2018-05-23: Anti-Causality
- Log: Anti-Causality
- Cast: Id, Riesenlied, Ghaleon, Jean, Layna Manydays, Noeline, White Knight Leo, Neriah Parringer, Seraph Ragnell, Lemina Ausa, Hiro, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Taben's Peak
- Date: May 23rd, 2018
- Summary: Directly following the events of 2018-05-20: Hope Fatigue, the battle against Id continues...but this time, Althena's Guard has appeared, along with the Dragonmaster himself. The Fiends(and friends) have received backup, as well. But will it be enough to turn the tide...?
==============================<* Taben's Peak *>============================== Located a short distance from the city of Vane, Taben's Peak is a towering mountain jutting up from the otherwise featureless Plains of the Goddess. The Peak itself is populated by monsters, but it is the interior that is truly remarkable - the interior is honeycombed with strange passageways formed of a stone so hard it seems almost metallic in nature. Few who enter the depths return, but those who do speak of strange artefacts and other monstrosities. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4AbCmnF758
DC: Riesenlied switches forms to A Certain Magical -- no! -- Munitekal Armour!! DC: Ghaleon switches forms to Dragonmaster Ghaleon! DC: White Knight Leo switches forms to White Knight Leo!
<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.
LAST TIME... ON DREAM CHASERS MUSH
The Vile Fiends and Black Wolves went to investigate Taben Peak where they believed both Hammer and the Fereshte were located. Even more troublingly, the Fiends heard from Master Lunn of the Four Heroes that the Shadow Dragon Clan might be active in the area. Shortly after their arrival, however, they were interrupted by a Death Waitress Fan named Id. He pushed Lucia for answers and attacked the group, intending to get Ruby 'used' to losing her friends. It was a tough fight, but then Id summoned a Guardian.
That was not good.
Leon took a heavy hit head-on and was evacuated by Elly but before Id could finish off the party, DRAGONMASTER GHALEON arrived with the Althena Guard and Lucia used her power to restore the party. Turning the tide further, backup has arrived from the Fereshte. Will it be enough?
At least one elf seems confident.
Id is presently backpedaling, trying to keep everybody in front of him. He has been caught by surprise but in spite of his last question to Ruby, he's sure to start attacking shortly. Already, that red-purple aura is starting to form around Id.
The screen crashes into several mirror shards. The BGM shfts once more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmovCdeSn6Q
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied withers for a moment, and then her eyes fleck open slowly; where she was previously broken, she feels a foreign sensation of healing wash over her, originating from where Lucia had cried out for them. She sees gently past the blood...
She gazes towards where Leon had fallen, a pit in her stomach as she exclaims, "Leon--!!" she struggles, slowly, as the healing energies start to wash over her.
"... L-Lucia..." she whispers, her eyes widening at the sight of the massive wall of ice... the man that floated nearby whom she'd only heard of briefly as 'Dragonmaster'. Leo was there too, and the others...
She shifts painfully, letting out a pained little gasp as she rises to her feet and-- stumbles, drooping against Noeline. "Noeline... we..."
"Riesenlied. Allow us to help you for once," intones Cetiri as the Munitekal Armour floats down nearby, Muni's limbs locking in place as she perches down for a landing.
Riesenlied gazes towards her mother, so coated in Taben Peak children graffiti -- another one along the underside of her torso reading 'MOMS ARE TOUGH' and a haphazard drawing of a bicep on it.
"Cetiri..."
Dva lets out a fool little grin as she stammers, "I--it's not like it can be helped, you just seem to run into trouble, we'll just have to lend a hand!" She folds her arms and threatens Noeline's position as the Tsun Empress, with a practiced huff.
A dock opens, allowing the Hyadean to climb up and take her seat behind her robotic dog-shaped mother.
"Thank you, everyone, I..." Tears well in her eyes. "I trust you all. I believe in you all. Together... let us cling together."
Muni-Muni rises up into the air, as Riesenlied calls to Noeline, "Please, be careful -- and stick close to us if you need cover!"
Muni looks towards the other Hyadean from where her face is grafted on the front-plate, with a wink and a look of bravery on her face. "Muni-mu-mu!" she exclaims.
What does that mean? Well...
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with Muni-mu-mu! tn. Riese we'll protect you!! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ghaleon has posed.
"Hm, hm, hm."
Ghaleon holds a hand out before him, and his white cape flutters up about him. He half-lowers his head, staring straight at Id -- and then cracks a smile. It is a cruel expression as he looks towards the Demon of Elru. The Dragonmaster begins to float off the ground, and then he turns, finally. He looks over the Fiends in turn, studying them for a moment. His head tilts to the side.
"You should consider yourselves lucky," Ghaleon says. "I don't typically take house calls... but it seems that today, I'm making an exception. Do try to stay out of my way. I haven't forgotten that the Goddess wants you handled, Lucia."
Then, Ghaleon looks back at Id. Something dangerous flashes in his eyes -- and the cruel smirk shifts into a more serious expression. "You are an interesting one... it seems that dear Filgaia is full of surprises. Surprises that I am ill-inclined to suffer!"
He holds his hand out before him. Mist gathers and swirls, then crackles out into a lance of purple lightning. With a flash, it solidifies into a long, silvery blade with a golden hilt. Ghaleon slashes it twice, and two arcs of light explode through the air -- and fly towards Id.
"Come, White Knight!" he says. "Or has the lion's courage fled him?"
GS: Ghaleon has attacked Id with Double Demon Fang! GS: Ghaleon has completed his action. GS: CRITICAL! Id guards a hit from Ghaleon's Double Demon Fang for 124 hit points! GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield! Statuses applied to Ghaleon!
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Open their eyes...
Jean blinks, shakes her head, feels Lucia's power once again, the same power that healed her once before from something even worse than the wound that holds her now. She looks down--and steps away from the branch that had pierced through her side, as it fades with the magic that heals that wound and does away with the remnants. The blue light--the song...
It's like Mount Zulan. Like before.
"Lucia..." Jean, who let loose her awful technique upon Id, feels that light now--and she cannot ignore it. "We will. ..I will."
Then she can try to make sense of the world--of the appearance of the Dragonmaster, who.. might be on their side? Even she recognizes him quickly with everyone mentioning him, Hiro calling to him. So as Id says he'll be a good dog--
That aura is forming around Id, and Jean steps forward, pulling the fans at her side and opening both. "...Don't think this is over," she says, saved from the destruction that would surely have claimed her life.
"Everyone--"
Jean charges in, low to the ground with arms behind her, and springs up from bent knee--but she does not make the claws of the Shadow Dragon this time, but whirls in movements graceful and sinuous, hard to read as combat at all save for the way she lashes her fan out in the process.
As she does, she looks to meet Hiro's eyes for an instant--with what Ghaleon's saying...
GS: Jean has attacked Id with Opening Dance! GS: Jean has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Blonde hair flutters in the wind. A wide grin crosses a pirate's face. Somewhere up above, perched on a tree branch with her arms folded in front of her...is a certain Layna Manydays.
She probably arrived with some of these jokers, but they might not even remember inviting her along. Layna Manydays needs no invitation! ...Though she'll take 'em where she can get 'em. She can smell trouble brewing just as well as she can smell treasure...
...And Taben's Peak certainly reeked of that.
She only had part of the story - the Fiends had run into trouble, and Some Asshole was giving them a hard time. And, it seemed, the Guard was there, as well - including the Dragonmaster himself. Well, she had no intention of letting them show her up or take advantage of the situation.
And so, here she is! She unfolds her arms...and her bracers begin to glow as she leaps from the tree branch. The bracers burst into flames and the winds pick up around her, taking the flames into it and wreathing her in flames.
"I hope I'm not interrupting--!!" Layna shouts, her trajectory taking her straight toward Id in a fiery divekick. As soon as she makes contact with a solid surface she attempts to leap back, putting her with the other combatants.
"...But it looks like you could use a hand, aye?" She concludes. She doesn't know some of them as well as she'd like, but they'd been good to her before - she wasn't going to let them deal with that redheaded guy by themselves.
She doesn't quite know who he is...but she can practically feel the power radiating off of him. It was a little intimidating, even to her...
...But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel a little excited, too. That was the aura of a fighter...no, maybe even a monster.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Id with Dynamic Entry! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: Id guards a hit from Jean's Opening Dance for 45 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Id guards a hit from Layna Manydays's Dynamic Entry for 40 hit points! GS: Cripple! Statuses applied to Id! GS: Hyper and Quick! Statuses applied to Layna Manydays!
DC: Seraph Ragnell switches forms to The Free!
GS: Noeline takes a solid hit from Riesenlied's Muni-mu-mu! tn. Riese we'll protect you! for 0 hit points! GS: Noeline gains a Combo from Inspire!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Lucia's light is a balm across her skin. She's used to feeling things rather differently to other Metal Demons, one of the only ones to have a distinct connection to a Medium, but even this is an odd sensation, a form of healing that isn't her own repair systems or a Guardian's power. She's not sure what to make of it - but doesn't spare it a great deal of attention either, instead looking up with a relieved huff at the sight and sound of Muni's descent.
"... we're still here. We can still push on," she reminds Riesenlied as she bunches her muscles, managing to find the strength to push up to her feet with the other Hyadean in her arms.
"... we knew you were captured, but certainly not in the way we expected, I see," she notes to Cetiri as she glances at their surrogate mother, raising a distinct eyebrow at some of the pieces of graffiti as she helps Riesenlied into Muni's cockpit. At least she's obviously joking, showing a fang past her grin as she adds: "Here you are, cheating on us."
Were it any other time whatsoever, she would probably not let Dva live that sentence down; given everything else, though, she simply offers an amused snort. "Good to see you too," she counters the huff with another sigh, touching at her hair as she gathers herself - and then looking over her shoulder at Id, and his regrowing aura, and the presence of Ghaleon and the Guard. "--keep her safe," she requests. "Be ready to retreat if need be. I'm going to get Leon."
On impulse, she reaches up shortly before Muni takes off - despite Cetiri and Dva's presence, Riesenlied gets tugged into a quick kiss, and Noeline has a vibrant grin afterwards. "Don't do anything stupid," she instructs fondly, and then pets Muni on the-- on the dashboard for good measure. "Go get 'em."
That done, she turns back to the battle, rather unwilling to go straight on the attack when she's not sure of the situation. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is not exactly a tenet she signs up to - besides, it gives her a chance to skirt the battle in Leon's direction.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Leo stands at Ghaleon's side, a respectful distance away. The Dragonmaster is the one entity alive--outside the Goddess Herself, of course--who outranks him, and old instincts die hard. The Lord of Calamity's power washes over the battlefield, soothing and healing the weary defenders. Leo watches it from the corner of his eye, even as his attention remains on the red-haired entity Ghaleon seems so interested in. His thoughts flash back to the terrible leonine entity at the Pleasing Garden. Could there be two? Or--
'Or has the lion's courage fled him?'
Leo turns towards Ghaleon, even as his blade clears leather with a pure, metallic sound--like the ringing of a bell. "At once," Leo says, to Ghaleon. Then, perhaps to the entirety of the assembled Fiends: "Don't think this excuses you!"
Then, his gaze flickers back to Id, and stays there. This man has the bearing of a predator, and the aura roiling around him settles in Leo's guts like a lead weight. It reminds him of the man who knocked him out in two swings in Lacour, and that feeling keeps him from being as reckless as he could be after being called out by Ghaleon. Leo advances on Id with long, deliberate strides, his boots churning up bits of burned grass and dessicated turf. As soon as he gets in range, he swings, executing a neat, precise slash from Id's shoulder to hip. It's a testing strike.
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Id with Flash Blade! GS: White Knight Leo has entered a Reflect stance! GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
It is not just Althena's Guard and the Dragonmaster. Through the noise, a woman's voice is suddenly heard, low and ringing like a bell in a Gothic cathedral.
"Blue walker, bound in chains of impulse."
A rock face ripples and shimmers. The pattern of it bleeds off the cloak of a figure who had blended seamlessly into it. Grey and brown melt back to shockingly pure white, a long white cloak and snowy underdress with sash and sigil, a deep hood shadowing most of the woman's face save for dispassionate red lips and a few dark curls. She takes a pair of slow steps forward and into full view.
Sister Domitia, the mysterious Priestess of Althena in the service of Cardinal Runette Forton, seldom appears outside of Rolance.
Today, in the presence of the Dragonmaster, an exception seems to have been made. Silver staff in her left hand, Sister Domitia holds her right hand out, fingers splayed beneath a silky white glove.
What begins to built in her palm both is and is not light - it's a cold, colour-leeched energy, white light that doesn't glow even though rays stream from it, unshining as the ball of power in her palm shrinks down to the size of a golf ball. "But that which binds you drags you with it," Domitia intones as the cold light pulses with an unsettling sensation. "To the terminus of causality. The end.
"See the light of Althena. Begone."
That cold light erupts from the Priestess's palm. It lances out with a high-pitched, electric squeal in a thin but focused beam of cold energy, writhing with a startling amount of power considering that it's coming from someone whose occupation lends itself more towards the healing arts.
Sister Domitia casts it straight at the Demon of Elru, intent on slashing the beam of abjuring light across him and hopefully reducing him to a smouldering pile.
GS: Neriah Parringer has attacked Id with In the Name of Althena! GS: Neriah Parringer has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with Muni-mu-mu! tn. Riese we'll protect you!! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
It is not just Althena's Guard and the Dragonmaster. Through the noise, a woman's voice is suddenly heard, low and ringing like a bell in a Gothic cathedral.
"Blue walker, bound in chains of impulse."
A rock face ripples and shimmers. The pattern of it bleeds off the cloak of a figure who had blended seamlessly into it. Grey and brown melt back to shockingly pure white, a long white cloak and snowy underdress with sash and sigil, a deep hood shadowing most of the woman's face save for dispassionate red lips and a few dark curls. She takes a pair of slow steps forward and into full view.
Sister Domitia, the mysterious Priestess of Althena in the service of Cardinal Runette Forton, seldom appears outside of Rolance.
Today, in the presence of the Dragonmaster, an exception seems to have been made. Silver staff in her left hand, Sister Domitia holds her right hand out, fingers splayed beneath a silky white glove.
What begins to built in her palm both is and is not light - it's a cold, colour-leeched energy, white light that doesn't glow even though rays stream from it, unshining as the ball of power in her palm shrinks down to the size of a golf ball. "But that which binds you drags you with it," Domitia intones as the cold light pulses with an unsettling sensation. "To the terminus of causality. The end.
"See the light of Althena. Begone."
That cold light erupts from the Priestess's palm. It lances out with a high-pitched, electric squeal in a thin but focused beam of cold energy, writhing with a startling amount of power considering that it's coming from someone whose occupation lends itself more towards the healing arts.
Sister Domitia casts it straight at the Demon of Elru, intent on slashing the beam of abjuring light across him and hopefully reducing him to a smouldering pile.
GS: CRITICAL! Noeline takes a solid hit from Riesenlied's Muni-mu-mu! tn. Riese we'll protect you! for 0 hit points! GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Riesenlied! GS: Reload! Noeline gains 15 extra FP from Riesenlied! GS: Id critically Guards a hit from White Knight Leo's Flash Blade for 14 hit points! GS: Noeline has attacked Riesenlied with When I'm With You...! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Riesenlied takes a glancing hit from Noeline's When I'm With You... for 0 hit points! GS: Quick! Statuses applied to Noeline! GS: Reload! Riesenlied gains 15 extra FP from Noeline! GS: Id guards a hit from Neriah Parringer's In the Name of Althena for 91 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
It's been a little while since Ragnell last checked in on the so-called Vile Fiends, and now that she's caught up with Alisha, she can afford to wander back and forth some more. She figured they'd likely still be on Meribus and so returned to the other continent, and asking around brings her as far as the Taben's Peak. Fireworks have been going off for the past while, and upon arrival, Ragnell finds that the Fiends are facing off against the infamous Demon of Elru while Althena's Guard--lead by *the* Dragonmaster Ghaleon, of all people--takes up the rear.
"Well, ain't that somethin'," she drawls, eyebrows rising in genuine surprise despite her dismissive tone. She gives Ghaleon a long, lingering look, before turning towards Hiro and the others. Jean in particular looks to be saving her nastier artes for now... She wonders how long that'll last if the Demon of Elru lives up to his reputation. "Y'all jus' can't stop findin' trouble t' shove your faces into, can ya?"
But that's part of the fun of associating with the Vile Fiends. The glyph of a Seraphic arte illuminates Ragnell from below as she starts to cast. "Suppose I may as well give you a hand here! *Blitzstrahl*!" At that call, a bolt of lightning, comparatively small, shoots down from a point a foot or so over Id's head.
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Id with Blitzstrahl! GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Lemina hates running -- but, well, here she is, running headlong into disaster. She actually thought this was going to be an easy sort of search, which is probably why a pit of dread is presently forming in her heart as she approaches Id... and the Dragonmaster, as well.
There's not a lot of time for reflection here, really -- Lemina needs to move decisively to help her friends. She doesn't even bother to draw her staff to focus yet; she just starts a low chant mid-run, extending one hand.
"Hiro! Jean! Are you guys okay?" she shouts, holding the energy in hand for just a moment before letting out a cry of, "Ice Lance!" A bright, gleaming bolt of blue-white ice forms in front of her hand and goes streaking for Id at about the same time as Ragnell's lightning.
GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Id with Ice Lance! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action. GS: Id critically Guards a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Blitzstrahl for 9 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Lemina Ausa's Ice Lance for 43 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
As the litany from Lucia surges forth the titanic use of power not unlike Althena's creates a void - an absence in the utilization of her strength in such degree. Malevolence roils forth to fill the gap. It surrounds her at all times like a maelstrom, but now more than most.
She can stand calm for a few moments before it becomes suffocating. She's like a choking person unable to cough - unable to speak. A moment before standing so tall and strong and now she takes a step forward and hobbles like a newborn faun. Unable to walk.
With such personages taking the field - the reality is the Lord of Calamity (?) seems frail, yet hidden with such a swell of contradiction that she must seem like a third force unto herself. Dangerous. Deceptively so. In a different way than either the Demon of Elru or the Dragonmaster Ghaleon.
And it's in that moment of her stumble - Hiro catches her by the arm and straightens her up. "Lucia..." By now at least he understands her suffering - at least this facet of it, like a singular part of a brilliant gemstone he can understand. "... overdid it huh?"
He murmurs, aware at least enough of the peril of saying that aloud in front of the Guard. "Leave the rest to us. We'll get you through this..."
Looking past her at Id, it seems like even the sight of him might be enough to smother his newfound determination, "... somehow." He says grimly.
Lucia gives him a long look, before shaking her head breathlessly. "Hiro..." But then looking past him at Jean who declares she must fight - and at the arriving Lemina, shakes her head faintly, "... I must... do... more..." Hiro doesn't seem surprised that she's pushing herself - but awed, as always, "Lucia..."
Before Ghaleon catches his attention. And something grips his heart icy cold, but he tries to trust in all the legends he grew up reading. "Just spend five minutes talking to her - and I bet she'll change your mind." Yet the mention of Filgaia causes him to be caught a little flat-footed. But only for a moment - of course Althena's Champion knows that much but...
He shakes off such thoughts. Lucia believed in Althena - and so did he.
Overhead Ruby surveys the devastation wrought by Moor Gault. Profoundly shaken - she let's out a whimper. She'd like to cry out for Id to stop this. She doesn't know who he is - but somehow he cared enough to do this kind of thing for her. She wishes she could just tell him to stop. That she had the power - or the courage. But as Ghaleon clashes with him.
She knows it's gone much too far. This violence is not something she has the slightest ability to affect. It feels like the tears have been evaporated from her eyes. "... Why?" On some level, it feels like this is all her fault - and she's impotent to do anything to fix it in this realm of gods where she cannot dwell all because she pretends to be a part of it while evading destiny and responsibility.
Hiro cracks a faint grin at Leo's comment. "Last thing on my mind." Despite how grim the situation is - despite how they might turn on them after - he's still a little giddy to fight alongside Althena's champions. Like he was some small part of a story that will one day be written.
Ragnell's appearance makes him look momentarily sheepish. Before he just shrugs as if to totally confirm everything she's saying. "It's just our way I guess." Before shouting to Lemina, "We're fine-! But be careful! This guy is something else!"
He says quietly to Lucia. "I need to get in there. Are you steady now? I'm going to let go." He waits for her to nod - then does so, gripping his sword with both hands.
Taking a deep breath, calming himself - he dashes right back in there. "Maybe you came here to try to prove something - but I think we're long past that now. Now-" This time instead of coming from on high, he flanks to the side with quick footwork before running right up to him - "-I just wanna deck you for making-"
Pivoting in a circle during the last few steps that drags his sword across the ground of the devastated landscape, he steps in towards Id, "-my friend cry!" -the resistance of the ground giving way to his sword as he drives it upwards in a slash that's less elegance and more explosive power, in a shower of rocks and topsoil, "DODGE THIS!"
GS: Hiro has attacked Id with Poe Sword! GS: Hiro has completed his action.
DC: MISS! Id completely evades Poe Sword from Hiro!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen isn't allowed her dirt nap for very long. Lucia's call to action brings some semblance of consciousness to Gwen's prone form. With a groan, Gwen holds her head with one metallic hand, shaking the remaining bits of blessed frost from her short hair. "... Did anythin' happen while I was out?" she mumbles in a hazy attempt at a joke, rising slowly to her feet.
There's... new people here. Hiro's awe-struck tone catches the courier's ear, burning away any lingering stupor as she glances back towards Hiro, then White Knight Leo, then finally Ghaleon.
Dragonmaster Ghaleon. "Whoah, *that's* the Dragonmaster? I didn't think he'd..." Be so ridiculously good-looking, for one. Pretty, almost. He's definitely imposing too. Gwen mulls this over in her head, scratching an index finger through her hair. "I guess I didn't know what I was thinkin'..." Probably something close to a vision of Nightburn Acklund, with some dragon insignias on him in a meager attempt to show, perhaps, that something vaguely about dragons. "He definitely lives up to the title."
She'd be happy, almost, if that very same Dragonmaster didn't just point out they still have matters to resolve.
Also, Id is still here.
On the other hand, the fighting has attracted many new people to come to their rescue. "Well, this'll be fun, won't i-" Oh. Poor Hiro is now tending to an even poorer Lucia, and Ruby...
Gwen winces. "Hey, Ruby, we'll chat 'bout this stuff when this is all over, 'kay?" Loading a bullet from a pouch on her arm, Gwen tries to shoot the flying dragon cat a reassuring grin. "Funny... I kinda feel bad just gangin' on on a guy like this, y'know? But I think he can take it." Loading her ARM, she aims towards Id, and fires. "Thing is, not sure we could if he hits back like that again. So, uh, I'm gonna put aside all those questions about life spans n' all that can make sure we can get that far, first. Whadaya say?"
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Id with Crackshot! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Id guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's Crackshot for 34 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.
Id grins, though he's clearly on the back foot here. "That's what I'm saying about Lunar... How is it you were slain and restored to life? The power of anti-causality... how is it you have it? I refuse to believe it was some false Goddess." Oh good he's an infidel too. He is unsure what to make of Ghaleon's display of magic, the summoning of his blade. It's flashier and stranger than what he is used to. The technique he uses he's unused to. He is blasted black by the flashes of light and skids across the dirt. He's bleeding from where Ghaleon struck him and he reaches up to his wounds as if he's surprised they're there.
"Tch....you're strong." He stands himself up. "But the difference between you and I, Dragonmaster...is that I have slipped free of my leash whereas you remain Althena's pet!"
It's like they're trying to outham each other.
He launches a crimson shot for Ghaleon. Red chi blast threatens to crash into him. It's more directed than the blast he dispelled before, but it's certainly more focused. He'd probably like to follow up with more buy White Knight Leo dives in shortly after and he's forced to interrupt his strike to catch Leo's sword in his hand.
"Hmph. Your man Corwynt..." Id says. "He's far less disciplined than you but is that the limit of your passion? Are you too a man who hides from his other side?" He isn't exhibiting capital M malevolence, but there is still something unsettling about him. Could there be a connection? Id doesn't comment on that. What he does do is throw a knee for Leo's gut, but doesn't follow up with anything because Layna comes in with a flying kick outta nowhere and clobbers Id in the head. His head jerks from the blow but Id reaches up, grabs for her leg.
Jean slices his face with her fan and he hisses. "I always wondered whether pirate would beat ninja." and he just swings Layna like a CLUB for Jean's body. "This is science."
Domitia unleashes a death beam at Id. Id throws out one hand and sends a chi blast into it. There's a beamstruggle for a while but Id is pushed back and he eventually throws himself backwards, throwing another crimson shot for Domitia from above as he leaps away, this time dropping Layna (if she hasn't already absconded) to fall further back, towards Taben Peak itself.
"I will strangle Althena with my own hands." Id says. "For the crime of failing this world." GOD HE IS SUCH AN INFIDEL.
Seraph Ragnell and Lemina launch SIMULTANEOUS attacks! That's a good idea. Id throws out both hands to catch the blasts, one above his head and and one towards Lemina's ice beam. Ragnell's electrical blast looks ABSORBED by Id though Lemina's chilly spell manages to punch through to Id anyway.
Id exhales slowly and then swings one leg up and slams it down, sending an electrical shockwave towards Lemina and Ragnell as it crackles along Id's limb!
"You're wrong about trusting these people." Id says. "About trusting a God. They'll stab you in the back. And you--" He looks towards Lemina. He pauses. "...You're probably right about Borgan." He's practically sheepish as he admits that.
He frowns as he sees the Munitekal Armor drop down by Riesenlied. Supporting both her and Noeline. His gaze then shifts towards Ruby. There's no more time. "Hmph...let's see...if I can show you that promised pain..."
Promised pain comes in the from of two red chi blasts, one launching for Muni and the other Noeline. They're too far back for Id to REALLY go after them.
Hiro dives in with a DODGE THIS. Id catches the sword between two fingers and says, "You remind me of me when I was young. But no matter how much you think you're right, no matter how desperately you struggle. Nobility without power will not change the world nor will it save Lucia or Ruby!"
He then punches Hiro and throws the sword in another direction. Will Hiro be able to deck Id?! Stay tuned!!
Gwen catches Id with a shot in just that moment and it hits him hard enough that he is sent flying back. He doesn't attack Gwen, he just gives her a long look, panting for breath for a moment before he starts falling back into Taben Peak proper. The dirt and trees rapidly turn into metallic walkways, armored plates, and rickety bridges. Id is trying to change the battleground to his advantage.
GS: Id has attacked Ghaleon with Crimson Shot! GS: Id has attacked White Knight Leo with Rude Kick! GS: Id has attacked Layna Manydays with Pirate VS Ninja! GS: Id has attacked Jean with Pirate VS Ninja! GS: Id has attacked Neriah Parringer with Crimson Shot! GS: Id has attacked Lemina Ausa with Raging Wave! GS: Id has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Raging Wave! GS: Id has attacked Noeline with Crimson Shot! GS: Id has attacked Riesenlied with Crimson Shot! GS: CRITICAL! Riesenlied guards a hit from Id's Crimson Shot for 151 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Riesenlied! GS: Id has attacked Hiro with Demon Fist! GS: CRITICAL! Ghaleon takes a glancing hit from Id's Crimson Shot for 52 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Ghaleon! GS: CRITICAL! Neriah Parringer guards a hit from Id's Crimson Shot for 102 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Neriah Parringer! GS: Id has attacked Id with Withstanding Fury! GS: Id has entered a Reflect stance! GS: Id has completed his action. GS: Jean takes a glancing hit from Id's Pirate VS Ninja for 86 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from Id's Pirate VS Ninja for 88 hit points! GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Id's Raging Wave for 219 hit points! GS: White Knight Leo guards a hit from Id's Rude Kick for 100 hit points! GS: Hiro takes a solid hit from Id's Demon Fist for 184 hit points! GS: Neriah Parringer has entered a Reflect stance! GS: Neriah Parringer has activated a Force Action! GS: Lemina Ausa guards a hit from Id's Raging Wave for 130 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Noeline takes a solid hit from Id's Crimson Shot for 183 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Noeline!
<Pose Tracker> Ghaleon has posed.
Ghaleon, despite his sarcasm, does keep an eye on his allies. Leo and Domitia both get quick glances. He also looks, with some surprise, right at Ragnell; it quickly evens out into the unending calm that he often has. "A Malak," he mutters under his breath. Then, he calls out: "I'm far more than 'something,' Seraph."
Then, he looks towards Hiro. "Is five minutes all that you needed to disrupt your way of life? My, my." He cracks a smirk, and then looks back at Id. His eyes narrow. "It certainly was not a false goddess. It was a true divinity--whatever you think that may be."
A bolt of light slams into him, even as white power crackles and glows across Ghaleon's form. A moment after it strikes him, knocking him backward and leaving a burnt mark upon the pauldron, Ghaleon winks out of existence. The Dragonmaster appears, a moment later, directly in front of Id. "You wouldn't be the first to try to kill the Goddess. What makes you think you can do such a thing?"
He moves even after his teleportation. Ghaleon flies forward with a lunging thrust, trying to slam his sword into Id's midsection and bury it deep. Then, he calls out: "Althena's fury, roar from below! GRAVE!"
The ground underneath Id's feet shakes -- and then a massive spike of rock explodes from under his feet, and slashes up at him. Ghaleon pulls his sword back just before the rocky edge can knock his blade to the side.
GS: Ghaleon has attacked Id with Super Sonic Thrust! GS: Ghaleon has completed his action. GS: Id takes a solid hit from Id's Withstanding Fury for 0 hit points! GS: Cover and Mighty! Statuses applied to Id! GS: Id takes a solid hit from Ghaleon's Super Sonic Thrust for 218 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
There's a soft, almost overtaken gasp from Riesenlied as she kisses her -- as she tearfully smiles and nods in turn. "Yes... of course." Muni seems terribly pleased as well, as the 12-foot tall armour stomps forward, largely controlled by Cetiri rather than the Hyadean leader... with Dva perched along a foothold on the side.
She looks towards Jean, Hiro and Lemina as they resume the battle as well; she looks towards Gwen and-- smiles towards her, encouraging, "Hold strong, Gwen. We'll be with you..." her eyes widen as she spots Ragnell as well, as she and Lemina combine ice and lightning together. "Miss Ragnell...!"
She catches sight of the Guard contigent -- including the hooded priestess with a powerful beam that prompts a little gasp in her chest. Why...?
The crimson blast comes. But there's a difference between a vastly degenerated Hyadean who can't even fight, and a battle-ready Metal Dragon... albeit a 'failed' one, by the Photosphere standards. "MUNI!" Muni-Muni's jaw cracks wide open as the blast comes, and then--
CHOMP
Munch munch munch, gulp. Riesenlied stares agog as she stammers, "A-are you all right, Muni...?"
Muni's mouth is sizzling as smoke and the smell of liquid quicksilver starts to trickle from it, but she seems to... to... enjoy the exchange of energy between them??
"Do not be deceived by appearances, Riesenlied. Muni-Muni's maw is her primary means of defense, for it contains her multiplex ablation weave and contains a bioelectric battery unit that converts incoming impact into power for her own shielding."
Riesenlied stares at her mother blankly.
"Muni's mouth is tough, Riesenlied."
She shudders for a moment -- but winces as Ragnell's pushed back by the blast. She holds her hand out towards the Seraph and whispers with concentration: "Light, aid her..."
Familiar bands of light start to form a weave around the Seraph, creating shields to help cover her approach.
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Muniii...! tn. Muni has to be brave...!! GS: Riesenlied has entered a Reflect stance! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Cover! Statuses applied to Riesenlied! GS: Riesenlied heals Seraph Ragnell! She gains 100 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
"Your hands," Sister Domitia intones from beneath the deep shadow of her hood, "are unworthy of being laid upon the Goddess."
Crimson energy tears towards the white-robed Priestess. She doesn't move--
but we have been here before, have we not?
dying on a street on another world.
As the little voice in Sister Domitia's thoughts bothers her with that, she holds her hand out.
The red light crashes into something about a foot in front of Domitia. Dire energy crackles madly across a shield of coruscating light, the globe of light weaving itself into arcane patterns that stream out from the point of impact. The clash between bolt and shield sends arcs of scarlet lightning lancing out from Domitia's position. Some bleed through the shield and scorch across her; she takes a step back, head snapping briefly to the side. Her lips come tightly together, teeth flashed for a second as she stifles the urge to cry out in pain.
"And what will you change with power but no nobility?" Domitia asks, her voice level and clear, edged with less tension than one might expect considering that she's only a priestess standing on the battlefield with at least two legends as she faces down a complete monster. "And what will you be left with when your power proves insufficient? You shall be but lord of a hollow place." The crimson light passes; still behind her shield, Domitia twirls her silver staff above her head with a flourish.
There is a sudden SHUNK sound as a long, wickedly curve blade suddenly erupts from one side of the staff's head.
Domitia bounds forward, both hands curling around the haft of her silver scythe. She fans out towards Id's flank, sweeping in to direct a hard slash along his side to try and reave through his defenses while he's engaged with Ghaleon, hoping to aid the Dragonmaster in that manner at least.
Hard fighting or not, Domitia still seems as calm about the situation as ever. Ghaleon can feel a brief glance on him from beneath the priestess's all-consuming hood, before she strikes at Id.
GS: Neriah Parringer has attacked Id with The Goddess's Bounteous Harvest! GS: Neriah Parringer has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"Lemina!"
Jean can't do much more than greet at first of course--she just went into melee with the Demon of Elru. ...Case in point--she's whirling beside him, watching the cut she makes, and then his hissed response involves Layna being swung at her and--"Whoa--"
Even Jean isn't fast enough to dodge this one immediately, and while she'd be glad to have Layna's help this is not quite what she had in mind. She gets hit hard and goes flying, landing against a tree. ...This time, it would appear that pirate comes out on top--rather literally. "...Nice to see you," Jean manages, "But not what I had in mind." She tilts her eyes back to where Id is moving, where he's fighting and where he's...
"I'll soften him up, you go in?"
A moment later she's rolling to the side while Layna rises, and kips back up to her feet in an instant. "...You don't know much about Althena," she says. "The people of this world love her--for good reason. Even these things that people do in her name..." Jean turns her eyes sharply to the Sister, to others, "Don't change that."
Leo said it doesn't excuse them. That's just fine.
She sprints forward them, leaping upward to one of the walkways' pillars, standing balanced on it. "Not done yet..." She stands on one foot, and rises--and then starts to shift, bending at the knee and whirling here, starting a complex and winding dance. She holds out her fans and goes faster, faster--
That's when the phantoms start, a cloud of buzzing insects shimmering into being and moving to cover Id with their stings.
GS: Jean has attacked Id with Bee Dance! GS: Jean has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Id's fingers close around Leo's blade, halting its momentum with distressing ease. It's like slamming into a wall, unexpectedly--the impact rushes up Leo's arms, a sudden jolt of discomfort. Id looks at him, and the White Knight meets his gaze, fangs bared. "Keep running your mouth, infidel," Leo snarls. "Whatever 'other side' you saw is the product of your warped mind, nothing more!" He pulls back on the hilt, trying to wrench the blade free and perhaps relieve Id of several fingers in the process--but it's no good. It's like it's gripped in a blacksmith's vise.
Id's knee slams into Leo's gut with an audible whud. The White Knight's breath rushes from his lungs; Id drops his blade, lets it fall to the ground as its wielder stumbles and staggers. No, Leo thinks, in the haze of pain and disorientation. Stand up. Stand up! The memory of a man's voice, deep and authoritative, commands he do just that. He takes several deep breaths, recovering surprisingly fast for someone who just got kneed by the Demon of Elru, and snatches his blade up from where it's sticking out of the ground.
"Do you long for death?" Leo snarls, as Id just keeps right on running his mouth. "DEMON FANG!" Leo surges forwards, the outlines of his body blurring from sheer speed as he swings--his blade looks like the gleaming crescent-moon for which his style is named. A wave of energy leaps from the edge of his sword, racing right at Id. As Ghaleon tries to impale and pin him, Leo gives him yet another thing to worry about.
And yet, he wonders. What sort of man can last this long agains the Dragonmaster?
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Id with Demon Fang! GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
To some, it might be an honor to be addressed, even if not by name, by the Dragonmaster. Ragnell side-eyes Ghaleon at his faint chastising, but in a rare show of restraint, she refrains from making a sarcastic quip, instead giving him a curt nod of acknowlegement. But there's no time to linger on that.
"Ah, hell," Ragnell mutters when Id reaches out his hands and *absorbs* her lightning spell. Lemina joining in on her arte and casting a spell of her own to land at the same time was a good idea, but she doesn't even have time to give Lemina a thumbs up before Id sends her own power *exploding* back towards her, shattering earth and stone in its wake and hurling onto the Seraph with crushing force. If she were a human, she'd probably be dead already; as it stands, she crawls out from the rubble with a groan and one hand on her hat. She feels like she was punched in the face with a boulder, probably because she actually was. And Id didn't even seem to be particularly *trying*?? Holy hell! He truly does deserve his reputation.
Except...
'You're wrong about trusting these people. About trusting a God. They'll stab you in the back.'
"Huh? Wait, are you talkin' to me?" Ragnell says, pointing at herself as she staggers out of the rubble. "We've never met. Why d'you care?" She's spared the need to heal her own wounds when Riesenlied sends healing light and shields to weave around her; Ragnell glances over towards the Tainted and gives her a half-smile and a nod in thanks. Now she just feels like she got kicked in the face by an angry horse. Improvement!
But Id's still saying some frankly odd things, this time to Hiro about Ruby and Lucia. She frowns and calls to the baby Red Dragon, "Hey, Ruby! Why's this fucker so obsessed with you? What's he care if Hiro 'saves' you or not?" There's also Lucia, granted, but it's easy to see why someone like the Demon of Elru might have a general interest in the so-called Lord of Calamity. What's Ruby matter to the him? The way he talks, it sounds weirdly *personal*. Did the Fiends roll into this guy sometime when she wasn't around?
Jean has a few things to say about Althena and how those who act in her name still don't actually represent her. Ragnell chuckles, glancing at Domitia at the same time, but then looks at Lemina. "I'll watch your back," she offers in wake of Jean's offer to soften Id up so Lemina can go in. Then she breaks into a run to one side, zig-zagging to present a harder-to-hit target while also drawing attention to herself, and pulls her twin pistols to open fire with a rapid rat-ta-tat-tat on Id with several lightning bullets that arc and home in on him. Whether they strike true or not is another story, but...!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Id with Storm Runner! GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action. GS: Id critically Guards a hit from White Knight Leo's Demon Fang for 17 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline sweeps away from Muni's side, giving Riesenlied a nod as she ducks away through the melee; she doesn't get far before Id's ire bears down on the two of them, a now-familiar crimson light. She manages to block it, if only just - a flash of Duras Drum's power signifies her rough and rather wild attempt to dispel and disperse its energy.
Saying anything biting in return seems pointless; it's beyond clear that Id does not intend to listen to reason, only force his own truth onto the situation as hard as he can. She's seen it before, and she's quite sure she'll see it again. And again, and again, she thinks to herself for a bitter little moment, but lets the thought go as quickly as it arrived.
Besides, calling attention to herself is exactly the last thing she wants to do right now. Instead, she grabs within herself for the sensation of sorcery that constantly tugs at the back of her mind, pulling a piece of it forwards. Duras Drum is still sealed, but nothing lasts forever, and in the time since gaining the Medium Noeline has picked up a few tricks on how to channel the scraps of his power that do leak through.
Her form shifts and becomes indistinct, blurs softly as she skirts the melee towards where Leon lies prone; she abruptly weaves between two pieces of brush, all the better to begin obscuring her presence from those, well, present. ... to be honest, she doesn't have a great idea on what she's going to do once she reaches the Black Wolves commander, but ensuring he's still alive and breathing is more or less the first thing on her mind, and she's quite sure it's what Riesenlied would prefer as well.
GS: Noeline has attacked Noeline with Hyades Edge! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: Noeline takes a solid hit from Noeline's Hyades Edge for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Noeline! GS: Mighty! Statuses applied to Noeline! GS: Id guards a hit from Neriah Parringer's The Goddess's Bounteous Harvest for 66 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
Lemina... pauses, as Id offers a concession to her worldview. "Yeah, no, I'm mega-great at figuring out when people are jerks," Lemina replies, staggering back a little. By the time the shockwave gets to her, she's got her staff out and has thrown up a wall of ice; the shockwave crashes against it -- but it's not enough, and Lemina ends up squarely on her ass, groaning in pain.
She moves to form up with Jean -- or more accurately behind Jean, getting herself ready to provide some solid support for the dancer. She considers providing defensive support -- but one taste of Id's power has made her pretty certain that it's impossible to provide defensive support against Id.
So, instead, Lemina does exactly what she wanted to do anyway, which is to say, blow things up.
Sweeping her staff forward, Lemina gives it a quick twirl and a similarly quick chant. The staff glows white-hot at the tip for a moment, and with a cry of, "Fire Ring!" a ring of fire starts to form beneath Id.
Some magic yet remains in Lemina's staff, too, ready to be put toward her subsequent assaults at any moment.
GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Id with Fire Ring! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna doesn't quite manage to escape in time - Id moves much faster than she originally anticipated. He grabs her out of the air by the leg before she's completely out of range and she finds herself being swung violently at Jean, resulting in the two of them being sent flying into a tree.
A successful experiment, though results may yet prove inconclusive.
"Aye, this ain't what I had in mind either...sorry 'bout that, Jean." Layna replies with a winded chuckle. She pulls herself off of her, and then glances over as Jean offers a suggestion.
A wide grin crosses Layna's face, and she nods.
"Now you're speakin' my language. Let's do it." She agrees, cracking her knuckles. She waits for Jean's dance, summoning a cloud of insects to harry and sting him...and then rushes in.
"Y'tryin' to make it personal now? If you've got a problem with the Goddess, you've got a problem with me, aye? Even a criminal like me's been blessed. Here's a taste of it!" The wind swirls around Layna's fists as she unleashes a flurry of punches, making each one quicker and more dangerous than the last.
And then, finally, with one last burst of wind she propels herself away as Lemina conjures a ring of fire around her intended target.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Id with Swab the Decks! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: Id guards a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Storm Runner for 68 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Jean's Bee Dance for 0 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Lemina Ausa's Fire Ring for 56 hit points! GS: Mighty! Statuses applied to Lemina Ausa! GS: Id guards a hit from Layna Manydays's Swab the Decks for 88 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Ruby nods kinda dumbly at Gwen. When she says about chatting about this later. She's not sure she wants to talk about this later. Given the insecurities he's touching upon. But all the same it's nice that she's so concerned. But then Id says that and - "I don't want it! I don't want any of this!" Ruby pleads like her spirit is being gradually crushed as this goes on. It's flattering in a way that some stranger came out of nowhere caring about her needs so much - but it's being done in such a twisted way. Distorted. Into people thinking they know what's best for her - and maybe it is. But not like this.
It's not entirely unexpected that Id can catch his sword with his bare hands. He knew all too well by now that he might as well be charging a hurricane. The punch to his jaw sends him sprawling - making him feel like it's cracking under the strain as he rolls along the ground. Pushing up with a palm, he looks agonized, as he wipes his chin with his other.
"Then I'll become... strong... I'll face things like you one after another. Get beaten a hundred times. A thousand." He's got that youthful naivete there. One time is all it takes. One defeat by the wrong opponent. And yet - he seems to believe he'll survive it all. Id tosses the sword in another direction - and he says a single word. The wind shifts and knocks the sword out of mid-air, arresting it's flight part of the way. As it spins and plants itself in the dirt a good distance away.
"... I'll endure it all if that's what it takes to save them."
But not change the world? Perhaps he thinks it isn't him that will...
Ghaleon's comment though actually causes him to double take, blinking like there's some veiled slap in the face. Then he actually manages a steady grin down on one knee.
But he remembers. He remembers atop the Blue Spire - Lucia appearing in a haze of light. Powerful, majestic, beautiful.
And in just a few short minutes - everything had changed.
Even in the middle of the battle - he manages a smile, and speaks in a sotto voce, "You'd be surprised at what five minutes can do."
With the challenge to Althena, it's only fitting for the Dragonmaster to rise to it. But strangely - so too does someone else, as Lucia finds her voice. "You are wrong - about Althena. She has not failed this world. And neither... will I." While nothing Ghaleon says is wrong it still leaves this subtle sense of unease with Hiro. He tries to shake it but can't quite. Instead he keeps himself low like a runner at a block. Then breaks off into a sprint. Running past the Demon of Elru - he barks out - "Ferocious Winds!"
The wind currents shift suddenly, savagely twisting into a funnel of power that descends upon the Demon of Elru. While it's doubtful they can actually do much to break his stance - they batter over and over, the swift moving currents feel like they're sharp enough to cut from the friction burns. But to make things worse - maybe they box Jean's bees in - making them faster moving little projectiles.
"Seems to me like you're just using your power to bully people. I mean listen to you - strangling Althena with your own hands? Destroying places like Old Petra - and wiping out lives like they're nothing to you! Where do you get off trying to lecture us on how to go about changing things when all you're doing is making things worse for everyone?"
Ruby however shakes her head at Ragnell, pink pawsies on either side of her head, "I don't know! I don't know! It's like he knows me but doesn't too! I don't- I don't get it! He acts like trying to kill everyone here - he's... trying to prepare me for... for..." She can't quite get it out, and when she does it's a whisper, "...outliving everyone..."
Oh.
Maybe this is something Ragnell can understand real well after all.
By now Hiro's reached his sword, which he tugs out of the ground into a hand again. "Ruby... don't let him get to you. We're gonna make sure that's something you don't have to worry about for a real long time." What he says - it's meant to reassure her, but Ruby looks like her heart just sank into the ground.
GS: Hiro has attacked Id with Cyclone! GS: Hiro has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen looks up towards the encouraging Riesenlied, giving a grateful thumbs up. "Don't worry 'bout me, I'm doin' fine now," she shouts to the rider and the Metal Dragon up above. "Keep an eye on the others!"
She'll be fine! Really! Her doubts, on the other hand...
Grey-blue eyes settle on Id's own, then quickly flick away, faltering under the weight of the red-haired man's gaze. Is he... panting?
Should they really be fighting him? If they stopped, would he? And also, why did Leo and Ghaleon show up, if not for the Fiends? Was it really for Id? Does she really want someone as unpredictable and powerful as Id to fall into the Guard's hands, and possibly under their control?
It'd be really easy to just ignore these questions and keep shooting. It'd lead lead to problems later, though.
That's assuming he doesn't scramble away anyway, transforming the very *grounds* he's on. Gwen does a doubletake. "Is this for real?" she mutters, under her breath.
She loads another bullet, raising her voice loud enough to hopefully be heard as she moves in after in.
"Uh, Mr, uh, Id? You gave your message to Ruby n' all that, n' challenged people and their beliefs. Why not, uh, go, n' challenge another day? Iiii don't think any of us really wanna deal with an unconscious you later." Maybe, if Leo or Ghaleon overhear her, they might further clarify their purpose. "It'd kinda like havin' a wounded lion in the back of my wagon." This is said, ironically, at the same time another bullet zings towards Id, carefully aimed to try to weaken his defense.
Maybe, if Leo or Ghaleon overhear her, they might further clarify their purpose.
GS: Id guards a hit from Hiro's Cyclone for 74 hit points! GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Id with Comet Clip! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Id guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's Comet Clip for 8 hit points! GS: Shieldbreak! Statuses applied to Id!
<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.
Despite Id's taunting, he does seem interested in what Ghaleon has to say. He keeps looking in his direction. Perhaps rather than try to get the answers out of Lucia, he is trying to learn what he can from Ghaleon now. He even chuckles a little at Ghaleon's quip to HIRO of all people. It's the right kind of cynicism that reacts well with Id's worldview.
Ghaleon's sword slices into Id's gut as he unexpectedly teleports in front of Id. Doesn't he know you're supposed to teleport in from behind?! The sword does manage to punch through him and out his back. Id coughs out blood. He's human enough. Isn't he?
He throws a punch for Ghaleon with CONCENTRATION CHECK failing strength, slowing his cast down enough that he can pull free and backflip OVER the jutting rock. He's still bleeding--that blow SHOULD kill him eventually. It doesn't. Id just places one hand over it. "Tch.... you really are strong. And worse, clever." He sinks to one knee for a moment, closing his eyes as his wounds start to knit shut. Not all the way, but he manages to get some progress on healing himself with his chakra. He stands himself up and says, "I've killed Gods before," to Ghaleon. "I wonder...if Althena is the God I was made to kill." He stands himself up. "During my times of rest I have missed much. It's the worst part, having to learn the way of the world again. That which powers me... will never let me die. The star ocean is vaster than you know." Perhaps he is similar to the Lord of Calamity, though one doubts most would know it.
White Knight Leo's energy crackles around Id rather than through him. It seems like Id is BENDING it around him with his body rather than his hands and it snaps away into nothing as he pushes the split beams apart further with his hands as he brings them up.
"So yes," Id tells Leo. "I do. But violence will never kill me." He then throws his head for Leo's. Leo has a HORN on his head. This does not stop Id. "Everyone has an other side!"
He is slashed away from Leo by Sister Domitia. Domitia's words make him hesitates and he growls but it's honestly a pretty sick burn. "I'll have lost everything." He tells her. "Once again." Domitia's work keeps that wound open. Despite its grievous nature, he barely seems to care about it, falling back further onto a metal platform, getting plugged by Ragnell's lightning bullets as he does so, though some are blocked by the very platform he hopped onto and, well, his shoes. His eyes narrow as she starts inquiring of Ruby, but he says, "You swear a lot. I like that." Id does look like someone who approves of saying naughty words. He counterattacks with--yes!!--a red chi blast. Sorry a crimson chi blast.
Muni totally ate one of those. Like literally ate it. At this point, Id can't really AIM at the Hyadeans with everything that's between him and them. He really would like to, but they're going to get off easy for the moment as he figures out how to murder them without getting carved into tiny Id chunks by Ghaleon.
Layna, Lemina, and Jean followup Ragnell's technique with bees, martial arts, and fire. The bees obscure Id's vision and are novel enough that he tries jogging backward and covers his eyes to get away from them. Layna gets several good clobbers against Id's face and chin as he backpedals. He waves away the bees and Layna falls back. Id grins and steps forward only to be promptly immolated by Lemina.
Id walks through the fire, charred and looking pretty sour, but then he laughs. "Heh... Guess so." He pushes his hair back and the fire washes off of it, though the burns along his face remain. "You have variety. Pretty good. He throws a jab for Lemina's gut and then a kick up towards Layna before twisting around in an attempt to sweep Jean's leg like Cobra Kai. "You change up your strategy... Fighting like yourself. Good."
Gwen slams Id with another bullet, stalling him as Hiro tries to run past Id. Id sticks out his arm, threatening to collide it into Hiro's face. He doesn't stop him from running towards his blade though beyond that because his arms are burning in pain from the winds slicing alongside them. Id hisses through the agony and he stumbles backwards.
"I don't get it..." Id tells Gwen. "Why are you talking to me like that." It's strange to him before he looks towards Hiro once more before throwing a kick for Gwen's gut. This is what he understands. "Heh... You reject me too, Ruby?" Id pushes his hair back again. "Well it's to be expected... but we're going to have a long time to get to know each other all over again, aha ha ha..." He then cringes and wheezes, clutching at his wound from Ghaleon once more.
GS: Id has attacked Ghaleon with Demon Fist! GS: Id has attacked White Knight Leo with Rude Headslam! GS: Id has attacked Layna Manydays with Demon Fist! GS: Id has attacked Jean with Demon Fist! GS: Id has attacked Lemina Ausa with Demon Fist! GS: Id has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Crimson Shot! GS: Id has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Rude Kick! GS: CRITICAL! Ghaleon takes a glancing hit from Id's Demon Fist for 69 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Id's Demon Fist for 198 hit points! GS: Id enters a Counter stance! GS: Id has attacked Hiro with Cross Counter! GS: Id has completed his action. GS: Lemina Ausa critically Guards a hit from Id's Demon Fist for 40 hit points! GS: White Knight Leo guards a hit from Id's Rude Headslam for 102 hit points! GS: Hiro critically Guards a hit from Id's Cross Counter for 41 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Id's Crimson Shot for 177 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Seraph Ragnell! GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Id's Rude Kick for 101 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Jean takes a glancing hit from Id's Demon Fist for 91 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied can't help but admire the swordplay and prowess on display from the Dragonmaster -- it's on a level above anything she'd seen... easily Lord Siegfried's equal, if not more. Even the Demon of Elru is having trouble, and he admits it easily. But he isn't really who she should focus on--
"Ruby..." Riesenlied speaks gently to the little Dragonet. "My kind is, as far as anyone can tell, long lived. The average Hyadean can easily live thousands of years... if not more. But the Tainted, like most in Wayside... a great number of us can measure our years out like mayflies."
She pauses, and expresses, "But it does not mean we saw it fit to lie in the Gutter and wait for the end. Even if our existences may be short, we've the verve to see that we make it a bright and meaningful existence."
She only hopes her words can be a comfort to her-- "Your time with Hiro, Jean, Lemina, Lucia... it's every moment of it that matters, not the end. And you'll carry those memories to the future, stronger than ever..."
While Riesenlied is making a speech, Cetiri is actually doing things -- particularly, manuevering the little Muni-machine to float upwards and closer towards the battle. It's a risky move, but it'll hopefully give Noeline cover and time to retrieve Leon as she's seeking to do.
"Dva -- it's your turn," Cetiri bravely announces.
Dva droops as she exclaims, "Why'm ~I~ the one who has to attack the destroyer of worlds?!"
Cetiri gives her a look.
"U-ugh, fine, fine!" She draws the Brionac ARM out, readying the spear as it extends and begins to thrum with energy. She drops low on the side of Muni, and darts forward as she exclaims, "Y-you'd best be ready, cause here I come!"
Her dart takes her into the air, much like a dragoon; at the apex of her jump, she tips herself over as she descends, her lance hand stretched outward as she exclaims:
"Vertical Raid!!"
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Id with Vertical Raid! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Sister Domitia tilts her head just slightly to give Jean a brief look. From the downturn of her lips, it is probably a silent rebuke. The hood hides most of it.
But there is more to consider. That second of hesitation from the Demon of Elru. Sister Domitia presses her lips together intently.
"She rejects you because of what you bring," she remarks as she circles away from Id, passing her scythe to her left hand again. "Battle and pain. Punishment of the innocent just as much as the guilty. But..."
Leaning her scythe against her shoulder, Domitia folds her hands and bows her head. Power begins to build. The shield flickering around her pulses and shimmers with runic patterns that radiate out in rings that melt into each other and then flow out again from countless ripple points, shifting constantly. A white aura flows around that shield, shimmering with the same pale light at before - vividly white, yet barely seeming to glow. The light congeals into streams, converging in a globe in front of Domitia's folded hands, pulsing and whirling as power compresses into it.
"...But you would find no satisfaction, on any star in the ocean, in the blood of any dead god or crumbled church," she intones, her voice taking on an echo, like a bell rung through the nave of a basilica. "Another fight, another challenge. I wonder if there are days when all you wish for is to die."
Domitia lifts her head, unclasping her hands and leveling them forward.
"In the oceans above... find this star."
Domitia launches the magic blast as a shimmering white fireball, like a dim star come to life. The force blast hurtles at Id, and should it connect, it'll burst into a hail of energy, bombarding him with raw, punishing force.
GS: Neriah Parringer has attacked Id with Silver Shining Star! GS: Neriah Parringer has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ghaleon has posed.
Leon Albus, mercifully, isn't dead. As Noeline gets closer to him, she finds the captain of the Wolves face down in the dirt. He is breathing -- but he is also out cold.
Ghaleon gets a fist into the face for his trouble. His head snaps back, a little blood dribbling down his lip. He turns his head, craning his neck, and looks back towards Id. "If you were made to kill a god... then I think you're in for a divine disappointment," Ghaleon says. "Making an enemy of a god is almost as foolish as relying on one!"
This is, perhaps, rather heretical talk. However, he is the Dragonmaster.
He glances sideways at Hiro, then at Lucia. "Ah, ah, ah, princess!" he calls out to her. "You should stay out of this. Your fight is in another castle!"
Then, he looks to Id -- and cracks another cruel smile at Gwen's words. His lips curve into an elegant, but mean smile. His eyes narrow, and his elven features are marred by that look. "Tsk, tsk," he says. "I don't intend to let Lucia get away from here. But... you're the first one that I have to deal with. Now, with all due apologies to dear Nash, but..."
He throws a hand out. Electricity crackles up around him. Crackling bolts of light roar and snap with thunder, turning and twisting about Ghaleon, until they shoot down an outstretched arm -- and then flow off his hand. They hurl forth, and turn into a massive series of lightning arcs that rocket for Id, and tries to engulf him.
"...THUNDERBOLT!"
GS: Ghaleon has attacked Id with Thunderbolt! GS: Ghaleon has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
"I've never minded you watching my back," Jean answers Ragnell, but the light words aren't entirely match by her tone--she's focusing, for sure. She does not answer her friends words and worries right now; she is here, and her presence is the support for most of them. But Ruby...
"You don't have to understand right now," Jean calls to Ruby. "A battlefield's not the time to get caught up in uncertainty."
Her attack seems to start to work. But--not enough yet. Id talks about rebirths, and times, and--
"Violence will never kill him," she murmurs, hearing it. ...But then he's up in her business, and Jean starts to move out of the way of his attack as he speaks--"Nnh--" But instead, he hits her hard, and she slams into a metal plate, rolling against the ground. "Fighting like--myself. What are you talking about?"
She narrows her eyes. "...Whatever."
Ghaleon is a little heretical, but--
Jean pushes herself up and lands next to Hiro. "...Hiro," she says, under her breath, speaking just to him without looking at him, "We need to get Lucia out of here as quick as we can. ...They've got this. We don't want them to have her."
Jean puts out her arms, and starts another dance, this one slow, wavering, her arms moving hypnotically. "And...--"
Violet smoke falls from the very air near Id, as great winged insects--beautiful, strange--start to float around. The magic in them is shadow--is sickening--concealing.
GS: Jean has attacked Id with Moth Dance! GS: Jean has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna gets a few good hits in...but it's like punching a brick wall. He looks human enough...but an ordinary human wouldn't be able to move quite so...vigorously...with wounds like that. Case in point, Id wades through Lemina's fire ring - getting a little charred in the process - before sending a kick upward toward her.
The sheer force of it sends her flying, and it takes her a second to catch herself and slide to a stop. She leaves a long line carved through the earth in her wake, and doubles over for a second with a wince.
He says he's killed gods before. She doesn't know if she believes that, but he's certainly powerful.
"...Damn, that was a hell of a kick." Layna mutters with a grin before straightening up. For the moment, she decides it may be best to attack from a distance. She recites an incantation and the winds begin to howl once more before flying off toward Id, slashing viciously at him like a pirate's cutlass - maybe she's interested in testing out his theory that violence can't kill him. Hopefully Jean's moth cloud provides enough cover for her to be able to get through.
"How's everyone doing? You all hanging in there alright?" She asks those assembled. She doesn't take her eyes off Id.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Id with Cutlass Gale! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
The way in which Noeline scoops up Leon's prone form is a little haphazard; she's still on a running strafe, expecting another attack from Id at any moment. Even if one doesn't come right this instant, she only really considers herself to have enough time to throw Leon over rather roughly over one shoulder. It might not help his injuries all that much in the long-term, but the huff of exhaled air from the impact at least reassures her that there's no significant problems when it comes to breathing. Percussive first aid is better than nothing.
Her cargo secure, the complete lack of a plan catches up to her rather abruptly. It's all well and good having Leon over her shoulder, but they're still facing down Id, and Noeline doesn't exactly like the idea of trying to take the Destroyer on while simultaneously acting as a humanoid shield, however much practice she's had at it as of late.
Still, the decision is somewhat made for her when Dva launches out of Muni's cockpit in a diving stab; Noeline stares in mild disbelief for a moment, before muttering something under her breath and kicking back into a run, this time back the way she came. Leaving Dva alone as the only Hyadean to be on the ground with Id doesn't sit well with her in any way, even with Cetiri there to look out for her--
--so she doesn't.
On an impulse, she wills the blurring sorcery around her into a single thin line, so tightly compressed it's almost a tangible thing. The twist she executes is a little awkward given the load she's bearing, but it still gives her the momentum to line up a strike on Id and launch the blade-like shadow right through the middle of the melee, weaving unnaturally through the crowd to add its power to Dva's strike.
GS: Noeline has activated a Force Action! GS: Noeline has attacked Id with Black Velvet! GS: Noeline has entered a Reflect stance! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: COUNTER! Id strikes at Noeline with a counter attack! GS: CRITICAL! Id guards a hit from Noeline's Black Velvet for 78 hit points! GS: Quick! Statuses applied to Noeline! GS: Sneak! The true nature of Riesenlied's attack becomes clear! GS: Id guards a hit from Riesenlied's Nini mu muni! tn. Leave Muni's friends alone! for 105 hit points! GS: Noeline takes a glancing hit from Id's Counter Attack for 127 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
That sure is a big old beam of crimson power slamming right into Ragnell. The shields that Riesenlied had cast around her hold out for an impressive two seconds before cracking and shattering, leaving Ragnell to take the brunt of the power that remains. It sends her flying, and she skids several feet before coming to a painful stop.
This, she reflects, is not a fight she's going to last. Well, that's fine, too. As much as fighting a strong opponent excites her, this is ultimately a fight for the Vile Fiends--of which she is not truly one.
"I meant Lemina, but I'm happy t' watch your back too, Jean," Ragnell calls, winking over towards the dancer. She tilts her head over towards Ghaleon and his would-be heretical words. Hmmm... But then Domitia weighs in on Id perhaps wanting to die, and the Seraph barks out a laugh.
Ruby meanwhile seems to have some insight as to what Id is trying to do here, even if she doesn't understand why he's doing this. Ragnell frowns, then gives her a sharp nod. "You'll learn that sooner or later, yeah," she says, "but that doesn't have to be on this asshole's timetable." She looks back over at Id. "Why *do* you care what happens t' these kids? An' for that matter, if you were made t' kill a God--who made you t' do it?"
As she speaks, she begins to cast another Seraphic arte, this time with a longer build-up, though golden lightning still crackles at her feet. "O blade of heaven's will, lay waste to our foes...!" A six-pointed glyph forms underneath Id, mirroring the one under Ragnell. "DIVINE SABER!" Magical energies transfer over, and powerful thunderbolts crash at random on each point of the star before smashing repeatedly at the center, where--hopefully--Id should still be.
GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Id with Divine Saber! GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
What sort of creature is this? Leo doesn't have much time to ponder the matter. Id comes barreling at him like a freight-train, slamming his head into Leo's with a thunderous crack. Leo tumbles backwards, his whole world a blur of white-hot sparks and sudden pain. He lands on his back, letting out a breath before the impact forcibly drives it from him. Is this man really a demon?, Leo thinks, as he lies, dazed, on the ground. The sounds of roaring flame, thunder, and bees fill his ears. By the time he clambers to his feet, Id is surrounded by fluttering, smoky moths, and being charged by a pirate. Layna asks a question, but all Leo manages is a snarl of anger.
No. You're allowing this monster into your head. Steady yourself!
Leo's ears are still ringing. He switches up his grip, and with a single, driving motion, he stabs the point of his blade into the ground. The might of Althena's Blessing surges through him, and the earth itself answers him. Stone condenses out of the air, forming armor around his body, even as it suffuses him with its unyielding strength. His cape flutters out behind him in an invisible breeze.
Within a minute, Leo rises again, reinvigorated. But is this invocation of the Blessing enough to stand against someone who claims to be made to kill a god?
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked White Knight Leo with Earth Prayer! GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action. GS: White Knight Leo takes a solid hit from White Knight Leo's Earth Prayer for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper and Shield! Statuses applied to White Knight Leo!
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
"Right!" the Premier of the Magic Guild replies to Ragnell, with a nod. "Thanks -- I know I can count on you, Ragnell!" Thus far, Ragnell has proven to be Lemina's super cool trustworthy friend.
Lemina blinks a few times as she hears Ghaleon talk -- it's jarring to say the least, to hear the purported Dragonmaster, the former Premier of Vane, talk about relying on divinity in such negative terms. It's nearly enough to distract her from defending herself -- but as Id steps in toward her, she remembers where she is and what she's doing.
Her staff slams into the ground in front of her, creating another shield of ice. When Id actually swings, she's ready with a second maneuver, too -- a small burst of flame in front of herself that propels her backward off that sheet, meaning that -- while she does get hit with some ice shards -- she doesn't take nearly the full combination of strikes.
"... Do you guys need me to make a bigger distraction?" Lemina asks as she skids to a halt next to Jean. Jean already seems to have that distraction component handled, to a point -- but Lemina...
... well, Lemina is always quite good at making a big deal out of things.
Pointing her staff straight forward, Lemina concentrates hard, chanting. Those who've been traveling with her for more than a year now will notice that there's something different in the chant -- some new particles that... generally haven't come out of her mouth before. She gives her staff a twirl, and cries out --
"Flare Vortex!"
Flame starts to come up below Id, just as before - only this time, rather than hanging still on the ground, the flames start to rise higher and higher -- and then start to whirl, as if whipped by cutting winds. They build higher, higher, and eventually turn into a full-on tornado of flame, with a deafening noise behind it.
Lemina... despite the tense situation, ends up with a big, broad smile on her face. "It -- it worked! It worked!" She's practically giggling as she watches the flames climb.
GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Id with Flare Vortex! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Upon Ghaleon calling her Princess - Lucia's head turns slowly to regard him. For a while she just stares - then - "... ... ... You are correct in this." And yet the strange contradiction of his words leaves her looking at him in wonder. For now she seems to agree rather than simply obey... but...
Id sticks out his arm in an intent to clothesline him. At this pace he can't exactly stop. So instead he whips up his arm in a block that may take Id a little off-guard. He's not using his shield, but his forearm instead - in a way that's not unlike Jean, or many other martial artists.
His strength isn't exactly enough to move that arm, but he at least forces himself under it with him only barely glancing the tip top of his head. What Ghaleon says again - seems like a slap in the face. What Ghaleon says about relying on a Goddess... yet at the same time hasn't he come to believe something similar? Not relying on the divine to save but making something with them.
With his sword in hand, he holds it up at a high guard, vaguely pointed down.
And what Jean says - "Jean's right. Ghaleon. I know what the Goddess ordered but... too much depends on her." He does allow for a small joke, "Sorry we can't even give you five." Is he talking about five minutes? Or high fiving him? That will remain a mystery. "Lemina! Go for it! And can you set up by Lucia? We need to start pulling out of here."
All the same, despite the need for retreat, he presses forward in that moment towards Id. "As for you-" There's something more refined about his sword work in this moment than usual. A series of feints that blur together with each ever-shifting movement of his swordwork. He's going less for power it seems and more to prevent an embarrassing spectacle before like when he grabbed his sword out of his hands. It may not be too impressive for the likes of Id - but all the same it marks at least some development in his style. A style which might seem vaguely familiar, "-you don't even get five with Ruby until you can learn to take rejection more gracefully."
But one by one - people talk to Ruby. And Ruby looks at each of them. Riesenlied. Ragnell. Even Gwen calling out Id. And for a little while she seems to just be processing it all. "... Yeah. Yeah!" Like she's trying to recover a little bit of dignity, and composure.
Until finally she manages to work up the courage to respond to Id - she crosses her arms in mid-air like and looks away. "Mister I barely even know who you are! Rejecting you? You make it sound like you've made some kind of proposal! And frankly I'm not that kind of lady that promises to spend eternity with just - anyone. You wanna try again sometime then you're gonna have to learn to keep your mitts off me while making an introduction and to not call out all of my friends like that!"
Well... that sass certainly seems more like her at least. Under the surface she still might be a little broken up - but right now at least she's at least got back some of her usual defiance.
GS: Hiro enters a Counter stance! GS: Hiro has attacked Id with Sword Dance! GS: Hiro has completed his action. GS: Id takes a solid hit from Ghaleon's Thunderbolt for 263 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Now *that* was a reaction Gwen also didn't see coming. Id almost seems like he's confused.
Then again, she *is* being nice to a guy who destroyed an entire continent, and would be more than happy to add her and her friends to that deathcount.
It's just.... unusual. So unusual that she doesn't notice just how cruel that smile is on Ghaleon's face, or stop to question just how strange his words are, in the context of all the others of the Guard she's faced or met.
What she does notice is the impact of Id's foot against her stomach, and how much it sends her flying through the air against a now armored tree with a resounding clang of a bell.
Rolling over, the courier coughs and chokes, then heaves a mighty wheeeeeze of air, uttering some very choice words, punctuated by many 'ows', that sound a bit too raw for someone like Gwen to be saying them.
Oh guardians that kick *hurt* and she got the air knocked out of her and everything
AFter that minor spate of words, the redhead wobbly straightens, listening to the words of Ragnell to Id. "Yeah, I-I think I'd be a little frightened to meet the whoever that made this whole thing happen. Like, who has th'time to do somethin' like that? Life's too s-"
Oh yeah. Ruby. She closes her eyes, grateful to hear the dragon cat's usually sass begin to flourish. "That's it. That's the spirit, Ruby!"
Choosing to keep away from the rather adept martial artist(?), Gwen rolls her shoulders and then straightens her ARM, bracing herself against the metal of the very tree she hit moments earlier. In place of a bullet, she drawns on the very electricity of the ARM's coil system, adding with it some of her own body's life force. Risking a glance over to see where Lucia is, Gwen looks past her, and to.... Lemina, beyond. Lemina, her silhouette cackling maniacally(?) against the backdrop of a flame tornado. "People from Lunar are *scary*..." Gwen admits, her voice cracking into a squeak, barely audible over the noise of her own ARM as she fires.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Id with Coil Cannon EX! GS: Gwen Whitlock has entered a Reflect stance! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Id guards a hit from Neriah Parringer's Silver Shining Star for 43 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's Coil Cannon EX for 57 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Jean's Moth Dance for 0 hit points! GS: Disease, Disrupt, and Poison! Statuses applied to Id! GS: Id enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Id has been weakened by Disease! They take 0 damage, and burn off their temporary hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Divine Saber for 88 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Lemina Ausa's Flare Vortex for 157 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Layna Manydays's Cutlass Gale for 70 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from Hiro's Sword Dance for 49 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.
The battle is soon joined by Dva and Riesenlied. Dva crashes down upon Id and slices into his cheek with her land. Id turns his gaze towards Dva and says, "So the coward advances now!" He slams is fingers towards Dva's body, striking at where HER chakra points would be if she were human. It's really the chi infusion Id attempts to pump into her that may drive her to her knees. "Or have you truly changed? Show me that you're even worth fighting!" It's weird. Why does Id have a low opinion of Dva of all people?
Noeline launches a lance of darkness at Id. It strikes him dead on, and Id doesn't absorb it. Instead a swirl of energy erupts out of him--not unlike the Negative Rainbow that Siegfried often uses, and lashes back out at Noeline, each plasma blast aiming for her extremities in an attempt to hobble her. Id seems as surprised as anyone.
"Nhu...not that..." Id grabs at his head and shakes it around. "Not that! Get away from it!!" Did he not mean to? But he yells, "Even crimson nobles burn!! And you're just playing dress up!" As a bright light from the sky comes crashing down upon her. It's not even coming from Id's fingers. He's summoning it, as if from the heavens. Someone might want to stop that from hitting her if Leon's in the blast zone.
Id murmurs, "I didn't pick that fight..." to Ghaleon. "But I'm starting to like you...!" He grins a bloody grin recovering from the strange panic attack as the electricity comes crashing down upon Id. Id doesn't know who 'Nash' is, clearly an incredible ancient warrior of old though because the electricity is super effective. Ghaleon's power is stronger than what Id can readily absorb.
But he does absorb some of it because while he's shaking from the pain--some of that energy is simply crackling around him. Smoke billows out from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
A second blast comes from the skies to crash down upon Ghaleon. Each one burrowing heavy craters in the ground regardless of whether they hit their target or not. It's like living next to Lavos. A second smaller but sitll potent blast crashes down upon Leo. It isn't an accident. Id wants to see what Leo is made of. Will the Goddess protect him?
Neriah unleashes a white fireball of her own as he slides forward to capitalize on this, hitting Id dead on. He pushes through it and he throws a kick for her gut. "You're holding back!!" He doesn't know by how much but he can tell that much. "There is no innocence from those who fled the collapse to live in this little fake paradise! Descendents of men and women who shattered Filgaia!" Gwen slams into Id with her cannon. Id is being pushed hard now. With the Guard and Ghaleon present, and all the energy he expelled already, Id is actually being pushed back. His wounds are healing more slowly. He sinks to one knee, panting for breath. "You think..." He looks up to Jean. "I'm just gonna let you... leave?" He seems to come to a decision, starting to straighten up as he pushes through Jean's moths. They seem like it's going to wear him down in spite of his second wind but...
"...Chakra..."
9,999
Id straightens up, rolling his shoulders back and says, "That's...better..." He sees something in those moths. He recoils for a moment, but then reaches out and sets them aflame with a gesture.
He might regret it as it gives more fuel for Lemina. But more on that in a minute.
Ragnell keeps clobbering Id with electrical blasts in an even more impressive display. He can't absorb it, but he toughs through it all the same. Walking forward. Incessantly. "Everyone." He answers Ragnell. On this, at least, he's willing to be a cryptic K.K. He reaches for her but Layna throws him back with the cutting gale. He keeps moving forward, but he's being held back from truly getting his grip on anyone. He slants his eyes briefly towards Lucia. Another mystery. Little time to contemplate it. He does turn his gaze towards Hiro though. He squints at the swordplay. Hiro swings the blade and catches Id near the collar. He hits something metallic and then SOMETHING pushes the blade away, preventing the blow from getting any deeper. He doesn't get a good look at just what that is, though, because...
IT'S LEMINA TIME! The mage unleashes a wave of flame that swirls around Id. He stands up, looking around himself, letting out a small whistle. "More than one element, and to know one this well..." But then it turns out it's not exactly one element. "No...three?!"
The fire swirls around Id with cutting force, picking up his own flames and battering him with them. He is briefly obscured from view. A good time to skedaddle?
Not quite.
Id howls in pain and throws back his arms, sending the fire swirling away from him as he leaps into the air, throwing himself towards Ruby of all people.
"You....!" He says. "You!!"
And then his face goes red in a severe angry slash embarrassed blush. "I didn't mean it like that!! You're taking it out of context intentionally!" He presses his hand against his face. He isn't even attacking Ruby he's just yelling at her now.
But he does turn back towards the battlefield and gesture with one hand. "Gahh....! ENOUGH!! Face the power of Anti-Causality!"
And it's more like a sensation than it's an attack. It's like your wounds are reopening up, the pain alongside them is intensifying, getting longer, more painful. Even moving feels more sluggish. Id is trying to catch everybody, but he only manages to get the most of you. Id feels like he's moving ever faster--but he's still remaining in one place all the same.
Id is distracted, though, from something else. Thanks to Hiro's slice, something was cut free from its hiding place.
A Nisan crucifix dangles from Id's neck, dangling from side to side.
To Riesenlied and Ruby it's a familiar sight.
Still, now's probably a good time to hit him real hard.
GS: Id has attacked Ghaleon with Big Bang! GS: Id has attacked Neriah Parringer with Rude Kick! GS: Id has attacked White Knight Leo with Radiance! GS: Id has attacked Noeline with Big Bang! GS: Neriah Parringer guards a hit from Id's Rude Kick for 107 hit points! GS: Riesenlied used the Force Action Protect! She takes Id's attack on Noeline on herself! GS: Riesenlied has activated a Force Action! GS: Riesenlied takes a solid hit from Id's Big Bang for 369 hit points! GS: White Knight Leo takes a solid hit from Id's Radiance for 214 hit points! GS: Id has attacked Lemina Ausa with Anti-Causality! GS: Id has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Anti-Causality! GS: Id has attacked Riesenlied with Anti-Causality! GS: Id has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Anti-Causality! GS: Id has attacked Layna Manydays with Anti-Causality! GS: Id has attacked Jean with Anti-Causality! GS: Id has attacked Hiro with Anti-Causality! GS: Ghaleon has activated a Force Action! GS: Riesenlied takes a solid hit from Id's Anti-Causality for 0 hit points! GS: Ghaleon takes a solid hit from Id's Big Bang for 183 hit points! GS: COUNTER! Hiro strikes at Id with a counter attack! GS: Hiro takes a solid hit from Id's Anti-Causality for 0 hit points! GS: Lemina Ausa takes a solid hit from Id's Anti-Causality for 0 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Id's Anti-Causality for 0 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Jean takes a solid hit from Id's Anti-Causality for 0 hit points! GS: Seraph Ragnell takes a solid hit from Id's Anti-Causality for 0 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"I--I'm not a--"
Dva clams up as she scowls and exclaims, huffily, "Well fine I am a coward but it's a lick better than, uh, being some asshole! At least I learn from my mistakes!" There's a low scowl on her face as Id just immediately charges up and tries to strike at her chakra points and--
Y'know, poor Dva isn't exactly a martial artist. She's an underwater specialist and... uh... there's a metaphor about fish not having vital points... maybe?
The point is that she's overwhelmed and rendered inert for a moment, exclaiming, "Riese--! Noeline's--"
Riesenlied takes hold of the controls as she exclaims, "Muni!" and swerves the Dragon down, for once showing her skills as a Dragonrider (this still isn't Pern); the machine skims the low line of the trees and slides into place, as she exclaims, "We'll take this one--"
A big bang of energy descends towards Muni-Muni. She stares longingly at it, eyes gleaming with admiration at the sphere of ultimate destruction...
"M-Muni mu... mu-muni..."
And Muni does what Muni can only do in this situation.
She takes the big bang... and eats it!
The elasticity in which Muni-Muni's living metal form can be described is 'enormous', as the Munitekal Armor kind of deforms and brings Riesenlied and Cetiri tipped over for a moment as her form stretches like that of a tent -- and ensconces the entirety of the blast. "Nii--!!"
There's a thunderous, deafening roar as something goes 'thoom' in a muted fashion inside of her. Muni's eyes are swirls for a moment as she slumps onto her forelegs. "M-Muni...!"
The power of anti-causality descends upon them... it is a thunderous, roaring sensation-- and Dva, closest to Id at the time, is the one that's slumping forward as she exclaims, "... y-you can't remind me--"
The roar of the wellspring echoes around them. The Malevolent spike slides out of Riesenlied's abdomen. Dva stares down at it, then towards her...
"DAMMIT, I'm not going to let you call me a coward and-- and let you get away with it, you jerk!"
Riesenlied turns to where the aquatic Hyadean has caught up; Dva raises the spear once more -- and it looms before her palm, as she channels her form to it. She quickens its form, as it lurches and twists as liquid would, manifesting larger and larger in mass as she lends more of herself into it, further, further...
... until there's approximately a Gear-sized Spear looming in mid-air, just above Muni-Muni. Dva huffs as she exclaims, "Okay, Riese, take the spear! Now I just have to--"
A giant, gold muscular arm seizes the Spear haft.
"Eh?!?!"
Muni-Muni's limb has manifested into a powerful throwing extremity, perhaps supercharged from Id's big bang attack. Cetiri controls her manipulators and announces: "Target locked."
"Wait, wait, wait--!"
The HUD pops up in front of Cetiri's blinkers.
"This strike shall be engraved upon your soul, Demon of Elru."
Dva flails from where she's stuck to the side of her own ARM, exclaiming, "LISTEN TO ME FOR A SEC--"
Cetiri paws the big red button, and Muni-Muni squeaks excitedly as she hucks the oversized javelin -- now essentially a siege bolt -- descends in a shower of storms and energy, red, crackling electricity overflowing as she channels her own might into the descent.
"I DON'T WANNA BECOME A--"
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Id with Nibelung Dvalesti! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Id's Anti-Causality for 0 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Ghaleon has posed.
Ghaleon tries to do the teleport away trick again, but he is too slow. The beams of light come screaming down from the sky -- and they slam into him, smashing the Dragonmaster back to the ground. Armor cracks; some of his white cloak burns away. His hair is singed, and he looks up. His teeth are gritted; he forces himself to his feet, using his seemingly unadorned sword like a cane as he forces himself to his feet. He doesn't fly again. The former Premier of the Vane Magic Guild looks at the daughter of the current one.
Then, he looks to Id. His lips curl back, again, into a grin. "Why, whatever is the matter?" Ghaleon asks, even as a line of blood runs down his chin, from a cut lip. "Cat got your tongue?"
Oh yes, he did.
The swinging Nisan cross means nothing to him. He turns, glancing sideways at Muni-Muni. He stares for a moment at her. "One of Lombardia's brood," he murmurs, quietly -- and he seems almost respectful, before he turns and looks back at Id. "Hm, hm, hm. I can't let a Malak, a band of misfits, and a bloated yellow frog put me to shame. Good sister, White Knight--do make a good show of it! I'll start us off."
He swings the sword outward. He summons the power of the Dragonmaster, as a dark flame of blue-black ripples up it, a little like the Flame of Purification... and yet, utterly different. The fire crackles in an unnatural way, up the sword's length, as Ghaleon comes charging in towards him. "Come, Id! I've a lot more to learn about you!"
The Dragonmaster rushes in with simple sword strikes at first; a horizontal slash, then an upward slash, then a diagonal slash downward. Each leaves afterimages of black flame; and the, that light explodes off his blade, and crackles with black lightning. He strikes repeatedly, then, driving his blade at Id's defenses with two-handed strikes.
Then, he ends in an uppercut strike. It may seem familiar to a few present -- especially as he shouts the form's name: "Bolt Tempest!"
GS: Ghaleon has activated a Force Action! GS: Ghaleon has attacked Id with Bolt Tempest! GS: Ghaleon has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Jean has posed.
Jean looks concerned when Hiro speaks up, looks a little surprised at him--but it's done quickly. It's done, and they're ready to try to work together on this. "The biggest distraction you can make," Jean says to Lemina, looking to Ragnell for a moment with a little wink as that's the most she can do to return the joke. All she can do right now, anyway--when things are busy like this, when things are chaotic like this. Their enemies all around them--Id of all people here--Jean looks to the Metal Demons for an instant who are their friends..
Back to Id. Id, after all, is talking to her.
"I wasn't planning to ask your permission--" she starts, and then stops abrubtly, watching him straighten. ...She watches him reocil from her illusion, destroy it in an instant that rebounds on her, stings. He's cryptic, all right. And--
"...That's a great distraction--" Jean breathes that, starting to move to Lucia to pick her up--but Id... leaps. Id is angry. Id is moving. And when he mentions the Anti-Causality, the words themselves have no meaning to a woman whose education consisted of how to break a bone with two fingers and not how to read histories. But she does not need to know the word. Everything is slow--everything is pain--
"Nn--" She makes a tiny, tiny noise, with Id seeming to move faster and faster, but Jean? Jean finds she is bleeding. The wound at her side is the first, but not the worst. Bruises open up on her bare arms, visible as if from a hundred battles--her cheek darkens, a cut above her eye seeming to draw blood into her vision. She stumbles back, and a thin line starts to open up down her leg, the flesh itself trying to open. Is it really happening? Is the blood physical? Do the wounds exist?
Old wounds open, and Jean has old, old wounds indeed. Jean has been fighting to brutal ends since she was a child. And she can feel them, can barely move as a result.
"Y-You..."
Jean reaches out to a rope bridge knot, starts dragging herself up. The source of her pain would be a mystery to everyone... if they weren't all experiencing something like it. But she finds that she can rise, that her legs will support her.
"I don't know what that is," she grits out. "But--"
Ghaleon starts to attack, and Jean rushes after him; the black flames and black lighting exploding around him quickly have a woman with unbound green hair illuminated by their radiance, as Jean swings both fans and keeps up, one-two-three-four in a flurry of strikes that seeks to drive Id back even further.
But it doesn't bring the deathly ki her other attack did.
GS: Jean has activated a Force Action! GS: Jean has activated a Force Action! GS: Jean has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
Sister Domitia makes a couple of quick mental notes and glances towards Ragnell.
As Id observes that she's holding back, Domitia curls her lips into a tiny smile. "Perhaps," she murmurs, too quietly to fully be heard.
The Demon of Elru slams a boot towards the Priestess, and it connects with Domitia's shield. Arcs of white lightning pour through it, the bubble itself caving in a ways as the impact hurls her backwards. Her heels leave small trenches in the dirt. Doubling forward, the hooded priestess clicks her teeth together and lets out a pained chuff of breath.
And causality begins to work itself in reverse.
Sister Domitia's a little outside the worst of it, but she can still feel it. She curls her right hand, splaying it, then hooking her fingers like talons. Tensing, she bows her head and breathes slowly and heavily as even the edge of that painful sensation begins to fill her.
It feels horribly familiar. Horribly, horribly familiar.
"You would unbind us from the chains of causality," Sister Domitia murmurs with a low, pained laugh. Her shoulders sag a little. The remains of the shield surging around her eddy and ripple, as if ready to collapse under the pressure.
"Wrong move," says Sister Domitia, her voice echoing. She nods to Ghaleon, her eyes shrouded by her hood, but her lips curved into an intense smile.
Domitia's shield pulses again. Shimmering with energy, the field swells outward - and then it contracts inward. It breaks down into streams of pale energy that rush into her, flowing into her body like a dozen shimmering streams. Head bowed, she holds her hands out at her sides. The pain rolling through her gradually abates, as though the abjurer from Rolance could somehow take it into herself and purify it through sheer implacable holiness.
"Althena, send me your aid from your holy place," she intones, voice low. "Watch over me from on high. Let the enemy have no power over us. The son of chaos be powerless to harm us. Let him find in us, Althena, a fortified tower in the face of the enemy." As she chants that litany, energy builds up, arcs of ghostly lightning pouring down her arms.
The ground actually rumbles subtly around her. Domitia raises her right arm. Her palm levels towards the heavens.
"See the light of Althena and depart," she intones, her voice like a thunderclap.
The white lightning responds to that litany. It surges up her arm with a dreadful spiritual lurch and bursts into the sky. Up and up it soars - and as it reaches the heavens, the light splits into countless bolts of energy.
The ground rumbles, buckling under the thunderous impacts, as a rain of destruction pounds down towards Id - as if Althena herself had lent Sister Domitia the power to send down the horrific fury of divine judgment.
GS: Jean has attacked Id with Razor Dance! GS: Jean has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.
Leo braces. It's all he can do, really. As rays of searing light scream down from the sky, the White Knight kneels, planting both palms against the earth. His will pulses down into it, stolid and certain. Stone churns and cracks, and jagged slabs of rock surge upwards, forming an improvised shield at an angle to the ground. Leo feels the heat of the bolts, hears them, and remembers the roar of horrible sky-fire outside the Guardian Temple.
The beam slams home. Rock shatters. Leo feels the ground shake and shudder beneath him, and pain erupts in his chest. He sucks in a breath that smells of singed earth and burned grass and blood.
Leo opens his eyes. The rocky half-arch is now rubble around him, having absorbed the brunt of Id's fury instead of him. Bits of rock stick out from his chest, half-embedded in the carapace of magical stone he called upon to protect himself--if he hadn't done that, it would've been so much worse.
Ghaleon calls out to him. "By your leave, Dragonmaster!" Leo says, summoning up a confident smile. As Hiro, Lucia, and their companions surely know by now, Leo never did know when to stay down. Domitia calls out to Althena directly. Leo calls upon something that was taught to him long ago by an honored mentor. He steps forwards, the remains of his rocky shield crumbling, melding with the gound; a surge of red-gold chi rises within and around him, before tracing the edge of his blade. The Beastman sweeps the weapon through the first few strikes of a kata, forcing himself to focus, to fall back on muscle memory despite his injuries. Without further warning, he takes a single, lunging step, and sweeps his blade in a mighty arc.
"LION'S HOWL!" Leo cries, and the wave of energy tears free from the blade, surging at Id. It takes shape, forming the phantasmal visage of a roaring lion, teeth bared.
It might be a chi trick, but it's a powerful one. And as Id can probably tell, it will hurt if it hits.
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Id with Lion's Howl! GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action. GS: Neriah Parringer has attacked Id with Destruction Rains From the Heavens! GS: Neriah Parringer has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lemina Ausa has posed.
It's a little maniacal. Lemina can be... that way, sometimes. She remembers she's actually supposed to be doing something, though, and starts moving toward Lucia, with a quick nod to Hiro. "Okay, okay... uhhh..." Lemina stops -- and then everything starts to feel wrong.
Lemina... doesn't have a lot of wounds, the same way Jean does -- but she's got enough. Everything feels so sluggish and agonizing; she sags a little under the sheer weight of... time? Space? It's hard to tell what's even happening, honestly...
... but there's still something left to do. Without those wounds, after all... Lemina wouldn't have grown so much.
Lemina swings her staff out to one side again, letting out a low, ragged chant. Her gaze locks on Id, and she cries out, "Wander in frigid mist! Perish to frozen fangs! Final Embrace!"
A spike of rock strikes straight up from the ground. The ice comes a moment later, as that spike grows several, smaller spikes of ice that threaten to hold Id in place for a few moments.
"... Th -- that one works too...!" Lemina exclaims -- and, yes, giggling a little again. ... she's as surprised as anyone else is, apparently.
GS: Lemina Ausa has activated a Force Action! GS: Lemina Ausa has attacked Id with Final Embrace! GS: Lemina Ausa has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
If there's one thing Noeline hadn't been expecting, it was for her surprise strike, launched from the back of the melee, to actually warrant a response - and if there's a second thing Noeline hadn't been expecting, it's the nature of the energy that buffets back against her, and the surprise that Id shows in its wake. The bolts of darkness slam into the demon's limbs as if trying to disable her, and for a moment she stumbles - but she's tougher than she used to be, and it's with an effort of will that she puts one foot in front of the other, regaining her balance enough to stumble onwards.
"Feels like we're not the only ones being untrue to ourselves, huh?" she taunts under her breath - and immediately starts to regret it when the area around her picks up with a crimson energy, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end as her instincts begin to flare.
With a wince, she twists to one side as best she can, ready to basically piledrive Leon to the ground and cover him from the blast of energy in case it turns out to be necessary; she's ready to close her eyes and grit her teeth when the dual call from above - one from Riesenlied, the other from Muni herself - leaves her watching in muted astonishment at the sheer capacity of the dragon. "Good... good work," Noeline mutters, sounding rather astonished, before she seizes her chance to haul Leon back up, throwing him rather unceremoniously into the cockpit at Riesenlied's feet just in time for Muni to rise up in majestic style.
It's not the greatest of corpse runs, but whatever works, Noeline supposes. It's probably just as well that Claude isn't here to grade it.
Sucking in a breath, she suddenly tears forwards after the rotund dragon and its temporary assistant spear; where Muni goes high as a bright and vivid distraction, she goes low, pulling together more of the shadows around her as she bursts forwards through the Anti-Causality field. The air seems to thicken, and her body feels sluggish - but not sluggish enough to stop her from pulling her scythe out of sheer, thin air, adding a sweeping strike of her own to the coordinated assault that pushes back the sphere.
GS: Noeline has attacked Id with Whispered Silk! GS: Noeline has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna lets out a low, appreciative whistle as Lemina unleashes the power of her experimental magic. That Flare Vortex...it was pretty impressive! She sends her a brief nod, but her primary focus remains on Id.
...Who invokes the power of Anti-Causality on everyone.
It's a horrible, awful feeling - it feels like all of her wounds have intensified. It's enough to force her to her knees, if not make her collapse completely. It feels like she's experiencing every injury she's ever suffered in a single moment, drawn out into infinity.
She couldn't move.
She shouldn't move.
Breathing was difficult. But...
...A wide grin crosses Layna's face. She begins to laugh. Slowly, weakly at first, but then it begins to build as a green aura begins to surround her.
The wind howls as it tears itself free from its restraints.
"The power of Anti-Causality, aye...? I like it!" She says, forcing herself to her feet. She flexes her fingers and stares right at Id. She charges at him, but right as she's about to strike...
Layna vanishes.
Several things happen after that. Destruction rains from the heavens, courtesy of Sister Domitia and Althena*. White Knight Leo unleashes the result of his training.
And then, Lemina incants her spell and rock tears out of the ground, with ice emerging soon after.
It's after that that Layna appears again...this time, right behind Id. There's a grin on her face as she lunges forward, unleashing a punch at point-blank range that would usually turn stone into dust.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Id with Dead Men Tell No Tales! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ghaleon has posed.
A little after Ghaleon's last strike, he vanishes in a burst of light.
This is when the Lion's Howl comes tearing through; the roaring head of the lion splits apart the sparks and sparkles of silver light of his teleportation. Unlike the prior teleportations, though, Ghaleon reappears on the nearby precipice. He looks down at the battlefield, a look of consternation on his face, now that he is far enough away to stand alone.
"How... interesting," he remarks. "They are from the Blue Star, aren't they. More harbingers than the princess..."
He frowns, then, and folds his arms. For whatever reason, he stands distant -- and he lets them finish the battle. Ghaleon looks down, looking over all of them. In the end, though, his eyes settle on Hiro. "Five minutes," he repeats to himself. "Or... five hundred years? Which carries a greater weight?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
The Flare Vortex whorls together as Lemina combines elements to create a firespout to consume Id. Ragnell has seen this arte before--there is, in fact, a Seraphic arte just like it--but for a human to independently innovate that? "Nice," she remarks, eyebrows rising.
'Everyone,' Id says. Ragnell sighs. "Yeah, I figured I'd get an answer 'long those lines." But that's fine--besides, Id keeps dropping extremely interesting tidbits, completely unprompted. Such as what he says about those who fled the collapse, descendents of those who shattered Filgaia... And then he leaps at Ruby, and rather than tearing her to shreds, *blushes* and complains that she's taking what he says out of context. Even though Ruby has no idea who he is and has no reason to give him any kind of benefit of the doubt. Hm. Hm.
Ghaleon insinuates shit about Seraphim, or rather Malakhim. Ragnell scowls at him--but really, what is there to say to someone like him? Let him bang his head on Id, then make his exit. Ragnell meets Domitia's eyes briefly, then focuses back in on Id himself--just before he reverses causality, and injuries that had been healed open up again. The Lightning Seraph snarls, dropping to one knee as she clutches at her chest, pistol still in hand. That pain is searing, agonizing, threading all over her skin and veins and pores.
Even so, she forces herself to her feet, staggering for a second before her footing steadies. A glyph forms at her feet and another over Id, and she twirls her twin pistols before aiming for dead center. "Congratulations: I haven't had t' bust *this* one out in an age!" The first several lightning bullets fly forward with pillars of light in their wake; the second several 'merely' pile on as large orbs of power. Then Ragnell aims both guns parallel to the ground. "Prism Tango!!"
And a laser of Seraphic power bursts from the two barrels, searing mercilessly towards the Demon of Elru.
GS: Seraph Ragnell has activated a Force Action! GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked Id with Prism Tango! GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action. GS: Id critically Guards a hit from Hiro's Counter Attack for 10 hit points! GS: Id takes a solid hit from Ghaleon's Bolt Tempest for 261 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Id critically Guards a hit from Neriah Parringer's Destruction Rains From the Heavens for 26 hit points! GS: Cripple, Mute, and Poison! Statuses applied to Id! GS: Id guards a hit from Jean's Razor Dance for 54 hit points! GS: Id guards a hit from White Knight Leo's Lion's Howl for 113 hit points! GS: Id critically Guards a hit from Noeline's Whispered Silk for 27 hit points! GS: Sneak! The true nature of Riesenlied's attack becomes clear! GS: Id takes a solid hit from Riesenlied's Muni... MUNIII! tn. Time for Muni to show her true power! for 201 hit points! GS: Id takes a solid hit from Lemina Ausa's Final Embrace for 175 hit points! GS: Id takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Prism Tango for 173 hit points! GS: Id takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Dead Men Tell No Tales for 192 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied whimpers as she tucks her head down amidst the wave of anti-causality... she jitters deeper for a moment, holding her head. To her, it isn't physical wounds that reopen, battered as she already is, but...
"... there was... a big battle here, I think," the dragonling speaks quietly. She lowers her head, scuffing her little pawed feet atop a layer of solid Fossil. "... do you know if Mama is going to... ever come back?"
Odjn shakes her head as she exclaims, "N-no! I don't want to go back to feeling that way again! You jerk, you jerk!" as Riesenlied clutches her tighter.
That cross prompts her to cast wide eyes, as she holds onto her head and yelps as she's recollected with the one she sees when she visits Id's mindspace. "Nnh..."
Cetiri hisses, "Be strong, daughter. Our bonds are strong. We shall pull through -- together." She looks to Noeline, and quietly nods, looking down to Odjn. "Together..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied whimpers as she tucks her head down amidst the wave of anti-causality... she jitters deeper for a moment, holding her head. To her, it isn't physical wounds that reopen, battered as she already is, but...
"... there was... a big battle here, I think," the dragonling speaks quietly. She lowers her head, scuffing her little pawed feet atop a layer of solid Fossil. "... do you know if Mama is going to... ever come back?"
Odjn shakes her head as she exclaims, "N-no! I don't want to go back to feeling that way again! You jerk, you jerk!" as Riesenlied clutches her tighter.
That cross prompts her to cast wide eyes, as she holds onto her head and yelps as she's recollected with the one she sees when she visits Id's mindspace. "Nnh..."
Cetiri hisses, "Be strong, daughter. Our bonds are strong. We shall pull through -- together." She looks to Noeline, and quietly nods, looking down to Odjn. "Together..."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
It's more of a gasping croak that comes from Gwen's mouth than any sort of scream.
Gwen's knees hit the altered earth, her exposed metal hand clutching at the fabric over her chest.
Everything hurts. Everything is burning.
She feels like she's dying, all over again. Again. Again.
There's laughing, the proud pirate Layna rising from her own share of pain, while Ragnell calls forth a technique that's new to Gwen.
Gwen needs to do the same. She needs to get up.
So get up. Get up, like you've always done.
Red begins to interlace with the pyrite gold energy pulsing in Gwen's ARM, the Mockingbird whirring in confusion at the conflicting data of a body in pain, but with no wound to react to.
_Get up_.
One foot. Two feet. A first, staggered step, and another. Another, more confident, and now there's a gait to it, picking up speed.
By the time Gwen manages to get to Id, she's all momentum, her metal fist brought back and brought to aim towards Id's chest. Her throat manages to let loose a rare, raw, wordless scream, full of blind anger.
Her pain.
_Take it all._
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action! GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action! GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Id with Special Delivery! GS: Gwen Whitlock has entered a Reflect stance! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Id guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's Special Delivery for 63 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
Id gets up in Ruby's face - and her arms uncross as she suddenly looks unnerved in a 'yikes' kind of way. But he just yells at her. Despite being shaken she yells right back "What kind of way am I supposed to take this buster!? I don't get anything about why me! Why you're singling me out for-" Ruby sees a glint of light, and her eyes shift down upon the crucifix. "...this." Her voice drops to a whisper.
It's a strange sight seeing the Demon of Elru flustered, Hiro holding his sword in readiness from where he ended up "You sure harsh on our ancestors for a lot. I wish I had a proper answer to what happened on Filgaia - but..." -but when Id shouts - he turns around - and rushes him down.
However every footstep starts to slow. Every movement. It's like whatever Lucia did before is being reversed. Like the course of time itself is being altered. He doesn't know what it means as all the pain returns from Moor Gault's explosion, from every powerful impact and blow.
By the time he gets to Id, his attack is positively languorous, the blow telegraphed without any of the elegance intended in this reversal.
"What did you... do...?" Hiro rasps. He stumbles forward, catches himself on a foot. And turns around - "Enough..."
He raises his sword - and just... topples to a knee. "... dangit."
The Dragonmaster is so powerful that he's making jokes. The flames running up his sword reminding him so much of Sorey's. Yet they're so different too. He always thought seeing the Dragonmaster for the first time would be an inspirational moment. That he'd do his best to impress him. Earn his respect. And he is impressed certainly.
But right now it feels like his last concern. Those thoughts childish and distant. Because Lucia - tormented by malevolence and the curse of anti-casuality seems to be suffering. "... this is wrong... this can't..."
Forcing his leg up from where it nearly buckles under the ground, he holds his sword in front of him - "...It's not about what you want... Jean says it's time to go... we're going... so all that's left for you Knight of Fire is..."
The air pressure around him seems to grow, and as it turns up - he pushes himself up explosively with the last of his strength, launching himself forward as his sword ignites into flame, "... to -BURN-" His drive carries him at him, as he slashes at him once - "-BURN-" Twice. "-BURN!" Thrice - the last sending all of the flames outward in a blazing arc.
Even after attacking, he hits the ground running - and weary - he looks like a dead man walking as he makes it over to Lucia's side. He's not quite to her when Ghaleon says something - five minutes, or five hundred years. Without missing a beat, he keeps looking forward at her. "Five minutes." He says without hesitation as he looks at the Dragonmaster out of the corner of his eyes, "Five hundred years is a long time - but not long enough to change my mind."
Getting to her side, he places himself as a crutch, "C'mon Ruby - Gwen - Riese! Let's go before he can pull another stunt like that!" Ruby's gaze lingers upon Id for a long while before, "... ... ... ... Coming." She finally murmurs whisper thin. "... Guess I'll be seeing you again some day. ... Don't make yourself suffer in my place." Closing her eyes, she turns around and starts to fly off.
GS: Hiro has attacked Id with Battalion Sword!! GS: Hiro has completed his action. GS: Id takes a solid hit from Hiro's Battalion Sword! for 181 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.
It begins with Bolt Tempest. In Id's moment of distraction, Ghaleon slices his blades into Id. Each strike explodes into brilliant light and prevents Id from even a moment of recovery. A large bloody X appears along Id's frame as he shoves himself away from Ghaleon. He glowers at the mage but it seems a cat does have his tongue as he recognizes that no matter how limitless his power, his body can only take so much.
"You really won't give up?" Id asks. "No matter what?"
Dva slams into Id like a true and proper valkyrie('s projectile). Id bowls over in pain. He may not die, but he can certainly feel agony.
"I'm just trying to warn you."
Jean tears into Id with her fans, leaving several thick red lines across his face. Id floats backwards.
"Stop...saying that name..."
Neriah unleashes crackling electricity and drops it down. Id is forced to push back with his own chi blast to avoid getting incinerated. This leaves him open for other techniques. The lion's howl hits Id dead on in the chest and Id curls up in agony.
"This pain..."
Several ice lances slam into Id from several directions, further holding him in place.
"It's nothing..."
Noeline's scythe tears into Id, cutting another thick line into that X across Id's frame. Layna takes advantage and slams a fist towards Id's back, causing him to buckle.
"You're just like him..."
Ragnell's lasers punch into Id's shoulders and throw him back. Id's eyes are screwed shut. Like he's trying to pretend he's not being skewered by them. Gwen slams her fist into Id's chest and forces his eyes back open.
He looks down at her.
"Nothin'...wrong with it." Is he talking about those cybernetics?
He flexs out his body all the way, roaring in pain and triumph. "This isn't enough! This isn't enough!!" Id reaches for Ruby, but he just can't reach her. "Why...!" He demands of Ruby. "Why am I the one left behind?! Why is it always me?! I'm the one willing to face it! I'm the one who has to deal with it!" He's starting to sob, right there in the sky. It's honestly kind of pathetic considering what he is, but the worst part is is that it doesn't matter. No matter how low Id brings himself, he can destroy just about anything. There's little room for sympathy in moments like this.
Hiro sets his blade aflame. Lemina's ice melts as Hiro slices Id again and again and again, burning wounds shut with each strike but that hardly makes it pleasant. Id says to him, "You're...just going to fall into the traps we did... Like that."
But then he sees Ruby's gaze. He looks down. He floats back suddenly, as if throwing himself away from Ruby now all of a sudden, despite reaching out to her all this time.
"...Dammit...Dammit!!"
He suddenly coughs out a heap of blood. "GRGUURK..."
"You...weren't supposed to..." He manages before he flies off at rapid speed, punching through anything on its way.
And that's that. Whatever Ruby saw, whatever else is going on. It's over.
You won. Congratulations. It's time to head home and rest up and--
<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.
It's scarcely a few minutes later when suddenly a whole slew of nets start falling upon the Fiends (among others). A new voice hanging from an outcrop above speaks up.
"You punks!!" It belongs to a young man with white hair with a brown shock in the center. He wears a green coat with some red trimming, furred boots, and long slacks. A sword is at his sides. "You're scaring the kids!! What's with all these death beams and fire tornados and death moths you're throwing willy knilly! And the bees!! Are you people crazy? Bees??"
Nets promptly start falling towards the Fiends and assorted. They are weighed down by stones, comic timing, and orphans.
"I don't know the half of you, but you're in a heap of trouble and yer comin' with me!"
This may be a good time for the guard to skedaddle.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is immediately dancing back, her arms going up ready to (try to) block an attack... that never comes, as Id launches away at speed. Her huff of air is more an exhalation of disbelief than an actual note of relief - especially because she's more than aware what Id's debilitating field might have done to Riese, given Cetiri's yell earlier.
The fact that she immediately turns on a heel to sprint back to Muni's side and check on her companion is probably what saves her from one of the nets, the weighted rope barely missing her as she instinctively slides from under it. The second is the one that actually hits her, nearly borne to the ground under its weight - but at least she can drag it enough to be near enough to Muni's side to look glumly up at Cetiri with a very expectant air.
"'Fearsome terrors', is it?" she grumbles.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied's heart twists, as it ever does; Id has now destroyed two of her towns, Old Petra and Wayside, and has done incalculable damage to her own psyche on two separate occasions and yet...
And yet...
As the battlefield erupts around them, as beams rain from the sky and cataclysmic lightning accompanies the chaotic roar of a lion, as the Fiends and Ragnell and Layna pour all their might into a concerted attack...
"... Id... talk to us, not past us... this is going to just continue-- like it is, every single time..."
Her heart still bleeds for him. Because she can't communicate with him on a meaningful level, she feels... even after everything she's gone through.
Then she yelps as she gets hucked into a Net along with Muni-Muni, and pinned down by orphans who... start to congregate around Cetiri as she rises.
The dog-shaped Hyadean looks at the assembled children, and at Nall. She clears her throat.
"My children! Your mother has returned from the field of battle and she is VICTORIOUS!!"
Dva, still in spear-form, whimpers from where she's half-stuck into Lunar. "... the road to penance is a harsh one..."
<Pose Tracker> Neriah Parringer has posed.
By the time the nets come down, Sister Domitia...
...is gone again. She's vanished back into Althena knows where, evidently taking advantage of whatever magic she uses to blend into the surroundings like a chameleon.
Not far away, though, someone's watching. And thinking.
You were right, Demon of Elru. I am a destroyer. But this wasn't the time to pay you back for what you did to Riesenlied and the others. Not with so many risks in play.
But the time will come.
<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.
Hammer comes out from behind a bunch of small children, looking terrified, and guarded by a little girl and her doll. Someone has been practicing makeup on his furry face.
"Oh hey guys," Hammer says. "You made it! These are the fierce children I was telling you about."
He looks around. "Huh. Where's bro? And Leon? And Miss Elly?"
"Well uh." He adds. "Welcome to Taben Peak."
HAMMER HAS REJOINED THE PARTY
NEW HOME BASE: TABEN PEAK UNLOCKED
New Ruby Social Link: The Demon of Elru - Rank 1 - A cross spins into vision, from side to side. It looks like it's about to fall, but it hangs tight. They won't let it fall.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
They heap violence upon violence on him. If any one of them had fallen at a crucial moment, if there are fewer of them, it might not have gone this way. And yet...they seem to have had an effect. Id coughs up blood, and Layna grins even wider, like a shark that's caught scent of prey.
He starts to fly away, but before she can do anything - to retreat or to launch one final attack - the unthinkable happens.
Weighted nets drop from the trees above, and one lands...directly on top of Layna, bringing her to the ground. She goes completely silent for a moment.
...And then she laughs, loud and raucously.
The great and terrible pirate captain Layna Manydays, scourge of the seas, feared by all...
Brought down by a bunch of orphans with some nets and some rocks.
If that wasn't the height of comedy, she wasn't sure what was. She'll still be chuckling about it, even after she's dragged back to wherever.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Someone's calling her name. Hiro?
'Nothin'...wrong with it.'
Something seems to loosen in Gwen the moment her fist manages to connect. For all the pain she had, and the anger at having it dredged up like muck from the bottom of a pond, it's quick to settle back down below the surface, leaving....
....
..... A really, really fatigued Gwen with a sore throat, and little to no wind in the sails of her particular ship (non-pirate).
She collapses with a thud on the ground, nets falling over her form without much trouble, a few orphans probably poking in confusion at the metal arm through the nets.
".... nnho, don't wanna get up yet..." she grumbles dazedly.
A load of orphans is probably the best sort of therapy a Gwen could have, right now. Or, well, after she gets back up.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.
...
Why am I the one left behind?
TWING
You just want...
Why is it always me?
TWING
... someone to share your pain.
I'm the one who has to deal with it!
TWING
Don't you?
TWING
I don't know how to do that...
TWING
...all I know how to do is play pretend and... run away.
TWING
"Ruby!" "Hmm?" "Hey... Silver Star to Ruby... you kinda spaced out there for a bit." "Umm... nothing."
A net falls.
"Hey who are you calling a punk you stripey haired loser!? Owww - hey get this off! It's bending my wings all the way back!" Ruby pauses from her little flailing spell inside the net to look at Cetiri and the cheering children - then Hammer. And then she sighs as she complains, "Worst - Welcome - Ever!"
Hiro eventually just looks to the others, eyeing a flagging Gwen and the rest before saying: "Let's just... go with it."