Temple Of Fiends

Temple Of Fiends
Date of Scene:	14 December 2012
Location:	Cornelia, The Temple Of Fiends
Synopsis:	The kidnapped Prince of Cornelia lies in the Temple of Fiends. A brave party enters to rescue him...but what awaits them inside these terrifying walls?
Cast of Characters:	Reize Seatlan, Lily, Faruja Senra, Tifa Lockhart, Deelel, Rinoa Heartilly, Angantyr Vespar, Garland

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Garland has posed:
The Temple of Fiends.

No one goes here. No one has come here for thousands of years; it has been left empty and silent, to weather the elements on its own. The statues of a long-forgotten god once stood at its entrances and all throughout its halls; now they are nothing, mere pillars of stone, broken pedestals with nothing left to tell what once they honored. Even the road coming up the hill is breaking down; rocks out of place, grass growing quietly across it.

But lately, the locals have been hearing something here. There are legends, of what the Light Warriors did - drove out the evil that roosted in this temple thousands of years in the past; those legends keep local merchants and travellers far away. Now, though, those people unlucky enough to walk past it hear screams echoing from the temple; strange lights, flashes of shadows, and a heavy increase of monsters on the route. They report that it is no longer safe - if it ever were - and stray even further away from its walls, whispering dark legends and rumors to each other in the bright sunlight - for fear that the darkness might accidentally overhear.

The Temple of Fiends lives once more. But what lives within it?

Reize Seatlan has posed:
This is the Temple of Fiends.

The Boy with the Long Yellow Scarf was always the type to listen to the stories and rumors of events that have gone by. In particular, the rumors that have spread were regarding the rise of the abandoned temple that had recently resurfaced. Even worse, there were other rumors of someone missing. It was wort checking out. However, the road was long and bore an ordeal to reach the temple. This is a trip that required the Shard Seekers to group as a whole.

The first into the dark legendary place is none other than the Boy with the Long Yellow Scarf himself. The leader of the Shard Seekers leads in with a flame lit along a stick. He travels along the formerly hallowed grounds, now a corrupt place.

And those screams that echo from the temple sends him shuddering. Both eyes fall shut.

"Everyone. We will have to be very careful here. ...Faruja, your divine art will be needed more than ever in this place."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel while a child of a digital world she understood some of what had happened here. It was a place that had been so taited by what had once roosted here. She looks at the temple ahead an is filled with a sense of forboding. Not even the teaming chaotic life of user space would go near this place, not the plants, not the very monsters that would menace people here. Nothing in it's right mind would go here, something terrible beyond mortal understanding had once called this place home and it's scars forever remain upon this world. The Program's green eyes close for a moment as she looks at the place ahead she nods once to Reize and then looks to Faruja.

"This place I'm not a being of this world but even I can feel how wrong this place is. Even the wildlife will not touch such a place, I am not certain we can understand the nature of what once called this place home. You are right we're going to need everything we have here, who knows what might be sleeping here. Even with the legends of the four who saved this place long ago? I am still concerned." She doesn't like this place she doens't want to go in there but there's no choice the Prince's well being depends upon it.

"There's nothing more we can do but press onward, right?"

Lily has posed:
A temple full of darkness and evil and bad things. And we're charging RIGHT INTO IT?

"I don't like this at all, Reize. Not a bit!" Lily, Reize's almost constant companion in a lot of adventures thus far, is walking along with him. She's taken some time here and there to examine some unfamiliar plants, bugs, and a few animals spotted, but given where they are this hasn't been done too happily. As it is she's right behind Reize, as if he is the best shield ever from the scary things above, and has both hands on his shoulders as they walk along.

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Ooh, what a beautiful, yet creepy place. It gives her the shivers..And also reminds Rinoa of the setting for many sorceress legends. Indeed, this place seemed to echo of ancient legends, dark magic and all manner of mystery and danger. It intrigued her a bit and scared her a little too. But she was determined to prove herself to Garden, and what better way than to take on some mercenary jobs along with Tifa?

For all her fears of the unknown that may lay in wait here, Rinoa wanted to help out too! She is a bit surprised to see the young boy Rieze here, although she had heard he was the leader of the Shard Seekers, a group she was curious to learn more about.

She steps in a little after the Boy with the Yellow Scarf, weapon at the ready, Angelo at her side. The dog barks and wags her tail, running over to Reize to lick his hand if he'll allow. Yes, she remembers this one as being quite friendly to her in the past.

"Wow, what a creepy place.." Rinoa murmurs as she peers around "So, I wonder what sorts of creatures live here.." Temple of Fiends it's called. That sounds ominous. Rinoa shivers at the thought, trying not to let her mind wander too much more..

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart has been taking jobs at random, and ends up being part of Reize's group more often than not it seems. Not that its a bad thing (He makes a good shield, even when unconcious). She took up this work since it didn't seem to hard at least, and she needed to get her mind off what happened in Manhattan as well. Aerith was gone training, so being alone in the bar gets boring even if she loves her work.

"Nothing good, no doubt." She's sure she's seen worse, but when unprepared even weak monsters can be a problem.

She doesn't really want to see what's worse either. She puts ahand on Rinoa's shoulder lightly "Just take it easy, one step at a time."

Faruja Senra has posed:
Right beside Reize is the Burmecian in question, the Holy Knight looking possibly more perterbed than the Shard Seekers have ever seen him, with the exception of during Manhattan. A constant scowl has been on his muzzle ever since getting within sight of the place, and rarely has he spoken save for a constant litany of prayers. But as he's spoken to by Reize and Deelel, he seems to snap out of the trance he's been in.

"Quite right, Ser Seatlan! This place makes that blade seem pristine pure by comparison! I've half a mind to convince every explosives expert and mage on this continent to gather and LEVEL this unhallowed place! Have Faith, for only He in Heaven can protect us from such evil as lurks in this place! Praise be to Faram, He who protects our souls from the Abyss! Guide us in this most trying of times!"

A glance to Deelel, and the Templar nods, the holy light surrounding him doing little to allow them light in the oppressive darkness. To the ratling, it even smells of evil! "'Tis not a place to tread lightly. There is little to understand. Only that we are /all/ in danger. That unfortunate Prince as well." Faruja may dislike royalty almost as a rule, but even a Prince doesn't deserve to be stuck /here/.

"...Promise me, however, Ser Seatlan and Lady Lily, that you both shall flee should this prove impossible. You are both too young yet to die."

Even as he speaks, his gaze sweeps ahead, the Templar's every muscle taut.

Garland has posed:
Strangely, nothing bars their way. No traps, no monsters; except for the screams that punctuate their footsteps. Those screams are loud and terrible; they speak of pain not understood, of someone beaten and broken and suffering for reasons he does not understand. As the group makes their way through the dusty, still temple, not even traps await them; a thorough cover makes it quite clear that there are no arrow-shooters concealed in the walls, no pressure sensors to step upon, no crushers or smashers or grinder or swinging axes. The only defense this place seems to have is the unnatural, dark aura that permeates every brick, that pulses through every inch of the place. Even those not sensitive to darkness feel it clearly, feel it deeply in their souls - a subtle wrongess to the architecture, a subtle nonsense that doesn't quite work. The walls aren't quite straight; the ceilings aren't quite flat; the entire place is slightly curved, slightly off, and not because it's a defense mechanism.

This place should not exist. The whole world rejects it, but it still struggles on firmly, unwilling to change, a bastion of evil that still lives.

They make their way to the center of the temple, as they enter the massive, sweeping room, it is immediately apparent what is causing the screaming.

Prince Landon - the handsome young man, the valiant Knight - hangs, strapped to the wall. His head lolls silently, rolling off to the side; he appears to be unconscious.

In front of him stands a man known well to at least one member of the party - if man is indeed the proper term. Seven feet tall, standing in sweeping armor, exuding a darkness even deeper than the residual shadows of the temple, is the Ironclad Nightmare himself, the dark once-and-future god, to whom the monsters that dwelled within this temple once sung their praises. His cape sweeps downwards, brushing across the floor as he walks back and forth with unnerving silence. The group arrives, and the Ironclad Nightmare's head does not bother to tilt up; he knows. He has known since they stepped into his domain.

"Welcome," a voice as bleak and terrible as the Pit echoes from within that metallic shell, with nothing welcoming at all about it; that voice is a voice of cold, heartless darkness, lacking in all kindness, all justice, all goodness. It is as deep as the Marianas Trench and as black as the space between the stars.

Faruja knows that helmet well.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
A dark portal ripples.

From it, obviously a corridor of darkness, comes a figure. It is towering, easily seven and a half feet tall, it's body seemingly made out of shadow, it's features disguised...or not even there to begin with. The only two features that can be seen passed the veil of shadow...

Two horns, one curving down and the other upwards, similar to ram's horns. The other, are a pair of yellow glowing eyes, filled with pain and malice. It releases a growl, it's own voice distorted and odd...as if listening to it through a long echoing hallway.

Wisps of darkness raise from it as it see's the figures in front of it, the growling becoming deeper and more pained. The darkness raises from it, those who can sense darkness rather due to being close to light or dark, can sense a wellspring of darkness. And the power from the spring is increasing...and this is causing it to look slightly more... animistic.

There is a snort, not unlike a bulls, as it glares at those in front of it...somehow starting to look more and more wild, as the darkness wafting off of it in larger and larger streams.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Deelel's comment draws Reize's attention, who tilts his head over with curiosity, "...The legend of the four?" He blinks, then he offers a faint smile, then he looks ahead the dark grounds. Even Lily, who is not too pleased with the surrounding, offers her a faint smile. "... Perhaps not, but this is something that we have to do."

He sucks in a breath while he continues down the stairs. Providin Rinoa with an uneasy smile, the boy adds, "I've heard lots of strange creatures, many have involved the dead coming to life once more." Truth be told, Reize has not had much experience in that category. Though, in a way, the Heartless come close to that concept, doesn't it?

And soon, his eyes turn towards Tifa, the comment now directed to both Tifa and Rinoa. "Thanks for coming along, you two. I know you guys likely took it as a separate mission, but it's always nice to have more companions." He beams, maintaining that spirit even in the face of a horrible atmosphere.

Then, Reize turns to face Faruja.

"...Hold on the explosives." He places a hand over towards his pendant, "...It feels like someone is here that shouldn't be here, after all." And then, Reize looks over towards Faruja when he requests on the promise. It is a weighted one, considering the effect that it has.

"...I promise, only if all of us leave together. I am not losing any of my friends here. /Not one of you/." His voice tightens. "That is my order." It's not often that Reize takes up the leadership role in its directive manner, but this situation calls for more.

But there they go, continuing their journey through the halls. With the torch used to guide him, Reize takes each careful step ahead with a focused look. The playful nature of the boy is put on hold; this is the side that has to remain serious. Friends are counting on him.

And it is then when they arrive at the center of the temple. They see the prince.

"Your highness!" Reize's eyes widen, then he runs ahead until he firmly plants to a halt, looking over the tall armored knight. The boy stares over towards the Ironclad Nightmare. Using a free hand, Reize already pulls out his boomerang, dual wielding a torch and a boomerang.

But then, a dark portal ripples open to reveal a towering horned figure. A gasp escapes him as he nearly stumbles back. Quickly recovering, he tenses and shifts into his fighting stance.

"Who are you?!" The voice tightens, then he looks back towards the creature, and then back to the knight, "What do you want with the prince?!"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "There are old places on the grid, twisted code that no living program save the oldest basics can even understand in the slightest. I was to such a place when I escaped into this world." She contiunes on after speaking to the others. Faruja and Tifa are right they have to press on but they best be wary who knows what remains here. There are no traps, no monsters nothing laying in wait upon them. This place is taited still after so much time, it's wrong, it doesn't look right it doesn't feel right and the world itself is clearly rejecting it. Yet somehow this place still endures even with th very world enduring the screams however make her cringe something bad is happeing.

Long ago four brave warriors faced what would start a journy to break an timeloop that had lasted longer than a mortal could understand. They have past their time is over but those who have followed them none the less are here. The towering nightmare before her, rival the horror of Lexus and she does not understand why. The armore cland being speaks 'welcome' to them. It's old, it's dark and it's cold beyond even the coldness of the MCP, she doesn't make for her weapon yet, however she's clearly on guard whatever this being is? It's powerful, very powerful.

A dark portal opens as a creature unlike anything the program has ever seen before. Worse whatever it is is taited by the Darkness.

Deelel had looked upt he history and legends of this place. She was a media program after all in the end even with her starting to grow past the confines of her user given directives. She would speak more to Reize upon it if they surive it. She thinks on Faruja's idea it may be a wise one or it may awaken something they can not handle. She is uncertain but her thoughts at least think back to Reize's words. He's not leaving anyone behind, she wouldn't do the same. She could have walked away when LEXUS made her the offer. It would have ben so easy, it was the smart choice yet she'd chosen to try to stop him rather than think about her self. She's clerly on edge with the creature that has arrive, and the armored knight. Who knows for sure what is really botheirng he the most but she has no need to speak Reize has asked the question. Who are you?

Faruja Senra has posed:
One ear perks. Reize, giving an order? The Burmecian looks at the boy, not quite able to hide a smile of pride. /That/ is what a leader does. "As you wish, oh glorious Leader." He'd pat the boy on the head, but that would undermine what authority he has.

Faruja's eye meets the Knight hanging from the wall for but a brief instant. The pain, the suffering that this man has been through...it grieves the ratling. Only a Witch is deserving of such suffering, and never in such an unholy place! He would weep for the man, were it not for the figure before him.

That great, black armor, imposing figure, and blackness surrounding him...Faruja knows this man all too well. He'd seen him in his nightmare, and with one brush of the being's power, had been frightened more than any battle or beast had ever instilled in him. Before the Ironclad Nightmare, the strong and brave Templar trembles. Eye wide, and glassy, he stares past the physical form of the creature who would be the enemy of the Church, and into the Abyss he had been shown. Not a word escapes him, paralyzed with fear for the moment. Even the creature that Angantyr has become doesn't seem to be noticed by the rat. All he sees for the moment is that helmet.

Lily has posed:
"This whole place feels awful. Like it wants to kill us all." LIly whimpers despite the reassuring smile, long before they're reaching anywhere important. This is to everyone, and totally in response to Deelel and Faruja most specifically. The others she glances at a few times, worry more than obvious. She doesn't like this place. She wants to be GONE.

But that isn't an option is it? "I need to ask you who that is one day, Faruja. I'd like to meet him if he's so amazing!" Naivete. Plain, ignorant naivete. But the paladin's faith is reassuring in a way, and it's thanks to that that she doestrn' try to just up and DRAG Reize out of here with all the oomph she can muster.

UNtil, that is, they all come across the forces of darkness awaiting them. THEN she feels like doing just that. Except she tenses, standing straight behind Reize, with terror in her eyes. "aaah...ahh... who....?!"

Her eyes flick between the ominous armored man... and the victim he's been apparently torturing.

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa is surprised that there are no booby traps, or monsters hiding in the shadows - not even a small heartless. This should be good but it also seems a little TOO easy. "I'm glad to help out, Reize! Although..It's strange that they make little effort to stop us coming in through the front door. Almost like they're expecting us. Like they know we're here and they don't really care, because they think we're not a threat.." It's not a very comforting thought and it causes her to lag behind.

She glances at Reize's companions, not having recognized any but Faruja before whom she recalls is some sort of holy knight. And what a good thing too, if they run into any unholy creatures here. Lily is glanced at thoughtfully, although she doesn't know the girl too well. she seems so delicate to be in a place like this.

Then there's Deelel, who seems from another world herself. She is given a quizzical look when she mentions a 'grid', something Rinoa's never heard of, although she does frown a bit at her words. "A place that should never exist? In what way? I don't understand.."

So many things she still doesn't know about this bizarre world. But maybe accompanying Tifa on more of these missions will broaden her horizons..If she lives to tell the tale! Things dont get any better either, with the screaming and she gasps, stopping for a moment. "Oh gosh..That's horrible! What are they doing to him..?" It must be the prince they came to rescue!

She then quickens her pace, blaster edge at the ready, Angelo barking and tensed at her side as they enter the next room to face the two nightmarish creatures! Rinoa shivers. What has she got herself into this time? But at least she's not facing this 'nightmare' alone!
"Who are you? What have you done to the Prince? Let him go!"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart knows of Reize, and Faruja too, he was at the bar. She's met Deelel before as well, but never got to chat much with her. Lily is of course hanging around Reize. It seems Reize always has at least one girl around him. how peculiar.

But her attention is more on the problem up ahead. With the unconcious prince and the tendrils of darkness, this is definitely spelling problem in her mind. She wanted to say the same things, but since the others spoke up already, she's just going to wait for answers.

She tightens up her fighting gloves out of sight though.

Garland has posed:
Garland is silent. He surveys each of them in turn; a little boy, one of the Programs, a barkeeper, a girl and her dog, another little girl, and the little rat. The little rat. If Garland were capable of smiling, he likely would be right now. Instead, he sweeps over the ragtag group with his hidden eyes; despite his helmet obscuring everything about his features, each of them can feel that gaze, that terrible, terrible gaze. It's very much like the darkness is gazing back at them, as though it were staring through them and around them and piercing everything that they are and have ever been and have ever done. The Darkness knows them, it knows them oh-so-well; it is the guilt and the shadows at night, the things that have watched you for so long, all your errors and secret lies and guilts that you hide away in little boxes where no one else will ever see them. Those invisible eyes call to the darkness, alien and ancient, so ancient, so old, and so very, very evil.

Then they speak. They demand to know who he is; they demand to know what he wants with the Prince, why he has tortured the boy. They demand, as though they have some form of authority over him, as though their paper-thin heroics were something he should fear.

"They send children to face me? Children, machines, a dog, and one of Kuja's pets." The Ironclad Nightmare shakes his head; the armor is eerily, unnaturally silent as he moves, though it should squeak unarmored; he stops walking, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Once, they sent their greatest heroes. How far the worlds have fallen, that this is the greatest they can muster against me." Garland sweeps out his metal hand; the claw glints menacingly as he does so, shadows beginning to gather behind him.

From the shadows it emerges; a great beast on horseback, black as night. The horse seems to be made of shadow, beady little yellows shining out at the heroes; riding on its back is a great armored figure, a longsword in one hand, a shield in its other. Its own eyes are a similar terrible yellow; a Heartless emblem is settled upon its head.

Then Garland walks calmly over to the prince and waves his hand; the darkness falls, and Garland grasps the man by his throat, holding him up between his claws. He considers the white-haired boy for a long moment, then discards him; the young man's unconscious body goes skidding across the floor, bumping against Faruja's foot. The Burmecian can well see the damage inflicted to the boy - and it is horrifying. Borderline lethal. Only someone truly skilled in the art of inflicting pain could keep someone alive through this.

"You are welcome to him," Garland replies, ominous amusement in his voice.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
The monster made of darkness looks to his right, looking at Garland as he mocks the heroes. It does not laugh, instead turning it's gaze back on them. Each and every one of them...lingering on some more than others, but then he howls...

Swords being drawn, threats being levied, it howls...the darkness slowly urging it to KILL. He runs to the right, grabbing at one of the pillars in the room before with a small feat of strength, RIPS it from the ground and ceiling and wields it like a club.

Darkness runs up and down the thing, a slow line of corruption slowly running down the already corrupt pillow, turning into a dark black color. It takes a step forward, starting to approach the group from the side.

It does not speak, but you can tell it is not mindless...something like this wouldn't move the way it does if it were simply mindless. However, it /does/ mean you harm.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
It takes a couple of moments for Reize to slowly turn his head to see that Faruja is paralyzed. The gaze is worried, "...Faruja...?" His eyes fall towards the holy knight. He can see the fear emanating from the knight. His eyes harden, then he turns away from Faruja.

...A hand extends out to rest it over his friend's shoulder. Wake up, Faruja. He is not going o let his friends remain hindered. Not through intimidation.

Reize has to keep his eyes on Garland and his other tall friend. Both are equally intimidating looking figures. Sweat runs along his forehead and the body tenses. Sucking in a breath, the boy keeps his eyes on Garland. However, Reize cannot help but feel that uttery terrible gaze upon him. Reize lifts his eyes up with a gulp.

Then, a frown is given as the Ironclad Nightmare dismisses his group. "We're more than what you make of us! We will show you that!" And as the young man looks over fromthe shadows. He eyes widen as the figure appears to be on horseback. It is a Nightmare Rider Heartless.

And then, Reize's eyes widen when Garland grabs the prince and sends him skidding across the floor. "Ahh...!" His eyes widen, filled with worry and then he looks at the prince's conditions.

Eyes widen. Fists tighten. Teeth grits.

Normally, Reize would tell his group to pull back. They got what they came for. It is the prince. This would serve as nothing more than a futile battle, at least until the group interfered with their retreat, then this would be a fight for survival to escape with the prince.

However?

Reize is too angry for that.

"Monster!"

The emotions get better of him and he rushes towards the Ironclad Nightmare. Both boomerang and flaming torch held as he seeks to close the distance between himself and Garland. The boy already springs up into the air.

A spinning back heel kick swings out, then he swings his boomerang and the flaming torch out towards the man.

Faruja Senra has posed:
There's a dull thud of something hitting the floor, something on his shoulder, and warm flesh at one of his claws. It hits Faruja like ice water splashed onto one's face in the desert, and his eye regains focus. Their prize at his feet, his friend's words belatedly echoing in his mind, and discipline follows sense, as the vision of the Abyss dims rather than dulls. He even manages a (weak) glare Garland's way. "...Garland, is it? You are a true Demon." No yelling. Just a statement of a fact. To Reize, he gives a glance. "...Thank you."

Faruja's healing of the man is desperate, and nearly consumes all of his attention, save for that which keeps an eye on his allies and enemies. A combat medic, or paladin, never gives up his situational awareness.

Even as he's flashing Curaga after Curaga on the Prince, and applying bandages, he sees Reize charge. Charging the horrible, Abyssal monster that robs strength from his very soul. Faruja hadn't thought it possible, but in that moment, Reize earned even /more/ of his respect. It would be a moment he'd remember until his last breath, and beyond.

"REIZE! Do not die foolishly!" The rat isn't going to say 'don't hurt the Evil Horrible Demon. Lord knows, in the better (worst?) parts of himself, he wants to mangle Garland. But neither does he want the boy dead.

Then the Beast howls. Faruja, ever the protector, does his best to protect the fallen Prince!

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is facing down something terrfying, she has begun to accept she seems to keep runing into things more terrfyuing than the last. There's something about this huge man in the full plate. Something dark about hi, there's no way to describe him. He's old beyond her understanding, as part of a race that lives life times in what humans see as moments and beyond? Even beings old by her understanding and preception of time? Pale to this man before them. She flinches at the machine comment. "They have not forgotton them or what they did. They knew the same as us this should not be allowed to pass."

She's feeling a little bold or is it the boldness born of the fear you know you can't escape? It's undertain she stares the beast that is assauling her comrades but the condtion of the prince she understands it. The nature of how he is hurt is alien to one born of the grid but the suffering the Prince has endured is plain see. Garland is horror, there's no other words for that man.

She reaches to her back the disk there humes to life as she looks down teh Heartless that has moved to intercept them. She then throws it at the beast without much more fanfair and she dares not snark at Garland that would be utter folly.

"I will not let him die Faruja! I promise you that. What sort of basic would I be if I let a user die." She realise how hallow the statement could be after Manhattan but she'd fought and saved some people, right? That was something wasn't it...

Faruja Senra has posed:
And by protect, that means guard the Prince and cast buffs on his allies. Holy-rat-adin go!

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa's eyes widen in horror as the Nightmarish fiend so casually and heartlessly tosses the prince aside. In his condition, it doesn't look like he'll survive long. "No!" She gasps, feeling sick as she sees the wounds on the poor prince's body..Then turns to see the horrible creatures before her. Heartless alright, just like everywhere else..

Angelo barks, rushing to the prince's side, tossing a potion on him. It's not a lot, but its something. Rinoa also notices how Faruja suddenly freezes on the spot, and Angelo starts to bark at him to wake up too! But it seems Reize manages to get through to him. She breathes a sigh of relief too, when Faruja takes over healing duty.

"Faruja. Dont worry, none of us will die..We'll fight these monsters..Together!" Garland's words of mockery cause her to frown, glaring at him as she points her blaster edge at him. "Children? What do you mean? We're a lot more than a bunch of kids, and we're gonna kick your sorry ass back to wherever you came from!" Bold words, but she's shaking when she says them. Definitely have to get more used to battles. Good thing she's not alone.

Rinoa's just about to loose her sawblade at Garland when the other vicious creature rips off a pillar and swings it at her. In her momentary distraction she is caught off-guard and she gets side swiped, crashing to the ground where she twitches for a moment, blood trickling from her badly bruised arm and mouth.

Angelo barks worriedly, rushing to her side, and howls, surrounding her in protective magics.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart wouldn't let Rinoa fight alone either. Tifa is one of those that believes in strength in numbers after all, so working together is the best way to get through a tough fight. She plays it safely to start, since there are two opponent, or rather three, but the last one doesn't seem to be wanting to move. Maybe he has other plans... or just likes having people fighting for them instead.

Either way she takes a step back and casts off her spells, hoping to help out some of her companions to start with. Between heavy hitters, healers and buffers, the fight should sway their way, she hopes.

Garland has posed:
Garland doesn't even flinch as Reize comes charging at him. How many times has he heard those words, either directly to his iron face or as a result of that which he has done. He has heard people scream curses to the sky, wail and lament him as a monster and a demon. He had heard pretty, heroic words from people far older, people he truly respected. This was almost a cruelty beneath him; beating children was something he never really did. It was easy, it was childish; it was the act of a brutish, mindless violent like Negaduck, not a god. He left that for underlings.

Speaking of underlings, he has a Heartless *right there*. How nice for that.

The Heartless is there immediately as Reize's attack comes hammering down; the boomerang smashes against the heavily-armored Heartless, the horse that it rides taking the brunt of the blow. The flames lick across it, and the Nightmare rears up, as though it were threatening to throw its rider. It cannot, of course, but it is clearly unhappy with the results, and clearly injured by the strike.

Garland laughs. It is a cold laugh, a laugh that has no joy, no love, none of the good things a creature with a whole heart has; it is a laugh that denies the very concepts of Light and Justice and Goodness. It is a laugh that echoes through the room, deeper than the abyss; the shadows dance at that laugh, as though they are laughing at the heroes as dismissively as the Ironclad Nightmare himself. He laughs, and laughs, and laughs, his shoulders shaking with every motion, his head thrown back behind the horse and rider.

"So I am," Garland agrees to Reize and Faruja. He does not hide what he is; he has no shame in what he is, nor does he skulk about in the shadows like an amateur. He is what he is; he murdered his goodness a long time ago, accepting the darkness in his heart for power greater than they could possibly imagine. Monster? Demon? Appellations he accepted so long ago. He does not believe he is right; that is what is most frightening about this ancient once-god. He knows he is wrong, and he revels in his wrongness, like the nightmare given flesh that he is.

The horse-and-rider slam mighty hooves downwards as the disc attempts to knock the creature off its feet, to no avail; again, Garland chuckles darkly, shadows dancing in his wake, as Rinoa speaks.

"Do you think you are unique? That you are the first to face me? That you are going to be the first to win? You are children dreaming of the impossible." He holds out his hand at the Heartless. "Let us say that you defeat my Heartless and my apprentice. What then? Will you then fight me, injured and broken? You cannot be so blindly heroic as to believe that that will succeed because you *wish* it to."

"You are not even heroes. You are little children, crying at the darkness as though your tears might stop the inexorable. Tell me, is this how the Burmecians fought Kuja? No wonder your race struggles to extinction."

"I applaud you for your defiant spirits, but nothing more. Defiant spirits do not stop blade and spell." Garland holds up his finger and levels it at Reize; that menacing claw flicks at him dismissively. It then lazily makes its way to Tifa, and then to the program. He does not need to speak any more; the Heartless knows what to do. It charges, its longsword shifting into a shadowed lance as it moves to punch through the three of them and send them far away from its lord. Garland folds his hands behind his back.

"If you wish to challenge me directly, boy, then know only that to do so will spell your death. If you are so eager to have your life exterminated, then I invite you to duel to your doom."

Lily has posed:
And, in this horribly tense mess, all hell is now breaking loose. Darkness comes flying in at Lily, attached to a MONSTER. The swing however, Lily notices it coming just in time, and leaps away, propelled by a burst of wind. The club merely grazes her, knocking her off course and forcing her to go stumbling back across the ground upon impact. She trips on her clothes, rolls, and very nearly hits a pillar, but the winds pick her up again and she zips to her feet!

"Wh-whew, that was close. Aha... I'm getting better at this!" Better at WHAT is hard to say, but she's not going to explain. Not while there's HAVOC coming everywhere. Faruja's magic reaches her, and it's just enough for her to decide on something important.

This isn't like the last fight. Her friends need her aid.

Down at Angantyr? She sticks her tongue out, blowing a raspberry...

At the same time, she gestures with a hand sweeping out towards Deelel and Reize. A stream of magic blasts out at them, spiritual in nature rather than manifesting as a physical element. On contact... they'll feel it. The roaring power of an all-consuming flame, the steadfast resilience of a mountain rising within...

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
The Monster swings the makeshift weapon wildly, even in it's throws, it is still quite accurate... or you're too slow. Whichever suits your role playing style.

It grunts as Lily jumps out of the way, only narrowly avoiding his attack. Her sticking her tongue out gets a low snarl from the thing, before it turns his attention on her for a moment. It's right hand starts to raise...

And then suddenly it reaches out for her, dropping the pillar for a moment, aiming to grab her before trying to toss her towards Faruja. Then he was gone..

Appearing right next to Rinoa, aiming to launch her towards the rat as well, before vanishing again.

Suddenly it appears in the air above them all, dropping down and centering a blast of darkness on where it lands...which might be on top of you all if you're not fast enough, but his punches?

Enchantments shatter when he punches with it, breaking any and all magic it comes into contact with. A familiar ability to Faruja.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel isn't going to charge Garland, she's got the feeling he's using this heartless to test them. She feels protctive magic from her allies as her body seems to be preforming a bit at overclocked levels. She's ot fast enough as the thing comes for her, the laugh all the while doesn't help. She'd done the impossible or what wa t hought to be she'd met Users and discovered the universe was more vast than she could ever know. She knows she's not, about to fall here as she starts to over clock her own systems so she moves faster, than the heartles smight understand. Prehaps they are children but who else is here to do anything? The Light Warriors live on their legacy to inspire others to rise up, that's what they have to do. They can't stand idly by.

"I'll not stand idly by even if I only have a sliver of power. To waste whatever I have is unforgivable!"

The blade has cut her noticably into her body it's hard to tell if she's bleeding or not but Rezie is brave prehaps to a fault. She realise he's got much growing left to do however, so very much growing left to do. Still if he lives she's got faith he'll get there. In the back of her mind a thought forms. Is this the start of something more than any of them realise today? Why isn't Garland just crushing them. He clearly has the power to...

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Darn, it's fast! Rinoa leaps into the sky, attempting to jump out of the way, but Angantyr still manages to grab her and hurl her into Faruja. With a flash, both of her protective shields are suddenly dispelled! "No!" She gasps as she staggers to the ground, untangling herself from Faruja.

Angelo growls as her mistress is knocked to the ground again, tossing a potion at her before rushing at the monster, attempting to slash and bite at it with her claws and teeth.

Faruja Senra has posed:
If Garland's mere presence fills him with dread, the being's laugh rakes at his soul. Such utter emptiness...it's everything an Holy Knight isn't. In some ways, it sets his tail to trembling worse. In others? Rage fills his heart, the natural pull of Martyrdom instilled into him telling him to slash, stab, and kill this Being that should simply not exist. But the more sensible part of him, the pragmatist, the Ajoran in him, tells him Garland is right.

"...Never once have we called ourselves heroes, oh Demon. We are but people. Simple, humble souls here for a man you have so brutally tortured. Perhaps one day we shall be. Perhaps not. To be frank, such a title means little to me. While I cannot speak to the others, I do know this; the creatures you put forth before us shall not end us. We've power and skill unattained yet, and Lord willing, enough to challenge UNHOLY ABBERATIONS such as thyself, YOU SOUL-SUCKING AFRONT TO AJORA!" That's a little more like the Faruja they know and love.

In between his Obligatory Templar Yelling, something hits him. "...What do you mean? 'Twas that damned Alexandrian whore Brahne that brought my people low. Of what do you speak, Demon!? Whom is this Kuja, and what pain has he brought upon my people?"

Of course, there's girls flying at him! Oomph! Doing his best to catch them both, he pretty much acts as a (somewhat) softer landing for the pair. Helping them up after disentangling himself from a mass of girls, he'll apply the appropriate healins spells to the two.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
That shield...

That divine shield forms around Reize, the glowing walls covering his entire form with a bright shine before it fades away. The boy glows with a glowing white aura. As Reize charges ahead wth the assault...

That Nightmare Rider intercepts to take the blow.

Reize doesn't relent, even if the target is not as intended. Instead, Reize springs back to a distance after the impact is made against the beast. The torch is now released from his hand since the flame is gone. Instead, he retracts the other boomerang. He looks towards the monster that is referred to as Garland.

Though, truth be told, Garland is right. They don't have the chance to fight Garland, even if they defeat the Heartless around. However, the boy seeks to defy the Ironclad Nightmare's demand. Instead, Reize will continue to fight and deal with this.

"Actions stop blades and spells!"

The creature is charging towards Reize with is blade, seeking to make mincemeat out of him. It is just in time that Tifa imbues him with the invigorating strength and the speed. It feels like time before him is slowing down. Not only that, Reize is becoming engulfed with the spirits of nature. The raging flames are erupting around is body while the earth coats his form.

"We never take claims to calling ourselves heroes, jerkwad!"

That sword aims to hack at the boy, but because time, to him has slowed down, he can catch that. And when he catches that incoming weapon driving its way towards him, Reize is springing back from the blade, lifting his chest up to avoid it piercing him. At the same process, Reize is throwing a boomerang towards the creature's head, letting it arc past it. The lancing blade of the Heartless does pass through, giving a graze along his side. Reize flinches in the pain, but keeps going. He twirs around at the process, bringing his hand into his pouch to pull out an object.

The hookshot is produced.

He swings it out towards the large beast, seeking to have it coil up and attach itself to him. Next, he plans to pull either himself or the Heartless his way. Either way, Reize is seeking to close the distance.

As for the boomerang, it starts ricocheting along the walls. It bounces from one wall and onto the next. Then, it moves to strike the next wall, and then the other wall. That other wall cracks as the boomerang moves around faster to strike the creature down.

Then, should Reize get close, he'll shift his stance up and he will spring up into the air to give it a flip kick to knock that creature into the air.

"But we won't back down from you or the creatures you bring!"

Faruja Senra has posed:
Blink. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, that technique strikes him as familiar. But /where/? It hits him. Faruja sets his jaw. "...You, BEAST! Be ye truly a monster, or have ye a name? Nay! There is only one person that ability belongs to. What evil has been wrought upon you, Mercenary Angantyr? Have you fallen willingly? Or are you but a victim?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart isn't too pleased with getting attacked like that either. She gets rolls out of the horse rider's path, but still gets slashed at, slicing through her leather tanktop, but not too deep. She still feels it though!

She rolls back over to the feet after the attack, and lunges back at it, fist slamming down into it to knock it off balance "Does it really matter if we are heroes or not? We are here to preserve the life, while you seem to bent on destroying it instead." She's not scared of him or the shadow rider at all. She brings down the righteous fist! Well its not called like that. It just makes it sound cooler.

Lily has posed:
Too fast. Way too fast! Lily's got no time to react as she's GRABBED - quite painfully so, her body is very fragile compared to most - and HURLED at enough speeds to leave her THOROUGHLY disoriented. WHUMPF. Right into Faruja, who at least manages to catch her... but she groans in his arms, as a few remnants of magical power flicker and die against her body. Both protective and not.

"Ah.... Faruja. What ARE these two?! What are they?!"

She hops back to her feet, and decides... to raise her hand.

Again, streams of magic fly out, spiritual power in its native form.

Streamers head towards Deelel and Reize, these ones of a healing power, the moment after Faruja's own helps HER up.

Garland has posed:
Garland's dark laughter echoes through the room again. He's not even pretending to hide his black mirth now; listen to them! Listen to them struggle and fight as though they stood a chance! Listen to them struggle and fight as though they thought they could face down his machinations. They did not even truly understand what it was they fought - /who/ it was they fought. Yes, perhaps they had the make of heroes, in ten or so years; but this is not a children's game, to play roles and swing sticks and pretend to be knights. The Burmecian demands to know what he knows; his laughter redoubles.

"Who is Kuja, indeed." Garland waves his hand dismissively once more, then steps back as Reize pulls his thoroughly dramatic swinging trick; though the young man fails to push the Heartless upwards with his kick, the boomerang ricochets off it, and it bristles, angered by the child who dared to strike it. The creature whirls around as the boomerang clangs loudly off its armor; it is heavy and large and set against the ground quite firmly, and Reize is definitely going to have some trouble dislodging it.

"It may behoove you to ask a better question, Burmecian. Ask yourself - what purpose does it serve me to stay out of this fight?"

Garland turns away from the group, completely ignoring them. He looks as if he's completely open. This is, of course, a lie; Garland is never open. It is, in the words of a great admiral, a trap. "And what purpose does it serve me to have you fight my Heartless?"

Then he strides through the doorway, leaving his apprentice and his Heartless to fight the would-be heroes, his dark laugh ringing through the corridor as he moves. The Heartless's shield comes swinging up as Tifa comes running in; her fists smash against its armor, banging against it with fury and strength, and each punch flashes with light thanks to the boosts the heroes have laid upon themselves.

The Fallen Champion...disagrees. It swings its blade about above it, furiously. Each swing flashes with darkness; the temple shudders, each motion causing screams to ripple through the halls as power surges forth from it. The Fallen Champion swings out its blade into the ground, and things explode; most specifically, the floor of the temple, darkness spiking upwards and downwards and from each of the walls as it charges forward to run them down even as they dodge the spikes of slaughter.

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa's eyes widen as Angelo gets thrashed by the fiend calling itself Angantyr..She glances over at Faruja, arching an eyebrow when he seems to recognize this monster. "Faruja, you know this fiend? How?" certainly there is more to this monster than meets the eye. However, she has her hands full enough already as the fiend picks up that column and slams it into her again.

She screams out in pain as she gets hit hard, skittering across the floor again. No, it's too much. This fiend is too strong. Is she gonna die here, tonight?

Rinoa coughs up blood, staggering to her feet as she calls angelo to her side. They cant give up now! She whistles and Angelo rushes to her, jumping on her arm, flying off at Vespar, along with the blaster edge, leaving a trail of explosive fire once it hits its target (hopefully).

Angelo rushes in, following with more rabid bites and claw slashes.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
The beast roars as Angelo bites at it, it's teeth sink into leathery like flesh, before it's right hand smashes it away, aiming to crush and tear at it's body with it's powerful claws. The dog becomes it's focus for a few moments...it was getting /so HUNGRY/.

Then Faruja speaks at him, not to him, at him, which seems to make the creature pause for a moment. It studies Faruja for a long moment, considering the rat. "Think what you will." it says in that hollow wispy voice, "I doubt you would believe me even if you heard the truth from my own mouth, too high on your zealotry you are," it says, somehow perfectly...despite it's strange voice.

Then Lily heals again, trying to keep her friends up at the cost to her own self. It gets a grunt from Angantyr, as he employs Baron's special tactics: kill the healers.

The healing magic was becoming a pain.

Without mercy, it roars...the darkness becoming a literal torrent of energy now...

Growling fiercely, it charges...there is no intelligence in this. It hulks over...breathing heavily, before it unleashes a completely INHUMAN roar, before it runs at Lily, aiming to knock her down. His mouth opens...yes it does have one. It is a horrible gaping maul, before he bites down, aiming to bite deeply. Then it's body...

It changes. Two large black appendages tear it from it's body, aiming to spear towards Faruja and Rinoa. The black things sink into them aiming to suck life and vitality away, before then swinging them wildly, aiming to draw them back in towards the monster...

And into his two arms, aiming to squeeze the life out of each of them.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel feels a lot better thanks to Lily somehow the magic is able to knit her injuries back together like a system restore can.. She's quite happy about that she ponders about the name Kuja being dropped, it might be imporanty later. Garaland may be playing with or testing them. She wonders though what is his goal he's clearly up to something, right?

The Fallen Champion's actions prevents anyt efforts to speak or reply. She's got to move as the dakrness coems at her, the spikes are everywhere btu she makes good on her disk using it to intercpt and defelct one of the spiikes which she also uses to push her self away form further harm.

She's on her feet and doing far better than her allies are at this point in time. She just takes her disk and throws it right at the Fallen Champion har das she can.

Faruja Senra has posed:
"An unholy being that is a true Evil, Lily. One that should not exist. Know this well; you stand before something few can comprehend. Stand firm this day, and nothing shall seem worthy of fear my young, innocent friend." At least he's back on top with inspiring words, despite the tremble in tail and knees.

"As for the other...I fear to think on it."

The Beast speaks, and Faruja knows the truth. Or, at least, in part. "...You seek to harm my friends. /That/ is all I need to know." His voice has that note of zealotry indeed. Unfortunately, this doesn't avail him of much, as instead the ratling is charged at. That maw opens before Lily, and the beast's appendage spears into him. Even as his lifeblood drains, he'll attempt to simply kick away Lily from that maw, harsh as it may be. From the looks of things, the Templar is ready to collapse, as he then sinks to one knee!

Of course, then there's Garland. As the great Demon strides out, the Burmecian can't help but replay his words. Why would he challenge them? Why the talk of Heroes? And why does Garland simply not crush them?

"I know not what you scheme, Demon, but one can hide from the Lord's Light! Yours shall be revealed in time! Lord willing, we shall one day face you, and drive you back!" His voice, despite his words, are desperate. For strength. For power. For the ability to fend off the creatures before him, like those four warriors before them.

The rat, however, has had quite enough. Tearing away the appendage embedded into his side with a glorious spurt of blood, he leaps into the air! Light surrounds him, blazing, before he falls into the twisted form of Angantyr!

"Be GONE! You may have yet been a noble man, but now you are naught but a demon! To work alongside /that/? Pitiful!"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
And the boomerang is stuck and lodged right into the Heartless. This is not a good thing. Given that the boy is caught without a weapon, well, Reize will have to go for something else. He still has one weapon, after all.

When he does manage to spring back and distance himself from the creature, he uncoils the hookshot and then he lands with a kneel. He stands up to his feet, looking towards Garland, "...What do you mean?" He furrows his eyebrows.

What purpose does it serve? How should Reize know? However, Reize cannot help but look over to see the prince's condition. It dawns on the boy... !!! The fact that the boy turns to check up on the prince is when his guard is down.

This gives that Heartless a chance to impale the blade into the ground. That darkness shakes the entire temple as the motion sends the surge of darkness.

That is when Reize's eyes widen in shock.

Because the boy let his guard down, he did not make it in time to become out of the range of that spike of darkness erupting upward and sending him flying backwards. "Guuuuuhhhh!" That tide of darkness explodes and washes against the boy, then it spis him out as those spikes tear against him.

Splatting aginst the wall, Reize winces, "Buh...." He grimaces, then he shifts his stance. As the boy winces. "D--guh.." He tries to recalibrate his mind. He is mentally dead at the moment. He sucks in a breath, then he charges ahead towards that Heartless. The leader, however, cannot help but to see that some of the folks are taking the brunt of it.

...He may have to call for everyone to retreat.

They got the prince. They need to get out. First, however, it's distracting the creature.

"Ngghh.... Everyone! Pull back! We got the prince!" The boy channels forth that tarot, drawing upon its power. As that glowing tarot manifests within his grasp.

The brilliance of the pendant is as bright as the star, temporarily illuminating even against the great darkness.

"Flickering flame, burn!"

As the boy springs back, he stands by the prince, then he flings the spell out.r
Three massive balls of fire spiral into view, then they shoot towards the monster, "FIREBALL!"

%

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart dodges and weaves the sword strikes, watching them emiting darkness. She's rather not touch those. but it still grazes her, making her wince as she moves around it with her usual speed. She's pretty nimble, she showed it at every fight. "Don't worry Faruja, we're all behind you."

She shows her support to the ratman. This one, Garland? She's not holding any sort of interest to be his friend. Hey, he's using a heartless, that's bad news right there.

Striding forward, she moves down into a slide motion, moving under the swing of the sword, and then jumping up, her hands reaching for the shadowy rider, grabbing him for her personalized pile driver.

Lily has posed:
Lily freezes with fear, despite Faruja's words. With the monster coming straight for her, she hiccups and begins to stumble in an attempt to move. Someone REALLY needs to teach this girl how to dodge and fight properly, all she tends to rely on is blasting everything into pieces before they can get her!

But then... in comes Faruja. His foot connects, sending her sprawling out to the side, eliciting a yelp and drawn-out grunt as she skids a bit before coming to a rest. "Nnnnh... ah... F-FARUJA?!"

There's no mistaking the HORROR on her face as she rises, however. Absolute horror.

"Mon... MONSTER!" FURY. Fury's building in the girl. Fury and panic. And a lot of people here know what happens when Lily gets emotionally overwhelmed in a fight.

Arouhnd her, magic wildly begins to crackle and spark. Flames flicker, lightning sizzles, arctic winds dance, and clumps of dirt gather and spiral at the fringes of a thick blue sphere that's now shimmering up about her body, projected from the crystal in her forehead.

The magic power charts are rising quickly for 9,000, and are likely to break it at this rate.

A stream of power flows out for Faruja, several colors meshed in one from that aura...!

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa has taken quite a beating all this time, and she struggles back to her feet, coughing up more blood as she glances around at the others who don't seem to be faring much better. Angelo is at her side, barking and whining, blood covering her furred body as well.

When Reize calls for them to retreat, she is rather relieved as she rushes to join him. well, at least they got the prince, but will they be able to escape intact, or will those fiends follow hot on their trail? It seems they've barely left a dent!

Garland has posed:
Garland may be long gone, but his nightmare creature stands still. As Reize comes swinging inwards, his pendant shining brilliantly in the light, the Heartless reacts. It brings up its shield to hide behind it, and for a brief moment, a brief and singular moment, the Heartless screams again. It sounds surprisingly similar to the screams they heard earlier; maybe pain is just universal? Maybe it's just something that every creature understands, even creatures like the Heartless.

Regardless, the fireball comes sweeping at it; the massive black blade comes swinging downwards, trailing shadow and destruction, and cleaves directly through the fireball. It splits it directly down the middle in an impossible display of power; the fireball parts, flying off to the sides and exploding harmlessly against the walls. They shudder, rubble pouring down into the room; it begins to shake, the ceiling cracking as it starts to fall, piece by piece. Little tiny pieces drop from the ceiling, bouncing against the floor from the sheer impact of the fireball.

Tifa comes swinging in, taking advantage of the creature's distraction; she grabs the rider off its horse, bringing it falling to the ground in an instant. She hammers it into the ground; it is massive, but she is strong, and it cracks more of the floor beneath their feet as the ceiling falls. The shaking of the floor, in turn, shakes the walls; the ceiling wobbles above them, and the Heartless roars, a beastial scream calling for its horse to ride. Indeed, as it makes its way free of the buxom barmaid's grasp, the horse disappears into the floor, coming up beneath its feet; the creature swings its shield about, plowing forward towards Reize and Tifa and Deelel once more. With the ceiling coming down around their ears, the creature's charges seem nothing so much as an attempt to bring it down completely; when it rides by one of the few remaining pillars, indeed, it swings its blade around, cleaving the pillar in twain.

Uh-oh.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angelo sinks his fangs into the flesh of the creature again. It growls, turning towards the dog as the tentacle like appendages whip down from the body, aiming to smack the dog away, but luckily Angelo is faster than they look. The distraction is all that Faruja needs...

Faruja lances the monster, it's spear piercing it through the chest. It looks down for a moment, before the appendages smack him down too, as he pulls the spear out of his chest, and throws it back in front of the rat. His words do not stop the beast...

"Mighty words, rat. You say them so full of yourself, like you yourself have done no wrong. Tell me, how many of your friends know about the bounty you placed? The bounty on a /CHILD/ no less. I was going to be coming to you about that...but something more important than killing you for your hypocrisy."

Lilly's magic fills the rat, starting to undo what he did...he grumbles at her, slowly turning to give her a stare. "You're becoming a nuisance," he says simply. "You could have taken the Prince and ran, you SHOULD have done that...but no. You just had to have your cake and eat it too."

"Ugh.." he says, the anger reacting to the darkness causes another surge...he staggers for a moment...no...no! He feels a piece of him slip away, the darkness eating at him even more.

He howls, rushing right at Faruja, aiming to grab him by the face as he runs right by Rinoa to do the same. His hands burn with darkness, trying to infect them with the flames...and he comes down viciously at Lily.

WATCH OUT...you're about to become...

*sunglasses*

A LILLY SANDWICH!

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Rinoa narrows her eyes, calling Angelo to her side as she barely darts out of the way of Vespar's next attack. Rinoa does the same, rolling along the ground, ducking under its deadly dark flaming appendages. She arches a brow in confusion as he speaks of Faruja putting a mark on a child, glancing at him quizzically. But this is not the time for questions.

For now, she focuses on retreating still, but is hesitant to leave the battlefield with others still in the thick of trouble. Angelo howls at her side, combining her magic with Rinoa's to surround her in another protective shield.

Faruja Senra has posed:
"...I see. I suppose I should not be surprised. A touch early, but..." There's no pride in his eye as he looks to the beast, the Burmecian catching his own spear as it's thrown at him and batted away from Angantyr. "On my oath as a Templar, never would I seek the life of a child. But the one I seek is not a child, but a traitor. For one who seeks the fall of worlds is no child. To this, Dark Mercenary, I swear before the Lord as best I know it to be so. Nay, I shan't offer you excuses. Thusly, the truth. Believe me, or nay, 'tis your decision."

Despite his body feeling like it wants to collapse in on himself, Faruja manages a laugh to Tifa, though it's worryingly light. "Ahh, but I am truly blessed, to have such companions! If naught else, I may die knowing that much!" He seems to take strength from his companions, standing as tall as one can with a gaping side wound.

At least Lily's safe, for the moment. Then there's that fury, that elemental mastery the girl has locked up inside, all uncontrollable and awe-inspiring. And coming at him! He doesn't get a chance to cry out, as instead, that energy washes over him, healing his wounds and increasing his strength. Time to use it...if he can survive the mutated Angantyr's blows!

Then, Reize speaks, and employs the Power of Pendant! Every muscle in his body tenses, the Templar's mores telling him to stay, to fight, to die! But, he made a promise, and so he must honor it.

"...May you turn from this path, if there is even a way back into the Light for you, Angantyr. I pray that whatever you may have gained, or sacrificed for, was well worth it." The ratling, reaching down, with gather up the Prince.



Aww, frig. Everything's shaking. Floors, walls...everything! Like any good jrpg character, the sensation of collapsing dungeon. Unfortunately, this means he's somewhat distracted in keeping his footing, before being grabbed by Angantyr! By the muzzle, no less! He's smart enough to drop Ser Prince prior.

As he's flailed around, the little rat can only mumble, and be battered against his small friend! Things have certainly gone a-rye here.

Faruja Senra has posed:
Also, a rat is on fire. On dark fire. Toasted rye sandwich.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Garland is long gone. However, Reize is rather unmoving. He looks over towards the prince, now kneeling beside him to pick him up. As the boy tries to keep his attention towards the group, he watches the chaos, gritting his teeth. And yet, this is where the chaos ensues.

In the midst of it all, the one thing that catches his attention, at first is the fact-- the massive black blade cuts downward to cleave the fireball apart. When that magic is cut, he explosion impat aginst the walls.

Reize grits his teeth, ten he looks forward to see take notice of the creature swinging the shield his way. To react with the prince held up, the boy scoops the prince into his arms in a Princess carry. Then he leaps back again.

The shield gazes along his face, making a nice bruise.

That broken pedestal nearly crashes where he stood. However, he managed to get away from that one.

It is then that Angantyr mentions something important.

... Faruja put a bounty on Riku?

Reize grits his teeth, then he shakes his head. That will be a chat for later.

"EVERYONE! WITHDRAW NOW! THAT IS AN ORDER!"

Reize is taking the moment to pat the prince on the face as he pulls back and yet not retreat. "Hey, wake up." Slap. "Wake up."

Why isn't Reize fleeing?

The leader is the one that leaves last.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is aware the prince isn't waking up the prince has been horribly hurt to the point of death. Given the nature of this man's power if he could even be considered a man still? He's not just got mundane means at his dispoal it could be something far more than this. She has a terible feeling there's more to the armored man they are facing than they know. She's knows such mastery of darkness he has here? Few who traffic in Heartless likely surive to such power. What is he? She doesn't know but she. She's scares, yet she has to press on, even assaults come on she knows something's not right about this one theya re fighting. The Heartless is powerful to bs sure but it's skilled, it doesn't feel like it totally mindless. She's procesisn thoughts prehaps faster than a human cold, not that she even realises this. Is attacking the crearure the best point the Prince, they just can't leave him like this even as the blade comes around cutting the pillar down and it slams into her even as she tries to evade one leg's under part o the wreckage and she's well? Suck for the moment.

"We can not leave the Prince! The bounty on Riku is suprising but if she knew the why's of it she might understand far more prehaps there was osmething she missed. "He's been badly injured have Lily get him out of here so we can system restore him." She doesn't even think about the term its as natural as Lily saying heals. She's however stuck for the moment as she's trying to use her disk weapon edge to cut herself free.

Lily has posed:
"You're hurting my friends!" Lily retorts angrily, bravely standing there for some reason or another. The torrent of magical energy rushing every which about her is only getting stronger and stronger... not to mention...

Unstable. "Terribly! I won't forgive that even a little!"

But there's that terror again, as the beast bears down upon her. She stands brave, focuses her power into a defensive field. But... she's really not ever been very good at stopping physical blows with that shield, onyl magical ones. It has minimal ability to slow down Angantyr down, for all it will be very uncomfortable to stick his arms through it.

It's like paper before those claws. As is Lily's flesh. She's easily rent and torn, the claws tearing into her flesh and bringing forth spurts of blood. She can't stop her own agonized screams. Until, that is, Agantyr makes a very good move towards swallowing her. She's mostly stuck in the creature's mouth, and THAT muffles the screaming - though it gets far worse.

Piercing enough to make any normal person flinch and have nightmares, quite possibly.

And then the muffled scream takes on a whole note, and Angantyr will easily feel like the inside of his mouth is turning into a pool of lava. Heat is building up, and it's building up quickly. Heat and pressure!

From all around the room, motes of light shimmer into existence as all of the nearby released magical energy and ambient power in this place gathers, answering a strange call. It forms into streams and torrents, gathering and shifting from dark to sparkling white-blue starlight. Hundreds, thousands, millions of little light motes stream in for Lily's body, becoming a swirling and conctracting accretion disk.

The shine coming from her aura is now beyond description, and somewhat blinding to look at. Magical senses will pick up an awe-inspiring spike of power, and then...

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!"

It's hard to say if those words are HEARD instead of just FELT, they reverberate through the chamber, carrying with them an angry pressure.%R The space within Angantyr's mouth explodes. Like a spark igniting a bonfire, a roiling sphere of white-blue power BURSTS out in every direction, trying to rip through him, vaporize him, and pull him apart all at once. It traverses the ground, scorching and vaporizing several inches of it and keeps on going at several feet per second, sending streams and particles of pure magical energy every which way to blast the area. They fizzle out into harmlessness beyond a hundred feet or so, however.

Anything at ground zero is not going to be happy!

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr gets a stomach full of FIRE.

He spits up the girl, as his form returns to something less horrific (but still pretty bad) and burps up a bit of flame. It looks preturbed, staring down at Lily who also probably looks not happy at being chewed up and spit out. In his right hand Faruja sits.

Then Reize calls for them to retreat...but they ain't retreating.

"Here, let me encourage you to listen to your leader's wise words." he says, and...

Starts swinging Faruja like a hammer.

First into Lilly, then into Rinoa, and then back into Lily...

And guess who else!

IT'S BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT! BRILLIANT!

Faruja Senra has posed:
Faruja is dead weight in the mutated mercenary's hand, and is swung about like some sort of blunt weapon! Given all of that plate mail, it's an apt description. From the looks of things, he won't be moving for a while.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart blinks as Reize calls for a retreat in the middle of the fight "Wh- Hey! What's going on?" She's never known Reize to leave in the middle of a fight, but at the same time... The temple is shaking badly, maybe it would be wise to get out.

She looks over to Rinoa, that is still gettign attacked by the man of darkness "Rinoa! We should get out too!" She runs over to the girl, hoping to be of some use over there. Considering that Ang is still towering the others...

In appears a barmaid suddenly, explosive fist meeting with shadowy face, if only to buy some time "Let's go before we're all buried alive!"

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
Ugh, this is not going well at all. "We have to get out of here, come on!" she darts out of the way of the next attack, and flees, Angelo close at her heels.

Rinoa Heartilly has posed:
When Faruja falls, Rinoa gasps and darts to his side, scooping him up with Angelo's help before fleeing after Reize. Hopefully the others will wisely follow suit.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
There are a lot of things that Reize had to weigh-in in order to call for a retreat. One was the simple fact of that they got the prince and he is bleeding badly. Any other thing else and this would prove to be a futile fight. Next, he was able to calm down from his anger to SEE the prince, which reminded him of the situation. Next, the fact that Garland and the other dark knight are pretty strong.

This fight is proving rather futile. It is serving no purpose at this point.

The unfortunate matter is he words tht are haunting him.

~ 'Ask yourself - what purpose does it serve me to stay out of this fight? And what purpose does it serve me to have you fight my Heartless?' ~

...What did Garland mean by that? Reize, hower, calls forth, "Everyone! Move, move move! I am not leaving until everyone is outof here!" The building is going to collapse, but he'll be damne if he will let anyone fall.

Lily has posed:
And then Faruja was a club.

Lily, already toppling about and woozily trying to get her bearings after draining her reserves of everything they had, looks up with bleary eyes to see a terrible-- "--AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

--... sight.

Reacting with speed, and borne by the wind, she vaults up, in an attempt to dodge. She does shoot off like a rocket but the Farujaclub hits her legs, knocking her off-direction.

She collides into a pillar, then bounces into another like a pinball before diving to the ground like a sack of potatoes, skidding towrds the exit, groaning all the while.

The girl in now tarnished white stands.. barely. She's bloodied, bruised, battered and bashed.

Wiping blood from her stinging eyes, she lets out a wailing scream of agony and HORROR, then stumbles for the exit. REIZE YOU GOT TO FOLLOW! That's what the scream is saying. More or less!

Deelel has posed:
The disk makes a high pitched wghine as it finally cuts through the last of the pillat. Deelel is hurt but she's mobile the entire place is coming down. It's time to get the Mac out of here. She books it suffling for teh exit, there's no time to fight. The Program isn't sure she should remain, no it's time to go she's just hstant they got the Prince right? Something's wrogn the power of Garland and his minion's are too much for them. This only drives home the point she's learned, she needs to get stronger, she also needs to figure out how to find a differences there's always an oppsite there has to be somethign to better combat the heartless out there...For now? She's out through the exit.

"REIZE! Your not allowed to be Derezzed!"

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Tifa comes out of nowhere, her fists burning with rage and desire to stop the man from hurting her allies. Even as the Rat is let go, his hand moving to deflect the blows aimed at him. Each one rains down, but between his bulk and sheer luck, he is only forced back, the large monster staggering, rubbing the arm where he had challenged her attack. It is numb, looking down at it and then at her.

"Leave. I'll not persue." he says, turning as a dark portal started to open up.