2022-11-05: Symphonia
- Log: Symphonia
- Cast: The Prophets, Janus Cascade, Riesenlied, Kaguya, Venetia Vuong, Seraph Lanval, Dean Stark, Mariel, Rebecca Streisand, Ida Everstead-Rey, Xantia, Marivel Armitage, Noeline, Azoth, Avril Vent Fleur, Jacqueline Barber, Gwen Whitlock, Juni Vandrer, Ashiya Khaimova, Asgard
- Where: Yggdrasil Isle
- Date: November 05, 2022
- Summary: The Prophets' plans come to terrible fruition... and have to be stopped before the world can be made overripe.
<Pose Tracker> The Prophets has posed.
Yggdrasil is not a place of Elw technology. It is not a place of the Veruni or Zeboim. It is a construction of humans; while Hyadean works were involved, the Prophets ultimately gave a very human spin on it.
And so, guided by Feena's word and Lord Irving's intelligence, a group of Drifters have made their way into this place -- through hallways of strange patterns of black on white, through traps, through stolen defenders. They came through terrible revelations--
Of memory stolen from everyone.
Of efforts to clone a woman.
--and have arrived here, at the heart of the place. There is a cavernous chamber, with a central spire -- with sickly green light glowing from it, from crystals mounted into it. There are holographic images projected, showing Filgaia as a globe and screens showing maps of specific places.
And, here, there are three people: all in white robes. One is a younger man, with sandy blonde hair; one is a beautiful woman with violet hair; one is an older man, with waxen skin and long black hair. The Prophets look up, as the door is broken into.
Leehalt Alcaste's voice rumbles. "Janus. Dispense with this filth."
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
'Dispense with this filth.'
"Oh, now I'm the golden boy."
From behind a pillar, he emerges. In the strange light of the chamber, his weirdly fish-like features gleam strangely. His flesh is metal now. His hair, too, glimmers in the sickly light.
Deeply set in his metal skull, two points of red light burn. His eyes, now.
He holds out his hand and the Dark Spear he now controls appears in his hand. He holds it forth, more like a sword than a spear.
He cocks his head like he's cracking his neck. Nothing happens.
"Alright, fine. If I'm a dog, I'll bite your legs off! Come here, Drifters! Let me and my Dark Spear show you a REAL GOOD TIME!"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The journey through Yggdrasil has been a horrific one for Riesenlied -- who's spent the last couple of weeks convalescing due to her condition worsening in Shevat. But the call of the Ley is not one that's easy for her to ignore, and staving off the worst of the trance, she's gathered those closest to her -- Noeline, Kaguya, Lydia, and even met with Avril and Ashiya along the way.
Just a few moments ago, Riesenlied spent a great portion of her energy becoming a conduit to attune the crystals to finesse the central console... and her rewards were a horrific revelation. A revelation of how the desertification of the planet had greatly increased as of just a few years ago -- and everyone's memory of it was gone.
More than that...
The revelation of this group, the Council of Seven, using Hyadean and Veruni technology... and acting upon it by themselves. Oh, how her mind thinks back to so many instances in the past... of the Veruni and their own attempts to salvage the world, of the Zeboim's sordid and dire past, of the Day of Collapse.
The road to hell truly is paved with good intentions.
Riesenlied's chair softly lands with a creek from the wheels -- she's gotten an upgrade for it and it can now hover, thanks to one round pod hiding underneath her seat (thanks Strife) -- but she realises that this is a very, very dangerous situation to be in.
"Leehalt... Janus..." she whispers. The other two, as well... she's not as familiar with them, but vaguely knows of their identities. And of course -- Janus, with the Dark Spear. ... Father's spear. No, that actually doesn't matter to her anymore--
Glumzambor was hardly the most important part of Siegfried to her. If she is to stop him for misusing it, it will not be because of her Father's honor, or anything like that.
It'll be for the sake of the world.
"Why?" she demands, clenching her hands until the whites of her knuckles exacerbate the pallor already cast over her. "This plan of yours, and its failure -- the desertification of Filgaia... why keep going? Whatever do you mean to do here, manipulating the Guardian shrines as you have? The very Ley screams under the duress you put upon it!"
She breathes faintly, stressed.
"Has the world not suffered enough? This is the world everyone lives in! This is not a problem the few can solve!" Her eyes flit to Kaguya for a moment. "This is a problem we must solve together. Not like this! How many more disasters must we bring about?"
The rather direct order to be disposed of does put her on guard: she starts to create a shield around Noeline and herself, though she's not certain how long she can hold... combat has become a very dangerous prospect with her body the way it is.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya has seen enough of this place to know what she thinks. The matter of memory is thorny; what could've done it? She doesn't know. But she knows what she thinks of them, their efforts, their hubris.
"...Guess humans and Veruni aren't so different after all," Kaguya says, looking up at the monitors, and walking into the chamber. She regards the Prophets in their white robes, and Janus in his... metal skin. She narrows her eyes, king her gaze away from the maps.
"Janus," Kaguya says, actually getting his name right. Maybe that's a sign of how serious she is. No 'Cashman' this time. "You're looking prettier than ever," she says, and rolls her shoulders like he cracks his neck. She's dressed in a shirt and slacks, but under that is Veruni armor, peeking forth from her collar and at her hands. It's obvious what it is.
"So, I would rant about how stupid the plan was, but that's more for your bosses. You don't care about that, do you?"
She glances to the Prophets. "But the Veruni say hi."
Then, she pulls her ARM, a white-and-black shotgun type gun that doesn't fire bullets, but energy. She loads up a gleaming cartridge, revealnig the mechanism with a clack and then closing it up with the new cartridge cla-CLACK.
Her eyes flit to Riesenlied, for a moment. A problem that few can solve... "Let's put a pin in that one, Mom. For now, let's stop this plan."
"Hey, Janus! Let's see what color your blood is now!"
She leaps forward, boots slamming down onto the floor hard enough to make a brief ripple of dust, and opens fire, a sonic wave of energy crashing towards Janus with a deafening report.
GS: Kaguya has attacked Janus Cascade with Concussion Rounds! GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo! GS: Kaguya has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
Venetia Vuong said that she was going to give these people a piece of her mind.
As she strides into the space beyond the room of revelations, she is standing stiffly upright. Her back is ramrod straight. She can feel a certain interior exaltation; a feeling of how finally, finally, what she has controlled and tamped down and restrained may run free. A raging black horse, at last free to gallop across the plains.
Because she has cause, she thinks. No, she knows. Oh, yes.
Leehalt addresses them.
"FILTH?" Venetia bellows.
"You undertake this project - you see it fail - you then *steal millions of years,* and you have the sheer, unmitigated gall to refer to us as FILTH?" Her eyes blaze behind the somewhat battered lace of her mask. "You've got no shortage of grit, but grit doesn't matter when the storm arises! Show your bellies or prepare to die!"
And then Janus Cascade - JANUS CASCADE - speaks.
Venetia's head turns to look at him. "You towering imbecile," she says, "do you think they think any higher of you?! They've wiped your memory too, idiot! All of us! Then they had the idiocy to make records - but they were for when we were all already dead! Too bad for them!"
Venetia whips up a Crest Graph. "If you're a signing member of the Idiots Society, I'll send you to your natural habitat - jail!! SELENITE SIGN!" There is a sudden glow, a ripple in the extra-enriched Ley, and spiking crystals jut outwards in a sudden congeries, aiming to confine Janus! Worst of all, they're too transparent and friable to use as good cover!!
GS: Venetia Vuong has attacked Janus Cascade with Selenite Sign ~Cavern of the Crystals~! GS: Venetia Vuong has gained 1 Combo! GS: Venetia Vuong has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
'Dispense with this filth.'
Seraph Lanval opens his eyes half-way, nonchalantly, scratching at his chin as Janus takes his place. This is not an eye-roll - the Dark Spear's presence momentarily commands that cautious gaze. The retort that would have been on his lips - 'the hell's wrong with that one's eyesight' - doesn't come because of the power it commands.
He remembers what happened long ago when one of the Prophets here brought Asgard to a shrine to wreck things. He allows himself a good fifteen seconds to compartmentalize further the enormity of what they all learned and experiened, as Riesenlied takes point on the most pressing points.
"Hey--" He stops to note Kaguya's presence. He stands upright, makes throat-clearing noises after Kaguya loads her weapon and goes on off on Janus over there.
"I gotta shpeak for the Water of Filgaia itshelf." He is, despite appearances, the Oracle of Schturdark. Around him, the aura of water in all its forms (amazing and also less so). "I got a lot ta shay, shooooooo~"
He has himself a drink from that ever-heavy gourd, and his eyes open to a brilliant aquamarine. A Seraphic Arte glyph appears underneath him, an incantation lost to some of the growing ambient sounds of battle unfolding (or roaring, or blasting, or Venetia being rightfully indignant), terminating in one extended hand as a pounding rain descends from above onto the Prophets. Unceasing, brimming both with the health of vibrant freshwater and befouled, misused resources alike. It evens out to a distinctive hue of indigo.
It is here Lanval denotes his 'lot ta shay' in verbose, minutes-spanning fashion:
"CEASE!"
As it turns out, it was just that one word.
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked The Prophets with Rain Of Terror! GS: Seraph Lanval has gained 2 Combo! GS: Seraph Lanval's stances have changed to Avenger! GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Humans are great! Dean is a human, and he has faith in his fellow humans. Sure, some humans have done bad stuff, but lots of humans have done good stuff. There's bad and good in every group, from humans to Hyadeans to Veruni and beyond.
But it's still pretty awful to see what depths humans are capable by coming to a place like this.
Dean was separated from his best friends, and reunited here in the final chamber, before the so-called Prophets. "Avril! Rebecca! I knew you'd make it!" he calls to the former--and to the latter, he scowls. "Ugh, it's you jerks." His scowl only deepens when Janus is called upon to fight them. In an instant, Twin Fenrir materialize into his hands in a burst of light.
"To heck with you and your Dark Spear, Janus! And to heck with you 'Prophets' and all your selfishness! We're going to beat you up good--for Asgard! And for Filgaia!" he shouts back.
Riesenlied and Kaguya have more to say, with Venetia saying a lot of extremely accurate things about that 'filth' comment, but Kaguya's right--what's important here is stopping this plan. Trusting in Lanval and the others to take care of the Prophets, Dean dashes in towards Janus to give him a whalloping with his paired combat rods that he's owed him for a real, *real* long time.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Yggdrasil is not a place of Elw technology, but it is an attempt at the same goal Mariel has been working on for centuries. To bring green back to Filgaia, stop the endless decay.
More than that, it's a place that twists the Ley. While it might be green *here*, it's at the expense of other places; Mariel could tell that as soon as she arrived, that the only way they could fill the island with this much life is to draw it away from elsewhere.
It's no surprise she's here.
It *was* a surprise, what she found. The records and journal of the man Werner Maxwell spoke of a secret she had been keeping for hundreds of years, almost as much by habit as by need at this point - and more, that Filgaia had suddenly gotten worse, within living memory of humans, let alone her.
And she couldn't remember it. Why couldn't she remember it? That was, perhaps, the most uncomfortable part of all. Mariel has been watching Filgaia alone for five hundred years, and something changed - made it worse - and she didn't even notice...
Mariel is heavily equipped, though it might not appear so at first glance. She has her usual satchel, filled with all sorts of emergency gear, and she has a staff. The staff is a slightly gnarled length of wood, a tangle of branches supporting a multifaceted but mostly round crystal at the top; further down the staff, there is an occasional living leaf or short twig. Despite being a staff she's carrying, the branch is absolutely alive.
Those sensitive to the Ley can feel the staff as a steadying presence. Mariel isn't using it for anything intentionally, but it's amplifying her own ability to balance Ley without really thinking about what she's doing, just by her nature of being so deeply rooted to Filgaia itself. In a place this unbalanced, it's an island of calm.
She looks at Janus, worried, but that's not what she came for and there's nothing she can do for him. Instead she focuses on the Prophets. Mariel almost never takes a leading role, but this time she takes a breath in, lets it out to steady herself, and speaks.
"What you have done is wrong," Mariel says. "It's dangerous, for all of Filgaia. I know why you've done it, and I'm sympathetic. I want to see Filgaia grow again, too... but this... this isn't right. It needs to end. Now. Everything you have done, all the damage you have caused - "
She bites back her first words, because she couldn't justify them - they could be turned upon her just as well. Easier, even. "We'll stop it. No matter what." She holds her staff, diagonal across her body, as if she knew how to use it for spellcasting.
GS: Mariel has attacked Mariel with Focus! GS: Mariel has gained 1 Combo! GS: Mariel's stances have changed to Stoic! GS: Mariel has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Mariel accepts Mariel's Focus for 0 hit points! GS: Dean Stark has attacked Janus Cascade with Violence Vice! GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
It's been a long road to get here, and Rebecca is agitated. This whole place gives her the creeps, a feeling like so many tiny needles under her skin raking across some metaphysical chalkboard.
"'Course Dean. You think a little side trip down a hole and some big ape is gonna stop Avril and me?"
Still, she acts confident anyway, like nothing is wrong at all. As she looks sidelong at Avril, and- finds she doesn't have to try too hard to force a smile.
Alit in sickly green, she stands alongside the others, hand on her hip as she examines these three beings.
"For folks who call themselves prophets. You sure aren't the most talkative sort. Guess I prefer that to evangelizing about your vision for the future."
Honestly, whatever they want for the future, she can only see the ruin it would bring to everyone. She may not have some lovey dovey relationship with the Guardians, but shes come to respect their role enough that she doesn't want this to go down.
Rebecca Streisand looks at Janus, "As for you - looks like you've gone rabid to me. That's fine, won't shy away from the responsibility."
Without hesitation, her pistol comes out, one hand on the hammer, as she sends a trio of shots hurtling his way, "Got no time to take you out back though, so I'll just do it right here."
GS: Rebecca Streisand has attacked Janus Cascade with Swift Revolver! GS: Rebecca Streisand has gained 1 Combo! GS: Rebecca Streisand has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Like almost everyone else in this room, Ida is still reeling from what she just saw. She was in high school during the alleged mass desertification; she remembers geography class, and the classes she took in previous years. The desert was always there, always spreading. She remembers wrong.
Ida is going to have stern words with Werner Maxwell if she ever meets him, but she agrees with him on one count. If this is true--if there is something capable of rewriting an entire world's memory, it is something to fear with every fiber of one's being. But the Prophets are the threat at hand, and Ida has steeled herself to face them. To say there is a personal grudge here is softballing it: Melody stole her face, framed her, and lured ARMS into an ambush. As far as she knows, Melody and her colleagues see her as the wild-type equivalent of Janus Cascade, their experiment. (That they may have darker motives is a possibility, and one that terrifies her.)
Another door opens, and Ida steps through, into the heart of the Prophets' sanctum. Light glints off her dirtied armor: light Hyadean-issue weave with heavier plates over the vitals, and an ordinary-seeming duster of more recent vintage. A silvery-dark bruise mars her right cheek, one of several she sustained while fleeing from a territorial gorilla. More alarming, for those in the know, is her left eye, Fafnir's emerald-green instead of her own intense steely-blue. Striations of bronze-tinted flesh weave down the left side of her face.
"Leehalt, I presume?" Ida says, her eyes narrowing at the man's order. She glances aside at Janus, and raises her fists. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Another glance around, taking stock of the others: Kaguya (Kaguya?!), Riesenlied, Venetia, more coming in. Riesenlied looks like she could use some help, and the old guilt stirs. Ida steps forward, putting herself at Riesenlied's flank. "You're going to turn off this damnable machine and surrender, then you're going to tell us how to reverse what you've done."
Ida does not go for an ARM, even as others do; even as Lanval bellows out his own ultimatum, the force of Filgaia itself imbuing him. A frisson of awe runs down Ida's spine. She stares Leehalt down, hands clenched, ready and waiting for them to join Janus in violence.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Ultimatum! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Ida Everstead-Rey's Ultimatum for 0 hit points! GS: Shield applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
When all of this started, Xantia had little idea of what she was getting into. She had no idea how something that was claimed to be a threat to all of Filgaia could look so... nice. But that was then, and this is now. Now, shortly after Xantia's been to the lab area. Learned about the consequences of concentrating the Ley in one area. Seen the women that all looked the same. Heard about collective amnesia that may have occured. Not only does this now feel like a massive threat. It feels personal.
To be fair, she doesn't know whether the Prophets have anything to do with the memory thing. But that doesn't matter. The other things are already plenty of reason for her to be very, very upset with those responsible. And so she rushed on ahead of the Black Wolves team that she came with, intent on making someone pay for all this.
She has no idea what the Prophets look like. But she knows that there are three of them. And would you look at that, three people together in the inner sanctum. Now she knows just who to punch.
Sure, she has a lot she could say, too. There's a lot she wants to say. But unlike some cooler heads, she's decided that she can do that after the punching. For now, all that comes out is...
"How dare you... how DARE you!!"
Janus is sent to intercept, but Xantia's having none of that. Lightning crackles around her as she suddenly gains a burst of superhuman speed, dashing around the bodyguard to circumvent him while he's otherwise occupied, and heading straight for the Prophets themselves.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"I had wondered why there were gaps in my memory, why the timeline seemed to shift and twist on its own even without my influence."
Marivel makes her way into the heart of the Yggdrasill, Guillotine taking the form of a staff that she leans against periodically--likely having taken a few hits here and there during the venture earlier that she hasn't had the change to repair with mystical arts or time or whatever she does to forge these vessels of hers. "You undid so much of our hard work chasing a quick solution. If you think I'm going to let you go for a 'round 2' you are not prophets, you are madmen."
She turns her head to Janus and adds, "And you."
Her expression softens some. "You really do look so much like him. You are much like him. Like dear Ashley a demon is bound to you through the machinations of others, like Ashley it threatens to overtake you. Your weapon was even once quite similar to his..."
Marivel shakes her head slowly. "Did you once follow in Smithee's footsteps hoping to make your way and thrive in a world of adventure away from the cruel realities of where you came from? Did you, for a time, think you'd see and do great things that would make the world a better place? Prove that what everybody thought of you was just their own ignorance?"
Marivel exhales. "Asgard fought with you, and you cast him into the abyss of time. For that..." She smiles faintly. "I thank you. Were it not for you betraying your compatriot... The one closest to me would have surely perished. What you did to Dan Dairam is unforgivable, but you helped close a timeloop so..."
"Even you need not be alone, Janus. I care not if you are a demon man, but you need not face the danger that brings to you alone. You need not be alone."
Marivel places a hand to her own body, it crackles and glows orange yellow as she infuses it with power because despite the offer she isn't stupid.
"The only price is a change in your way of thinking. I'd be happy to break whatever chains those Prophets have on you."
"Or do you wish to continue fighting alone, Janus?"
She glances briefly to Ida's weird eye situation but doesn't comment on it now.
GS: Xantia has attacked Xantia with Greased Lightning! GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo! GS: Xantia has completed her action. GS: Xantia accepts Xantia's Greased Lightning for 0 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Xantia! GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Marivel Armitage with Booster! GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo! GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action. GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Marivel Armitage's Booster for 0 hit points! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Hyper, Lock state, Quick, and Regen applied to Marivel Armitage!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline's expression has gotten ever more solemn as she climbs the Tower at Riesenlied's side, faced with one dramatic revelation after another. It's hard to really pin down what emotion she's feeling; there's a fierce anger at the misuse of Hyadean technology and the tampering of her memories, though carefully schooled so as not to flow back to her partner via their link. There's shock and recrimination on the tip of her tongue, and an exasperation that once again, Filgaia has to be host to a group ready to lord over everyone else.
There is also pity, more than she expected. What feels like a lifetime ago Noeline had devoted some energy towards wondering what race the Prophets considered themselves to be, and whether they held themselves higher than other Filgaians. Their journey through the tower has left her certain that whatever they might claim, it is entirely the opposite. Whether it is the feverish usurpation of memories, the fearful way in which they clutch to figures from their past, or the sheer vanity of their station, it's all very, very--
She cuts herself short from saying 'human', because she knows that's not fair. Getting lost in emotion and hubris is certainly not limited to humans, not after everything they and the others present have faced down. But at the same time she can't bring herself to think of it as a part of life as a whole. She's got to be more hopeful than that, if she wants to look forward.
The honorary Crimson Noble lifts the gigantic slab of metal she calls a sword - having appeared from nowhere in her hands - and rams it down against the marbled floor of the tower hard enough to throw up a spark.
"Will you listen?" she wonders aloud. "You have some of the world's foremost researchers and scientists here. You have representatives from ancient races and the spirits of the land themselves. You have several chosen of the Guardians. Will you listen to them? Or will you persist, believing yourselves the better of everyone here? Do not think you're the first group to think that you and only you can solve Filgaia's problems. I very much doubt you will be the last. ... really, sometimes I wonder if it's something in the water. Do other planets face apocalyptic events like it was Tuesday? Maybe we need a much bigger vacation than we ever thought."
The joke is delivered flatly; she doesn't have it in her to crack a smile right now. "Come on, then," she adds as she braces and them flicks her sword to one side, tearing a sideways line hard enough to score a crack in the unmarred surface of the floor. It is very much a symbol; she places it in front of Riesenlied, in front of where Ida is at her flank. In front of many of the Drifters... but not in front of her daughter who has already blasted past it. "If there's only one way you'll understand, then so be it."
GS: Noeline spends 1 Combo on Reload! GS: Noeline has attacked Riesenlied with Line in the Sand! GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied accepts Noeline's Line in the Sand for 0 hit points! GS: FP up! Noeline's Reload! activated! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with I don't have to be Afraid...! GS: Riesenlied has gained 2 Combo! GS: Riesenlied has launched an attack Link! GS: Riesenlied heals Noeline! She gains 179 temporary hit points! GS: Shield applied to Noeline! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Riesenlied with Let's See a New World Together! GS: Riesenlied has gained 3 Combo! GS: Riesenlied's stances have changed to Stoic! GS: Riesenlied gains 20 THP from her Cautious! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied heals Riesenlied! She gains 96 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth's trek through Yggdrasil left him in roughed up condition, but he's buffed out his dents and taken time to recover some of his weakened charge through the offered help of his friends. He still has those, despite everything. Acts such as the one witnessed today must make them seem easier for everyone.
Cloning. Erased memories. A human technology, and not one pulled from the ancient Zeboim era. It's all rather curious. It's all rather disturbing. And Janus, Asgard's betrayer, is here. Asgard no longer is. And, of course... those who would call themselves Prophets. Those who seemingly found a way to rewrite even the human mind on a grand scale.
Fragmented objectives itch with a far away demand. A 'system' altered. A world threatened. --o--ec-t it. To--g-e--r. Something critical is missing, but it's not enough to stop him. The overrides might protest: too dangerous a risk. But, logically, what can anyone do with a broken world? The overrides silence.
The Drifters Azoth have come to know all of their feelings on the matter, and perhaps some of their own physical manifestations. He hears their fury and their indignation. Something echoes in Azoth's core. That feeling, when the world is threatened... It all feels like a strange history repeating.
Power pulses in his core, traveling through every circuit and wire, the light bright and hot enough to shine through synthetic flesh. Plenty of people want to give Janus what for with reasons they feel more strongly than Azoth does. They need it, and he trusts them. So he launches himself forward so quickly it seems he almost isn't there at all until he's past Janus, and in the vicinity of the Prophets. The source of the problem.
"Well," he begins, shrugging with a tired smile even as his joints begin to rattle, "Target acquired."
GS: Azoth has attacked Azoth with Overclock! GS: Azoth has gained 2 Combo! GS: Azoth's stances have changed to Avenger! GS: Azoth gains 10 FP from his Daredevil! GS: Azoth has completed his action. GS: CRITICAL! Azoth accepts Azoth's Overclock for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify and Lock state applied to Azoth! GS: Quick applied to Azoth! GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
Humans and Veruni aren't so different after all.
That's a lesson that Avril had learned years ago, thanks to one of the people present in this very room. The hearts of her people, the hearts of those born on Filgaia in the millennia since... they want such similar things. They are capable of such kindness...
And such cruelty.
"Dean! Rebecca!"
Avril's very first order of business is reunion, nonetheless. "Thank goodness, both of you are alright."
But she had reached this space with Kaguya's assistance, and it's towards Kaguya that her gaze turns. "Kaguya helped me," she explains, though her expression grows grim. "Did you see...?"
They must have seen. Like her, they are missing memories they should have had. But unlike her--
Those memories were stolen.
"...Why?" she asks of the Prophets, condensing any eloquent turn of phrase into a single blunt statement. "Why must you do this again? We heard what it had cost the last time. Why must you attempt this again? What could be worth such a price?"
Janus strides forth, answering the Prophet's call.
"Janus..."
Her blade is in her hand with barely a twitch of her fingers.
"I have not forgiven you for what you did to Asgard. Nor for the last time we met!"
She doesn't hesitate. She lunges at him in tandem with Dean, her blade following his own strikes.
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Janus Cascade with Spirit Saber! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has gained 1 Combo! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Startling, world-shaking revelations have been made in the heart of Yggdrasil. But Jacqueline cannot dwell on those now. For now, she must continue forward with the others to put a stop to those responsible for what has happened - the memory modification, and the accelerated desertification of Filgaia.
"Leehalt Alcaste. And... I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you two before." Jacqueline says, looking from Leehalt, to Melody, to Malik. "I'm Jacqueline Barber, and I've come to file a complaint."
Leehalt orders Janus to 'dispense with the filth', and Jacqueline frowns, folding her arms in front of her.
"'Filth'. We're inhabitants of Filgaia, same as you, in case we've forgotten. If you're already looking down on this world's people, you might be too far gone already." Jacqueline says. She nods, then, as others speaks.
"We have the right to have a say in what happens to our world... but you took that right away from us. No more. This ends today - but it is up to you whether or not you will still be around to help us fix it afterward." Jacqueline says. She draws a bottle from her bags, then, and with a Mystic touch the liquid inside dissipates, spreading out over the Prophets in a glimmering cloud that hinders one's actions - making everything that much more difficult.
GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked The Prophets with Trouble Bottle! GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 2 Combo! GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
There are a lot of Maxwells in the world. Virginia Maxwell, Werner Maxwell. It's not as if the two could be related, but Auntie Frea may know better. Still, whether or not two Maxwells located in different parts of the world could be related is a whole lot less important than the information Werner's diary entry contained.
And beyond lies the very people responsible, but not the one Gwen is keeping an eye out for.
He can't be too far away, though. After all, he's their--
"Janus." Gwen's face snaps to where his voice comes from. Her lips carry a resigned frown, having been hours from her conversation with Azoth, Ryoko, and Dean coming up here. "So, 491 PC. I would've been, what, 11? 12? It wasn't like people were great with keepin' an eye on how old we were. None of us had a whole lot to our name. I had a little more, bein' sheltered in the orphanage, but, what, I was gonna die in a few years away. Except, I didn't. I got adopted by an old scholar who needed an assistant, n' you went off on your dream to be the big shot we all knew you were gonna be. N' we didn't even know we already had shit stolen from us, because our memories of it were gone. I mean, everything still sucked, but for some reason, we forgot it sucked a little bit less."
Venetia's anger is thoroughly justified. That letter alone likely leveled entire schools of thought and theory on Filgaia's geology. And that says nothing of every bit of anger directed at Janus for everything else he did. However. 'Let's see what color your blood is now!' Kaguya's words draw a wince from Gwen.
"... Let's put all the cards on the table. Ain't nobody's gonna either of us're fully human here." She rolls up the sleeve of her right arm, using a band to hold the cloth in place and exposing the full length of her metal ARM, the Mockingbird. Then, untying the knot of the neckerchief around her neck, she unbuttons the first few buttons of her blouse, and draws out the modified shirtfront out from underneath, tossing it aside. "Whew! Lemme tell you, on a hot day? That sucker *stinks*. But it does its job, y'know? Can't have my clients get all distracted by my chest! Well, I mean... the other part, not the chest part." Without the shirtfront blotting it out, there's nothing but the light fabric of Gwen's blouse to obscure the glow from radianting scar over her midsection, right over her heart.
That glowing pulse quickens when Marivel mentions the similarity between Ashley and Janus. "So you thought so too, Marivel? The personality is way different, but--" She is reminded, again, of Ashley's possible fate. "Nothin's inevitable until it's in the past, and right now, last I checked, _it ain't_."
For better or worse, it's that little bit of anger that throws Gwen into the field, metal fist hooked back. Angling downwards just before she gets to Janus, she leaps up with her fist, aiming it against that proud chin.
GS: The Prophets solidly guards Seraph Lanval's Rain Of Terror for 57 hit points! GS: Poison applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Guard bonus, and Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets solidly guards Jacqueline Barber's Trouble Bottle for 0 hit points! GS: The Prophets's Mute Ward may block the effect! GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer heard rumors of a strange tower in the middle of nowhere. With relativity and the general antics of space travel, she actually kitted up for this one. Unfortunately the rifle's still a no-go in her head. For now. However she's back to wearing the coat that goes with her uniform. Hooded, heavy, obscuring. Which is why she largely made it through. Sneaky, slow, patient.
She IS slow though. Having caught the remnants of what's actually happening here. Going as far as to try and use her computer to interface, maybe even steal some intel. Nothing the others didn't get probably htough. The lost memories was something deeply concerning, twofold for her. A scowl, it would explain why she could never even find rumors? Probably not. A sudden burst of noise gets her attention and she glances towards one of the many doors. Shotgun pulled from its sling, she rolls through the door, low and ready. There's enough contextual clues she's getting an idea from the others to boot. Which is why she just raises her shotgun and shoots at Janus. No preamble, no warning. Just blat. Something she should have done right the last time in her mind.
"You're throwing everything away for dust and ashes. You know you won't leave right? You'd be stopped well before you escape your own poor decisions." She tells him flatly, racking the shotgun and leveling another one. Being a little more flippant than she normally would be. Aldakhili uniform on display for once even! "Short sighted and cruel." There's enough oddness going on and a few.. definite aliens in the room. Maybe she can change things? Of course she already shot the guy. Maybe she's working out her own thoughts. There's been enough odd looks as is anyway. Also ignoring the fact that she fully intends to just make sure he doesn't leave this room, envermind the system.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Janus Cascade with Shoryu-Gwen! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Janus Cascade with Breakdown! GS: Juni Vandrer has gained 1 Combo! GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ashiya Khaimova has posed.
There's a strange girl here, poking her nose into business that ought not to concern her. Strange, I write, because she has no true claim to the stakes at hand in comparison to those who call Filgaia their true home. A cynical mind would dismiss her as a tourist feeding their wanderlust and little more.
And yet...
The offworlder masquerading as a local Beastfolk has had every opportunity to turn tail and flee on the ascent. It would be simple to claim this is all some local problem, and duck into a safe spot until everything blows over. But then, she's had many such opportunities. Many times over. And each time, she's thrown herself headlong into the thick of it, sometimes with scarce more than a moment's context before the swords start flingin'.
... she persists...
Noeline asks: 'Do other planets face apocalyptic events like it was Tuesday?' to which Ashiya Khaimova pops the collar of her heavily-worn duster and sighs. "Yeah, they do. We just have a hell of a lot more folks coming to help out than the local troubleshooters." she grouses.
Riesenlied puts it so simply, too. This *is* the world everyone lives in. And for the time being, that includes this troublemaker from the stars.
And sometimes, that's all the reason you need.
"Time to pay back some of that kindness," Ashiya raises both hands, concentrating on her very-illegal-to-use-on-backwater-planets Symbological powers. Black lightning crackles between her fingertips. "Can't have this bunch of maniacs wrecking the worlds my cute little friend calls home."
A symbology crest flares around Ashiya's feet and behind her head, like an illuminated halo. Except the halo is made of glowing silver letters which looks like nonsense machine code, and then bolts of black lightning surge towards the three prophets. This OFFWORLDER is MEDDLING with your PLANS and that's just RUDE--
GS: Ashiya Khaimova has attacked The Prophets with CODE: Hazard! GS: Ashiya Khaimova has completed her action. GS: The Prophets takes a solid hit from Ashiya Khaimova's CODE: Hazard for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: The Prophets's Mute Ward may block the effect! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Blind, Mute, and Slow applied to The Prophets! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Hyper applied to Ashiya Khaimova! GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Evade bonus, and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> The Prophets has posed.
"To rejuvenate the world," Leehalt answers Riesenlied, simply. "The Ley must be drained and gathered into one place. Yes, this will render the seas to naught but sand and create an unlivable condition for ninety seven point six percent of the population. Total ecological collapse will come within three months; the death of most sapients in six."
He does not miss a beat.
"Acceptable losses. The planet will live. The planet's people are irrelevant -- only I, and my plan, can be considered relevant," he says. "Our previous efforts failed, but this will go further and take the needed steps."
Then, he looks at Venetia. But it's Malik, the blonde-haired one, that speaks. "Yeah, he did. We're bloody brilliant. We're allowed? Hello?"
Leehalt looks at Mariel. His eyes narrow. Melody, though, is the one to speak up: "Filgaia's beauty must be preserved. And that means by any means necessary--and no matter the cost. You're certainly welcome to try to stop us." She smiles; it's not kind. "But your efforts will go no further than 'try!'"
Leehalt looks to Ida -- catching her eyes, mismatched for a moment -- and narrows his own eyes. "We will not," he says. "And you cannot reverse what we have done. The Ley was already gathered."
His gaze lingers on her.
Melody is the one that looks to Xantia. She turns towards her, holding a hand up. "Oh, are you angry? For what? I don't even know who you are!" she says. "Did I hurt you, you precious little thing?"
Leehalt turns to look at Noeline. "Would I listen to rabble? A pack of failed scholars, would-be geniuses, pseudo-intellectuals, and disciples of dying gods? No. I won't."
"Hey, Leehalt--we've got an automaton coming at us!" Malik says, eyes on Azoth.
"Yes," the older man says. "I see it."
Then, Leehalt looks at Jay. "I've no reason to listen to you. Or to let you speak about this world. Because you reside in a place does not make it yours. Worlds belong to their masters," he says. "And--gh!"
The bottles crack. The mist flows over them -- and all three Prophets raise the sleeved arms, trying to cover their faces. It isn't enough, and it's joined by one word: 'CEASE!'
Rain blasts down on them from Lanval. Then, a symbology crest flares; all three of the Prophets seem to recognize it (or at least, the type of magic). Black lightning surges over them; all three stumbles back. "Gh--"
Leehalt floats backward, his arms folded into his sleeves. His eyes, briefly, are on Riesenlied -- then on Ida. But he says nothing, waiting.
"Let's handle them, Melody!" Malik says. He pulls a crest graph out; the runes on it flare, and then a wave of shuddering grey light appears, washing out over Noeline, Ashiya, Azoth, and Xantia. It saps at their defenses, making armor more brittle -- and giving a sense of frailty.
"Try to keep up, Malik," Melody says. Her own crest graph appears, spinning between her fingers, and then light erupts off them. A sickly golden light settles over Mariel, Lanval, and Jay -- and seems to make the air around them thicken, as if to slow them.
GS: The Prophets has attacked Riesenlied with Waiting... and Watching! GS: The Prophets has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Waiting... and Watching! GS: The Prophets has attacked Noeline with Breakdown! GS: The Prophets has attacked Ashiya Khaimova with Breakdown! GS: The Prophets has attacked Azoth with Breakdown! GS: The Prophets has attacked Xantia with Breakdown! GS: The Prophets has gained 1 Combo! GS: The Prophets has attacked Mariel with Slowdown! GS: The Prophets has attacked Seraph Lanval with Slowdown! GS: The Prophets has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Slowdown! GS: The Prophets has gained 1 Combo! GS: The Prophets takes 27 damage from Poison! GS: The Prophets has completed their action. GS: Riesenlied solidly guards The Prophets's Waiting... and Watching for 0 hit points! GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated! GS: Mariel suffers a terrible blow from The Prophets's Slowdown for 0 hit points! GS: Slow applied to Mariel! GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated! New Content
GS: Jacqueline Barber solidly guards The Prophets's Slowdown for 0 hit points! GS: Slow applied to Jacqueline Barber! GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated! GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Lanval partially evades The Prophets's Slowdown for 0 hit points! GS: Slow applied to Seraph Lanval! GS: Xantia suffers a terrible blow from The Prophets's Breakdown for 0 hit points! GS: Break applied to Xantia! GS: Janus Cascade takes a glancing hit from Kaguya's Concussion Rounds for 66 hit points! GS: Shieldbreak applied to Janus Cascade! GS: Janus Cascade suffers a terrible blow from Venetia Vuong's Selenite Sign ~Cavern of the Crystals~ for 92 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Janus Cascade's Cripple Ward may block the effect! GS: Cripple and Entangle applied to Janus Cascade! GS: Janus Cascade partially guards Dean Stark's Violence Vice for 80 hit points! GS: Break blocked! GS: Janus Cascade suffers a terrible blow from Avril Vent Fleur's Spirit Saber for 148 hit points! GS: Janus Cascade takes a glancing hit from Gwen Whitlock's Shoryu-Gwen for 61 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Shieldbreak applied to Janus Cascade! GS: Azoth takes a solid hit from The Prophets's Breakdown for 0 hit points! GS: Break applied to Azoth! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Janus Cascade takes a solid hit from Juni Vandrer's Breakdown for 88 hit points! GS: Janus Cascade's Weaken Ward may block the effect! GS: Weaken applied to Janus Cascade! GS: Janus Cascade partially guards Rebecca Streisand's Swift Revolver for 112 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: CRITICAL! Ashiya Khaimova suffers a terrible blow from The Prophets's Breakdown for 0 hit points! GS: Break applied to Ashiya Khaimova! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from The Prophets's Waiting... and Watching for 0 hit points! GS: FP up! Power Burst activated! GS: Noeline takes a solid hit from The Prophets's Breakdown for 0 hit points! GS: Break applied to Noeline! GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated! GS: Riesenlied used Force Action: Mystic on Noeline! FP up! GS: Break removed!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Kaguya cautions her to take it one step at a time -- focus on the problem at hand. Riesenlied nods, and feels emboldened to have familiar friends here: Dean, Rebecca and Avril (see, she knew they'd become reunited). Lanval as the Oracle of Schturdark. Ida, whose presence... deels different -- she catches the change in her eye. Xantia, with her fury. And Azoth, who she worries about constantly... Mariel, wileding that staff steadying her...
It does help, with how erratic and violent her reactions to the Ley -- not to mention her own body -- can be.
Noeline is, of course, always at her side -- just as she promised. And she listens to her words too... will they listen? They aren't the first to be in this position... and they won't be the last.
"Perhaps we can speak of that another time, and at that time, I would love to contribute too," Riesenlied says with encouragement to Ashiya.
But her attention is drawn to Leehalt's response, and it is a truly shocking one indeed. Her face collapses from the disbelief for a moment, the Dragon's Tear warping with an errant dark colour -- then it returns.
"You believe yourselves masters of the world -- but at that rate of death, who will even be left for you to preside over? Do you mean to become rulers of an empty court?"
She shakes her head.
"You are no different than Mother. Much like how she turned me into a conduit to devour said Ley... you only wish to devour the world for your own ends. I cannot permit this vision of yours come to pass!"
She can't let herself get distracted, however; as Kaguya says, they have to handle this problem first. The magics start to fly, even though she's spared for now, but Leehalt's gaze sends a chill down her spine; she works on countermagics through their rings of empathy for Noeline, and then gathers the Ley within her own body, lines starting to shine between her scales.
"Gather before me, spirits of the Ley..."
Riesenlied knows she won't want for the abundance of Ley gathered here, to be certain -- this is part of their plan, after all; she swiftly torques the power around the room and creates translucent weaves of energy around her allies, strengthening and knitting what wounds come their way.
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with Ley Channeling - Spirits Within! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Ley Channeling - Spirits Within! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Mariel with Ley Channeling - Spirits Within! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Seraph Lanval with Ley Channeling - Spirits Within! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Ley Channeling - Spirits Within! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Ashiya Khaimova with Ley Channeling - Spirits Within! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Xantia with Ley Channeling - Spirits Within! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Azoth with Ley Channeling - Spirits Within! GS: Riesenlied has gained 2 Combo! GS: Riesenlied gains 25 THP from her Cautious! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied heals Ashiya Khaimova! She gains 178 temporary hit points! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Riesenlied heals Seraph Lanval! He gains 182 temporary hit points! GS: Riesenlied heals Azoth! He gains 176 temporary hit points! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Riesenlied heals Mariel! She gains 177 temporary hit points! GS: Riesenlied heals Jacqueline Barber! She gains 180 temporary hit points! GS: Riesenlied heals Noeline! She gains 178 temporary hit points! GS: Riesenlied heals Ida Everstead-Rey! She gains 184 temporary hit points! GS: Riesenlied heals Xantia! She gains 182 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel suddenly looks over at Ashiya. Does she recognize that Symbology, or simply recognize it as unusual for Filgaia? She seems more in thought than anything else - but frankly she has more urgent things to think about than unusual Symbology
"..."
"With nobody alive, with ecological collapse, Filgaia has no beauty! Its beauty is not the beauty of rocks, or trees, or even flowers or people - it is everything, together, a beautiful balance! If you kill it, Filgaia is dead, regardless of whether the stone and sand remains."
What do they even want to preserve? What plan could possibly exist, and still work with nobody alive? She's not sure she wants to know and yet she's sure that she should find out.
The Prophets' spell washes over her. Mariel pushes through it as best she can, but it's still clearly caught her in a trap of air - fortunately she doesn't need to go anywhere right this minute, but if something comes that she has to dodge there might be a problem.
It's followed up by Riese's, which has an unusual effect on Mariel; the crystal on her staff gleams as if with a faint internal light as it, too, catches and weaves the energy flows provided to her. It feels a little more stable now, though given *how* unbalanced the whole island is, it's a minor change at best.
But it does give Mariel an opportunity to draw an effervescent herbal tonic from her bag, open it, and cause it to diffuse into pink-white flecks of energy as she draws out its power. The glitter travels on the flow of the Ley, sweeping across as if drawn by Riese's channeled Ley winds and empowering those it touches.
GS: Mariel has attacked Seraph Lanval with Bubble Lotion! GS: Mariel has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Bubble Lotion! GS: Mariel has attacked Xantia with Bubble Lotion! GS: Mariel has attacked Noeline with Bubble Lotion! GS: Mariel has attacked Azoth with Bubble Lotion! GS: Mariel has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Bubble Lotion! GS: Mariel has attacked Ashiya Khaimova with Bubble Lotion! GS: Mariel has attacked Riesenlied with Bubble Lotion! GS: Mariel has gained 1 Combo! GS: Mariel has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
Janus just stands there. Before, he'd have had that smug smirk. He'd have had that loose, mocking posture. He'd have had his partners, he'd have had...anything.
He burned all that. Every drop of it, consumed in the flames of an ambition kindled long ago.
But he still stands here, obeying the Prophets just as surely as Asgard did, no matter how much more lip he might give. Whatever man he could have been, an enemy is what he is now.
He lets the talk wash over him. Rabid, Rebecca calls him. Imbecile, Venetia snarls. "Why bother?" he finally says, the words huffing out of the slitted mask that is his mouth, now. "Who cares if they killed the world a thousand years ago or ten? My lifetime or no man alive's!"
He sweeps Glumzambor. "It's dead either way! All that's left to do is decide how we descerate the corpse!"
Dean and Avril feint in at once and Janus sweeps up the Dark Spear, parrying both assaults, glowing eyes gleaming. Rebecca's shot rings out at that and he sweeps back like he could hear the hammer start, shoving the two away and bringing Glumzambor round to slice the oncoming bullet itself in twain.
Venetia's sign rises up around him, spiked crystals jabbing into his metal flesh and cutting deep. He pulls at it but it binds him down long enough for Gwen to clobber him, fracturing the rest of that prison and sending him flying.
But he recovers before he's even at the apex of the jump, sweeping legs back to catch a pillar as he lands.
That's when Kaguya gets in there, a blast of sonic energy shredding open those injuries enough to spatter the ground behind with Demon silver.
And finally Marivel, with all the love she has left for this maniac world, reaches out.
...and he bends his neck. The 'skin' is discolored, strangely. Like something were inserted. He taps at it.
"Good luck with that," he says, cold. "Only takes a word. That mummified bastard's been ITCHING to say it. I hear you know how the song goes." ... "You're right, though. Met a good woman, once. Thought she could hold it all up."
His hand traces to the middle of his chest, now, where that necklace with a ring still hangs, exposed over his ruined black shirt. "I watched the gobs eat her," he says, and his voice could freeze stone.
And that's all he says, before he jabs Glumzambor into the ground. "The only thing this world can do is kill you. I just figured I'd hit first, is all. SO SHOW THEM, GLUMZAMBOR!"
"DARK SPEAR, VESSEL OF MY HATRED! SCREAM!!"
The eye of the Demonic ARM blazes open, and the Dark SPear releases a horrible howl. The stone below cracks. Bones tremble. Souls unmoor.
GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Kaguya with Glumzambor Howls! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Venetia Vuong with Glumzambor Howls! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Dean Stark with Glumzambor Howls! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Rebecca Streisand with Glumzambor Howls! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Marivel Armitage with Glumzambor Howls! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Glumzambor Howls! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Glumzambor Howls! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Juni Vandrer with Glumzambor Howls! GS: Janus Cascade has completed his action. GS: Azoth accepts Mariel's Bubble Lotion for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Azoth! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Azoth enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Jacqueline Barber accepts Mariel's Bubble Lotion for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Jacqueline Barber! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Noeline accepts Mariel's Bubble Lotion for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Noeline! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Xantia accepts Mariel's Bubble Lotion for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Xantia! GS: Rebecca Streisand takes a glancing hit from Janus Cascade's Glumzambor Howls for 187 hit points! GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated! GS: Kaguya takes a solid hit from Janus Cascade's Glumzambor Howls for 300 hit points! GS: Venetia Vuong partially guards Janus Cascade's Glumzambor Howls for 225 hit points! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Mariel's Bubble Lotion for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Ashiya Khaimova accepts Mariel's Bubble Lotion for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Ashiya Khaimova! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Avril Vent Fleur partially evades Janus Cascade's Glumzambor Howls for 262 hit points! GS: Riesenlied accepts Mariel's Bubble Lotion for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Riesenlied! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock solidly guards Janus Cascade's Glumzambor Howls for 150 hit points! GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Guard bonus activated! GS: Dean Stark takes a solid hit from Janus Cascade's Glumzambor Howls for 300 hit points! GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Charge bonus activated! GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Lanval accepts Mariel's Bubble Lotion for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Seraph Lanval! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Janus Cascade's Glumzambor Howls for 300 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Dean grins broadly at Rebecca and Avril as they join up with him. "Heheh, of course not!" he tells Rebecca with full cheer, rubbing a finger under his nose. Just like Rebecca to act lke that! Avril's more straightforward like usual, but... so Kaguya helped her, huh. Dean nods grimly. "Yeah... I did, at least. And about what these knuckleheads did to Filgaia. I can understand making a mistake and not realizing what it would've done, but... they just keep doing it!" His usually cheery expression twists with indignant anger. "We gotta stop 'em, once and for all!"
But that of course goes without saying. There isn't anyone here, from Gwen to Noeline to Ryoko (no doubt recovering from her injuries) to the few folks here he doesn't recognize who doesn't understand that. They all make that clear. In turn, Leehalt makes it just as clear that Filgaia's devastation was no accident, and Malik and Melody are equally unrepentant. There's no understanding or compromise they can come to here. And so, the battle begins.
Janus insists that the world is dead, that it's all over, that the only thing left is how they desecrate its corpse. "Whatever, Janus! Just because you gave up doesn't mean the rest of us are willing to be a bunch of sorry losers!" he shouts, knocked back by Janus's parry but unswayed by it. He jumps right back in for another attack--and the Demonic ARM's eye opens, howling as power rages up from below. Dean's own screams are pain are lost in the noise, but for a moment it feels like his entire body is going to come apart, shaken to nothing like a house of twigs in an earthquake.
It doesn't, though. When the screaming subsides, Dean is bleeding from both nostils and he's down on one knee, but he's not dead. Not yet. With a grunt, he forces himself back up to both feet, swaying as if punch-drunk, and then full-body rams himself towards Janus. The thing that'll keep Janus from simply cleaving him in twain? The sudden super-heating of his combat rods that, if they make combat, will leave some extremely nasty burns on the servant of the Prophets.
GS: Dean Stark spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Dean Stark has attacked Janus Cascade with Burning Magazine! GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
A few people notice Kaguya. Ida and Lanval, among them. When they give her their scrutiny, Kaguya glances back. She addresses them as a whole. "Think what you want. I'm not here for you. I'm here because they're going to kill the planet using our technology, and badly."
'Kaguya helped me.' "Eh," Kaguya says, as if to indicate it was no big deal to Avril, Rebecca, and Dean. She eyes Marivel, for a moment, and each of those on her side, like Juni's unusual uniform. Like Ida's... eye.
'Ninety seven point six percent of the population.'
As it turns out, Janus bleeds silver. "You're wrong," Kaguya says to him. "The planet's not dead. Not for lack of trying, let me tell you. But Filgaia is alive. The spread of trees and flowers; the dirty muck of animals and fish. Humans. Filgaia is alive, Janus, and just because YOU punched out and gave up doesn't mean the rest of us have!"
The Dark Spear screams, and Kaguya does too, letting out a shout as the power hits her. Her soul, already a little unmoored on this planet, could be strong against it--but instead, it hits her harder, knocks her off her feet. "Gh--" The small Veruni's ARM falls from her hands, and slides across the floor. She feels it--something inside her, resonating with Janus's hatred, and Kaguya struggles with it, coughing like she hasn't in months as she does. "No--Not--Not here--"
She narrows her eyes.
"Boo hoo, my life is so hard, I watched someone I care about die!" Kaguya stands. "The world can damn well do m than kill you, Janus! It's been trying to kill me for years! And yeah, before, I was interested in hitting back. But you know what that buys you?"
"Not a damn thing. The world can do more than kill you, Janus. It can do a lot worse."
Kaguya bends at the knees, leaps upward, somersaulting in the air. "It can make you feel something!"
She swings her fist down as she brings herself downward in a blazing blow of white energy. "Lke your friends did once!"
GS: Kaguya has attacked Janus Cascade with Falling Star! GS: Kaguya has gained 3 Combo! GS: Kaguya has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ashiya Khaimova has posed.
The magical assault coming off of Ashiya is less destructive than it is meddling, of course. Crackling arcs of roiling symbological power give off an eerie, quiet hiss with each fork as they clash against the Three Prophets' spiritual defenses. It carries the heavy, dreary scent of entropy. And in turn, the Fellpool from a land far, far away flinches as the Prophet named Malik retaliates with a similar flare of magically deadened light. "Hnnh--!" she does the math in her head as crest magics soak into her overcoat and seep into her bones. Lying in wait, fracturing the bonds between things. Making her frail.
And while sorcerous forces clash and spark, the barbs begin to trade.
> "Because you reside in a place does not make it yours.
Worlds belong to their masters"
> "We're bloody brilliant. We're allowed? Hello?"
The girl's temper begins to rise, but such a thing has many steps to be measured along. And she is well practiced at managing it. "I have bad news for you jokers," she snaps back at Leehalt and Malik as she brings both hands further up into a peculiar martial stance and her tail angles upwards. "You're lil' tyrants in a big sea, makin' waves you've got no idea about. Your reign on this sandcastle is gonna tumble down real fast once the big sharks notice. Maybe dial it back a little."
Hands close into fists. Silver and green symbology runes flare around her fists and hands. There's a sound like a jet engine winding up. The very blue-themed Fellpool mentally ticks all the boxes that fire off all those enhancement magics, even as Riesenlied's mastery of the Ley wreathes a shield around her weakened limbs and Mariel's compounding masterpeice heightens her physical prowess further.
To Riesenlied, she glances askance. "I promise I'm nicer than the beatdown I'm 'bout to hand out suggests."
The symbology runes release, and the dynamic catgirl suddenly disappears from where she stands. Disappears for the audience, at least, because she has been flung in Malik's direction at like 295 m/ph with one leg extended. "HIIIIIIIIIIIISSATSU--"
That is one answer to The Prophets' theory on who should rule over things, anyway, yes, but they may actually be able to debate being flying-kicked. At least, Leehalt probably can. That's why she's targetting Malik. Absolutely cruel.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval steps forward, arm still outstretched, walking (mostly) upright to join the rest as they all come together to aid an ailing world.
Then, a moment later, that arm snaps back to take the drinking gourd by its attached rope, swinging it overhead the once to spread around him a touch of what power Filgaia's water still yet holds, spinning once and leaping forward just as Melody completes her spell. A sickly golden light passes over him without outward injury, as if he would not be stopped.
But he finds himself... slowed, suddenly, as if on a slowed-down playback that is simultaneously robbing him of all forward momentum. He's not sure how to describe the feeling - like he is being contained and slowed by thin air. Not frozen in place by the cold or contained by the shape of the ground - it's like space itself wants to hold him in place. He's also not in the mood to find any sort of useful thesaurus to expand his vocabulary in which to articulate how he feels about the phenomenon.
Melody's spell stops Lanval's approach, the swing of his gourd coming up much too short to reach her, leaving him to pivot and balance along open space that resists him moving about in it. He whirls with the inertia to catch his footing, and finds himself with dead time in the action to fill with words as Riesenlied channels the Ley to help protect those who stand before the Prophets.
The scream of Glumzambor could nearly silences it... but the glittering tonic from Mariel's Bubble Lotion gives him back some voice.
"'Twould take the water from this land?" Lanval's voice, even booming, is incredulous. "The water that doth nourish and renew? The water thou hath used even now for thy mirthless means?" He's seen the tubes and what's in them.
The added strength Mariel imparts sees Lanval fight against the bindings of Melody's spell, swinging that gourd like a mace far heavier than its size makes it appear as he whirls closer to her.
GS: Ashiya Khaimova has attacked The Prophets with Waxing Moon Strike! GS: Ashiya Khaimova has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ashiya Khaimova's stances have changed to Avenger! GS: Ashiya Khaimova has completed her action. GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked The Prophets with Layabout's Lariat! GS: Seraph Lanval has gained 2 Combo! GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action. GS: The Prophets suffers a terrible blow from Ashiya Khaimova's Waxing Moon Strike for 151 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Hyper and Mighty applied to Ashiya Khaimova! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets takes a glancing hit from Seraph Lanval's Layabout's Lariat for 61 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Riposte applied to Seraph Lanval! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: Juni Vandrer takes a glancing hit from Janus Cascade's Glumzambor Howls for 187 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Miss Barber puts it best. You cannot proclaim to act out of a love for Filgaia and then call its inhabitants filth. But then, you are not acting out of a love for Filgaia. This entire tower is a piece of self-interest," Noeline adds with a frown. "Your motives and your beliefs have drifted a long way from where they might hopefully have started. ... we have seen it time and time again. Good intentions get lost over time as you lose sight of them, as personal concerns muscle in. This is exactly why this is not something that can be done by one small group."
She hesitates for just long enough to take in Ashiya's answer to her, and the glum look on her face is as plain as day. "... you are kidding me," she sighs, and for a moment it seems like the strength might leave her, if only theatrically. "I mean, we are used to not receiving that much help, but I would at least like to think there's a nice beach planet out there that lies untouched. Not so much swords to plowshares as swords to parasols, that sort of thing."
Leehalt's answer to her does not bring even a shred of surprise to Noeline's face; she simply tilts her head towards it. "... you consider yourselves visionaries - but you deliver the same grand speeches and claims that we've heard time and time before. You are not a genius; you are an idiot," she adds bluntly. A glance at Melody. "It is not beautiful to claim your own beauty. You are perhaps the ugliest person I have ever met. As for you--" she turns to Malik, and a flicker of a more genuine frown crosses her face as she pauses. "... you surely will not hear this, but it bears saying nonetheless. She would want you to let her go."
It is the tiniest of concessions to the circumstances of the Prophets, but it would feel like ash in her mouth if she didn't offer that much.
She doesn't flinch as the wave crosses her; there's a determination in her eyes to ensure that they don't get that satisfaction combined with a trust that she holds fiercely in her partner. That trust is answered the moment the air around her seems to tear at her defences - the ring on her finger glints in response before the power of the Ley soars through her, pushing back at the malevolent pressure. Mariel's answer to the Prophets follows shortly after it, as does her power.
Noeline lets the wave of energy spur her forwards, first one step and then another and another as she follows in Azoth's footsteps. It only takes those few moments for the air around her to blur and turn indistinct, and she nearly winks out entirely in the way she's suddenly cloaked in a deep gloom. It would be disorienting at the best of times, but with the two-tone nature of the dimly-lit tower it's almost as if she's sunk into the black stone.
When she appears again it's as herself and two shadowy copies, and three swords reared back - because why tear one gigantic black arc in the air when you can tear three? Maybe two aren't wholly real, but belief has always been the thing that matters most on Filgaia.
GS: Noeline has attacked The Prophets with Material Adept - Shadows Dance! GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo! GS: Noeline has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel marvels at the Prophets' madness. She can't imagine it as anything but.
Janus lost someone once. A woman. Eaten by gobs. Marivel exhales softly and looks to Gwen and says something that might really chill her blood.
"No," She says to Gwen. "Their personalities aren't so different at all. Only one difference. The only difference that ever seperates us..."
She takes in a deep breath, and lets it out as a long sigh.
She reaches into her pouch, withdrawing a small spherical object that radiates faint levels of electromagnetic energy.
"I'm a robotics engineer but I had to learn cybernetics to keep a bunch of folks alive after the war. Cruder than what Kasim or Wyatt would be able to manage but perfectly viable bionics are within my sphere of talents. And in this particular case, I do not have to fret about upsetting dear Irving."
Before she can make use of it, Janus unleashes the power of the Dark Spear. The scream slams into her hard and nearly bowls her over, forcing Marivel down to her knees, panting for breath.
"Woof." She says. "The Demon Spear is as potent as ever."
She chucks the EMP grenade towards Janus. "Won't be pleasant but should do the trick!" It's pretty casual despite it all.
"...It's a familiar story too, I know ... how that song goes as well. All we can do is try to be what they saw in us."
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Janus Cascade with Electromagnetic Pulse! GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo! GS: Marivel Armitage gains 56 THP from Regen! GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action. GS: The Prophets suffers a terrible blow from Noeline's Material Adept - Shadows Dance for 152 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Cover, Mighty, and Riposte applied to Noeline! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
Venetia's mouth hangs slightly open as Malik answers her. It's a pretty good riposte, if a confident one. Her lips curl downwards into a scowl that will no doubt begin to shape her face in a few years if she doesn't just straight up die.
"FAILED???" she bellows at Leehalt. "I'll show you failure, you simpleton! Any accomplishments you've made here are irreperably tainted by what you have DONE! What you WISH to do!"
But nearer to them there is a greater problem. One that has faced many Drifters. Janus Cascade. Venetia looks towards him as he speaks his truth. He indicates something on his neck... he speaks of what he regrets... and then Glumzambor says what it will.
The scream washes over them. Horrid; immense. Venetia feels a sort of tug inside of her that she has never felt before and does not like one bit; her rage, though, clings onto whatever-it-is and in the aftermath, she finds she threw an arm up to defend herself, and she didn't, quite, drop the Selenite Crest.
Back into the weathered-further pouch it goes.
"Then you lost someone you loved?" Venetia answers him. "How tragic. I'm sorry."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8G0hX9Ludc
Her head turns as her voice regains its previous venom. "Is that what you're expecting?? Hah!! And you're happy with the loss of your memories as long as you still have your EXCUSE? Because that's the thing, Cascade," Venetia continues, raising one hand, "THAT DOESN'T JUSTIFY A GOD DAMN THING."
"Do you think you are the only one with LOSS in your life? Whatever devil guides you has given you the luck to get this far, and you've mistaken that for LICENSE, haven't you? Or maybe this is all meaningless to you. Well, it's not meaningless to us! How many people had their last memories of their beloved in those years? Eh? EH?"
Another Crest comes out -- and it's swept up.
"Hold me in thy weak but pervading hand! Gravity Brake!" Shimmering light snaps out from around Venetia, radiating from all seven chakra-points to hit the ground as she... rises about four inches into the air and stays there.
Anticlimactic, probably.
GS: Venetia Vuong has attacked Venetia Vuong with Inertia Sign ~Gravity Brake~! GS: Venetia Vuong has completed her action. GS: Venetia Vuong accepts Venetia Vuong's Inertia Sign ~Gravity Brake~ for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper and Lock state applied to Venetia Vuong!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Taunting words are spoken to Xantia - at least, she interprets them as such - but it doesn't slow her approach. She can respond after that punch she had in mind.
She powers through the crest magic sent her way, subconsciously registering its effect, weakened defenses. But she doesn't care. She doesn't stop. If her defenses are weakened, she'll just enhance her offense. That's proper compensation, right? Thus, her aura shifts, smoothly transitioning from crackling lightning to roaring fire. And once she gets close enough, she finally gets to swing for that strike she had in mind. A simple punch, all things considered... it's just on fire, and backed by her considerable strength, further enhanced through her own efforts as well as Mariel's.
Her only regret is that her targets spread out enough for her to only be able to hit one of them. She goes for Melody, simply because of being the one who spoke to her directly. Now that that's over with, she can take a moment to add a verbal reply, with all the aggression that her bearing would suggest.
"You're hurting everybody! You really don't get why I'm angry? Your stupid plan isn't saving the planet, it's killing most of it, idiots!"
You know it's serious business when Xantia is calling people names.
For the first time, she looks around, briefly, at the others present. She could already feel Riesenlied's aid, being well familiar with this distinct brand of Ley-based magic. Though she sees many other familiar friendly faces, her angry expression persists throughout it all - until she lays eyes on Azoth. That was almost a smile that happened there, though it doesn't quite get there before she snaps back to anger. This is a time for indignation, and only indignation. As such, she points an accusing finger in the Prophets' general direction, making her position crystal clear.
"Filgaia belongs to ALL of us! I won't let you or anyone else do whatever they want to it! So here's what's gonna happen: I'm tearing this place down, right after we take YOU down!"
GS: Xantia has attacked The Prophets with Elemental Fury! GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo! GS: Xantia's stances have changed to Avenger! GS: Xantia gains 10 FP from her Daredevil! GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
'Acceptable losses. The planet will live. The planet's people are irrelevant--'
Ida's eyes go wide. Liath's words come back to her, an answer to Leehalt's chilling assessment: There will always be fear and arrogance and desperation, and thus, there will always be people who make this choice.
Right?
Even if that's true, that doesn't make this right.
"Monsters," Ida growls. "How many people is that?" There's an odd, warbling tenor to her voice, like something--someone--were reaching for her vocal cords and unable to fully connect with them. Unable to speak, though desperate to. "How many people will DIE because YOU can't own up to your mistakes?!"
'Would I listen to rabble? A pack of failed scholars, would-be geniuses, pseudo-intellectuals, and disciples of dying gods? No. I won't.'
Ida bares teeth in a snarl. The flesh around her green eye bubbles, and starts to spread across her face. The bones of her right arm grow, muscles lengthening to meet them. Shock and horror derail Ida's rage for a moment, and she stares down at her hand--at the bright red tattoos that have suddenly appeared on her flesh--before looking back up at Leehalt. "What--what did you--"
He did nothing, Ida realizes, before she's finished the sentence. Her own fear is growing inside her, synergizing with the terror of the man who shares her head. He fought for this world. He died for it. Mother promised she would change it, but not like this. Mother promised.
Or did she?
That horrible HOWL fills reality before the two of them can finish that thought, together sieg? no, no--, but in the next heartbeat, the Ley washes over them, and Ida's form starts to stabilize. She breathes deep of the scented mist, feels it wash into her lungs.
"Right behind you, Azoth!" Ida shouts. Despite her lopsided frame, she's quick on her feet; she spent almost two weeks fighting with a mismatched right arm, and that included the Photosphere. She clears the distance between herself and Leehalt in the space of a few seconds, winds up, and drives a right cross right at the man's pale jaw. There is the faint glimmer of a fang in the snarl she bares before him.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"'Irrelevant'? 'Acceptable losses'?" Jacqueline repeats, eyes wide and shaking her head in disbelief. Anger builds, and when Leehalt addresses her directly, it bursts forth. "...You vile, arrogant...!"
She starts, but stops herself and exhales sharply to clear her head.
"And just because you've declared yourselves this world's master doesn't make it true - or give you the right to do the horrible things you've done. Have you wrapped yourself up so thoroughly in numbers that you've forgotten everything else? A man like you has no right to call himself 'master' of anything - much less an entire planet!" Jacqueline replies. "...But, fine. If you refuse to listen, then we'll just have to make you listen."
Melody casts a spell, then - Jacqueline finds herself surrounded by a golden light, and the air around her becomes heavy. It's difficult to move. She grimaces, and its with some effort that she begins to reach for one of her Crest Graphs.
...But, it as she does this, that she feels the power of the Ley begins to surround her, as Riesenlied weaves her rejuvanting arts. This is soon followed up by pink-white, glittering energy, courtesy of Mariel. The surge of energy that follows helps - gives her the strength to push through the heavy air, if only just.
"Thanks, you two..." Jacqueline says, sending Mariel and Riesenlied a grateful smile. Her expression soon returns to seriousness, though, as she draws her Crest Graph and sets it in her left gauntlet, gesturing toward the Prophets.
From her hand, a dark, mystical wind begins to blow - a wind that tears away reinforcements while strengthening that which weakens them.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked The Prophets with Muscle Memory! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 3 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Jacqueline Barber has attacked The Prophets with Mysterious Wind! GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 1 Combo! GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
As Kaguya gets that scrunity and speaks up, Azoth shoots her a warm smile before glancing to the less trusting, especially Ida. His eyes have the same look as a child asking a guardian to overlook sneaking a cookie before dinner.
Ah, but what can Azoth say to the Prophet's identification? He is, in fact, an automaton. "Beep boop!" he further greets, grinning obnoxiously.
"And I've calculated correction for you! Unacceptable, actually. Trust me, I did the math. You also did the math! I'm shocked you're not getting this. Someone as well researched as you should know a planet's life is what makes it relevant, right? Right? Even, regrettably, yours, although if you set it up so it's an all or nothing, us versus you..." Azoth smiles sheepishly. "You get what you ask for."
But this particular automaton seems to be unable to handle the power in his automaton body, smoking at his joints with color and wires-as-veins aglow with what cannot be a reasonable power output. Anyone who stands near him may feel heat roiling off of him. It's dangerous for his core.
Grey light washes over his body, and his already struggling form becomes more frail under its touch, like the weave of his metal on a microscopic scale were destabilizing, easier to tear through. Azoth's posture sinks slightly, joints louder for the weakness thrust upon his chassis.
Ley power from Rieselied and Mariel, in waves and in flecks, washes over him. His core can resonate with this energy, taking it as he charges forward, heedless of the more fragile state of his frame, bolstered in new ways by their influence.
He catches that not-quite-a-smile from Xantia and returns it with a far less almost version of his own. And a small nod, too, then looks brightly back at the Prophets as Xantia makes her feelings known. "...That's what you asked for. Just to clarify."
Azoth forms swords of bright blue light, the erratic energy forging itself into coherent shape. "Got it, Miss Ida!" He guides their path to extend them from his body in cleaving slices, aiming to strike into the Prophets as he darts among them in conjunction with Ida's punches.
GS: Azoth enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Azoth has attacked The Prophets with Array Slice! GS: Azoth gains 10 FP from his Daredevil! GS: Azoth enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Azoth has completed his action. GS: The Prophets takes a solid hit from Xantia's Elemental Fury for 132 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Mighty applied to Xantia! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets solidly guards Ida Everstead-Rey's Muscle Memory for 59 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Mighty applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: CRITICAL! The Prophets solidly guards Jacqueline Barber's Mysterious Wind for 0 hit points! GS: Infect! Debuff durations extended!! GS: Hex applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Guard bonus, and Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets takes a solid hit from Azoth's Array Slice for 224 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Hyper applied to Azoth! GS: FP up! Evade bonus and Sufferer activated! GS: Strain! Azoth takes 90 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Rebecca manages a smile as Avril calls out to them, "Glad I could get back to your side this quickly."
Rebecca just sideeyes Leehalt as he describes the death of Filgaia in exquisite detail and how the people are all acceptable sacrifices. "Think I preferred them when they just telling Janus to deal with us and shutting up after." Avril says Kaguya helped her and Rebecca, "... Hey Kaguya. Thanks for lending her a hand."
Janus tells his story about a woman, and part of Rebecca feels her heartstrings tugging, "Doubt this is what she would have wanted for you. If your life ended that day then maybe you should have done everyone a favor and gone with her."
It's messed up in a sense, but she always did love a good tragic romance story.
Rebecca starts running for cover as Janus leaps, however the demonic ARM howls, and the shockwaves of sheer hatred ripple through the air right as she lands behind cover in a roll. Coming up, she reels, and puts both hands to her ears even as the pillar she's behind starts to crack apart.
Even once its over, she holds up her ARM and finds the barrel dancing in her vision like she can't keep it steady. So instead she grabs her Medium and cries out, "Solais Emsu!"
Channeled ley energy surges around Janus before attempting to catch him in a fiery blast.
"Dean! Avril! Let's take him down!"
GS: Rebecca Streisand has attacked Janus Cascade with Ley Blast! GS: Rebecca Streisand has gained 1 Combo! GS: Rebecca Streisand has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes," Avril says to Dean. "That is also how I feel." It's one thing to make a mistake. It's another to make the same mistake again. And again, and again, and again, if the Prophets should have their way in matters. It may be so that she awoke after the damage had been dealt, but--
That wasn't what was important. It was everyone's memories. It was the state of the world, dying before its time. It was what she had felt upon seeing, hearing the truth of this Filgaia.
That feeling, that this all had been done before.
(this is no fresh catastrophe) echoes the old thing in the dark.
Of course. She knows what she had done without understanding it. But perhaps there is no need.
It will kill ninety-seven point six, all told.
Acceptable losses.
(it must be) says the thing in the dark. (it will be).
"...Unacceptable," Avril states bluntly. Her gaze sweeps towards Janus. "So long as there are those who attempt to survive in this world... as long as the smallest plant unfurls a single leaf... this world is not yet dead! It lives, and you refuse to see it!"
With a single blow he bats her and Dean's strikes aside; she drops back, blade held before her as Janus speaks of a woman he'd known once.
Of her death. "..."
For a moment, Avril's blade wavers. Yes. There is no difference between Veruni and humans, whatsoever.
Then he swings the Dark Spear with enough force that the ground cracks. That her very soul shudders. "Ah--" Avril gasps, throwing up her left hand; ice and shimmering force rise in a half-moon arc before her, scattering a fraction of that howling wave about her like the tide.
"Everyone... is everyone alright?" Avril says, once the screaming ceases and she is able to stand from that half-crouch. In her arms she no longer bears a blade but the Original Sea Medium, the Sea Guardian's power pulsing within. 'Let's take him down' Rebecca calls out.
"Then, as one!"
Holding the Medium in her arms as if it were a child, the rolling spray of the sea washes forth across her and her friends and allies -- and Kaguya. Yes, let them all strike as one -- just as there is only one ocean.
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Bottomless Sea! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Dean Stark with Bottomless Sea! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Rebecca Streisand with Bottomless Sea! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Kaguya with Bottomless Sea! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Venetia Vuong with Bottomless Sea! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action. GS: Avril Vent Fleur accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Bottomless Sea for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Avril Vent Fleur! GS: Quick applied to Avril Vent Fleur! GS: CRITICAL! Kaguya accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Bottomless Sea for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Kaguya! GS: Venetia Vuong accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Bottomless Sea for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Venetia Vuong! GS: Rebecca Streisand accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Bottomless Sea for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Rebecca Streisand! GS: Dean Stark accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Bottomless Sea for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Dean Stark!
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer shakes her head and laughs, racking a new shell into place, a combat reload. "You need to shut up now. You've never seen a dead world. You've never walked the streets filled with hollow husks. Walked the craters in the streets and fields in full kit." She pulls the trigger. Keeping things simple. "You'll hold nothing and you'll die out here, alone and suffering just like you'd inflict on the others." She's moving again, keeping mobile, not wanting to get pinned down again. Rolling along the ground with the attack as blasts through the group, before landing on her feet, battered, but determined at this point.
She checks on the others, once again realizing she's more or less gone native fully. Former mission's gone. It was either never here, or it was wiped from everyone's memory long before she ever got a chance to rescue anyone or destroy the evidence. Nothing for it, she'd die here too anyway.
She definitely recognizes an EMP grenade as she's moving and in a completely conspicuous move, slams the cover of her wrist computer shut with a click and pulls away. She doesn't know the yield, but losing another piece of kit, even if it's supposed to be hardened, would suck. To put it simply.
The story from Janus though, that gets a snort of laughter. "I'm here to find out what happened to thousands. You're talking about inflicting that misery on countless others." She shakes her head and shoulders her shotgun, "You're pathetic. You should have held that memory close. It's its own immortality. You won't be remembered."
As something of a follow up, she slams another shell home and lines it up, taking her time and fires. the round glowing by the time it impacts. Whether it's the machine-man or not. That one was a weird one and definitely not one she likes showing off.
Even if she's in the company of a few aliens, one that's probably using a very similar cover story to herself. Also you know, locals. "You want to save this place, there's got to be better options." she calls out. "Doing the same thing and expecting better results is just asinine." Mostly preaching to the wrong choir entirely, oh well.
GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Janus Cascade with Hotshot! GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> The Prophets has posed.
"No. I care for the planet -- the people of that planet are irrelevant. There will always be more," Leehalt says to Riesenlied. "Perhaps that is the only thing reliable about people."
He grimaces as the Ley surges through the room at Riesenlied's call. Then, his hands slide from his sleeves -- and an ARM on one hand, consisting of several wires and cords attached to armored claws about his fingers, flares to life. Riesenlied finds that gravity and reality seem to shift--
--then snap back into place, and she and her chair are yanked hard to one side.
"That beauty will return in time!" Melody says. "Filgaia is like a dead flower. Best to cut it to the root, and let it regrow anew! And what would you know of beauty, besides!?"
She throws a hand out, another crest graph revealed. This one sends out a ripple of green mist, which washes over Mariel, Ashiya as she rushes in, Lanval, and Noeline.
Lanval's gourd hits Melody in the midsection, with a WHOOMPH. She gets slammed backward, stumbling and trying to recover. "And why not? We'll bring it back. Better than before."
"The big sharks will find they lack seas, girl!" Malik laughs, as Ashiya's rush ends with him. Her leg connects, slamming into his face -- and there is a satisfying CRUNCH as his head snaps back, and he flies backward from her. He hits the ground, bouncing a couple of times. "Ugh..."
Noeline vanishes -- and comes as shadowy copies. Those three black arcs slash across each Prophet, slamming them forward. There are three shouts, too. Leehalt turns to look at her, his eyes narrowed balefully. "You know nothing. You assume you have seen much, Hyadean--but your long years mean you have had longer to blinded to the truth!"
"SHUT UP!" Malik screams at Noeline, instead.
"As if I would let you!" Melody answers Xantia. She swings out another card; the crest graph flashes, and a wave of purple mist billows out, this time, for Xantia, Ida, and Jay.
GS: The Prophets has attacked Riesenlied with Distortion Weaver! GS: The Prophets spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: The Prophets has attacked Mariel with Venom! GS: The Prophets has attacked Ashiya Khaimova with Venom! GS: The Prophets has attacked Seraph Lanval with Venom! GS: The Prophets has attacked Noeline with Venom! GS: The Prophets has gained 2 Combo! GS: The Prophets has attacked Xantia with Plague! GS: The Prophets has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Plague! GS: The Prophets has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Plague! GS: The Prophets has gained 1 Combo! GS: The Prophets has attacked Azoth with Magnarize! GS: The Prophets has gained 2 Combo! GS: The Prophets takes 31 damage from Poison! GS: The Prophets has completed their action.
<Pose Tracker> The Prophets has posed.
"We're going to save the planet. You just won't be here to appreciate my hard work!" Melody answers Xantia, just as her fiery punch slams her back into a wall. Some of the patterned wall cracks, when she strikes it.
Leehalt turns to look at Ida, with those cold eyes of his. "A number. Why pretend at outrage? It's only a number. Better to accept it." A pause. "Both of you."
Leehalt brings up a magical barrier as Ida punches. Her fist slams into a shield of pale grey light, which cracks with the impact. He glowers at her, then he looks towards Jay. "Declared? I command the life's energy of the planet. What you fools revere, I harness! Witness my grand work, witness what makes me stand above the meagerness of history! I am not as a god, but the loftier heights: A SCHOLAR!"
Her wind slams into him -- and blows him backward, along with his fellows.
Malik frowns when Azoth grins at him. "You--that's not what's relevant," he says. "We're saving the planet. It can always make more life! We--guh! Fast!"
Azoth zips between all of them. His blades flash, each cutting -- and each leaving a slash in those white robes, though Leehalt partly deflects it with another barrier. Malik turns, looking at Azoth, and then pulls out a crest graph.
A sigil glows on the ceiling above Azoth.
And then a powerful magnetic force suddenly tries to yank him up -- but its magnetic grip also quickly releases him, as the sigil vanishes.
Malik, being Malik, laughs about this.
GS: Seraph Lanval solidly guards The Prophets's Venom for 44 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Lanval gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Seraph Lanval's Poison Ward may block the effect! GS: Poison applied to Seraph Lanval! GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Gleam activated! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Seraph Lanval receives 100 temporary hit points. GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber solidly guards The Prophets's Plague for 0 hit points! GS: Disease applied to Jacqueline Barber! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Guard bonus, and Gleam activated! GS: Jacqueline Barber enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Severe! Azoth takes a solid hit from The Prophets's Magnarize for 187 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Disease applied to Azoth! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: CRITICAL! Mariel critically guards The Prophets's Venom for 17 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Mariel gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Poison blocked! GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Guard bonus activated! GS: Xantia takes a solid hit from The Prophets's Plague for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Disease applied to Xantia! GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated! GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey suffers a terrible blow from The Prophets's Plague for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Disease applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: CRITICAL! Noeline solidly guards The Prophets's Venom for 29 hit points! GS: Poison applied to Noeline! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Janus Cascade takes a glancing hit from Rebecca Streisand's Ley Blast for 56 hit points! GS: Mighty applied to Rebecca Streisand! GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated! GS: Janus Cascade solidly guards Juni Vandrer's Hotshot for 33 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Infect! Debuff durations extended!! GS: CRITICAL! Riesenlied partially guards The Prophets's Distortion Weaver for 69 hit points! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Interrupt and Mute applied to Riesenlied! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Janus Cascade suffers a terrible blow from Kaguya's Falling Star for 195 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Strain! Kaguya takes 54 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
'Their personalities aren't so different at all. Only one difference. The only difference that ever seperates us...' says Marivel.
"...." Gwen eyes widen, and then squint closed. She looks to the side. ".... damn it..." It's there again: the sound of resignation. "I guess, if she died the same way, Ashley'd on a similar path... Or maybe, just... the fact that he never left his hope behind..."
Too many things are happening around her, but with how the world is closing in, all Gwen can focus on is Janus. It's not a matter of convincing him; that boat sailed away a long time ago.
Just... to give him the reason to not fully give up.
Glumzambor's wrath slices through her bones, past the guard of Gwen's ARM, but her heart yet beats. It's too visible now, a yellow gold star in her chest.
"... You want it to go down that she was a fluke, Janus? Or aren't you even going to say her name? You knew her better than I did. You wanna be mad at the world? How 'bout bein' mad at me! I was the one who got the golden ticket. How many kids ever got adopted from that orphanage? I was one of the sick ones. Yet I got adopted, and I never came back. Think about it, Janus. When did she die? How many gobs could I kill with this ARM? I bet, 'round that time, I would've been able enough to use it, too. Would've done some good if I was around. But I wasn't. No, I was off bein' a courier. How many people get up one day with a new lease on life n' go 'yeah I wanna go deliver people's stuff back and forth because I think the world is really neat'. But I *did*. So, why're we the ones who get to survive, n' not her, huh? A courier who keeps dyin' n' gettin' back up, n' you."
Her eyes begin to tear up. "She lived her life on her terms. That's the best any of us could hope for, and she got it. The fame, the fortune, the power? Between all of us here, including you, we'd all call that part a complete load of crap. She lived on her terms, and when she died, she wasn't alone, because otherwise, you wouldn't 'ave known what happened to her! The cool big sis, never let anything get her down. Personality and hair like the sun on a blue day. The one who lived her life as she wanted, with no collar!"
Gwen comes in again, thrusting her right hand forward, mouth open in a cry. "Say her name, Janus! Keziah!"
GS: Ashiya Khaimova fully evades The Prophets's Venom for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ashiya Khaimova gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Poison blocked! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Ashiya Khaimova receives 100 temporary hit points. GS: Ashiya Khaimova enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action! GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Janus Cascade with Return to Sender! GS: Gwen Whitlock enters a Counter stance! GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 3 Combo! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Janus Cascade partially guards Dean Stark's Burning Magazine for 82 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Poison blocked! GS: Janus Cascade takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Return to Sender for 81 hit points! GS: Gamble: Moderate! Janus Cascade suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Electromagnetic Pulse for 89 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
'We'll bring it back. Better than before.' Melody says her promise, and Lanval - in a singular moment of advantage, doesn't press it as he catches the gourd on the backswing and re-balances himself. (He can't, he's still moving too slow.)
He just shakes his head, as the ripple of green mist reaches him. Through his connection to Schturdark, he is privy to knowing all there is that affects the water, what is done with it and to it. It should be trivial to find some sort of antidote, some counteracting agent, to the sickly mist that seeps as he tries to race through it.
It does not exist.
His teeth bare in a pained grimace as this awful sorcerously conjured rot adds itself into his manifested metaphor of a person, forced to a kneel with the gourd held in front of him. He grasps the drinking gourd and bows his head.
"Bring it back? But why replace such..." Lanval works up a smile as he looks up... and swings the gourd upwards, splashing water out in its purest distillation, dispersing across those who stand against the Prophets.
To Jacqueline Barber, humble merchant and alchemist who has taken the water and land to create further miracles by her hand.
To Xantia, she who may have forgotten or failed to understand difficult truths but presses on.
To Noeline, she who took a piece of power from one Guardian by chance to make something of herself and others.
To Ida, she who fights within and without across emotional and physical circumstances to make her way.
To Riesenlied, she who would not let the limits and make of her flesh blunt her heart.
To Ashiya, a stranger by some measure Lanval doesn't quite grasp but accepts as an ally of circumstance.
To Azoth, who is recognized as an individual of will and capability even within the confines of written directives in arcane, strange, and oft imperfect language.
To Mariel, she who stayed behind to care for a land that stood to be abandoned.
"The water doth maintain its beauty and worth even now." Lanval says, as the blessing of Schturdark meets with his five hundred-odd years experience as a Lord of the Land, bringing forth an enchantment of water to arms, armor, and accessories as desired and willing. (Failing that, it neatly washes off grime.)
"I see thine eyes and yet they remain shut...!"
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated a Force Action! GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Lord Of The Lake! GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Xantia with Lord Of The Lake! GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Noeline with Lord Of The Lake! GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Lord Of The Lake! GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Riesenlied with Lord Of The Lake! GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Ashiya Khaimova with Lord Of The Lake! GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Azoth with Lord Of The Lake! GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Mariel with Lord Of The Lake! GS: Seraph Lanval takes 25 damage from Poison! GS: Slow expired! GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action. GS: CRITICAL! Riesenlied accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Riesenlied! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Mariel accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Mariel! GS: Ashiya Khaimova accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Ashiya Khaimova! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Jacqueline Barber! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Azoth accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Azoth! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: CRITICAL! Xantia accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Xantia! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Xantia receives 100 temporary hit points. GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied grimaces and senses Kaguya's distress from afar -- but she's not in position; she'll have to trust Avril, Dean and Rebecca and the others. She trusts in her, as well.
"The big sharks..." Riesenlied whispers, of Ashiya's comment, then smiles in turn. "Let us proceed, then!"
Mariel's potion gathers over her, focusing her energies -- and she nods in turn towards the Elw as she speaks of Filgaia's beauty, and how that must include everyone in it. "That is just so. Just what world do you hope to create?"
Jay's anger is almost surprising to her, but it makes sense -- it takes a truly arrogant person to call others 'filth', to decide who gets to live or die... she knows Jacqueline has seen enough to know that.
Noeline's own speech is full of barbs, and perhaps rightfully so, as the one with sharper and more cutting words out of the two -- though it's a surprisingly trivial point that she gets hung up on, puffing for a moment to say, "You have ever become enamored with beaches since that one time, hmm?" Don't get distracted by swimsuits, Riesenlied...
Unfortunately, that moment of distraction is just enough for Leehalt to capitalise on, as gravity and reality seems to shift around Leehalt's armored claw -- and she yelps as she's suddenly bodily thrown to one side, crashing against the wall; there's a chirping from Strife as the ARM Pod tries its best to manoeuvre, and a shield to prevent the worst.
"U-ugh..." she's dizzier and out of breath, from just that -- feeling the limits of her ailing body. But she can't give up here!
But Leehalt's words -- no, not just Leehalt's, Malik's and Melody's as well -- give her pause.
"Please, you three. I have heard such words before -- and I know you believe in them, so please. Those are the words of the Veruni, and even us Hyadeans; these are the words of those who travelled to Lunar in search of a new home, and these too are the words of the Zeboim, and so many others who came before us."
Riesenlied's crimson eyes gleam as she lifts her head, with tenacity and resolve.
"Not once in the sordid history of our world did throwing everything away to start again help anyone. Not the people left behind, not the people who did it, and not the people who are left to inherit the mistakes of the past."
Her eyes lower, and water.
"You three will not listen, because you are convinced on your path, as we once were, as so many have. How many more times do we have to repeat this mistake?"
A flash accompanies the appearance of a crystalline sword in her hand; she focuses, and gathers the abundant Ley within the cavernous structure... and as she focuses, Lanval's very pure, distilled water, the embodiment of all that he is as Lord of the Lake blesses her. She strikes!
She strikes, and a ghostly image of Glumzambor erupts from within the ground in a peal of deafening thunder and indefatigable energy.
(Okay, she might be lying a little about Janus. The spear matters a *little*.)
GS: Riesenlied spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Riesenlied has attacked The Prophets with Ley Artes - Sieg Impulse! GS: Riesenlied has gained 2 Combo! GS: Interrupt expired! GS: Riesenlied gains 17 THP from her Cautious! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Noeline accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Noeline! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Noeline enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: The Prophets partially guards Riesenlied's Ley Artes - Sieg Impulse for 162 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Delay blocked! GS: Cover applied to Riesenlied! GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
The pain a man can feel can destroy him to the soul. Maybe that's the only lesson to be learned from the blank mask that Janus Cascade has now replaced his face with.
He doesn't use it to beg for pity. His pain is his and if it's made him a fool, well, he already said long ago.
The only thing he wants is to kill this world so deeply even its bone will scream the name Janus Cascade.
He pulls Glumzambor out of the stone, its eye blinking and wakeful. Unlike his, which now burn like embers in his face. Their fury, their vitriol, all he does to it is stand.
"Yeah," he finally says, tilting his head in a mockery of his old slack posture. "Basically." A blanket answer to all of them, before he's back to it. Kaguya's first, a supremely powerful Veruni sock that catches him clean and forces him to stumble back. The old body would've been sent flying, but he's just HEAVIER now, to say nothing of the strange half-man half-Demon he is now. Others pile on. Juni's blast pings him mid-flight, Rebecca's assault roars at him with a beam of focused Guardian light. He hits the ground hard, just in time for Dean to land on him, engaging in a brief struggle between searing tonfa and the Dark Spear that Janus mostly repels rather than wins. Gwen, finally, crashes against him, and again gets him square.
This one he replies, sweeping the Dark Spears so its butt is forward and SLAMMING it into Gwen, screaming, "THE HELL ELSE YOU THINK I'M TRYING TO KILL YOU FOR, WOMAN!?" as green-black light erupts from the spear and into her body. "You're right! Keziah's dead! She died saving some shithole town in the middle of bumfuck nowhere like a DAMN FOOL and it's a pile of sand now! That's all this planet is! A graveyard! Once you're dead, it's over! Stay alive, all you've got is one more step ahead of the reaper! Every pretty little leaf and every rainbow! MEANINGLESS!"
He reaches into his pockets, pulling out his favorite snack, and rams a Power Apple into his face plate. It makes a noise like a blender before strength surges into him.
He moves. He sweeps at Kaguya, crashing into her with the Dark Spear, then whips it around like a GUN and levels it at Venetia. A beam of light rockets forth, searing the eyes. Marivel's bomb lands then...!
...He knocks on his chest. "Nice thought. But these guys are pros."
Then he swings it up and slams it down, a shockwave of force and air rocking toward her. Janus then holds up his arm, swinging it down; the dregs of that blast toward Venetia explode out, raining down on Dean, Rebecca, Avril, and Juni.
GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Janus Cascade with Power Apple! GS: Janus Cascade has gained 1 Combo! GS: Janus Cascade accepts Janus Cascade's Power Apple for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper and Shield applied to Janus Cascade! GS: Hyper applied to Janus Cascade! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Life or Death! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Kaguya with Dark Spear! GS: Janus Cascade enters a Counter stance! GS: Janus Cascade has gained 2 Combo! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Venetia Vuong with Nova Blaster! GS: Janus Cascade has gained 1 Combo! GS: Janus Cascade spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Marivel Armitage with Demon Fang! GS: Janus Cascade has gained 1 Combo! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Dean Stark with Multiblast! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Rebecca Streisand with Multiblast! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Multiblast! GS: Janus Cascade has attacked Juni Vandrer with Multiblast! GS: Janus Cascade has gained 1 Combo! GS: Janus Cascade has completed his action. GS: Rebecca Streisand takes a solid hit from Janus Cascade's Multiblast for 132 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Rebecca Streisand gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Kaguya solidly guards Janus Cascade's Dark Spear for 62 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated! GS: CRITICAL! Venetia Vuong takes a solid hit from Janus Cascade's Nova Blaster for 190 hit points! GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated! GS: COUNTER! Gwen Whitlock counterattacks Janus Cascade with Counter Attack! GS: ROU|LET|TE: Severe! Gwen Whitlock solidly guards Janus Cascade's Life or Death for 111 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Charge bonus activated! GS: Juni Vandrer takes a glancing hit from Janus Cascade's Multiblast for 77 hit points! GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
The green mist washes over Mariel. She's still too slowed to completely avoid it, so she doesn't try; she brings the staff up cross-body as if she was guarding herself with it, and the spell parts. Not entirely - some of it infiltrates the shell of slow air she's trapped in - but enough of it that she doesn't get caught too badly in it.
What would she know of beauty?
"...sometimes I think I don't know enough," Mariel says, quietly at first. "But to that, I say: Filgaia is beautiful. The green of Filgaia is beauty." Mariel makes a short gesture with her non-staff-holding hand, and grass - actual, real grass - pushes up through the stones of the floor, a faint grinding sound as they dig into the upper layer, roots penetrating, cracking little flakes from the solid blocks.
"The waters of Filgaia are beautiful." Lanval's power splashes water on her, and the grass grows, almost a lawn for a pace around her feet. Improbable, impossible - only the Ley being as drawn to this place as it is, because of the Prophets, allows it to spread so quickly. And yes, Mariel is aware of the irony. "They flow, and connect all the different parts of the world."
"The people of Filgaia are beautiful." Mariel sweeps her staff, indicating all the others she came with. "They're all different - even after a thousand years here, no two people are alike. They make their way in the world, meeting each other, changing each other."
"The flowers of Filgaia are beautiful. A flower that can grow where no other can - it's strong as well as beautiful. They're tenacious; they do not give up. Even the decay of the world won't choke them out. And even the stones of Filgaia are beautiful. A foundation for all others to build upon. Even the deserts have their place; it's a stark beauty but they can have one."
"But most of all..." Mariel trails off.
"Most of all, the life of Filgaia is beautiful. It is alive, all of it, individually and together; a network far beyond what we see. And what you are doing - it would be a pale imitation, at best. A facade, at worst; nothing behind the image but rot."
And then, finally, something buds at her feet. Little flowers - Mariel's flowers, a splash of white against the stone and grass. "I have been watching over Filgaia for five hundred years to fix what broke as best I can, and I would do it another five hundred if I had to! You have no right to tear it all down, to end everything! You do not know more than all the things on the planet, who can find their way together!"
The flowers bloom.
GS: Mariel has attacked Noeline with Small Flower! GS: Mariel has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Small Flower! GS: Mariel has attacked Azoth with Small Flower! GS: Mariel has attacked Seraph Lanval with Small Flower! GS: Mariel has attacked Mariel with Small Flower! GS: Mariel has attacked Riesenlied with Small Flower! GS: Mariel has gained 1 Combo! GS: Mariel has completed her action. GS: Azoth accepts Mariel's Small Flower for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Break and Disease removed! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Lock state and Shield applied to Azoth! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Seraph Lanval accepts Mariel's Small Flower for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Poison removed! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Lock state and Surge applied to Seraph Lanval! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Jacqueline Barber accepts Mariel's Small Flower for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Disease and Slow removed! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Amplify and Lock state applied to Jacqueline Barber! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Riesenlied accepts Mariel's Small Flower for 0 hit points! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Lock state and Surge applied to Riesenlied! GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
"I'd recheck that data!" Azoth calls out sing-song during his dashing strikes and zipping attacks. "Your assigned values are in error~!" Then he pauses. "Wait, make more?" He points over the each of them, then looks to Melody with a wince. "Oh, come on, you can do better than--"
But whatever ill-advised provoking he's trying to accomplish is interrupted in turn by a crest graph. Azoth's feed are suddenly no longer attached to the floor. "...Ah--?!"
Up he goes, faster than he bolts about, and his heavier than average weight thanks to a metal body sending him crashing back down even faster with a distorted beep before he makes a small crater in the floor, dust pluming in the wake of Malik's laughter.
The swords persist, hovering above Azoth's falling body, bobbing uselessly in space.
Or not so uselessly after all. They spin, then dart out, splitting apart and fanning into... crosshairs?! Crosshairs that begin to chase the prophets as they move, predicting their next movements. Enchanted water washes away the dust and soothes the rattling of his body as Azoth rises out of his him-sized crater, vaulting up and charging forward.
"...Patterns identified. Recalibrating."
He tries to crash into each like a pinball gone rogue, wild, ancient ARM energy empowered behind each strike to tear at their own defenses in electrical arcs. If everyone else aims at the crosshairs, they'll find a much easier time coordinating their attacks... even if it doesn't seem quite accurate at the moment they make their move.
Mariel makes a prayer. Small flowers sprout from the more compromised joint on Azoth's shoulder. He gently touches a petal.
GS: Azoth spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Azoth has attacked Azoth with Convergence! GS: Azoth has attacked Xantia with Convergence! GS: Azoth has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Convergence! GS: Azoth has attacked Seraph Lanval with Convergence! GS: Azoth has attacked Noeline with Convergence! GS: Azoth has attacked Ashiya Khaimova with Convergence! GS: Azoth has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Convergence! GS: Azoth has attacked Riesenlied with Convergence! GS: Azoth has attacked Mariel with Convergence! GS: Azoth has launched an attack Link! GS: Azoth accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Azoth! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Blitz! Azoth has attacked The Prophets with Circuit Breaker! GS: Azoth gains 10 FP from his Daredevil! GS: Azoth has completed his action. GS: Noeline accepts Mariel's Small Flower for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Poison removed! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Blitz and Lock state applied to Noeline! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Seraph Lanval accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Seraph Lanval! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Ashiya Khaimova accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Ashiya Khaimova! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Jacqueline Barber! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: The Prophets solidly guards Azoth's Circuit Breaker for 88 hit points! GS: Dispel! Hyper removed! GS: Break and Shieldbreak applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Sufferer activated! GS: Strain! Azoth takes 78 damage! GS: CRITICAL! Avril Vent Fleur solidly guards Janus Cascade's Multiblast for 82 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Avril Vent Fleur gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Hyper applied to Janus Cascade! GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Riesenlied accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Riesenlied! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Noeline accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Noeline! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Mariel accepts Mariel's Small Flower for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Slow removed! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Lock state and Shield applied to Mariel! GS: Mariel accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Mariel! GS: Dean Stark solidly guards Janus Cascade's Multiblast for 64 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Dean Stark gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated! GS: Dean Stark enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Xantia accepts Azoth's Convergence for 0 hit points! GS: Blitz applied to Xantia! GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a glancing hit from Janus Cascade's Demon Fang for 129 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Marivel Armitage gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Hyper applied to Janus Cascade!
<Pose Tracker> Ashiya Khaimova has posed.
> "The big sharks will find they lack seas, girl!" laughs Malik, crowning himself the genius king of comebacks in the fraction-second before Ashiya's leg reaches full extension and her size 8 space-skateboard shoe connects with his chin and makes a noise similar to the Home Run Bat OHKO chime. Zero respect for the puppetmasters.
"That's just it!" the golden-eyed pugilist raves as her feet touch ground once more. "You think you've got every last bit of the plan mapped out, every inch of the world ready to subjugate... and then, blam! You've never heard of a Fargett sand-shark before and now one of them bites your head off! Think!" she seethes, leaning over to tap both sides of her head in an overanimated pantomime of thinking, all while Malik bounces off the flagstones.
"THINK!" Ashiya repeats herself, fingers practically drilling into the sides of her skull.
Strange sorceries twist and furl around the girl's hands and feet at Lanval's command, Schturdark's blessing finding purchase with this unlikely ally. Her gloves and shoes glitter with arcane rime and frost, and her stance-shuffle quickens. "You're no great thinkers or scholars." she grins wickedly, canines very prominent in this moment. "You're a bunch of jokers about to fail your peer review. C'mon and come quietly now."
It's clear that actually, no, nobody is going to come quietly. There's another surge of crest magic power from the robed masterminds, and Ashiya finds herself briefly lost amidst the thickening mists of caustic and toxic fog. The hyperactive martial artist glances to and fro, skipping backwards as tendrils of wispy green glance across Riesenlied's gift of auric shielding and Lanval's, of magical frost. Watching the sorcerous effects wick and shrink backwards from the oncoming magical toxic storm is unnerving.
"Hokey dokey. I tried." Ashiya sighs, pretending -not- to be nervous or scared about perishing in the middle of a magical biochemical attack. She sucks in a huge breath and then holds it, cheeks puffing out, tail once more standing on end. The simple Totally Filgaian Cowboy Samurai then winds back as if she was going to deck the Prophets' venomous magical cloud out of existence... then gives an uncalled-for kiai shout of unbearable volume. Really, like someone just set off a bomb in here. When next she swings for a punch, her fist and arm are cloaked in billowing sleeves of blue-white fire, which wreathes around itself into the shape of a much-larger-again fist and arm, which in turn makes impact with the toxic cloud, which in turn...
... explodes.
The Fellpool martial artist spends 3 bars of meter on that move as the chain of backblasts rushes back along the magical toxic cloud towards its caster. Malik this is ALL your fault and NOTHING you can do or say will convince me otherwise!!
GS: Blitz! Ashiya Khaimova has attacked The Prophets with Blazing Sun - Searing Heat! GS: Ashiya Khaimova has gained 3 Combo! GS: Break expired! GS: Ashiya Khaimova has completed her action. GS: The Prophets solidly guards Ashiya Khaimova's Blazing Sun - Searing Heat for 95 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Cripple applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
The struggle against Janus is endless, and even if he forces Dean back, Dean is WAY too dumb to ever give up. You can do anything as long as you don't give up, after all. But...
But Gwen shouts at Janus about a woman from their shared past, a woman named Keziah. Dean's dimly aware of this--Kaguya was criticizing Janus earlier for being sad about someone he cared about dying--but he never knew her name, and when Gwen essentially dares Janus to say her name, he looks back over at the monstrous man... who straight-up acknowledges it. From Keziah's death, to what that death meant to him, personally, and how it's shaped his view of life and death and the world around them all.
So Dean does what might well be the worst possible thing he could ever do to a man or monster like Janus Cascade.
He looks at him with pity.
Of course, Janus then eats a Power Apple and rains destruction on him and his friends, but even that gets a response of Dean pulling up his Original Mountain Medium and calling up a magic barrier for himself and anyone on the same hex as him. It's not quite quick enough to eat all of the damage, but it mitigates quite a lot of it, especially compared to before.
"...You're wrong, Janus," Dean says quietly. "Just because we all die someday doesn't mean there's no meaning in living. I'm sorry you're too torn up about your friend to see that."
He nods firmly over at Avril, feeling the power of Lucadia wash over him like a warm tide. It strengthens his limbs and brings power to his ARMs, and he stands tall, unswayed in the face of Janus's wrath and despair. On the contrary, he smiles over at Kaguya, as great a success story as he's ever met, who speaks of her own wrath and how little it accomplished, who speaks works much like his own.
"You know it, Kaguya!" he calls. Then he nods firmly at Rebecca as she calls for them all to take Janus out. "And you know it too, Rebecca!" 'As one!' Avril shouts as she calls forth her Medium's power, and Dean leans forward into a fierce stance. "All together now! HYAAAAHH--!"
And Dean simply unloads all the bullets in Twin Fenrir's chambers, firing rat-ta-tat-tat-tat at Janus, from one gun, then the other, then both, twirling around as he calls up a powerful blast of searing light into both and unleashes it as a single massive beam, then finally calling that same searing energy into the combat rods and slicing forward through the air with them, despite the fact that they're blunt force weapons, to send explosions in his wake through the half-Demon.
"We're all in this together! And that's why we'll never lose to you!" he shouts, the backwinds whipping at his blue hair.
GS: Dean Stark spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Blitz! Dean Stark has attacked Janus Cascade with Twin Fenrir - Laser Impact! GS: Dean Stark has launched an attack Link! GS: Blitz! Dean Stark has attacked Janus Cascade with Scarlet Dynamo! GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia takes a blast of noxious magic full on in the process of landing her punch on Melody. "That's what I think of your hard work," she states, before sagging a bit. A second weakening effect stacking on top of the first doesn't make her feel great. Totally worth it though. "What are you even talking about... beauty, brilliance... what kind of person values that sort of thing over the lives of so many people...?"
She takes a sharp intake of breath as a blessing of Water washes over her. Lanval. It's uncanny how these days, being exposed to distinctive types of magic often feels the same as looking directly at someone. But she isn't going to worry about that now, not in the middle of a fight for the fate of the silent. A mental 'thank you' will have to suffice, while she straightens herself.
She ducks down in response to Azoth's action, figuring out what he's up to on the fly. She isn't really sure how she's caught on so quick, she only knows she needs to get into position and be ready. In the short moment she has, she dashes, gathers her internal energy, and guides it towards her right arm.
And then she strikes. With a sudden leap, she directs her now dangerously glowing fist towards a different Prophet this time, who she has identified as 'the mean one'. That's Malik. Duh. With considerably more magical oomph behind this punch than her last, this time there's an explosion of energy on impact. Xantia lands back on her feet afterwards, shaking her hand as motes of light disperse from it.
"...Wouldn't be so proud about not being a god," she remarks to Leehalt, the only Prophet she hasn't thrown a punch at yet. "A god can take punches better than a scholar can. Trust me, I know."
GS: Xantia has activated a Force Action! GS: Xantia spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Blitz! Xantia has attacked The Prophets with Exploding Fist! GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo! GS: Xantia gains 10 FP from her Daredevil! GS: Break expired! GS: Xantia has completed her action. GS: The Prophets partially guards Xantia's Exploding Fist for 152 hit points! GS: Hyper and Hyper applied to Xantia! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"'Acceptable losses' is a coward's phrase. A self-interested justification and an excuse," Noeline notes as three copies of her tear the air asunder with black flame. As Riesenlied notes, it is a lot more forward and blunt than she would usually manage - as if she's stripped away the pomp of her Crimson Noble self for the sake of this fight - but she's well aware that her usual grandiose calls will only prompt a reply in kind. And giving the Prophets any kind of satisfaction whatsoever is not in her plans.
... ... well, almost. Because Leehalt says there will always be more people, and that statement is so ridiculously and obviously borne from a spreadsheet that there's a part of Noeline's brain that simply cannot leave it alone. "Where - precisely - do you think people come from? I regret to inform you they are not actually brought by storks from the skies above. A dispassionate world reduced to three percent of its former self is not about to nurture a damn thing," one of her copies notes as it dissolves away into mist.
"Blinded to what truth? To the components of a healthy, living world? It is more than some grass and some huddled survivors," says the other as it too begins to drift away on the wind, as the real Noeline dances backwards to a safer distance. "I have spent years upon years amongst people, learning what makes up 'Filgaia' - not standing atop an actual, literal ivory tower looking down at them. My observations are more complete than yours. You may have observed, but you have certainly not understood."
Behind her she's aware of Riesenlied's light tease back at her, the surprise attack she would never have expected from a remarkably unfamiliar direction; she finds it in herself to huff back, despite the tension all around them. "All I'm saying is that it would be nice to have a break. We are due a couple centuries of loafing around at this point, I should think--"
Her eyes widen as she feels more than sees Riesenlied get thrown to one side, but she has to trust in her partner that she's alright, because the ire of the Prophets turns on her right afterwards. Malik's uncharacteristic cry makes the real her pause once more, but there is truly nothing more to say on that front. If there's one thing she refuses to do it's to weaponize the dead, even against enemies such as these. All she could do was offer that tiniest olive branch of understanding, knowing it would still get rejected. The wave of green energy he produces washes over her, and the world swims around her in a sickening distortion - but just as suddenly as before, a much more literal wave chases after it to wash the delirium away.
Mariel's power fills the tower to further lift them all up in direct opposition to the Prophets' claims, and Riesenlied's impassioned speech together with Azoth's frenetic movement paves the way for her to stride forwards. The force of Ashiya's yell is a surprise even to her, but it's one she's capitalizing on the next moment - because a burst of flame means a burst of shadows for her to grasp at, hands clawed as she almost seems to tear them from the walls and floor.
Something in the air subtly shifts as the atmosphere in the tower dims further - and then somehow the Crimson Noble is actually succeeding at lifting the black pattern off of the walls and the floor around her. It is impossible to look at, disorienting in the extreme as the stone gives way to blank white and the ribbons of colour twist and spin into bizarre patterns - then turn as one towards the Prophets to converge on them like a dozen solid arrows of darkness from all angles.
GS: Noeline has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Mm." Marivel says. "So I see. Well then, I was hoping Plan B would work, so Plan A it is then."
That sort of shockwave is a familiar technique to Marivel. She flash steps out of the way but it still catches a good chunk of her side, burning it severely. Marivel grimaces but doesn't linger on the wound. Instead--
--her arm grows to like two or three times its original size, growing veiny and bulbous, covered in leathery crimson and purplses as she forms a claw with her hand.
"DEMON FANG!" Marivel shouts as she swings it down towards Janus, returning her own wave of crimson energy towards the half demon man.
And then... she vanishes in a flash of light!
--reappearing behind Janus. "And..." She says softly."
"INFERNAL TORRENT!"
Marivel swings her leg up in a wide arc, that crimson energy exploding off her leg as she attempts to just flat out kick him in his side with it.
"I'll just have to take you to a different dimension so I can perform the surgery needed there." Marivel says. "I highly doubt even they've been to Hell."
Not that she doesn't have sympathy for seeing what Time does to all the people you save.
"Even the Sun will explode eventually," She says softly. "Why rush to death when it always comes so soon?"
GS: Blitz! Noeline has attacked The Prophets with Material Adept - De Le Metalica! GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: Marivel Armitage spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Janus Cascade with Demon Fang! GS: Marivel Armitage has launched an attack Link! GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Janus Cascade with Infernal Torrent! GS: Marivel Armitage gains 59 THP from Regen! GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The shield holds long enough to blunt Ida's momentum. She hops back, and settles into a boxer's stance, but her enraged focus on Leehalt means she doesn't see Melody's attack until it's too late. The awful scent of sorcerous toxin hits her a moment later; the venom seeps into her lungs, even as she spits less-literal venom of her own. "You COWARDLY WITCH--" is all Ida manages to get out, to the woman who stole her face.
The martial artist sags, then sinks to a knee. Melody's venom hangs around her like a cloud, and every breath she takes draws more in. It's smothering her.
A number.
Leehalt's words swim in her ears as her vision blurs.
Why pretend at outrage? It's only a number. Better to accept it.
How many people is that? How much of the world is that? What else has to die to squeak out some semblance of victory? Ida thinks back to her days in Rabenstein, and how desperately she tried to make them see how she felt. This is what lies down that path. If you're already mired in despair and arrogance, what does it matter if the world dies?
Both of you.
Ida lets out a sickening choking noise, and drops to hands and knees. Melody's metaphysical rot is settling into her body and Breath, which were already unstable thanks to the fear-synergy between her and Fafnir.
"No," Ida gasps, as the flesh of her face starts to turn a deeply unhealthy blueish-silver. "We... already..." Her eyes dart back and forth, even as they roll in her head, refusing to focus on any one thing. The poisoned flesh spreads down her neck--
Lanval intervenes. The very concept of pure, cool water rushes into her, and while there is nothing it can do to stop the poison, it clears the white-hot agony for a few crucial seconds. The slow creep of blue-silver stops. Ida's head snaps up, and she reaches a hand to her temple, pressing against the side of her face--the side that openly bears Fafnir's flesh as well as hers. The ley pulses and throbs around her, and with it as her guide, she turns her focus inward, as she's done time and time again.
To the outside world, Ida goes alarmingly still for all of ten seconds, seemingly numb to the violence around her.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Somewhere...
Ida is back in her father's study, the same room in her heart where she spoke with Riesenlied, all those years ago. She's grown, now, and herself--she sits in a chair facing the window. Pale morning light washes through the blinds, illuminating the ornate metal floor, the wooden desk, the bookshelves. Someone else is there, seated in another chair, with their back turned towards her. Ida can feel them--feel him--though she can't see him, and he can't see her.
She blinks once, and when she opens her eyes, she can see what her father's study used to be: a Hyadean officer's quarters, a home to one of the battle-proven warriors of Nastrond Citadel. The window is a tiny arrow-slit, the light artificial. Everything is steely and sterile. The bunk is the only soft thing in the room, and even then, just barely.
The presence at her back feels so, so tired. So very scared. Confused. Angry. And yet, it doesn't feel directed at her.
"I'm sorry," Ida says. She doesn't know if he can hear her.
i know
Ida starts. She tries to look back, but when she does, there's no one in that other chair. She looks down, and sees a bright tether stretching out from her heart, all interwoven veins of crimson and quicksilver. That's where Persephone shot her. The graft saved her, stopped the bullet before it could pierce her heart.
i'll still be here
Ida tentatively grasps the braid, and feels an electric tingle shoot down her spine.
these are your people, right
Ida's fingers tighten. She starts to pull.
this is on you. azoth. gwen. marivel. everyone else. this world. want to know them better. but now? your turn. still your turn.
Ida pulls. The cord comes loose with a sudden, snapping pop, and she feels herself twisting--
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ316QcDt9M&ab_channel=GuilhermePallas
In the laboratory, Ida's body jerks as if electrocuted. The scream that was boiling in her lungs finally escapes, a bellowing roar that echoes off the walls and rattles the display panels. Something pulls her upright; her fingers clench, her jaw tightens, her eyes snap open. Her flesh boils and writhes beneath her clothes, then suddenly OVERTAKES them. It's done this before every single time she's donned her exoskeleton, but this time, THIS TIME...
This is more than armor. Ida's whole body grows, a dull twisting-metal groan emanating from her as her skeleton expands, and muscles cord denser, tighter. Her hair springs loose from its bun, lightning to a deep, age-darkened bronze. Blue-and-gold armor--half conventional plate, half synthesized dragonscale--wraps around her frame, growing sleek, blade-like protrusions at the shoulders and thighs and calves. Vents split open at every joint.
Quite suddenly, Riesenlied, Noeline, and Janus are no longer the only Hyadeans in the room.
Ida gently descends onto the field of white flowers, and breathes in their scent with alien lungs. Bits of dragonscale and plate trace their way up the left side of her face.
"Thank you," Ida breathes. Her eyes snap into focus again, sclerotic rings blazing bright blue as she takes stock of the situation. "Azoth!" she shouts. "Covering for you!" Something rips out of the flesh of her right forearm, and settles into her hand. It's Devil's Due, transformed much like she's been. A dull roar emanates from the gun's barrel as she takes aim and fires--once, twice, three times. Blasts of white-hot dragonfire plasms race at the Prophets, tinged lightly with the fizzing remains of Melody's acidic sorceries.
"As for you--consider this a formal ethical complaint."
DC: Ida Everstead-Rey switches forms to Ida of the Method!
GS: Blitz! Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked The Prophets with Third Method - The Riddle of Steel! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo! GS: Recover! Disease removed from Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Gwen tells more of the story, and again Rebecca feels those heartstrings tug, but... her expression hardens at Janus' reaction. "Then what are you still alive for Cascade? If it's all so meaningless to you, if you got nothing left looking forward to then why are you still clinging to life so desperately?"
Rebecca moves out of cover to try and take a shot as Janus swings, but gets knocked away by that shockwave of force that knocks her off her feet. Catching her breath and holding her side, as she gets up. She hears Dean, and how he's sorry for there being so little meaning.
The Sea medium's power surges through her like the rolling spray of the sea, and Rebecca feels herself linked through the magic to Avril's power. Indeed, she feels that energy pulsing throughout her, as she waves a casual pistol salute towards Avril.
'And you know it too, Rebecca!' 'As one!'
"We all know there's a future out there worth fighting for-"
Rebecca just runs at him as Dean fires away, waiting until that final blast of searing light, and the moment it clears she's right at his flanks, that powerful acrobat's leg that she swings at him. And just keeps swinging with that leg while balancing on the other. Each strike of the leg is like a concussive shock that's just building momentum.
Before she then kicks off of him, and in mid-air just unloads the entire clip in her ARM right on top of his position. Or at least - it looks like she did. There's a shining charge building in the barrel, that suddenly erupts as one final detonation on his position before she lands lightly.
"-which means we've got no more time for you. We've got too much living left to do."
GS: Rebecca Streisand spends 3 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Formation! Blitz! Rebecca Streisand has attacked Janus Cascade with Flegel Jahre! GS: Rebecca Streisand has gained 1 Combo! GS: Rebecca Streisand has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya nods sharply back to Azoth, because she's too cool for warm smiles. ...But it shows in her eyes that she appreciates it. Then she looks over Rebecca, who thanks her, and she shrugs.
And then Rebecca gets outright savage and Kaguya kind of approves. ...Much like she doesn't as she sees Ida' rage. She gets it, she does.
"Yeah!" Kaguya shouts to Venetia as she gives her own answer. "You get it!"
But--Avril asks if they're all right. Kaguya realizes, weirdly, that this includes her this time. "...Yeah!" Kaguya says. "I'm fine!" Pause. The rolling spray of the sea washes over her, too... and it tingles. Actually it almost burns. "...So weird," Kaguya admits, "But I'll use it!"
Gwen... Gwen, too. She's tearing up now. Kaguya can't answer her. ...No, really, she can't--she has the Dark Spear about to sweep into her as Janus shouts his anger and his hate further.
She knocks him backward, but he's heavy--heavy enough that she feels it in her knuckles, despite the armored gauntlet. "Gh--" But the others strike, too. And Janus and Gwen...
"You're wrong!" Kaguya shouts, and glances at Dean, who seems to have the same idea. "...If the only thing that matters is your own death, then yeah you're gonna be unsatisfied, because dying is REALLY EASY."
The Power apple is gone. Janus slams into Kaguya, the Dark Spear impacting her armor and utterly ruining her shirt with the force of its impact, revealing the green metal beneath and scratching it deeply.
"Gh--"
She hasn't gotten back to her ARM yet--she sees it there, on the ground, gleaming with energy in all this. It's ready. It's there--But--
"...I'd rather use my hands on you anyway, buddy."
"Becuase... I helped you get where you are today. Together, we took down Rolance. Sure, you went on to bigger and badder things after that... But I was part of that story."
"And that means it's my responsibility to end it."
Then she pauses. "..." Dean was smiling at her. She thinks of what Azoth said...
"...Right."
She can let him have it just today.
"So I'll help too!"
Then she charges forward--as Dean blasts light on that huge beam, Kaguya follows right up, swinging into a powerful kick meant to shatter stone and metal, gleaming in the beamlight with green.
And then, spinning, she moves to land beside Marivel. "...Dark," she says. "But fair."
She looks over Rebecca. "...I've got more living to do, too."
GS: Kaguya spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Blitz! Kaguya has attacked Janus Cascade with Satellite Break! GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo! GS: Kaguya has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
She smiles at Rebecca. With her sword out of her grasp, it will have to do in the place of a salute.
It is tragic, isn't it, to lose what should have been preserved -- to see a sacrifice come to nothing.
And so it is with sympathy that Avril -- yes, even the Ice Queen reawakened -- regards Janus.
"I understand. To lose those we hold dear... there is no greater pain. Yet, Janus--"
He swings again the Dark Spear. She has in that moment no room in which to speak, only to react.
To try to meet his attack on her own terms. For but a moment, Avril lets go of herself. Her body has learned the correct response over and over and over again. She need only let it guide her.
In her hand, there is light.
Avril meets that incoming blow -- each and every piece of that raining blast -- with her own sword, again in her grasp. And she gazes at Janus unflinchingly.
"Is not the fragility of life," Avril says as the dust settles, the edge of her blade still seeming to shine in the light, "what makes it so very beautiful and precious? All shall someday die and fade. But we are here now. We are alive!"
All together now. That blade, in her hands, is no blade any longer. Into the gap where it had been, she pulls the trigger on Absolute Zero and, yes, there is light.
"Dean! Rebecca! I am with you!"
Charging for Janus, she leaps into the air. The plasmic chain that extrudes from the ARM whirls about her as if it were a deadly nimbus with but a flick of her wrist. From there she lashes it forth and for him, again and again and again.
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
The power of the ocean washes towards Venetia. The magical spray makes her head turn, and the subtle interplays make the invisible anchorpoints between herself and Filgaia gleam. She continues to levitate, but nonetheless calls to Avril, "Thanks!"
97.6. That's a lot of people.
It almost boggles Venetia's mind. How many people are on Filgaia...? She has no clue, but Guild Galad must have about ten million, she reasons, and that would mean they could all -- Dinoginos, she thinks, what an abomination --
Ah, Janus is shooting at her.
This isn't the first time. Venetia stares ahead as she twists her hand away into a mystical pass -- the other hand brings out a Crest Graph, which is held akimbo as with a sudden sparkle an enormous amethyst appears in front of her and is hurled into the path of that great beam. Which strikes the crystal -- sinks unthinkable energy into the rock, which quivers -- and then breaks apart, showering Venetia with fragments even as she turns herself, letting out a cry at the impact.
But --
-- she didn't move from that spot!
Nor was there the usual sort of triphammer-splatter one might expect from that. Venetia gazes at the ground for a moment, panting in pain and surprise. Good, she thinks: It works as I hoped. Good. Good, promising--
Venetia straightens herself back up and sweeps debris off her front. "Humph," she says, because there isn't much to say beyond this. She survived the attack. And for the moment, Venetia thinks, no matter how much it chokes, I HAVE to bridle that black horse. I have to delay that satisfaction to get to the next...!!
But Janus is - well, they've taken a toll and that's about the best Venetia can say for the situation. Her teeth set and she raises that Crest Graph, drawing upon the Ley again, this time for the full spell; the great crystal and the thirteen smaller, which she hurls forwards on a semi-terminal-homing path towards Janus Cascade.
Her eyes flick towards the contorting Ida -- but she seems to be coming back to herself, so: Good...??? There isn't time to do more than note it, but she raises a hand to the side of her head. And she speaks quietly...
... into the Empathite crystal in an earring...
To Marivel.
'Armitage, don't stay close to him.' A beat, then, 'and put your sunglasses on.'
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Blitz! Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Janus Cascade with Absolute Zero - Plasma Arc! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action. GS: Blitz! Venetia Vuong has attacked Janus Cascade with Amethyst Sign ~Second Month's Decision~! GS: Venetia Vuong has gained 1 Combo! GS: Venetia Vuong has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Leehalt responds again and Jacqueline frowns. Despite the heavy air weighing down on her, she forces herself to stand up straight and look him in the eye.
"You call yourself a scholar? I'd have more respect for you if you thought yourself a god." Jacqueline replies, and points accusingly at Leehalt. "You, Leehalt Alcaste, and the rest of the Prophets, have participated in the erasure and suppression of knowledge and information. The moment you did that, you lost any right to call yourself a scholar."
She shakes her head.
"A scholar's role is to promote learning, to use the knowledge they've gathered to better and educate the people of the world - to bring them up to their level, so that the world might benefit. You, meanwhile, have actively erased the people's knowledge. You look down on others, touting your intelligence even as you declare them meaningless." She frowns, then, folding her arms in front of her. "I could say more, but I think my companions have said my piece already better than I could myself."
Another spell is cast her way - a wave of purple mist billows in her direction. Surprised, Jacqueline holds her breath and draws a filtration cloth from her bags. She isn't fast enough, though - she coughs, as she feels the ill cloud already begin to take effect.
...But she is not alone. Lanval draws upon the blessing of Schturdark, and the Guardian's sacred waters infuse the gauntlets with which she casts. She can feels the illness being washed away as well - and both it and the heavy air around her are banished as from a small flower hope blooms forth courtesy of Mariel, as she speaks of the various ways in which Filgaia is beautiful.
Once more, Jacqueline stands up straight. She draws two Crest Graphs from her deck, one in each hand, and fixates her gaze on the Prophets.
"Now then." She says. Azoth has marked the three of them with targets, and Jacqueline takes advantage of it gladly. With the Crest Graph in her left hand, she sends energy tearing through the ground beneath Leehalt's feet. Rubble explodes out, upward toward him to assail him and restrict his movement - and with the the Crest graph in her right, she brings lightning down at his location, further electrifying the rubble and sending it crash back down toward him.
GS: Jacqueline Barber has activated a Force Action! GS: Jacqueline Barber spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Formation! Blitz! Jacqueline Barber has attacked The Prophets with Dualcasting Sequence! GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 1 Combo! GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action. GS: The Prophets takes a solid hit from Noeline's Material Adept - De Le Metalica for 389 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets suffers a terrible blow from Ida Everstead-Rey's Third Method - The Riddle of Steel for 209 hit points! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: The Prophets suffers a terrible blow from Jacqueline Barber's Dualcasting Sequence for 321 hit points! GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> The Prophets has posed.
"Because this world is sick," Malik says to Lanval.
"Because Filgaia's rot must be cut out," Melody says to Lanval.
"This world has been altered. I do not know by what, but we have seen evidence aplenty -- the Limiters, removed from a fraction of you by Shevat. There is more. Something has changed humanity," Leehalt says. "A clean sweep is necessary. We must remake humanity... and we must grant you the mercy of extinguishing your descendants. We must remake Filgaia."
He looks at Riesenlied, then. "We are not helping you. We are helping what must come after, what must be free of the taint!"
A spectral image of Glumzambor strikes into him -- slamming Leehalt backward. He grunts, hurled back from her, and he stumbles.
"Filgaia's life is beautiful!?" Melody says, incredulous. She laughs -- but there's something hollow to it. "If you've spent five hundred years doing so, doesn't that mean it has become ugly!? To need such care!?"
Then she yelps, as Azoth hits her -- bounces off to knock Malik back into a wall -- and then slam Leehalt towards a console. Malik turns, eyes narrowing as he gets a look at Azoth. "Gross. No. Not like that. We just did the math on what we need to not get a genetic bottleneck, and rebuild while wiping out the tampering Leehalt mentioned."
He shrugs. "Should be easy!"
Ashiya does a fire-wreathed punch, which sends a blast of flame that billows out to Malik. It catches him, throwing him backward with a hard slam into one of the consoles in the room. The screen cracks, and he grunts as he slides down it. "U-Urgh..."
And looks up to see Xantia coming right at him. "ARE YOU SHITTING ME," he says, just before her punch smashes him through the console. There is an explosion of sparks.
He has to stumble out of it.
"We shall see!" Leehalt snaps back at Xantia.
"Don't be an imbecile. We'll preserve a suitable population to ensure genetic continuity," Leehalt says to Noeline. A moment later, arrows of darkness -- drawn from the tower's patterns -- slam into him. While he forms some barriers, he cannot form enough.
Malik and Melody, too, are struck; the former manages to climb up to his feet.
Leehalt turns, looking at Ida. Or, perhaps, not Ida. His eyes narrow for a moment. "So, the Hyadean is in control," he concludes, until he realizes--
No.
Flame explodes outward, slamming into all of them. Leehalt grunts, stumbling, and forces himself to his feet. Melody snarls at Ida. "You absolute witch!"
Leehalt looks to Jay, then, with pale eyes. "A scholar's role is to learn. If the students can keep up, they show their worth -- and if not, well, someone has to do some labor."
The ground under his feet explodes -- rubble shoots up, slamming him upward, and then electricity descends. There is a powerful blast of sparks; a stench of ozone, too. He grunts, stumbling up.
"Janus!" Leehalt shouts. "It's time we finish this! Attend to us!" Then, he looks to his fellows. "Melody! Malik! Let us be done with this!"
"We're with you!" Melody and Malik call as one.
The three Prophets leap, coming together. A trio of white-robed figures, back to back, and they lift into the air -- and rotate quickly. Leehalt with his cold eyes; Malik with his cocky grin; Melody with a sneer on her face.
Fire, ice, and lightning dance about them, as crest graphs come from each of their sleeves.
Then, as they hover before the pillar at Yggdrasil's heart, the storm comes. Fireballs, blasts of ice, and forks of lightning explode down amidst those fighting them.
And Leehalt cries out over it: "JANUS! NOW!"
GS: The Prophets spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Seraph Lanval with Rule of Three! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Riesenlied with Rule of Three! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Mariel with Rule of Three! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Azoth with Rule of Three! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Ashiya Khaimova with Rule of Three! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Xantia with Rule of Three! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Noeline with Rule of Three! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Rule of Three! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! The Prophets has attacked Jacqueline Barber with Rule of Three! GS: The Prophets has gained 2 Combo! GS: CRITICAL! Jacqueline Barber takes a solid hit from The Prophets's Rule of Three for 270 hit points! GS: Poison applied to Jacqueline Barber! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Noeline takes a solid hit from The Prophets's Rule of Three for 219 hit points! GS: Poison applied to Noeline! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Noeline enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Mariel critically guards The Prophets's Rule of Three for 75 hit points! GS: Poison blocked! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: Seraph Lanval has activated a Force Action! GS: Seraph Lanval suffers a terrible blow from The Prophets's Rule of Three for 271 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Lanval gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Seraph Lanval's Poison Ward may block the effect! GS: Poison applied to Seraph Lanval! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: Azoth takes a solid hit from The Prophets's Rule of Three for 283 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Azoth gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Azoth's Poison Ward may block the effect! GS: Poison blocked! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Gleam activated! GS: Azoth enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Ashiya Khaimova suffers a terrible blow from The Prophets's Rule of Three for 347 hit points! GS: Poison applied to Ashiya Khaimova! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: The Prophets enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from The Prophets's Rule of Three for 139 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ida Everstead-Rey gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Poison applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Countermeasures and Gleam activated! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Riesenlied solidly guards The Prophets's Rule of Three for 121 hit points! GS: Poison applied to Riesenlied! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Gleam activated! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Riesenlied receives 100 temporary hit points. GS: Riesenlied enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: CRITICAL! Xantia solidly guards The Prophets's Rule of Three for 137 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Xantia gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Poison applied to Xantia! GS: Hyper applied to The Prophets! GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated! GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
The butt of Glumzambor's hilt cracks straight into Gwen's side. There's not a whole lot of energy she can convert out of that; kinetic energy shall always be converted into nothing but a crashing wall of _pain_.
Gwen's left hand, pink and human, grabs ahold of Janus's tattered shirt instead as she hangs there, staring into Janus's red coals of eyes with a bloody, cough/laugh of a smile. "... You're right. It's a shit way to go. It frickin' sucks. I'm sorry."
She doesn't even seem to react to Janus's angry remarks. Her hand stays there, because, like Dean's pity, it's probably the worst sort of contact she could ever give him.
Also, she's a bag of pain beyond pain right now, and she needs to hold onto something to keep from falling into a tiny million pieces.
Contrary to belief, however, Gwen does not do that when she is cast back by Janus's next action, which is: to consume a Power Apple unconventionally.
Also unconventional: Ida's everything. The courier grunts, shifting up to an unsteady balance as she looks on Ida with open, gobsmacked awe. Also, fear. ".... Ida..." Is she going to be able to bounce back from this? What of the one who shares her body? Is he okay too?
"... This really isn't somethin' to discard a good make-up day over, Ida..." Her quip comes out with a wheeze and some phlegm, but damn it, it makes her feel better, as she yells out, in a hoarse shout.
"Yeah, Janus, I'm real sorry, and t'make up for it, I'm gonna keep comin' back, and keep yellin' your name, and keep tellin' you that, the world still more than that, because Keziah didn't happen in a vaccum! I will never stop, Janus, because that's the only thing I can do!" Tears fall down her cheeks, dropping to dot the ground below, but she's laughing, as well. "Because if that's what it'll take t'keep your pulse goin', then let's keep this dance up! I can keep up with ya no matter how hard you swing that sword!"
And then, Gwen summons a spark of her own power, stored safely in the Mockingbird. With her collarbone and neck bare, it's easier to see how the glowing pyrite gold lines snack up her skin and up her neck, and curl in the dark pupil of her right eye, like a fragile tattoo. "C'mon on, take me on! I'm gonna claim this dance too!"
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Bounding Flight! GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Gwen Whitlock accepts Gwen Whitlock's Bounding Flight for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify, Hyper, and Quick applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: Janus Cascade takes a solid hit from Dean Stark's Twin Fenrir - Laser Impact for 156 hit points! GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Gleam activated! GS: Janus Cascade solidly guards Dean Stark's Scarlet Dynamo for 58 hit points! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: CRITICAL! Janus Cascade takes a solid hit from Rebecca Streisand's Flegel Jahre for 308 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Gleam activated! GS: CRITICAL! Janus Cascade takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's for 185 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Gleam activated!
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer shakes her head, calling out, You sold yourself short. What you do and who you're remembered by. That's a kind of immortality." Though she does give that blender attachment a bizarre look. Why- nevermind. She's got more important things to deal with than the audacity of a blender attachment being used mid fight. Or is it more of a mulcher?
She once again rolls, dodging the worst of the shockwave sent her way. Even if she leaves a few bits and pieces of her kit behind. Mostly powder and pellets. Could be worse.
She glances sidelong at the other group, checking on them. She knows more people! Also you know, don't want to risk getting tagged from behind. Ears swiveled to track both at this point. She lifts the barrel of her gun when Marivel begins her assault, darting forward to repostion. To give herself more options. Waiting until she's clear to hot load one of the black painted shells. The explosive round detonating with far more force than a traditional shell should, hinting at her own tooling. You know, should it hit and not just bounce off liek last time. She blames the concussion.
She's starting to move laterally, still taunting the corrupted... is he still human? She doesn't actually know. Something she should check on. Any other admonitions get swallowed for now. The others knew the guy better and have something more personal. Her disgust at both the Prophets and Janus obvious on her face, at the very least. There's a fleeting thought of withdrawing. Of taking the distraction as a chance to try and just... flatten the tower. She doesn't really have the boom boom and she can't bring herself to destroy what might end up being what saves this planet in better hands. Instead, she tightens her grip and rolls with the idea of burying those who should be left forgotten in time eventually.
GS: Juni Vandrer has attacked Janus Cascade with Custom Explosive Round! GS: Juni Vandrer has gained 1 Combo! GS: Juni Vandrer has completed her action. GS: COUNTER! Janus Cascade counterattacks Kaguya with Counter Attack! GS: CRITICAL! Janus Cascade solidly guards Kaguya's Satellite Break for 113 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Janus Cascade's Cripple Ward may block the effect! GS: Cripple and Jam applied to Janus Cascade! GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Gleam activated! GS: Janus Cascade solidly guards Juni Vandrer's Custom Explosive Round for 88 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Hyper and Shield removed! GS: Janus Cascade takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Demon Fang for 83 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Janus Cascade takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Infernal Torrent for 104 hit points! GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated! GS: Janus Cascade takes a solid hit from Avril Vent Fleur's Absolute Zero - Plasma Arc for 185 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Janus Cascade gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Break and Delay blocked! GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated! GS: Janus Cascade solidly guards Venetia Vuong's Amethyst Sign ~Second Month's Decision~ for 83 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
A beautiful field of flowers forms from the stalwart Elw who stayed, and Lanval feels those small flowers fill the space and lift the spirits, some of which seem like they pass through him proper. Azoth, in his own way, shares crosshairs as his own helping hand on where to direct one's force in order to best protect Filgaia.
Lanval remembers the day he watched Siegfried march off to what would have been his death, aware of the weight that man carried in wake of everything, and the legacy he entrusted and left behind.
He watches as Ida takes forth a new form anew, not wreathed in the fell energies that fed off conflicting feelings of unceasing rage and an abyss of apathetic emptiness.
Lanval nods along to Jay's thoughts about a scholar's role, but...
Malik and Melody have their disagreements. The world's sick. Rotted. Altered. Something has changed humanity. Was it the venom of Malevolence brought to the Blue Star, or... something else?
Lanval's focus to help maintain and enhance the power of water over others' weapons prevents him from doing much else in that moment, as Leehalt calls for a finish. Three elements, summoned from crest graphs...
Lanval disappears in all of that. Steam rises from immense heat, lightning discharges through matter that the water itself has taken, and ice threatens to harden and entomb all of it. Lanval seems to disappear in the moment, beyond wispy lights of his color within the elemental ruin. His presence remains, though muted.
One might be able to spy his arm sticking out from underneath partially frozen ruin. The manifestation hasn't disincorporated into an indistinct sphere yet. It whirls about a bit, pathetically, like it's all the movement he has available.
"Mmmmph," muffled. He feels like he's held in place, stagnant. Somehow, he's always been in the back foot against those scientifically-minded sorts who have a better overall understanding of the physical ways to manipulate water in an immediately practical fashion.
His thoughts drift. There's someone he always wondered as to how he made something work. There was that Veruni, that tall fellow. Ambrosius, it was. He cut steel with water alone, and he always wanted to know how he made it go that fast.
His connection with Schturdark drifts through applications of that nature, piecemeal knowledge that can't all possibly be housed in a single, individual will to recall on command, and...
There's that single glimmer of an idea.
Oh. That is how.
The rising heat thaws out the ice, and Lanval spills out of there, lying low. Seeing the three Prophets joined forces there... he rises up, unsteadily, shakily, eyes closed and uncoordinated. That shine of aquamarine escapes slightly open eyes, though dimmed. He holds out an arm to the side, and flails.
It seems useless. He keeps flailing it. He keeps spinning it.
It builds speed. At face value, an act of frivolous levity with no apparent purpose, comedy misplaced in a gravely serious capacity as he staggers towards them, dragging along the gourd on the ground thanks to the rope. It drags noisily, but stays upright and doesn't spill.
The whirling arm escapes the anatomical limitations of a typical human arm, but Lanval's not human or even corporeal to begin with.
He leans back on one foot.
"I doth hereby agree!" Even 'serious,' Lanval's smile is very silly. "'Tis time to go soak thine heads!"
He throws that punch, screaming upwards like a cutting jet of water - like the sharpest blade, into that whirling, rotating trio - throwing back appropriated knowledge of one of the sworn enemies of the Guardians into a completely different set of sworn enemies. (He will probably not give them credit for it.)
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated a Force Action! GS: Blitz! Seraph Lanval has attacked The Prophets with Body Of Water! GS: Seraph Lanval takes 29 damage from Poison! GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action. GS: The Prophets solidly guards Seraph Lanval's Body Of Water for 138 hit points! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel lowers her staff as her energy starts to flag. She didn't mean to bloom the flowers... what the Prophets have done to unbalance the Ley and draw it all here needs to be stopped. But the point is made, and the group re-energized by the outpouring of life.
'Doesn't that mean it has become ugly? To need such care?'
Mariel can't help it - at Melody's hollow laugh, she actually smiles, just a hair. "Maybe in some ways. But how people come together, to help each other and the world - that's beautiful too. You could have been a part of it, with your knowledge. But there's no beauty in eternal solitude. I thought there was, once... but there isn't. Everything is meant to be connected."
Energy - multiple kinds, fire and ice and other things - rain down around Mariel, and she shelters herself - hunkering down, simply pushing through it. Flame scars the grass around her, but the flowers remain bright points of white.
As she rises up, she sees Ida. Ida, and not-Ida - and if she's being honest with herself, it's disturbing. But she doesn't feel the - wrongness, for lack of a better word, that she used to around Metal Demons. Whether that's her getting used to them, or them becoming part of Filgaia, even she doesn't know. Humans did it, long long ago, or so her histories tell her; why not Hyadeans?
It's just really uncomfortable to see and feel it come from a human.
"Everybody...! Together!"
Mariel throws something, suddenly, something she had concealed up her sleeve. It's salt. Just salt - but salt touched with a purity of purpose and energy, blessed and purified several ways. In the Spiran way, yes; then given a prayer to the Guardians, and some refinement of her own. When it touches dark energies, twisted Ley, it burns it away with a white-blue flame.
GS: Blitz! Mariel has attacked The Prophets with Purifying Salt! GS: Mariel has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
Janus has yet to really win many rounds, but he sure does just KEEP COMING BACK, doesn't he? For a man who says there's no point to living, he might be the most dedicated to it of anyone in the room.
If you can call whatever he has now a life, anyway.
Gwen grabs him on his path through. Those coal-red eyes stare at her for several long seconds.
He doesn't attack. He just forces her away.
Dean looks at him with pity. Maybe it should sting him. Maybe it would have, once. Dean, Rebecca, and Avril show their conviction; more than that, Kaguya does. The woman he was scared of, once, because she could've snapped him in half like a twig. He moves like lightning; the Dark Spear catching so much of Dean's assault. Rebecca gets up close enough that his big weapon has trouble with her acrobatic moves. He sweeps, sweeps, eats kicks, and then gets a blast straight to his face, which sets him up nicely for the execution from Avril, spearing through him with lightning light. But he doesn't scream. He barely scoffs even as his body leaks silvery mercury all over. Kaguya next, and that one he turns to. "...so you found something, did you," he huffs. That kick, though, he moves into it, driving the Dark Spear toward her in a way that could cleave her clean in two if she's not careful, before the kick cracks into his shoulder and sends him toppling. That's when Juni's explosive hits, a clean blast that he can't quite clear; but more than that it's also Marivel, who surprises him with that biohorror of a Demon Fang.
And more than that, with what comes after. The flash of crimson racing through him like his body already had channels before it before erupting out his side in a spray of horrid light. He falls to his knees, which is when Venetia's assault crashes into him, erupting in light and crystal.
And he says, "Think that one did it."
Then he spins Glumzambor round and DRIVES IT INTO HIS OWN SHOULDER. NOW he screams, a horrible sound that modulates strangely, like he were crying out with speakers and programming rather than a voicebox. But after a few long seconds he RIPS it sideways, nearly cleaving out his own arm, spraying arterial mercury in thick splashes of chemical poison.
SPeared on the end of the Dark Spear, three nodules the size of a softball. Gias bombs. The same sorcerous dimensional explosives lodged in the neck of Brad Evans.
Janus sits there, silently, for several long seconds.
And looks up to Leehalt, when the Prophet, unwitting, bellows. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah, I'm comin'."
And then he moves. He blurs toward them, far too fast for any here to stop.
He flies toward them, Glumzambor gleaming, and all three Gias bombs primed upon it.
"YOU BELLOWED, YOU OVERSTUFFED MUMMY!?" Janus roars. "I'LL GIVE YOU ALL THE HELP THIS BODY OF MINE CAN GIVE YOU ON YOUR WAY TO HELL!"
"ULTRA--!!"
As usual, the eruption of energy is so thundrous that the rest of the attack's call is silenced by the sword's scream, as anti-light explodes from Glumzambor to devour...the Prophets.
GS: Janus Cascade has activated a Force Action! GS: Janus Cascade has activated a Force Action! GS: Janus Cascade spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Janus Cascade has attacked The Prophets with ULTRANEGATIVE R*A*I*N*B*O*W!! GS: Janus Cascade has gained 2 Combo! GS: Janus Cascade has completed his action. GS: The Prophets solidly guards Janus Cascade's ULTRANEGATIVE R*A*I*N*B*O*W! for 258 hit points! GS: Disrupt blocked! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel steps back when Venetia asks her to.
Marivel readies her Plan A--Send Janus to Hell so she can fix the problem there--when Janus just rips out the bomb himself.
"Ah," She says. "Well then."
She extends a hand and summons the power of Dan Dairam into her hands and--
--sends a boost of power Janus's way because who is she to complain about this?
She then makes her way over to Venetia, leans against her, and poses coolly.
"You know ARMS has a training seminar for how to treat your officers if you're interested in giving a go at it." She asides to the Prophets.
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Janus Cascade with Booster! GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo! GS: Marivel Armitage gains 58 THP from Regen! GS: Lock state expired! GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied used Force Action: Mystic on Kaguya! FP up! GS: CRITICAL! Kaguya takes a glancing hit from Janus Cascade's for 90 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo! GS: The Prophets suffers a terrible blow from Mariel's Purifying Salt for 140 hit points! GS: Dispel! Hyper removed! GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Ida calls to him and Azoth looks over, seeing her in a wholly different take than before. Even his read on her composition... But he does not display any shock, merely a firm nod of understanding. Whatever form she takes, she's still Ida.
Xantia punches Malik through the console, and Azoth cups his hands by his mouth to call out: "I told you!"
There's no arguing with the Prophets. Their values, their priorities... it's all become too twisted for a genuine conversation, and they're apparently lacking the data Azoth otherwise needs... So Azoth falls back to what he always does when he thinks negotiations have failed: being really annoying.
But there is no doubt, for all Azoth's attempts to trivialize the Prophet's goals, that they do not wield power. Their conviction to come this far is as horrific as their ideals for this world. There is no punchline: there's he elements, swirled together in sorcery that rains upon all of them. (Well, Malik might find it funny.)
Lightning jolts through Azoth's body, limbs paralyzed until a chunk of ice collides into his body, smashing him into the ground to send him tumbling. Fire rains, and Azoth curls up on himself, synthetic skin burning black where it grazes across him. Torn pants reveal the joins in his knees and the black color under it where it would have been pointless to design his clothed body skin.
His hand stays resolutely, but delicately cupped over his shoulder, protecting the little flower there. Azoth endures the storm with flickering eyes and a body the falls back down when he tries to stand back up.
Knowledge. Power. Opportunity. Humans are always, inevitably, using their technologies to create destruction and calling it salvation... the Azoth would know. Protect? Or destroy? Wait, that doesn't make any sense... That's -- How can a weapon be made for the purpose of -- crackle. Azoth beeps, distorted. Whirr.
Tools have to be controlled. And the Prophets cannot control theirs. They bid Janus strike, and a Negative Rainbow finds the targets it craved all along. The sight of it snaps Azoth's attention back.
"...Updated assessment: you have earned your irrelevance."
Flickering, erratic light of blue begins to fill Azoth's eyes wits bright pink gradient. He holds his ground, bladed wings forming behind him. They flare out, their edges brighter, their hilts more ornate, before flying from behind him in all directions, making a smooth arc as they aim to intersect together in an explosive union against the Prophets.
GS: Azoth has activated a Force Action! GS: Azoth has activated a Force Action! GS: Azoth has activated a Force Action! GS: Formation! Blitz! Azoth has attacked The Prophets with Blade Server! GS: Azoth has gained 1 Combo! GS: Azoth gains 10 FP from his Daredevil! GS: Azoth has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Mariel's words resonate clearly through the space, to Riesenlied. Because she finds them beautiful. Because she understands that to stand together here, defending the life and beauty of Filgaia, is a culmination of how far they've both come from the very first time they met -- as two who were mortal enemies by species, as two who couldn't be more different than each other. It is thus that her flower invigorates, joining with Azoth's own power as his own statement takes hold.
Ashiya is a mystery to her, still, but there's something inspiring and even -- exciting -- about the energy she brings to the table. Riesenlied does have to ask for a moment, "A-are you a scholar of your own merit, Miss Ashiya?"
Noeline relates her experiences of living Filgaia, and she thinks of her own next-best-thing, of following in her footsteps all those years through letters; all those words, with so much emotion in them. And her own experiences too, though not as vast, through the Fereshte tribe...
Then, she brings forth her own sorcerous power, channeled through the Medium -- and she can't help but admire the extreme, disorienting pattern of darkness, illusion and Hyades.
Suddenly, though, she senses something familiar yet distressing within Ida -- as her own body grows, the very fibres of her body expanding outwards; her hair turning dark and bronzed, and armour sheathed around her. Her sense don't lie. This is...
A Hyadean.
"Ida..." she whispers, then nods. She seems in control of it, and she'll believe in her -- and Fafnir. "I believe in the both of you!"
Leehalt's words, again, provide additional context -- context that wasn't there before. That the world has been altered, by what...? They do not know, but there is evidence -- look at the Limiters Solaris planted, for instance.
...
"I do not know if you are aware of my heritage as Tainted, but... such words are the ones the elders in the Photosphere once spoke of too. To preserve the purity of the Hyadean genetic material, to prevent the contamination of the quicksilver that so runs in our blood, the living metal that forms our flesh and bones..."
She lowers her head.
"I am used, unfortunately, so terribly used to people telling me I do not make the cut. That I am tainted."
It's not just her. She thinks of Kaguya, and the way people treat her too; the way even Noeline faced bullying and scorn. The way Lydia was harmed horribly by her parents. There are so many examples that she can barely name them all... and to this end!
That fire is back in her eyes, even as the Prophets gather together in a tri-elemental burst of disaster; Riesenlied grimaces and calls, "Noeline!" as she tries her best to shield them through the worst of the conflagration, the blizzard and the thunderstorm; it's not all for naught, but it's the whimper of Strife behind her that informs her that she's being pushed back, and eventually skids and slams against another wall that mercifully is less painful than the resulting cavalcade of magic.
"Ng-- nghh--" Riesenlied gasps painfully, and her eyes widen as the Prophets call for Janus. "No...!"
But Janus... Janus has a different plan -- and he gathers that same energy she's witnessed underneath Bevelle, at the time Wen Kinoc was tormenting Lombardia -- her eyes widening. "Incoming--"
It never reaches them, because as the eruption of energy drowns the world around them... it reaches the Prophets instead.
She must push the offensive here. To this end, an enormous mandala starts to erupt around her as the very Ley gathers into one place, and she starts to wither once more as she pushes upon dangerous limits -- but it's the only way she can muster such energy.
"Gather before me, errant spirits of the Ley...
Become as our beacon in the dark.
To those errant and strayed...
From all those you call 'imperfect'...
This is our answer!"
Riesenlied parts the capelet at her neck, where the Artificial Medium of Life, still embedded on her neck, vigorously shimmers with indefatigable, violent light. Errant data-cubes and loose droplets of what appear to be data, flowing in numbers and letters alike. She rises into the air.
"Life shall continue! Material--"
Riesenlied holds the crystalline sword aloft, acting as a horn that manifests around her as the Guardian of Life, a white-blue unicorn with beautiful butterfly patterns on its legs. Like the other times she's summoned before, Odoryuk is distorted and hazy, as if it were partially data --
"Paradise Lost!!"
At that call, Odoryuk's horn rises into the air, and a massive swathe of homing Ley-lasers fire in seemingly indiscriminate pattern, but seek their mark only upon Malik, Melody and Leehalt all, detonating with pure, expressive lifeforce.
GS: Riesenlied has activated a Force Action! GS: Riesenlied spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Formation! Blitz! Riesenlied has attacked The Prophets with Material - Paradise Lost! GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo! GS: Riesenlied gains 18 THP from her Cautious! GS: Riesenlied takes 31 damage from Poison! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: The Prophets takes a solid hit from Azoth's Blade Server for 540 hit points! GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Sufferer activated! GS: Strain! Azoth takes 35 damage! GS: The Prophets suffers a terrible blow from Riesenlied's Material - Paradise Lost for 279 hit points! GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated! GS: Riesenlied drains The Prophets! Riesenlied gains 100 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.
Between Dean's easy confidence over their victory, over his sympathy and pity... and the poetic words from Avril that make her smile.
All she knows is that she wants to protect these sides of both Avril and Dean. Which means that the Prophets' plan for Filgaia must be halted at all costs.
Kaguya gets a nod of respect, because despite their strange past history - she doesn't want her to die either. She wants her to live on.
As they unleash their sorcerous might. Rebecca stands ready to stand tall against Janus' at their call and instead... sees him betray his masters, in a display of supreme power.
"... Guess an old dog can't learn new tricks after all."
She doesn't trust him. She doesn't trust this. However she knows a backstab when she sees one. She'll keep one eye on him but...
... she snaps a new clip into the cylinder of her ARM. "Dean! Avril! Let's take these so-called prophets down!"
And just opens fire on them. With all the accuracy of her routines, she's careful to aim especially on Malik, trying to anticipate his position, as she just unloads on all of them in turn.
"Filgaia will be getting along just fine without the three of you long after you're gone..."
In the haze of gunsmoke afterwards, she tells them bluntly, "...your ideals won't be missed."
GS: Blitz! Rebecca Streisand has attacked The Prophets with Justice To Believe! GS: Rebecca Streisand has gained 1 Combo! GS: Mighty expired! GS: Rebecca Streisand has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
Venetia slides a hand into her Crest Pouch. She brings out a Graph that has several unusual features. For one thing, it has leather straps to slip onto your index finger and thumb, and for another, it has a reticule in it - yes - targetting glass; cross-hairs with range finding etchings.
She breathes out, raising the Crest Graph upwards. She braces her left arm with her right and she looks through the glass towards Janus as others fall upon him in their ways. A spell gathers around her and --
Cancelled?
Another one. Three, four times before it starts to produce a sort of visible effect other than the usual coalescence of the Ley and its resultant trickling flickers of light. It becomes something that's a sort of dull red but quickly progresses through yellow and orange, a kind of spherical corona that seems to come from behind her and coalesce in front of a position perhaps one meter in front of her. Air billows out behind her; soon enough it becomes misty, the heat of it interacting strangely with the humidity of the laboratory...
And then she sees Janus stab himself in the neck.
And a moment later he rips it out.
The Prophets ask him to come to their aid. "Oh no you don't," she says as the coalescence happens several times more, this time crossing towards the threshold of blue-white and then-- am I going to be too late, she thinks --
Janus unleashes his gathered fury-- upon the Prophets.
Venetia's mouth hangs slightly ajar. The gathering of power halts for a moment. That heartbeat or two of standby ends when there is a desperate pleading from Mariel and Venetia exhales with force. "Dinoginos," she growls, "at the very last DITCH of all places."
Marivel appears and leans against her, doubtless with :3 in mind. Venetia glances at her. "Don't stand there," she says, without explaining as she begins to pivot in her levitatory position... gradually slewing, as if on a turret. The cycling begins again, and this time the gathering spells which seem to be cancelling together are lingering into a sort of ghostlike sphere in front of her. The walls of the laboratory swing away through Venetia's narrowed view and slowly but surely - yes, there they are.
Cycle. Cycle. Cycle again. That ghostly remnant is starting to actually get persistently visible, and not just from retinal stimulation.
"Who made you the arbiters of the world?" Venetia calls ahead. "By virtue of your learning? Don't make me laugh. There are worlds beyond this laden with wonders beyond your conception. I have seen their merest edges and they have taught me wisdom."
"This one is for all of the broken ones," Venetia says: "For every birthday and wedding and funeral you scourged from the thoughts of the world! For every person you plagued. For every baffled animal that died! Your research and your study has only led you to discover new, previously unheralded crimes! You have refused repentance --"
"Now disappear!" Venetia concludes. The cycling flow stops; that ghost-of-spells suddenly collapses inwards, spiralling counter-clockwise and glowing blue-white with sudden novelty. "And regret your folly - for you built the engine of your own demise!"
"Star Blazer!"
The sphere becomes a point, twinkles, and then: ERUPTS! The space in Venetia's back and flanking areas receives the back-blast, an enormous burst of furnace-hot compressed air that may well throw Marivel flying/into the air if she cannot do something extremely cool. It glows as it spreads, but what goes forwards is further compressed: a single line of hypercondensed energy, thin as a pencil stroke but rapidly and comprehensively expanding outwards into a radiant and palpable tube of superheated explosive force!
Strange shadows are cast as it burns through the charge for nearly one full second before finally fading; the aftermath heat taking seconds more to bloom outwards, throwing a hot after-the-storm breeze round the room and concluding in a glittering sinewave of sparkling lights as Venetia lowers the Crest Graph, squinting into the afterimages.
GS: Venetia Vuong spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Formation! Blitz! Venetia Vuong has attacked The Prophets with World's Hope Sign ~Star Blazer~! GS: Venetia Vuong has gained 2 Combo! GS: Venetia Vuong has completed her action. GS: The Prophets takes a solid hit from Rebecca Streisand's Justice To Believe for 226 hit points! GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets suffers a terrible blow from Venetia Vuong's World's Hope Sign ~Star Blazer~ for 306 hit points! GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets has Fallen! They are no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"I suppose we'll have to disagree, then. Personally, I view it as a failure of the teacher if they can't match pace with their student and meet their learning needs - or at the very least help them find someone who can." Jacqueline replies, shaking her head. "I've never been one to write anyone off, as long as there's an earnest effort to try. ...But I suppose, then, our current situation is telling of our difference in opinion."
The prophets, then unite their powers - three spells come together, and Jacqueline finds herself faced with a barrage of fire, ice and lightning. Jacqueline grimaces, crossing her arms in front of her. Her gauntlets surge with light, bringing force a barrier against their elemental combination. They truly are powerful, and when the smoke clears she's singed, sparking, and covered in a light coating of front - but still standing, thanks to everyone's support thus far.
Jacqueline exhales, shaking off some of the frost. It's her turn, now - she draws forth four Crest Graphs. She casts them, one after the other, in a series of four quick gestures. Which each spell, a well of power is formed around her. Four in total, each one corresponding to one of the basic elements of Crest Sorcery - fire, earth, water, and wind.
Once again Jacqueline's gauntlets begin to glow. She gestures like a conductor, and at her command the elements burst forth toward the Prophets - searing flames, crushing geysers, mighty gusts, and towering pillars of earth.
The elements converge on Jacqueline herself next, then - elemental energy raging about her as they clash against one another. But she extends her hands and draws them all together, uniting the four elements as one... and then directing them forth toward the Prophets in a beam of raw, elemental power.
GS: Jacqueline Barber has activated a Force Action! GS: Jacqueline Barber spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Formation! Blitz! Jacqueline Barber has attacked The Prophets with Elemental Symphony! GS: Jacqueline Barber has gained 2 Combo! GS: Jacqueline Barber takes 29 damage from Poison! GS: Jacqueline Barber has completed her action. GS: The Prophets takes a solid hit from Jacqueline Barber's Elemental Symphony for 257 hit points! GS: Delay and Poison blocked! GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Charge bonus, and Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets has Fallen! They are no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Just a little more... whatever it is that they have done, it is not too late!"
Somehow, she knows this. The Ley, she thinks. It must be the Ley.
The planet is not yet ready to go quietly, whatever the Prophets' goals are in remaking the world.
Janus, though, has his own ideas. Her eyes widen as he plunges that spear-edge into himself, as he carves out of his own flesh--
Gias.
"Oh," Avril utters, understanding in an instant far too much. "You were--"
Forced. And now that he's free--
"The enemy of our enemy?" she remarks to Rebecca, glancing first her and then Dean's way. "Yes, let us..."
Her gaze has tracked elsewhere.
"...finish this."
Perhaps it's something she sees in Kaguya's eyes as they meet across the distance. Something in the way that Kaguya then turns her gaze onto the Prophets.
"...I understand," she says, and here trades blade for Medium, here again pulls from the Guardians who so love this world and grants Lucadia's blessing onto one they have seen fit to refuse.
"Kaguya-- I trust you!"
They have long since made their peace with one another -- even formed an alliance of a sort, in spite of their still at-odds wants and wishes.
But Kaguya is still one of her people, and one she must protect. For an instant, a bubble of shimmering seawater, too like the moon when seen from a distance, snaps into place around Kaguya. With a spray of seasalt scent, then it is gone. Only the cooling touch of the sea's embrace is left behind.
GS: Blitz! Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Kaguya with Sea of Crises! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has gained 1 Combo! GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action. GS: Avril Vent Fleur heals Kaguya! She gains 64 temporary hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Kaguya!
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
The fragility of life...
"For me," Kaguya says, "I think it's how hard life fights to live. That's part of it. Like..." She looks to the other side of the battlefield, where the flowers bloom, thanks to Mariel. "Yeah. Like that. A flower's thorns are part of its beauty, too. They're a way the flower clings to life."
She can figure out what else is going on over there later. For now, Gwen... is going to keep going. Kaguya thinks... Well. She thinks Gwen's going to get hurt, and not just by the Dark Spear. But how to say it?
Except--that's a surprise.
Not the attack; Kaguya does barely get out of the way of the spear, having it drive through her shoulder armor and score a telling blow against her that is nevertheless not fatal. That doesn't surprise her. Neither is his huff. "Yeah, I did," Kaguya says. "I found myself. And I didn't like what I saw."
No, what surprises her is how Janus turns ohimself--no, on them. She sees the bombs. "What the..."
Pause Janus goes for it. Kaguya considers him. Then she considers what would make Gwen cry more, and decides to do the other thing. "...All right," she says. "Maybe in five minutes we go back to trying to kill each other. But right now..."
Kaguya dives towards her weapon, finally picking it back up and pointing it straight at the Prophets. As she does, she looks at Riesenlied for a moment--and decides what it is that she has to do, even as she feels the Guardians' power rising from her. "HEY ASSHOLES!" Kaguya says. Her eyes meet Avril's. She says...
"That's a bad idea," Kaguya asnwers immediately--but in her eyes is the seriousness of acetance. The seawater shimers around her...
Kaguya takes Avril's trust, and will use it.
"Veruni tech was never going to save the planet! But it can sure end your ass! REVOLUTION--"
Her ARM sparks, blazing with green power as she undoes the final safety, pushing the weapon into overdrive. It charges up a gigantic shot--
"TRIGGER!"
And Kaguya's weapon lets loose a column-like beam of green power, hurtling right towards the Prophets, all three of them. She can think about what they'e said of 'alterations' later. For now--
"Eat ninety seven point six percent of MY A--"
The resultant explosion drowns out her words.
GS: Kaguya has activated a Force Action! GS: Kaguya spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Blitz! Kaguya has attacked The Prophets with Revolution Trigger! GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo! GS: Kaguya's stances have changed to Hero! GS: Kaguya has completed her action. GS: The Prophets solidly guards Kaguya's Revolution Trigger for 172 hit points! GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Sufferer activated! GS: Kaguya drains The Prophets! Kaguya gains 86 temporary hit points! GS: The Prophets has Fallen! They are no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline hasn't the time to process exactly what it is has just happened to Ida in the midst of the battle; part of her looks on with a mixture of raw curiosity and not a little horror, but she's good at compartmentalising. It's something she pushes aside to think about later when they aren't fighting for their own and however many other Filgaian lives. The most important thing right now is that Ida appears to be in control of herself and still fighting and not in danger, though there is the faintly morbid thought of what exactly she's going to think of Guild Galad now.
"You are certainly not a parent," mutters the Hyadean as the arrows strike in from all directions. "Life - the satisfaction of it, the warmth and beauty of it--" she stresses the word with a withering look at Melody, "--requires a great deal more than clinical reproduction and genetic continuity. You might save some of the population. You might even give them a place to live. But it would be a hollow existence, completely lacking in anything that makes 'Filgaia'. And to call that process of nurturing ugly is to misunderstand everything about this planet."
The Prophets leap away from her, which is not unexpected. They're long past the point of truly listening to anyone, let alone a single Hyadean, and their raving only proves that. Grimly, she realizes that of the three of them, the one currently trying to reconstitute the dead might be the most sane of them. She drops back as well - and just in time, as the sudden assault comes from all sides, elemental power tearing at her as she struggles to put up a block.
She grits her teeth against it, feeling the bite of chill and a dozen needles of ice conducting the crash of electricity around her - but she manages to hold her position and her guard, absolutely refusing to give the Prophets the satisfaction of seeing her go down to one knee. She's faced worse - she's faced the remaking of her very self, and that was on her own. Here, she has the backing of people behind her and Riesenlied at her side, and her grip tightens on the hilt of her sword at the thought of it.
She looks up from her focusing grimace just in time to see the Prophets engulfed in Janus' blaze; her only reaction at first is to stare in disbelief, before her mind begins to race as fast as it can. Is there a plan here? Is it a blind? A completely ridiculous way to bolster the Prophets? Or is it just that what goes around has finally come around for them?
There's no time to wonder any further, because she comes to the same conclusion that Riesenlied does - that now is the time to press the attack as hard as they can. She can hear her partner's pleas for the Prophets to understand her, but she can also feel the steel behind those words and sense the growing power over their link. There is a spike of concern, and before she knows she's even moving she's dropped back to where Riese awaits her, even going so far as to turn away from the battle to clasp a hand around Riesenlied's free hand, their rings shining as she supplies what assistance and strength she can to support her partner's body.
But just because she's turned away from the battle doesn't mean she's not paying attention to it. Once again, she stabs her sword into the marble of the floor, the black lines still waving as if they were ribbons peeling away from it. This time, it does not remain its solid husk - but melts down into the floor together with part of her arm as it elongates. Rivulets of silver trace along the undulating edges of black, drifting and sliding across the rock as if it were water.
And when Odoryuk's power tears across the battlefield, she focuses in on her own Medium of Duras Drum. Suddenly, the spiderweb of lines on the ground is marked by traces of violent black flame, the blaze rocketing across the distance to where the Prophets away - only to erupt from the ground in an endless series of looping, tearing blades that flow like water.
GS: Noeline has activated a Force Action! GS: Noeline spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Blitz! Noeline has attacked The Prophets with The Living Blade! GS: Noeline has gained 2 Combo! GS: Noeline takes 29 damage from Poison! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! The Prophets takes a solid hit from Noeline's The Living Blade for 350 hit points! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets has Fallen! They are no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Ashiya Khaimova has posed.
"Should've known that wouldn't be the end of it." mutters Ashiya, ribboning arcs of spiritual flame still crawling from fingertip to elbow. She pauses to suck in a breath, finding the air fetid and hot, unpleasant. Not at all refreshing. Gold eyes flit from white-robed menace to white-robed menace, eyeing up where the next threat will come from. Hard to tell, with so many moving bodies, so many moving parts. "Not much of a rebuttal from the applicant..."
She ducks behind a shattered terminal for a moment, wincing as the broken screen belches the occasional spurt of amber sparks. Pauses because the reassuring lady with the horns and the hover-wheelchair (Ashiya wants, so badly, to take it for a spin) is trying to get her attention. One of those big blue ears fwips in acknowledgment as Riesenlied asks her a question amidst the chaos: are you a scholar?
... well. That's a question for the academic board, but in lieu of them being unavailable...
"Huh? Me? Yeah! I put my thesis in just before I crashed on this rock!" Ashiya calls over the ruckus, "I love that stuff! I'll show you sometime!"
Unquenchable energy, even amidst the crisis she's inserted herself into. The trinity attack unleashed by Leehalt, Melody and Malik however, demands more respect than this flippant carrying-on. "Hey, watch out!" the Feline-looking girl shouts. "CODE: ENDURE!"
A complicated chain of symbological runes fires off along her forearms, neck and cheeks with the verbal command. A shimmering field of silver hexagons quickly builds itself around Ashiya as a coiling ball of flame slams into her and her forlorn bit of cover. A moment's respite, then a bolt of lightning breaks upon the shield as well, spiderweb cracks of dazzling white soon joined by a hailstorm of ice. Individual panels start to creak and break, as Federation-style symbology proves not entirely superior to what the would-be Lords down here are packing. "Gh--!" the girl makes a somewhat guttural grunt of effort as her efforts are rapidly overcome. Her own shield soon implodes and she's left resisting the storm of elements with naught but her bare arms and hardiness to overcome.
This poor trade is made palatable in the end by the inevitable and delicious betrayal of one Janus Cascade (somewhere, no doubt, Maya Schrodinger is intensely proud of this.), whose berserker charge and appetite for pain stills the onslaught.
The Galactic Grad Student pants for breath as her mind races to catch up. There's so much rich context she doesn't know here, but she'll have to learn later. Because for now, her one remaining option is...
... to use the scenery as a weapon, for she left her sword behind.
"Take a hint," Ashiya growls as she wraps her still-smoking arms around the battered computer terminal sticking out of the floor. "These are good people, and they're not gonna take this kinda junk lying down... and I'm not gonna let some sick genocide plan go down while I'm here!" this little monologue ends with the horrible creaking of metal, and Ashiya successfully tears the now-very-nonfunctional (and very heavy) unit from where it was previously bolted, welded, or otherwise securely fashioned to the ground.
With a lot less aplompb than all the lead-up to that, the blue cat then just hucks the 450kg boulder of scrap steel and vacuum tubes at the nearest white-robed Prophet she can see. Probably Leehalt. But do with this knowledge what you will.
GS: Ashiya Khaimova spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Formation! Blitz! Ashiya Khaimova has attacked The Prophets with Khaimova-ryuu Secret Technique! - Whimsical Petals Of The Blooming Lilies Caught On The Evening Winds Beneath That Fated Place Strike!! GS: Ashiya Khaimova has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ashiya Khaimova takes 25 damage from Poison! GS: Ashiya Khaimova has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
"We sure will!" is Xantia's overly cheery reply to Leehalt, warming up her fist by cradling it in the opposite hand. No point in making it a secret who she's planning on punching next. She's already got to vent 2/3rds of her anger, and she's quite looking forward to seeing how far she can make the third Prophet fly. She's not concerned at all about them still being so confident, why would she be, they've proven to be quite delusional.
She's suddenly distracted from an immediate follow-up, however. Feeling something happen before she sees it, her head sharply turns, towards... "...Ida?"
It cost a surprising amount of effort for her to say that. As if needing a moment to ascertain or perhaps convince herself that yes, that is still Ida, in spite of appearances. That's what really surprised her about this, not the fact that this happened. She'd already vaguely alluded to suspecting it might in the future, when she cleared the air regarding her fear of ending up turning on Ida beyond her control, should that happen. Thankfully, she isn't feeling such an impulse right now, so... crisis averted? Maybe?
Not really any time to make sure, one way or another, since the Prophets are still kicking, and setting up for a combined attack. Xantia's response is to dig in her heels, crossing her arms in front of her, and preparing to weather the magical storm that she anticipates to be imminent. A correct prediction, and thanks to the limited magic defense provided by her bracer, not a completely terrible call. Even if Xantia stumbles in the wake of all that, more than a little singed. With the Prophets invoking Janus's assistance, the follow-up could have been a disaster.
And it is. For the Prophets. Xantia couldn't have predicted this sudden betrayal, but she's not about to complain. She will, however, laugh. "Wow. Thought you were such good scholars, but it looks like you made a big miscalculation." Then, all traces of mirth abruptly vanish from her expression as she spreads her arms wide, tri-colored Ether bursting forth in a swirling mix of all three elements she just got bombarded with.
"Now. Let's see how you like it."
Of course, Xantia's application of elemental power is a little different. Rather than unleashing a similar magical torrent, she instead forms twin blades of fire in each hand, rushing forward to strike at the Prophets. As she zips past, she delivers one strike for each blade, which explode in a ball of flame on impact, and immediately reform in her hands to allow for a follow-up as she doubles back. Ice weaponry replaces them next, Xantia delivering a flurry of blows with twin daggers, exploding and reforming in rapid succession. And finally, she claps her hands together, forming a giant hammer of lightning for the finishing touch. Slamming it downward produces a massive explosion of electricity, Xantia somersaulting backwards in its wake, and landing in a crouched position.
"...Begone, enemies of Filgaia," she intones coldly.
GS: Xantia has activated a Force Action! GS: Xantia spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Blitz! Xantia has attacked The Prophets with Transcendent Etherforger! GS: Xantia has gained 2 Combo! GS: Xantia gains 10 FP from her Daredevil! GS: Xantia takes 22 damage from Poison! GS: Disease expired! GS: Xantia has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! The Prophets takes a solid hit from Ashiya Khaimova's Khaimova-ryuu Secret Technique! - Whimsical Petals Of The Blooming Lilies Caught On The Evening Winds Beneath That Fated Place Strike! for 411 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Ashiya Khaimova! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: Strain! Ashiya Khaimova takes 67 damage! GS: The Prophets has Fallen! They are no longer able to fight! GS: CRITICAL! The Prophets takes a solid hit from Xantia's Transcendent Etherforger for 423 hit points! GS: Purge! Hex removed! GS: Purge explodes for 79 damage!! GS: Hyper applied to Xantia! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: Strain! Xantia takes 87 damage! GS: The Prophets has Fallen! They are no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
There it is, the terrible pause. The ones she's been guilty of as well, for many people, but because she's Gwen. It's not mercy, because she never did pull back on her punches.
What's Janus's excuse?
Maybe it's when he says those magic words: 'Think that one did it.'
When the Glumzambor is spin around to cut into his own shoulder, Gwen realizes that Janus never did use the blade the same way against her. Not that this is at all a mercy: there's plenty of painful steps they did in their dance of errors. But that blade... she wouldn't have been able to come back from that. Not many could.
As Gwen's right hand begins to glow, her left hand points an index finger, drawing a glowing magenta red ring in the air. Inserting her right hand into it, symbols are then drawn around it in white. It's a long process, but she's given the lead she needs.
If Janus breaks to look back her direction, gives him a slight nod. She then cranes her neck to look back towards Kaguya, giving her a thumbs up with her free hand. "Just gotta roll with the punches, eh?"
Janus knows just how deadly a backstab can be, after all.
It's no surprise that, with a violent pull to reset the aim of the 'crosshairs' of the glowing neon around her right wrist, that Gwen is shifting her aim to be pointed straight at the prophets.
If Janus turns around and stabs her at this moment, well, that shit is on her.
"If you don't think we look fabulous right now, that's all on you guys~" Her body shakes as the beam lances through the air to join the fray of rainbow, the weave of everyone's stories pulled tight together in one hopeful moment of change.
The sorts of moments that makes that ARMclock heart beat ever faster in joy.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
'You absolute witch!'
Ida flashes Melody what can only be called a 'shit-eating grin', teeth gleaming. "You're not the only one who can change her shape," she says--her voice is a bit deeper in this body, but still recognizably hers. Likewise, this body is hers, and her training in the Method lets her compensate for the differences in size and shape. She ends her strafing run in front of Riesenlied, Devil's Due smoking in her grip. Ida looks back over her shoulder, at the older Hyadean.
"He wants to see you," Ida says, "but it's my turn, not his. He knows. This body is mine." Her voice softens a hair as she glances towards Mariel. Even in this moment of triumph--of wresting a new her from uncertainty--she realizes this might be traumatic for some. But there's no more time for words. Ida's head snaps back to face the enemy, her lips peeling back from her teeth.
Ida becomes a blur. A fireball races at her, but she's already making tracks across the laboratory floor. It hits the ground, leaving a fresh scorch mark on the black-and-white swirls. She leaps into the air as the gleam of an icicle catches her eye, kicks off a terminal, and twists in mid-air. With a flash of steel, her right hand is encased in medal; Ida sweeps it out, bisecting the oncoming pattern of icy projectiles. Bits of ice fall to the ground, and melt. Lightning arcs out, and she twists to the side. It traces a blackened path down her chest, and she lets out a grunt of pain. She hits the ground again, and skids.
Leehalt calls out for Janus. Ida's sclerotic rings flare an even brighter blue. She sees the quicksilver dripping down Janus' neck, and the bombs on Glumzamber.
She recognizes them instantly. Brad had identical bombs implanted in his own neck, and the were absolutely not hard to miss.
"I suppose that means," Ida says, as a second ARM extrudes from her other forearm, "that we can upgrade this to permanent revocation of tenure." Brilliant white shines from both her palms as energy flows from her body into her ARMs. Heat-haze billows out in front of them.
She pulls the trigger. A pair of sun-bright beams lance across the room, twisting left and right to avoid any friendlies in their path--and then knitting into a double helix as they seek to lance through each of the Prophets in turn.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Formation! Blitz! Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked The Prophets with Fourth Method - Blind the False Seer! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey's stances have changed to Avenger! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes 24 damage from Poison! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Gwen Whitlock spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Gwen Whitlock has attacked The Prophets with Ringshine! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! The Prophets solidly guards Ida Everstead-Rey's Fourth Method - Blind the False Seer for 159 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets has Fallen! They are no longer able to fight! GS: The Prophets takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Ringshine for 270 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! The Prophets gains 1 additional Combo! GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Sufferer activated! GS: The Prophets has Fallen! They are no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> The Prophets has posed.
'Everybody...! Together!'
Leehalt's eyes turn -- looking at Mariel. He sees the salt fly, and for the first time, he really sees the staff. It begins to sink in, then: he doesn't know. That, alone, is terrifying. "What... what are you?"
Blue flame begins to leap and burn over the Prophets, because there is dark energy there -- there is something that twists the Ley. And flame is joined with water, as the swirl of water that Lanval commands sends them spiraling away from each other.
In all of that, they miss the way Janus removes the bombs. What the Prophets cannot miss is his brutal attack. Glumzambor flashes -- and the blast of light rushes over them, hurtling them all away. They scatter, smashing into the floor roughly.
"Irrelevant? Silence, you foolish automaton! We are not--"
Leehalt's protest is cut short. Bladed wings flare out; Melody gasps, stepping backward. Azoth rips through them, the explosions erupting and blasting them backward. Malik screams, blood splashing on the floor.
"Ngh... this isn't looking good!" he says. "What is that thing!?"
"I... don't know." Leehalt sounds concerned, now. Riese uses her Medium; the Guardian of Life appears, shimmering above her, and massive blasts of Leylight slam down amidst them. One scorches into Melody, and throws her back. She hits the pillar at the center of Yggdrasil...
...and it cracks, messily. She falls back to the floor.
Malik gets shot, then. Three bullets from Rebecca punch into his chest, and his white robes begin to stain red. "U-urgh... I--damn you!"
The sphere that Venetia summons explodes. It blasts the Prophets apart from each other -- and their efforts to summon barriers cannot hold it at bay. The pillar behind them cracks; another console explodes. Their life's work, in this battle, is beginning to shatter.
"No--no, all of our work--!" Leehalt cries, before he looks at Jay. "Be--be silent! What do you know!"
She knows how to command the elements. Earth and flame, water and wind; all four slam into the Prophets. They blow past, too. One console is speared by a pillar of earth; wind blasts Malik back, roughly, into the central pillar. A crystal shatters on it.
"What the hell--you can't tell us what to do!" Malik shouts at Kaguya. Then her beam fires, blasting through another console. The Prophets are struck, all of them hurled back into the room. The devastation is left smoking; through that, Noeline moves. Black flame explodes from the ground. More of the facility is burnt and shattered; the Prophets are also laid into further by it.
Another crystal on the pillar, struck by that black flame, explodes.
"Don't speak like you know us!" Melody snaps, as she forces herself -- and that means she puts herself in Ashiya's firing line. Her piece of scrap is hurtled, and smashes her backward, into the wall. Another console explodes.
"Gh..." Leehalt shoves himself up, fingers trembling -- and sees Xantia coming. Her weapons made of elements strike. A ball of flame erupts, and then he gets struck by a lightning hammer -- pitched back into the railing before the pillar. That lightning shoots out, then, arcing over it. Pieces of the pillar pop off; another crystal trembles, then shatters.
"You... you--by killing us... you'll become the enemy of Filgaia!" he shouts at Xantia. "MARK MY WORDS!"
Melody tries to stand -- and she gets slammed down as Gwen descends. A beam lance spears her through the shoulder, going on to shred through one of the crystalline pillars here. She screams, as she hits the ground again.
Ida fires, and a pair of golden beams shoot across the room. The destruction is notable; shredding through a console here, leaving a crystal bisected there. Malik is struck down again. He doesn't get up, this time. "M-Mother, I... I failed..."
Leehalt crumples down. The Prophets all lay broken, amidst the wreckage of their work. His eyes are wide, as he takes this truth in. "So this... this is how it ends. How Filgaia's hope ends..."
DC: Asgard switches forms to Divine Fortress Asgard of the Million Memories!
<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.
Yggdrasil holds many secrets. More than the Council of Seven ever realized. They chose and selected their site carefully for their grand work. Unbeknownst to them, someone else did as well.
There is suddenly a pounding, that shakes the whole structure, one tremor after another. Until the strange alien floor of the central chamber just erupts as that seemingly indestructible tile just disintegrates into dust, an imposing silhouette appearing. Two gleaming red spots appear in the cloud of dust as a thunderous howl erupts
"DEMON FIST!"
A titanic wave of energy cascades across the floor, immediately forcing back any executioner's advance towards the trio. A shimmering azure barrier then erects becoming a wall bisecting the room.
Any attempts to breach it simply fail, even attacks that managed before in the past. Even teleportation magics just shunt the spellcasters back to where they were before.
And as the dust settles, the horned figure of Asgard becomes apparent. So many of them saw him cast through time only a short few weeks ago, and yet there he stands.
"It was a very near thing, however the time of my reactivation was still within the calculated margin for error." The Golem's head turns to look upon the trio of battered Sorcerer Scientists, "Masters, your shield returns to your side. Millenia of learning, wandering, and battle have not dimmed my devotion."
And now, he looks directly at Janus, and it is hard to tell whether there is any hostility in that crimson gaze, "Janus Cascade..." The Golem rumbles his name, ominously given what happened recently however but a moment later, "...none of this would have been possible, if not for you. And for that, I thank you. Every lesson you taught me on the nature of strength, I carried with me throughout the ages."
That's a disturbing thought perhaps to Marivel and others who knew him before, that the Asgard they knew was shaped by Janus Cascade. The Golem then looks out upon the Drifters, many of whom he knew in his past, some of whom he encountered again during his journey through time, "I look forward to exchanging blows with all of you once more... my old enemies - my first friends. Unfortunately, that must wait. For the sake of his return, we must be away."
Raising a hand, he taps into the same systems as he had before, and suddenly the forms of the three prophets and the Golem shine white, before they seem to lose all dimensions and simply blink away from the spot.
They're gone.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel channels the power of her Medium for a moment, a seal crackling all around her--temporarily displacing her temporally, leaving her unable to affect her surroundings but also unable to explode from the blowback of Venetia's spell. It's probably infuriatingly casual, to Venetia, the way she just sort of does this--the warning did probably give her the forewarning, at least.
"That really is an impressive and frightening spell, Venetia." Marivel tells her. "Had to break out one of the big ones for that." She is this dedicated to being smug, Venetia.
Leehalt doesn't recognize Mariel--well she has been considerably less loud about what she is than Marivel so she supposes that's understandable.
She says this to the Prophets, and this alone.
"Yeah a lot of bad guys say that," just like in the Owl House. "Exterminating everyone to maybe save the biosphere is not a functioning plan. Duh. Besides there's a problem you don't even know about yet that is meaningless if we don't have enough people to fend it off. The entire system would be destroyed if we followed your plan. Even the world itself you hope to save. This is why collaberation is important in science. I'm sorry, the scientific method really took a beating apparently over the years."
She is about to say more when--
Marivel waves a hand to Asgard as he appears. She doesn't seem surprised but it IS sooner than she expected, honestly.
"Yo," She says. "You know me now?" His words confirm it. THEORY CONFIRMED.
His return, she thinks. Only one person that can be.
"Janus, you might not want to chase them." Marivel says simply enough. "Come to the Valeria Household and we may be able to figure out a stopgap measure here."
To what, she doesn't say, but it should be more obvious to HIM than her.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"How your hope ends, maybe. But your hope was never Filgaia's - just your vision of it." Jacqueline replies. "But I promise you - we will see Filgaia healed. But not by your methods."
But just when it seems like the Prophets have been defeated by their joined efforts... a barrier rises to defend them. Jacqueline stares in surprise.
"...No way. But how is he...?" Jacqueline utters in disbelief. Asgard has returned to defend them, despite being thrown into the depths of time. She shakes her head... and soon enough the Golem vanishes, along with the Prophets.
Jacqueline stands there quietly for a moment. She glances, briefly, toward Janus - what is he going to do, now...? Is he a threat...? ...Well, obviously, but whether or not he's going to actively do anything about that right now is another matter. She looks toward the shattered consoles.
"...I think... for now, we should probably ensure that this facility is shut down. Unless anyone has a good reason that we shouldn't." Jacqueline suggests. And after that...
...She isn't sure what's next, but it's something they'll have to figure out together.
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel does not answer Leehalt. She doesn't feel very generously inclined toward him. If he prides himself on being such a scholar, and knowing more than the gods themselves, he can figure it out all by himself, without any help from someone as mundane as a flower girl.
Even though she is not really a mundane flower girl.
Mariel has had more taken out of her than she'd like. She lowers her staff, no longer wielding it so much as holding it, as the battle continues. She needs to get medicine out, to prepare to treat the wounded - there are, thankfully, no dead, but -
"...Janus?"
Mariel reflexively flinches away from the Negative Rainbow, but it's not aimed at her, nor indeed at anyone she has been supporting. He's bleeding, she thinks. ...is she supposed to offer HIM a healing herb? But if he's made of living metal...
Mariel has just about made up her mind when the Prophets start to pull into themselves, preparing a last stand or just expecting to lose - and Asgard arrives. If Janus surprised her, this astounded her. She stumbles backwards, landing on her rear as she trips, hand held in front of her as if she could ward him - a Golem, holding a barrier which she wouldn't even *try* to break. She didn't see him recently. It's been longer for her. But he's helping the Council -
"Asgard!" Mariel calls, followed by, "<Be careful! They don't mean you well!>" She says the last in a language few people know: Elw, which she assumes a Golem, made by the hands of human and Elw working together, can understand. It may get his attention as little else - or maybe not. He's gone already, twisted through a dimensional trick.
Mariel picks herself up. After Jay speaks, Mariel nods. "I agree. I might be able to help with that. Or at least I can do *something*." She grips her staff a little tighter. "But after I treat the injured."
She is including Janus in that, despite her second, third, and fourth thoughts. Seeing anyone hurting like that... well, she can't just leave it, can she?
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia's expression lacks all emotion as Leehalt berates her for her actions. She marks his words. And clearly couldn't care less. She doesn't even dignify him with a response. That look in her eyes very much evokes the sense of looking down at him, more than just in the literal sense. She just stands there, watching as the Prophets' work crumbles around them, not speaking a word. Until Leehalt claims that this is how Filgaia's hope ends.
"...Once again, you're mistaken. I'm right here."
Everything changes with the sudden arrival of Asgard. Xantia abruptly loses both her bearing and footing, stumbling and falling in the wake of the sudden energy wave. She blinks, remaining on the ground stunned for a moment, before slowly raising up to a seated position, wondering aloud, "What's going on...?"
She doesn't even attempt to act in any way to stop what happens next. After all, the Prophets' work was stopped, right? That's good enough, right? It's not like the Prophets themselves need to die. Why would she insist on trying to kill them when they're already defeated? That wouldn't be like her at all.
She just needs a moment to put her thoughts in order and nurse this sudden headache. Must have hit her head in the fall. Surely she'll remember the past couple of minutes more clearly in a little bit.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.
Lanval keeps low as everyone else's forces get to work on their own retorts of how they feel about this awful, terrible, no good, very bad, and altogether mirthless plan. Something about the way Leehalt speaks of becoming the enemy of Filgaia to Xantia, he kind of has to muse.
Which Filgaia is that man even talking about?
'DEMON FIST!'
Lanval skids across the ground with an 'agayayayagaaaaaaahhhh' that takes all the wind out of his almost sagely presence, bowling rear-over-head into a nearby wall as Asgard reveals themselves. Didn't he, from what he heard... millennia of... living, and yet, still sounding full of life and appreciation.
That's dedication, Lanval thinks, as he rights himself up and... they're gone.
He sits back down and ponders his drinking gourd, eyeing Janus and the rest.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida lets out a hiss of breath as her ARMs cycle down. Steam pours from the apertures behind her shoulders, the metal plates flexing to maximize heat-exchange. The level of raw violence she and her comrades can inflict always deserves a moment's pause, if only to breathe and determine if more will be necessary. Bright steel-blue eyes dart about, sclerotic rings glowing as Ida takes in the ruin.
Xantia. There was another of those strange moments there, intercepted and stored by Ida's senses. Xantia once again sizing her up, analyzing her. Now Ida knows why, and she can only count her blessings there are higher-priority targets on the field.
"You stopped being Filgaia's hope," Ida says, "the moment you gave up on its people. The moment you deemed it 'too hideous' to survive. Now--"
A pounding. A rumble. Ida blurs back, leaving jetwash and contrails in her wake.
'DEMON FIST!'
Ida sets her feet; spikes sink into the floor, stabilizing her. Her eyes are wide. Sclerotic rings glow in the dust.
"...Asgard?" Ida breathes. Even in her altered, Hyadean shape, it's still recognizably her. Her gaze darts from Janus to Asgard and back to Janus again, before settling on Asgard. A sad, lopsided smile settles on her face. She doesn't know what Fafnir thinks; she can't feel him right now, with his consciousness uncoupled from hers.
Ida feels a deep, yawning trepidition, as pleased as she is to see Asgard again. "...Congratulations on your journey of self-discovery," she says. "Your masters have much to answer for. We'll see each other again."
Xantia speaks up, and Ida glances back, grimacing; she saw her blown back, but not seeing her get right back up is honestly disturbing. "Jay, please, see to Xantia," Ida says. And then--
Flesh twists. Bones creak and groan. Exoskeleton unravels, revealing armor and an overcoat that are none the worse for wear for going--where? (Where did they go? Ida was not wearing them when she'd changed shape!)
Now it's Ida's turn to sag a little, but only a little. She looks down at her hands, and then up at the others. "...Where do you suppose they scuttled off to?"
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.
Mariel does not answer Leehalt. She doesn't feel very generously inclined toward him. If he prides himself on being such a scholar, and knowing more than the gods themselves, he can figure it out all by himself, without any help from someone as mundane as a flower girl.
Even though she is not really a mundane flower girl.
Mariel has had more taken out of her than she'd like. She lowers her staff, no longer wielding it so much as holding it, as the battle continues. She needs to get medicine out, to prepare to treat the wounded - there are, thankfully, no dead, but -
"...Janus?"
Mariel reflexively flinches away from the Negative Rainbow, but it's not aimed at her, nor indeed at anyone she has been supporting. He's bleeding, she thinks. ...is she supposed to offer HIM a healing herb? But if he's made of living metal...
Mariel has just about made up her mind when the Prophets start to pull into themselves, preparing a last stand or just expecting to lose - and Asgard arrives. If Janus surprised her, this astounded her. She stumbles backwards, landing on her rear as she trips, hand held in front of her as if she could ward him - a Golem, holding a barrier which she wouldn't even *try* to break. She didn't see him recently. It's been longer for her. But he's helping the Council -
And then he's gone, twisted through a dimensional trick. Before she gets to speak.
Mariel picks herself up. After Jay speaks, Mariel nods. "I agree. I might be able to help with that. Or at least I can do *something*." She grips her staff a little tighter. "But after I treat the injured."
She is including Janus in that, despite her second, third, and fourth thoughts. Seeing anyone hurting like that is not comfortable for her.
<Pose Tracker> Janus Cascade has posed.
After releasing his climactic blow on the Prophets, Janus returns to the ground, and then bites out a scream and a curse as his arm nearly falls off from the self-inflicted damage. The bombs are, of course, destroyed from the release of his ultimate attack.
He falls to his knees and releases Glumzambor and grabs his own side, physically forcing it into place long enough for his Demonic regeneration to kick in, thick beads of mercury clotting-slash-solidifying at the edges of the wound.
He looks upward, in the manner of a person forcing themselves to breathe through pain. He's not breathing, though, even as the wound gradually seals up.
Even as Asgard returns from time's flow itself.
"Hah. Check it out, Gwen, I accidentally did something useful." ... "Crap." Slowly, he's able to turn those ember eyes on Asgard. Something silent, in his thoughts.
"...this is how you live, huh?" he says, like the thought of serving with devotion and sincerity, making THAT the impression you leave on time, was something he never even briefly contemplated. He doesn't convey an opinion. His arm hurts.
You might not want to chase them, Marivel tells him. Jay suggests they blow the place.
...
"Do your damage," is what he says, once he's confident his arm isn't going to slop off. He rises, grabs and swings Glumzambor over his shoulder.
"I'll do mine."
He stalks forward, and soon vanishes into the depths of Yggdrasill.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
The last of the Demi-Material summoning wanes away, and Riesenlied is left beyond exhausted; she feels strain, and the doctors in Shevat are sure to have a word with her. But she is here, awake, sitting (standing is kind of beyond her now), channeling power together with Noeline... in defence of the world.
She'd have it no other way.
The transformed Ida lands in front of her, and for a moment, there is pause -- but Ida speaks of how 'he' wants to see her. "Fafnir..." she whispers, with a quiet nod.
But before long, even as they push onward-- a voice suddenly cries, and the floor suddenly erupts and a familiar figure stands before them. Riesenlied's eyes widen. "Asgard!"
She grimaces, and unknowingly doubles Mariel's words. "You would still defend them...?! Please, Asgard, consider all of this once more!" She had heard of how he was flung through time, but what... what does this mean?
Then... they are gone. And Janus...
Limping off, in his usual style... Jacqueline and Mariel's words take precedence. "Yes. Everyone, please sound off, those wounded." ... even though Riesenlied doesn't really look ready for it. She looks to the alchemist. "I can ensure the flow of the Ley is redirected back where it should be, or at least gauge that it is..."
Her horns wilt for a moment. "If only we could undo the damage this facility has done. But I doubt it will be all that easy."
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth gives no reaction as the Prophets cry out, demanding silence, bemoaning failure, despairing over lost hope. He offers no further quips or commentary. This is the plan they crafted, the events they set in motion, and the absolution they are rewarded.
Everything shakes.
With a startled beep and life returned to his manner, Azoth flails to keep his balance. As he stares up at the cause, the lights flowing through his form begin to dim until they're gone, his colorful smoke fading into the air, and rattled body gone quiet again.
"Asgard?"
The reality of pieces itself together in Azoth's calculations, as impossible, unfeasible, as it all sounds. Pushed back a millenia and returning from such an event through the natural passage of time... Asgard, returned. Rather: never gone at all. And after all he's learned, still loyal to his masters. Inescapably so? He rescues them. And they're gone. Azoth is left blinklessly looking at where they all were.
Devotion toward one's creator's... Is that an experience Azoth ever knew?
In the aftermath, Azoth straightens his posture, joints only sparking a little. He looks over the others and then startles with a beep, hurrying toward Xantia when she falls. If she'll let him, he'll help her in sitting back up. That look she's had, and the tone of her voice... He's seen that before. There is a brief moment of unguarded concern before he opts not to push it further when she and everyone else needs rest.
"At least we've kept things from getting worse," he says, generally, but so much is left unsatisfied...
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
"Things getting worse is the default," Marivel quips. "So don't feel too bad about being above par."
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
Venetia pants outwards, "Well, I'm - glad you liked it," as the chaos of everyone's utmost effort begins to decline, and she descends the few inches upon which she was levitating to land on the ground. While she doesn't keel over, it's taking effort to keep herself upright. It WAS a powerful spell.
And then -
"Ah!"
Venetia startles at the sight of Asgard. She looks at Marivel. She elbows Marivel in the side for a moment, tilting her head-- but Asgard reminds them of Janus's presence.
Venetia digs out a cloth to wipe the sweat from her forehead as she recenters herself. Asgard departs... Janus, however, does not. Venetia strongly considers just pulling out her gun and putting five in his body, but opts not to, not immediately. It might not accomplish anything anyway, and somehow that would be even worse.
"Well," Venetia tells Janus, "That's as may be, but I stand by everything I said. I won't speak of the law, but there are some things that actions must put right." Yeah, she thinks, there we go, now he's on notice.
She lowers her head for a moment to catch her breath - and then she looks back up after Janus's contemptuous words. "Oh for Dinoginos' sake," she says, reaching down to grab her gun -- but the ultimate destructive Crest is in her way and it takes her precious seconds to get it off her hand and into the pouch and THEN pull out the gun and at that point Janus has already moved past easy sight -
Venetia growls under her breath and points the gun upwards. Her other hand comes to her hip.
"I wouldn't call myself an expert," Venetia says, "but with the unnatural attractor removed you would think that it would begin to flow back outwards... like suction concluding on a swollen body part, and allowing fluid to redistribute itself. Of course," Venetia watches in case Janus is just leaving to get a good run up and come jumping out of the darkness, "Filgaia isn't in the best of shape. So we shall see."
Beat. Beat.
"I don't suppose it would be as simple as finding a reversal switch upon the memory device, whatever it was," Venetia hazards. "Or is that the Memory maze you've mentioned, Armitage? I suppose that as cruel as it is, to simply restore it all without warning would be its own cruelty."
Venetia starts to holster her gun -- stops and points it at the darkness again -- actually holsters it.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
With Janus now firmly not on their side, things look poorly for the Prophets and their plot to reshape Filgaia.
It should have been the end. But...
Everything shakes and trembles. Avril reaches out to grab Rebecca's arm, as much to steady herself as to prevent Rebecca herself from falling. "What is--"
this? The answer presents itself in a spray of dust as masory comes apart in a crash.
The barrier that lights the room after is a familiar one.
"...Asgard?"
None other.
"--No, Asgard, you mustn't!"
There can be no arguing with a Golem's programming. He will protect his masters across all eras and until the end of the world. Any relief -- as strange as it might be -- that she might feel about his return is tempered by that very fact.
Do not the Golems she had made still answer her call though it means their own destruction? To be a Golem is to lack one's own will.
She turns her face away from the place where they had been, where now only Janus stands.
"...Go," is all that she says to him.
He has his business to attend, and she -- they -- have their own.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"I can always tell people what to do," Kaguya answers. And then everything explodes and gets weird.
"Asgard???"
That was unexpected. Kaguya doesn't try to break his barrier. She narrows her eyes, instead, and waits. She's going to need--
No, aren't bigger guns what got her into this mess?
"...'His return'?" Kaguya wonders. And then she looks to the others. "....no," she says to Jay, "We should definitely shut it down. If they use advanced tech, then I can help with that." She eyes Lanval, for a moment. Then Ida. Then she considers her. Hmmm...
"You know," she says to Ida, looking her up and down. "That was a good look on you. Definitely works."
Then she eyes Janus, and the others. Avril, and Rebecca, and Dean. Venetia...
"You might be right," Kaguya says, "But we might as well look."
"Asgard probably won't show back up to kill us all before we're done. Probably!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Puppies and rainbows can't disguise the fact that the world is a cold, callous place. Life can be hard, and bad things bappen to good people, and vice versa.
"Asgard?"
Sometimes good things happen. Gwen stares up at the golem in open awe, then laughs. "Holy cow, you're back! Wait, you're not gonna.... uh..." Mariel seems to have it under control, with whatever she's saying... Wait.
Where did... all these flowers come from? Did she just notice them? Gwen skips back a step, to avoid stepping on one.
Then, quietly, she begins to laugh, tears coming to her eyes.
The stress of learning of something they all had, but lost, as well what they must do, coupled with Janus's betrayal of the right people, but...
She has to say something, before Janus leaves, so her focus can go back on the things that need it the most.
"Janus."
Now, she's not even sure what to say. He basically did something that benefited them, though, in a way, it benefitted him too.
It'd suck if the world continued under their plan.
So, she nods her head forward, and gives him a tear-stained grin. ".... Thank you."
Her one kindness is to make it not be too obviious, nor to treat his limping off with a big show.
If he comes back to stab them all again, again, that's on her. But she doesn't care if he backstabs her at this point.
He can't take this moment from her, no matter how hard he tries.
"So." She claps her hands together, and rubs them. "Show me what I can do, guys! We'll get this all on the right track in no time, eh?"