welcoming smile and without reservation. "I don't remember who I am or how long I've been here... but I am welcome for the company just the same." she gestures to the rock near her and goes back to watching the ocean. The aura of resolute longing surrounds her.

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr finds himself on the ocean again... oceans seem to be a thing in his heart. Or maybe in general? He walks along the beach until he sees the woman, looking towards her with a nod..she isn't attacking him nor has the yellow eyes...then again, this was a dream was it not? Hm... He shakes his head...this was still the dark relm, for his bravado, he knows what she says would happen, even to him, given enough time...his resistance was not immunity. Or was it even resistance? That was important. "You sure sound as if you needed.." he says, understandingly. "This is not a place that we were ment to linger...despite connections to the darkness." he pauses, "All the same, I am Angantyr Vespar.." he says, looking out over the water as well.. "Do you remember what brought you here..? Or how long you've been stuck...in this hell?"

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' "I have come... to appreciate it, actually." The woman says with a wry smile, her lips pursed as if looking at Angantyr Vespar. As if trying to look inside him for something. "It is a dark place, yes. But-- I.. I chose to be here. My friend. I--" she smiles sadly. "I chose myself. I chose..this, so he would be safe. That-- he would have a chance. And now I'm waiting.." she turns her face away and her endless resolve seems to flicker for just a moment. "We're all waiting. All of us who come here are waiting for something. Wishing for something. I just--" she sighs. "I just wish I remembered those I've been waiting for." she looks at her hand, in which a cracked glass star is clutched in her hand, the three pieces lightly cutting into the flesh as if the pain would help her hold onto the memories. "..We promised to stay together but.. they got.. lost somewhere." the flicker passes and she smiles towards him again. "But I have hope. Sometimes, that's really all that is left, when this place has taken everything else."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' "I admire your resolve...and your strength." Angantyr says, such praise does not come easily from his mouth...but many do not understand what is to be here...and even he only knows but the surface. He doesn't shrink under the stare, and instead, continues to watch the ocean for a moment. "Hope..?" He asks, heh...hope. Powerful, yet fickle...fleeting yet everlasting. "...I see. I never much believed in hope..I focused on revenge and hatred...I drank from the cups of those who used darkness...only to be dragged from them by friendship and...hope." He looks back towards her, "I still took revenge anyway...yet they didn't turn from me..." he looks back out... "Friends are important...more than I could ever imagine. You have some...so do I, they keep our hearts protected from the darkness that surround us..." he smiles a bit. "Though, Lady, I suggest finding a better place to wait...though you can't beat the fact that there aren't many crowds.." He pauses, "Save maybe the yellow eyed kind."

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The woman laughs and her laughter becomes tinny and distorted as if hearing it through a seashell. She reaches out and attempts to put a hand on his arm. Her touch is the same warmth and life as the lanterns should she succeed. "..Thank you." she says simply, nodding to him. She makes no promise to remember him but she appreciates his words just the same. That part of the dark ocean recedes, being shrouded again by gloom. It pops like a soap bubble leaving the ruined and charred remains as stark contrast to the measure of buzzing silence and peace to be found in the woman's presence. There are four chimes from the luminous clock and the great metal hands now read 'IV' with that many of the violet fire extuinguished. There is a wave of pressure that enacts a cataclysm in reverse upon the surroundings. Charred stone and wood heal. Cornerstones rise and beams place themselves in their right places. But it is only a partial restoration, one that leaves the surroundings still broken but the damage looks fresher and less total. Smoke rises from a few smouldering places. The lantern Angantyr had touched has gone dark and cold, it's light completely expended. The hooded figure is nearby, hands behind his back. The voice has elements of Riku's voice as he speaks. "An image. Preserved in memory. A knight trapped in amber, forever hoping for a rescue that may never come. A casualty of a war fought by children over a prize they were never even told they were fighting for." the hooded figure shakes their head and then evaporates again. "Such a waste."

:'''[[Angantyr Vespar]] has posed:''' Angantyr allows this, typically he is...less inclined to let others touch him, but in this case he feels it is not something that is going to hurt him...and he feels that physical touch would be good for the woman. There is a moment, a feeling of warmth and light, despite the darkness that surrounds her, and he laughs a little too...he knows the value of a good smile and laugh in such surroundings. "I find that laughter keeps it at bay...maybe for just a bit longer." he shru-before the illusion pops like a soap bubble...he is back, in a world that he remembered in a destructive state...but a state that is reversing? The restoration is not...complete, but...what is this? Why is this... He frowns, but his thinking is disrupted by the speach of the figure, the memories of Riku's voice snaps him back awake, focusing on him...there was a memory... "Wait...she DOES exist..? Hey!" Angantyr frowns...nobody deserved that. Nobody... Not even no-oh wait, we haven't gotten there yet. Nevermind. Gone, again...the clock advanced...he could chose too more, maybe? So...what does he choose? The ocean, once more calls to him, as he walks towards the orb halfway rolled into the dark water. The Last key...

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The light this time at the touch of the half submerged orb is more of an explosion. A collison of great forces against each other that reaches out and rends the paper thin tissue of this dreamlike reality. Another flare of brilliant and piercing light sears across the reforming landscape like a spear. A curtain of stars and galaxies makes up the terraced pathways of this tower to the heavens. The tower itself seems crafted out of starstuff with the empty space in every direction giving an incredible vista of a ruined and barren world. Great scars and ravines have carved the landscape. Darkness has tainted and and corrupted the land. Light has seared and scorched. A beam of darkness from the top of the tower collides with the spear of light and a pressure wave explodes from the antipode of forces that sets the tower to noticeably quaking. Straight overhead, large and close enough almost to touch is a pillar of twilight energy. A spire that reaches up to the moon of this world which is a luminous blue and vaguely heart shaped. A powerful radiance pours down along with that eerie blue, pure energy pouring down along that spire of energy like a waterfall. It is the nexus of perfect interconnection. A web that spans a universe. A complete and terrible unity waiting for a controlling hand. Power in it's purest context without mortal filter or constraint. The price, and the stakes, of this contest going on all around him. Along the stairways and corridors of the starlight tower are the dead. Armored figures lay where they fell, discarded soldiers in an unknown war. The battle continues unabated up about, massive surges of light and darkness exploding against each other. Shards of crystal rain from the sky at every impact.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr is torn from his dream-like reality and placed into a war torn one. He is no stranger to things like this, and immediately knows how to put his head down and run to something safeish. This is...what is this,... Then he looks up. Even he is touched by this, something...in his heart tells him what this is, but he cant put words to it. He just knows it is important...more than anything else in the world, it is important to all things. Power, in its purest form...but also light and love. It is...both extremes...yin and yang. he understands why people are fighting for this now...it is precious. But with power like that...even Ang feels that it maybe too much, even for him. Hes not sure what drives him, but he has to move forward. Dark may his heart be, he still isnt sure about what must be done, but...he thinks hell know once he gets there. He moves, reaching for any weapon that will come to him, he doesnt care what, just something to defend himself, and starts climbing the staircase towards the top... The unobtainable goal, perhaps? Perhaps this was just the battlefield of his heart, and his prize his heart...but something seemed...more to this. This wasnt just a reflection of his soul, but it also might as well be. Angantyr moves, he moves because he must, because it calls to him. He looks at it again...trying not to distract him with the sheer beauty and majesty of the moon above him.

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The fallen sword is much like the ancient blades that littered the dark and flooded ruins of before. It is drained and dead in hand, only a faint whisper of something crawling along the length that may have been once an echo of the moon overhead. A crystal within the workings of the blade is cracked, whispers bleeding from the stone that form a constant background noise to the din. Whoever speaks.. it is in Avira's voice though the words are inaudible. There are several more cataclysmic crashes in which the entire tower seems on the very threshold of coming apart. At some point, darkness devoured the endless vista of the world below the tower and now this single last foothold is left as contested bastion. The darkness reaches up to the lower reaches of the tower, and there.. the millions of eyes can be seen. A solid sea of heartless in many thousands of different forms are clawing their way up the tower towards the spire. They crash against the base of the tower and it trembles. They will be here soon. At the very apex of the spire there is nothing to mark the great contest of wills except the energy spire that connects the starlight tower with that immediate moon. Even the din has been sucked from the air leaving the spire in ringing silence. Hanging in the middle of that pillar of energy is a sword. But it is no more a sword than Avira's voice, or Maira's came from their owners. It is a symbol more than a sword. A concept rather than reality. The intricate traceries jutting from the entwined spirals and curves are completely unsuited for a weapon that is more than decoration -- but it is far from decorative in bearing. It is all that stands between anyone and entering the spire of energy. A last battered guardian with massive cracks and battle damage having wounded the ancient weapon, glowing lines tracing each and every one of these faults.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr picks up the pace the more he climbs...this is becoming an increasingly void battle..those who fought here only fought to bring the heartless upon them...or maybe they were the heartless, now joined forever by the darkness in a single hungry desire to consume all. Angantyr runs, he cant afford to be caught here, he has to push forward...he has to find a place to make a final stand that can help him hold out as long as possible.. Then he comes to the Apex...everything here but the pillar and the sword that acts as the last bastion of defense...he looks behind him again...there is no time, theyll be here soon...and the moon above them will be forever...no they cant get there. Angantyr knows this, in his heart of hearts, that this can not come to pass. He stares at the sword, no not a sword, the concept of sword. A symbol...a concept. He hears Aviras voice, but it is too distant to make out. He tosses the void weapon he picked up on the ground...it would not serve him. He isnt sure why it came with him this far... ...Well, this is it I guess. I hope Im dreaming but if Im not.. he pauses.. Well, lets at least give it our all. he says, and reaches towards the weapon, not caring if it burns, or if it comes to him, he reaches in with all of his might, all his determination...the desire to live, but also the desire to protect the moon above. Angantyr was taught to use any weapon he could, to make it his own...it is damaged, but he will fortify the damaged parts with his own body, or rather, with his own heart. To master it, and strike down those who would threaten his path, and those he aligned himself with.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Something shifts. The ancient void blade cracks apart into ruined scrap as it leaves Angantyr's hand. Time slows then freezes like the tower was caught in the midst of a flashfreeze. The heartless, already clambering for this spire and surrounding him from all directions stare from their locked positions with empty yellow eyes. And Angantyr, holding the guardian blade in the midst of the stream of energy.. is known. Whatever presence lives within the blade or connects this guardian to it's charge turns it's attention on Angantyr. It is fierce and immediate, a blazing and burning presence that recognizes him. In this second, in this flash of a moment it follows the infinite web of connections to his personal thread, illuminating his connection with the rest of the universe-- and the rest of time, in that same instant. It races down the length of his life, reading and reading and reading, every memory. Every sensation. Every thought and every action. Every connection to others which radiate out like the threads of a tapestry. Every feeling that he's ever had seems to try and play itself all at once. Rage and Joy. Sorrow and Grief and Bitterness. They wage war to be heard, a single moment of calamity, his entire life played over in a second, everything crashing together into a single terrible note of sound. It replays those final thoughts. That final determination to protect the moon overhead and to master the blade. And it is good enough. The scouring presence is then put in perspective as a small, inconsequential tendril of energy as the entire flow courses along the connections and flows from the sword to the very core of Angantyr's being and then back again, pulling everything that he offered along with it as the energy spiral pulled in.. started to contract slowly, then faster as the heartless began to sluggishly move again, clawed hands and tendrils swimming through the thickened air as the energy contracts half its side, then a quarter, then a single bisecting beam that extends upwards, broken only as it falls on Angantyr from that great height. And the explosion happens without sound and the light wipes away vision but it can still be felt. That exploding energy, light and darkness both exploding outwards from the blade --- taking more and more of Angantyr with it and always pulling for more. Repairing something unseen as the space becomes more and more crowded by the heartless who climb up the sides of some invisible barrier that rises higher and higher with every second. The blade lets him go. Almost reluctantly it lets him go as what it drains from him, what it gives in return to strengthen him is no longer enough to keep it stable. The cracks return and multiply quickly, and there is a shove. A physical and mental shove as if something was pushing him from the way as the barrier is completed.. and the sword /EXPLODES/ in ragged shards of light and darkness. The flooded ruins return with the swiftness of someone falling out of bed, with a sensation of falling and a single bright fragment of twisted white gold metal laying near his hand in the puddle. The orb of light is gone as the first one, and the clock with it's luminous violet flames reads 'VIII'

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr holds to the blade as long as he can...he nearly screamed as his life is forced to replay... A young Angantyr, dressed more like a noble than a dark knight looks at his disapproving father, who had just told him he has a little brother...and he has been replaced as the heir. A disgusted look as he is told why he was...he was unwanted. A older Ang, sparing with his brother, the darkness first going out of control and scaring him...pity from his brother...disgust again from his father...and a growing sense of bitterness for the world around him. Ang and his brother, talking on a old wall overlooking the ocean...Ang almost looks happy, talking to his brother as a equal, and not a subordinate. As a necessary thing... The fight that destroyed his home...Angantyrs determination to drive the Arcadians back...and the feeling of failure after being routed... The feeling of betrayal when it was discovered his brother betrayed them to save the nation...Angantyrs rage... His meeting Garland...the years of torment and hardening under Garland. A Sword was first forged that day, being tempered by the rage and hate that Garland used like a well placed weapon. Here he learned what it truly meant to fight...to survive...everything was a test...everything was a challenge...everything was fight or die. However, from this, bloomed his friendship with Avira, meeting the misplaced woman, teaching her as he was taught...a bond developing as they spent time together...a bond increasing as he met her friends, both in Clan Danga and beyond. Meeting others who would share space in his heart, bringing back the ability to trust...even to love again. A sense of duty to protect...to use his power for something...to prove that he could do something other than destroy... And then it was good enough. Power drains, and Angantyr doesnt stop, he forces it in, allowing it to take what it needs...something had to be done...whatever happens, something was exchanged, and Angantyr was pushed from the blade. Weakened, Angantyr watches as the Heartless are fended back by something. And then the sword explodes... Angantyr jolts back awake...kneeling in the sand. He rubs his head...the place...restored slightly, but still just a shadow of its former self... And another choice that needs to be made...so little time, so much to do huh? He sighs...what was that...what was this? He looks for the mysterious figure...but there was nothing, only him. Closing his eyes, he chooses again...and goes for the one held by the cracked statue. The Dividing Line.

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The ground around his feet cracks and splits apart with a sound like splintering glass. It is a short fall to the next mirage or vision or nightmare. A short fall through dusty air that parches the lungs and reddish black stone carved by the touch of light and darkness both. The tower is what sets the perspective to this image as part of the same place as the one that came before. The landscape is broken up into small areas of frozen time. The battlefield has been chopped up into these artfully displayed dioramas and filled with empty suits of armor bearing ancient and rusted blades. In between these places are corridors of dark glass that extend out into the distance. In fact, the entire battlefield, seen from a sufficient height would paint out a stained glass window much like how this dream began. Each island tells a silent story of loss and struggle. Victory and defeat. If Angantyr picked up the white gold fragment, it hums and rattles faintly in hand as if resonating with these stories. It whispers and each suit of armor, each heart that sleeps within these frozen statues wishes for something. And those wishes are made audible and fall on the parched earth like rain. General patterns can be made out of the endless multitude. This is not just one time. One place. The tower and the moon is a constant as much as the clock was before. They are changeless. Enduring. Every other scene.. comes from an endless stream of variations. Clothes and attitudes and armor change, but the reasons stay the same. There are just as much cry for vengeance as cry for salvation. Just as many big dreamers whose whims would save the world from itself or conquer it. Just as many who reach for the impossible. For the return of those lost to darkness. For the salvation of a town or a city or a nation. For the very resurrection of the dead. And the moon overhead and the tower is the line drawn in the sand pitting all these hearts against each other. Other forces can be felt in the background as well. Agents and seeds of Chaos planted here and there in the silent panoply. Sometimes innocuous and sometimes overwhelming and ominous. All profiting from the bloodshed, no matter which side 'won' -- prolonging and escalating the conflict. Pursuing their ends while the world burns. The hooded man is regarding a trio of warriors in armor, an unarmored man holding one of their number by the head. Holding them off the ground as a stab of ice races across their armor. He walks his away around the small island unhurriedly. "Events do not stop simply because their reasons are forgotten. The sorcerers meant to hide it. To bury the worlds in forgetfulness and rewrite the story to their liking. But that is not how the universe functions. This story.." he gestures to the picture before him and then around them. "And every story begins the same way. And it will end the same.. without due caution and preparation."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr walks through the graveyard of keys and armor. Is this the resting place of the warriors fighting over that moon? Not just one place and time, but many...uncountable...warriors of light and darkness clashing here for one thing. Things in the background manipulating the world to their goals and aims...and the world burns. Angantyr sighs...he too was a puppet in the show, he feared...try as he might to tear the strings from him. He wondered, how to act, without dancing to their tune. But all too often this is what they counted on...and planned for. Every weapon had a story...and here he found one in particular. The trio fighting the unarmed man, as he froze one of their numbers in ice. He watches, what did this mean? But the mysterious figure again. So the worlds were not once separated? Is this what you are saying? He asks, curious. Then that means...it would make sense, many worlds have common elements to them.. Well, to be fair...to ask people to act strictly on logic all the time is impossible...we are beings of emotion...sometimes we succumb to them...our greatest weakness and strength rolled into one, no? He asks, shaking his head. What is their tale? he asks, motioning towards the trio, Where does their story fall in this...graveyard? Who is the man they fight? And is...at the end of the day, important to the grand scheme? To them, yes...I dont doubt that.

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' "There is an adage concerning all worlds being connected under a single sky. I find the reverse a matter of history, for under the light of Kingdom Hearts all things are possible. Even worlds spun from nothing but a story and a wish and a child's faith in home." The hooded figure chuckles softly. "As for these three? Knights who chose the freedom of others over their own. Who sacrificed everything and lost. Lost their crusade against a former teacher. Lost their home and eventually, lost themselves to darkness and oblivion. The man, Xehanort, is a wielder of great darkness whose recklessness in time spelled his own downfall." The hooded man shrugs and says frankly and without rancor. "A man lashed to the wheel of advancing time perhaps has a necessary drive to see his work completed within his lifetime. With all the consequences entailed to that." The white gold shimmers, the shard bending into an unbroken circle as the endless panoply of stories fade back to the ruins that are no longer ruins. It is Angantyr and the hooded Seeker who are the shadows here, for they stand in the midst of a lively and unblemished square. No hint of fire and no mark of war has been laid on these grounds and people move in and out of buildings and along streets about their business. The sounds of life chatter at a low ebb around the hooded man and Angantyr, who stands on a small circle of destruction with the hooded figure in the dappled sunlight beyond. The Clock is still present in a ghostly background way, reading 'XI' with only a single sickly violet fire in evidence. The Seeker continues. "Their tale of tragedy and failure is one of very many, with more still to come if the grinding wheel that hews these lives to mulch is not halted. The force of Chaos not stymied as they dig claws into the fabric of years. This-- is why I have come to you for aid. For is it not said that no man is unconnected to any other? " he chuckles very dryly, cultured voice calm and straight forwards. "You have been shown the consequences of an ancient past. A past that will no doubt repeat itself in time, rendering new graveyard worlds whose shattered swords meet the horizon. And no doubt your teacher would only laugh. But will you?"

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr listens. A sad tale...a slightly familiar one too. History does repeat, given enough time. So the worlds did used to be connected more firmly. Or at least...not as they were now. But as hole worlds, separate but connected? or all connected and not separate? It seems unimportant now...but still...this isnt new after all.. The city, around them restored...nothing is wrong, but he is but a shadow of this place. He isnt here, now, as always and before he was the darkness that haunted his home. A sad smile, as he turns back to the mysterious figure. Former teacher. He says, I no longer follow Garland, I broke free of my own will... though he wonders about that sometimes, or if its not a complicated plot. He, however, refused to accept it. So no, I will not laugh. I dont want this to happen...to my or any other world. Somehow, I dont think wed be talking if that was my desire.. he mutters, and turns to face the figure. But why me? I am not that special, just a man with bad bedfellows and a bad power. Why do you seek my aid?

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The Seeker chuckles and slowly circles around the area of destruction that Angantyr is still within. "The sorcerers believed they were clever." he begins, the bite of sarcasm slightly in his voice that sounds like Riku's again before remodulating into the ever shifting melange. " They would not choose and uplift aspirants as in the old traditions. In the traditions that led to the fate that youve seen. They feared intervention and betrayal. They feared darkness and thus chopped their arms away to spite their bleeding fingers. So they cast a wide and subtle net that would niggle and fish for those who were strong and stalwart. Those who were wise and compassionate. Those who were champions -- and eventually, to send dreams and visions to those chosen few. Chaos and darkness cannot intervene if they do not know whom to shatter." The seeker chuckles quietly. "Suffice it to say.. their methods were inevitably flawed. So I come bearing not a smile and strings for you to dance to, but knowledge and sincerity. I do not require heroes, Sir Vespar. I do not slap a label on you in secret that I expect you to live up to." he extends a hand, offering to pull Angantyr across the borders of ruin into the sunlight and life of the perfectly preserved memory around him. "I seek only aid, no matter the source it comes from."

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr listens...the Sorcerers again, this man has little love for them... Then again, he cant blame him, if what he says it true. Angantyr listens, but there was a lot here... So Darkness seeks people too...but why? Why does Chaos want people...is it because of that moon? He taps his fingers against his armor, the destruction he sits in...a place hes always been. Did it have to be though? He was starting to think there might be a better way, a different way. Avira and Maira...they had faith in him that he could. So this man, this man who has no reason to trust him asks him for aid. He could rebuff him...but.. The thought of a home to protect again... He takes the mans arm, willingly taking it to be helped out of the darkness and destruction. Well, then youll have it. Just dont cry to me when its not sunshine and rainbows.

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' There is a bark of bemused laughter. "I will keep that in mind." The seeker says wryly, gripping Angantyr's arm and pulling him across the circle of ruin into the surroundings. There is a feeling of pressure, of passing some invisible barrier. And the people stop and look, and there is a moment of recognition as if he only now became truly real to them. Real and fully present to this preserved memory. "Very well. When you are ready... seek me.. here." There is a picture, an image, a flash of rolling green hills and a white expanse of castle in the middle of that green. Castle Oblivion to those who know it's name. A forgotten place of memory to those who do not. "And we shall begin.." The Clock hands move to 'XII'. There are twelve strikes of a titanic gong and with every strike the world contracts a little. Not vanishing into darkness or being consumed, but rather being folded away like a treasured keepsake. Folded and folded until peaceful dark shore and village meet and intertwine before finally falling away to the stained glass cylinder in which this all started. The light dims, as if passing swiftly from noontime sunshine towards sleepy dusk and into evening as the light quality fades to nothing.. and as it does, the hooded figure and the stained glass finally vanish. Let the pieces fall where they lay. Destiny or distortion. Dream or prophecy or nightmare. All things in their places, and at their own times. And with the final rays of light dying away.. the dream ends. In hand is still the smooth white gold circle, about the size of a hand, like something broken away from a pauldron or very close to it. A keepsake of a strange dream.

:'''[[Angantyr]] has posed:''' Angantyr smirks, and is drawn into the light. He remembers this place...this time... The place is not as familiar, but he knows OF it...he has seen the place from a distance, but never went to it. Should he ever realize just how the memories he saw today, and that place were, hed laugh long and loud...but today, he just gets to be confused. This place? Cas- And then the world folds back up. Memories being put back where they belongs...despite the pain and sorrow, the possibility for renewal and restoration came. Things started to return, before he was on the stained glass again...but what... Then things turn back to normal, waking up in a familiar place. In his hand...the smooth white gold circle is left in his hand. He blinks, confused, looking at the item. ...Okay, seriously, what did I eat to get this kind of dream.. he muses, shaking his head. Castle Oblivion.. he mutters, What is this all about..?

Fragmentary Passage: Mercade

2013-06-17T08:36:28Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/06/16 |Location=??? Destati |Synopsis=Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices. |Cast ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/16
|Location=??? Destati
|Synopsis=Let the pieces fall where they may. A dream twisted out of shape provides answers.. and choices.
|Cast of Characters=Mysterious Voice, Mercade Alexander
|Tinyplot=Fragmentary Passage
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' It's a pretty terrible sneeze. It can be felt coming for almost an hour one way or another, one of those prickling and unpleasant sensations like one is GOING to sneeze but not actually managing it. It niggles and pokes at the edges of perception like an itch that just can't be scratched, an itch that spreads to ears and underneath the scalp and is more or less completely intractable. And whatever happened, if Mercade had been trying to sleep or lost in daydreams or doing something to take his mind off things, the actual sneeze comes without warning and it brings unconsciousness with it like a sandbag. There is none of the gentle floating downwards through a dark ocean but rather a plummet as if gravity had reversed and he was now falling upwards into the sky which was full of falling stars much like Giza Plains. The endless winking ceiling of sky he was falling up into until there is a perspective shifting SPLASH. The sky becomes the 'floor' while the ground he had left so far behind is shrouded in fog. A ceiling of stormclouds and dark mists with the 'sky' an ankle deep pool through which patches of Stained Glass can be seen. But the water is murky and indistinct. ..So.. a taking of stock. Stained Glass floor beneath. Darkness presses close, an almost impenetrable cylinder with a ceiling of dark clouds overhead. A voice murmurs from the darkness. It is undoubtably that of Avira, though her voice is so faint. As if calling from far away. "So much has been done....the road ahead..."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Sometimes Mercade likes to take a nap, is that so much to ask? The Detective, however, finds himself on a bit of a journey once more, however. He hits the watery ceiling, looking upwards and downwards (or is that downwards and upwards? Does it really matter at this point?) He slowly readjusts his perceptions, wobbling on his feet. "This... This is different." Mercade says to himself quietly. He checks his surroundings once more, wondering... What he could possibly be seeing next. It didn't matter if this was a dream or not. It felt real enough. Perhaps more real than some things in his own life. "Avira!" Mercade calls. "Where are you?"

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' He can hear her, but the words are so distant as to be completely muffled except for the intonation. The general feeling of her voice, the way it fell into the empty silence of the surroundings. The ground trembles and there is a CRACK like splintering glass, not beneath his feet but above him and a shining crack opens in the cylinder of darkness. Moving around a bit there is a turn of perspective. A shifting as if something was reorienting itself underneath his feet and so stained glass flows upwards from the darkness below and flows upwards in a lazy spiral towards that imperfection. Avira's voice again. "..sleeps within..you.." And there is a sense that these words have been said before, have been distantly heard before.. but now it seems like a distortion lay over everything, twisting the recollection slightly out of shape. And at the top of the spiral lay Dark Manhattan. Only .. shapes protrude from the empty, hollowed out streets. A rain of hundreds, thousands... hundreds of thousands of blades protrude from every inch of the broken city like the quills of a porcupine. Ancient blades embedded in the cracked concrete. Some of them proud. Some of them simple. SOme of them intricate... all of them dull and lifeless and broken. The only light is a twisted streetlamp straight above the crack, which is in the side of a building near the TDA building in Southern Manhatten. Or.. what was Manhattan. A voice. Having NOTHING to do with Avira. A nameless vaguely male voice at Mercade's elbow says frankly. "Where do you think this path leads?" There is a pause, and the voice continues, illuminating a titanic anomaly of the landscape already twisted and gone awry. A luminous Clock stands in the middle of it all. Violet Fire illuminates the place where numbers are. Something flashes across the lit face as it begins to rain. A hooded figure in a dark cloak. "Where this place has always led. Wonder.. and Ruin."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Andthen everything changes. On a logical level, Mercade can draw the parallels and process the similarities between his previous dream and this one. The problem is that logic has flown right out the window in a hail of OH GOD WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE. Mercade reacts reflexively as everything breaks and the land reforms around him. He crouches low, seeking a better center of balance, his body tense and on alert to be attacked. As the spiral forms, Mercade looks upwards, his eyes following the glittering path. His feet follow. He walks. He doesn't know how long he walks. Time seems to be sort of an abstract in this place. All that matters is he moves and makes a decision. A decision to move forward. He turns, watching the gleaming dark majesty of the fallen Manhattan. And the world turns. The crumbling buildings, decrepit and hollow, fingers jutting into the sky in a testament of hubris and fallen light. A turn. The ruined streets, where only the wind travels now, not even the litter of habitation to give it the appearance of life. A turn. Finally, Mercade crests the spiral, standing to look down the path before him. The innumerable blades catch his eye, and he glances to them with a faint frown. He's missing something here, but what? The single pool of light in the darkness draws his gaze inevitably, his eyes tracing the cracked and crumbling insignia upon the building. Emotions flood through him once more, thought banked and dead. He grimaces, but then with an effort, he takes hold of them and holds them back. His expression smooths out, though his eyes show what lies inside. He steps forward, stepping into the pool of light. He hears the Voice, and he turns, suddenly, beholding the massive clock in all of its terrible splendor. The strange, mysterious figure before it causes his eyes to narrow for a moment. "Who are you," Mercade asks, "To speak of wonder and ruin?"

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The voice chuckles very softly. "One who speaks with the power to end the endless." In the rain, the hooded figure walks slowly and with measured purpose towards Mercade. Cracks mend. Rust flees from their step and the street heaves and shifts underneath their boots as they approach the circle of light. They stand slightly outside it, a path of change cutting an obvious furrow in the harrowing chaos of the empty city. The hooded figure gestures and another streetlight turns on, twisting to provide a corridor of overlapping illumination to the steps. To the actual building and inside the TDA Offices. The hooded figure bows slightly and gestures to the doors. "But I find, unlike some, that the answers you provide yourself are more likely to be taken seriously than the answers given freely." The hooded figure loosely clasps their hands behind them and shrugs. The luminous clock begins to move ponderously. A pressure wave ripples through the city as the giant metal hands move forwards to 'I' -- "After all." the voice intones, with a faint familiarity. "Everyone has an agenda." The voice chuckles very softly and disappears as if they were made out of smoke.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' To end the endless. That has a lot of meanings, and this is no Stairway to Heaven. Mercade, with a lack of information to make a decision, watches and waits as the man apperoaches. The area repearing itself around him causes him to blink. Interesting effect, that. He tilts his head at the man, considering his words. A hand reaches up to adjust the brim of his hat. He still can't tell who or what this guy is... And when the clock hits, he feels the pressure wave coming. Mercade braces himself, and is staggered, knocked aside into the wall as it roars past. He looks up, shocked at the clock, as he blinks. Doomsday Clock. Mercade grimaces at the thought, and he looks over at the man moments before he dissipates. With a lack of any better options, Mercade looks towards the next pool of light, and moves from light to light, entering the ruined TDA building. "What makes the measure of a man." Mercade mutters to himself.

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' Inside there is another feeling of pressure but much milder this time as he steps in. There is the faint sound of the door (which had been lying on the steps) closing behind him and a faint click. A look behind reveals the door completely whole and standing, looking out onto that grim nightmare Manhattan . The Clock, though it SHOULD be obscured by the corner of the building, can be seen in the distance here with it's Violet Fire still on 'I' The inside of the office is pristine, cast in a vague and otherworldly illumination. Everything is in the places it should be. There are a number of colorful sticki-notes on objects around and about the office. On the Phone. On the Refrigerator and the Sink. On bookshelves and desk and table lamp. And if any of them are read, they are in Mercade's handwriting. There is a faint feeling of distortion around each one of these objects which warps the prisine office very slightly. As if touching them would disrupt some surface tension keeping these faint bubbles of dream reality in abeyance. There is one at eye level on the wall near the door. It reads. "There is never time for everything." And these are the ones that can be chosen. Victory -- A yellow stickinote on a bookshelf. Endless -- A blue stickinote stuck on the phone. Zero point -- An orange stickinote stuck on a window. Utter Silence -- A green stickinote on the fridge. Wayfinder -- A stickinote in pink on the counter. Tower of Voices -- A stickinote on a lamp. Dark Margin -- A white stickinote left on the desk.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade steps forward into the area, and he looks over the ruined office. There is a frown on his face as he considers the area. The dangers here... Are not the usual ones. Mercade's gaze goes to the Clock in the distance, and then back to the sticky notes that brightly point themselves out. He looks over them,, his hand moving close to one, but he stops as he feels the... tension... around each of them. He's being asked to make a decision. He looks over the notes, considering what each might mean in turn. These decisions are not the same as the last dreams. These are more complex. Harder. This is a test of some kind. A test without knowledge of the rules or what everything means. IT has a purity all of its own. You can't cheat on a test if you don't know what it's about. Mercade looks over them all one more time, and then he turns, reaching out and choosing to touch the pink sticky note on the counter. "Never time for everything, but time enough to do what needs to be done."

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The sound of the ocean. Water laps over his shoes from a tide coming in from behind him. There is a pressure.. then the smell of water. The feeling of baking sun on skin. The warm and moist winds blowing through the kitchen. A woman's voice, tinny and indistinct like hearing their voice through a seashell. "Somewhere out there." The smile can almost be heard in the voice. The hope. And-- behind that.. doubt. Worry. All so carefully wrapped away. "--there's this tree with star-shaped fruit. And the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. As long as you carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You will always find your way back to each other. An unbreakable connection." Golden sand. A distant and dusky shore comes in for a moment-- and then goes out like the tide. The apartment returns but there is something in his hand. There is an eerie feeling as if the unseen voice had turned their attention away from their audience. As much as could be felt, it was as if the voice was now turned towards him. "None of us stand alone. Remember that." It's a five pointed star. It's pieced together carefully, constructed well even if it looks flimsy. It's a paper star made from stickynote paper but oddly shining at the same time. Holding it brings to mind the connections made and lost. The paths that have lead to this day and this hour.. and the choices, good or bad, that make up those connections. The stickinote on the counter has disappeared and all trace and sensory information of that distant beach has gone with it. There is another pressure wave that disrupts everything in the office and a horrible chime. Four notes. The Clock, when it can be seen from any window now reads 'IV' and the hooded figure is leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "It's true." they say. And the voice is discernably Riku's although.. perhaps in the same way Avira's voice in this dreamspace is not really Avira. It has an odd echoing overlap quality to it. "..We all stand together in this. We all make choices, and then live with them. What will you choose, I wonder?" --and again, they fade out of sight like a plume of smoke.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Illusions? Or just another reality? Mercade has a hard time figuring that out in these distressingly more common situations. He holds up his hand, looking down at the object in his hand. The... odd charm in his hand. He blinks to himself, a trickle of understanding running through his mind. The stickynotes were... Hmm. None of them stand alone. That's something that Mercade had had beaten into him the hard way over the last months. With the destruction and restoration of Manhattan, the travails of Avira... It's something he can't forget. With a quick motion, he tucks the starry object into his coat... Moments before he is knocked onto his back from another unexpected pressure wave. He grunts, getting back to his feet, and looks over at the Clock. Four? Already? Time passes quickly.... Or is it not at all? It's kind of arbitrary. The voice causes Mercade to turn. Riku's? Or not? Something is off here, but again, he can't put his finger on it. He frowns, about to respond... but no words come. Instead, he looks over the remaining sticky notes. Four left. He chooses one, it vanishes. Something changes. He's not sure what, but it's clear: He can't choose them all. That was laid out from the beginning. There isn't enough time. But Mercade is getting more of an idea of what is going on here. Test and response. If the metaphor follows, than he's getting a better idea of what the notes are and what they mean. Mercade moves next towards the window, reaching out for the Zero Point sticky note.

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' Darkness. It surges up and around and blots out the office in the span of seconds. There is a sensation of falling, as if the floor had been pulled out from under his feet. The sound of the ocean. And an otherworldly illumination. A silvery sphere lays like a sun in the distance, casting a pale light on the beach and the waters and the strange, arching protrusions that form a partial cage over the starless sky. There is a door and it is set ever so slightly ajar as it lay in the surf. A faint light leaks around the edges of this dark door that has been scratched by many claws as if something-- or many somethings, had strained to escape. Save for that sign of violence, there is almost a measure of peace here. The air is a thrumming silence. A silence so complete save for the movement of the dark waters that thought seems difficult to accomplish and willpower seems to pale and fade like a sand castle being worn away by the sea. There are footprints along this dark shore being slowly worn away. And it is difficult for a few moments to distuinguish them as his own tracks. They walk along the shoreline and into the distance where a blue haired woman sits upon a dark rock looking out at the ocean. She looks in his direction and smiles. She gestures for him to join her and sits with her hands in her lap, feet swinging and bumping against the stone. "I do not remember who I am or whence I came." she says, and the woman's voice is that of the one from the seashell. "But I am glad for the company."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Togetherness. Unity. Light. And then... Darkness. There is nothingness around him for a long moment, before he once again registers he is standing upon the beach. He looks up. into the black night sky. The moon... Moonlike object? He can't quite describe what it really is accurately. The door causes him to pause. Something is about that door... That damaged door, but no sign of those who caused it. Even so, the peace here... He can feel it. The calmness. Not everything in the darkness is threatening and evil. The Detective turns from the door, looking from the surf to the distance, where the woman sits. Mercade approaches, walking through the surf to sit next to the woman. "I admit, if you're going to be lost somewhere, I can think of worse places." Mercade says with a smile. "Has it been so long since you've seen someone else?"

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The woman looks out at the ocean and then over back at him. "I know I've been here a long time. And.." she looks at him and squints a little as if trying to see past or inside him, looking into his eyes as if searching for something. "And there have been others. From time to time." she looks out at the silvery sphere, then at the crystalline darkness. "..in this place where it begins, and where it ends." she looks down at her hands. There is a five pointed star made of stained glass. It is pale with the very tips being blue. It is cracked into three separate pieces that she holds carefully in her hands. "And we're all waiting.. All of us who come here are waiting for something. Wishing for something. I just wish.. I remembered who I've been waiting for." she smiles with a painful sadness. "We promised to stay together but.. They got... lost.. somewhere. But I have hope. Sometimes. That's all you have left."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade is quiet as he is examined. He has no ideas what this strange woman might see or not see within or without him. But she doesn't appear to be dangerous... She appears to be lost, much like he is at the moment. "This place where it begins and ends..." Mercade looks out over the ocean. "What is this place?" He asks. He glances down at the crystal star, and he pulls the one of paper out of his coat, looking down at it. "Hope is important." Mercade says. "I don't think I'm the one who you're waiting for, but you'll find them." He looks out again over the ocean, holing up the paper star a bit against the night sky. "Or they'll find you. If this is the place where everything begins and ends... They'll have to be here eventually."

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' As he brings up the paper star and the silvery light shines through, it bleaches and becomes a smooth white piece of glass. The five edges are no longer origami folded paper but smooth stained glass like a piece of a larger picture. Translucent and almost shimmering. In the center is a strange design. "They will be." the woman's voice murmurs, again seeming tinny and indistinct. "I just have to believe." The darkness recedes and the office returns. The hooded figure is sitting on the counter in the same way the woman was sitting on the rock overlooking the ocean. The Clock reads VIII and is preceded by eight chimes and another pressure wave even more fierce than the ones that came before. Large cracks run up and down the surface of the walls and crack the windows. "An image." The voice says in the echoing voice of Riku. "Preserved in memory. A knight trapped in amber, forever hoping for a rescue that may never come. Will you share her fate? The fate of her friends? They made choices as well. They chose freedom for countless others, and left none for themselves." The voice tsks. "Choose wisely." Something flashes across the window. The hooded shape flashes out of focus in that instant. It is a phantom shape, a hooded cloak and a feeling of lashing menace. The rain hammers against the cracked glass, a constant low rumble now in the silence.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade blinks at the transformation of the paper star. Before he can really look at it, though, the woman's response causes him to look over to her. Something in him responds, wanting to help her somehow... But he can't help her. Not like this, not right now. All he can do is help her to continue to believe in them. Whoever she is waiting for are lucky bastards, Mercade reflects. He looks back, the office resolving. Mercade's face darkens for a moment as he sees the hooded person. Are they toying with him? What are they trying to do? Is... He pauses, once more arresting the anger and forcing his thoughts towards more productive channels. It doesn't help to get angry about this right now. There's too much he doesn't understand. Another chime. This time, Mercade dives for cover, letting it roar into the building. There is another shake, some plaster falling on him. He grimaces as he stands up, looking at the man. Man? Can it even be Riku? How much can he depend on here? "Does it really matter? No matter whether we choose well or poorly, in the end we have to choose. The worst thing you can do is not choose at all." Mercade's eyes flick towards the window, and in that instant the figure is gone. "Whoever this is, they're good." Mercade mumbles to himself. He looks back out towards that terrible clock, the VIII in the distance. If he guesses correctly, he has one more choice, maybe two at most. And he has no idea what his choices mean or what they might be affecting. He looks down at the glassy charm in his hand, and he runs a thumb over it, testing it for a moment before he is left to choose between the remaining four... No, five. There are five left. And he has to pick another. His guess on what the notes represented was wrong. He is once more back to square one. Or, perhaps... Square two? Regardless, he is still constrained by the scenario set out before him. Or is he? He looks out the window. There is always another choice... He shakes his head and looks back down. His hand reaches towards Victory... And then it stops. Mercade turns away, and looks across at the lamp, instead changing his mind. The Tower of Voices. That will be the third choice.

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The world is white. It is so stark and blindingly so that is almost painful to see. A white room. There are a number of what can only be called thrones winding up the sides of a spiraling staircase. Each of them is absent but there is a feeling, a sense of dark and terrible presence in each of these empty seats of differing heights. The stairs continue to spiral upwards. Sometime it will twist and the perspective will shift and what had become the top of the stairs is now the bottom of the stairs. It starts very subtly. The dark presence increases as each empty throne is passed. It feels like passing through a series of barriers and with each barrier, the voices get louder. People crying out. There is a hopeless desperation to their cries. A need, crushing and immediate, for someone-- ANYONE to answer them. The sounds of the lost. The sounds of fire, and war and darkness. The sounds of looters and lost hope. At the very top of the stairs is the last and louder barrier. Beyond it is a small and blindingly sparce white room with a single last throne. It is utterly silent, a ringing silence where an echoing nothing sits-- an ABSENCE so great that it nearly draws the silohuette of that dark presence in the air as a shimming place of void. Perspective shifts and it's a sword in the stone. A crackling, shimmering something jutting from the throne like power incarnate. Power enough to calm and quell the voices. Power enough to defeat all evils and repel all foes. Power enough to do.. anything.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' White. Endless white. The unending, cold sameness of the white almost sears Mercade's eyes. He blinks, squinting as his vision adjusts to the area, and he looks up the stairwell. There is no other choice. Mercade steps onto the stairwell, walking up the steps. He passes each throne, feeling the presence, the /weight/ upon him. He begins to hear the voices. For someone like Mercade, someone who has a desperate need to help people, the sound is almost intolerable. He wants to help them, he /needs/ to help. But how? His expression grows more haunted as he passes each one. He reaches the top, and he passes through the final barrier, the voices shrieking in his ears... And once through, he almost collapses against the contrast of the deafening silence. He looks up, looking at that nothingness... And the power draws him forward. He steps towards the throne, looking at the undefinable power. He could use it to save them. He draws closer. He will bring justice. He reaches out towards it. And he can be the hero. Sudden pain erupts from Mercade's other hand, and he draws back, jerking as if burned. He shakes his head as if coming out of a trance, and he looks down at the hand, where he was holding the glass charm... And where he gripped it so tightly that it cut into his hand. Mercade blinks at this. No one can stand alone. If he had that kind of power, what would happen to his friends? The people he cared about? What would he do to them with his presence? The Detective turns away, shaking his head. "No. This is wrong." He says, shattering the silence with his own voice. "No one needs this much power."

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' Whether or not that is true, the glass charm banishes this vision too. It flares with a light of it's own and the office has returned. Only.. there is no more TDA Office, or at least not much left to speak of. The entire building has been cracked open, ceiling shorn away and rain falling into the ragged space left behind. Pieces of wall jut up from the tenuous remains of the floor, most of the furniture having fallen away into a dark and swirling fog underneath. The entire city of Dark Manhattan seems to have shattered and being rearranged, massive chunks floating over the endless abyss. They flow together and heal as the hooded figure climbs down from a fire escape, asphalt and concrete reforming together. Another light has cast JUST enough light for Mercade to stand in, jutting strangly from the remains of the office. A table lamp with the shade knocked off sitting on a desk. A streetlamp protruding from a broken wall and curling over like a potted plant. They stop again on the boundary of that light, trash cans righting themselves, cars mending, everything becoming right again in the aura of this hooded figure's presence. The phantom shape is now fully illuminated by the Clock which hovers in the center of this chaotic Maelstrom. It's face and body are featureless and empty, a heart glowing somewhere within the empty cloak with a fierce intensity. The Clock and it's Violet Fire read XI. Eleven. One sickly violet flame remains still lit on the surface of the clock. "Many questions, yes. But also.. many more answers." the voice no longer sounds quite like Riku, but a more cultured.. more sophisticated voice, with a dry edge of humor. "Answers that I am happy to point you towards. Never to tell you outright, but for you to make your own decisions. Your own interpretations." They gesture idly to the surroundings. "Others tell you things. COMMAND that you believe. That you obey. That you submit. -- I find that crude and unneccessary and insulting." The hooded figure chuckles softly. "Heroes, after all.. deserve respect when they've earned it."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Time is almost up. Manhattan is shattering under the influence of the Doomsday Clock. Another vision? Or a premonition? Mercade can't tell anymore. He stands in the tiny pool of light, pitiful against the darkness and destruction that rampages around him. The Detective looks out over the abyss below them, and over to the strange reconstituting effect of the dark man, the one who has the power to command destruction to halt. He looks upon the dark man, a hollow shell in a black coat. A spectre of darkness that makes an offer at the eleventh hour. A man who is not a man, a man who seems to have no form of his own. Mercade does not move. Where would he go? All that exists on the edge of oblivion is what which is in the area of the man. "I haven't earned anything." Mercade says. "I couldn't be there to save my world, and I was just one of many who worked to restore it. Who or what are you, shadow?"

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' "A seeker of many things." The shadow says dryly. "Knowledge being one of them. Perhaps you have earned nothing. And perhaps you have. Respect at least is yours, and that is the foundation of many things. Words are powerful things. They can heal the suffering. Extuinguish delusions and false hopes. There are things even the sorcerers are afraid to say. They cower, afraid of the past while the present suffers and the future is uncertain." The empty cowl shakes from side to side. "They remained silent as your world fell. They scorned you and your efforts by their apathy. Let the nightmare end, Detective Alexander. It can be ended, and ended for all time. Their foolishness has set this cycle in motion. This cycle which has crushed hopes and bent dreams and trapped knights in amber. Step forwards, and we can save them all." The figure extends a hand towards Mercade from the threshold of darkness. He does not demand. It is not a command. It is an honest request.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' The man's words were compelling, Mercade could give him that much. He listens to the request of the man. He listens to the scorn heaped upon the sorcerors. Mercade remembers Mad Madame Mim, the tempremental Merlin. There were others, as well. How much suffering could have been negated if they shared their knowledge instead of being obstructive? There had to be another way. A better way. Mercade looks at that outstretched hand. "All right." He reaches out and takes the hand of the shadowy man. "Let's work together. Let's save these people."

:'''[[Mysterious Voice]] has posed:''' The light flickers and dims as the gloved hand pulls Mercade across the threshold, past the boundaries of the light. The streetlight goes out leaving only the light on the desk. The Clock overhead in the center of the maelstrom strikes XII. The last violet fire goes out and the pressure wave that SHOULD come and annilihate what remains of the dark city does not come. The clock goes silent, fading into the spreading fog that rolls across the buildings and the streets. There is a flash of lightning and the dark city is shrouded in gloom. The darkness that rolls over it is that of the dark shore. A memory eating silence. The peacefulness of unchanging eternity. The field contracts further until all is returned to that cylinder of darkness from which this all started. "Very well." The hooded figure says with calm certainty. "Then seek me... here." There is a picture, a image, a flash of rolling green hills and a white expanse of castle in the middle of that green. Castle Oblivion to those who know it's name. A forgotten place of memory to those who do not. "And we shall begin..." That last desk lamp goes out with a snap of the filiment breaking. Let the pieces fall where they lay.. Destiny or distortion. Dream or prophecy or nightmare. All things in their places, and at their own times. And with the snap of the filiment, it ends.. and the detective awakens. And in their hand still in the smooth glass of the white star, turned red at one corner by blood.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Mercade." "Hey, Mercade." "No, I'm seriously, you can't sleep down here." "-zzzzzwhahuh?" Mercade's eyes flick open, having almost passed out in the middle of a meal at the bar of the Cloud Nine. Bleary eyes look back and forth, as if registering the area for the first time, and focusing on the blue-eyed man working the bar tonight. "Ugh. I must have overworked." Mercade mumbles, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "I'll get you some bandages." "For what?" Mercade blinks, and then he realizes his hand hurts. He looks down, and he sees the white star in his hand, Mercade holding it up in sleep-fuzzed wonder as he considers it. A memory flashes back to his mind, and he snaps fully awake. Right. He's going to have to look for that strange castle.

Ducks Ate My Shoes

2013-06-17T05:41:53Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/06/16 |Location=Manhattan - Central Park |Synopsis=Will attempts to punch the Emo out of Riku. Sadly. It was not very effective. |Cast of Cha..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/16
|Location=Manhattan - Central Park
|Synopsis=Will attempts to punch the Emo out of Riku. Sadly. It was not very effective.
|Cast of Characters=Will Sherman, Riku
|pretty=Yes
}}
:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' Riku is feeding the ducks. He has a loaf of bread next to his hip as he sits on a park bench somewhere in Central Park. There is a small swarm of the ducks meandering around picking up the small bits and pieces he throws not too far from his feet by gloved hands. The teenager looks worn down, a dark pair of mirror shades over his eyes --- the wispy black tendrils of darkness. The gordion knot has become a tightly wound series of white tendrils merged with the wisky black so tightly that is almost indistuinguishable to make either out from the other. He sighs quietly, the duster over the back of his chair. It looks like he's been here for some time because the loaf is a little more than a third gone. He does not look like he's going to move anytime soon either. He looks out at the park scenery, at the nearby pond. He looks down at the ducks.. and he throws another rind of bread.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will falls out of the portal linking Central Park to the rest of the world. He sighs...man his life is complicated sometimes... Oh well. He puts his hands in his pockets...he hasn't fed the ducks in a while... and pulls his hat up, a piece of bread and heads to the... Holy <GOOSEHONK> what the <GOOSEHONK> is that tang- Oh hey it's Riku. Darn it Alma... "Hey." he says, tossing some bits to the ducks as he sits down, looking back at his friend who seems to have more on his plate than a Ryan's buffet. He tosses some more, "So...wana talk about it, or shall we sit here feeding the ducks in silence for a few hours and then talk about it?" He pauses, "Or sigh exasperaitedly at each other. Oooo ooooh! I could siiiiin-" Will is sure Riku would cut him off there.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' Riku snorts and shakes his head. "Hello Will. Thanks, but I think I'll pass on the singing. I don't want to start bleeding from the ears." he chuckles faintly, closing his eyes for a few moments and then throwing another rind to the ducks. "I just needed to get away from the city for a day or two. There's.. so little that I can really do. So many people." he shakes his head. "I.. felt if I stayed there one more second I was going to hurt someone. Possibly myself. So--" he gestures fervently at the surroundings. "So.. /ducks/." he gets out another slice. He smirks lopsidedly. "..so.. what trouble have you been poking around in?"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "The Glabados Church." Will says, with a frown, "This Ramza guy apparently isn't wrong about something being foul there...and something is trying to grab a hold of Faruja Like, something eldrich and a <GOOSEHONK>ish. But well, strings aren't something I can prove.." He shrugs... and that old priest... "I heard Alma did a thing." he mutters, looking Back at his friend... "And yeah...I know. Things will get better, I'm sure." They just might get worse first... "So.."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' Riku pfts. "Well aren't there just Eldritch Horrors coming out of the <GOOSEHONK>ing woodwork." he grumbles this to himself with his backteeth grit but rolls around one shoulder and settles back on the park bench and sighs. "Yeah. She did a thing." Riku shakes his head. "But she didn't know any better. She just wanted to help me. It just.. didn't quite work out that way." he throws a rind of bread. "She also is trying to find Destiny Island in the sky.. because.. she might be able to calculate where it fell.. somewhere." he snorts softly. "So. Alma. The bringer of Painful Hope and oblivious embarrassment."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "Who is crushing on you hard core." Will points out, finishing off his bread. "Man, at this rate you're gona become king of the pond." he muses, thinking outloud. "Yeah, I know? Freekin' Eldritch things. They need to go back to the darkness and leave us good innocent folk alone, right?" Will gives a grin and leans back, trying to relax. "Yeah, she explained what happened...my initial reaction was what you'd expect...just...oy." He shakes his head. "...So...you two have been spending a lot of time together." Oh god that look. /That/ look.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' You don't spent a lot of time with a confused immortal and not know THAT look. Riku raises one eyebrow and now /pointedly/ tears up a piece of bread and throws them at the ducks. He then turns and throws a piece at Will. "/Quack/" he pronounces dryly. He chuckles and settles back again. "Yeah. What of it?" he kind of has an idea where this is going, but it's so bizarre and almost normal that he'd rather take this embarrassment over the weird twists his life usually take. Or ye gods.. the accelerated training. That was kicking his ass more than a little.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will sits back crossing his arms.. "Don't take that tone with me, you're not king duck yet." "Welllll...I think she is totally crushing on you dude. You should totally do a date thing with her. Take her somewhere nice, see if anything happens. You know, something /normal/ for a change. I think you could both use it...with what the Dennou thing and the Arcades thing and the...everything else going on." "I'll avoid the soap box standing for now. I need to give it a rest...and I think Mercade is borrowing it."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' Riku nods but looks less than contrite. "Yeah... maybe." he says with a shrug of one shoulder. He looks distant for a few moments before shaking his head. "I mean.." he rubs the back of his neck. "I.." he shakes his head. "Alma. I don't even know what to do. I haven't even /HAD/ a chance to be normal in so long. She jumps all over the place. One minute we'll talk about movies and the next moment some point of philosophy or trauma that's so sharp edged that it's pretty much like handling barbed wire. She's.. not been treated lightly, from what I can gather. " he huffs out a breath. "I'll work something out. I always have before." Riku sighs. "Although.. I .. have no idea what I am going to do if people come after her. Especially.." he trails off and throws another crust. "You know it's pretty horrible when you have to factor in interruption by Eldritch Horror into plans like that."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "..." Will frowns... "Riku. That guy. The one with the light that frightens her?" He says, "Don't engage him. Don't mess with that...just grab her and run, okay? I think you running into him for any length of time is a bad idea...that guy..." even Will shudders, "He's wrong. So very wrong. It's like looking at reverse...that thing we saw in Oblivion. Though that thing was defintely stronger." Will shakes his head, "I can do what I can, but..oy...who is this guy and where did he come from?" Then normal stuff... "Ha. That sounds about right for Alma. I dunno...There is something more than meets the eye there, that's for sure...that or maybe try and lead conversations until she gets passed being nervous. That just might be it, you know...she jumps around because she's /nervous/...normal people get nervous and stuff man, you know with the whole 'Oh my god does he like me' kinda deal."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' Riku chuckles faintly although there is nothing of humor in the sound. "Ah yes. I thought you'd tell me to run too, Will." He clenches his hands and shudders in reaction to the indirect reference, reaching up to push his shades up and rubbing solid yellow eyes for a moment. He looks suddenly tired as he resettles them on his face. "Well. I did say I was going to warn you before I did anything stupid. So, consider yourself warned." he then laughs. "Yeah. Isn't that a trip. Well.. she shouldn't worry about things like that. She's got enough worries on her plate as it is." He pauses and then asks. "So.. what's Mercade doing with the soapbox these days?"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "I think he's using it to make one of the desks even." Will says, with a grin. He looks at the ducks and the pond and the...calm moment. "Reminds me of the good old days...you know, before we really knew what was at stake.." he says, "Quiet...peaceful." he continues. "We may never get the worlds back to what they were...but I think we can get peace back. We just have to hold on to hope and all...which means stopping to smell the flowers...meeting new friends, stuff like that." "Going on dates.." he says, with a sly look towards Riku.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' Riku looks out at the trees and the pond. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, slowly canting his vision down towards the milling ducks. "No." he says softly, crushing a piece of bread very slowly in his fist. "No. We can never get peace back." his voice drops into a cold monotone. "Because at any time. That peace may be taken away. At any time, Malificent or Garland or the other Shadow Lords may rain down death and pain on the worlds. That's not peace. That's learning to live in the shadow of fear." He snorts. "..and I refuse to have my friends do that. I refuse to do that."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "I said one day we will have to get peace back," Will says, "That means, after dealing with these threats..." Will continues, evenly. "I'm not going to put up with getting bullied, and neither should anyone else. But..I don't think we should live to fight either."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' "What else is there?" Riku counters. "I mean really, life is whatever I happen to be doing BEFORE it's interrupted again. After these threats. After Alberic. After Feige. " he throws a hand up in the air. "After whoever the HELL was really behind the assault on Archades. It will always be someone else. Something else. The heartless will come back. Someone has to make it stop. Someone has to be the one DEALING with the threats as they show up, and I don't know how that's NOT living to fight. Because living to fight means other people don't HAVE TO."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "I think there is an end...that end is the Shadow Lords, because I don't see anyone pulling the Strings of beings like Garland and Malificent. Sure there might always be heartless...they might just actually be a thing...BUT, you heard what Merlin said. We can seal the worlds and protect them from the Heartless...it goes to say that the heartless can be driven back and that peace can be won for people...for those like us who are willing to make sure normal people get to live normally." "Saying that it will never come...forgetting what we fight for...these are the same as loosing yourself." he leans back, "You don't get to blame yourself for Arcadies, Riku. You don't. You did everything you could, you did more, I bet, than you should. It isn't your fault, nor is it something you should shoulder yourself." "Live Riku. Live, enjoy life.." he says, "I don't say words because I love my own voice. And I don't feel like going into old man story mode..."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' "Then why isn't he doing THAT!?" Riku bolts up onto his feet and spins around to face Will. "Okay. Hey. We can do this. Or rather. SORA can. SORA who did nothing to earn it. Maybe it was because HE didn't go so far around the bend they came back around the other side. I saw it happen. I saw Manhattan return from that PLACE it was sent to." Riku kicks the bench. "I saw what it did to Avira. How much it cost her. But even THEN-- we should have had more victories by now. More worlds made safe and Sora is the only one I know of who can do that. Sit there, and tell me to live my life when I Do Not HAVE ONE. " he laughs in exasperated frustration. "What future is there for me if this keeps going out of control? I thought I could understand it. That I could live with it-- but the rules keep changing and I certainly don't want anyone if I just.. LOSE it someday." he throws the crushed pieces of bread to one side. "I certainly don't want to hand over the keys of the responsibility for the damn universe to a MORON. You can sit there and be patient and the voice of experience and I'll just got out of what I laughingly call my mind."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will stares at Riku, he listens, but he stares at him for a long time. "What do you expect him to do?" Will asks, "To wave his magic Keyblade wand and make things alright? That doesn't happen..." "No man is a mountain, Riku. Not Sora, not you...not me. We can't do this alone, so that is why we rely on each other to do it." "He could make those worlds safe...IF he finds the world hearts. Of every world. EVERY. Single. One. Nevermind the shards of fallen worlds...how many people are out there, displaced?" "My eyes can only see so much, Sorta can only swing that blade so many times, and you can only sass us and tell us how stupid we are so many times before your voice goes out." "We can't live our lives like that. You don't think I want to go out there and solve every problem? You don't think, right now, I want to hunt Feige down, like the /dog/ she is, and /revoke her ability to exist/?" The words have power, but Will...relaxes.. Will sighs...he finally just runs out of stuff to say.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' Riku has also run out of things to say. He stares at Will for a long time. A duck snaps at his foot mulishly for not being fed. (Riku may sass the universe, but he constantly sassed by ducks) and he looks down at the duck. His hands clench and then relax multiple times. "There has to be a way to end this." he says quietly and then turns away to start moving off. "ANd I don't think you are the only guy in line for that, Will. I think that line extends halfway around the next few blocks."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "All I know, right now...that woman holds a person that is like a little sister to me...someone who's already suffered enough. She put another being through suffering..." "But...yeah." He sighs, and sits back down. What else is there to say... "There is...the problem is finding it."

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' "Oh believe me." Riku says darkly as he leaves, teeth grit. "I'll think of /something/."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "Do me a favor? Less extreme, less person destroy-y." Will calls after Riku.

:'''[[Riku-bot]] has posed:''' Riku chuckles direly. "Oh come on, Will. You suck the FUN out of everything."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "Look, SOMEONE has to be responsi-oh god what am I saying?!" Will looks in horror.

Left For Bread

2013-06-13T10:22:17Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/06/13 |Location=Manhattan |Synopsis=BEWARE! I BAKE! |Cast of Characters=Mercade Alexander, Mad Madame Mim, Cirra Constantine, Myla Mason |pre..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/13
|Location=Manhattan
|Synopsis=BEWARE! I BAKE!
|Cast of Characters=Mercade Alexander, Mad Madame Mim, Cirra Constantine, Myla Mason
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' Dateline -- Southern Manhattan! Cooking School in Chaos! Beware. Here come the-- Muffins of Murder! --- A peaceful evening is rent asunder when a substitute teacher in a local community college turns the tables on earnest Sous-chefs to be when the food they are cooking turns and attempts to devour the cooks. Many a hefty splat is heard as muffins collide with several security guards, the students, and one extremely confused janitor who proves to be a deadly foe against the battered and gooey hordes. The numbers and the odds are low, and the group is forced into a general retreat by combat croissants and irate cinnamon rolls. The jaded emergency response personnel, though rattled by the additions of other worlds to their list (posted up on a handy wall) of situations to actually take seriously, do not see combat muffins on the list. (A momentary oversight) and their pleas for aid are tactfully avoided as burnt pastries, eyes aflame with vengeance for their scorching, roll and bounce around corners and down long corridors in pursuit of their fleeing quarry. Outside the community center all would be quiet until an explosion of custard cream, followed by the heady cackle of it's summoner inside the room would leak from one of the windows facing a rather grisly parking lot. Yellow cream drips down the sides of the walls as a gurgling roar escapes the window open to the summer heat. When the cooking school students reach the edge of safety, they find themselves locked into the school. So there is a pounding and yollering greatly muffled from the street as they pound on the doors and someone looks for an extuinguisher or perhaps a really sturdy chair.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' The call goes out: MUFINS ARE TERRORIZING MANHATTAN! And Will is nowhere to be found. Therefore, Mercade Alexander, leader of the Twilight Detective agency, rushes towards the scene of the crime! A window shatters, giving the people the chance to escape through it as Mercade Alexander /dramatically/ lands inside the building. "All right, I hear tell there a problem /dangerous amounts of pastry/ here." Mercade reaches meaningfully for his coat as he looks for the next offensive baked good.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason has been wandering the world in search of not answers but in search of material. Manhattan while a world that seems to have little to no magic. Still was a source of a lot of base materials for her planned project. At the very least they had some version of mognet here so she'd been grabbing local apps, enterainment material. Several local movies had proven wildy enteraing for her. Her style of dress had got some looks but hey that's fine at least untill something strange had happend as she was passing a community center when there's and explion of foody goodness. "What in the worlds is this?!" She looks over to Mercade and looks the PI over for a moment. "This seems to be the case...I think we better do soemthing about it." She'a also pretty darn hungry too...

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' Action> Escape through the window! The cooking students start to make their way back down to the ground level (hey. Cooking jackets are reasonable enough material to make a rope from? Right? Right?! AHH-- Duck that ECLAIR!) There is another gloopy roar from inside the community center and a swarm of burnt dinner rolls come around the corner, having made their way into the outside world by another route. Dinner Rolls the size of a man's head and scorched along the edges bounce and flake in a swarm of ten to fifteen. They'd almost look delicious if not for the flaming eyes above each of the warm, slightly spongy middles which open to reveal crusty jaws. The swarm rolls slowly to a stop as they come into range of the detective and the levitani. WARNING --- CRITICAL AMOUNTS oF PASTRY DETECTED. Wave 1: Vengeful Dinner Rolls!

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' The student book it. Just as well, what were they possibly going to say? Mercade turns, looking to Myla and shrugging at the chaos. "I have no idea, but one thing's for sure, if we don't deal with this there won't be any..." He pauses dramatically, "...Sweet ending." Fate thus tempted, Mercade dramatically flourishes at the arrival of the dinner rolls of DOOM, pulling his gun and leveling it at the bready batallion. They'll be no match for his leaden justice! Unfortunately, that's right when an eclair explodes, coating his front in sticky, curdled custard. The hammer comes down on the bullet with a harmless 'splorch'. Mercade looks down at the gun. And then back to the malevolent rolls. "Well, <goosehonk>." SMASH CUT to Mercade vaulting over a table as the rolls chase after him, the custerdy Mercade lunging for the nearest weapon available: a rolling pin and a day old baguette of French Bread. "BACK! BACK YOU MONSTERS!" Mercade cries as he jabs with the rolling pin, going Florentine with the bread in the other hand.

:'''[[Cirra Constantine]] has posed:''' A click and a whirr and Cirra constantine ascends, gracefully to the window on some sort of batgrapple line like contraption. She very carefully steps through the window and down to the floor. She is wearing a black pair of woman's pants and white blouse. Her right hand and arm is splinted however. "Mercade. You said it would be /pacefull/...those are dinner rolls." she says flatly. "Why are dinner rolls attempting to eat people?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "I'm inclined to blame someone making Magnusson cook." Mercade replies. A beat. "Or an evil wizard." Another beat. "My money's on Magnusson."

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason has this urge to pull her goggles down and go yeah but she manages to not give into such a base and silly urge. "All righy ou want some of this? It's bad for you that I'm hungry!" She's now sees the dinner rolls and attemps well? to grab one wait what the heck they have jaws. Also exploding pastries soon she's pretty much splattered.. She's now going for her gun but she realises it will get gummes ip so out comes the boot knife, darn it where's the butter?! And she lunches at them. "This is not a normal thing! I do not know this Magnusson but I have a feeling you are correct."

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' Mercade / Myla> You were covered by the ECLAIR! Beware. The Muffinswarm is trained on you! Fate thus getting out some popcorn and watching the festivities, another swarm trains on Mercade while the Dinner Rolls all turn their burning eyes in his direction at once. The smaller but much more populous swarm is harder to pick out in the evening gloom, only audible by the rustle of cupcake wrappers and a distinctive gooey grumbling. The beady red cherry eyes of creamy cupcakes, their glistening teeth more white than any frosting all stare with hungry ferocity at the detective. A dinner roll makes a play for the knees, crusted teeeth extended to bite and chomping down on the bread instead. It holds on tight, growling and gnawing on the french bread as it glares at Mercade. Several others roll forwards, bumping into his ankles and being battered away by the rolling pin, soft flaky undersides exposed as they lay twitching and flopping. Another rolls forwards the throws itself, Plan 9 in outer place style with a floating jerky string motion towards his chest. Another question to ask would be --why is there custard leaking out of the window? Because inside the community college, a tendril of yellow cream reaches out to try and snag the leg of Cirra Constantine. The muffinswarm attacks Myla in a cupcake wrapped group of gnawing teeth.

:'''[[Cirra Constantine]] has posed:''' "Magnusson." Cirra purses her lips. The swarms commence and Cirra kicks a muffin, and by kick I mean KICK the muffin down the hall. "This is grocery mistreatment of food." she frowns, so much frowningin. Then the tendril of custard snags her legs and pulls her over with a whumnp. "uhg!" she grunts and kicks at the tendril with her heel. "This is hardly my last stand. Let...Go!"

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason is splattered by the ECLAIR and the horde comes onwards. She looks left and right as the creature comes to eat what should be eating them. Myla moves quickly stomping on some of the creatures but she calls out. "Look the window it's got to be coming from in there!" She calls out well then comes muffins terrible horrible muffins gnawing at her. Some she'll swat others get the point of her knife which is proving wildy ineffective but she's now heading for hte window even as she's threaten to have her bread baked by the swarm! If she can some how reach it she's going to try to force the window open!

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "You must be new around here!" Mercade calls to Myla. He shakes the baguette, trying to keep them from consuming it. "They're cannibal breads!?!" He yells before he asides, "Welcome to Manhattan! Enjoy your stay!" This is about when a dinner roll spins towards his chest, making the Million Dollar Man sound as it hits him and knocks him over! The rolls, sensing a moment of weakness, swarm for him... But he brings up a baking sheet, barely catching them before they gnaw on his tender fleshmeats. "This is such a reversal." Mercade grouses... And then he turns, batting one roll back before flinging it at the custard like a Frisbee! "Cirra! Don't get wrapped up! We knead to keep moving or we're going to be in trouble!" Mercade scrambles forwards, trying to stay ahead of the doom pastries as he grabs for Myla and Cirra and dragging them along. "The source of this has to be somewhere! If we keep fighting like this we're going to get run down!"

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' Cirra> SWARM KICK -- 4 AP HEEL STOMP -- 6 AP PRICE of seeing evil pastry splatter against down a wall from the sheer force of pun-propelled kickass? PRICELESS. The tendril smears all over her legs but a wisecrack propelled baking sheet severs it as it makes another attack lunge. Myla> FORCE WINDOW Interrupted! The swarms of dinner rolls and Dire Muffins chase after the stalwart adventurers (There may even be Yakkity Sax playing in the background) and a brisk enforced stroll around the grounds reveals the most obvious culprit. Custard is starting to leak slowly from a window in the second floor where it struggles through the smaller cracks. There are several windows to either side that are sugarfree and likely to entry points close enough to the source of the confectionary peril to be treacherous, but not far enough away to be immediately hounded by any roaming pastries still within the building.

:'''[[Cirra Constantine]] has posed:''' Cirra's leg is freed and she's pulled along by Mercade, "Bad arm! Bad arm!" She grabs hod with her good hand and pulls herself up using Mercade as ladder. "Up there!" She point to the second story window. THen picks up pair of tongs to graps a dinner roll that was barreling for Mayla's head. "Do not truffle with me, pastry!" and throws it against t ewall.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Ooops! Sorry!" Mercade yells, cursing to himself to be more attentive to Cirra's broken arm. He backs ups against the all, hunching over to let Cirra and Myla use him as a platform to get up to the second floor window as he grabs for a spatula to try to fend off the endless horde of deliciousness. "God, where's Will when you /need/ him?" Mercade sighs. "He'd have this solved in minutes!"

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason says "I see it! Let's go! We are going to get pasted if we just keep mixing it up down here. I don't know about you but I have no intent ot roll over." Cirra to the escue as well. She gives up on the knife for now returning it to her boot as she spys something with more reach a wisk and spatcula which she snags and starts trying to fend the treats off! "You know this almost makes me want to give up food like this!" "Hey lets go for the windows on the side we should be able to get in there. "Sleeping I'll bet!" She's heard of Will apprently and she's now taking the wisk;'s handles in her teeth why? She's gong to need at least one hand free to abuve the terrain to bound up to the window. She manges to get a perch on some of the lower terrain and out comes a grappling dvice and away she goes up the side of the building to one of the non infested windows!

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' It flattens across the wall and truffles you no more. Meanwhile, rollin' along are the dinner roll swarm, blazing eyes scorching the ground as they ramble and skitter across the turf with a sound like crackling paper. The whispery hush of the muffinswarm continues afterwards, splattering themselves across the wall and grounds when failed lunges plunge them to their chocolately doom. <MINIMAP: Community College, 2nd floor. Classroom 1401> Orange. Orange is the color of the plastic chairs and the wallpaper and the carpet. It's a slightly nauseous orange, worn down by the shuffling feet of the masses. Myla crashes into the empty room with aplomb and from any of the rooms nearest to the custard smear, there can be heard a faint singing. A lovely woman's voice is crooning something sweet and sincere, but the lyrics can't actually be made out from this distance. There is no immediate sign of the crusted hoards,l who even battered, knifed or whisked, continue to throw themselves against the walls and roam around in small discontent packs looking for easier prey. The classrooms are all set up the same way, with a green door at one end, a whiteboard (with or without scribbles) the orange plastic desk/chairs and a clock proclaiming the hour in dull digital red.

:'''[[Cirra Constantine]] has posed:''' "In a box." Cirra adds. "Sleeping in a box." she succesfully hops up and grabs the window ledge with her good arm and pulls herself up - her upper body strength is flat out amazing. Once inside she leans out the window to pull Mercade up with her good arm. "Roving bands of baked goods? I'm sure he'd have it licked in an instant." she says it with a straight face.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason crahses into the room and gets her bearings. She can hear a woman singing and now goes to see what's going on? Someone's in trouble or are they the source. Either way the person seems to be here and she's going to try to find her way to them. She gets out her whisk again and heads towards the source of the voice calling out. "Hello? Is anyone there?" She moves to attempt to get to the source which the song seems to be coming from, or is near by to.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "He's a hobo, he's /always/ leeping in a box! When he's not eating!" Mercade yells. The pair get up into to the second floor, and Mercade is left at the reat, desperately ACTIVE PARRYING the oncoming breadites. "WHO KNEW THAT BREAD COULD DO SO MUCH DAMAGE?!" Mercade yells, looking worse for wear as the malevolent muffinry shows its mandibular menace. Moments before he is run down, he leaps upwards and grabs onto the edge of the window himself, pulling himself up and in. SECOND FLOOR. ROUND 2. BITE. He looks to the pair, noting the singing, even as he nods and begins working his way across the area towards the inevitable cookery doom. "Let's cut to the chase." Mercade says.

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' In one of the rooms down the hall is an open door through which the sound of music is filtering. Also, past the all too sugary smell of the custard is a tantalizing otherness. It resolves itself into the smell of bacon as the singing is punctuated by the occasional slurpy gurgle from the custardbeast. Inside the small but relatively well appointed kitchen lab is a pretty woman with long purple hair decorated by a neat chef's hat. The outfit is almost blindingly white, sleeves of her chef's jacket rolled up as she happily cooks at one of the stations with a overlarge skillet. There are several small canisters of different spices, flours and additives around her that she shakes onto the skillet. The custardbeast in the room is a vaguely humanoid shaped glob of pastry, a dusted sugar hide frequently breaking and reforming with custard tendrils leaking out of the cracks. It moans softly, gooey eyesockets blazing with the same fire as the scorched breadites ~/Bacon Bacon pancakes, makin' bacon pancakes,~/ sings the woman in a jaunty tone as she looks up from her cooking. ~//take some bacon and I'll put it in a pancake, bacon pancakes, that's what its going to make, Bacon pancaaaaaaaaake ---~/ and so forth.

:'''[[Cirra Constantine]] has posed:''' Cirra looks back and forth in the room. At the woman making bacon pancakes, the custard monster in the far corner and frowns. She picks up a skilett. "I'll keep the other produce from spoiling this." and heads into the hallway again.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Stop, in the name of the culinary arts!" Mercade exclaims as he bursts into the room, brandishing spatula in hand. "You..." He pauses, sniffing. "Oooh, bacon." He then coughs, and then looks over at the Doom Custard. "And you! Yes. What's going on here? Your custardness is making the entire campus go up in an infestation of brazen bread! What is the meaning of this?"

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason enters at the same time as Mercade does with brave Cirra heading off to cover their back. She holds her wisk and spatchula. She is dual weilding at this point she not beholds the kitchen that is the source of this place. She stares for a moment trying to figure out what's going on here. She looks at all the source4s of pastry and she's about to say something but Mercade beat her on the entrace and she's left a bit suprised for a moment. "You have been cooking up trouble for everyone the devilish deserts have been attempting to eat us!"

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' The lady looks up from her cooking and looks at Myla and then at Mercade with some vague interest. "Come. Come! Have some pancakes, dear." she points at the skillet and it continues to flip and to cook things while she takes her hands away to clap. "Ooh. Goody! I was /so/ hoping to see some appreciators of the culinary arts. Oh-- people are so /dull/ sometimes. There is only so many variations of -run away- AHH Scream before it starts to become derivative." she gestures to chairs while going back to making her bacon pancakes. "And of course they would try to eat you. This IS combat baking 101. I did make that very clear in the intro lecture. Sadly, I think it quite went in one ear and out the other." she laughs, and it's a wicked and ugly sound that jars with the pretty picture. "Ah, but SURPRISE is always an essential element of cooking." That said, the custardbeast ROARS and lashes out several tendrils to try and enmesh Mercade and Myla, lashing out for Myla's legs and Mercade's arms. Two Heroes. Shake Well.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "You seem... familiar somehow." Mercade says, squinting at the woman. And then everything goes to Hell's Kitchen. "Well, yes, there's the running and screaming, and then screaming and running. I do suppose you have a poi-AAAAAAH!" Mercade yells as he is yanked into the air and shaken. He tries to use his spatula to defend himself, but poking the crusty outside of the custardbeast gets nothing more than a tak-tak noise. "You've been overcarmelized, you giant creme brulee!" Mercade yells. He's been paying attention to Max recently. In response, the custard chomps, and half the spatula disappears. Mercade yells in a high-pitched tone as he struggles heroically against the evil goop. "Your arms are free! Do something!" He calls to Myla, hoping she has some kind of awesome plan, because this is a sticky situation.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason pauses combat baking? She just stares for a moment the young sear going spell slinger is a bit suprised for a moment. Myla's caught by the tendrils catch her, she goes down had but her arms are still lose. She's got aplan oh she's totally got a plan in the vien of mighty pirates such as Jack Sparrow. PANIC, wait no she actually has a plan. "... I think I got something. Ever see what happens, when you use too much water?" She's now chanting something it's not a tongue that Mercade would know, would Mad Madame Mim know? who knows but what is clearl the girl is casting a spell of some sort and she now starts trying to turn the water in Custardbeast against it, to free Mercade. She's going to attempt o over hydrade it to the point the tendridls will lose cohesion.

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' She walks over to Mercade as he pokes and swipes at the crusty Creme Brulee of Doom. The woman squints at him very hard, then raises her eyebrows. "Oh." she says after a long pause. "Pfft. Another one." she wrinkles her nose and then laughs. "My my. You're still rather undercooked and unseasoned, I fear." she makes a long face of regret before attempting to blow a cloud of pepper smoke(?) into Mercade's face. That look of smug amusement turns into towering rage as Myla starts chanting. "YOU!" she screams in an ugly snarl. "DIDN'T you ever hear about too many cooks in a kitchen?!" she swipes at Myla's face and something invisible tries to reach down into her mouth and stop her from speaking. It's too late though and the custardbeast sags noticably as it's composition becomes too runny, the over hydration making it slump in on itself and sideways like a deflating balloon. "CRITICS!" she howls in a hurry. "FOOD MANGLERS!" she suddenly does not look very pretty at all, a number of piranha like Bacon Pancakes rising from the pan ominously as the custardbeast starts to dissolve. As it does, it lashes out the larger pastry claws, staggering forwards and lumbering towards them as it starts to fall apart.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "What's that supposed to mean?!" Mercade says, moments before he chokes on the cloud of pepper. "Aaa... aaaACHOOOO!" Mercade sneezes proliferously, disabling him as the custard beast is about to have a midnight snack... When Myla saves the day! The water frees Mercade, allowing him to break free of the soggy custard and fall back. He collapses back into a pantry, still sneezing... Before he bursts free with a loud whirring noise. "Now I have a blender." Mercade announces with a grin, holding the shredding implement forward and brandishing it as he sets it to puree. "Ho ho ho." He starts catching incoming pancakes as he comes in, as he charges the custard. "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Mercade yells as he dodges /forward/, leaping past the claws as he drives the blender down towards the 'head' of the custard! Will he make it, or will the power plug reach its limit? FIND OUT NEXT POSE!

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason is not a critic she likes food, it's just food that is trying to kill her she has a problem with. "Too many cooks ruin the fish! I know! My mother said it all the time!" She's caught and finds she's unable to chant more but the damage has been done. She makes a muffled noise of angery and she aims to throw the whisk with great skill at Mad Madame Mim trying to catch her in the head with it. She leaps back and still has her spatchula and she turns to face the best as it's coming towards her. She finds she can talk again. "Got any ideas i'm all out Mercade!" She's not going to be able to cast again for a little bit longer...

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' VVVVVVVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR---phoo. The Custardbeast flails in the grasp of the mighty blender but the blades jam as it tries to sluggishly chop through the outer flaky deliciousness. Enough damage is done to mangle one eye, the light going out as the flaky pastry claw tries to Squuuuuish Mercade into Detective-Grade Jelly. The claw sags. The angry old woman stops her feet, getting even more pissed as a whisk rebounds off her head with a 'clong' "You RUFFIANS. You made this mess. Now you CLEAN IT UP!" And now a cleaning closet explodes with mops, brushes, brooms and dustpans that continue to assault the pair even as the woman vanishes in a poof of smoke.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' WILL IT BLEND? Not.... quite. Mercade looks really into it as he blends at the custard until he hears the motor give out. "Ugh." He says. "Cheap community college tools." He mutters to himself, before the saggy squishy claw catches him on the side and sends him smashing into a wall. He groans for a moment, shaking his head as he tries to regain his senses... The sudden addition of a mop to the face helps. He wrestles with it, grunting as he yells to Myla. "Quick! Wash this thing down before we're goop for!" Yeah, he's reaching. Blame it on the lack of a balanced breakfast.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason looks at Mercade "Nice work with the combat cooking Mercade." $E$E She looks at mad Madame Mim "Uhuh, so how about you clean up the mess you made and head on your way home?" Well she goes home then comes the mops and Mickey is nowhere around to bring them to heel at this point. She atats trying to beat them off she starts to chant again even as she's buffed by dust pans, mops, brooms and SWIFERS, oh lord those get caught in her long hair! She does finish chanting and a surge of water will be directed at the horde hopefully breaking the enchantments Mad Madam Mim put on them.

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' SPOOOOOLSH: Thank you. Your Adventure Has Now Reached the Water-ride part of the experience. Caution. You WILL get wet. Assorted mops and brushes are flushed away along with the soggy remnants of the custardbeast, it and the rest flowing away in the deluge of water. There is a rather damp and soggy silence that falls afterwards.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade is very, very soggy. He looks up, taking off his dripping hat and letting the water and custard wash out from inside with a sort of morose expression. "Well, that was... an experience." Mercade says. He looks over to Myla and sighs. "Well... We'd best report what happened and help with cleanup." Mercade says. "We helped make the mess, we have to help clean it." He squishes to his feet, and holds out a hand to Myla. "Mercade Alexander, of the Twilight Detective Agency. A pleasure to meet you, miss..."

:'''[[Mad Madame Mim]] has posed:''' AFTERMATH: Local police authorities responding to the disturbance are.. to put it lightly.. confused by the accounts given by the cooking school students and college security. They did however insist that the woman, a substitute teacher Ms. M. Mym was the one responsible for the disturbance. The 'disturbance' (Which has been put on the 911 'take seriously despite the crazy' list) was later classified as An Illegal Use of school Equipment, Destruction of Property and general assault. (One Officer tried to work Assault with A Deadly Pastry into the report, but couldn't make it stick.) The cleanup does take some time, several batches of inert bakery goods found as far as several blocks away and locked up for later disposal. As to the woman, there was no immediate sign and little hope of catching the magic user until she appeared again.

No Soapbox Required

2013-06-09T23:21:55Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/06/09 |Location=Lower Archades |Synopsis=A short conversation in the wake of the Archades Assault. |Cast of Characters=Will Sherman, Riku |..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/06/09
|Location=Lower Archades
|Synopsis=A short conversation in the wake of the Archades Assault.
|Cast of Characters=Will Sherman, Riku
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku awoke and left the Alexander some hours ago. He had not been injured by the fall of Upper Archades. He had not been counted as a casualty, but he was still very much the walking wounded. There was much to do in the aftermath of the calamity and Riku buried himself in that endless list. There was a clamor about the streets of Lower Archades in places and an unsettling silence in others. The entire city seemed still hung on the thorns of shock and fatigue. In a huge city in which some avenues of transportation have been cut off and city services disrupted. In a city of refugees and broken families and shattered lives there are a many.. MANY.. things to do. Riku moves towards a shipment of aid supplies, talking with some of the imperial soldiers for a moment before starting to unload the goods. He digs gloved hands under the edges of the box, hefting it up into his arms and carrying it towards the next station. Although the heartless had not played a large part in the cities fall, the yellow eyed drones of the broken dolls were still nightmarish, even in death and so he wears a blindfold over his eyes so he does not freak out the refugees and fellow soldiers. (Although honestly, people could be staring right at him and he would be oblivious as long as there was work to do) But-- it was an allowance. At least until the darkness overdraw fades and he stops feeling -- nothing. That was what it was. He had woken up on the Alexander, and felt nothing. And unable to know what to do about that-- he started in on work.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will heard about the disaster...and was here as fast as he could. Riku was somewhere...so was Cirra... Siiiigh.. of course nothing lasts in this world. Will was not sure what to do first...the streets were...bad. He could try and find them, and let fate lead the way. A day later, Will finally walks out of an alley way, trailing a small child who he pats on the back of the head and points towards a woman in the crowd. Will doesn't stay for the tearful reunion...for every one of these, he's... The crushed remains of a man who saved the life of his wife and child... The looting of other houses in the chaos... ...Will shakes his head. People, humans were capable of such things...both extremes... He turns a corner, and nearly topples into Riku.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku hears the sounds of breaking windows and movement farther off in the city. Just like he hears the crying. There are a lot of different kinds of it apparently, and all of them would at one moment make him acutely uncomfortable. Right now. He had other things to do. And he just continued forwards, relying on other senses to get him around when a familiar and very confusing light pattern comes around at corner at close range. Riku clutches the box slightly tighter, taking a step back before moving forwards to brush past them. "Excuse me." he says in a flat, even monotone. Somewhere in his head he knows who it has to be, but that part of his mind seems to be disconnected from all the other parts that have fallen more or less silent. To Will Sherman, Riku's threads are an almost incomprehensible mess. Many white threads have been so intertwined with twisted, crackling static and dark threads. Some of them even seem to have merged together in places, those horrible dark threads and white threads into -- something not one or another. Riku grinds to a halt a few steps as if finally the recollection has hit the part making him move around. "..Hey Will."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "Well hello to you too." Will says, shaking his head. "I've been looking for you...good to see you're alright." Will says...concerned, but not voiceing anything...yet. I mean, the blindfold... "Walk, I'll follow, I do a pretty good job at that." he says, shaking his head. Will's...pretty serious right now, but it's hard not to be given the circumstances. "You're a mess.." he says, "Er, sorry, not probably a nice thing to say, but.." he shrugs, "Not that I can blame you.." He sighs, "How bad are things? I mean...I can only see things at the street level, ho are the upper levels handling it?" Will is already thinking of a plan, he just wished that Manhattan could return the favor to Arcades. ...Maybe it can. "I know it's not the best time to talk, but when have I ever been good at dramatic timing?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "I tried." Riku says quietly as he continues to move around the corner. "Everyone I knew would come. You. Mercade. Reize.. Avira... anyone." He says these names as if dropping them one by one down a well. "And.. we didn't really have a chance, did we? The communications were cut off even before the shelling started. They came. They got what they wanted and left. Angantyr got his stupid, useless vengeance." he defines everything with calm, even-handed words in that flat voice that sounds like it should be coming from an deep well or a distant cavern. "Upper Archades is trying to handle it, but the nobles.." he shakes his head and walks to the aid station where he hands the package off to another aid worker. He nods to them and then turns right back around to retrace his steps back to the vehicle and the unpacking in process. "The people down here in Lower took the worst hit.. but the pride has been damaged along with a lot of the architecture. --The Senate is gone. The Emperor is dead. " he hesitates, saying each of those words carefully. "That-- leaves a very, very big hole."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' A hand on Riku's shoulder is what he'd get. He doesn't say I know how you feel...it's implied, though, but also because it'd be INCREADIBLY insensitive...even if deserved. Nor does he cast blame or anything...he doesn't state karma or anything else. He just puts a friendly hand on the shoulder of a guy who needs a friend right now. "I know you did...you and Cirra, I bet tried. I'm sorry I couldn't be there..." he sighs, "But...don't give up." he says, "These people...now more than ever need you." "I'll do what I can to help too..." but what could Will do? Well besides the little stuff. He takes a breath. "So what are you going to do now?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku flexes his fingers slightly, rubbing one hand with the other. "No." he says evenly. "I don't think I will. I think.. that is the farthest thing from.." he pauses, then continues. "What I laughingly call my mind." and there is the faintest snort of amusement. "There is so much broken here. So much-- that has to be set right again." he takes another box and turns back again. "--It will happen again though. As long as Archades is weak. Any thug can come knock over our sandcastle. All these people will be hurt."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will looks at Riku for a loooong moment. There are no words... but... Will gives his friend a BIG hug, because this guy really needs a big hug, or a shake back to reality. It is platonic. "Your right. There...there is a lot of bad crap out there. And defending against it isnt' going to be enough when lives are on the line. So.." he says, "I'll help."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku is squished. There is no resistance to such an action but the incomprehensible mess of threads seize momentarily as if an invisible force were jerking on them. He takes in a deep breath (which can be hazardous in it's own ways) and returns the hug. When he steps back though, he nods. "Thank you. I --- try not to cringe in horror." The smile that should be there does not come to his face although the faint echo of it is in his words. "But I can't let myself think about the next time. Or the time after that.. or the one after that.." he gestures to the boxes. "So I'm keeping busy until I figure out how to /stop/ it from happening. With the very little I know.. there may be just.. nothing at all." He echoes 'nothing at all' to himself with a sigh before continuing along his set walking path.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will sighs... "Yeah..." scatching his head... "Right now, nothing maybe...in the future...something. It'll work out." He says, "Not just because I'm hopefully optimistic, god help you, but because you're not the kinda guy to stay down." he says, "Now before this becomes a soap box...I think I might actually be able to do something, but I'll keep it under my hat until I can...uh, actually see. I think though, even I can talk this guy into help." He sighs...trying to be hopeful is hard right now. "We'll...get who did this, Riku. I swear."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku turns his head towards Will and says in an extremely dry voice. "Alright Will. You are starting to scare me slightly. Stop before I trip over a soapbox?" he tchs very faintly. "Now my /entire/ worldview is shattered." he raises a hand and points at Will, his voice still completely monotone. "I blame you. Excuse me while I go blow something up." He does not ACTUALLY give any indictation if he is kidding or not.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will pauses... He stares at Riku for a long moment... Then he laughs.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku stares at Will for a few moments and the flicker of a smile comes and goes on his face. He continues unloading boxes, letting a comfortable silence fall and his mind fall back into what he was doing.

Torrential Tramdine Trial

2013-05-27T05:05:39Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/05/26 |Location=Tramdine Fens |Synopsis=Corporate adventure strikes out for the heart of Tramdine Fens and reports of mysterious lashing storm..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/05/26
|Location=Tramdine Fens
|Synopsis=Corporate adventure strikes out for the heart of Tramdine Fens and reports of mysterious lashing storms that have flooded the area.
|Cast of Characters=Souji Murasame, Kyra Hyral, Serah Farron, Ophelia, Arkham Fisher, Helena Celba, Caran Steel
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' An already muddy and half submerged location, the constant lashing storms have all but rendered Tramdine Fens a labyrinth of unnaturally quick-growing weeds, dead plant (and animal) life and turgid swamp water. Thin interconnected swathes of rushes make six or seven foot tall hedges. There are numerous wet islands and stands of rotten plant matter extending out for many miles. It only amplified the smell. The smell of rotten and putrifying plant and animal matter that cannot be cloaked even by torrential rain. Broken swords and rotted leather poke forlornly from the muck, shining with a dull and threatening dark promise. Here be monsters. Although the main part of the Tramdine Fens is heavily waterlogged and in many places submerged, the source of the storm activity is a node some mile and a half to the southwest. Man-- this place is going to do a number on nice shoes. Hopefully nobody brought theirs.

:'''[[Arkham Fisher]] has posed:''' Arkham doesn't even own nice shoes. Her boots looked like they'd been through four wars even before she started romping through swamps in them. She's deployed herself again as freelance combat medic, accompanying another Shard hunt; certainly, it's Faram's work, righting Darkness' wrongs, or aiding the ones who will. Plus, she'd heard there might be some actual pay this time. Despite her (formerly) White robes, the young woman marches with sword in hand, keeping to the center of the party and keeping here eye on the rushes to the left flank. "What do we, we expect, in here?"

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron is already pestering against the mud. Sigh. Not the best situation by far. She's going to scrub all of this out of her pants for 3 days at this rate. What is she doing here anyway? Well there was a post up about requesting for help, and she needed the munny. She's been managing since she arrived, but with being always on the move and all, its been hard. So help, that sounds like something she can do. She has healing magic after all, always handy, and there's no end to monsters it seems. They had failed to mention the mud, or to bring rubber boots or suits. Maybe some ramps would be nice. Now for another question, what is she doing here exactly? A question she asks outloud "Where are we going like this? " She almost echoes Arkham's concerns there.

:'''[[Ophelia]] has posed:''' Ophelia has nothing but nice shoes. And nice clothes. And nice armor. And... well you get the picture. The torrential downpour has put her in a rather foul mood, not least of all because the flooding has set back her plans for construction. Eager to be free of having to live among the cloistered halls of the Mullonde Cathedral, she put her first, and currently only, recruit to work clearing out a suitable spot with his strange geomancy. The local inhabitants did not appreciate this. They were dealt with. Artyom is not present with the young samurai today, perhaps busy elsewhere or dealing with his other job that he mentions so often. Nor is the aging Alexander, having complained of joint pain due to the storms. Typical of him lately, his age was becoming an issue he could no longer ignore and that thought made her smile. She is, infact, alone. Normally that would make her quite happy but the circumstances that have led her here are less than enjoyable. The pure white silks of her thigh-high stockings are practically stained black up to the knee from the murky water and the polished finish of her armor looks dulled and dirty under the filthy rain. Whatever caused this is going to answer to her for it. Ophelia wanders through the muck and water, sticking carefully to the few places where solid earth remains upthrust above the swamp, following meandering paths of dirt like arterial veins towards the heart of the disturbance. Her path has not yet crossed with that of the others - she isn't even aware anyone else is coming to investigate.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' For those of Alexander Academy, world shards had been quite a 'thing' lately. There was an urge, with some, to find their world again-that, or find a world they could call their own. Or in the case of Kyra Hyral, a world shard of her own to research. Speaking of research, she's done a bit of her own in this case. In addition to her usual gear, she's kitted herself out with a raincoat and a set of very tall rubber boots. Of course, this meant leaving her usual 'fancy' boots at the nearby inn she's crashed at for the past night. Naturally, she didn't go alone. But there seems to be a definite lack of tough guys to take refuge behind right now. "I can't say this was the help I was expecting..." she tells both Serah and Arkham. "Buuuuut I think it'll work. Regardless, I heard a rumor of a possible World Shard out here."

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' They may or may not be 'nice', but Caran's boots remain relatively clean. Because he's riding a chocobo. Blackwing flies over the fens, Caran scouting the area ahead of the group. He's here to adventure, because he has to pay the bills somehow! Also, 'thunder' will probably help someone! For the most part, this means waiting around in the air while the adventuring group below slogs through the mud. Some vague sense in the back of his mind warns him not to mention this to them, though.

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' P.S. If he knows it's a world shard, Caran is even MORE INTERESTED because finding out about them will help him learn about how to restore his own world!

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Goblins and ghoulies and a whole lot of biting flies, should this storm ever let up. It's relentless, a sort of harsh drumming rain that falls in thick sheets that hammers the swampland so intensely that the sound of the rain makes a good play at drowning out conversation and the sound of movement. Thus -- a separated group, even if separated only by the walls of fens, are easily lost in the shuffle. From the air, Caran can see that the Tramdine Fens extends for many flooded miles. There seems to be something in the distance, some sort of vehicle extending from the mire whose silohuette is only a shadowy lump through the sheets of shadows and rain. There is an ominous rumble as a flickering tongue of lightning scorches the sky, flickering between two clouds like the tongue of a snake. What happens to be only a mile or two away however turns out to be a circuitous and twisting route by following the raised portions of the swamplands. Dead ends and loop arounds are avoided by virtue of having a man in the air, but it's still looking to be a treacherous pathway.

:'''[[Arkham Fisher]] has posed:''' Arkie casts a baleful glance at the sky as the storm lets slip an errant bolt. Hip-deep in water is not at all where she wants to be in a thunderstorm. She'll just have to deal, though. There's still plenty of tall stuff around to draw fire. She nearly turns her glare on Kyra before remembering to put on a more agreeable expression. "That's why I'm here," she nods to the chemist. "Especially if you, you didn't bring your cleric this time." Still conscious of the condition everyone left that adventure in-- whenever she moves her shoulder, for instance-- the Sister of Ajora bows her head slightly. "Maybe I can, can do a bit better this time. I hope."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "We're all here. Excellent." And suddenly Souji is there. Souji wears nice shoes. He also doesn't need to worry about the Fens ruining them because he can fly. If the wildlife ruins his shoes (or his adventuring suit), they are going to regret it. Murasame and his associate(s) may not have arrived from the Ame-no-Torifune. How can you tell right now if they did? "Steel. Kyra Hyral." He pauses, looking over those others present. He doesn't actually know any of these people. "How is progress towards the source of the likely disturbance?" It feels like Souji is already attempting to take control of the expedition, and he just arrived.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena is soaking wet. Litterally, soaking wet. She doesn't seem to mind it though! Infact, she seems /ESTATIC/ that she is sopping wet. She has, infact, occasioanlly jumped in rather large puddles. Her smile is litterally THIS BIG. She, however, is forced to be SERIOUS now, as she follows behind Souji, placing a hand on her hips as she scans the area... "I could go scouting again.." She says, to the Muramasa heir.. Cutscene to Helena's scouting. She is jumping in a large puddle again, up and down. She finds a giant mud pit and jumps in. She bends over, making the noses of every male in the area explode. Helena wonders how that last thought got in there...huh. She continues to follow along, however, looking around. "So..." She grabs Kyra into a TIGHT sopping wet hug.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron looks around... looks like noone had the answer to that one. But then... Souji speaks up. When did he appear? Surely he wasn't late to his own event, would he? She listens though "... Disturbance then? We have to get rid of it I suppose?" She wonders of course, since she didn't get the details on her tasks. Just... somewhere to go, and the promise of a pay. "... How dangerous is this anyway?" She's now wondering if they had the idea that the least helpers left at the end, the least they'd have to pay. You know, there are some people like that.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Fortunately for those here, Kyra immediately deals with one small irritant. Seems she does have some kind of insect repellent on her that has a vaguely cinnamon scent to it. It may or may not have /actually/ been an attempt at chai tea. The rain is so thick she finds herself having to repeat herself several times for her companions to hear due to the overwhelming rain. As it beats down upon her, sluicing off her thick raincoat, she seems oddly at home. Where some other adventurers might be deterred by this weather, Kyra seems entirely unbothered by it. She stiffens as she hears Souji Murasame's voice. Of /course/. "Murasame." she says with a hint of unease since she can already tell he's moving in to take charge of the group. "Steel's scouting from the air has taken a lot of guesswork out of the path. It's just a matter of getting the-" Kyra squeals as Helena latches onto her, spreading mud all over her raincoat.

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' P.P.S. As for the rain and thunder: Raincoat and a lightning protection spell. Ketan is miserably huddled under the coat. Caran raises a hand to his eyes, squinting at the distant shape. The chocobo drops down to the ground, and Caran points, shouting through the storm. "There's something that way! It looks like a large vehicle crashed or something!"

:'''[[Ophelia]] has posed:''' Ophelia moves with purpose, which speaks volumes for the amount of distaste she has for the rain considering her usual laid-back attitude. She cuts through the rain with ease, water sheeting off around her as if she were the blade of a knife being driven through the storm by some invisible force. Despite being forced to take several detours due to the paths simply disappearing under the floods she makes excellent time. Ahead of the swiftly expanding party a section of the tall reeds that forms haphazard walls suddenly shudders as if rippled by some stiff breeze. A moment passes before the plants seem to realise that their support is gone and they slowly tumble over into a makeshift carpet in the mud. Ophelia strides through this new gap created by the sword she is still in process of sheathing at her side. She almost misses the presence of the others in the heavy rain - only her supernatural senses pick out the subtle scents of living flesh and the dull thump of beating hearts. Slowly, she turns to regard the group, crimson eyes narrowing slightly. And then suddenly she is all smiles. "Good evening," she offers. "Nice night for a walk, non?"

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' So! The adventure continues and there is progress. Well. At least progress for the people asking how dangerous all of this is because there is some pretty hefty evidence to be seen here and about. Broken blades. The rotted remains of adventurers unlucky enough to have been pulled down by the various wild creatures and mysterious spirits that roam these haunted waters. A small pouch full of dull coins lays in the muck, only visible by a coppery gleam of one edge of one coin sitting forlorn, half submerged in swampwater. The pounding rain is split by lightning. Another bolt flickers across the clouds and there is a smell of ozone. A fraction of a second later. -KERBOOOM- Several bolts converge on Caran simultaniously, straining the protection and slamming to earth not too far from where he is flying overhead (Which means trouble for anyone underneath him as water and lightning do not play nice.) There is an ear splitting explosion of sound as the lightning comes to ground. The lightning illuminates the scene to almost blinding intensity, picking out all the shadows of both the living and otherwise -- because something that is not of the adventuring party is moving in the water and through the reeds.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena looks around suddenly, dropping Kyra. "No time for pleasentries it seems.." She says, frowning. Something was on the edge of her awareness, thanks to her high wisdom sc-HEY DON'T LAUGH! She's still a monk, despite what you might think. She gives Ophelia a smile, "Hey you! Long time no see, I see you recovered well." She says...and pauses, "Hey Kyra, let me handle healing duty on her, alright?" She says, thumbing towards Ophelia. Though she looks around again... "I think we should move along, faster..." she continues. "Or at least get into a better position...though I'd prefer to get the item so I can enjoy the lovely weather more!"

:'''[[Arkham Fisher]] has posed:''' Arkham waves a salute to their man in the air. Infantry might talk a lot of crap about airbornes, but that's because they love them so much. Souji gets a much more grudging nod, having all the signs of being an officer of some sort. You'll forgive her, even ten years on the military is almost her whole worldview. Still, she supposes she has her orders either way, and they're not likely to change. Whatever response she was expecting from Kyra probably isn't forthcoming, meanwhile, as she's been broadsided by their scout? "I'm with her." The medic considers a moment. "On, on moving ahead. She can have the weather." HAving said as much as is her place, she fades back a bit to join Serah. "With this crew it could, could be very so. They're alright, though."

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' .... Well there's her answer alright. She rather not ask HOW these people died all around her at least. And then she jumps when thunder seems to strike REALLY close by, although she didn't see where it came from. She's totally fine with moving faster! She's already dirty anyway. "So I'm guessing that's where we need to go?" The structure that everyone seems to be going toward... not obvious enough. She's nervous with the thunderstrikes, okay? She doesn't even look at the water... if there's anything in there, she doesn't want to know about it! "I don't want to become snack for whatever made this pile of dead bodies..."

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' "Ghrk." Caran looks a bit stunned from a bit of the electricity bleeding through, his fingers tightening on the reins -- Ketan's startled by the noise, and Blackwing... doesn't seem to care. "...Maybe I'll stay down here for a bit. Ketan, can you--" "No. Rain sucks." Blackwing just begins walking along in the air as if it were ground. Dear physics: Screw you. Signed, magic.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "Nope." Kyra confirms, reaching underneath her raincoat for one of her guns. It is, of course, the non-regular-projectile kind. Stick with what works the best! "I'm pretty okay with fighting in this weather. I'm pretty sure Murasame is too. The others, though." She doesn't remark on how much Helena seemed to like it too. She squints at Ophelia when Helena says to let /her/ handle healing her. Given Helena's skillset, it leads her to assume that the dark-haired woman was an undead of some kind. Maybe. Ophelia was awfully good looking to be an undead. Or it could just be that Helena was flirting with her. "Well, for the record, I too am a 'cleric' like my sister." she tells Arkham. "I can heal. Either way, we should get moving." Too bad the water and mud makes it kind of hard to move at all quickly-though Kyra is used to running in heavy boots.

:'''[[Ophelia]] has posed:''' Ophelia casually runs a hand through her hair upon being greeted and inspected, her smile carrying with it a great deal of smugness despite the miserable state she is in thanks to the weather. She holds herself with an air of regality as if she isn't ankle deep in mud. And on top of all of this she just seems to radiate authority and presence, almost like a palpable aura. "Ah, so good to see you again, my dear." The young woman inclines her head lightly to Helena. Lightning flares dramatically behind her in the brief moment, almost as if summoned. She pays it no mind. Her eyes drift lazily around to take stock of the people that have gathered here. "Quite the outing, it would seem. Do you have some purpose here or is this one of your class field trips?"

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji nods to Ophelia, considering her for a moment as she arrives. "It's quite pleasant." Souji says neutrally. Businesslike. "Are you here to assist?" He glances to Helena a moment later as she greets Ophelia. IT's a 'why didn't you tell me about this person' look. Fisher gains a faint smile. Good. Someone who attends to business. He can work with these people. Farron causes Souji to look over at her next. "Be prepared. We have much to deal with." He floats forward a foot over the ground, looking around as something feels off in the thunderstorm... But he can't pinpoint it. "Hyral is correct, we need to get-" KERKOOM. Souji blinks at the light as he reels. The lightning momentarily stuns the scion of Ramuh, the overwhelming force enough to deal with his normal control over the element. "Let's go." Souji says, pointing in the direction indicated by Steel.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Faster faster. Quickly quickly. Magic, whether to speed the way or to prevent lightning from turning you into kentucky fried chocobo (with rider combo bonus) or to not get adventure suit and shoes messed up thrums through the charged storm air like a bell. A dinner bell to be more precise. The vehicle that looms up from the silohuette in the marshlands is a tipped over and crashed craft of some sort. Possibly an aircraft, the nose and half of a wing submerged. A giant pool of water lies at the end of the mile long slog. At the last stretch of the journey is when someone, or rather, a great deal of someones lurch to the dinner bell. A number of phantoms scream out of the ether, assaulting Caran atop the magically snarky Blackwind. Zombies thrash from underneath and in the muck, grabbing at ankles and pulling at the group in different directions in horror movie fashion.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron seemed glad that they got to the target... well for a short moment at least "So something is in there that we n-ahhhhhh!!!" She gets intterupted by zombies. Its alot less thrilling than interupted by fireworks, you can believe her on that part. She lets out a scream as she's pulled off her feet, landing with a noisy, and very muddy, SPLAT, and then another screech as she's literally dragged backward straight into the reeds. She kicks and tries to hold on to whatever grip she can find... but there's isn't much of those considering its raining and it makes everything slippery!

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Massive peals of thunder hardly phase Kyra. This is normal for those who grew up in the city of the endless storm. She continues to run, sloshing through the muck with determination, whispering words to Helena every now and then. Her eyes glance over to Ophelia. Lightning flashes and she spots shapes moving in the distance. Their rain-soaked stench betrays the fact that are not heartless but, in fact, the undead. A hiss escapes her and she withdraws a very special parcel from beneath her raincoat. It appears to be something wrapped in faintly-shimmering paper-those sensitive to magic will notice some kind of enchantment placed upon that paper. But as she runs, her boot snags upon a withered root, unseen and buried in the muck. She yelps as she pitches forward, the parcel flying out of her grasp. The white mage lands in the muck upon her face and zombies quickly converge upon her fallen form, just like in some horror movie. Kyra screams as they grab her and lift her off the ground. The Ramuha's hands flail out wildly, tinged with white light. Whatever exposed zombie skin they touch immediately crumbles away.

:'''[[Arkham Fisher]] has posed:''' "Blood and ashes!" The starving dead give Arkham a miss for the moment, seizing instead on Serah beside her. They can't be having that; she makes a grab for Farron's arm as she goes down, struggling to keep the woman's head above water as she hacks at whatever rotting limbs present themselves. Her bladework is reasonably competent, but the angle is likely to be bad. She avoids any risky swings around Serah herself. "Who's up?" Snarls and splashing are all around, mixing delightfully with the thunder and the screams of party members. She thinks she heard Kyra, but she's got her hands full at this second. "Someone get Hyral back!"

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena f-wait Zombies? She looks back at Souji and gives him a eyebrow. What do you mean you didn't know her? However, she moves out of the way of the Zombies, quickly BASHING one away that gets to close...but attempts to ASSERT her authority over the horde with her use of Necromancy. However.. There was a strange BACKLASH, and she eeps stratled for a moment and jumps back, avoiding the majority of the magical backlash... Until they all start coming after her. She twists, she bends, she rolls backwards, and tries to keep ahead of the slow Zombies...but there ARE alot. "Well, this is troub-Ah!" and then she is being dragged underwater. "Seriously?!" she says, annoyed.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' As the afterimages fade from his eyes, they are replaced with something ugly. Something shambling. Something smelly. Souji grimaces at the incoming undead, and yells. "CELBA! You know what to do!" He yells, dropping back to reach for his weapon... But his disorientation was too great. The undead grapple him and pull him down, their sharp fingers digging into him and drawing blood through his suit. Souji hisses in pain, not screaming out as he struggles, caught up in the mass before he yells, "EEEEEEENOOOUGH!" There is a low THUD as Souji unleashes a pressure wave from his body, blasting the undead back and revealing his tattered clothing, bloodied body... And his ruined shoes. HE looks over to Helena. "Celba." Souji says. "When we find whoever's behind this..." Souji's eyes narrow. "They're all yours." Ominous. As Farron is dragged off, Souji lunges forward, and then pauses, looking back as Kyra is grappled. "You! The competent one!" Souji yells. "Get the one who was dragged off!" Souji lunges towards Kyra, lashing out with the Murasame Blade and sending arcs of deadly cuts towards them.

:'''[[Ophelia]] has posed:''' The vampire takes her time in examining each of the characters presented before her. Helena she already knows from her ill-fated attempt to bring the heretical Ramza Beoulve into custody and in turn the oddly upbeat necromancer is the only person alive besides Alexander who knows her secret. Fortunately, the young girl seems inclined to keep it a secret for the time being, though Ophelia has no doubt that will change should it suit the mage's purposes. Souji she quickly singles out as the leader here - or atleast the person who believes himself to be in charge. She does not recognize the clothing he wears but they seem to be of a good material which means he's probably got money. The sword he carries at his side also draws her curiosity. She can feel... something very familiar there. She resolves to keep her eye on him. The others get more cursory glances, her interest quickly waning in the face of the unceasing downpour. Finally, she responds to Souji's question with a dismissive tone. "Hmm. I suppose I could lend a hand. We seem to be heading in the same direction in either case." She follows alongside the group as they make their way through the winding maze of water and reeds doing her best to stay on firm land when possible. This is not her first time traversing through these swamps. Infact, the Fens used to be a part of her homeland and she had spent much more time cleaning out the ghosts and risen corpses here than she cared to remember. Unfortunately, due to the presence of others, she is forced to tone down her vampiric powers to avoid detection. Helena has warned her that these people might have specific cause for prejudice against her kind and she's inclined to believe her. People hating the undead isn't a terrible stretch. It is because of this, however, that she is unable to detect the sudden surge of malevolent energies until they are almost on top of the party. Ophelia comes to a sudden halt, her hand coming to rest on the hilt of the katana at her side. "Careful. We may have visi-" Too late. The unmistakable music of human screams erupts in the air, easily drowning out the din of heavy rain. She sighs softly. How annoying. Predictable, but annoying. Steel flashes as another blast of lightning knifes through the sky, thunder clapping harshly almost instantly to attest to how close the blast was. When the blinding burst of light fades Ophelia is no longer where she was. Posed dramatically with her sword half sheathed, the samurai smirks and slides the blade home. The soft click of the hilt meeting the scabbard sets off an explosion of force among the zombies clustered about Helena.

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' Caran rides along, and then PHANTOMS. "Aah!" Caran draws his sword and -- the ghosts fly past him and attack Kyra?! And zombies are dragging of Serah! "Hey!" Caran rides up to the reeds, and begins hacking them away with his sword. "Give her back!" If he can just get a clear shot at those zombies...!

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The exposed zombie skin crumbles into white ash. The putrid flesh turns to nothing but ash and sodden splinters of bone. So the zombies who HOPED to drag dinner and go are inevitably disappointed by Kyra burning through their hands and the undead dropping Kyra to the heavy muck. They flinch away from the white light, and then turn from Kyra to join the hoard assaulting Helena. Arkham has his work cut out from him, hacking away at the undead flesh which without pain signal just continues to pull and drag and squeeze even when lopped from the body they were attached to. However, the dead and rotten meat within the rotten leather and metal adventurer shells eventually give way, giving Arkham a straight shot for pulling up Serah and rescuing her as the zombies pulling her ALSO lose interest and go after Helena. She, for one reason or another, magic or design, is now Delicious Entree and Special Friend Number 1. The sunken pool from which the vehicle is submerged is absolutely /swarming/ with -- something. They are too sinuous to be fish. They crackle and spark, agitated by the fighting. They squirm and wriggle through the crevices of the downed aircraft and nip at anything, zombie or otherwise that gets too close. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This aircraft? (Possibly hovercraft from design) is full of eels. There are a lot of zombies. A great deal of zombies, and all of them now are focused on the very simple task of dragging Helena into the deepest body of water available (the pool of eels) and holding her down there for a nastily long time. They are knocked sprawling and the surrounding swampland is flattened by the pressure wave, but the zombies that tore up Souji's suit join the ones that left Kyra and then are sliced. They are minced very finely by the blade which hacks through the dead flesh with supreme ease. The armor and leather is harder in some respects. Ophelia's blade is no keener, but much more flashy with the scattered explosions that happen. These explosions of force happen all around Helena, but there are so many that they fall in thick soupy pieces. Torsos and arms and the undead form and impromptu dog pile of the truely dead which may be difficult to get out from under Or just... sticky and unpleasant. Caran gets a few choice whacks in before the zombie hoarde is mostly dispatched. There is an eerie silence that falls. Whatever triggered those zombies also knows that you are here so-- reinforcements, especially in a place this big and this haunted, are.. very likely. Something glimmers in the farthest depths of the pool, where the lightning eels (most likely unnatural for this area in the way of all strange anomalies) swarm the thickest.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Undead hands claw at her coat, pulling at her clothing, trying to get to Kyra's pale, almost slightly grey, skin. Claws shred even the waterproof fabric. Though Kyra's own magic seems to present the antidote to the undead condition, there were just too many of them. Several things happen at once. Souji lunges at her and for a second, her heart stops as she sees the Murasame Blade lasthing towards her. Not one strike touches her, though, the heir's strokes cleaving through the undead around her with expert precision. Rotted bodyparts, neatly severed, splash into the muck around her. Then, what remaining zombies there were, promptly disregard Kyra and her savior, turning to focus their singleminded aggression against Helena. Dropping to her knees, Kyra rushes ahead to her discarded parcel and scoops it back up. "Thanks, Murasame." Hopefully Helena can hear her somehow. "Helena! Heads up!" Kyra roars and suddenly swings the parcel around her like a sling, the enchanted paper unravelling away. Contained within? A giant chunk of pure sodium. There are a few seconds of delay before it explodes. Not that it was really needed, after the help of-no, who are we kidding? There is ALWAYS time for more explosions. Back up on her feet, Kyra runs along again, though first to retrieve Helena from the untoward zombie aggressions. "Are those eels ahead?"

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' Serah is saved! "Hmph." Caran relaxes slightly as the zombies are dealt with. And then a new threat rears its slimy head: LIGHTNING EELS. Caran looks at the water. "Nope." His free hand lifts off of Blackwings reins, gestures, he takes a deep breath... and then exhales a cone of freezing cold over the water! Hopefully freezing at least some of it with the eels stuck inside, or something!

:'''[[Arkham Fisher]] has posed:''' Better dying through science! Arkham manages to concentrate on her, yes, duties while various circles of hell break loose all around her. Even without getting flashy, though, she makes good progress; the dead seem distracted, suddenly, and she manages to cut Serah free of them readily, while they all shamble off towards the head of the party. From ahead comes a shouted order, "Get the one who was dragged off!" Arkie responds, "Aye," and proceeds to ignore it until she has Farron free. Lifting the woman to her feet, the medic looks her over briefly, but aside from some mood damage Serah seems to be alright. /That/ done, she searches for for Hyral, who... is already swinging again. "Done, sir," she calls, utter deadpan.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena is about to be dragged under... SLASH. "Well...that was not how I wanted to get that favor repaid." She says, with a mischevious grin, and looks back up towards Ophelia with a wry grin, "I was hoping for something more personal.." She says, with a playful tone, and looks back down at herself. "Siiiigh. All wet and messy, and not having fun at all..." She says, and turns towards the horde. "Alright, time to be serious." She says finally, her eyes sharpening. She slowly, takes the glasses off her face, and slides them onto her chest. Her fists drive foward, aiming into one Zombie, her dark power flowing THROUGH it this time, aiming to swallow the entire horde with a flash of darkn energy. "I underestimated you once, it shall not happen twice. If you WISH to talk like civilized people, I will accept terms. IF you wish to be barbaric.." "You will find that I am not as refined as you think." Before she aims to take full control.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji breaks free of the undead, and he pauses, seeing Kyra huck a parcel. The package wrapping comes free, and his eyes widen as he recognizes sodium oxide. "HYRAAAAAAAL!" Souji yells, having aced Chemistry (like everything else), and he dives for cover. "CELBA, LOOK OUT!" After the explosion happens, Souji looks back up from the tree he hid behind, dusting off ash from his shredded suit as if he had much of one left. "Tch." He says, shaking his head.... And he moves forward quickly, leaving Celba to deal with any remaining necromantic issues. They ARE her specialty, after all. He looks down upon a hovercraft which is full of eels. He feels like he is missing something here, and he frowns. He raises a hand, about to blast the water with lighting, but he stops. Electric eels. Not likely to be as effective as he'd hope. "What we're looking for seems to be down there." Souji says. "Someone have a plan for dealing with this swarm of... eels? This isn't the proper time for sushi."

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena looks at Souji, "My plan involves, horde of Undead." She says, simply.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "Undead horde is a plan." Souji nods, not seeing a problem with this. "Make it happen."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "I say we just throw our alts at the eels, Murasame." Kyra asides, "That'll get rid of them. I mean, uh..."

:'''[[Ophelia]] has posed:''' That's the problem with zombies. They're not very smart or terribly durable but whenever they show up it always seems to be in vast numbers. Ophelia turns to survey her handiwork: one giant pile of dead (again) zombies. The grin is returned with a coy smirk as she stalks closer to assist Helena but it seems like she's already got something in mind. "Hmm. I think that could still be arranged," she offers. The surge of necromantic magic combined with the strange explosion cuts her off and she is forced to shield herself from the effects of both. Her eyes dart to the eel-infested water once the coast is clear. It would be very /very/ easy for her to deal with this problem - but not without revealing herself. Ophelia shakes her head at Souji with a vaguely apologetic smirk. "I am afraid fishing is not my calling."

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron phews as she gets released... she doesn't know why, but she's free at least, and slides back to her feet... all muddy though, but that's the least of her worries, between getting dirty and being zombie food ~_~ "Thank you..." she turns to Arkham and Caran, that combined their work to remove zombie hands. She blinks as they seem to be going for someone else though. She charges up her Blizzara spell, aiming to turn the rain into ice so that the zombies would get less traction and let go of Helena... if she already hasn't gotten out of it on her own at least. Electric eels... sounds like bad news... "Think I can freeze the entire 'aquarium' they are in?" She points her finger at them, for anyone that cares to answer to that one.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Freezing cone of COLD go! The pool freezes over entirely with the sudden drop of temperature, a thick crust of ice freezing the eels and a good part of the pond. The thickest crust is where the cone of cold originated, with the edges becoming wet and ragged towards the sunken vehicle and the other edge of the pond. Not exactly skating rink material, but that seems to have decreased the numbers by some amount. The rest have retreated sluggishly to the very bottom of the pool, actually clustering underneath the frozen over part in an almost solid nest of interlocking sparking eels which are quite agitated and so have made the surrounding water shockingly unsafe. There is a pull as necromantic energy flares, then extuinguishes itself. Something screams in inhuman frustration out on the fens, but they are some distance away. Enough that the task will be well done before they can make a personal appearance. A horde of zombies will do it, through the magpie principle of 'Oh shiny' --/however/ -- Zombies, being not the best tools in the shed (and some of them not even having heads to contribute to the headshed) are pretty easy to distract 'shiny' with sparking eel. So a lot of zombies go down into the pool to wrench forth the shiny thing-- and a great amount of blood clouds the waters underneath the ice cap as they wrench apart the eels and generally cloud the waters which makes them bumble around trying to find a shiny in the bloody waters. All that blood is /sure/ to attract predators of some type, and pretty soon. Also turning the rain into ice-- is something with good news and bad news. Good news. It would give any zombies less traction. Bad news: It gives everyone /else/ not already flying less traction. It is abruptly MUCH colder in the area from the combined ice assault, bloody slicks of ice crackling and the storm thrumming almost directly overhead. There is an ominous rumble. Another strike may be imminent.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Screaming the name Hyral will one day become synonomous with the warning of IMPENDING SCIENCE. That is Kyra's dream. After the explosion has passed, she is quick to catch up, standing there in what remains of her rain coat, her clothing beneath slowly becoming soaked. Kyra herself does consider serious options for retrieving the shiny thing down there, in spite of the eels, but she finds herself leaning towards Helena's plan and using the zombies to do it instead. What she does notice is the abnormal amount of putrid blood this generates and immediately grows weary. "Hm, these are almost prime conditions for the creation of a black pudding." she remarks, trying to remain still as the ice suddenly makese the terrain even more treacherous.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' "Yes. That was a great idea." Helena says, muttering as the COLD starts to take her. It reminds her of a less pleasent time...he mood drops. Kyra has seen this before, she might want to stand between her and Serah, because Serah was likely to be the target of farther frustrations. Helena had a skill for crulety. No plan seems to survive contact with the real world, she thinks as the Eels and undead seem to get into a turf war...it was going to be annoying to fetch it out, but at least the Eels are dead and won't be a problem...nobody likes eels. Even EELS hate EELS. They are the worst thing. She smiles at Ophila...well, that was certainly something to increase her darkening mood, "Aren't you a dear...sure." She says, accepting the offer. She also gives Kyra a stare, "Please don't jinx us." "Hey you." She points at Caran, "Do something to clear the water.." She attempts to see if she can see through one of the eyes...senses...of her zombies so she can direct it better.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron fortunately left her sprinter shoes home, so she won't 'slide faster' either. But Still not a good footing... well, fire wouldn't have done much, and thunder against lightning eels doesn't sound smart. And Water? Nevermind. She turns around and reaches a hand out to hold herself steady against something, as she moves toward the others. She blinks at Helena "I wasn't aiming for you! Just the ground!" She defends herself, looking pitifully sorry there. She casts another spell... if she could use Fira to at least warm up Helena and remove a bit of the slippery. Under the rain might not have too much effect, but its all she can try as they inspect the hovercraft more.

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' Caran smiles in satisfaction at the frozen eels, oblivious that he may have inconvenienced some people. He looks up as Helena adresses him. "We may have a bigger problem... Ketan!" Caran ignores the water for the moment to cast lightning protection on himself and two of the nearest fellow adventurers, while Ketan... slips out from under his robe and flies up into the sky. "HEY! LIGHTNING!" Fun monster fact: Ketan is immune to electricity and petrification because he's one of those weird random monsters with non-obvious unexpected immunities.

:'''[[Arkham Fisher]] has posed:''' Eels are delicious. You grill them with a little soy and ginger. Not the electric type, Arkham will admit. She's with Helena on the weather, and would be giving Serah dark looks of her own if she wasn't busy trying to find her footing. Her iron-shod heels sink into the ice, and grant her solid purchase for the moment; time to warm up a bit. Nothing so dramatic as Serah's second bout of 'helping'; Arkie can't handle fire, anyways. She turns her back on Serah's pyrotechnics, and pulls her hood tighter over her head until the glow fades. No, this will be a simple matter of taking all the water that's on her, and sending it over there somewhere. An elementary task for an elemental mage. Semi-dry, now, and merely being pelted by sleet, she closes in with the party proper, and surveys the ruined craft. "HEY! LIGHTNING!" Arkie is on the far side of the group from Caran, but she too glances skyward, and sheathes her sword. Best to not be a tall conductive thing.

:'''[[Ophelia]] has posed:''' Ophelia can't help but shake her head as the spells begin to fly. Well that's one way she supposes. Not a lot of coordination going on here. The cold doesn't seem to affect her in the least, however, and she casually wanders over to the edge of the lake to watch with fascinated amusement as the zombies lemming into the water to mutilate the horde of angry eels. It takes a great deal of effort for her to contain the beast within at the sight of so much blood. Despite herself she allows her tongue to dance across the surface of her lips at the thought of tasting it. Maybe she just really likes unagi?

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "That's ridculous, Hyral." Souji replies. "Next you'll say we should throw pigs at them or something." This fourth wall aside complete, the Murasame Heir looks to the others as they attempt to brave the mass of eely doom with undead and ice. The frozen situation causes Souji discomfort, but such is life. The more important thing is that he's not properly garbed for cold weather. The cold weather suit is back on the ship. Souji moves away from the group slightly at the mention of another potential lightning strike, silently wishing he had the foresight to bring one of those strange lightning-eating constructs with him that they found under Goug. That would show these damned things a thing or two. "My powers are just going to interfere with what you are trying." Souji mentions to the others. "If we could remove the water or protect someone from shock, they could easily retrieve what has fallen in that water."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Blood in the water. Mud churned up. The flailing limbs of the zombie horde as they mindlessly rake through the muck filled bottom for the shiny. Shiny shiny. Everywhere, the eels and Zombies are going at it like West Side Story only with more biting and less choreography. Another lightning strike goes 'HEEEY KETAN' and like old bros, there is much a high-energy five exchanged. The lightning strikes Ketan multiple times and then leaves after catching up with the latest scorch. Always good to have a random monster handy for diplomatic reasons. And there is more blood to be had as the zombies eventually wrench up something that is a shiny and is not a bitey thing of sparkliness and delicious unagi. Whatever controlled the zombies is getting close, and it's actually sort of torqued. Well-- that would be a charitable word for it actually. One zombie, headless and without a left arm emerges from the pool with a fist sized crystal in their left hand, crackling storm energy flooding out from it. The zombie spasms twice and falls neck first into the muck. It is abruptly dragged backwards and into the water by.. something. A flash of grey and green and scaled flesh. And big. VERY big. There is something.. something that also lives in drowned swampland and wouldn't mind chomping down on the occasional zombie. (Although would probably eat fresh meat much more happily) -- WARNING: Crazed Crocodiles There goes that Dinner Bell again. Several crocodiles explode from the surrounding landscape, driven into a dinner frenzy by the blood in the air. They bite and thrash at all and sundry that they can reach.

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' Ketan then flies back down and gives Caran an unhappy look. He's a wet cat. You can imagine exactly how unhappy he is. Caran gives him an apologetic look and then CROCODILES! Blackwing flies up, Caran holds a hand out and downwards. "Blizzara!" Magically-summoned ice spikes deal with any crocs foolish enough to stand under him!

:'''[[Ophelia]] has posed:''' Ophelia continues to stare at the blood-stained froth on the surface of the lake as if enthralled by the sight. She is finding it very hard to pull her gaze away from the carnage and worse she can feel the dark curse in her blood beginning to grow more insistent. Her lips begin to pull back unconsciously, her fangs slowly being bared. Fortunately, between the rain and the overcast skies, it's very difficult to notice such a small detail. And speaking of wickedly sharp teeth, there's suddenly a whole mouthfull of them flying up at her! Ophelia snaps out of her blood-induced trance as the first of the crocodiles explodes from the water in a classic attack lunge. It's long narrow snout clamps down harshly around her shoulder, earning a shrill scream of pain from the young woman. She goes down in a heap, trying to scramble backwards, only to find that her legs have also now become entangled in a nasty row of serrated enamel. With a collosal jerk of their powerful heads, both crocs heave the struggling samurai into the water. The three of them vanish from sight quickly beneath the tepid surface, leaving only ripples and yet more blood floating on the surface.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Great, going from Zombies to Crocodiles. She eeks, and decides that ice it is. Fire won't do much probably! Neither would thunder, more dangerous for her. When a crocodile tries to snap at her, she freezes the inside of its open mouth, hopefully locking it there, and keeping it away from trying to make a meal out of her. "Is there SOMETHING that won't try to eat me here!?!

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Ahah! "Well there yo-" Argh...magical feed back. "Okay...whatever is controling the undead is getting /closer/ and probably <GOOSEHONK>ed off." She says, completely not lady like. However, Ophelia is dragged into the water! Oh nos! Her lady date. Souji goes in for the crystal, so she... Moves for the Crok, aiming to try and PUNCH it right in the snout as hard as she can, to try and get it to let go...or break it's nose. Either is fine. She then moves to give Ophelia a hand up, "I say we are both very dirty now..." She gives her a wry smile. Then she looks at Kyra...hmmm...Sel, Ophila...and Kyra... "Oh right, we have to leave don't we? I can daydream later." She mutters. She's ignoring Serah for now.

:'''[[Arkham Fisher]] has posed:''' Warning! Crocodiles! They catch Arkham while she's waiting for the lightning strike that Caran's actually already handled. That's one of the reasons they hate fly-boys, you never know what they're actually up to. So, no, she's prepping a wind ward when a croc catches her around the knee and attempts to wander off with her. She screams something exceptionally indelicate and lands on her hip. The reptile has four clawed feet on the ice to her one boot and bare hands, but the going is still slow, luckily. She attempts to twist 'round, to draw her shortsword, but can't make it, leaving her only with her knife. Arkie folds at her waist, trying to jab at the thing's... uh... eye, or nose, or something, they have hides like trees, don't they. Her knife leaves points of frost where it touches, crackling and even spreading as she continues her frantic assault.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "But Helena, that's one of the monsters you're looking for, isn't it?" Unless the point of Helena's monster shopping list was to torture other people by making them seek a bunch of dangerous critters. It would not be beyond Helena to think up that. Idly, she sidesteps so she's vaguely between Helena and Serah. She knows Helena's busy with necromancy and zombie control. Nothing can really be done to help that, so she instead turns to face the rest of the swamp, a trio of test tubes nestled between the fingers of her left hands. Fortunately for all involved, she's not flinging around pure sodium anymore. Her attention is rapidly stolen when she spots a crocodile rizing from the muck. She backs away from Souji's vicinity and throws one of the tubes at the creature hard enough to break the glass. Contained within is something extremely corrosive to living tissue. Whether or not this is a genetically engineered organisim or a failed lunch, however, is a mystery. "COME ON!" she bellows in challenge, "WHO ELSE WANTS TO BE RENDERED INTO SLIME?!"

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena pauses at Kyra, "Point." She says, "Good point. If you find one, hit it until it is hurt and I'll zap it back to base.."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' The mysterious samurai gets hauled off. Souji can't focus on that right now, because crocodiles are coming to do the same to him. Fat chance. One goes high, the other goes low. Souji turns, swinging his blade upwards, and the pair of crocodiles are repelled, sent reeling in an Active Parry. "I don't have time for you." Souji says, as he slashes forward, past the pair. A moment later, the crocodiles gain red traceries through them and vanish in a haze, disintegrating Oppa Random Monster Style as he powers forward. One of the zombies had what he was looking for. He will have it. He lashes out, cutting the hand off of the zombie as it turns. The crystal is launched up into the air, and Souji allows it to arc upwards and fall into his palm. "We have what we came for." Souji says. "Quickly! We should fall back before we are overwhelmed." There are people here he actually would dislike to see turned into undead food. That would be a terrible waste.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Crocodile Dislike ice. They snap and snarl and one of them with it's jaws frozen open whines, thrashing out at Serah with claws as it literally LUNGES at her legs, attempting to knock her down and bash it's head against her stomach, ice straining as it tries to close it's jaws in vain. A hooded figure with a skeletal hand appears in a miasmic fog atop the ruined aircraft. A double necklace of teeth and bones can be seen underneath the tattered swampland attire (Boy. There's no school like old school. Go go traditional spooky raiment) As they appear, the zombies boil out of the pond. At least the ones left over by the crocodile infestation. Although the crocodiles are still tearing into them, they taste pretty awful and there is so much better food right here. The zombies also hold their own, tearing some of the crocodiles apart through the virtues of teamwork. The headless, armless or legless host crawl, drag or roll themselves along through the water trying to reach the adventurers and swarm them. Meanwhile, a crok is punched SQUARE in the nose with a breaking noise that can probably be heard for a mile even through this rain. It's a sound that sends other Croks to wincing into their late afternoon teacups and sports pages. It also does the trick, freeing Ophelia from the grip of the crocodiles as they backpedal and retreat with broken snouts. The Frost blade Poke Poke Pokes at the dragging Crocodile that is trying to drag Arkham and it lets out a tea-kettle SHRIEK as the frost blade stabs right into it's eye through it's brain and kills it instantly. However, there is only just enough time to get free and get a step or two away from the dead crocodile before it surges and twitches to miasmic life. Mouth opening and closing mindlessly it HURLS itself at Arkham again with single minded ferocity. The giant crocodile that is slammed by Kyra's failed lunch turns to green slime with a petulant whimper, as if this is a fate that should not be inflicted on even a man-eating super crocodile. One or two other crocodiles whimper and withdraw from Kyra, but the dead crocodiles-- ones torn up by the zombies or killed by the adventurers have no such qualms and start to advance again with sluggish persistance. Yes. Now would be a good time to fall back.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' ANOTHER BATTLE SCREEN. Helena's player rolls his syes, seriously?! Another one! Stupid sidequests. And he starts pressing shoulder buttons. Helena starts to try and retre-CHOMP. She pauses. "I have a crocodile on my leg again don't I?" Helena growls... And then punches the UNDEAD Crock in the nose as hard as she can again. Then proceeds to try and run away, and maybe even succeeds! Helena's player, "GOD! JUST RETREAT ALREADY! MY HANDS ARE GETTING SORES FROM PRESSING THESE <GOOSEHONK>ing SHOULDER BUTTONS! And the third wall is starting to shatter."

:'''[[Arkham Fisher]] has posed:''' You don't have to tell Arkham twice, Souji. Hell, you didn't have to tell her once, she was already backing out as soon as she was freed from her croc-- limping a bit, but she can sort that out somewhere less exciting. It's such a nice change working under a competent commander for once. However, she's got a job, here. Continuing to retreat from the undead horde, she scans the party for anyone in worse shape than her. Everyone seems mobile, though; no reason for her to be a hero. "Retreating!" And she does.

:'''[[Ophelia]] has posed:''' Ophelia lets out a muffled cry as she vanishes beneath the surface of the lake. Her body goes completely stiff, eyes locked wide in horror as she realizes what's just happened. Out of sight from everyone else, now she is completely free to unleash her powers. With her vampiric strength she can easily rend these beasts asunder bare-handed and feast on their still-warm vital essence. That is, if she were not completely paralyzed. She's never quite understood the connection between water and vampires. All she knows is that being totally submerged renders her utterly helpless. For a human, such a fate would mean drowing or being ripped apart by hungry water beasts. For an immortal such as herself, it means an eternity of silent confinement. No one will ever find her underneath the murky waters and peat-moss. The crocodiles continue to shake and roll her about, trying to tear away ragged chunks of flesh small enough for their throats to swallow. Her armor and general unnatural hardiness make this an impossible task, however, leaving her to suffer the indignity of being slung about like a ragdoll. Suddenly, her head surfaces above the water. The reasons for this are not immediately clear. Was she accidentally thrown out of the lake? Did the opportunistic predators see something they found more appetizing? Or did her refusal to submit delicious meats make them grow bored? Whatever the case, she is intent on getting out of the water as quickly as possible. It is not until she clambers to her feet that she realizes an arm is attached to her own. Ophelia turns to dislodge the troublesome appendage, assuming it to be some dismembered bit of zombie-flesh, only to find that she is staring into the face of the small necromancer. Realization dawns on her a moment later and she has to quell a sudden urge to hug Helena. "Yes... I suppose we are, aren't we?" She grimaces. "Let us leave this place. I've had my fill of swamps." The vampire turns and rushes out of the lake's shallow edge, feeling a surge of relief as her feet hit solid (sorta) ground once more. She doesn't stop except to cut down any zombies or crocodiles that get in her path. Completely drenched in mud and water, even her ornate finery and lavish armor look bedraggled and ruined. This is going to take a long time to wash out.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' There is a look of fury on the redhead's face as she takes threatening steps at the other crocodiles that were eyeing her up. It was unfortunate that in this case, the only person she could really help was herself-but hey, with Souji around, that was still doing pretty well. Being less of a burden anytime was always a great feeling for Kyra, who wasn't all that gifted in the physical department like her classmates were. Her ferocity at least helps clear the way until some fool crocodile hits her from behind. Angrily, she throws the second vial down upon her attacker's snout, rendering it into her second example. She limps away for a few seconds, pauses to down a potion to correct the limp, then bolts with the rest of them.

:'''[[Caran Steel]] has posed:''' Souji shouts something about having what they came for. "Huh? But we didn't even get to the vehicle!" Still... he'll trust his schoolmate to know what he's talking about. Folks seem to have the monsters held at bay -- for the moment! Caran eyes the horde... He doesn't think he can quickly gather the kind of power it would take to deal with them all, and there's an enemy caster here too now... "ONE EXIT, COMIN' UP!" Blackwing lands and Caran focuses his mind, putting out distractions as he weaves ancient magic found in dusty libraries, wielded by few others, to warp space. A doorway appears before him, translucent and glowing white -- a matching doorway appears several hundred feet away, in the direction they came from. "GO! GO GO GO! Don't let any monsters through!" And then he turns away from the door and readies his sword to help defend it. Guy with the teleport spell is the last one through!

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron wants to run away. Really! But things keep getting in the way! Zombies, crocodiles, mud, thunder! Today's just a series of bad events really! And her exit get cut off, but she doesn't give up that easily either. Even in the rain, a fire spell at point blank should still dissipate them readily enough for her to move out! And look, teleport spell! Now that's useful! She pushes through the hordes, as she stumbles toward the open portal, and nearly falls into it as she trips on a misplaced zombie head. Well, that's one way to exit c.c Try to picture how it looks on the other side of it.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji has the intel. Now he has to get back to the base. WHERE IS THE BASE. The Murasame Heir falls back, trying to make some distance as fast as he can so they can get the thing to a safe place. That gets interrupted with he appearance of the Horde. Souji looks over the mass of undead and beasts and the Necromancer, and he frowns. He levels the Murasame Blade at the man. Yeah, you. A moment later, he becomes a blurred tornado of destruction, the black blade shearing forward as he dives into the mass of monsters, cleaving his way towards safety... But not without incident. Wounds open up about his body, claws and teeth drawing blood and rending flesh. Finally, he breaks free, standing on the power of will and X-Potions. He looks up, pained, and he leaps for the portal Steel opens. There's no room right now for anything but escaping so the mission can be successful. He'll just have to call the Ame-no-Torifune to wherever he ends up.

Rena Laradyne

2013-05-12T06:35:55Z

Raenas:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Rena
|lastname=Laradyne
|age=20
|image=Rena-fin.jpg
|species=Hume (Shivan)
|sex=Female
|height=6'5"
|weight=200
|series=OC
|styles=Red Mage
|hometown=Shiva
|alignment=Wandering Force
|group=Alexander Academy
|occupation=Adventurer
|quote="Plans may be useless, but Planning is always invaluable."
|footer=Wading into all sorts of trouble.
}}
=Profile=
A Shivan and the second eldest of a family of six, Rena lives a life as harshly torn and divided as that of her people. A daughter of the Hrimthur clan, her father was a shaman in high standing whose outlook matched that of much of the clan. Their view on outsiders and the modernization of the land of the first frost was decidedly and violently grim.

When Rena and her elder brother were both afflicted with a wasting sickness that their father and other shamans could not cure, their mother, a hard headed idealist enamored with the cities refused to bow to the dictates of the Ice. She fled with them to the sealed cities. There they were able to be properly treated and eventually cured, though it left them both scarred and her brother weakened by the protracted ailment. Over time, with the help of relatives and extended family also fled to the cities, her sundered family clawed it's way out of debt and the Dynatics Trading Company was founded. Due to several breakthroughs and perhaps more than marginally shadowy deals, the merchant house swiftly became a force to be reckoned with.

Isolated from the world she knew and the family she left behind and isolated again by Alexander Academy, Rena is a giant of a woman with a mercurial personality that is at once guarded yet outgoing. She keeps her own council, listening and watching the actions of others while resisting any one specialization. She finds all paths in life meaningful in their own way, perhaps because she knows the consequences of forcing your way. She is a peacekeeper and a diplomat, trying to find compromises and solutions to problems without resorting to force yet struggling to integrate the often contradictory nature of the old ways with the new.

Caution: Do not Taunt Happy Fun Rena.
Warning: Objects in mirror are /exactly/ as large as they appear.
Inverted deadly cooking trope: Do not look at what she makes. Really. It's delicious. Just don't look at it, or this company is not liable for the actions of your stomach.

=Skills=
Tundra Beastess, Brick House, Jane Of All Trades, Those Who Fight Monsters (Tend to Wear Them), Warning: Do Not Stare Directly At Cooking, Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Rena, Let's All Go Karting With Bowser, Curiosity is a Crapshoot, Has A Character Sheet Handy

==Happy Fun List==
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="90" | Status
! scope="col" width="550"| Thoughts
|-
|'''[[Percival]]'''|| Maira's Guardian|| Grind Bones To Make Bread || Oh look. It's a random encounter! An extremely loud mouthed variant as well. A self-scourging monk who nearly trampled a good evening with their high horse. That mouth is going to buy him a great amount of trouble in the future. Oh yes, indeed.
|-
|}

== Logs ==
{{Character Logs}}
== Cutscenes ==
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

Running Into A Bar

2013-05-08T09:33:32Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/05/08 |Location=Cloud Nine - First Floor |Synopsis=Riku runs into a bar. An awkward conversation follows after the bruising impact. |Cast of ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/05/08
|Location=Cloud Nine - First Floor
|Synopsis=Riku runs into a bar. An awkward conversation follows after the bruising impact.
|Cast of Characters=Mercade Alexander, Riku
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' *THUD* "..Almost." Riku says from behind the counter of Cloud Nine, where moments before there had been no emo ham in sight. He grunts, having whacked his side pretty hard on the way down and thankfully having not actually broken anything. He looks up at the tender with a look of chagrin and asks, raising an index finger to explain, decides not to. "Ow. Uh.. soda please?" the teenager brushes himself off and takes a seat at the counter instead of being forced to sit down hard behind it. He turns in place gingerly, resting his elbows on the counter behind him as he looks up at the ceiling.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' A man looks up from the bar and his meal of a steakhouse double cheeseburger and fries. He blinks at the sudden influx of emo, and frowns. "Riku?" Mercade asks, and he gives a nod, sitting back down on his stool. He drinks some soda, and he looks over to the adventurous kid. "What's the latest? Haven't seen you around in a while."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Hey." Riku laughs softly at himself, looking down from the ceiling to pick out Mercade and gives an almost cheerful wave. "The latest?" he sighs. "..I have no idea where to begin." he shrugs prosaicly. "Well. At the beginning I guess. The investigation is over. They found his honor Gabranth So.. that's a load off my mind. Scary armor the sequel that I showed you a picture of is still at large and.. and.. " he looks over at behind the counter, then looks at Mercade, looks back-- "And.. what's new with you?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade sighs. "Yeah, I tried looking into that but there was jack-all for leads, even with our... various advantages in our Agency. That's why I never contacted you back about it." He replies. "And you still have no idea who the scary dude in the armor is, huh?" He thinks for a moment, and then shakes his head. "Well, we have a few problems with Garland lately. Other than that, mostly it's just little jobs, nothing spectacular. Will's been getting into trouble, Max is being Max, Avira, well..." He pauses, looking down for a moment. "I'm... uh..."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "You are.. what?" Riku asks curiously, taking the soda and sipping from it gratefully while he rubs the back of his neck and rests his forehead on the cool glass for a moment before setting it down. "And Will.. getting into trouble?" he snorts a faint laugh. " .Well.. maybe the bunny ears will save him."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "I don't even know why he's been wearing them!" Mercade says, flailing his hands slightly in confusion. "He's been so smug about something and he hasn't been talking about it." He sighs. "Anyway, Avira's been having a lot of trouble lately and I want to help her. But this Garland... thing... has been threatening her and everyone around her. He's targeting innocent people to try to break her down, but I don't know how to stop him. Nothing can kill him. He just keeps coming back."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Well, whatever reason it is.." Riku says with a shrug. "I'm sure he has a right to be smug. And I don't know.. maybe the bunny ears help him negotiate better. God knows he needs that help." he laughs quietly to himself and the smile on his face dies away as Mercade continues and speaks about Garland. "Yeah.." he says softly. "I heard about that. Angantyr.. really took an axe to that place didn't they? And his master Scary armor the greater isn't someone to mess with.. why is he targeting Avira?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "That's the entire thing." Mercade says, looking over to Riku and leaning back on the bar. "I don't even know what the hell is going on with that. He's apparently been attacking her randomly for a while, but now after this Morrighan thing he's taken it to an entire new level. He's now just being spiteful and cruel in order to keep us from doing this again." He shakes his head. "I don't know enough about this guy in order to have an idea of how to make him back off... Not without giving him what he wants, and that's horrifying. Angantyr... Well, it feels like he's had to make a decision, and he made the darker one." He's not going to say 'right' or 'wrong' here. This is too personal to be assigned such labels.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku thinks about this for awhile, he rubs his eyes, the blue hazing over for a moment as he looks into the middle distance and drinks his soda. Eventually he shakes his head. "No.. I don't.. think you are looking at it the right way. Or at least. Maybe I'll give you a different angle on this. I can't say I know Angantyr. Not really. But-- I know someone as powerful as Garland has multiple irons in the fire at any time. I know this because Maleficient was like that. Always the next scheme. Which, by the way, makes me REALLY nervous that she's gone so quiet. It could have been /ANY/ of those other irons. Hell. He could have thrown the whole bag at Avira if he'd wanted to, and.. then we would probably be speaking in the past tense." Riku takes another drink and sloshes the fluid around in the glass. "So.. ask yourself this. What's the darker choice? Stepping in and betraying everyone you cared for, and they live, or staying out of the way and telling yourself afterwards that they couldn't be stopped? Because.. as you may imagine.. I have a little familiar with a similiar decision. For me, it really was the darker choice. For him?" Riku shakes his head. "..I don't know. I just know if he comes around Archades and starts trouble I'm going to kick his ass or at least /severely/ get in the way of him kicking mine."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Oh, I understand completely why he did what he did." Mercade replies. "I could tell from what I heard that he did it that way because... well, he was trying to keep Garland from doing this personally. Angantyr has a... gentler nature than his Master." Mercade sighs. "But there's always another choice, isn't there? I don't know. I can't say what I would have done if I was in his position. I just hope that I never have to be. I don't envy him and what he's doing." Mercade drains his glass, and then looks over to Riku as he gestures for a refill. "The Angantyr thing isn't something I can fix. It's too personal and it's something that has to be worked out between Ang and the people he's affected. All I can do is help Avira and Maira and the others however I can to keep them together in the face of all this. The problem is Garland himself. How do we keep him from just slaughtering Traverse Town at will? We can't cover the entire town. We don't have the manpower and the ability. He's holding back, but I'm not sure why. I don't... understand him." He grins to Riku at the last. "You're really liking working for Archades, huh. How is it over there? What are they doing... That you can talk about, of course."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Well. At least somebody understands completely. I sure as hell don't." Riku says softly with a huff of air. He takes in a deep breath and lets it out with an air of such profound exasperation as to be beyond exasperation back into calm again. "And I don't have an answer either. How do you cover a whole town? What I can say is.. I guess you can't let yourself watch all the time, even if you want to. That's part of the mindgame. The waiting. It's.." he smiles sourly. "It's often the worst part, I've come to understand." The teenager seems to attempt, if futilely to shake off the subject. "Yes. I.. know they've hurt people in the past and his honor thinks I don't know but.. I do. The things that aren't in the books. The things that people whisper about and scheme about and--" he laughs. "I know a little bit. So I know Archades is like that. But-- the people I know? The people I've.." he halts there and then forces himself to swallow the sentence and complete it, smiling at Mercade with chagrin. "I've.. come to trust believe in a different version of the city. Of the people. And.. that's why I stay. Because they are chasing a vision of a place I want to be a part of. And if it's not really the same place? Well. Then.. I gues we'll just have to make it."

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade Alexander squints at Riku, and grins. "Haha, you actually said it. Good stuff." Mercade says, saluting with his drink. "I'm glad." He ponders on what Riku's said, and then nods. "Well, I hope that vision that you're looking for comes true. I believe in you, Riku. I think you can make that place happen even if you have to build it yourwself." He chuckles, then. "But I doubt you'll have to do it alone. There's good people out there. Some of them even like to pretend to wear bunny ears." Mercade frowns for a moment. "I have /no/ idea what I'm going to do with that kid." He looks back to Riku. "Anyway. You'll do what's right. I know you will. You've been learning from the harshest teacher out there."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku grinds his back teeth a little and then chuckles at himself. "Yes. I did, didn't I." he drinks the rest of his soda and then peers into the bottom of the glass before setting it aside. "And thank you. I think.. that's the only reason I can do this. Because I don't have to do it alone. And.. neither do you. You'll figure out something to do with Scary Armor the greater. Just don't harass him to his face. That will.. probably get messy. I.. would have already offered to help you but my magic--" he trails off and thunks his head lightly against the glass. "Wait. Can I just rewind that sentence and pretend like it never happened? I've been telling the truth too much. It's getting on my nerves. How do you cope?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' Mercade laughs again. "/And/ a sense of humor. You're getting better and better, Riku!" The detective reaches over and gives Riku's hair a good ruffle. "Yeah, I know. You can't beat the Darkness with the Darkness. Maybe I can pry Sora out of whatever rock he's hiding under and see if he can help fix it. Isaac..." He pauses, and looks away. "Isaac tried going up against Garland a while ago." There's another pause. "He came out of it missing an arm." He shakes his head. "I feel like I'm outmaneuvered, outgunned, and outplanned. I hate this. And if he succeeds in doing... whatever he is trying to do to Avira..." A hand clenches. "I can't let that happen."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku laughs and bats away the offending ruffling hand but doesn't look like he's trying very hard. He smooths down his hair and mutters. "I don't even know if it's the darkness anymore." he then throws up his hands in exasperation. "Figure THAT one out. yeah, if Sora has disappeared again to go off on some long and harebrained adventure, I really AM going to dent a few walls with his hide." But his laughter is cut off short. The blow almost knocks the wind out of him. He shuts down and withdraws a little emotionally, his face going blank as he thinks this over. Riku frowns and then swallows. "And you have no idea what he's trying to do?" he asks after a long silence.

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "I feel like I can guess, but everything, all of my instincts are based on people who think like... people." Mercade says quietly. "That's the problem with working with Garland. I have to try to think like him to predict his actions and it's just... I don't think I can really do it. I can't think like that." Mercade looks over to Riku. "I don't know what he wants. But it's apparently based around Avira. He wants to know something. He wants something. And if he gets it it will be horrible. But I'm at a loss on how to deal with it."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku nods. He tries to think of something and then just shakes his head letting it out with his shoulders slumping as he sits back. "Well. I guess you don't know any friendly neighborhood monsters, do you?

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Not really, no." Mercade rubs his chin. "But maybe I can find someone who does." He munches on his burger thoughtfully. "I don't know. At this point I'm just grinding uselessly. I need to go do something productive." He looks over to Riku. "Any suggestions?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku gets up from the stool and shrugs, grinning mischieviously. The expression is more than a little strained but he goes through with it anyways. "Well. I do know a large amount of places that are /unproductive/. The trick is getting to them without being suspended out over a lava lake or falling into an ocean somewhere. Is that close enough?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "You seem to have experience with that, I guess? You have the worst luck with your... zipping through space and time thing you do." Mercade says. He peers over the bar. "At least you didn't land in the freezer or something, right?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku smirks and handwobbles. "That.. only rates a 4 really." With a sage nod, he leaves what rates as a 8 or above to the imagination of the viewers at home. "I've had worse landings. So.. instead. I am going to do the sane thing for once. I'm going to walk." he walks towards the door, adding. "--And possibly see a movie. Cultural exchange is productive, isn't it?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Sure." Mercade isn't one to judge... but he has to ask. "What movie?" He glances over to the escaping emo kid.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "I'm not sure what it's called, but it's a movie about a king and his noble quest that, while sounding good at the time, ends up going nowhere and leaving everyone at loose ends." Riku holds the door open. "You coming?"

:'''[[Mercade Alexander]] has posed:''' "Sure, why not." Mercade stands. "Let's go get some culture." He tips his hat, and heads out to go watch a confusing movie.

Dukes Diner

2013-05-06T08:00:47Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/05/05 |Location=Duke's Diner- New Orleans |Synopsis=Awkward Conversation Card. |Cast of Characters=Riku, Gabranth |pretty=yes }} :'''[[Gabra..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/05/05
|Location=Duke's Diner- New Orleans
|Synopsis=Awkward Conversation Card.
|Cast of Characters=Riku, Gabranth
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' The Judge Magister /had/ no idea where they would end up. He wasn't even sure where they would go. So when he found himself in a little place called New Orleans he felt very out of place, not only that but his /cloths/ changed the only part of him that remained the same was the very weapons at his side, but even they took more of a European flare that would be common in this time. So what did Gabranth find himself in? A pair of black slack trousers, a black vest, over a buttoned black shirt that had become long sleeved, and a pair of black gloves. Ton of black, not in the way of much color, but that seems to be how things translated over. Also may disney-isk? Who knows! He peers over at Riku with those blue eyes of his before he raises an eye brow. Yet the British accent of Archades stays, "So-- where are we?" And then he takes the edge of his Vest before letting it go back to his chest. "..and what happened to my normal cloths?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks around at the buildings, twisting from side to side and looking down at himself with curiosity. A white and slightly careworn shirt with long rolled up sleeves lay underneath a dark bronze vest with tan slacks and shoes. Riku reached up to take a brown cap off his head, examining it curiously but without any real confusion. "I.. have no idea." he reaches into the hat and pulls out the black journal, tucking the cap under his arm as he quickly flips through the pages. What it says confirms what he already knows. "I have not been here before. Uh.. the--" he gestures to himself and the clothes as he puts the cap back on his head. "Wait. You've never used a portal outside of the World of Ruin?" he blinks hard at that and then laughs a little sheepishly. "Uh. This is what happens. You.. adapt to whatever is supposed to be common for the area. Um. Some are more extreme than others." He looks Gabranth over with a grin and then reads a sign that says 'Duke's' from nearby. "But uh.. well. It's not suspended over a lava lake so.. that's to the good and there's some food. I think. Let's go get some, 'Ren'." he then starts walking across the street towards the diner.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth grunts, "You can stop with the 'Ren' now. It was just a good cover over in front of Avira." He remarks with a sigh. "I rather not start anything or cause any trouble while out of my armor. None have ever seen me out of it beyond the other Judge Magisters, the Senate, The House, a few Judges, and yourself." He states. "..Mostly for political reasons." He really doesn't want to get into details on that one. He glances over to 'Duke's' and nods, he reaches into his pocket and finds his pouch has been turned into a wallet and opens it to find the 'bills' within the divider. "..Hm." He then closes the wallet and places it back in his pocket. "..and No. I do not travel beyond the.. World of Ruin." He admits, "Though I have been to Traverse Town a time or two.. Off record." He then follows Riku to this restaurant and glances around as he watches people walk and noticing getting some odd looks for his very noticeable accent. You would think people here have heard someone talk like him before. Seriously.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku just gives Gabranth that smile that probably means he will do no such thing and that 'Ren' is one of those things that he's just going to continue to get mileage out of for some reason or other for quite some time. He nods though, the smile dimming a little as he appears to let this sink in and understand. "Well. Maybe I should drag you to some of the other worlds I've seen on this endless errand of mine. Possibly without stampeding beetles this time." he snorts. "I still can't figure that out. I can't figure THIS out either." he makes a sweeping gesture at all and sundry around them, some jazzy music from some street performers enlivens the already cheerful and bustling atmosphere of the city. "This.." he puts a hand to his face and shakes it back and forth. "If it's small, and pretty much inconsequential. It works. But other than that? ..My ..abilities have gone haywire." he huffs out a breath of annoyance. "Which is really hard to cover up, you understand." he grins. "Otherwise I'd never admit to it." he enters the small diner which is busy as the city outside. A low chatter of noise and conversation and a bubbling feeling of energy persists inside the diner. Riku takes a seat, looking around but trying not to gawk too obviously.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth furrows his brows as Riku explains his recent problem, one Gabranth didn't even know the youth was having. "..What do you mean?" He says, obvious he doesn't fully understand. Though he would not press right now, unless Riku decides to explain freely. Inside the diner, the Judge Magister glances around with some interest. It was very homey little place. Not at all very fancy. The smell was nice and the atmosphere was indeed lively. He could maybe get use to this for a time. He joins Riku at the table and then glances over at what was on the table with a curious look before glancing over at what was a menu. It was /not/ Ivalicine, yet he oddly understood it. Curious places these worlds were and how they effected one. "So, who wants to pay for this meal?" He smirks. "You or I?" It seems to be already implied with a smirk that he was going to pay, as if the bills were right, he had the cash to burn. Yet what things cost around here was another matter entirely.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks like he might launch into a tirade like one originally targeted at Judge Yuves but stops himself and sighs, resting his head back and looking up at the ceiling as his mask of flippancy cracks and the doubt and frustration darkens his face for a moment. The teenager leans an elbow on the table, propping up his head with one hand and just taking the cap and burying his face in it for a few moments before putting it beside him with a grunt. "Observe the word 'want' in that sentence." he says with grumbling good humor. He picked up the menu and it seemed now he was actually sort of embarrassed so his face twitched slightly as he groused. "I mean we could have ended up anywhere. This is a pleasant surprise." he grinned at Gabranth, biting sardonic humor turning black around the edges. "I've.. essentially.. lost them. When I needed them.." he trails off, shrugging and his expression confused. "They weren't there." He doesn't want to continue on with the rest of that sentence. The part where something else showed up in their place at the last moment. That-- was too confusing even for him.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth listens to Riku and nods softly. He doesn't push further nor does he stay on the subject of his altering powers. Instead he picks up the menu as well, almost rests his cheek against the knuckles of his hand in some semblance of boredom. He was not even sure what to get, it all sounded good and it was a very interesting menu. Though he wasn't really sure /what/ coffee was. They didn't have any tea-- beyond whatever this.. ice tea was. Culture differences were always so amusing to him. "So.. any idea what you may want as a reward from the Viera?" He asks just as idle chatter as he still debates over his order. "I.. probably will not ask for anything... and I wont let the Senate know either." He snorts softly. "..after all, we all know what the last reward got us all.." He raises an eye brow at something on the menu and hrms softly. "The music is also nice here."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku opens his mouth to say something else and then takes in a breath and lets it out softly. He wants to scream along the lines of 'Will someone tell me what the hell if going on here?!' but he was enough self control to bite down on the words before he makes a scene. He chews on the side of his cheek almost hard enough to draw blood and then laughs quietly. "What do I need anything for?" he waits until the waitress comes over to their table (and then promptly forgets his order and looks down at the menu as if it was written in a foreign language. Which.. on examination.. it probably was) He orders a few things that look good. Nothing too extravagant, just a few things that sounded good some of them involving syrup. When she has left he continues. "They were scared. We helped them and.. I got the shard." he shrugs. "That's good enough."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' "Aye, that they were." Gabranth agrees, then he places down his own order. Mostly some toast, with some fried eggs, and sausage. Nothing really fancy at all. A rather basic breakfast-- even if it probably should be more like dinner -- but whatever. He waits for the Waitress to leave before he continues. "I do not understand the reactions of the others to them. Viera have always been to themselves, even in the cities-- yet I should not be surprised by how they acted either." He shrugs his shoulders. "..whom am I to judge with blood on my hands of how others would treat another." He rubs his forehead gently, almost a sneer on his lips from his own aggravation of the thought, a hint of amber glow in his eyes. Though he closes his eyes and inhales deeply as if trying to reel in his own emotions. "..also Riku," He looks at the youth, the amber still hinted at the corner of his blue eyes, "Don't forget that if you ever need to talk about something. Zargabaath and I are both here. I be a horrible 'brother' if I wasn't willing to listen, hm?" He says with a friendly grin. He then leans back in the chair and looks out the window, almost seeming to allow the atmosphere aid in cooling his hidden bubbling temper behind the surface. "We should have ourselves an adventure for a few days. Just.. bumble around." He can't believe he is suggesting this! "..I know I am under surveillance, but," He looks over at Riku with a mischievous grin. "I am not alone and there is a very capable individual here who can knock me in my sense if I cross the line."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Your functioning well enough there, I guess. I have this overwhelming urge to knock your block off." Riku grumbles good naturedly. "I don't know.." he shakes his head, shifting to another topic. "Everybody handles things different. I.." he sighs and murmurs. "It's easy to find something to blame when you do things people don't like." he looks out the window, listening to the music for awhile. When Gabranth suggests the adventure he looks momentarily surprised and his shoulders shake with suppressed chuckling. "Yeah. If I ever get things sorted out again, maybe. Yeah.." he smirks, teasing. "Then it'll work out just fine. Just stick behind the seasoned adventurer. I'll look out for you." His eyes drift to the window again and he just closes his eyes and breathes in and out a few times, turning back around again when their order has arrived. He smiles at the waitress, thanking her while she seems too busy by half to notice but who smiles back as she races back across the floor. Riku tucks into his last refuge in a potentially awkward conversation. Food. He sets into it, not really realizing how hungry he was until he started eating. "But.. I'm curious. What would you have asked ADAM for if it wasn't for the senate? What would you have asked for yourself?"

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth chuckles softly and seems to be enjoying himself. "Aye, you the seasoned one alright. I am sure some bloody dragon would indeed find you to be a crunch snack." He amuses with a playful smile on his face. He then watches Riku dive right into his meal and about the time he starts to slowly eat his own. Though when the question is asked Gabranth comes to a dead pause on the very piece of toast he was cutting up. Yes he was cutting up his toast to mix with his egg. He happens to like eating egg and toast together! He just stares really at nothing before he looks out the window. Whatever joy was on his face was wiped right off. His eyes looking longing, lost, as if not even there suddenly. Before he blinks his eyes slowly and his face continues its look of sadness as he continues to force himself to now eat. No answer comes from Gabranth it would seem.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku doesn't wait for an answer. He just continues to eat and stares down at the plate with a singular monofocus. If he's internally berating himself for asking a stupid question, it doesn't show on his face with is set in an expression of abstracted frustration. The folk clatters across the plate repeatedly as he focuses on the food and any semblance of wanting to somehow find something to hit must surely be an illusion. Once he has completed this task he drums his fingers on the table and politely waves over the waitress again, asking with some chagrin and a bit of the strain of calm leaking into his voice as he asks for something else. Several somethings else in fact, the sandwiches stuffed with shrimp and oyster sounding too good to pass up and unable to get away from the fact that he would rather be ANYWHERE but here right now. 'Easy enough to accomplish' his mind snaps at himself. 'Just try to use your powers. That's a great ticket to nowhere, smart guy.' Riku wanted to lay his head down on the table but doesn't give in to that impulse. He settles down in the chair instead and waits.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth continues to eat nice and slowly and just watches at last as Riku orders /more/ food. The boy was hungry. Then again, at his age-- so was he. He then smirks faintly, trying to snap his emotions back from that dark place of despair. "Enjoy it while you can," Gabranth says with a slightly brighter grin. "..get a few more years older and eating a horse may cost you." He says with a soft chuckle. Yes, he was trying to break the air. He was trying to shrug off the big question. "..and to answer your question Riku," Gabranth picks up some egg with some bread on his fork. "I would only maybe ask for one thing now, but due to events in my life, he would see me dead..." He can't blame him now he looks back on it. Such-- a foolish thing-- vengeance. "Yet, right now in my life. I am starting to see the mistakes of many things I have done. I did out of ambition. I did out of anger. I did-- many things, that if I had the wisdom then, I would not have done." Gabranth smirks, "That is the funny thing about life. You do foolish things to only realize later that there could have been better ways, but tis to late. You can't change the past." Gabranth then eats the food on his fork chewing on it for a bit, he tries to smile. He really does and he tries to change the subject. "The food here is rather delicious. Nice and homely."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku snorts, trying to force himself to some semblance of good humor again. When the sandwiches come and he digs into them is when he finally replies. "As long as I can sell off the hooves and tail so I can buy another of these sandwiches." He makes an honest effort to change the conversation again. There is a long pause though, and a weight of things he doesn't want to think about and some things he doesn't want to ask. "I am going to have to introduce you to that movie. The one concerning the name you discarded for your disguise. Manhattanites have a lot of them. They also tend to spontaniously break out into song at some holidays of their year, so watch out for that."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth raises an eye brow. "There is a-- something that contains the name of Ren?" He says with an amused grin as he continues to eat, almost done with his plate now really. "Also breaking out into musicals seems rather entertaining. Do they chase you around as well?" He asks with a soft chuckle. "Be warned," He then twirls his fork. "The musical monsters may get you."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Let's just say. Never ask a Manhattanite about the meaning of any of their holidays. It's usually more trouble than it's worth." Riku looks down at the sandwich "You know.." he says softly. "I thought I'd be happy. To have it done and.. gone.. and I could forget it. I don't need it. I've never needed it but--" he trails off. "No. The name is Dredd. Judge Dredd." he chuckles, taking another bite of the sandwich. "We'll have to see that. So. You already know his honor cleans MY clock. How are /your/ lessons going?"

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth sits back in the chair, since he was done and just seems rather content to just chill back and drink his glass of water. "Noted." "..and oh. Yes. The Dredd bit. I thought I heard one of our men named it once, but he was sadly killed in one of the missions before the fall of our world." He grunts softly. "I believe he was part of the second." "I keep hearing that eventually dear Zargabaath is going to pull me in for a personal lever pulling to see how hard he can push me before I snap, yet he has not done so." Gabranth says with some relief in his voice. "The man is probably one of the few who knows how to get me quickly spun up with only a few words spoken when he desires too.. though most of the time-- he is the Judge Magister that keeps the level heads." "Funny that. I am the one in charge due to my position, yet Zargabaath has far more wisdom and it better suited for the job to lead." Gabranth admits before he smirks. "Not that I ever tell that to him." He then chuckles. "Beyond Zargabaath's threats... mostly learning to.. keep my newly spark anger in check. Though this crystal that Cid created keep the negative effects of the remains of the Eclipse Shard at pay." He frowns a little. "..it has changed some things on how I observe and sense the world around me. Very minor changes too, but still notable."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku listens with interest and finishes off one sandwich. Having one more to go he looks at it inquisitively as if just realizing for the first time the small assemblage of plates in front of him. "You know if I'm turning into Will I'm going to be really torqued." he says to himself very quietly. He then snorts at the ridiculousness of the idea and the universe in general and takes a bite of the last sandwich. Riku nods. "Sounds.. familiar, I guess. Although, he'll get around to it eventually I guess. He's done the same to me." he snorts faintly. "Although. Maybe we can get him arguing with his Honor Ghis about their airships and then sneak away during the discussion?"

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' "Ghis and Zargabaath fusses over their children is rather amusing topic to listen too honestly." Gabranth admits with a grin. "They love their fleets, though Zargabaath hails mostly for the House, while Ghis flies under Lord Vayne. Yet-- either way, it does not matter whom they answer too, we all answer to the Senate at the end." Gabranth gives a minor snort in displeasure at this. "The Senate does mean well but I-- have to agree with Lord Vayne at times.. it does feel under current circumstances they are holding us back. We have no allies, and thankfully, no enemies either.. but eventually Archades will have to make some move." He narrows his eyes. "..we can not continue to be a sleeping dragon." He then laughs softly, before shaking his head. "..yet I worry to much perhaps. No nation has shown interest in us and the only ones we must concern ourselves with is the one-- perhaps-- slight ally we have made which is Fluogris and they are a trading town." He blinks. "..and I do not even know /why/ I am discussing such things." He stares at the glass of water. "..how easy it is to fall into old shoes." He then picks up the glass once more and drinks from it before resting it back down on the table. "Right then.. where were we..Right-- Zargabaath and Ghis.. and their flocks."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Only if I don't steal them and run a mile in them." Riku remarks dryly. "Let.. us continue to sleep awhile." he has trouble with 'us' for a moment, then clears his throat and continues. "Fluorgis is a nice enough place and no kingdom really HAS paid attention. Everybody is busy tending their own affairs. Everybody is still afraid to reach out and make those connections, for good or ill. Maybe in time, they won't be. And I guess the character of the empire I signed up for and the ideal I saw in the people I.. believe in will be tested then." There is a pause as he gathers himself before continuing. "Yeah. We were discussing escape plans."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth smirks faintly as Riku says his thoughts on the matter. By the creator, who ever that may be, the boy was indeed starting to sound like one of them. Give him another couple of months to a year and he would talk like a Judge exactly. Gabranth then froze his thoughts on that, pondering if that was honestly something to be happy on-- or-- sad about. He-- could tell Riku the dark side of Archades. That /side/ that Gabranth tried to halt, only to be swept into it and became the very thing he... Gabranth gritted his teeth noticeably for a moment before he gave a few nods. "Aye. Escape plans." He chuckles. "We could always hit the alarm and just run the other way as the crews run to handle the area of the alarm. Then hop into an Ifrit, I think it is, and just zoom off before Zargabaath realizes we took of his ships." Then he glances up at the ceiling in thought. "..though... if we touch one of his ships, he may cause us both to do clean up detail." He then breaks into a bit of a laugh. "Then we will be trying to come up with a means to /escape/ from that as well."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku chuckles. "So then we'll need an escape plan from the escape plan. Suddenly, this sounds eerily like something Sora would do. Maybe it's better to just take our medicine collectively instead of separately." he shrugs innocently. "It also gives me a convenient opportunity to heckle you. I can take that. Especially since we've both been biting down on pieces of this conversation." he raises the sandwich. "I must be hungry." he says pointedly to that and finished off his sandwich, his voice laced with satire and chagrin.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' "Riku," Gabranth says staring as the youth starts to eat another sandwich. "...get your desert while you at it." He then chuckles before shaking his head. "..trust me.. you will thank me for it later." The Judge Magister then pulls out his wallet and starts to absent mindlessly counts the cash. This was going to be an expensive venture, but whatever. It was a fun expensive venture. "Don't heckle to hard or it may be more then this conversation I end up biting down on." He says with an amused grin. "You don't want to anger the Behemoth, now do you?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "And gain the opportunity to kick your sorry ass again? Sign me up, your honor." Riku says with a pleasant smile, the expression looking troubled for a moment before he pushed it away. He took in a breath and flagged down the waitress again, looking at the powdered honey cakes of some variety on the plate of another diner some distance away. "And.. about dessert? I believe I will take you up on that."

Living Steel! The Beetles Reunion

2013-05-06T04:23:41Z

Raenas:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/05/05
|Location=Golmore Jungle
|Synopsis=Golmore Jungle is harassed by giant beetles. A bunch of heroes shuffle around barriers as things go from the top of the screen to the bottom.
|Cast of Characters=Deidra, Will Sherman, Riku, Tifa Lockhart, Avira, Emi Dennou, Kim Possible, Gabranth, Fran
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Golmore Jungle. The task? Divert the course of a veritable horde of steelclad beetles, their almost inpenetrable armor gleaming in the sunlight. The Golmore Jungle remains much like it always has been even after the reformation of the worlds. The viera make their villages within this jungle but the way to their enclaves, already a tangled and hidden affair have been made much more so because of the inclusion of foreign elements to the pristine jungle. The barriers strewn throughout the jungle to prevent passage have been relocated, making the area a labryinthine tangle of thin trails and narrow, vegetation choked passages. Even the sky is mostly obscured, lending a great mottled gloom to the travels. At the heart of the southeastern reach of the jungle it breaks into four general lanes of winding passage with the village and it's fruit bearing trees and food harvest alongside as a nexus between these four lines of passage. Riku wondered why it was he's picked this location and then decided it really didn't matter. He might like the Alexander, but he still was going slightly stir crazy within it's confines. It was time to get out and doing something with his time, and gaining a component was something completely isolated from the rest of the brain-breaking parts of his life. Except.. well.. for the whole problem of trying to get that component during mating season. That was a great idea. Also a great idea? Dragging Gabranth along with him so he would not be the only one to suffer. The elder was /greatly/ against the hiring of outside forces but for this particular task and so when you are met at the borders of the village it is with grudging and brittle politeness cut with a teeth grinding resentment. It is polite, however and the objectives made plain. The barriers MUST be moved to divert the passage of this great horde of insects as it passes in a frenzied migration from the top of the screen to the bottom. Already those willing to establish the barriers are hard at work, but their numbers are few and the aura of greatly repressed tension cut with fear edges the atmosphere. The elder and her people refuses to take orders, advice or debate from outsiders, insisting that only ONE outsider be the spokesperson for the mercenary band and be the one who determines what 'suggest' the elder should take under advisement. She also demands that this order be established quickly as her ears and that of her aide and the villagers flick in the direction of the barrier lanes and an even more focused effort it made to ready the barriers. However. There are not enough barriers to completely block all four lanes. There are however, from the little the villagers can say, a great number of rocks, trees and other parts of the environment that might be worked with time and difficulty to the task. First turn: SETUP PHASE. Choose Player.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' The Judge Magister, who is currently /NOT/ Judge Magister right now was indeed dragged along for this task. Yes, being stuck on the Alexander was causing a bit of cabin fever when you were use to not being up in an Airship for /so/ long. How Zargabaath did this was mind boggling to Gabranth. So when Riku comes to him, Gabranth doesn't argue the point of coming along. Instead he just suits with more casual gear, places on his sword belt and goes along with this. For one, it gets him out, two it GETS him out, three -- he has it all under control. /REALLY/! There was /NOTHING/ that could go wrong. Besides he wasn't even allowed to wear his Judge armor, so even if he ran into someone, unless they knew the Highway Star and Chaos Blade well, they would not even know who Gabranth is. So the slightly dirty blond was with Riku. He had on a pair of black leather pants, the sword belt carrying his two swords in their scabbards. A sleeveless black shirt with an armor vest over that, and black gauntlet leather gloves that went up to protect the elbow. His boots were typical but with black metal sheen guards to aid in some protection there as well. His hair was well kept and military like style with a bit of side burns running down along the side of his face. His blue eyes only scanning over the area. Though he does glance over to Riku with a raised eye brow, "What have I like you talk me into this time.." before his attention returns to-- well-- the problem. Though he /was not/ going to be the spokes person.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' As usual, when there's a random mercenary job of some kind, where some strength of arm can come in handy, the barmaid is often there and answering the call. But when it comes to 'leading', she's not that great. She can handle a bar just fine, but strategies and such, she can barely hold her own when she's alone there. She pushes a loose bang of hair as she finishes pushing a large boulder in place, one of the few 'natural barriers' that can be used here. Just putting down the first stone, so to say, although it doesn't neceesarily has the right strategic value yet. She looks to the others present "Anyone stepping up to talk to them then? I don't mind if someone acts as the general here, really."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Avira is not a stranger to these woods at all. She came here semi-often to hunt the game here, often for the purposes of marks, but also for the practice of her skill. She'd occasionally come across those strange magical barriers and let them alone, the magic far too strong for her to deal with. Today she was excited to hear of this mark, especially since the way it was written up made it sound like fighting with these beetles was highly discouraged. Avira can work with this. She's patient with the village elders in spite of the fact that they obviously don't want to talk to her or any of the other people taking this mark. And hey, if she managed to pick off one of these beetles and pillage the carpace...well. "Hey Riku." Avira greets quietly, slightly surprised to see him here. Glancing over to his blonde-haired (and kind of attractive) man with him, she nudges the teenager, "Hey, who's that guy with you?"

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will is here! He listens to things going on, and nods towards Riku. "Sup?" Will says, with a grin, he's...it's hard to pindown but Will is happier than he's been in a long time. He's defintely been more upbeat lately. Will sighs though... "Okay guys, I got this. Everyone lets look at the passage ways and see what happens." he says, and looks around. "Let me...try and help smooth things over first.." Will says, and looks into the forest for something. A few moments later he has two LARGE leaves in his hair, mimicing bunny ears. "Alright, this should make her feel comfortable and relaxed around me while discussing things." And he smells like he lives in a forest. He starts examining A while he bunny's his hat up.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Avira sloooooowly palms her face upon seeing Will Sherman and his hat. "Will...no offense but...maybe we should pick someone else to speak to the elder?"

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Beetles are serious business. The Network isn't very invested in tower defense but she has come along because Avira has come along and, naturally, Will has ALSO come along. Emi usually goes out with another Network member but this time Omi insisted she come along, thus resulting in Omi, Umi, AND Emi all coming along for this adventure. The three are pretty bewildered by the isolationist sentiment but nevertheless, Emi and Omi give Will Sherman a deadpan look, entirely nonplussed. "Wow!! WHAT AN AMAZING PLAN! The Network is so impressed!" "No we're not." Emi and Omi say simultaneously. "Ahahahaha," Umi rubs the back of her head, "Well this one is impressed. This one hadn't thought of that." "Why only one person anyway...? That's racist against Networks." Omi mutters. "Well not if you consider us one person, The Network suspects by the technical definition we apply." The three of them nod simultaneously. "But this one still likes Will's plan." Umi adds.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth glances over at Avira as she elbows Riku and asks who he was. He then raises an eye brow, hrms, and then realizes-- right. Not in Judge Armor. No one-- has ever seen you NOT in Judge Armor, which has been sometimes ultimate disguises. So when she asked Riku who he was. He gives a quick hand gesture of a wave to Avira before he turns to look at Riku, "Excuse me a moment, going to scout about and see if there are any loose items that can be used to assist." Much like Tifa and Kim are doing. Hey. It was good to be resourceful and have things ready!

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra has joined the Will for the trip out here, she's hopefully here to just back up Will if he needs it and she's not sure what to think about the elder being so hard headed about thing but wisey she's just following up. She manages to stifle a laugh about how Will is looking but it's a better idea than she had and she oddly about an old MMORPG she played once there were so many bunny ears there. Okay back on target here is hoping Will can make a good stab of this.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku has a slightly mischievious grin on his face as he recognizes Avira. "Oh, hey Avira!" he groans slightly. "You still need to teach me to handle woods like this. I still trip up something awful." he jerks a thumb at the blonde guy and nudges Avira back. "He can introduce himself well enough. I can never tell what he's calling himself these days anyways." And then. Will Sherman.. with Bunny Ears. Riku laughs and facepalms with an almost audible thunking noise. "Okay. There is.. always that plan. Anybody else got a better one?" and there is a faint note of 'please' in it as he grins at Will Sherman with amusement. He also rubs the back of his neck because of the Three Legionettes (Which sounds like an interesting name for a band if the group of interconnected Legions would slow down enough to actually have such a said jam session.) So people are introduced. BUnny ears are worn or not worn. An Elder Viera looks at Will Sherman with such scathing scorn as to be practically a visible PLATFORM of ice from her eyeline to him, and the Aide just shakes her head and sighs quietly. "Elder Mjrn.." she says beseechingly. "We don't have time for this. Please. Just turn them away." "Not when they are here now." The Elder firmly states, waiting with frustrated patience. Progress: Tifa and Kim have blocked Lane D. Turn Two. Turns until Beetles arrive: ???

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' "Perhaps, I may be of assistance." A cool yet stern voice comes from the trees behind the moderately sized group, followed quickly by one of the tall and shapely Vierran women. Unlike the others, however, her armor is as black as midnight and upon her arrival several of the tribesfolk begin to mutter amongst themselves or pointedly ignore her. Fran, in turn, pays the villagers no mind as she is used to their dislike for her presence. She is an unpleasant reminder of the choice that seperates them from their wayward sisters and were there not good cause she would never set foot in this place. However, despite her status as an exile, she still worries for the land of her birth and her family. News of their troubles reached her quickly and she in turn set full speed to the "Strahl", arriving only a few moments behind the band of adventurers. The sky pirate strides past the others and makes her way directly to the elder, giving her a hesistant look for a moment before inclining her head in a gesture of respect and recognition. "It is good to see you well... sister."

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' That's why she didn't want to be leading the talks with the bunny-people either. They looked stubborn, and just gets in the way of getting the actual job done. She takes Kim's offer for a drink, and takes a good gulp of it, phewing. She looks at the work on the lane "Think this is blocked well enough? Honestly I have no idea what to expect here. Is it going to be like a stampede, can they just walk over whatever obstacle if they want to? Are they even going to bother following the paths at all?" She shakes her head. She glances toward the other lanes "I guess we need to keep them blocked as much as possible." She moves off to the side, looking if she can't find a large, fallen tree to drag over to add to the blockade.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "I really should." Avira nods. "It's a lot like parkour actually-but I will show you sometime when we have less of a time crunch. Promise." There's a sad smile on her face as she gives him a thumbs-up, then looks over at the blonde for an introduction. Sadly, none comes as the man simply excuses himself. "I'll be right back, I'm going to go check ahead. Will, don't cause any international incidents." She speaks the last thing light heartedly because she knows how much effort a viera will put into being offended (Evja).

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will continues to examine A, bunny ears take some time. "Hey, no need to be so serious!" he says towards the Elder, "You can't be as old as I am and be serious all the time." He grins at her, but there is something that will pass between the two...The eyes, mostly, people who are long lived generally can pick up on the tells. He frowns, and continues his investigation... And then another Female Veira appears, who seems to not be a complete Jerk. Great, ONE exists! ONE! Will waves at Fran, a bit cressfallen, "Aww...so much for MY plan, but if you wana, sure. I think you'd probably have as good as odds as I do." He says, and looks at Umi, she Believes in him! "Why can't you girls be more like Umi! She believes in me, like I believe in you!" Will grins. He pauses, "They have a point, they are technically one being. I mean...sortof? Hiveminds are weird, yo." he pauses, "No offense. I mean, I ain't exactly mister normal here either." he pauses, looking around. "...I don't think anyone here is anywhere near normal."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth may be moving a few rocks back to the group, maybe some logs. Whatever may be useful for acting as a block-aid for anyone who wants to just snatch up some materials. He does at some point come back over to Riku to see what others have decided on with the Viera population. Then places out his hand to Avira, "Just call me Ren. Easier that way." He probably give the lady a firm hand shake before he is back off to collecting stuff for people to use. He is keeping himself busy!

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra sighs for a moment and jhust knows the things are comming she ponders how best she could be to help deal with this. She could help with the creatures at the very least at least. She looks the rest of the party damn it where can sbe of use at this point?

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Emi says, "Beggars cannot be choosers, we are here to perform a job, not perform diplomacy. The Network suggests this be remembered." "So," Umi adds, looking over to Will. "Which one should I move? I wanna help!" She throws her arms up into the air excitedly. "...Mm... Maybe I should just go ahead. IT's not like we really know where they'll come from for sure, s'long as we can block most avenues, we can probably handle the rest? Maybe!" Omi hefts Umi up and stalks towards Lane A, intending to block that one as well with a barricade?! PERHAPS. How many barricades are there anyway?!

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Elder Mjrn's icy look that makes a beeline straight for Will Sherman breaks apart with a little startled noise she makes in the back of her throat. She peers at him curiously but then she has something else to be startled about. The viera looks put slightly off her guard but is trying very hard to hide it, revealed only in a dance of minor facial cues and body movements. While the aide opens her mouth to say something cutting, she herself is almost cut down by the look the Elder gives her. She takes a steadying breath and inclines her head the slightest fraction. "Sister." She focuses entirely on them.. oblivious to the other members of the mercenary party. "You pick a.. advantagous time to show up. There are strange swarms in the Wood, and we must.. do what we must do halt such advances. I suppose you will speak for.. them?" The villagers stare with mute disapproval but continue to work anyways. % Riku looks around and nods. "Yeah. We're pretty much NOT your normal bunch." he chuckles and watches Ren move some materials and then dart away again. "But when has that ever been the case?" He moves about, gathering materials as well and making himself useful even though he has pretty much not the slightest clue what they are really doing. He helps Tifa find (and fell) an old tree in the woods that can be added to the blockcade. Progress: Legionettes are blocking Lane A, Tifa and Kim have blocked Lane D securely. Turn three. Turns until beetles arrive: ???

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "...HMmm...We should definetely block this one." Will says after a minute, "It leads right through the village, which will be bad." he comments... "The next path over should be blocked too, the shrubbery looks bad. they might be able to slide through it and into this lane from B." Will comments. "I'm gona look at C. Hey Tifa, can you take a better look at D?" Will asks, and moves towards C. Once more, he looks at it, taking some time to examine it. "Yeah Umi, block this one and B if you could? You guys are doin' great!" Will encourages Umi and her sisters with a smile. He looks at Gab and nods, "Nice to meet you Ren, friend of Riku's? Take care of him, he needs someone to make sure he doesn't get too broody!" he laughs, and turns towards the Elder. "Not everything is what it seems, is it? I am always lookin' to meet new people, but maybe we can talk when there isn't a beetle problem?" He grins at her, trying to be...disarming. Looking back at Fran he nods... she seems trustworthy enough. Okay no, not really, but Will tends to have weird belief sturctures.

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' Fran nods her head slightly in response to the question. "Yes... I know well the disquiet that must be swelling within the Wood to have so many outsiders among her boughs. I can see the turmoil in the faces of the Warders to request their aide. I would ease this burden, if you will allow it." The viera turns to look at the crude and hasty barricades being erected in the wide passages among the branches that serve as platforms and roads through the depths of the jungle. She doubts such measures will prove sufficient for the task at hand but she says nothing to discourage their temporary allies nor does her expression give anything away, her face as difficult to read as that of her older sister. "Tell me, what has stirred the creatures so?"

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart waves to Will "Already on it, I think we're done here actually." She says, dragging the large felled tree over near the rocks they got on it earlier. "That should do it. But as I said, no idea, if they can just crawl over it, won't do much. Or go around them. We're thinking like humans right now, not like giant insects. We might be doing this for nothing." She shakes her head and moves on to work on C along with Will. "If its giant insects though... maybe fire would scare them. We chould bring a huge trunk and set it on fire with magic, that would probably deter them off in another path, don't you think?"

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "Ren. Hello Ren." the judge in 'disguise' receives a firm handshake from Avira before she heads off. "We need to block this path too-" Avira points at B, "There isn't much foliage dividing it from the path that goes through the village. Blocking the first-" A she means, "-will just drive them into this path. Here-" She moves to position herself in B, "I'll give you a hand Umi."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will looks at Tifa. "Examine it please, and no fire." Will says, shaking his head. "I mean, look at the path and where it will go." siiiiigh.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart shrugs "I was suggesting something, don't take it badly. As a deterrent, could have a contained fire, like a camp fire, it wouldn't spread. Most insects and animals will likely avoid any amount of fire.

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra is going to leav ehte talking to others at this point she's got work to do she knows ther creature are coming ut she's got an idea she knows there's only many patths and she's going to get to work on trying to well barriade one of the paths even if she's got to drd it so she's heading for B to look for prehaps a tree, or rocks or something.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "...In a Jungle." Will counters, "Full of flamable underbrush against beetles larger than us." He counters, "Infront of the tree loving bunny people." he crosses his arms, and looks back, "No offense."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "If we had some manner of generator, and maybe some wires, we could set a trap." Emi murmurs. "As it stands, this may be the best we can do." She looks towards Avira as she positions herself nearby. She smiles lightly. "Haha, thanks Avira, The Network would be happy to work with you." Umi grins. "Anyway," She adds. "This seems pretty well set."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "The same that riles all things," The elder says with a flat voice. "Change." She takes in a breath and looks into the the distance, looking at the village and then beyond, as if her eyes were roaming past it and beyond. She does not continue for a short time. The Aide snaps. "Do you outsiders know NOTHING?! Where will the beetles go if there are no paths available to them? Anywhere and everywhere their hunger wills it without control." she snorts acidly, which seems to bring the Elder out of her reverie. "You may want to rein in your companions enthusiasm." The elder says very quietly. "All things must have a course through the wood. Even when such swarms come when it is not time." she frowns. "So many things now stalk through this wood and have changed it.. and very little to the better." The elder and the aide say some very biting things to themselves but otherwise pretend NOT to have heard that comment about fire even though the entire village has that look of almost painfully holding back the impulse to strike something from the boiling tension. There are.. sounds of something through the trees that the villagers pick up almost immediately. They are coming. Progress: All lanes blocked. (A, B, C, D) Turn four. Turns until the beetles arrive: 2

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart crosses her arms, observing where the D path leads to "Well, it seems like if they go through here, they will stomp on a few crops, and that's about it. I'm not sure where the other paths leads to, any idea?" She moves up to stand on top of one of the big rocks, looking further down the road. "If that's all that's trampled, maybe opening ours would be the best choice."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will groans, "HEY! We're trying here! You know, YOU do live here, why aren't YOU scouting these paths?" Will mutters, after snapping at the Aide. Will shakes his head...no time. "Guys, unblock D." Will says. It's really the only option. "A and B lead into the village, C has food the village uses and still might gain them access to B. D might be the only way..." And really the best option of the three. Will starts moving, calling for help to unblock the path. Will wonders why he's doing all the detective work...Kim's like some sort of super agent, and Tifa owns a bar! Will looks around at D anyway, as he unblocks it.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' "...you know, that's a darn good question, Will." Avira calls back, looking over her shoulder with a frown. "These viera live here, they ought to know the woods better than any of us. Even with the change of the worlds merging." Maybe viera were just jerks?! This was getting SUSPICIOUS. "Glad to have you here." Avira grins and reaches out, ruffling Umi's hair.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart nods to Will "Well that settles it then. It seems there's a few crops in that direction, but I don't think its the biggest part of their farm at least." She moves down her rock to help out clearing the path off. Its mostly pushing the rocks off the path at least, its somewhat easier than blocking it. She phews "That's right though, we're here to help, we don't know this place, and we're doing all the work. I mean, I'm fine with helping, but a bit of cooperation would probably make this alot easier. Like if we knew these 4 paths are bad... couldn't we have diverted them into a 5th path somewhere? We don't have time for this now though..."

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' The sky pirate rests a hand on her hip at the mention of fire but her implacable expression shifts only a little as she turns to peer at the two humes. Fortuantely, Will steps in before one of the tribesman loses their cool and she can only let out a faint sigh in response. Things like that are why humans will very likely never be welcome in this place. Their lack of respect for nature is appalling, even to her after living among them for so long. Surprising, no - but still disturbing. Fran gives her sister an apologetic look. "Forgive them, Mjrn. They do not know our ways. I shall try to guide their efforts as best I can." Moving back over to the others, the viera gives Tifa a quick icy glance as if to convey a warning about such thoughts in the future. However, she quickly becomes engrossed in examining the paths, hopping easily atop their barricades to peer into the depths of the jungle. She stares outwards for a few minutes with a quiet intensity before stepping back down. "The forest... it is no longer exactly as I remember it. These trails are twisted." She crosses her arms and looks thoughtful for a moment then gestures at the far trail. "Leave that one be. I believe this shall offer the least troublesome path for the scourge that besets us." She points at path C, indicating it as the one which she wishes to be unblocked.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "There are only FOUR paths! FOUR!" Will makes a reference to a old TV show.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "We blocked all the paths." Emi says after a moment. "...Huh." Omi shakes her head. "Well maybe we can do a fifth--" FOUR PATHS "--a fifth--" FOUR! Omi turns her head slowly towards Will and glowers. Umi meanwhile is getting ruffled. "Hehehehe! Thanks Avira! We're glad you're here too!!" She uses a hug attack because well there's still two rounds left, the counter says so, so there's time for one! HA HA HA HA!

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Once Materials have been gathered and paths blocked, 'Ren' finds an old tree stump to sit on as he watched everyone shuffled around trying to figure out what to do. He brushes off his hands and just rests his arms on his legs. He is having fun just watching for now.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' The aide snaps. "We already have, but you outsiders couldn't be bothered to follow simple instructions!" "Enough." Elder Mjrn says quietly. The aide growls something under her breath and the elder simply maintains a look of somewhat long suffering patience that is ever so slowly wearing thin. Especially when the smart asides and the 'suggestions' start to mount. The villagers look distinctly hostile now but too busy to do anything about it. The elder almost visible shakes with a moment of wrath and then lets out a breath. She nods sharply to Fran and gestures. "Very well. Go." she says to the Aide sharply. The vieran aide looks almost white with fear. "Elder! We have not fully explored that path. What if--" "/NOW/" The aide then directs the other villagers to approach the C lane and unblock it. Progress: A and B Lane blocked. C and D lane unblocked. Turn Five. Turns until the beetles arrive: LAST TURN.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will pauses... "<GOOSEHONK>" he says, and starts REBLOCKING D. Seriously!? Why don't people look and block! WIll starts scrambling...hurry hurry! "Guys, get out of here, I don't think we have much time, and I am sure I can get out of trouble." He says, trying to hurry up. The bunnies start working on C, while he starts trying to seal D back up. Shouldn't be THAT hard.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth raises an eye brow as he hears one of them say 'What if..' What if's is never good. The Judge of Ambition going by the name of 'Ren' here rises up and decides he may as well see what is going on. He makes his way over casually before he bows before Fran who seems to maybe be doing the talking. Such a tall lady. "Mi'lady." He says politely to Fran. "Any idea of what the 'what if' may be they speak of?" He glances as Will starts to hurry those to black Path D. "I would ask, but I am-- not overly knowledgeable of speaking to the Veira." Politics teach you to be polite.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart shakes her head, but starts moving the rocks back in place on path D. Well, whatever, if the viera says to do it, might as well follow. As long as she's not held responsible for any kind of damage. She's starting to wonder if it was a good idea to be anymore. It jsut seems that no matter what they'll do, there'll be pointed fingers at them in the end. She looks over to Kim "I'm starting to think this is a bad idea now, like something not 'badical' is about to happen." She uses one of Kim's terms for flavor here, as she sighs and moves off the road after reblocking it.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Avira's eyes narrow, pinned upon the ranting aide for a long moment as she screeches. After a few moments, Avira snorts and turns away. She was done with these pompus jackrabbits. "If any come our way..." Avira says quietly to Umi. "I'll give them The Voice. Hopefully they'll obey it. Barrier or not, they won't be getting down this path."

:'''[[Kim Possible]] has posed:''' Kim's not the type of person to be considered a mercenary. In fact, she's not a mercenary at all, she's a secret agent! They're two different things, yet at the same time, Kim's always ready to show up. Namely to prove that girls can be just as strong as guys can be, since this is going to be requiring a bit of physical activity, what with the 'natural' barriers and all that. She manages to help moving the boulder that Tifa is pushing without breaking too much of a sweat, then stops to survey the general area. "Well, if we keep this up, we should be totally cool, but we'd better hurry." Kim then takes a moment to pull out a bottle of water and take a drink of it. She then offers it to TIfa if she needs to quench her thirst.

:'''[[Kim Possible]] has posed:''' Nodding to Tifa, Kim says, "This feels like one of those video games that Wade would enjoy playing. I can't say for certain since they're not entirely my thing." She puts the water bottle back then adds, "Still, I wish they'd show up too since I don't like bugs really, and just thinking about them is making me itchy." She narrows her eyes briefly at that comment before looking around at the others again and then to Tifa again. "We'd better be ready to move it again just in case something happens." Kim gets into a ready stance, meaning she's willing to move out again at the drop of a hat, even if that means involving more moving of that huge stone. Giving a nod to Will as wll, Kim looks to Tifa and says, "Well, whatever happens, we'll be ready for them! We're cooler than them and we can do anything!" She grins as she says that, exuding her aura of awesomeness. Then she looks to Will and frowns. "No fire? Whyever..." Kim narrows her eyes as she realizes something. "Oh yeah, huh... Well, we'll still figure something out!" Kim looks to Tifa and says, "We've got to do something! They'll probably find a way to get at us." She hrms a little. "We can't set them on fire, and pesticides are totally uncool!" She looks around and thinks. "But we'll figure something out!"Kim looks to Tifa and says, "We've got to do something! They'll probably find a way to get at us." She hrms a little. "We can't set them on fire, and pesticides are totally uncool!" She looks around and thinks. "But we'll figure something out!"

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "--The Voice?" Umi asks. She hasn't heard THE VOICE. She thinks about it for a few moments and then unholsters her shotgun. "I'll use this!" Wait where'd she get that?! "Umi, our goal is of course to simply divert them away from troubling circumstances." Emi blinks twice. "Pesticides...are uncool?"

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' Tension continues to mount as the adventurers squabble amongst themselves and even Fran's sister is showing signs of losing her patience, something which has been tempered by the pressures that come with being the elder of the entire village for... well, a very long time now. The sky pirate herself shows no signs of irritation but her cool head is one of the virtues that Fran has developed over time. As the others hurry to follow her suggestion, she swivels her head around to meet the gaze of the stout looking hume who seems to have been rather passive in all of this besides gathering materials for them. She sizes Ren up for a moment before uncrossing her arms and resting a hand on her hip. "The Wood is home to many of nature's children. Not all of them are inclined to coexist peacefully with the others. Should these swarming vermin stir their wrath, we may have more to worry about than we are prepared to deal with." Fran unhooks the shortbow from her shoulder and nocks an arrow as she strides towards the open path. She does not take to the limbs of the trees above as her weapon is designed for close range support but arrows will be of little use against bugs in either case. There are plenty of other nasties that might come forth though and she aims to be prepared. "Ready yourselves, now. I hear them."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth cuts a glance over to Fran and watches her explain before she walks over arming her bow. "That-- could be troubling if /we/," Yes he includes himself though he has pretty much stayed out of choice factors. ".. picked the wrong choice. Yet, there is no time to really determine that now." If Fran was right about the beetles coming. He was pretty sure she was right. Veira had amazing hearing and sense of smell. "I am sorry to your people for the trouble we caused in miss communication." He says to Fran or perhaps the other Viera. It was hard to tell though what 'trouble' he could be speaking about. With his hands going to the hilt of his blades, he snaps the locks off and pulls out the two swords, his feet quickly going into a defensive posture as his hands hold the blades all the same. Ready for combat if it should come.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Since the restoration, we have not fully explored that new route. It used to be a calm area, but until it is secured we have not committed the best of our food stocks and efforts to it." One of the villagers says to 'Ren'. They appear to be so nervous that they then bolt with the Aide and the Elder back into defensible positions within the village interior. The Elder looks curiously towards 'Ren' and then at Will for a moment before the mercenaries and outsiders are left to fend for themselves, come what may. There is a low rumbling. It shakes the ground first with the faintest trembling of the dirt underneath their feet. The fallen leaves rustle as if blown by the wind, then the volume grows as that trembling reaches up through the roots of the plants into the low thorn shrubs and trembling bushes. By this time the entire jungle has fallen abruptly silent save for the trembling of the plantlife. The tearing, gnashing sound of foliage comes next. A constant looping sound on repeat, overlapping on itself and punctuated by the sharp thuds, cracks and snaps of destroyed branches. Then entire rotten trees and vines join the crunching, smashing ambience of destruction and the barriers over the blocked lanes SHAKE. Rock chips. Wood Splinters and bends inwards. There is a hissing sound like steam kettles all being released at once as the barriers creak and groan. They strain as beetles begin to swarm through the C lane. They are hidden for long stretches of time, appearing only here and there and some appearing to branch off into other courses. They are big. About the size of a good sized car or a fair sized horse and about as broad. Their bluish-grey carapace has the brushed look of steel to it, great horns extending from underneath articulated plates of armored shell and thorned legs clawing at the ground as they scuttle forwards. They smash through the food crops established in the C lanes, rendering them a thin pulp that is then vaccuumed up in a mindless wedge driving ever forwards and past the village. They come close enough to brush the architecture in some places but seem completely driven to continue in the same path as the others. And there are many.. many others. Hundreds perhaps, all of them crashing through the jungle with only a few simple directives. Movement. Food. Drive on.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will looks at the oncoming surge... "<GOOSEHONK> Seriously?! You invite us to fix the problem, you don't tell us to the info we need when we get a rep to you guys, and then you bugger out?! Ugh...worse then the french." Will says. Will starts running for the Denous and Avira, "Come on guys, lets get out of here!"

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra is ready as she can be for this she's got her ice and wind magic and gets some ide she might be able to direct the stampeed away or into other ways with A and B still blocked she fliits away to led aid where she can so she's going to go air born and see what she can do.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart goes wide eyed at the size of those beetles. She watches them go past, but she quickly moves a bir further, just in case they decided to get off the path. She tugs Kim along too, just to be on the safe side "I think the work's done here... but there'll be the fixing aftewards." She shakes her head "I wouldn't want to be caught in the middle of that stampede, I didn't think they'd be this huge." She doesn't think they are welcomed inside of the village, but she finds somewhere safe to wait for the flood of insects to rush by.

:'''[[Kim Possible]] has posed:''' "You're right, those things are more uncool than giant tarantulas!" Kim replies as she rushes along with Tifa. "In times like this, it's better to run away and let the uncool things take their toll, then take care of things afterward."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Emi thinks Gabranth's words over. "No," She says after a moment. "Her people are actually rather obnoxious and troublesome and their attitudes are aggressively unfriendly. This one doesn't mind helping them, but This one can see why there are many Viera in the cities so eager to leave this sort of place. If a mistake or even some miscommunication is such cause for alarm, then they'll have a hard time surviving far into the future. The Heartless have expanded the world, in a way, but it has also brought many peoples together, many of whom would not know their customs, or even could be expected to know what one was." "The Network isn't very prideful," She says. "But we will not take blame of incompetence for a race of proud warriors incapable of moving barricades." She turns towards will as he starts jogging towards them. She opens her mouth to say something but at about this point, there's a swarm of bugs stomping on through. She breathes out and says, "We have a job. We should not abandon it. We will simply finish this and be more cautious in our matters of employment next time." She looks to Avira. "...Though if you intend on leaving. The Network will follow when there is a moment."

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' Leave? "Whoaaaah look at them all. They're so huge. This is awesome." Avira gasps as she spies the beetles through the brush, hearing their movement, feeling the vibrations as they pass. In short order, Avira has scaled one of the nearby trees with alarming agility to get a better look. She sees the crops get trampled and doesn't feel so bad about that happening. It's the jungle, they can forage and survive. That was the law of the land. Survival of the fittest!

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth moves to the side quickly as he watches the Beetles make way. They were very impressive and he was rather sure his own blades would do little good against them. He glances over at Emi and narrows his eyes sharply at her, before he just keeps his blades out encase the beetles try to somehow not follow the open path. "This is their land," He can't believe he /just/ said that. Getting 'soft' Gabranth? "Like many worlds that have fallen here, none of us have much left to claim as our home. War has claimed much-- but the darkness will only consume more. So we protect what we have left-- even if it means coming across cold." He then inhales deeply. "Yet respect can go a long way and sometimes it is better to give respect, if one wishes to gain it back in return. Maybe you will learn that when you get 'older'."

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' Fran's ears twitch slightly as she listens to the distant subtle sounds of the oncoming tides grow in a mounting crescendo until its nearly deafens her sensitive hearing. The barriers nearby shake with the force of mulitple impacts, which causes her to snap her head in their direction in surprise. Did they not say these were bugs...? What manner of bug...? And then she gets her answer. The viera's eyes widen slightly in surprise as the first of the massive beetles rounds the bend in the distance. Dried bark and wet moss flies in a rough cloud as they storm ahead like stampeding cattle. Fran clucks her tongue and leaps into the branches of a nearby tree, no longer wondering why the stalwart warriors of her people chose to flee rather than fight. There are simply too many of these things to stand in their way. Once she is safely out of the way, the pirate turns to peer at the others, noting their anger towards the attitudes of the villagers. While it is true that her people are distrustful of outsiders, they have good reasons for their views, and it is likely that the shifting of the worlds has left them even more afraid and wary than ever before. That doesn't excuse their behavior entirely but there's little use bemoaning the outcome of the exchange now. "You speak as if your words are truth when you know so very little about us," she says to Emi, with a hint of ice in her voice. "They are merely frightened. Much has changed recently. Perhaps instead of judging them you should attempt to understand." Her gaze shifts to Ren, once more impressed by his diplomatic nature. If only more humes were ruled by reason and temperance. She gives him a quick nod in thanks before turning her attention back to the beetles. She fires an arrow down into their midst every so often, trying to scare the stragglers back onto the path when they get too close to the village.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' "We gave respect." Will says, with a shrug, "I attempted to be polite and kind, we all did everything we could...with some minor exceptions, to save the village." Will comments to Fran. "You'll note we're out here having our lives threatened, while they are safe. If any of my friends come to harm.." And Will lets it die, shaking his head. "Everyone seem's safe anyway, so alls well that ends well." he grunts, "Look, can we just chaulk it up to Culture shock and call it a day? I mean, as long as nobody got hurt..." he sighs. "Seriously though, that aid?" he says towards Fran.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' The beetles continue their stampede through the territory. Riku seems to have the same opinion as Avira because he finds a tall stand of rock to watch the progress of the swarm . He grins at Avira and chuckles quietly as he watches with wonder. He looks over his shoulder at Ren every so often, but then goes back to watching the insects. Eventually the swarm thins out and the earthquake rumble of the beetles begins to abate into the near distance, dopplering out into quiet again. It's only when the Jungle noises begin to return that the Villagers start to emerge from their sheltered places. They look at the damage and there is a general sense of relief. The Elder returns (markedly, without the aide) and looks over at the general status of the mercenaries in question. As nobody harassed the beetles beyond the breaking point (save for a few harrying spells from air support or arrows from Frant) the beetles did not divert from their straight course. "I see you all live, despite terribly threathening peril, and we as well, and the Wood is not a smoking ruin after all. Small wonders persist in th is changed age. Some things that return or change.. may not be such a terrible thing after all." She looks up at Fran very briefly as she says this before turning away. "And we do owe your our thanks, and a proper tribute." And this it works out this way.. OOC: Large Reward. The Large Reward given for the Good End of this scenario is somewhat like the hard mode dungeon reward. It is whatever you believe you can have, that fits with the context of this setting (The Golmore Jungle) that is within reason. Also-- Munny is exchanged as well as items, equivalent to about a time and a half the original worth of the bounty.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth doesn't remark anymore. He said what he wanted to say and there was little more on the discussion as it could break out into an argument. He-- wasn't sure how well he could handle a heated debate yet. There was still much he was having to regain ground on. So 'Ren' gives a nod to Fran in return and waits for the beetles to pass, before he slips his swords back into their respected scabbards. He gives a bow to the elder of the Veiras and makes his way to Riku as he locks down the hilts once more. "Well-- this was an easy mission assignment." He says with a smirk. "I am personally /not/ ready to go back, so how about we find something to eat hm?" He offers with a faint smile, before he looks back down the path once more. "With the village safe, there is, after all, very little to do here now."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Emi looks towards the bugs. Omi looks towards the bugs. Umi climbs a tree and says, "I guess I made like a tree and leafed!" Emi and Omi palm their faces. Ren is still arguing. "Some of us have lost a hundred percent of their home. I have a--well this one admits we are uncertain of our relationship with one another at present time, but his home had been conquered by Archades. When he fights for it, he was considered to be criminal and reckless. And while this one cannot argue the latter, the former is another matter entirely. Further, this one has lost all of her home. When we foudn this new world we were able to greet it amiably. Our friend Isaac lost his home multiple times, he did not choose to be cruel." She glances over to Fran. "That isn't an argument, that is a delaying tactic. You are saying we should have tried to understand when their actions are explicitely contrary to such attempts. If I have judged them without knowledge of their true nature, this one could easily also pin that on their own behavior. Perhaps if this one had come unasked for, but we had explicitely been asked for help." Emi's int score is a bit too high to just immediately subscribe to something she'd see on TV--she likes to formulate her own opinions, and even after the village's grudging 'well maybe you're not totally horrible', her opinion is to get outta here asap. She remains grumpy until she finds that she made 1.5x dough at which point she's mysteriously super happy :D :D :D :D!! She's kind of greedy ;(.

:'''[[Avira]] has posed:''' In her tree, Avira wraps her legs around the branch she sits on and readies her hands to launch some ice magic if needed. Doesn't seem like that'll be the case, fortunately. Riku's grin is returned. Avira wants NOTHING to do with the drama caused by xenophobic cultures bumping up against decidedly less xenophobic ones. She more or less straight up ignores the backhanded-sounding comments of the Elder and quietly accepts whatever munny is offered her way. But once that exchange is done... "Will, Umi, I'll catch up later." Avira says, slipping into the jungle, "I'm going to see if I can catch a straggler or two."

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' "Each of us deals with our insecurities in their own manner," the viera responds calmly. "It is likely this was her first encounter with a hume. Our home was destroyed by your kind many years past. Would not you fear the beast spoken of only in history which drove your people into hiding?" With the beetles having moved on, Fran swings effortlessly down from her perch, sliding her bow back onto the fastener on the back of her armor. She pauses at Mjrn's words, staring back at her sister with a searching gaze but eventually looks away. "Some things cannot change." Even if her sisters would prefer that she return, there is no place for her here any more. The Network merely gets another look but Fran merely shakes her head. "I will not deny their actions were not in the best interests of promoting amicable relations. However, taking a hostile stance in return will not foster an improvement." She glances over at the villagers and shake her head. "Unfortunately, I doubt such sentiment is shared. I am no longer one of them and can speak not for the motivations of their hearts. I have discarded Wood and village. I won my freedom. Yet my past has been cut away forever." Fran turns away and stalks towards the edge of the path. Now that the village is safe, she no longer has any reason to be here. The tribe can fend for themselves and if they wish to alienate potential allies, that is their business.

:'''[[Tifa Lockhart]] has posed:''' Tifa Lockhart is just happy that not everything was destroyed, as it seems things were heading to before. She bows toward the elder "Just doing what we can. Maybe we don't live int he forest, but everything in this world is worth protecting. That you asked for help means how much this place counts for you. Sometimes its important to look at the bigger picture, rather than the smaller, personal principles. If you ever need to protect the forest, you can call on us again." She says honestly, without trying to insult anyone, just being her usual upbeat self. She moves back to the paths, just surveying a bit the state of things after the rampage, and then heads up back toward Goug again, going back home after collecting her reward. What reward? Well, she tries to get a deal for their drinks of course. There's probably a demand for Golmore-made wines, after all~

:'''[[Kim Possible]] has posed:''' Kim doesn't need a reward, she just bows to the elder as well. "We were honored to help you," She says, trying to sound formal. "I'm sure things will get back to normal now." Then she looks to Tifa and says, "That was totally badical!"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Yeah." Riku wanders along the path C for awhile before picking up a fragment of gleaming chitin from near the rough rocks. "I guess it was." he looks speculatively at Fran, and then shrugs his shoulders and moves along with Gabranth out of the jungle. He waves to Avira as she departs, calling out. "Good luck!" as he does so.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Hey guys. The game pauses, showing Will's stats. Lucky! Lucky Lucky! Lucky Lucky+! God of Luck! Once more! Hisnd so on... Money drops are increased signifigantly! Will yays, realizing that he's gona have his munny stolen by Max to give to Mercade. Oh well. However, Will also gets some MYSTERIOUS GUN PARTS. "Huh...I wonder who will want these..." Will's relationship Screen: Mercade, Umi, Cirra, and Riku will take this gift. "Hmmm..." Okay Umi basicly takes anything Will will give her. Will looks over at Fran, "You can't close yourself off either..." he shakes his head, "I did that, it...really doesn't work out for you in the long run. But...maybe if we help out enough they'll open up a little?" He says, despite his youth and manorisms, there is that something in how he walks in and looks...really only long lived people carry this sortof baggage, "Name is Will, by the way. Will Sherman, King of the Hobos. Nice to meetcha."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Emi pauses to look over to Fran. She clarifies a few matters and Emi is quiet for a while. The Network really is not especially prideful--their original purpose was to die and they willingly engaged in that activity for quite some time--but Emi didn't deny that it was entirely likely that there was much about the Viera she has yet to learn, simply that she would not hold herself accountable for that. "This one has no desire to harm them nor to trouble them." She thinks about it further and then adds, "Still, you seem open to dialogues. This one has an understanding that you have not been with your people, but would you be willing to teach the Network about them? While we suspect your information is not terribly out of date, even if it is more than anticipated it is likely still an improvement." Umi says, "Seeya Avira!" wave wave wave! And then she drops out of a tree wearing leaf-ears JUST LIKE HER HERO. "Umi! This one is Umi! Will is my friend."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' 'Ren' nods to Riku and lets the youth lead the way. He glances over his shoulder at Fran and gives her a wave farewell with his hand held up in the air, before he continues his own way out. He has /no/ idea where they are going to go, but anywhere is better then here right now. Hopefully-- it wont be in a tree.

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' The viera halts her quick egress to peer back at the hume children. She stares at Will and Umi quietly for a few moments, her expression empty of visible signs that might give away her thoughts. Eventually she turns completely back to face them and crosses her arms, nodding slightly at the introduction. "I am called Fran," she offers. Her voice is somewhat raspy and soft and carries with it a cold hint of emotionless detachment to the words that she speaks. "I would offer assurances that your efforts would produce fruit but twould ring a lie. The children of the Wood embrace their solitude as a cloak to ward off danger. They fear the world of humes."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "Now you say it's impossible." Emi grumps, but remembers the money that is waiting for her. "What's a hume?" Umi asks. "I'm a bioengineered clone created in a labratory! We are a network." "Humes seems to be a term to express human-like beings, humanoid with a skin, bipedal, ecetera." Omi says tiredly.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will chuckles, "It is funny..." Will says, "From the world we are from...the Japanese did the same thing. Worked for a time...until well, the rest of the world got so paranoid that they went over and FORCED them to open up." Will says, "...I hope it don't come to that, but.." Will shrugs, "Sometimes humans can be impatient. They have lots of good qualities, but bad ones too. Then again, they would be boring if they were perfect." "Nice to meet you Fra-...Wait." he pauses, "/Fran/ as in, Balthier and Fran, the Bonnie and Clyde of this world?" he says, "Huh. Well, nice to meet you! I hang out in Rabanastre alot, I got some friends there, and I started to take a liking to the people." Will ruffles Umi's head, "What Omi said." he says, "Don't be so gloomy, Emi. Impossible is just a word that people say when they fail."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Umi says, "And that is how our world got tentacle porn! Another victory for friendsh--" Omi smacks her upside the head. Emi says, "I am not being gloomy," gloomily. "But you are correct."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will stares at the exchange, and laughs...oh god he laughs. He pauses, looking at Umi, and then laughs again, even harder.

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' "Not impossible, perhaps." Fran shakes her head at the girl. "But the road to change shall not be a smooth one." Will's comparison of her homeland to a nation that she knows nothing about loses much of its impact but she gets the general idea of his warning. She smiles faintly at his sudden recognition, more so out of the sudden mention of her wayward partner than any enjoyment that might be gleaned from their infamous reputation. She's gotten used to being recognized for good or ill. "That is correct," is all she offers on that front, going silent as the two children begin to talk amongst themselves.

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will finally recovers long enough to nod at Fran. "Wow, so cool." he says, with a grin, "Or perhaps cold." He counters, "Well, I am sure you have your reasons, and it's not like I am all over the law in Arcadia, so I ain't gona say anything. But it WAS nice to meet ya. Come by Manhattan or Traverse town if you need detectives." he says, and offers up a card. SOMEONE has to pass these things out!

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Umi is in tears, at first, and then also starts laughing because gosh darn it, it's infectious. "It was nice to meet you, Fran, we would like to learn more, but perhaps another time. Finding two super infamous sky pirates could not be too hard." She gives Will a perplexed look. cool. cold. what?

:'''[[Fran]] has posed:''' Fran accepts the card in her slender fingers, peering at it curiously for a few moments before tucking it away in her armor. She has pockets in there... somewhere. Must be something like a guild card, she figures. "We are found when we wish to be. If you wish to learn of the vierran people... perhaps some time can be found for this."

:'''[[Will Sherman]] has posed:''' Will grins at Emi. TIME FOR MORE ANIME. "Hmmmmmm....alright. Sounds like a plan. I'm always into learnin' new things...long as it ain't in school." he says, "Though Omi is likely to test us all on it..." Siiiigh.

:'''[[Deidra]] has posed:''' Deidra is happy things have ended without too much mass carnage she seems to be relaxing a bit as she comes in for a landing. She's just keeping to herself at the moment and she looks over to Fran listening as she moves to bring her wings about herself. "Could have been worse right. I admit I'm a little curious..." She nods to will. "Learnng first hand is better i'd wadger.

Living Steel! The Beetles Reunion

2013-05-06T04:13:18Z

Raenas:

Living Steel! The Beetles Reunion

2013-05-06T03:27:08Z

Raenas:

Living Steel! The Beetles Reunion

2013-05-06T03:25:22Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/05/05 |Location=Golmore Jungle |Synopsis=Golmore Jungle is harassed by giant beetles. A bunch of heroes shuffle around barriers as things go f..."

Riku

2013-04-30T16:24:03Z

Raenas: /* Allies */

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Riku
|age=15
|image=Riku pic.png
|species=Human
|sex=Male
|height=5' 8"
|weight=165
|series=Kingdom Hearts
|styles=Quickstrike, Dark Valor
|hometown=Destiny Island
|alignment=Wandering Force
|group=Archadian Empire
|occupation=Wanderer / Judge Cadet
|themesong=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spMgIXmoffM| Two Angels and a Dream]]
|quote=“Giving up already? C'mon.. I thought you were stronger than that.”
|footer=
}}
A calm and collected boy with a wry sense of humor, Riku is a wanderer from a tranquil world and both piece and player in a far reaching game between multiple evils. He keeps his own council and has been many things; A rival, a storyteller and manipulator, a chosen one no longer chosen, a friend searching the far horizons for familiar faces. He is a knight whose heart has slipped over the edge of dusk, an adventurer searching the worlds for those he cares for at any cost, blinded to the consequences of his actions. Whatever path he chooses, it never quite seems to plunge into the deepest darkness, or even wind back towards the light he left behind.

'''Skills:''' ''Never Piss off the Deuteragonist, I will Fear No Darkness, Self-Justification for Fun and Profit, Dark is not Evil, Power Corrupts, Ultimate Power is Pretty Nifty, Save Vs Will, Broken Ace, Suspicious Minds, Jumped at The Call, but It Refused Him, Snark Knight, Surrounded By A Thirty Xanatos Pileup, Takes Notes, Mysterious Big Brother Instinct, Also Aloof Parkour Guy, Shops At Faustian Bargains Warehouse, Multiple Boss Fight Mileage Card, Well Intentioned Extremist, Does Not Eat, Does Not Eat, Does Not Eat Nachos, Nachos, Nachos.''

==Abilities==

'''Powers of Darkness:''' Riku escaped the night his world was destroyed, but that escape came with a cost. These powers have been honed over time and use and the tutelage of other darkness wielders, although it makes him one step removed from the boy he once was and one step closer to the perpetually hungry echoes that are the heartless.

'''Potential Keyblade Wielder:''' Handed down the ability due to the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony given to him in his youth by the warrior Terra, Riku has the potential to wield a keyblade. However, due to the events of Destiny Island the keyblade that was to be his went instead to Sora. Riku will have to earn his own.

'''Swordsmanship:''' Obsessed with other worlds outside his own, Riku strained at the boundaries of his island home. He has practiced and competed endlessly, becoming the best swordsman within his island community. Whether this distinction holds up in the sea of stars outside is a matter of debate.

'''Strong Willed:''' With obsessions comes a certain bloody minded stubbornness. Riku has a strong and narrowly focused will, doing whatever it takes to grow stronger and complete his objectives. The powers of darkness that he gains from Maleficent and other scions of darkness do not automatically overwhelm him due to this powerful will.

'''Disguise:''' Riku tends to want to blend into whatever place he finds himself as quickly as he can. This is aided by portal magic as well as his powers of general observation, but also because he does not want to be recognized when the things he must accomplish are of a necessarily dark nature.

'''Parkour:''' Also known as free running, this ability to navigate urban spaces allows him to quickly traverse rough terrain without difficulty and escape capture or notice even in an unfamiliar environment. It also represents new angles of attack and defense when he may drop down from the roof of a building, leap a fence or drop down into a courtyard without hurting himself. This ability is lessened but still apparent in open terrain.

'''Sketching:''' He keeps a journal of his drawings and experiences that he has been adding to over the years. The first couple of pages are drawings of Destiny Island while notes and drawings of other places follow in it's wake. With practice, Riku has become somewhat proficient at drawing, especially in the drawing of people and architecture. The journal also functions as a scrapbook of sorts, containing notes and pieces of memorable material that can be caught within its battered pages.

'''Storytelling:''' Ever since the idea of other worlds caught in his consciousness, Riku has been spinning tales about how they ultimately must be like. Worlds of searing heat and bitter cold. The imagination is a playground in which reality has no particular say in the matter. Although the reality does not entirely match the fantasy, Riku continues to read and to tell stories with an ease of practice and an anecdotal style that combines many fragments into a larger whole.

= Combat Section =

[[File:Riku_Stats.png|Riku_Stats.png]]
*Warning: Stat margin of error greater than expected. Approach target with caution.

=Quickstrike Actions=

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed
|+ '''Quickstrike Actions'''
|-
! scope="col" style="background: #efefef;" | Attack
! scope="col" style="background: #3299CC;" | Description
|-
|'''Black Wind'''|| An eerie wind howls around Riku, stripping away negative ailments that have accrued.
|-
|'''Lunge'''|| Riku races forwards, attacking with a single swift slash.
|-
|'''Storm Crescent'''|| Riku gathers himself, pausing briefly before lashing out with arcs of shrieking wind that pulse from each weapon slash.
|-
|'''Storm Riser'''|| Spirals of water materialize around Riku, forming into a twisted pillar that surges towards an opponent as Riku charges forwards with an arcing upwards strike.
|-
|'''Taunting Smile''' || Come on now.. Don't you think you can try a little harder than that?
|-
|'''Defy Gravity''' || A little air magic and levitation combines with storm magic as Riku springs from the ground into the air, suspended as pillars of lightning and lashing rain pummel the earth, knocking anybody in the air flat should it connect.
|-
|'''Dynamic Balance''' || Riku focuses on his footwork, keeping himself steady and well coordinated, shifting his balance in order to improve his accuracy.
|-
|'''Back Flip''' || A quick, vicious back flip combined with a lightning quick weapon slash, ending in a semi-crouch when on land and a ready position when still aerial.
|-
|'''Spring Kick'''|| An abrupt, surprising move usually when knocked prone that Riku uses to quickly regain his footing and stun an opponent coming in to engage him while prone.
|-
|'''Flash Step''' || Storm magic combines with a series of short, fast slashes, kicks and attacks aided by pillars of lightning that flash in his wake as he charges onto the attack.
|-
|'''Phantom Heart''' || Riku raises a hand, ghostly flames flickering across his skin for a split second as a ghostly apparition appears around him. The dark shroud thickens, a brilliant star of dark fire surrounded by the wraith. The apparition circles once around Riku before charging at an opponent, cloth formed claws open and the fire hungry for the light of others. Limit Break 
|-
|'''Rogue Wave''' || Riku stands perfectly still, taking in a few steadying breaths as a rumbling can be heard from a distance. A spectral wall of dark water materializes behind him, passing through him as it looms higher and higher before crashing down. Limit Break 
|-
|}

=Dark Valor Actions=
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed
|+ '''Dark Valor Actions'''
|-
! scope="col" style="background: #efefef;" | Attack
! scope="col" style="background: #4372AA;" | Description
|-
|'''Dark Renewal'''|| An eldritch flame runs along Riku's body, a manifestation of dark magic and under tight control it begins to heal minor wounds almost as soon as they have been inflicted.
|-
|'''Piercing Dusk'''|| Riku calls up several jagged spears of dark crystal which appear and disappear through dark portals, circling and harrying a target before all descending at once, shattering into a storm of sharp fragments.
|-
|'''Concentration'''|| Riku draws on a reserve of inner control and focuses the dark energies he is channeling to purge his body of any weaknesses that may have been inflicted on him. As this dark magic manifests itself as ghostly fire, it looks more like a self immolation than a buffing action.
|-
|'''Hunter's Leap'''|| Riku crouches low, then leaps forwards, his outline blurring and the afterimages of another shape following in his wake as he brings weapon to bear in a vicious downwards arc. The heartless afterimage of the Hunter of the Dark fades as soon as the attack is completed.
|-
|'''Thorn Riser'''|| Riku raises a hand, darkness curling around him in the ghostly afterimages of thorns as black thorn vines explode from the ground, forming into thick trunks of spinning, lashing blades and sweep across the area before disappearing.
|-
|'''Wyvern Spiral'''|| Riku holds a hand in front of him. As he raises it towards an aerial target, giant shadowy wyverns explode into being in clouds of smoky gloom. They tightly spiral towards a target, their passage a long moan of shuddering sound like the approach of a ghostly train.
|-
|'''Umbral Sight'''|| Riku closes his eyes and concentrates, pulling at the darkness at his core in order to see more clearly. It is somewhat how the heartless see, a melange of shadows and instinct with the brilliance of hearts muted but still powerful enough to outline those with them even in the darkest gloom or thickest fog.
|-
|'''Twin Threshold'''|| Riku clasps one hand with the other and holds them in front of him, weapon pointed down and into the dirt. The shapes of two giant thresholders appear behind him, thrusting out of the ground trapped in a slab of dark stone. They extend one claw each, swiping at an enemy while the other guards incoming attacks.
|-
|'''Shadow Claw'''|| Darkness concentrates around Riku's hand, becoming a thick taloned gauntlet with a much larger afterimage of darkness that follows his movements as he reaches forth to drain the lifeforce from a target using that reaching claw of gloom.
|-
|'''Dark Firaga'''|| The spectral fire becomes much more intense, then abruptly shears off to an eerie silence. There is a guttural roar of back draft as Riku lobs several spheres of dark fire, each of them shrieking across the area like a comet.
|-
|'''Nightmare Impulse'''|| Riku stands still while a black wind howls around him, the wind picking up debris as the gloom thickens into a thicket of reaching claws. The claws, made of shards of dark mirror, stream past Riku and crash down in a wave of darkness. Limit Break 
|-
|'''Dark Aura'''|| Riku vanishes. He steps backwards and falls from sight. He appears briefly afterwards, lunging forwards with sword raised to strike. He swoops faster and faster between targets and portals, finally landing with a ground shaking impact on the ground, weapon buried in the earth, causing dark pillars of flame to explode out from the surroundings. Limit Break 
|-
|}

=Character Logs=
''' Scene-Sys Captured Character Logs'''
 
{{Character Logs}}
 
'''Cutscenes'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

<div id="nomoretabs"></div>
 

==Relationships==
{| class="CTable StatTable"
|-
! scope="col" width="80" |
|
|-
|Allies
|[[Maleficent]],[[Will Sherman]],[[Reize Seatlan]]
|-
|Acquaintances
| [[Angantyr Vespar]], [[Tifa Lockhart]] ,[[Merilan Yursalin]], [[Zeke]], [[Raiya Fujihara]],[[Zargabaath]],[[Gabranth]],[[Cirra Constantine]]
|-
|Adversaries
| [[Scarmiglione]], [[Leida]],[[Mercade Alexander]], [[Shiki Misaki]], [[Ivo Galvan]], [[Lily]], [[Faruja Senra]], [[Deidra]], [[Avira]],
|-
| Princesses 
| [[Jasmine]], [[Rapunzel]], [[Belle]],
|-
| Others 
| [[Gilgamesh]], [[David Xanatos]], [[Priel Aylin]]
|-
|}

===Allies===
{|border = "1" cellpadding = "2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed

! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="90" | Status
! scope="col" width="550"| Thoughts
|-
|-
|'''[[Will Sherman]]'''|| Twilight Detective Agency ||[[File:lightheart.png]] '''Confused/Friendship''' || Will Sherman is Will Sherman is-- recursive. Thinking about it too hard makes my head hurt.
|-
|'''[[Reize Seatlan]]''' || Shard Seekers||[[File:lightheart.png]]'''Urge to Kill Rising''' || It's pointless to be angry at Reize. It's like being angry that the ocean is wet. Maybe I should start betting with Ivo how many times he gets into mortal peril in a given week or so. ....God, why. What did I do to deserve this?...Oh, right. Uggghhhh...
|-
|'''[[Zargabaath]]''' ||Archadian Empire||[[File:lightheart.png]] '''Trust/Friendship''' || A Judge Magister who commands the Alexander, the flagship of the 12th Fleet of the Arcadian Empire. Very dry sense of humor, this one. Seems reasonable enough. Purveyor of wisdom. Unstoppable object to unstoppable forces (see also below). (sweatdrop) Arcadians apparently have a knack for pushing all the right buttons.. which is.. very.. very disturbing.
|-
|'''[[Gabranth]]''' ||Archadian Empire||[[File:lightheart.png]] '''Trust/Friendship''' || A Judge Magister of the Arcadian Empire whom he protected from the wrath of Angantyr when discussions exploded into sudden violence. Darkness user. Angantyr has a legitimate grievance but the empire up until now has done nothing but help people. Tends towards hiding his wounds and his exhaustion. Under surveillance and time has turned out to probably be some dark mirror reality version of me. That is.. very.. very unsettling. Even more so due to .. nevermind.
|-
|}

===Acquaintances===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="90" | Status
! scope="col" width="550"| Thoughts
|-
|'''[[Angantyr Vespar]]''' ||Mercenary|| WHACK || No. No that just about sums everything up. Scary Armor Guy, The Lesser. Apprentice to Scary Armor Guy, The Greater. Wears spiky armor. Stands on a soapbox. Hits like a siege train. Ow. -- Doubles as a plush toy. --Has a very legitimate grudge against Archades. Not.. really looking forwards to a next meeting, all things considered.
|-
|'''[[Avira]]''' ||VALKYRI/TDA|| Like || This one usually does crazy things, even for an adventurer. The difference between her and Reize however is that she usually gets away with it. Has come a long way and done so much, and I still know so little about her.
|-
|'''[[Baigan]]''' ||Baron|| Groan || The human(ish) face of Baron. A smug and self important Captain and quasi-competent marshal of the invading forces. Consumed with pettiness and almost unbelievable nationalistic zeal. Short version: Full of Bologna.
|-
|'''[[Melody Ellsmere]]''' ||Baron|| Curious || A noble lady of Baron, cruel, petty and almost as much of a bologna casing as the good captain. There might be something there that isn't thuggery, but that just might be scorn.
|-
|'''[[Katyna]]''' ||Shadow Lords|| Sigh || I don't even. I just.. don't even. As a Shadow Lord, you either carve out your own position or you get used as cannon fodder. Naive, self-centered, petty, reckless, and-- yeah. Now I'm describing myself. Great. Now I have someone convenient to shake until their teeth rattle. If she survives her habit of pissing people off.
|-
|'''[[Legion]]''' ||TDA|| Curious/Annoyed || And-- multiple people. Sharing the same head space. I think. The Network confuses. They also seem to get their fingers into everything and jump headlong into trouble. Who does this remind me of...
|-
|'''[[Tifa Lockhart]]'''|| AVALANCHE|| Like || She can throw Rhinos and definitely take care of herself. Who knew?
|-
|'''[[Caduceus]]''' ||Unaffiliated|| Neutral || A program who was helpful in a semi-tight spot.
|-
|'''[[Maximilien]]''' ||TDA|| French || First impressions are everything. First impressions with a /grappling claw/ -- do the math. Who also sings. Except maybe I didn't carry the one. Or maybe-- maybe Manhattanites are just insane. Or, if not insane then.. certainly meetings with them are.. educational. Even profitable.
|-
|'''[[Mercade Alexander]]'''|| Twilight Detective Agency || '''Faith''' || All singing, all dancing detectives. Who knew. Seems to be getting along well enough for himself. One.. yes. One less thing to worry about. One less loose end.
|-
|'''[[Cirra Constantine]]''' ||Archadian Empire|| Sweatdrop || A Judge/dark knight with a mysterious past and a knockout kiss. Literally. Also perpetrator of Christmas songs. DO not ask Manhattanites about Christmas. This leads to bad places. Part of the Military of Archades. Punches through walls. @_@ I am sneaking very quietly past the Judge of Wrath.
|-
|'''[[LEXUS]]''' ||Shadow Lords|| Confused || Masterminding Shadow Lord program. There are still questions to be answered, and I may not have them yet.. but I'll continue to gather information. It seems he has ties to a great many cookie jars.
|-
|'''[[Raiya Fujihara]]''' ||Unknown|| Neutral || A wandering swordswoman who can hold her own even against long odds and tough opponents. Haven't really spoken to them much.
|-
|'''[[Ron Stoppable]]''' ||Unknown|| Moron || Let's see. Ran around a dark wood, chased by wolves, and screamed a lot. Afterwards asked where he could get food, presumably because all the rambling and shadowboxing had worn him out. Behold, another mighty adventurer. (sigh) What the heck is a Naco anyways?
|-
|'''[[Uzuki Yashiro]]''' ||Reapers|| Neutral(ish) || Another noise summoner with a temper who manages to be much more fun and less of a jerkass than other varieties. Right now at least.
|-
|'''[[Zeke]]''' ||Unknown|| Like || A wanderer from a distant ocean with a crew that roams the seas. Ends up in some very sticky situations, but always seems willing to help or.. douse you liberally with water. (Sweatdrop)
|-
|'''[[Auron]]''' ||Unknown|| Like || A wandering swordsman who is more for actions than words. Who knew something as simple as sword practice would draw attention in Manhattan. What, have people never seen a sword fight before?
|-
|'''[[Merilan Yursalin]]''' || Press Conference Rag || Like/Uncertain || Speak softly and carry a box of snack crackers. And don't get her mad. That magic has to be some of the most disturbing that I have ever seen.
|-
|'''[[Shiki Misaki]]''' || Shard Seekers||'''Sigh''' || She took a stand against those who may have been responsible for her world's fall. That takes a lot of courage-- and also a stuffed animal who thrashes Noise like nobody's business. Communications are never the Shard Seeker way, are they? Heh-- well. I'm sure she will have heard all about it by now.
|-
|'''[[Ivo Galvan]]'''|| Shard Seekers||[[File:darkheart.png]] ??? || Sage of ancient wisdom and relentless in hitting on women, even if they are falling out of the sky. Even the co leader of the goofball squad needs watching. Why? Hilarious when drunk. Actually-- I take that back. Seriously /disturbing/ when drunk.
|-
|'''[[Lily]]'''|| Shard Seekers || ??? || And there she goes.. and I am not backing away. I am RUNNING full tilt to get out of the area of effect. It's always the cute ones. Always.
|-
|-
|}

===Adversaries===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="90" | Status
! scope="col" width="550"| Thoughts
|-
|'''[[Scarmiglione]]'''|| Hobo of Malice ||[[File:darkheart.png]] '''Despise''' || Coward. Bully. You lewd, crude, rude, bag of pre-chewed food dude.
|-
|'''[[Dr. Facilier]]'''|| All-Singing, All-Dancing Con Artist|| [[File:darkheart.png]] Dislike || You tapdance about as good as you sing.
|-
| '''[[Sho Minamimoto]]'''|| Reaper ||[[File:darkheart.png]] '''Neutral ''' || A grand variety jerkass, but who am I to throw stones anymore.
|-
|'''[[Leida]]'''|| Unknown ||[[File:darkheart.png]] '''Wary''' || And I don't even /know/ what is going on there...
|-
|'''[[Deidra]]''' ||Twilight Detective Agency||[[File:darkheart.png]] Enmity || ...
|-
|'''[[Faruja Senra]]'''|| Shard Seekers || [[File:darkheart.png]] Disgusted / Annoyed || He's got a large vocabulary, magical powers and a prickly sense of propriety. --I wonder how Reize talked him down from that bounty.. and I wonder even further how he can think at all with a brain stuffed full of platitudes and hate. A guardian whose ward is only a double handful of words.
|-
|}

===Princesses===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Area
! scope="col" width="90" |Status
! scope="col" width="550" | Summary
|-
|[[Jasmine]]|| Agrabah ||[[File:prinheart.png]] '''Respect''' ||A strong and compassionate survivor of a desert kingdom lost to a scheming vizier. She is a permanent refugee, taking shelter and sleep only at last resort. The Heartless follow her relentlessly and she is never able to escape her destiny for long. She has fled place after place, attempting to control the raging forces of light and determined not to endanger the safety of others even if it means sacrificing her own.
|-
|-
|[[Rapunzel]]|| Sunburst Kingdom ||Neutral || Riku has only briefly met this princess brandishing extraordinarily long hair and a frying pan when he fell almost into her lap from a tree in Central Park. After that one meeting in Manhattan, he has not come across her again.
|-
|-
|[[Belle]]|| French Countryside ||[[File:prinheart.png]] '''Respect''' ||A kind and intelligent princess from a small provincial town. Riku has met her several times, learning a little more about her world when Belle shows him around her homeland while sneaking back to visit it and later at Balamb Garden.
|-
|}

===Others===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="550" | Summary
|-
|None|| None ||No Available Data
|-
|}

Too Close to Home

2013-04-29T19:25:57Z

Raenas:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/26
|Location=Imperial Airship Alexander
|Synopsis=Some things just strike too close to home. Also. Never bet against Judge Magister Zargabaath. Ever.
|Cast of Characters=Riku, Zargabaath
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku just wasn't getting anything accomplished this morning. It was with a sense of profound frustration that he ate the remains of his lunch that he'd tucked away while walking back to the training room. He barely acknowledged and or thought about what he was eating. The day had even started out with no memory of nightmare or the attendant weariness that keeps him in bed staring at the ceiling. Riku darkly suspected this itself was the trick and he'd wake up at some point and have to do this entire morning over. He was not exactly a stranger to strange dreams and recursive ones were rare but not unknown. He fretted and chewed over the problem as he entered the training room and looked around. Simple combinations. /Simple/ combinations and he lost his balance. Embarrassing was a charitable word. A very charitable and kind word. Riku just shoved it all aside. He was /going/ to complete an entire pattern properly if he had to sit here and do so the rest of the day. And then do it again when he woke up. Being sloppy in practically the only thing he had all to himself /despite/ not being nearly as good at it as he had always thought he was was not something he could tolerate. Not today.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Riku is not the only one training today. Far in the very back of the room is the Judge of Reason himself, sparring with what seems to be at least six of his men, though who knows how long they have been there. Zargabaath himself is unarmored, shirtless with only cloth pants and simple shoes, in sharp contrast with the varying states of armor that his soldiers wear. The men even seem to have their weapons in hand, while Zargabaath is using practice blades. He is quite uninjured, but scuffs and very shallow dents in the armor of his men show that they would not nearly be so lucky had he been armed the same. Its quite interesting to watch this dance of offense and defense, of the flow of battle no matter how harmless it seems. Judge Magister and soldier alike bob and weave around each other, everyone seeming to know where each other is and/or where they are going. From the cautious yet aggressive moves the soldiers make, they have been at this long enough that they can guess Zargabaaths next move. Its like speed chess. With swords.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku squashes the resentment and the jealousy that flare up as he is watching this go on. He crushes them so ruthlessly that for a moment he's left with a stinging numbness that leaves his head ringing. The teenager shakes it off, shrugging it off as the frustration of the morning trying to latch onto anything available. He does /sorely/ want to punch something, but as hitting himself would be really counter-productive... he only approaches with practice sword over his shoulder. He watches quietly the dance between offense and defense and the impression of chess leaves him surprisingly with a memory of playing it. Boy that seemed.. very far away now. "Well.. this seems about the right odds." he teases with a faint smile. "I'd hate to be the one who counts the bets /here/."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Zargabaath grunts as he spins between three swords seeking to slip between his ribs. The crew-- He ducks under another blade seeking his neck, --did that once. He partially somersaults, planting one hand on the ground as two blades swipe at his ankles and back. I do believe-- He vaults back to his feet with an upwards swing of a sword held in reverse, knocking back one assailant into another, earning a momentary breather, --the whole crew lost their whole months earnings because of that. The circle spreads out, four becoming six as the two knocked away rejoin the fight. They prowl around like wolves around a deer, seeking a hole in Zargabaaths guard, and the Judge of Reason simply breathes deeply in-and-out as he reads the situation. Hm. He shakes his head, sweat all but plastering his hair to his skull and keeping it from moving much. No, no. Not quite... He motions for Riku to join them. Come on. He kicks up a rod semi-hidden under the dust at his feet and connects the two practice swords to the ends, evoking the look of a double-bladed spear. He sinks down to a ready stance, the makeshift spear resting over his shoulders behind the back of his neck canted downwards towards the front. The soldiers shift around the circle to accommodate another person as well as to react to the change in weaponry.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku snorts. Double bladed weapons. What is it with Judge Magister and double bladed weapons. He winces in sympathy to the lost earnings and suddenly twigs onto the implied test here (and this gives him pause because he usually only figures these things out /after/ the fact) and blinks to readjust his perception of the training area and the fight. He actually looks away from the Judge Magister for a moment to look at how the crew was moving. "Alright." he walks into the circle and faces Zargabaath. "Well. Probably won't do /that/ again, I'm guessing." his eyes on the crew as they begin again to circle. This isn't a solo fight. This is a teamwork fight, and he doesn't know how that team fights yet, so he stays in the background and doesn't immediately initiate. Indeed letting some of the others advance. Watching how they coordinate and watching for an opportunity. "Although I might be persuaded."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Double bladed weapons. The official sponsorship of--wait, no, wrong program. Zargabaath chuckles. Its not that he is testing Riku, per-se, but he didnt want to keep the boy on the outside looking in. Besides, his men could use the boon instead of risking them giving up. He is glad to see Riku accept all the same, however. We shall see. And those are the only words he gets out before the next wave of attacks begin. Two lunge first, one high and one low, and the Judge Magister plants the spear into the ground to block both. Another charges, aiming for his back, only for all three to get their weapons knocked aside with a flourish of his spear. He ducks, weaving as another initiates a combo of stabs and slices, giving the first three time to recover and rejoin. The last two hang back, jumping in for a quick strike only to immediately pull back. Once again the tactics have changed, and all without a word spoken. Can Riku find the rhythm?

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Yeah. Yeah. Rub the salt vigorously and with a clockwards motion into the wound equally. It makes better jerky that way. Wait. What? Riku grins in a tight and annoyed fashion, the same annoyance that has been seeping through all morning driving his actions as he watches and waits but can't.. seem to keep up. His eyes move and his brain knows the pattern but something was very annoyingly off about his timing. Riku grits his teeth so hard his head starts to ache from the frustration. Pacing. Pacing back and forth. He almost ticks it off in his head, the clockwork nature of the movements. He can almost grasp an edge of it and.. then it falls away like sand and for a few seconds he's disoriented and his mind blank. He bears through it with a stubborn will not to make a fool of himself. "Hell with it." he grumbles under his breath. He counts off.. Lunge, lunge, charge, hold, combo, harry, harry, and simply flips the order out of sheer frustration. Joining those who jumped in for a quick strike, sword whistling down low towards the knees before literally flipping forwards and aiming a combination of strikes downwards as he twists in mid air and comes down with blade seeking shoulder and lower back and the back of one knee before he fades back to allow others the remainder of the sequence.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Zargabaath shifts his weight as the incoming dull whistle of a practice blade seeks his knees, feeling the whistling wind in its wake as it just barely misses. He ducks his head and spins his spear at ankle level with a deft swing of his arm to clear some space, flowing into an upwards slash up at Riku--who twists out of the spears trajectory and comes back down to terra-firma with a downwards slash that leaves a pretty decent welt diagonally across his back. A good thing Riku is not armed with an actual weapon. The soldiers shift their attack to take advantage, harrying the Judge Magister with flashes of metal and even an occasional kick or shove to destabilize balance. The Judge Magister still does not fall, lashing out with an impressive spinning somersault clean off the ground with his practice spear whirling all around his form. Upon landing, he launches into another round, though a sword blade manages to nick him across a hand when it clashes against his spear a little too close for comfort.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku huffs out a faint breath. A moment of satisfaction. He stretches out his shoulder, watching the interplay between the rest of the crew and trying to pick up the count again. Hold, harry, comb... wait. No. Riku shakes his head, pacing several steps and watching the judge Magister. Not taking anything for granted. Not looking away. Lunge, lunge, charge, hold, --and here he steps into the attacks again, attempting to pincer the Judge Magister between the one in front of him performing a combination as the others retreat. He slides forwards and down, driving the sword towards the Judge magister's ribs, the slice turned upwards to scrape into and bruise the underside of the arm if it hits and even if it does not, execute an arcing double slash towards the back of his knees hoping to drive the Judge Magister further into the advancing strikes of the others. At a crucial moment as he comes down, retreating back into the group his footing goes wrong and tangles and he crashes down momentarily onto one knee with a bone jarring thump.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath is being noticeably pressed, but youd never know it by the expression on his face. Instead of the tense teeth-gritting frustration of someone being overwhelmed, there is a boyish glee with eyes bright and a perpetual grin on his face. Clearly, the Judge of Reason is enjoying the bout and not seeming to care. The group scatters, leaving one in front to cross blades with alone--no, wait, two! In an instant, he shifts /into/ Rikus charge, avoiding the flashing blades of the one while suffering another welt stretching across his ribs and smacking the underside of his arm. This actually causes Zargabaath to wheeze a bit, his breathing destabilized for a moment, and he twists away as Riku aims for the back of his knees. Then, Riku stumbles. The Judge of Reason whirls to capitalize, spear raised and crashing down with force--only to be blocked by two swords as two of the soldiers leap to Rikus aid. With his spear held, the Judge Magister levels a kick out to one trying to attack from behind, then initiates a stabbing motion at another that also frees his spear from the swords. Other soldiers harry, redirect, capture the attention to give Riku enough time to recover without overreaching their own abilities.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku just feels like hitting something. This, during a sparring match is usually looked at as a good thing but he /shouldnt/ have done that. After awhile you just stop thinking and start doing and if you can't even trust yourself to do basic things then he had.. and then he gets a grip on himself, shaking himself almost visibly out of his gnashing frustration. It's because of the way the Judge Magister is fighting more than anything else. He forgot that somewhere. That he had to /somewhere/ and at /sometime/ actually enjoy himself. This almost seems like an alien concept. He just.. lets go of it like a miasma that had been churning around him the entire morning. He'd done stupider things than look stupid in front of his allies, although it still nettled his pride as he forced himself to let it go. Riku shakes in a deep breath and smirks at his defenders, nodding to them as he begins to laugh very softly. "Aww.. come on, your honor." he says with a grin as he regains his feet. "I've got to admit. You put on a good show." he grins openly and starts counting in his head. "Still holding back though." he takes in a deep breath and lets it out, hand tightening on the grip of the practice sword. He pushes off after two quick strides, driving forwards and sliding to one side. Pushing as hard as he could against the double bladed spear as he slashes in quick, flashing arcs that go high twice and then low once and then high again.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Deep rumbling chuckles from Zargabaath explode into a full laugh as he parries, weaves, bobs, and almost dances a deadly blade two-step. Light scratches mix with sweat on his body, but he doesnt seem to even care. No quarter received, none given. Then come! The soldiers fall back as Riku takes the lead, Zargabaath whirling to meet the boys sliding charge off to the side. Blades meet shaft as the two lock proverbial horns, then the Judge Magister is pushed back a step. The double strike is blocked, though the spear tremors threateningly in the mans hands as if about to break, then he hops into the air as Riku slashes low. He lands on the ground, swords clashing above him as soldier and Riku alike try mid or high range as if to try to catch him in midair. Unknowingly, this locks their blades into an almost solid mass above himself. He then explosively leaps high into the air like a dragoon, breaking through the unintended tangle of weapons above his head in the process, and twirls his spear above his head at the apex of the leap. He lets gravity take hold and spins his spear in front of him as he descends head-first, like an upside-down helicopter. He waits until the absolute last moment to twist his body enough to land on his feet at a deep crouch, almost kneeling, with a sharp flourish of the spear sweeping around at about mid-range at its ultimate reach. As he spins and whirls to meet more charges, more attempts, the center shaft falls free and drops to the ground uselessly. This frees the two practice blades once more, and turns the Judge Magister into a whirling dervish by proxy.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' And there is just a point in this debate of swirling swords that Riku isn't able to follow. Speed chess where the alarm of the clock jars you out of your thoughts and one of the sword attacks slides off his guard and slams into his chest hard enough to knock the breath out of him. He rolls backwards into a kneeling crouch, an arm holding his chest as he coughs out the little remaining air in his lungs and draws in a painful breath. The count is irretrievable at this point, just a whirling sequence that he tries to pull from person to person and fails every time. He finds himself smiling though as he painfully gets up to his feet and watches the whirling moves, too quick to follow. Dancing light and storm battering people and weapons. He goes back to circling, watching the people rather than the judge magister but the exchanges, the change offs, the subtle turns just mostly go over his head now. He had them, he had at least an edge of them and now.. There. Riku bolts into the space that was just recently occupied by another soldier, putting both hands around the sword and putting all of his momentum into it as he drops to one knee and /swings/ the sword around in a 'feint' that at the last second surges upwards in a diagonal slash as he surges back to his feet.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Finally, after this long, Judge Magister Zargabaath is caught flat-footed. Having not expected another to take a retreating combatants place so soon, the Judge of Reason semi-turns to face this new foe--but its too late. The strike comes in hard, the diagonal slash catching him square across the torso and knocking him down flat onto his back hard enough to send a dirt cloud up around him. Truth be told, it was hard enough to knock the wind clean out of him as well. This seems to be the signal to stop, as the soldiers back off and lower their weapons with varying degrees of concern on their faces as their commander coughs, hacks, and wheezes in a breath. Of course, it probably doesnt help that Zargabaath is /laughing/ despite having no air in his lungs. Well done! He wheezes, leveraging himself up on one elbow, gasping for air and almost seeming a bit blue, but his smile is wide and genuine. That shall... leave a bruise... He looks at all of the soldiers in turn, pride strong in his gaze, even as he takes in Riku as well. Just... give me a moment... He flops back down, intermittently coughing and chuckling all the while. Ah... that was fun.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku's smile evaporates as the Judge Magister looks at him. The pride strikes him like the felling stroke of an axe, sword falling away to his side forgotten as he locks gazes with Zargabaath, eyes widening slightly. The moment of happiness shatters with a blow of guilt so fiercesome that it nearly drives him to his knees. He looks away, unable to take it for more than a moment. His fingers slowly tighten against the hilt of the practice sword. Tighten until every muscle stands out against his skin. He looks around at the surroundings as if for the first time. The wonder stripped away by an even more terrifying comfort. Familiarity. The teenager takes in a few shallow, uncertain breaths and lets out a reedy, uncertain chuckle. He nearly recovers himself, smirking lopsidedly. The expression shatters and suddenly he couldn't breathe. Riku looks back at the judge magister and then around at the crew as if he were drowning, not noticing that he's taking a slow step backwards as if in preparations to bolt. He could close his eyes and almost picture it. Feel the sun. Hear the ocean and the rain and.. feel at home. This was wrong. It was all wrong. Nothing was supposed to feel like that again. This shouldn't feel like home. Not after what he had done to his own. Was he that willing to forget? It was just another place. Another place and another faceless host of people and another life he was simply wandering through... that had caught him.. and now he couldn't let go of it. The sword clattered to the ground, dropping from Riku's numbed fingers. Almost his control holds. But the faint chuff of the sword hitting the sand catalyzes the terror inside him and he bolts, pushing others out of the way and lunging across the training area to escape it.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' The soldiers approach Riku to congratulate and praise him for a job well done are hastily shoved aside as the boy bolts out of the area. Some call after him, others shift to follow, but the Judge of Reason barks a sharp command that freezes them in place. "But... Your Honor...?" One soldier asks, looking trapped between duty and concern. "Let him go..." Zargabaath inhales deeply, finally finding enough room in his aching ribcage to hold his breath. "...Let him breathe..." He sits up, crossing his legs indian-style as he rests his arms on his knees. "He has been alone for some time, lost after his world fell." He looks up at each man in turn. "All of you remember Ivalices fall, how lost we were as a group. How then would you have handled the loss of all you have known if you were utterly alone?" This seems to drive understanding home to the men, who can find no words of rebuttal and simply nod. Zargabaath turns his gaze back to the doors, eyes narrowing briefly in concern. "Someday... he will understand..." He slowly gets up and appraises the many welts, bruises, and cuts covering his body from shoulders to waist. "For now, we must simply be patient."

Too Close to Home

2013-04-29T17:58:03Z

Raenas:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/29
|Location=Imperial Airship Alexander
|Synopsis=Some things just strike too close to home. Also. Never bet against Judge Magister Zargabaath. Ever.
|Cast of Characters=Riku, Zargabaath
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku just wasn't getting anything accomplished this morning. It was with a sense of profound frustration that he ate the remains of his lunch that he'd tucked away while walking back to the training room. He barely acknowledged and or thought about what he was eating. The day had even started out with no memory of nightmare or the attendant weariness that keeps him in bed staring at the ceiling. Riku darkly suspected this itself was the trick and he'd wake up at some point and have to do this entire morning over. He was not exactly a stranger to strange dreams and recursive ones were rare but not unknown. He fretted and chewed over the problem as he entered the training room and looked around. Simple combinations. /Simple/ combinations and he lost his balance. Embarrassing was a charitable word. A very charitable and kind word. Riku just shoved it all aside. He was /going/ to complete an entire pattern properly if he had to sit here and do so the rest of the day. And then do it again when he woke up. Being sloppy in practically the only thing he had all to himself /despite/ not being nearly as good at it as he had always thought he was was not something he could tolerate. Not today.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Riku is not the only one training today. Far in the very back of the room is the Judge of Reason himself, sparring with what seems to be at least six of his men, though who knows how long they have been there. Zargabaath himself is unarmored, shirtless with only cloth pants and simple shoes, in sharp contrast with the varying states of armor that his soldiers wear. The men even seem to have their weapons in hand, while Zargabaath is using practice blades. He is quite uninjured, but scuffs and very shallow dents in the armor of his men show that they would not nearly be so lucky had he been armed the same. Its quite interesting to watch this dance of offense and defense, of the flow of battle no matter how harmless it seems. Judge Magister and soldier alike bob and weave around each other, everyone seeming to know where each other is and/or where they are going. From the cautious yet aggressive moves the soldiers make, they have been at this long enough that they can guess Zargabaaths next move. Its like speed chess. With swords.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku squashes the resentment and the jealousy that flare up as he is watching this go on. He crushes them so ruthlessly that for a moment he's left with a stinging numbness that leaves his head ringing. The teenager shakes it off, shrugging it off as the frustration of the morning trying to latch onto anything available. He does /sorely/ want to punch something, but as hitting himself would be really counter-productive... he only approaches with practice sword over his shoulder. He watches quietly the dance between offense and defense and the impression of chess leaves him surprisingly with a memory of playing it. Boy that seemed.. very far away now. "Well.. this seems about the right odds." he teases with a faint smile. "I'd hate to be the one who counts the bets /here/."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Zargabaath grunts as he spins between three swords seeking to slip between his ribs. The crew-- He ducks under another blade seeking his neck, --did that once. He partially somersaults, planting one hand on the ground as two blades swipe at his ankles and back. I do believe-- He vaults back to his feet with an upwards swing of a sword held in reverse, knocking back one assailant into another, earning a momentary breather, --the whole crew lost their whole months earnings because of that. The circle spreads out, four becoming six as the two knocked away rejoin the fight. They prowl around like wolves around a deer, seeking a hole in Zargabaaths guard, and the Judge of Reason simply breathes deeply in-and-out as he reads the situation. Hm. He shakes his head, sweat all but plastering his hair to his skull and keeping it from moving much. No, no. Not quite... He motions for Riku to join them. Come on. He kicks up a rod semi-hidden under the dust at his feet and connects the two practice swords to the ends, evoking the look of a double-bladed spear. He sinks down to a ready stance, the makeshift spear resting over his shoulders behind the back of his neck canted downwards towards the front. The soldiers shift around the circle to accommodate another person as well as to react to the change in weaponry.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku snorts. Double bladed weapons. What is it with Judge Magister and double bladed weapons. He winces in sympathy to the lost earnings and suddenly twigs onto the implied test here (and this gives him pause because he usually only figures these things out /after/ the fact) and blinks to readjust his perception of the training area and the fight. He actually looks away from the Judge Magister for a moment to look at how the crew was moving. "Alright." he walks into the circle and faces Zargabaath. "Well. Probably won't do /that/ again, I'm guessing." his eyes on the crew as they begin again to circle. This isn't a solo fight. This is a teamwork fight, and he doesn't know how that team fights yet, so he stays in the background and doesn't immediately initiate. Indeed letting some of the others advance. Watching how they coordinate and watching for an opportunity. "Although I might be persuaded."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Double bladed weapons. The official sponsorship of--wait, no, wrong program. Zargabaath chuckles. Its not that he is testing Riku, per-se, but he didnt want to keep the boy on the outside looking in. Besides, his men could use the boon instead of risking them giving up. He is glad to see Riku accept all the same, however. We shall see. And those are the only words he gets out before the next wave of attacks begin. Two lunge first, one high and one low, and the Judge Magister plants the spear into the ground to block both. Another charges, aiming for his back, only for all three to get their weapons knocked aside with a flourish of his spear. He ducks, weaving as another initiates a combo of stabs and slices, giving the first three time to recover and rejoin. The last two hang back, jumping in for a quick strike only to immediately pull back. Once again the tactics have changed, and all without a word spoken. Can Riku find the rhythm?

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Yeah. Yeah. Rub the salt vigorously and with a clockwards motion into the wound equally. It makes better jerky that way. Wait. What? Riku grins in a tight and annoyed fashion, the same annoyance that has been seeping through all morning driving his actions as he watches and waits but can't.. seem to keep up. His eyes move and his brain knows the pattern but something was very annoyingly off about his timing. Riku grits his teeth so hard his head starts to ache from the frustration. Pacing. Pacing back and forth. He almost ticks it off in his head, the clockwork nature of the movements. He can almost grasp an edge of it and.. then it falls away like sand and for a few seconds he's disoriented and his mind blank. He bears through it with a stubborn will not to make a fool of himself. "Hell with it." he grumbles under his breath. He counts off.. Lunge, lunge, charge, hold, combo, harry, harry, and simply flips the order out of sheer frustration. Joining those who jumped in for a quick strike, sword whistling down low towards the knees before literally flipping forwards and aiming a combination of strikes downwards as he twists in mid air and comes down with blade seeking shoulder and lower back and the back of one knee before he fades back to allow others the remainder of the sequence.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Zargabaath shifts his weight as the incoming dull whistle of a practice blade seeks his knees, feeling the whistling wind in its wake as it just barely misses. He ducks his head and spins his spear at ankle level with a deft swing of his arm to clear some space, flowing into an upwards slash up at Riku--who twists out of the spears trajectory and comes back down to terra-firma with a downwards slash that leaves a pretty decent welt diagonally across his back. A good thing Riku is not armed with an actual weapon. The soldiers shift their attack to take advantage, harrying the Judge Magister with flashes of metal and even an occasional kick or shove to destabilize balance. The Judge Magister still does not fall, lashing out with an impressive spinning somersault clean off the ground with his practice spear whirling all around his form. Upon landing, he launches into another round, though a sword blade manages to nick him across a hand when it clashes against his spear a little too close for comfort.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku huffs out a faint breath. A moment of satisfaction. He stretches out his shoulder, watching the interplay between the rest of the crew and trying to pick up the count again. Hold, harry, comb... wait. No. Riku shakes his head, pacing several steps and watching the judge Magister. Not taking anything for granted. Not looking away. Lunge, lunge, charge, hold, --and here he steps into the attacks again, attempting to pincer the Judge Magister between the one in front of him performing a combination as the others retreat. He slides forwards and down, driving the sword towards the Judge magister's ribs, the slice turned upwards to scrape into and bruise the underside of the arm if it hits and even if it does not, execute an arcing double slash towards the back of his knees hoping to drive the Judge Magister further into the advancing strikes of the others. At a crucial moment as he comes down, retreating back into the group his footing goes wrong and tangles and he crashes down momentarily onto one knee with a bone jarring thump.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath is being noticeably pressed, but youd never know it by the expression on his face. Instead of the tense teeth-gritting frustration of someone being overwhelmed, there is a boyish glee with eyes bright and a perpetual grin on his face. Clearly, the Judge of Reason is enjoying the bout and not seeming to care. The group scatters, leaving one in front to cross blades with alone--no, wait, two! In an instant, he shifts /into/ Rikus charge, avoiding the flashing blades of the one while suffering another welt stretching across his ribs and smacking the underside of his arm. This actually causes Zargabaath to wheeze a bit, his breathing destabilized for a moment, and he twists away as Riku aims for the back of his knees. Then, Riku stumbles. The Judge of Reason whirls to capitalize, spear raised and crashing down with force--only to be blocked by two swords as two of the soldiers leap to Rikus aid. With his spear held, the Judge Magister levels a kick out to one trying to attack from behind, then initiates a stabbing motion at another that also frees his spear from the swords. Other soldiers harry, redirect, capture the attention to give Riku enough time to recover without overreaching their own abilities.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku just feels like hitting something. This, during a sparring match is usually looked at as a good thing but he /shouldnt/ have done that. After awhile you just stop thinking and start doing and if you can't even trust yourself to do basic things then he had.. and then he gets a grip on himself, shaking himself almost visibly out of his gnashing frustration. It's because of the way the Judge Magister is fighting more than anything else. He forgot that somewhere. That he had to /somewhere/ and at /sometime/ actually enjoy himself. This almost seems like an alien concept. He just.. lets go of it like a miasma that had been churning around him the entire morning. He'd done stupider things than look stupid in front of his allies, although it still nettled his pride as he forced himself to let it go. Riku shakes in a deep breath and smirks at his defenders, nodding to them as he begins to laugh very softly. "Aww.. come on, your honor." he says with a grin as he regains his feet. "I've got to admit. You put on a good show." he grins openly and starts counting in his head. "Still holding back though." he takes in a deep breath and lets it out, hand tightening on the grip of the practice sword. He pushes off after two quick strides, driving forwards and sliding to one side. Pushing as hard as he could against the double bladed spear as he slashes in quick, flashing arcs that go high twice and then low once and then high again.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Deep rumbling chuckles from Zargabaath explode into a full laugh as he parries, weaves, bobs, and almost dances a deadly blade two-step. Light scratches mix with sweat on his body, but he doesnt seem to even care. No quarter received, none given. Then come! The soldiers fall back as Riku takes the lead, Zargabaath whirling to meet the boys sliding charge off to the side. Blades meet shaft as the two lock proverbial horns, then the Judge Magister is pushed back a step. The double strike is blocked, though the spear tremors threateningly in the mans hands as if about to break, then he hops into the air as Riku slashes low. He lands on the ground, swords clashing above him as soldier and Riku alike try mid or high range as if to try to catch him in midair. Unknowingly, this locks their blades into an almost solid mass above himself. He then explosively leaps high into the air like a dragoon, breaking through the unintended tangle of weapons above his head in the process, and twirls his spear above his head at the apex of the leap. He lets gravity take hold and spins his spear in front of him as he descends head-first, like an upside-down helicopter. He waits until the absolute last moment to twist his body enough to land on his feet at a deep crouch, almost kneeling, with a sharp flourish of the spear sweeping around at about mid-range at its ultimate reach. As he spins and whirls to meet more charges, more attempts, the center shaft falls free and drops to the ground uselessly. This frees the two practice blades once more, and turns the Judge Magister into a whirling dervish by proxy.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' And there is just a point in this debate of swirling swords that Riku isn't able to follow. Speed chess where the alarm of the clock jars you out of your thoughts and one of the sword attacks slides off his guard and slams into his chest hard enough to knock the breath out of him. He rolls backwards into a kneeling crouch, an arm holding his chest as he coughs out the little remaining air in his lungs and draws in a painful breath. The count is irretrievable at this point, just a whirling sequence that he tries to pull from person to person and fails every time. He finds himself smiling though as he painfully gets up to his feet and watches the whirling moves, too quick to follow. Dancing light and storm battering people and weapons. He goes back to circling, watching the people rather than the judge magister but the exchanges, the change offs, the subtle turns just mostly go over his head now. He had them, he had at least an edge of them and now.. There. Riku bolts into the space that was just recently occupied by another soldier, putting both hands around the sword and putting all of his momentum into it as he drops to one knee and /swings/ the sword around in a 'feint' that at the last second surges upwards in a diagonal slash as he surges back to his feet.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Finally, after this long, Judge Magister Zargabaath is caught flat-footed. Having not expected another to take a retreating combatants place so soon, the Judge of Reason semi-turns to face this new foe--but its too late. The strike comes in hard, the diagonal slash catching him square across the torso and knocking him down flat onto his back hard enough to send a dirt cloud up around him. Truth be told, it was hard enough to knock the wind clean out of him as well. This seems to be the signal to stop, as the soldiers back off and lower their weapons with varying degrees of concern on their faces as their commander coughs, hacks, and wheezes in a breath. Of course, it probably doesnt help that Zargabaath is /laughing/ despite having no air in his lungs. Well done! He wheezes, leveraging himself up on one elbow, gasping for air and almost seeming a bit blue, but his smile is wide and genuine. That shall... leave a bruise... He looks at all of the soldiers in turn, pride strong in his gaze, even as he takes in Riku as well. Just... give me a moment... He flops back down, intermittently coughing and chuckling all the while. Ah... that was fun.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku's smile evaporates as the Judge Magister looks at him. The pride strikes him like the felling stroke of an axe, sword falling away to his side forgotten as he locks gazes with Zargabaath, eyes widening slightly. The moment of happiness shatters with a blow of guilt so fiercesome that it nearly drives him to his knees. He looks away, unable to take it for more than a moment. His fingers slowly tighten against the hilt of the practice sword. Tighten until every muscle stands out against his skin. He looks around at the surroundings as if for the first time. The wonder stripped away by an even more terrifying comfort. Familiarity. The teenager takes in a few shallow, uncertain breaths and lets out a reedy, uncertain chuckle. He nearly recovers himself, smirking lopsidedly. The expression shatters and suddenly he couldn't breathe. Riku looks back at the judge magister and then around at the crew as if he were drowning, not noticing that he's taking a slow step backwards as if in preparations to bolt. He could close his eyes and almost picture it. Feel the sun. Hear the ocean and the rain and.. feel at home. This was wrong. It was all wrong. Nothing was supposed to feel like that again. This shouldn't feel like home. Not after what he had done to his own. Was he that willing to forget? It was just another place. Another place and another faceless host of people and another life he was simply wandering through... that had caught him.. and now he couldn't let go of it. The sword clattered to the ground, dropping from Riku's numbed fingers. Almost his control holds. But the faint chuff of the sword hitting the sand catalyzes the terror inside him and he bolts, pushing others out of the way and lunging across the training area to escape it.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' The soldiers approach Riku to congratulate and praise him for a job well done are hastily shoved aside as the boy bolts out of the area. Some call after him, others shift to follow, but the Judge of Reason barks a sharp command that freezes them in place. "But... Your Honor...?" One soldier asks, looking trapped between duty and concern. "Let him go..." Zargabaath inhales deeply, finally finding enough room in his aching ribcage to hold his breath. "...Let him breathe..." He sits up, crossing his legs indian-style as he rests his arms on his knees. "He has been alone for some time, lost after his world fell." He looks up at each man in turn. "All of you remember Ivalices fall, how lost we were as a group. How then would you have handled the loss of all you have known if you were utterly alone?" This seems to drive understanding home to the men, who can find no words of rebuttal and simply nod. Zargabaath turns his gaze back to the doors, eyes narrowing briefly in concern. "Someday... he will understand..." He slowly gets up and appraises the many welts, bruises, and cuts covering his body from shoulders to waist. "For now, we must simply be patient."

Too Close to Home

2013-04-29T17:54:00Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/29 |Location=Imperial Airship Alexander |Synopsis=Some things just strike too close to home. Also. Never bet against Judge Magister Zargaba..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/29
|Location=Imperial Airship Alexander
|Synopsis=Some things just strike too close to home. Also. Never bet against Judge Magister Zargabaath. Ever.
|Cast of Characters=Riku, Zargabaath
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku just wasn't getting anything accomplished this morning. It was with a sense of profound frustration that he ate the remains of his lunch that he'd tucked away while walking back to the training room. He barely acknowledged and or thought about what he was eating. The day had even started out with no memory of nightmare or the attendant weariness that keeps him in bed staring at the ceiling. Riku darkly suspected this itself was the trick and he'd wake up at some point and have to do this entire morning over. He was not exactly a stranger to strange dreams and recursive ones were rare but not unknown. He fretted and chewed over the problem as he entered the training room and looked around. Simple combinations. /Simple/ combinations and he lost his balance. Embarrassing was a charitable word. A very charitable and kind word. Riku just shoved it all aside. He was /going/ to complete an entire pattern properly if he had to sit here and do so the rest of the day. And then do it again when he woke up. Being sloppy in practically the only thing he had all to himself /despite/ not being nearly as good at it as he had always thought he was was not something he could tolerate. Not today.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Riku is not the only one training today. Far in the very back of the room is the Judge of Reason himself, sparring with what seems to be at least six of his men, though who knows how long they have been there. Zargabaath himself is unarmored, shirtless with only cloth pants and simple shoes, in sharp contrast with the varying states of armor that his soldiers wear. The men even seem to have their weapons in hand, while Zargabaath is using practice blades. He is quite uninjured, but scuffs and very shallow dents in the armor of his men show that they would not nearly be so lucky had he been armed the same. Its quite interesting to watch this dance of offense and defense, of the flow of battle no matter how harmless it seems. Judge Magister and soldier alike bob and weave around each other, everyone seeming to know where each other is and/or where they are going. From the cautious yet aggressive moves the soldiers make, they have been at this long enough that they can guess Zargabaaths next move. Its like speed chess. With swords.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku squashes the resentment and the jealousy that flare up as he is watching this go on. He crushes them so ruthlessly that for a moment he's left with a stinging numbness that leaves his head ringing. The teenager shakes it off, shrugging it off as the frustration of the morning trying to latch onto anything available. He does /sorely/ want to punch something, but as hitting himself would be really counter-productive... he only approaches with practice sword over his shoulder. He watches quietly the dance between offense and defense and the impression of chess leaves him surprisingly with a memory of playing it. Boy that seemed.. very far away now. "Well.. this seems about the right odds." he teases with a faint smile. "I'd hate to be the one who counts the bets /here/."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Zargabaath grunts as he spins between three swords seeking to slip between his ribs. The crew-- He ducks under another blade seeking his neck, --did that once. He partially somersaults, planting one hand on the ground as two blades swipe at his ankles and back. I do believe-- He vaults back to his feet with an upwards swing of a sword held in reverse, knocking back one assailant into another, earning a momentary breather, --the whole crew lost their whole months earnings because of that. The circle spreads out, four becoming six as the two knocked away rejoin the fight. They prowl around like wolves around a deer, seeking a hole in Zargabaaths guard, and the Judge of Reason simply breathes deeply in-and-out as he reads the situation. Hm. He shakes his head, sweat all but plastering his hair to his skull and keeping it from moving much. No, no. Not quite... He motions for Riku to join them. Come on. He kicks up a rod semi-hidden under the dust at his feet and connects the two practice swords to the ends, evoking the look of a double-bladed spear. He sinks down to a ready stance, the makeshift spear resting over his shoulders behind the back of his neck canted downwards towards the front. The soldiers shift around the circle to accommodate another person as well as to react to the change in weaponry.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku snorts. Double bladed weapons. What is it with Judge Magister and double bladed weapons. He winces in sympathy to the lost earnings and suddenly twigs onto the implied test here (and this gives him pause because he usually only figures these things out /after/ the fact) and blinks to readjust his perception of the training area and the fight. He actually looks away from the Judge Magister for a moment to look at how the crew was moving. "Alright." he walks into the circle and faces Zargabaath. "Well. Probably won't do /that/ again, I'm guessing." his eyes on the crew as they begin again to circle. This isn't a solo fight. This is a teamwork fight, and he doesn't know how that team fights yet, so he stays in the background and doesn't immediately initiate. Indeed letting some of the others advance. Watching how they coordinate and watching for an opportunity. "Although I might be persuaded."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Double bladed weapons. The official sponsorship of--wait, no, wrong program. Zargabaath chuckles. Its not that he is testing Riku, per-se, but he didnt want to keep the boy on the outside looking in. Besides, his men could use the boon instead of risking them giving up. He is glad to see Riku accept all the same, however. We shall see. And those are the only words he gets out before the next wave of attacks begin. Two lunge first, one high and one low, and the Judge Magister plants the spear into the ground to block both. Another charges, aiming for his back, only for all three to get their weapons knocked aside with a flourish of his spear. He ducks, weaving as another initiates a combo of stabs and slices, giving the first three time to recover and rejoin. The last two hang back, jumping in for a quick strike only to immediately pull back. Once again the tactics have changed, and all without a word spoken. Can Riku find the rhythm?

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Yeah. Yeah. Rub the salt vigorously and with a clockwards motion into the wound equally. It makes better jerky that way. Wait. What? Riku grins in a tight and annoyed fashion, the same annoyance that has been seeping through all morning driving his actions as he watches and waits but can't.. seem to keep up. His eyes move and his brain knows the pattern but something was very annoyingly off about his timing. Riku grits his teeth so hard his head starts to ache from the frustration. Pacing. Pacing back and forth. He almost ticks it off in his head, the clockwork nature of the movements. He can almost grasp an edge of it and.. then it falls away like sand and for a few seconds he's disoriented and his mind blank. He bears through it with a stubborn will not to make a fool of himself. "Hell with it." he grumbles under his breath. He counts off.. Lunge, lunge, charge, hold, combo, harry, harry, and simply flips the order out of sheer frustration. Joining those who jumped in for a quick strike, sword whistling down low towards the knees before literally flipping forwards and aiming a combination of strikes downwards as he twists in mid air and comes down with blade seeking shoulder and lower back and the back of one knee before he fades back to allow others the remainder of the sequence.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Zargabaath shifts his weight as the incoming dull whistle of a practice blade seeks his knees, feeling the whistling wind in its wake as it just barely misses. He ducks his head and spins his spear at ankle level with a deft swing of his arm to clear some space, flowing into an upwards slash up at Riku--who twists out of the spears trajectory and comes back down to terra-firma with a downwards slash that leaves a pretty decent welt diagonally across his back. A good thing Riku is not armed with an actual weapon. The soldiers shift their attack to take advantage, harrying the Judge Magister with flashes of metal and even an occasional kick or shove to destabilize balance. The Judge Magister still does not fall, lashing out with an impressive spinning somersault clean off the ground with his practice spear whirling all around his form. Upon landing, he launches into another round, though a sword blade manages to nick him across a hand when it clashes against his spear a little too close for comfort.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku huffs out a faint breath. A moment of satisfaction. He stretches out his shoulder, watching the interplay between the rest of the crew and trying to pick up the count again. Hold, harry, comb... wait. No. Riku shakes his head, pacing several steps and watching the judge Magister. Not taking anything for granted. Not looking away. Lunge, lunge, charge, hold, --and here he steps into the attacks again, attempting to pincer the Judge Magister between the one in front of him performing a combination as the others retreat. He slides forwards and down, driving the sword towards the Judge magister's ribs, the slice turned upwards to scrape into and bruise the underside of the arm if it hits and even if it does not, execute an arcing double slash towards the back of his knees hoping to drive the Judge Magister further into the advancing strikes of the others. At a crucial moment as he comes down, retreating back into the group his footing goes wrong and tangles and he crashes down momentarily onto one knee with a bone jarring thump.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath is being noticeably pressed, but youd never know it by the expression on his face. Instead of the tense teeth-gritting frustration of someone being overwhelmed, there is a boyish glee with eyes bright and a perpetual grin on his face. Clearly, the Judge of Reason is enjoying the bout and not seeming to care. The group scatters, leaving one in front to cross blades with alone--no, wait, two! In an instant, he shifts /into/ Rikus charge, avoiding the flashing blades of the one while suffering another welt stretching across his ribs and smacking the underside of his arm. This actually causes Zargabaath to wheeze a bit, his breathing destabilized for a moment, and he twists away as Riku aims for the back of his knees. Then, Riku stumbles. The Judge of Reason whirls to capitalize, spear raised and crashing down with force--only to be blocked by two swords as two of the soldiers leap to Rikus aid. With his spear held, the Judge Magister levels a kick out to one trying to attack from behind, then initiates a stabbing motion at another that also frees his spear from the swords. Other soldiers harry, redirect, capture the attention to give Riku enough time to recover without overreaching their own abilities.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku just feels like hitting something. This, during a sparring match is usually looked at as a good thing but he /shouldnt/ have done that. After awhile you just stop thinking and start doing and if you can't even trust yourself to do basic things then he had.. and then he gets a grip on himself, shaking himself almost visibly out of his gnashing frustration. It's because of the way the Judge Magister is fighting more than anything else. He forgot that somewhere. That he had to /somewhere/ and at /sometime/ actually enjoy himself. This almost seems like an alien concept. He just.. lets go of it like a miasma that had been churning around him the entire morning. He'd done stupider things than look stupid in front of his allies, although it still nettled his pride as he forced himself to let it go. Riku shakes in a deep breath and smirks at his defenders, nodding to them as he begins to laugh very softly. "Aww.. come on, your honor." he says with a grin as he regains his feet. "I've got to admit. You put on a good show." he grins openly and starts counting in his head. "Still holding back though." he takes in a deep breath and lets it out, hand tightening on the grip of the practice sword. He pushes off after two quick strides, driving forwards and sliding to one side. Pushing as hard as he could against the double bladed spear as he slashes in quick, flashing arcs that go high twice and then low once and then high again.

:'''[[Zarglebargle]] has posed:''' Deep rumbling chuckles from Zargabaath explode into a full laugh as he parries, weaves, bobs, and almost dances a deadly blade two-step. Light scratches mix with sweat on his body, but he doesnt seem to even care. No quarter received, none given. Then come! The soldiers fall back as Riku takes the lead, Zargabaath whirling to meet the boys sliding charge off to the side. Blades meet shaft as the two lock proverbial horns, then the Judge Magister is pushed back a step. The double strike is blocked, though the spear tremors threateningly in the mans hands as if about to break, then he hops into the air as Riku slashes low. He lands on the ground, swords clashing above him as soldier and Riku alike try mid or high range as if to try to catch him in midair. Unknowingly, this locks their blades into an almost solid mass above himself. He then explosively leaps high into the air like a dragoon, breaking through the unintended tangle of weapons above his head in the process, and twirls his spear above his head at the apex of the leap. He lets gravity take hold and spins his spear in front of him as he descends head-first, like an upside-down helicopter. He waits until the absolute last moment to twist his body enough to land on his feet at a deep crouch, almost kneeling, with a sharp flourish of the spear sweeping around at about mid-range at its ultimate reach. As he spins and whirls to meet more charges, more attempts, the center shaft falls free and drops to the ground uselessly. This frees the two practice blades once more, and turns the Judge Magister into a whirling dervish by proxy.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' And there is just a point in this debate of swirling swords that Riku isn't able to follow. Speed chess where the alarm of the clock jars you out of your thoughts and one of the sword attacks slides off his guard and slams into his chest hard enough to knock the breath out of him. He rolls backwards into a kneeling crouch, an arm holding his chest as he coughs out the little remaining air in his lungs and draws in a painful breath. The count is irretrievable at this point, just a whirling sequence that he tries to pull from person to person and fails every time. He finds himself smiling though as he painfully gets up to his feet and watches the whirling moves, too quick to follow. Dancing light and storm battering people and weapons. He goes back to circling, watching the people rather than the judge magister but the exchanges, the change offs, the subtle turns just mostly go over his head now. He had them, he had at least an edge of them and now.. There. Riku bolts into the space that was just recently occupied by another soldier, putting both hands around the sword and putting all of his momentum into it as he drops to one knee and /swings/ the sword around in a 'feint' that at the last second surges upwards in a diagonal slash as he surges back to his feet.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Finally, after this long, Judge Magister Zargabaath is caught flat-footed. Having not expected another to take a retreating combatants place so soon, the Judge of Reason semi-turns to face this new foe--but its too late. The strike comes in hard, the diagonal slash catching him square across the torso and knocking him down flat onto his back hard enough to send a dirt cloud up around him. Truth be told, it was hard enough to knock the wind clean out of him as well. This seems to be the signal to stop, as the soldiers back off and lower their weapons with varying degrees of concern on their faces as their commander coughs, hacks, and wheezes in a breath. Of course, it probably doesnt help that Zargabaath is /laughing/ despite having no air in his lungs. Well done! He wheezes, leveraging himself up on one elbow, gasping for air and almost seeming a bit blue, but his smile is wide and genuine. That shall... leave a bruise... He looks at all of the soldiers in turn, pride strong in his gaze, even as he takes in Riku as well. Just... give me a moment... He flops back down, intermittently coughing and chuckling all the while. Ah... that was fun.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku's smile evaporates as the Judge Magister looks at him. The pride strikes him like the felling stroke of an axe, sword falling away to his side forgotten as he locks gazes with Zargabaath, eyes widening slightly. The moment of happiness shatters with a blow of guilt so fiercesome that it nearly drives him to his knees. He looks away, unable to take it for more than a moment. His fingers slowly tighten against the hilt of the practice sword. Tighten until every muscle stands out against his skin. He looks around at the surroundings as if for the first time. The wonder stripped away by an even more terrifying comfort. Familiarity. The teenager takes in a few shallow, uncertain breaths and lets out a reedy, uncertain chuckle. He nearly recovers himself, smirking lopsidedly. The expression shatters and suddenly he couldn't breathe. Riku looks back at the judge magister and then around at the crew as if he were drowning, not noticing that he's taking a slow step backwards as if in preparations to bolt. He could close his eyes and almost picture it. Feel the sun. Hear the ocean and the rain and.. feel at home. This was wrong. It was all wrong. Nothing was supposed to feel like that again. This shouldn't feel like home. Not after what he had done to his own. Was he that willing to forget? It was just another place. Another place and another faceless host of people and another life he was simply wandering through... that had caught him.. and now he couldn't let go of it. The sword clattered to the ground, dropping from Riku's numbed fingers. Almost his control holds. But the faint chuff of the sword hitting the sand catalyzes the terror inside him and he bolts, pushing others out of the way and lunging across the training area to escape it.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' The soldiers approach Riku to congratulate and praise him for a job well done are hastily shoved aside as the boy bolts out of the area. Some call after him, others shift to follow, but the Judge of Reason barks a sharp command that freezes them in place. "But... Your Honor...?" One soldier asks, looking trapped between duty and concern. "Let him go..." Zargabaath inhales deeply, finally finding enough room in his aching ribcage to hold his breath. "...Let him breathe..." He sits up, crossing his legs indian-style as he rests his arms on his knees. "He has been alone for some time, lost after his world fell." He looks up at each man in turn. "All of you remember Ivalices fall, how lost we were as a group. How then would you have handled the loss of all you have known if you were utterly alone?" This seems to drive understanding home to the men, who can find no words of rebuttal and simply nod. Zargabaath turns his gaze back to the doors, eyes narrowing briefly in concern. "Someday... he will understand..." He slowly gets up and appraises the many welts, bruises, and cuts covering his body from shoulders to waist. "For now, we must simply be patient."

Food for Thought

2013-04-29T17:21:39Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/26 |Location=Archades - Upper |Synopsis=A story owed and sandwiches consumed. Questions answered. |Cast of Characters=Gabranth, Riku |prett..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/26
|Location=Archades - Upper
|Synopsis=A story owed and sandwiches consumed. Questions answered.
|Cast of Characters=Gabranth, Riku
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Bad things happen when you don't focus. Especially when you don't even /remember/ to do so, despite all the past evidence that doing things like portal jumping when emotionally imbalanced and not thinking about it leads usually to being Tree'd. Case in point. Leaving the Alexander, which is moving, to an only vaguely imagined place /away/ from the Alexander leads to Riku appearing roughly in Archades, yes. Even roughly in the same general area of building complex. Just... outside them, instead of inside. Riku yelps as being dumped out into open space is a /very/ quick way to keep one from a catastrophic mope. He claws at the outer surface of a wall, thumping with bone jarring force on a ledge some distance down. He almost topples off that ledge as well and considers an inexorable journey to an inevitable splat but catches the ledge with one hand and pulls himself painfully onto the short ledge. Riku cradles bloodied fingers and laughs softly to himself as he grinds his face into the rough texture of the building, nearly crying from frustration and bottled up emotion. Eventually he calms down enough to mutter. "Pay.. attention." he knocks his head gently against the stone. "..You'd think.. I'd remember.. after awhile." As he listens to the city noise and the wind muffling it all, the radio clicks on and he listens to Cirra and Gabranth talk. He almost flinches when he hears Zargabaath speak. Riku huffs out a breath, gritting his teeth slightly in determination. He pulls himself painfully to this feet (That's going to be a marvelous bruise for the next day or three) and tilts his head sideways. It didn't.. quite work as well anymore but he has a vaguely good idea of where he was going. Well. A /much/ better idea than before. It's a short time later and a bit of focused preparation and cleaning himself up before he goes looking for Gabranth, wherever they may be right now.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' The Judge Magister, or was Judge Magister, now stuck with Civilian Rank for the time was actually in his apartment. He was glad to see that he could still access his old office if he needed too because though Cirra was put in charge of his seat for the time, the office space was still his. Riku probably got the directions to where if he did ask and what makes it odd, or so he may find, is that Gabranth chooses where he lives is odd to many. Most Judge Magisters have enough funds for a nice size private home, yet Gabranth apparently chooses to live in a less classy location of Upper Archades in a rather basic apartment of two bedrooms and not very large square footage. Needless to say the apartment itself had a main foyer you walked into with a nice size window to over look the city, off to the side was the kitchen/dining room, to the other side was a hall that went into a bathroom directly straight and bedroom down one way and the other bedroom the other-- which was apparently turned into a place to hold armory material and shelves of books. Mostly books ranging from military, tactical knowledge, political knowledge, demographics, and research type materials. Only a small section seem to be for fictional materials. As for the man of the hour himself, he was snoozing on his couch that sat in front of the large window. The book he was reading, some fictional book it would seem was layed over his face. The table in front of the couch was a nice dark wood oval coffee table that had a bottle of some type of liquor and a glass that was half empty. It looked to be a form of Brandy. Perhaps some Archades equivalent too. There was also a type of flint lock weapon on the table next to the glass, just out his hands reach and his sword belt was hanging on a hook at the foot of the couch with the Highway Star and Chaos in their proper scabbards.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku had gotten turned around twice, which annoyed him but he was still determined to see this through. He actually hadn't been here before and so the unfamiliarity made him vaguely uneasy. It also kept his focus on something else for awhile and he didn't give the slightest damn about intruding at this moment in time. So it's perhaps just a few moments before an extremely loud BOOM echoes through the apartment from someone slamming their fist onto the door. Or.. maybe that's just what it sounds like in the silence.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' There was a loud 'BOOM' and this did indeed get Gabranth's attention. It was almost that jump attention with a soft growl in annoyance. He lifts up the book and just glances toward his door. He blue eyes just stare at the door with a look of 'how dare ye' before he sighs softly and goes to stand up. Resting the book down on the table, picking up the flint-lock and then placing the weapon on the backside of his pants to carry it encase he would need it. Gabranth actually wasn't wearing much truth be told. A form of denim (for once) as his pants, a belt around his waste and that was about it. Though he did have a chain necklace around his neck that was holding onto a white crystal that glowed softly with white, bluish light. Also a pair of dog tags on a black leather cord. So he goes to undo the lock chain, the one of the lock bolts, before reaching down for the final lock. His hand freezes there for a moment as he debates on unlocking it, or reaching for the flint-lock then unlocking it. Paranoia. Something he was starting to realize he had far to much of since he arrived back. After what he said to Zargabaath... He unlocks the bolt and opens the door. His blue eyes skimming for who made the loud sound, before they fall on Riku. He stares at the youth for a moment before he inhales deeply. "Hello Riku." He then opens the door fully to let the youth in before he walks back over the coffee table. Yes that flintlock can be seen, and yes the safety is indeed engaged. The place was really bare compared to the couch, maybe the one chair that was against the wall that somewhat divided the kitchen/dining room, and the coffee table. "Shut the door behind you, if you don't mind and what can I do for you?" Gabranth asks as he picks up the bottle and then the glass. He will just finish this later he figures as he goes to walk around the corner and places the cup on the counter and the bottle back into an upper cabinet.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku enters and pushes the door closed, locking it as he looks around briefly. His stance and manner are agitated, eyes roaming from point to point to point without really resting on anything in particular. "Pay up." he demands flatly, crossing his arms. He looks around at the sparse apartment and shakes his head. "..No. Not good enough." he slams a hand into the wall, the offending limb disappearing up to the elbow as he opens a portal straight into the wall. He extends the other to Gabranth, heedless of bruises or several ragged or torn off nails on that hand. "Come on. You coming or not? I've got something to say."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth comes back out into the main foyer an raises an eye brow as he hears Riku say 'pay up' then 'not good enough' and suddenly dark portal. He looks at Riku's condition, then to the Dark Portal. Just what was this about anyhow? The former Judge Magister grabs his swords off the hook, drops the flintlock back on the table. Locks the doors and just grabs the jacket off the coat hanger. No time for a shirt. He throws the black leather jacket on, the belt over his shoulder and takes Riku hand. "..Though I might ask you something before you break down your questions to me." Gabranth admits.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku wrenches the Judge Magister.. or.. whatever through the portal. The wind howls mournfully on this building. It's one that Gabranth has seen before, one of the highest buildings in all of Upper Archades. There is a low dark box set up against a ridge in the architecture, half tucked away from sight. Riku's control this time is flawless and deposits them on a stretch of sun warmed rooftop. He spins around almost immediately, exclaiming. "What?" tucking his stinging hands roughly into his pockets as he lets Gabranth ask his question before whatever

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth notices where they are and this time isn't nearly dumped right off the building. Those blue eyes glance around the area. Looking at where they are and remembering this location fully now. He glances over at the black box and raises a brow before he looks over to Riku. "What did you do to your hands?" He asks calmly before strapping on his sword belt correctly and then buttoning up the leather jacket in order to protect from the slightly cooler air here; mostly from the wind chill factor. Even though the sun was rather nice. He looks at Riku once more waiting for the youth to maybe answer the question or just flat ignore the question. He did have the right to do that after all.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Fell off a building. No. Actually. Fell /next/ to a building, which is pretty much the only reason I'm not a greasy smear." Riku grumbles lowly, the anger directed at himself and then exploding outwards as he glares at Gabranth. "One thing I've learned." he growls in an echo of previous words. He goes and retrieves the box, which he bangs down hard on the ground. "--Is that people rarely are whom they appear to be, or what they say they are." he attempts to push Gabranth sharply a step or so. "Except a few. /SOME/ people are exactly what it says on the side. Bottled /Moron/. Do not shake or puncture!" His voice raises in volume as he continues. "You told me once that you wanted to remember. To take the time to know someone, not from files or records. Not from the sense of a job. So I'm going to demand the same thing right now. You /owe/ me a story, and I'm here to collect." he opens the box and rips out-- a sandwich? One that he shoves in the direction of Gabranth. "So eat your sandwich. Who needs a bloody balcony anyways?"

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth gets moved forward and he watches Riku. He did get his answer and he quirks a brow as Riku goes through his spill. Then suddenly... SANVICH! We mean Sandwich. Really. The Judge of Ambition then takes it in his hands before he sighs softly as Riku told him he owned him /that/ story. He knew what the story was and yes, he remembered telling Riku that he wanted to be reminded what it was like before the paper pushing and the work. Yet-- it was that work that also allowed him to /not/ remember. It was a cruel cycle Gabranth placed himself in-- No-- That Noah placed himself in.. because of.. He stares at the sandwich and then goes to sit down, a slight sad look on his face and in his eyes. A slight break of all that hidden emotion. "Aye. Who needs a balcony when you can enjoy the open space away from all." He then examines what's in the sandwich before he then gives a nod. "..and I do owe you one." He makes himself comfort, mostly sitting in an Indian style of sitting, while closing his eyes. "I suppose where to begin is-- the beginning." His blue eyes opened and went to focus where the charm was on Riku's neck. That ivory charm that only one other has that is its pair. That man.. lost in the darkness. At least far as Gabranth knew -- perhaps now even dead. "Right. The beginning.." His voice trails before he runs his free hand through his blond short hair. He wasn't ready for this. Was he ever? He wanted to tell Riku the truth. The truth-- that he never shared. Locked away tight. Not even the Emperor knew the /full/ truth. Everyone though he had killed... "It starts..." He voice falls slightly, those blue eyes almost seeming dim. Unsteady, before he inhales deeply once more and pulls himself together. "It starts in a small town. With open fields and near a mountain. Most of the town proper was built into the mountain but the rest was in the open fields of farm land. It was a rich land, even though the town itself was not rich. People were happy with their simple lives. Out in one of the farm lands, only touched by the shadow of the mountain. Two twins were born to a woman who loved them dearly. To a man that they would never come to know as his life was taken due to a war.. or perhaps even during a hunt. The boys never knew and their mother never spoke much on it." "They loved their mother, but at their young age, she grew very ill. Deathly ill at times. So the twins worked together, as they had done since birth. They worked together to see to her needs, to the homes needs, and do what they could. Responsibility placed early upon them. Yet one brother was happy with this while the other slowly dreamed of adventure and traveling, but the brother promised to remain with his twin. As they had always been-- as they always thought they would be. Together. As brothers. As twins..." "A promise that one day would be challenged. A promise-- that would be broken by flames and swords."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku, mollified by the ritual taking of sanvich, sits down hard on the warmed roof tiles and hisses in pain as his leg and hip sharply complains. He snorts, resting his hands back on the warm stone as he listens. He takes another sandwich out of the box, unwrapping it slowly and carefully, eyes unfocused as he takes in the story. Almost seeing the pictures in front of him.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth pauses for a moment to eat some of the sandwhich. Though it is a few very slow bites. Really as he started to tell this story, his stomach was turning. He knew where this was going and how much pain was in it. To remember. To remember still like it happened not so long ago, yet it was. It was so long ago. "One day, oh, probably around the age of.. nineteen or so.. things went bad for the twins. There love for one another and there love for their mother broken. Broken because war found their small town. War came and the bells rang. There was a choice the twins had to make. The choice to fight or to move. One twin thought it be best to move. Forget the war. Take their mother and leave. Leave and not to look back, yet the other. The other wanted to fight. He wanted to fight because everything was about to be taken by the fires of war. All that they knew. Loved. Worked for. All of it would be stripped from them." Gabranth's eyes narrowed sharply, the corner of his eyes almost taking on a gold hue. "He wanted to fight for their pride as a people. For the land that had been there home for all those years. The two twins--- argued that night, the mother unaware as she slept with her high fever. Unaware that her two sons who had been so close stepped outside and fought. Argued. Yet the one twin took his things and started to walk away. He walked away and never looked back, even as the other yelled for him. Reminded him that he promised." His free hand on his leg, tightening. The very fabric of the jeans being bunched up under the hand as his blue eyes, with their gold tinge stared out into the distance, threatening to become amber. "A promise meant nothing it seems. Words spoken in innocence. Words shattered... and not even blood was strong enough to hold that promise.. and it was broken like glass falling from great heights." "The brother never returned. He never came back, for the land was indeed taken by the military force. The people either killed who fought or the people ran. Yet the other brother did not run. He did not fight. Instead he took their mother to spend her last years in her old home nation. In that nation she once called home before she met the love of her life to settle down to have children. Before the disease started to sap away her health." His eyes then start to soften, the blue starting to take hold once more instead of the amber. "She lived with only the knowledge of her one son remaining. That he worked to the bone, fought for his position, so she could have the best in her final days-- and she died.. she died with only one of her sons by her side." He then closes his eyes tightly, before quickly standing up as if to hide his emotions away from Riku. To hide the single tear and then slow build of rage within. "..The man's name.. the twin who stayed by his mother side was named Noah fon Ronsenburg." He then drifts his gaze to the sky. "The other? Basch fon Ronsenburg."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' There is sort of a dread fascination with the well told story, even if it ends poorly for everyone concerned. It is a train wreck that you can't tear your eyes away from until the last smouldering embers have gone out and the squealing metal lay quiet. Riku stares at Gabranth's back, the gears turning as he puts the last pieces together. Finally he looks away out towards the horizon, leaning up to put his hands in his lap with a faint grunt of discomfort as he shifts positions. The teenager emanates just an accepting silence that continues on as he eats his sandwich. Not needing words. Not needing questions. Just a completely accommodating quiet in which he pretends to be not paying attention. He reaches up to touch the talisman at his neck with bruised fingers for a moment, eyes thoughtful as the hand drops back into his lap.

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth remains quiet during this moment of silence. He just stares out in the distance, then down to his sandwich which, really should be finished. He forces himself to take a few more bites from it. His eyes focusing on nothing but the blue horizon and watching a few birds that decide to fly in close to the city that defies gravity. The silence remains a bit longer. Enough for Gabranth to slowly pull himself together. Pull back in his emotions. His pain. His memories. The crystal shard around his neck almost pulsing for just a moment. Its energies fight off the far more powerful energies within the man. "The talisman was given to the boys as the last memento of their father. Given to them by their mother." He looks at Riku. "It was given to Noah and is one of the few items that remain of that strong woman. Of a once strong family." His eyes then drift back to the horizon. "It meant a great deal to Noah...so a promise made on it, is a promise to never be broken. For it runs far deeper then words could ever touch." He then shakes his head before he walks back over to Riku. His bare feet easily moving across the stone roof as he just sits right back down, resting his arms on his knees, holding the half eaten sandwich still. "And to see you wear it. To keep it. Means a great deal to me and I see you as a brother. Perhaps not by blood, but by fate itself. That is why I am willing to share you this story.. bloody hell. Even Zargabaath doesn't know the story, but it means little to anyone truth be told." He then takes another bite of the sandwich. "Just a tale to be forgotten in the winds one day."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Riku closes his eyes very tightly towards the end of that, as if trying to will the words to be lost to the wind immediately and all at once instead of having to hear them. 'I'm going to need much better shoes if I'm going to keep running all the time' is what he tells himself as he considers bolting. A strange self deprecating smile is on his face as he opens blank yellow eyes, face turning towards Gabranth as his hands shake violently for a moment before going still. He turns his face away, shaking his head slightly and muttering something inaudible with a long and weary sigh. When he looks back they are normal again, but very tired and a little sad. "Did I tell you? I ran away from his honors ship. Hence." he raises a hand slightly before letting it fall back into his lap. His voice is almost cheerful, but the strain is so obvious in his voice that he might shatter like thin crystal. He chuckles. "6 on 1 odds were not good enough against him, apparently. So I joined in and nearly got hammered at 7 to 1." he clicks his tongue. "Long odds, there." He laughs and it's a sound sharp enough to cut glass. To send sparks flashing off of metal and stone. "I'm not completely stupid and so I twigged onto the game pretty early. But then I don't /understand/ this.. WHY?" The question bursts out of him like an explosive. It cracks and Riku feels like voicing it has lodged a meat axe in his chest and he just has this sudden impulse to draw up his knees and put his hands over his head as if waiting for the inevitable consequence. Instead he draws one knee up, hand almost ground into one temple as he balances with an elbow on that leg. "I don't understand. What do you /WANT/? Because this city, these people.. the way people look or don't look at me in the street. The way his honor seems PROUD of me for managing to not be a complete embarrassment. Both of you /accepting/ everything I throw at you, up to and including try to EAT either of you.." There is a long silence. "...you calling me that.." he adds very softly. "..why?" he just looks so lost and confused. "..I called this place home." he snorts very faintly, looking out into the distance. "When we were taking you to Draklor to be cured. I called this place home and I betrayed the one I destroyed. The one that fades a little more every day. The one.." he trails off, burying his face in his hands and letting out a frustrated growl of anguish. "..everybody wants something." he murmurs brokenly through his fingers. "..wants to use them for something. I don't.. understand.. why."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' The Judge of Ambition listens to what Riku has to say. He doesn't move or even attempt to get up. Instead he stays where he lets and lets Riku say it all. He lets the young lad yell his whys and trying to solve these things in his own mind. Gabranth can sympathize for such a thing, yet he knew sympathy right now is not what Riku needed. So he waits a bit before he inhales gently and then glances down at the roof they sit on, before he looks over at Riku. He stares at the boy a bit longer before he then motions to the remaining sandwich. "Why did you give me the sandwich?" He then lowers his hand. "Friendship. Comradery. Trust. That is something we all seek in some way." Gabranth frowns, he really was not sure what to say, but he would try. He would try to not mess this up. "Though being in my position and doing the wrongs I have done, I still seek that which is hard to obtain. Even within myself. I still seek an ally I can trust and those whom I know have my back in the worse of times." "Though not all can be trusted within the Archadian Empire, there are those who can be and it is those who make it worth the troubling times. We stand together. We fight together. We work together. We accept one another's failures and one another's faults. We cry together when things are bad and we laugh together when things are good. That-- is a family. We, though not connected by blood, are a family." Gabranth looks off to the distance. "Many of us have sinned. Many of us done wrong. Many mistakes we hold on our shoulders, yet, if we did not accept another who had mistakes, faults, blood on their hands, then who are we to accept ourselves." Gabranth then looks to Riku. "I know words mean little to you. Actions speak louder. Actions speak loudly to many of us here. So we show you by our actions, by including you, by looking for you, by embracing you, that you are with us. That we trust you. That we see you as family." Gabranth at last goes to stand up. "..as for home.. there is nothing wrong with calling a new place home. We all seek one. We all wish for one. Some of us have multiple homes we hail from. I myself.. two.. one long gone.. and the one I stand on now." He then walks over to Riku. Carefully however for if the boy looks to run, he will stop approaching. "I.. do not have all the answers though.. for I am only a man. A man who.. is.. not very good at this. Yet, you have been accepted and unless you choose to not accept us.. then you will forever be accepted among us." He smirks. "..actually I think for some, even if you were to try not too. We would /still/ accept you."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' A long, low noise punctuates the silence that comes in the minutes after the last words have died away. A trickling, teeth grit snarl as Riku digs his fingers deeper and deeper until he almost draws blood. The noise is broken up, a staccato noise that tapers up into snorting, cruel and bitter chuckling. Riku takes his hands away from his face and wipes his eyes with the heel of one hand as his shoulders continue to shake and he just laughs. As the bitterness begins to burn away he abruptly snarls and slams a fist into the rooftop, the flickering moment of dark aura probably all that keeps his entire fist from shattering instead of the tile. Darkness roils along the surface of his aura, streamers of it pouring away like smoke as he vacillates between that furious lashing anger, that complete rejection and suspicion and a painful hope and relief tinged with hysterical laughter as if the concepts were at war inside him. He shakes violently when finally the laughter subsides and he just hangs his head on his chest for a while with no clear indication of a victor. It seems like a long, long time before he just completely goes still. Eventually the darkness ebbs. Riku takes in a few very shaky breaths and slowly pulls himself to his feet. The gold has left his eyes entirely, the former sapphire slowly clearing away the last traces. Riku tiredly grins at Gabranth, putting a hand behind his head. "..All that running didn't do a damn thing, did it? Someone, somewhere had to eventually chase me down." he snorts, turning away from Gabranth to look out at the city, taking a few steps to peer down in dizzying fascination with the ground very far down. He takes another steadying breath. "You know.." he says, rocking back on his heels. "..I'm going to nag you until you eventually teach me that rune jump. In a contest of me falling and or jumping off very tall things, I think I am going to need all the help I can get." He gives the most sardonic smile possible as he turns his head towards Gabranth. "What's family for if I can't shake down my elder brother, who has, might I add, I think about the /most/ creative version of running away from paperwork I've ever seen."

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' Gabranth watches the display of darkness. It stops him dead in his tracks really. He waits for it pass or to get worse. He wasn't sure what would happen. Yet when Riku stood up and then blue started to appear in his eyes, Gabranth relaxed a little inside. So far, it seems he was indeed keeping his own promise to himself. He would make things right. "Running never does much outside of make you very tired and stumble around like a fool in the end." Gabranth stated with a half hearted smirk then watches as Riku moves to the edge of the building. He really hopes Riku doesn't decide to pull another jump off the edge in a faith leap. To do such things from this height really was exhausting and he wasn't sure if he used his own dark magic to perform it if--- if it could all start up again. "Perhaps I will teach you when I am sure that my own magic doesn't cause me to become a ten foot monster." He goes to rest his hand on Riku's shoulder. "...and soon I will have to get some things packed up so when Zargabaath comes back around with the Alexander.. I have my things together." Gabranth then looks out to the horizon once more. Giving Riku's shoulder a gentle pat. "And yes.. though I rather not attempt to try such again. It was an exhausting vacation." He muses, before a smile. A true smile creeps over Gabranth's face. He then quickly wraps his arm around, mostly to move Riku not only away from the edge but to gently give him an actual noogie on the head. Gabranth was also actually laughing for once. "So don't you get any bright ideas either!"

:'''[[Gabranth]] has posed:''' "Maybe 9 feet." Riku says easily, making a 'short' gesture. "It's very short for a behemoth, really. I looked it---aaaack!" And surprise round goes to Gabranth. He starts laughing despite himself and only giving a token struggle as they back towards the middle of the rooftop. "Hey. Let go, you low adventurer rank chocobo chaser." but it's hard to get the words out all at once because he's laughing so hard.

: Fade to Black -- to be continued

Fountain Crossroads

2013-04-29T15:43:54Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/28 |Location=Traverse Town |Synopsis=Portal schenadigans and catching up with the times. Film at 11. |Cast of Characters=Katyna Redsvaren, ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/28
|Location=Traverse Town
|Synopsis=Portal schenadigans and catching up with the times. Film at 11.
|Cast of Characters=Katyna Redsvaren, Riku
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Katyna had returned to Traverse Town after a long absence, determined to help rebuild VALKYRIE and watch over her friends from afar. She had taken the brunt of Angantyr's fury when he turned against his friends and tried to kill them, and had spent several days recuperating at the hotel along with many other VALKYRI. However, the ever impatient Kat had eventually stepped out of the hotel, seeking answers to her many questions. She's still pretty bandaged up although most of her wounds are carefully hidden under her armour. It was too soon to start practicing with her sword, or to even help rebuild VALKYRI until her deeper wounds had healed. What could she do in the meantime but wander around town, window shopping as she tried to figure out what to do about Maira? Booooring...

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Not boring! Falling into a fountain from a short distance! SPLASH~ and yet again, convienience has overwritten common sense and the week of portal jumps going awry continues. Riku splutters and coughs out water, rubbing his face and pulling sodden hair out of his eyes. Blue eyes peer myopicly around. "Uh.." he then spots Katyna and turns his head, coughing out water "Hi." he raises a hand in Katyna's direction.

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Yaaaaawn, this is soooo boring..She rubs her eyes, determined to head to the outskirts and practice some swordplay - screw the injuries! - When suddenly she hears a loud splash! Peering at the nearby fountain, she sweatdrops when she sees a familiar figure staring back at her. "Riku..? What the..?" She smirks as she steps towards him, offering a hand, "Heey! What are you doing in there? Need a hand?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Watching the rest of my dignity wash away." Riku says with a laugh, allowing Katyna to help him out of the fountain. He strips the duster and armored glove off with deft fingers, laying them out to dry on a nearby bench. "But I guess I'm getting what I deserve for taking so many shortcuts. How about you Katyna? What have you been up to?"

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' "Hmmmm..." Ember eyes peer skywards, seeing the last trails of dark magic vanish in a wisp of smoke from the portal and she smirks. "Having trouble with your portals..?" she cant help but chuckle a bit at that. Truth be told, she hadn't used portals at all, not since the day she'd turned her back on the Shadow Lords for good..Had Riku done the same..? It had been so long ago since he'd shown the the darkness back in Hollow Bastion, she'd started to wonder what had become of him.. "Heh! You're all wet now..Here..." Pulling out her sword, it bursts into flames as she fans it near to his soaking clothes - but not too near to burn him. "How's that? Feels good huh?" She grins as she flops on the nearby bench, drawing a deep breath. "Hmmm...A lot of stuff has happened since then. Since that other life. You were right, Riku..I didnt fit in with the Shadow Lords. I...I hurt my friends, and now I just wanna make it up to them." There's a sadness in her red eyes as she lowers her sword, once his clothes are hopefully dry, before returning it to its sheath. "It..Felt good, defending them against Garland and his minions, but now I'm kinda worried about Maira. After Garland ordered Angantyr to attack VALKYRI and was defeated by us..She still wants to save him from the darkness..." Kat bites her lip, looking thoughtful for a moment, before glancing back at him with a shrug and a roguish smile. "...What about you? Hear you're a judge now!"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Yeah. I'm just glad that sword isn't pointed AT be this time." Riku smirks and shakes his head, rubbing arms and gingerly rubbing his shoulder. "I heard about that." he shakes his head. "I've never been able to figure out Angantyr. Sometimes it seems like he wants freedom to live his own life. And other times.." he throws up a hand. "Other times he seems just like you were. A piece in a larger game." he snorts, sitting down on the bench. "Judge cadet actually. I won't be a full judge until I complete the materials for putting my armor together. It's.." he snorts. "Quite a long list, but that's completely my own fault. I got uh.. a little carried away."

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Katyna frowns at mention of Angantyr, staring down at her clenched hands for a moment. "One of the many times he tried to kill me, he told me that he was born with this darkness, and just wanted to find a way to control it. He saw Garland as his saviour I guess, because he taught him how to control that power, without letting it consume him." She smiles, "I guess that's why he hated me so much. I had a choice, but he didnt. Even so.." Kat sighs, shaking her head, "He didn't want to leave Garland. I guess it was like a drug. Didnt really care or realize that he was using him in the end. But..Now I'm worried about Maira. I know she'll try and follow him to the depths of hell is possible, because she's convinced there's some good left in him, and because she obviously is in love with him, for reasons beyond my comprehension.." Kat makes a face, "Even so...I did promise him I'd never wander off the path of light again. It's too bad he didn't practice what he preached though. I'm sure he could have taught me a lot of things..." Oh yeah, but there was that other secret plot that he and Ramza were planning against Archades, wasn't there? She..Didnt want to betray Ramza, however. Angan was another story though. "Hmmm..Riku. Be careful. I think..Angan's plotting on stealing something from Archades.." Well, Ramza had given her that much information, but had left the rest in the dark. with any luck, Ramza wont get hurt because of it, but....She laughs nervously, shaking her head. "But..You never heard any of that from me, 'k?" Phew, subject change is in order! She smiles when he speaks of his quest. "Ooh, you have to find your own materials? That sounds hard. How much stuff you have left? That'd be pretty awesome to see you dressed like a judge, I mean they're pretty intimidating to look at! I met a judge once, he was really nice.."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku always knows Katyna is a good source of information. When she was a shadow lord, it was because she usually wanted to brag about what she had done. In this new incarnation, it was because she felt the need to say things. So he listens and he /definitely/ listens when she drops a hint about Archades. He'll pass that along when he gets a moment free. "Well!" he says, going with the shift in the ever flowing river of conversation. "Actually.." he rubs the back of his head. "..Actually quite a lot. I don't know. I just.. wanted to put the idea off as far as possible, I guess." he snorts. "I didn't want anything to go wrong." he shakes his head. "Nevermind. And they are intimidating. Especially if you see his honor Judge Magister Zargabaath fight. It's.. hard on the ego." he laughs at himself at that. "And Ang's right. For once.. the light path gives much less of a headache." he looks faintly chagrined. "But it certainly wears out your shoes."

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Kat still seems nervous. Is she betraying Ramza with this warning? But..She kinda liked Riku and didnt want him to get hurt in the cross fire. "Hey..Just dont tell 'em where you got the info, it was just a little birdie who said so.." She nods. "Hmm, what kind of stuff do you have to find? Maybe I can help too.." She grins, "I guess right now, I just wanna help a lot of people, y'know, make up for all the stuff I did in the past." Another nod as he speaks of how intimidating Judges can be. "Yeah, Judge Gabranth was pretty scary to watch in action when that thief tried to attack him. But I'm glad I got to help him, he was pretty cool. The bunny Judge Evja on the other hand.." Kat just scratches her head in confusion. "I....Dont quite get him, he's kinda..Different from the others, and his logic's kinda messed up.Refusing to kill a zombie to save the life of a friend, yet seeming somewhat open to the idea of killing someone he was tricked to killing in a contract, if there was a chance he could come back as an undead.." Of course Evja had contradicted himself a lot in that conversation, leaving Kat feeling more and more lost. Surely not all judges were so...Confusing? "Eheh!" she laughs nervously, "But seriously, I'm sure you'd make a great judge. Living by the law rather than making up your own rules seems to make sense. But more than that, it takes a strong will and mind to uphold the law, right?" Eheheh, she'd make a lousy judge, given her propensity for thievery and trickery. Best keep her past life a secret though! "I guess he taught me some things, even though he was so...Full of hatred while he did it. He didnt want to help me break away from the darkness, he just wanted to destroy me completely. But..In the end, I felt kinda sad for him. When he realized that he'd become a monster, I think there was an understanding between the two of us, even if it was brief. Maybe there is hope for him still, but if there is, it's somehow linked with Maira. I've never known someone with such a pure heart. Maybe that light is enough to overcome the darkness in him. That's also what seems to attract that creepy dark knight towards her.. Whatever happens though, I gotta protect Maira from doing something stupid!" Still, Maira's strong will does make her smile. Afterall, she never lost hope in Katyna either.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Nah. It's.. sort of a thing I've got to do myself, but thank you Katyna." he searches and then pulls something from his back pocket. He shakes out the sodden paper and tosses it to the side. "Ah well. I pretty much memorized the thing by now. Some cloth, some metal, some leather and some scales and crystals." he makes a motorboating sigh, stretching his hands up over his head and looking up at the sky. "Places all over the World of Ruin. Some places I've barely even heard of. It actually..." he smiles. "It actually sound be sort of fun."

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' "Wow, they really make it tough, don't they?" She grins, "But kinda exciting too..You get to travel around the world, see new sights! I'm sure the finished product will be awesome! Ooh, is that why you're in Traverse? One of your ingredients is here in town?" Oh yeah, there's that other thing, "Hmm, I guess it'll be harder with your portalling like that though..How come your aim was so off?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "I.. have no idea." Riku tells her honestly. "If I focus, it usually goes where I want. But.. for some reason this week." he shrugs. "Its.. stopped working right. No matter what I seem to do. So. What are you doing here.. helping rebuild Valkyri HQ?"

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Katyna hmms, "Maybe because it takes a focus on the darkness to control?" She smiles, "I havent even openned portals in a long time. Guess I'm too scared. I...Dont want to invite darkness back into my heart. Y'know, after I blatantly defied the shadow lords, I'm sure they'll track me down and punish me and maybe using darkness makes it easier to find me too.." Maybe that's why Ang was focusing primarily on killing Kat. Did Garland put him up to it? She nods, "Yeah, I dunno if Avira will ever forgive me, but it's a start. Maybe someday she'll forgive me, but for now, I'll just watch over 'em from afar. With their headquarters totalled, I think they may be more vulnerable than before..I guess they've become a direct thorn in the side of the Shadow Lords.." It's a scary thought. She still remembers Avira's bold claim to actively fight the Shadow Lords..

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku nods. "Yeah. I've pretty much been waiting for them to bring the hammer down on me as well but.. they've done nothing. It's very unsettling." he shrugs. "I can't live my live in fear though. Things will happen when they will happen. I can only try to be ready."

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Katyna nods. "You were..Their greatest warrior. I'm sure it'd come as a heavy loss, but.." She smiles, "You're strong, and you have the judges on your side. And..I'll watch out for you too so, no reason to worry, right?" She flashes a warm smile at that, although sighs for some reason.. Would there be people who would willingly protect her, should the time come? She had already betrayed Faruja, kinda, by protecting Ramza. And she had refused to raise her sword against the church to protect Ramza. As for VALKYRI, would they ever go out of their way to defend her, should the Shadow Lords come for her? "Aahhh.." She laughs nervously and nods again, "You're right, cant live your life in fear, right? Gotta live life to the fullest, else you'll miss out on the good stuff.." Kat sighs, resting a hand on the pommel of her sword. "I might have lost the power of the Shadow Lords, but..Maybe I'll find my own strength to defend myself. Turns out there are more secrets to this sword than I even knew.."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku shakes her head. "No. That.. that was just the lie they fed me. What made me a warrior, and a person who protects others.. it has nothing to do with the darkness." he snorts. "Besides. Don't say stuff like that. My head will swell up." The teenager reaches for his somewhat dryish duster and lays it over his lap. "Maybe that's where you always needed to start, Katyna. Build something from there. Try.." he raises a hand. "Try.. to stick to your choices. I think that's the only problem I have with Jyellian Judges. They don't stick to their own stories."

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Katyna nods. "Yeah, I guess so.." she shrugs, "Either way, I'm glad to see you too, got out of that terrible place. You seemed..Empty, back there. You seem way better now." she grins and nods. "No worries! Let's not worry about that anymore. Time for a fresh start, right? I think my path is clearer now. I just want to follow my father's footsteps and be a true knight, fighting to help other people instead of trying to become powerful, and hurting people along the way." Kat glances at her sword again, "It was a family heirloom, and I never really thought much about it, but it turns out the flame is stronger when my will is strong. My determination to protect others makes it more powerful. Too bad my crazy sister's after it too.." She makes a face, arching a brow as he speaks of Judges and their stories. "Hmm what do you mean? I thought they had some kinda code, those judges. Didn't think they'd change their stories, although I hear there are different types of judges." Really she knows very little about judges in general, except that they like wearing a lot of armour.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' "Apparantly two types of judge. There are the ones that are around Archades and Rabanastre and those are Archadian Empire. Evja is a different order from a place called Jylland. Different rules. Same basic idea.." Riku rubs the back of his head. "I was.. sort of trying to be polite. Evja is.." he sighs. "Frustrating. Much like you were from time to time." Riku rubs the back of his head. "But yeah... let's forget that place. That sword, and that path you want to walk. It seems like a good place to start."

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Katyna nods. "Oh yeah, I remember Evja saying something like that. He really is kinda confusing. I guess maybe that's just what Jylland judges are like though." She chuckles, "Heh, so it's not just me..." It's only when he mentions how he is like Katyna, that she makes a face, reaching over to try and swat him playfully on the side of the head. "Bah! But I guess you could be right..I was so obsessed with power back then. It took watching the people I cared about getting hurt to knock some sense into me. I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time though.." She sighs and nods. "I had other reasons for staying there though, things that are hard to forget. Lord Fessner was like a father to me. Even though now I realized he just used me like everyone else. When you have no family, it's hard to let that go. But..Hati was also in a similar position. I guess in the end, everyone just wants a place to belong, right? So I'll just have to work hard for VALKYRI to accept me..." "Did you ever find your missing friends?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku laughs and fails to fend off swipe. Aiie! BONK. His eyes go a little distant and he nods ruefully. "Yeah. I found Sora, who.. being Sora, is pretty much cheerfully oblivious to most if not all of anything that's going on. As for Kairi... she's.. safe, I guess. But out of reach, right now." he shrugs it off but his eyes remain a little sad. "Everybody uses everyone else, Katyna. But sometimes.. that isn't so bad. Being used to protect something. A place. An idea.. a person. To belong somewhere." he smiles. "That's not so bad at all."

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' "Ooh, Sora's your friend?" She grins and nods, "I met him, he's pretty cool..Member of the Shard Seekers, isn't he? Oh yeah..He wielded a keyblade, like that strange armour down in..." Kat shakes her head quickly trying not to think of the lingering Will in the heart of Manhattan..She can already remember the disturbed look on Riku's face at the time, and it's not a pleasant memory, somehow.. "So, he's a keyblade wielder. I guess he must be pretty special. I was a little..Jealous of that weapon myself, until I realized I had my own strengths..Maybe." She grins sheepishly. "You're right. People use people, maybe that's where the darkness draws its strength from...But I dont want to be used by anyone, anymore..Even so.." Kat sighs as she leans back on the bench, peering up at the stars in the forever twilight sky, vaguely remembering that time they sat on the rooftop, staring at the same stars.."I kinda...Feel caught in the middle of the church and the heretics. I have friends in both, but I dont want to be used by either. I just want to help my friends..But that's difficult, without becoming someone's enemy."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks faintly stricken at the memory and gives a painful nod. "Yeah.." he tries to keep an instant of resentment out of his voice, but it's a strain and he shifts the conversation quickly. "Well. Sometimes that's the hardest thing to do. Everybody wants you to divvy up sides and choose. Maybe sometimes it's better to think things though or.. even make your own side to follow." He gets off the chair. "I.. better start walking if I'm going to get anywhere. It was nice to talk to you Katyna."

:'''[[Katyna]] has posed:''' Katyna nods. " I suppose you're right. I just hope I dont make the right decision. That's always the hardest part, y'know?" She does notice him anxious to get going however, and Kat also has stuff to do. "Yeah..It was good to see you too, Riku! Take care!"

Electric Boogaloo!

2013-04-29T04:42:34Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/27 |Location=Goug- Underground |Synopsis=Corporate Adventure. What could go wrong? |Cast of Characters=Deelel, Stormfall,Emi Dennou, Blackb..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/27
|Location=Goug- Underground
|Synopsis=Corporate Adventure. What could go wrong?
|Cast of Characters=Deelel, Stormfall,Emi Dennou, Blackbird, Souji Murasame, Serah Farron, Helena Celba, Alma Hyral
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The upper levels of the Goug underground have been secured and locked down pretty thoroughly. There are even cheerful maps provided to give helpful directions to people needing to around the city (Thankfully without an animated paperclip involved) The lower reaches however are much more treacherous. A labyrinth whose passages, whose 'active' shafts are constantly changing as work continues on excavating ancient technology, much of which has been shifted and changed noticeably by the reformation. The dormant and abandoned levels are the most dangerous. Only well equipped and protected parties venture into the deeper places in Goug which are usually laced with powerful monsters and ancient guardians gone amuck. In the case of the tunnels which the next disturbance has been primed to happen, there is only partial information. It was an excavation done some years ago that closed down and was never reopened. It was then used as a storage area temporarily before it simple fell into disuse. Whether due to oversight or simply the area had been exhausted is unclear. However, the first level of it lay before you. A long causeway beyond the cleared gateway leading down to this level (and the somewhat surly Moogle Guards) leads to a small cavern of worked stone. The floor has been leveled and forgotten mining equipment and materials have been left to either side here. Some of the parts have been obviously scavenged, leaving most of the equipment rotting chassis and gutted ruin. A sharp curve to the left leads downwards towards a sound of dripping water while a rough incline to the right winds upwards and around a corner. There are cables running along the ceiling where lighting lay completely dark. A electrical power station embedded in the far wall lay abandoned, it's energy readings dark and power level at 0. The needle occasionally twitches.

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' Blackbird whistled cheerfully poked about Goug as she went from here to there to some other place over the past few days nosing around. Sre Encom had her hounding after dead systems more often than not but the wonderful thing about electrical theory is it remained the same no matter if it was for a computer, radio, pinball machine, city power grid. You just had diffrent amounts of current and systems needed to keep said current going where it was supposed to without doing things not wanted (like killing people.) Unfortunately while Blackbird had a toolbelt full of things she thought she needed (multi-meter, soldering iron, solder, pliers, strippers, etc etc) she wasn't that versed in 'urban archiology. So she just sortof paced about looking at the mining equipment hoping to find something, anything, she could use. How was this pitete lady seeing? The handy thing about being able to power your own gizmoes is you could afford to strap all sorts of lights to yourself without worry over battery life.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron for her side only has a flashlight. She's not even sure what she's doing down here. She was in Cornelia for the battle, and then followed some of the Academy people, even hitching a ride on Souji's airship, which is quite impressive. But what she's doing down in the mines is another story. She thought maybe she could offer some help in repayment for the transport. Its not like she really wants anything down here. In fact, she doesn't like dark and damp places like this. She tries not to complain though. She looks at the electrical components, wandering idly if she could jump start those with Thunder magic. Not likely, but its a thought. Not that she knows much about electrical stuff. ".. So what are we doing down here exactly?" Looks like she's not up to speed.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena today came with Souji to /investigate/ this strange occurance. She has come prepared, her outfit not with a HARDHAT where her normal headdress sat, the hardhat, however, having the strange eye thing that her headdress has. She has her hair tied up in a bun that sticks out of the hard hat, and she walks with a slightly oversized Pickaxe that she weilds easily with one hand. She has a cool smile on her face, ready to start hitting random things...maybe even rocks! However, as they get onto the darkened area, and she sighs... "Should I use one of my spells to light the way for us, Master Murasame?" she asks her partner, already pulling out a data pad and accessing her spellbook PDA. The display coming over her glasses, as she starts sorting for the right spell. "Hmm...Though I suppose something to ground us might be approprate too.."

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel had caught wind of what was going on in Goug, also she'd needed money with the plans TRON and she had. Not to mention any thing to get the heck out of Town. She didn't feel safe in Tranverse anymore not by a long shot. There were things she'd have to look into eventually and isn't sure if she should tell TRON about it he might stop her. So here she is to see into what's going on here. The mine was old it felt strange it didn't feel right to he but much in this world didn't. She got a flashlight and a few other things here on het thankfully as ever she is emitting light from her clothes and those tattos it's enough for her to see by.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji Murasame is here. He's been observing the situation ever since he began searching for signs of a specific goal. The interruptions in Goug have gained his main attention, due to them being in close proximity to his competition in the world economic forum. The last thing he wants is to see is Shinra taking possession of what he wants to find. Souji move with definitive steps through the tunnels, a crackling sphere of lightning in his hand lighting his way. The caverns are of interest to Souji anyway. The remnants in the depths of Goug... The word on the street says that there might be a lot remnants in the ruins beneath the city that would be of interest to the... opportunistic corporate leader. He looks over his shoulder to his associate. "Yes. I have a feeling my talents might be... dangerous here." With a significant glance at the pinned meter. He closes his hand, extinguishing it so Helena can do the job.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Electrical disturbances eh? The Network knows their electricity. And they should be well suited for handling such disturbances. She doesn't really know anyone here, this time, so she has brought along Umi for this particular adventure. The two have put on hardhats with little flashlights in the center so they can more easily see where they are going without having to carry a flashlight everywhere. "Hello. everyone." Emi says, pausing as she recognizes Deelel, giving her a small nod, and then otherwise the two keep to themselves. A lot of electrical usage here. This should be good for their element. "Your talents, The Network inquires what you mean." Emi speaks up while Umi quietly wonders whether they're 'together together' or just together.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The conductors of this ancient technology are a little rusted with time and the passage of the ages but they MIGHT be magitek. If that is the case, they might actually handle being powered with electrical magic instead of.. well. Smoking. Fizzling. Popping, melting and or exploding. Or all of those. With the cables overhead and with the equipment scattered around, if the system was powered the lights would most likely come on. There is the sound of water continuing to drizzle from the left hand corridor as well as something not quite loud to define easily. A faint tapping, a faint scratching that echoes hollowly through the abandoned shaft.

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' Blackbird frowned at one of the neater cut power lines and shook her head before walking to what she thought might be where a power core was supposed to go. "Well drek." Her voice was edged with frustration as she talked to woever happened to be with her. "I've seen work sites gone over for thigns like copper." Beat. "Every danged scrap and speck of the stuff, but the batteries?" Headshake." SHe moved over to the power equipment and frowned at it. The only indication she gave that she knew anyone else was with her was her continued talking. "Anyone from around here?" She continued expecting this and that hoping to find something useful, for the upteenth time cursing her lack of knowledge on the local terminology. "Is there anything that's supposed to live down here or around or anything that eats electricity? Or possibly stores it as a defensive mechanism?" Her mind spun out the idea o something like cave rats that could suddenly and violently electrocute anything they watned to eat, or possibly something trying to eat them. Yea. Rats in the cablings. There was a dismisive snort. Rodents of unusual size? Probably didn't exist. Finally she got to her feet and looked around. Deelel she recognized and gave a small smile to. Emi and Umi she did't recognize and the fact they were apparently children caused a raised eyebrow. "I'm more used to Proper buildings, machines... not cables snaking through dark caves probably containing a gru or three wanting to eat our faces. So who's taking point while we go see what's down thatway?" Thumb jerk to the dark and spooky where the drippy noise came from.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena pauses and puts a finger to her lips for a moment... "Maybe I spoke too soon, Master Murasame." She says, and poitns at the conductor. "I think your talents maybe VERY useful here." she says, with a small nod. "Judging by the looks of this, it might be magitek...though inferior to what we had back home." She shrugs, "But I think it's simplistic state should support a few regulated blasts...or explode in our faces!" she grins. She then turns towards Emi and Umi. "Ohmygosh twins! There are so cute with their little outfits!" she almost squeels! "Can I keep them?" she probably jokingly asks Souji. Probably. "I guess I can conserve my magic then, for later."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' The newest hire had been lagging behind. It wasn't because she was actually late to the expedition, in fact she'd been early. She had just volunteered for rear guard because Helena had put her in a state of complete terror after the previous evening. Umi and Emi seemed harmless enough, and so she chose to follow alongside the pair of girls. "H-Hi." She offered them a timid smile. Every time one of the conductors fizzled, or popped, she'd look in that direction nervously. And then Helena called attention to the pair alongside her. She seemed relieved that she hadn't yet noticed her. And so she was content in her position of rear guard, just behind the pair.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel looks at the tech for a moment grimaces for a moment it's old but she wonders if she might be able to do something with them uif they can get them powered up. She contiunes onward and looks over at BB for a moment "Energy can be worth more than ruined hardware. For some it's life." She takes another look getting a closer look at the place, she waves over to Emi and Umi. "So the TDA's in on this too? Good to see you." Souji and hsi party is a bit more of an unknown to the Program and she takes a moment to size them up. Twins? Well more than that Deelel knows as much but it's not her place to say, that's the Network's really in her POV. Souji also geta a look over as she sizes him up for a moment before moving onwards. "Might be something to salvage here if we're lucky but things decay really oddly in this world. Remains linker for longer than they should..."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji turns to look to Emi. "I am a son of Ramuh. My magical arts are based around harnessing the powers of air and lightning in conjunction with my sword skills." He answers simply and straightforwardly. Question answered, he looks back to Helena, frowning. He kneels next to the conductors. "They're cert rusted. They could be dangerous." He looks over to Blackbird. "You, with the toolkit. Clean these conductors and we can give this a try." Provided Blackbird does so, souji looks back to Helena. "No. You cannot." He says. He doesn't need Helena being out of control when they're on the job. "They are here to help, they don't need your interference." That might actually make her leave them alone. For a few minutes. While Souji is watching.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron is just... slumping around with the others. Noone seems to really attention to her. Maybe she should just go back up. Well, she's a bit erased of a girl after all. She watches as Souji goes on ahead and orders his troupe around. Instead she moves to the side, and uses the flashing to try to find something of interest... books, bags, something that could be useful down here. As long as its not a monster.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "Oh that's interesting." Emi says after a moment. "We are, in essence, electricity generators. We should work well together." Frankly with all this electropower nonsense, this mission should be cake. Emi blinks at Helena a couple times. "We are not twins--" She begins. But Umi interrupts as she spots Alma. "Hello!" She says, grinning wide as she waves a hand at her. "You alright there?" She will put an arm on Alma's shoulder unless she shies away. "Lets see... don't think we've met...? I'm Umi, This one inquires as to your name?"

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' This particular room of the goug underground isn't really all that interesting, especially with someone having gone through and stripped out and gutted most of the mining equipment here. Moogle scavengers no doubt. Or other unsavory characters. Scratchclick. It didn't seem like it was a sudden evacuation however, just that the heaviest items that had to be retrieved.. never were retrieved. Time to get those conductors cleaned and prepped if that is the order of the day.

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' Blackbird grunted at Deelel's odd 'this world' view. Yet she shelved it since now wasn't the time. "Unfortunately I don't know enough about the gear to do anything with it anything less than a couple hours of complete teardown. Then Souji asked, ordered really, that she clean a few connectors. She shrugged and went to work with a wire brush. "So." She talked while she cleaned this and that, make the rusty shine enough to get a clear arch across or whatever Souji had in mind... which probably wasn't that diffrent than what she could do if one thought about it. "I dun like the look of some of this stuff. I mean age aside who knows if when you start juicing the box here." Pat pat." It doens't end up causing something to go poof down the line." Sudden flash memory of a time a squirrl got stuck in a transformer near school and caused like the whole block t ogo dark for most of the day.. Headshake. She could probably conduct the worst of it away from evryone if the power went all nutty. Once she took a few steps back she motioned to Souji. "Juice it." Her attention flicked between the gizmo that was about ot get lit up and the crowd of co-adventurers. "Miss?" Her voice rose enough so hopefully Serah could hear her. "You look a bit lost. Going to be alright making sure us bit bangers don't end up getting our heads blown off?" She was concerned more than a touch since. Well. No need in having anyone not directly fixing the problem feeling like a fifth wheel. She's been on teams where one person feeling put out could sour everything. Didn't want that happening here.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron looks over to Blackbird with a smile "Ah, well a little. I mean, I offered to help out after getting a ride on Sir Murasame's airship. He did say that he didn't really need the extra hands... maybe I should have listened." She rolls on her heels a bit, just waiting and watching for now. She keeps pointing the flashlight down the path, just to keep a light toward where any incoming bad thing could be hopping out of. She's a heartless magnet as it stands, she wouldn't want to miss their arrival either.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena siiiiiighs. "Allllright." She says, and shakes her head...darn. She wanted twins! Okay, well she has a pair of them already, and she bounces for seemingly no reason. Instead she looks away from Alma, not even so much as acknowledging her. Right now, she doesn't have anything to say, Souji is ordering things around, but she looks up when the twins say they are electrical generators... "Huh...how did you come to such magic?"

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' "You can generate electricity?" She inquires, suddenly interested, her stutter fading as her curiosity was piqued and she grew more at ease. After all, she grew up on a continent named after the first god of Thunder, in a great sprawling modern city. "That sounds like a useful talent to have. So, do you use machines for that trick?" And then she puts her hand on her shoulder. She actually doesn't shy away, she finds it comforting in a way. However it did bring back some measure of anxiety in her whenever she meets new people. "My name is A-Alma, its very nice to meet you, Umi." She then looks between Emi, and Umi peering closely between them, even readjusting and cleaning her glasses on a small piece of cloth. "You're n-not twins? But you are s-sisters, right? What's y-your name?" She inquires idly towards Emi.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel goes to lend Backbird a hand as best she can "I have some experiance with things let me lend you a hand if I may. I can at least tell if any of these systems get active again." She notes before going to help where she can. She takes a step back at this point. "Let's stick together the local..." There's a pause for a moment like she's thinking of the best term. "Wildlife can be dangerous. As for her being able to ... that's suprising." She peers so far as she knew users from her world could not use magic so this was strange.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "Her talent may be different than my own. It is interesting, however." He pauses, and turns his focus back towards the work Blackbird is doing. "Good." He says, when she has finished her work. When she moves, Souji raises his hands, and channels his magical power, sending a surge of lightning into the machine. If it's not enough, he could maybe get the others to help.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "There are six of us--" Emi starts but Umi interrupts again. "That one's Emi." Umi says, still grinning. "The others are Ami, Imi, Omi, and Shida. You know, to make it easier to tell us apart." But apparently not too much easier. "Nice to meet you, Alma." Umi is always around to make friends, that may be her role in the Ya Ya Sisterhood here. Seeing Souji working on the machine, Emi offers some electric charges of her own to lend a hand--at least should it seem like it's not enough, if nothing else she can help keep it stable. Umi turns her head, looking towards Helena's ... twins ..., "Uh, well, it's a bit of a story, The Network was made this way."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The blast of electricity from both Souji and Emi strike the drained conductor. The needle jumps and then starts to rise, a power meter beginning to raise into the red then into yellow and to the cheerful green of full power. As this happens, there is several mechanical CHUNKS and KATHUNKS and hisses. Lights crackle to life. They pop and sizzle as they add a cold blue luminescence like water to the old tunnels. A buzz of electronics fills the silence. The left hand corridor from where the dripping comes from does not come on. Connection severed or useless. The one to the right illuminates the path upwards. The scratchclicking noises suddenly becomes much louder, sounding like an entire orchaestra of snaps, whistles and clicks. The lights flare then dim and then start to explode from the right hand corridor. A horde of creatures, metallic and spider like with large sucking mouths like lampreys FLOOD into the room from the right hand corridor. They attach themselves to the lightning gathering power source. The lights dim as they drain the energy from it. As each one drains, it begins to glow blue and there is a wave of static and a small explosion of energy as this blue reaches a high crescendo. And where there were only one creature, there is now five smaller creatures that grow very quickly as they guzzle down the energy. They then turn on the party. On every flashlight. They leap down from the ceiling and skitter over the floor and the walls in a wave of quickly multiplying force, particularly in the direction of Souji and Emi, but also towards Deelel. Everyone is affected here. Pulses of technology disrupting energy fire as the creatures divide and then divide again. Flashlights and PDAs and Hats are attacked as well as anyone with innate electrical power.

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' Blackbird smiled warmly to Serah. "Just keep in mind what your'e doing is important even if you don't realize it since /somebody/ has to keep a lookout and point out when we're all doing something blatantly stupid." There was a soft chuckle. "Y'know like whenever you watch a movie and somebodys' blatantly going down a dangerous turn and you're shouting at them to look Right There but nope. Monster of the flick eats their faces off and plays football with the remains." Her attention then turned to watch Souji's MAKE THIS DEVICE GLOOOOOW trick. Why? Mostly because she wanted to see if ther ewas any way she could duplicate the trick, if it was like how she kept her cellphone working even though she's lost the charger about a month ago, or if it's just a case of this guy being related to some oddball Thing that does Lightning as it's sphere of influince merely has a bigger charge than she does. "Oh trust me being able to top off whateveryou're holding is a dead useful gimmick." Beat. "I mean i lost my phone charger just before Manhatten came back and most places don't have 110 AC anyhow. I mean I'm no Thunder God or have Great and powerful Magi in my family but I did pick up a few things off this elf... Nice fellow, bit wierd but eh." She whistled a snatch of something Deelel might recognize. Yes Journy was on the brain. "Near as I can tell anyone can learn a little bit of magic. The trick is putting the process into a framework your brain can wrap around." And with that said she demonstrated by adding a bit of zappy to the proceedings since. Well. Demo time and the fact of the matter was this thing probably needed a /LARGE/ charge, more than any one person could provide. Her worklights dimmed as power directed away from them towards the generator. "I wouldn't mind listening to how this Network of yours works Umi." Blackbird eyed Emi and Umi a bit. "Lot of questions like whether you're a single mind, simply share a deep connection to eachother and can access eachother at a whim, how between world communication works but... drawn out technical and I"m not quite sure I'd understand the answers with split attention going on." Electricity making things Goooo! Blackbird grinned as Things started happening and then Then... Then then then. "Oh... Crap that's." She pulled a pistol out of her toolbelt and started shooting atthe bug crab insect creepy things. "Exit!" She didn't care how she sounded. "Now!" Where she was producing electricity she'd started channling her magic, fire this time for those in the home audiance, through her gun. Sure it wasn't strong magic as far as these things went but the upside was she didn't have to stop to reload. She normally would have gone for lightningbut since these thigns seemed to just /love/ the stuff. Nope! Fire Instead.Sure her hands moved thanks to the practice but her stance was shakey and many of her shots wide. Gods she hated fighting.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma smiles in Emi's direction. "Nice to meet you too, Emi." The two definitely put her more at ease, especially since they were so fascinating. "Six sisters! Your family is almost as large as mine." Oh wait, her family was much smaller now. To take her mind off the soul-crushing depression, she decides to just inquire more deeply about them. "Why do you call yourself the Network? Are all of you networked together? Or is it like, an inside joke because you have so much in common that its like you're linked?" As the horde of battery mimics start to cause everything to go haywire in reaction to the generators powering up, she sort of hunches down, and tries to get out of the way. But then one attaches to her flashlight, and she throws it away with a screech as it sparks. "KYAGH!" And then she's frantically kicking at the few trying to gnaw on her flesh through her frumpy robes. Once she's not occu"Blessed Cosma, your touch is balm, your presence removes pain. Be with us now." And then radiant yellow light would spread over the trio even without her physically touching them, preemptively beginning to heal whatever wounds might have been caused by the mimics.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena looks surprised! "...Interesting!" she says...these creatures, they are...interesting. They drain energy, and divide by eating energy! That's...useful! Helena, however, comes under assault! They go for her PDA first, and she punches the first one, doing everything she can to protect the device. However... Her hat is carried off, and she squeeks! "No my hat!" she cries out! Oh man...now she has to get a new one! She looks miffed, as a third one goes to the PDA again, and she instead catches it by the face, catching it before she channels a spell! The creature is encased in a strange liquid, slowly trying to encapsulate it...and then FREEZE solid. She picks up the strange crystal, and pushes it into her...chest. There is probably a bag of holding there, because the crystal seems to have disappeared. A fourth one comes at her, and she strikes out, aiming a powerful strike to it's mouth...this time attempting to drain IT of it's remaining energy. "BAD! BAD! Mommy spank!"

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron smiles, nodding at Blackbird "I suppose a voice of reason can be useful sometimes..." But she didn't have time to finish that sentence before the flashlight disapears from her hands. She blinks, looking down in case she dropped it "Huh? What happened?" But then, she winces. Something just clawed at her, taking bites out of her ankles. Oh no, here we go again. "Heartless!?!" She doesn't know any better, she hasn't seen much other monsters than those around recently. And zombies, but those aren't exactly monsters either. These mimics though, different story. She screeches a bit, and then throws a Fire spell at the nearest one, creating a momentary burst of list that might attract them as she pulls back toward the entrance, trying to get out of reach of them "What ARE those?"

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji gets beset upon by a mass of surprisingly... appropriate monsters. "What..." Souji says, hesitating for a cricial moment. Suddenly, BATTERY MIMICS descend upon him, gnawing on him. His personal magical power discharges, lightning surging off of him and being absorbed into the mimic. "They feed on lightning!" Souji yells. "We have to dampen it!" grappling on the Mimic, he throws it down to the floor. "Murasame! Let us begin!" He reaches out, whipping the blade out, the black weapon hissing through the air and trailing crimson afterimages. The weapon is etched with runes that glow with hungry light. With a swift motion, he cleaves one Mimic in half, but he is suddenly borne down, being knocked back by three more, each bitting into him and seeking more of his delicious mana. "I am /not/ letting random monsters defeat me!" Souji yells, indignant amidst the mass of skittering evil. The incoming healing closes some of his wounds, and he lashes out, striking again and again to try to get some breathing room.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Clicky scratchy doom comes for her and eveyrone else she's no longer thinking abotu the machines that are operating. She could try to access any of their syst4ms temotely but something is coming for them he's not sure waht they are but she quickly udnerstands to her abject horror. She knows she's food to these thing and she's already backing off with a bit of horror she's also seemingly being effected b the pluses of engery. She struggles to keep free but it's clearl y she's not feeling so good. She's make a note about the famous general known as the thunder god but well she does catch the song she's just not feeling so well. "Don't feel good." See does have her disc off her back and she's still abel to make sue of it as she cleaves one in two and then throws it getting two more as it bounces about. "Damn it this is almost like things from my home world!" Grid Bugs, there were things that behaved like grid bugs here, lovely.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Oh no! They feed off lightning! "It's not a joke." Emi says. "That's what we are." Though she does smile a little at hearing of Alma's family. Of course, she's also totally ignorant as to the true fate of Alma's family, so it's not exactly a full reaction to what's going on in Alma's head right now. Emi pauses as strange creatures start filing in. Umi picks it up by adding, "Um, well, we've already explained it a few times, but we don't mind answering questions more or anything." She rubs at her forehead. "Anyway, this one isn't sure what you mean entirely? We are one, one are we. All for one and one for all? Maybe that makes it easier, The Network guesses. Anyway, what're those--AHH!!" The creature doesn't actually leap for Umi but rather Emi who has recently just dispelled a charge. It leaps at her, biting and gnashing, getting a few quick swipes in while Emi is caught flatfooted. She sgrunts lightly and Umi says, "Um! I'll be right there just uh--just..." Umi dashes forward and leaps into the air, snapkicking one of the creatures off of Emi. Emi, in turn, tries to draw some power BACK away from the creatures. Hey, power transfer doesn't just have to go one way!

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The mimics drain the capacitor of the remains of it's energy, plunging the mine back into darkness again except for the light sources still available to the group. These light sources are still enough to silohuette the seething, crackling masses of well fed creatures that scatter at the explosion of fire that causes some of them to fly apart. They are little more than husks as evidenced by very little splatter on their demise. Mostly they are oddly formed carapace and skittering bladed limbs and sucking mouths. The one that gets drainked by Helba simply falls like a discarded marionette at their feet with a clatter. They are also easy to cast away, easy to chop and slice and cleave and shoot into julliene bug. The only advantage these creatures have is that of mobility and numbers. In fact draining them seems to be an effective tactic because without power they wind down and come to a stop, sometimes mid lunge. The problem is STILL a logistical one since there are so many of them.

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' Blackbird made a mad cackle as her mind spun through the diffrent spells she knew. Other than the nice trick of her gun spitting fire what could help here? No. NO. She looked Serah's way. "We found our problem! Now. You." The last word held a undercurrent to it as her magic pulsed. "Focus!" Serah mighth ave felt the tingle of magic intended to hieghten her senses, give new vitality and strength. Why her? Souji seemed to be alright. Emi she wasn't sure if her magic could affect or if it'd splash over to the bugs attacking her... Plus Serah looked to not be getting swarmed as heavily as everyone else. Turns out being the 'normal' person in the crowd has it's advantages.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena is being surrounded and hounded. Due to, FOR WHATEVER REASON, they wanted her PDA. She is forced to fight defensively against a large swarm. She controls her movements, fighting very tight to conserve energy and momentum, each strike aiming to cut at the things directly, aiming to move only when necissary. However she gets bit every time she pulls her PDA out of their grip, causing a yelp, before she drains the creature attatched to her hand of it's energy. She continues to fight defensively...forced into a bad situation,.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' More healing! Eventually everyone has a radiant yellow aura around them briefly, even Helena, continuing in her efforts to try and be proactive against healing whatever wounds they receive. While she figures that Helena can heal herself, she does it anyhow, since she appears to be having a great deal of trouble keeping them away from her. After her flashlight is gone, she thinks to switch off her linkpearl for a while. That being the only electronic equipment she had left, the mimics all leave her alone. "Is everyone a-alright? Sound off if you need help!"

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron is not exactly 'normal', but she hasn't been wielding thunder magic at least... but she could. It was just dumb luck that she used fire instead, just pure reflex. A few more fireballs seems to push the other hoppers away, although as she ducks through a doorway, several of them crash in the wall next to you, as they were trying to cut her off, but failed to anticipate the movement accurately. She feels the magic being imparted on her, nodding to Blackbird "I'm okay! Stay safe!" She uses more of her magic, trying to keep them at bay from everyone else. Even if she can't get a clear shot at them, she can shoot to scare them off. She doesn't want to be hitting the other people by mistake either. Fortunatly, aiming magic is relatively easy.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel is very disorientated fromt eh pluses it's clear something down here is effecting her. It's not fatal but it's making her feel terrible sluggish and somewhat hard to think. She is caught bty the creatuer and they are chewing on them it's painful she lets out a cry of pain and she goes dowen hitting the ground with a thunk but she's still trying to get them off. "Nug...hel....p...."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' The mimics keep coming. Souji grits his teeth. "Damn you all!" He yells, irritated, as he inverts his blade... And then the Mimics lunge for him again, before Souji tiwsts and unleashes a wave of pressure that blasts the mimics back, just before they come slamming in for him. "And now... DIE!" He spins the blade, twisting it in his hand as he throws it into the mass, letting it cleave through them as it ricochets through the room. Souji turns, catching the blade as it passes back, and immediately twisting to blur forward, slashing into and through the Mimics that are bearing down upon Deelel.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Emi isn't so sure she's going to be able to draw power off too much since she'd have to expend some of it resulting in them just reabsorbing it and whatnot, so she just absorbs what she cans before falling back, allowing Umi to martial arts her way through the mimics, just plowing through them like someone who just enjoys fighting so much that it's hard to really keep them down. She's clobbered a few times, but that just seems to improve her day. This is because Umi actually does enjoy a good brawl. Whether she's just an aspect of the network where this is siphoned off to or-- Once the battle clears down a bit, Emi manages to breathe out and looks towards Alma, "Are you alright?" Souji seems like someone who has his act together so she isn't really terribly worried about him. Reminds her a bit of Ang so far which, she supposes, is probably something that should concern her considering recent happenings but well someone can be similar to Ang and also not burn down VALKYRI.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Battery mimic: SMASH edition. ALL MIMICS MUST DIE. Now with Kung Fu Grip! The mimics skitter in droves away from Serah's magic attacks, some of them getting caught in the blasts but many just getting in the way of eachother at an inopportune time and getting hammered by the rest of the group. The ones hounding Helba gnom and gnom and leap and snatch until they can leap and snatch no longer, reduced to piles of scrap or drained husks. Some of the remaining mimics swarm around the downed Deelel, biting down and attaching those sucker mouths and draining whatever energy they can out of them at an almost frantic pace. The blade ricochets through the room and then DECIMATES the remaining mimics clinging to Deelel. There is a sudden deafening quiet as the last of the mimics are dispatched. The sound of trickling water returns.. a constant drip... drip.. that joins the futile twitching of the last few creatures before they go still. The entire floor is carpeted with carapaces and the twitching remnants of the creatures.

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' Blackbird spun, snap reaction causing her mind to push everything away except for honing in on the source of that noise and dumping healing magic onto it. There were no words and only a soft blue-white glow around Deelel to signify magic at work. Yet her magic wasn't intended to deal with Programs and there were all those bugs possibly draining it away. None of that mattered or regestered as more than enviromental variables while Blackbird's magic worked. This was her zen moment. She was a mender at heart rather than a breaker. Magic just gave her another tool to do it with.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' And yet again, /more healing/! This time focusing almost solely upon Helena and Deelel, she pours all of her white magic into the pair, trying her best to mitigate the damage. The two are literally glowing bright yellow, before this is over. And then Emi inquires on how she's doing. "I-I'm alright. I'm more worried about them!"

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel is food is mountains of food to her she lets out a scream they are baically sucking the life out of her she tries to fend them off but thankfully they don't last much longer as the blade is just going nuts and soon all of them are terminated. Deelel then starts to glow yellow from Alma for a moment and the strange injuries star to heal rickly rezzing back into place. "Gug... those things were ... feeding on me...also thank you miss the name's Deelel and I owe you one." With the healing she's back on her feet, yet wary those things could suck her dry like a Vampire could a human...

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji looks over the fallen mimics. The enemies are defeated. He sheathes the blade, looking over them all as he clenches a fist. "... Is /this/ the reason foe the electrical disturbences? Who would make such /annoying/ creatures?" He looks up, pulling out a vial from his suit which contains a gleaming, syrupy substance. He drinks it down, grimacing for a moment and putting the vial back into his suit. He turns over back towards the batteries, and with some annoyance, he throws his hand out and fires more lightning at the machine, trying to get the damn thing back online. "If I have to get out my murder suit, whoever is responsible for this is going to regret this." He looks over at Deelel and nods. "Souji Murasame, of the Murasame Corporation." He pauses, "Celba. Farron. Hyral. Are you all intact?"

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron reaches out of her hiding spot to give Deelel a hand too, if only to guide her to the relatively safety of the stairwell she was hiding into to cast her magic from. "Over here, they don't seem to be coming this far. Maybe there's something that keeps them from going any further." She's not entirely sure, but she's been observing them a bit. "Maybe its the conducts... or something like a leash?"

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' "Yes sir." She says, frowning. Her hat was gone...she sighs...her hat! It was GONE! These creaters /ate it/. She makes a long suffering sigh, and turn towards towards Souji, "This is annoying...so do we try and turn the machines back on, or do we just go with my spell to light the way?" she asks, "The problem if we continue on without light is that OTHER monsters might be attracted by us..." she shakes her head, "Even in my light spell, it'll still count as darkness to them."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Souji had to be having a laugh about having a murder suit. Right? It was just a joke. She actually gives a sort of awkward giggle at that, thinking it was really a joke. "I'm fine, Mister Murasame. T-Thank you for asking." She then smiles at Deelel. "You're welcome, Ma'am. I'm just glad I could help." Then at Helena's dilemma, she offers in a tentative tone. "I c-could light the way."

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena waves a hand, "Save your healing magic." Helena raises a hand, accessing her PDA, and summons the right spell... A ball of darkness appears infront of the group, before it switches into a ball of light. In a range of twenty feet around the ball Darkness became light, and light became darkness, swapping the intensity along the light scale so that people can see.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Emi nods towards Alma, cricking her neck lightly. "Ugh." She says. "Let's hurry and get this over with." She doesn't like being power drained either, she was hoping this was something a bit more suited for her but as it turns out--evil battery heartless, not as suitable as she initially anticipated. "Heh--that was kind of fun!" Umi says. Emi groans.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' It'll be a hot time in the old mine tonight. There is a sound that rises over the silence and the dripping water. A faint ticking. Tick. Tick. Clink. Clink. Tick. that eminates from the righthand corridor moving upwards. Clockwork? A bomb for someone to set us up for? It's not clear. The same old trickle resounds from the lefthand tunnel leading downwards. You are in a 10 x 10 x 10 cube. You see a drained electric generator against the wall. Exits are Left (Down) and Right (Up). Command?

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' "It's not.." But then she clams up, deciding not to elaborate any further if her contribution was unwelcome. She wasn't even sure she really wanted Helena to see any more of her magic anyhow, as she'd already slipped once. She gives Umi a smile, her enthusiasm infectious. "You really thought that was f-fun?" Tilting her head, she listened closely to the ticking sounds. "Maybe, we should go up?" She gestures vaguely towards the right path.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena focuses on moving the ball with them... She is pretty quiet towards Alma, FOR SOME REASON. "Why would we go up? Down is obviously where our object is." Helena says, shaking her head.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron sighs, offering a shoulder to Deelel a bit as she seems to be the weakest "... I'm just going to follow, I don't want to stay alone either, but if there are more of those things down there, I'm not sure our friend here will appreciate it too much." She looks around ".... This place is starting to freak me out a little... noone else feels like we're being watched by something?"

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' Blackbird huffed and loaded a fresh clip into her pistol. "I think," She shook her head to try clearing the cruft out. "I think we really need to get out of here." Blink. Blink. "Pull back. Retrench. At least send someone off to let others know what we found in case we wake the queen up and end up cacooned to walls and turned into facehugger chow or something." Beat. "Damnit pop culture refrences only work if everyone else understands what you're talking about." She huffed theatrically. "Damnit I hope that's all of 'em. I'm running on fumes here." Yet more ticking and clicking and Blackbird just grumbled sour noises. "Gee Fred," Her voice had a 'dopey' sound to it. "Let's go explore the dark cave with lots of eaten up machines in it." Eyeroll. Yet she held her pistol ready in one hand and the fingers of her other flexed as she tried to concentrate enough to make with magics.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel is looking about the cube and notices teh generator for a moment the could see about trying to get it going but on the other hand it could mean more of the grid bugs err mimics. "Those things got to have a nest around here wouldn't they?" She looks at Blackbird for a moment tilting her head for a moment "Look I'm on their menu more than you are!" She's appicative to Serah for the shoulder as she makes use of it. " Sorry I don't know that much about your culture and what I do is music." "We'd want to track them to their source..."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji mutters to himself. He looks around, left or right. He considers which direction they should go. "It sounds like the source of the creatures is above. Eliminating them might make our progression more simple. If we move downwards, I am not sure what threats there might be down there. We might need more light than what we have available at the moment to operate effectively. This is a problem." He looks up, annoyed. "Let's go up. Eliminate the source of the mimics. Once destroyed, we can charge the machines and move down in relative safety.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Umi says, "Well," after a moment's thought. "I could be troubled every time a fight breaks out, but well--they happen so often, might as well try to enjoy it. Especially when it's with monsters because, well, there's so many!" She beams widely. Despite that probably being the most depressing thing said today. "The Network has been in a startling large number of conflicts. Technically speaking," Emi murmurs, "We have been engaged in battle more than when we were literally designed for fighting." "That seems like a reasonble solution. We're here to solve the issues rather than go spelunking." Emi admits.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' Going up and to the right leads the party through a series of passages, some blocked by falling rocks and debris and others used as storage rooms (which seem strangely empty except for a few stripped components). The more natural formations of the cave have been pockmarked with water damage and side channels bored straight into the ceiling. The clicking and whirring gets louder and more persistant until the source if eventually found. Two or three knee sized clockwork automatons clatter and bonk through the corridor. They have a patchwork look to them, these constructs. Several glowing nodules are strung in a patchwork fashion around their bodies. They are only roughly humanoid in shape, almost like armored clockwork men. They bounce and click slowly across the corridor, unthreathening as they make their way slowly past the party if allowed to do so.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron is still offering shoulder to Deele, as they trudge their way deeper into the mines. "What are we here for anyway? Is there some kind of treasure, or something that you found of value, in here?" She wonders why anyone would want to get further in a cave filled with trapped chests with teeth like that... At least they have light through magic, because it ate her flashlight :(

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena looks at the clockwork men. "Nooooobody ever listens." She says, waving a hand, "They look harmless enough, they don't seem to be aggressive." She offers, "Unless you wana look around, I think this might be all we have here...unless you wana shoot them up full of electricty? That might draw out more of those...things." She offers, "Maybe even away from us."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji moves upwards in search of a way to deal with the constant oncoming horde of lightning-draining mimics. "I am watching for evidence of a specific item that may be present in this location. The electrical disturbences and these... entities... may be a hint as to what I am looking for. It might be what I want... It might also not." Souji walks forward, and looks over the slowly moving mechanical entities. "Looks at the patchwork modules. They are either self-modifying or are scavenging. They may have crafted the mimics. Either way..." With a swift motion, Souji cuts out at the clockwork men, aiming to disable them with swift strikes to the limbs. "... I find them potentially useful, Disable them."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma Hyral traipsed along quietly near Emi, and Umi. She was afraid that she might have pushed Helena even further towards the edge. As Souji explains what they're looking for, she'd nod her head with the explanation. And the the clockwork men appear, she was content to let them walk on by. But then Souji attacks.. She'd sigh, and just try to stay out of their way as they battled them, waiting to assess whether the clockwork men would turn hostile and deem them a threat, as then there would likely be injuries to heal. The life of a healer on a dungeon crawl was fraught with suffering.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel is recovering from what happened before but seems to be good enough. She doe sseem to be a bit concerned about the machinea about her she does keep an eye on thing she accepts Serah's help and looks to her. "Thank you." She seems to be not in any danger at the moment "These things behave like ... creatures from my home world. It'd disturbing they have an analog in this world." On a Lark Deelel will reach out and see if there's any computer systems in the strange machine sbut given their nature she does doubt it.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The clockwork men go down soundlessly, winding down without so much as a splutter. A few twitch, but that is really all that occurs afterwards. A few springs go 'sproing' from tension being released. A little red gem on each of them flashes and then goes dark. And nothing seems to happen afterwards. Another group of clockwork constructs can be found a little further up the corridor, trundling along the corridor dragging a larger power core from some scavenged machinery that they rest up next to what appears to be another generator set in the wall. Several nodules have already been heaped up on it like offerings. Wires and cables swarm around the conductor as these little clockwork men seem to be trying to splice these glowing nodules and power cores into the generator.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "Hm...interesting." Emi says as she looks at the clockworks. Umi says, "But why do all this? I mean they can't just be operating on instinct, right?" She looks towards Alma and tries to reassure her with a shonen grin. It's so shonen, in fact, that the smile practically /jumps/.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' "Huh. So we have presents to take back to the ship." Helena says to Souji, "Did you even need to draw the blade for that?" She shrugs. "Well, we can leave them here for now.." She walks along, "...Huh...are they repairing this? Why?" She asks, not expecting an answer, "Hmmm...if only there were some way to communicate with them.."

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron tilts her head "What I wonder is how they are working... they are machines right? So why aren't the mimics attacking them?" She doesn't know much about these machines, constructs or golems mind you. She lets go of Deelel when she seems to be able to walk on her own now, as long as there aren't other mimics closeby.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Unable to resist the jumping shonen smile, she offers a timid smile in return. "M-Maybe we should let them b-be, if they're r-repairing it..." She would walk closer to the generator, giving it a critical eye from a safe distance, to see if it was as it appeared to be.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel finds nothing she can even sense or tap into, so there goes that idea she had but she's going to hang back and she's watching looking t them and wonders just what they are doing here. "There's no computer systems in them, so I'm at a loss to how they function." She seems to have some way to know. "So that kills any ideas about direct communication I'm afraid."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji really doesn't seem to care. He's going to be taking those golems back. Anything that operates so efficiently on random electricity infusions like they have seen so far speaks of potential improvements to Ramuha electricity absorption technology. When you live in a world that constantly has thunderstorms, you make use of it. Souji has no change in expression as he proceeds. "If I shot them with lightning, they might react suboptimally." Souji replies. He steps forward, sparing the next group of constructs for the moment as he sees something much larger. "These entities are working to power this generator. There is something here..." He puts a hand out and places it on the generator, examining it intently. "Could it be another beast, or something else..." He says.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The conductor and generator appear to be the same as the one in the other chamber. It appears to be much smaller and more clunky, as if this was the back up generator where the other was the full one. As such, a tangle of these power cores and other wires and spliced tools that have been scavenged has been accumulated like rust by these repairing clockwork machines. The cables for this generator are spliced into the main system and run down the corridor the way they had come and continue up the corridor where another storage room quietly lays dark and dormant. You may go backwards (down) or forwards (up). There is a backup generator here. There are a small crowd of repairbots at work here. Command?

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' "I-I'd prefer we avoid suboptimal b-behavior from them" She'd look up the tunnel leading further up, then back the way they came. Then, timidly, she'd suggest. "Shall we press o-on, forward?"

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena shrugs, "I...Not my field of expertise." She explains. "I have no idea what I am looking at, Sorry." She appologizes to Souji. "Perhaps we shoud move on."

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel has given up on these machines she cna't really talk to them liek she'd hope. She has to agree with Souji's thougths though as she looks about and she humms "I would agree and this is a bit strange even for me." Deelel's still thinking but she's coming up with blanks for the most part.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji nods. "I see how this connects back to the prior generator. These robots appear to be ancient local maintenance drones. Interesting." He /definately/ wants to keep a couple for study. Everyone loves clockwork robots. But for now..." Let's move on. We don't need to trigger anything here." Since Blackbird has vanished and he doesn't have Myla or his own technical experts here, he ahs to fall back on his own knowledge. This isn't his specialty. He leads the way onward and upward, "If we don't see a sign of the source of these creatures soon, we're going to head back. We're wasting time here."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' "So you are here for purposes of salvage?" Emi asks. It's not really anything she's against but it's good to have an idea of what's going on. Alexander Academy has many survivors in the new world, it pays to understand and maybe even ingratiate oneself to them. "We've taken a job, however." EMi tells Souji. "...Though at this rate, it may be a failure--we'd have to come back, though."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' The repair workbots continue their work. The storage room a distance up the corridor is jammed and cluttered with old storage containers. Boxes and vases of an unknown plastic or metal containers that are dusty from the passage of time. There are holes in the ceiling as well. There are also cases of batteries. Hundreds and hundreds of batteries that are moving. Tiny batteries that twitch and shudder but do not come to life although the outlines of the creatures that have been fought before are plain. Also plain...? What created them. Something extends down from a hole in the ceiling. A /much/ bigger variant of the mimics seen before. It's sucking mouth makes a piercing /SCREECH/ as it legs down spider fashion onto the dusty boxes of it's lair and lunges to attack the group who have disturbed it's lair.

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' Blackbird had made a hasty report about the whole mimic bug electricity sucker things. That should have been the end of it. Leave anything else involving the bug hunt to people who /actually/ knew how to fight. However ther ewas just something nagging at her. She had to go back. So quick power bar and a little red bull later Blackbird was runing full tilt down the daves, by blind luck taking the righthand passage. "Hey guys Wha'd I." Her eyes went wide when she saw what was going on. Were she trained and battle hardened she'd have opened fire. Instead best she could manage were some muttered words and blue healing light cascaded down. Useful, but it left her blind to the situation at hand. She just prayed to whatever powers that be would keep her from having rushed right into the maw of something wanting ot tear her head off.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron looks at the small batteries.... It'd be almost cute if they weren't just smaller versions of the chests that nearly bit her leg off before. Then, even admist the darkness, she feels as if something waslooming overhead. And she barely has time to move away as the giant mimic head comes crashing down. She dives to the side, almost crashing into the nearby wall, just barely rolling short of it as she leans her back against it, aghast "What *IS* that!?!" She screeches a bit, clearly not in her element here.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma's eyes go wide as the Mimic Queen pounces right at her. One moment, she's standing right in its path, the next moment...? She's falling flat on her face as she trips over a cable, as she turns her head at the last moment to avoid shattering her glasses. "KYAGH!" Fortunately for her, it causes the mimic queen to jump right over her. Since she had no electronics on her person other than her radio, it doesn't seem to bother with her after the initial attack. Getting up, she'd retreat to the back of the group, assessing if anyone took an injury.. Well other than her dignity of course, but that was always a lost cause.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' With Alma here... She doesn't bother going on the defensive. "Master Murasame, allow me." She says, and rushes the queen first. Alma can take care of healing and reenforcing them... She'll worry about... She leaps towards the large queen, aiming to litterally bounce up it's right leg and throw herself RIGHT into it's face. She punches for where the thing's eyes are, before aiming to flip down and send a KICK towards the head. Once more, she soars down, aiming to drive a first right through the thing...and starts to try and drain it's very essence, trying to weaken it's entire body, so that Souji can show them how it's done. "Now!"

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "Yes, for the most part." Souji confirms to Emi. "What is the job that you've taken?" This is subsequently interrupted by GIANT MIMIC QUEEN. Souji looks up, clenching his teeth. "The mother! Be on your guard, this one will be much stronger!" Souji yells, and throws out a blast wave of air, interrupting the Queen as it falls and sends it falling back, the snapping limbs just barely missing him. "So fast..." He says, before he crouches slightly. Helena begins breaking down the Mimic's defenses, and Souji lunges, sweeping the Murasame Blade out to try to take out the limbs in a blurred strike... And then he turns, reversing his weapon and slashing upwards, trying to cleave upwards and through the Queen with a deadly blow.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Avoiding getting eaten by what are flat out grid bugs. She's able to keep the heck away from the things and is staring at it for a moment. "Oh for the a Grid bug queen? Really?!" She's got hee disc out againa nd she's ready. "This might all just be glitched technology that serves no purpose anymore."

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Emi is a bit more ready for surprises this time. She hops back a bit before noticing Alma has tripped. She reaches out--but the mimic queen leaps over her and she ends up having to snag her hand back. She doesn't counterattack at the moment, rather preferring to lend Alma a hand in getting up, jogging back with her because you are a horrible party member if you let the healer get punked. Besides Omi can handle monsters, she snaps a kick for the monster, laughing like a pirate. "Clearing out the troubles." Emi murmurs to Souji.

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' DEADLY DRAINING BLOW. REVERSE SWORD COMBO! Blurring swordwork and draining energy swiftly jointing the Mimic Queen and rendering it an inert husk.There is nothing else but silence. And about this time the lights turn back on. There is a clunking of a generator slowly humming to life in the distance. The blue luminous glow crackles and spits and the tiny batteries lunge up the walls, eggs cracking open to reveal the beetle like shapes underneath. The Queen mimic. Gets. Back. Up. Limbs rejoining and body reforming. It jumps onto the ceiling letting out an echoing sonorous SCREECH down one of the holes in the ceiling. They swarm with the queen to the light overhead that illuminates the storage room. The call for aid is then answered by more mimics willing to feast on the energy as more battery mimics descend while the tiny batteries quickly swell in size. The hoard of batteries, battery mimics and the queen quickly overwhelm the clunky generator and everything goes dark again with a final SNAP-buzz-Pft. The batteries, driven into a frenzy by the brief contact with power, pour like a living wave of legs and twitching mouths with the double handful of full sized battery mimics and finally the queen who descends on Souji and Helba in particular with a wrathful vengeance.

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron doesn't know what's exciting the queen, but the way it reassembles and disappears in the ceiling... that can't be good right? "I don't like this..." Her eyes watching the swarm of smaller batteries and mimics moving up to the ceiling with the queen "... uhm..." And then the legs coming back down, as if tentacules trying to catch all of them. She has another screech "I don't like this at all!" Aiming her hands upward to the ceiling, shooting several balls of fire in the hope of scaring it off, or at least away from her and anyone close to her. She's pertty sure electricity doesn't work at all... but then she tinks.. Maybe ice? She aims again, more calmly, and tries to freeze the limbs of the mechanical monster with blizzara instead.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji strikes down the Mimic Queen. "Wait." Souji thinks, and looks back at the fallen Queen. "That was too..." And suddenly the masses arive. "TOO EASY!" Souji yells, putting himself on guard. But there are limits to such, even for the Murasame Heir. He turns, slashing and blasting with waves of pressure over and over, trying to keep them from swarming him under. "Stick together! We can't let them separate us!" Souji calls, as he launches himself to stand next to Helena. She is, after all, the one he knows the best out of those here.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena is jumped on by the QUEEN Mimic. She ducks left and rught, but the claws of the queen dig into her side...she hisses in pain. However, it was only ONE strike. "I do not like it, when things stand back up...WITHOUT MY INTERVENTION!" Helena booms with annoyance, and suddenly and viciouly AGAIN plunches her hand into the monster. "TASTE MY LOVE!" she says, and chanells darkness through the fingers...and attempts to EXPLODE the darkness into it's very soul. OMNOMNOMNOM.

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' Alma continues to cower behind Emi for a time, and then something is said in her linkpearl. Raising a hand, she'd cause a radiant yellow aura to appear right over Blackbird and Emi in particular, healing their wounds. And then she'd murmur something to Emi. "I'll.. be back in a moment." Emi would feel a rush of air, and a vaguely Alma sized shape, that looked more like a glowing yellow orb at its current speed would zip around the cramped room in front of them. When she was finished, Emi would feel another rush of air, and Alma would be back behind her. And yet it looked as if nothing had happened. Until they looked up. On the ceiling of the room were seven small magical arrays, joined together as if they were a constellation. Alma would whisper something aloud, that only Emi could hear despite the conviction in her voice. "Be judged by the seven stars." And then from each of the arrays, hundreds of tiny little slivers of radiant yellow light would rain down, homing in and seeking out each of the mimics like deadly little lasers, showing the queen with tiny needles of holy magic. Despite the room being covered in them, they all appeared to have nigh-perfect accuracy, as not a single one landed amongst her allies despite the cramped quarters of the room and the hallway.

:'''{{Blackbird]] has posed:''' /span> Blackbird snarled. Dropping the rock and instead grabbing one of the bugs. "You will not take u." Fire swam over the mimic before she hurled it away from her like a miniature bomb. Green and Yellow light pulsed around her as Blackbird called on her magics. She didn't plan on using it to attack, not directly, but ot wrap web on web on web of defense and enhancements unto herself. She could do nothing ot help anyone if she was dead. So she started punching these things. Each blow aided and enforced by magic making each as hard as a small jackhammer. She had to survive this no matter how inelegant the solution or if she burned through her reserves. No sense in holding back if ther emight not be a later to hold back for. She was blind to everything but the swarm around her. She had to fight free. 

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel has a bit of a look of stark horror on her face after all they can indeed hurt her far worse than the rest of the party.. Even more so? There's just so many of the darn things it really is like dealing with grid bugs. She starts lobbing her disc as best she cna but she's not so lucky as she's caught and knocked down again which may be lead to them feeding on her and tha'ts not fun for her and well her disc is still bouncing abotu as she's trying to get back up and catch it.

:'''[[Emi Dennou]] has posed:''' Umi hops away from a biting mimic. "Ha!" She shouts. One waddles up behind her and kicks her in the shin. "Gah!" She yells, hopping repeatedly. "Emi!" She adds. "A hand??" Emi turns her head and raises her hands only for another mimic to bonk HER in the shins and she yelps, hopping up and down too. It's positively adorable. Alma indicates she is 'going to be back' and Emi looks around rapidly to look to see what she's up to. There's a rush of air and she is knocked forward, hitting the ground. She blinks rapidly and says, "Where'd she--" She stands up and then looks back to Alma. She's back again?!!? "...Huh." She says. "...Was that you moving at super speeds?" She lowers her foot. "...Pretty impressive."

:'''[[Stormfall]] has posed:''' OMNOMNOMNOM. Delicious.. SPAM? Sorry Helena. Mimics don't have souls. Only spam. This is why tinned meat is so treacherous. However, whatever is contained inside the mimic queen is exploded with darkness just as the limbs are frozen by the efforts of Serah. The creature rears up a final time and screeches before exploding in a shower of shrapnel bits. A rock and a hammer seems to be quasi effective against individual mimics but this frenzied swarm doesn't seem to care for anything except biting down on something electronic. Or in the case of Deelel or Souji or Emi, something close enough to count. The battery mimics do not scatter on the death of the queen but rather devour the last dregs of essence from the carcass before again advancing on the party. And then they are all simultaniously Laser'd.. and fall in droves, the hyper accurate lasers taking out droves of the smaller swarms and some of the larger ones. There is still an advance, but it is picked off until the room is completely and utterly silent save for the clicking of the clockwork men in the background.

:'''[[Helena Celba]] has posed:''' Helena pulls her hands out of the insides of the monster. "Tch. Didn't even break a nail." She says, with a annoyed tone. "Well, I think that takes care of the...Mimic Queen...You'd think they would have known about her this close to the surface."

:'''[[Serah Farron]] has posed:''' Serah Farron blinks as everything gets LASERED around her ".... What... happened?" Is the only thing she can say, afraid of moving now.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji slashes and cuts repeatedly. The Mimics carve into him every time he turns, creating a situation where he cannot attack without taking damage, but he must attack else he be swarmed under. It is a terrible catch 22. Nevertheless, the nickling and diming effort causes Souji's suit to become wet with blood... and then the rest of the team gives them an opening. Alma's lasers and Helena's Darkness Finger solve the major issues. Light and Darkness. Souji chuckles to himself as he presses the attack. Soon, everything is clear. Souji looks down at the carnage, and he looks down, frowning. "It's over. Finally." With a sigh, the Murasame heir looks to the others. "Mark anything that looks interesting. We can send down a salvage group after we're done securing the area. We've certainly bled enough for this." He signals to the others. "Once we're done, let's power the generators and head underground. There may be other things remaining here even if this was quite probably the source of the electrical problem." He looks to Emi. "Looks like your job might be completed after all."

:'''[[Alma Hyral]] has posed:''' She just beams a smile at Emi, but doesn't otherwise explain herself. She nods wordlessly at Souji, and just starts pouring healing magic into everyone who was injured.

:'''[[Deelel]] has posed:''' Deelel is shocked at their behaivour for only a moment, it makes tatical sense the queen was dead they wanted to keep the resources to the hive, right? She recovers her disc and just relaxes a little bit. "Sounds like a plan who knows what they were preventing from being found."

:'''[[Blackbird]] has posed:''' huffed as she looked around, finally realizing the attack was over. "Everyone still alive?" Somehow she managed to speak in spite of the bone weary exaustion she felt from overexerting herself magically. "Gods... I"m never going to get used to this cruft am I?"

Riku

2013-04-28T18:15:00Z

Raenas:

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Riku
|age=15
|image=Riku pic.png
|species=Human
|sex=Male
|height=5' 8"
|weight=165
|series=Kingdom Hearts
|styles=Quickstrike, Dark Valor
|hometown=Destiny Island
|alignment=Wandering Force
|group=Archadian Empire
|occupation=Wanderer / Judge Cadet
|themesong=[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spMgIXmoffM| Two Angels and a Dream]]
|quote=“Giving up already? C'mon.. I thought you were stronger than that.”
|footer=
}}
A calm and collected boy with a wry sense of humor, Riku is a wanderer from a tranquil world and both piece and player in a far reaching game between multiple evils. He keeps his own council and has been many things; A rival, a storyteller and manipulator, a chosen one no longer chosen, a friend searching the far horizons for familiar faces. He is a knight whose heart has slipped over the edge of dusk, an adventurer searching the worlds for those he cares for at any cost, blinded to the consequences of his actions. Whatever path he chooses, it never quite seems to plunge into the deepest darkness, or even wind back towards the light he left behind.

'''Skills:''' ''Never Piss off the Deuteragonist, I will Fear No Darkness, Self-Justification for Fun and Profit, Dark is not Evil, Power Corrupts, Ultimate Power is Pretty Nifty, Save Vs Will, Broken Ace, Suspicious Minds, Jumped at The Call, but It Refused Him, Snark Knight, Surrounded By A Thirty Xanatos Pileup, Takes Notes, Mysterious Big Brother Instinct, Also Aloof Parkour Guy, Shops At Faustian Bargains Warehouse, Multiple Boss Fight Mileage Card, Well Intentioned Extremist, Does Not Eat, Does Not Eat, Does Not Eat Nachos, Nachos, Nachos.''

==Abilities==

'''Powers of Darkness:''' Riku escaped the night his world was destroyed, but that escape came with a cost. These powers have been honed over time and use and the tutelage of other darkness wielders, although it makes him one step removed from the boy he once was and one step closer to the perpetually hungry echoes that are the heartless.

'''Potential Keyblade Wielder:''' Handed down the ability due to the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony given to him in his youth by the warrior Terra, Riku has the potential to wield a keyblade. However, due to the events of Destiny Island the keyblade that was to be his went instead to Sora. Riku will have to earn his own.

'''Swordsmanship:''' Obsessed with other worlds outside his own, Riku strained at the boundaries of his island home. He has practiced and competed endlessly, becoming the best swordsman within his island community. Whether this distinction holds up in the sea of stars outside is a matter of debate.

'''Strong Willed:''' With obsessions comes a certain bloody minded stubbornness. Riku has a strong and narrowly focused will, doing whatever it takes to grow stronger and complete his objectives. The powers of darkness that he gains from Maleficent and other scions of darkness do not automatically overwhelm him due to this powerful will.

'''Disguise:''' Riku tends to want to blend into whatever place he finds himself as quickly as he can. This is aided by portal magic as well as his powers of general observation, but also because he does not want to be recognized when the things he must accomplish are of a necessarily dark nature.

'''Parkour:''' Also known as free running, this ability to navigate urban spaces allows him to quickly traverse rough terrain without difficulty and escape capture or notice even in an unfamiliar environment. It also represents new angles of attack and defense when he may drop down from the roof of a building, leap a fence or drop down into a courtyard without hurting himself. This ability is lessened but still apparent in open terrain.

'''Sketching:''' He keeps a journal of his drawings and experiences that he has been adding to over the years. The first couple of pages are drawings of Destiny Island while notes and drawings of other places follow in it's wake. With practice, Riku has become somewhat proficient at drawing, especially in the drawing of people and architecture. The journal also functions as a scrapbook of sorts, containing notes and pieces of memorable material that can be caught within its battered pages.

'''Storytelling:''' Ever since the idea of other worlds caught in his consciousness, Riku has been spinning tales about how they ultimately must be like. Worlds of searing heat and bitter cold. The imagination is a playground in which reality has no particular say in the matter. Although the reality does not entirely match the fantasy, Riku continues to read and to tell stories with an ease of practice and an anecdotal style that combines many fragments into a larger whole.

= Combat Section =

[[File:Riku_Stats.png|Riku_Stats.png]]
*Warning: Stat margin of error greater than expected. Approach target with caution.

=Quickstrike Actions=

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed
|+ '''Quickstrike Actions'''
|-
! scope="col" style="background: #efefef;" | Attack
! scope="col" style="background: #3299CC;" | Description
|-
|'''Black Wind'''|| An eerie wind howls around Riku, stripping away negative ailments that have accrued.
|-
|'''Lunge'''|| Riku races forwards, attacking with a single swift slash.
|-
|'''Storm Crescent'''|| Riku gathers himself, pausing briefly before lashing out with arcs of shrieking wind that pulse from each weapon slash.
|-
|'''Storm Riser'''|| Spirals of water materialize around Riku, forming into a twisted pillar that surges towards an opponent as Riku charges forwards with an arcing upwards strike.
|-
|'''Taunting Smile''' || Come on now.. Don't you think you can try a little harder than that?
|-
|'''Defy Gravity''' || A little air magic and levitation combines with storm magic as Riku springs from the ground into the air, suspended as pillars of lightning and lashing rain pummel the earth, knocking anybody in the air flat should it connect.
|-
|'''Dynamic Balance''' || Riku focuses on his footwork, keeping himself steady and well coordinated, shifting his balance in order to improve his accuracy.
|-
|'''Back Flip''' || A quick, vicious back flip combined with a lightning quick weapon slash, ending in a semi-crouch when on land and a ready position when still aerial.
|-
|'''Spring Kick'''|| An abrupt, surprising move usually when knocked prone that Riku uses to quickly regain his footing and stun an opponent coming in to engage him while prone.
|-
|'''Flash Step''' || Storm magic combines with a series of short, fast slashes, kicks and attacks aided by pillars of lightning that flash in his wake as he charges onto the attack.
|-
|'''Phantom Heart''' || Riku raises a hand, ghostly flames flickering across his skin for a split second as a ghostly apparition appears around him. The dark shroud thickens, a brilliant star of dark fire surrounded by the wraith. The apparition circles once around Riku before charging at an opponent, cloth formed claws open and the fire hungry for the light of others. Limit Break 
|-
|'''Rogue Wave''' || Riku stands perfectly still, taking in a few steadying breaths as a rumbling can be heard from a distance. A spectral wall of dark water materializes behind him, passing through him as it looms higher and higher before crashing down. Limit Break 
|-
|}

=Dark Valor Actions=
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed
|+ '''Dark Valor Actions'''
|-
! scope="col" style="background: #efefef;" | Attack
! scope="col" style="background: #4372AA;" | Description
|-
|'''Dark Renewal'''|| An eldritch flame runs along Riku's body, a manifestation of dark magic and under tight control it begins to heal minor wounds almost as soon as they have been inflicted.
|-
|'''Piercing Dusk'''|| Riku calls up several jagged spears of dark crystal which appear and disappear through dark portals, circling and harrying a target before all descending at once, shattering into a storm of sharp fragments.
|-
|'''Concentration'''|| Riku draws on a reserve of inner control and focuses the dark energies he is channeling to purge his body of any weaknesses that may have been inflicted on him. As this dark magic manifests itself as ghostly fire, it looks more like a self immolation than a buffing action.
|-
|'''Hunter's Leap'''|| Riku crouches low, then leaps forwards, his outline blurring and the afterimages of another shape following in his wake as he brings weapon to bear in a vicious downwards arc. The heartless afterimage of the Hunter of the Dark fades as soon as the attack is completed.
|-
|'''Thorn Riser'''|| Riku raises a hand, darkness curling around him in the ghostly afterimages of thorns as black thorn vines explode from the ground, forming into thick trunks of spinning, lashing blades and sweep across the area before disappearing.
|-
|'''Wyvern Spiral'''|| Riku holds a hand in front of him. As he raises it towards an aerial target, giant shadowy wyverns explode into being in clouds of smoky gloom. They tightly spiral towards a target, their passage a long moan of shuddering sound like the approach of a ghostly train.
|-
|'''Umbral Sight'''|| Riku closes his eyes and concentrates, pulling at the darkness at his core in order to see more clearly. It is somewhat how the heartless see, a melange of shadows and instinct with the brilliance of hearts muted but still powerful enough to outline those with them even in the darkest gloom or thickest fog.
|-
|'''Twin Threshold'''|| Riku clasps one hand with the other and holds them in front of him, weapon pointed down and into the dirt. The shapes of two giant thresholders appear behind him, thrusting out of the ground trapped in a slab of dark stone. They extend one claw each, swiping at an enemy while the other guards incoming attacks.
|-
|'''Shadow Claw'''|| Darkness concentrates around Riku's hand, becoming a thick taloned gauntlet with a much larger afterimage of darkness that follows his movements as he reaches forth to drain the lifeforce from a target using that reaching claw of gloom.
|-
|'''Dark Firaga'''|| The spectral fire becomes much more intense, then abruptly shears off to an eerie silence. There is a guttural roar of back draft as Riku lobs several spheres of dark fire, each of them shrieking across the area like a comet.
|-
|'''Nightmare Impulse'''|| Riku stands still while a black wind howls around him, the wind picking up debris as the gloom thickens into a thicket of reaching claws. The claws, made of shards of dark mirror, stream past Riku and crash down in a wave of darkness. Limit Break 
|-
|'''Dark Aura'''|| Riku vanishes. He steps backwards and falls from sight. He appears briefly afterwards, lunging forwards with sword raised to strike. He swoops faster and faster between targets and portals, finally landing with a ground shaking impact on the ground, weapon buried in the earth, causing dark pillars of flame to explode out from the surroundings. Limit Break 
|-
|}

=Character Logs=
''' Scene-Sys Captured Character Logs'''
 
{{Character Logs}}
 
'''Cutscenes'''
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}

<div id="nomoretabs"></div>
 

==Relationships==
{| class="CTable StatTable"
|-
! scope="col" width="80" |
|
|-
|Allies
|[[Maleficent]],[[Will Sherman]],[[Reize Seatlan]]
|-
|Acquaintances
| [[Angantyr Vespar]], [[Tifa Lockhart]] ,[[Merilan Yursalin]], [[Zeke]], [[Raiya Fujihara]],[[Zargabaath]],[[Gabranth]],[[Cirra Constantine]]
|-
|Adversaries
| [[Scarmiglione]], [[Leida]],[[Mercade Alexander]], [[Shiki Misaki]], [[Ivo Galvan]], [[Lily]], [[Faruja Senra]], [[Deidra]], [[Avira]],
|-
| Princesses 
| [[Jasmine]], [[Rapunzel]], [[Belle]],
|-
| Others 
| [[Gilgamesh]], [[David Xanatos]], [[Priel Aylin]]
|-
|}

===Allies===
{|border = "1" cellpadding = "2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed

! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="90" | Status
! scope="col" width="550"| Thoughts
|-
|-
|'''[[Will Sherman]]'''|| Twilight Detective Agency ||[[File:lightheart.png]] '''Confused/Friendship''' || Will Sherman is Will Sherman is-- recursive. Thinking about it too hard makes my head hurt.
|-
|'''[[Reize Seatlan]]''' || Shard Seekers||[[File:lightheart.png]]'''Urge to Kill Rising''' || It's pointless to be angry at Reize. It's like being angry that the ocean is wet. Maybe I should start betting with Ivo how many times he gets into mortal peril in a given week or so. ....God, why. What did I do to deserve this?...Oh, right. Uggghhhh...
|-
|'''[[Zargabaath]]''' ||Archadian Empire||[[File:lightheart.png]] '''Trust/Friendship''' || A Judge Magister who commands the Alexander, the flagship of the 12th Fleet of the Arcadian Empire. Very dry sense of humor, this one. Seems reasonable enough. Purveyor of wisdom. Unstoppable object to unstoppable forces (see also below). (sweatdrop) Arcadians apparently have a knack for pushing all the right buttons.. which is.. very.. very disturbing.
|-
|'''[[Gabranth]]''' ||Archadian Empire||[[File:lightheart.png]] '''Trust/Friendship''' || Where are you?
|-
|}

===Acquaintances===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="90" | Status
! scope="col" width="550"| Thoughts
|-
|'''[[Angantyr Vespar]]''' ||Mercenary|| WHACK || No. No that just about sums everything up. Scary Armor Guy, The Lesser. Apprentice to Scary Armor Guy, The Greater. Wears spiky armor. Stands on a soapbox. Hits like a siege train. Ow. -- Doubles as a plush toy. --Has a very legitimate grudge against Archades. Not.. really looking forwards to a next meeting, all things considered.
|-
|'''[[Avira]]''' ||VALKYRI/TDA|| Like || This one usually does crazy things, even for an adventurer. The difference between her and Reize however is that she usually gets away with it. Has come a long way and done so much, and I still know so little about her.
|-
|'''[[Baigan]]''' ||Baron|| Groan || The human(ish) face of Baron. A smug and self important Captain and quasi-competent marshal of the invading forces. Consumed with pettiness and almost unbelievable nationalistic zeal. Short version: Full of Bologna.
|-
|'''[[Melody Ellsmere]]''' ||Baron|| Curious || A noble lady of Baron, cruel, petty and almost as much of a bologna casing as the good captain. There might be something there that isn't thuggery, but that just might be scorn.
|-
|'''[[Katyna]]''' ||Shadow Lords|| Sigh || I don't even. I just.. don't even. As a Shadow Lord, you either carve out your own position or you get used as cannon fodder. Naive, self-centered, petty, reckless, and-- yeah. Now I'm describing myself. Great. Now I have someone convenient to shake until their teeth rattle. If she survives her habit of pissing people off.
|-
|'''[[Legion]]''' ||TDA|| Curious/Annoyed || And-- multiple people. Sharing the same head space. I think. The Network confuses. They also seem to get their fingers into everything and jump headlong into trouble. Who does this remind me of...
|-
|'''[[Tifa Lockhart]]'''|| AVALANCHE|| Like || She can throw Rhinos and definitely take care of herself. Who knew?
|-
|'''[[Caduceus]]''' ||Unaffiliated|| Neutral || A program who was helpful in a semi-tight spot.
|-
|'''[[Maximilien]]''' ||TDA|| French || First impressions are everything. First impressions with a /grappling claw/ -- do the math. Who also sings. Except maybe I didn't carry the one. Or maybe-- maybe Manhattanites are just insane. Or, if not insane then.. certainly meetings with them are.. educational. Even profitable.
|-
|'''[[Mercade Alexander]]'''|| Twilight Detective Agency || '''Faith''' || All singing, all dancing detectives. Who knew. Seems to be getting along well enough for himself. One.. yes. One less thing to worry about. One less loose end.
|-
|'''[[Cirra Constantine]]''' ||Archadian Empire|| Sweatdrop || A Judge/dark knight with a mysterious past and a knockout kiss. Literally. Also perpetrator of Christmas songs. DO not ask Manhattanites about Christmas. This leads to bad places. Part of the Military of Archades. Punches through walls. @_@ I am sneaking very quietly past the Judge of Wrath.
|-
|'''[[LEXUS]]''' ||Shadow Lords|| Confused || Masterminding Shadow Lord program. There are still questions to be answered, and I may not have them yet.. but I'll continue to gather information. It seems he has ties to a great many cookie jars.
|-
|'''[[Raiya Fujihara]]''' ||Unknown|| Neutral || A wandering swordswoman who can hold her own even against long odds and tough opponents. Haven't really spoken to them much.
|-
|'''[[Ron Stoppable]]''' ||Unknown|| Moron || Let's see. Ran around a dark wood, chased by wolves, and screamed a lot. Afterwards asked where he could get food, presumably because all the rambling and shadowboxing had worn him out. Behold, another mighty adventurer. (sigh) What the heck is a Naco anyways?
|-
|'''[[Uzuki Yashiro]]''' ||Reapers|| Neutral(ish) || Another noise summoner with a temper who manages to be much more fun and less of a jerkass than other varieties. Right now at least.
|-
|'''[[Zeke]]''' ||Unknown|| Like || A wanderer from a distant ocean with a crew that roams the seas. Ends up in some very sticky situations, but always seems willing to help or.. douse you liberally with water. (Sweatdrop)
|-
|'''[[Auron]]''' ||Unknown|| Like || A wandering swordsman who is more for actions than words. Who knew something as simple as sword practice would draw attention in Manhattan. What, have people never seen a sword fight before?
|-
|'''[[Merilan Yursalin]]''' || Press Conference Rag || Like/Uncertain || Speak softly and carry a box of snack crackers. And don't get her mad. That magic has to be some of the most disturbing that I have ever seen.
|-
|'''[[Shiki Misaki]]''' || Shard Seekers||'''Sigh''' || She took a stand against those who may have been responsible for her world's fall. That takes a lot of courage-- and also a stuffed animal who thrashes Noise like nobody's business. Communications are never the Shard Seeker way, are they? Heh-- well. I'm sure she will have heard all about it by now.
|-
|'''[[Ivo Galvan]]'''|| Shard Seekers||[[File:darkheart.png]] ??? || Sage of ancient wisdom and relentless in hitting on women, even if they are falling out of the sky. Even the co leader of the goofball squad needs watching. Why? Hilarious when drunk. Actually-- I take that back. Seriously /disturbing/ when drunk.
|-
|'''[[Lily]]'''|| Shard Seekers || ??? || And there she goes.. and I am not backing away. I am RUNNING full tilt to get out of the area of effect. It's always the cute ones. Always.
|-
|-
|}

===Adversaries===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="90" | Status
! scope="col" width="550"| Thoughts
|-
|'''[[Scarmiglione]]'''|| Hobo of Malice ||[[File:darkheart.png]] '''Despise''' || Coward. Bully. You lewd, crude, rude, bag of pre-chewed food dude.
|-
|'''[[Dr. Facilier]]'''|| All-Singing, All-Dancing Con Artist|| [[File:darkheart.png]] Dislike || You tapdance about as good as you sing.
|-
| '''[[Sho Minamimoto]]'''|| Reaper ||[[File:darkheart.png]] '''Neutral ''' || A grand variety jerkass, but who am I to throw stones anymore.
|-
|'''[[Leida]]'''|| Unknown ||[[File:darkheart.png]] '''Wary''' || And I don't even /know/ what is going on there...
|-
|'''[[Deidra]]''' ||Twilight Detective Agency||[[File:darkheart.png]] Enmity || ...
|-
|'''[[Faruja Senra]]'''|| Shard Seekers || [[File:darkheart.png]] Disgusted / Annoyed || He's got a large vocabulary, magical powers and a prickly sense of propriety. --I wonder how Reize talked him down from that bounty.. and I wonder even further how he can think at all with a brain stuffed full of platitudes and hate. A guardian whose ward is only a double handful of words.
|-
|}

===Princesses===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Area
! scope="col" width="90" |Status
! scope="col" width="550" | Summary
|-
|[[Jasmine]]|| Agrabah ||[[File:prinheart.png]] '''Respect''' ||A strong and compassionate survivor of a desert kingdom lost to a scheming vizier. She is a permanent refugee, taking shelter and sleep only at last resort. The Heartless follow her relentlessly and she is never able to escape her destiny for long. She has fled place after place, attempting to control the raging forces of light and determined not to endanger the safety of others even if it means sacrificing her own.
|-
|-
|[[Rapunzel]]|| Sunburst Kingdom ||Neutral || Riku has only briefly met this princess brandishing extraordinarily long hair and a frying pan when he fell almost into her lap from a tree in Central Park. After that one meeting in Manhattan, he has not come across her again.
|-
|-
|[[Belle]]|| French Countryside ||[[File:prinheart.png]] '''Respect''' ||A kind and intelligent princess from a small provincial town. Riku has met her several times, learning a little more about her world when Belle shows him around her homeland while sneaking back to visit it and later at Balamb Garden.
|-
|}

===Others===
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="CTable StatTable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|-
! scope="col" width="100" | Name
! scope="col" width="80" | Affiliation
! scope="col" width="550" | Summary
|-
|None|| None ||No Available Data
|-
|}

Relative Safety

2013-04-22T04:11:43Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/21 |Location=Datapoint Security - Barracks |Synopsis=Time flies when you are burnt to a crisp. |Cast of Characters=Lancer, CHIEF |pretty=y..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/21
|Location=Datapoint Security - Barracks
|Synopsis=Time flies when you are burnt to a crisp.
|Cast of Characters=Lancer, CHIEF
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Lancer]] has posed:''' SHRIKE is carrying LANCER over his shoulder when he enters the complex. As per the protocol, nobody works on the mechanic except the boss and so he puts the unconscious LANCER down on the steps for a minute while he checks where the boss wants them taken. The sniper disengages his helmet, thumping the mechanic lightly in the upper leg with a boot. "Hey. We're back. Don't power off just yet." LANCER still hasn't disengaged his helmet yet and lolls against the wall, sliding down a bit as SHRIKE then helps him up and moves him towards the barracks.

:'''[[CHIEF]] has posed:''' CHIEF has mostly pacing around. Pacing and thinking. Thinking and pacing. Not the best combination sometimes. Yet there was little he could do. He had to stay busy or his mind started to count the events, yet there was no way to /stay/ busy cause no one would let him /leave/. So when LANCER was in trouble, he wanted to run out there, but was pretty much told to stay. Stay-- sit-- pace-- smoke his cigar like a train. So when SHRIKE came in with LANCER and CHIEF came around the corner, he quickly did a back-step mostly to stay out of the way. His two toned colored eyes quickly glanced over the two before he moves the cigar to the other side of his mouth. "You want some help with him?" The answer was /probably/ yes, but hey better to ask then just /do/. Sometimes you never knew what the actual answer could be.

:'''[[Lancer]] has posed:''' SHRIKE's face was set in an expression of 'No, get out of my way you red eyed bozo' but after a moment of calculation the sniper chokes back whatever he was going to say and just nods. "Yeah. Give me a hand." LANCER mumbles something incoherant and possibly not even in english as the sniper moves him into the room. LANCER groans faintly as he's laid down, diagnostics flaring all sorts of red flags and general warning alerts almost immediately thereafter. "He'll be fine." he says more for CHIEF's benefit than anything else. "Although I didn't never got an answer. How'd you do it, loco?" "....eeh?" "Hack your own timestamp, because you /can't/ be the oldest and still be this stupid." "..jump.. in the sea, SHRIKE." LANCER mumbles faintly.

:'''[[CHIEF]] has posed:''' CHIEF can't do much about that red eye; he actually tries to ignore it and is debating heavily on wearing those shades that TRON replaced for him in order to just hide it. Nasty side-effect of what was done really. CHIEF quickly moves and throws LANCER's arm over his shoulder to help straighten him up a bit more and aid with just moving him so he isn't trying to fall over to one side or hang to hard on SHRIKE. The military program glances over as LANCER says 'go jump in the SEA', then CHIEF has to remind himself about where they come from. "Any ID on who did this?" CHIEF asks quietly, looking ahead for the most part. "Are they trouble or just a glitch who lost it?" He is hoping for trouble. He /really/ wants trouble.

:'''[[Lancer]] has posed:''' SHRIKE thumps a fist on LANCER's Helmet in response, causing the program to groan and curse in spanish at the sniper, the helmet retracting. LANCER struggles to push himself into a sitting position and SHRIKE pushes him back down with one hand. "Kill process, loco. Not this time." LANCER shakes his head. "No. I'm.. I'm okay now. Just lemme rest" "No. Boss has to take a look at you. Those are the rules." and LANCER looks at CHIEF and.. the expression is wrong and disjointed and.. almost afraid. The mechanic shuts his eyes and thumps his head against the bed. "..Right. I know." When it doesn't look like LANCER will try to get up again SHRIKE attends to the question. "No idea. No file on them just yet. Not even a designation. Can't plan for anomalies like that. I'll watch for them." he snorts. "I think you will too."

:'''[[CHIEF]] has posed:''' CHIEF stares down at LANCER. Looking back at that face he was being given. His eyes try to understand 'why' he would have such a look. There had to be a reason. Yet when SHRIKE answers his question, he quickly snaps his attention over to SHRIKE. "Anomalies are a common thing out there." CHIEF remarks with a heavy sigh, rolling the cigar in his mouth for a moment. "..including in the air.. or even on the ground.. You can only take a gamble and a guess at what is the best action to make." CHIEF then looks at LANCER, "..then cross your circuits it the right one." He gets a distant look in his eyes for a moment as there is flicker of light in his pupils as he looks of to the side. He then looks back at SHRIKE. "Well, if he shows his face again and causes trouble. I'll make sure he regrets it." He says with his hand tightening up for a moment in a fist before relaxing. "So hopefully, it wont come to that." There was almost a cold smile on his lips for a moment, even as he closes his eyes, before it fades away as he opens his eyes once more. He glances down at LANCER once more, before he places on a more gentle smile. "..and you'll be ok, LANCER. You will be back to your old self and causing goofy trouble all over again." He looks around realizing now there is little he can do and grunts softly. "Do.. you want me to stay here with him SHRIKE while you find the Administrator or..?"

:'''[[Lancer]] has posed:''' SHRIKE throws a hand backwards at CHIEF and leaves the room without replying. LANCER snorts. "..Jerk." without opening his eyes. He flexes his hands and then digs them into the bed surface, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "I don't.. think he meant it. The anomaly. He.." he shakes his head. "He was.. wrong. Like. A user crash." he looked very uneasy for a moment. "But yeah. I'm going to a take a swing at him again myself if he comes into town with that attitude." he snorts. "Or maybe not. If I.. did that to everybody here who deserved a knock to the head.. busy every.." he trails off, eyes flickering closed again but he keeps opening them again whenever he starts to drift off, like someone wary about falling asleep and desperate to fight it.

:'''[[CHIEF]] has posed:''' CHIEF watches SHRIKE and seems to keep looking that way for a bit, before his attention refocuses on LANCER. His eyes watch the mechanic program sit up and crouches down, more to get down on eye to eye level, or even looking up at LANCER. "Well, I don't know what went on out there, just that /something/ was up. No one would let me leave thanks to the whole deal." He motions to his right eye. "..even if it has been some time." That really seem to chew on him a bit. His mind was still racing down the information tram and he wondered when it would all end. When all the memories would stop flooding, but at least in moments like these, it was nice way to 'not' process it for a time. At least not consciously accept it in the forefront process. It would get him later. "Look, you really should get some rest. Nothing is going to get you and you are safe here. You know that." CHIEF tries to say with a friendly smile. "I got your six." He tilts his head. "Unless that glitch really messed with you?" He frowns. "..hopefully not the case.." Please say 'yes'. No we don't need a 'yes'. Why not? It be /fun/. No. CHIEF glances off to the side for a moment, his pupils flickering again, before he looks back to LANCER once more. "..but either way, you are safe here."

:'''[[Lancer]] has posed:''' LANCER looks at CHIEF for a long time and smiles lopsidedly. He actually is looking a little past the military program. His eyes track up to the corner of the room then close again as his head sags onto his chest. "..Yeah." he says quietly, still smiling faintly. "..Thanks CHIEF." he opens his eyes and cuts a glance at CHIEF like he wants to say something, the tension comes and goes in his shoulders and then he just shakes his head a little. "..I know that." he chuckles. "That user owes me a new shirt. I'm bitterly insulted that I took the time to take it off so it would get wrecked, and it got burnt up anyways. /Bitterly/ insulted, I say." he chuckles. "..go on, CHIEF. I'll get some rest after boss is done."

:'''[[CHIEF]] has posed:''' CHIEF frowns a bit but gives a nod, standing up once more. He goes to place his hand on LANCER's shoulder and if allowed, he gives it a few pats, before he goes to head for the door. Though once he reaches the door, he looks over his shoulder at LANCER before he gives the mechanic a thumbs up and smile. "Hey next weekend. We'll go shop to get you some new threads, hm?" Yes, CHIEF /has/ picked up on user lingo. He just doesn't like to use it cause it sounds silly. He gives the side wall a gentle pat and then walks out. If he hand pockets, his hands would be in it. Yet best he can do is keep rolling his cigar side to side, before he lifts up his hand to pull out from his mouth and letting the smoke roll over the top part of his lip. His fingers roll the cigar as he walks. His pupils flickering with light once more. Translating over information given. His own memories and ignoring so much of the world information filtering in. No targets. Nothing to register. Just typical structure. He wasn't even sure where he was walking by this point. Mostly just walking and thinking. Lost in very deep processes. His memories wondering over to all the things he had done, what he had done, and the simple realization that he was /always/ a weapon. The users just did a nice job of masking it for a long, long time.

Alexander Aftermath

2013-04-21T20:52:17Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/21 |Location=The Airship Alexander |Synopsis=A rattled psyche is stirred, not shaken back to life. |Cast of Characters=Riku, Zargabaath, E..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/21
|Location=The Airship Alexander
|Synopsis=A rattled psyche is stirred, not shaken back to life.
|Cast of Characters=Riku, Zargabaath, Eclipse Behemoth
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku had quietly gone into the Atomos as instructed. When asked a direct question, he would provide a direct answer but there were very few of those remaining before he simply passed out, turned off like a lightswitch. Thankfully, somebody caught him before he crumpled like a marionette to the metal deck of the Atomos. Now on the Alexander and many hours later Riku was no longer asleep. A combination of healing magic and healing technology had cleaned and sealed the worst of the damage to his arm and shoulder, though it was still bound up tightly once the bones had been reset. His chest was also bound but the wounds there were not so deep and would heal more quickly. Riku lay propped up in bed, one hand over the token around his neck as he stared into the middle distance, his eyes lifeless and dark. Again, when asked a direct question he would provide an answer but would not offer questions of his own.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath has not given himself a chance to rest, coordinating the recovery efforts as well as ensuring that the 12th Fleet is making best speed back to Archades. He had cleared out a hangar and had instructed the Atomos carrying the behemoth to dock there, but had not unloaded the behemoth. Instead, white mages and medics boarded in shifts and have been working tirelessly to heal the injuries sustained. At least partially convinced that the behemoth is not in danger of dying, if not the chances of permanent injury lessening by the moment, the Judge of Reason next heads to the medical bay. A quick conversation ensues with the medic-in-charge, then Zargabaath removes his helm and places it on the table before moving through the bay proper. He does not stop moving until he reaches Riku's bedside, and concern wrinkles his brow as he looks into the boy's eyes. "Riku." His greeting, though warm, has no hidden questions. If anything, it is a rumbling call for some life, some recognition, to return to that darkened gaze.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks up at Zargabaath and no recognition passes across his eyes. He looks past him, eyes scanning the medical bay and watching other people go about their business with a mild interest. When that interest passes he looks back up at the ceiling, taking in a shallow breath that is highlighted by a cough. "Yes?"

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath does not react to the lack of recognition in the boy's eyes, though he is left to silently question just what happened that would cause this. He cants his gaze to follow Riku's, but remains patiently silent in the long pause that follows. Only when Riku actually speaks does he return his full attention back to the boy. "I came here to check on you." And a good thing too. The Judge of Reason pulls some panels like curtains to block them from the rest of the medical bay, providing privacy and negating distractions. He himself pulls up a chair to sit at Riku's bedside. "What happened down there?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku furrows his brow as his eyes unfocus almost completely. He blinks several times and then inquires. "Check on me?" he looks at Zargabaath again and blinks several times very slowly, brow furrowing again as if trying to see him from the other end of a dark corridor. The animation leaves his face and his gaze drifts away to the ceiling again. "We captured the behemoth."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath nods slowly. "Indeed." His brow remains furrowed, trying to figure out what happened without pressing too hard. Unfortunately, it seems Riku is not all here at the moment. "Aye, so it was." He reaches out and gently rests a gauntleted hand on Riku's forearm. "But that does not answer my question, Riku. What happened?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku looks at the hand on his forearm as he talks. "I don't understand what you mean. I took Evja and myself to the mark location. Several mercenaries and adventurers were also present. Some were injured pretty bad, including Avira. I made.. several mistakes, which is why I am here now. " he furrows his brow again. "It's not our fault it's almost too late. His honor had to prepare."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath frowns as he listens. It is not an indication of anger, but more concern and confusion. "'It's almost too late'? What do you mean?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku closes his eyes, letting them drift close as he falls quiet. A vague aura of darkness seeps away from him. Not a chill and biting cold but more like a draft had slunk into this contained space. There was a faint pressure in the air, something about the quality of the air that reveals itself only in it's absence. It pops like a soap bubble, releasing that tension as the feeling of darkness and cold retreats almost in the space of a single indrawn breath. Riku takes in that gasping, indrawn breath and coughs at the apex of it. He groans faintly, the first indictation of pain he's shown since he boarded the Atomos and his telemetry spikes accordingly. He soon calms, furrowing his brow slightly as he raises his head. "..your honor?" Riku opens his eyes and blinks several times. He then abruptly startles, whipping his head around with a clear expression of not knowing where he was. The memory filters in a moment afterwards and then the fear hits like a sledge. Although one arm is bound up, he's not chained or in any way restrained. "..so.." he murmurs quietly. "..at least I didn't hurt anybody." he looks at the judge magister, small short breaths taken in from aching lungs. "Right?" he frowns, puzzling together the last few minutes. As if he were on a time lag and everything had to catch up to him, though clouded and indistinct. "..Right. I'm.. I'm sorry, your honor. I lost my temper." he sighs and makes a futile and hopeless gesture. "Have I--" he trails off, then shakes his head. "Nevermind. Just.. give me a minute."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath weathers the implied changes in atmosphere without notice or complaint, his eyes locked on Riku in silent patience. Patience that is quickly rewarded by life literally breathing back into Riku from within. He smiles faintly, subconsciously tensed shoulders relaxing as he leans back in his chair. His hand still rests on Riku's arm, though could be easily removed or shrugged off if the youth exhibits one of his more chagrined moments of teenager toughness. His chin dips in a faint motion of agreement. "Take your time." He is in no rush.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku notices this and then looks at Zarg quizzically and then sighs, frowning vaguely as he gathers his thoughts together. "Okay." he breathes after about five minutes of just quietly putting his life back in order. "Sometimes I black out when I use my abilities too much or get hurt really bad." he explains to Zargabaath. "Or.. well.. just as good as black out. I've.." he nods and looks at the hand then shakes his head. "..You've already been here for awhile. So I guess you already know. Okay." he takes in a breath and lets it out, moving back into the bed and disengaging himself from the Judge Magister as he puts that hand up to grip the token around his neck. "I lost my grip because he's not in there. At least not right then. During the fight. I looked and I didn't see anything and.. " he shakes his head. "It just hit me wrong." he chuckles direly. "Breaking my arm and tearing up my shoulder and nearly having my head split open didn't help much."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath pulls back his hand without so much as a flicker of expression changing, instead interlacing his fingers and resting his folded hands on his lap. "Aye, that makes sense." His gaze shifts briefly to the clasping of the token, but it's a brief flick of attention that is simply noted and nothing more. "You looked to his heart and found nothing, so you gave up hope and relinquished control. And up until but a few minutes ago, you have been in a state of lethargy." He lowers his gaze slightly. "I am sorry for putting you in such a situation, Riku."

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku shakes his head. "I thought I was ready for something like that but.." he sighs, shrouding his face in a hand as he rubs at his eyes. "Well. At least I didn't run off and break something this time." he mutters dourly under his breath. "It's okay. That was the whole plan, remember? And Cirra as there to knock me senseless if needed. Avira too. So.. there wasn't anything to worry about. One way or another, things would have turned out." Riku takes in a breath and meets Zargabaath's eyes for maybe the first time in the conversation. "..but I have to know. I have to see it for myself when I'm not half crazy." he pauses then gestures with a snort. "Well. More than half." he sighs. "..he has to still be there. He has to." but the expression on his face is one that knows that reality does not have to give him any such thing.. and in fact he really isn't expecting it to.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' A corner of Judge Magister Zargabaath's mouth lifts as his eyelids relax over his gaze a bit. It is almost a knowing kind of partial smile, as if he was expecting this at some point. "That can be arranged." He rises out of his chair, picks it up, and moves it back to where it had previously been. He then moves aside one of the panels, creating a 'doorway' of sorts out of their seclusion. Once that is done, he turns back to Riku. "The walk will do you good, and none will attempt to stop you so long as I am at your side. So then," he offers a hand to Riku, "shall we go?"

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku grunts softly and grumbles as he moves out of bed, looking around and then finding his duster to throw over his shoulders. "Yeah.. it will." He shoves his undamaged arm through the sleeve, hissing at the soreness as he steadies himself against the edge of the bed for a moment. Riku rakes a hand through his hair and makes a visible attempt to pull himself together as he follows the judge magister out of the section.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath leads the way, holding a short conversation with one of the medics before retrieving exiting the medical bay entirely. He walks at an easy pace, slow enough for Riku to keep up without overdue stress, and largely ignores anyone they happen to pass in the hallway. The amount of personnel they pass decreases notably the closer they get to the hangar, until the Judge Magister pauses at a specific doorway flanked by on-duty guards. A quiet status update is given between soldiers and Judge of Reason, then the doors are opened and both are allowed through into the hangar and the Atomos within.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' The Behemoth has been kept down once most of its injuries have been attended too. Mostly it had chains around its front legs, back legs, tail and two on each horn. Though it was free to move its head around, it was all to keep the massive beast from bolting. For now though the Behemoth seems content to actually sleep. It was almost in a ball, minus the fact that the tail wasn't fully curled around cause of the chain keeping it from doing so. Its breathing was also much more relaxed and not sounding so, raspy.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku walks very slowly and with very measured steps. Knowing he's still vulnerable right now he keeps a little distance between the judge magister, the behemoth and himself. He ascribes this not only to giving himself a little space but also giving some reaction time if he just shuts off again and goes berserk. He didn't particularly feel on the edge of his control, but he hadn't up until his control had shattered like thin ice and he'd only now clawed back to consciousness. He doesn't look at anything but at the behemoth once they come into view. He takes a few steadying breathes before he takes a few steps forwards and sits down in front of the behemoth, not really all that far away. The bound shoulder and chest give him ample reason to be afraid, but from the expression on his face he knows this and doesn't really care. Recklessness or feeling of invincibility possibly.. He doesn't comment on it. "..Gabranth?" he says very softly. The thread of a very shaky hope in just the single word. One that might crack and splinter if handled too roughly.

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath stays just outside of the Atomos, at the bottom of the ramp yet still able to watch the Behemoth and Riku both. He is well within range of charging in if needed but not providing a possible distraction--or worse. He watches carefully, his stance neutral and gaze impassive, as he simply returns to patiently waiting.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' There was an ear twitch as Riku said 'Gabranth' softly. Before the chains could be heard shifting. The massive dark purple beast slowly raising up his head a bit, before it flops back down on the ground with a huff of air. Those gold eyes only opening slightly as the Behemoth attempts to roll his head just slightly for one of his eyes to gaze at Riku. There was also a soft 'mrrhp' rumbling down from its throat, before he seems to look away once more. Only shifting his body weight slightly, as if trying to stretch, but yet the stretch seem to interrupted with a loud growl and a minor bit of shake of the one paw where a bandage had been wrapped around it. Shortly after the demonstration of annoyance, the Behemoth goes back to be still only hefting out a huff of what could possibly be a sigh. Much like dogs do.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku nods very slowly to himself. "Well." he looks fragile enough to break for about fifteen seconds before relief filters into the cracks and his aching body relaxes somewhat. "Yeah. I'm all kinds of sore myself." he says to the behemoth quietly. "That happens when you get run over and mauled. I looked away. I deserved it." he continues to talk quietly, canting his head very slightly to one side. "We'll be back home soon. So I think.. I'll reserve.. every bit of snark I can muster up for when you can understand me. When you are better." he nods again very slowly. "I think I will make a list."

:'''[[Zargabaath]] has posed:''' Judge Magister Zargabaath allows relief to ease his expression, though his eyelids sag a little from exhaustion he hasn't let rise to the surface until now. He stays back outside the Atomos, just letting the moment be exactly what it is and nothing more or less. If nothing else, he has kept the promise. They were not too late. And that lifts a great burden off his shoulders.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' The Behemoth rumbles softly, as perhaps in acknowledge what Riku perhaps say or at least somewhat acknowledge. He moves a bit, as if trying to roll over, so he actually looks at Riku now. Those gold eyes training on the youth as his ears are directed right toward him. He actually moves his head side to side a bit as if using the metal plates to scratches his chin, before huffing again. His eyes do look over to Zargabaath, before going back to riku. A gentle rumble emits from the Behemoth before another soft 'snort'.

Datapoint Security

2013-04-16T06:03:54Z

Raenas:

{{Group
|leader=MCP,
|role=Private Security Forces
|alignment=Wandering Force
|appable=Yes (Restricted)
|description=A private security company founded by SARGON, an administrative program also known in his own world as the Master Control Program.

These security forces (mostly programs, although humans and other races are allowed) are based out of the Datapoint Security Complex on the outskirts of Traverse Town and mostly protect the nexus of trade and activity using a combination of Modern Technology, Tactics and Grid Defenses.

The most well known of the DPS are known as Project 6, or 'The 6', a collection of Officer level programs who are the leaders of their various specialties.
}}

Datapoint Security

2013-04-16T06:03:35Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Group |leader=MCP, |role=Private Security Forces |alignment=Wandering Force |appable=Yes (Restricted) |description=A private security company founded by SARGON, and administ..."

{{Group
|leader=MCP,
|role=Private Security Forces
|alignment=Wandering Force
|appable=Yes (Restricted)
|description=A private security company founded by SARGON, and administrative program also known in his own world as the Master Control Program.

These security forces (mostly programs, although humans and other races are allowed) are based out of the Datapoint Security Complex on the outskirts of Traverse Town and mostly protect the nexus of trade and activity using a combination of Modern Technology, Tactics and Grid Defenses.

The most well known of the DPS are known as Project 6, or 'The 6', a collection of Officer level programs who are the leaders of their various specialties.
}}

Cats and Canaries

2013-04-15T06:14:34Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/13 |Location=Palamecia Castle |Synopsis= A long conversation after a hard evening's carousing. About shoes and ships and sealing wax. |Cast..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/13
|Location=Palamecia Castle
|Synopsis= A long conversation after a hard evening's carousing. About shoes and ships and sealing wax.
|Cast of Characters=Rena Laradyne, Leon
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena returns to the Palamecian castle estate in the extremely late hours of the morning, handing some food from the festivities to the gate guards that check her identity before she passes by. It is with extremely good spirits that she makes her way through the gloomy silent halls of stone, her footsteps ringing hollowly across the floor as she makes her way to her appointed guest chamber. She enters it, looks around quickly to survey the slightly opulent surroundings and walks to the window, her footsteps muffled by the thick plush of the intermittant rugs over the cold stone. She takes a pair of climbing gloves off a dresser, slipping them over her fingers as she examines the window and opens them, looking upwards and around for any sign of movement or at the sill for strange markings of runes. She does the same check on the doors and around the walls, curious to see any runes or symbols that may be hidden by furniture and artful drape. Afterwards she leaves the room, timing her movements as to always ben in an unoccupied alcove when a patrol moves through and she picks her way towards the commander's chambers. This kingdom was one of masks. That was something she had become increasingly sure of listening and watching the interplay between Matthew and his slave commander. Now, in the afterglow of a well spent evening did she entertain the notion, the curiosity of seeing whether she was simply misunderstanding a local custom.. or whether an answer was given in the presence of the master that must be given. Souji's words come back to her. Hope. Well. She supposed that was so. She hoped the answer would be different this time. Otherwise.. this conversation was going to be dreadfully boring.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' Interestingly Rena will find his door was not locked. The room itself was actually rather dark. Beyond the single candle that flickered with flame on the desk that was along side the door. The chamber was a rather nice size. There was the desk with the candle, then in the corner was a writing table with its own candle that was currently not lit. There was then a wall in closest, over on the other corner was an armory dummy, though no armor was laying on it, along side that was a long rug on the ground for whatever reason it may serve. Yet there was no windows here. Just the darkness in this large size room. Then the bed itself which head was against the opposite side to the closet and easy to see from the door way. Yet the darkness of the room hid most of its details. There the Dark Knight was laying there with his back to the door. His body seemed like it was sweating. As if perhaps he was running a fever as he slept. The only piece of clothing over his body was a pair of loose pants. One thing that did stand out against his backside however, was the fact on the back was an 'X' that was etched right into his very skin.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena reached the chamber without actually knowing what to expect. There had been several methods she could use, even if the commander had been asleep. A cheerful and harmless drunkard returning from a frivolous party had been the one she had chosen. Her hand on the knob, Rena looked down at that hand and considered taking a step back and going back to the rooms. Their ways are not her ways. There were no ways that were hers anymore, the place was distant now. The memories of someone else, of a dream that she had awoken from. Rena looked into the darkness and saw the commander laying there with the unnatural brand burned into their skin and felt the cheerful drunken demeanor that she was going to affect slip away from her like melting snow. The muscles in her face relaxed in stages until she stared with simple and uncomplicated blankness at the desk with it's single candle. In the darkness, the dream murmured something from far away. The shadows were filled with huddling shapes in the shadow of a great crystal dome. A boy lay on his bed, sweating with terrible fever. His mouth opened for the terrible scream and then was silenced as the memories lost their grip on her and faded back into the shadows which they had all retreated to, no longer strong enough to pierce the veil except for that single muddled moment of remembered pain. The way she held their fingers. The gleaming sweat of the fever. The faces all turned away from the already 'dead' while they still lived. Rena blinked several times. In the past she had stumbled away from the sharp edges of these memories, shoving them as far away from her as possible. She realized now that she didn't feel anything. The pain was absent as well as the sound. It was just pictures written over her eyes as surely as afterimages when she moved her sight away from the fire. Rena strode into the chamber. She did not think about what she was doing. Although the memory did not guide her fingers, they informed them as she knelt down. Gently, she fetches a cloth and wipes the sweat away, eyes boring into that brand with a crackling intensity.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' By sheer pressure of an old castle, the gentle wind that moves through the old place, slowly shuts the door behind Rena once she moves in. As she approaches the Dark Knight, he does not move. His breathing was light and it was steady; at least what seemed like it. When the cloth started to move the sweat away, the Dark Knight's body twitched almost. His muscles tensed up. Yet he did not move right away, but his eyes did open with an orange tint in them. He glanced down at his hands without moving his body, watching the dark mist wanting to roam out from his hands. The Darkness wanting out. Wanting control. Yet to give in completely, was not an option. The armor protected him from himself. Protected him from the darkness of his heart. There was no armor, thus the danger was far greater. His hand clenched tightly as he closed his eyes and forced it back. Forced it back within him, which was like swallowing something rather hard down his throat. His body shuddered before he hand suddenly reached over to take Rena's arm The dark mist that was there vanishing in that very moment as his eyes, though red, had a gold hue to the edges of them. "You should not be in this chamber." He holds her arm for a moment, he then slowly lets go of her arm. "Your presence here has brought you in possible danger." His voice lacked the emotion, yet there was a hint, a very small hint of possible concern for her. He stares at her then eye to eye. Those red eyes almost trying to go gold in color. He then slowly rolls himself to face her. Almost to the point of sitting up as he stares at her still. A predator looking at a possible hunt. "..so why do you come here..?" The candle light flickered a bit as if threatening to go out. His eyes continue to stare at her, before they slightly roam over her figure. Yet the Predator look remains and he seem to be slowly, silently, searching for something on her, or perhaps, in her.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena goes absolutely still. Her features close down, not even the muscles in her arm twitching as the commander stills her hand. It is like staring down any other predator that she has ever known, and almost a comfort to face something she understood. There is the recrimination and the calculation frustration then in the back of her mind. But berating herself for what was ultimately a dangerous and foolish endeavor did not gain her anything but one more wind to an already taut spring. So she lets go. She lets the memories and the resentment and the fearm the anxiety and the self-directed anger all go. She didn't need them. She needed to be still and silence and to think clearly through this encounter now that she was within melee range. Rena pressed her lips together in a dry mouth and throat into a firm, grim line. The candle light flickered but she did not so much as move, staring at the predator with neither challenge or submission. "I want you to answer me one question." her lips move but the rest of her face is rigid, her lips barely even open though the voice that comes out is the consistency of iron. "And no possible danger will deter me from getting that answer." Her hands move and she smoothly reaches up to clasp the arm of the commander, taking the cloth from where she dropped it from frozen fingers and transferring it to her knee as she lay kneeling before him. "Answer me this, and I promise I will leave should you ask me to leave and never trouble you again." The light inside her, for those in the viewing audience with the ability to see such things, is a calm and vibrant smear like winter sunshine. The darkness enfolds this light like a shroud, not sealing it but keeping the light shuttered away like a dirtied lantern whose light can only be spied through tainted and mottled glass. "Did you give your name away willingly as you said? For the honor of Palamecia? .. or did he take it by force like he branded you like market street cattle?"

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The man does not move, he only observes. Watches. Listens. His red eyes with their gold edges attempting to seek and they find. What they find is not what the darkness hungered for. This one would not do. This one would not make a decent meal to sedate the craving. Pity. It could be.. No. The Dark Knight closes his eyes, his brows furrow for only a moment as he slams it all back. That locked heart, attempting to keep all the darkness within in check. He can feel her hand take his arm. A sensation he was not use too. A very alien sensation. It was enough that he almost moved his hand away. A hiss escaping his lips for a moment as his eyes opened. He then inhaled deeply before letting out a soft exhale. Calming his nerves once more, settling his mind to answer the question she presented to him. This one simple question, or what should be. For a normal man. "My emperor gave me purpose when their was nothing. In nothing he gave me meaning. He gave me life. This is my title. This is my name." He tilts his head slightly. "Now I answer your question, now perhaps you may answer mine?" He stays quiet for a moment, his red eyes glancing at her hand. Such a curious thing. Such a curious woman. Would she be so willing to show such openness if he was in his armor? If his dark powers were in check? Hardly, yet perhaps. He then moves forward once more, almost getting closer to her. His eyes looking into her's, scanning them, peering deeply into them. "Why are you so curious?"

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena continues to levelly stare back at him, watching. Taking in the small movements as her chest barely moved and the breath barely trickled in and out through her lungs. She knew the fear and the anger was there but she simply chose not to acknowledge them. It's really uncomfortable to kneel on a stone floor as her knees were beginning to protest but she would sit, motionless until she had the luxury of movement again. Her still face clouds over slightly as he asks her a question in return and her eyes become slightly distant. The light in that flickering shuttered lantern trembled for a moment as if disturbed by the motion of something moving around in that shrouding darkness before Rena took in a small breath and let it out through her teeth with all the weariness and regret of a sigh, far far removed. "I see." she murmurs. "So you are forever bound to his service because he is the one who gave you your name. Even though it is not a name." She nods slowly and a moment of sadness crystallizes across her eyes as her mouth becomes another grim line. "..I have seen many people enslaved. By money. By power. By foolish pride. They all bear the marks of their chains. Some inflict them on themselves. Others.. are branded. Property. Chattel. Worth only the reflection attention of others. Waiting for notice. Waiting for meaning. Waiting.. even for death to notice them." Rena gives him a small sliver of a sad smile as she continues to meet his eyes. Not pitying. Just.. sad. Perhaps regretful. "I wanted a closer look at yours." she passes it off lightly, her voice melodious but her tone still like iron. "After all. You cannot break what you do not first closely examine."

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The red eyes continue to stare into her own. Perhaps they both searching to see what they other had. Perhaps trying to determine who was the stronger. Leon rumbled lowly at her explanation as to why. Then the want to see his own eyes closer, which as she would find, the eyes were very much a predator and very little, to perhaps no light remained in them at all. Depending on how preceptive she was and how much was just reflection of the warm candle light. The Dark Knight then pulled away from her as he then sat himself up to sit on the bed. He grunted and clenched his jaw. He could tell her to leave. He could continue to ask her questions. If she /was/ to remain, he would need to know much about her. Yet she would probably return the same. He then motions for her to sit on the bed to get off the stone floor. "You have been drinking. The sent of wine is on your breath." He raises a brow. "..several soldiers also partake in such acts. You learn to locate the ones who have and who have not." "The knights of Palamecia join under his Emperor by their choice. They are here, because they wish to be here. They serve, because they wish to serve. You will find no chains or shackles here, beyond the ones we create ourselves." The man then crosses his legs before he closes his eyes. Perhaps in half, trying to ignore her presence. At least from some side of himself. "Why did you attempt to see to my body and what other question do you have for me?"

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' "Well. The very next time I break into the room of a strange man, I will be sure to bring the wine with me." Rena tells him with flat amusement, slowly leaning her body just enough so that her splayed legs could release their tension and ache a little less fiercely. "It was a very good vintage. My friends enjoyed it immensely. And I am able to enjoy it as well because of Palamecia. I won't fault that. But you contradicted yourself, commander." she raises a few fingers to loosely tug through the slightly askew braids in her hair and twist free a small tangle of it as she returns it to laying across her hip. "You said you were made, that you were given life by the emperor giving you a name but you said the knights of Palamecia join Matthew out of choice. They serve of their own will. If this is so.. then tell me the name you cast aside to be the commander. But.. you can't, can you? It is the name you sold to this shaman of the world of ruin." Rena's demeanor flips again, the smile warming her face as she responded. "In the cities, you live on money alone. You cannot hunt. You may raid, but you risk the enforcers. There is no grass, or tree, or water that is not already claimed. So should you fever, you need help. If you do not get help. You sicken and you die. I am not a healer, but I have seen many fevers."

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The Dark Knight narrows his eyes as he listens to her. He is a man who lacks emotions, but yet sometimes some emotions surface, if only just slight. He hasn't fully recovered and this is why, so for the lady guest of the castle, she gets the rare treat of seeing the military commander when he isn't at his fittest. "I am with no name because I have no name." The Dark Knight states simply. "The Knights are born with names. I was not." He cants his head to the side. "My being is different from theirs." He then closes his eyes. "..and I have no memory before my creation." He pauses as he says this, a mild grit of his teeth. That was something that slipped and perhaps he knows it. To honest. To open. She did not need to be lured. She did not need to be /close/. There was nothing to /gain/ from her. She was the Emperor's. "I am sorry that our customs though confuse you, my lady." He hrms. Words coming to mind to speak, but those words swallowed away. They were not words he needed to say. His eyes seeming to loose focus for a moment as the red tries to become gold before they move back to red. The man then shakes his head. "..but I thank you for attempting to see to the fever." More words swallowed. More mental checks noticing of things starting to slip. This conversation may be going on for to long. Yet he was Intrigued by her. The strength of will. The gestures. He wanted to know more. He wanted to... test her in his own way. To see where she truly was on the spectrum of light and dark. Though the heart told him what he wishes to see, now it was her solid actions that would speak the loudest. Yet.. how do you test a woman like this.. when fear was no longer your tool.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' "They do not confuse me." Rena says softly with that closed lipped smile of grim amusement. "Any child out on Shiva's great blizzard plains hears of the tales of those who steal the names of the unwary. Of the desperate who sell their names away for power or station.. or for the sake of their family." her voice catches for just a moment. She then recollects herself, fingers now playing across the cloth draped in a heap on her leg. "And I very well can't continue the attempt if you do not let me." she raises the cloth very slowly again, easy to catch at any time as she raises it towards his face. "Though I must admit.. as a hollow man, you do a passable imitation of life." Rena continues to give that grim smile. There is a sparkle of fascination in her eyes, a faint wonder as he explains the situation and his circumstances. She surripitously stretches her feet, a ripple of muscles to chase away a cramp in her legs that goes up to her hip. She continues never looking away from him, watching the color and the expression shift ever so minutely and her fingers gently curve to bite into the stone. "Not perfect. But very passable."

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The man cants his head to the side at her comment of how he mimics being alive. Those red eyes study her as she moves in with the cloth. He slightly moves back, like an animal unsure of what to make of the strange human gesture. Yet he then remains if she tries to come in closer again. "You are the first for me to interact with on such a level and tomorrow I will be re-attuned with my armor if, my Emperor deems me fit again for duty." His red eyes glance over her form for a moment, studying all her gestures and movements. He then looks into her own eyes. "Under normal circumstances, I only speak to see hear the reply, as all words carry meaning. All words will either support the action or will show the lies of the action. Many of those of light fail at words." "..The darkness tends to be more honest." the military commander adds with a bit of brow furrow and then looking away.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' "Well, then not to disparage Matthew, but he has done you a disservice." she clucks her tongue deep in her throat but the shimmering blades of her gloves catch the light of the candle in their retracted and dulled positions. Rena twists her lips to the side and continues to regard him. She says this without judgement, as easily as a statement about the weather. Her eyes continue to search him out whenever he chooses to look back in her direction. "Mm. Well. I do know the truth hurts more than a lie, even if it takes longer to ferret it out. It goes unexamined and unknown because it simply hurts too much to acknowledge." Rena then gives him a teasing and almost brilliant smile, but her eyes do not match it and it is a calculated expression for a moment before the expression fills even her eyes. "I say a disservice because there will be times when very drunk shivans ask you very awkward questions whether you are in your armor or not commander. And there are very.. useful parts of life he seems to have neglected in your crafting." Otherwise, she is calm and businesslike and soon she rocks back onto her legs, putting the cloth aside.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The Dark Knight looks back at her as she explains the disservice. Mostly until then he has been quiet and not really moving away. He just sits there like a good boy. He listens to every word she has said to the point and continues to do so. He tilts his head a bit to the side. Unsure of how to take a bit of the statement made. It was a curious wording to him. How did his Emperor Mateus do him a disservice by negating something? Negating what? He creates fear. He can cause men to have nightmares. He was walking darkness. What was that could be missing. '..passable imitation of life..' "How is the nature of my passable imitation of life effecting my ability to serve? To be of a disservice of?" Yes, now he was curious and the tone was there. Like a child seeking an answer from a parent. He then moves forward. Those eyes narrowing slightly. Searching. Waiting. Brows furrowing. "Explain."

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena presses herself up from the ground and rocks, sweeping her feet around so that she will rest on the other hip for awhile. She glances down for only a moment to gather her thoughts, letting her hair slide down in a cascade as she takes a slightly lecturing tone. "Alright. Let me tell a story, though. It will illustrate my point..." Rena thought quickly and although a story about a young woman feeding a story to a great beast of the dark woods to keep her from becoming it's dinner flashed across her mind, she shoved that one away and took a few seconds to tailor a different story and to shorten the epic considerably. Her voice took on a rhymthic cadence as she began. She began a story of a powerful shaman whose minions caused fear and terror across the unyielding glacier which was her home once upon a time. His name was Atal, a false shaman's name with a face kept hidden always behind a grisly mask of steel. His servants were the Nameless. They were hollow men, men with only half a life, men of shadows and mist and metal that Atal called from distant lands beyond the barriers of ethereal fog that kept the lands beyond separate from eachother. They did not speak nor laugh nor sorrow. They felt no joy and no pain yet were as relentless as a chill in the blood creeping to freeze the heart. Their master Atal was a man once. The chieftain of a small and failing tribe who traded his true name away to the prince of shadows, Diabolos, in one of his many guises. In return for the secret of the hollow men and immortality, he became a shaman but was stricken with a terrible hunger. Go. he would tell his minions. Go and claim me the names of the living so I may feast. And the hollow men did as they were commanded. They raided the little towns and the proud peoples living in the ice. They wrought terror and pain and brought many souls to Atal. But eternity is a long time to suffer under such a hunger as came with the shadow prince's gift, and with time Atal became more and more greedy. His influence grew vast and nearly all the tribes of Shiva bowed to his will and worshiped him. They worshipped him or they would die. And still.. he was not satisfied. GO. he told his nameless. Go and claim me the names of the living so I may feast. And the half men did as they were commanded. They tore down his temples and their dark fury razed the Children of the First Frost down to a handful. They wrought terror and pain but could only make a meager offering to Atal's great hunger. It was at such a day that the divines spoke to shamans and mettled in the affairs of men, evil and good alike. Siren, the Sly lady and the wife of Raiden the thunder god hatched a plan that would defeat the scourge of Shiva without raising a finger. She must do so because to allow her husband to strike down the shaman would surely cause a war between the gods for Diablos had claimed this shaman as his own and would brook no direct interference. Siren is a lady of song and temptation. A lady of emotions and testing, for no weapon and no knight is sharpest without being tested. So she appeared to Atal in his beautiful palaces of Ice and spoke with him. In a beautiful song she whispered that she could solve Atal's problem. All he need do is bend knee to her. To pay homage in exchange for her secrets, But Atal was a proud man. A man whose power had swelled so that he made no homage to the ice. He made no homage to any creature and certainly not to any god. So the shaman turned her away, and he did not change. Do not turn me away said the Sly Lady. I will take any offering you so choose for me. Even a single pebble from the turf and I will whisper you the answer that you may be forever content and loved. But Atal's heart could not be swayed for it had turned black and withered over the many centuries of his rule and again, he turned her away. He did not change because the great wisdom that the Black Prince imparted on him never extended to himself. He did not whisper when shouting would do. He did not promise, nor tempt, nor reward. He simply took as was his right to take, for his nameless were great and terrible and could tear apart the body of Shiva herself.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' And it was true. They were strong and dread moved in their wake and yet the children of the First Frost are a people of stillness and strength. It became more and more difficult to draw the offerings fit for a ghoul, let alone one touched by the divine. The few who survived the rampages of the Nameless taught their children the story of Atal and his shadowy half men and the knowledge passed from sight and sound into song and memory. Ultimately the battle was lost, as it is often lost, on the stomach of one of the opposing forces. The shadowmen were not people. They were hollow. They could only do what Atal told them, and Atal was too proud and too vain to change. To bend his ear to the Sly Lady, even as that was what she intended all along. So the great shaman Atal, whose will buckled the ice and whose touch withered the most powerful warriors sat in his vast and broken city of ice and starved. He starved and the city became his tomb, his nameless banished forever back to the mists that brought them. For want of a single pebble, an empire was felled. Rena lets the story and the images she had woven with her words come to a close, sitting in stillness with her eyes closed for a moment before opening them again to regard the commander.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The Dark Knight listens to the story. His red eyes watching any gestures she makes. His ears listen to every syllable and every word that hung in the air. He came to sit somewhere once more in this story. His head tilting to one way then to another. Silence though he remained. Silent and rather still. His breathing was a gentle, if sometimes almost a forgotten breath at times. He almost became entranced in the story, almost forgetting his own hunger for a moment. His own pain from within of the need. His red eyes almost calming a bit, like a wild beast soothed by a song. When the story was over, his eyes gained back their sharpness for a moment. His brows furrow as he starts to now process the words. Chewing on them as he thinks on what she has to say. What she was attempting to 'teach' him. To explain to him. There was a long silence as his mind wonders over everything. A great deal of information to process and break down. "Your concern is that in my poor attempt of imitation that, unless my Emperor commands it, I can not act on my own?" He cants his head to one side, as if he was analyzing now his own question. Analyzing his own thoughts. Those red eyes look away, until he looks down at his hands. He narrows his eyes as he looks at them, at the dark mist radiating from his hands slightly. He gives a low rumble, before the dark mist seems to vanish away. He moves his fingers a bit before he closes his eyes. "Perhaps there is some falla in the lack of ability to properly mimic emotion, yet it does not...." He looks over to the other side. He seems to continue to be heavily chewing on this. He then slides his legs out from under him, before he goes to scoot forward and then place his feet on the cold stone floor. "In your story, this Atal is a monster. Cold and cruel." He then starts to stand up once more. "He is to represent his Emperor?" He asks looking at her. "..or is he to represent me?" He then goes to move up closer to her, with her only a inch higher, they easily met eye to eye. "Our Emperor is neither cold nor cruel. Yet I can be, but that is my job to be." He then turns away from her before walking over to writing desk, where it is in the shadows, he then looks over to his shoulders, his red eyes glowing in the darkness. "To have emotion would mean to feel for those I kill." He then looks away. "To show them anger or any sign of emotion, would be to grant them a weakness. Emotion hinders logic. Emotion..." He then turns around extending out his hands into the light, soon then very dark mist that was seen earlier starts to cover his hands, they almost start to become black in color, the darkness seeming to move up his arms into the shadows. He clenches his hands tightly. Those red eyes almost taking on an orange color. Fighting with the darkness wanting to reign control. Fighting with a very dangerous thing that could consume him without the proper protection from himself. "..leads to lack of focus... which leads to being devoured." Soon the darkness puffs off like smoke as his hands return to normal and he almost goes down to his knee in that very moment. His hand reaches into the stone floor, his finger tips attempting to claw the very stone. "You can not fake emotion. As either the heart knows of emotion. Or it does not." He then inhales deeply. "...though you will say that is not true. That faking the emotion can make one seem more alive. So, I ask you," He then looks up at her with those red eyes from where he kneels. "..can you fake emotion? Will your heart allow you too? Can you be the Siren?" He lowers his head. "..because if one can mimic emotions, without the heart displaying emotion.. then one can learn.. in order to spot when the heart lies." He closes his eyes then. "..and truly see an individual's true nature."

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena watches the entire process from her partially splayed seat on the cold palamecian stone. Her eyes track and follow him as he stands and moves to the writing desck. Although her eyebrows raise and her face stiffens at the glowing red, it stills completely back down to crystallized waiting stillness as the streamers of darkness crawl over his hands. She does not raise her voice in defense of the story, nor challenge his interpretation of it. Her eyes track and gather and reel in every word and gesture. Finally he kneels and she begins to move. The leather creaks and ripples as she languidly stretches out her feet, working them back and forth once or twice before she leans up on one hip and then twists so that she faces him with her knees pressing into the stone. While she moves, that lantern of winter sunlight that is the light of her heart remains completely stilled. A reflection of an overcast sun on ice. The look on her face however starts with a small smile. It is a contrast of extremes with just the small smile quirking the edge of her lips while her eyes are filled.. with awe. Something innocent and compelling, a single beguiling note like a single crystal snowflake instead of a sledgehammer. The eyes transform the entire face, making it shy and reserved. Her eyes flicker self consciously nad her hand moves to tease at her hair, then flicker back to him. There is a mercurial, lightning brief flash of smile that curls down into something smoky and comforting. A warm and compassionate regard like a single smear of vibrant red. A single flower in a snowfield. Her approach is not slow, but not quick as well. The shivan reaches out to tenuously put her hands on his arms, trailing them up them as she leans further and further towards him until their foreheads are almost touching. Then. As gentle as someone not wanting to shatter a fragile crystal, she puts a hand behind his neck and pours all of that emotion like an uncorked bottle down into him, eyes closing in the moment before the kiss and in the moments afterwards (for it seems to take no time at all and forever) her lips brush next to his ear, her face still leaning on his and she whispers. "..and.. now.. a last question of the evening, Nameless." And it all seems to happen at once. She slams a fist into his solar plexus, attempting to stun him long enough to force him backwards ans pin his arms to his sides, using her weight to attempt to knock him over. Somehow the claws are activated on her hands, the articated hooked steel next to his throat as she inquires, with hate in her voice and flashing eyes. "..Which mask is the lie?"

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The Dark Knight reopens his eyes as she starts to move closer to him. He furrows his brow in a moment of being unsure what she is doing or even attempting. He watches as the emotion changes and as she brings herself down to her level. The gestures, then motions, they cause him to cant his head only slightly to the side. It is when her hands touch his arms, does his body tense up and he moves back only a bit. His turning to the side slightly as those red eyes lock on her. Dark mist for just a moment move around his arms, before they simmer down again. The predator unsure what to make of what could be his prey. His prey perhaps becoming another Predator. Yet he was unsure. He did not know. Then when her hand reached behind his neck. It caused him to almost stutter a breath. Like earlier when her hand touched his arm and even now. None of this was something he understand. None of it was something he could grasp on a full compensable level of emotion. It did not process in his mind as anything but a strange sensation. A strange feeling echoing through him to his very dark core. Then as their lips met he froze in place. Those lifeless eyes widening slightly with the pupils narrowing to near pinpoints. This was not combat. This was not tactical knowledge. This was not fear. This was not authority. This was not anything he knew where to place. It did not belong in his world and yet, he found his hand shaking wanting to reach up. Perhaps to pull her away, perhaps to keep her there. He was a hunter. A predator. The dark mist moving along his arm once more, moving slightly out toward her. Like a curious child. His hand almost to her shoulder. She whispers in his ear. The breath causing his hand to pause where it was. Was this-- fake? Was she-- Nameless... The thought was suddenly interrupted by a quick change from confusion and what he did not comprehend, to something that he truly, understood. Pain. The fist slammed into him with his guard down. He coughed out air from the impact, before she suddenly slammed him down onto of his own arms. He grit his teeth as his body impacted the ground. The very dark mist seeming to suddenly attempt to move around his body. His eyes forcefully closed shut on the impact snap open to see the claws at his thought. Those red eyes almost taking on a gold color. The dark mist attempting to grow over his body further. She asks her question. He grits his teeth, before he lays his head back and the mist seems to pull in before vanishing once more. She.. must not be harmed.. he could not harm her. She was a guest. He did not have his armor. It could consume him. He lays there a bit longer in silence. Staring at her as the eyes slowly return to their red color. He stares at her, before closing his eyes and laying his head back. He doesn't even fight with her. "..Either could be a lie. Either could be true. You win." He states calmly before reopening his eyes. "I..." there was a pause in his voice. "..I surrender."

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena sits back down and away from him with a relieved bump, the rage clearing from her face like the sun breaking through storm clouds. She laughs a trifle hysterically for a few notes, reaching over to automatically fold the claws back into their dulled positions back across the gloves. "Well." she says with a trace of the drunken cheerfulness that may again be another mask. "Then there.. is a first time for everything." She continues to laugh quietly, her heart giving a shudder for a moment of.. something. Fear? Despair? Happiness? It's all mixed up and muddled behind the shroud of dark glass. "Next time, I think I /will/ bring the wine, commander." she chuckles with wicked bemusement. "I believe I am going to need it. Although I suppose I am going to need money for that. The world lives on it anyways." Rena picks herself up, heading for the door. "..But that's a story for another day, yes? Good night commander." she lingers at the door for a moment looking at the candle on the desk still flickering in the darkness before she opens the door and slips outside.

Dance of Ice and Fireworks

2013-04-14T01:50:30Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/13 |Location=Northern Continent - Carwen |Synopsis=A celebration of life in a cold northern continent port town. |Cast of Characters=Morrig..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/13
|Location=Northern Continent - Carwen
|Synopsis=A celebration of life in a cold northern continent port town.
|Cast of Characters=Morrighan Alazne, Niklas Dragonius, Annia Leradine, Rena Laradyne, Myla Mason, Kyra Hyral, Souji Murasame
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Now is a time for celebration. Why is perhaps a question left to the dusty musings of sages. A question left to be relegated to the ages. So instead of explaining, Rena simply contacted those she could get ahold of and the Shivan was very much interested in catching up with recent events and not interested at all in doing this without food and drink involved. The North Continent's only major trade port was that of Carwen, a colorful small town of medieval technology and architecture and the Inn involved 'The Rankled Badger' stood out, a bright and comfortable place overlooking the ocean with walkways that overlook the ocean and meander in smooth curves back to the main streets. Inside the badger, Rena has an anachronous radio on one of the polished tables blaring a cheerful tune into the slightly smoky dimness. BGM CHANGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWpe2ppRRGg ] Globes of light around the inn give the impression of flickering fire rather than steady illumination, making shadows dance across the stone and wooden walls. Also to note. The calculating and reserved Rena has pushed the tables up against the wall, has put her weapons aside, and is dancing with some of the patrons. There are only a few and they have a rather bemused air about them as the large woman whirls around the room laughing while the smell of spiced meat and the slightly cloying smell of honeyed mead drifts from the inns kitchen. She twirls and twirls around the center of the swept stone floor, and where she stops? Siren only knows.

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' P-A-R-T-Y spells Niklas Dragonius. He's that guy, you know, that guy who knows when all the social events on campus are happening; that guy who shows up to them with a huge grin on his face, happy to entertain everybody and hit on all the girls who don't have boyfriends, but isn't the same guy as the jackass who shows up with a cocky swagger proclaiming himself to be the life of the party. Nik's not cocky at all, in fact, which is pretty funny given the man can literally punch so hard /gods/ come out of his fists. He's easygoing; he's the guy who gets in the way of the abusive drunks, the guy who pulls the unnoticed girls out onto the dance floor for a dance or who makes sure everybody's got a drink. He's like a second host to every party - he even brings music. Consequently, most of the big party people on the campus knew Nik to be the fixer. Rena, however, was not one of the big party people, which means that Nik is even more curious as to what's up in this thread. He shows up dressed in his usual patchwork clothes (he's added a few new monsters since last time), guitar slung over his back, huge grin on his face. "Hey, Rena! Looking hot as always. This is the place, right? It's kind old, but it'll do, with a little more work."

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Dancing is pretty much defines Annia. She knows just about every style of dance, so she's right at ease with anything, any music. Well, she has her favorites of course, but she can meld it pretty easily. So when Rena called upon everyone for a quick gathering, she didn't know what to expect exactly, but whens he hears the music, she's already swaying those rounded hips to the beat as she walks in. She takes a long look around the place, wondering what's going on exactly. Usually celebrations have a reason, so one can wonder. She spots some of her classmates, although they never had a class together yet, walking closer to Rena that she knows less, and Niklas that she knows too much about already.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' You think you're going to get away without Souji showing up? You'd be wrong. The Ramuha heir arrives, looking over the area and considering the situation. He taps the side of his chin speculatively. "Rustic." Souji comments, and moves to check the wine list, before he looks over at the others. "So what is the occasion, Laradyne?" Souji responds. He's not dancing. This is most certainly the wrong music for his preferred style. He has, however, not yet dug in on Dragonius. Small mercies, right? "You seem to be well, Leradine." Souji says, continuing his tendency of referring to everyone by their last name, in general.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason isn't sure why there's a party but really does she need an excuse to party? Also catching up with friend is always good right? So here she is and she's not even shocked Nik is there she was expecting him to bt there but noe where has Rena got herself too? She's spotted Annia and Nik already and Swimmer? Well he's been left somewhere to not crash the party

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' "Niklas." Rena growls the word, spinning to a halt and thanking her partner who moves off to a table to join some of those clapping to the rhythm of the music (or perhaps simply get their breath back and drink something, something that sounds like a pre-eminant idea) she moves over to him and gives him a scowling frown and raises a finger as if starting to lecture, and then her mock scowling melts away and she gives him a welcoming smile. "It's not the tools at hand, but how you use them." she makes a gesture to the surroundings and splays her hands in a gesture of bemused exasperation. "Be creative." Rena looks him over with open and honest appreciation and then nods very soberly to him as if making a grave decision. "Come. Did that woman ever find her missing boyfriend? " she raises a finger. "Hold that thought." she practically slides over to Annia. "You honor me at my fire, Leradine. Please come, sit where you like." she gives a closed lipped smile, her hands empty and her manner cheerful but not overwhelming. This is about the time she realizes that Souji has arrived. Her eyes flash for a moment and then her smile just grows even larger. An aura of goodwill just radiates from her ."Murasame." she inclines her head. The wine list is strangely complete with more than a few references to foreign vintages. There are clear whites. Smoky reds. Many of the bottles are local but a few are not only from across the continents but some from The Old Kingdom and other worlds. Someone (the Shivan most likely) has manipulated the list and brought some in just in case those who glanced at the list actually studied it. Rena roots out Myla from the crowd and the reserved and quiet Shivan tries to literally pick her up and swing her around half a rotation. "Apologies things may not be to your taste, Murasame. But I did lay in at least /some/ surprises to hedge my bets anyway." She gestures to Nik. "Dance with me or Play, Niklas. Pick quickly. I can turn the channel to whatever it is you favor. I just am rather partial to it." And then she is turning to Kyra and the large woman seems to stride back and forth like a cheerful bear. (Or an ice flow that is really keen to meet you, which may not be the exact measure of your health) "Kyra! Come. Sit wherever you like."

:'''[[Morrighan Alazne]] has posed:''' Morrighan had simply been passing through Carwen in her own personal little journey to serve as a break from the nonsense of the Church and it's machinations. Lord, how could one religious organization have been such a headache? She was not entirely sure of it herself, but a break was definitely required. It is while she was in town that word spread of a party. While not particularly interested, it was also not as if the elf was strapped for time. Perhaps in would be a good way to spend some time. Thus, taking her mind off of other matters, she made her way to the location in question, entering through the doors. "Hmn, rather archaic in design I would say..." Morrighan mused lightly to herself, tapping a cheek lightly in thought while her other arm kept her elbow supported. This certainly was not her kind of party, but...she would not complain...yet. ...Yet. With that in mind, the dark elf casually made her way over to the wine table, taking a glass of whatever seemed good at that moment. "My, they certainly are lively however..." She mumbled to herself, watching the other patrons dance and enjoy themselves before having a sip from the glass she just took.

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' Nik is slowly starting to wonder if Rena has a thing for Souji. If she does, that ranks among *the worst decisions in the history of human history*. Because Souji Murasame is like the world's biggest jerkoff. Seriously, there was a book published, the Cactuar's Book Of World Records, and World's Biggest Jerkoff was Souji Murasame. It was amazing, Nik even congratulated him on it once in front of a whole bunch of people. He might be the world's nicest kung fu master but damned if Nik couldn't be /super duper petty/. "I'll...uhhh," Nik isn't used to /Rena/ of all people asking him to dance. It doesn't take long before he's got his hands on her hips for the next dance. When we say 'it doesn't take long', what that actually means is 'the man's reflexes are unbelievable and his hands are on her the moment she's finished saying the word /dance/.' "Awesome." Nik is a hell of a dancer. It comes from completely mastering a martial art full of precise and intricate movements; he's very good at moving his body. Like, really good. Frighteningly good. Humans shouldn't be able to bend that way good. He holds up his hand at Morrighan as she shows up. "HEY! HOT DARK ELF GIRL! How you doing? Didn't expect to see you of all people here! Wanna dance?" JUST KEEP PRETENDING THAT MURASAME ISN'T HERE JUST KEEP PRETENDING THAT MURASAME ISN'T HERE

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Kyra's not much of a dancer at all. AT ALL. The only dancing she really does is the ungraceful running away of horrible things coming to stab and maim her. When it comes to parties, which she has very much grown to enjoy in those few years she's been at Alexander Academy and away from the strict supervision of her siblings, she prefers to be the one at the DJ table making the music happen. Well except there really isn't that much opportunity to do that here. Unless Kyra were to set up her laptop, hook up the speakers, and drop the mog. But much like Nik, Kyra's actually kind of surprised to see that Rena is the one starting the party. Though friendly, she always found the Shivan much more reserved. "Rena, hey!" she waves cheerfully, seemingly unbothered by the low-tech environment. (Not really the case, though, this whole lack of electricity thing reaaaally bothers her.)

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine rolls her eyes jsut a bit at Nik. Well, whenever he can get his hands on a girl, that's him alright. And he STILL manages to hit on a different girl at the same time, good grief. She shakes her head, but nods to Rena's introduction, without a smile as she always is really, but grateful either way. Then Rena is swept off before she can properly answer. Well, that's alright too. She moves to the side, looking around, and then as Souji as he addresses her. Great, just to make the day better huh. "Murasame." She answers flatly, without much manners to it. She doesn't owe anything to him after all.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' The bartender is a short, dark and stocky individual who has a perpetual look of anger on his face, etched there by the years and possibly one of the motivations for the sign outside. Morrighan is served one of the local wines, a darkwood vintage that is a red so dark that it is almost black and practically smells as sharp as a razor. Rena makes up in sheer enthusiasm what she lacks in dancing. Which is not exactly to say she lacks in dancing (much), only that her movements are not nearly formed of anything like precision or intricacy ( although that double spinning loop may qualify) but she makes up with it by ample experience in mimicing the movements of others and so, when she stumbles (a few, relatively small times) she recovers quickly. She finishes one reel around the floor. "Well. That wasn't so hard." she says to Nik, one eye closing as she gives him a lopsided grin. "I suppose I should pass you to the next in line!" That said, the Shivan literally attempts to gently push Niklas towards the 'Hot Dark Elf girl' in question, smirking as she turns away to return to Annia in a few strides and a loud creak as she sits down on the bench. "Well." she says very quietly and with an obviously conspiratorial tone. "..Do you think he has a list that he goes down and simply checklists for further inspection?" A platter of spiced meats in soups and sandwiches leave the kitchen on great trays and the Shivan sits down to bite into something of black bread and meat and cheeses. She draws in a great breath of air into her lungs and then lets it out again.

:'''[[Morrighan Alazne]] has posed:''' Morrighan's eyes are drawn to Nik as a familiar moniker is heard. Had this human not learned her name? She would have to rectify that! "While your compliments are not untrue, it would do well for you to learn that I do have a name." The elven woman spoke with a rather unamused tone. "It is Morrighan Lachesis Alazne. Now burn it into your memory, for I have no intention of repeating myself!" The offer to dance caused Morrighan to smile wryly in response. "A tempting offer however, but..." She was about to go on to say that he was rather indisposed already and refuse, but their dance went on and was finished before she could say such. With Nik getting pushed towards her, there was really not much room to refuse. And so she sighed and set the glass down, opening her arms to be taken for a dance. SUrely there were worse things to be subjected to than a simple dance. Even if it was with a human, she was not so stuck up that she'd refuse such a thing. ...Maybe.

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine chuckles lowly at Rena, sitting down nearby, just resting her legs a bit as she watches the show "Having an actual, organized list would be giving Niklas too much credit. No, it's more likely that he just bounces between several, and even at the same time if the situation offered itself to him." She shakes her head. Well, at least he's entirely honest about those things... Not like other people she knows about, including herself.

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason is suprised as she gets found by Rena, spun about and she laughs. "Well it seems your in good spirits today Rena. I'd almost ask if you were feeling all right!" She seems to be pretty chipper all things considered. She notices Nik hitting on a very attractive looking elf of some sort and seems amused as she calls out. "It's not a party without you isn't Nik?" She also turns to greet Souji. "Mr. Murasame, nice to see you relaxing." Annia gets a grin "Come on you should party Annia have a little fun, right?"

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji selects a light, fruity white wine, something suitable for the precursor for the main events to come. He's not familiar with /any/ of these vintages, none of the locations are known to him in that way. He sighs. He'll have to go learning them all over again. "You are doing the best with what you have to work with. Don't worry, soon our options will be expanding signiicantly." Murasame smiles thinly. "I will find enjoyment, have no fear." What? He's not being a jerk to her? Maybe he just has a problem with you personally, Dragonius. Besides, no one can prove that book was authentic, especially since the author had a horrible encounter with a Malboro a week after publishing. Terrible situation. The stench stuck to him for months. Souji does, however, eyeroll as Nik immediately starts trying to sweep the girls around in his typical play. He decides to wait. He picks up the glass of wine he ordered and sips it, looking over at Morrighan and considering the woman, That was a /Dark Elf/? He had to wonder what glamour she was using to conceal her form, most Dark Elves he knew were horribly deformed. Souji will wait for the proper time in order to gain another moment of self-satisfaction. In the meantime, he looks over to Annia as she acknowledges him. "Do you think this party will have anything of note?" He asks Annia. "I admit, I have to wonder how... creative... our host is going to be today." Privately, Souji is /really/ hoping Rena didn't cook tonight. Myla's arrival and address causes him to turn, nodding to her. "Mason. What have you been up to lately?" He pauses. "I may have need of your mechanical expertise in the near future. Do you still have any schematics from the Academy?" Kyra's presence is noted then, and he abruptly turns, walking over towards Kyra, "Kyra Hyral." Souji addresses her respectfully, actually giving her a short bow. "I pray today finds you well." He says, with his hands clasped before him in what seems to be something of a ritualistic greeting.

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' "You didn't tell me your name last time," Nik replies cheerfully as he takes Morrighan in his arms politely. Despite being perhaps one of the most /rough/-seeming individuals on the *planet*, the young man knows how to be polite when he dances. One hand on her hip, one on her hand. "Morrighan Lachesis Alazne, huh? Whaddya want me to call you? Morrighan? Lachesis? Morri?" He grins as they start dancing, and once again, he proves that he does know things besides /hitting people/ and /hitting on people/. As previously mentioned, he's quite a skilled dancer - he knows how to spin, how to sway, how to step. "Sure isn't!" Nik agrees at Myla. "Niklas Dragonius is requisite for a party to be properly majestic! Ask anybody on campus." ANYONE WHOSE NAME ISN'T SOUJI MURASAME ANYWAY. YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS, SOUJI. Nik is convinced that Souji only knows how to dance so he can come to dances and deny women the chance to dance with him, /thus feeding his evil black heart/. "That's me, by the way," he adds to Morrighan. "I can't remember if I said as much. I'm Niklas, Niklas Dragonius, heir to the Divine Fist style and the Dragonius family title." (The proper title is actually Lord Dragonius, for the like two people who care enough to know his title!) He also can't hear the girls wondering if he keeps a checklist, but rest assured, they are correct - checklists are for people who are organized. Organization is for people who are concerned with tomorrow.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' @emit Cheerful ice flow! That's her Rena. Invited in by the tall Shivan, Kyra grins and skips herself around the perimeter of the room. As she does, she takes note of Souji being here, but only affords him a momentary glance. Surely Frank has spread the word of her future compliance so she would -have- to talk to him at some point. A party is not the place! On the other hand, Souji was all business. That he'd even show up at a party is kind of a surprise. Kyra fetches herself a chair at one of the tables that were pushed out of the way earlier. Dragging it slightly, she angles it so the back faces the wall and she can sit and watch her fellow classmates dance merrily. Nik, to no surprise, immediately starts hitting on an attractive-looking...dark elf? This marks the first one Kyra has seen in person and she looks upon her curiously. That skin coloring was something she's actually seen before amongst certain families in Ramuha. Speaking of her countrymen, much to her dismay, she is approached by Souji. Though he bows, Kyra remains seated, staring up at her cooly. "Hello Murasame." she greets evenly, lifting her head as she speaks. "I'm fine. I hear you have been busy."

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' "Oh yes." Rena says softly to herself "It's very much all about.. what options one has available." she smiles tightly and then the expression breaks out in a grin. "Myla." Rena calls out from the tables, gesturing forwards. "Drag yourself over here and eat something, Levitani scum. I get it. You live on water. Now come have something before you turn sideways and I can see straight through you!" she grins. "Yes. Better to have a properly majestic occasion.. I.. think I find a great deal of Irony about that." and she laughs, although perhaps for no reason than her own private joke. She springs to her feet. "I'm coming over there and draggin you now, Myla!" and stalks across the room like a stalking.. badger? (Close enough)

:'''[[Morrighan Alazne]] has posed:''' "I would prefer just Morrighan if that would suit you. Morri is far too familiar." That said, she let Nik lead the dance, following his steps and movements with relative ease. Considering the way she carried herself, perhaps it came as no surprise that the elf was quite skilled in the way of dancing. The fact that this rough looking man seemed to know just what he was doing drew a small smile to the dark elf's face. Morrighan's eyes momentarily glances over Souji's way. Having gotten a feeling of being stared at. The man is offered only a curious arch of a brow before her attentioned returned to Nik just as he was introducing himself. She hadn't asked because quite frankly she had no interest in knowing. But nevertheless, the knowledge was obtained. "Niklas Dragonius, you say? ...What is this about a Divine Fist Style, though?" A question asked, one in which Morrighan already knew the answer, but hey, conversation! "Is that some manner of combat technique now?"

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine loosk over to Souji as he addresses her once more, shrugging her shoulders "I don't even know what the celebration is about to start with. Maybe they just wanted to forget about the troubles for a moment too." Looks like people are having fun at least. Rena prods Myla quite obviously too. Nik got his hands on one of the beauties he had spotted before. And there's no Jidro to ruin her fun. Maybe its not too bad either. She looks to Myla as she talks to her, crossing her arms "I can have fun plenty just watching too." Mostly watching other people making a ridicule of themselves. Well hasn't happened yet, but Nik just might, given his usual luck with the ladies.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' People like Souji Murasame. He makes a mental check as he hears Dragonius prattle on. He's still waiting, Dragonius. The Murasame Heir is like a sword od Damocles hanging over Nik's game, waiting to fall. Souji also knows of Kyra's assent. He straightens, nodding. "It takes a great deal of work to reforge a wide-scale manufacturing and distribution company. Progress has been acceptable, however." He smiles to her. "And you? Have you had any success in your work?"

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' NIK IS THE KING OF MAKING A FOOL OF HIMSELF! Except possibly Will Sherman, the actual fool. It comes from Nik just not /caring/. He bounces back from anything almost immediately; it's damn near impossible to put him down for long. Didn't stop Souji from trying. "Morrighan, then. Uh? You were at the fight with the zombies, right? You saw it, didn't you?" Nik blinks, legitimately confused. "Oh, right...I guess you're an outsider, you wouldn't know. The Divine Fist is an ancient style from my world and my family. Legend says that the Dragonius family was chosen to hold and safeguard the Divine Fist's great secrets by the great god Raiden after my ancestor, Ragnan Dragonius, aided Raiden in the Chaos War. Ever since then, generation to generation of the Dragonius family learns its secrets - martial arts techniques that tap the divine motions and allow us to become one with our gods." Morrighan may have noticed, now that she's in close proximity with Nik, that the man is ripped. Moreover, his hands are gentle, but rough - the rough of hands that have bled over and over for something. He certainly carries himself like a martial artist. No...more like a master, not an amateur. "A lot of styles have spun off the Divine Fist's lower forms, but only the Dragonius family is permitted to know the arts to join with the gods. It's a bloodline secret. Pretty neat, huh? It's kinda like being a summoner, but...not quite." "I don't call them into being or compel them to act. By moving precisely, by making my motions perfectly, I become them. The gods flow through me, and in turn I am them. It's the most amazing experience in the world. Well, one of 'em." Nik grins and dips Morrighan low. "There are a few things that come pretty close, but it's definitely a high I haven't repeated any other way." "What about you? What do you do?" He swings her back up into his arms. Souji seemed /so far away/ right now. He is in his *element*. He is *enjoying* himself.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena watches and claps along with the dancing and tells Annia, eventually returning to her seat (with or without Myla in tow) "We survived, Leradine. Of all the shamans and all the chieftains. Of all the merchants and kings and traders, we few are those who survived." Rena grins lopsidedly. "..and what did I bring with me? Doubt and fear and the loss of everything, when I should be building. I was taught better than that. And I was shown better. So.." she grins, raising up a flagon as she takes one. "More than enough of a reason to celebrate. A new beginning. Old connections, but not old wounds."

:'''[[Morrighan Alazne]] has posed:''' Yes, Morrighan was there. No she was not watching as Niklas was calling down the gods with his fists. She was too busy being a newt and fighting a crazy witch! So his explanation regarding the style and his family was...more than what she had asked really. But there was no denying that it was at least somewhat interesting. "...Is that so? Then, in a manner of speaking this particular combat style serves as the father of all hand to hand combat styles that have since branched out from it. Is that what you are saying?" Now, beating people with just your bare fists is not something Morrighan is particularly fascinated in. Not by a long shot, but the history and theory behind it certainly is. Neverminding that for the moment however, she could clearly make out the level at which this man's body was built. For a human, he certainly stayed on top of his physical health. And despite his manner of flirting with anything female, she could sense something else about him...something she couldn't quite put her finger on just yet. "I suppose it is 'pretty net', as you so eloquently put it. A summoner that knows martial arts...Most summoners I know let their summons do all the work, yet...apparently you simply borrow their powers and do it yourself?" And then she was dipped, the action causing the elf's eyes to widen just a tad in surprise. She was not quite prepared for that. "...Oho?" A grin began to appear on the dark elf's face, revealing a glimpse of fangs among her teeth as she stared upwards at her dancing partner. "...is that a proposition?" For what? She didn't elaborate though, finding herself swung back up and into Niklas' arms once again. There would be no admitting it. None whatsoever, but this was rather enjoyable. Even if it was just a single dance that would not last much longer. "Me? Hmn, an apt question. What DO I do...?" Seemed that it was rhetorical as well as Morrighan went right on to speaking after. "I...am simply a healer. I go from place to place and organization to organization, usually taking employment to assist in their operations and care for the injured, as well as perform magical rituals and large scale spells. I have no allegiance to any specific group however, so I am free to move as I wish most of the time." ...Yeah, let's forget about the fact that Garland was still after her head. Yeah, let's not mention that at all!

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine tilts her head a bit to the side, her orange curls bouncing a bit with the movements of her head like that "So we're celebrating that we're alive?" Its a reason as good as any really. She can understand that. This world was odd enough, not to mention monsters, like the behemoth she tackled down. And then Nik starts boasting and talking about hsi fighting style. She would normally be uninterested in that kidn of talk... but now that she hears the name of 'Dragonius', something seems to click. She's suddenly up in her seat, slamming her hands on the tabletop "You're from /THE/ Dragonius clan? Not just happened to have the same surname by chance?" Now /THAT/'s something she hadn't exactly expected either, and it seems to bring out more emotion in her than she usually shows. At least, from what Nik ever saw.

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' "Not *all* of them, but most of them. The ones that didn't spawn from the Divine Fist generally took some elements of it, though. Like I said, the legend is that it's a divine martial art style; it's pretty practical even if I'm not using the higher forms. Strength training, health training...uh, admittedly, most people stay away from the training methods. They're kinda..." He'd make a motion with his hand but it's currently around her waist. "It actually got used in a lot of historical wars; traditionally, the Dragonius family fought when there was no other option, though. Normally not political battles - mostly against monster wars." "It is totally a proposition." Nik replies, a grin spreading across his face to match her coy, fangy smile. Fangs? Oh man, that was *exotic*. "You're a healer, huh? That's pretty cool. I know a couple healers, but most of the healers I know are, uh..." He glances meaningfully at Kyra, then lowers his voice substantially, hopefully so that only the dark elf can hear. "/crazy/. Really really crazy." "It's pretty kind of you to take care of people like that. I don't think I could do it; it takes somebody special to go around caring for the sick and wounded, I think." Kyra was certainly somebody special, although this definition of /special/ apparently also included *sadistic*. Which is pretty funny, given Morrghan. Annia stands up; Nik blinks. "Uhh...yes? I'm from the main family...I'm the only living master of Divine Fist right now, I guess." He frowns. As much as he was happy to not have to deal with his family, it didn't mean he wanted them *gone forever*. Just...not trying to force him to get married or whatever. "Why? You...you didn't think that the guy who was a martial arts expert and named Dragonius was just /coincidentally/ named Dragonius, did you?"

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason has not gone for the wine just yet, prehaps she doesn't want to drink too much. So she can remeber the party, it's always fun being the one who has the clear memory of such events. "Exploring, helping Art hunt an esper, and I have quite a few I have all my personal files and some of the ones from the libary I was going over." It's likely she could easily produce her pistols and anything to do with Swimmer and she my have had other projects on the go as well. Nik will be left to his fatge for good or ill with his latest attempt at a good time. Now Kyra gets noticed and she's grinning over at her. "Good to see you Kyra I wonder if some of our friends have become alergic to having fun as of late." "Oh just collecting information /I see/ all right I'll leave you to it." "SO Rena's you been having a heck of a lot fun here it looks liek still what's the occasiuon aside the obvious you were never much on parties."

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "There is a company I'm sure you've heard of that has earned my interest. ShinRa. Though I have yet to try and make an appointment with any of those related. I really need some kind of...in." Kyra points out, "Beyond that, general exploration has yielded some interesting books and the like. It seems the majority of technology levels throughout these worlds are very low." Perhaps infuriatingly, she changes topics a little. "Dragoon Man has survived." she says brightly. Perhaps as if sensing Nik saying things about her, she looks beyond Souji for a second to make eye contact with the monk. "Hello Myla! I'm actually happy to see Rena like this! I had worried about her since our world disappeared." she glances over to the cheerful Shivan. "I think she took it the hardest of all." Kyra...well, she was happy to be free of her family.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena gestures Myla over to the table when her friend has a moment. "So. Tell us the tale of this hunt for an esper, and mind you, if you skimp on any of the details I'll be greatly cross." she smiles indulgantly. "Maybe I can tempt you with a trade? I have had a few interesting adventures myself since the world fell." she glances over towards Kyra and nods to her in agreement or perhaps acceptance before turning back to harassing the Levitani.

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine hasn't seen Niklas fight yet, to her defense, so she couldn't be sure about that either. She looks a bit bewildered now. Well, all kinds of surprises in this world huh. "How would I know, haven't seen you fight yet." She crosses her arms, but she has that kind of smirk now, not quite usual for her. Finally something that tickles her fancy, changes from being constantly irritated at least. She sits back down, and just mulls that over for now. Well, she already seems in a better mood overall anyway.

:'''[[Morrighan Alazne]] has posed:''' Morrighan nodded her understanding to the matter of his family's fighting style. "I see. Well that makes sense enough. Though I admit, I have not actually seen you put it into action. I believe I was too busy entertaining a certain witch." Ah, Royce. What an irritating woman. But she would not dwell on it. That incident was already in the past. And breaking the curse was little effort in any case. "Yes, a healer. I realize my appearance does not suggest it, however...That is just the way it turned out to be." She does no dark and time magic additionally, but that's not really important to her work. Not really. "Crazy, hm?" She asked in a low tone, following Nik's gaze over to Kyra. "...I assume you mean her, yes?" An amused smirk found it's way onto her face after that. "Taking care of people...It is simply a job." And the subject was left at that, her bright red eyes drawn over to Annia, falling quiet for a moment. Then the amused smirk came back and Morrighan leaned forward a bit, whispering into his ear. "Perhaps I will accept that proposition...some time." Grinning then, she leaned back and added. "...But for now, I do believe you have found your next dance partner."

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' "Honestly, appearance seriously doesn't mean much about a person. You look as much like a healer as Kyra over there does." REJOICE, KYRA! Apparently time in the great wilderness has actually improved his memory! That, or the fact that you're borderline psychotic. He avoids Kyra's gaze carefully, his grin still nice and wide. "Maybe a little more, even. I expect healers to be soft and nurturing." KYRA IS NEITHER OF THOSE THINGS, SHE IS SHARP AND POINTY. She dangles the tag of 'some time', but nonetheless Nik is on cloud nine for the rest of the day. He nods as Morrighan releases him, their dance ended (but memorable nonetheless), and heads his way through the crowd back to the girls. "Hey," Nik observes, sitting down next to Annia. "So, you wanna dance?" Do your worst, Murasame. /Do your worst/.

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "Dragoon Man." Souji sighs with not a little exasperation, looking away for a moment. "That's... good." Souji doesn't mean that at all, of course. "I've had some recent dealings with Shinra as well, Miss Hyral. They're sensible people." He pauses. "Although given recent arrangements, I may be able to produce the facilities you are looking for. I am still looking for a proper location to set them up... I have heard some tales about being able to restore lost lands through the location of 'shards'. Perhaps one of these might prove fruitful." He pauses, following Kyta's gaze. "If you'll pardon me." He says, politely, to Kyra, and breaks off, approaching Nik and Morrigan. "Be careful about that one, Madam Alazne, you don't know where he's been." He pauses. "No one does, really." He looks over to Dragonius. "Are you really trying to win her interest with your hoary and tired legends?" Souji shakes his head, sighing. "You won't see much 'action' from him. He is more interested in carousing than keeping up with his work." He gestures. "Is there something you want to accomplish, Madam Alazne? You appear to be someone with more ambition than your former dance partner."

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine considers that, looking over to Nik as he sits nearby. She leans over the table on her elbows, hands under her chin, those piercing eyes looking toward him. "I could be convinced." She's making him work a bit for the chances to get his hands on those hips, no matter the reason behind it. "Didn't think you were part of the main family line, figured you might be only an twice-removed cousin or something, who knows."

:'''[[Morrighan Alazne]] has posed:''' Morrighan blinked, glancing at Souji upon hearing his warning. "Oh? Not much 'action', you say?" She brought a finger to her cheek, tapping idly as she thought about it. "Hmn, well, perhaps you are right. I indeed do not know where he has been after all." Smirking at that, the dark elf shook her head, turning back to Souji. "Something that I wish to accomplish? ...I wish to accomplish many things. I suppose the same could be said of most however, no?" THat was a rather roundabout way of answering the question without actually answering the question. Typical Morrighan. "Nonetheless, you seem to be a man of great ambition yourself." She gave Souji a quick once over before asking. "I do not believe that I caught your name however...?" Meanwhile, the elven woman lead the conversation away from the designated dance floor, moving back over to the side where she had left her glass of wine. Never waste good wine now!

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' Souji you are like the biggest jackass. If only Nik still carried the Book of Records with him. "Well...yeah, I mean, I am. The branch families aren't that big, but...nope. I'm the heir." Nik shrugs. "Lordly title, divine secrets and all." "I just don't like to talk about it much. I mean, who cares about that stuff here? It's not like being a nobleman means anything here. It's just a word, no matter what some people want to believe." Some people being SOUJI. "Heck, I didn't talk about it much at school....felt too much like bragging." Nik scratches the back of his neck. "Don't really like bragging to people. Makes your ego swell up and then you get stupid and the you get killed. Plus, it's another of those stupid /game/ things." Nik hated the Game. The big Nobles' Game, the backstabbing, murder, hate...all the things that people wanted to convince Nik to do because he was born. "So...you wanna dance? I mean, the music's going."

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine stands up, and pokes Nik in the forehead, and then flicks it with her fingers "Don't misunderstand me, Niklas." She walks away from the table, with that enticing sway of hers. She's not a dancer for nothing after all, she has what it takes there. "I'm not interested in your family or your name at all. I hate all of those high class nonsense, I only adhere to them I need to." She looks over her shoulder as she steps on the dance floor, and offers him a smirk over her shoulder "So you gonna dance or just watch my hips?"

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' "...really?" Kyra sits up, suddenly struck with the worst sort of cognitive dissonance. It would be nice to have an in to speak with someone of interest in that corporation. It would be nice to have access to a PROPER lab once more so she can poke out the very interesting things she's seen throughout the worlds. "...I've heard a bit too about these world shards you speak of." Maybe some of theirs are out there but she cannot find it in herself to really be excited by the thought of restoring their world, technology level or not.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena listens to Myla for awhile and then rises up to her feet and moves over across the tavern floor to stand in front of Souji. "Well, Murasame. You've brought your business into my celebration. I think you at least owe me a dance in exchange." she smiles at him cheerfully, extending her hand. "After all, if I didn't derive at least /some/ enjoyment mildly at your expense then it would be all a very dull, if majestic affair now wouldn't it?"

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' Souji, too, enjoys wine. He nods, remaining businesslike and polite. "Indeed. We all have things we wish to accomplish. Myself, I am in the process of building a profitable and stable corporation, reestablishing my business in an ever-changing and war-torn world. I am Souji Murasame, heir to the Murasame manufacturing and distribution conglomerate. Our products could be found on every table in our world." He turns. "I overheard your list of skills, and your behavior shows that you are more interested in accomplishing things than your. If you are interested, perhaps your could become a valued member in the reestablishment of our corporation. I have already negotiated supply and manufacturing deals with several powers and companies in the World of Ruin. The rest will follow soon-" Souji is suddenly interrupted by Rena. He looks to her, eyes narrowed, and then he smiles, faintly. "Very well. Do you have a waltz?"

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' Nik is back up, arms around Annia as she makes the offer. Yes, he does in fact like watching girls too, that's not a crime! He follows her onto the dance floor; as they pass Morrighan and Souji's conversation, Nik mutters something to the dark elf rapidly. Then the music starts playing. Nik smiles. He could put Souji Murasame being a prick behind him for right now. While he was dancing, he didn't care about a thing in the world. Parties were his natural habitat - /real/ parties, not the things noble people threw to play the Game. That was dull, boring, and villainous. A real party was where you went to have *fun*, where you went to do something crazy and dumb and not regret it for an instant. This was his natural home, where he felt the best - surrounded by people who understood just for a minute what it was he really wanted. Freedom. Nik puts his hands on Annia's hips. "You know, you're my best friend's fiance. As hot as you are, I do kind of have a line there."

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena moves over to the radio, picking it up and holding it to her ear like one would do to a seashell. "What are lines for but for jumping them?" she notes, mostly to herself as she turns the knob back and forth this way and that. Oddly enough, the music doesn't change at all as she does so. It only does so when she sets it back down, a smoother and more graceful song drifting through the tavern like a layer of snow. Rena drifts back towards Souji and somberly (although that might just be a sham. Her eyes sparkle with amusement and something else. She narrows her eyes very slightly as she extends her hand) "..if this will be suitable?

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine's hips are shapely, and a nice place to set a hand down upon, indeed. She moves with the beat, not missing a step. It doesn't matter what kind of dance or music, she's able to follow, the rhythm is flowering through her easily. That's part of why she became a dancer "I didn't say I had interest in you directly either." She answers up to the mention about her fiance. Nonetheless, she's dancing with him right now, and putting on the show "Its your Divine Fist that interest me." She states out quite honestly. She doesn't show her more natural side often, for most people she's a cold ******, and that's the image she's been trying to project willingly either, since she doesn't really care about what others think either. Jidro seems to be the only one that knows she has other sides to her personality that she keeps hidden. But right now, she's hinting at those pretty openly too.

:'''[[Morrighan Alazne]] has posed:''' Niklas' mutterings are heard, and met with a curious raise of an eyebrow, but the exchange ended quickly enough and Morrighan soon has her attention back to Souji. "My, reviving a corporation? You are thinking big then. I like that..." Hearing his name, she nodded lightly after. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance then, Mr. Murasame." The talk of her skills caused the dark elf to smile a tad, never adverse to having her potential recognized of course. "As for joining this budding corporation, I certainly have no qualms about where my skills go. If one place fails to satisfy my needs, I will of course move to greener pastures." And of course, the Church's pastures were becoming mighty grey right about now. What with Valo's nonsense, the legion of religious zealots, conspiracies abound, and of course there weren't vampires in their ranks! "I believe that you and I have cause to talk. At least a little more regarding this corporation of yours." Niklas' words rang in her mind, but she put them aside for now. Rena's request of a dance from her current company caused Morrighan to step aside. "Oh? Well then, the man is all yours. Do enjoy yourself."

:'''[[Myla Mason]] has posed:''' Myla Mason says "Sure give me a moment." She starts to think back. "we went ruin diving in that old M-tek lab that Mr. Greene found and we found our way deeper into the earth and found an old Libary in which we found a stone? I'm not sure it was rather fast it professed it's nature to Art and he sought o make a pack but it chose to test us and it departed." "So Art gathered more allies and sought the Esper out again we tracked it across the wourld Souji joined us along with others and it was quite the task to fight it it then questioned out motived for why we were helping and demanaded an awnswer when it was done it attacked it was a savage battle magic, technology, magitek, sword play. In the end we managed to defeat it I'm not sure if it died or not but it agreed to serve Art."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' A hand removes a card from his suit, and he provides it to Morrighan. "Contact me later. We can make the necessary arrangements." As Rena engages shenanigans, Souji sighs inwardly. He nods, taking up Rena's hand and begins to dance. His movements are technically perfect, moving with a fluid grace born from training and endless practice. There is something off about it, though. There's no feeling to it. It's a cold perfection that Rena experiences. "Is there something you're looking for, Laradyne?" Souji says quietly as they dance. "I always keep my mind on my business. Unlike some people, I need to get things done."

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' "Ah...well, that's kinda harsh. You barely even know me!" Nik replies. Yes, he's enjoying this immensely, but that admittedly put a bit of a damper on his cheerful mood, no matter how shapely Annia is or how pleasant it is to be up against her. "I mean, it's kind of...just saying something like that..." Nik rolls his shoulders unobtrusively. He spins her, and when he does, he takes careful note of the way Murasame is dancing; he can't help it. The guy's like a robot. No feeling, no emotion! Nik, by contrast, he felt it. He enjoyed it. He loved the dance. He loved to move, in any kind of physical manner. He hated meditation exercises - although he knew they were necessary, and thus put effort into them, because whatever Murasame thought, Niklas was a /master/ of his art. The only master left. It was a sobering thought; Divine Fist died with him, if he died. "So why are you interested in it? I can't exactly teach you any of the higher tiers if you aren't my wife, and no offense, but I'm not really looking for that at all." Maybe one day he would, but sure as hell not today, not while he's in the prime of his youth and ready to go. "Plus most schools that incorporate it are wildly different from the Divine Fist anyway. And the training methods are kinda..." Nik mutters. He hopes nobody he's interested in hears this. "...lethal. Especially for the higher tiers."

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' "That's the whole point" Rena says offhandly to Morrighan, giving her a smile with her eyes closed for a moment before turning back to Murasame. "But what is it that a story says.. All the running in the world simply keeps you in the same place?" Rena smiles at Murasame and they move around the dance floor in perfect step with eachother. She does not falter this time, though she may only be mirroring more precisely. The fire banks down lower and lower until it is watching clockwork. A clockwork waltz. "Besides. You are not the only one to make connections. Just the one who seems to have given up everything else in order to chase them."

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine spins easily, she's a rather light girl, especially compared to Nik's stature. That light body is perfect for dancing, which is her fighting style. "Not asking you to teach me either, I actually studied it a bit on my own, and adapted parts of it to my style. I'm not a fist fighter like the Dragonius style, but the basis of weight transfer and movements still apply. Just, minus the summoning skill there." Annia also loves the dance, she likes the movement, the rhythm, everything just flows around her, blurring the world from her sights, making her feel alone for a moment. Its a feeling she's used to and appreciates even, considering the high class world she was raised in. "If anything, I wouldn't mind just trading notes."

:'''[[Morrighan Alazne]] has posed:''' Morrighan took the business card rather casually, looking it over once before it simply became enveloped in light and vanished. Probably stored away elsewhere for later perusal. "I believe I will." That said, Morrighan turned away, leaving Rena to take Souji away as she resumed enjoying her glass of wine alone for now. This was nice as well. That done however, the dark elf realized that it was likely past time for her to make herself scarce. She had already spent more time in Carwen than she had intended. A visit to Hollow Bastion's library would have to be next on the agenda. That visit was long delayed and otherwise held up by previous shenanigans one way or the other. With her wine finished, Morrighan set the glass down and began to head off to the inn entrance.

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' Nik makes the 'call me' gesture at Morrighan with his fingers before he returns his attention to Annia. "Ah...yeah, I guess that's okay. I don't have a problem with that."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "How much did I give up? I lost everything when my world fell. Some things... before then." Souji pauses, erring slightly in his dance pattern as he looks away. "I'm going to make it happen again, Laradyne. The Murasame Corporation will be reestablished, and I will be greater and more successful than ever before." He says. "What are you planning to do in this new world? I know Dragonius is busy slacking and failing miserably at trying to woo women. Some others, like Gerrison and Valodjn, have chosen to work with me. What about you?"

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' "I've chosen to throw a party, of course." Rena pauses for just a moment before continuing. "In order to gather together the little I still have. To hear what people have to say, and what they have been doing with their time." She smiles. "Dynatics was my family's business and a neccessary of the time. Perhaps now that different roads are open to me, I hope to see what's beyond them." she chuckles, leaning close to mumrur. "Call it an execise in curiosity." When the dance ends, there is food and drink for all, and also fireworks. Yes. Fireworks secreted sometime before anyone arrived and presented only when the festivities begin to wind down, and launched from outside to explode in streamers of blue and gold and red fire should anybody be a mind to indulge.

:'''[[Kyra Hyral]] has posed:''' Kyra is outside as soon as the fireworks start happening, apparently being quite a big fan of them. Anyone within earshot promptly gets an extremely detailed chemistry lesson on how they work, complete with chemical formulas, how the colors are produced, and the "products" from those particular chemcial reactions. It's a little unsufferable.

:'''[[Niklas Dragonius]] has posed:''' Nik appreciates fireworks. He's not as enamored with them as Kyra is, but he does at least listen. Fireworks are...well, they just weren't that amazing, no matter how amazing they were, you know? Being who he was kind of raised the bar for amazing. His hands go into his pockets again. "Hey...nice party, Rena. I'm gonna take off, though. Something about the air's not agreeing with me." He casts a pointed glance at Souji, then shrugs and smiles. "I got stuff to do anyway. I gotta go meet back up with Serah and help her find her sister. I made a promise, after all."

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' Rena nods and smiles, waving to him as she looks up into the sky. "Thanks for coming Nik. Let's have another one soon, huh? I'm sure I can rummage up some reason or other. I hope you find what you are looking for." she smirks to herself, glancing towards Nik before she interlaces her hands just under her breasts and leans up against a railing.

:'''[[Annia Leradine]] has posed:''' Annia Leradine crosses her arms as the fireworks start, moving a step away from Nik. The dancing is over apparently, and she seems to be back to her colder usual self there. She turns over to Rena, nodding "... How about we celebrate the opening of the school next time. We still haven't picked even a spot for it." She slides a hand through her hair, from forehead to the back.

:'''[[Rena Laradyne]] has posed:''' "Well. I know some people around here. Maybe they would be willing to help us find a site for the school." Rena nods after a moment of thought. "It would be nice to have it back again. I.. actually miss it a little, even though I was just there a few years."

:'''[[Souji Murasame]] has posed:''' "Your hope is touching." Souji says. It doesn't show in his tone or eyes. "You can do as you like, Laradyne. I'm choosing to continue what my Family started. I will finish it." When the dance ends, Souji turns away amd picks up his wine, looking up at the fireworks and pretending not to see Dragonius. He's done his work in ruining Nik's game tonight. "The school will return soon enough. You will see." Souji says, out of nowhere.

Marked

2013-04-12T05:05:33Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/10 |Location=Targ Woods |Synopsis=Wolves, a lack of breakfast and one sided conversations. |Cast of Characters=Riku, Eclipse Behemoth |Ti..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/10
|Location=Targ Woods
|Synopsis=Wolves, a lack of breakfast and one sided conversations.
|Cast of Characters=Riku, Eclipse Behemoth
|Tinyplot=Heart of Power
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku snorts awake and watches a little spider crawl over his leg as his aching body protests being holed up in this ancient and rotting cabin. He could have easily gone anywhere else but he had stayed. He had stayed on that roof until the light had completely failed and for most of the night besides, looking up at the stars for long hours as he tried to wrap his mind around what he already knew but couldn't make himself believe. Riku slowly extends that leg, watching the spider crawl across his dusty pants back onto the ground and away. He had been lucky it hadn't rained or snowed on his brooding carcass. Riku groaned as he sat up and stretched out the worst of the kinks, placing his feet very carefully as he moved back and forth along the forest floor. By now, the behemoth was surely long gone. Many miles away and he wasn't any tracker to speak of. "..add that to my long list of things I'm not any good at." He grumbles and bites fitfully into a travel ration. He had to go back eventually, if only because he had no idea how to take care of himself in the wild. He was only slowly beginning to realize how tame and quiet Destiny Islands truely was, and how little he had been prepared for the universe outside his tiny world. He paces around in a couple of circles, moving through some basic forms to at least /feel/ for once liek he was doing something he knew anything about. When his muscles are warmed up and his sunken spirits eased if not entirely lifted, he starts to explore a little bit of the surrounding woods. He makes a few references that he THINKS will be good enough to find this spot again and sets out, just to see a little bit of what there is to see in these woods.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' The woods are a rather peaceful places. A few smaller animals scatter away from Riku, climbing into trees to look back at Riku with a curious look. Birds sing their songs and the place had a very calming nature too it. There was little sign of the Behemoth. No sounds that it was in the area at all. Everything seemed rather calm, until their was suddenly some rustling up-ahead and shortly the sound of something /running/. Soon to be followed by something far larger possibly /chasing/. It would seem the Behemoth may have been found. Actually the poor deer that was running suddenly heads right in Riku's direction before taking a quick leaping bound in the other direction. Soon to follow came the massive Behemoth on the chase. Yet when it comes around, the massive creature spots Riku ahead and with such a short notice and with no good turning radius, well, the Behemoth does the next best choice. The massive ten foot creature leaps right over Riku, before landing behind the boy and sliding to a half. Side of its body slamming into a tree and its claws digging up the soil. Those gold eyes stare right at the boy, before there is a low growl of annoyance at the youth. At least one could hope that was annoyance.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku whips around in the direction of the deer just in time for the Behemoth to leap over him, causing him to yelp and slip on a patch of dry leaves and go down hard with a faint rustling thump to the forest floor. He drags his fingers through the leaves as he pushes himself up to his feet, dusting himself off. All of his movements he forces to be slow and controlled. He doesn't retreat as he stands. "Yeah, good morning to you too." he grumbles and snorts faintly. "Well. I guess this saves me the trouble of finding you again." Riku rocks back and forth on his heels as he looks over at where the deer disappeared into the woods, then looking back at the behemoth. He just stares at them, slightly out of focus and his head slightly tilted down and away, eyes clouded as he looks.. and sees.. but struggles to believe. It could have something very much to do with 'What do I do now?' to which the answer was always 'no idea'.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' The Behemoth slowly starts to walk up to Riku. Still a low rumble from its throat as those gold eyes are locked onto the boy. They were almost primal. Almost glowing brightly. Each step was one ever closer and the growling going only lower as a momentary snarl. Then as the Behemoth only gets a few feet away, it sniffs the air, before those ears that were anchored back, suddenly point forward to Riku. Then slowly it seems those gold eyes look less fierce before there was a huff from the beast. The Behemoth then lowers down his head, before he goes to gently bump his nose against Riku. There was a soft 'mrrh' like sound as it does so, before it then walks away. Sniffing the ground gently then in the direction the deer ran. The massive tail staying down low. Then the Behemoth raises up his head, sniffing the air with his eyes closed before opening his mouth gently. Then those gold eyes open before they get that predator look once more. It crouches down, before suddenly charging in the direction the deer ran. Seems the hunt was back on!

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Riku moves his hand away from the sheathe at his hip. "Far be it for me to interrupt breakfast." he murmurs in the silence left behind by the behemoth's passing. The teenager braces himself to follow, hesitating for just a moment before pushing off and jumping a low rock onto a lower terrace of the forest terrain, chasing after the beast. There was something he needed to do before he returned to Archades.. if he could just remember exactly how he managed to do it.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' The Behemoth continues to move at a rather quick pace, before he comes to a hard halt. The deer he had been hunting had been slain it would seem by a pack of wolves that tore at the body of the deer. The Behemoth then starts to move in closer. The black fur mane and mohawk bristling up, as it growls lowly and then lets out a loud howlish roar at the wolf pack. The creatures turn to face the Behemoth, before several of them growl back in return and gnash their teeth at the equal, but far larger predator. Soon a few wolves move away from the deer slowly starting to make there way up. Growling lowly and letting out a few wolfish barks in protest. The dark purple Behemoth holds his ground, staring at each of the wolves. Its tail swishing gently before it snaps its teeth in their different directions. The ears pinned back as it lets out a rather large snarl with its teeth. Yet as Riku starts to approach, one of the Behemoth's ears train back toward the youth, before those gold eyes trail over to a wolf that may be getting as equal curious about what comes. Quickly the Behemoth leaps over in front of that wolf snapping his teeth at the wolf and almost biting down on it. Which causes the wolf to quickly move back, as some of the other members of the pack start to make there way up. One behemoth, on lad with a sword, and ten wolves. This seemed like even odds.

:'''[[Riku]] has posed:''' Obviously these wolves have not learned the lesson that the wolves of Bramble Orchard have learned. Namely. Don't mess with the silver haired boy-predator. It's not good for your continued health. Riku slowly draws the sword from his hip, frowning as several of the wolves on the upper terraces peer down at him with the flat gaze of predators, the slightly gaunt frames making them just crazed by hunger enough to take on unusual prey. Two of them leap down from the terrace at the same time and Riku reaches up, eyes flickering gold as the armored hand digs into the mangy hide of the wolf just underneath the throat. His fingers grasp and pull, his body twisting so that the wolf is smacked bodily into the ground, smacking into the rocky soil so hard that the creature is stunned. The other wolf bites down on his shoulder, claws catching and fangs biting down on his shoulder. Riku shifts his weight to slam a boot down on the neck of the stunned wolf, keeping it groggy and pinned while he reaches back with the armored arm, smashing it in the head to loosen it's grip before releasing a small, concentrated flare of energy straight into it's muzzle. The wolf goes flying backwards into a tree, laying against the base of it also stunned as the one under his boot starts to squirm and gnaw at his boot. He brings the hilt of the scimitar down with a THUMP, taking his foot off the knocked out wolf and rubbing his bleeding shoulder as he takes stabilizing breathes in and out as he tightly holds onto his temper. "You really don't want to continue this." he murmurs at the wolves firmly, eminating a shimmering mirage aura of menace as he glares between each of the wolves. He also keeps an eye on the behemoth at all times, never taking his eyes off them. There's being trusting. And then there is being stupid. And he was already full up on his quota of the latter.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' The Behemoth has his own wolf problems. Four wolves go after the far more larger creature which was a massive mistake. Two of the wolves get slammed by the Behemoth's claws sent right into a bolder and another over that same bolder. One of the wolves bites for the Behemoth's neck. Which it finds hard to get through the heavy thick fur. The Behemoth roars in pain as it goes to roll over and curls its legs in to kick the wolf off. Into the air and then the Behemoth swats the wolf into a tree; which then actually breaks the bark of the tree from the sheer impact. The Last wolf lunges and the Behemoth actually bites down on the wolf before tossing it aside. The he lets out a loud howl into the air. The remaining wolves between Riku and the Behemoth quickly retreat back into the forest, leaving their fallen pack members and the deer carcus, which the Behemoth pads down to and paws at it a bit. Looking over what is left of the deer. The Behemoth paws at it once more before it huffs softly, those gold eyes peering up at Riku, just staring at the lad as the beast sits there.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' Riku takes a moment to calm down, wincing slightly at the small gashes and wounds made by the wolf trying to chew through leather and armor to get at him. He peels off the duster, experimentally rolling his shoulder back and forth but sees no immediate breaks in the skin. Just something that was going to wickedly bruise and a few scrapes. "They must have been really hungry to do something that stupid and crazy." He looks at the deer carcass and then away at the behemoth with a moment of disquiet. "I know what thats like. They just arent entitled to take it out of my hide." He gives a short, tight lipped smile and approaches the behemoth from the side. "..you know. I ought to go back. I dont understand what happened.. but Im betting somebody will." He drifts closer to the behemoth. He knows in a vague sense what he has to do now, but he cant.. quite remember how to do it and so he takes a few moments to just mentally brace himself as he moves closer.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' The Behemoth watches Riku as he comes in closer, leaning down to start to bite into what was left of the Deer. Pulling at the bones and chomping them easily in half. The massive creature continues to do this for a bit, eating what meat he can, chomping bones in half. For the most part the Behemoth seemed to be ignoring Riku, even though just a moment ago it seemed the creature was inviting him over. As Riku moves in closer the Behemoth cuts their gold eye gaze over to them. It was far more predatory looking than earlier and there was a low growl emitting from the Behemoth. It almost dragged what was left over the deer a bit closer to himself, before continuing to chow down. The tail gently moving side to side as it does so. The Massive creature then glances over at Riku and gives him a growl in warning; almost like how a predator would say /mine/, before continueing to chow down.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' Riku is not too far away now, and he looks very tired as he stares at the Behemoth. He doesn't look scared, and perhaps he should be. Maybe the time to be scared will be later, but not now. "..you know. I ought to go back. I dont understand what happened.. but Im betting somebody will." He pauses, then adds. "..this isnt right." He snorts as he approaches the behemoth. Although scared for whom is a subject of some debate. "You owe me a story, after all. And I.. you may imagine.. am," he reaches out a hand to press against the fur of the shoulder lightly. "Very.. very stubborn when it comes to things like that." He keeps his tone very neutral and even. "And I am not sure if this is going to hurt or not. Im not even sure I can do it properly. The last time? Well.. I wasnt exactly thinking clearly." He clicks his tongue very faintly, swallowing a bitter chuckle. ".. Im not going to leave you like this so, even if you take a swipe at me.. Ill be back." He closes his eyes for a moment and when they open again, they are yellow all the way across. "I promise." The teenager quickly draws a burning slash of dark energy across the behemoths shoulder and then a second mark. He quickly takes two steps backwards, focusing on opening up a portal underneath his feet.

:'''[[Eclipse Behemoth]] has posed:''' The Behemoth seems to ignore Riku for the most part, even if perhaps those words are being heard by the creature; there just was no acknowledgment of it. Crunch crunch. Nom nom. He really was content to just keep eating. Even though really it was a rather small meal for something of his size and stature. No wonder the Behemoth was trying to get some KFC-- we mean-- Chocobos. Though when Riku reaches up and quickly traces the X on the Behemoths shoulder, those gold eyes went wide from the pain, before it suddenly lunged around to face Riku. Letting out a loud roar in anger. The muzzle pulled back into a snarl as the massive claw went to take a swipe at Riku. Yet when the claw went for Riku, there was a strong chance, and most likely high chance the claw met air, as Riku opened a portal right under his own feet. This probably lead to the fact the Behemoth quickly started to pad around where Riku just was. Sniffing the ground before giving a snort in protest. Then slowly returning back to its light meal.

Initial Findings

2013-04-07T23:08:20Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2013/04/06 |Location=??? |Synopsis= Stored recording of ancillary darkness laboratory 12. Status: ACTIVE |Cast of Characters=Robed Figure, Leon |p..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2013/04/06
|Location=???
|Synopsis= Stored recording of ancillary darkness laboratory 12. Status: ACTIVE
|Cast of Characters=Robed Figure, Leon
|pretty=yes
}}
:'''[[Robed Figure]] has posed:''' The preparations are complete. They would be arriving soon. Twelve walked and his footsteps made no sound on the clean black floor. The rooms, this reception chamber and the number of small rooms. The stone archways and hidden chambers and workspaces scrawled with ancient runes and brimming with humming machinery was nevertheless a castoff. A small and broken place he restored to greatness and would elevate further by his work. Everything must be ready. Twelve drew the hood of his brown cloak over his face, not allowing himself the luxury of a moment of uneasy fidgeting. He stands completely still in front of the glyph as each symbol begins to glow in sequence. Dark scrawls of smoke rise from the design as the portal slowly peels itself open and reaches out with tendrils of smoke into the darkness to snatch up it's intended and bring them here. In a pocket, the card still faintly crackled and smoked. A promise, a task seemingly impossible.. and yet he had to complete it. He would not be allowed to return empty handed. There may still be yet a way to turn this around to his favor. He must only .. wait.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' Darkness calls to darkness. The Greater the darkness, the stronger the pull. Yet logical, logical knows the danger of more powerful darkness. However when a dark portal is open and a summon by that darkness is given, one will answer this call. After all, Shadow Lords make such dark portals and his majesty is that of a Shadow Lord. What the Dark Knight did not know is the deal that was forged. He did not realize that his Emperor had given permission for him to become another's 'toy'. So soon stepped out of the portal the dark armored figure of the Dark Knight. His foot coming down upon the stone ground, as dark mist expanded out from the step of his boot. The darkness swarming around him, slowly pulling away as his own darkness continued to cloud the armor. Those red eyes glowing brightly as it peers into where he has been summoned. Soon the next step comes. Just as calm and just as methodical. He takes a few more steps forward. His clawed gloved hands by his side, though they did stretch out slightly and flex his fingers as his red eyes glanced around. The cape barely moving with each step he took. Soon those very red eyes shifted to the hooded figure. There was a long silence before a gentle cant of his head. "Whom summons the Dark Knight?"

:'''[[Robed Figure]] has posed:''' "One who has bargained from your master your services and your compliance." The robed figure gestures to the portal which begins to die away, flickering streamers of shadow fading as each point withers and turns to black dust that does not even mar the cold expanse of stone with it's presence. When all trace of the portal is gone the robed figure speaks. "So let us begin with a question. From this question we will work ourselves back to the truth. What is your purpose, dark knight? Why did your master create you?" Such a question, and such an answer would be useful indeed. An inconsequential beginning from which a skein of questions waited to emerge. One loose thread. That was all he needed to begin this impossible task. One loose thread, to pull and to spin until nothing lay hidden from him. After all.. this question was not such a thing as he was privy to. Not for himself.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The Dark Knight stands still, even as the portal closes behind him, leaving nothing behind but the cool air. The cool air he ignores as his eyes stays focused on the robed figure before him. His head cants slightly to the other side as the figure explains. "If it is by the Emperor's will, then so be it." His voice rumbles in the echo that the helm provides. He stays emotionless as he just continues to watch the hooded figure, trying to sense where his heart may lie, if any, and observing for any sign of weakness; perhaps even for the honest of those words from before. Yet if his Majesty did order this to be done, then by not following would be going against the Emperor's wishes. As such, he must obey, until the one before him showed a lie to be uncovered and then... ..Then he will make this hooded serpent pay. For the Dark Knight is loyal only to one and to abuse that loyalty would go punished with extreme measures. The darkness continued to flow around the Dark Knight at the next set of questions. It swayed down to his feet where he stood. The mist of darkness playing in the cracks. Parts of the armor for a moment seemed thin of the darkness, showing the hidden gold trim before it was covered once more. Dancing to one side to the other. The darkness being pooled out at rest, as there was no high need of its power during this moment. Yet if he was given reason, he could flare the darkness back up without so much of a blink. Yet while he stood there. He tilted his head to one side to the other. Those red eyes searching, scanning. Perhaps even his own gears turning or maybe even pondering over information he was being fed from another source he contacts in silence. 5tThe answer to these questions would come when he was sure just by whom he was dealing with and by what his Emperor desired. "I am the Dark Knight." His eyes were starting to glow a brighter red for a moment, before they simmered down. He then shifted his weight before he came to rest his armored claw hand to his chest plate, then lowered himself down into a bow. "I am the military commander of the Palamecian forces. On a special operations mission by the orders of my Emperor. No one knows of these orders, beyond now.. you.." "Beyond my rank, I only serve one higher purpose." He raises up his head once more, coming to stand once more at his full height. "I serve my Emperor and do by his will. What he commands, shall be done." The Dark Knight then lowers his head once more. "..what else do you wish to ask of me, sir?"

:'''[[Robed Figure]] has posed:''' "ah..another nameless puppet set to the dance.." The robed figure moves around them once in a lingering circle, only ringing silence following in their footsteps as they turn their regard on the champion of Palamecia. It is an utterly detached regard, regardless of the darkness and the looming threat that gathers in the silence between them. He gives no more attention to the knight than to the idly examined doll of a villager, the roughly sewn edges tattered and frayed. He makes a small gesture and the featureless walls ripple. a single wave passing vertically across the blank and featureless walls starting to crack and crumble at closer examination. The wave seeps into an empty place in the far northern wall, an archway appearing with a smear of evaporating darkness revealing a set of stairs formed in cracked grey stone leading upwards. The robed figure turns from the dark knight and moves across the black marble of the chamber. "Come." is the command he gives next, sweeping up to the next chamber above them and budgeting such time very carefully. A number of tasks already set into motion by the time they arrive at the top of the staircase. The testing space is cramped with machinery, itself a patchwork of smooth chrome lines and sharp angles sheer enough to cut paper and flesh. Vines of cabling droop from the ceiling rafters of this confined space, as much above consumed by machines, lights and mechanical extrusions as below. Several crystalline tanks line the eastern wall, a dark but translucent fluid within holding the sleeping forms of nameless and faceless 'guests' to the laboratory in question. Several tanks are empty. Another bank of tanks along the west wall teem with an opaque fluid, a darkness in which yellow eyes dart and swim, concentrated shadow poured from container to container to find it's way here. It is that tank that is not quite here or there but whose extrusions and shielding are present, but the actual container a thin membrance of shadow reaching into a darker world. Into a vast darkness from which only this sliver of shadow has been brought into focus. "Stand there." The robed figure gestures with a hand to a position underneath a great mechanical arm that hangs from the ceiling like a languid tentacle. He himself is stationed near a console, flickering screens of energy pasting long scrawls of texts and readouts that flicker and phase in and out of visibility as though the screens were ghosts themselves. "I will take some readings first, and then we will see how good your master is at the dance. Pray, for his sake, should you have no concept of your own."

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The Dark Knight continues to stand there as things start to unfold. His red eyes only observe what he sees before him. Yet no reason to real away or even showing any sign of fear. The question one would have to wonder is if the Dark Knight, so lacking of emotion, even understood the concept of 'fear'. Perhaps on a logical level, but on an emotion was another point entirely. So when the Robed figure tells him to come, the armored knight follows. Each step clam, in time with the next, and with ease of pace. The machinery was of some interest though as he glances around the room with those red eyes. Taking in the jagged edges, then his eyes trace over to the tanks. Examining each tank with a great deal of interest as his gaze moves over them. Absorbing all the information around him like a child opening their eyes for the first time. It was a curious place, just as the being for him was as curious. The tanks with darkness in it though gets a long stare and minor head tilt from the Dark Knight. The silent wanderings of just what research was done here with this technology and the combination of darkness. Where his Emperor did such with magic, it would seem this man was one of science. The puzzle starting to become a bit clear now. The Dark Knight then moves to stand in the position of where he was told. Only looking up for a moment at the device ahead, then his red eyes gaze to the floor, before they move over to the Robed figure. No reply comes to the Dark Knight to the Robed figures comment, only a stare, before he looks away with those red eyes. His own darkness that flows around him, moving about in its own curious nature, before moving in close to his form. Now it was a game of wait, it would seem.

:'''[[Robed Figure]] has posed:''' The mechanical arm spits and crackles to life, slowly uncurling one sinuous joint at a time as hydralics splutter and hiss from creaking disuse into functionality again. A dark plume of steam escapes a grating over the floor in one part of the cramped laboratory, a vague but intense glow obsidian glow piercing the sterile tracks of lighting sunken into the nest of machinery above. The tendril tends, a dark aura crackling to life across the smooth shining black of the metal as it wavers above and behind the dark knight like a serpent. Lightning fast the mechanical arm clamps down, biting into the armored back just underneath the left pauldron. The dark aura seeks to plow through the darkness into the armor underneath, latching on like a lamprey. The fanged mouth that bears down on the dark knight once the connection has been made and secured is no more tangible than a nightmare, flashing blades of darkness flensing the upper layer of darkness and siphoning it away along long tracks of infused tubing that pour the essence into a much smaller container near the robed figure that churns as tendrils of smoke and shadow leak into the containment. They give no thought and pay no mind to the first tenuous wisps of darkness, hands flying expertly across the console as the machine with it's wraithlike blades burrows deeper into the darkness. Sampling it. Examining it. Storing the cut away fragments as it peels away, a layer at a time, the essence of the dark knight sealed to his armor, and his service, and to his will stripped of name and light and memory.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The Dark Knight red eyes dart over to the sudden movement he caught on the edge of his vision. He doesn't move however, still remaining even as the claw attempts to pierce into the darkness. It was probably a clash at that very moment. The very darkness enforced their by magical property pulled from Leon's own heart, attempting to refuse the breach. Yet it gives away, and even then, more darkness attempts to move back in to protect itself. Eventually the wraith blades do fine their way, but each attempt is met with a greater force of resistance. The Darkness resists. It fights. Yet it is slowly torn away. The Dark Knight despite this great pain, doesn't flinch, he doesn't even scream. Instead all the robed Figure will see is him slowly closing his eyes. Him not even looking at the world anymore. It was as if the very Knight was acting as a statue to the world. The dark mist around his armor almost thins out to the point where the gold trim could at last be seen. The gem stones glowing just faintly enough to cast through the now thin veil of darkness. Yet the darkness by his feet becomes thicker, like a pool that was starting to form under him. Moving, swaying, waiting... Darkness pulled away, continues to fight. Continues to try and draw itself back. It wasn't letting itself be exposed with ease and yet, perhaps deeper down the pool that was created, a very sliver of light may start to be accessed. Just a small sliver of light that had been nearly crushed out. Just enough light-- just enough to keep the darkness here at bay. To not consume. To not destroy. Yet it refused to grow, it refused to expand. It just stayed in its very small corner of the heart. In a very small, reclusive corner. Then like a wall, a very dark wall, it suddenly hides the light once more, as the darkness attempting to slam back together again. Attempting yet again to fight.

:'''[[Robed Figure]] has posed:''' The initial readings flare in quick staccato across the ghostly screens. The robed figure paused briefly in his movements to read over the summaries. As the data flowed across the screen and folded over on itself at his command. He looked over at the smaller container and two fingers reached out to trace a rune on the surface of that containment. The glass crackled and hissed, becoming even thinner but more crystalline in composition. Dark ice locking away a sample of the captured darkness that abruptly flash freezes with a faint pulse of dropping pressure and magical energy. The robed figure wrapped his fingers around the frozen crystal, deftly disengaging it from it's receptacle and placing it on the grey plate of another machine. This machine scanned the crystallized darkness, taking it away in a much more fine scale manner than was being practiced on the knight themselves. Digging down into the magical roots of the darkness, threading backwards from those magical threads to the interweaving of the darkness personal to the nameless puppet with darkness stolen and fed to them by the armor and the magical connection streaming back to the Emperor of Palamecia. A self-regenerating matrix. Not exactly self replenishing for the great wellspring was not here and a rebinding would be neccessary from time to time. That source was onlydrawn upon, at some distant reserve, from the reservoir of dark energy the armor fed upon to sustain itself and its functions. The robed figure input a few more sequences into the computer, another obsidian ripple shuddering across the floor now in intersecting rippling lines as if the floor were the surface of a deep and endless pool. A quivering lake of perfect stillness, kept mirror smooth only by surface tension alone. The wraith blades bit deeper. Initializing Phase 2.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The blades continue to bite down into the darkness. It still fights. It still denies. Yet then with those red eyes slowly opening and staring at the robed figure. The pool of darkness around his feet ceases to build. Only moving in wisps. Those red eyes staring with a gentle glow of a much brighter red. The very tips almost a orange hue in color. The Dark Knight's hands flex gently, as dark mist forms around his finger tips for only a moment before it is slowly pulled back in. Those red eyes searching for something on the robed figure. Weakness perhaps? Strength? But it was indeed a stare of a hunter examining another predator; or perhaps possible prey. Yet those words echoed from his Emperor. To treat the Robed Figure as if he was Mateus, but to never forget who was his true master. Yet, this test was slowly becoming a matter of patience. A slow patience that was being clawed at from the pain starting to twinge deep within. A pain that his Emperor taps into when binding the armor. There was knocking on the 'door' within. Yet no one cared to answer that knock. The very darkness within starting to fight back. Attempting slam back against the wraith blade with far more aggression then before. Attempting yet to still fill the gape that was being carved away. As if trying to tell either this intruder device that it had no right here or perhaps to prove it was the stronger. The Dark Knight mean time only lowered his head slightly, before his eyes returned back to their normal red hue once again. Those hands starting to relax; yet the staring continued.

:'''[[Robed Figure]] has posed:''' The sharp tones of warning alarms split the deathly, whirring silence of the chamber. The robed figure turned from his examination of the lesser machine and the crystallized essence back to the main consoles on which blared angry red and pulsing black. The alarms cut off, one after another, as their blared warnings were read and filed away and shut down. Another sequence of keys and metallic circles almost as thin as hairs and interlocking in an intricate dance of silver across the rippling black floor came into being. The intricate designs began to pulse rhymthically, runic trails beginning to worm their way up from the floor in quickly crystallizing patterns like frost reaching its way up the open air. As the spectral ice rises, each pulse amplifies the power of the wraith blades who themselves are infected with the spread of that ghostly ice. The air thickens in a long column around the dark champion, building pressure continuing to bounce the power of the questing blades as if through an echo chamber. Mirror Drive Activated. Amplifying and then amplifying again. There is an instant of crushing pressure as the runes on the ground activate. Abruptly the mechanical arm seems to shatter into a thousand mirror bright shards of reflection in this thick column of air embued with illusion. A thousand, thousand echoes of the lamprey tendril drive downwards at the knight, attacking the darkness from every angle and from every point, no longer siphoning it but rather scraping it away delicately like the flashing knives of a million mirror bright scalpels.

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' There was a shift in things, very dangerous shift in the environment. Suddenly what was slowly cutting of the darkness that had become one of ripping and tearing. The very sheer intense pain of it caused those red eyes to go wide, before they closed shut. The Dark Knight slammed down to one of his armored knees, almost pulling the machinery with him. His hand clawing into the pool of darkness that had formed, before it starts to crawl back into the armor. The then layer of darkness outside of the armor vanishing, as it sinks in and going back inside. Inside to the body. Inside to the heart. 'Remember who your master is' The Dark Knight's body stiffens up. Those clawed fingers starting to dig into the metal. There was a low rumble from behind the helm. The claws continue to scrape slowly, causing a gentle screech as metal meets metal. 'They are all dead. They are gone. There is nothing for you here' 'Gone' 'Dead' 'Loyalty' 'Loyalty to me' The Dark Knight hand suddenly slammed into the metal plate, the claws digging in as those eyes slowly opened. The helm slowly turning to look at the Robed Figure. Those red eyes no more, only a predatory gold stare at him. Those predatory gold known by those who seek the darkness, who summon the darkness. That dangerous pull and his own glow just as bright as any heartless, with only edge of humanity within them. There was another low rumble, as the Dark Knight attempts to stand up, but fails too. His other hand goes into the very steel now. His body arching like a cat, as the cape hangs around his form. However his hands flex out of the metal, before he closes his eyes once more. He goes to force himself stand once more. Forcing his feet to come under him. "..I am.. the Dark Knight." He states only to himself, and when those eyes open again. They are bright red once more, glowing only with flicks of orange at the tips of his eyes. The darkness suddenly explodes out from under his armor, attempting to wrap itself around the machinery. "The light you seek will not be found. Any further attempt at this experiment will result in destruction."

:'''[[Robed Figure]] has posed:''' Alarm klaxon wails and is sileneced by a small and negligant gesture. The robed figure examines the screens for a long few moments as the dark knight's works fall into the silence. He inputs a sequence which causes the Mirror Drive to fall apart, as ethereal as a bunch of snowflakes. The robed figure slowly turns, and reaches a hand back to push two keys with his gloved fingers. Phase 2 complete. Admin has called a halt to further proceeses. Saving data. Returning to Standby mode. "...Interesting." The robed figure speaks. No pain or anguish drew any hint of words, pleasure or even interest from him. But words... words spoken as the dark knight salvaged his control fall into the chamber like smooth stones. A yellow light glows underneath the cowl of the hooded figure as a baleful yellow eye opens, matching that predator stare point for point as the quiet continues to stretch. The yellow eye dims and then disappears, the edge of a smile fading into a blank expression. "Very interesting. And now that the formalities are out of the way.. let us proceed to the field trial." Again, the edge of that smile in a face completely black except for the strip barely visible underneath the hood. "..It's not a much more complicated task than standing still, I assure you." He chuckles very.. very softly. "..but first. I have been a poor host. Let us further examine this task.. after dinner." And without another word he walks away from consoles and laboratory, moving into another hallway. "..And after you collect yourself."

:'''[[Leon]] has posed:''' The Dark Knight watched as all the machinery was shut down. His red eyes slowly taking back their normal glow of color as he straightened his own posture once more. There seem to be no sign of anger for what had just been down. Nor did their seem to be any regret either. His motions were calm as ever and his own breathing just as calm, though hard to hear. As he watches the robed figure for a moment he gives a soft nod of his head before he speaks. His voice also still remaining calm and his voice precise. "As you wish." Then after a few moment of standing there, the details of the armor started to fog over once more, before the darkness yet again roamed over the highly polished dark surface of the metal. Slowly cascading down to his very feet. As he moves off the platform, like so many times before. The darkness surfaces under each step. There was further things to be discussed and that, was a very taxing event.

Rena Laradyne

2013-04-07T16:56:23Z

Raenas: Created page with "{{Character Infobox |firstname=Rena |lastname=Laradyne |age=20 |image=Rena-fin.jpg |species=Hume (Shivan) |sex=Female |height=6'5" |weight=200 |series=OC |styles=Red Mage |hom..."

{{Character Infobox
|firstname=Rena
|lastname=Laradyne
|age=20
|image=Rena-fin.jpg
|species=Hume (Shivan)
|sex=Female
|height=6'5"
|weight=200
|series=OC
|styles=Red Mage
|hometown=Shiva
|alignment=Wandering Force
|group=Alexander Academy
|occupation=Adventurer
|quote="Plans may be useless, but Planning is always invaluable."
|footer=Wading into all sorts of trouble.
}}
=Profile=
A Shivan and the second eldest of a family of six, Rena lives a life as harshly torn and divided as that of her people. A daughter of the Hrimthur clan, her father was a shaman in high standing whose outlook matched that of much of the clan. Their view on outsiders and the modernization of the land of the first frost was decidedly and violently grim.

When Rena and her elder brother were both afflicted with a wasting sickness that their father and other shamans could not cure, their mother, a hard headed idealist enamored with the cities refused to bow to the dictates of the Ice. She fled with them to the sealed cities. There they were able to be properly treated and eventually cured, though it left them both scarred and her brother weakened by the protracted ailment. Over time, with the help of relatives and extended family also fled to the cities, her sundered family clawed it's way out of debt and the Dynatics Trading Company was founded. Due to several breakthroughs and perhaps more than marginally shadowy deals, the merchant house swiftly became a force to be reckoned with.

Isolated from the world she knew and the family she left behind and isolated again by Alexander Academy, Rena is a giant of a woman with a mercurial personality that is at once guarded yet outgoing. She keeps her own council, listening and watching the actions of others while resisting any one specialization. She finds all paths in life meaningful in their own way, perhaps because she knows the consequences of forcing your way. She is a peacekeeper and a diplomat, trying to find compromises and solutions to problems without resorting to force yet struggling to integrate the often contradictory nature of the old ways with the new.

Caution: Do not Taunt Happy Fun Rena.
Warning: Objects in mirror are /exactly/ as large as they appear.
Inverted deadly cooking trope: Do not look at what she makes. Really. It's delicious. Just don't look at it, or this company is not liable for the actions of your stomach.

=Skills=
Tundra Beastess, Brick House, Jane Of All Trades, Those Who Fight Monsters (Tend to Wear Them), Warning: Do Not Stare Directly At Cooking, Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Rena, Let's All Go Karting With Bowser, Curiosity is a Crapshoot, Has A Character Sheet Handy

= Logs =
{{Character Logs}}
= Cutscenes =
{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}