2019-06-09: All I Need (Desperately)

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==============================<* Great Spiran Sea *>==============================

The Spiran archipelago is, unsurprisingly, composed of a series of islands. One is large, some are fairly big, the rest are quite small. Travel between the islands is accomplished by a series of small, local ferry runs between Spira's major seaports. Each of these ferries is pretty much like the rest - a large two-masted brig equipped with a pair of paddle wheels that allow the vessel to run on chocobo power whenever the wind is low.

Because all of the ferries are basically the same, this is the one you're on. Whatever one that is. Wherever it's going. You're on it.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGoSAJeVwg8
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"...Mom?"

Talise's fingers tense. There in Captain Goldhand's ruined cabin, the swordswoman nearly drops the logbook - that in which the captain expresses his wish for something to let them die.

There's a heavy horror in Talise's voice as realization dawns on her - though in truth, it already had, in a corner of her mind she didn't want to entertain. She'd recognized other ghosts. They'd been clear enough that she could name names as they fought their way through the lost ship of her childhood.

But this--

Wide-eyed, the swordswoman tucks the logbook into her armour and darts out, back onto the deck of the Lunabelle - and there, the mist has eddied and swirled, beginning to take on coherent shapes.

                        ...searching for it...

At the ship's tiller, the violet-tinged mist has taken the form of something that was once a tall man - but one of his hands is twisted into a hideous golden talon, and tendrils pour off the back of his skull and down his chin. Now and then the Hellion of Captain Goldhand flickers, the images of rotting bones showing through his coach as he clutches the ship's tiller, only now and then looking over his shoulder at the action.

A second shape lurks around the edges of things, half-concealed behind a few crates. Long-armed and predatory, this Hellion's shape is vaguely humanoid, but with huge, darting eyes, coiling horns and a hanging jaw like a skeleton's, hands crooked into bizarrely-shaped pincer claws seemingly designed to extract things. Mist continually pours from the Hellion.

As more ghosts, amorphous and tinged with Malevolence, whirl around the sides of the ship like an audience, Talise plants her heel and swallows a lump in her throat. "Captain Goldhand," she breathes. "...And dad... who did this to you--"

Neither of them respond. Neither do the phantoms of the crew surrounding them, indistinct and leering and groaning now and then. Their gazes are mindless, empty pits of madness with no sense of awareness behind them.

                ...no end...

The two of them, though, pale in comparison to the massive Hellion beginning to swell from the mist in the centre of the deck.

<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde 3 has posed.

A swirling mist shifts and clings to itself, gradually forming a semi-incorporeal form of muscular giant with leonine features though not quite as extremely defined as Heldalf's. Strings of moss and seaweed cling to the mist as if it had pushed out directly from the sea, eyes opening with purple-tinted malevolence. In this state, the family resemblance might be difficult to spot but Talise wouldn't have any difficulty.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvdPs4ebx4A

    Where is.... Treasure...

The creature moans this out, gaze eventually slanting down towards Talise and her comrades. There is no hint of slightest recognition from her eyes upon looking at who was once her daughter. Who IS her daughter.

The hellion gestures out with a hand and the mist coalesces into one giant ass buster sword-like cleaverr that for all its simplicity, well, even when Tanin was a mortal a cleaver like that needed few special tricks to handle most problems and as a Hellion? Well, it'll still be plenty dangerous even for an experienced adventuring crew.

Tanin gives out a powerful roar into the sky much like she'd use when playing with Talise as a child, chasing her around the decks.

'I'm coming after you, my adorable stowaway! If I catch ye I'll give ye the most vicious torture I can devise! Tickle torture!'

There is no such followup this time as she swings her blade to one side, sending a wave crashing towards the group before swinging her blade up and around and slamming it into the deck, creating a barrier of water to protect her body with that erupts outside of her form slamming for Talise in particular.

    Give it... Here...

DC: Hellion Horde 3 switches forms to Phantom Hellion Tanin de Gianfair!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 enters a Counter stance!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Talise Gianfair with Surging Wave!
GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Surging Wave for 82 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Wave Front!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Seraph Lanval with Wave Front!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with Wave Front!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Layna Manydays with Wave Front!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Rosaline Calice with Wave Front!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Lanval guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Wave Front for 68 hit points!
GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde 3's Wave Front for 118 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Get Ready Bilgerats!!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde 3's Get Ready Bilgerats! for 0 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has completed its action.
GS: Tethelle Cirdian guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Wave Front for 81 hit points!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde 3's Wave Front for 111 hit points!
GS: Rosaline Calice completely evades a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Wave Front!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval promptly follows Talise with nary more a stumble than a forward flip across a damaged, raised floorboard in the cabin without losing much stride past a startled Sephilia who hugs Chauncey close by. The raise in Talise's emotional tension is, to him, palpable. There is no playing down what this place is, or what has happened to it.
     The Oracle of Schturdark comes before the coalesced figures who mutter their fragments of coherence.
     "Talise..." Lanval speaks up, eyes opening slowly. Before he can say much more, the giant leonine Hellion takes center stage (...deck) and draws their massive blade. Lanval takes a sip from the drinking gourd at his side as the Hellion roars and fires off a crashing wave of water.
     Corrupted, purple-tinged water wraps around Lanval, who pirouettes as he throws out an arm to summon forth brighter, cleaner water to fight to redirect it away from him. There is a swirling maelstrom that has him balancing by the very tip of his projected form's toes, giving back only two steps before the wave of water disperses about him. His eyes are open all the way as he sways back into balance.
     "Talise!" That booming voice, that growing aura of water in all of the forms it comes in - healthy and not - steadying himself behind her. Another wave of water leaves him, racing towards Talise's blade in blessing - and reassurance.
     The Water of Filgaia - through her dear friend - stands with her in this time of need.

GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Talise Gianfair with Lord Of The Lake!
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.
GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge! applied to Talise Gianfair!
GS: Seraph Lanval used Mystic on Talise Gianfair! Status effect durations increased by 2! Temporary HP duration
increased by 2!
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

There's a voice, but that's not what startles Layna the most. Layna looks toward Talise, spotting that dawning realisation.

"...Talise..." Layna mutters. There's sympathy in her voice, but there's no time for further words. Layna follows Talise out onto the deck of the ship, where they spot two ghostly figures. One can only be Captain Goldhand, while the other Talise identifies as her father.

Layna had never expected to encounter him - at least not like this. She had an idea of how Talise must be feeling. To think them lost, only to find them again in this state...

And then, a massive Hellion appears - leonine in form and wielding a massive cleaver. Layna shudders back at the massive roar, and tries to dive out of the way as a swing of the Hellion's blade sends waves crashing down onto the deck.

The wave is too fast and too strong for her to avoid, however - the current sweeps her up and nearly sends her overboard, but she manages to catch herself at the last second.

She takes a deep breath, and the wind begins to spiral around her - it's as likely as anything that that's what caught her. It moves at her back, allowing her a burst of momentum in case of an emergency.

"...Talise, lass. I'll follow your lead - what do we do here?" Layna asks, looking right at her. She'll wait for her word on how to approach this - but if the situation becomes too dire, she may have to take action.

GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Layna Manydays with Raid Signal!
GS: Layna Manydays has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Raid Signal for 0 hit points!
GS: Burst! applied to Layna Manydays!
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Rosaline's ARMs are already drawn when the group has made its way up onto the deck, where the trio of Hellions awaits. Talise identifies them, and Rosaline lets out a gasp when the third makes its appearance. Talise doesn't name it immediately, but... it can be filled in from context clues.

"No... No, this is twisted, you can't just..." Tears bead in the corners of her eyes, her mind flashing back to a childhood friend, twisted into a monster both by cruelties of fate and supernatural forces. A burning chapel, friends by her side and... the monster she became herself.

"No," she repeats, her trembling voice steadying, "I won't let this happen to someone else!" A malevolent wave comes crashing for her, and while her sea legs have been uneasy today, she still springs into an acrobatic leap over it, her body moving with newfound resolve. She lands on her feet (of course) and looks to Talise, putting her ARM-clutching hands together in an approximation of prayer.

"Talise! Whatever happens here, and whatever happens next... We're here for you! Please remember that, and... Please let me help! Shield of Faith"

A glowing, faintly green shield of light forms around the half-beastwoman, soothing her fatigue and wounds. And with this done, Rosaline returns her attention to the Hellions-- One is a nightmare already, but she knows three can be furiously fearsome.

GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Talise Gianfair with Shield of Faith!
GS: Rosaline Calice has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action.
GS: Rosaline Calice heals Talise Gianfair! She gains 100 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield! applied to Talise Gianfair!
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Ghosts are worse when you know them.

Tethelle doesn't know any of these people, except as occasional scraps of knowledge from Talise telling stories. But Talise does - and there's no way that that would make it anything other than brutally, brutally hard for her.

"No!"

Tethelle actually leaps past Talise, vaulting in front of her. She cannot hold off a tide of water, and she doesn't; it washes over Tethelle, shoving her roughly to one side and dropping her out of her stance for a moment until she recovers.

By the time she has, she's holding her blade in one hand despite its size; it looks unwieldy and probably not suited for the maneuvers she generally does. Her other hand holds her Medium, which is affixed to her belt; the symbol of Equites shines on it, glowing a brilliant gold tinged with green that cuts through the Malevolent light like nothing else. She can't dispel it, but she can shine through it.

"Talise, I'm sorry, but if we do not push them away they won't let us live." Tethelle raises her Medium to the sky, sending a beam of light upward -

And a cascade of shining swords made of light and energy fall down, forming a fence between the party and the Malevolent ghosts. The light burns them, and touching the swords is even worse, but they won't last forever.

"There is no treasure here! Leave us be!"

GS: Tethelle Cirdian has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Swordfall!
GS: Tethelle Cirdian has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Tethelle Cirdian has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    'LET US DIE'

    Something horrific happened here. Captain Goldhand's words are all the testimony Ida needs. She looks up into Talise's face, her expression mirroring the Beastwoman's; the Malevolence around them shifts, subtly, as if preparing. Talise runs. Ida follows as quickly as she can, her walking-stick clenched by white-knuckled fingers, her bootheels pounding against the floor. She stumbles onto the deck after Talise, and numbness spikes through her right leg. Ida thrusts out her walking stick, braces herself to keep from toppling over. Her eyes go wide. Everything is happening so fast, and yet it feels like she's the one a half-step ahead of things. Is it the Malevolence? Is it her?

    The ghost of Tanin de Gianfair does not give her the chance to recover. The tidal wave slams into the naturalist, knocking her off her feet and carrying her across the deck. Ida's back hits the railing, a sharp crack splitting the air as the wood almost gives. Ida sags forwards, falls to her knees. Her walking stick falls to the deck beside her. She struggles for breath.

    Ida looks down at her right hand, and for the span of a few heartbeats, she remembers the flame. She remembers the path she chose. She hears Rosaline's voice.

    "We're with you," Ida says. She shoves herself upright, shakily--and with smooth, fluid motions, pulls off both leather gloves. The skin beneath is mottled, plated here and there with bits of biometal exoskeleton.

    On her back of the hand burns the Sigil of the Flame that Sustains the World.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Enkindling!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Enkindling for 0 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

For the past ten years, Talise has longed to be reunited with her parents and the ship she grew up on. Now they're before her - and they're the enemy that Lanval swore her to purify.

The sight of the Hellion of Tanin de Gianfair surging out of the mist paralyzes her for several seconds, her eyes wide with utter horror. "Who did this to you," she begins to say.

That roar. It's all too familiar. Talise clicks her teeth together and swallows a lump in her throat. She can, for just a moment, see herself darting around the deck, getting underfoot, causing mischief, her mother after her to try and gather her up--

Until the wave comes crashing in. With a gasp, Talise plants her knee and drops into a crouch, throwing her arms and blade up to shield herself from the force of the blow. Power surges across her - and it tugs at the anxieties and doubts within her, feeding on that sense of loss. She's searching for something, too. Something she's only just now found.

And then, suddenly, Lanval is there. Talise gasps as the Oracle calls out to her - and the water of Filgaia surges around her, pure and cleansing. She inhales, squaring her shoulders and finding that little spark of memory inside her. Something the Green Knight helped her to find--

With a grunt, Talise snaps Rastaban out. The wave in front of her divides cleanly as the blade passes, parting to either side of her and scattering away as the Malevolence gives way beneath the steel of thousands of years, still sharp enough to cut that which should not be cut.

"Layna," Talise says, voice a little steadier. "Hold them off. I'm going to try something. If there's anything left--"

There's a note of hope underlying the steel in Talise's voice. It's bolstered as Rosaline gets her spell off and calls out to her. The flicker of the shield around her steels her, and she nods to Tethelle, readying her weapon.

Then she takes a step forward. "Mom, if you're in there, stop this," she calls out. "Dad... Captain Goldhand! Recognize who I am! Talise, your kid! If you're still in there--"

Pressing forward, Talise takes a quick juke to the left and sweeps out with the flat of Rastaban. Much of her early, aggressive technique came from her mother - but she learned far more than that in the years after the Lunabelle left port, and the move she attempts is one that wouldn't be out of place among Althena's Guard. She attempts to swat her mother's sword to one side and open her guard, keeping her left hand free to try and protect herself.

All the while, the skulking Hellion of Talise's father looks on, circling, slinking behind a stack of barrels, waiting to strike. From the tiller, Captain Goldhand looks over his shoulder again. His eyes burn black without a trace of recognition.

                            ...what is left...

GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Tidal Waning!
GS: Talise Gianfair has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: COUNTER! Hellion Horde 3 counterattacks Tethelle Cirdianwith Counter Attack!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 guards a hit from Tethelle Cirdian's Swordfall for 58 hit points!
GS: Hyper! applied to Tethelle Cirdian!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Tidal Waning for 95 hit points!
GS: Talise Gianfair assumes the Stoic stance!
<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde 3 has posed.

It doesn't seem like Tanin de Gianfair agrees with Tethelle.

    Lies... Treasure...

She sends a second swirl of that tidal wave protecting her into Tethelle even as blades of light slam down into her hide but as numerous as they are they just don't cut that deeply into her hide. She doesn't pull them out, leaving those blades of light digging into her like very sharp toothpicks until they dissipitate, whenever that happens to be. The water just keeps slamming into her over and over, threatening to bury her in malevolent waters.

    Such desperate... Words.

Layna, Rosaline, and Ida patiently empower themselves but it doesn't seem like this particular hellion is keen to just let that happen either, raising her blade up and slamming it down once more to send that flood slamming for their bodies, thicker and thicker malevolent waters, swirling them about. Even Ida's sigil seems to have trouble holding it off, there's just so much of it. Sadly the weakness chain here isn't working out in Ida's favor.

Lanval of course is in his element so to speak. He manages to buy some room for Talise to strike and call out to her! She smashes the blade to the side but then her mother pushes back, using her considerably greater bulk to push Talise away and reform her guard.

    Lies... You want to believe.

She doesn't seem to recognize Talise! The hellion, letting go of the blade for a moment reaches down and aims to give Talise the biggest hug her mother ever gave her. The sensation of your bones crushing is love!

The hellion seems to be able to sense what Lanval is doing and reaches to her side, forming a bottle from the mists and raising it into the air.

Become filled...!

Lanval finds himself rapidly drawn towards that bottle of malevolence, swirling ever more rapidly into it until it corks itself shut with Lanval trapped inside in a malevolent bottle he surely does not wish to be in for very long!

LANVAL HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE PARTY

IN LIEU OF AN ATTACK ACTION ONE PARTY MEMBER MAY SHATTER THE BOTTLE TO FREE HIM

Tanin grins widely, showing off leonine fangs as she prepares to take the treasure for herself.

Even if she has to cut through her daughter to do it. That can't be right, it shouldn't be right!

GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Seraph Lanval with Submerge!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Talise Gianfair with Embrace!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with Foreboding Ocean!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Seraph Lanval critically Guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Submerge for 33 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Rosaline Calice with Flood!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Flood!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Layna Manydays with Flood!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has completed its action.
GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde 3's Flood for 115 hit points!
GS:  Dispel reduces positive status durations by 3 rounds each!
GS: Layna Manydays has been weakened by Disease! Temporary hit points tick down 1 round!
GS: Disease! applied to Layna Manydays!
GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Embrace for 0 hit points!
GS:  Infect extends negative status by 1 round!
GS: Entangle! applied to Talise Gianfair!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey completely evades a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Flood!
GS: Rosaline Calice takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde 3's Flood for 51 hit points!
GS: Rosaline Calice has been weakened by Disease! Temporary hit points tick down 1 round!
GS: Disease! applied to Rosaline Calice!
GS: Tethelle Cirdian guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Counter Attack for 80 hit points!
GS: Tethelle Cirdian guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Foreboding Ocean for 96 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Talise stands with her friends, one and all, great and small, and Lanval stands just so as to not get in the way of them - a far cry from the bumbling, drunken, layabout of a stowaway they picked back up in Meribia over a year ago. He holds fast over the emotiona turbulence, his very beard like a clear waterfall unto itself while Talise's friends give their more direct vocal reassurances.
     The greatest of the three Hellions turn their gaze upon Lanval as they form themselves a bottle. An empty bottle, full of...
     ...himself?
     It's startling. It is fought against with all the might at his disposal, swinging an arm back as his portly manifestation is pulled forward as though by that of gravity... and then compressed into a spiraling flow of water that goes within a bottle of Malevolence, from where his essence cannot be seen within it too clearly. The cork keeps him in there.
     Deep inside, compressed to a tiny little glowing ball of aquamarine light, the purple container shudders and seeps in which to try and infest itself within his psyche.
 
     My faith in the Seers of Water is unshaken. He projects against the doubts, and they are well-chosen ones indeed - trying to pick at childhood foibles of Talise they can't be aware that she's grown out of. A good chisel to stab at that metaphorical stone with, but it does not find much purchase.
 
     My faith in the mortal Talise Gianfair is unshaken. It may well try to channel what extreme feelings she might feel in that moment, to watch him be in mortal danger of corruption - and in turn stand to do irrepairable damage to Schturdark in the process were it not for his very conviction as the spiritual poison churns at the perimeter of his very essence.
 
     My faith in...

GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Even in life, Talise's mother was gigantic - even taller than Talise. As a Hellion, she's something far and away bigger, and Talise simply isn't prepared to deal with that much bulk.

As the phantom Tanin releases the cleaver, Talise gasps - and then, just like that, she's snatched up. Death and Malevolence have done nothing but enhance the gigantic pirate's strength, and Talise's armour begins to buckle beneath the force of the grip. Gasping, she arches and squirms in her mother's arms - and she lets out a pained shout as something beneath the armour strains and goes *snap.* A rib, maybe. All she knows is that it hurts.

Not as much as that grin, though. "Ghh-- Mom-- this-- wasn't what-- I had in mind--!" she manages to grate out through the pain of being so brutally squeezed.

Her shoulders bunch as she musters her strength. Planting her left hand against the inside of Tanin's wrist, Talise growls with effort as she pits her own strength against the enhanced power of the woman who gave her life. Her feet drop to the deck as she shoves her right forearm against the inside of Tanin's arm. The swordbard's muscles bunch and strain beneath her armour as she plants herself, letting out a rising growl as she slowly forces her mother's arms open.

But she doesn't strike her down. She lunges back, gasping as she regroups - just in time to watch Lanval vanish into the bottle. "LANVAL!" she shouts over the noise of battle.

She swallows hard - snaps her eyes towards where the Hellion of her father is skulking, beginning to beeline towards her. With a growl, she jukes away, then pivots back towards her mother.

"Doesn't any part of you remember?!" she shouts. "It has to! I heard you! You called out my name! Remember! How we used to stand at the stern and watch the seabirds! All the adventures we went on!"

Bolting forward, Talise grips Rastaban in both hands - and she swings it out to try and catch Tanin's huge buster sword, powering in to try and slam the huge Hellion with her shoulder. Only then does she follow up with a hard slash aimed to try and do some damage.

"Even if you're dead in there, at least your soul has to remember your own flesh and blood!!"

GS: A targeted player wasn't found. [#-1]
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Clear and Stormless Ocean!
GS: Talise Gianfair has gained 3 Combo!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Once again, waves rise to engulf Rosaline, and once again, she attempts to leap over them. This time is not quite so easy, however, as the assault proves unrelenting. And so, rather than land right away, the catwoman grabs for one of the sails... which is already in tatters and rips right off, sending her crashing down.

Rosaline hates ghost ships.

Tainted water washes over her, and when the storm finally relents, she looks just like, well, a wet cat, her hair and kimono completely drenched. She seems miserable.

But she isn't out of the fight, not nearly. Talise wants to buy time and try to reach out to them, and while Rosaline isn't very optimistic about that outcome, she respects it. She raises her submachineguns, Esdras and Judith, and lets out a spray of bullets towards the Hellion trio. The aim isn't to kill so much as confuse and slow them down to give Talise more space to work.

She sees the bottle Lanval is trapped in in the corner of her eye. She briefly considers shooting it open but wonders if this would hurt the Seraph. Someone else will have to take care of this.

GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Spray and Pray!
GS: Rosaline Calice has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida rolls up her sleeves. The little bits of Hyadean exoskeleton knit themselves together, piece by piece, until her right arm is completely encased in sleek biometal armor. Some of the plates on her left arm slide towards one another, forming a line down the back of her forearm. She doesn't even have to think about it--it just happens, easy as breathing. Ida starts to circle the enormous Hellion, her stride a little less shaky than it was a moment ago. "If you think there's something left," she says. She doesn't finish the rest of the sentence. She doesn't need to.

    Tanin rears back, and slams her blade down. Malevolent water roars towards them, and this time, Ida sees it in slow-motion. The prickle of Malevolence reaches her a moment later. Bits of sensory input are disconnected from one another, arriving out of synch--but even then, Ida's instinct save her. The woman leaps into the air a half-second before the wave forms, grabs a rope dangling from the rotting rigging, and tucks her legs against her chest. The corrupted water rolls past beneath her. Ida opens her eyes, and sees--

    "LANVAL!" Terror is plain in Ida's voice. She lets it flow through her, even as her body starts to move--as if it's one step ahead of her thoughts, again. She shifts her weight forwards, pulls the line down towards the deck, shifts her weight back. On the next swing, Ida drives one boot-clad foot towards Tanin de Gianfair's face, trying to knock the bottle loose.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Boot to the Head!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

The fallen swords don't last very long, but shatter into flashes and shards of green-gold light as they go, giving one last blast of energy.

While Tethelle may be doing well offensively, she's under attack from all sides. Water batters at Tethelle - not just water but Malevolence-imbued water, slamming into her. She's up to her waist, her chest as it rises against her, surging across the deck in ways that are decidedly unnatural.

Tethelle barely manages to react and recover. She's being pulled every direction, and the undertow is threatening to pull her right off the ship. She tries to plant her feet, but she slips, one of her legs skidding out from under her; she breaks into impromptu splits, tumbles, and slides across the deck, blinded and dazed as she bounces across it. A barrel hits her in the side, caught in the same wave as she is.

She slams up against the railing, cresting out of the water with a spray and a gasp for breath. She's kept her blade in her hand, and it blazes with the silver chi energy she channels when she's not using her Medium; she sweeps it through a broad arc before releasing a cutting line of silver at the back of Tanin-the-Malevolent. She's still trying to catch her breath, sputtering and spitting water and sore from where her ribs slammed into the railing, and cannot manage any words; but sometimes you don't need words to make your point.

GS: Tethelle Cirdian has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Comet Blade!
GS: Tethelle Cirdian has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna nods back to Talise. She could understand the sentiment. Wanting to know if there was something of who they were left inside...

For Talise's sake, Layna hopes she can get through to them. If not...well, they'll see to it when they get there.

Layna moves to defend, but that blade comes down once more. Thick, malevolent water swirls around her, trapping her in a tainted mire. She's assailed by it, and for a moment she finds herself...but then, she hears Talise and Ida call out Lanval's name.

"Lanval...!?" Layna repeats breathlessly. She follow's Talise's gaze, and watches as the Seraph finds himself trapped. Layna takes a deep breath, her hands tightening into fists.

"It's alright, I've got him! Don't worry!" Layna shouts. The bracer on her left hand flashes - not with the flames some might come to expect from her, but a bright blue.

"You hear that, lad? I'm coming for you! Just hang on, aye? Layna'll take care of it!" She calls out. With her decision made, she forces herself to trudge through the malevolent waters. She can't let them sink in - not when an important friend is on the line.

And then, as Ida moves to knock the bottle free Layna surges forward to catch it in her left hand.

"It'll be alright." She whispers. She looks a little exhausted from the effort, but even so she puts on a confident expression.

While she has been a Seer for a little while now, she has not yet tried to call upon the powers of purification gifted to her - the opportunity hadn't arisen.

But now, in Lanval's time of need...

Would she be able to do it now - now, when it was perhaps the most necessary?

Of course she could. She was not one to doubt herself.

Pure, clean water surges around her left hand, spiraling around the bottle as it tries to purify the Malevolence within from the outside...and then, Layna tightens her grip, attempting to shatter the bottle outright and free Lanval.

This instead of smashing it on the ground or something, which probably would've been the smarter idea. But that's Layna for you.

GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde 3 guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Clear and Stormless Ocean for 89 hit points!
GS: Talise Gianfair's Stoic stance ends.
GS: Hellion Horde 3 guards a hit from Rosaline Calice's Spray and Pray for 39 hit points!
GS: Weaken! applied to Hellion Horde 3!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 guards a hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Boot to the Head for 58 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 guards a hit from Tethelle Cirdian's Comet Blade for 77 hit points!
GS: Mighty! applied to Tethelle Cirdian!
<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde 3 has posed.

As our heroes step forward to fight, Tethelle who has run forward immediately gets the first strike in. She swipes that silver chi into the hellion's back and she howls in pain as she is shoved forward and the mist along her back wavers, leaving an empty gash that rapidly works on refilling itself.

It doesn't seem like mama remembers you much Talise. She is smiling like she caught a special prize and is so excited she's gonna shatter you in her grip...but she is able to pry herself free and catches the blade with a hand before it cuts her in half and she slams into the Hellion with her shoulder which doesn't seem to do much but that hard slash does leave open a similarly thick gash along the hellion's front.

She always wore her scars proudly.

The malevolent waters strike at Lanval in ways that mortals might have difficulty understanding. It seeks to befuddle him, confuse him, mistake this foul water for his own water and see his own water as something alien to him. It's a bit like the ocean being lost at sea.

Tanin is oblivious to Filgaia, oblivious to the greater danger but there seems to be some instinctive understanding to what she's doing here.

Some of Rosaline's bullets strike her and the hellion skids backwards before dropping down into a crouch, eyes hazy but narrowed with animalistic instinct.

Ida drives a foot into her face, sending her sprawling backwards into her own mists even as Layna takes the opportunity to take a shot with pure clean water--water that is tied keenly to Lanval himself, water that may help encourage him, remind him of who he is.

Remind him of who he is and prevent him from falling to the same curse as Tanin who clearly has forgotten the face of her daughter.

Glass shards slam into Tanin's arm, sinking into the mists as she brings herself back up, unfocused eyes suddenly showing some sign of understanding.

But...

...Her hand on that cleaver tightens.

But...

It's not enough

BGM INTERRUPT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWWlRKyYdgs

She is starting to look more like Talise's mother now as she straightens up, the mists forming a backdrop behind her, fueling her but her form solidifying into place fiercely.

"My bottle..." She hisses. "You're after my treasure...!"

She lets out one more roar, rearing back with her head and screaming it out before swinnging that blade in a wide cleaving arcs. Tethelle can tell that for their lack of polish, there's plenty of experience behind those strikes focusing less on form and more on getting the job done and the ferocity often makes up for the rest of it.

Lanval at least avoids getting cut up by that blade but may have a rough landing after being ejected so forcefully from that bottle.

"I won't let you have my treasure!"

GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Seraph Lanval with Disembark!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Talise Gianfair with Awakening Courage!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Awakening Courage!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with Awakening Courage!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Layna Manydays with Awakening Courage!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Rosaline Calice with Awakening Courage!
GS: Seraph Lanval completely evades a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Disembark!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Colossus!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has gained 1 Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Tethelle Cirdian critically Guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Awakening Courage for 48 hit points!
GS: Tethelle Cirdian enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde 3's Awakening Courage for 106 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 heals Hellion Horde 3! It gains 200 temporary hit points!
GS: Mighty! applied to Hellion Horde 3!
GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Hellion Horde 3's Awakening Courage for 125 hit points!
GS: Talise Gianfair enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Entangle expired!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Force of Nature!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 takes a solid hit from Hellion Horde 3's Force of Nature for 0 hit points!
GS:  Restore reduces negative status durations by 3 rounds each!
GS: Shield! applied to Hellion Horde 3!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 has completed its action.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde 3's Awakening Courage for 136 hit points!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Rosaline Calice takes a glancing hit from Hellion Horde 3's Awakening Courage for 157 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

She's torn her mother's ghost open. She's raised a weapon and wounded her. Talise's cheeks pale.

From the tiller, the Hellion of Goldhand looks back again - and this time, he blinks slowly. His eyes focus for a moment on Talise.

                    ...an age-old story...

Talise widens her eyes with a hopeful breath, catching just behind her teeth. "Yes! You guys and Uncle Piet used to tell me stories all the time! Remember, all those Lady Chloe stories? All the Dragonmaster ones? The lute?!"

But something's changing. She's seeing more and more signs of familiarity in the Malevolence-warped figures before her. Tanin begins to take a more physical form. Talise waves her sword as she drops back again. "No!" she shouts. "You weren't the kind of person who only cared about riches!!"

Tanin cuts her off, swinging that sword violently. With a shout of hope and defiance, Talise swings Rastaban up to meet that massive cleaver of a weapon. Sparks fly; Malevolent energy arcs with green lightning as the swordswoman begins to muster a courage that will simply not be enough to block a sword with that mass. The impact hurls her, and she hits the wall beside the door to Goldhand's cabin.

Immediately, the Hellion that is her father lunges at her, talons splayed. With a screech, he reaches for her sword. Talise reacts instinctively -

She slams her left hand out and powers it into her father's chest. With a startled shriek, the twisted Hellion topples under his own momentum, his legs flipping out from under him as he skids past Talise and hits the wall upside-down. "You never were any good in a fight, dad," Talise mutters, shaking her hand out.

"sorry" he rasps almost perfunctorily.

Talise blinks. She swallows, hard. "...You are in there," she says decisively.

Talise steals a look back to check on Tethelle, then Lanval, before striding forward. "Listen!" she shouts at her mother again, her voice pitched with an appeal. "When you left to look for this Relic of Althena, you told me you'd be back. Since then I've been waiting until we could see each other again... and now we're here! Now! And the friends who're with me helped me get this far even without a mom and dad to teach me what it meant to be grown up...!" Her voice takes on a bit of a quaver at the end.

But she steels herself - plants her feet, raises her sword. "So please!" she cries out before barreling forward, swinging hard, a heavy blow intended to lock blades with her mother, trying to punch through with all her momentum. To try and take her off her feet.

"Please, come to your senses! At least... at least long enough to see the kind of person I've become!"

GS: Talise Gianfair has spent 3 Combo on Gatling, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Talise Gianfair enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Steel Tsunami!
GS: Talise Gianfair has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde 3 takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Steel Tsunami for 270 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

They seem to be making progress, or at least Rosaline hopes, if Tanin's shifting form is any indication. But the Hellion hasn't said her last word, for from it, and soon her giant blade is cutting swathes through their party. Rosaline tries to put some distance between it and herself, but only manages to prevent herself from being sliced in half, and instead merely sent flying with a rather nasty cut in her side. With a cry of pain, she runs a glowing hand over her wound, willing the flow of blood still before she stands up.

"What treasure could possibly be worth all this?!" she asks, anger rising in her voice as she asks the question that has been hanging over them from the moment they stepped onto this ship. "Your daughter is here, you're her parents! That's worth more than any treasure!" Does talking to Hellions help? In her experience, it's a bit of a mixed bag, but it sure is cathartic.

"Please hold still and be purified! Swords of Revealing Light" Rosaline holds her hands up and glowing swords fan out from behind her back. One after another, they fly towards Tanin, taking a page from Tethelle's book and attempting to pin her down or at least trap her.

"Just give the signal," she tells Talise. Among the six of them, surely they can coordinate some form of purification... Well, God willing.

GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Swords of Revealing Light!
GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval continues to slosh around in there. Time is displaced. He repeats his faith like a mantra, communicated as something beyond word or thought. It just is. It twists and turns in directions that don't correspond to physical movement. Water is easy to corrupt, because everything needs it. Everything gets in it. All the while, through his very essence, Lanval clings tight hold of the piece of the very water of Filgaia. Not one droplet of corrupted water seeps in there.
 
     My faith in what is water is unshaken.
 
     Layna, the second Seer of Water, moves in to free Lanval as Ida helps set-up the rescue, and through power channeled through Lanval and further through Schturdark beyond him... the very purple surrounding the bottle frees, leaving an aquamarine glow inside from Layna's hand. Then, the bottle shatters...
     And Lanval spills out from a flood of this cleansing water, on his back, sailing underneath a swung blade none the wiser like he were intent to just sleep through it. He looks as though he was at such ease, mentally speaking, he ran the risk of just sleeping through it.
     My faith in all of them is unshaken... for they are friend to the water of Filgaia...
 
     Lanval's eyes open up anew as he sits up, not far behind Layna.
     ...and they are friend to me.
 
     "I thank thee for the timely intervention," he says, a vague awareness of the help from the Seer of Fire nearby as well as his own Seer as he rises up on his feet, to where Talise now tries to lock blades with her mother, as she clings onto the hope that those she loves are still in there.
     He strides past the flooded Malevolent waters, walking atop it. His bare feet leave behind cleaner, clearer patches as he comes up behind Talise as she struggles to fight and hold back someone she has only ever seen as being far larger, far bigger, far stronger. Magnified ever further, now, from the Malevolence.
     Lanval moves to place a hand on Talise's shoulder with a tranquil (but - yes - still kind of stupid) smile. It's a gentle gesture, a light touch... and he strides past her, back towards Tanin's back...
     To place a hand at her back.
     Lanval's projected manifestation is that of a bare-foot, overweight, long-bearded wastrel in swankier, cleaner aquamarine threads than previous. He does not look that powerful. He looks all the part of someone of an overindulgent lifestyle, unfit and soft.
     And yet, there is an immeasurable strength, a pressure, as it takes his very will to hold his gourd within his left arm, heavy with what it contains. With his free hand, his right...
     He presses it into Tanin's back.
     "I bid thee, look most closely." He speaks to them. "Talise Gianfair cannot take thy treasure...."
     His smile is patient. The eyes projecting that power he does when they're open, but the gaze soft and gentle, even as he is touching the corruption unwavering. As a Seraph, the value of individual mortal life and their relationships with one another is not easy to grasp the depths of. In recent times, he was company to a series of flippant discussions about mortals repeating the same mistakes as ever around him. A casual, dismissive conversation cut short for when he asserted his views on a certain Seraph's allegiances and their willingness to follow them through to terrible ends.
     In this moment, he finds enough grounding to be able to say this with sincerity. Something that would normally be so transient as to be nary but another grain of sand, to the length of time he has to exist.
     "...for she doth be your treasure."

GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Body Of Water!
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    The rotting rope snaps beneath Ida's weight, dropping her to the deck below. She lands in an awkward three-point crouch, grits her teeth and forces herself upright. The subtle change in Tanin's eyes catches her attention. Is it working?

    "Keep at it!" Ida shouts, to Talise. She glances back at Tanin, her lips pulling tight. "I wish," she says, "I'd gotten to meet you before this." And then the spectral Hellion's blade comes down. Ida is already in motion--her conscious mind is left scrambling to catch up with muscle memory that's far too quick. She tries to stop it, but the tic of hesitation costs her--Ida raises both arms, and the edge of Tanin's blade slashes through exoskeletal plating. Crimson and quicksilver flow freely to the deck, and then the bleeding just--stops. Ida stumbles back, glances at Rosaline. "It could--end her," she says. "If it's all that's keeping them around." She saw what happened to the Nameless Lord, and to the Beast that was once someone's best friend.

    The Malevolence must not spread. But Talise is suffering. She's not going to deny her the chance to say goodbye, if such a chance exists.

    The thought gives her something to focus on. "You've suffered," Ida says. "You've all suffered so much. But we're here now, and some of us know the touch of Malevolence as deeply as you do." The armor plates around Ida's right hand thicken. The ends of her fingers lengthen, sharpen into claws. Chi boils up inside Ida's fist as she rounds on Tanin, striking at her from the flank while Talise keeps her occupied and Rosaline tries to pen her in. "You're not alone!" Ida drives her fist at Tanin's gut with terrible force. The fire that is her life-energy surges outwards, a shockwave preceding the physical impact.

GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has spent 2 Combo on Gatling, including 2 on Gatling!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Unbroken Lotus Fist!
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna wasn't sure what would happen when the bottle was shattered...but she lets out a sigh and a grin of relief as he comes spilling out on a flood of cleasning water.

"No thanks needed. Glad to have you back, lad!" Layna replies with a grin.

After all, Lanval is freed but the fight isn't over - the Hellion lashes out this time with brutal sword swings. The weapon is simply too massive for her to hope to guard against, and even dodging it fully is out of the question.

Layna grunts as she is simply swept aside by Tanin's blade, smashing into the side of the ship. With a sharp exhale Layna forces herself to her feet. She hears the calls for treasure, and then looks quietly toward Talise.

"Treasure, aye...? As he says, the most valuable treasure you could ask for is right in front of you, and you can't even recognize it." Layna says, shaking her head. She then stands up straight and points, directly at Talise.

"That, is Talise Gianfair! Sailor of the seas of two worlds! Wielder of Rastaban, fantastic bard, and challenger to those who would threaten the innocent! She's my friend, and," Layna redirects her pointing, now pointing directly at Tanin. "Your daughter! For her sake, if not your own..."

Layna's hand then tightens into a fist, as she disappears with a gust of wind, reappearing right behind Tanin.

"Open your eyes!" Layna punches forward then, with all her might - a bracing blow that's difficult to dodge.

GS: Layna Manydays has spent 2 Combo on Gatling, including 2 on Gatling!
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Dead Men Tell No Tales!
GS: Layna Manydays has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

The chi energy remains on Tethelle's blade after she throws a cutting wave of light from it, as she shifts into a more defensive stance. The shifting deck, the water sheeting across it - all these things give her trouble, but she struggles to stay upright and balanced.

Tethelle deals with the incoming blade deftly, or as deftly as she can in these circumstances. But Tethelle has an advantage here, or at least less of a disadvantage; she has a blade that at least comes close in length, if not weight, and she's trained to hold off the even bigger weapons some of the Metal Demons shape themselves into.

Tethelle rides the blows, letting them skip across the flat of her Baskar-made sword without trying to stop them dead - with that much momentum all she'd manage is to throw herself off the ship entirely. Instead, she guides them, pushing Tanin off-balance again and again in subtle ways, ensuring that her powerful strikes don't hit home against Tethelle and leaving her open to an attack.

Which Tethelle could take. She almost does on three separate occasions - but always holds back. Just a little. There are Seraphs and Seers here, better suited for purification. Tethelle can't purify Malevolence in the same way; that's not her calling. All she can do is strike at the darkness to protect others.

Well, that's what she's going to have to do.

"My name is..."

...

"...irrelevant," Tethelle says, not finishing it her usual ways as she raises her blade. "I will not let you hurt Talise in your madness. That is all. It's not your fault - but I will stop you, until you can think again." And hopefully the Seers can manage it, because Tethelle's route - if she tries it at all - will involve beating them half to death.

Tethelle strikes suddenly, rushing forward. She runs through the water still on the deck like it didn't exist, the Malevolent water turning to mist as she steps through it, using her power to keep herself moving as she swings her blade through a rising arc, aiming to literally launch Tanin up into the air before slamming her back down with a vertical strike the other way.

She has aimed her right toward Lanval's water, toward near Talise. "FEEL!" she roars, as she descends. "THINK! Think back! Beyond the Malevolence!"

GS: Tethelle Cirdian has activated a Force Action!
GS: Tethelle Cirdian has attacked Hellion Horde 3 with Heaven and Earth!
GS: Tethelle Cirdian has completed her action.
GS: Hellion Horde 3 takes a solid hit from Rosaline Calice's Swords of Revealing Light for 115 hit points!
GS: Break! applied to Hellion Horde 3!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 takes a solid hit from Seraph Lanval's Body Of Water for 174 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Unbroken Lotus Fist for 176 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Dead Men Tell No Tales for 184 hit points!
GS: Hellion Horde 3 takes a solid hit from Tethelle Cirdian's Heaven and Earth for 198 hit points!
GS:  Dispel reduces positive status durations by 3 rounds each!
GS: Cripple! applied to Hellion Horde 3!
<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde 3 has posed.

Rosaline unleashes her own SWORDS OF REVEALING LIGHT which both destroy all of Tanin's trap cards but also pins her arms to the deck, her body just solidified enough for this to actually work. It's not likely to pin her for very long because she's a muscle miracle but for the moment she struggles, hissing and shrieking wordlessly as she struggles both against her nature and also the bindings.

What treasure could possbly be worth all this?! Your daughter is here, you're her parents! That's worth more than any treasure!

 Feel! Think back! Beyond the Malevolence!

Tanin thrashes wildly, cleaver dropping from her hand as she is held firmly still. A timely IDA PUNCH slams into her gut. It would leave a person winded but all it does is slow Tanin down. She starts to pull a hand free, reaching for Ida.

But we're here now, and some of us know the touch of Malevolence as deeply as you do.

Layna puts a stop to that, slamming her from behind unexpectedly. Tanin slumps forward, weakened in this moment, swinging an arm back but she's just too big. She can't reach. Tis a lucky thing Talise is here otherwise who knows how much longer she could have fought like this, but because it's this group she is starting to remember who she is. Bit by bit. Echoes of memory gnawing at her spirit. Layna tells her, then,

The most valuable treasure you could ask for is right in front of you

This seems to ENRAGE Tanin as she pushes back up, "I know my treasure!! My greatest treasure...!! Talise, my greatest treasure! I must get back! I must get back to her!!" and she kicks Layna away from her body in a wild moment. Did she forget?

How could she ever really forget?

But can she SEE her there, right in front of her? Has she confused the treasure that is Talise with another treasure? Or have they become compounded into one. To seek Talise is to seek ...?? What she's looking for, she can't articulate it. Why can't she articulate it? In this moment there's 'something' but also... the concrete treasure right in front of her, her own precious Talise, the one she loves so much--

Tethelle tries very hard to knock Tanin into the air. In that she manages to succeed but honestly she's just so gosh darn big and tough and DENSE in a kind of way that it's hard to knock her up AND over.

THINK! Think back! Beyond the malevolence!

Think back to what?

Was there a time before?

It's Talise who manages to finish off what Tethelle started, slamming her own mother back into Lanval's waters, those clean waters now have the advantage, eating away at the poison, the malevolence that makes up Tanin.

Almost. Makes up Tanin. Almost.

See the kind of person I've become!

Tanin blinks a few times. A gourd is placed into her back. A calming sensation ripples over her. Turbulent waters go still.

I bid thee, look most closely. Talise Gianfair cannot take thy treasure

Her eyes squint. Fog is lifting from her eyes.

For she doth be your treasure

"Talise...?" She asks. "Talise is that you?"

She reaches out towards her daughter.

"How can it be you...?" She asks. "You've grown so much bigger...than I."

Will Talise approach her mother? Certainly tis a risk.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

'It could--end her.' Talise goes cold as Ida reminds her of the obvious. She has the power to purify now - but doing so would kill her mom and dad, and the captain of the ship that was the only home she ever knew.

Lanval declares her the treasure, and Talise has to catch herself before she breaks down. Tears stand in her eyes nevertheless. She dashes them away with the back of her arm. The others are shouting - Layna, Tethelle. It's all she can do to keep her emotions at bay.

"Whatever you're looking for, you don't have to search anymore," she offers up, her voice quieter and more throaty.

And then her mother starts talking again. The lump in Talise's throat returns full force. Even swallowing doesn't help. As her mother goes down, things seem to clear up - and Talise brings her hand up again, trying in vain to wipe her eyes despite the fact that she's wearing armour and mostly just gets the back of her gauntlets. It doesn't much help.

She can practically see things shifting in front of her. The change in Tanin's voice is palpable. The shift in her mannerisms is more familiar. She takes a couple of steps forward.

She keeps her sword, but moves it to her left hand, loose. "Yeah," she says, her voice shaking. "Yeah, it's me, mom. Dad...."

Talise can't stop herself. There's danger there, but she couldn't hold herself back no matter how big the threat. She rushes forward, moving to kneel by the Hellion that her mother has become, holding out her right hand. "I'm... I'm not that big yet," she admits with an unsteady smile, tears beginning to well in her eyes again. "But I'm here... even if it's like this, I'm here!"

Slowly, the Hellion that was Clyde Rath skulks over to crouch near his daughter and the mother of his child, sitting back on his haunches. The darkness in his eyes has begun to pass - but though he's beginning to clear, there's still that mistiness about his body. Reminder enough that they're dead.

From the tiller, the phantom of Captain Goldhand relinquishes the wheel and speaks.

            ...the man we took aboard wanted to find a map to the Relic of Althena... he told us it was on a ship, lost in Spira long ago... but when we got close, he became a monster and...

"...killed us all."

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Tanin's powerful foot slams into her gut and Layna stumbles back, briefly winded. But the others take over, and gradually, Tanin seems to become a bit more aware.

Layna straightens up and watches. Carefully, just in case the malevolence overtakes Tanin again, but otherwise she doesn't ask.

She watches, as Talise reunites with her parents. Layna smiles sadly and looks away, tipped her hat over her eyes for a moment.

They deserved that moment of privacy. ...But then, Captain Goldhand speaks, and Layna turns her attention toward him.

"'The man you took aboard'..." She repeats with a grim, pensive frown and folds her arms in front of her. Someone was responsible for this - though it seems he became a Hellion before long. "...Who was he, Captain?"

If this man was still alive, then they would have to find him. And, possibly, make him wish he wasn't.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida isn't sure she could out-wrestle Talise, who isn't a Malevolent apparition. She doesn't want to take her chances with her mother. She ducks, twists on a heel, and steps out of the way as Layna comes in. "You're almost through," Ida says. "Just--"

    Tanin shouts, and Ida stumbles back. Come on, Ida thinks. Come on--

    And just like that, it's over. Ida's eyes fall first on Talise, then Tethelle, and then on Lanval and his gourd. Finally, she looks at the apparition of Tanin de Gianfair, lucid at long last. A lump forms in her throat, and stays there as Talise greets her mother for the first time in years. Tears well up in her eyes. Ida steps forwards, staying as close to Talise as she can while allowing her friend her space. She frowns as Captain Goldhand speaks, her whole face tightening. "And he... left you here, all this time?" Ida's voice hitches. Her right hand tightens. Phantasmal flame licks up around her fingers, a tiny speck of Moor Gault's power. An unorthdox vessel for a Guardian, perhaps, but Boudicca chose her first Seer knowing full well what she was, and how her experiences had tempered her.

    "It was good to finally meet you," Ida says, smiling a tiny little smile.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Ida reminds Rosaline of what purification could do to those particular Hellions. The Etone nods back, sadly. She hadn't forgotten. "The dead can't stay in our world. Not like this." Death is preferable to this sort of existence. Hopefully Talise understands this too.

The Hellions are weakened. They've even regained their senses. Rosaline holsters her ARMs with a tiny sigh of relief. Their job isn't done here, but it seems they have a moment's respite.

She steps close to Talise as she faces what remains of her parents and former captain. Her lip quivers and there is the occasional sniff as she watches their conversation unfold. There will be time to cry soon, but right now she needs to maintain some composure. She sniffs. "It was," Rosaline says, squeaky-voiced, after Ida. "Your daughter is one of the best persons I know. She has strength and a good heart."

The captain's words about a man they took on board don't escape her notice, but Layna asks the obvious question. There will be time to look into that later too, hopefully.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval watches as everyone moves in with their sentiments, which further empower them against a force that infests through - and further feeds on - doubts, fears, contradictions... he quietly draws his essence back as the surrounding Hellions grasp at reason and coherence, if only for so long. Corruption drips off from where he makes contact, as though simply dripping off and away from a surface of water that has withstood it.
     The power that Lanval has is extraordinary, but it is by itself merely an extension of a power that sustains the world it is of. Through his own five-hundred-year experience as a Lord of the Land, he is able to keep the existing Malevolence from thickening any further. He can further nudge aside the miasma, and suppress it. These traits, alone, are invaluable and would have been more than most would ever aspire to.
     Lanval quiets, eyes slowly closing as the mortals go about their questions of the gathered. The Oracle of Schturdark instead devotes his very energies to pushing away much of the ambient Malevolence on deck, as if to buy these Hellions more time to be lucid. More time to be able to clearly see the the once littlest crew member of the Lunabelle, to have their closure. Bit by bit, clean water carries away the ambient miasma. It is the greatest kindness than he can give them, more than sentimental words. Mortals only have so much time afforded to them, after all. All the better to make sure their lives can have even the smallest of joys - what his natural Domain projected. What might have been the X factor in letting him hold on for as long as he did.
     Though in the moment Lanval may appear impersonal and distant, he knows full well that what is asked of Talise is within her capability when it is decided that it is time.
     She who proved herself of merit, clear of the means in which she would carry out her duty.
     She who proved herself capable of bearing the weight of the responsibility.
     She who could comprehend the good and bad of life, without taking the former for granted or looking away from the latter.
     She who could keep hold of her will, through all of this.
     It is through the hand of such a capable mortal - a Seer - that can withstand these rigors and invoke the miracle of Purification. It will be Talise who will bid her family to be on their way in good health, should there be anything beyond.
     Intristically, Lanval will come kneel by Talise's side as support when he senses the time has come, and prove no more obtrusive than that.

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle drops down after her maneuver, catching herself with a staggering step and straightening up. She fails to straighten all the way - her ribs are cracked from that barrel that slammed into her - but she sure tries.

"...Hello," she says, somewhat at a loss as to what to say. This is, she knows, a momentary reprieve. They aren't alive. They can't stay. Someone will have to purify them, and release them from what they are.

But she doesn't say that. She wants Talise to have all the time she can. And even as close as she is to Talise, it wouldn't feel right to interfere with it. What could she say? Even her normally outgoing personality is muted at a time like this.

"...You were right to call her your treasure," is what she offers, eventually. "Because she truly is one."

<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde 3 has posed.

A trembling hand takes hold of Talise's hand. Tanin looks into her eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asks. "You've made it to Spira, you have a hearty loyal crew, true companions... from this moment on you're bigger than your momma."

She hears it from Rosaline who says that Talise is one of the best persons she knows. "You better believe it!" She tells her, a bit of spice coming into her words, good-natured as it may be.

Ida says it was good to finally meet her.

"Heh, was it now?" Tanin asks. "I should be sayin', it's good t'finally meet you! Thank you for bringing her to us."

Layna is focusing on business but Tanin hardly cares to recount it. In her mind, it would be better if Talise did not seek vengeance for their deaths, if she lived whatever adventurous life she managed to find for herself free from grudges and pain. She already seems to be living so much.

"The most precious treasure I've got." she tells Tethelle, her spicy grin becoming more melancholic in that moment. "Thank you for protecting her. Thank you..."

Her gaze turns towards Lanval.

"...for bringing her to me."

She closes her eyes for a long time. For a hellion to ask for themselves to be purified knowing it will end their existence, it's not easy, not even in a case like this. Especially with all she cares about in this world right here, right in front of her.

But on the other hand, would she have it any other way?

Tanin opens her eyes once more. "I'm entrusting her to you." She tells Lanval, perhaps instinctively understanding the connection they have formed. "Take care of her...for me."

She then finally sets her gaze towards Talise, brushing her hair with a hand. There isn't much time. If she isn't purified, she might hurt others again, might hurt her daughter again.

"You know," She says. "I cursed my fate many times... but becoming a hellion... at least it kept me here long enough to see you one last time. I wish it could have been longer."

She pulls her husband and Talise into a tight embrace, this one considerably less bonecrushing, though, than the last.

"Like this..." She whispers. "I want it to end like this."

She rests her head on her daughter's shoulder, eyes closing one last time, basking wholly in her presence.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Most people can't out-wrestle Talise. She's not as big as her mother, but she's still bigger and stronger than most men.

The phantom that was Captain Goldhand turns his eyes to Layna, then Ida; his expression gradually softens as humanity floods past the spectral essence that's consumed him for the past decade. "...The name he gave us was Joe Clark. We assume it was false," he says, voice thinner. "He'd been seeking something for a long time. An eternity...."

The phantoms of the crew waver along the sides of the ship as Goldhand begins a slow course over to Layna,. He reaches up, closing his hideously warped golden talon and bringing it to his chest - and then he bows his head.

"You're a sea dog yourself," he utters. "Do this old pirate the decency of freeing me and my boys from this nightmare of undeath."

From his crouched position, the Hellion of Clyde looks up, listening with a smile as Tanin heaps praise upon their daughter. "...You turned out to be a good one," he manages, and there's a quiet, sly kindness behind the ethereal hiss that his voice has taken on. "Never forget that we're proud of you and we love you. Go on and live a good life."

Talise's eyes have filled with tears as she looks from her captain to her father to her mother, her lower lip trembling. She doesn't even try to hold the tears back as she grips her mother's hand tightly, squeezing. "Mom, dad," she manages to say, her voice breaking with a whirl of emotions she can barely sort out, relief and love and sadness and hope and resignation and something more. She wishes she didn't have to do what she must do, even as Tanin entrusts her to Lanval and the others.

Blinking tears away, Talise smiles lopsidedly back at her parents, unable to keep from sniffling. "...I'm glad I could see you one last time," she whispers.

She's pulled close. For a moment, she can do nothing but lower her face to her mother's shoulder, encircling the phantoms of her parents with both arms and holding them close.

"I dreamed of this," she says, and her voice breaks into a sniffle as the tears fall. "I'll never forget you... I promise."

The tears fall - and they shine with a gentle light.

The light builds around Talise, beading in droplets down her cheeks. The droplets of pure light break down into little glimmers that dance down the forms of Tanin and Clyde. They join more motes of aquamarine light that drip down the blade of Rastaban, mingling with Talise's tears. She has no idea how to do this; it doesn't matter, because her will takes over. The power slowly mounts, building and building, the glow of soft blue light dripping across the pair of hellions like a spring rain.

"I love you both so much," Talise whispers tearfully as the light swells to clean away the Malevolence that keeps her parents' ghosts among the living.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval takes the heartfelt gratitude that shines through the churning maelstroms of Malevolent undeath in quiet stride, keeping that smile of his throughout. In these moments, he approaches more the ideal of how the Seraphim are portrayed in Althena's faith - even as one who has become an apostate to her, condemned as an agent of evil.
     He is but a conduit in which Schturdark channels their power to those Lanval has deemed worthy. He can feel the stirring emotions in Talise's heart. This, to almost anyone else in his position, might have been seen as a red flag - but not to Lanval.
     She is more than capable. Even her very tears speak of an acceptance and a will of what must be done, and that they are what carries the power says much about her will to take hold of all of this.
     A tragic scene, seeing itself out to its end. The same considerations are given to Layna as she's given the task of helping see to Captain Goldhand and his loyal men who have kept with him even beyond becoming Hellions. For her devil-may-care attitude, Lanval has found Layna just as worthy as Talise.
     Even with considerations to the two former Hellions on board, who are both initimately aware as to the depths Malevolence can take them, Lanval is grateful for their presence - for their guidance in helping another good friend through one of their most trying times, with their own techniques offered as to how to best cope and endure such concentrations of the fell miasma.
     To Tethelle, priestess of a world that Lanval now calls home, who has never thought twice about lending her strength to a just cause in the name of helping her good friends through.
     Even to Sephilia Lampbright, all the way back by the cabin - she may not have been found to be wanting as a prospective Seer, but even she is possessed of a desire to do good and enjoy all the little surprises the world has in store.
     For a moment, his thoughts drift to Ragnell, who grew tired of all these stories that ended in tragedy and ruin, and her desire to just completely destroy it all. It is true that this sort of thing can and will keep happening, ceaselessly, without end. Unfulfilled hopes and dreams, things lost that can never be replaced or made up for. Mortal life is tumultuous, fleeting, and prone to constantly repeated missteps. But no, there is no use dwelling upon her. He found his answer, his calling.
     He re-focuses on the small joys, of rediscovery of lost family and an acknowledgement of the child's well-being. Of a peace found, of a rest earned. Little things like that, that make the world worthy to be.
     By the hands of mortals like these, a world that will be a little bit easier to sustain - one such small joy at a time.

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Joe Clark. A false name, he says, and it seems like this man has been after this 'Relic of Althena' for a long time. And then, Captain Goldhand asks a request of her - a request between captains.

It's the same thing she'd ask of anyone else if she ended up in the same situation. It was only appropriate she show him the same kind.

"...Aye. Go in peace, Captain Goldhand. Wouldn'ta minded sharing a drink with you someday...so instead, we'll all be sure to have a good, long drink your names. Whatever awaits you, may there be plenty of drink, song, and sea to sail!" Layna says, with a resolute nod.

With that, light emits from her left bracer as she once more calls upon the power of purification. Water - pure, clean water - rushes out. Rather than the rough surge that she used to purify the bottle, this is more comparable to a gentle wave, to wash away the Malevolence peacefully.

Layna shifts her focus then to bring Talise and her family in view as well the former begins a Purification of her own, offering them a smile.

"...Don't you worry now, none of you. We'll look after her, just as I know she'll look after us. This I swear on my ship, and my title as Captain both!" She says, removing her hat and placing it over her heart.

She focuses back on Captain Goldhand and the rest, to help ensure that they are finally allowed their rest.

Every ship must come to harbor eventually, and now it's their time.

<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.

Talise and her parents are finally reunited, but for a cruelly short time. They exchange a few words while they still can. They pull one another into a hug. Then, the inevitable happens:

Rosaline starts bawling, unable to hold it back.

"Talise," sniff, sniff, "awwwww, it's so, it's so..." She speaks no coherent words after this, overwhelmed by the mix of emotions. But it has to pass, since as she keenly realizes, they still have one important task left. Gentle rain washes over the Hellions, and now is the time for them to purify what the can, however they can.

She cups her hands, incanting a prayer the words to which she does not understand. A white flame floats within them, slowly growing. This is a bittersweet scene, as contradictory as they come, made all the moreso by Rosaline's own familial baggage (or rather, lack thereof). But she needs to be focused. She has to.

"I-I can help but not very much, I'll try to do what I can for the structure but the rest of you should concentrate on the Hellions. This power can run out of control and-- and well, I don't want to hurt them."

And she opens her hands to let the flame free, spreading onto the deck and crawling up the masts and sails. Rosaline looks up, sweat beding on her forehead and eyes screwed in concentration as she keeps hastily reciting her prayer. The white, gentle flame burns away at the miasma, carefully avoiding everyone but Rosaline, whose feet rest in the burning light with no apparent discomfort.

'Rest in peace,' she thinks, sniffling again with a glance back to Talise and the others.

<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.

Tethelle gives Tanin a nod in response. She tries to smile and doesn't quite manage. "I would do it any time," she says.

But she knows what is coming.

Tethelle is not a Seer. Her approach to purification, such as it is, is cruder; her blade is made for a purpose, and this isn't it, though it is related. She cannot lead the way, and so she doesn't; that is the job of others.

Instead, she does something quieter but just as taxing.

Tethelle reverses her sword so that the point rests against the deck before slamming it in with a heavy sound. It penetrates better than it should, sliding in for perhaps six inches - enough that, when she lets go of it, it remains embedded point-first.

It's enough for her to draw her Medium afterwards and bear it up, the complex pattern on it shining with inner light. As she did for Rosaline's purification, Tethelle guides gathered power to those who can make better use of it, providing 'muscle' where they provide skill and technique. It takes a lot out of her; she grips the hilt of her sword with her free hand to steady herself.

Beyond that, she doesn't waver. "Go," she says. "Be at peace. Lay your blades down - someone else will take them up. You have done enough." Tethelle does not cry. She never does, in public, or she certainly tries not to. But it's still a Moment, and her voice sounds as if she has a lump in her throat.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Talise embraces her mother one final time. Ida smiles a shaky little smile, even as tears stream down her cheeks. The purifying flame still burns, but she doesn't put it work--not until Talise makes her decision, and brings her own power to bear. Ida opens her fist, and raises her hand to her brow, saluting the Captain, the Lunabelle, and all its crew. "Go in peace," she says. Her voice wavers. Rosaline seems to be rubbing off. "And know that you are loved, and always will be."

    The Seer of Fire raises her armored right hand, fingers cupped. Intangible flame licks out around her, moving outwards across the Lunabelle's deck. The wood catches fire, but does not burn--not the way it would if this were mundane fire. Malevolence burns away, leaving nothing but the lingering scent of incense and wood smoke.

    A sense of desperation scrabbles against Ida's mind--longing, searching, hunger for release. Talise might be handling the majority of the burden, but Purification leaves one's heart open. Ida cannot help but feel the struggles of the Hellions here as though they were her own.

    She stands firm. This is her duty. And even if it weren't, it's the least she can do for a friend.

<Pose Tracker> Hellion Horde 3 has posed.

Tanin has little else to say. To her these people are strangers but strangers of an invaluable sort, strangers that will open up their heart to strangers in turn. Even more so when it is no stranger to their friend.

These small joys.

Immortals must never forget small joys.

But at least there are no shortage of small joys so long as you are willing to make them happen. Turn away from them and they may be lost to you forever.

The light builds up around Talise. Tanin doesn't let go, not even for a second. She whispers into Talise's ear.

"Goodbye, my love, my heart."

and she fades into light, released finally from a destiny of pain, death, and eternal longing. She's found her treasure. She just needed to hold onto her for one last time.

All that remains is her blade, embedded in the deck, similarly purified, for another to take should they so desire.

But Tanin has gone on to her next adventure.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

No Hellion alive or dead can withstand the combined purification powers of a Shaman of Equites, three Seers and an Etone.

'Goodbye, my love, my heart.'

Talise's heart nearly splits down the middle. She isn't the kind of person who weeps in public very often, but the tears won't stop coming even as the shapes in her arms begin to lose substance and fade away. Soon, she's left holding only light, insubstantial and ethereal.

All that's left of the people who gave her life is the release of death.

My love. My heart.

Captain Goldhand's body is next to fade, melting into light as Layna brings the power of the rain forth. Rosaline, Tethelle and Ida do their work. The silver light of the Sword Shaman pours through the ship. The light of the Etone and the flame of the Oracle of Fire work with it. The fading ghosts watching from the sides of the ship eddy and break down into light. Silver gleams suffuse the ship. Chains dangling from the mast fade away; the fog in the air dissipates, the violet tinge to it fading before the mist itself dispels, as if with the breaking of day. Sunbeams slice through the last dregs of the Malevolent haze as the powers brought to bear upon it simply drive it away.

What remains is the Lunabelle - empty, badly battered, her hull breached in places and her sails hanging in rotting tatters. Intact, but sailing her would require an incredible amount of repair - but Malevolence haunts the ship no more.

Talise rests her hand on the hilt of her mother's sword, letting the tears run down her face as she looks off towards the horizon. She doesn't say anything, but the emotion in her face is clear enough.

A faint, sad smile fights to the fore, through the slow tears.

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Through their combined efforts, the Malevolence is purified...and with it, those lingering on through it soon fade away. Layna keeps her hat held over her heart until they've all faded fully...and then, and only then, does she place it back on the top of her head.

Everything is calm now - still, as the light of the sun shines upon the Lunabelle once more.

She says nothing, instead approaching Talise and resting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Words were insufficient here, but also unnecessary.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    The air clears. Malevolence no longer lingers here. Almost any residual trace, the large quantity of pyreflies in Spira will ensure it just doesn't knot together in any sort of appreciable quantity. The emotional blowback is immense, for one so deeply intertwined with the Hellions in question - and their inevitable fates.
     Sitting there in all of this, one Seraph Lanval, now has in his hands the one good bottle of port that the ship's liquor cabinet had. He rises up, refreshed but also exhausted. This was an extensive Purification for two first-timers to the act, and he used up much of his own strength to convey it to two different Seers. He staggers about the deck as he often does when having his projected manifestation walk, but finds a semblance of dignity again as he comes past Talise and the hilt of her mother's sword before sitting down.
     "Ya all did well... all of ya." Not just to the Seers, but everyone here. He tries to beckon Sephilia over from the cabin. "...What shay we drink to the crew of the Lunabelle tonight?"
     He raises the old bottle of port, to show to Talise and the rest. It's intact, it's not teeming with any lingering Malevolence.
     "...'n from there, we greet a new day with a shmile from there. Drink away their worriesh... 'n carry their hopesh, goin' forward."