https://dreamchasers.space/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Fei&feedformat=atomDream Chasers - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T13:03:43ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.39.6https://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2023-03-04:_Drown_Your_Secrets&diff=122282023-03-04: Drown Your Secrets2023-03-17T06:41:39Z<p>Fei: adding late poses THANKS SHRIMPY <3</p>
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<div>*'''Log: Drown Your Secrets'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]], [[Character :: Mariel]], [[Character :: Zed]], [[Character :: Rixia]], [[Character :: White Knight Leo]], [[Character :: Margaret]], [[Character :: Shige Kiwako]], [[Character :: Seraph Lanval]], [[Character :: Avril Vent Fleur]], [[Character :: Gwen Whitlock]], [[Character :: Seraph Liath]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Pentagulia - Goddess Square<br />
*'''Date:''' March 04, 2023<br />
*'''Summary''': ''The struggle against Marivel takes a deeper, darker turn.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>Last time....<br />
<br />
Marivel brought forth a vision of the final days of the Zeboim through trickery and the power of a whole lot of empathite. You battled spectral heroes and non-spectral gears to reach Marivel at the center of the Goddess Square where she lamented...<br />
<br />
''...She didn't come. Even when I threatened her city. Her people. Her faith. She didn't come. Ragnell must be right about her. I cannot fathom any other explanation. Why would she betray me and then abandon the very people she betrayed me for? All she had to do was show up. Just show up and scold me like old times. She didn't even need to say she was sorry.''<br />
<br />
And then after some words of ... encouragement? She utilized the energies stored up by the empathite to transform her vessel into a facsimile of the Althena she knew, a blue haired Elw woman--with some affectations suggesting that some of Anastasia got into the mix there--and summoned a portal to a place Marivel has called 'The Abyss' before leading you through the portal.<br />
<br />
The Abyss...<br />
<br />
It is suffocating. It is dark. You can scarcely see ahead of yourself, illuminated solely by whatever instruments you've brought with you--and the glow of the Goddess ahead of you. Between the light you have, you can see there is a dark purple platform underneath you expanding outward and leading to a thin pathway beyond, though who built these methods of traversal in a land such as this is unclear. There's dark energies here that make it difficult to move but the Goddess moves through with an ease that makes her feel like she's floating on air. Periodically drifting glowing purple wisps provide some additional light.<br />
<br />
The Goddess just looks into the darkness, back turned to you.<br />
<br />
"Just an Simulacrum... Bit of Anastasia filtered in there but that's mostly in the hairstyle, the sword, the armor..."<br />
<br />
A voice in the darkness whispers these words but though it is a whisper, the pure volume of it pushes your hair back like a breeze. "Once again... She does not come... So I had to build my own. But at least you can see what she was ere she was your Savior... But she should not have saved you."<br />
<br />
A faint shaking ripples underneath the platform you are standing on.<br />
<br />
"What of the people whom could not escape? What of our the pact between our people's that has stood since my father's time?" The whisper in the darkness murmurs. "She abandoned us... and you throw how grateful you are for that in our faces time and time again..."<br />
<br />
The shaking rumbles across the platform again. Heavier this time.<br />
<br />
"I ought to thank you, White Knight Leo... I would have not imagined Althena had simply left us to die if not for you being so eager to spread her good will to my world with your good natured imperialism... I had wondered for so many years that I lost count, but simply abandoning us? It had not occurred to me until you so graciously lent a hand to my world. I would have slept all the way until the Day of Promise if not you--and so, Leo... I do very much sincerely thank you. The good, the bad... It all comes back to you."<br />
<br />
'Althena' turns around to face you. Then she cracks a mischievous smile at the lot of you. You've seen this exact smile on Marivel's face before but it feels ever so slightly more real on Althena's face. She snaps her fingers once in the air before she takes a step back and falls off the platform.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>"So if she cannot or will not lend the aid that is expected, I shall extract the Promise from her children as in accordance to the terms and conditions of our old alliance, our old friendship..."<br />
<br />
And then rises up over it as a creature rises up underneath her feet. The platform's shaking is heavier than ever.<br />
<br />
"I shall serve you in defending your people, if you defend mine. A simple common defense treaty. Spoken by my true soul and a promise quite unbreakable from me. All you must do..."<br />
<br />
It's just the head you see at first. By itself it's half the width of the platform you are standing on. The face is long and draconic and, black fumes drift out from between its fangs. Six crimson eyes open up along vertically across its face, their crimson glow illuminating the face. A mouthful of fangs grins. Saliva drips out of the mouth, splotching onto the platform and scorching it black.<br />
<br />
"Is prove you can compensate for the assistance Althena failed to provide. Hiro gave me a theory. That Althena had to act to protect Filgaia by evacuating those infected with Malevolence... It is a plausible theory. If Zophar and this poison existed back then, I certainly missed it. But Althena was brilliant, so you must also prove your will, that your Answers can match or surpass hers."<br />
<br />
Then other crimson dots start opening up across the sky, each with their own glow. It might take a moment to realize these points of light are not from separate entities, or some kind of strange stars. No, they are eyes along six thick black leather wings that sprout out from Marivel's back. That back is long and serpentine, pulling back into the darkness. You can't see where it ends just yet, no matter how much light drifts into the abyss as the body eventually curves down underneath the platform though judging from the shaking...<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfTWgMgknpY<br />
<br />
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! <br />
<br />
Pure Blooded Daemon Of The Eternal Instant <br />
<br />
Ouroboros <br />
<br />
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
One claw comes slamming down into the platform. Then another, digging thick greaves into the floor. You can see crimson lines crawling up them and the Seraphs can sense Malevolence gradually being drown into those lines and gradually consumed. Lanval in particular can sense other strange ancient maladies gradually pulsing around this manifestation of Marivel's soul.<br />
<br />
"Ere my peoples' end, I had not received my true name... So I have chosen Ouroboros! The dragon that eats their own tail! Come and give me the Answers I've been searching for!"<br />
<br />
"Give me thy Answer to Life here at its edge!!"<br />
<br />
She doesn't attack until you are ready because she is a traditionalist.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
DC: Marivel Armitage switches forms to Ouroboros Encircling The Moon!<br />
New Content<br />
<br />
DC: Zed switches forms to Manic Blade Master Zed!<br />
DC: Gwen Whitlock switches forms to Chrysopoeia!<br />
DC: Margaret switches forms to I Am The Starlight!<br />
DC: Seraph Liath switches forms to Prime Lord Liath!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
<poem>Mariel came all the way to Pentagulia not just to speak to Althena, though that had certainly weighed on her mind. She had questions to ask, both about her past - the past that Marivel would not know, or that she wouldn't ask her - and about the present.<br />
<br />
She also came to Pentagulia because Marivel did. She said she would support her friend - for they are friends; for all that Mariel has only known Marivel for a handful of years she feels closer to Marivel than anyone else in ages. Since the Elw left, certainly; everyone she knew before that has long since died or passed on to a realm beyond, and since then she has been more solitary than she wished to be.<br />
<br />
Mariel knew some of what weighed on Marivel. Not all of it. Not even close; it's more than she ever guessed. More than she ever &#42;would&#42; guess. Her memories were more than she ever could have <br />
<br />
"Marivel..." <br />
<br />
When the path to the Abyss forms, Mariel turns to look at the others. "I'm going in," she says, and begins to walk.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
On the other side, it's dark. But there's light.<br />
<br />
This place doesn't feel familiar to Mariel. The opposite; it is dark, and unfamiliar, but less unpleasant than it could be. Here, Mariel can feel Marivel even more than she did before, even though she is looking at someone who must be, at least in majority, Marivel's memories of Althena. Mariel's own ears press against the sides of her head a little further before she shakes her head, causing them to return to their normal position.<br />
<br />
The light on this side - at least in part - comes from Mariel. It's the phosphorescent green glow in a bottle that she brought forth from her satchel, some alchemical compound of mushrooms and a tincture, but now shot through with hints of white and silver as she causes it to brighten more than it would on its own. <br />
<br />
There is also, however faint, a feeling of Filgaia close to Mariel. Not enough to make it feel like home. But enough to make the Filgaians feel they can remember it.<br />
<br />
"Marivel," Mariel says, on this side. "I didn't know your history entire, because you did not tell me. And that I don't hold against you." She wouldn't. Secrets about herself are Marivel's to keep, or not; even Mariel does not tell all about her, there are things nobody living knows about who she is and what she has done and she is nowhere near as old as Marivel is.<br />
<br />
"But..."<br />
<br />
Mariel grips her staff. The staff she suspects is Althena's, or was Althena's, long ago. An Elw tool left on Lunar; whose else would it have been? As her hands tighten against it, the sensation of Filgaia rises, then ebbs back down, still little more than an echo of a memory.<br />
<br />
Marivel - Ouroboros - rises.<br />
<br />
And Mariel still can't strike her. Even if Marivel asked her to, directly and literally; she cannot bring herself to do it. <br />
<br />
"Everything you are, everything you were, all that time... I'm sorry it hurt you. I'm sorry it still hurts you - I'm sorry that &#42;she&#42; hurt you with her absence! But some things..." Mariel squeezes her own eyes shut for a moment, then open. She doesn't finish the statement. Some things don't change. It may never be possible to save Anastasia. But Mariel understands the desire to try. What is she doing except trying to save the world from a mistake? <br />
<br />
"The past has a hold on everybody. But all we can do is move forward. Toward the future..."<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Mariel with Focus!<br />
GS: Mariel has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Mariel's stances have changed to Stoic!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
<poem>Zed is the Dark Hero.<br />
<br />
That is to say, he is a hero who fights in the dark so that other people don't have to. Which does mean that he has a particular &lt;resistance&gt; to darkness, but ALSO that he should by all rights be here, in this space, alone. If his word were good, then he would be doing battle in this pitch black abyss to spare everyone else from risking life and limb to do the same.<br />
<br />
But he's not.<br />
<br />
So is Zed a liar...?<br />
<br />
No! Because nobody said that the Dark Hero had to go it alone! If people volunteer to walk beside him in the darkness, who is he to tell them no!?<br />
<br />
That is the logic that plays out in Zed's head as he follows along the form of a goddess, listening and nodding along quietly as Marivel-- with Althena's voice-- speaks to them. He understands, he understands, he is absolutely keeping up with everything. (He is absolutely keeping up with maybe ten percent, and that is a generous estimate of Zed's comprehension of Lunar history as it relates to the Crimson Nobility and the Elw.)<br />
<br />
What does stick in his brain, though, is how ancient this grudge must be. It reminds him, in a way, of Uncle Zeik's wounds-- the scars of certitude that drove him to do unspeakable things in the name of a Mother who wanted only to devour her children and the world that she had promised them. Old pain, Zed reasons, is a dire poison for immortals.<br />
<br />
It's a lesson he will have to learn, lest he fall prey to it himself someday.<br />
<br />
But mostly he is silent because he is not the subject of Marivel's scorn. He is in many ways an observer to these proceedings. An outside force who is only here because of the bonds that tie him to those who are ''actually'' feeling the pain and anguish of these terrible moments. He is here for them. They have chosen to fight, and so he will fight alongside them. If Ratatoskr were present, surely he would be squealing like a schoolgirl about all the history unfolding before him, but he is not.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, the scars of history are something he can understand. The pain of seeing honored ancestors harvested for their bones and transformed into weapons of war. The agony of living as the child of a doomed world, where every scant scrap of his own history that he can find is an invaluable treasure. These, he knows.<br />
<br />
But he also knows something else as Marivel unfolds her war form in all of its terrible glory.<br />
<br />
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh--" A squeal, like a schoolgirl!? "--THAT'S SO COOOOOOL!"<br />
<br />
Yep.<br />
<br />
Yep he is fanboying a little bit about fighting an actual demon from heck. He's even doing a little dance with his sword. "Oh man, no wonder Noe-Noe is so into you guys!! I wonder if she figured out how to do something like this too? Oh man, I can't wait! Let's go, let's go!"<br />
<br />
Zed... <br />
<br />
Leaps boldly forth and goes to slap at this helldemon with his sword.<br />
<br />
Pulling aggro... is perhaps not the best choice here, but it's Zed. Come on. What's he going to do, ''not'' charge sword-first at the coolest helldemon he's seen in, like, ever?<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Saint Arts - Starstrider's Valor!<br />
GS: Zed has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Zed's stances have changed to Avenger!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Zed's Saint Arts - Starstrider's Valor for 59 hit points!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Rixia is frenetically on clean-up duty after the sky seemingly erupted into red and people turned into monsters through the power of not-Akasha (no, it's just trickery this time), and by the time she's caught up with helping those less fortunate to a safer place, she's sprinting to the square in time for...<br />
<br />
A portal... oh no, oh noooo.<br />
<br />
Rixia contemplates turning around, but by some strange twist of fate, she finds herself further and further drawn into it--<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Rixia lifts her head up, staring towards the ''Goddess'' before her. She flails, and swims to the platform, as purple wisps provide some guidance for her to move towards. Her face is scrunched in some mild flavour of agony. "Anastasia. That's who you told me about before..."<br />
<br />
She does not come.<br />
<br />
But she should not have saved her.<br />
<br />
"... I have... a lot of experience with not being saved by a Goddess, thanks..." Rixia remarks bitterly, through the miasma and sensation of the Abyss. "This isn't the first time... every single time... Marivel..."<br />
<br />
She clenches her hand to her heart. "Someone ancient tells me I don't even know how grateful I am for all the sacrifices that've come before. How we spit back in the face of all that's come time and time again... I've even genuinely felt sorry for ever being born..."<br />
<br />
She grits her teeth, feeling a sudden well of anger as ''Althena'' turns to face them. "I don't get it...! Every one of you old generation tell me how grateful I should be, but the first time I even saw Althena was when she promised how great a world she'd create -- while I was trying to drink from muddy puddles because Rolance or Hyland decided to roll over the latest village I sought refuge in!"<br />
<br />
Rixia thrusts her hand to one side. "Is this the great world that I, an eighteen year old, should be grateful for?! I don't get it! I know I don't get it! I've seen, at Artorius' Throne, how much I don't get! But... rrgh..."<br />
<br />
That anger starts to subside from her, as her face further contorts. "I already know, from Ruth and Acacia and Eleanor, that running away does no good. No one's going to clean up if we don't do it... so no matter how awful it feels... the world continues to leech on ''heroes'', existing on their goodwill, until they're all spent, then looks towards another, discarding the previous like dry and used husks."<br />
<br />
A bright flash, and in a shower of translucent datacubes, the Sleeping Lion is in her hand -- and she knocks the hammer back. Marivel urges them to prove that they can compensate for the assistance Althena failed to provide to Filgaia.<br />
<br />
"I don't feel like answering for the Silver Star -- a world I don't like -- right now. I don't like boasting that I'm fighting for the entire world. I don't have that kinda confidence. But..."<br />
<br />
Marivel continues to manifest, as her form becomes one of a dragon, with six crimson eyes and six wings, with a serpentine body threatening to be swallowed into the darkness. The claw comes onto the platform, and she struggles to keep standing, as Malevolence continues to exude through the lines and into Marivel herself.<br />
<br />
From the manifest folds of the Abyss, darkness transforms into small motes of purple magic that absorb into her body. Draw, and Junction... ... should you be absorbing that stuff, Rixia?<br />
<br />
&gt;&gt; tactical level, extreme threat detected<br />
&gt;&gt; routing junctions, assessing user emotional landscape<br />
&gt;&gt; junctioning for self-survival<br />
<br />
"I'm Rixia, from Sagahli in Zulan... I'm eighteen years old. I like fluffy milk bread and warm socks and a comfortable bed to sleep in. I'm gonna fight... for my right to have that much in the world, Ouroboros!"<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Rixia has attacked Rixia with Junction Magic!<br />
GS: Rixia has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Rixia's stances have changed from Counter to Avenger and Counter!<br />
GS: Rixia gains 10 FP from her Daredevil!<br />
GS: Rixia has completed her action.<br />
GS: Rixia heals Rixia! She gains 180 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Riposte applied to Rixia!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
A blasphemy has formed in the Goddess' Square, a yawning gate to... somewhere. Maybe nowhere. White Knight Leo--bruised, muddied, and bloodied from the fight against the Gears--stands before it, sword in hand. Tension knots in his muscles as he steps towards the imperfect vision of Althena. Marivel's wearing it like a mask. Maybe she wears every form like a mask.<br />
<br />
Leo is silent. Anger boils up inside, but there's so much trapped in there now that it can't escape. He says nothing, even as Marivel steps into the portal. From behind and beside, Mariel speaks up:<br />
<br />
'I'm going in.'<br />
<br />
Leo follows. The darkness coils in. It's like the fabric of space-time here is dense black velvet--muffling, smothering. The White Dragon's Crest glows at his neck, still faintly radiant from his earlier channeling. It illuminates the false Althena's face.<br />
<br />
The White Knight's stony silence breaks once Marivel addresses him. "Was it truly ''my'' hand that awakened you...?" His voice is thick with pain. "I didn't know. None of us knew these pacts and promises you speak of. Would you keep punishing us for Althena's trespasses? Would you punish ''us'' for ''your'' pain?"<br />
<br />
The platform shudders. Leo steps back from the edge, eyes widening, ears flattening. Ouroboros' shadow spreads across him, drowning out the light. Horror widens his eyes. His ears flatten against his head. Malevolence coils around his ankles like a friendly cat. Rixia steps forward and makes her stand, and Leo is right there beside her in an instant, blade bared. "You heard her, vengeful ancient," Leo growls, and there is something almost manic in his eyes. "Light Spear Cannon!"<br />
<br />
As the first syllable leaves his lips, Leo is in motion, stepping forward in a two-handed stab. His blade cuts through the fabric of the void, carving shining light upon eternal darkness. It gleams on the sword's edge as he charges forwards, makes that stab, and then carves upward with all his might.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Light Spear Cannon!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<poem> <br />
Margaret heard what Marivel had to say. It was a strange conflict. It rankled her, to think of the many put in peril - even if the magical illusions did buffer their bodies from much harm. These people were her peers, her countrymen, if you could call it a country. <br />
<br />
And on the other hand, Marivel speaks of being forlorn and abandoned, and Margaret knows a thing or two about that. <br />
<br />
Oh, she also burned out a sword and had to sit down for a few minutes. She had entered that realm of atrocious speed where it takes a lot out of you, it seems. There were not many minutes to sit down: her colleague, Dollie, had tried to make up the difference with several healing spells (and as a free bonus, would have healed anyone else too, if they didn't have their own preference). <br />
<br />
But other than a brief, shy hug for good luck, Dollie didn't go with Margaret. Margaret, however, did go with Mariel. She made a promise of her own, after all. <br />
<br />
In the Abyss, Margaret's eyes widen and her ears flat back at the sight - of - no, it's not the Goddess. It feels sacriligious, but Marivel has said by innuendo that she knew the Goddess, long ago. Somehow, before she was a goddess. Margaret's brow furrows then. She speaks. <br />
<br />
Then Margaret does. <br />
<br />
"Then it was meaningless," Margaret says. <br />
<br />
"That's what you're saying," Margaret continues. "It was folly, all of it. You're thanking the White Knight and I can tell that you mean it but -- none of that was our intention... it was nowhere near our GOAL. Perhaps we never had a goal. It was the thing," Margaret continues, putting a hand on her hip and looking at the ground. "The thing to do. We went because someone had to go. It was a lark, perhaps. Perhaps we all thought we'd rise." <br />
<br />
"Instead we fell," Margaret continues. "Somehow we didn't all perish on Filgaia, despite your Gears, despite the gunsmoke ARMs, despite everything. Somehow we came back - and soon enough we all went back to Spira, and that did enough for enough of us." <br />
<br />
Margaret's arms fold. "None of it mattered! None of it! And if what you say is true... all that we did was break out of our comfortable little sanitarium, and bring a plague back to Filgaia, which bears burdens enough." <br />
<br />
A couple of spots of salty water land on the strange stone of the abyss-floor. <br />
<br />
"I hate scenes like this," Margaret says. "I didn't come from anything in particular. The only lucky break I had was this body, and even it's hitting its limits. I certainly can't slay you with my looks. I don't have anything ancient or legatastic to proffer you. You should have another noble knight here to contend against you, but I suppose they died in Spira." <br />
<br />
Her eyes turn momentarily towards Rixia. (Zed's actions also occur and are perceived by Margaret, who has chosen to take a different angle in her monologue and will get to him later.) <br />
<br />
"I should hand it to you this far," Margaret says as she sticks her right hand into her dress pocket, letting her elbow hang a little insouciantly to the side. "You don't seem like the sort to object to us low-down villeins coming to your show, at least." <br />
<br />
Her left hand grasps the hilt of a sword and draws it up, raising it up in something like a salute. She has no pure white light like the White Knight does. Her eyes turn upwards for a moment. Leo is furious, Margaret thinks. Am I? <br />
<br />
"Don't worry, Rixia," Margaret says. There is a nebular bloom around her. <br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3yqv2PGugs<br />
<br />
"I'm not a hero at all," and that's when Margaret starts running forwards, leaning catty-corner to the side as she streaks ahead and kicks upwards. In the dark gloom of the abyssal space, the violet aspects of the Starlight Express aura get rather muted, meaning that Margaret seems like more of a dark red streak than the usual vague purple, even as she slashes and twists, the blade flashing light shooting stars and actually leaps over, past, and ABOVE Leo for a moment, coming up past him and going for a different arc, running in a circle-eight on the ground -- <br />
<br />
What, to... draw fire?<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Crimson Orbit!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from White Knight Leo's Light Spear Cannon for 118 hit points!<br />
GS: Cover applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<poem>With a portal to the abyss, a thing she's seen before, albeit very briefly. She works her shoulders, adjusts her grip on the lantern and lifts it high. Walking in. She was already drinking prior so no last minute bouts of courage. <br />
<br />
There's quiet consideration of the words. Of the idea that this goddess could not or would not help. This is above her pay grade. Signficantly so. She's hooded. masked. Hiding behind all of it in a way really. The guide at the end for a completely different world. Even then it's hard to mask how furious she is still over even the perception of an attack on an unsuspecting people. <br />
<br />
She doesn't speak though. Not yet. Not while the six eyed dragon hauls itself before them. The creature manifesting, corrupt. Monstrous. <br />
<br />
Despite imbibing earlier, her voice is clear when she finally does call out. "I never will have the answers you seek. I guide those to finality. Anything I learn is to make sure they're not forgotten." She raises her lantern. Casting long shadows. Reflecting off of the pale mask, ethereal almost in itself. "You should have been doing the same. You keep accusing us of forgetting, but do you even remember yourself?" <br />
<br />
She rolls with the shuddering and shaking. It's not quite the same as the sea, but she's in her role. She shouldn't fumble. She's already judging and she'll scold herself for that later, but again, she's still angry and it happens. <br />
<br />
The shadows cast are moving. Following the lines cast by the lantern. Leaping to Zed's shadow. To Rixia's as it closes in. A silent spectre, something lost. Angry. Clawing at the demon that has manifested with a clinging bitter cold.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Marivel Armitage with Mute Horror!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Shige Kiwako's Mute Horror for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Mute Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Interrupt applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Mute blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<poem> The whole of it was horrifying. All this going on in Althena's own... not even her backyard, it's practically in her living room. There's all sorts of other pieces found to have been unsettling, unfitting, and bizarre - and this whole demonstration alone could have defined that finest point.<br />
<br />
But there's more.<br />
<br />
Seraph Lanval watches the facsimile of the remembered Althena that Marivel embodies have her say, to everyone, and then leave to an Abyss. To look from the outside in, he can tell... this is something a league beyond Artorius' Throne.<br />
<br />
"Not alone," he replies to Mariel as he takes a sip from his drinking gourd. To take a piece of the very water of Filgaia itself into a place like what he's looking into... well, if Schturdark disagrees, he'll cross that bridge the next time they reach out to him.<br />
<br />
He keeps close to Mariel and the phosphorescent light from the bottle. In absence of all else, the presence of Marivel ahead is otherwise their beacon, as staggering steps move along the strange dark purple floor that may be as a flimsy plank above the void.<br />
<br />
Lanval freezes at the first ripples to reassert his balance, as the emotional crescendo of a sorrow thousands upon thousands of years festering recount what their existence and actions mean to them. From gratitudes given to the actions of the White Knight Leo, to Hiro's theories as to why this all happened...<br />
<br />
And the even more unsettling transformation that awaits, Lanval has to plant both feet to keep hold on the platform as it shakes underneath the enormous winged serpentine figure that unfolds between them.<br />
<br />
"...They're pullin' in a lot of Malevolence," he alerts on cue, "'n... a buncha other shtuff I don't got a name for." He realizes in the moment 'Malevolence and I don't know what else' isn't that helpful or specific. "Conshumin' all of it at once--"<br />
<br />
Marivel introduces herself as Ouroboros, the dragon that eats their own tail, and that more or less answers the 'consuming' part. Others speak their resolve, of a young woman caught up in so much when she yearns for things that seem so trivial to have in comparison, of a commander fighting to hold true to himself in a world that seems to go against professed principles and so many unexplainable actions that seem to achieve nothing good to the people of Lunar and beyond - as Margaret points out what problems were caused by their coming to Filgaia and what came from there.<br />
<br />
"I got shomethin' ta shay, too, 'bout what ya told me with joy," Lanval adds, and then... he meets the grinning, ever-hungering true form of an aggrieved ancient with that dopey smile he's known for. "'n I'll tell ya when yer ready ta lishten."<br />
<br />
It seems understated, compared to the shouts of passion and defiance by the mortals, as he winds up his drinking gourd by the attached rope, leans back...<br />
<br />
And tries to bonk it against one of the big toe-claws clutching the platform, as if an entirely cartoonish act of violence - but that drinking gourd carries far more weight and power than something that size and character should.<br />
<br />
"Don't wanna shout over everyone elshe," in a bit of humility before mortal danger at a scale beyond anything he's known now.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Marivel Armitage with Bonk!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Margaret's Crimson Orbit for 36 hit points!<br />
GS: Drowsy applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
"Jaeja."<br />
<br />
So had spake Harmaus, upon Marivel requesting -- again -- that he turn away from the end of his seeking road. "The end is before me. I has it in my sights! It will not turn me back. I go ahead, to the truth." Thus he had said, in those moments before she had rent a wound into reality.<br />
<br />
And before the heretical -- or perhaps apostate -- Seraph had scattered, perhaps heading off in search of his ill-liked Goddess.<br />
<br />
Althena is his to slay, he'd said, and so long as this move of Marivel does not take away what is his by rights...<br />
<br />
The square is no longer blocked, though, and this is the important part.<br />
<br />
For here into this space comes Avril. Judging by the blade in her hand, she had tried to fight her way in, if to no avail.<br />
<br />
"Whatever has..."<br />
<br />
She pauses, regarding the tear. "It is... Marivel, is it not?"<br />
<br />
Her grip on Absolute Zero's now-empty hilt tightens. "...Then we cannot leave her."<br />
<br />
She plunges, into the warp in reality, with scarce a moment's hesitation.<br />
<br />
So this is the Goddess -- Marivel's vision of the Goddess. She has ever only seen Althena carved in stone or depicted on Canvas. Was this truly how...<br />
<br />
"Althena was once a woman," Avril says, gazing up at the image that Marivel has crafted. "She, too, had come from the Blue Star, Filgaia. ...I have heard tell of the flight of my own people from Filgaia, once upon a time. It is said that the world came under attack, and in spite of the efforts to forestall its end, that end still came. I..."<br />
<br />
Her brow becomes lined. She narrows her eyes and advances one step towards Marivel's construct.<br />
<br />
"Will you judge my people the same way, Marivel? We who fled or hid as the world fell to pieces? We, who have returned? ...I do not know Althena. I cannot claim to know her heart, or of what she was capable... without her words, I cannot presume to answer for her."<br />
<br />
She brandishes Absolute Zero, now a blade.<br />
<br />
"But I cannot permit you to attempt this, either, Marivel! I do not presume to know the answer you seek, but this... cannot be it!"<br />
<br />
There is a monstrosity encircling the moon. Avril, blade in hand, does not shirk from it. Leaping into the air, she turns her unbreaking blade upon Marivel Armitage.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Marivel Armitage with Misty Soul!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Seraph Lanval's Bonk for 169 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a glancing hit from Avril Vent Fleur's Misty Soul for 48 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Marivel Armitage gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has adjusted their boss level for 10 opponents!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
<poem> ---EARLIER---<br />
<br />
Gwen looks at the portal, and frowns. ".... This is gettin' beyond my ability to understand," she admits sullenly, with a shrug. "I was thinkin' this was all a means t'make us look like heroes and any members of the Guard who are absent look like villains-- just, she didn't tell anybody she was doin' it because it'd make us acccompliances. But, thing is, there &#42;are&#42; members of the Guard who're there because their heart's in the right place. N' Marivel's shown herself fightin' alongside us multiple times. So..." Gwen does have an inkling, though, and it's yet another moment that ties back to her meeting with Marivel in front of that bakery, as well as the other nuggets of things. The moment one person goes in, Gwen's decision is clear.<br />
<br />
"Guh, I'm gonna need Chrysopoeia Mode again, aren't I....." Gwen whines, and she unceremoniously begins to disrobe the top part of her layers of clothing. These fabrics were an investment, after all! If she rips through them now, she's practically flushing money down the drain. But it's not like there's a safe spot to stash away. "Uh, Mr. Leo!" she calls out to the poor, tired beastman. "..... If I stash several layers of clothing here, on the square, do I have your word it'd gonna be here when I get back?" The last item of clothing is thrown off, revealing....... Gwen's usual Filgaian outfit. Had she really been wearing all those layers, on top of her already very well-covered outfit? ".... Whew, I was sweatin' like a forge like it is." She rolls back her right sleeve, keeping it in place with her sleeve garter, and does the next. Then, her gloves are tossed on the pile of clothes, revealing a second reason for the layers: the Mockingbird's glow was obscured every time she had used it in the battle up until now, as well as any indication there was a difference between her two arms.<br />
<br />
She claps her hands on her cheeks a few times, and concentrates, and then gives a thumbs up to anyone left. "..... H'okay! I got this. Doin' this now, against whatever's on the other end. Be back before y'know it!" And she walks, into the portal. Hiro and who stay back can search for Lucia; this, Gwen can take care of. She'll see them make it to their goal, as well as whatever waits beyond.<br />
<br />
==NOW==<br />
<br />
Humor is all well and good, when Gwen can safely be a proper goofball, but when things get serious, her tone changes to match, even if Zed's enthusiasm is appreciated with a small grin in his direction.<br />
<br />
Marivel's quandary reminds Gwen of Ragnell's own problems, and how, for all Gwen sees her as a friend, there is a gulf between the two in understanding. Gwen is a mortal, and thinks like a mortal. To hold the weight and pain of so many years is something she has trouble understanding, especially when she's met people with vastly different takes. Mariel, for instance, is a genuinely gentle soul in a harsh world.<br />
<br />
Ragnell had apparently shown up in the trials leading to here, and many of the Fiends, allies, and Guard alike had to fight against her and K.K.. Gwen can take care of this; Marivel's woe has gone too far. "You helped us a lot, Marivel. And I really appreciate it." Gwen sounds out her words while simultaneously making the mental command for Mockingbird to begin charging. She doesn't need to charge for long; it's still warm from when she used it last. "... You know how I feel. When there's a problem, I try to solve it. I don't care about fate or destiny, or chances. <br />
<br />
"... You wanna throw the weight of your pain on my friends, then it becomes _my problem_." She holds up her right hand. "Mariel and Avril're right. And right now, we're gonna fight for the same people who've fought for us a million times over by now." She frowns. "So that's my answer. _Chrysopoeia Mode_." Like when she enables this halfway, yellow gold energy laces up the nerves in her right shoulder, up her neck, and into her face, her right eye. But here, it goes further, turning a genuine warmer tint.<br />
<br />
It'd be easier to see, but Gwen is rushing forward as a fast pace, thrusting her charged fist straight into this new Goddess's body.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Bolide Barrage!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Bolide Barrage for 120 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Marivel Armitage gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>Ouroboros's head pushes into the platform to get a closer look at Mariel. "Each year that goes by is a chain. I've always intended to walk into the future, but each moment that passes by I feel myself growing more and more distant from the world. Tis all well and good to say we must walk into the future, but few can do that for forever. Will we be Alone But Together, Mariel, or will we be but Together But Alone in this world. Every day I feel myself becoming a true beast. Is walking into the future your Answer to Life?"<br />
<br />
Zed comes chargin' in. Marivel can't help but be charmed by Zed's way of life. Zed slaps her in the face with his sword.<br />
<br />
CLANG!!<br />
<br />
"A true Hyadean through and through, but one that has not forgotten true strength. Tell me, Zed, your Answer. What does it mean to live the life of a Dark Hero when they meet their end?"<br />
<br />
Rixia speaks up about how her own difficult past. "IS that your Answer, Rixia?" Ouroboros asks. "Tis a simple life. I can provide these things you. A meager pact price for a great reward. An ill suited pact for a daemon, but I do not dislike it."<br />
<br />
Leo speaks up as well. He rightly says that it isn't exactly fair to punish those over pacts, hopes, and loss that is well before their time. Marivel has had a long time to learn that this is just how mortality affects a people.<br />
<br />
"Do you find this to be punishment, White Knight Leo? Perhaps so, but any daemon is a being of contradictions. What you call 'punishment' can turn to a 'reward'."<br />
<br />
Leo unleashes the power of LIGHT against Ouroboros--and despite being in this realm of darkness, the light from that cannon shines all the brighter for it. But in unleashing the power of Light... the hunger of the Abyss takes note of the foreign substance even as it digs through Marivel's scales and unleashes a black-purple spray.<br />
<br />
"Hahhnhnnn..." Marivel says. "What is your Answer, Leo, after all the stories I shared?" Her eyes turn to gaze to Leo. "Have you not punished Spira for YOUR pain? You must at least be able to defeat me, my friend."<br />
<br />
Shige steps in here and says she'll never have these answers. Marivel is actually stopped cold. The long neck twists the head around so that it can look directly at the Death Shaman.<br />
<br />
She summons a spectral spirit to claw at Marivel. Ouroboros grabs ahold of it with a claw and simply says this to Shige, "Then you have failed as a Death Shaman."<br />
<br />
She opens up her maw and bites into the ghost, tearing it apart as its energies fuel Marivel's own.<br />
<br />
Margaret claims to be a small villain. Ouroboros chuckles. "Slay me with your looks? You could try. Call yourself a villain if you'd like. Wear that mask. But wear it proudly. Humility ill suits a proud villainess."<br />
<br />
Margaret dashes around, speedily slicing into the hide of Ouroboros but she's finding it difficult to really get good hits in--she's making progress but those scales are HARD.<br />
<br />
Marivel knows that Lanval is wiser than he appears and Ouroboros listens--though if she's really LISTENING, maybe that's for Lanval to say. "Very well," Ouroboros says to Lanval. "Take your time but best be sure of what you wish to say..."<br />
<br />
Bonking Ouroboros with a gourd doesn't SEEM like it should hurt Marivel where swords not augmented by mystical light have failed but Lanval's Gourd slams into the back of Marivel's head and smashes it to the arena floor, cracking it. The Ouroboros shakes its head from side to side rapidly.<br />
<br />
"Ah, it is heavy with mirth, then?"<br />
<br />
She starts pulling her head back when Avril appears and recognizes her--despite not seeing the transformation take place.<br />
<br />
Ouroboros snaps back suddenly, all eyes on Avril.<br />
<br />
"...Do I even need to, Avril?" Ouroboros counters. "They are actively seeking to destroy the very planet I live on. Destroying your people would be self defense as it presently stands but THAT Answer can yet be averted, Avril." Her eyes slant into thin slits. "But I suspect you are actually closer to the Answer than you might suspect..."<br />
<br />
Avril unleashes the power of a blade of ice. The Queen of the Veruni slices her blade into the hide of the Queen of the Enenra. Marivel is able to shake Avril free by twisting her body about but it was a palpable hit... "I could not even save Yue. She is bound by stronger chains than I. Your people will force me to judge all ere I wish it." There is a mournful echo in the words. Marivel cannot hide her true self. Every word has to be how she truly feels. Maybe on some level--she just wanted to bare it out.<br />
<br />
Gwen has her theories but it's what Gwen says that Ouroboros speaks to. "Yes, I love you Gwen. Irrespective of pretense, you always lead with your humanity first. But..."<br />
<br />
The Goddess intercepts Gwen --- and is pushed back. Althena is clobbered right on the chin as Gwen, Super Courier, delivers a punch right against her cheek. The Goddess continues to smile for her, sliding back against the Ouroboros. "But what will you do when for all you fight your friends, they still fall before your eyes?"<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>The Goddess acts first. She raises her hand into the air, snaps again, and a scarlet moon coming down behind the Ouroboros. It charges up a blast and unleashes it towards Leo and Gwen, threatening to bathe them in painful crimson light before fading away.<br />
<br />
"Chrysopoeia Mode, how fascinating?" She beams.<br />
<br />
"My turn." Marivel says, snapping a claw of her own in imitation of the Althena Simulacrum.<br />
<br />
Time gets wild, particularly for Rixia, Margaret and Avril. Moments are stretched out, longer and longer until the three of them find themselves being pulled back towards positions they had been just moments before. Marivel then rises up into the sky, moving through darkness as if it were nothing before slamming her claws, crackling with dark energy towards the three of them!<br />
<br />
But Ouroboros doesn't linger long. It swirls around underneath the platform along with anybody still lingering upon her back before slamming against the bottom of the platform with such strength that it the very earth underneath Lanval, Zed, and Shige explodes upward into sharp and thick shards. Leaving the stage in the middle of a fight and ruining rotations?! She really is evil.<br />
<br />
But then Marivel spins back up, rearing back with her head.<br />
<br />
"Mariel," She says, "Please, I need to know..."<br />
<br />
And with that she breathes forward draconic flame towards her!<br />
<br />
Althena then raises Airgetlahm into the air and starts channeling power into it.<br />
<br />
"But for now... Face the ultimate magic...! ARC IMPULSE!!" The two shout together, the blade drawing power from both Althena and Marivel as she swings down with explosive force towards everyone...! But...!<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Marivel Armitage with Heroes!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's stances have changed to Hero!<br />
GS: Interrupt expired!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Marivel Armitage's Heroes for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Restore! Drowsy removed!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Rixia with Basic Relativity - Sands of Time!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with Basic Relativity - Sands of Time!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Basic Relativity - Sands of Time!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with Basic Relativity - Tera Break!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with Basic Relativity - Tera Break!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with Basic Relativity - Tera Break!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Basic Relativity - Drawing Down The Moon!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with Basic Relativity - Drawing Down The Moon!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Mariel with Intervention of Ouroboros!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.<br />
GS: COUNTER! Rixia counterattacks Marivel Armitage with Draw - Counter Magic!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Rixia takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Basic Relativity - Sands of Time for 281 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay and Drowsy applied to Rixia!<br />
GS: FP up! Charge bonus and Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Rixia enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Zed suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Basic Relativity - Tera Break for 226 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay applied to Zed!<br />
GS: Mariel accepts Mariel's Focus for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Basic Relativity - Tera Break for 156 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Basic Relativity - Sands of Time for 178 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: Drowsy blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!<br />
GS: Mariel solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Intervention of Ouroboros for 150 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Basic Relativity - Drawing Down The Moon for 69 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Margaret partially evades Marivel Armitage's Basic Relativity - Sands of Time for 131 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay and Drowsy blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Rixia's Draw - Counter Magic for 209 hit points!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
''ARC IMPULSE!!'' <br />
<br />
Marivel and her makeshift Goddess roar out in tandem, drawing the mighty simulacrum of Airgetlahm high into the heavens. Down it crashes-- <br />
<br />
--but-- <br />
<br />
Within the Abyss, there is a flash of light. <br />
<br />
It is blinding, like the crack of lightning. Every color of the rainbow sparks within the dark of this place for an ethereal moment in which everything is illuminated. Bolts of red and blue and yellow and green and purple and orange and everything in between crack through the air -- <br />
<br />
--and form into a single point of blazing white just before Marivel, 'Althena,' and their ultimate magic. The light fades away, within that diffusing haze of white. <br />
<br />
And in its place in the Abyss' shadow-drenched skies is the chosen Prime Lord of the Pentagulia's Goddess in all her green and gold splendor, the broad surface of her shield Pridwen bristling with an inky flow of color as it intercepts that Arc Impulse in a crackling surge of conflicting energies. <br />
<br />
Liath's expression is one of steeled resolve; her bright gold eyes narrow. <br />
<br />
"Marivel," she begins, voice strained against the weight she is warding. <br />
<br />
"This is not the way!" <br />
<br />
And with that, she -swings- that shield with -just- enough power to deflect the Arc Impulse, light CRACKING off a big boom of an explosion as she spears for Marivel, sword drawn and thrust in an inky swarm of rainbow colors. <br />
<br />
"And I will not stand to see you walk it a step longer!" <br />
<br />
</poem><br />
GS: Seraph Liath has attacked Marivel Armitage with Shimmer Spin!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage solidly guards Seraph Liath's Shimmer Spin for 84 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Marivel Armitage gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Seraph Liath!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Basic Relativity - Tera Break for 78 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
"I--I'm not, Miss Margaret... but it just hurts how often I end up having to fight people I care about," Rixia admits a little lower in tone to her, as the swordswoman of the Black Pearl steps up beside her. Leo is there to reinforce her as well, though quietly, she's unsure of what all happened in Filgaia, and how much Marivel is putting it on him. If she'd been there earlier, maybe she could know the further truth, but...<br />
<br />
She senses the spectre within Shige's lantern, and nods to the woman in the mask. "I'm here too, Shige. I'll help guard you."<br />
<br />
Lanval quietly notes the Malevolence, but he has something of joy too. She reflects on his wisdom from earlier -- to enjoy the little things in life. Yes. Just striving for warm milk bread and fresh socks (weren't those the other way around?)... to seek to have a little smile day to day... that's important too.<br />
<br />
Avril speaks of how her people left the world too. Would they be judged similarly? "Miss Avril..."<br />
<br />
There's a frightening eruption as time gets wild, and moments are stretched out... longer and longer -- and Rixia doesn't feel like her movements are her own. And then the claws slam through them while they're trapped, and Rixia's forced to only guard in turn, bearing the brunt of the attack with her gunblade and a shimmering shell of magic that bursts back towards Ouroboros in turn.<br />
<br />
Marivel calls for ''Arc Impulse'', the ultimate magic -- Rixia grimaces further and seeks to redouble her defences, but...!<br />
<br />
A gleam of light in the darkness comes. It is Liath, come to defend against the blast with her shield as it cracks off in a large blast. In awe for a moment, Rixia stops to breathe-- then redoubles her attention to Ouroboros -- Marivel. Then...<br />
<br />
"... I guess that's my answer today," Rixia answers Ouroboros in turn. "Does it have to be a capital A Answer I'll live with for the rest of my life? I don't know... that sounds really hard. What if I feel differently in a year? What if I feel differently in five years? Maybe I'll get bored of milk bread and only want to eat rice. Maybe I think socks suck after moving to a temperate place and want to wear sandals. Maybe I think being a Drifter's not for me anymore and I want to just be a botanist and care for plants...?"<br />
<br />
&gt;&gt; strategic level 2, synthesizing tactical data<br />
&gt;&gt; identifying threat patterns... targets acquired<br />
&gt;&gt; queries identified in dialogue pattern...<br />
&gt;&gt; [answers]<br />
&gt;&gt; determining logical outcome...<br />
<br />
A shimmering red and gold aura surrounds Rixia for a moment, soon establishing itself as a powerful barrier around which an otherworldly pattern appears. She's positioning herself in the van, ready to protect those behind her. Maybe this is, subtly, her answer. <br />
<br />
"I think... it's pretty enjoyable to find and try out answers... don't you think?" she speaks through bated breath, because time is heavy and she's struggling.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Rixia has attacked Rixia with Royal Guard!<br />
GS: Rixia enters a Counter stance!<br />
GS: Rixia has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Rixia gains 10 FP from her Daredevil!<br />
GS: Delay expired!<br />
GS: Rixia has completed her action.<br />
GS: Rixia heals Rixia! She gains 194 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Basic Relativity - Drawing Down The Moon for 83 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
<poem>"...Thank you, everybody..." Mariel did not expect so many to be willing to enter. Not behind her - she's no leader, and would never claim to be - but along with her, to reach Marivel where it is hardest. <br />
<br />
The presence of Malevolence, however faint and being slowly drawn away from her, is enough to make Mariel feel ill.<br />
<br />
There's the practical matter, of course: Mariel always feels nauseous around Malevolence, the foul energy completely at odds with her own. It's even more vile than her connection to the dying planet she loves, because she does not love it and feels it as the blight it seems to be.<br />
<br />
But worse is that it's being absorbed by Marivel, and not that alone. Attuned to the flow of energy in the world as she is, Mariel can feel it, even in this strange mental realm. And it both pains and worries her. <br />
<br />
If she holds that, deep in her heart... Mariel will just have to face it along with everything else.<br />
<br />
Everything else like, say, a dragon, reaching forward to peer at her. Mariel can safely say that in all her long life this has happened zero times in the past, and even knowing that it is Marivel it's a frightening thing. She starts to take one step back - and then consciously does not, stepping forward right back to where she was before. She deliberately plants her staff, more to prevent herself from moving away than for any other reason.<br />
<br />
Mariel bends down. She sets the phosphorescent bottle on the ground. It stays put for the moment, though it could tip over at any time and roll around. She meets Ouroboros' - Marivel's - eyes quite deliberately.<br />
<br />
"I didn't have an answer for a long time," Mariel says, quietly. "I was here to ... fix a mistake, an accident. When my brother Vassim did what he did - when he so hurt the world - all I wanted to do was heal Filgaia. I didn't have a future planned past that."<br />
<br />
"It was the people that came to see me - humans - who taught me that even if this world belongs to humans now, there's still a place in it for me... and you. Not as a memory, but as a living, growing thing. A flower that can grow in the desert, despite the struggle... a person who can live with hardship, despite their struggles... is the most beautiful thing..."<br />
<br />
She trails off. It gives Marivel the moment to breathe in, breathe out - Mariel is untouched by the spells of time but instead surrounded in a gout of flame. When it clears, Mariel is still there, still in the same place - she hasn't taken a step back, though she has hunched down to cover her face against her robe. Part of her robe is charred around the lower hem, and other parts are sooty with smoke, but she's still standing.<br />
<br />
"So that's my answer," she says, as if she hadn't stopped, and if she didn't hurt - her face is reddened from the heat. "For now. Life is growing. Changing. Being better. And ... tomorrow has to be able to be better than today." It may never get there. But it has to be &#42;possible&#42;.<br />
<br />
Marivel winds up the gigantic Airgetlahm. (It's &#42;not&#42; the Guardian Sword, Mariel notes in passing, or at least Marivel's memory isn't; it doesn't look the same as the times she saw it complete. So that answers that.) "No!" She raises her voice, this time. With what Marivel said about Arc Impulse, when they spoke about it, she knows that Marivel is drawing upon her [bonds] to power it - she must be - <br />
<br />
And it is stopped, by a shield carried by a Seraph. Perhaps Liath's bonds were stronger, or Marivel didn't have her whole heart into it. But it stops, and Mariel lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding.<br />
<br />
From her satchel comes what looks like a bunch of grapes. It looks like that because that's exactly what it is - but here, in this land of memory, the grapes sublimate, fading into energy that swirls away from Mariel, touching many hearts and bodies and energizing them. The lingering scent fills the air, of green growing things and ripe fruit, covering up the smell of dragon and ashes.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Mariel spends 1 Combo on Reload!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Rixia with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Seraph Liath with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Seraph Lanval with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Shige Kiwako with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Margaret with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked White Knight Leo with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Zed with Emperor Muscat!<br />
GS: Mariel has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
GS: Margaret accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! and Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
<poem>CLANG!!<br />
<br />
It's a simple way of life, the life Zed lives. He goes from one battlefield to the next, fighting according to his conscience and-- too often-- pure nepotism. But it's one that has served him well and won him many friends. For many, it's a life that could be said to be well lived.<br />
<br />
And yet Marivel challenges him-- what is his answer? What is at the end of the Dark Hero's path?<br />
<br />
"I have no idea!" Zed says with the biggest, widest, most absolutely in-the-moment-joyous grin. The ground itself turns against him, as if rebuking his utterly irreverent attitude. Regrettably, Zed still shares the Hyadean propensity to get ABSOLUTELY WRECKED by magic, though it's less bad than it once was. He's launched high, body riddled with shards of jet black stone. With a wad of quicksilver blood, he spits a pebble from his mouth and hurls himself ''down'' like a falling star. Doom Bringer, a blade that had witnessed the end of a world, shines like an inverted star, radiating a tangible, cosmic darkness into the abyssal void. "Don't get me wrong! I hope that I can live with no regrets-- that I can follow my conscience all the way to the end-- and that I can enjoy my life for as long as I can with everyone who I can share it with. But you're looking for an answer-- a singular &lt;&lt;thing&gt;&gt; that it all distills down to. And I say--"<br />
<br />
He strikes, delivering a tremendous overhead blow right at one of the demonic ''thing's'' wings. Curses flood out from the ancient blade, infecting not the body or the soul-- but fortune and destiny itself. But this is Marivel-- her destiny is already so dark, what harm would a little more shadow do? "--That I have no idea!"<br />
<br />
He kicks away, landing on a fragment of shattered landscape, floating upside-down in the abyss. "...The meaning of a life is not fully understood until it comes to an end. Any answer I can give to you now, even as I'm still living my life, would be incomplete, inaccurate and dishonest. I don't know what my life will mean for the world and its people when I leave it. All I can do is to do all that I can, reach as many lives as I can, and hope for the best! To worry about anything else would be counter to that goal! Nahahaha!"<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Zed accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! activated!<br />
GS: Rixia accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! and Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
<poem>Zed tastes purple.<br />
<br />
He glances around the void to determine what the source of this rejuvinating violet sensation might be, and upon espying Mariel, gives her a hardy, merry thumbs-up.<br />
<br />
Elw and Metal Demons, getting along? Living together??? This world has gone mad!!<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Zed spends 1 Combo on Poison!<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Unsealed Blade - Demon Breaker!<br />
GS: Zed has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Delay expired!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! activated!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<poem> <br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00YEOx-jx9Q<br />
<br />
As she twists and twirls, Margaret's eyes scan over the rest of the group. She has some time to wool-gather. Starlight Express's unexpected benefit, if you're the one using it: Time to think. Until it bursts your heart, anyway -- but that was with an older man, and he was tending to fat, besides. <br />
<br />
Shige, Rixia. Avril and Gwen. Alright, alright, Margaret thinks. We can work with this - the Ouroboros, Marivel, Althena, whatever her manifold names, speaks. Some of the words come to her, in particular. <br />
<br />
"Don't tell me what to do with my life!!" Margaret snaps back, with a sudden burst of heat. "I'll play the role I want to play and nothing else - I'm going to speak from my heart, and if it disappoints you, too bad! You can kill me if you have the guts, but I'm not -" <br />
<br />
Wait, Margaret thinks. Am I running backwards? She looks behind herself. "Going to let you call the script after all of this, missy! It takes more than a doughnut to buy my time on the stage--" <br />
<br />
A claw comes down! Margaret sees it, but whatever miraculous confluence of luck let her defeat a burning drill not so long ago seems to not be holding here. The claw may just move more simply, or be less telegraphed. Either way, Margaret manages to start moving in the right direction to be thrown clear, bruised, rather than smashed. The glow around her doesn't fade, but she doesn't get up for apparent seconds. <br />
<br />
(To her, it was longer. It hurt.) But when she rises, there is a flash of light - luminous seven-color hope - and Margaret gazes up at the Seraph Liath as she descends. The knight of promise, she thinks, perhaps. Or not. <br />
<br />
Margaret looks round. She might kill us, Margaret thinks. Even by accident. How long can I ride this rail? <br />
<br />
Her eyes rest on one of the people present. "Do you want an Answer with a capital An? Fine," Margaret says, kipping up and starting to run again. "Here's mine--" <br />
<br />
And with a swirl of fabulous light... <br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<poem> <br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdOWGZU3ktI <br />
<br />
Margaret's left hand, empty of her sword (for she sheathed it for a moment) clasps the upper arm of the White Knight. The nebula expands to take him around, as the world flows more slowly. MUCH more slowly. It feels a lot like drinking too much coffee. <br />
<br />
"Sorry," says Margaret, with wet cheeks. "This is selfish of me. Don't panic. I'll be fast." <br />
<br />
She swallows. <br />
<br />
"Leo," she says, without preamble. <br />
<br />
"I - I wanted to tell you that I've always looked up to you. But I don't know if that's the right way to put it. I've ADMIRED you. For as much as I loathe all of this hero-justice-goodness stuff -- it's always seemed like a millstone to grind good people into paste, so indifferent people can enjoy the benefits without having to be good themselves. I suppose it was immature of me," Margaret says, her eyes turned upwards, "and I suppose I was immature, too. I dreamed of ruling a city in the sky... and I did want to take it from your peer, from old big Borgan." <br />
<br />
Her eyes come down. <br />
<br />
"Everything's different now," Margaret says, "isn't it? There's good to go with the bad. I can't tell you what to do but I can hear the pain in your voice. I'm just some orphan from the streets, ultimately, however much Miss Ouroboros may chide me for it. But I don't care about her right now. I want you to know -" <br />
<br />
Her hand tightens for a moment. <br />
<br />
" - that throughout all of this - I've always been cheering you on. And so has - everyone else. Well, I can't speak for EVERYONE, everyone. But I can speak for about sixty people, Leo. My dear Hounds. And except for the new recruits on Filgaia -- and we've had people JOIN us, Leo, NEW people joined us, they WANTED to come with us, US! -- everyone -- all forty-one of us who ended up out there on Filgaia... All of us have always looked up to you. You may have been misguided, or stern, or strict at times, but you've always had your heart in the right place." <br />
<br />
Margaret's eyes come up to meet Leo's then. <br />
<br />
"Even here, even now. Even hearing about the Goddess, finding out things like this. Because all of that is true and it matters, but you know what, sir, so do I, so do all of them, and what's more, so do you. So if after this, you're tired of the whole Hero business - if you'd rather hang up your sword - come and join us. We have a village out there. Out in the bad lands no one wanted. But we took it back. We make game boards now, Leo - selling them on to the taverns in Filgaia - isn't that silly? But you should see them playing it -" <br />
<br />
"Just remember," Margaret says. "Even when everything burns, there's always another place for you. And I don't want you to have to stumble for it, if you seek it out." <br />
<br />
"Maybe that won't be how it goes," Margaret says, with tears on her cheeks, even if she's smiling. "Maybe you'll want to chase me and clap me in irons for desertion. You'd have a case. I won't sit still for it, of course. You'll have to run me out of Glenwood. Even if you do take that way, come to my village, eh? I'll buy you lunch." <br />
<br />
A silence there stretches for several subjective moments. Margaret then leans inwards, bringing her left arm up to pull Leo into a tight, ylang-ylang scented hug for a moment. Then to let go, or to loosen. There is space, perhaps for a reply.<br />
<br />
"Alright," she says. "Monologue over. You don't have to listen to anything I said. But I've always thought of you as a friend. There's my own arrogance. I'm going to let you go now -" <br />
<br />
Margaret relaxes her grip, the nebula retracting as Leo returns to something more closely related to conventional time. "Mind your step!" <br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
She had not seen it, but there is no mistaking it. Somehow, she already knows who it must be: it had come bubbling up from the depths without her having to so much as think on it.<br />
<br />
But that is the nature of the power of the Ley, is it not?<br />
<br />
The entire focus of Ouroboros is soon upon her.<br />
<br />
"I do not deny this," Avril says, gazing up at Marivel's many eyes. "Yet, this does not reflect the will of all of my people. There are some who wish to return to the world of their ancestors' birth and live as any might. I believe we may yet find another way to surmount our 'wall'." But it will take time. But it will require them to live true to their dream, even if it means sundering that of others. But she does not yet have the answer.<br />
<br />
But she does not yet need to present it, her answer. Her solution.<br />
<br />
She lands, having already opted to lend weight to her words by that show of force. This is her intention: she will not be turned from this path.<br />
<br />
"I, too, wish to save her. In this we are alike, Marivel. But, would you condemn her as well?"<br />
<br />
She may well condemn the lot of them -- the Veruni, the people of Lunar. Is her role now to be as judge to all creation?<br />
<br />
Time winds backwards and struggle as she might, Avril is inexorably dragged back to the place in which she had stood. Neither can she move as there comes down that shadowy strike from the claws of Ouroboros. She cannot help but cry out.<br />
<br />
Within the darkness, there is a flash of light. Is that...?<br />
Avril has seen her before, though they have had little opportunity to speak. Is that the Seraph...?<br />
<br />
And she speaks, and she delivers until Marivel her ultimatum.<br />
<br />
"..."<br />
<br />
Avril sets aside her blade, bringing forth her Medium which glows with its own inner light.<br />
<br />
"I can give you only my answer, Marivel. It is not the answer you seek, for it is my own."<br />
<br />
She brandishes her Medium; the scent of the sea joins the swirling impression of Mariel's muscat in the air and may well remind one of a fine glass enjoyed on the seaside on a warm, sunny day.<br />
<br />
"I seek only to travel, and to know." There is light from the Medium now; Lucadia's protections descend in full.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Margaret spends 1 Combo on Inspire!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Margaret with Premonition of Darkness!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked White Knight Leo with Premonition of Darkness!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
GS: Margaret accepts Margaret's Premonition of Darkness for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Surge applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: Margaret gains 2 Combo from Inspire!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Margaret with Tidal Wall!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Rixia with Tidal Wall!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Zed with Tidal Wall!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Tidal Wall!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Seraph Lanval with Tidal Wall!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Tidal Wall for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: Rixia accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Tidal Wall for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Rixia!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Tidal Wall for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo accepts Margaret's Premonition of Darkness for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Quick applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo gains 2 Combo from Inspire!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Zed accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Tidal Wall for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Zed!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: Margaret accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Tidal Wall for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: Delay! Attack greatly weakened!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Zed's Unsealed Blade - Demon Breaker for 152 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Marivel Armitage gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Poison applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Zed drains Marivel Armitage! Zed gains 73 temporary hit points!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<poem>Shige Kiwako shakes her head at the rebuke and says flatly, "Death isn't an answer, it's the end of a journey and the beginning of a new one." She shrugs. "Or were you hoping I'd be more than a guiding light to the end at the end of a tunnel?" <br />
<br />
The shadow is torn assunder, but was it ever really there? A lingering doubt? The manifestation of Shige's own life maybe. She's a ball of bad habits, but she's never decided a bunch of innocent people needed to be dragged in. <br />
<br />
"I'll ask you again. Do you even remember what you're accusing us of forgetting? What have you done to make sure they're not forgotten? Have you shared their stories? Inscribed their epitaph where others could learn it?" She steps forward, "Have you written their stories down? Have you shared their last words? Have you taught their dreams? Or are you standing there, pointing an indicting finger?" <br />
<br />
That shade and copies of it spread from where the first had been torn apart. Whispers, accusatory eyes. Pointing fingers of their own at both figures. A manifestation of her own frustration at this point. <br />
<br />
The fact that she's shouting down a dragon is definitely a combination of actual anger towards Marivel for... you know, the town and some alcohol. And a good amount of righteous indignation. <br />
<br />
The spikes jutting from the ground just catch her. Knocking her away rather than impaling which is preferable in any circumstances really. She does land on her feet though. Somehow. It's a cat thing, don't worry about it. She brushes herself off briefly, looking offended in only a way an annoyed feline could before stepping forward again. "I offered to learn more before and it wasn't taken." She's been knocked out of her indignation and once more, she might be a little more clear headed. Debatably. Those shades linger though. Staring. <br />
<br />
"I'll do whatever I have to, to keep these people safe though." she finally says, taking another step forward. Then another. She's terrified really, but what else is new.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Shige Kiwako accepts Mariel's Emperor Muscat for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: FP up! Mariel's Reload! activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Marivel Armitage with Haunted Ground!<br />
GS: Delay expired!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<poem> Lanval doesn't laugh at the almost comical report of his successful endeavor to apply a proper bonking. In fact, he overcommits a bit, whirling a few times in the follow-through and only catches his balance about the time it takes for the question to be asked about what it's heavy with.<br />
<br />
"Heavy with lotsha shtuff," Lanval answers, "that'sh the thing 'bout water... everything getsh in it, 'n I got a piece of the water that getsh everything in it riiiiight here."<br />
<br />
Beat.<br />
<br />
"But that ain't the Answer yer lookin' for, huh--" Comfortably conversational (...as a relative) circumstance does not last, because he is still standing before an immense beast continually feeding off of what he's going to call, for lack of a better learned term in the moment, 'everything spiritual.' Even outside of the time warping, looking at it is weird and alarming and distracting, as Ouroboros ''slams'' that platform and Lanval finds himself hurtled and tossed about sudden sharp stalagmites in as injurious a manner as a trip suggests.<br />
<br />
It is water's nature to be shaped by the earth containing it, after all, and for a moment Lanval is contained (and stabbed and bludgeoned, but mostly contained), when...<br />
<br />
Liath appears, preventing the Arc Impulse from making good on punching Lanval's ticket (...and everyone's), speaking their protest on the way Marivel steps. He sort of slithers and tumbles out clumsily from some of the jutting earthen spikes in its wake.<br />
<br />
"...Sorey's entrushtin' ush with a lot, here," both to himself and vaguely in Liath's direction. "...'n Maotelus too," of a Fell Dragon whose legacy and being is not yet clear to him but his anguish about the way the world has gone heartfelt.<br />
<br />
A hand rests against one of the jutting spikes, and he gets himself steady(-ish).<br />
<br />
It is here in this sequence that Mariel shares the sublimated grapes, and Lanval's eyes flash briefly in aquamarine as he considers the flavors, what sorts of wines could be made of the stuff. A warm smile, over in Mariel's direction.<br />
<br />
"Sho, are ya ready ta lishten yet?" He asks of all of Marivel. "'n I'm not takin' 'yes' for an answer! Ha ha ha!" Wait, what.<br />
<br />
As Lucadia's protections dawn upon him in the wake of Avril's declaration of her own answer - assertion that it's hers - Lanval's incantation is lost over some of the noise and declarations and heartfelt calls of the others, but not the name of the spell as a Seraphic Arte glyph forms underneath him. "Endless Flow~"<br />
<br />
There is a flowing river of water racing towards Ouroboros, heedless of the lack of barriers into the void. Water is just going to get everywhere&#42; in this nowhere, in some indescribable quantity where volume is not a concept that fully applies in the Abyss.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Seraph Lanval receives 100 temporary hit points.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Marivel Armitage with Endless Flow!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Punishment. Reward. The White Knight snarls, baring fangs as Marivel sinks verbal claws into him. Did he harm Spira because of his pain?<br />
<br />
"Yes," Leo says, his voice a strangled creak. "I still see Mi'ihen, and Luca, and Bevelle." Malevolence coils up his legs, and he bares teeth, his body going rigid in its cold embrace. "I know. I know that leads to ''horror'' that even the likes of you can't shake." Leo sucks in a breath; the 'air' of the void is cold, and stifling, but it animates him. "Does everything have to be a test? Does it have to be judgment?!" But it's so much ''grander'' if it is, isn't it? So befitting of the White Knight, the slayer of the Lord of Calamity, the hero of Heroes.<br />
<br />
The moon gleams crimson. Leo shifts his feet back, sweeps his sword up as he follows the swell of Marivel's sorcery. It moves, effortlessly, into the path of the beam, reflecting it harmlessly into the void beyond. The hilt of Leo's blade starts to grow cold and hot at once, but he holds on.<br />
<br />
Ouroboros and the mockery of Althena move in tandem. Leo's eyes shoot open. "BRACE!" he bellows, and he presses two fingers to the Crest around his neck--<br />
<br />
The faintest pulse of pearly-white is all he gets. The energy's exhausted. Leo's eyes widen.<br />
<br />
And then...<br />
<br />
"PRIME LORD!" Leo shouts, his voice ragged with fear. But Liath's shield holds, and in that anxious moment, someone grips his arm. He turns to face her. The world slows.<br />
<br />
"Margaret," Leo says, and his eyes mist. He recognizes the spell before he recognizes the person--really, wasn't she here all along? Didn't he know, on some level, that it was her? Leo listens. He can't hold back the tears. He's maybe more vulnerable than she's ever seen him. "I can't," he whispers, as he returns her hug, pulls her close. "But thank you." They let go, and the flow of time resumes with a shuddering pop. Some of Margaret's speed clings to Leo as he exits her pocket, and he blurs across the platform, leaping up, alighting momentarily on Ouroboros' neck and then jumping higher. Leo pivots at the apex of his leap, sucks in a breath, and descends, aiming to cut clean into the base of Ouroboros' skull.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Luminant Scythe!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Shige Kiwako's Haunted Ground for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Dispel! Hyper and Shield removed!<br />
GS: Hex applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Seraph Lanval's Endless Flow for 50 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
<poem> Liath enters and declares her Answer. Mariel is glad that everyone followed her in. Zed Zeds. Avril persists. Margaret is Margaret. Leo snarls. Lanval flows. All is a kind of energy, a heated vibration that pushes her on. <br />
<br />
This Goddess mockup smiles so gently at Gwen. Regret briefly flashes in Gwen's eyes as she jumps back from her advance, mutely continuing to her next move. The courier can't give an Answer now, unfortunately; with how the world is beginning to shift and turn in her mind's eye under the effects of her ARM, it's hard to speak, much less think too long on one given thing to the next. The world is flowing, and Gwen is a filament, an open wire. She leaps up, arcing in the air like a meteor.<br />
<br />
She has a delivery of utmost importance.<br />
<br />
Something tastes grape in Gwen's mouth-- Mariel? Yes, fighting, in her own way, on her own terms. It makes the crimson light she crashes through a smidge less painful, which she's grateful for.<br />
<br />
Her palms, filled with dusty gold, try to crash down on that serene face of Althena, in order to deafen some iota of the force of sorcery the two opponents have.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Ignis Fatuus!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards White Knight Leo's Luminant Scythe for 56 hit points!<br />
GS: Mighty applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage partially guards Gwen Whitlock's Ignis Fatuus for 91 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Mute Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Mute blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>The power of the Arc Impulse crashes against Liath. The eyes along Marivel's face widen in shock--the first moment where she hasn't been acting like everything was going more or less according to plan. Althena steps backwards and looks towards the Prime Lord as well, all attention on her as Liath strikes Marivel with a positive rainbow of power. Marivel yelps out in surprise and pulls back, hanging her head.<br />
<br />
"Liath..." Marivel says. "I thought .... We agreed... You were to take advantage..."<br />
<br />
A shakiness in Marivel's tone enters that wasn't there before. She always said that Liath was adept at staking her heart.<br />
<br />
"I don't understand..." Marivel says. "Why didn't I meet you... Ere my secrets drowned me...? The Answers I seek, do you have them, Liath? I ''want'' to have your Faith, yet I cannot find it. If Lord Blazer destroyed them, how can I expect them to handle what is to come? It is so much worse, Liath. I won't allow another apocalypse like that to come to pass!"<br />
<br />
Rixia asks if it has to be a capital A Answer. "Mm..." Ouroboros considers. "But tis still simple pleasures you desire, is it not? Will you find others?" Rixia then comes up with another answer. Enjoyable to try and find the answers? That the Answer is the pursuit of answers. The Ouroboros considers this response and can find no fault with it. "Yes... It has often seemed that way..."<br />
<br />
Mariel has yet another Answer. And of course like all answers, it is only for now but Marivel considers the words all the same. Mariel reminds Marivel of smells that she had once thought utterly lost forever. In a way, that expresses through scent what words fail to find. "Mariel... I've been struggling for a long time. How do I escape the moment? Even now, I remain in the Memory Maze. Yes... I am here to fix a mistake. Just like you--but you have found the strength to escape past that Truth into the unknown?"<br />
<br />
Zed is also honest. He says he has no idea but there is still yet hope. Marivel considers his words for a moment and then adds, "Perhaps I ought to have said 'Answers', have I allowed my poetry to get away from me? Well, Zed..."<br />
<br />
"That is a Correct Answer." Marivel says. And she, wholly subsumed by fate and destiny, is fiercely wounded by the Cursed Blade as it digs into the Dragon's hide. Marivel hisses through it, grinning through many fangs as Zed's enthusiasm infects her. Some part of her just digs the FIGHT.<br />
<br />
Margaret tells her not to tell her what to do with her life. "More like it!" Marivel taunts her.<br />
<br />
But she watches as Margaret tells Leo how much she admired her but she can't listen to the whole of it as Avril comes in.<br />
<br />
Would she condemn Yue? "No." Marivel says honestly. "I cannot."<br />
<br />
Avril gives her an answer. "Are you certain...?" Marivel says. "That is so different from my Answer?"<br />
<br />
They're empowering their defenses, she realizes. Do they intend to simply weather her until she tires out? It isn't the worst plan.<br />
<br />
"A Guiding Light is exactly what I expect you to be, Shige."<br />
<br />
Shige asks her if she remembers what she is accusing others of forgetting. Marivel says, "Do you listen?" to Shige. "Everyone has things they have forgotten. I certainly don't expect the living to remember the ancient dead. What do you think this is about Shige? Those who do not learn the mistakes of the past repeat them not unlike a serpent eating its own tail, just as shamans who cannot give comfort and assurance to the dead are ill deserving of Ge Ramtos."<br />
<br />
This time the shades linger around her, Marivel doesn't feel the need to make a point again and the shades rip free invisible augmentations.<br />
<br />
Lanval unleashes his waters against the endless serpent. "Water is not endless..." Marivel murmurs. "Only mud is eternal." She has her own faith.<br />
<br />
Lanval isn't going to take yes for an answer so Marivel doesn't give him that.<br />
<br />
Leo asks if everything has to be a test, a judgement? "....I cannot risk a lack of preparedness." Marivel admits. "GUHH..." the GUHH comes from Leo slamming his blade into the back of the Ouroboros. She sways unsteadily for a spell. "If you knew what was coming, if I could tell you... You'd think I wasn't testing enough..."<br />
<br />
Gwen slams her own fists into Althena. The gentle smile doesn't fade. Like all she wants is for Gwen--not to prove herself, exactly, but to SHINE. To LIVE. To JOY.<br />
<br />
"Every moment delivered," The Goddess says. "Is a blessing." She pushes off of Gwen, Elw ears twitching as she moves further back off towards the tail end of the Ouroboros.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>Marivel's body crashes into the platform, causing it to SPIN AROUND VERTICALLY. This seems less intentional so much as a biproduct of the Ouroboros crashing into it.<br />
<br />
Marivel does not let up on the assault. The Ouroboros chants in an alien tongue channeling multiple spells into a singular moment. Rocks come crashing down towards Rixia, Margaret, and Avril. Then Fire bursts out from underneath their feet. Then Air slashes at them before transmogrifying into water that comes crashing down from above before repeating again and again until the Spell Loop is broken.<br />
<br />
Lanval, Shige, and Zed are assaulted not by the Ouroboros this time but rather Althena herself. She summons that moon again, this time from above as it blasts down quick and repeated scarlet light towards the three of them. "Is it time to listen? But you can only reach out your hand, you cannot force one to take it."<br />
<br />
Then Althena grabs for Gwen, laughing heartily as she leaps from Marivel, intending to leap into the air and just pile drive her into Leo! "Brilliant...!"<br />
<br />
Marivel pushes back up, slower this time as she gazes at Liath. Questioning. Wondering. Seeking. She turns her gaze to Mariel. Wondering. Questioning. "Why did you come here?" She asks, more for Liath.<br />
<br />
And she doesn't attack them--but the Simulacrum does. She swings Airgetlahm in wide--almost amateurish arcs towards Mariel and Liath--but it's the POWER behind each strike that is concerning. It's like getting punched by Xantia.<br />
<br />
"...Sakura always said I never understood... That I could not understand..." Marivel murmurs. "I thought I understood her, but then she suddenly... hated me so much again... Perhaps I simply cannot walk with humans after all."<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Rixia with Intermediate Relativity - Spells On Loop!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with Intermediate Relativity - Spells On Loop!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Intermediate Relativity - Spells On Loop!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with Intermediate Relativity - Mobius Moon!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with Intermediate Relativity - Mobius Moon!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with Intermediate Relativity - Mobius Moon!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Advanced Relativity - Fearless Goddess Wandering The Night!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with Advanced Relativity - Fearless Goddess Wandering The Night!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Intermediate Relativity - Spells On Loop for 187 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Margaret gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Dispel! Quick, Shield, and Surge removed!<br />
GS: Delay and Interrupt applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Charge bonus activated!<br />
GS: Margaret enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Margaret has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Mariel with Shadow of Airgetlahm the Guardian Blade!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Liath with Shadow of Airgetlahm the Guardian Blade!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Marivel Armitage with Redress!<br />
GS: Zed suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Intermediate Relativity - Mobius Moon for 200 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Zed gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Infect! Debuff durations extended!!<br />
GS: Dispel! Infect! Shield removed!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Marivel Armitage's Redress for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Regen and Surge applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes 28 damage from Poison!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage gains 61 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Mariel takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Shadow of Airgetlahm the Guardian Blade for 87 hit<br />
points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Mariel gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Intermediate Relativity - Spells On Loop for 172<br />
hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Avril Vent Fleur gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Dispel! Quick and Shield removed!<br />
GS: Interrupt applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Shadow of Airgetlahm the Guardian Blade for 64 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Advanced Relativity - Fearless Goddess<br />
Wandering The Night for 100 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! White Knight Leo gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Delay and Slow applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Rixia solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Intermediate Relativity - Spells On Loop for 151 hit points!<br />
GS: Dispel! Riposte and Shield removed!<br />
GS: Interrupt applied to Rixia!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Charge bonus activated!<br />
GS: Rixia has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Advanced Relativity - Fearless Goddess Wandering<br />
The Night for 233 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Slow applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Intermediate Relativity - Mobius Moon for 84 hit points!<br />
GS: Infect! Debuff durations extended!!<br />
GS: Dispel! Infect! Shield removed!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Intermediate Relativity - Mobius Moon for 89 hit points!<br />
GS: Infect! Debuff durations extended!!<br />
GS: Delay applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval used Force Action: Mystic on Mariel! FP up!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Rixia receives a grape from Mariel, through the power of magic -- and she goes, "Mmmm!! Wow, that's so... delicious, and juicy, and tasty... is that a grape? I haven't ever had a grape before!" she just wholeheartedly exclaims to the Elw, because sometimes, you just really need to appreciate things. Avril's power, too, washes over her. It fills her with strength, that wall of water.<br />
<br />
She has to regard what Margaret speaks of, though, because it resonates with what she's struggling with. Of how it's a millstone to grind good people to paste... was that immature of Margaret? ... was it immature of herself, too?? Margaret wasn't talking to her but she kinda wants to make board games too... when she's tired of being a ''hero''...<br />
<br />
"If he's silly enough to do that -- which he won't be -- I'll break you out in turn, Miss Margaret," Rixia huffs in turn. "Also, I want to make board games too, sometime. I love the colourful little wood meeples they have... it's so silly every time they talk about how their sheep got stolen, but I can't help but grin... they know what they're on about."<br />
<br />
Rixia listens to Marivel's response in turn. "It's simple pleasures... but... Lanval's taught me that it's important to take the little, simple things in life. Of course, it's not like you're wrong either. I get it. I mean, if we didn't have people who could see the big picture... I mean, for instance, what if I ate every single grape in the forest because I liked it so much, and everyone started joining in, and there were no grapes left? I think a lot of that kind of thing has happened..."<br />
<br />
She doen'st get to finish, because Ouroboros crashes on the platform and rattles her, and then rocks come down to try to crush her -- but there's another magical shell that protects her from the worst of it. It's not done, though -- Rixia leaps to one side to avoid the fire, trails of embers sparking at her clothes; and then a slash of air and water.<br />
<br />
&gt;&gt; ...<br />
<br />
"It's important... I think both's important. Marivel... do we have to keep fighting right now? I'm so scared at what's going on here, in Pentagulia. I feel like something really bad's about to come down. ... I'd rather have you at my side for it."<br />
<br />
The elements come with a crash, and Rixia--<br />
<br />
&gt;&gt; answers: searching<br />
&gt;&gt; answers: searching<br />
&gt;&gt; answers: searching<br />
<br />
--Rixia's just not there anymore. Marivel sees a certain cat-shaped microphone hovering in the air for a moment, then it disappears.<br />
<br />
The fox girl has reappeared several paces to the side. "... hehe. I've been practicing with your gift. Do you like it?"<br />
<br />
&gt;&gt; query: [answers]<br />
&gt;&gt; user response: [socks] [grapes] [board games]<br />
&gt;&gt; evaluation of user response: illogical.<br />
&gt;&gt; cannot return satisfactory answer to query.<br />
&gt;&gt; ... ...<br />
<br />
Rixia doesn't even notice the shift in what the Sleeping Lion is evaluating, but she darts back in turn. "I can play with a bit of fire too!"<br />
<br />
In the peak of her jump, she rears the gunblade back and throws her whole weight into a wrenching, spinning swing -- and glyphs of fire manifest in her wake, one for each arm of the clock. When she hits 'twelve'--<br />
<br />
"Burst, Fated Circle!"<br />
<br />
They explode.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Rixia has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Rixia has attacked Marivel Armitage with Fated Circle!<br />
GS: Rixia gains 10 FP from her Daredevil!<br />
GS: Drowsy expired!<br />
GS: Rixia has completed her action.<br />
GS: Mariel has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
<poem>A Correct Answer, or as correct as any Answer can be when the question is Life. Zed's grin widens just a tiny fraction, his spirit swelling with the thrill of battle. He is a Hyadean, after all. For that warlike race, the rush of conflict is not a negative thing. It's a matter of competition, of self-improvement, of finding a moment of meditative self-awareness and self-actualization in the crucible of combat.<br />
<br />
And Zed's exhuberence is, as ever, infectious. Despite the dire circumstances, he just can't help but to enjoy himself. That is, maybe, his secret to a life well lived.<br />
<br />
Or maybe he's just a battle-crazy fight maniac who can best communicate his true feelings not with words but with the clash of blades and the interplay of fist and foot.<br />
<br />
(Someday, he and Rokurou Rangetsu will meet and they will engage in a roiling battlefield bacchanalia the likes of which Filgaia and Lunar had not witnessed in at least an age.)<br />
<br />
But for all that he's enjoying himself, he certainly does not enjoy the moment of &lt;&lt;pain&gt;&gt; when a cascade of crimson light slams into him. Again, she exploits that critical weakness of all Hyadeans-- they're all kind of crap when it comes to dealing with sorcery. Zed grits his teeth through the pain, and in the moment it seems as though he's grinning.<br />
<br />
"Nnnngh," he grunts, lifting his blade over his shoulders with a sound of exertion. "What's the deal, goddess lady? I'm having a great time fighting a hyperdevil here...!" Doom Bringer ignites, blazing a fiery, citrine green as Zed leaps--<br />
<br />
And comes crashing down, shining sword swinging hard, into the image of the Sword Goddess. At the instant of impact, it erupts, exploding in a cavalcade of blinding shades of green and gold. "Though I guess I can have a good time fighting a goddess too! Ahahahaha!"<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Zed spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with RayBlade - Zed Saber!<br />
GS: Zed has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
GS: Interrupt! Attack weakened!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Rixia's Fated Circle for 62 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Rixia drains Marivel Armitage! Rixia gains 41 temporary hit points!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
<poem>Mariel has never been more relieved that she isn't doing this alone. Marivel standing alone... only [bonds] can stand against it. And though Mariel does not know everyone here, she knows enough, and their purposes are united. She can feel, distantly, as people's hearts do not become one but come into alignment: Margaret and Leo, Zed and Gwen, Rixia, Avril Shige, Lanval, Liath - all of them.<br />
<br />
She treasures the feeling. It feels good to be united.<br />
<br />
'How do I escape the moment?'<br />
<br />
"I don't know," is Mariel's immediate response. "But we can find out." Every moment delivered, every moment lived, is a blessing. Marivel's memory has that correct, even if Marivel herself does not.<br />
<br />
Mariel is searching for something else in her satchel when Marivel charges in. It's not even aimed at her, precisely; the platform is merely slammed into by Ouroboros, causing the whole thing to swing and spin dangerously. Mariel wishes, as she so rarely does, that she had her hands out of her gloves; she could grip better then. <br />
<br />
Here and now all she can do is cling to her staff, which has anchored itself somehow - it refuses to move, and when the platform spins all the way around she hangs off it, legs dangling in an undignified fashion. She's just glad that the platform returns to right-way up in time for her to land on it again, practically faceplanting.<br />
<br />
Mariel rolls. It's a reflexive movement and one that saves her from the arcing Airgetlahm. Mariel has no idea how to use a sword, and not much more of how to stop someone from using it on you; she ends up circling around her anchored staff, using it as cover, because it seems as sturdy as a massive tree. It can take strikes with barely a chip that would practically throw Mariel off the platform if they connected with her solidly. <br />
<br />
Once, the Guardian Blade touches her, and for an instant Mariel feels it; the connection through Airgetlahm, through its bonds to Marivel. She reaches for it, an Elw's reflex - <br />
<br />
Marivel can, for an instant, feel Mariel more than she could before. Just a sense of presence that is indefinable and lasts only for an instant, but it is there nonetheless. There's sadness, and hopefulness, and determination, and...<br />
<br />
Mariel, who was expecting it, is not slowed down by it. She finally finds what she wanted - an apple, brightly coloured, almost unnaturally so. It looks like candy, rippling through red and blue and yellow and green, and its power is released the same way as the graple but more intensely. A sheer burst of energy flows through the unity of purpose, less reinvigorating and more empowering.<br />
<br />
It seems that though Mariel cannot strike Marivel, she does want this to end. Perhaps this is her determination.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage used Force Action: Mystic on Mariel! FP up!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Zed with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Rixia with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked White Knight Leo with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Seraph Lanval with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Shige Kiwako with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Margaret with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Seraph Liath with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Mariel with Status Apple!<br />
GS: Mariel has gained 4 Combo!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Margaret accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage critically guards Zed's RayBlade - Zed Saber for 54 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Zed accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Zed!<br />
GS: Zed enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Rixia accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Rixia!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
<poem> As Gwen is grabbed by Althena, she manages an answer.<br />
<br />
"...Uh--!' Surprise, bewilderment, vexation at Althena's eternally beneficent demeanor. This is, after all, the closest Gwen's been to really seeing the Goddess Althena, outside of statues or artistic renditions. While it's combined partially with parts of Anastasia, Gwen would be unable to tell what's really changed.<br />
<br />
It's unfortunate that this is the one that's pile-driving her into Leo.<br />
<br />
"--Guhhk!" Gwen's body is a great blunt force weapon, as it turns out; her frame, while deceptively lean in many parts, is packed with muscle just from hauling that ARM around and adjusting her balance for it.<br />
<br />
Too bad for Leo.<br />
<br />
Reality slows down. Her brain, meanwhile, refuses to. It just makes the disconnect between brain and body &#42;worse&#42;. This mode had always been a tightrope act for Gwen, a balance between response and her ability to keep up with it. It just might go downhill from here, except--<br />
<br />
The minor miracle of Mariel's marvelous apple.<br />
<br />
&lt; Optional BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhHrFfT-Xxs<br />
<br />
If Leo's day wasn't bad enough, Gwen isn't of much mind to at least be polite about what she's about to do next.<br />
<br />
The courier springs up into the air, using poor Leo's body as a launching pad. Where before she used her palms, Gwen uses her entire body, intending to slam straight down on Althena the same way she just piledrived into Leo. <br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Snipe!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock spends 2 Combo on Headshot!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Jarngreipr!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage critically guards Gwen Whitlock's Jarngreipr for 47 hit points!<br />
GS: Jam blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Seraph Liath!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Leo refuses the call, and Margaret sees him go. He leaps off. <br />
<br />
Margaret stands there for a moment. <br />
<br />
"Ah," she says, to herself, rhetorically. "But that's not quite true, is it? But I'll take a little white lie. Because it's not that you can't. I can see both of your legs, Leo. It's that you &#42;won't...&#42;" <br />
<br />
Margaret's head tilts forwards. <br />
<br />
"Yet," she concludes. <br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPXIgEAGe4U<br />
<br />
A seaside smell in the air. The taste of sweet, too-sweet grapes in her mouth. Margaret's eyes close for a moment. She slides her right hand back into her dress pocket and walks forwards, taking a deep breath and letting it out. She approaches Marivel. <br />
<br />
As she walks, her head turns to look at Rixia with surprise. "Ah! You were listening?" A beat - "-- I don't know what you mean, but..." Margaret's left hand points towards Rixia, across her bust because Rixia's on her right. "I like how you're thinking, darling!" <br />
<br />
"You're welcome in my crew as well." <br />
<br />
And somehow it feels like a victory. Maybe that's her real Answer. <br />
<br />
Back to her walk. Margaret's eyes stay forwards. A slam spins the ground and Margaret has to jog-slam-dance in place. Margaret strides forwards. Rocks fall; she doesn't die, although her efforts to kick them aside with her reinforced running boots is somewhat indifferent. Margaret is bruised by the time she's through the first wave of the storm, but she's making a &#42;point&#42; here, damn it. What are a few bruises to an immortal moment? <br />
<br />
Margaret sweeps a hand through her hair. "What I don't UNDERSTAND about these tests is..." <br />
<br />
"Where's the preceding CLASSES?" Margaret continues. "It's a test in what sense, exactly? I mean this is hardly rigorous. Granted that whatever enigma lurks in the truth of the goddess is going to be something we don't understand, and it's not like this is the yearly qualifications for your Silver Magus degree, but what if we came through but half of us were crippled? I mean, these battles aren't a joke, and even my Starlight Express can only carry me so -" <br />
<br />
THUMP; A rock smashes against her shoulder. "gh... So far. Point exactly." <br />
<br />
But Mariel's there. Mariel, who she did make a promise too. A fruit-flavored burst of energy washes out over Margaret, and she looks towards her. "... I think I get you," she says to Mariel. <br />
<br />
(Alright, Margaret thinks: Rescue attempt. I don't need both hands that badly, do I? It's not like I have to pull her loose.) <br />
<br />
"So, Ouroboros!" Margaret says, raising her left hand up. "I'm going to teach you a lesson of my own. Why don't you -" She puts her hand to her mouth: "Take a seat?" And then she flicks it outwards, with a wink, in a purple-pink heart that flies through the air. <br />
<br />
IT IS A LIE. THE KISS IS A SPELL. The blown kiss is a trigger on the greatest extension of edge-case enchantment that the Hounds of Hell, who certainly didn't have anything better to do with their time before going into the bartop gaming industry, were able to extend the boundaries of the white polarity of Althenic magic. The spell enhances; it supports; it buoys things... the same way that mushrooms enhance perception, or that ten cups of coffee support running, or that an explosion buoys a dandelion seed. <br />
<br />
On contact comes spectacular and surreal hallucination -- <br />
<br />
And that's when Margaret dives inwards, aiming for whatever seems to be the most central part of the great Ouroboros. Carving and slicing didn't work? How about - <br />
<br />
"ATATATATATATATA" <br />
<br />
Stabbing? Skewering, twisting at each one, aiming to carve between and pop loose scaling? To reveal a tender belly that has been held close and cherished, perhaps since long before any of them were born? Well, she &#42;was&#42; invited to own her villainy, wasn't she? <br />
<br />
</poem><br />
GS: Margaret spends 1 Combo on Link!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Illusion Kiss!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has launched an attack Link!<br />
GS: Delay expired!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Are Liath's bonds stronger? <br />
<br />
She wouldn't say so. But for the people who matter to her? <br />
<br />
The Seraph's bonds are as unbreakable as they are irreplaceable. And she would walk through heaven and hell for them. <br />
<br />
If anything... it's because of the strength of both hers and Marivel's bonds that she overcomes. <br />
<br />
With that spinning stroke of her rainbow-coated blade, the Light Seraph lands with a smooth click of armored heels upon the platform. Her blade snaps to the side, her shield held close, her eyes shut. <br />
<br />
''I thought .... We agreed...'' <br />
<br />
"Oh? Ought I just use you to my own advantage, like some paltry decoy? I seem to recall you despising being used so." <br />
<br />
Liath's eyes open, as she stares straight upward at the grand, terrifying Ouroboros that Marivel has become without so much as flinching. <br />
<br />
"You are no distraction to me, Marivel, and I shall not treat you as one. <br />
<br />
"You are my friend." <br />
<br />
Memories of rejuvenative grapes and fresh apples fills the abyssal air with their scent. A being of pure spirit herself, the scent of fresh fruit budding on the vine is more than enough to bolster the Prime Lord's essence, the pastel prism splendor of her sword intensifying in its shining, liquid-like majesty as she turns her head to regard Mariel, tipping her head. <br />
<br />
"You've my gratitude, my lady," offers the Seraph sincerely, as she looks back toward Marivel and the makeshift Goddess she has crafted. <br />
<br />
"White Knight," is her simple, if warm, greeting for Leo -- after all, he has something of his own to deal with, with Margaret. Despite herself, a small but radiant smile touches on Liath's lips as her fingers tighten around the hilt of her sword. Fond. <br />
<br />
And it is that same fondness that she brings to Lanval and the half-murmured words he offers, even as the Ouroboros begins its offensive once more. <br />
<br />
"They entrust it with you because they have faith in you, Master Lanval. In all of you," is her answer, even as her body lowers, even as that gilded gaze focuses upon the approaching form of the spectre of Althena. <br />
<br />
"No matter what ugliness might exist in this world, no matter what the genesis of it, they believe in the life here, enough to bet all they have on it." Her stance widens in readiness. <br />
<br />
"As do I." <br />
<br />
The Airgetlahm swings, and the Joyeuse is there to meet it in a parrying stroke; the blow is easy enough to predict, but the sheer power behind it is overwhelming. So much so that it swings Liath's sword wide, its rainbow colors bursting backward in a prismatic arc with every countering blow that numbs Liath all the way up to her shoulder. With the last, she is blown -backwards-, flipping through the air with a flutter of green coattails as she lands in a skidding crouch across the platform. <br />
<br />
Why is she here? Does she have the Answers Marivel seeks? <br />
<br />
"... Because I have come to my own conclusion, Marivel. And it has led me to stand on this side opposite you. Not for them," Marivel knows it cannot be for them. <br />
<br />
"For you." <br />
<br />
Liath stands. She lifts Joyeuse up, the blade humming with Althena's magics as she stares straight ahead upon that simulacrum. <br />
<br />
"I cannot give you the Answers you seek, Marivel. But I know this: you will not get the Answer you -need- like this. You will not from the one who sits on Pentagulia's throne. You cannot." <br />
<br />
Is she denying Marivel's wants? Maybe. But... <br />
<br />
"This spectre is an albatross 'round your neck, Marivel. And I will see it cast out, lest it weigh you deep into the muck!" <br />
<br />
The point of the sword taps Liath's forehead. And beneath that forged form of Althena, sigils of the Goddess' magic form, complex and ebbing with gold-cerulean energies. <br />
<br />
"Thou who wouldst take revenge, <br />
carve here thy holy seal!" <br />
<br />
Ebbing brighter and brighter... until it ERUPTS in a chasm of blinding, beautiful light. <br />
<br />
"Eclair de Larmes!" <br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Twisting Flurry!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Interrupt expired!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
GS: Seraph Liath has attacked Marivel Armitage with Eclair de Larmes!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<poem> Lanval doesn't get a 'yes' answer and is happy that he doesn't have to reject it. A small joy to hang onto in a pitched time within an empty place where the thrum of spiritual energies about this are Malevolence and other assorted sundries of spiritual corruption and wrongness across some sort of negative rainbow spectrum.<br />
<br />
The crashing platform flips Lanval up, and he's in a rough place to deal with Althena as Marivel remembers her, the summoned moon blasting scarlet lights that he spins, twists, flips, and does his best to avoid. For the most part, he does - at expense of Lucadia's protection, which fails and fizzles out as the explosive impacts eradicate it and leave him a little singed in his wake. Somewhere, he sips on the gourd's contents before landing.<br />
<br />
"That ish true, ain't it? Shoemtimesh... ya got people who dunno the hand ish there, or what they can even do with it." <br />
<br />
Lanval wipes his mouth and flicks a hand out - the droplets spiritually nebulizes into elemental power along the motes of power shared with him, returning some of Mariel's shared essence of the grapes in turn as vapor still rises from him where the heat of the moon's blasts still yet singed him.<br />
<br />
He listens to Marivel's murmuring. "Mmm... I never met or knew Sakura," Lanval states the obvious as he seems to detach, somewhat, from the surrounding drama and yelling of those screaming their answers and insisting their places and desires, "but bashed on what ya told me not that long ago... I might have an idea."<br />
<br />
How can a 570-odd year-old elemental spirit that never lived those times, never truly knew Althena, or even met Marivel prior to a few years ago, have an idea? Does he? He's been refusing to share - at first out of politeness for letting others be heard, but...<br />
<br />
Mariel's prismatic apple washes through him, compounding on the wonder of the grapes whose very essence she shared with others... and Lanval just takes another drink of his gourd, a larger hit of it.<br />
<br />
"Yer gonna be ready ta lishten when ya got no choice but to," he says of the denizen of the Abyss whose shape would surround Lunar as it would consume itself, "ish what I'm thinkin'." It's a frightening prospect for anyone, this gap of scale, power, and breadth of time between herself and virtually everyone here, but somehow... the Water Seraph's composure and resolve holds, in this place, even where a simple errant tumble or mistimed flex of power can, and would, put a stop to his existence and anyone else's here.<br />
<br />
It cannot be in mirthful mockery.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Seraph Lanval with Liquid Courage!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Lanval accepts Seraph Lanval's Liquid Courage for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Margaret's Illusion Kiss for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Jam, Slow, and Weaken applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Guard bonus, and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Margaret's Twisting Flurry for 58 hit points!<br />
GS: Shieldbreak blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Leo alights on Ouroboros' neck, kicks off, and skids to a stop on the platform. Some of the disjointed time still clings to him, turning every movement into keyframes with most of the tweening cut out. It's a little eerie to watch. "Is that..." His voice is similarly disjointed, like it's fast-forwarding at points, but without any change in pitch. "...it? Just ''test after test''?"<br />
<br />
Leo rises from his crouch, whips around to face the false Althena. That voice is ''too much'' like hers, and--<br />
<br />
"Gwen--!" Leo stutter-leaps to the side, but Althena is damnably, alarmingly fast. Gwen slams into him, digs in her heels, and launches off his back. Leo sucks in a shuddering breath. He has to endure this. He ''has to''. "''Begone'', spectre!" he growls, and as Liath's sigils ignite, four ethereal light-blades form around his sword, circling it. Leo steps forward, sweeps out in a wide cut from shoulder to hip. All four of the phantom blades detonate at once, in a wash of blinding light.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
"There are many more like her in this world. That is what I believe," Avril says, gazing unflinching up at Marivel's many eyes. "When there is so much in the world that creates 'walls'... there will always be those like her. To rise up against that which binds us and shatter a 'wall' is no mean feat. Marivel... I admire your conviction. Yet, conviction alone... it cannot serve us!"<br />
<br />
This is what she has learned from her friends. Rebecca. Dean. Gwen. Kaguya. And so many others -- those who cannot choose and those who can alike.<br />
<br />
She shakes her head. "I cannot say. I only know that it is my own answer."<br />
<br />
Is it possible that this, too, is what Marivel desires?<br />
<br />
There is no room in the moment that follows to consider that further -- to follow up upon it. Ouroboros begins to cast spell after spell, and though Avril darts to the side to attempt to avoid the spell that follows, she accomplishes no such thing: the flame merely licks at her heels, but the shot of pressurized air slices into her body and water pours down from above. Driven to her knees by the onslaught, she can brook no defense against the spells as they repeat again, and again, the cycle ending only when Marivel so decides.<br />
<br />
She remains on her knees, both arms wrapped around her midsection. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Avril lifts her head to gaze up at Marivel.<br />
<br />
"Even so... one day my journey will come to an end. I..."<br />
<br />
There is light. It is a brilliant, revitalizing light, borne from a single perfect apple.<br />
<br />
Slowly, Avril rises to her feet.<br />
<br />
"But that... makes the now all the more precious!"<br />
<br />
With the Medium in one hand and her blade again in the other, Avril makes a short dash here in the darkness. When she leaps, she rises unnaturally high, her white blade catching the light of the many explosions of spells about her.<br />
<br />
Once. Twice.<br />
<br />
Her blade cleaves into the flesh of Marivel's Ouroboros.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: You have activated the Force Action Full Clip!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Radiant Blade!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Delay expired!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Marivel Armitage with Seraphic Soul!<br />
GS: Delay expired!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<poem>Shige's head shakes in response. "You're right. And I've learned from my past. I have the ability to stop some atrocity from happening again? I'm going to take it." She might be glaring at Zed as she says that, but she shifts her gaze back. "There's better ways to get your ticket punched." <br />
<br />
With the lantern held high, she continues, "And I don't intend on leaving your friend behind without making sure she not only gets where she belongs, but that this doesn't keep happening. You though." <br />
<br />
She does her best to sidestep and avoid the falling red light, wincing when she's hit squarely, but holding that light high anyway. "You're not out there with a friend that lingered just to help you. That clung to a cursed existence. Stop. Let's go and see her off together instead of whatever this all. Is." She gestures around. Scowling. <br />
<br />
The beacon is lifted again. Drawing on the less negative part of her thoughts. The ones hse's dredged up herself to try and protect the others. To make sure they're not also going to be taking the same one way trip Belle will be soon enough.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Margaret with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Mariel with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Zed with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Delay expired!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Shige Kiwako heals Margaret! She gains 238 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Zed! He gains 185 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Zed!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from White Knight Leo's Radiant Blade for 132 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Blind Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Blind blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Avril Vent Fleur's Seraphic Soul for 122 hit points!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Seraph Liath's Eclair de Larmes for 212 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 188 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>The Ouroboros stares at Rixia while she utilizes her own time manipulation--did she draw it with her power earlier? Or was it perhaps... "........................."<br />
<br />
".....I do like it," Ouroboros is forced to admit as it cannot lie in this place. But Rixia makes a different kind of offer in a way. Must they fight? She'd rather have Marivel at her side.<br />
<br />
But first she explodes a series of glyphs against Marivel's hide. Her scales---the scales of her soul?--they are starting to look a whole lot less invulnerable. The ravages of time may not touch her physically but explosions sure do.<br />
<br />
"Hey!" Althena says to Zed. "I'm glad you're having a great time! I'm sorry about Marivel, she's a total tsundere."<br />
<br />
"He doesn't know what a tsundere is--" Marivel shouts back to 'Althena'.<br />
<br />
"Oh she can't be honest with her feelings." Althena steps back before swinging Airgetlahm into the Zed Saber, pressing against it, still grinning wide without an ounce of hatred. Marivel remembers the people who compose this simulacrum a certain way.<br />
<br />
Mariel taps into the Guardian Blade herself, using it....<br />
<br />
"Yes...." Marivel murmurs. "Tis not a blade for cutting demons, but for uniting hearts at the cost of the wielder's soul."<br />
<br />
It might not be simply the assault weathering Marivel, but by wielding this blade she is gambling away her own essence. Unlike Anastasia, Marivel is not truly a suitable wielder--and even the reflection of the Guardian Blade is endeavouring to obey its rules. Marivel remembers how it works, and that is its own weakness.<br />
<br />
"There's no time left." Marivel murmurs sorrowfully. "The Time of Promise is upon us..."<br />
<br />
"Whuupp!" Althena shouts as Gwen takes hold of her, lifting her up into the air and slamming her into the ground, head first. "Watch the Ears!!" She complains, rolling through the strike and cricking her neck.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>"I love learning," Marivel says, turning her attention to Margaret. "Ah, well, I mean--tis hardly I to blame if you didn't attend class, Margaret. But I am scarcely the first to provide a Trial--indeed, this is actually my first." The others were just helping out a friend--more on that later.<br />
<br />
Margaret unleashes a kiss! "H-hey...! NOW?" Ouroboros says but no--the kiss IS A LIE. It's a spell! And Marivel sees something, in the hallucinagenic haze...<br />
<br />
"..." But she doesn't comment on it. She knows what she sees is not something that can truly exist in this place.<br />
<br />
Margaret stabs into her hide repeatedly again and again, tearing free loose scales, pools of shadow erupt out of Marivel with each successfully pried free scale. And yet...there's still so many on the elder wyrm. Maybe this fight isn't winnable. Maybe that's the point.<br />
<br />
Maybe Marivel wanted to see what you would do in a fight you could not win. To see how you face the End.<br />
<br />
Leo carves deep into Althena. An imitation of light is seemingly not resilient to it. Althena stumbles back, darkness and light intermingling as they pour out of her. They weren't ever really enemies.<br />
<br />
"Are you happy, Leo?" The 'spectre' asks. "Are you enjoying your life? You need not lose your sister for me. You need not lose your joy...for me. Live with a song in your heart, my son. That is...what I think I would have wanted for you. A vanguard against the Evil, but one who can smile."<br />
<br />
Marivel admits to Avril, "I have always admired you. How you have seized the life you wanted. It seems so effortless to me. What else must there be besides Conviction?"<br />
<br />
Even so one day Avril, who may be the oldest person here in fact, even her journey will come to an end. Marivel seems stunned by the admission--and then lets out a laugh. "Yes, Avril. That is certainly an Answer... I can't believe you of all people... You really are different--Dean, Rebecca...Is this thanks to you? I knew Dean was someone I could trust..."<br />
<br />
She cries out in pain as Avril's blades dig deep into her hide. Each strike is more than a blade against a normal person's flesh. Each strike scars Marivel's very essence, her soul. It hurts that much more.<br />
<br />
But yet, she stands.<br />
<br />
"My answer.... My answer was that life... is allowing ourselves..."<br />
<br />
"Allowing ourselves to step on fire."<br />
<br />
Shige's words finally reach Marivel. "...Belle... Off together huh...?" That's all she says, that's all she needs to say.<br />
<br />
Lanval tells her that she'll be ready to listen when she has no choice to.<br />
<br />
"That so..." Marivel says softly. "Then let's hurry that process up a little. You're killing me with the suspense." He doesn't know Sakura. Nobody does. But you can certainly guess what words an angry mortal after the end of the world might have for a so-called hero, couldn't you?<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>And Liath just...shatters the whole plan with a few simple words. With a plain truth that Marivel has shared with just about everyone here.<br />
<br />
Marivel never wanted to be the decoy. Marivel never wanted to be abandoned. And yet, for this moment, she gave Liath the opportunity to make her one, to do whatever she wanted while eyes were on her.<br />
<br />
And she didn't take it.<br />
<br />
Tears drift quietly from her eyes. "Liath..."<br />
<br />
"...My sister from another world. Of light, and yet... Yet when I see you, I..."<br />
<br />
Liath can see it, all of you can, a pulsing purple glow within the flesh of Armitage. A heart. A true heart. A nuclear from which the rest of Marivel spawned in the Abyss.<br />
<br />
Not for them. For you. And Marivel knows it to be true because if it was for them, Marivel knows, Liath would not be able to be here.<br />
<br />
Liath unleashes a blinding power. Marivel cries out again in true pain as it explodes around her and then...<br />
<br />
TIME HAS STOPPED<br />
<br />
When it resumes, the Ouroboros is gone. All that remains is Althenastasia hovering in the air, Airgetlahm in hand.<br />
<br />
And Ouroboros, far beyond the reach of the mortal--still in sight, but far away...<br />
<br />
Mariel and Liath stand alone on the Ouroboros's back.<br />
<br />
"Then do it..." Marivel gasps out. "Cleave it from my neck, for you two have always guided thy stakes to my heart!"<br />
<br />
And from Marivel surges out a stained glass creature--thoe who have seen the Sword Cathedral recognize this visage as the Stained Glass construct of Anastasia, this agony of Marivel's, this specter, this loss is pulled out of Marivel and raises a stained glass representation of Airgetlahm--<br />
<br />
--and then her face cracks away into the form of a skull as it swipes for Mariel and Liath!<br />
<br />
MEANWHILE<br />
<br />
Althena hovers into the air.<br />
<br />
"Without the aid of her companions..." Althena wonders aloud. "Can you bear the weight of the Arc Impulse, can you overpower it? Prove thy capable where she had failed so she can walk with you without trepidation?"<br />
<br />
She draws power from the denizens of Hell into the blade, the ones that come ever closer seeking your light.<br />
<br />
"ARC IMPULSE!!"<br />
<br />
And she swings the blade down. Only this time, Liath is not here to stop it.<br />
<br />
However...<br />
<br />
NO! I won't let you...!<br />
<br />
A visage of a long purple haired woman with an Airgetlahm of her own shimmers briefly into position--summoned from Marivel's true heart? Or Anastasia herself? It cannot be known. But she steps forward and blocks the Arc Impulse.<br />
<br />
"I cannot.... You must walk into the future... And live!"<br />
<br />
She dampens the power of the strike before flickering away again leaving you to deal with it.<br />
<br />
Except for Rixia who did not want to keep fighting. Hob and Nob pushed her out of the way and are now licking her face with robot kisses.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has become ENRAGED!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage spends 2 Combo on Headshot!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Mic Drop - Arc Impulse!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with Mic Drop - Arc Impulse!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with Mic Drop - Arc Impulse!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Mic Drop - Arc Impulse!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with Mic Drop - Arc Impulse!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with Mic Drop - Arc Impulse!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with Mic Drop - Arc Impulse!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Liath with Advanced Relativity - Saint Anastasia!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Mariel with Advanced Relativity - Saint Anastasia!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with When The Horizon Darkens Most!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with When The Horizon Darkens Most!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with When The Horizon Darkens Most!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with When The Horizon Darkens Most!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with When The Horizon Darkens Most!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with When The Horizon Darkens Most!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with When The Horizon Darkens Most!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Rixia with When The Horizon Darkens Most!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage heals Rixia! She gains 92 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Rixia!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Rixia with HOB AND NOB KISSIES!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes 25 damage from Poison!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage gains 64 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Enrage purges all positive status!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.<br />
GS: Rixia suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's HOB AND NOB KISSIES for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Rixia gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Mariel accepts Mariel's Status Apple for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Mariel! She gains 187 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Mariel solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Advanced Relativity - Saint Anastasia for 69 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Mariel gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Delay applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: Hex blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Zed solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Mic Drop - Arc Impulse for 170 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Zed gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Strain! Marivel Armitage takes 100 damage!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Avril Vent Fleur! She gains 189 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Mic Drop - Arc Impulse for 466 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! SOS Overdrive activated!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Strain! Marivel Armitage takes 100 damage!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage heals Zed! He gains 89 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Zed!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has activated Force Action: Accelerate!<br />
GS: You have activated the Force Action Accelerate!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Avril Vent Fleur takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Mic Drop - Arc Impulse for 188 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Avril Vent Fleur gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Interrupt expired!<br />
GS: Strain! Marivel Armitage takes 100 damage!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath partially guards Marivel Armitage's Advanced Relativity - Saint Anastasia for 95 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Liath gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Hex applied to Seraph Liath!<br />
GS: Delay blocked!<br />
GS: Margaret critically guards Marivel Armitage's Mic Drop - Arc Impulse for 81 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Margaret gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font activated!<br />
GS: Margaret enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Strain! Marivel Armitage takes 100 damage!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage heals Margaret! She gains 118 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Mic Drop - Arc Impulse for 260 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! White Knight Leo gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Strain! Marivel Armitage takes 100 damage!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage heals White Knight Leo! He gains 84 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Please react using the attack number in +queue.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage heals Avril Vent Fleur! She gains 88 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Mic Drop - Arc Impulse for 114 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Lanval gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Strain! Marivel Armitage takes 100 damage!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage heals Seraph Lanval! He gains 84 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
<poem>&gt;she's a tsundere<br />
<br />
"Oh??" Zed repeats, his eyes widening.<br />
<br />
&gt;he doesn't know what that is!<br />
<br />
"Actually I do!!" Zed puffs his chest out a little bit, which is remarkable considering he's presently locked in a blade to blade clash with (a recreation of) Filgaia's most famous holy swords. "I am ALL ABOUT those ancient Zeboim animes!! I know all the deres! Tsunderes, kuuderes, derederes, jonderes, the works!"<br />
<br />
And it's even true! The Photosphere had all manner of records aboard, and Zed had the best anime teachers to hand down all of their (blursed) knowledge. We can thank them for so much of what makes Zed... Zed.<br />
<br />
"Oh wait, but if you're a manifestation of Marivel's memories, then that means... Marivel... ALSO likes anime!?!?" Has he found another SWORN COMPANION this day? Truly, it is a blessed one! The clash ends with a burst of energy, sending Zed sprawling and tumbling across the void. "Tch, not bad... That sword isn't bad at all--"<br />
<br />
It shines with the light of the spirit, a radiance that Marivel must remember from a time long ago.<br />
<br />
But another moves to soften the blow-- one who Zed doesn't recognize. In an instant, she's gone just as soon as she arrived. And yet--<br />
<br />
There. An opportunity.<br />
<br />
"Hrrrah!" Zed roars, bringing the shining Doom Bringer up to cleave into the brilliant, blinding light. Radiance floods the world all around him-- even softened, the Ark Impulse is... incredible. <br />
<br />
But Zed is not alone. There are so many others here. The deathly specter of one who owes his kind nothing but scorn and hate. The envigorating energy of one of Filgaia's rare fruits, reminding him in the moment of his adopted homeland. Zed grits his teeth, braces his weight, and presses in. Doom Bringer, a blade of a long fallen world, blazes defiantly against the remembered light of a dying planet. It feels like an eternity, but--<br />
<br />
The light fades.<br />
<br />
Zed still stands.<br />
<br />
"Not... sure that counts... but...!" He steps forward-- and charges, rushing the goddess of the blade. He slashes-- Once, horizontally. A second time, diagonally. A third time, across again...!<br />
<br />
His initial hangs in the air for a moment, before Zed swings one last time, roaring--<br />
<br />
The -=Z=- flashes...<br />
<br />
And EXPLODES!<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Zed has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Zed has activated Force Action: Snipe!<br />
GS: Zed spends 3 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Split Ladle - Sakura Supernova!<br />
GS: Zed has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Zed gains 59 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Rixia breathes a soft breath as she feels Mariel's power flow through her, in the shape of an apple that kaleidoscopes in the sheen of the whole rainbow. Was the apple merely a metaphor for their unity, their bonds? She's not sure. But...<br />
<br />
"Um-- well, it's this game where you get sheep and trade it for other stuff," Rixia explains awkwardly to Margaret, but she tells her she likes how she's thinking. A bigger grin. "I wanna be part of the crew!"<br />
<br />
It does feel like a victory.<br />
<br />
Liath tells her that she doesn't want to treat her as a distraction. That she's her friend. "So many of them feel that way, Marivel..." She makes sure to listen to Lanval, too. People who don't know the hand they've been played, or that it's there in the first place...<br />
<br />
Is the ''now'' precious, as Avril posits? Rixia... Rixia believes in the present. The past is full of scars. The past is scary, full of dangerous, unfinished business that threatens to become her future. But the present is so fragile, so fleeting. Surrounded by so many people who hold such high hopes for the present, that it'll turn the future into a shining miracle...<br />
<br />
Can she believe in that?<br />
<br />
Rixia has bold words about how maybe she'll just like sandals in five years, or she'll get bored of bread. But she doesn't admit that a part of her wishes she could just love bread forever, and capture the moment, too.<br />
<br />
&gt;&gt; user thoughts incomprehensible...<br />
&gt;&gt; query is inconclusive at this point in time.<br />
&gt;&gt; more reference material must be gathered.<br />
<br />
A blinding light envelopes them all, and then--<br />
<br />
She can feel it.<br />
<br />
Time has stopped.<br />
<br />
Rixia glances around in that space for a moment, but she can't see anything. Light is in her way again. Light...<br />
<br />
When it resumes, however...<br />
<br />
She looks up to the Althena-Anastasia simulacrum too. "... you've only ever been a distant name to me, save that one time you showed yourself to everyone when I was little. I wanted to blame it all on you. Maybe that's unfair too. Marivel feels much more strongly about you... I don't understand everything. I don't know... but I'll figure it out, at my own little pace..."<br />
<br />
But she readies her blade. Can they endure this, without Seraph Liath's interference? Can she overpower it?<br />
<br />
Just as she's about to respond, Hob and Nob bops her out of the way!! She yelps and calls out, "H-hey! Cut it out! Oh geez, you two're too cute--"<br />
<br />
But she witnesses a visage of a purple-haired woman. Who is this? Is this the Anastasia Marivel has told her about -- but one of truth, this time? She doesn't know. If Anastasia were truly here, Marivel wouldn't have to suffer so much. But she blocks the strike, and urges them to... walk into the future and--<br />
<br />
"... ..."<br />
<br />
Rixia pats Hob and brushes Nob as well. "Sorry, I can't stay here..."<br />
<br />
&gt;&gt; user thoughts and actions illogical<br />
&gt;&gt; self-preservation chances have decreased<br />
<br />
The fox girl actually ''runs'' into the blade where the others are, drawing her gunblade out as she manifests her Junctioned magic as a barrier to lend the others. "I'm not going to sit idly by! Even if I don't understand everything, the journey to learn things is an answer in and out of itself!"<br />
<br />
The barrier immediately starts to creak and crack underneath the duress of those who seek their Light.<br />
<br />
"I'm scared of the past... I constantly fear for the future! <br />
Only a comfortable present brings relief and joy to me... <br />
But I know if I just sit there and let the world wash over me...<br />
Then I'll lose what little comforts I do have!"<br />
<br />
It's not enough to imitate Light.<br />
<br />
She has to become Light itself...<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Zed's Split Ladle - Sakura Supernova for 360 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
<poem>Mariel doesn't need to use the Guardian Blade to understand [bonds]. They are so integral to the Elw and how she views the world that it would be hard &#42;not&#42; to. Even now, she feels Marivel - though in this pocket of Marivel's making, how could she not? She's everywhere around her.<br />
<br />
"Marivel," Mariel says, lifting the staff from where it anchored - rooted itself, really - into the ground. <br />
<br />
TIME HAS STOPPED<br />
<br />
Time resumes. There are fewer people here than Mariel expected; her, Liath - who she knows not nearly as well as she knows Marivel - and... Marivel herself. Ouroboros, but even having named herself so Mariel doesn't think of her as the monster she presents herself as. <br />
<br />
Everyone else is so distant. Far away, facing 'Althena', or 'Anastasia', or both; the past that Marivel can't move beyond.<br />
<br />
There is nothing Mariel can do for them from here. Nothing except get to the heart of the matter.<br />
<br />
Marivel demands it. Demands that they cut into her own heart, the core of her energy, and Mariel feels something building in her. Something that has had its time come.<br />
<br />
The stained glass Anastasia reaches for her, and Mariel - moves forward. Past her, charging past; the stained class blade catches Mariel in her shoulder and all she can do is push through it. The blade doesn't break, but glass as it is, leaves a vicious cut behind, immediately bloody and staining her green robes. <br />
<br />
It draws a pained gasp from Mariel, who is no battle-hardened soldier. The pain actually takes a moment to register, so sharp is the blade, but she feels the blood immediately. But despite the pain, Mariel keeps moving. Right toward Marivel, where the glowing heart lies.<br />
<br />
And then Mariel does something she has never done before.<br />
<br />
When the Guards captured her, she struck none of them.<br />
<br />
When she fought Seymour, she did not lay hands on him (though she did dump purifying salt on him and then felt guilty when it actually worked).<br />
<br />
When she fought a Clysmian, she did not strike it directly.<br />
<br />
Even when she fought against the fragment of Zophar, she never actually hit it physically. <br />
<br />
But now, Mariel hits Marivel.<br />
<br />
It's not a good hit. Mariel both has no idea how to throw a punch and isn't really trying to do so well; the only thing she remembers is to not tuck her thumb in so as to not break it. It isn't a powerful or effective blow; it's an overhand smack with her less wounded arm, more of a frustrated blow than anything seriously meant to injure.<br />
<br />
Mariel sags against Marivel's side after she's delivered it. Her eyes are wet. "I will not!" she says, sounding firm despite this. "I can't! I will not kill you! I will not hurt you! Every living thing is precious but you are - you are - "<br />
<br />
She does cry, a soft sound, hastily choked back. "You are not the only person who has lost. My brother - I do not know whether he lives or dies, I can never see him again on this side of Filgaia. But it's because of that we have to grow strong...! I never thought I could, but you helped show me... Marivel, please... You have people who love you... people who want the best for you. To live is to grow - never to forget what came before, never that. We cannot replace those loves, nor the time you spent with them, and that isn't what we are trying to do."<br />
<br />
"Please... come back to us. Let us - let us move forward. Together. To find the truth of then, and the truth of now, and the future you couldn't see on your own... the cycle is only stagnancy, not living. And they would have wanted you to live... You made a promise with me, and I will keep it."<br />
<br />
She pushes herself up with both hands, leaving a bloody handprint on Marivel's currently-draconic flank. And then she offers one hand. To the dragon, Ouroboros.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Marivel Armitage with Alone Together!<br />
GS: Mariel gains 55 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
<poem> '...can you overpower it?'<br />
<br />
It's a call that Gwen cannot ignore. Lightning burns in her veins, charting a song of spiteful endurance. Nothing can stop her. She crouches and makes a nimble leap up, intend on at least snagging Althena's foot, or if she could manage, a leg to cast her down to the ground. <br />
<br />
What shall the courier do, when her friends die around her?<br />
<br />
Her Answer is so clear--<br />
<br />
__Light.__<br />
<br />
Something minuscule cracks in Gwen's body, or perhaps the Mockingbird, like a glass fuse. It's too much. She's pushed herself too far, flew too close to the sun that is Althena.<br />
<br />
As Gwen falls back, her eyelids beginning to lower, she sees the vision of the purple-haired woman. Anastasia? <br />
<br />
And as this vision fades and time begins to revert into a mortal's pace, there's Mariel, fresh from landing the only physical hit she's ever landed on someone, crying at Marivel's side.<br />
<br />
And Gwen smiles, her eyes closing.<br />
<br />
Her answer is....<br />
<br />
To trust that her friends won't die, even if she can't stand there with them. <br />
<br />
When Gwen lands on the floor, unconscious and casting a small whiff of smoke, her body has reverted back to her regular state. She's still alive, a testament to just how scrappy the courier can be, but it will be a while before she's conscious again.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Healing, courtesy of Shige, seeps into her frame, sinking deep into her bones and soothing some of the ache from her recent tribulations. Avril exhales a quiet breath and is able to stand that much taller.<br />
<br />
What else must there be but conviction?<br />
<br />
"Kindness," Avril answers, quite simply. "Understanding. Without them, what is conviction but an unyielding, endless winter?"<br />
<br />
These are the lessons her friends have taught her.<br />
<br />
"Nothing continues forever," Avril continues, shaking her head. "Yet, is that not so to bring about a new beginning? A seed grows because what is left from those who have gone before nourishes it. In time, I will..." She pauses there, stopping midway through her declaration in exactly the same way someone might react had someone walked across their grave. What was that feeling, just now...?<br />
<br />
"...My journey will come to an end. Yet, that need not be 'my' end," Avril finishes, her conviction in that moment but a touch shaken.<br />
<br />
And then, she strikes. Landing after she has delivered her last, she faces Marivel's monstrous form with blade in hand, as if she were about to launch yet another attack if she were so pressed.<br />
<br />
"Then... I would say there are times when our immolation is well worth it."<br />
<br />
It is just as Liath says: no one wants to be left behind. No one wants to be the sacrifice. Even Avril herself has her own concessions she would rather not make but feels she must.<br />
In this, again, she and Marivel are of similar heart.<br />
<br />
"Is this not enough?"<br />
<br />
And... time stops. Was it an eternity? Was it an instant? Ouroboros is not here. Nor is Liath, or Mariel. All that is present is the amalgam of Anastasia and Althena, sword in hand. This time, she says, speaking her own promise. This time, there is no escape.<br />
<br />
They must bear it.<br />
<br />
But they are not alone here. It is but a spectre, like and unlike the fusion of women that stands now before them all. She tells them they must live, that they must carry on to the future. She swings her own sword as if to deflect that holy blade, and--<br />
<br />
It's time enough, in the end. Avril, her own blade vanished from her hands, leaps upwards.<br />
All that she bears is her own Medium. "Lucadia--"<br />
<br />
Everywhere there is light, a brilliance that affords little space in which to step, to turn, to leap to avoid it. Avril does all that she can, for that is the most that she can.<br />
<br />
''Call to me. I will bring you victory.'' It isn't words so much as it is an impulse, a sense that she can spin into a single coherent thought. It is as it ever will be with that old thing in the dark corners of her being, that calls out and ask that she plunge past her own wall into the darkness one more time.<br />
<br />
"If I have need..." she murmurs aloud, "then I shall call to you. But not yet. I am not yet--"<br />
<br />
Shards of ice spin into being in a halo about her form as she plummets through the light, each catching its brilliance in a riot of color. She can see her, that shade of Marivel's. Althena and Anastasia, as one.<br />
<br />
"--finished! Overhead Sorcery!"<br />
<br />
One at a time the shards erupt from their positions around her to rain down upon the amalgam as she falls.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: You have activated the Force Action Full Clip!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur spends 2 Combo on Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!<br />
GS: Formation! Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Marivel Armitage with Overhead Sorcery!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur gains 56 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Shige Kiwako suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Mic Drop - Arc Impulse for 400 hit points!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Strain! Marivel Armitage takes 100 damage!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage heals Shige Kiwako! She gains 83 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Overhead Sorcery for 260 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<poem> Something happens in a blink (stopped time, not that those stuck in time typically get to see) and there's Althena in the air, wondering aloud about whether Arc Impulse can be withstood - or even overpowered. All to see if she can walk without fear.<br />
<br />
"...Mmmm." Lanval grunts in thought, but his eyes are wide when all that power drains into that blade, and when it comes down...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
A shimmering visage steps forth to hold it back, and Lanval ''acts'' - taking his gourd in both hands, not even by the rope, and just ''hurls'' its contents forward, gushing, without commentary or levity behind it.<br />
<br />
It's not often that he lets that much water flow out of the drinking gourd like an enormous erupting geyser - he has the very water of Filgaia on tap. It is vast, and yet deeply precious to the drop, and channeling that much of Schturdark's power by proxy is never done lightly.<br />
<br />
...And yet...<br />
<br />
Lanval does his part less as a singular effort to save his completely metaphorical skin - when he shoots out that geyser of water to help push back, it's part of whatever collected countermeasures people are taking to hold themselves. He only draws it back as others start to release hold of their own vast array of defensive powers, slamming a hand on top of the gourd to forcefully turn off the spigot, as it were.<br />
<br />
"Mmmm." He takes in continued existence, and a quick census, almost everyone's accounted for. "Now, then." Now, then, he's sharing.<br />
<br />
"...What ya shaid about joy... that ya 'only abshorb it from othersh and it shoon fadesh away.'" Lanval technically doesn't have lungs but he does sound winded in the moment. "Shtartin' ta think... a lot of it'sh been 'bout havin' joy taken."<br />
<br />
...On another look, Lanval's frame seems to be noticeably less large, in the moment. Somewhat shriveled, even, as if malnourished. How much of his own power did he channel into that? Even the usual character of his voice is a bit more strained.<br />
<br />
"...Thish the world ya knew? Empty... except for what ya could take." The undercurrents of all the absorbed spiritual corruptions that empowered Ouroboros and just about everything here is all taken, absorbed, consumed. "It'sh... true. Ya can take away joy from each other, real eashy." He meekly snaps his fingers. It's not very loud. "And yer right, I can't &#42;give&#42; ya joy."<br />
<br />
"No one ever gave ya any."<br />
<br />
Seraph Lanval, Partially Dehydrated Water Seraph, is even struggling to hold the water gourd for over-long, as seen with the bit of fumbling after the finger snapping.<br />
<br />
"They shared it with ya inshtead... until it got taken." Lanval has to sit down, so he does. His eyes are dim, even this open. "It'sh become a zero shum thing for ya shince, huh. That ya gotta take that joy, 'n keep it. The way ya talked 'bout abshorbin' it 'n then havin' it fade."<br />
<br />
"Yer afraid what we're lookin' at might be jusht ash bad... or worshe, huh." Althena already isn't here to meet them directly within her own seat of power, even with all that's gone on here... that's already bad and foreboding unto itself.<br />
<br />
"'m with ya on one front - it ain't alwaysh eashy walkin' with mortalsh. The day I watched everyone in that monashtery take their leave, when I couldn't follow 'em in turn... an earlier day when the one mortal - my firsht 'n only mortal friend for sho long - ended up teachin' me why they were called 'mortal.'"<br />
<br />
"Or the day over five hundred yearsh later when that shared promishe between her 'n me came to an end by the Guard shmashin' up the Copper Rapier." Lanval's head is bowed. His once flowing beard is scraggly-looking, more like a dripping, leaky faucet rather than the waterfall it typically is. "But I never once thought the world around me'd be better off misherable... I don't think that'sh jusht 'caushe 'm the Mirthful Wellspring."<br />
<br />
There is that one thing he's been curious about just as Marivel said it here in a moment of emotional overflow in the highs of this strange, frightening existence that few would easily point at and go, 'that's a person there' at.<br />
<br />
"...'m kinda wonderin', though I'll never know for shure, if... yer other friend picked up on that whole thing 'bout joy bein' taken inshtead of bein' shared, that... shomeone washn't tryin' to take a chance at happinessh away from ya."<br />
<br />
Lanval doesn't have the strength to muster a return blow - he overdrew on the defense against the Arc Impulse even with divine assistance. "That whatever they did then... they did what they could ta share the chance of what more joy there'd be after 'em."<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
"Tsun...dere?" <br />
<br />
Liath's unbreakable will can at least bend for a few seconds after her spell has completed its bright channeling; she blinks, puzzlement possessing her features as she lifts her shield-bearing arm to tap her gloved finger against her chin. <br />
<br />
"It has the sound of insult and yet... not?" <br />
<br />
She can't even parse it into a bizarre tangent, she's so perplexed! <br />
<br />
Confusion is a thing you can ill afford on a battlefield -- even one waged over memories and emotions. Perhaps, especially so. And so the Prime Lord's attention swiftly refocuses as she catches those tears, hears them in the sentiment behind Marivel's words. Liath's expression softens as she straightens, motes of Althena's Blessed light dancing like prismatic fireflies around her as she watches Marivel. <br />
<br />
She sees it. She feels it, the pulse of it. It might not be the same heart a human might possess, or even what might account for a Seraph's. <br />
<br />
And yet, within that pulsing purple, it is unmistakable. <br />
<br />
Liath's eyes flutter in a blink. Motes of light slowly orbit Liath in dwindling patterns as her magic fades-- <br />
<br />
Time s t o p s . <br />
<br />
A moment crystallizes. <br />
<br />
And when it passes, there is nothing left where Liath stood but those motes to mark her passing. <br />
<br />
--- <br />
<br />
When next gold eyes reopen, Liath finds herself upon the back of the Ouroboros, the dragon that so eternally eats itself. The perpetuating cycle. <br />
<br />
But she is not alone, here, either; gold eyes turn to look sidelong towards Mariel, a woman she scarcely knows but is of indisputable importance to Marivel. She listens to Marivel's request... and her eyes shut again, even as that Stained Glass spectre forges into being from Marivel's depths. A visage of loss that springs upon her and Mariel both. And as Mariel seeks to charge past the glass-shard representation -- <br />
<br />
The Seraph of Light meets it head on, the swing of its glimmering Airgetlahm met with the broad, spiritual steel of Liath's ceremonial shield, Pridwen. <br />
<br />
The blow is a resounding yet simple one, powerful enough that it knocks Liath towards bodily towards her right -- and yet the Prime Lord remains undeterred. Eyes narrowing, she -surges- forward, to intercept another blow -- acting as a bulwark between the skull-faced spectre and Mariel, taking the brunt of the thing's violence so that Mariel -- <br />
<br />
Can get in One Good Hit. <br />
<br />
Despite herself, despite the emotion of the moment, Liath can't help but smile a big, radiant kind of grin. <br />
<br />
"Hah," she exhales, as her sword ignites into a furor of pastel hues. <br />
<br />
"Well struck, Lady Mariel." <br />
<br />
And with that, Liath's sword burgeons into a grand pinion of light. <br />
<br />
And with one stroke, Liath looks to cleave that glass-forged apparition with a blade easily three times her own size, that cuts not through the physical -- but strikes at the physical. But this time... <br />
<br />
... this time, there is no attempt to destroy, no attempt to cleave. This time, when that blade swings -- <br />
<br />
--it comes with nothing less than a flood of warmth. Of happiness. Of love. <br />
<br />
Of bonds that can never be broken. <br />
<br />
Liath turns that blade to an upwards strike, into and through the Anastasia creation. It envelopes them both within the torrential light and sentiment that it carries, letting Mariel speak her honest words straight to Marivel's heart. She dares not let anything interrupt that moment. <br />
<br />
And when that light slowly fades -- as it dies off the Joyeuse, as tinier pinions of every color are all that are left in the radiant blade stroke's wake -- Liath emerges from that warmth, her expression heartfelt, her smile subdued but sincere. <br />
<br />
"This is your Answer, Marivel. Is it not?" <br />
<br />
Do not forget the pain. But do not let it rule you. <br />
<br />
Remember... <br />
<br />
"There are so many things worth moving forward for, Marivel. And I want you to experience every single one." <br />
<br />
</poem><br />
GS: Seraph Liath spends 1 Combo on Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath has attacked Marivel Armitage with Heavenly Bladewing!<br />
GS: Seraph Liath has completed her action.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<poem>Once again, Shige has this fleeting thought of being wildly outside of her accepted pay grade for this kind of thing. Not that it shows. It's why she wears a mask on duty! That way she can be impartial. Totally not so she doesn't show fear at the worst things. Or other emotions that might distract. (Probably all of the above really. <br />
<br />
"Friends should be there right? Let them know they're not alone and they're remembered." <br />
<br />
She stands there now. Holding the lantern. Checking on the others, making sure they're not about to immediately fall over. Which is probably why she's sent bowling away with the hit that leaevs her sprawled on her back. Stunned for a moment. Mid-air, she'd tucked around the lantern, protecting it. Not at all sure what would happen if it broke really. <br />
<br />
There was a sound of breaking glass regardless and there's now a pool of strong smelling spirits beneath her. Which was bound to happen sooner or later really. It left her ears ringing though. With a groan she rolls over. The sound of glass shifting and falling out of the bag accompanying the sound as she forces herself to her feet. First to her knees, then grabbing the lantern and using it, she stands up. Spitting to the side she straightens her back and holds the lantern up again. Ignore the shaking of her hand. She is. <br />
<br />
The lantern's wobbling doesn't change the faint shade moving to help secure her arm. Moving to help support the others. It never will be clear how far this is just a manifestation of some magic, but does it matter? She doesn't try to drown the crimson noble in ghosts though. She'll just make sure everyone else is still standing. Able to escape this darkness, right? <br />
<br />
As she walks, each shadow twists and becomes a reflection of the grizzled old surgeon, trying to save each person who needs it most. Making her way to Gwen, trying to put herself between Marivel and her.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Chirurgeon's Spectre!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Zed with Chirurgeon's Spectre!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Shige Kiwako with Chirurgeon's Spectre!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked White Knight Leo with Chirurgeon's Spectre!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Margaret with Chirurgeon's Spectre!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Seraph Lanval with Chirurgeon's Spectre!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Mariel with Chirurgeon's Spectre!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Margaret! She gains 286 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: Cover applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Shige Kiwako! She gains 277 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: Cover applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Zed! He gains 280 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Zed!<br />
GS: Cover applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Avril Vent Fleur! She gains 283 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Avril Vent Fleur!<br />
GS: Cover applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: Avril Vent Fleur enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<poem> <br />
Stab, stab, stab - <br />
<br />
"Ah, well, fair enough. But I have to tell you," <br />
<br />
- stab stab stab - <br />
<br />
"That as a villain and a bandit --" <br />
<br />
-- stabstabstabstabstabstabstab <br />
<br />
"-- I object to ALL trials!!" <br />
<br />
She dash-slides backwards with a shower of sparks from copper-clad heels, doing a little hoppity-dance in place for a moment, sweeping her blade clean as terrible, beautiful LIGHT shines down... <br />
<br />
As the afterimages fade, Margaret has the impression of Marivel whisking herself away, along with - who? mariel? Damn it, thinks Margaret, along with the Seraph, and what's left in front of them is... the looming form of Althena. <br />
<br />
Margaret stares upwards. <br />
<br />
Well, Margaret: You thought this was categorically impossible to happen. That with no promise of afterlife to breach or to torment, the Goddess couldn't grab you if you stayed on Filgaia, with the occasional foray into Spira to buy more Portal Keys from the surcharge-happy Al Bhed merchant with the funny name. (And fair's fair: He thought your name sounded stupid, too.) Then you eased that to sneak into the outskirts, so you could fight the Lord of Calamity. Then you came to Pentagulia. Now THIS has happened. <br />
<br />
It isn't the 'true form' of the Goddess. She still hasn't met HER. But... <br />
<br />
Margaret's ears flatten against the side of her head as she stares upwards. <br />
<br />
The blade descends... <br />
<br />
And look at it in slow motion. When that visage appears, to parry or at least to absorb some of the force, Margaret sags with visible relief, swings herself upwards and grasps the hilt of her blade backhanded. She then looks over, astounded, as Rixia comes in to her aid (so Margaret feels, anyway - she helps others, of course) - but Margaret is already leaping. Up into the air - <br />
<br />
Pwip! Pwip! With green flashes from her enchanted ring, up she goes even as the shadow dissipates, memory not enough to stop the present day, but enough to take off some of its edge. Not enough, perhaps. But Margaret is heading upwards... <br />
<br />
ARC IMPULSE is not stopped, only blunted. The burst washes upwards. <br />
<br />
Margaret is nowhere to be seen.<br />
<br />
But... <br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xTzwdA4oAg<br />
<br />
"I'm terribly sorry, Anastasia," Margaret says. (She picked up a few things here and there.) "But I'm going to have to decline your request. Not because I disagree with you..." <br />
<br />
"Not because I reject your sentiments... But because," <br />
<br />
A great light is coming. From Rixia. From the distant position of the Seraph. From good old Lanval, from others. But Margaret doesn't have light in her. The flash of lightning; the glow of stars on the blackness of a gorgeous night, sure. But she doesn't have LIGHT. <br />
<br />
She has Darkness, and up in the air, she casts, for a moment, a tremendous brockenspectre on the shades beneath them. For only a few moments can it last, but perhaps it's enough for her point. <br />
<br />
"I intend to THRIVE--" <br />
<br />
The shadow draws out a great blade. Enormous! One that reaches through the Abyss, not with peril but with the great beauty of a cloud crossing the sun in a mountain valley. That, too, is Darkness, after all. <br />
<br />
"And I think I like flying better." <br />
<br />
A METEORIC DESCENT: the blade held backgrip in Margaret's left hand, she descends towards the spectre of Althena, even as she feels Shige double and redouble herself. Margaret has nothing more to add, nothing more to say. She can't tell this thing her feelings: it would be a mockery to do so. <br />
<br />
But what she can do - <br />
<br />
Is laugh; laugh with scorn, and hope, and triumph. Isn't that what villains do? The blade aims to carve into the great thing, like a cut curtain at a grand theater. <br />
<br />
</poem><br />
GS: Margaret has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Margaret has activated Force Action: Fury Shot!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Weightless Steel!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret gains 61 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Seraph Lanval! He gains 286 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: Cover applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Margaret's Weightless Steel for 213 hit points!<br />
GS: Entangle and Slow blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Seraph Liath's Heavenly Bladewing for 234 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
'Are you happy, Leo?'<br />
<br />
Leo's eyes widen, and then narrow. The simulacrum's words cut like the sharpest and most merciless of swords. His jaw trembles. He's caught between his own best hopes--still buoyed by Margaret's words--and all the things he knows, and can't face. This is not the Althena he knows. Is it the Althena he would have liked to know?<br />
<br />
Maybe. His heart can't bear the thought, either way.<br />
<br />
Leo steps back, his hands trembling. He can't bring himself to strike the simulacrum again, yet--but his pupils dilate, and sweat beads on his brow. "The Goddess chose me," he whispers, as he stares through the amalgamation of Anastasia and Althena. "She chose me to ''protect her people''. All my life, I've--"<br />
<br />
TIME HAS STOPPED<br />
<br />
Suddenly, the simulacrum is in the air, sword bared, and Marivel is far away. "This is her," Leo whispers, "''her'' fear. Her fear of ''failure''." He raises his blade, supports the flat with his other hand. Rocky armor spreads across his skin. It is barely, ''barely'' enough to keep him standing in the face of the annihilation that follows. The second Anastasia is a flickering after-image.<br />
<br />
Leo's still standing afterwards. "All this because you had to know our measure. Because you couldn't trust us without it." His face twists. "Fine. FINE! TAKE IT!"<br />
<br />
Where in the earlier battle, Leo's movements were rote, this time they're wild, barely-controlled--Marivel has sown terror into the heart of Pentagulia, and may seek the death of Althena herself. (That 'may' is only there in Leo's mind because he doesn't have a window into Marivel's thoughts.) The energy that erupts around him is spiky, fiery. The gleam of his sword is like the rays of a sick sun. The sudden, erupting ROIL of the lion's head is half-formed.<br />
<br />
It's a tremendous destructive force, regardless.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals White Knight Leo! He gains 279 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: Cover applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Lion's Howl!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo's stances have changed to Avenger!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo gains 56 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Cover expired!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts White Knight Leo's Lion's Howl for 292 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Delay! Attack greatly weakened!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Mariel's Alone Together for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>"I see..." Althena says as it is proven that even Arc Impulse was not enough to stop this crew of Drifters. "In passing down your stories, your feelings, the millions of memories you have left with us... You are Mortal...But Immortal as well."<br />
<br />
BGM: MORTAL BUT IMMORTAL - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttL7-p3-6qo<br />
<br />
"So...!" Althena says. "You like ANIME as well, do you, Zed? Show me your passion for anime!"<br />
<br />
And Zed does by unleashing the most anime attack imaginable. The Z explodes. "Gahh..." Althena stumbles back. "The passion of a true Hyadean...! So this is that...!"<br />
<br />
Rixia does not fight but that does not means her words are unheard.<br />
<br />
"In the end... I want to trust the power of humanity too," Althena tells Rixia. "Because I want to trust humans... I cannot protect you the way I'd like to. I'm sorry, Rixia... But though your life was hard... You still seized hold of many precious things. That is beautiful to me."<br />
<br />
Rixia does not fight, but she does lend her aid to protect others... Hob and Nob float happily behind her, seemingly oblivious to the whole fight, chirping all the way.<br />
<br />
Gwen tumbles to the floor. Althena flickers, appearing underneath Gwen, catching her body and setting her down. "No, most deaths are from falling. You faced it bravely." The voice is filled with fondness. The partiality for humanity is something Marivel and Althena share.<br />
<br />
"Kindness." Althena says to Avril. "Understanding. You are correct. Though Winter is neccessary, without Spring there would be no worth to it. Just as Life needs Death, Death requires Life to have its meaning. That Mortal Instant... One barred to us for a long, long time... Very well, Avril." Althena bows her head. "We will assist you in bringing Spring to your people."<br />
<br />
Avril is not done. Ice shards come crashing down upon Althena, skewering the imbued vessel with many a frozen spike. Althena stumbles. "You feel stronger now... that you have found your companions. I congratulate you, on finding the Spring to follow."<br />
<br />
Lanval has to share his words with Althena rather than Marivel directly--but through the Airgetlahm, they are still connected. Marivel could be on Filgaia and the Airgetlahm could still reach her thoughts. That is its power.<br />
<br />
Lanval speaks about stolen joy, and shared joy. To Lanval, Althena listens quite carefully. They all know how wise the drunken master can be. Even when his words seem foolish you cannot trust that they are so.<br />
<br />
Lanval doesn't fight, too exhausted to keep at it.<br />
<br />
"We are beings of contradiction." Althena repeats that phrase. "Perhaps what is to come is the greatest punishment. Or perhaps, it is the greatest reward. That is our gamble, we are willing to bet even our own soul for it."<br />
<br />
"There is no true happily ever after, no joy lasts forever but in your heart the memory of it can last with you for the rest of your journey as you chase your dreams."<br />
<br />
There is a hesitation and then... "...They loved Anastasia, you know." Althena says. "Lots of people did. Even Desire..."<br />
<br />
They trail off. "...But perhaps the wished to share their pain and the wound of it frightened us from future joy with her. We can never know for sure... She is long gone. And she kept her promise in the end..."<br />
<br />
Margaret leaps into the air, escaping the worst of the Arc Impulse. Althena can't help but whistle wryly at that.<br />
<br />
"Well well...!" Althena says as she's sliced through the neck, more explosions of light and dark erupt out of the vessel's body as she stumbles back, struggling.<br />
<br />
Her gaze turns to Leo.<br />
<br />
"Could you protect them even if you weren't chosen?" Althena asks him, not unkindly. Because then she smiles. "I believe you can."<br />
<br />
Leo steps forward, and slays another who would have brought Calamity to Lunar if she had not been stopped--even if she wished to be stopped. As Leo kills the image of his own Goddess, she turns and smiles to Shige--as if to suggest that imitation soul she may be, she will still...allow her to guide her into the unknown.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<poem>MEANWHILE on Marivel's back.<br />
<br />
"A tsundere," Ouroboros says in a voice that's maybe too booming for something they'd really prefer to keep quiet. "Is someone who acts all harsh before gradually coming to enjoy the presence of the lead character in the story and show them kindness. You know, like Ragnell." Marivel really can't help herself.<br />
<br />
Two things happen simultaneously.<br />
<br />
As Mariel goes for Marivel herself, Liath readies a strike of her own. It is powered by warmth, by happiness, by love--<br />
<br />
--but most importantly, bonds that cannot be broken, bonds that you can put your faith in.<br />
<br />
The ghost of Saint Anastasia the Sword Magess doesn't stand a chance. The real Anastasia would not blame her for her death. On some level MArivel knows that even though the guilt will likely pound through her soul until she can finally one day free her. If she can free her.<br />
<br />
Actual light overcomes an imitation of light and plows through the glass construct--the imitation Anastasia that the Granasian Church had cursed Marivel with. The glass explodes around Liath.<br />
<br />
''This is your Answer, is it not?''<br />
<br />
Do not forget the pain. But do not let it rule you.<br />
<br />
Because you must be willing to step on fire.<br />
<br />
That is life. That is the answer that Marivel's parents gave her when they willingly faced Lord Blazer's soul consuming flames.<br />
<br />
And that is Marivel's answer too for so long as she knew it.<br />
<br />
"Liath..." Marivel says. "...Can we still experience them together?" She had called Liath sister. And though it may not be literally so, this form of Marivel cannot lie. "I want to walk on fire with you."<br />
<br />
As this is happening, Mariel rushes past and--<br />
<br />
She won't hurt Marivel. She says this, but this is a lie.<br />
<br />
Mariel hurts Marivel most of all--not long after Liath hurt her most of all--as she delivers that painless bonk above Marivel's heart. Pain surges in Mariel's arm as she bonks a body too hard for her to punch through<br />
<br />
And yet, cracks form from that harmless strike because it was secretly a two hit combo as Mariel cries.<br />
<br />
And says something without saying it. 'You are. You are...'<br />
<br />
Conviction crumbles away to Spring as the very name Marivel has chosen comes under attack. She shudders under the weight of Mariel's words. And what Marivel asks of Liath, Mariel DEMANDS.<br />
<br />
The cracks continue up and around Marivel's body. "I..." She says.<br />
<br />
Tears flow freely as she sobs up, "I wanna be fweeeends...! I wanna travel together...!!"<br />
<br />
She was always a Crybaby. The Ouroboros shatters all around, exploding into nothingness--<br />
<br />
--leaving only a tiny bat behind with wings that look like a less mature of the ones that the Ouroboros carried. It's Marivel. She's a Mascot Character.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately Liath and Mariel stand above the Abyss with no floor between the two of them.<br />
<br />
Marivel finally struggles and reaches out and the Time Medium responds one last time as a thick CRRAAACK erupts across it.<br />
<br />
TIME FREEZES AGAIN. And when it's back to normal--<br />
<br />
--Liath and Mariel are safely deposited on the Abyss Platform's floor along with the bat form of Marivel who is sobbing up a storm.<br />
<br />
"The Kepler Belt..." She weeps as energy leaves her. "I don't want it to devour all of you...! I don't want it to devour this galaxy....!"<br />
<br />
The galaxy?? Did she just say the galaxy?? She sure did.<br />
<br />
But without Marivel's power sustaining the Abyss Gate--it starts to close. Our heroes will have to rush through or be left behind. With or without Marivel.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
<poem>Mariel isn't sure what to expect out of Liath - whether she'll go for the blow, or not. The way she does it - Mariel appreciates it. She'll have to tell her so later, because now is not the moment. (Honestly, in the moment she is thinking very little of Liath, or indeed anyone else here except one person, which she will feel guilty about later.)<br />
<br />
And Mariel, who is usually so clever, has to admit one thing:<br />
<br />
She did not think at &#42;all&#42; about what would happen if Marivel stopped being a tremendous dragon while she was standing on top of her.<br />
<br />
If she had time, she could find a way to float down, but she doesn't &#42;have&#42; that moment when she starts falling immediately as the Ouroboros shatters. She reaches out, grabbing wildly as she falls. "Marivel! Liath - !"<br />
<br />
Time stops once again.<br />
<br />
It restarts. Mariel is sitting next to the bat, the staff in one hand; she rises with the aid of it, still trying to ignore her bloody arm. She'll treat it when they get out of here, because she can &#42;feel&#42; the tenor of the Gate start to change. And Marivel is saying something about a Belt... "Then we'll do it together," she says, but isn't entirely sure how to start. She can worry about that later.<br />
<br />
Together.<br />
<br />
Mariel's eyes are still wet, her voice is still thick with emotion, but she raises it: "Go!" she says, reaching down. She picks up the little bat, cradling Marivel carefully against her body before she starts to run, stumbling at first. "Someone - please, Gwen - "<br />
<br />
She's not all that fast, and she's using her staff for partial support - honestly she's probably the slowest person here, aside from those who cannot rise themselves - but she fully intends to throw herself through, even if it is at the very, very last moment, the closing gate nipping at her boots.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
'Could you protect them even if you weren't chosen?'<br />
<br />
In its last few moments, the simulacrum--the memory--cuts Leo through to the core. The White Knight breathes through clenched teeth. His hands shake. And then, all that helpless, angry tension boils out of him, leaving... absence. It's worse because there was truth in the false Althena's words. He didn't start this journey seeking the Goddess' favor. When he started out, Althena was ''missing'', and--<br />
<br />
And now, Marivel is back, and sobbing, and a tiny bat. Leo takes a moment to process this--she, too, is all right, nobody is going to die in this horrid place--before Mariel points out the gate. Leo is bloodied, but he still has it in him to help Mariel--and, potentially others--out.<br />
<br />
He'll figure out the rest when he's back in reality again.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<poem> <br />
Margaret, who is right there, looks at Leo, at the question of the shade. <br />
<br />
She doesn't say anything, but she does smile for a moment. <br />
<br />
And then they come back. Margaret can hear the thin cries of Marivel Armitage in some form. She can't SEE her but she's there and, okay, fine, there's no real time for her to react. Margaret's head turns around, but her ear twitches a little at something Mariel says. <br />
<br />
"You know," she answers her -- <br />
<br />
There is a spiralling streak of light, and Margaret appears near the exit. On the threshold in fact, and facing inwards -- watching. She makes sweeping 'come on, come on' gestures with her left hand, watching, waiting. Counting, perhaps. (How many did come out?) <br />
<br />
And when all are done, she'll even sweep up for dropped property. <br />
<br />
"I used to be a courier myself," Margaret remarks to Mariel, as she makes it through. <br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<poem> It's Lanval's turn to listen after he's said his part. The mortals are beings of contradiction, and there's that little contentious something that comes from them, amplifies it with the glue being negative emotions bridging between them, and... making a spiraling mess of things. He's come to accept life with them regardless of that, but he's paying attention about 'what is to come.' How the desire to share their pain and resultant wound was too frightening to bear even for the sake of someone everyone loved so dearly.<br />
<br />
"Mmmm," Lanval murmurs contemplatively as he makes exhaling motions. (Even now, Lanval enjoys breathing as a hobby. It's a favorite, he thinks all Seraphim would enjoy it.) He nods along in consideration of those words.<br />
<br />
Ouroboros shatters to Marivel's wailing and crying as a tiny bat, and a number of difficult to grasp things are heard in sequence. Lanval looks up to see how Liath and Mariel are just suddenly ''there'', and something about the galaxy being eaten by a belt. As they walk to the end, will they have to do away with belts to save the day?!<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
"Long ash there'sh a joy worth sharin'," he says, with a wheeze, as he chucks his bottle vessel behind him and disincorporates. The sphere of light that is the closest possible visible approximation to the 'actual' Seraphim form chases after it as it bounces along the path towards the portal, Lanval's disincorporating self catching up inside of it just as that bottle bounces into the portal.<br />
<br />
He hopes Layna will be careless about the Quartermaster's Stash on the other side of that, because he's going to need a drink and Pentagulia is not going to have a lot of that.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<poem>Shige's face, no longer covered by the wooden mask shows she's not used to not having it on in this sort of situation. She's got one eyebrow raised, a distinct look of 'What the hell?' when they're talking about anime. A hand slowly goes up and she checks her head. She chews her lip briefly, decides she's not touching that and instead turns to try and stabalize Gwen. The others having the situation under control as far as she's concerned. Back to all of the threats. She'll... rely on magic to try and do just that. Any basic first aid supplies she's got are probably soaked through at this point and well. We won't go there. <br />
<br />
She does respond as she works though. "Even where it's coldest, you find life enduring. Thriving in the cold. It was beautiful back home in the evening. I used to look forward to it." <br />
<br />
With everything falling apart around them, the fight over. Her efforts good enough for at least getting the woman up and out right? The feline beastkin will never be mistaken as a powerhouse. Sure she's got SOME muscle to her just by nature of carrying a great big lump of haunted and/or cursed brass around. Said lantern is belted into place. She has all sorts of chains to secure it to her twinned gunbelt. Crouching down, she apologizes, "They broke my bottles. Also this won't be dignified." before trying to take Gwen. Either in a supported drunk carry if she's coherent, or a fireman's carry if not. And she reeks of bourbon, rum and vodka. So she's having a great time. <br />
<br />
Mariel's given a thumbs up either way and she starts to walk. Steady. Don't go too fast or you'll fall. Don't go too slow or you'll get stuck in hell. It's fine. She can collapse outside. <br />
<br />
"You'd better hurry Marivel. After we get outside, we're taking care of Belle and if you're not there I'll make sure she can haunt you properly." There's an attempt at levity. Kind of. Motivation of sorts at least.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<poem><br />
Althena -- the simulacrum of Althena -- tells her that since she wants to trust humans, she couldn't protect her in the way she'd like to. ... she's not certain how to feel about that. She knows this isn't the ''true'' Goddess, but the Goddess in Marivel's heart. So perhaps she has a much kinder answer than the real one would.<br />
<br />
"My precious things..."<br />
<br />
People seem to... drift around her... time's strange again...<br />
<br />
Away in the distance, Marivel's Time Medium cracks, and the Ouroboros starts to shatter. She hears Mariel's shout, Margaret's faraway comments... she can't hear Leo, but she can feel his quiet resolve. Lanval speaks of joy, but his voice is so far away... so far...<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
The problem of gaining the insight into consciousness when Time Stops is that... as Marivel well knows, the instantaneous and the eternity can indeed be one and the same.<br />
<br />
Everything's dark...<br />
Where is everyone?<br />
I promised people I'd see them again.<br />
But I can't remember where I'm supposed to meet them.<br />
<br />
In the rapidly collapsing darkness of the Abyss Gate, Rixia runs, but her legs are heavy. She doesn't have any point of reference. Light is useless in the Dark, on its own, without anything else to cast its light -- and thus its shadow -- upon.<br />
<br />
I want to go back.<br />
I want to be where everyone else is...<br />
Am I... all alone again?<br />
<br />
Everything just seems to tar further around her, a viscous and cloying darkness that threatens to swallow her further.<br />
<br />
Time...<br />
It doesn't wait for anyone.<br />
... no matter how hard... I try to hold onto it.<br />
<br />
Rixia tries shouting. Her voice sounds muffled, and hers is a silent scream. She is buried in a coffin only known as 'herself'.<br />
<br />
... it escapes me ... and ...<br />
... is this the end...?<br />
...<br />
<br />
And then, before she even realises--<br />
<br />
Time has resumed, and she's suddenly seeing the Gate before her eyes. Margaret's voice is very clear to her now. Mariel's calling for someone to pick Gwen up. Leo's marching on ahead, bloodied, but helping others along. Shige urges them to hurry. The fox girl helps, as well.<br />
<br />
But once you realise that the Abyss is in your own heart...<br />
<br />
You don't soon forget it.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
Marivel can't really help herself on the matter of tsunderes. But it's okay:<br />
<br />
"Ah, yes! Like you and Ragnell!"<br />
<br />
Liath can't, either.<br />
<br />
Glass and light-forged feathers drift around Liath in the wake of her final blow, one reflecting off the other to create a display of glowing ephemera as Liath turns to regard Mariel and the Ouroboros beneath them -- Marivel. The Crimson Noble asks a simple question.<br />
<br />
''...Can we still experience them together?''<br />
<br />
Liath's expression gentles.<br />
<br />
"Of course. I would be proud to walk through flame side by side with my sister."<br />
<br />
And just as she couldn't help herself earlier, she can't now in the way a smile blooms at her lips as Mariel's words reach Marivel, and the Crimson Noble sobs her truest wishes. She smiles, even as cracks appear in the firmament that is Ouroboros. And as it shatters--<br />
<br />
It's that reassurance of a smile that remains, just before gravity overtakes them all,<br />
<br />
just before time overrides it.<br />
<br />
One minute freeze-flows into the next. Where once the Prime Lord was in freefall, now she stands upon the purple surface of the abyssal platform she had been standing on moments earlier. Bright gold eyes sweep the area, taking stock of everything around them. They linger on the prone form of Gwen, brows furrowing faintly at the courier who gave everything she had. Liath's armored fingers squeeze brief around the hilt of her sword as she sheathes it once more at her side, and mounts her shield at her back.<br />
<br />
And then, her attention turns once more to the bat that Marivel has become, a far cry from the intimidating splendor of that Abyss-forged Ouroboros. The Noble weeps about something called the Kepler Belt -- about it devouring not just them, but the entirety of the galaxy. Liath blinks once -- but her answer remains the same.<br />
<br />
"Then we will not let it," is her firm response.<br />
<br />
"Put your faith in them, Marivel. They have more than earned it."<br />
<br />
Just what this Belt is, and the existential dilemma it represents, are questions best left for another time. The Abyss Gate begins to close; Liath can sense it before she even sees the sight of it. As power leaves this place, she springs into action, leaping across the platform in a flurry of motion. Mariel has secured Marivel. Lanval is taking care of himself. And the rest...<br />
<br />
"Collect your wounded and fly!"<br />
<br />
... this is the best she can do for the rest.<br />
<br />
At the apex of her leap, Liath fragments, splintering into dozens - hundreds - of ribboning colors that stream radiant, illuminating pathways as they exit out the shrinking Gate.<br />
<br />
There is so much more yet to come, so much more yet to deal with in Pentagulia alone. But those are adventures for another day. For today...<br />
<br />
... for today, saving Marivel was all that really mattered to the Seraph.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4lJsmCqvCI<br />
<br />
Ouroboros's war against Althena and the city of Pentagulia ends not with a bang, not even with a murder. In fact, despite everything... Nobody died. There's some bruising, an air of uncertainty that doesn't subside too quickly, a broken bone here and there--but in the end the true danger... The terror that was unleashed...was calmed before it could erupt into something truly terrible. Whether the people of Pentagulia see those that protected them from Marivel's war as saviors or villains... It is hard to say, though the rumor is likely to be that White Knight Leo slew the daemon that threatened their peace once more. Stories oft have more power than reality. A blessing, a curse? Well, that too is a contradiction--both are true simultaneously as many things are.<br />
<br />
It is what it is.<br />
<br />
The Abyss Gate closes moments before the dire denizens within can snap through themselves. What they ARE is a story for tomorrow.<br />
<br />
One cycle is shattered and it won't be the only one before this chapter closes. The Ouroboros can no longer chew on its own tail and must face an uncertain future. But she does so with hope in her heart for the first time in what felt like millenia. Liath's call for faith in mortals is finally heard after so many ages of seeing that faith repaid in tragedy and death. To hold onto hope is easy, but to regain it once it has been lost... It is quite difficult.<br />
<br />
Rixia had said that Answers can change with time. As Marivel reflects on this, she wonders--if Ouroboros was a trap of a name, can she just...change it? Conviction is admirable, but in the end even conviction must melt away into Spring so that the new can bloom.<br />
<br />
Well, she has a whole future to think of new one. That too is a story for tomorrow.<br />
<br />
For now, after so many millennia, she finally has one.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]<br />
[[Category:(Plot) The Fifth City]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Marivel_Armitage&diff=12211Marivel Armitage2023-03-13T21:16:30Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
<!-- WARNING, when using a character template, you cannot edit the individual sections of your character page, you must use the edit button at the very top. Additionally, please don't leave fields blank unless there is a comment after them stating you can --><br />
|MUSHName=Marivel Armitage<br />
<!-- your @name on MUSH, very important for log searching --><br />
|BGColor=#FFCC66<br />
|BorderColor=#E18F37<br />
|TextColor=#E18F37<br />
<!-- you don't have to mess with the colors if you don't want to --><br />
|Img=[[File:Marivelinsanctuary.jpg]]<br />
<!-- example: [[File:RoseDefault.png]] consult mediawiki via google for help with inserting images, and upload your image first using the button in the left sidebar called Upload file. Leave blank if you have no image --><br />
|Name=Marivel Armitage<br />
|Gender=Female<br />
|Age=Immortal<br />
|Birthdate=Probably Halloween<br />
|Hometown=Crimson Castle<br />
|Hair=Blonde<br />
|Class=Filgaia's Rightful Ruler<br />
|Role=Drifter<br />
<!-- Drifter, Antagonist or Bystander only, case-sensitive --><br />
|Bounty=0 Gella<br />
<!-- if you leave this blank it will default to 0 Gella --><br />
|Theme=Wild Arms 2<br />
<!-- either your source (i.e. Xenogears, Tales of Zestiria, etc.) or Original Character --><br />
|Group=<br />
<!-- minor groups, leave blank if none --><br />
|MajorGroup=ARMS<br />
<!-- Althena's Guard, Metal Demons, Veruni or Solaris only, case-sensitive, leave blank if not relevant to you --><br />
|Player=Fei<br />
<!-- your wiki username --><br />
|Profile=Marivel is the last of the Crimson Nobles after the entity known as Lord Blazer slew her family and the rest of her brethren. She assisted the Sword Magess and Luceid in defeating Lord Blazer but since then has been traveling the world in order to prepare and prevent ... something. Marivel is an incredible engineer who employs both lost knowledge and modern techniques into her work and works as an ARMS Meister who is both picky about whom she works for and strange about the payments she asks for. She is connected to the Valeria household as far back as anyone can remember. She often comes across as snooty and frankly more than a bit arrogant but behind it all is someone who deeply cares about Filgaia. ...Or so she says, anyway. Strangely as of late she has picked up her activities but if she's trying to prevent another worldwide disaster...one might wonder why she is being so tight-lipped.<br />
<!-- from your +finger --><br />
|Background=<br />
<!-- your backstory, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Powers=<br />
<!-- your powers, abilities and resources, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Relationships=<br />
<!-- your relationships; may not be friendly to wiki code, if your relationships section includes a lot of code or formatting, just append it after this template ends instead and leave this field blank --><br />
[[File:MarivelSocialLinks.jpeg]]<br />
}}<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; style="text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Group<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Field Notes<br />
|-<br />
| [[Anastasia]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm not okay with it. I'll never be okay with it. Even if it's against your will."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Luceid]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Does the candle look forward to being used? If tis my desire, then I shall satisfy it. I shall be selfish until my heart aches no more."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Althena]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You threw us away. Was it worth it? WAS IT WORTH IT!? I'LL DEVOUR YOU, SOUL AND ALL!!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Irving Valeria]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He would not ask sacrifices of others he is unwilling to offer up himself."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ashley Winchester]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You still won't leave me? Are you that desperate to be a hero?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Brad Evans]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Once again, through my fingers like sand."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kamui]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Mother, huh... Is that what they meant?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Acacia]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Was she always so charming? She is quite good with the kids. Very impressive quality. Best treat her well, Yue."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Clarissa Arwin]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You are more than you think you are. In more ways than one I think."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Clarine]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I've really grown to rely on your companionship. I'm not the kind of friend you want."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Mariel]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 110%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Just together..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Boudicca]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm counting on you."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hiro]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I am sorry I was not as strong as I pretended."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruby]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally! Proper respect! A grand dragon already as far as I'm concerned."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Isolde]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Have you walked into the sun yourself, my friend?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Those with humble beginnings leap the farthest..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xantia]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Hn."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Auron]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's so much like me. May your promises be fulfilled, and a glimpse of a better tommorow be your final sight. When you walk into the sun, I will be there to see you off."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yuna]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand duty. I understand sacrifice. It is your choice but I beg you... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tidus]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 95%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I wonder what he left me..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Rikku]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"How you maintain your optimism in a world so cruel to you is a testament to humanity's strength. Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lulu]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand why you see no other path before you but... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Amelia Rose]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Behind the attitude and past the culture I find a kindred spirit."<br />
|-<br />
| [[White Knight Leo]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 85%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"...Can you save us?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Erzebet Lefanu]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Reminds me of my youth, but this old girl has some tricks yet."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'd much prefer ARMS to seize victory but this is not a good start."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"There is a limit to one's ideals if you don't live up to those expectations yourself. It's a risk, but the world admires the risk-takers."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ivan]]<br />
| Caravan Kinship<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I smell the blood on his hands, but tis often those that have once fallen who are best at lifting others up."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yue Rohay]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Yue, I hope you can be free."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kaguya]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"When will you stop pretending you're a villain?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Liath]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 110%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Let me walk with you, sister."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Ragnell]]<br />
| I Respect Your Ability To Work For Everybody Simultaneously.<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 95%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'd prefer if you can avoid our mistakes."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Red Skills ==<br />
<br />
Falling Into the Ambush With A Sexy Lure - Erzebet - High Damage Bullet Rain From Above<br />
<br />
Rubyvention - Ruby - Low Damage Fire Breath<br />
<br />
Shut Up And Jam Ball - Oblitzerator - Mid Level Jam Blitzball Attack<br />
<br />
Aura Bolt - Gusong Monk Manual - Low Level Free Attack Technique<br />
<br />
Push Back - Chocobo Eater - 0 Level Push Back<br />
<br />
Hound of Hell - Jack, Hound of Hell - Stored soul belonging to a Hound of Hell. High Level Damage.<br />
<br />
Thousand Detonations - Qactuar - A thousand detonating needles - OMG.<br />
<br />
Mighty Guard - Behemoth King - Powerful Defense Buff.<br />
<br />
Bad Breath - Malboro - Iconic.<br />
<br />
== Major Discoveries ==<br />
''A Dark World Looming Behind''<br />
<br />
In the end, once the Golem twitches its last and lies still, you're able to <br />
pass through the once-sealed doors -- now that the alarm system has calmed <br />
-- and enter into a formerly closed-off chamber. What could have been so <br />
valuable to seal it so carefully? <br />
<br />
The answer stands before you in the shape of a projector-like machine. While <br />
the shape may be foreign -- with age to some, with purpose to others -- a <br />
still-shining screen at one side of the projector mechanism draws the eye <br />
and suggests investigation. At a touch, it speaks, at first unintelligible. <br />
And then: <br />
<br />
...LINGUISTIC MATCH OBTAINED. TRANSLATING: PLAY LAST RECORDING? <br />
<br />
At a yes, a series of images project against the wall, still brilliant and <br />
luminous after so many years. <br />
<br />
A beautiful land. A thriving land. A land crippled. <br />
<br />
"Did we invite this upon ourselves?" the narration reads out, against the <br />
image of cities that reach for the sky as if to scrape the heavens. "I have <br />
often wondered. Perhaps it is pointless after the end. The TF System worked <br />
-- we sacrificed our land to stop the demon, but perhaps it was already <br />
dying. Perhaps I would be making this last record still." <br />
<br />
A land in fear. A land burning. A dead land. <br />
<br />
"I leave this only as one record among many, in the hopes that somebody <br />
someday might hear it," the narration continues, against the backdrop of a <br />
civilization's graveyard. "I elected to stay on Filgaia. Others have left to <br />
seek a new home among the stars, but I could not leave. To restore Filgaia, <br />
much is required. This facility is but one step forward." <br />
<br />
The image against the wall fades to nothing. "No matter what happens to me, <br />
I feel I owe even that glimmer of hope to the future. To whoever is able to <br />
listen, please, forgive us for what we have done. <br />
<br />
"...We who have buried our past and forsaken our future."<br />
<br />
<br />
''A Sea of Stars''<br />
<br />
The door beyond the generator opens with a hiss, revealing the room beyond. <br />
Though the generator appears damaged, it still shows signs of life; given <br />
the nature of this place it may not remain inactive forever. So be it. <br />
<br />
Was this a storage area? At a glance, it looks the part: shelving units, <br />
locking safes, and all the rest of it, bundled into this tight place. But <br />
what catches your eye yet is the terminal in the back. It still retains <br />
power -- perhaps it has some way to cache energy in the event the generator <br />
goes offline. With some manipulation you bring up the following information: <br />
<br />
>RESTORING... RETRIEVING SERVICE HISTORY AND SHIP'S LOG FOR PFS-037 <br />
PHILADELPHIA, LIBERTY BELL-CLASS RESEARCH VESSEL. <br />
<br />
You learn... you learn a number of things. <br />
<br />
This -- the Philadelphia was a ship that sailed the stars. One of a number <br />
of star-faring ships of an organization named only as the Pangalactic <br />
Federation, this was a research vessel. In particular, the record notes that <br />
the ship carried a number of experimental nanoreactors alongside the <br />
standard-issue Federation models... whatever that means. But it never got to <br />
where it was going, a place noted in the records as Gliese 667. <br />
<br />
It ended up suffering a catastrophic engine failure around 6016 SD, whatever <br />
that means, and diverted to the forbidden territory Kepler-186 in <br />
desperation. But something happened. <br />
<br />
It crashed. <br />
<br />
And that's where the record ends.<br />
<br />
== Tools ==<br />
[[File:mari-smol.jpg]]<br />
== Soundtrack ==<br />
<br />
=== Overall Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ4Lc5W75I - White Lies - Monogatari]<br />
: ''In the darkness, Moments, Secrets, Regrets<br />
: ''Never Lie!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 1 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vw9ftAWSc Connect - Puella Madoka Magica]<br />
: ''Time now begins to away incessantly''<br />
: ''Let's open the closed door while carrying our unchanging feelings.'<br />
<br />
* '''Chapter 2 Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deakr4AHeo4 - Answers - FFXIV]<br />
: ''To all my children in whom Life flows abundant.''<br />
: ''To all my children to whom Death hath passed his judgement.''<br />
: ''Answer, Answer, Answer together.''<br />
: ''Thou must live, die, and know.''<br />
<br />
* '''Lighthearted Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24NZaT2_gaA - Magilou - Berseria]<br />
: ''Oh no!''<br />
: ''I meant to confess my sins, but instead my confession was another sin!''<br />
<br />
* '''In The Lab With Professor Lumen!''' - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwkwyi-mEYg - Robotrek - Title Sequence, Research, and Development]<br />
: ''Ah...! I'm sorry Professor!!'<br />
: '' I promise I won't teach her about the birds and the bees please calm down!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 2 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Anastasia and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2oLSuongkY - Magia - Kalafina]<br />
: ''Someday, the light of love lit within your eyes will transcend time.''<br />
: ''And certainly destroy one dream of a world that races towards its destruction.''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel's True Plan''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - I was waiting for this moment]<br />
: ''Whether the time of heroes is eternal, whether the time of disaster is at hand once more...''<br />
: ''I refuse to accept her death as her will!''<br />
: ''How could I just throw her away for a few moments of peace?''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Luceid''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lclt459JpVQ - And Then Is Heard No More - Library of Ruina]<br />
: ''Do the candles look forward to being used? Enjoy bidding adieu adieu?''<br />
: ''Every word I saved for you came out wrong afterwards so I spoke no more?''<br />
: ''Must be great being you. Power comes as second nature.''<br />
: ''Must feel amazing being longed for, longed for.''<br />
: ''Day and night your ghosts continue to haunt me.''<br />
: ''If I went with you, will there be happily ever afters?''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 3 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''You Speak As If You Know Her''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4 - Third Warning - Lobotomy Corporation]<br />
: ''Judgement Day is approaching.''<br />
: ''Be patient... Be patient...''<br />
<br />
* '''Mariel, Boudicca, and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FfC7YkrLCY - Yearn to Bloom - Ikenfell]<br />
: ''Once I knew a little girl...'<br />
: ''She grew gardens out of hope that she'd leave a legacy'<br />
: ''Of prosperity'<br />
: ''For her world.'<br />
<br />
* '''Kid Marivel and Kid Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2gQS8HJoI - Eternity With You - Adventure Time]<br />
: ''But honestly I think you are the coolest'<br />
: ''And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul'<br />
: ''And I don't want to sound all sweet and sappy'<br />
: ''But all I wanna do is make you happy'</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12193Solitaire Collier2023-03-03T21:33:11Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:Solicolored2.jpg]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thank you... But this isn't gonna end well, is it?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir... You've grown.."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Solitaire seems really upset that dying doesn't seem to stick with her..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Solitaire seems a little happier lately... I wonder why."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riley Arwell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She hasn't had a classmate before, she seems excited now that she has one..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Makopi Quowaital]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She seems really happy to have another beastkin as a friend."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ganondorf Dragmire]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "It's a difficult world, Solitaire. Don't rush into choices you can't take back."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Juni Vandrer]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-0-red.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Seems to just rub her the wrong way."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riesenlied]]<br />
| Wayside Outreach<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "I'm so proud of her. She's come a long way. Solitaire seems to like her too."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Noeline]]<br />
| Wayside Outreach<br />
| [[file:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "So they finally..."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=File:Solicolored2.jpg&diff=12192File:Solicolored2.jpg2023-03-03T21:32:24Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2022-11-21:_If_You_Give_A_Mouse_A_Potion&diff=121912022-11-21: If You Give A Mouse A Potion2023-03-03T10:51:50Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: If You Give A Mouse A Potion'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Solitaire Collier]] [[Character :: Xander Lovell]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Outskirts of Halem<br />
*'''Date:''' November 11th 2022<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Solitaire, near death, finds an unlikely savior.''<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier drifts in and out of consciousness as she is pushed down the sewer's flow, clutching the head of her axe--the shaft obliterated by a well timed Ida PUNCH--close to her body. This might be it for her, now that the adrenaline is running out and the intense pain from her sounds is hitting her full on. 'Patience', the Demon Axe, twists his body even in her arms to grab ahold of sewer walls and adjust Solitaire's trajectory. They have to get out of Guild Galad as soon as possible before the ARMS dragnet catches them. She'd likely be thrown in jail for a long time. He'd probably be melted down or locked in a vault.<br />
<br />
Solitaire eventually crashes out of a drainage pipe in the outskirts of Guild Galad.<br />
<br />
'''Soli...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire coughs out some sewer water.<br />
<br />
'''Soli, we have to keep moving!'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire's eyes flutter open blearily as, in a crawl she starts dragging her body away from Guild Galad and into the Badlands beyond.<br />
<br />
Hours later<br />
<br />
Solitaire is covered in dried sewage water and smells about as bad as you might expect from someone who just went through a sewer journey. She is wearing a bloodied and torn Odessa uniform and the 'head' of Patience is strapped to her back. She doesn't have any footwear and she takes turns periodically hobbling and outright crawling across the Badlands, just trying to get... ''away''.<br />
<br />
She is covered in wounds. She has a thick carve in her back, two bullet wounds in different shoulders, significant bruises across her face--and that's all that can really be seen. The uniform might be hiding more.<br />
<br />
'''Just hang in there, Soli... If we can get to Halim we might get out of this....'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire, predictably, just focuses on moving.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
When they're not dealing with rounds of the curse digging into them, Xander is reluctant to wander off on his own for reason unrelated to birthday surprises. But sometimes he actually /does/ have tasks to fulfill. It'll be quick, he promised both Riley and himself, to run out and fetch some reagents while Riley dealt with food. One might supposed the Badlands aren't the best place to find alchemy ingredients, and one would be right, but Xander's become skilled in working from miserable foundations.<br />
<br />
He's as he usually is, pale and eye sunken, the other patched, can't be bothered to button his shirt. And yet, somehow, he's not the most disheveled person out here today. Xander jerks his head up in alarm at the frist stray sound. His nostrils flare at a scent he used to hate, one that hits his senses stronger than the sewage.<br />
<br />
...They're getting too close to the garden's completion for him to be thinking about easy pickings. He should leave. But before Xander can, he sees what he sensed and gives a start.<br />
<br />
/Don't be stupid. You remember what happened the first -- and last -- time you tried anything since the curse./<br />
<br />
Xander waits in the brush, hoping she'll pass. But when it takes all of one's energy just to move, it's a bit foolish to expect she'll be on her way and he can pretend he didn't see anything. Xander curses to himself and stands up. She's a walking risk of infection is what she is between her open wounds and means of escape for whatever the was escaping, and she may not be walking all that long.<br />
<br />
"All right, what the fuck?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Honestly it's amazing she's still able to crawl.<br />
<br />
And Solitaire is intent to keep on crawling. Even in this state. Her eyes flick towards the brush. As a mousegirl she is very sensitive to possible threats--honestly lets face it, probably HYPERsensitive. Extra sensitive. More sensitive than she really ought to be. Though in this case? Maybe she should be cautious? But she doesn't recognize Xander and someone who curses and asks what the fuck is unusual enough that she's not sure if it's a typical threat or not.<br />
<br />
She raises a wrist and wipes blood off her mouth and looks over to Xander. He might be able to see the scars around her throat which might indicate why she doesn't actually tell him 'what the fuck'.<br />
<br />
'''Can you talk? Maybe he can help...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire shakes her head and crawls another foot.<br />
<br />
'''Soli, if he was out to harm us he wouldn't really have to interrogate us first.'''<br />
<br />
"Mmn...." Solitaire sourly rolls over to her back so she can get a better look at Xander.<br />
<br />
"Gotta... Get To... Halim..." Her voice is soft and hoarse. "You... with ARMS?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
"Hardly," Xander says of ARMs, before he can think if he should lie or evaluate what's going on here. If he weren't a serial killer, it wouldn't be a question, either. Maybe that part of him still gets tugged at, in scenarios like this. Whatever the case, /he's/ not the one in danger, is he?<br />
<br />
He starts to approach, then stops hard, looking away and biting onto his thumb. It's possible to see his fangs. It's also possible to miss them, what with the agony and focusing on survival thing. No one would blame anyone that.<br />
<br />
...That is a lot of blood. But the garden...<br />
<br />
Xander pinches his eye shut, then rips a health vial off of his belt, tossing it Solitaire's feet without looking at her.<br />
<br />
"Inject yourself with that."<br />
<br />
Hey maybe that should be explained instead of just demanded? ...Okay, apparently he's not going to readily do that.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire isn't really bothered by fangs. She kinda has a slight Noelle-esque buckteeth thing going on herself though that's probably less creepy. But she IS a beastwoman so fanged people are closer to home than those who aren't. Though...<br />
<br />
Xander doesn't seem like a beastman. Maybe he's hidden his tail somewhere?<br />
<br />
Or maybe he's a Crimson Noble but Crimson NObles are pretty acceptable in Filgaia in the modern age so she just sort of decides to not immediately worry about it unless he turns into a monster and tries to eat her. Because she has something she's a lot more worried about.<br />
<br />
She looks down at the health vial at in front of her and picks it up with a hand. She stares at it.<br />
<br />
'''Looks like a health potion... Worth a shot...?'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire shakes her head.<br />
<br />
'''....What? Why??'''<br />
<br />
"Needle..." Solitaire says softly.<br />
<br />
'''...Okay, uh... Let me help.'''<br />
<br />
Dark tendrils emanate from the axe on her back and deftly pluck the health vial from Solitaire's hands.<br />
<br />
'''Stick your arm out...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire grimaces, shifting to he knees and smacks her face with both hands. This might be her greatest challenge yet but she can do it.<br />
<br />
She holds out her arm and the tendrils go *poik* into the arm and empty the health vial's contents into the bloodstream. Some of the lighter wounds fade and the heavier ones look a bit less dire.<br />
<br />
Solitaire takes a few deep breaths before looking back to Xander.<br />
<br />
"........... Thank you." Her voice is still quiet even if she feels a bit shameful for having been in this position.<br />
<br />
"Doctor...?" She asks. She sounds suspicious of this good turn of fortune. She is not someone who usually gets good turns of fortune.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander is bad enough with lies that if he tried to claim he was a beastfolk, he'd forget the whole having a tail issue. He could say he lost it? He wouldn't think of that until an embarrassing remark already passed. It'd be a whole Thing. Unfortunately, he /is/ a monster.<br />
<br />
But he's trying very hard not to eat her. It... doesn't really work like that anyway.<br />
<br />
When Solitaire complains about the needle, Xander heaves a sigh. "Gashes like that and you're worried about a /needle/..." he mutters, rummaging in his bag. "It won't be as effective --" He cuts off, abruptly looking to see tendrils of darkness crawling from her axe to administer the syringe.<br />
<br />
"Uh." Xander stares, watching it happen, not quite sure he's seeing it happen, and wondering, if it is happening, where in the top ten list of weird things in his life it should fall. But the alchemy does its intended work, helping her heal at least some of her wounds and give her a boost to her survival odds.<br />
<br />
She thanks him, and Xander fiercely looks away. "... Don't." He sighs again. "And not anymore. Don't get your hopes up."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire gives a confused quirk of her head when Xander tells her not to thank him. She doesn't seem to get it. But on the plus side (for Xander, perhaps) she doesn't press the matter either. Solitaire doesn't recall this person in the Odessa files though--lets be real here--she barely looked at those anyway. But Patience doesn't seem to recognize him either so it's possible this really is just some helpful stranger.<br />
<br />
She sits back on her butt, reaching into her bag, fishing through it for a moment.<br />
<br />
Before she pulls out a bunch of coins--about 200 gella worth in coinage (stolen from Venetia though to be fair she threw them at her) and offers them to Xander.<br />
<br />
"Won't get... hopes up." She promises before gesturing to herself. "Solitaire."<br />
<br />
'''Hold on need to put a bandage on...'''<br />
<br />
A dark tendril fishes around in the package and puts a bandaid on the injection site. It has a cartoon kitty on it.<br />
<br />
"Can I tell him...?" Solitaire murmurs. She listens to the axe's answer before nodding once.<br />
<br />
"This is Patience." She nods to the axehead. "Hurt too."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander thinks nothing of Solitaire going through her own bag, thinking it might be for her own medical supplies. Until she produces... is that gella?! He spins around, bristling and teeth bared.<br />
<br />
"What? No!" That is /not/ what he meant at all! And it would be bad for either one of them right now if he got close enough to take it from her!<br />
<br />
While he's baring his teeth in indignation, the tendrils provide the bandages Xander had once expected but /not like that/. The fight gets knocked out of his face, and Xander is left holding his head in one hand.<br />
<br />
"Patience," he echoes, exasperated. He could use some of that right now. "I'm a not-doctor, not any kind of /blacksmith/. Unless your axe can eat medication, I can't help."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
The dark tendril pats Solitaire on her head. Even with a deadpan expression she seems kinda used to this treatment from the axe...'s evil energy? Sure.<br />
<br />
It doesn't seem like Xander wants thanks or payment in money? Is it not enough? Or maybe it's too much??<br />
<br />
Solitaire frowns in thought. She reaches into her bag, digging in for a bit longer this time before finally pulling out a ....<br />
<br />
candy bar. Still in its wrapping. Her hands shake as the enormity of this decision starts to hit her. She slowly sets the candybar on the floor (it is chocolat and has almonds in it!) and pushes it forward across the ground towards Xander. Her foot taps on the dirt rapidly as she looks between the candybar, and up at Xander, then back down to the candybar again.<br />
<br />
"Patience... Can eat medicine." She promises.<br />
<br />
'This guy is really hard to read, Patience...' Solitaire thinks to her companion.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander knows an evil shove, why not an evil axe?! At least the evil axe gives head pats. No, Xander takes that thought back, if the shovel tried to pat him on the head he'd have to throw it into the ocean.<br />
<br />
Then Solitaire offers... more payment. Xander buries his face in his hands. "I'm not taking your mon --" It's candy. Chocolate, specifically. Xander's one eye lights up, a sparkle in life there that's been missing for the entirety of this conversation. It's dead almost as face.<br />
<br />
"I'm not taking your candy either!" She's practically vibrating over having to give it up what the hell!!<br />
<br />
In what may now seem like a completely hypocritical move, he hurls a small satched down at Solitaire's feet... a satchel with a few pieces of round, red candy. But also not candy: curative medicine that tastes exactly like candy. Cherry flavored.<br />
<br />
It's as if there remains an invisible barrier between the two of them Xander refuses to cross. It's incredibly rude, he knows, as if he's acting like she could infect him. Whatever! Let her think that! He's trying not to leap over and stab a person in blood frenzy over here!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire flinches as something is tossed her way instinctively but scootches forward and peeks into the bag. "..." Notably, Xander hasn't told Solitaire about the whole blood frenzy thing if she gets too close and continues to have no idea what's going on. Presumably, if she DID know that getting oto close to Xander would result in a blood frenzy, she'd probably choose not to do that! But that wouldn't be nearly as funny!<br />
<br />
She's not sure how to take this. Is this just charity? If it's charity, why is he being so grouchy about it? Her hypersensitive instincts are yelling at her contradictory suggestions.<br />
<br />
She should ask for more information.<br />
<br />
"Why not?" She asks. "Is it... not good enough...?"<br />
<br />
Maybe...<br />
<br />
"Not sick." she tells him.<br />
<br />
'''Want me to try talking to him?'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire isn't sure. Patience doesn't usually like revealing himself.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Why not, she asks, and Xander only flusters further, like the question is annoying but also embarrassing -- for him.<br />
<br />
"Because -- because you need that, don't you?!" Ugh. He growls and folds his arms, looking away. "Don't let people help you and then extort you afterward. I didn't even fix you up properly!"<br />
<br />
There's a pang at that, but one he's learned he has to let go. There's a lot more medical attention she should be given right now, but she's better off getting it in Halim. That kitty bandage did nothing to mask the blood! Xander reaches into his bag and spritzes perfume on his collar, breathing in. Don't think about blood.<br />
<br />
He gestures to the bag he tossed, refusing to look in axe and mouse direction again. "It's medicine. For your axe."<br />
<br />
WHY IS THAT A SENTENCE THAT EXISTS NOW<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire's eyes narrow. "....Not letting you extort me!" She protests as Xander attacked her honor! But it does get her to snatch back that candy bar (for now, she might throw it at him in a moment as she (after sneakily palming one of the cherry flavored healing gummies) holds the bag over the axehead of Patience and shakes a whole bunch of healing candy at it.<br />
<br />
"ROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHH!!" Patience bellows as he transmogrifies into a massive draconic head of miasmic shadow that CHOMPS down on the healing gumbies, devouring them whole before just as rapidly it shifts back into the form of the axehead, the shaft rapidly growing out from under it in the vein of metal demon regeneration. When all is said and done, the axe looks almost as good as new.<br />
<br />
"Patience don't be... Noisy." Solitaire complains, rubbing at her ears. "Who... Are you?" He's.. spritzing himself with perfume?<br />
<br />
Could it be...???<br />
<br />
"Crimson...Noble?"<br />
<br />
She has heard stories.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
"Good!" Xander snaps back, like they're having an argument now and he's winning. <br />
<br />
Once again it's that god forsaken ask that throws him, Xander flinching in alarming as it bellows out and devours the candies given with an actual head, which both makes more and less sense. He stares blankly as Patience grows -- regrows?? -- in a fashion Xander swears he's seen before but will not recall in the moment of SCREAMING AXE, EATING CANDY.<br />
<br />
And... repaired by it.<br />
<br />
"Noisy is... the least of it?!"<br />
<br />
But it /was/ rather loud.<br />
<br />
"Does it /matter?!/" he snaps of who he is. But she's asking and it'll get weirder to hide it, and it's not like it's even incriminating. He's being stubborn for no reason. "Ugh. I'm Xander. And no. I'm just a traveling alchemist."<br />
<br />
Just nothing, but don't worry about it.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Does it matter? "How should ... I know?"<br />
<br />
Xander assures her he's just a traveling alchemist, though. Solitaire sniffs her clothes and then says, "Had to... escape through sewer." a bit defensively like now she thinks he just doesn't want to smell her. That would explain the perfume. Maybe not the fangs but he's probably just hiding the tail somewhere..?<br />
<br />
Normally Solitaire would probably be a bit hesitant to trust someone just because they healed her up but she does hold a similar belief in not letting yourself get extorted.<br />
<br />
She is feeling a lot better even if her wounds haven't entirely healed. Se is able to get to 'standing up'. She doesn't approach, keeping some distance sensing that he doesn't want to smell her.<br />
<br />
"Wanna be buddies?" She asks.<br />
<br />
????<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Her response to that blindsides Xander. "That was rhetorical! Of course it doesn't matter!" But he already told her!<br />
<br />
Another heavy sigh (does this guy breathe properly) and Xander goes through his bag again. "Certainly /smells/ like it. You should take this too, I guess." He tosses her another few candies. These ones are green. They taste like apples.<br />
<br />
Again, he refuses to explain himelf, but they're antidotes, of a sort. Something to lower her risk of infection.<br />
<br />
He's going to end up going back to camp with less supplies than he started with. Annoying. ... Not like he won't make it up with larger batches later. Whatever.<br />
<br />
But once Solitaire stands again, Xander flinches, shifting back half a step like he expects her to bite him.<br />
<br />
Her next question is as good as biting him. Xander gapes at her, stunned, and failing to find his voice for several moments.<br />
<br />
"... /What?!/"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
SOlitaire has no idea that she's stealing more of Xander's supplies. Haven't you ever heard of the story about if you give a mouse a cookie? She's always happy to get more candy (to a point, she's got her pride) but it's not the receiving of candy that's twigged her pride it's Xander claiming that her trying to repay him is some kind of extortion!<br />
<br />
She gets more candy. She has some of the antidote and she does look like she's feeling better. It's not enough to staunch the stench of blood even if the bleeding has stopped because it's still all over her clothes.<br />
<br />
Solitaire reaches for her uniform and removes the coat, tearing off pieces to make impromptu bandages.<br />
<br />
"Tasty..." She mumbles.<br />
<br />
She looks back to Xander. "Buddies." She tells Xander with exceptional patience. "It is... another word... for 'friends'." A pause. "Badlands dangerous." She gestures to herself. "Bodyguard."<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Because she's not stealing! He's giving them out! Don't make him acknowledge that though this has all been stressful enough already.<br />
<br />
And it's getting more stressful by the moment!<br />
<br />
Xander keeps staring at her, mouth open, words not forming until they finally burst out of him.<br />
<br />
"I know what /buddies/ means!" Intellectually, maybe not spiritually. Especially if this conversation is any indication.<br />
<br />
He rakes his fingers into his hair and over his scalp. "I don't need a bodyguard. /You/ need to get to Halim and finish recovering. And maybe get away from whoever the hell did that to you?"<br />
<br />
Solitaire could have been the instigator. Xander's not /unfamiliar/ with Odessa. A member of it asked him to join once. But it's none of his business, and even if it were, he's lost all right to judge people for the violence they get up to.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
'''He has a point. We shouldn't linger...'''<br />
<br />
But it's rankling at her that she can't repay Xander. It might only be a bunch of candies but it's CHARITY and it makes her feel small in a way she doesn't care for even if she's not stubborn enough to die over it.<br />
<br />
She takes in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.<br />
<br />
"Okay." She says. "Will find you... after healed up. Properly, then."<br />
<br />
She pulls down her mask for a moment, staring Xander for a long moment--then pulls it back up, effortlessly swings 'Patience'--an axe that looks way too big for her come to think--up and starts hobbling on her way to Halim, faster than before.<br />
<br />
"Patience..." She murmurs.<br />
<br />
'''yes...?'''<br />
<br />
"Maybe all nice people are grumpy about it?"<br />
<br />
'''I think you just attract weirdos, Soli...'''<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander shakes his head and sighs. "Yeah, sure."<br />
<br />
He does not mean that. He thinks she'll probably forget about it or get caught up in her own business, or he'll get caught up in his, and they'll never find each other again. What are the odds they cross paths again?<br />
<br />
Maybe about the same as trying to stab someone harmless only to find out they hold a fragment of godly power? Xander?<br />
<br />
Solitaire stares at him, and he eyes her uneasily, and then finally she sets off on her way again... all little of her and that massive axe. She'll... probably be fine. He doesn't have to worry about it. He's not worried about it. Why would he be worried about it?!<br />
<br />
And once the smell subsides, he lets himself breath back in deeper, growling into his hands.<br />
<br />
"Whatever!" he says to no one in particular, and storms off on his own.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2022-11-21:_If_You_Give_A_Mouse_A_Potion&diff=121902022-11-21: If You Give A Mouse A Potion2023-03-03T03:40:44Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: If You Give A Mouse A Potion'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Solitaire Collier]] [[Character :: Xander Lovell]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Outskirts of Halem<br />
*'''Date:''' November 11th 2022<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Solitaire, near death, finds an unlikely savior.''<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier drifts in and out of consciousness as she is pushed down the sewer's flow, clutching the head of her axe--the shaft obliterated by a well timed Ida PUNCH--close to her body. This might be it for her, now that the adrenaline is running out and the intense pain from her sounds is hitting her full on. 'Patience', the Demon Axe, twists his body even in her arms to grab ahold of sewer walls and adjust Solitaire's trajectory. They have to get out of Guild Galad as soon as possible before the ARMS dragnet catches them. She'd likely be thrown in jail for a long time. He'd probably be melted down or locked in a vault.<br />
<br />
Solitaire eventually crashes out of a drainage pipe in the outskirts of Guild Galad.<br />
<br />
'''Soli...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire coughs out some sewer water.<br />
<br />
'''Soli, we have to keep moving!'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire's eyes flutter open blearily as, in a crawl she starts dragging her body away from Guild Galad and into the Badlands beyond.<br />
<br />
Hours later<br />
<br />
Solitaire is covered in dried sewage water and smells about as bad as you might expect from someone who just went through a sewer journey. She is wearing a bloodied and torn Odessa uniform and the 'head' of Patience is strapped to her back. She doesn't have any footwear and she takes turns periodically hobbling and outright crawling across the Badlands, just trying to get... ''away''.<br />
<br />
She is covered in wounds. She has a thick carve in her back, two bullet wounds in different shoulders, significant bruises across her face--and that's all that can really be seen. The uniform might be hiding more.<br />
<br />
'''Just hang in there, Soli... If we can get to Halim we might get out of this....'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire, predictably, just focuses on moving.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
When they're not dealing with rounds of the curse digging into them, Xander is reluctant to wander off on his own for reason unrelated to birthday surprises. But sometimes he actually /does/ have tasks to fulfill. It'll be quick, he promised both Riley and himself, to run out and fetch some reagents while Riley dealt with food. One might supposed the Badlands aren't the best place to find alchemy ingredients, and one would be right, but Xander's become skilled in working from miserable foundations.<br />
<br />
He's as he usually is, pale and eye sunken, the other patched, can't be bothered to button his shirt. And yet, somehow, he's not the most disheveled person out here today. Xander jerks his head up in alarm at the frist stray sound. His nostrils flare at a scent he used to hate, one that hits his senses stronger than the sewage.<br />
<br />
...They're getting too close to the garden's completion for him to be thinking about easy pickings. He should leave. But before Xander can, he sees what he sensed and gives a start.<br />
<br />
/Don't be stupid. You remember what happened the first -- and last -- time you tried anything since the curse./<br />
<br />
Xander waits in the brush, hoping she'll pass. But when it takes all of one's energy just to move, it's a bit foolish to expect she'll be on her way and he can pretend he didn't see anything. Xander curses to himself and stands up. She's a walking risk of infection is what she is between her open wounds and means of escape for whatever the was escaping, and she may not be walking all that long.<br />
<br />
"All right, what the fuck?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Honestly it's amazing she's still able to crawl.<br />
<br />
And Solitaire is intent to keep on crawling. Even in this state. Her eyes flick towards the brush. As a mousegirl she is very sensitive to possible threats--honestly lets face it, probably HYPERsensitive. Extra sensitive. More sensitive than she really ought to be. Though in this case? Maybe she should be cautious? But she doesn't recognize Xander and someone who curses and asks what the fuck is unusual enough that she's not sure if it's a typical threat or not.<br />
<br />
She raises a wrist and wipes blood off her mouth and looks over to Xander. He might be able to see the scars around her throat which might indicate why she doesn't actually tell him 'what the fuck'.<br />
<br />
'''Can you talk? Maybe he can help...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire shakes her head and crawls another foot.<br />
<br />
'''Soli, if he was out to harm us he wouldn't really have to interrogate us first.'''<br />
<br />
"Mmn...." Solitaire sourly rolls over to her back so she can get a better look at Xander.<br />
<br />
"Gotta... Get To... Halim..." Her voice is soft and hoarse. "You... with ARMS?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
"Hardly," Xander says of ARMs, before he can think if he should lie or evaluate what's going on here. If he weren't a serial killer, it wouldn't be a question, either. Maybe that part of him still gets tugged at, in scenarios like this. Whatever the case, /he's/ not the one in danger, is he?<br />
<br />
He starts to approach, then stops hard, looking away and biting onto his thumb. It's possible to see his fangs. It's also possible to miss them, what with the agony and focusing on survival thing. No one would blame anyone that.<br />
<br />
...That is a lot of blood. But the garden...<br />
<br />
Xander pinches his eye shut, then rips a health vial off of his belt, tossing it Solitaire's feet without looking at her.<br />
<br />
"Inject yourself with that."<br />
<br />
Hey maybe that should be explained instead of just demanded? ...Okay, apparently he's not going to readily do that.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire isn't really bothered by fangs. She kinda has a slight Noelle-esque buckteeth thing going on herself though that's probably less creepy. But she IS a beastwoman so fanged people are closer to home than those who aren't. Though...<br />
<br />
Xander doesn't seem like a beastman. Maybe he's hidden his tail somewhere?<br />
<br />
Or maybe he's a Crimson Noble but Crimson NObles are pretty acceptable in Filgaia in the modern age so she just sort of decides to not immediately worry about it unless he turns into a monster and tries to eat her. Because she has something she's a lot more worried about.<br />
<br />
She looks down at the health vial at in front of her and picks it up with a hand. She stares at it.<br />
<br />
'''Looks like a health potion... Worth a shot...?'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire shakes her head.<br />
<br />
'''....What? Why??'''<br />
<br />
"Needle..." Solitaire says softly.<br />
<br />
'''...Okay, uh... Let me help.'''<br />
<br />
Dark tendrils emanate from the axe on her back and deftly pluck the health vial from Solitaire's hands.<br />
<br />
'''Stick your arm out...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire grimaces, shifting to he knees and smacks her face with both hands. This might be her greatest challenge yet but she can do it.<br />
<br />
She holds out her arm and the tendrils go *poik* into the arm and empty the health vial's contents into the bloodstream. Some of the lighter wounds fade and the heavier ones look a bit less dire.<br />
<br />
Solitaire takes a few deep breaths before looking back to Xander.<br />
<br />
"........... Thank you." Her voice is still quiet even if she feels a bit shameful for having been in this position.<br />
<br />
"Doctor...?" She asks. She sounds suspicious of this good turn of fortune. She is not someone who usually gets good turns of fortune.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander is bad enough with lies that if he tried to claim he was a beastfolk, he'd forget the whole having a tail issue. He could say he lost it? He wouldn't think of that until an embarrassing remark already passed. It'd be a whole Thing. Unfortunately, he /is/ a monster.<br />
<br />
But he's trying very hard not to eat her. It... doesn't really work like that anyway.<br />
<br />
When Solitaire complains about the needle, Xander heaves a sigh. "Gashes like that and you're worried about a /needle/..." he mutters, rummaging in his bag. "It won't be as effective --" He cuts off, abruptly looking to see tendrils of darkness crawling from her axe to administer the syringe.<br />
<br />
"Uh." Xander stares, watching it happen, not quite sure he's seeing it happen, and wondering, if it is happening, where in the top ten list of weird things in his life it should fall. But the alchemy does its intended work, helping her heal at least some of her wounds and give her a boost to her survival odds.<br />
<br />
She thanks him, and Xander fiercely looks away. "... Don't." He sighs again. "And not anymore. Don't get your hopes up."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire gives a confused quirk of her head when Xander tells her not to thank him. She doesn't seem to get it. But on the plus side (for Xander, perhaps) she doesn't press the matter either. Solitaire doesn't recall this person in the Odessa files though--lets be real here--she barely looked at those anyway. But Patience doesn't seem to recognize him either so it's possible this really is just some helpful stranger.<br />
<br />
She sits back on her butt, reaching into her bag, fishing through it for a moment.<br />
<br />
Before she pulls out a bunch of coins--about 200 gella worth in coinage (stolen from Venetia though to be fair she threw them at her) and offers them to Xander.<br />
<br />
"Won't get... hopes up." She promises before gesturing to herself. "Solitaire."<br />
<br />
'''Hold on need to put a bandage on...'''<br />
<br />
A dark tendril fishes around in the package and puts a bandaid on the injection site. It has a cartoon kitty on it.<br />
<br />
"Can I tell him...?" Solitaire murmurs. She listens to the axe's answer before nodding once.<br />
<br />
"This is Patience." She nods to the axehead. "Hurt too."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander thinks nothing of Solitaire going through her own bag, thinking it might be for her own medical supplies. Until she produces... is that gella?! He spins around, bristling and teeth bared.<br />
<br />
"What? No!" That is /not/ what he meant at all! And it would be bad for either one of them right now if he got close enough to take it from her!<br />
<br />
While he's baring his teeth in indignation, the tendrils provide the bandages Xander had once expected but /not like that/. The fight gets knocked out of his face, and Xander is left holding his head in one hand.<br />
<br />
"Patience," he echoes, exasperated. He could use some of that right now. "I'm a not-doctor, not any kind of /blacksmith/. Unless your axe can eat medication, I can't help."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
The dark tendril pats Solitaire on her head. Even with a deadpan expression she seems kinda used to this treatment from the axe...'s evil energy? Sure.<br />
<br />
It doesn't seem like Xander wants thanks or payment in money? Is it not enough? Or maybe it's too much??<br />
<br />
Solitaire frowns in thought. She reaches into her bag, digging in for a bit longer this time before finally pulling out a ....<br />
<br />
candy bar. Still in its wrapping. Her hands shake as the enormity of this decision starts to hit her. She slowly sets the candybar on the floor (it is chocolat and has almonds in it!) and pushes it forward across the ground towards Xander. Her foot taps on the dirt rapidly as she looks between the candybar, and up at Xander, then back down to the candybar again.<br />
<br />
"Patience... Can eat medicine." She promises.<br />
<br />
'This guy is really hard to read, Patience...' Solitaire thinks to her companion.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander knows an evil shove, why not an evil axe?! At least the evil axe gives head pats. No, Xander takes that thought back, if the shovel tried to pat him on the head he'd have to throw it into the ocean.<br />
<br />
Then Solitaire offers... more payment. Xander buries his face in his hands. "I'm not taking your mon --" It's candy. Chocolate, specifically. Xander's one eye lights up, a sparkle in life there that's been missing for the entirety of this conversation. It's dead almost as face.<br />
<br />
"I'm not taking your candy either!" She's practically vibrating over having to give it up what the hell!!<br />
<br />
In what may now seem like a completely hypocritical move, he hurls a small satched down at Solitaire's feet... a satchel with a few pieces of round, red candy. But also not candy: curative medicine that tastes exactly like candy. Cherry flavored.<br />
<br />
It's as if there remains an invisible barrier between the two of them Xander refuses to cross. It's incredibly rude, he knows, as if he's acting like she could infect him. Whatever! Let her think that! He's trying not to leap over and stab a person in blood frenzy over here!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire flinches as something is tossed her way instinctively but scootches forward and peeks into the bag. "..." Notably, Xander hasn't told Solitaire about the whole blood frenzy thing if she gets too close and continues to have no idea what's going on. Presumably, if she DID know that getting oto close to Xander would result in a blood frenzy, she'd probably choose not to do that! But that wouldn't be nearly as funny!<br />
<br />
She's not sure how to take this. Is this just charity? If it's charity, why is he being so grouchy about it? Her hypersensitive instincts are yelling at her contradictory suggestions.<br />
<br />
She should ask for more information.<br />
<br />
"Why not?" She asks. "Is it... not good enough...?"<br />
<br />
Maybe...<br />
<br />
"Not sick." she tells him.<br />
<br />
'''Want me to try talking to him?'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire isn't sure. Patience doesn't usually like revealing himself.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Why not, she asks, and Xander only flusters further, like the question is annoying but also embarrassing -- for him.<br />
<br />
"Because -- because you need that, don't you?!" Ugh. He growls and folds his arms, looking away. "Don't let people help you and then extort you afterward. I didn't even fix you up properly!"<br />
<br />
There's a pang at that, but one he's learned he has to let go. There's a lot more medical attention she should be given right now, but she's better off getting it in Halim. That kitty bandage did nothing to mask the blood! Xander reaches into his bag and spritzes perfume on his collar, breathing in. Don't think about blood.<br />
<br />
He gestures to the bag he tossed, refusing to look in axe and mouse direction again. "It's medicine. For your axe."<br />
<br />
WHY IS THAT A SENTENCE THAT EXISTS NOW<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire's eyes narrow. "....Not letting you extort me!" She protests as Xander attacked her honor! But it does get her to snatch back that candy bar (for now, she might throw it at him in a moment as she (after sneakily palming one of the cherry flavored healing gummies) holds the bag over the axehead of Patience and shakes a whole bunch of healing candy at it.<br />
<br />
"ROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHH!!" Patience bellows as he transmogrifies into a massive draconic head of miasmic shadow that CHOMPS down on the healing gumbies, devouring them whole before just as rapidly it shifts back into the form of the axehead, the shaft rapidly growing out from under it in the vein of metal demon regeneration. When all is said and done, the axe looks almost as good as new.<br />
<br />
"Patience don't be... Noisy." Solitaire complains, rubbing at her ears. "Who... Are you?" He's.. spritzing himself with perfume?<br />
<br />
Could it be...???<br />
<br />
"Crimson...Noble?"<br />
<br />
She has heard stories.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
"Good!" Xander snaps back, like they're having an argument now and he's winning. <br />
<br />
Once again it's that god forsaken ask that throws him, Xander flinching in alarming as it bellows out and devours the candies given with an actual head, which both makes more and less sense. He stares blankly as Patience grows -- regrows?? -- in a fashion Xander swears he's seen before but will not recall in the moment of SCREAMING AXE, EATING CANDY.<br />
<br />
And... repaired by it.<br />
<br />
"Noisy is... the least of it?!"<br />
<br />
But it /was/ rather loud.<br />
<br />
"Does it /matter?!/" he snaps of who he is. But she's asking and it'll get weirder to hide it, and it's not like it's even incriminating. He's being stubborn for no reason. "Ugh. I'm Xander. And no. I'm just a traveling alchemist."<br />
<br />
Just nothing, but don't worry about it.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Does it matter? "How should ... I know?"<br />
<br />
Xander assures her he's just a traveling alchemist, though. Solitaire sniffs her clothes and then says, "Had to... escape through sewer." a bit defensively like now she thinks he just doesn't want to smell her. That would explain the perfume. Maybe not the fangs but he's probably just hiding the tail somewhere..?<br />
<br />
Normally Solitaire would probably be a bit hesitant to trust someone just because they healed her up but she does hold a similar belief in not letting yourself get extorted.<br />
<br />
She is feeling a lot better even if her wounds haven't entirely healed. Se is able to get to 'standing up'. She doesn't approach, keeping some distance sensing that he doesn't want to smell her.<br />
<br />
"Wanna be buddies?" She asks.<br />
<br />
????<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Her response to that blindsides Xander. "That was rhetorical! Of course it doesn't matter!" But he already told her!<br />
<br />
Another heavy sigh (does this guy breathe properly) and Xander goes through his bag again. "Certainly /smells/ like it. You should take this too, I guess." He tosses her another few candies. These ones are green. They taste like apples.<br />
<br />
Again, he refuses to explain himelf, but they're antidotes, of a sort. Something to lower her risk of infection.<br />
<br />
He's going to end up going back to camp with less supplies than he started with. Annoying. ... Not like he won't make it up with larger batches later. Whatever.<br />
<br />
But once Solitaire stands again, Xander flinches, shifting back half a step like he expects her to bite him.<br />
<br />
Her next question is as good as biting him. Xander gapes at her, stunned, and failing to find his voice for several moments.<br />
<br />
"... /What?!/"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
SOlitaire has no idea that she's stealing more of Xander's supplies. Haven't you ever heard of the story about if you give a mouse a cookie? She's always happy to get more candy (to a point, she's got her pride) but it's not the receiving of candy that's twigged her pride it's Xander claiming that her trying to repay him is some kind of extortion!<br />
<br />
She gets more candy. She has some of the antidote and she does look like she's feeling better. It's not enough to staunch the stench of blood even if the bleeding has stopped because it's still all over her clothes.<br />
<br />
Solitaire reaches for her uniform and removes the coat, tearing off pieces to make impromptu bandages.<br />
<br />
"Tasty..." She mumbles.<br />
<br />
She looks back to Xander. "Buddies." She tells Xander with exceptional patience. "It is... another word... for 'friends'." A pause. "Badlands dangerous." She gestures to herself. "Bodyguard."<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Because she's not stealing! He's giving them out! Don't make him acknowledge that though this has all been stressful enough already.<br />
<br />
And it's getting more stressful by the moment!<br />
<br />
Xander keeps staring at her, mouth open, words not forming until they finally burst out of him.<br />
<br />
"I know what /buddies/ means!" Intellectually, maybe not spiritually. Especially if this conversation is any indication.<br />
<br />
He rakes his fingers into his hair and over his scalp. "I don't need a bodyguard. /You/ need to get to Halim and finish recovering. And maybe get away from whoever the hell did that to you?"<br />
<br />
Solitaire could have been the instigator. Xander's not /unfamiliar/ with Odessa. A member of it asked him to join once. But it's none of his business, and even if it were, he's lost all right to judge people for the violence they get up to.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
'''He has a point. We shouldn't linger...'''<br />
<br />
But it's rankling at her that she can't repay Xander. It might only be a bunch of candies but it's CHARITY and it makes her feel small in a way she doesn't care for even if she's not stubborn enough to die over it.<br />
<br />
She takes in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.<br />
<br />
"Okay." She says. "Will find you... after healed up. Properly, then."<br />
<br />
She pulls down her mask for a moment, staring Xander for a long moment--then pulls it back up, effortlessly swings 'Patience'--an axe that looks way too big for her come to think--up and starts hobbling on her way to Halim, faster than before.<br />
<br />
"Patience..." She murmurs.<br />
<br />
'''yes...?'''<br />
<br />
"Maybe all nice people are grumpy about it?"<br />
<br />
'''I think you just attract weirdos, Soli...'''<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander shakes his head and sighs. "Yeah, sure."<br />
<br />
He does not mean that. He thinks she'll probably forget about it or get caught up in her own business, or he'll get caught up in his, and they'll never find each other again. What are the odds they cross paths again?<br />
<br />
Maybe about the same as trying to stab someone harmless only to find out they hold a fragment of godly power? Xander?<br />
<br />
Solitaire stares at him, and he eyes her uneasily, and then finally she sets off on her way again... all little of her and that massive axe. She'll... probably be fine. He doesn't have to worry about it. He's not worried about it. Why would he be worried about it?!<br />
<br />
And once the smell subsides, he lets himself breath back in deeper, growling into his hands.<br />
<br />
"Whatever!" he says to no one in particular, and storms off on his own.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2022-11-21:_If_You_Give_A_Mouse_A_Potion&diff=121892022-11-21: If You Give A Mouse A Potion2023-03-03T03:00:45Z<p>Fei: [OOC] Riley Arwell says, "the good news is you found a doctor... the bad news is he's an evil doctor"</p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: If You Give A Mouse A Potion'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Solitaire Collier]] [[Character :: Xander Lovell]]><br />
*'''Where:''' Outskirts of Halem<br />
*'''Date:''' November 11th 2022<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Solitaire, near death, finds an unlikely savior.''<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier drifts in and out of consciousness as she is pushed down the sewer's flow, clutching the head of her axe--the shaft obliterated by a well timed Ida PUNCH--close to her body. This might be it for her, now that the adrenaline is running out and the intense pain from her sounds is hitting her full on. 'Patience', the Demon Axe, twists his body even in her arms to grab ahold of sewer walls and adjust Solitaire's trajectory. They have to get out of Guild Galad as soon as possible before the ARMS dragnet catches them. She'd likely be thrown in jail for a long time. He'd probably be melted down or locked in a vault.<br />
<br />
Solitaire eventually crashes out of a drainage pipe in the outskirts of Guild Galad.<br />
<br />
'''Soli...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire coughs out some sewer water.<br />
<br />
'''Soli, we have to keep moving!'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire's eyes flutter open blearily as, in a crawl she starts dragging her body away from Guild Galad and into the Badlands beyond.<br />
<br />
Hours later<br />
<br />
Solitaire is covered in dried sewage water and smells about as bad as you might expect from someone who just went through a sewer journey. She is wearing a bloodied and torn Odessa uniform and the 'head' of Patience is strapped to her back. She doesn't have any footwear and she takes turns periodically hobbling and outright crawling across the Badlands, just trying to get... ''away''.<br />
<br />
She is covered in wounds. She has a thick carve in her back, two bullet wounds in different shoulders, significant bruises across her face--and that's all that can really be seen. The uniform might be hiding more.<br />
<br />
'''Just hang in there, Soli... If we can get to Halim we might get out of this....'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire, predictably, just focuses on moving.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
When they're not dealing with rounds of the curse digging into them, Xander is reluctant to wander off on his own for reason unrelated to birthday surprises. But sometimes he actually /does/ have tasks to fulfill. It'll be quick, he promised both Riley and himself, to run out and fetch some reagents while Riley dealt with food. One might supposed the Badlands aren't the best place to find alchemy ingredients, and one would be right, but Xander's become skilled in working from miserable foundations.<br />
<br />
He's as he usually is, pale and eye sunken, the other patched, can't be bothered to button his shirt. And yet, somehow, he's not the most disheveled person out here today. Xander jerks his head up in alarm at the frist stray sound. His nostrils flare at a scent he used to hate, one that hits his senses stronger than the sewage.<br />
<br />
...They're getting too close to the garden's completion for him to be thinking about easy pickings. He should leave. But before Xander can, he sees what he sensed and gives a start.<br />
<br />
/Don't be stupid. You remember what happened the first -- and last -- time you tried anything since the curse./<br />
<br />
Xander waits in the brush, hoping she'll pass. But when it takes all of one's energy just to move, it's a bit foolish to expect she'll be on her way and he can pretend he didn't see anything. Xander curses to himself and stands up. She's a walking risk of infection is what she is between her open wounds and means of escape for whatever the was escaping, and she may not be walking all that long.<br />
<br />
"All right, what the fuck?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Honestly it's amazing she's still able to crawl.<br />
<br />
And Solitaire is intent to keep on crawling. Even in this state. Her eyes flick towards the brush. As a mousegirl she is very sensitive to possible threats--honestly lets face it, probably HYPERsensitive. Extra sensitive. More sensitive than she really ought to be. Though in this case? Maybe she should be cautious? But she doesn't recognize Xander and someone who curses and asks what the fuck is unusual enough that she's not sure if it's a typical threat or not.<br />
<br />
She raises a wrist and wipes blood off her mouth and looks over to Xander. He might be able to see the scars around her throat which might indicate why she doesn't actually tell him 'what the fuck'.<br />
<br />
'''Can you talk? Maybe he can help...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire shakes her head and crawls another foot.<br />
<br />
'''Soli, if he was out to harm us he wouldn't really have to interrogate us first.'''<br />
<br />
"Mmn...." Solitaire sourly rolls over to her back so she can get a better look at Xander.<br />
<br />
"Gotta... Get To... Halim..." Her voice is soft and hoarse. "You... with ARMS?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
"Hardly," Xander says of ARMs, before he can think if he should lie or evaluate what's going on here. If he weren't a serial killer, it wouldn't be a question, either. Maybe that part of him still gets tugged at, in scenarios like this. Whatever the case, /he's/ not the one in danger, is he?<br />
<br />
He starts to approach, then stops hard, looking away and biting onto his thumb. It's possible to see his fangs. It's also possible to miss them, what with the agony and focusing on survival thing. No one would blame anyone that.<br />
<br />
...That is a lot of blood. But the garden...<br />
<br />
Xander pinches his eye shut, then rips a health vial off of his belt, tossing it Solitaire's feet without looking at her.<br />
<br />
"Inject yourself with that."<br />
<br />
Hey maybe that should be explained instead of just demanded? ...Okay, apparently he's not going to readily do that.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire isn't really bothered by fangs. She kinda has a slight Noelle-esque buckteeth thing going on herself though that's probably less creepy. But she IS a beastwoman so fanged people are closer to home than those who aren't. Though...<br />
<br />
Xander doesn't seem like a beastman. Maybe he's hidden his tail somewhere?<br />
<br />
Or maybe he's a Crimson Noble but Crimson NObles are pretty acceptable in Filgaia in the modern age so she just sort of decides to not immediately worry about it unless he turns into a monster and tries to eat her. Because she has something she's a lot more worried about.<br />
<br />
She looks down at the health vial at in front of her and picks it up with a hand. She stares at it.<br />
<br />
'''Looks like a health potion... Worth a shot...?'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire shakes her head.<br />
<br />
'''....What? Why??'''<br />
<br />
"Needle..." Solitaire says softly.<br />
<br />
'''...Okay, uh... Let me help.'''<br />
<br />
Dark tendrils emanate from the axe on her back and deftly pluck the health vial from Solitaire's hands.<br />
<br />
'''Stick your arm out...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire grimaces, shifting to he knees and smacks her face with both hands. This might be her greatest challenge yet but she can do it.<br />
<br />
She holds out her arm and the tendrils go *poik* into the arm and empty the health vial's contents into the bloodstream. Some of the lighter wounds fade and the heavier ones look a bit less dire.<br />
<br />
Solitaire takes a few deep breaths before looking back to Xander.<br />
<br />
"........... Thank you." Her voice is still quiet even if she feels a bit shameful for having been in this position.<br />
<br />
"Doctor...?" She asks. She sounds suspicious of this good turn of fortune. She is not someone who usually gets good turns of fortune.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander is bad enough with lies that if he tried to claim he was a beastfolk, he'd forget the whole having a tail issue. He could say he lost it? He wouldn't think of that until an embarrassing remark already passed. It'd be a whole Thing. Unfortunately, he /is/ a monster.<br />
<br />
But he's trying very hard not to eat her. It... doesn't really work like that anyway.<br />
<br />
When Solitaire complains about the needle, Xander heaves a sigh. "Gashes like that and you're worried about a /needle/..." he mutters, rummaging in his bag. "It won't be as effective --" He cuts off, abruptly looking to see tendrils of darkness crawling from her axe to administer the syringe.<br />
<br />
"Uh." Xander stares, watching it happen, not quite sure he's seeing it happen, and wondering, if it is happening, where in the top ten list of weird things in his life it should fall. But the alchemy does its intended work, helping her heal at least some of her wounds and give her a boost to her survival odds.<br />
<br />
She thanks him, and Xander fiercely looks away. "... Don't." He sighs again. "And not anymore. Don't get your hopes up."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire gives a confused quirk of her head when Xander tells her not to thank him. She doesn't seem to get it. But on the plus side (for Xander, perhaps) she doesn't press the matter either. Solitaire doesn't recall this person in the Odessa files though--lets be real here--she barely looked at those anyway. But Patience doesn't seem to recognize him either so it's possible this really is just some helpful stranger.<br />
<br />
She sits back on her butt, reaching into her bag, fishing through it for a moment.<br />
<br />
Before she pulls out a bunch of coins--about 200 gella worth in coinage (stolen from Venetia though to be fair she threw them at her) and offers them to Xander.<br />
<br />
"Won't get... hopes up." She promises before gesturing to herself. "Solitaire."<br />
<br />
'''Hold on need to put a bandage on...'''<br />
<br />
A dark tendril fishes around in the package and puts a bandaid on the injection site. It has a cartoon kitty on it.<br />
<br />
"Can I tell him...?" Solitaire murmurs. She listens to the axe's answer before nodding once.<br />
<br />
"This is Patience." She nods to the axehead. "Hurt too."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander thinks nothing of Solitaire going through her own bag, thinking it might be for her own medical supplies. Until she produces... is that gella?! He spins around, bristling and teeth bared.<br />
<br />
"What? No!" That is /not/ what he meant at all! And it would be bad for either one of them right now if he got close enough to take it from her!<br />
<br />
While he's baring his teeth in indignation, the tendrils provide the bandages Xander had once expected but /not like that/. The fight gets knocked out of his face, and Xander is left holding his head in one hand.<br />
<br />
"Patience," he echoes, exasperated. He could use some of that right now. "I'm a not-doctor, not any kind of /blacksmith/. Unless your axe can eat medication, I can't help."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
The dark tendril pats Solitaire on her head. Even with a deadpan expression she seems kinda used to this treatment from the axe...'s evil energy? Sure.<br />
<br />
It doesn't seem like Xander wants thanks or payment in money? Is it not enough? Or maybe it's too much??<br />
<br />
Solitaire frowns in thought. She reaches into her bag, digging in for a bit longer this time before finally pulling out a ....<br />
<br />
candy bar. Still in its wrapping. Her hands shake as the enormity of this decision starts to hit her. She slowly sets the candybar on the floor (it is chocolat and has almonds in it!) and pushes it forward across the ground towards Xander. Her foot taps on the dirt rapidly as she looks between the candybar, and up at Xander, then back down to the candybar again.<br />
<br />
"Patience... Can eat medicine." She promises.<br />
<br />
'This guy is really hard to read, Patience...' Solitaire thinks to her companion.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander knows an evil shove, why not an evil axe?! At least the evil axe gives head pats. No, Xander takes that thought back, if the shovel tried to pat him on the head he'd have to throw it into the ocean.<br />
<br />
Then Solitaire offers... more payment. Xander buries his face in his hands. "I'm not taking your mon --" It's candy. Chocolate, specifically. Xander's one eye lights up, a sparkle in life there that's been missing for the entirety of this conversation. It's dead almost as face.<br />
<br />
"I'm not taking your candy either!" She's practically vibrating over having to give it up what the hell!!<br />
<br />
In what may now seem like a completely hypocritical move, he hurls a small satched down at Solitaire's feet... a satchel with a few pieces of round, red candy. But also not candy: curative medicine that tastes exactly like candy. Cherry flavored.<br />
<br />
It's as if there remains an invisible barrier between the two of them Xander refuses to cross. It's incredibly rude, he knows, as if he's acting like she could infect him. Whatever! Let her think that! He's trying not to leap over and stab a person in blood frenzy over here!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire flinches as something is tossed her way instinctively but scootches forward and peeks into the bag. "..." Notably, Xander hasn't told Solitaire about the whole blood frenzy thing if she gets too close and continues to have no idea what's going on. Presumably, if she DID know that getting oto close to Xander would result in a blood frenzy, she'd probably choose not to do that! But that wouldn't be nearly as funny!<br />
<br />
She's not sure how to take this. Is this just charity? If it's charity, why is he being so grouchy about it? Her hypersensitive instincts are yelling at her contradictory suggestions.<br />
<br />
She should ask for more information.<br />
<br />
"Why not?" She asks. "Is it... not good enough...?"<br />
<br />
Maybe...<br />
<br />
"Not sick." she tells him.<br />
<br />
'''Want me to try talking to him?'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire isn't sure. Patience doesn't usually like revealing himself.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Why not, she asks, and Xander only flusters further, like the question is annoying but also embarrassing -- for him.<br />
<br />
"Because -- because you need that, don't you?!" Ugh. He growls and folds his arms, looking away. "Don't let people help you and then extort you afterward. I didn't even fix you up properly!"<br />
<br />
There's a pang at that, but one he's learned he has to let go. There's a lot more medical attention she should be given right now, but she's better off getting it in Halim. That kitty bandage did nothing to mask the blood! Xander reaches into his bag and spritzes perfume on his collar, breathing in. Don't think about blood.<br />
<br />
He gestures to the bag he tossed, refusing to look in axe and mouse direction again. "It's medicine. For your axe."<br />
<br />
WHY IS THAT A SENTENCE THAT EXISTS NOW<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire's eyes narrow. "....Not letting you extort me!" She protests as Xander attacked her honor! But it does get her to snatch back that candy bar (for now, she might throw it at him in a moment as she (after sneakily palming one of the cherry flavored healing gummies) holds the bag over the axehead of Patience and shakes a whole bunch of healing candy at it.<br />
<br />
"ROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHH!!" Patience bellows as he transmogrifies into a massive draconic head of miasmic shadow that CHOMPS down on the healing gumbies, devouring them whole before just as rapidly it shifts back into the form of the axehead, the shaft rapidly growing out from under it in the vein of metal demon regeneration. When all is said and done, the axe looks almost as good as new.<br />
<br />
"Patience don't be... Noisy." Solitaire complains, rubbing at her ears. "Who... Are you?" He's.. spritzing himself with perfume?<br />
<br />
Could it be...???<br />
<br />
"Crimson...Noble?"<br />
<br />
She has heard stories.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
"Good!" Xander snaps back, like they're having an argument now and he's winning. <br />
<br />
Once again it's that god forsaken ask that throws him, Xander flinching in alarming as it bellows out and devours the candies given with an actual head, which both makes more and less sense. He stares blankly as Patience grows -- regrows?? -- in a fashion Xander swears he's seen before but will not recall in the moment of SCREAMING AXE, EATING CANDY.<br />
<br />
And... repaired by it.<br />
<br />
"Noisy is... the least of it?!"<br />
<br />
But it /was/ rather loud.<br />
<br />
"Does it /matter?!/" he snaps of who he is. But she's asking and it'll get weirder to hide it, and it's not like it's even incriminating. He's being stubborn for no reason. "Ugh. I'm Xander. And no. I'm just a traveling alchemist."<br />
<br />
Just nothing, but don't worry about it.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Does it matter? "How should ... I know?"<br />
<br />
Xander assures her he's just a traveling alchemist, though. Solitaire sniffs her clothes and then says, "Had to... escape through sewer." a bit defensively like now she thinks he just doesn't want to smell her. That would explain the perfume. Maybe not the fangs but he's probably just hiding the tail somewhere..?<br />
<br />
Normally Solitaire would probably be a bit hesitant to trust someone just because they healed her up but she does hold a similar belief in not letting yourself get extorted.<br />
<br />
She is feeling a lot better even if her wounds haven't entirely healed. Se is able to get to 'standing up'. She doesn't approach, keeping some distance sensing that he doesn't want to smell her.<br />
<br />
"Wanna be buddies?" She asks.<br />
<br />
????<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Her response to that blindsides Xander. "That was rhetorical! Of course it doesn't matter!" But he already told her!<br />
<br />
Another heavy sigh (does this guy breathe properly) and Xander goes through his bag again. "Certainly /smells/ like it. You should take this too, I guess." He tosses her another few candies. These ones are green. They taste like apples.<br />
<br />
Again, he refuses to explain himelf, but they're antidotes, of a sort. Something to lower her risk of infection.<br />
<br />
He's going to end up going back to camp with less supplies than he started with. Annoying. ... Not like he won't make it up with larger batches later. Whatever.<br />
<br />
But once Solitaire stands again, Xander flinches, shifting back half a step like he expects her to bite him.<br />
<br />
Her next question is as good as biting him. Xander gapes at her, stunned, and failing to find his voice for several moments.<br />
<br />
"... /What?!/"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
SOlitaire has no idea that she's stealing more of Xander's supplies. Haven't you ever heard of the story about if you give a mouse a cookie? She's always happy to get more candy (to a point, she's got her pride) but it's not the receiving of candy that's twigged her pride it's Xander claiming that her trying to repay him is some kind of extortion!<br />
<br />
She gets more candy. She has some of the antidote and she does look like she's feeling better. It's not enough to staunch the stench of blood even if the bleeding has stopped because it's still all over her clothes.<br />
<br />
Solitaire reaches for her uniform and removes the coat, tearing off pieces to make impromptu bandages.<br />
<br />
"Tasty..." She mumbles.<br />
<br />
She looks back to Xander. "Buddies." She tells Xander with exceptional patience. "It is... another word... for 'friends'." A pause. "Badlands dangerous." She gestures to herself. "Bodyguard."<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Because she's not stealing! He's giving them out! Don't make him acknowledge that though this has all been stressful enough already.<br />
<br />
And it's getting more stressful by the moment!<br />
<br />
Xander keeps staring at her, mouth open, words not forming until they finally burst out of him.<br />
<br />
"I know what /buddies/ means!" Intellectually, maybe not spiritually. Especially if this conversation is any indication.<br />
<br />
He rakes his fingers into his hair and over his scalp. "I don't need a bodyguard. /You/ need to get to Halim and finish recovering. And maybe get away from whoever the hell did that to you?"<br />
<br />
Solitaire could have been the instigator. Xander's not /unfamiliar/ with Odessa. A member of it asked him to join once. But it's none of his business, and even if it were, he's lost all right to judge people for the violence they get up to.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
'''He has a point. We shouldn't linger...'''<br />
<br />
But it's rankling at her that she can't repay Xander. It might only be a bunch of candies but it's CHARITY and it makes her feel small in a way she doesn't care for even if she's not stubborn enough to die over it.<br />
<br />
She takes in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly.<br />
<br />
"Okay." She says. "Will find you... after healed up. Properly, then."<br />
<br />
She pulls down her mask for a moment, staring Xander for a long moment--then pulls it back up, effortlessly swings 'Patience'--an axe that looks way too big for her come to think--up and starts hobbling on her way to Halim, faster than before.<br />
<br />
"Patience..." She murmurs.<br />
<br />
'''yes...?'''<br />
<br />
"Maybe all nice people are grumpy about it?"<br />
<br />
'''I think you just attract weirdos, Soli...'''<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Xander Lovell has posed.<br />
<br />
Xander shakes his head and sighs. "Yeah, sure."<br />
<br />
He does not mean that. He thinks she'll probably forget about it or get caught up in her own business, or he'll get caught up in his, and they'll never find each other again. What are the odds they cross paths again?<br />
<br />
Maybe about the same as trying to stab someone harmless only to find out they hold a fragment of godly power? Xander?<br />
<br />
Solitaire stares at him, and he eyes her uneasily, and then finally she sets off on her way again... all little of her and that massive axe. She'll... probably be fine. He doesn't have to worry about it. He's not worried about it. Why would he be worried about it?!<br />
<br />
And once the smell subsides, he lets himself breath back in deeper, growling into his hands.<br />
<br />
"Whatever!" he says to no one in particular, and storms off on his own.<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2023-02-25:_On_The_Seeking_Road&diff=121882023-02-25: On The Seeking Road2023-03-02T06:25:02Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: T5C: On The Seeking Road'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Marivel Armitage]] [[Character :: Hiro]] [[Character :: White Knight Leo]] [[Character :: Margaret]] [[Character :: Mariel]] [[Character :: Shige Kiwako]] [[Character :: Kaguya]] [[Character :: Zed]] [[Character :: Seraph Lanval]] [[Character :: Seraph Harmaus]] [[Character :: Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Pentagulia - Goddess Square<br />
*'''Date:''' February 25th 2023<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Marivel unleashes an assault against Pentagulia... But to what aim?''<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
There is about a day before Belle's warning comes to past. It begins with a series of empathic pulses emanating from multiple locations within the city. The first is a pulse of fear, then anger, then hate, than horror and terror. Each pulse emanates from a trove of empathite crystal hidden away in parts of the city. The sky turns red as flame and the moon shines a deeper scarlet. Meteoric flame crashes down to the city streets then rises back up to meet the heavens above. Screams fill the streets as men and women, filled with rising terror, crackle with black ash and smoke before they turn to monstrous form before your very eyes.<br />
<br />
There is no sensation of the Lord of Calamity's malevolence--not outside of what you bring in with you. Nor is there any extra sense of malevolence within those that turn that typically accompany those that turn into hellions.<br />
<br />
But in your minds, resonating through your very soul is a familiar voice indeed.<br />
<br />
'''Pentagulia. Children of the ''Goddess''. You have burned me, sent war to another land, kidnapped, tortured, and killed children. You have abandoned and forgotten the Guardians. You have perverted our rituals and our instruments.'''<br />
<br />
Marivel. As promised, she has made her move.<br />
<br />
'''But worst of all, you've forgotten your past. You have forgotten Anastasia who died so that you could live in this false paradise. You fear Lords of Calamity, a title for charlatans and play actors, tossed around by those who wield power for their own ends and you hold faith in a false Goddess that has abandoned you just as she has abandoned the Blue Star. Those you have held up as saviors and heroes have done countless terrible things.'''<br />
<br />
But the empathic pulses aren't the only problem to worry about. Out from the earth rise heroic golden shades. Some are recognizable--carrying the form of Kamui and Gami for instance--and others are wholly lost to time, only remaining as part of this world within Marivel's memories, their names lost to all but for the one who cannot forget.<br />
<br />
'''I, Marivel Armitage, last of the Crimson Nobles, Queen of Evil, Sorceress of Time, yadda yadda, have come to inflict a trial upon thee. A trial of Time and of history's Judgement. Rise up above it if you can or I shall take your so called Goddess's head. Face the horrors of the Abyss and show me your Answers.'''<br />
<br />
Though the shades fight against the beasts, they don't seem to be able to differentiate between any of you and the monsters. More solidly is a full squadron of gears that seem to have taken to blocking off the exits to the Goddess's Square where a massive charge of elden sorceries is being channeled. Three of these are readily recognizable.<br />
<br />
Revelry. Qubeley. Asgard. Each recognizable as of Marivel's design due to the maker's mark of one eye a piece.<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEXxsEOq8ZY&ab_channel=HuskybytheGeek<br />
<br />
The fourth gear is new. Similarly cyclopean, it nevertheless stands different from the other three--even from the legendary Asgard. It is a tall blue machine with a similar design aesthetic to Weltall but taller and winged and is definitely banned by the Treaty of Iscariot. As weapons of the present in this blast from the past it is clear where the Master of these machines is.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya arrived in Pentagulia /after/ the matter of Ghaleon and Lucia, arriving later in that same alley as everyone else. She is technically still a member of the Guard, though she isn't entirely sure that status will protect her after the things that the Lord of Calamity had to say. But that turns out to be irrelevant today; she hasn't run into any trouble, until now... and this trouble has nothing to do with the Guard. Or perhaps everything to do with the Guard. <br />
<br />
"What the--" Screams, everywhere. Kaguya steps out of the teahouse she'd been sitting in and feels the pulses of emotion, sees the blood-dark moon. Screams, and turns to monstrous forms. "What is--" <br />
<br />
That voice. Marivel's voice. <br />
<br />
"No," Kaguya says, "Tell me you didn't--" <br />
<br />
"DAMN IT, MARIVEL!" Kaguya shouts to the heavens as she sees those golden forms and the Gears starting to rise. "Is THIS what it means to protect Filgaia!?" Kaguya demands of the sky. "Is THIS what helps the world? Trial my ASS, this is just pointlessly awful!" <br />
<br />
She pulls Zeikfried, the legendary weapon, and she does not have to remind herself of her oath. She fulfilled part of it... But--<br />
<br />
"I swore to protect this moon," Kaguya says. "...And I'll do it. Even if it means I have to destroy a friend." <br />
<br />
She darts off, towards the square, and hops up against a building. Double-jumping, Kaguya springs off a wall and against another until she's high up enough to fire at the new Gear's 'faceplate', and as she does, electricity crackles all around her. She fires a single shot--<br />
<br />
"People of Pentagulia!" Kaguya shouts from her high vantage point, "Take cover in your homes!"<br />
GS: Kaguya has attacked Marivel Armitage with Void-Binding Shot!<br />
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
And what about our deal? That we would bring you to her, and talk first? And only then would you decide?<br />
<br />
Hiro threads his way through the crowd of panicking people, the chaotic eruptions throughout, right towards the horde, his own empathite radio in his hand.<br />
<br />
'''Does the word of an Evil Queen mean nothing? How many people upon your own Blue Star have done the same? Forgotten their past - sent war to distant lands? Do I see you in Solaris butchering its civilians for the crimes of the Gebler?'''<br />
<br />
'''You've abandoned your own world in a time of intense strife for your vendetta. You've abandoned your daughter who is suffering from a terminal disease for your vendetta.'''<br />
<br />
'''I hope you feel Anastasia would be proud of you.'''<br />
<br />
It begins with a simple thrust, and a rush of wind with his sword as he stabs into the armor plating of the Asgard like creation, "... Because right now? I am not." He ends simply, and now vocally.<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro has attacked Marivel Armitage with Hurricane Thrust!<br />
GS: Hiro has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Hiro's stances have changed to Avenger!<br />
GS: Hiro has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Kaguya's Void-Binding Shot for 106 hit points!<br />
GS: Drowsy applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
Mariel has been in Pentagulia, too, even if she did not stick with the group. She figured that she was (possibly) more likely to be identified by the guards here, for several reasons - though the one she gave, if asked, was that she has already been imprisoned by Althena's Guard once and that that was enough, thanks.<br />
<br />
But she's still HERE. She's here when the empathic pulses start, and that is enough to get her on the street; she's here when Marivel's voice sounds in her mind.<br />
<br />
"Marivel..."<br />
<br />
Mariel approaches from the harbor. She's carrying the staff she's been seen with several times lately: a long staff of ancient wood, irregular and bent in a few places like a heavy limb of a massive tree, topped with a faceted crystal held within twisting branches, as well as her usual big satchel of items.<br />
<br />
It's chaos toward the harbour too, and Mariel is having trouble moving through the panicking crowds. Her pace is slowed several times by stopping to help someone, because Mariel will not pass someone hurt without offering aid, even if there's little she can do. She is not immediately fighting spirits and especially isn't fighting the monsters, but it's not mutual - she has to run to evade them several times, or go around a longer route.<br />
<br />
"Marivel!" She has no idea if the Crimson Noble can hear her at all. "Marivel, you made a promise! That we'd see her together! That afterwards... Not that you would - you would - " Mariel grips her staff, and the crystal on it shimmers for a moment, faintest white. <br />
<br />
"The people of Pentagulia have nothing to do with this; leave them out of it! You've already hurt them so much! And if I have to stop you from making another mistake..." Mariel doesn't know what she'd do. She can't fight them. The monsters are people; she saw some burn in the red moon. The spirits are the remembered and the forgotten. And as for Marivel herself...<br />
<br />
Mariel wouldn't win that fight. But she has to do something. <br />
<br />
She made a promise, too. To Marivel, her friend.<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Mariel with Alone in the World!<br />
GS: Mariel has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Mariel's stances have changed to Sage!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
GS: Mariel accepts Mariel's Alone in the World for 0 hit points!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
Time has passed tensely in Pentagulia and to be honest, Lanval is completely lost because everything in this Holy City looks the same (aside from the harbor). When all hell breaks loose, there is - at last - a very comfy-looking depression in the ground that looks /almost/ as good as that one spot on Luca's streets. That one spot, that got destroyed when the Guard beseiged Luca. There will never /be/ a spot as comfortable to lay in like that spot but holy crap, this new destruction-made depression is almost looking as good. (It's a water spirit thing, you'd have to be one to understand.)<br />
<br />
"...Mmmm." Lanval takes in the words, the condemnations, the Trials, remembering what happened at Artorius' Throne. He takes a sip from his drinking gourd.<br />
<br />
He spent over five-hundred years holding up his part of the Boundary of Meribus until a bizarre decree and the Guard's destruction of his place of influence put it to an end. (To the latter's credit, that place was... not a great one, by mortal standards, moral standards, or even to the word substandard.) Althena, in her re-emergence, has spent that time condemning him and his actions and presence often by Ghaleon proxy. He now lives on, and of, Filgaia as a direct servant to the embodiment of its water. To an outside observer, maybe one wouldn't blame him for letting Marivel do her thing after how much he's been wronged.<br />
<br />
"I'm gonna do ya one lasht sholid," Lanval says to the thin air that is Althena's, "'caushe I ain't forgotten who I am." Lanval, the Mirthful Wellspring. Also, he told Ghaleon he's staying standing up, give or take a minor allowance in angle for his interesting interpretations of the idea of locomotion.<br />
<br />
So he goes along the beseiged streets, paralell briefly to the quiet will of Hiro and the overt call of protection by Kaguya, swaggering along like he has no care in the world, whistling along off-key to some obscure song from memory that's about thirty percent made up on the spot, coming across one of the golden shades that rise. They are larger, stronger, and sturdier than him from memory.<br />
<br />
This doesn't stop him from abruptly head-butting one of them in the breadbasket.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Marivel Armitage with Carefree Stroll!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters a Counter stance!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage partially guards Hiro's Hurricane Thrust for 80 hit points!<br />
GS: Mighty applied to Hiro!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
Hm.<br />
<br />
You know, when Belle gave her warning, Zed was not sure what he was supposed to be expecting. Something akin to the day that the sky broke over Adlehyde and disgorged a swarm of demons upon the city was absolutely not on the list, though, he knows that for a fact.<br />
<br />
Zed squats like a gargoyle atop one of Pentagulia's identical, gothic spires, staring long at the crimson sky. Something about what the so-called Queen of Evil claimed resonates with him. The worship of a false goddess is, after all, the very same thing that brought ruin to the survivors of Hyades.<br />
<br />
If there's a mote of truth to what she says, does he have the right to stop her from doing the same...? The Dark Hero makes a face, turning his gaze briefly back onto the bundle of letters in his lap. He'll have to finish reading the replies later.<br />
<br />
Slowly, Zed stands. He sighs at the entire situation-- if she were /not/ turning ordinary people into monsters for the gall of living in a place that is utterly unhospitable to life, maybe... maybe he'd be right there with those cyclopean monsters...?<br />
<br />
But sadly: She is.<br />
<br />
And so: He is not.<br />
<br />
With a 'hup,' he leaps down upon several of the golden shades, the blade Doombringer flashing with light as it's swung down--<br />
<br />
In the same instant, rays of hellish, heavenly light streak down into several other shades, flashing down into one Gami and another Kamui and another whose face none but Marivel know. "You know, method matters," Zed grumbles, "Maybe don't turn people into monsters next time?? It makes you look /extra/ evil, and not in the fun, charming villainess sort of way!"<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Inner Secret - Heaven's Howl!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
To Margaret, Marivel Armitage is less than she is to some others. But she knows her, she remembers her. A sad girl, buying donuts. An old-seeming girl; one who has great sorrow within her heart. <br />
<br />
Less-than does not mean 'equal to zero.' But it does clarify some things for Margaret, as she steps out of the inexpensive rooming house where she has been sharing a glorified cubicle with her aide-de-camp, healer assistant, and improptu save point, to see the skies darken and to hear the people scream.<br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ijP0i_5zdk<br />
<br />
"Alright, **** discretion," says Tera Gram, reaching up to unclasp her cloak and shake her shoulders a little. Her right hand is drawn out and then tucked into a slightly better place as she grasps one of her three swords with her left, drawing it outwards in a backhanded grip and twirling it around. "Get ready," she warns Dollie. <br />
<br />
"STARLIGHT EXPRESS--" <br />
<br />
Fwish! She leaves the cloak behind.<br />
<br />
Moving with the barreling speed of an express train in optimal conditions, feeling her heart pump like a steam engine, Margaret runs through the streets. When she finds one of the beasts, she is faced with a momentary terrible quandrary. What is she going to do with them? This beast was a man a minute ago. Now he's -- this. <br />
<br />
Dare I? Margaret thinks. <br />
<br />
Margaret opts to punt on the question after side-stepping a swung claw by punching the beast in the head sixteen times with a hand-guarded left fist. <br />
<br />
After this she runs, hearing others. Perhaps drawing nearer to - yes, Margaret thinks, and also, no, because those are Gears and they aren't the ones that "MOTHEROFGODDESSANDHERSIXTYFIVESPAREDRESSES," Margaret bursts into the slipstream of her own enchanted speed, "WHATHAVEYOUDONE" <br />
<br />
A thin wind reaches her ear. A voice - <br />
<br />
Ah, Margaret thinks. Swip! To the right -- an armored hero of ancient days, visored and wearing duraplastic armor, turns one gun of memory towards Margaret, who kicks him in the head three times, executes a mid-air twist, and throws the golden shade over a nearby gentleperson's fence-wall. <br />
<br />
AND THAT IS WHY <br />
<br />
There's just kind of a sparkling FWIP and Mariel has a towering elf-woman next to her. "Heard you calling," Margaret says, before twisting round to parry and fight momentarily with another of the shades DIRECTLY OVER MARIEL'S HEAD. Fortunately both she and the shade are much taller than Mariel. "Call it a stylish moment, but I believe in my promises too. What's happening, do you know?" <br />
<br />
Margaret resorts to her lightning-handguard-punch methodology but the handguard is already showing signs of wear. AUTHENTIC SWORD ACTION is inevitable. <br />
<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Crimson Orbit!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
There had been a warning, without question. But what was there to do regarding? With Marivel nowhere to be found and Lucia swept away to take audience with the Goddess, it was all that Avril could do to seek a path forward, as things stood.<br />
<br />
Pentagulia is a large city, however, and there are many places to search and far more to speak to. When the day comes that a crimson moon shines and meteors scream from the heavens, it is not Avril who stands in the Goddess' Square.<br />
<br />
No, there is another, one who ventured into the forbidden city by other, long-secret means.<br />
<br />
He walks slowly towards the golden shades, Marivel's statement ringing too in his mind. It serves only to stir the darkness within him, to make his rage and hatred nearly reach a boil.<br />
<br />
So she is here to force a trial upon the city, the failure of which will result in the death of the Goddess. So she is here to kill the Goddess Althena.<br />
<br />
So is he.<br />
<br />
"IT TAKES IT NOT FROM ME!" snarls the Seraph Harmaus, ears flattened against his head. "ALTHENA IS MINE! HER LIFE IS MINE!"<br />
<br />
Light, well-chased with darkness, surges from his corpus in a terrible rolling bolt; it splits into a trio of tarnished-gold rays as it descends for the heroic shades. Let none stand in his way, not even one of a similar mind to him.<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has attacked Marivel Armitage with Burning Vision!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
If the White Knight's loyalty to the Goddess was ever in question--not that it was, /of course/--that question died along with the Lord of Calamity. In the wake of the grand battle at Artorius' Throne, Leo returned to a hero's welcome in Pentagulia. There were celebratory feasts and formal reports and rumors of a new high honor, bestowed by the Goddess herself. If Leo appeared a bit more haggard, and rougher around the edges, well... it was undoubtedly a grueling tasl.<br />
<br />
Leo laid his master to rest in a simple grave near the ruins of his burned home. That was the most peace he's had in weeks; he has hated every moment of celebration. He cannot get his former mentor's words out of his mind. Why isn't he happy? He should be happy. Why can't he relax? He should relax. What's wrong--?<br />
<br />
Everything is wrong.<br />
<br />
Five Minutes Ago<br />
<br />
Leo sits at his office desk--a magnificent affair made from heartwood from Volgran Forest--a blank sheet of paper on the table. The dictation quill hovers expectantly, sparkling with faint sorcerous luminescence. Leo is dressed in full uniform, but his eyes are dark, his hair is mussed and brittle. Even his horn has lost its luster.<br />
<br />
And then, in that moment: screams. Fire rains on the city. A voice Leo knows all too well echoes in his heart. His face contorts into wide-eyed shock, then slack-jawed horror, then contorted fury. "/Marivel,/" Leo breathes, and his voice could freeze the air.<br />
<br />
NOW<br />
<br />
'People of Pentagulia! Take cover in your homes!'<br />
<br />
Kaguya isn't the only one who's taken to the air. Pentagulia is so well-urbanized that--with a little control over the earth, which is present /everywhere/ in the masonry--one can run across the rooftops, if one is daring and athletic enough. From her vantage-point, Kaguya might be able to see it first: a familiar red-and-white figure sprinting across a row of townhouses, towards the same machine she just fired at. "Dame Kaguya!" Leo's voice is tight and strained, not its usual authoritative roar. "Where in the HELL is she!?"<br />
<br />
'She' should go without saying.<br />
<br />
Leo takes to the air, vaulting forwards in a tremendous leap. His blade leaves its scabbard, gleaming as he falls on the machine Kaguya fired at. He drives it at the Gear's neck, with all the force of his fall behind it. His eyes flicker with dull embers of rage.<br />
<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Luminant Scythe!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
Shige's found herself a quiet spot to hunt down books. Things to learn. Things to read. Things to enjoy with a good cup of whiskey. The book is snapped shut and set alongside her pack. Replaced in hand by the ghostly lantern. <br />
<br />
Each pulse of emotion causing her shadow to shift as it stretches behind her. Echoes of the past, attached to those emotions. Or opposed to them even. The light seems to grow brighter. A beacon of sorts as she looks up at the sky. <br />
<br />
"You could have done something to teach the forgotten. You could have made sure their stories were heard. Instead you'd create more misery and destroy more stories?" She sounds angry at this. That lantern held firmly before her. Figures almost visible around her at the edges of the light. Figures long forgotten, but lingering. <br />
<br />
As the monsters twist and change and are met by both golden shades and Shige's own. Figures in ancient armor. Grasping raging ghosts with wild hair. She's marching her way forward through it all until she catches up with the rest. Slipping her mask on under her hood. Obscuring a look of actual anger, bordering on rage itself. A far cry from her usual self. "If I have to drag her to the end of the line myself, I will." Voice quiet, barely contained. Lashing out at a recently turned monster tries to get in close. Claws out and raking. "This will not happen again." That part is much quieter. And the masked face turns towards Zed briefly. That's something for later. Protect the others first. Judgement later. Right? <br />
<br />
Somewhere at the edge of all of this, the drowned out rational part of her mind wonders if she shouldn't try to guide the golden spectres as they swing away at friend and foe.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Marivel Armitage with Cat's Claws!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Margaret's Crimson Orbit for 41 hit points!<br />
GS: Drowsy applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Zed's Inner Secret - Heaven's Howl for 48 hit points!<br />
GS: Mute applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Seraph Harmaus's Burning Vision for 122 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Gamble: Very High! Marivel Armitage solidly guards Seraph Lanval's Carefree Stroll for 59 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
There was a time, when Marivel and Gwen had met outside of the Irington Bakery. A promise was made, and Gwen had an additional, optional decision she had to make: learn about a thing that was coming in the future. <br />
<br />
'But I have to warn you, knowing the future is to be bound by it.'<br />
<br />
Gwen decided against knowing, feeling the weight of her own hubris weighing on her shoulders. She'd try to stop it, if she knew. It's just her nature.<br />
<br />
She flips up the brim of a nonexistent hat in greeting to a Marivel that isn't there, as Marivel's voice speaks to all of them directly. "Ain't sure what t'think, that you'd have this much faith in us." The hurt expression and neutral tone is a mask; this faith feels too heavy. <br />
<br />
Marivel must know what will naturally come next. She'll be indisposed, as her friends rectify the damage her rage has brought upon the city. The Fiends will look like heroes, facing off against Marivel, and Althena's Guard will seem weak in comparison. Perhaps this was Marivel's intention? Her feelings were, and still are real.<br />
<br />
".... We need to figure out how to undo this enchantment," she says, to any companions that happen to be nearby, the moment she comes across them. "We gotta let those Gears keep the citizens trapped here in the meanwhile, or they might escape and hurt people outside. They're the victims here; don't let them hurt anyone."<br />
<br />
Her right hand has the buckle undone over her palm, which is then pointed at a heroic shade gaining an edge over a transformed citizen. She fires.<br />
<br />
"Zed," she yells out, seeing the Hyadean launch at a Kamui and Gami lookalike, "if there's any you feel y'can't fight, lemme know. We'll share!"<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Coil Cannon EX!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage critically guards White Knight Leo's Luminant Scythe for 50 hit points!<br />
GS: Mighty applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Gwen Whitlock's Coil Cannon EX for 52 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage partially guards Shige Kiwako's Cat's Claws for 45 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Poison blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
'''Not at all Kaguya! This is a gamble for something more important to me! Marivel answers and when Kaguya insists she'll even destroy a friend to protect the moon. That's the spirit! You have a suitable weapon for it don't you?'''<br />
<br />
As Kaguya pops a shot off towards the new Gear's faceplate it impacts solidly against the visor. The electricity crackles around the impact point. Kaguya telling the people of Pentagulia to take shelter might be more pertinent. Civilians rush into their homes--even Pentagulia's strange nature can only withstand so much and an invasion from hell is more than enough.<br />
<br />
Hiro asks if the word of an Evil Queen means nothing. Marivel responds with a, '''Well I believe the deal was to escort me to Pentagulia, things didn't really pan out that way did it Hiro? And it was to let you talk to her ere I pass judgement on her, was it not? Once Althena comes out I'll be happy to let you have a long chat with her. If she comes out.'''<br />
<br />
Hiro's other accusations go unanswered for the time being.<br />
<br />
Asgard summons up a barrier to protect itself from Hiro's stabbing thrust. He can hear Hob from within, "Chrrp! Krrp!" The barrier disperses a significant amount of the damage. "Kreee! <3" Hob adds.<br />
<br />
As Mariel hesitates to attack the monsters, she notices something is strange about them. Though they are rushing for homes and making a general fuss of things, they don't seem to be attacking anyone. Perhaps some lingering humanity or...Something else?<br />
<br />
'''Oh don't sweat it Mariel, we'll see her together! Personally I feel like I'm being very restrained. Mariel, surely you don't think these people are actually innocent. Or that they truly have nothing to do with this.'''<br />
<br />
Mariel understands it at once. The footprints of the monsters--they are leaving human footprints.<br />
<br />
Lanval helpfully head-butts an illusory Kamui. She lets out a yelp and promptly E-Rings, leaving a strange tank of energy behind! It ... kind of looks like a tankard actually. Like Lanval could just...<br />
<br />
No! That'd be crazy! But...inviting? It is liquid...<br />
<br />
'''Hands are tied I'm afraid, this is what happened. I can't edit my memory! Besides, I need the emotional energy! Can't supply it all on my own!'''<br />
<br />
Zed takes out SHINIGAMI!? and a Kamui with his light--more E-Ring explosions. These are definitely not as durable as the real thing.<br />
<br />
Margaret punches out a monster! There is a crackling around the monster as it tumbles to the floor. It fell...too easily for its appearance. Indeed, if Margaret lingers--she will see the illusion fades around the monster as a properly KONKED OUT Guardsman lays on the floor. Margaret is able to take down a mini-Asgard from the past with a few quick kicks to the head. Yeah, definitely not the real deal.<br />
<br />
'''Harmaus! HARMAUS! Will you stop murdering your soul for a second and think rationally oh NEVERMIND.'''<br />
<br />
Harmaus incinerates an Anastasia and MArivel shade as he comes crashing down with light chasing darkness.<br />
<br />
'''Anyway I gotta finish my spell to open up a portal to Hell and then I'll hear you all out about how I'm just the worst mom!'''<br />
<br />
Marivel can't be seen with all these giant robots in the way, but Leo's tactics tell her she's likely in the very center of the Goddess Square. Plus, he does know Marivel loves her theatrics. NEvertheless, while he dives for the new gear's neck, it reaches out with a hand and catches the blade.<br />
<br />
"Pardon me, White Knight Leo, but the Mistress is not ready to see you now." Belle's voice echoes from the gear Lucifer as she starts flying up into the air, higher and higher.<br />
<br />
"Perhaps stories must be felt to be truly understood." Belle muses aloud, though she is as unfailingly calm as ever. Shige too, slashes at a monster--<br />
<br />
--She feels some resistance but the illusion on a healthy young man fades as the monstrous illusion fades from him. He's wounded, but not seriously.<br />
<br />
A shade of Yue is blasted in the back, chains erupt from her arms and send her tumbling forward as she fades from existence thanks to Gwen's timely shot in protecting a civilian-turned-monster.<br />
<br />
Gwen speculates quietly as to Marivel's true intentions, but Marivel really does get quiet here.<br />
<br />
"Chrrrrp!" Nob says from within Qubeley whereupon the gears unleash their counterattack. The shades are dealt with easily enough. The only one who is spared their assault is Mariel.<br />
<br />
Lucifer continues going up higher and higher with Leo. He might have to find a way to escape or he might have a tough way of getting down. There's other alternatives but the claw squeezes tightly...<br />
<br />
It points a plasma rifle down at Kaguya and takes several pop shots at her too!<br />
<br />
MEANWHILE<br />
<br />
Asgard approaches Zed, Gwen, and Hiro. It throws several quick jabs at them, a barrier rippling around it with each strike.<br />
<br />
Harmaus, Margaret, and Lanval have to deal with Qubeley coming in hard, firing minidrills at them before trying to catch them with the very big one at the top of its head.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile Shige has to deal with Revelry trying to pounce right on top of her.<br />
<br />
"LET'S PLAY." The hero of Quartly singsongs merrily. "TAG YOU'RE IT!"<br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Marivel Armitage with Hob And Nob Love You!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Marivel Armitage's Hob And Nob Love You for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify and Hyper applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Hiro with Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: That attack doesn't exist. []<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Harmaus with Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
DC: Attack Joy And Revelry has been added to slot 14 on Marivel Armitage's form 3.<br />
GS: Gamble: High! Hiro suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom! for 189 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with Joy And Revelry!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with Wings of Lucifer !<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Kaguya with Crimson FOOM!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.<br />
GS: Kaguya partially evades Marivel Armitage's Crimson FOOM! for 142 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus fully evades Marivel Armitage's Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom! for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom! for 83 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Wings of Lucifer for 169 hit points!<br />
GS: Cover applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Margaret takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom! for 95 hit points!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Moderate! Zed takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom! for 204 hit points!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Joy And Revelry for 69 hit points!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya shouts back at the White Knight Leo, "She's in the square! We have to get to her, fast!" <br />
<br />
Her loyalty to the Goddess is irrelevant here; she chose to safeguard this world, and that includes the people of the Goddess's Holy City. Would they do the same for her? Probably not. But that doesn't matter. What matters right now i that Marivel mentions something more important... <br />
<br />
"Not helping," she shouts back. "I do have the weapon. Sorry, but... If we're all at odds--" <br />
<br />
Kaguya doesn't much like her answers. Not the ones Marivel is giving. But what she's saying--emotional energy, her memories, a portal to Hell... <br />
<br />
POP POP. Potsots! <br />
<br />
Kaguya shoots down three of the projectiles before they can reach her, bang bang bang, but the fourth hits her hard and knocks her through the air, forcing her to alight down against a rooftop briefly. <br />
<br />
"Leo!" Kaguya calls. "I got you! Jump!" <br />
<br />
Then she fires, not at the phantoms or at the Gears, but for Leo. She fires a shot to reinforce his power--the White Knight's power. It will encase him in a golden, glowing glow--<br />
<br />
And her, too.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Very High! Gwen Whitlock suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom! for 243 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!<br />
GS: Kaguya has attacked White Knight Leo with Binding of Purity!<br />
GS: Kaguya has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Kaguya's stances have changed to Hero!<br />
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
Rings of energy escape around Lanval's headbutting as he stumbles upon that strange cylinder-shaped canister of something with a letter on it. Is it its grade? It must not be very good. But he picks it up, anyway, giving it a sloshing around as Qubeley comes helping themselves in. He seems to miss the miniature drills firing around him outright, and they miss him. A moment of odd levity, in a place and situation completely bereft of any and all of it.<br />
<br />
Then the huge head drill comes bearing down upon them. He deftly avoids it, backflips, and lands atop the head-drill where... he spins around it at incredible speeds with a cartoonish gurgling and yelling before being hurled back towards the ground, where... he gracefully rolls back and up to his feet, cancelling most of the excess momentum with uncommon grace and poise that is a lot more common to him than he lets on.<br />
<br />
"Hey.... mmmmrmrmrmmrph," he shakes his head to deal with some of the lingering dizziness because being incorporeal doesn't render one immune to that kind of disorientation, "Harmaus," he says to the angry, screaming Hellionized Seraph who is all too eager and ready to keep down the path of Dragon-ing with his present obsessions and contradictions empowering it, "'m with ya on one thing - the truth we're lookin' for... we ain't gonna have it if it keepsh up thish way."<br />
<br />
"I know ya didn't ashk me," Lanval asides to Margaret, who is already in lightning movement with her own speed and decisive offense at her beck and call, "but I believe in the shimple shtuff in life."<br />
<br />
"'n life... it'sh reeeeeeal complex," he holds up the Tank of Dubious Lettered Grade, gives it a sloshing, and attempts to channel it into powerful Seraphic Arte magic. The actual chant is lost to some of the utter chaos and destruction erupting around them, "sho 'm gonna break it down liiiiiiiike thish,"<br />
<br />
Lanval's eyes open to a brilliant aquamarine as he stands before the Gear that dwarfs him, and says with a smile, definitively...<br />
<br />
"Not like this. Blessed Drops!"<br />
<br />
And this is how Qubeley gets an on-site mid-battle car wash with huge sanctified globules of shining water.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Marivel Armitage with Blessed Drops!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
<br />
GS: Kaguya heals White Knight Leo! He gains 132 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: Mighty applied to Kaguya!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Seraph Lanval's Blessed Drops for 66 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
"They did not ask to have their home attacked," Mariel responds to Marivel. "Some of them may be, but most of them, no! You said it yourself, the last we spoke: is it fair that they must worry about something five thousand years passed? There is no need to take it out on them...! If this is how you would like to draw Althena out, I do not think it is a plan worth following. Marivel..."<br />
<br />
She knew the depths of Marivel's feelings. But she thought... if she's being honest, she simply thought better of the Crimson Noble. She still does. This is a mistake, born of emotion - and one Marivel may regret, she feels, when her heart cools.<br />
<br />
She needs to stop it from getting worse. From making the mistake unforgiveable. She believes in Marivel, but yet... "We made a promise," she says, more to herself than Marivel (or indeed anyone else). "And how can there be an 'after Pentagulia' if you end it like this...?"<br />
<br />
Mariel's response to being threatened from above is to crouch, mostly so she can duck past.<br />
<br />
This turns out to be the right idea when Margaret, who has decided to be Margaret again, has a swordfight directly over her head. "I don't know," Mariel says, from her crouched position - she crabwalks several steps to get out of the direct line of fire. "Marivel seems to be doing something, but..." She doesn't know what, even though she can feel power starting to build.<br />
<br />
Her grip tightens on her staff as she, rising from her crouch, spots something. Something about the footprints... She doesn't understand why Marivel has done this, but she clearly has. Why? If she could figure out why, she could figure out what the whole *plan* was. She wants high emotions, but why? Chaos, but for what purpose?<br />
<br />
"Don't kill the monsters!" Mariel raises her voice, uncharacteristically letting it carry a bit further as Margaret knocks out a guardsman. She winces at the look of him going down, but at least he's not dead. <br />
<br />
"Thank you. But I need to see Marivel." She waves with her free hand toward the square - and starts to move that way once Margaret is free, staff held diagonally as if she could defend herself with it. It's certainly better for parrying with than her bag would be, so perhaps she finally counts as armed, though Mariel doesn't seem inclined to use it as a weapon.<br />
<br />
Instead, she draws some nuts from her satchel and scatters them. They burst into light, weakening those they strike and drawing away energy. None of Mariel's own powers, here; just the wild flora of Filgaia. She *really* debates pitching one at Harmaus too, but she's not sure she can actually catch him from here. Kaguya, at least, is a known quantity. He isn't.<br />
<br />
She catches sight of Hiro, and hurries toward him, hoping that Margaret is following. "Hiro!" Mariel waves, one gloved hand over her head energetically to try to catch his eye.<br />
GS: Mariel spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Marivel Armitage with Powerless Nut!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
'''Now you're just lying. That was the original deal when you were keeping us in the dark about your intentions. It was updated once you made it clear your intention was to kill Althena - and you accepted it.'''<br />
<br />
The clang of his blade off the barrier causes a glower, '''How can you treat this MASS MURDER like its all a JOKE?'''<br />
<br />
Asgard approaches, striking him with several quick jabs, which overwhelm his guard in short order, sending him sprawling, before he forces himself back up.<br />
<br />
Hearing Kaguya's shouts, he cries out to those nearby, "We have to get to the square fast! Fend off anything that gets in our way long enough for the civilians to get out."<br />
<br />
It's a strange sight, seeing Mauri and Ghaleon head the evacuations, but right now he's just grateful, "Gwen! Zed! Let's force our way through!"<br />
<br />
With a few hand gestures and spoken words, "Cut them to pieces, Razor Cyclone!" Wind forms in funnels, which separate into boomerang like razors of green and white wind energy, spreading through the horde.<br />
<br />
"Mariel! Stick with us! We'll get you to her!"<br />
<br />
Don't kill the monsters though? "We'll do our best, but we have to stop her before this gets out of hand!"<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro has attacked Marivel Armitage with Razor Cyclone!<br />
GS: Hiro has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Hiro has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
You know, the first time the REAL (smol) Asgard punched Zed in the face, the Metal Demon's forehead proved to be eminently impenetrable. It's perhaps not to his credit that he attempts to do the exact same thing to a GIANT ROBOT version of Asgard. It may not be the true Earth Golem, but even Zed can't block a fist that large with his face without feeling the hurt. He's sent flying, first by raw kinetic force, and then by the barrier that surges after him. He crashes into a nearby building, hanging for a moment out of a hole that used to be a mass produced mural of Dragontamer Jian, who honestly is probably better left forgotten.<br />
<br />
"Ughhhhh, Gwennnn, I need to learn to... fight giant robots better." And Surtr isn't even here! With a groan, he pulls himself out of the rubble and rolls his shoulders tenderly. "Guhhhh. I got marble dust in uncomfortable places...! You'll pay for that!"<br />
<br />
Zed points at Asgard with the curve of his sword, by which we mean he makes like he's about to chop at it from way the heck over here. "And also for wrecking someone's..." Zed frowns. "...House? Temple? Place of work? Everything in this city looks the same... Tch!"<br />
<br />
He flicks his wrist once, twice, thrice! Each time, he sends a cutting crescent of pure, glimmering starlight at the mighty golem. "Miss Queen of Evil, don't you have better places you can be using these giant robots? You're not worried at all that we're gonna /wreck/ them?"<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Saint Arts - Starstrider's Valor!<br />
GS: Zed has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Zed's stances have changed to Avenger!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage solidly guards Hiro's Razor Cyclone for 78 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Margaret answers Mariel, "I don't understand it either, but I'll get you to her if I can manage it, or I'll know the reason why." Hedging, Margaret thinks. She looks towards Hiro as he forces his way - moving with Mariel is easy for her, of course, given her fleetness of foot. <br />
<br />
Margaret hears damnably familiar yowling. Her right hand begins to hurt. She looks upwards and says to herself in tones of great distaste, "Why in the Goddess's name is HE showing up at THIS time, doesn't he have a club to attend?? Some shaded pit in the depths of Tartarus??" <br />
<br />
Margaret knows what Tartarus is. It's what you get if you don't scrub your teeth with baking soda and mint oil at least once a week. Use a soft cloth and not too much force. <br />
<br />
There are larger problems than tooth decay before them. Margaret looks upwards, her ears flattening back against her head as she stares up at Quebeley's approach. Something the size of a Gear. How the hell am I supposed to fight this? Margaret thinks. <br />
<br />
The first drill missile, she dodges, but she doesn't dodge enough; thrown flying to the side, she lets out a grunting yelp of disquiet and pain. Still, unbreached, she leaps upwards just in time to see -- another one coming for her. This one she avoids with that flick-dash from her magical ring, which is, at least, a known factor, but then Quebeley is descending with a massive head drill. <br />
<br />
*I* can dodge, Margaret thinks, but if I do-- <br />
<br />
-- what happens to Mariel, to Hiro, to the annoying man? Her teeth tense upwards as she stares upwards. The drill is at least two Margarets wide. Margaret is holding a perfectly decent but refurbished steel sword from Filgaia, and she cannot even manage a two handed grip on it. <br />
<br />
All I have, Margaret thinks, is speed, as the drill comes down. <br />
<br />
It will have to serve, she thinks further, as she sucks in a deep breath. "RUNE BLADE--" <br />
<br />
The shadow of grinding death descends!<br />
<br />
"-- IGNITE" <br />
<br />
The blade erupts in sorcerous light...<br />
<br />
... and to Margaret's eyes, the drill seems to slow. Huh, Margaret thinks. It's spinning the opposite way to Filgaian drills. That's funny. Wait, she thinks, hopping to the side, does that mean -- <br />
<br />
Quebeley comes down. To external observers there is a sudden noise like two grinding blades are intersecting, sparks flying everywhere. It stands, dismayingly, in an ambiguous height relevant to one Margaret for long seconds, but there is that screaing noise of machinery. <br />
<br />
To Margaret, she strikes - strikes - strikes again - strikes a thousand times, each and every one of them WITH the drill. She can see where she's hit the enormous thing and left small marks, but, Margaret thinks, what am I doing? I can't possibly destroy it. But it seems to be speeding up. Wait, she thinks, striking further, an irrational hope in the back of her throat: <br />
<br />
How fast CAN it go? <br />
<br />
Strike, strike, strike again. The drill lifts upwards slightly as Margaret feels a spark zwwwing over her cheek. She screams from beneath it, her voice emerging but faintly from the din, "Hiro my boy!" <br />
<br />
STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE "Don't sell yourself short --" <br />
<br />
STRIKESTRIKESTRIKESTRIKESTRIKESTRIKE "If you believe --"<br />
<br />
SSSHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR "YOU CAN DO ANYTHIIIIIIIIIIIIING" <br />
<br />
At the last moment Margaret does a backflip, slamming the suddenly-overspeed drill from the side and also hurling herself outwards in a seemingly random direction; with three gray-green sparkle-streaks she is able to end up stumbling and smelling like a machine room near Mariel again, but distinctly alive and as whole as she was in the first place. <br />
<br />
Mariel gets a wink, because you always have to keep the side up, even as, no doubt, SOMETHING will happen to the Gear behind Margaret. <br />
<br />
DC: Margaret switches forms to Rune Blade IGNITION!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Twisting Flurry!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
As the Not-Yue tumbles forward, Gwen does a double-take, realizing who it is-- or, really, who the shade is taking the visage of.<br />
<br />
"... Sorry." Gwen can't help but apologize. <br />
<br />
Mariel spots something up about the 'transformed' citizens, but while Gwen hasn't noticed the human footprints, she does notice the fact that none of the citizens are attacking them, while the shades spare no one. "... Yeah, they're only attacking the shades--"<br />
<br />
'Ow' is the sound you make when you hit your shin against a coffee table, or get a papercut on your index finger. 'Ow' is not the sound you make when you get pummeled into the dirt like a cheap coin under a press, but that is the sound Gwen makes.<br />
<br />
".... Zzed," Gwen croaks. ".... That's.... an Asgard. Y'don't get better at fightin an Asgard, you just pray you survive!"<br />
<br />
Hiro calls her name, and Gwen grunts and nods. "On it, Hiro! Zed, let's do this! We're gonna deliver Mariel over there one way or another!" Zed's crescents are followed by a running Gwen with her right arm hooked back. Operating on the same deadly art a coffee table uses to take down its prey, she slams her right fist straight for the shin. "SPECIAL DELIVERY!"<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Snipe!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock spends 1 Combo on Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!<br />
GS: Formation! Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Special Delivery!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Zed's Saint Arts - Starstrider's Valor for 180 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Special Delivery for 132 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
Shige's not her usual self in the slightest, the rage all, but palpable around her. When Revelry tries to pounce her, she twists and rolls, softening the blow and ending back on her foot with the rattle of bottles and the chain securing herself to her lantern. "Wrong place. Wrong time. Wrong guide." as she lifts the lantern high, the figure of the shrouded ghost appearing behind her. It's own fury mimicking the masked feline's. It flickers and appears closer. Making a horrible croaking noise before lashing out. Twisted clawed hands leaving behind angry rents in the air. Lingering motes of Shige's shadowy magic. <br />
<br />
"You talk of being alone." She beckons with the lantern. "You'd inflict that on another? I can do something this time. I can stop it now." She starts to walk past Revelry. None of her usual.. helpful ghosts are present at the moment. Soldiers, faces shrouded. Tarnished. A mirror of the shaman's mood. "No better than the demons. I will drag you to the same judgement they deserve if I have to!" <br />
<br />
Shige might be in another place at this point, so to speak. <br />
<br />
There's part of her mind still yelling at her. Telling her she can do this by keeping the others safe. Even as grudge borne ghost tries to share its misery. Sharing that sense of loss and anger. Hoplessness even. <br />
<br />
There is a moment of hesitation. As she comes to a stop, looking around. Lost. Is that screaming something else? She doesn't quite drop the lantern, though it goes slack in her fingers for a moment.<br />
<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Marivel Armitage with Onryo's Grudge!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
Perhaps another time, another place -- Harmaus and Marivel could have been allies.<br />
Perhaps Harmaus could have been an ally to any of them, if it had been but a few hundred years earlier. But his path was set before a single one of them came to Lunar -- or before the first Lunarian set foot on Filgaia in ever-so-many years. The path before anyone is never set in stone, it is true.<br />
<br />
But Harmaus is ever seeking to continue along it. It just so happens that in this moment, his desires and those standing against Marivel's trial happen to align.<br />
<br />
"Knows I this! Seeks it slaying Her! This-- I cannot allow!" calls out Harmaus to Marivel.<br />
He can't allow it, because he is the one who will take Althena's head. Suitable payment for her centuries of lies.<br />
<br />
For the death of another Lord of Calamity.<br />
<br />
He is a blur of light as the drills come roaring for him. Blink, and he is not there; the marble tiles of the plaza shatter and kick up into the air from the space in which he had stood but moments before. Light, well-tinged with purple flame, consolidates in a spot far to the left and well away from the destruction rent by Marivel's machine.<br />
<br />
"Seeks it skewering I? I shatters it to pieces!" he calls out, tarnished-gold light swelling about him.<br />
<br />
Lanval calls out to him.<br />
<br />
"If truth it seeks..." He lashes his tail. "...Then minds it its methods! It /slays/ my Lord of Calamity!"<br />
<br />
He has not yet forgotten, even if another goal takes priority at this moment and time.<br />
<br />
The light around Harmaus solidifies into swaying chains that burn to behold, surging forward in the next heartbeat as if to attempt to bind and hold the thing that is Qubeley.<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has attacked Marivel Armitage with Radiance Shackle!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Shige Kiwako's Onryo's Grudge for 120 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako drains Marivel Armitage! Shige Kiwako gains 72 temporary hit points!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Leo hears Marivel's voice--her words, her /rationale/. It only stokes the fury in his heart. "To the square, then!" he shouts back to Kaguya, and there's an edge of anger in his voice this time. He will speak his mind when they've found her.<br />
<br />
Lucifer presents more immediate difficulties.<br />
<br />
The Gear's massive hand snatches Leo out of the air. He feels his ribs creak as Belle tells him Marivel isn't ready to see him--as if he'd come to her castle on a social call when she was busy. His breath hisses between his teeth as Lucifer squezes tighter.<br />
<br />
'Leo! I got you! Jump!'<br />
<br />
Kaguya's aim is true. The spiritual bullet zips between the Gear's fingers and strikes a sliver of Leo's exposed tunic. The crushing pain starts to dull. As the spots clear from his eyes, Leo grips Lucifer's index finger and /shoves/ with both hands, the surge of spiritual might reinforcing mortal muscle and bone.<br />
<br />
Lucifer's hand gives. Leo's blade rises, then falls, to cut through the Gear's massive fingers. Sorcerous light gleams on the flat of the weapon, focused laser-like on where he thinks the Gear's 'eyes' should be. (Leo doesn't know much about that aspect of Gear engineering, beyond that they have mechanical eyes, /somewhere/, so you can see out while you're sitting inside.)<br />
<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Radiant Blade!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Mariel's Powerless Nut for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Weaken Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Interrupt applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Weaken blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Seraph Harmaus's Radiance Shackle for 46 hit points!<br />
GS: Entangle blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from White Knight Leo's Radiant Blade for 207 hit points!<br />
GS: Blind applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Margaret's Twisting Flurry for 139 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel is too busy with her ritual to be amazed that Kaguya has a gun that buffs people but it's pretty amazing.<br />
<br />
"WAH WAH WAHHHH" Nob shouts as a sudden wash FWOOSHES through the Qubeley, cleaning it of what might be centuries of dirt and grime but also sending it tumbling onto its back. "WaAaAaAAaAhhhh" Hob wails with the kind of cartoonish squeal that is almost reassuring.<br />
<br />
There is no answer coming to Hiro. Marivel is done talking for the moment. Ditto Zed. It's unclear if she could even hear these latest pleas. Seems like you're gonna have to deal with her Gears first.<br />
<br />
Hiro backs off from Hiro and sends ghostly clones spiraling into air, cleaving through a whole slew of them. These are not recognizable to Hiro. The only person who still remembers these ghosts is Marivel herself. Maybe even Anastasia has forgotten their names.<br />
<br />
Mariel is able to catch Qubeley and Revelry both into something that drains their power. There's some sputtering and they trudge backwards closer to one another. Zed meanwhile pushes Asgard back with several quick swipes. The barrier is holding strong but Zed is clobbering Asgard with such ferocity it is STILL being pushed back. Perhaps it is weaker, or perhaps it is our heroes that are stronger.<br />
<br />
Gwen follows up with a powerful punch right to Asgard's shin, breaking through the weakened barrier to collide it against the gear's leg. It sinks to one knee, still as impassive as ever.<br />
<br />
"Squeee!" Nob is so happy to see Gwen. This isn't stopping Nob from piloting the mecha.<br />
<br />
Shige doesn't get an answer from Marivel but she does get one from Belle. "Well," Bell says. "She is a demon. The Mistress is not human. She is not even from this reality." Shige tries to walk past Revelry by surrounding it with ghosts but she's having difficult really getting past it. Revelry is big and low hanging and there's just no real way to just walk past. She could try climbing Revelry? But this might prove to be a bad idea in a moment.<br />
<br />
Harmaus affirms his right to having wanted to kill a lady for longer than anyone else here! This is true. Even Marivel only very recently even considered the possibility that Althena wasn't simply...deterred somehow. Harmaus's chains lash out and bind Qubeley as it struggles to tear into Margaret with its drill. Despite the chains inflicting thinck burns against the machine, those chains are already starting to SNAAAAP.<br />
<br />
But it gives Margaret enough time to do what she wants to do.<br />
<br />
Margaret speeds up. The Qubeley has no magic. It's just a giant construction bot. She strikes at the drill. It speeds up. She strikes at it again. IT goes even faster. Faster and faster Margaret makes the drill spin before<br />
<br />
*CRAAAAAACK!*<br />
<br />
The drill partially snaps off its hinges and rapidly slows to a stop as automatic safety mechanisms within the Qubeley engage. It flops backwards and Hob says, "Bwaaaaaah!" All three gears on the ground are now nice and close to each other.<br />
<br />
Leo feels true fury. Belle meanwhile is as chillax as ever. So what if an empire falls? Or survives? She's seen this theater play out again and again.<br />
<br />
Lucifer's pincher claws are pried free from Leo and he swipes down at the Gear, cleaving off not just the pincer but all three of them, sending them tumbling to the ground.<br />
<br />
There is one eye on Lucifer and it is very big. It stares down at it. Light flashes into it as it lets Leo drop.<br />
<br />
And it keeps rising.<br />
<br />
And rising.<br />
<br />
BGM INTERRUPT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeKbCcq9gT8&ab_channel=Dworim<br />
<br />
Lucifer flies so high up in a flash so that it is not even a dot in the sky. Belle flicks some dials and knobs and says, "Preparing Morning Star Bombardment. Prepare Mechanized Program BRUTEJUSTICE.EXE"<br />
<br />
"YAAAY!!" Revelry cheers and leaps away from Shige, ghosts falling off its body as it crouches down into the dirt as Qubeley floats up into the air, spins around upside down, and inserts itself into Revelry's back.<br />
<br />
QUICK TIME EVENT!!<br />
<br />
Asgard darts forward, interposing itself between you and the other two gears, summoning a barrier between you and they!. Mariel drained them of power earlier so instead of anything happening immediately, they slowly start charging up, gestalting their power systems along with one another. You're going to have to break through that barrier!<br />
<br />
But Revelry isn't idle during this process either! It fires off a slew of minimissiles into the air and they soar up into the air before coming back down in multiple locations around!. "Lets play catch!" Revelry sings. "You throw first then back at me!" They do look small enough that maybe you can knock them back to Revelry somehow?<br />
<br />
And finally....<br />
<br />
"TARGET LOCKED!" Belle shouts as Lucifer's particle cannon points down towards the Goddess's Square, intending to unleash the full power of a weapon banned by the treaty of Iscariot against this location. "She said to trust you can handle this... And you said you'd protect the city..."<br />
<br />
From orbit, Lucifer unleashes the fully charged cannon. A massive swath of energy comes crashing down. Leo and Kaguya are going to have to do something to stop that from unleashing massive damage to Pentagulia! In the sky, it looks like it's just a new star in the sky.<br />
<br />
But in an instant it'll be coming down with all its might. They'll have to time their movements perfectly to catch the blast!<br />
<br />
_____________________________| QUICK TIME EVENT!!!|_____________________________<br />
_ GAVEL _<br />
_ _<br />
_ _<br />
_ White Knight Leo, Seraph Harmaus, Shige Kiwako, Gwen Whitlock, Margaret, _<br />
_ Zed, Hiro, Mariel, Seraph Lanval, and Kaguya: _<br />
_ +qte/react <guard/evade/charge>/<guard/evade/charge>/<guard/evade/charge> _<br />
============================================================ Dream Chasers =====<br />
<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Low Success! Shige Kiwako takes 106 damage and gains 45 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Full Success! Kaguya takes 0 damage and gains 15 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Moderate Success! Hiro takes 80 damage and gains 30 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Full Success! Mariel takes 0 damage and gains 15 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Moderate Success! Zed takes 71 damage and gains 30 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Moderate Success! White Knight Leo takes 73 damage and gains 30 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Full Success! Margaret takes 0 damage and gains 15 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Low Success! Seraph Harmaus takes 110 damage and gains 45 FP!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Moderate Success! Gwen Whitlock takes 80 damage and gains 30 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Low Success! Seraph Lanval takes 112 damage and gains 45 FP!<br />
QTE: That's the last target of your QTE done!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Harmaus. Of course, Harmaus is here. Because it would be worse if he were here, so obviously he is. Kaguya frowns, up from the rooftop and looks down towards him. "Your Lord of Calamity was an asshole and so are you!" Kaguya shouts down at him. <br />
<br />
Marivel doesn't have an answer for her. That's fine. She has plenty of answers for Marivel right now. None of them are very nice. But Leo hears her, and Leo can answer. They can talk about it in a minute. Since, he's still at it--<br />
<br />
Shige Kaguya doesn't know, but she seems to have the same idea as the rest of them. Across the battlefield Margaret is helping Hiro, and Hiro--Hiro passes on ehr shout. <br />
<br />
The others are going on--<br />
<br />
The Event occurs. "Morning Star..." <br />
<br />
"MARIVEL!" Kaguya shouts, full of fury and pain both. Then she moves. She starts firing wildly down at Asgard's barrier, and then darts from building to building as the missiles come down, each one barely getting past her at the point of explosion. But finally, Belle shouts--<br />
<br />
"DAMN YOU!" <br />
<br />
"Leo!" Kaguya calls. "...Together! Destruction, and protection! We can do it!" <br />
<br />
She throws her arm back, charging up power in Zeikfried. The gun's black and gold appearance shines in the gloom of the dark moon, gathering light after brilliant light. <br />
<br />
"Haaaaaaah--!" <br />
<br />
Kaguya LEAPS upward, the green Veruni armor at her arms showing after all the explosive missiles. She puts the weapon out before herself and begins to line up her shot, straight for that star. "Hitting a moving target... Can't be that hard, can it? It's moving my way!" <br />
<br />
Midair, the small Veruni lines up her aim, and Zeikfried is practically a new star in the sky. <br />
<br />
She FIRES, and the spiritual bullet carrying the hopes of Filgaia and Lunar both rockets up towards the machine in the far sky. <br />
<br />
Kaguya herself is but a blip in the heavens as she fires.<br />
<br />
GS: Kaguya spends 1 Combo on Poison!<br />
GS: Kaguya has attacked Marivel Armitage with Greater Binding Shot!<br />
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
Margaret once again saves Mariel, this time from a drill. Mariel couldn't *not* see it coming, but her only plan was to escape, darting between two buildings where it (hopefully) couldn't follow her (quickly). <br />
<br />
But she was clearly not expecting Margaret to be able to stop - no, *break* the drill. Her eyes widen as she hunkers down, this time against the noise and the dust rather than any attack directed at her. It washes over her in a wave, making her robe billow but leaving Mariel herself thankfully unharmed, unless having ringing ears counts as harmed.<br />
<br />
"...thank you," she says, quietly. <br />
<br />
"They're under an illusion, not a transformation!" Mariel clarifies for Hiro. "Their footprints are human, and one that Margaret punched," sorry about your disguise, Margaret, "started looking like a Guard."<br />
<br />
Mariel wanted to talk to Marivel as one of the people close to her, as someone who might - emphasis on *might* - be able to get through to her. And now several people have decided that the way to defuse this is to get Mariel to her. <br />
<br />
No pressure. <br />
<br />
Now it's even more important that she figures out what Marivel is doing, and what to say - and to do. She must want chaos, Mariel thinks. She wants emotions to be high. But why? To do something, obviously, but what and how? A ritual is building, and if she had *time* she could open up and try to figure it out, and though she's trying to do it as she moves, doing that while under attack is a tall order. <br />
<br />
Especially with Asgard beginning to form a barrier. Mariel knows the original Asgard would make something nearly unbreakable; this one, she thinks, may or may not be weaker, but it's *slower*, and that's critical. Mariel whips a bunch of small red flowers out of her robe and draws upon her own powers, doing something else new:<br />
<br />
She uses the staff as an amplifier, or perhaps a focus. The crystal glows faintly as the verbena sublimates into a hundred thousand points of light, surrounding Mariel and others nearby as she releases the energy bound into the flowers. "Go!" she says - and throws herself through where Asgard is forming the barrier at a dead run, her footsteps trailing the same glimmering red light as the flowers did. Others affected by the flowers have the same shimmering footprint.<br />
<br />
Accelerated by the verbena, Mariel takes a zig-zagging path to avoid falling missiles. An evasive maneuver, and she speeds up again; she does not try to knock missiles back by any means, perhaps unsurprisingly given it's Mariel. "Marivel!" she calls again, out of breath from the speed of her run. "This has gone too far! The city...!"<br />
<br />
With a beam like that, she can do nothing. She has to trust others to handle it.<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Hiro with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Margaret with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Mariel with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Shige Kiwako with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Hiro accepts Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Hiro!<br />
<Big Scene> (Self) Seraph Lanval says, "sorry for the delay!"<br />
GS: Margaret accepts Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock accepts Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel isn't answering any longer, and that makes him rather unhappy with the situation as a whole beyond even you know, the mass murder.<br />
<br />
Or at least maybe so he thinks? "An illusion?" He eyes her, "What is she up to? ...Alright!"<br />
<br />
Lucifer though starts complicating matters! Along with Revelry! Mariel sends verbena his way, giving him the speed to help him through what comes next. "Everyone charge! We have to disrupt whatever they're doing!"<br />
<br />
And Hiro suddenly charges right through Asgard before he can put up the barrier.<br />
<br />
Revelry though lays out the terms of the game, and deciding to charge right through rather than play the game? He's suddenly scorched by a variety of minimissiles.<br />
<br />
When it comes to Lucifer's Particle Cannon though, Hiro suddenly yells, "Everyone down! Brace!" His reaction to this however is simply to raise his shield, perhaps taking position in front of Mariel since she has little means of defense, "Slash through bloody iniquity, Dark Sword!"<br />
<br />
A magical field forms, runes shimmering before enchanted magical blades careen towards the blast, attempting to disperse some of its energy before it strikes the city itself.<br />
<br />
It may not do much compared to Kaguya and Leo, but he has to try /SOMETHING/ at this point!<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro has attacked Marivel Armitage with Dark Sword!<br />
GS: Hiro has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Mighty expired!<br />
GS: Hiro has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Kaguya's Greater Binding Shot for 164 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Hex and Poison blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Hiro's Dark Sword for 191 hit points!<br />
GS: Dispel! Amplify and Cover removed!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Hiro!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Leo falls. This time, there is no one to catch him. A radiant golden glow pulses around him as he reorients in mid-air, twisting to hit the ground shoulder-first. He reaches out, spreads a hand--the amber crystals on his gauntlet burn brilliantly. Below, a good twenty square feet of roofing softens into loosely-packed silt over a slate frame. The White Knight slams into it with a heavy CRUNCH, kicking up plumes of freshly-made sediment as he skids along the building. He plants a hand beneath himself, shakes his head, and scrambles to his feet. He hasn't missed the ominous glow building in the sky.<br />
<br />
Leo throws that same hand forward, and SPIKES of earth erupt from beneath Asgard, slamming into the barrier. Missiles streak at him, and Leo shields his head with his arms, simply enduring the blooming explosions. Kaguya's shield flickers with each impact. And then...<br />
<br />
It's going to fire, Leo realizes.<br />
<br />
Pentagulia is the Goddess' seat of power. The Goddess has much to answer for, but she is not here. Pentagulia contains the rotting, diseased heart of a conspiracy against two worlds. Pentagulia contains thousands upon thousands of people who have no idea this conspiracy exists: clerks and stablehands, shopkeepers, housekeepers, scribes, servants. Even those who're far from innocent--is Marivel's trial justice?<br />
<br />
Leo doesn't think so. It's something he can cling to, even in his misery.<br />
<br />
"FORWARD!" Leo roars, and this time he sounds /almost/ like his old self. He plucks something white and gleaming from around his neck. The symbol of the White Dragon glows with a pure, pearlescent radiance all its own. As Kaguya takes her shot, Leo lines up behind her, holds up the Crest. It /burns/.<br />
<br />
An aurora of white spreads across the sky as Leo draws on more power than he ever has. Motes of power fall to earth as the barrier expands, landing on Hiro, and Lanval, and Margaret.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
What, no combat banter? That's against the rules! Talking is a free action, Marivel! But you can't have battle conversations when there's only one person talking! "Of course you can get better at fighting Asgard!" Zed protests, "I definitely got better at fighting Asgard. But this is too big. A too big Asgard! There's a /limit/ to certain things, Gwen! Even though I may transcend such things with time, it requires appropriately DRAMATIC TIMING!"<br />
<br />
Like... right now.<br />
<br />
"...What, we need to get..." Zed's gaze pivots from the giant robots, which are EVEN NOW commencing a combination attack of truly terrific proportions, to... a small Elw. One that Zed very much recognizes. "Mariel... Mm... Alright! Gwen--"<br />
<br />
A barrier materializes. Zed vanishes in a flutter of scarf and a flurry of motion, and only a moment later appears /behind/ the adorable ancient. "--I leave the launch to you! Throw me, as hard as you can, toward our destination! As for you..."<br />
<br />
Zed... Gently wraps his arms around Mariel. The screen frame briefly devolves into sparkles and blooming roses...<br />
<br />
Shortly before the Elw is hucked up onto his shoulders and secured in place there with two synthleather-bound hands. "Hold on tight! Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times during our flight. Watch your step on the dismount. And as always, thank you for flying Zedder Airways...!"<br />
<br />
What... what is he talking about? He's not a vehicle. He's not an /airship./ But what he IS is a delivery vector.<br />
<br />
"GWEN," Zed shouts, "DO IIIIIT!"<br />
<br />
(Shige might, if she realizes what Mariel /is/, briefly catch sight of a Metal Demon and an Elw cooperating for the greater good. Cats and dogs, getting along!! Or as the case happens to be-- bunnies and devils!?)<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Hiro with White Dragon's Protection!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Seraph Lanval with White Dragon's Protection!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Margaret with White Dragon's Protection!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
GS: Margaret accepts White Knight Leo's White Dragon's Protection for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval accepts White Knight Leo's White Dragon's Protection for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage used Force Action: Mystic on Margaret! FP up<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako takes a solid hit from Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Evade bonus, and Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Hiro accepts White Knight Leo's White Dragon's Protection for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Hiro!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
It is the nature of water to eventually erode just about anything, for how much of it gets taken, infiltrated, and otherwise divided and shaped by outside forces, as Lanval stands and makes his declaration that it won't be like this.<br />
<br />
"Hm hm hm." A musing, mirthful thing to Harmaus' snarling about what all transpired. What happened was not light-hearted, but there was a hard-won victory in all of that sequence through Artorius' Throne.<br />
<br />
He's given up on following Margaret's movements and is assuming the totality of any space that has, or had Margaret, is just one whole Margaret, and that is how he is going to keep his life simple in the moment.<br />
<br />
He catches something rise up, something big, then progressively tiny, then invisible save for the great lights about to strike down.<br />
<br />
"That 'tis not the light of relief!" Lanval calls as he tries to hurl himself through to Asgard's barrier - forming plenty of energetic static from the impact as he tries to charge through it with swings of his drinking gourd, having to work with everyone else's approach through it (or around it)....<br />
<br />
Revelry tries to play catch. He swings the drinking gourd around to try and deflect a whole lot of them, but some may yet explode and scorch around and about him in short order as a new set of craters invites him to take a rest, a chill pill... but he stays upright.<br />
<br />
There's a blast coming. He staggers and stumbles along forward, as the White Knight finds his resolve to stand and keep protecting something worth putting his everything into. The aurora of white envelopes the presence of someone tapping into all that is water - great and less so - and Seraph Lanval comes up from Leo's left flank while the barrier expands. Should it fail...<br />
<br />
It's not going to be 'it' that fails. It's for all of them - and 'they' can't fail here.<br />
<br />
"I stand with thee!" Seraph Lanval calls, whirling the drinking gourd by its rope as sanctified waters flow forth and, in its mists, impart further blessings upon Hiro, Margaret, Leo, and himself - channeling upon both the forces of Schturdark and his own many years of experience as a Lord of the Land to reinforce their armaments with water itself.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Hiro with Lord Of The Lake!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Margaret with Lord Of The Lake!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked White Knight Leo with Lord Of The Lake!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Seraph Lanval with Lord Of The Lake!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Lanval accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
When you're halfway stuck in the past, it's easy to miss things like incoming attacks from machines. Standing there in a stupor, she was too late to get out of the way of the worst of it and finds herself battered, bruised, nowhere where she was thinking she'd been 30 seconds ago and slightly clearer headed. <br />
<br />
She thought. <br />
<br />
There's an image she's pretty sure is head trauma related as she lays in the aftermath. <br />
<br />
Her hand grabs the chain at her belt and pulls the lantern over to herself. Then she sits up. Stands up and sorts herself out. <br />
<br />
Mostly. Turns out it's a good way to snap her out of things! Maybe. Probably not good long term, but there are a lot of people that need help and she was partially right. She can do something now this time. <br />
<br />
The lantern is raised and the shades return to her. Something of a rallying cry, or the echo of one filling the area. Each of the memories of soldiers and healers past moving to try do their best to help the living. "Sorry." Is all she can think to say. Processing what's actually happening here and now. Trying to keep focused on the now in particular. Even Zed gets aid. Though the feline can't shake a sense of.. something at the idea of doing so. <br />
<br />
This is a later problem.<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Hiro!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Zed with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked White Knight Leo with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Hiro with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Zed! He gains 187 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Zed!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Hiro! He gains 189 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Hiro!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
"Uh...." Gwen obliviously gives Nob a stunned thumbs up with her left hand. <br />
<br />
Overhearing Mariel's comment to Hiro, Gwen's brain tries to digest this new information.<br />
<br />
Which is remarkably hard, since there's a barrier between them and where she's trying to go. Or, get Mariel to. Becase then, Mariel will convince Marivel to do the thing, that is already set in stone. So what was the plan again?<br />
<br />
Ah, right, DRAMATIC TIMING! "... Zed? Y'got an idea?"<br />
<br />
'Throw me, as hard as you can, toward our destination!'<br />
<br />
".... Throw you what?" Mariel's Red Vervain was a blessing, but this seems a little much. _Surely Gwen misheard._<br />
<br />
However, Zed is placing Mariel adorably on his shoulders in a vision of two races coming together for peace and the greater good! <br />
<br />
"... W-wait, lemme warm up the Mockingbird first! This strength's lopsided right now!" Gwen grips her right hand into a fist, and clenches her teeth, forcing the energy gathered in it straight into her body for a tempoary boost, except, on a shorter span of time than she's done this before.<br />
<br />
It feels like drinking a soda and getting a belch stuck in your throat, except it's in a bunch of nerves at once, and it's hitting the right side of her face, and finally the skin around her right eye, in such a way that.... it may actually have broken a few blood vessels in the way. <br />
<br />
So yes. Gwen has charged up so fast she gave herself a black eye.<br />
<br />
None of that matters! _It's time for launch!_ Gwen hefts Zed and a safely secured(?) Mariel on her right shoulder, and, like a lady athlete trying to qualify for the shot put championship. "GRAAHHH!"<br />
<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 194 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
<br />
"Uh...." Gwen obliviously gives Nob a stunned thumbs up with her left hand. <br />
<br />
Overhearing Mariel's comment to Hiro, Gwen's brain tries to digest this new information.<br />
<br />
Which is remarkably hard, since there's a barrier between them and where she's trying to go. Or, get Mariel to. Becase then, Mariel will convince Marivel to do the thing, that is already set in stone. So what was the plan again?<br />
<br />
Ah, right, DRAMATIC TIMING! "... Zed? Y'got an idea?"<br />
<br />
'Throw me, as hard as you can, toward our destination!'<br />
<br />
".... Throw you what?" Mariel's Red Vervain and Shige's healing were blessings, but this seems a little much. _Surely Gwen misheard._<br />
<br />
However, Zed is placing Mariel adorably on his shoulders in a vision of two races coming together for peace and the greater good! <br />
<br />
"... W-wait, lemme warm up the Mockingbird first! This strength's lopsided right now!" Gwen grips her right hand into a fist, and clenches her teeth, forcing the energy gathered in it straight into her body for a tempoary boost, except, on a shorter span of time than she's done this before.<br />
<br />
It feels like drinking a soda and getting a belch stuck in your throat, except it's in a bunch of nerves at once, and it's hitting the right side of her face, and finally the skin around her right eye, in such a way that.... it may actually have broken a few blood vessels in the way. <br />
<br />
So yes. Gwen has charged up so fast she gave herself a black eye.<br />
<br />
None of that matters! _It's time for launch!_ Gwen hefts Zed and a safely secured(?) Mariel on her right shoulder, and, like a lady athlete trying to qualify for the shot put championship. "GRAAHHH!"<br />
<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Bounding Flight!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock gains 65 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock accepts Gwen Whitlock's Bounding Flight for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Hyper, and Quick applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
Zed is launched. Zed is launched with all the might a courier can muster. This is her right, this is her /domain./ For what is a thrown object but a package, and what is a courier but one who sees packages delivered to their final destination? There is no stopping this. There is only to do or die.<br />
<br />
At the moment he is tossed, Zed kicks off of Gwen's hands, adding to his already tremendous velocity. But that's not all. "Hold on tight," he reminds his passenger as Asgard's barrier rises, invincibly, in their path, "For Zed... It's /MORPHIN' TIME./"<br />
<br />
Zed's eyes flash. His body /shines/! It blazes with green, otherworldly energy, before resolving into the inexplicably mechanical form of one Zedder Robo (Dragon). Shige's summoned specters lift their voices, and it's as though the DARK HERO has revealed his true form amidst the victorious din of his OPENING THEME SONG...! But he's not done there. He's not done by a longshot. Mariel is still mounted to his shoulders, but there is a wall in their way, and Zed must break through.<br />
<br />
"And for this... Once again...!" Zedder Robo declares, "TRAAAANSFORM!" Limbs fold inward, collapsing into the strange mecha-man's torso. An ENTIRE THRUST COLUMN emerges from its hips, replacing its legs. His upper body fuses together, forming nothing less than an UNSTOPPABLE WARHEAD. Mariel, atop his shoulders, is secured... by a handy seatbelt.<br />
<br />
...As Zed has transformed... into a /cheesy, pulpy rocket ship./<br />
<br />
"YEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRT--!" Zedder Robo roars, plunging straight through Asgard's shield like it were a pane of glass. It weaves this way and that, missiles twisting after it like fireworks at a carnival, but a flash of an emerald laser beam erupts from the rocket's nosecone, scything through the lot and setting them off prematurely. The destination is ahead. All he needs to do...<br />
<br />
...Is get Mariel there.<br />
<br />
"You've got this from here, miss Mariel!" Zed's voice intones from everywhere and nowhere at once. "I'll cover you from the beam! Go and knock some sense into your friend!" Rocket-Zed twists down toward ground level, closer than ever to the center of the square. The seatbelt around Mariel comes undone and a panel hinges up to nudge her out onto the flagstones... As Zedder Robo rises, humanoid once more, to interpose itself between the Elw and the column of all-consuming Golem-light.<br />
<br />
Arms spread wide, all he can do is become a wall... And hope that Mariel can take care of the rest...!<br />
DC: Zed switches forms to Zedder Robo Dragon!<br />
<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Ultimate Zed!<br />
GS: Zed has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Zed gains 57 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
GS: Zed has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Margaret accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Margaret pants for breath as the Quebeley rears back. "Well, you're welcome," she tells Mariel. She needs a moment. A moment enough for the Gears to stagger backwards. Please, she prays to the Goddess: Let them smash into each other and fall into a heap. Even if they block the entranceway, we can climb - <br />
<br />
"DAMNATION AND WASTE FIRE" Margaret shouts as they begin to combine themselves together. The fire of her blade dims, though it doesn't go out -- it probably can't, but Margaret may want to try and prolong this blade, if only because she only has so many and is certainly anticipating several battles at this fine pace. And then -- <br />
<br />
Mariel draws on something of her own. An energy pours into Margaret and she is SUDDENLY THRUST INTO THAT STATE SHE REACHED WITH RIXIA'S AID! <br />
<br />
"GAHHHHHHHH" Margaret half-howls half-screams.<br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IfaVEhMKGw<br />
<br />
The world changes color as Margaret shakes her head once and leans forwards, into air that feels more like thin water. She can feel it swirl around her, a sensation normally only felt when one dips one hand out of a window in Neo-Vane, or on a Filgaian train... <br />
<br />
Margaret surges forwards, her burning blade smashing into the air, disrupting the forming barrier long enough for her to get past it. For it's moving so slowly, like mercury on the coldest of cold days...<br />
<br />
She turns then, bicycle-kicking her way up the back of the Asgard unit to reach the top of its head, jumping into the air and flit - flit - flit - the sparkling distortion of the ring Rex had left her feeling different, like, like swimming in lime gelatin - kicking two of the missiles from the side, hitting one at the wrong angle and SEEING that it is starting to explode, letting her flit-zip away from it... <br />
<br />
Into the air. She can hear Leo, screaming - the sound is so interesting, Margaret thinks. It's slowed down, like an extended note, but somehow she knows it's exactly what he is saying. The barrier ripples outwards, and Margaret rises. <br />
<br />
Alright, Margaret thinks. Time to be the hero. <br />
<br />
With what, Margaret thinks further. I don't have attack magic. I'm not going to hit it in time. I can't dash faster - if this was flat ground I might be able to run but it'd still - <br />
<br />
The blade in her left hand still burns. Margaret looks into the curiously decelerated flames. She sucks in a deep breath and raises the weapon upwards even as the billowing cool water -- AND THE RESULTING AIR BILLOW - of Schturdark rises from beneath her. <br />
<br />
"Alright, then," she says to the onrushing thing. "I'll show you what a real sorceress can do." Her left arm brings backwards, her entire body turning with it as she does, twisting in a way that would be quite unpleasant to do on the ground but involves no contact with the ground. This is not a motion bodies usually take, but bodies usually aren't in the air for long. <br />
<br />
Won't be enough, Margaret thinks. But - I've been using the - yes. <br />
<br />
There are three green-glass explosions in the air as Margaret twists herself in place 360, 720, and 1080 degrees in a full rotation before HURLING the burning blade outwards and upwards towards the blade, a spiralling disk of sorcerous flame that erupts as it flies. And when it touches the beam front: <br />
<br />
It explodes! Not into nothing, but into SOMETHING - into a cloud of incinerating metal shards, each of them refulgent with the frustrated dreams of soldiers of a long-ago land and the sorcerous might of the Black Pearl of Houndstooth!<br />
<br />
At this point Margaret is going to have to figure out how she lands, but that is a problem for the Margaret of the future. <br />
<br />
GS: Margaret spends 1 Combo on Link!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with A Continuous Motion...!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has launched an attack Link!<br />
GS: Margaret spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with THE GREAT DIVIDE!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Zed's Ultimate Zed for 181 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Gamble: Low! Marivel Armitage solidly guards Margaret's A Continuous Motion... for 56 hit points!<br />
GS: Slow blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Margaret's THE GREAT DIVIDE for 192 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
Lanval earns for his part a glare as Harmaus stalks away from him. Were there other matters than the right to take Althena's head--<br />
<br />
Of course, Kaguya probes the matter more bluntly.<br />
<br />
"Ah??" Harmaus utters in response to Kaguya's remarks. "It speaks such of my Lord? It speaks falsely?! I tolerates traitor not at all!" Fleetingly, the cat-shaped Seraph pivots Kaguya's way, a bolt of corroded gold flinging in Kaguya's approximate direction. She won't even have to move to avoid it; it slams into a nearby statue instead.<br />
<br />
Harmaus, for his part, does not linger. "But, ah-- has I much, much to attend!"<br />
<br />
This being the obstacles in his path, of course.<br />
<br />
The chains do not hold Qubeley long. For all Harmaus' seven hundred and seventy-seven years, he is an infant next to Marivel -- and her technological might. He snarls wordlessly as the machine breaks free, though he has but little time to consider the failure of his arte.<br />
<br />
Here, Lucifer begins its assault.<br />
<br />
Charging for the barrier, corrupted light swelling about him, Harmaus would apparently seek to knock down this particular wall. But there come missiles from above and little room even for a spiritual being to evade them. There are explosions.<br />
<br />
Harmaus slides from the rubble in the moments after, shaking dust and debris from his coat. Ears flattened against his head, he glares balefully at the descending beam.<br />
<br />
Light, terrible, golden, rent through with corrosion and dark flame, leaps out as a nimbus about Harmaus' corpus as he begins to rise into the air. Could this be the mark of his transformation to his Hellionized state -- to again draw the darkness out into the light?<br />
<br />
The light swells. He is the dawn, but it is a sickly, ill-omened dawn.<br />
The light flashes.<br />
<br />
"HER HEAD IS MINE! MINE!" Harmaus screams to the sky above. "FIRST LIGHT!"<br />
<br />
The light flashes green.<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has activated Force Action: Lock On!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has attacked Marivel Armitage with First Light!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel isn't answering anyone. But she did say why. Even a Sorceress of Eld needs to concentrate sometimes... but what sort of magicks is she concentrating on? Is it really what she said it was?<br />
<br />
Kaguya, Hiro, and Leo band together to push back against the orbital strike. Intense light presses against Hiro's blades--and perhaps that little bit of extra aid is what allows the power of the White Dragon to clash against that of the Morning Star, pushing it back--as Leo further provides aid to his allies in the process. The energy presses against this power of Leo's, a power that rivals that of the Morning Star itself. But it's only resisting. Leo can feel himself being pushed out by the pure inertia of the plasma energy.<br />
<br />
That is until Kaguya takes aim with a power of her own, like Vegeta distracting Cell--she fires the shot into the beamstruggle and presses it back. The struggle is further added with the help of ZEDDER ROBO and Margaret further pushing against the beam that weakens with every consecutive strike!<br />
<br />
The final push comes from Harmaus's own light that rapidly crashes hard against the Morning Star's bombardment, pushing it back--nearly to Lucifer itself.<br />
<br />
Leo can feel the weight leaving him, Hiro can see it pushing back farther and farther until suddenly the blast loses just enough cohesion that Kaguya's blast punctures through it, the energy of the Morning Star disperses as the power of Zeikfried slices through Lucifer. The power of Satan stands nothing before the power of a cool gun.<br />
<br />
"GNGGH!" Belle grunts as the blast punches right through her, leaving a thick hole in her midsection. Lucifer rapidly descends as its power thrusters cut out.<br />
<br />
Others prepare for some terrible shit to happen.<br />
<br />
"Chrrrrp?"<br />
<br />
"Krrrrrp?"<br />
<br />
Hob and Nob are getting confused as to what game this is but they know what to do next.<br />
<br />
And terrible things are about to happen as Lucifer rights itself up at the last moment, hovering behind the other three golems.<br />
<br />
Revelry rapidly transforms, forming a large handle as Qubeley's eye closes shut--the two golems form an impromptu DRILL HAMMER that Asgard hefts up into its arms. Asgard fuels the Drill Hammer with his barriers as Lucifer ejects the wounded Belle to the ground and affixes itself to Asgard's back, forming wings.<br />
<br />
Belle sets her eyes on Shige. She doesn't say anything. But she waits, patiently. Expectantly.<br />
<br />
But there is a bigger problem as Asgard says, "ACTIVATING TIMESTOP PROTOCOL." He swings the drill hammer to the side, singular eye narrowing.<br />
<br />
The combined machines start to glow red from overheating, swinging its hammer in a ferocious rage at the heroes (and cat) arrayed against it. ANd one by one...<br />
<br />
The Timestop protocol activates, freezing each hero (and cat) one by one in time.<br />
<br />
This is the last chance to stop Marivel's invasion. It's a matter of whether you can dismantle this combined mecha or if it'll freeze you in place first.<br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has become ENRAGED!<br />
GS: You have activated the Boss Action Enrage! You may attack players multiple times this round and have twice as many actions! After this round, you will be too exhausted to fight for one round, and your defenses will be reduced!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Harmaus with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Hiro with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Mariel with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Kaguya with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Interrupt expired!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
GS: You have activated the Force Action Extend!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Zed takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Regen removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Zed!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Zed!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Harmaus with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Hiro with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Mariel with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Kaguya with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Mute expired!<br />
GS: Enrage purges all positive status!<br />
GS: Your rage has died down! You can't act this round, and you've received the Shieldbreak and Entangle status effects!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.<br />
GS: Zed takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 154 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Zed gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Kaguya partially guards Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Ruin! Mighty removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Kaguya!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Kaguya!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Kaguya suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 242 hit points!<br />
GS: Mariel accepts Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Mariel takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Quick and Shield removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Mariel!<br />
GS: Mariel suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 139 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Mariel gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Mariel receives 100 temporary hit points.<br />
GS: Mariel enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Margaret takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Amplify, Burst, Quick, Shield, and Surge removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Margaret!<br />
GS: Margaret takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 69 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
DC: Margaret switches forms to I Am The Starlight!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Lanval gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Ruin! Burst, Quick, and Shield removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Seraph Lanval receives 100 temporary hit points.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo solidly guards Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Amplify, Burst, Quick, Regen, and Surge removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Gleam activated!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated Force Action: Accelerate!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval partially evades Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 113 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Lanval gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 151 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! White Knight Leo gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Hiro fully evades Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Hiro gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak blocked!<br />
GS: Hiro solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 67 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Hiro gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Hiro enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Mariel used Force Action: Mystic on Zed! FP up!<br />
GS: Entangle removed!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 88 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Quick removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Shige Kiwako takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 185 hit points!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Ruin! Amplify, Hyper, and Regen removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
Leo shouts Forward, with the Blessing of the White Dragon coming upon him, shielding him from harm. He'd stop to offer thanks, but he can't stop. Nor can he offer the same to Lanval for his own blessings right now, or Shige for his healing.<br />
<br />
They all keep him going, inexorably towards the Square where they are supposed to find Marivel. There's no stopping, none of them can stop lest things get worse, get more out of hand.<br />
<br />
They need to talk to her, but in order to do that they need to stop her. The Time Stop protocol activates and- Hiro freezes. The Drill Hammer looms, as if to come down upon his head and...<br />
<br />
He twitches. The hammer descends, his shield moves at the last moment to intercept it, sparks flying as his shield slams against it in a parry. He doesn't know why he avoided it, perhaps a faint gleam is the only evidence as to why.<br />
<br />
He doesn't waste this opportunity however, as his sword gleams, and suddenly his image splits, while the Time Stop is still active, the threefold images of him leap at the combination of Asgard, Belle, and Lucifer.<br />
<br />
Each one slashes down so brutally it leaves a gouge in space at the point where he slashes each of Marivel's creations, leaving that scar present for all to see.<br />
<br />
"Enough, Marivel." It's not until the Time Stop effect ends, that each gouge spasms, and collapses, the wind rushing in violently and explosively against each of them.<br />
<br />
"Now we hold you to every single one of your broken promises."<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro has activated Force Action: Lock On!<br />
GS: Hiro spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Formation! Hiro has attacked Marivel Armitage with Trinity Crisis!<br />
GS: Hiro has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Hiro's stances have changed from Avenger to Hero!<br />
GS: Hiro gains 63 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Hiro has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Harmaus solidly guards Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Harmaus gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Seraph Harmaus!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Seraph Harmaus!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 73 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Harmaus gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
Mid-run, Mariel is abruptly picked up by Zed.<br />
<br />
"Eh...? Zed, what are you - "<br />
<br />
Who is then thrown by Gwen.<br />
<br />
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" <br />
<br />
Mariel squeezes her eyes closed, clenching her hands and legs against Zed's shoulders and upper back in a desperate attempt to *hang on*. Her ears blow back from the speed, flopping in the slipstream. Even the arrival of a seat belt does not convince her to either open her eyes or let go. <br />
<br />
She's still clinging when he gets to where he's going, though by then she has opened her eyes. She's going to have WORDS for Zed and Gwen later, but right now she can just barely catch her breath. "...thank you," she gets out, and half-steps, half-falls out of Zedder Robo, catching herself on the staff and pushing herself back upright.<br />
<br />
There's one obstacle left. One thing stopping them from approaching Marivel. And Mariel hates hurting living beings... the machines, who Marivel cares for so much, count as much as any. (That, and she isn't entirely sure how much some of these particular ones think for themselves.)<br />
<br />
"I'm sorry," Mariel says, and these aren't words for Marivel. These are words for the combined machines. She reaches into her satchel, retrieving one - two - three pouches, all of which she opens up and dumps into a cupped hand. In each of them is a gritty green-grey powder: dried seaweed of a particular type, ground up, treated by some alchemical process and mixed with some other ingredients. Little flecks catch the light inside it.<br />
<br />
Mariel holds her cupped hand high, raising it to near her staff. The staff's crystal glows once again as she channels her own Elw magic through it, a little mote of trapped pink in the crystal catching all the facets and casting a tinted band of colours across the powder. The little glittery flecks catch and absorb this, shining with an irregular rainbow; more of the colours involved are from the red side of the spectrum than the blue.<br />
<br />
And then she pitches it at the combined robots, dispersing it into a large cloud.<br />
<br />
Against living flesh, the powder is itchy and little more. Against metal, it weakens it; iron becomes a brittle thing, gold softer, steel strangely stretchy and taffy-like. The combination of Elw alchemy and Elw sorcery takes root, weakening it for what comes after.<br />
<br />
"Stop them - " Mariel doesn't say anything else before a hammer catches her, and time stops, freezing her in midair. That's her last contribution.<br />
GS: Mariel spends 1 Combo on Poison!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Marivel Armitage with Smarna Weed!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Mariel's Smarna Weed for 47 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Poison and Shieldbreak applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
The people on the ground, the people in the air (of whom there are suddenly more); all are working together. Kaguya maanges to hover in place thanks to the sheer power of her weapon, but only for so long. <br />
<br />
As Harmaus shoots back at her. She's lucky it /didn't/ hit; she grits her teeth, and has some words for him in a minute. <br />
<br />
Before that, as everyone works together, and Kaguya pushes back the power of Satan--<br />
<br />
She has a very cool gun indeed. <br />
<br />
Kaguya finally starts to fall, and hits a rooftop with her knees bending to absorb the impact. She narrows her eyes down at the remaining Gears. There is much to answer... But--<br />
<br />
The Golems combine. Kaguya narrows her eyes. She hears of it; timestop protocol. It's... something of a problem. But the machines are overheating. It swings its hammer... <br />
<br />
"I DON'T THINK SO!" <br />
<br />
She feels time starting to slow to a stop around her, and Kaguya vibrates with power. She forces herself to keep moving, even as she feels the effect start to slow her down. It's beginning; that hammer is slamming towards her, and oh--it hits, all right. Kaguya takes a terrible blow from it, her armor crunching again as she sacrifices more plating in order to avoid being incapacitated--and blood starts to drip from her side, where the armor crunches in against her hard enough to draw blood. Still, she works to aim. <br />
<br />
"AND HARMUAS!" she calls. "You can betray my ENTIRE ASS!" <br />
<br />
She aims, closely. The world for her seems to fall away. There is only her heart and the target. <br />
<br />
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. <br />
<br />
Just after Hiro, Kaguya FIRES, and power tears from her as she does, a tiny green spiritual bullet moving for center mass of the combination mecha--where it may well trigger a chain reaction. <br />
<br />
Mariel gave the last of what she had for them to take these shots. Kaguya aims to make this count. Elw magic... Well, why not?<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Formation! Kaguya has attacked Marivel Armitage with Moment of Truth!<br />
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Margaret looks downwards. At Pentagulia, from - wow, Margaret thinks, I am almost as high as Neo-Vane. <br />
<br />
She glances momentarily over at Harmaus, but if he's spending his anger at the bright light - well, as a wise general once said: Let the enemies fight, if they are fighting. Her eyes look downwards then. The great machines. <br />
<br />
I could stay here forever, Margaret thinks. Maybe I would, if I died right here. It's not sleep at all, is it? No, it isn't. <br />
<br />
Not right now, Margaret thinks. <br />
<br />
Zwip-zwip-zwip as she moves downwards, hair trailing behind her as she dives downwards. This means that she's able to see the first time someone becomes temporally locked... <br />
<br />
The hammer, Margaret thinks. Her eyes flick to the side. Would this work? Could it possibly work? Feh, she thinks, listen to what you told Hiro a minute ago, you old bag! Of course it could! And so Margaret leans into her downwards dive and - <br />
<br />
zwip! 'Reappears' on the shoulders of the combined horror-machine with her sword present. Margaret looks carefully for things she can stab but she is surprisingly unproductive in absolute terms. She doesn't seem to have a lot of hope to just carve through heavy steel, so she looks for tubes, cables, joints... stabbing, twisting, tearing. <br />
<br />
And when she feels a tightening in the magic around her -- <br />
<br />
Margaret throws herself forwards to be as close to the head of the great Gear as she can be. <br />
<br />
Rex, Margaret thinks: If you're there, either give me a little luck or get my seat ready-- <br />
<br />
even as time slows down. <br />
<br />
GS: Margaret has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Weightless Steel!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
Seraph Lanval's sense of the world around him gradually returns as the Morning Star laser is dispersed with, give or take a few other artifacts and distortions from visuals of incredible power on display to protect and reinforce - analogous to how organic corporeal beings eventually have their sight return once a bright light fades (to a point).<br />
<br />
Enough to see the remaining weapons combine their forces into a weapon of comparable destructive power for how much earth, stone, and everything it can move as Asgard hefts the immense DRILL HAMMER over them. As the hammer comes swinging down against the ground near where Seraph Lanval stands...<br />
<br />
He's not 'standing' there any more, backflipping right at the moment of impact that tosses him on up high to give him a better view of a disconcertingly large chunk of Pentagulia. It separates him from the lot, for a moment, making it difficult for him to hear the exact call-outs of defiance and reckoning of Marivel's broken promises while he's just airborne like a large flying albatross.<br />
<br />
"I know naught if thou can hear me," Lanval says as he catches hold of something that nearly falls out of him - it's a bottle.<br />
<br />
It's a bottle of wine from somewhere down in Glenwood that Lanval got his hands on during one of any number of strange bouts of wanderlust the Drifter life imparts.<br />
<br />
"Though many might yet head a path of strife and stagnation," he thinks mid-flight, "#-1 INVALID ANSI DEFINITION: +aquamrine and thou hath far more years than mine own... I doth notice but one constant."<br />
<br />
"Though mayhaps the path and means may never be clear... all doth search for mirth." Do the people here of Pentagulia feel fulfilled, safe, and optimistic living in this Holy City? He's not sure. There's lots of things people are unsure about with Althena and everything, but as he starts the descent with the bottle of wine in hand, feeling... something... slowing him, he can't put a finger on it (something-something time being stopped, from what he's hearing?), he can see how Hiro is going far faster than the surrounding.<br />
<br />
In his hand, the culmination of a well-wish of wine-makers gone, that they did not get to live to see. Though the wine and its contents will not fulfill the wish of being shared as a drink, it will be shared as a wish of well-being and better times, and as he comes down upon the combined machines...<br />
<br />
Should he reach there 'in time,' there will be an exploding bottle of wine upside their collective heads, and... a not-small watery force of explosion and a light, fruity flavor of whatever vintage that was. The well-wish for something better from the past, for a future's enrichment.<br />
<br />
Or, you know, a sopping wet super fighting robot.<br />
<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval spends 4 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Seraph Lanval has attacked Marivel Armitage with Maiden Bon Voyage!!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
What is Zed doing? Zed is being the best kind of taxi. THE FLYING KIND. <br />
<br />
He's probably getting a lecture for this later. But that's fine. A lecture later means he's alive to hear it and she's alive to deliver it. All in all a much better situation than the opposite.<br />
<br />
The last of Lucifer's light fades away, leaving Zedder Robo scorched and burnt in its position over Pentagulia. Smoldering, its armor trails smoke into the sky-- but it is burnt, not broken. "Tch-- is that all you've--"<br />
<br />
TIME HAS STOPPED <br />
<br />
... <br />
<br />
And so... time has resumed once more. <br />
<br />
"--Got?" Zed looks up just in time for a DRILL HAMMER to slam into him. He's sent hurtling through the air, into one Cathedral tower and out the other end and into yet another one tower beyond. "Hnnng... That... was pretty cool... But...!"<br />
<br />
Gripping crumbling masonry with metal hands, Zed lifts himself out of the crumbling rubble. Cape-like cloth erupts from his shoulders, resolving into a single, stylized 'wing.' "I've got another trick up my sleeve too...! Take this-- ZEDDER SHIIIIINE!" Rivers of emerald light flood down from on high, seemingly materializing from empty space. They swirl down, surging into the Metal Demon's battered battle form. He begins to glow, radiating a brilliance that is at once blindingly white and emerald green. "Shine..." Zed rises, shining like an emerald sun. "SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--" He flings himself forward, fully intending to ram straight into the combined machine (WHICH IS SUPER COOL BY THE WAY, HE NEEDS TO FIND OUT HOW TO DO THAT). But then, just in time, he catches sight of Mariel's Elw magic-- and abruptly pulls up. "----AAAAAAAACK!?" He aborts, diverting from his intended flight path at the last moment, but...<br />
<br />
The energy he built up... has momentum of its own! It sails into the fused gear, even without Zed himself at its core! "Oh..." Zedder Robo scratches his cheek, as his surge of energy erupts in an explosion of blinding, viridian brilliance. "...That works... I guess...???"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Sweat drips down Leo's brow, tracing streaks through the grime on is face. Above him, the barrier swirls, currents of pearly-white shifting to better absorb the Lucifer's ruinous onslaught. Where, Leo thinks, was Marivel /keeping/ this monster? His muscles start to knot, painfully, from the shoulders up. He's losing ground. The clear, pure energies of Lanval's power reinvigorate him for a few moments, but it's only once the Lucifer /stops firing/ from the combined onslaught that he allows himself to sag.<br />
<br />
The White Dragon's miracle lingers in the sky above. Motes of light descend on Pentagulia like a blessed snowfall. Leo slumps forward, gasping from exertion. The Crest dangles from his fingers, the gleam on its rune faded--its magic's spent, for now. But the enemy is--combining in a different way...? There's no time to think. Leo unsheathes his sword one-handed, the familiar glow of his aura igniting around him and condensing on the edge. Normally, he precedes this with solemnity--a degree of ceremony, even, in its own way--but he /killed/ the man who taught it to him, and what's left, for now, is rote. The moment of desperate transcendence is gone.<br />
<br />
Leo's blade slices through empty air. The great force of the Lion springs forth, howling, rushing directly at the robot's center of mass.<br />
<br />
Time stops. The hammer is on a direct collision course to slam into Leo and drive him into the ground.<br />
<br />
GS: White Knight Leo spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Lion's Howl!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo's stances have changed to Avenger!<br />
GS: Mighty expired!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
It's not the feline beastfolk's day. Slowed down, she doesn't get out of the way of the follow up as best as she'd have preferred. Battered though, not beaten. Shige struggles back to her feet and staggers for a moment. Teeth gritted and mask blown away by now. That's also a later problem. Instead, she brings the lantern back around. <br />
<br />
They're running low on time, probably literally. That is genuinely a problem. And she's thinking that trying to keep the others going isn't going to help. <br />
<br />
The shadows around her stir. Any shades she can get her magical fingers on drawn in. Earlier had been her personal manifestations. The representations of her magic, or the ghosts that follow her for other reasons. She still never talks about it. Forming up around the square. Uniforms and armor from a wide range of periods. Cold, angry at the attacks. Or reflecting the feline's own feelings. As one, they surge forward. A mass of soldiers and guardians to stop the machines from completing an awful mission. <br />
<br />
Belle is given a look in return. "Is watching this part of your punishment? Seeing my worst nightmares visited on others?" She turns away, continuing her channeling. Guiding the shades. "I'd still see you to where you belong-" The light in the lantern goes out as the mass of shadows attack. Only reappearing as they begin to dissapate, energy spent. Stealing what they could. "-Even if you allowed this to happen." It's a duty and one everyone deserves. Judgement comes after anyway, right? She sounds tired either way. Taking just a moment to swat at a smoldering patch on her blouse. Probably the remnants of the cloak at this point. <br />
<br />
She beckons to Belle after. "If we survive this. I'm taking you to rest." Even if she has to yell at people or something. She's actually at a loss, but you have to play by ear sometimes. She's not sure if they'll beat the time stop.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
A giddy, surprised laugh leaves Gwen as Zed's gamble works (much to Mariel's horror, likely).<br />
<br />
However, the overarching danger of this future attack still remains, whatever form it will take.<br />
<br />
The hammer swings towards the heroes, and, running high on the rush of yellow energy flowing through her right side, Gwen charges into the assault, barreling through on momentum alone.<br />
<br />
*twitch*<br />
<br />
The glowing Mockingbird.... goes dark, its glow disappearing behind the fabric of her right sleeve.<br />
<br />
She has a moment to make it work. "HAUUUUUUGHH!!!" Heaving the dead weight of her right hand into combined mass of machinery, Gwen pushes the remaining amount of energy back through her right hand.<br />
<br />
And it feels like the worst sort of sensation ever. <br />
<br />
If forcing that energy into her nervous system felt awkward enough, the way it's just drained out feels painful on top of awkward, like the entire affected part of her quickly fading to nothing but pins and needles. She could call it 'pain', but 'pain' would at least signal a release. This is just that awkward space inbetween, like waiting for a sneeze that never comes, and then trying to puke at the same time.<br />
<br />
The punch will be delivered, in its own distorted 'singing toy on low power' sort of glory, but that's it.<br />
<br />
Which is doubly bad, as she's right there, in danger's way, as time stops.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Marivel Armitage with Eclipse!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Snipe!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Lock On!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock spends 2 Combo on Headshot!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Coronal Discharge!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Quick expired!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Shige Kiwako's Eclipse for 285 hit points!<br />
GS: Purge! Poison and Shieldbreak removed!<br />
GS: Purge explodes for 41 damage!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Weaken Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Delay applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Weaken blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
Light -- and Malevolence -- fleeing from his form, Harmaus slowly, gently descends back to the broken tiles of the plaza. His tail twitches once, twice.<br />
<br />
There, before him, Marivel's machines begin to transform, assuming the shape of an enormous gavel which Asgard holds in one hand.<br />
<br />
'ACTIVATING TIMESTOP PROTOCOL.'<br />
<br />
Harmaus bares his teeth in a snarl, a single thread of light erupting from his form before he charges ahead as if to defy what Asgard would wreak. "BE SILENT--" he roars, in response to Kaguya's final taunt, before the hand on the clock freezes.<br />
<br />
For, even so, time does not obey Harmaus' wishes. Even in the early centuries of his long life, it never had.<br />
<br />
Time stops.<br />
<br />
He moves with a certain suddenness once it resumes, but it is still not enough to spare him the hammer's touch. It clips him, sends him to slam into the scattered debris of the square.<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Seraph Harmaus has attacked Marivel Armitage with Light Everlasting!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Seraph Lanval's Maiden Bon Voyage! for 382 hit points!<br />
GS: Dispel! Purge! Delay removed!<br />
GS: Purge explodes for 18 damage!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Mute applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Poison blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Margaret's Weightless Steel for 217 hit points!<br />
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Slow applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Interrupt blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts White Knight Leo's Lion's Howl for 414 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Kaguya's Moment of Truth for 318 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Strain! Kaguya takes 44 damage!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Gwen Whitlock's Coronal Discharge for 302 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Jam Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Jam blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!<br />
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Seraph Harmaus's attack becomes clear!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Seraph Harmaus's Pallid Sun for 271 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Disease and Poison blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
It is simply a pale finger of light, a ghost of a mote shed through the clouds of an overcast day. It is little more than nothing in the grasp of time brought to a standstill.<br />
<br />
But time resumes.<br />
<br />
Then, with frightening ferocity, that fragment of light transfigures into the forge of /everything/. The mote has become a star, its light pale and terrible as it burns, consumes, and transfixes that which stands before it to become little more than eternal shadow against its glory.<br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Hiro's Trinity Crisis for 333 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Strain! Hiro takes 58 damage!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
It begins with Mariel spreading some strange powder against the metal. Such a simple seeming compound and the metal twitches and distorts and bends as it becomes dry and brittle at the perfect time, at the perfect moment.<br />
<br />
Belle tells Shige. "No. My punishment was to see the world I failed to protect plummet into decay, despair, death, and dread. I would have been alone if not for Marivel so I stayed by her side. But now I am just another one of the chains tying her to a past she needs to move on from. My mistake was to think that of Death as a simple thing. Of spirits that needed to move on, and life that needed to die. In truth, life and death are not so simple. There is no shame in living a thousand years just as there is no shame in living twenty. None can choose the time of their passing, not even the Crimson Nobles."<br />
<br />
"But I'm ready. I've given my last regards to my Pen Pal. I want to return to the river and one day be reborn and learn to love again."<br />
<br />
Shige slams her fist into the machinery, clobbering thick slabs of armoring right off it.<br />
<br />
Gwen unleashes her own punch. Her fist knocks free one of the Lucifer's wings and it tumbles to the ground.<br />
<br />
Lanval swings a bottle of wine that looks silly but you'd be surprised how much damage exploding wine can do when the armoring has already been atrophied thanks to Mariel's efforts. thick shards of glass puncture through the armoring leading wine to pour into the sensitive circuitry behind it. Lanval probably has no idea that there even is sensitive circuitry there but luckily--he didn't need to.<br />
<br />
Margaret punctures her blade right through Asgard's eye. The light blinks out as she presses into it, all defenses even in a legendary gear gone thanks to Mariel.<br />
<br />
Leo punctures through Qubeley's eye simultaneously--he is also forced to lean against it to really get it in there, but he can feel the palpable strike. Where was Marivel keeping this monster? The answer may surprise you.<br />
<br />
(Her Garage).<br />
<br />
Hiro and Kaguya strike next, though Hiro's strikes are not immediate evident. Kaguya unleashes the power of her spirit gun yu yu hakusho style--the blast of light struggles until...<br />
<br />
Harmaus, instead of betraying Kaguya's ass (for now) adds his own light everlasting, augmenting the spirit energy of Zeikfried with his own immense power of Light--the beam punctures through the machine, opening up a widening hole in Asgard's center mass.<br />
<br />
At which point finally Hiro's own slashes finally 'activate'. The arms of Asgard are shorn free and the right damage legged cut out from underneath, sparking and sputtering.<br />
<br />
And yet... It's still active.<br />
<br />
...For about half a second before the Zedder Robo basically accidentally knocks it over with one last surge of power that sends everything crumbling into pieces.<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Hob and Nob pull themselves free from the wreckage and make cute noses. They spin around happily like there was just a rousing round of playtime before floating back through to the Goddess Square. Following them...<br />
<br />
Marivel is sitting in the center of an arcane circle surrounded by runes of a language that none of you know except for Mariel, who can pick out a word here or there--but not enough to really discern the meaning except for one word. Empathite Crystal is present in droves, channeling their energies into Marivel. They feel like those 'monsters' and 'ghosts' that you were doing battle with earlier.<br />
<br />
"...She didn't come. Even when I threatened her city. Her people. Her faith. She didn't come. Ragnell must be right about her. I cannot fathom any other explanation. Why would she betray me and then abandon the very people she betrayed me for? All she had to do was show up. Just show up and scold me like old times. She didn't even need to say she was sorry."<br />
<br />
Abysa. The Crimson Noble word for 'Home'. But its more complicated than just a portal spell. Whatever it is. That is the word that Mariel can pick out.<br />
<br />
Marivel sighs, "Yeah okay, I mean, I'm sure I could come up with some legalese to justify an unbroken promise, but I admit it--asking me to do that, I had to play along at least. But how dare you say that I would abandon Filgaia, abandon Kamui...? I would ''never'' abandon my duty, my brethren, my family. If I could be there, I would be... But I cannot be there because I am in the Memory Maze. Fortunately, ARMS will not need me to succeed in their task so you need not worry about them. But you know what's WRONG about those statues? That always bugged me more than anythiing? The EARS. They're all WRONG."<br />
<br />
She dusts herself off and stands up, stretching her arms above her head. <br />
<br />
"Ashley Winchester will plummet into the Memory Maze himself after Heimdall Gazzo's defeat. I can tell you this now that you cannot interrupt what ''has'' to happen. And with that, the timeloop I have been a part of for five thousand years will finally be closed. It is only in this moment where I cannot interfere with ARMS' work yet before the Time of Promise has come to pass that I am completely and utterly free of pacts and obligations."<br />
<br />
She looks to Leo. "Sorry about the mess. I really did the emotional energy. With this much empathite They should be protected from any serious injury. Still, you're right. There is no real justification for any of this. How could there be? All this just for one woman? Ridiculous."<br />
<br />
"...But every time I try to save her, every time--it does not pan out. I am too slow, or we are too weak, or she's gone by the time I can reach my hand, or the methods to reach her are gone... I just... Even if she despises me, she deserves to live. So I took a gamble. Liath told me that her faith in you was absolute. I told her I was willing to gamble everything on this one shot. This one timeline."<br />
<br />
She looks to Lanval. "I haven't felt true mirth in a long time. Joy no longer lingers with me. I can only absorb it from others and it soon fades away. That is the sort of vampire I am. You can't give it to me Lanval."<br />
<br />
She looks to Kaguya. "You've really grown into someone dependable. Trusting you with the Veruni--I can't say for sure. What happens with them is outside my vision. But if anyone can improve their fate--it's you and Dean's crew. But out of all the adventurers out there, you have the hardest job you know? It's easy to save the world, but it's way more difficult to save people from themselves. People who need saving from themselves are always in close contact with their tormentors."<br />
<br />
She looks to Zed. "Not even the blind would miss your inherent kindness. Don't let your pain ever eclipse it just because someone might prod it."<br />
<br />
She focuses on Margaret for but a moment. "10/10 no notes."<br />
<br />
She doesn't say anything to Mariel. She doesn't need to. She can look at Mariel and everything they need to know about this moment is shared in that look. But what needs to be said, with words, isn't in this moment.<br />
<br />
To Gwen she adds, "You may be an unsung hero when all is said and done, but that's actually a good thing. You lift up those around you. In this, you are not unlike Anastasia. In the end, the kindness you deliver to all around you will be your most satisfying delivery."<br />
<br />
To Harmaus...<br />
<br />
Marivel proves that she still tries to save everyone every time even though she already knows it's doomed to favor. "Step off this Seeking Road before it is too late, Harmaus."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
"But it's not over. There's one last thing I need to show you. One thing I need to see. Those machines, they were just to stall for this moment. Yes. I was waiting for this moment for thousands and thousands of years...."<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&t=19s&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel<br />
<br />
The empathite finishes their work and the light dims to black. The empathite turns black, then cracks into dust as their gathered energy is expelled into Marivel. The Time Medium floats out of Marivel's inventory and hovers over her head, shaking. The glow in Marivel's body shakes and shudders as she opens her mouth.<br />
<br />
And devours it all. You can even see the energies pouring into her mouth until all is consumed.<br />
<br />
Then, there is a pulse of light centered on her. Then an explosion of it.<br />
<br />
"I shall become an imitation of light and save Anastasia. That is all that matters. And you shall find what YOU seek..."<br />
<br />
And when the light fades...<br />
<br />
There stands a young woman with long blue hair pulled into two very long tails behind her, held together by two impressively sized red orbs. She wears heavy brown traveling boots and a long purple and white dress. The hair resembles a bit how a certain Crimson Noble wore their hair while wearing her sun protection outfit. She wears brown gloves and her are protected by a pair of vambraces and shoulder pauldrons--other than that, she could look like any other traveler you might find along the road.<br />
<br />
If not for that set of Elw ears--recognizable to anyone who has met Mariel. She extends her hand out to the side and sparkles coalesce into the form of a large blade, nearly as tall as this woman who herself is larger than life, bigger than any human or even Elw could be. A giant, readily thrice as tall as the shortest of you. A side effect of the power of Marivel's memories, perhaps.<br />
<br />
But the blade itself is familiar to those have visited the Sword Cathedral near Meria Boule: It is Airgetlahm, here. It should not be but Marivel's will, her memory, her need brings it forth all the same. <br />
<br />
Althena? Anastasia? Althenastasia?? SHE takes in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly like someone who had just learned to breathe. She lowers her head and then she smiles.<br />
<br />
A black portal erupts behind her, leading into a sickening place that makes your souls quiver.<br />
<br />
It feels a little bit like Marivel.<br />
<br />
The blue haired Elw woman turns and walks towards the portal. "We'll have to continue this discussion inside. I... Marivel?...This was just her vessel..."<br />
<br />
"But the real deal... To see her, there is not enough space here. You'll have to go inside. This isn't something you want open for too long."<br />
<br />
And she steps inside. And the dark portal to the Abyss remains.<br />
<br />
And a choice to follow the Seeking Road yourself.<br />
<br />
<==== TO BE CONTINUED<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2023-02-25:_On_The_Seeking_Road&diff=121872023-02-25: On The Seeking Road2023-03-02T06:23:40Z<p>Fei: I'll make this prettier later.</p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: T5C: On The Seeking Road'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Marivel Armitage]] [[Character :: Hiro]] [[Character :: White Knight Leo]] [[Character :: Margaret]] [[Character :: Mariel]] [[Character :: Shige Kiwako]] [[Character :: Kaguya]] [[Character :: Zed]] [[Character :: Seraph Lanval]] [[Character :: Seraph Harmaus]] [[Character :: Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Pentagulia - Goddess Square<br />
*'''Date:''' February 25th 2023<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Marivel unleashes an assault against Pentagulia... But to what aim?''<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
There is about a day before Belle's warning comes to past. It begins with a series of empathic pulses emanating from multiple locations within the city. The first is a pulse of fear, then anger, then hate, than horror and terror. Each pulse emanates from a trove of empathite crystal hidden away in parts of the city. The sky turns red as flame and the moon shines a deeper scarlet. Meteoric flame crashes down to the city streets then rises back up to meet the heavens above. Screams fill the streets as men and women, filled with rising terror, crackle with black ash and smoke before they turn to monstrous form before your very eyes.<br />
<br />
There is no sensation of the Lord of Calamity's malevolence--not outside of what you bring in with you. Nor is there any extra sense of malevolence within those that turn that typically accompany those that turn into hellions.<br />
<br />
But in your minds, resonating through your very soul is a familiar voice indeed.<br />
<br />
'''Pentagulia. Children of the ''Goddess''. You have burned me, sent war to another land, kidnapped, tortured, and killed children. You have abandoned and forgotten the Guardians. You have perverted our rituals and our instruments.'''<br />
<br />
Marivel. As promised, she has made her move.<br />
<br />
'''But worst of all, you've forgotten your past. You have forgotten Anastasia who died so that you could live in this false paradise. You fear Lords of Calamity, a title for charlatans and play actors, tossed around by those who wield power for their own ends and you hold faith in a false Goddess that has abandoned you just as she has abandoned the Blue Star. Those you have held up as saviors and heroes have done countless terrible things.'''<br />
<br />
But the empathic pulses aren't the only problem to worry about. Out from the earth rise heroic golden shades. Some are recognizable--carrying the form of Kamui and Gami for instance--and others are wholly lost to time, only remaining as part of this world within Marivel's memories, their names lost to all but for the one who cannot forget.<br />
<br />
'''I, Marivel Armitage, last of the Crimson Nobles, Queen of Evil, Sorceress of Time, yadda yadda, have come to inflict a trial upon thee. A trial of Time and of history's Judgement. Rise up above it if you can or I shall take your so called Goddess's head. Face the horrors of the Abyss and show me your Answers.'''<br />
<br />
Though the shades fight against the beasts, they don't seem to be able to differentiate between any of you and the monsters. More solidly is a full squadron of gears that seem to have taken to blocking off the exits to the Goddess's Square where a massive charge of elden sorceries is being channeled. Three of these are readily recognizable.<br />
<br />
Revelry. Qubeley. Asgard. Each recognizable as of Marivel's design due to the maker's mark of one eye a piece.<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEXxsEOq8ZY&ab_channel=HuskybytheGeek<br />
<br />
The fourth gear is new. Similarly cyclopean, it nevertheless stands different from the other three--even from the legendary Asgard. It is a tall blue machine with a similar design aesthetic to Weltall but taller and winged and is definitely banned by the Treaty of Iscariot. As weapons of the present in this blast from the past it is clear where the Master of these machines is.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya arrived in Pentagulia /after/ the matter of Ghaleon and Lucia, arriving later in that same alley as everyone else. She is technically still a member of the Guard, though she isn't entirely sure that status will protect her after the things that the Lord of Calamity had to say. But that turns out to be irrelevant today; she hasn't run into any trouble, until now... and this trouble has nothing to do with the Guard. Or perhaps everything to do with the Guard. <br />
<br />
"What the--" Screams, everywhere. Kaguya steps out of the teahouse she'd been sitting in and feels the pulses of emotion, sees the blood-dark moon. Screams, and turns to monstrous forms. "What is--" <br />
<br />
That voice. Marivel's voice. <br />
<br />
"No," Kaguya says, "Tell me you didn't--" <br />
<br />
"DAMN IT, MARIVEL!" Kaguya shouts to the heavens as she sees those golden forms and the Gears starting to rise. "Is THIS what it means to protect Filgaia!?" Kaguya demands of the sky. "Is THIS what helps the world? Trial my ASS, this is just pointlessly awful!" <br />
<br />
She pulls Zeikfried, the legendary weapon, and she does not have to remind herself of her oath. She fulfilled part of it... But--<br />
<br />
"I swore to protect this moon," Kaguya says. "...And I'll do it. Even if it means I have to destroy a friend." <br />
<br />
She darts off, towards the square, and hops up against a building. Double-jumping, Kaguya springs off a wall and against another until she's high up enough to fire at the new Gear's 'faceplate', and as she does, electricity crackles all around her. She fires a single shot--<br />
<br />
"People of Pentagulia!" Kaguya shouts from her high vantage point, "Take cover in your homes!"<br />
GS: Kaguya has attacked Marivel Armitage with Void-Binding Shot!<br />
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
And what about our deal? That we would bring you to her, and talk first? And only then would you decide?<br />
<br />
Hiro threads his way through the crowd of panicking people, the chaotic eruptions throughout, right towards the horde, his own empathite radio in his hand.<br />
<br />
'''Does the word of an Evil Queen mean nothing? How many people upon your own Blue Star have done the same? Forgotten their past - sent war to distant lands? Do I see you in Solaris butchering its civilians for the crimes of the Gebler?'''<br />
<br />
'''You've abandoned your own world in a time of intense strife for your vendetta. You've abandoned your daughter who is suffering from a terminal disease for your vendetta.'''<br />
<br />
'''I hope you feel Anastasia would be proud of you.'''<br />
<br />
It begins with a simple thrust, and a rush of wind with his sword as he stabs into the armor plating of the Asgard like creation, "... Because right now? I am not." He ends simply, and now vocally.<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro has attacked Marivel Armitage with Hurricane Thrust!<br />
GS: Hiro has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Hiro's stances have changed to Avenger!<br />
GS: Hiro has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Kaguya's Void-Binding Shot for 106 hit points!<br />
GS: Drowsy applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
Mariel has been in Pentagulia, too, even if she did not stick with the group. She figured that she was (possibly) more likely to be identified by the guards here, for several reasons - though the one she gave, if asked, was that she has already been imprisoned by Althena's Guard once and that that was enough, thanks.<br />
<br />
But she's still HERE. She's here when the empathic pulses start, and that is enough to get her on the street; she's here when Marivel's voice sounds in her mind.<br />
<br />
"Marivel..."<br />
<br />
Mariel approaches from the harbor. She's carrying the staff she's been seen with several times lately: a long staff of ancient wood, irregular and bent in a few places like a heavy limb of a massive tree, topped with a faceted crystal held within twisting branches, as well as her usual big satchel of items.<br />
<br />
It's chaos toward the harbour too, and Mariel is having trouble moving through the panicking crowds. Her pace is slowed several times by stopping to help someone, because Mariel will not pass someone hurt without offering aid, even if there's little she can do. She is not immediately fighting spirits and especially isn't fighting the monsters, but it's not mutual - she has to run to evade them several times, or go around a longer route.<br />
<br />
"Marivel!" She has no idea if the Crimson Noble can hear her at all. "Marivel, you made a promise! That we'd see her together! That afterwards... Not that you would - you would - " Mariel grips her staff, and the crystal on it shimmers for a moment, faintest white. <br />
<br />
"The people of Pentagulia have nothing to do with this; leave them out of it! You've already hurt them so much! And if I have to stop you from making another mistake..." Mariel doesn't know what she'd do. She can't fight them. The monsters are people; she saw some burn in the red moon. The spirits are the remembered and the forgotten. And as for Marivel herself...<br />
<br />
Mariel wouldn't win that fight. But she has to do something. <br />
<br />
She made a promise, too. To Marivel, her friend.<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Mariel with Alone in the World!<br />
GS: Mariel has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Mariel's stances have changed to Sage!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
GS: Mariel accepts Mariel's Alone in the World for 0 hit points!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
Time has passed tensely in Pentagulia and to be honest, Lanval is completely lost because everything in this Holy City looks the same (aside from the harbor). When all hell breaks loose, there is - at last - a very comfy-looking depression in the ground that looks /almost/ as good as that one spot on Luca's streets. That one spot, that got destroyed when the Guard beseiged Luca. There will never /be/ a spot as comfortable to lay in like that spot but holy crap, this new destruction-made depression is almost looking as good. (It's a water spirit thing, you'd have to be one to understand.)<br />
<br />
"...Mmmm." Lanval takes in the words, the condemnations, the Trials, remembering what happened at Artorius' Throne. He takes a sip from his drinking gourd.<br />
<br />
He spent over five-hundred years holding up his part of the Boundary of Meribus until a bizarre decree and the Guard's destruction of his place of influence put it to an end. (To the latter's credit, that place was... not a great one, by mortal standards, moral standards, or even to the word substandard.) Althena, in her re-emergence, has spent that time condemning him and his actions and presence often by Ghaleon proxy. He now lives on, and of, Filgaia as a direct servant to the embodiment of its water. To an outside observer, maybe one wouldn't blame him for letting Marivel do her thing after how much he's been wronged.<br />
<br />
"I'm gonna do ya one lasht sholid," Lanval says to the thin air that is Althena's, "'caushe I ain't forgotten who I am." Lanval, the Mirthful Wellspring. Also, he told Ghaleon he's staying standing up, give or take a minor allowance in angle for his interesting interpretations of the idea of locomotion.<br />
<br />
So he goes along the beseiged streets, paralell briefly to the quiet will of Hiro and the overt call of protection by Kaguya, swaggering along like he has no care in the world, whistling along off-key to some obscure song from memory that's about thirty percent made up on the spot, coming across one of the golden shades that rise. They are larger, stronger, and sturdier than him from memory.<br />
<br />
This doesn't stop him from abruptly head-butting one of them in the breadbasket.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Marivel Armitage with Carefree Stroll!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters a Counter stance!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage partially guards Hiro's Hurricane Thrust for 80 hit points!<br />
GS: Mighty applied to Hiro!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
Hm.<br />
<br />
You know, when Belle gave her warning, Zed was not sure what he was supposed to be expecting. Something akin to the day that the sky broke over Adlehyde and disgorged a swarm of demons upon the city was absolutely not on the list, though, he knows that for a fact.<br />
<br />
Zed squats like a gargoyle atop one of Pentagulia's identical, gothic spires, staring long at the crimson sky. Something about what the so-called Queen of Evil claimed resonates with him. The worship of a false goddess is, after all, the very same thing that brought ruin to the survivors of Hyades.<br />
<br />
If there's a mote of truth to what she says, does he have the right to stop her from doing the same...? The Dark Hero makes a face, turning his gaze briefly back onto the bundle of letters in his lap. He'll have to finish reading the replies later.<br />
<br />
Slowly, Zed stands. He sighs at the entire situation-- if she were /not/ turning ordinary people into monsters for the gall of living in a place that is utterly unhospitable to life, maybe... maybe he'd be right there with those cyclopean monsters...?<br />
<br />
But sadly: She is.<br />
<br />
And so: He is not.<br />
<br />
With a 'hup,' he leaps down upon several of the golden shades, the blade Doombringer flashing with light as it's swung down--<br />
<br />
In the same instant, rays of hellish, heavenly light streak down into several other shades, flashing down into one Gami and another Kamui and another whose face none but Marivel know. "You know, method matters," Zed grumbles, "Maybe don't turn people into monsters next time?? It makes you look /extra/ evil, and not in the fun, charming villainess sort of way!"<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Inner Secret - Heaven's Howl!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
To Margaret, Marivel Armitage is less than she is to some others. But she knows her, she remembers her. A sad girl, buying donuts. An old-seeming girl; one who has great sorrow within her heart. <br />
<br />
Less-than does not mean 'equal to zero.' But it does clarify some things for Margaret, as she steps out of the inexpensive rooming house where she has been sharing a glorified cubicle with her aide-de-camp, healer assistant, and improptu save point, to see the skies darken and to hear the people scream.<br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ijP0i_5zdk<br />
<br />
"Alright, **** discretion," says Tera Gram, reaching up to unclasp her cloak and shake her shoulders a little. Her right hand is drawn out and then tucked into a slightly better place as she grasps one of her three swords with her left, drawing it outwards in a backhanded grip and twirling it around. "Get ready," she warns Dollie. <br />
<br />
"STARLIGHT EXPRESS--" <br />
<br />
Fwish! She leaves the cloak behind.<br />
<br />
Moving with the barreling speed of an express train in optimal conditions, feeling her heart pump like a steam engine, Margaret runs through the streets. When she finds one of the beasts, she is faced with a momentary terrible quandrary. What is she going to do with them? This beast was a man a minute ago. Now he's -- this. <br />
<br />
Dare I? Margaret thinks. <br />
<br />
Margaret opts to punt on the question after side-stepping a swung claw by punching the beast in the head sixteen times with a hand-guarded left fist. <br />
<br />
After this she runs, hearing others. Perhaps drawing nearer to - yes, Margaret thinks, and also, no, because those are Gears and they aren't the ones that "MOTHEROFGODDESSANDHERSIXTYFIVESPAREDRESSES," Margaret bursts into the slipstream of her own enchanted speed, "WHATHAVEYOUDONE" <br />
<br />
A thin wind reaches her ear. A voice - <br />
<br />
Ah, Margaret thinks. Swip! To the right -- an armored hero of ancient days, visored and wearing duraplastic armor, turns one gun of memory towards Margaret, who kicks him in the head three times, executes a mid-air twist, and throws the golden shade over a nearby gentleperson's fence-wall. <br />
<br />
AND THAT IS WHY <br />
<br />
There's just kind of a sparkling FWIP and Mariel has a towering elf-woman next to her. "Heard you calling," Margaret says, before twisting round to parry and fight momentarily with another of the shades DIRECTLY OVER MARIEL'S HEAD. Fortunately both she and the shade are much taller than Mariel. "Call it a stylish moment, but I believe in my promises too. What's happening, do you know?" <br />
<br />
Margaret resorts to her lightning-handguard-punch methodology but the handguard is already showing signs of wear. AUTHENTIC SWORD ACTION is inevitable. <br />
<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Crimson Orbit!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
There had been a warning, without question. But what was there to do regarding? With Marivel nowhere to be found and Lucia swept away to take audience with the Goddess, it was all that Avril could do to seek a path forward, as things stood.<br />
<br />
Pentagulia is a large city, however, and there are many places to search and far more to speak to. When the day comes that a crimson moon shines and meteors scream from the heavens, it is not Avril who stands in the Goddess' Square.<br />
<br />
No, there is another, one who ventured into the forbidden city by other, long-secret means.<br />
<br />
He walks slowly towards the golden shades, Marivel's statement ringing too in his mind. It serves only to stir the darkness within him, to make his rage and hatred nearly reach a boil.<br />
<br />
So she is here to force a trial upon the city, the failure of which will result in the death of the Goddess. So she is here to kill the Goddess Althena.<br />
<br />
So is he.<br />
<br />
"IT TAKES IT NOT FROM ME!" snarls the Seraph Harmaus, ears flattened against his head. "ALTHENA IS MINE! HER LIFE IS MINE!"<br />
<br />
Light, well-chased with darkness, surges from his corpus in a terrible rolling bolt; it splits into a trio of tarnished-gold rays as it descends for the heroic shades. Let none stand in his way, not even one of a similar mind to him.<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has attacked Marivel Armitage with Burning Vision!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
If the White Knight's loyalty to the Goddess was ever in question--not that it was, /of course/--that question died along with the Lord of Calamity. In the wake of the grand battle at Artorius' Throne, Leo returned to a hero's welcome in Pentagulia. There were celebratory feasts and formal reports and rumors of a new high honor, bestowed by the Goddess herself. If Leo appeared a bit more haggard, and rougher around the edges, well... it was undoubtedly a grueling tasl.<br />
<br />
Leo laid his master to rest in a simple grave near the ruins of his burned home. That was the most peace he's had in weeks; he has hated every moment of celebration. He cannot get his former mentor's words out of his mind. Why isn't he happy? He should be happy. Why can't he relax? He should relax. What's wrong--?<br />
<br />
Everything is wrong.<br />
<br />
Five Minutes Ago<br />
<br />
Leo sits at his office desk--a magnificent affair made from heartwood from Volgran Forest--a blank sheet of paper on the table. The dictation quill hovers expectantly, sparkling with faint sorcerous luminescence. Leo is dressed in full uniform, but his eyes are dark, his hair is mussed and brittle. Even his horn has lost its luster.<br />
<br />
And then, in that moment: screams. Fire rains on the city. A voice Leo knows all too well echoes in his heart. His face contorts into wide-eyed shock, then slack-jawed horror, then contorted fury. "/Marivel,/" Leo breathes, and his voice could freeze the air.<br />
<br />
NOW<br />
<br />
'People of Pentagulia! Take cover in your homes!'<br />
<br />
Kaguya isn't the only one who's taken to the air. Pentagulia is so well-urbanized that--with a little control over the earth, which is present /everywhere/ in the masonry--one can run across the rooftops, if one is daring and athletic enough. From her vantage-point, Kaguya might be able to see it first: a familiar red-and-white figure sprinting across a row of townhouses, towards the same machine she just fired at. "Dame Kaguya!" Leo's voice is tight and strained, not its usual authoritative roar. "Where in the HELL is she!?"<br />
<br />
'She' should go without saying.<br />
<br />
Leo takes to the air, vaulting forwards in a tremendous leap. His blade leaves its scabbard, gleaming as he falls on the machine Kaguya fired at. He drives it at the Gear's neck, with all the force of his fall behind it. His eyes flicker with dull embers of rage.<br />
<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Luminant Scythe!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
Shige's found herself a quiet spot to hunt down books. Things to learn. Things to read. Things to enjoy with a good cup of whiskey. The book is snapped shut and set alongside her pack. Replaced in hand by the ghostly lantern. <br />
<br />
Each pulse of emotion causing her shadow to shift as it stretches behind her. Echoes of the past, attached to those emotions. Or opposed to them even. The light seems to grow brighter. A beacon of sorts as she looks up at the sky. <br />
<br />
"You could have done something to teach the forgotten. You could have made sure their stories were heard. Instead you'd create more misery and destroy more stories?" She sounds angry at this. That lantern held firmly before her. Figures almost visible around her at the edges of the light. Figures long forgotten, but lingering. <br />
<br />
As the monsters twist and change and are met by both golden shades and Shige's own. Figures in ancient armor. Grasping raging ghosts with wild hair. She's marching her way forward through it all until she catches up with the rest. Slipping her mask on under her hood. Obscuring a look of actual anger, bordering on rage itself. A far cry from her usual self. "If I have to drag her to the end of the line myself, I will." Voice quiet, barely contained. Lashing out at a recently turned monster tries to get in close. Claws out and raking. "This will not happen again." That part is much quieter. And the masked face turns towards Zed briefly. That's something for later. Protect the others first. Judgement later. Right? <br />
<br />
Somewhere at the edge of all of this, the drowned out rational part of her mind wonders if she shouldn't try to guide the golden spectres as they swing away at friend and foe.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Marivel Armitage with Cat's Claws!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Margaret's Crimson Orbit for 41 hit points!<br />
GS: Drowsy applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Zed's Inner Secret - Heaven's Howl for 48 hit points!<br />
GS: Mute applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Seraph Harmaus's Burning Vision for 122 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Gamble: Very High! Marivel Armitage solidly guards Seraph Lanval's Carefree Stroll for 59 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
There was a time, when Marivel and Gwen had met outside of the Irington Bakery. A promise was made, and Gwen had an additional, optional decision she had to make: learn about a thing that was coming in the future. <br />
<br />
'But I have to warn you, knowing the future is to be bound by it.'<br />
<br />
Gwen decided against knowing, feeling the weight of her own hubris weighing on her shoulders. She'd try to stop it, if she knew. It's just her nature.<br />
<br />
She flips up the brim of a nonexistent hat in greeting to a Marivel that isn't there, as Marivel's voice speaks to all of them directly. "Ain't sure what t'think, that you'd have this much faith in us." The hurt expression and neutral tone is a mask; this faith feels too heavy. <br />
<br />
Marivel must know what will naturally come next. She'll be indisposed, as her friends rectify the damage her rage has brought upon the city. The Fiends will look like heroes, facing off against Marivel, and Althena's Guard will seem weak in comparison. Perhaps this was Marivel's intention? Her feelings were, and still are real.<br />
<br />
".... We need to figure out how to undo this enchantment," she says, to any companions that happen to be nearby, the moment she comes across them. "We gotta let those Gears keep the citizens trapped here in the meanwhile, or they might escape and hurt people outside. They're the victims here; don't let them hurt anyone."<br />
<br />
Her right hand has the buckle undone over her palm, which is then pointed at a heroic shade gaining an edge over a transformed citizen. She fires.<br />
<br />
"Zed," she yells out, seeing the Hyadean launch at a Kamui and Gami lookalike, "if there's any you feel y'can't fight, lemme know. We'll share!"<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Coil Cannon EX!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage critically guards White Knight Leo's Luminant Scythe for 50 hit points!<br />
GS: Mighty applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Gwen Whitlock's Coil Cannon EX for 52 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage partially guards Shige Kiwako's Cat's Claws for 45 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Poison blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
'''Not at all Kaguya! This is a gamble for something more important to me! Marivel answers and when Kaguya insists she'll even destroy a friend to protect the moon. That's the spirit! You have a suitable weapon for it don't you?'''<br />
<br />
As Kaguya pops a shot off towards the new Gear's faceplate it impacts solidly against the visor. The electricity crackles around the impact point. Kaguya telling the people of Pentagulia to take shelter might be more pertinent. Civilians rush into their homes--even Pentagulia's strange nature can only withstand so much and an invasion from hell is more than enough.<br />
<br />
Hiro asks if the word of an Evil Queen means nothing. Marivel responds with a, '''Well I believe the deal was to escort me to Pentagulia, things didn't really pan out that way did it Hiro? And it was to let you talk to her ere I pass judgement on her, was it not? Once Althena comes out I'll be happy to let you have a long chat with her. If she comes out.'''<br />
<br />
Hiro's other accusations go unanswered for the time being.<br />
<br />
Asgard summons up a barrier to protect itself from Hiro's stabbing thrust. He can hear Hob from within, "Chrrp! Krrp!" The barrier disperses a significant amount of the damage. "Kreee! <3" Hob adds.<br />
<br />
As Mariel hesitates to attack the monsters, she notices something is strange about them. Though they are rushing for homes and making a general fuss of things, they don't seem to be attacking anyone. Perhaps some lingering humanity or...Something else?<br />
<br />
'''Oh don't sweat it Mariel, we'll see her together! Personally I feel like I'm being very restrained. Mariel, surely you don't think these people are actually innocent. Or that they truly have nothing to do with this.'''<br />
<br />
Mariel understands it at once. The footprints of the monsters--they are leaving human footprints.<br />
<br />
Lanval helpfully head-butts an illusory Kamui. She lets out a yelp and promptly E-Rings, leaving a strange tank of energy behind! It ... kind of looks like a tankard actually. Like Lanval could just...<br />
<br />
No! That'd be crazy! But...inviting? It is liquid...<br />
<br />
'''Hands are tied I'm afraid, this is what happened. I can't edit my memory! Besides, I need the emotional energy! Can't supply it all on my own!'''<br />
<br />
Zed takes out SHINIGAMI!? and a Kamui with his light--more E-Ring explosions. These are definitely not as durable as the real thing.<br />
<br />
Margaret punches out a monster! There is a crackling around the monster as it tumbles to the floor. It fell...too easily for its appearance. Indeed, if Margaret lingers--she will see the illusion fades around the monster as a properly KONKED OUT Guardsman lays on the floor. Margaret is able to take down a mini-Asgard from the past with a few quick kicks to the head. Yeah, definitely not the real deal.<br />
<br />
'''Harmaus! HARMAUS! Will you stop murdering your soul for a second and think rationally oh NEVERMIND.'''<br />
<br />
Harmaus incinerates an Anastasia and MArivel shade as he comes crashing down with light chasing darkness.<br />
<br />
'''Anyway I gotta finish my spell to open up a portal to Hell and then I'll hear you all out about how I'm just the worst mom!'''<br />
<br />
Marivel can't be seen with all these giant robots in the way, but Leo's tactics tell her she's likely in the very center of the Goddess Square. Plus, he does know Marivel loves her theatrics. NEvertheless, while he dives for the new gear's neck, it reaches out with a hand and catches the blade.<br />
<br />
"Pardon me, White Knight Leo, but the Mistress is not ready to see you now." Belle's voice echoes from the gear Lucifer as she starts flying up into the air, higher and higher.<br />
<br />
"Perhaps stories must be felt to be truly understood." Belle muses aloud, though she is as unfailingly calm as ever. Shige too, slashes at a monster--<br />
<br />
--She feels some resistance but the illusion on a healthy young man fades as the monstrous illusion fades from him. He's wounded, but not seriously.<br />
<br />
A shade of Yue is blasted in the back, chains erupt from her arms and send her tumbling forward as she fades from existence thanks to Gwen's timely shot in protecting a civilian-turned-monster.<br />
<br />
Gwen speculates quietly as to Marivel's true intentions, but Marivel really does get quiet here.<br />
<br />
"Chrrrrp!" Nob says from within Qubeley whereupon the gears unleash their counterattack. The shades are dealt with easily enough. The only one who is spared their assault is Mariel.<br />
<br />
Lucifer continues going up higher and higher with Leo. He might have to find a way to escape or he might have a tough way of getting down. There's other alternatives but the claw squeezes tightly...<br />
<br />
It points a plasma rifle down at Kaguya and takes several pop shots at her too!<br />
<br />
MEANWHILE<br />
<br />
Asgard approaches Zed, Gwen, and Hiro. It throws several quick jabs at them, a barrier rippling around it with each strike.<br />
<br />
Harmaus, Margaret, and Lanval have to deal with Qubeley coming in hard, firing minidrills at them before trying to catch them with the very big one at the top of its head.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile Shige has to deal with Revelry trying to pounce right on top of her.<br />
<br />
"LET'S PLAY." The hero of Quartly singsongs merrily. "TAG YOU'RE IT!"<br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Marivel Armitage with Hob And Nob Love You!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Marivel Armitage's Hob And Nob Love You for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify and Hyper applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Hiro with Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: That attack doesn't exist. []<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Harmaus with Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
DC: Attack Joy And Revelry has been added to slot 14 on Marivel Armitage's form 3.<br />
GS: Gamble: High! Hiro suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom! for 189 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with Joy And Revelry!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with Wings of Lucifer !<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Kaguya with Crimson FOOM!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.<br />
GS: Kaguya partially evades Marivel Armitage's Crimson FOOM! for 142 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus fully evades Marivel Armitage's Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom! for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom! for 83 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Wings of Lucifer for 169 hit points!<br />
GS: Cover applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Margaret takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Crack! Thoom! Snap! Bam Bing Bangy Zoom! for 95 hit points!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Moderate! Zed takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom! for 204 hit points!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Joy And Revelry for 69 hit points!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya shouts back at the White Knight Leo, "She's in the square! We have to get to her, fast!" <br />
<br />
Her loyalty to the Goddess is irrelevant here; she chose to safeguard this world, and that includes the people of the Goddess's Holy City. Would they do the same for her? Probably not. But that doesn't matter. What matters right now i that Marivel mentions something more important... <br />
<br />
"Not helping," she shouts back. "I do have the weapon. Sorry, but... If we're all at odds--" <br />
<br />
Kaguya doesn't much like her answers. Not the ones Marivel is giving. But what she's saying--emotional energy, her memories, a portal to Hell... <br />
<br />
POP POP. Potsots! <br />
<br />
Kaguya shoots down three of the projectiles before they can reach her, bang bang bang, but the fourth hits her hard and knocks her through the air, forcing her to alight down against a rooftop briefly. <br />
<br />
"Leo!" Kaguya calls. "I got you! Jump!" <br />
<br />
Then she fires, not at the phantoms or at the Gears, but for Leo. She fires a shot to reinforce his power--the White Knight's power. It will encase him in a golden, glowing glow--<br />
<br />
And her, too.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Very High! Gwen Whitlock suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Whirrr!! Click! Bang! Booooom! for 243 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!<br />
GS: Kaguya has attacked White Knight Leo with Binding of Purity!<br />
GS: Kaguya has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Kaguya's stances have changed to Hero!<br />
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
Rings of energy escape around Lanval's headbutting as he stumbles upon that strange cylinder-shaped canister of something with a letter on it. Is it its grade? It must not be very good. But he picks it up, anyway, giving it a sloshing around as Qubeley comes helping themselves in. He seems to miss the miniature drills firing around him outright, and they miss him. A moment of odd levity, in a place and situation completely bereft of any and all of it.<br />
<br />
Then the huge head drill comes bearing down upon them. He deftly avoids it, backflips, and lands atop the head-drill where... he spins around it at incredible speeds with a cartoonish gurgling and yelling before being hurled back towards the ground, where... he gracefully rolls back and up to his feet, cancelling most of the excess momentum with uncommon grace and poise that is a lot more common to him than he lets on.<br />
<br />
"Hey.... mmmmrmrmrmmrph," he shakes his head to deal with some of the lingering dizziness because being incorporeal doesn't render one immune to that kind of disorientation, "Harmaus," he says to the angry, screaming Hellionized Seraph who is all too eager and ready to keep down the path of Dragon-ing with his present obsessions and contradictions empowering it, "'m with ya on one thing - the truth we're lookin' for... we ain't gonna have it if it keepsh up thish way."<br />
<br />
"I know ya didn't ashk me," Lanval asides to Margaret, who is already in lightning movement with her own speed and decisive offense at her beck and call, "but I believe in the shimple shtuff in life."<br />
<br />
"'n life... it'sh reeeeeeal complex," he holds up the Tank of Dubious Lettered Grade, gives it a sloshing, and attempts to channel it into powerful Seraphic Arte magic. The actual chant is lost to some of the utter chaos and destruction erupting around them, "sho 'm gonna break it down liiiiiiiike thish,"<br />
<br />
Lanval's eyes open to a brilliant aquamarine as he stands before the Gear that dwarfs him, and says with a smile, definitively...<br />
<br />
"Not like this. Blessed Drops!"<br />
<br />
And this is how Qubeley gets an on-site mid-battle car wash with huge sanctified globules of shining water.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Marivel Armitage with Blessed Drops!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
<br />
GS: Kaguya heals White Knight Leo! He gains 132 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: Mighty applied to Kaguya!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Seraph Lanval's Blessed Drops for 66 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
"They did not ask to have their home attacked," Mariel responds to Marivel. "Some of them may be, but most of them, no! You said it yourself, the last we spoke: is it fair that they must worry about something five thousand years passed? There is no need to take it out on them...! If this is how you would like to draw Althena out, I do not think it is a plan worth following. Marivel..."<br />
<br />
She knew the depths of Marivel's feelings. But she thought... if she's being honest, she simply thought better of the Crimson Noble. She still does. This is a mistake, born of emotion - and one Marivel may regret, she feels, when her heart cools.<br />
<br />
She needs to stop it from getting worse. From making the mistake unforgiveable. She believes in Marivel, but yet... "We made a promise," she says, more to herself than Marivel (or indeed anyone else). "And how can there be an 'after Pentagulia' if you end it like this...?"<br />
<br />
Mariel's response to being threatened from above is to crouch, mostly so she can duck past.<br />
<br />
This turns out to be the right idea when Margaret, who has decided to be Margaret again, has a swordfight directly over her head. "I don't know," Mariel says, from her crouched position - she crabwalks several steps to get out of the direct line of fire. "Marivel seems to be doing something, but..." She doesn't know what, even though she can feel power starting to build.<br />
<br />
Her grip tightens on her staff as she, rising from her crouch, spots something. Something about the footprints... She doesn't understand why Marivel has done this, but she clearly has. Why? If she could figure out why, she could figure out what the whole *plan* was. She wants high emotions, but why? Chaos, but for what purpose?<br />
<br />
"Don't kill the monsters!" Mariel raises her voice, uncharacteristically letting it carry a bit further as Margaret knocks out a guardsman. She winces at the look of him going down, but at least he's not dead. <br />
<br />
"Thank you. But I need to see Marivel." She waves with her free hand toward the square - and starts to move that way once Margaret is free, staff held diagonally as if she could defend herself with it. It's certainly better for parrying with than her bag would be, so perhaps she finally counts as armed, though Mariel doesn't seem inclined to use it as a weapon.<br />
<br />
Instead, she draws some nuts from her satchel and scatters them. They burst into light, weakening those they strike and drawing away energy. None of Mariel's own powers, here; just the wild flora of Filgaia. She *really* debates pitching one at Harmaus too, but she's not sure she can actually catch him from here. Kaguya, at least, is a known quantity. He isn't.<br />
<br />
She catches sight of Hiro, and hurries toward him, hoping that Margaret is following. "Hiro!" Mariel waves, one gloved hand over her head energetically to try to catch his eye.<br />
GS: Mariel spends 1 Combo on Interrupt!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Marivel Armitage with Powerless Nut!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
'''Now you're just lying. That was the original deal when you were keeping us in the dark about your intentions. It was updated once you made it clear your intention was to kill Althena - and you accepted it.'''<br />
<br />
The clang of his blade off the barrier causes a glower, '''How can you treat this MASS MURDER like its all a JOKE?'''<br />
<br />
Asgard approaches, striking him with several quick jabs, which overwhelm his guard in short order, sending him sprawling, before he forces himself back up.<br />
<br />
Hearing Kaguya's shouts, he cries out to those nearby, "We have to get to the square fast! Fend off anything that gets in our way long enough for the civilians to get out."<br />
<br />
It's a strange sight, seeing Mauri and Ghaleon head the evacuations, but right now he's just grateful, "Gwen! Zed! Let's force our way through!"<br />
<br />
With a few hand gestures and spoken words, "Cut them to pieces, Razor Cyclone!" Wind forms in funnels, which separate into boomerang like razors of green and white wind energy, spreading through the horde.<br />
<br />
"Mariel! Stick with us! We'll get you to her!"<br />
<br />
Don't kill the monsters though? "We'll do our best, but we have to stop her before this gets out of hand!"<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro has attacked Marivel Armitage with Razor Cyclone!<br />
GS: Hiro has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Hiro has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
You know, the first time the REAL (smol) Asgard punched Zed in the face, the Metal Demon's forehead proved to be eminently impenetrable. It's perhaps not to his credit that he attempts to do the exact same thing to a GIANT ROBOT version of Asgard. It may not be the true Earth Golem, but even Zed can't block a fist that large with his face without feeling the hurt. He's sent flying, first by raw kinetic force, and then by the barrier that surges after him. He crashes into a nearby building, hanging for a moment out of a hole that used to be a mass produced mural of Dragontamer Jian, who honestly is probably better left forgotten.<br />
<br />
"Ughhhhh, Gwennnn, I need to learn to... fight giant robots better." And Surtr isn't even here! With a groan, he pulls himself out of the rubble and rolls his shoulders tenderly. "Guhhhh. I got marble dust in uncomfortable places...! You'll pay for that!"<br />
<br />
Zed points at Asgard with the curve of his sword, by which we mean he makes like he's about to chop at it from way the heck over here. "And also for wrecking someone's..." Zed frowns. "...House? Temple? Place of work? Everything in this city looks the same... Tch!"<br />
<br />
He flicks his wrist once, twice, thrice! Each time, he sends a cutting crescent of pure, glimmering starlight at the mighty golem. "Miss Queen of Evil, don't you have better places you can be using these giant robots? You're not worried at all that we're gonna /wreck/ them?"<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Saint Arts - Starstrider's Valor!<br />
GS: Zed has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Zed's stances have changed to Avenger!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage solidly guards Hiro's Razor Cyclone for 78 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Margaret answers Mariel, "I don't understand it either, but I'll get you to her if I can manage it, or I'll know the reason why." Hedging, Margaret thinks. She looks towards Hiro as he forces his way - moving with Mariel is easy for her, of course, given her fleetness of foot. <br />
<br />
Margaret hears damnably familiar yowling. Her right hand begins to hurt. She looks upwards and says to herself in tones of great distaste, "Why in the Goddess's name is HE showing up at THIS time, doesn't he have a club to attend?? Some shaded pit in the depths of Tartarus??" <br />
<br />
Margaret knows what Tartarus is. It's what you get if you don't scrub your teeth with baking soda and mint oil at least once a week. Use a soft cloth and not too much force. <br />
<br />
There are larger problems than tooth decay before them. Margaret looks upwards, her ears flattening back against her head as she stares up at Quebeley's approach. Something the size of a Gear. How the hell am I supposed to fight this? Margaret thinks. <br />
<br />
The first drill missile, she dodges, but she doesn't dodge enough; thrown flying to the side, she lets out a grunting yelp of disquiet and pain. Still, unbreached, she leaps upwards just in time to see -- another one coming for her. This one she avoids with that flick-dash from her magical ring, which is, at least, a known factor, but then Quebeley is descending with a massive head drill. <br />
<br />
*I* can dodge, Margaret thinks, but if I do-- <br />
<br />
-- what happens to Mariel, to Hiro, to the annoying man? Her teeth tense upwards as she stares upwards. The drill is at least two Margarets wide. Margaret is holding a perfectly decent but refurbished steel sword from Filgaia, and she cannot even manage a two handed grip on it. <br />
<br />
All I have, Margaret thinks, is speed, as the drill comes down. <br />
<br />
It will have to serve, she thinks further, as she sucks in a deep breath. "RUNE BLADE--" <br />
<br />
The shadow of grinding death descends!<br />
<br />
"-- IGNITE" <br />
<br />
The blade erupts in sorcerous light...<br />
<br />
... and to Margaret's eyes, the drill seems to slow. Huh, Margaret thinks. It's spinning the opposite way to Filgaian drills. That's funny. Wait, she thinks, hopping to the side, does that mean -- <br />
<br />
Quebeley comes down. To external observers there is a sudden noise like two grinding blades are intersecting, sparks flying everywhere. It stands, dismayingly, in an ambiguous height relevant to one Margaret for long seconds, but there is that screaing noise of machinery. <br />
<br />
To Margaret, she strikes - strikes - strikes again - strikes a thousand times, each and every one of them WITH the drill. She can see where she's hit the enormous thing and left small marks, but, Margaret thinks, what am I doing? I can't possibly destroy it. But it seems to be speeding up. Wait, she thinks, striking further, an irrational hope in the back of her throat: <br />
<br />
How fast CAN it go? <br />
<br />
Strike, strike, strike again. The drill lifts upwards slightly as Margaret feels a spark zwwwing over her cheek. She screams from beneath it, her voice emerging but faintly from the din, "Hiro my boy!" <br />
<br />
STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE "Don't sell yourself short --" <br />
<br />
STRIKESTRIKESTRIKESTRIKESTRIKESTRIKE "If you believe --"<br />
<br />
SSSHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR "YOU CAN DO ANYTHIIIIIIIIIIIIING" <br />
<br />
At the last moment Margaret does a backflip, slamming the suddenly-overspeed drill from the side and also hurling herself outwards in a seemingly random direction; with three gray-green sparkle-streaks she is able to end up stumbling and smelling like a machine room near Mariel again, but distinctly alive and as whole as she was in the first place. <br />
<br />
Mariel gets a wink, because you always have to keep the side up, even as, no doubt, SOMETHING will happen to the Gear behind Margaret. <br />
<br />
DC: Margaret switches forms to Rune Blade IGNITION!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Twisting Flurry!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
As the Not-Yue tumbles forward, Gwen does a double-take, realizing who it is-- or, really, who the shade is taking the visage of.<br />
<br />
"... Sorry." Gwen can't help but apologize. <br />
<br />
Mariel spots something up about the 'transformed' citizens, but while Gwen hasn't noticed the human footprints, she does notice the fact that none of the citizens are attacking them, while the shades spare no one. "... Yeah, they're only attacking the shades--"<br />
<br />
'Ow' is the sound you make when you hit your shin against a coffee table, or get a papercut on your index finger. 'Ow' is not the sound you make when you get pummeled into the dirt like a cheap coin under a press, but that is the sound Gwen makes.<br />
<br />
".... Zzed," Gwen croaks. ".... That's.... an Asgard. Y'don't get better at fightin an Asgard, you just pray you survive!"<br />
<br />
Hiro calls her name, and Gwen grunts and nods. "On it, Hiro! Zed, let's do this! We're gonna deliver Mariel over there one way or another!" Zed's crescents are followed by a running Gwen with her right arm hooked back. Operating on the same deadly art a coffee table uses to take down its prey, she slams her right fist straight for the shin. "SPECIAL DELIVERY!"<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Snipe!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock spends 1 Combo on Gatling, loading 1 into Gatling!<br />
GS: Formation! Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Special Delivery!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Zed's Saint Arts - Starstrider's Valor for 180 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Special Delivery for 132 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
Shige's not her usual self in the slightest, the rage all, but palpable around her. When Revelry tries to pounce her, she twists and rolls, softening the blow and ending back on her foot with the rattle of bottles and the chain securing herself to her lantern. "Wrong place. Wrong time. Wrong guide." as she lifts the lantern high, the figure of the shrouded ghost appearing behind her. It's own fury mimicking the masked feline's. It flickers and appears closer. Making a horrible croaking noise before lashing out. Twisted clawed hands leaving behind angry rents in the air. Lingering motes of Shige's shadowy magic. <br />
<br />
"You talk of being alone." She beckons with the lantern. "You'd inflict that on another? I can do something this time. I can stop it now." She starts to walk past Revelry. None of her usual.. helpful ghosts are present at the moment. Soldiers, faces shrouded. Tarnished. A mirror of the shaman's mood. "No better than the demons. I will drag you to the same judgement they deserve if I have to!" <br />
<br />
Shige might be in another place at this point, so to speak. <br />
<br />
There's part of her mind still yelling at her. Telling her she can do this by keeping the others safe. Even as grudge borne ghost tries to share its misery. Sharing that sense of loss and anger. Hoplessness even. <br />
<br />
There is a moment of hesitation. As she comes to a stop, looking around. Lost. Is that screaming something else? She doesn't quite drop the lantern, though it goes slack in her fingers for a moment.<br />
<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Marivel Armitage with Onryo's Grudge!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
Perhaps another time, another place -- Harmaus and Marivel could have been allies.<br />
Perhaps Harmaus could have been an ally to any of them, if it had been but a few hundred years earlier. But his path was set before a single one of them came to Lunar -- or before the first Lunarian set foot on Filgaia in ever-so-many years. The path before anyone is never set in stone, it is true.<br />
<br />
But Harmaus is ever seeking to continue along it. It just so happens that in this moment, his desires and those standing against Marivel's trial happen to align.<br />
<br />
"Knows I this! Seeks it slaying Her! This-- I cannot allow!" calls out Harmaus to Marivel.<br />
He can't allow it, because he is the one who will take Althena's head. Suitable payment for her centuries of lies.<br />
<br />
For the death of another Lord of Calamity.<br />
<br />
He is a blur of light as the drills come roaring for him. Blink, and he is not there; the marble tiles of the plaza shatter and kick up into the air from the space in which he had stood but moments before. Light, well-tinged with purple flame, consolidates in a spot far to the left and well away from the destruction rent by Marivel's machine.<br />
<br />
"Seeks it skewering I? I shatters it to pieces!" he calls out, tarnished-gold light swelling about him.<br />
<br />
Lanval calls out to him.<br />
<br />
"If truth it seeks..." He lashes his tail. "...Then minds it its methods! It /slays/ my Lord of Calamity!"<br />
<br />
He has not yet forgotten, even if another goal takes priority at this moment and time.<br />
<br />
The light around Harmaus solidifies into swaying chains that burn to behold, surging forward in the next heartbeat as if to attempt to bind and hold the thing that is Qubeley.<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has attacked Marivel Armitage with Radiance Shackle!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Shige Kiwako's Onryo's Grudge for 120 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako drains Marivel Armitage! Shige Kiwako gains 72 temporary hit points!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Leo hears Marivel's voice--her words, her /rationale/. It only stokes the fury in his heart. "To the square, then!" he shouts back to Kaguya, and there's an edge of anger in his voice this time. He will speak his mind when they've found her.<br />
<br />
Lucifer presents more immediate difficulties.<br />
<br />
The Gear's massive hand snatches Leo out of the air. He feels his ribs creak as Belle tells him Marivel isn't ready to see him--as if he'd come to her castle on a social call when she was busy. His breath hisses between his teeth as Lucifer squezes tighter.<br />
<br />
'Leo! I got you! Jump!'<br />
<br />
Kaguya's aim is true. The spiritual bullet zips between the Gear's fingers and strikes a sliver of Leo's exposed tunic. The crushing pain starts to dull. As the spots clear from his eyes, Leo grips Lucifer's index finger and /shoves/ with both hands, the surge of spiritual might reinforcing mortal muscle and bone.<br />
<br />
Lucifer's hand gives. Leo's blade rises, then falls, to cut through the Gear's massive fingers. Sorcerous light gleams on the flat of the weapon, focused laser-like on where he thinks the Gear's 'eyes' should be. (Leo doesn't know much about that aspect of Gear engineering, beyond that they have mechanical eyes, /somewhere/, so you can see out while you're sitting inside.)<br />
<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Radiant Blade!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Mariel's Powerless Nut for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Weaken Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Interrupt applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Weaken blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has lost 2 Combo from Interrupt!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage solidly guards Seraph Harmaus's Radiance Shackle for 46 hit points!<br />
GS: Entangle blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
=================================<* Queue *>==================================<br />
---------| FORCE ACTIONS: Boost , Extend , Mystic , and Snipe |----------<br />
----------------------------< 2: Twisting Flurry >----------------------------<br />
Attacker: Margaret |Threat: Major |Tier: Deathblow |Type: Technique<br />
Flags: Efficient<br />
-----------------------------< 3: Radiant Blade >-----------------------------<br />
Attacker: White Knight |Threat: Major |Tier: Deathblow |Type: Technique<br />
Leo | | | <br />
Flags: Blind<br />
==============================================================================<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from White Knight Leo's Radiant Blade for 207 hit points!<br />
GS: Blind applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Margaret's Twisting Flurry for 139 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel is too busy with her ritual to be amazed that Kaguya has a gun that buffs people but it's pretty amazing.<br />
<br />
"WAH WAH WAHHHH" Nob shouts as a sudden wash FWOOSHES through the Qubeley, cleaning it of what might be centuries of dirt and grime but also sending it tumbling onto its back. "WaAaAaAAaAhhhh" Hob wails with the kind of cartoonish squeal that is almost reassuring.<br />
<br />
There is no answer coming to Hiro. Marivel is done talking for the moment. Ditto Zed. It's unclear if she could even hear these latest pleas. Seems like you're gonna have to deal with her Gears first.<br />
<br />
Hiro backs off from Hiro and sends ghostly clones spiraling into air, cleaving through a whole slew of them. These are not recognizable to Hiro. The only person who still remembers these ghosts is Marivel herself. Maybe even Anastasia has forgotten their names.<br />
<br />
Mariel is able to catch Qubeley and Revelry both into something that drains their power. There's some sputtering and they trudge backwards closer to one another. Zed meanwhile pushes Asgard back with several quick swipes. The barrier is holding strong but Zed is clobbering Asgard with such ferocity it is STILL being pushed back. Perhaps it is weaker, or perhaps it is our heroes that are stronger.<br />
<br />
Gwen follows up with a powerful punch right to Asgard's shin, breaking through the weakened barrier to collide it against the gear's leg. It sinks to one knee, still as impassive as ever.<br />
<br />
"Squeee!" Nob is so happy to see Gwen. This isn't stopping Nob from piloting the mecha.<br />
<br />
Shige doesn't get an answer from Marivel but she does get one from Belle. "Well," Bell says. "She is a demon. The Mistress is not human. She is not even from this reality." Shige tries to walk past Revelry by surrounding it with ghosts but she's having difficult really getting past it. Revelry is big and low hanging and there's just no real way to just walk past. She could try climbing Revelry? But this might prove to be a bad idea in a moment.<br />
<br />
Harmaus affirms his right to having wanted to kill a lady for longer than anyone else here! This is true. Even Marivel only very recently even considered the possibility that Althena wasn't simply...deterred somehow. Harmaus's chains lash out and bind Qubeley as it struggles to tear into Margaret with its drill. Despite the chains inflicting thinck burns against the machine, those chains are already starting to SNAAAAP.<br />
<br />
But it gives Margaret enough time to do what she wants to do.<br />
<br />
Margaret speeds up. The Qubeley has no magic. It's just a giant construction bot. She strikes at the drill. It speeds up. She strikes at it again. IT goes even faster. Faster and faster Margaret makes the drill spin before<br />
<br />
*CRAAAAAACK!*<br />
<br />
The drill partially snaps off its hinges and rapidly slows to a stop as automatic safety mechanisms within the Qubeley engage. It flops backwards and Hob says, "Bwaaaaaah!" All three gears on the ground are now nice and close to each other.<br />
<br />
Leo feels true fury. Belle meanwhile is as chillax as ever. So what if an empire falls? Or survives? She's seen this theater play out again and again.<br />
<br />
Lucifer's pincher claws are pried free from Leo and he swipes down at the Gear, cleaving off not just the pincer but all three of them, sending them tumbling to the ground.<br />
<br />
There is one eye on Lucifer and it is very big. It stares down at it. Light flashes into it as it lets Leo drop.<br />
<br />
And it keeps rising.<br />
<br />
And rising.<br />
<br />
BGM INTERRUPT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeKbCcq9gT8&ab_channel=Dworim<br />
<br />
Lucifer flies so high up in a flash so that it is not even a dot in the sky. Belle flicks some dials and knobs and says, "Preparing Morning Star Bombardment. Prepare Mechanized Program BRUTEJUSTICE.EXE"<br />
<br />
"YAAAY!!" Revelry cheers and leaps away from Shige, ghosts falling off its body as it crouches down into the dirt as Qubeley floats up into the air, spins around upside down, and inserts itself into Revelry's back.<br />
<br />
QUICK TIME EVENT!!<br />
<br />
Asgard darts forward, interposing itself between you and the other two gears, summoning a barrier between you and they!. Mariel drained them of power earlier so instead of anything happening immediately, they slowly start charging up, gestalting their power systems along with one another. You're going to have to break through that barrier!<br />
<br />
But Revelry isn't idle during this process either! It fires off a slew of minimissiles into the air and they soar up into the air before coming back down in multiple locations around!. "Lets play catch!" Revelry sings. "You throw first then back at me!" They do look small enough that maybe you can knock them back to Revelry somehow?<br />
<br />
And finally....<br />
<br />
"TARGET LOCKED!" Belle shouts as Lucifer's particle cannon points down towards the Goddess's Square, intending to unleash the full power of a weapon banned by the treaty of Iscariot against this location. "She said to trust you can handle this... And you said you'd protect the city..."<br />
<br />
From orbit, Lucifer unleashes the fully charged cannon. A massive swath of energy comes crashing down. Leo and Kaguya are going to have to do something to stop that from unleashing massive damage to Pentagulia! In the sky, it looks like it's just a new star in the sky.<br />
<br />
But in an instant it'll be coming down with all its might. They'll have to time their movements perfectly to catch the blast!<br />
<br />
_____________________________| QUICK TIME EVENT!!!|_____________________________<br />
_ GAVEL _<br />
_ _<br />
_ _<br />
_ White Knight Leo, Seraph Harmaus, Shige Kiwako, Gwen Whitlock, Margaret, _<br />
_ Zed, Hiro, Mariel, Seraph Lanval, and Kaguya: _<br />
_ +qte/react <guard/evade/charge>/<guard/evade/charge>/<guard/evade/charge> _<br />
============================================================ Dream Chasers =====<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Low Success! Shige Kiwako takes 106 damage and gains 45 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Full Success! Kaguya takes 0 damage and gains 15 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Moderate Success! Hiro takes 80 damage and gains 30 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Full Success! Mariel takes 0 damage and gains 15 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Moderate Success! Zed takes 71 damage and gains 30 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Moderate Success! White Knight Leo takes 73 damage and gains 30 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Full Success! Margaret takes 0 damage and gains 15 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Low Success! Seraph Harmaus takes 110 damage and gains 45 FP!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Moderate Success! Gwen Whitlock takes 80 damage and gains 30 FP!<br />
QTE!!! Challenge Result: Low Success! Seraph Lanval takes 112 damage and gains 45 FP!<br />
QTE: That's the last target of your QTE done!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Harmaus. Of course, Harmaus is here. Because it would be worse if he were here, so obviously he is. Kaguya frowns, up from the rooftop and looks down towards him. "Your Lord of Calamity was an asshole and so are you!" Kaguya shouts down at him. <br />
<br />
Marivel doesn't have an answer for her. That's fine. She has plenty of answers for Marivel right now. None of them are very nice. But Leo hears her, and Leo can answer. They can talk about it in a minute. Since, he's still at it--<br />
<br />
Shige Kaguya doesn't know, but she seems to have the same idea as the rest of them. Across the battlefield Margaret is helping Hiro, and Hiro--Hiro passes on ehr shout. <br />
<br />
The others are going on--<br />
<br />
The Event occurs. "Morning Star..." <br />
<br />
"MARIVEL!" Kaguya shouts, full of fury and pain both. Then she moves. She starts firing wildly down at Asgard's barrier, and then darts from building to building as the missiles come down, each one barely getting past her at the point of explosion. But finally, Belle shouts--<br />
<br />
"DAMN YOU!" <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
"Leo!" Kaguya calls. "...Together! Destruction, and protection! We can do it!" <br />
<br />
She throws her arm back, charging up power in Zeikfried. The gun's black and gold appearance shines in the gloom of the dark moon, gathering light after brilliant light. <br />
<br />
"Haaaaaaah--!" <br />
<br />
Kaguya LEAPS upward, the green Veruni armor at her arms showing after all the explosive missiles. She puts the weapon out before herself and begins to line up her shot, straight for that star. "Hitting a moving target... Can't be that hard, can it? It's moving my way!" <br />
<br />
Midair, the small Veruni lines up her aim, and Zeikfried is practically a new star in the sky. <br />
<br />
She FIRES, and the spiritual bullet carrying the hopes of Filgaia and Lunar both rockets up towards the machine in the far sky. <br />
<br />
Kaguya herself is but a blip in the heavens as she fires.<br />
GS: Kaguya spends 1 Combo on Poison!<br />
GS: Kaguya has attacked Marivel Armitage with Greater Binding Shot!<br />
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
Margaret once again saves Mariel, this time from a drill. Mariel couldn't *not* see it coming, but her only plan was to escape, darting between two buildings where it (hopefully) couldn't follow her (quickly). <br />
<br />
But she was clearly not expecting Margaret to be able to stop - no, *break* the drill. Her eyes widen as she hunkers down, this time against the noise and the dust rather than any attack directed at her. It washes over her in a wave, making her robe billow but leaving Mariel herself thankfully unharmed, unless having ringing ears counts as harmed.<br />
<br />
"...thank you," she says, quietly. <br />
<br />
"They're under an illusion, not a transformation!" Mariel clarifies for Hiro. "Their footprints are human, and one that Margaret punched," sorry about your disguise, Margaret, "started looking like a Guard."<br />
<br />
Mariel wanted to talk to Marivel as one of the people close to her, as someone who might - emphasis on *might* - be able to get through to her. And now several people have decided that the way to defuse this is to get Mariel to her. <br />
<br />
No pressure. <br />
<br />
Now it's even more important that she figures out what Marivel is doing, and what to say - and to do. She must want chaos, Mariel thinks. She wants emotions to be high. But why? To do something, obviously, but what and how? A ritual is building, and if she had *time* she could open up and try to figure it out, and though she's trying to do it as she moves, doing that while under attack is a tall order. <br />
<br />
Especially with Asgard beginning to form a barrier. Mariel knows the original Asgard would make something nearly unbreakable; this one, she thinks, may or may not be weaker, but it's *slower*, and that's critical. Mariel whips a bunch of small red flowers out of her robe and draws upon her own powers, doing something else new:<br />
<br />
She uses the staff as an amplifier, or perhaps a focus. The crystal glows faintly as the verbena sublimates into a hundred thousand points of light, surrounding Mariel and others nearby as she releases the energy bound into the flowers. "Go!" she says - and throws herself through where Asgard is forming the barrier at a dead run, her footsteps trailing the same glimmering red light as the flowers did. Others affected by the flowers have the same shimmering footprint.<br />
<br />
Accelerated by the verbena, Mariel takes a zig-zagging path to avoid falling missiles. An evasive maneuver, and she speeds up again; she does not try to knock missiles back by any means, perhaps unsurprisingly given it's Mariel. "Marivel!" she calls again, out of breath from the speed of her run. "This has gone too far! The city...!"<br />
<br />
With a beam like that, she can do nothing. She has to trust others to handle it.<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Hiro with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Margaret with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Mariel with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Shige Kiwako with Red Verbena!<br />
GS: Mariel has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Hiro accepts Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Hiro!<br />
<Big Scene> (Self) Seraph Lanval says, "sorry for the delay!"<br />
GS: Margaret accepts Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock accepts Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel isn't answering any longer, and that makes him rather unhappy with the situation as a whole beyond even you know, the mass murder.<br />
<br />
Or at least maybe so he thinks? "An illusion?" He eyes her, "What is she up to? ...Alright!"<br />
<br />
Lucifer though starts complicating matters! Along with Revelry! Mariel sends verbena his way, giving him the speed to help him through what comes next. "Everyone charge! We have to disrupt whatever they're doing!"<br />
<br />
And Hiro suddenly charges right through Asgard before he can put up the barrier.<br />
<br />
Revelry though lays out the terms of the game, and deciding to charge right through rather than play the game? He's suddenly scorched by a variety of minimissiles.<br />
<br />
When it comes to Lucifer's Particle Cannon though, Hiro suddenly yells, "Everyone down! Brace!" His reaction to this however is simply to raise his shield, perhaps taking position in front of Mariel since she has little means of defense, "Slash through bloody iniquity, Dark Sword!"<br />
<br />
A magical field forms, runes shimmering before enchanted magical blades careen towards the blast, attempting to disperse some of its energy before it strikes the city itself.<br />
<br />
It may not do much compared to Kaguya and Leo, but he has to try /SOMETHING/ at this point!<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro has attacked Marivel Armitage with Dark Sword!<br />
GS: Hiro has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Mighty expired!<br />
GS: Hiro has completed his action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Kaguya's Greater Binding Shot for 164 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Hex and Poison blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Hiro's Dark Sword for 191 hit points!<br />
GS: Dispel! Amplify and Cover removed!<br />
GS: Hyper applied to Hiro!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font and Sufferer activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Leo falls. This time, there is no one to catch him. A radiant golden glow pulses around him as he reorients in mid-air, twisting to hit the ground shoulder-first. He reaches out, spreads a hand--the amber crystals on his gauntlet burn brilliantly. Below, a good twenty square feet of roofing softens into loosely-packed silt over a slate frame. The White Knight slams into it with a heavy CRUNCH, kicking up plumes of freshly-made sediment as he skids along the building. He plants a hand beneath himself, shakes his head, and scrambles to his feet. He hasn't missed the ominous glow building in the sky.<br />
<br />
Leo throws that same hand forward, and SPIKES of earth erupt from beneath Asgard, slamming into the barrier. Missiles streak at him, and Leo shields his head with his arms, simply enduring the blooming explosions. Kaguya's shield flickers with each impact. And then...<br />
<br />
It's going to fire, Leo realizes.<br />
<br />
Pentagulia is the Goddess' seat of power. The Goddess has much to answer for, but she is not here. Pentagulia contains the rotting, diseased heart of a conspiracy against two worlds. Pentagulia contains thousands upon thousands of people who have no idea this conspiracy exists: clerks and stablehands, shopkeepers, housekeepers, scribes, servants. Even those who're far from innocent--is Marivel's trial justice?<br />
<br />
Leo doesn't think so. It's something he can cling to, even in his misery.<br />
<br />
"FORWARD!" Leo roars, and this time he sounds /almost/ like his old self. He plucks something white and gleaming from around his neck. The symbol of the White Dragon glows with a pure, pearlescent radiance all its own. As Kaguya takes her shot, Leo lines up behind her, holds up the Crest. It /burns/.<br />
<br />
An aurora of white spreads across the sky as Leo draws on more power than he ever has. Motes of power fall to earth as the barrier expands, landing on Hiro, and Lanval, and Margaret.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
What, no combat banter? That's against the rules! Talking is a free action, Marivel! But you can't have battle conversations when there's only one person talking! "Of course you can get better at fighting Asgard!" Zed protests, "I definitely got better at fighting Asgard. But this is too big. A too big Asgard! There's a /limit/ to certain things, Gwen! Even though I may transcend such things with time, it requires appropriately DRAMATIC TIMING!"<br />
<br />
Like... right now.<br />
<br />
"...What, we need to get..." Zed's gaze pivots from the giant robots, which are EVEN NOW commencing a combination attack of truly terrific proportions, to... a small Elw. One that Zed very much recognizes. "Mariel... Mm... Alright! Gwen--"<br />
<br />
A barrier materializes. Zed vanishes in a flutter of scarf and a flurry of motion, and only a moment later appears /behind/ the adorable ancient. "--I leave the launch to you! Throw me, as hard as you can, toward our destination! As for you..."<br />
<br />
Zed... Gently wraps his arms around Mariel. The screen frame briefly devolves into sparkles and blooming roses...<br />
<br />
Shortly before the Elw is hucked up onto his shoulders and secured in place there with two synthleather-bound hands. "Hold on tight! Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times during our flight. Watch your step on the dismount. And as always, thank you for flying Zedder Airways...!"<br />
<br />
What... what is he talking about? He's not a vehicle. He's not an /airship./ But what he IS is a delivery vector.<br />
<br />
"GWEN," Zed shouts, "DO IIIIIT!"<br />
<br />
(Shige might, if she realizes what Mariel /is/, briefly catch sight of a Metal Demon and an Elw cooperating for the greater good. Cats and dogs, getting along!! Or as the case happens to be-- bunnies and devils!?)<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Hiro with White Dragon's Protection!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Seraph Lanval with White Dragon's Protection!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked Margaret with White Dragon's Protection!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
GS: Margaret accepts White Knight Leo's White Dragon's Protection for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval accepts White Knight Leo's White Dragon's Protection for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage used Force Action: Mystic on Margaret! FP up<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako takes a solid hit from Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: FP up! Arcane Font, Evade bonus, and Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Hiro accepts White Knight Leo's White Dragon's Protection for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Hiro!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
It is the nature of water to eventually erode just about anything, for how much of it gets taken, infiltrated, and otherwise divided and shaped by outside forces, as Lanval stands and makes his declaration that it won't be like this.<br />
<br />
"Hm hm hm." A musing, mirthful thing to Harmaus' snarling about what all transpired. What happened was not light-hearted, but there was a hard-won victory in all of that sequence through Artorius' Throne.<br />
<br />
He's given up on following Margaret's movements and is assuming the totality of any space that has, or had Margaret, is just one whole Margaret, and that is how he is going to keep his life simple in the moment.<br />
<br />
He catches something rise up, something big, then progressively tiny, then invisible save for the great lights about to strike down.<br />
<br />
"That 'tis not the light of relief!" Lanval calls as he tries to hurl himself through to Asgard's barrier - forming plenty of energetic static from the impact as he tries to charge through it with swings of his drinking gourd, having to work with everyone else's approach through it (or around it)....<br />
<br />
Revelry tries to play catch. He swings the drinking gourd around to try and deflect a whole lot of them, but some may yet explode and scorch around and about him in short order as a new set of craters invites him to take a rest, a chill pill... but he stays upright.<br />
<br />
There's a blast coming. He staggers and stumbles along forward, as the White Knight finds his resolve to stand and keep protecting something worth putting his everything into. The aurora of white envelopes the presence of someone tapping into all that is water - great and less so - and Seraph Lanval comes up from Leo's left flank while the barrier expands. Should it fail...<br />
<br />
It's not going to be 'it' that fails. It's for all of them - and 'they' can't fail here.<br />
<br />
"I stand with thee!" Seraph Lanval calls, whirling the drinking gourd by its rope as sanctified waters flow forth and, in its mists, impart further blessings upon Hiro, Margaret, Leo, and himself - channeling upon both the forces of Schturdark and his own many years of experience as a Lord of the Land to reinforce their armaments with water itself.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Hiro with Lord Of The Lake!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Margaret with Lord Of The Lake!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked White Knight Leo with Lord Of The Lake!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has attacked Seraph Lanval with Lord Of The Lake!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Lanval accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
When you're halfway stuck in the past, it's easy to miss things like incoming attacks from machines. Standing there in a stupor, she was too late to get out of the way of the worst of it and finds herself battered, bruised, nowhere where she was thinking she'd been 30 seconds ago and slightly clearer headed. <br />
<br />
She thought. <br />
<br />
There's an image she's pretty sure is head trauma related as she lays in the aftermath. <br />
<br />
Her hand grabs the chain at her belt and pulls the lantern over to herself. Then she sits up. Stands up and sorts herself out. <br />
<br />
Mostly. Turns out it's a good way to snap her out of things! Maybe. Probably not good long term, but there are a lot of people that need help and she was partially right. She can do something now this time. <br />
<br />
The lantern is raised and the shades return to her. Something of a rallying cry, or the echo of one filling the area. Each of the memories of soldiers and healers past moving to try do their best to help the living. "Sorry." Is all she can think to say. Processing what's actually happening here and now. Trying to keep focused on the now in particular. Even Zed gets aid. Though the feline can't shake a sense of.. something at the idea of doing so. <br />
<br />
This is a later problem.<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Hiro!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Zed with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked White Knight Leo with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Hiro with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Rousing Spirits!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Zed! He gains 187 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Zed!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Hiro! He gains 189 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Hiro!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
"Uh...." Gwen obliviously gives Nob a stunned thumbs up with her left hand. <br />
<br />
Overhearing Mariel's comment to Hiro, Gwen's brain tries to digest this new information.<br />
<br />
Which is remarkably hard, since there's a barrier between them and where she's trying to go. Or, get Mariel to. Becase then, Mariel will convince Marivel to do the thing, that is already set in stone. So what was the plan again?<br />
<br />
Ah, right, DRAMATIC TIMING! "... Zed? Y'got an idea?"<br />
<br />
'Throw me, as hard as you can, toward our destination!'<br />
<br />
".... Throw you what?" Mariel's Red Vervain was a blessing, but this seems a little much. _Surely Gwen misheard._<br />
<br />
However, Zed is placing Mariel adorably on his shoulders in a vision of two races coming together for peace and the greater good! <br />
<br />
"... W-wait, lemme warm up the Mockingbird first! This strength's lopsided right now!" Gwen grips her right hand into a fist, and clenches her teeth, forcing the energy gathered in it straight into her body for a tempoary boost, except, on a shorter span of time than she's done this before.<br />
<br />
It feels like drinking a soda and getting a belch stuck in your throat, except it's in a bunch of nerves at once, and it's hitting the right side of her face, and finally the skin around her right eye, in such a way that.... it may actually have broken a few blood vessels in the way. <br />
<br />
So yes. Gwen has charged up so fast she gave herself a black eye.<br />
<br />
None of that matters! _It's time for launch!_ Gwen hefts Zed and a safely secured(?) Mariel on her right shoulder, and, like a lady athlete trying to qualify for the shot put championship. "GRAAHHH!"<br />
<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 194 temporary hit points!<br />
GS: Regen applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
<br />
"Uh...." Gwen obliviously gives Nob a stunned thumbs up with her left hand. <br />
<br />
Overhearing Mariel's comment to Hiro, Gwen's brain tries to digest this new information.<br />
<br />
Which is remarkably hard, since there's a barrier between them and where she's trying to go. Or, get Mariel to. Becase then, Mariel will convince Marivel to do the thing, that is already set in stone. So what was the plan again?<br />
<br />
Ah, right, DRAMATIC TIMING! "... Zed? Y'got an idea?"<br />
<br />
'Throw me, as hard as you can, toward our destination!'<br />
<br />
".... Throw you what?" Mariel's Red Vervain and Shige's healing were blessings, but this seems a little much. _Surely Gwen misheard._<br />
<br />
However, Zed is placing Mariel adorably on his shoulders in a vision of two races coming together for peace and the greater good! <br />
<br />
"... W-wait, lemme warm up the Mockingbird first! This strength's lopsided right now!" Gwen grips her right hand into a fist, and clenches her teeth, forcing the energy gathered in it straight into her body for a tempoary boost, except, on a shorter span of time than she's done this before.<br />
<br />
It feels like drinking a soda and getting a belch stuck in your throat, except it's in a bunch of nerves at once, and it's hitting the right side of her face, and finally the skin around her right eye, in such a way that.... it may actually have broken a few blood vessels in the way. <br />
<br />
So yes. Gwen has charged up so fast she gave herself a black eye.<br />
<br />
None of that matters! _It's time for launch!_ Gwen hefts Zed and a safely secured(?) Mariel on her right shoulder, and, like a lady athlete trying to qualify for the shot put championship. "GRAAHHH!"<br />
<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Bounding Flight!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock gains 65 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock accepts Gwen Whitlock's Bounding Flight for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Hyper, and Quick applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
Zed is launched. Zed is launched with all the might a courier can muster. This is her right, this is her /domain./ For what is a thrown object but a package, and what is a courier but one who sees packages delivered to their final destination? There is no stopping this. There is only to do or die.<br />
<br />
At the moment he is tossed, Zed kicks off of Gwen's hands, adding to his already tremendous velocity. But that's not all. "Hold on tight," he reminds his passenger as Asgard's barrier rises, invincibly, in their path, "For Zed... It's /MORPHIN' TIME./"<br />
<br />
Zed's eyes flash. His body /shines/! It blazes with green, otherworldly energy, before resolving into the inexplicably mechanical form of one Zedder Robo (Dragon). Shige's summoned specters lift their voices, and it's as though the DARK HERO has revealed his true form amidst the victorious din of his OPENING THEME SONG...! But he's not done there. He's not done by a longshot. Mariel is still mounted to his shoulders, but there is a wall in their way, and Zed must break through.<br />
<br />
"And for this... Once again...!" Zedder Robo declares, "TRAAAANSFORM!" Limbs fold inward, collapsing into the strange mecha-man's torso. An ENTIRE THRUST COLUMN emerges from its hips, replacing its legs. His upper body fuses together, forming nothing less than an UNSTOPPABLE WARHEAD. Mariel, atop his shoulders, is secured... by a handy seatbelt.<br />
<br />
...As Zed has transformed... into a /cheesy, pulpy rocket ship./<br />
<br />
"YEEEEAAAAAAAAARRRRRT--!" Zedder Robo roars, plunging straight through Asgard's shield like it were a pane of glass. It weaves this way and that, missiles twisting after it like fireworks at a carnival, but a flash of an emerald laser beam erupts from the rocket's nosecone, scything through the lot and setting them off prematurely. The destination is ahead. All he needs to do...<br />
<br />
...Is get Mariel there.<br />
<br />
"You've got this from here, miss Mariel!" Zed's voice intones from everywhere and nowhere at once. "I'll cover you from the beam! Go and knock some sense into your friend!" Rocket-Zed twists down toward ground level, closer than ever to the center of the square. The seatbelt around Mariel comes undone and a panel hinges up to nudge her out onto the flagstones... As Zedder Robo rises, humanoid once more, to interpose itself between the Elw and the column of all-consuming Golem-light.<br />
<br />
Arms spread wide, all he can do is become a wall... And hope that Mariel can take care of the rest...!<br />
DC: Zed switches forms to Zedder Robo Dragon!<br />
<br />
GS: Zed has attacked Marivel Armitage with Ultimate Zed!<br />
GS: Zed has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Zed gains 57 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Zed has completed his action.<br />
GS: Zed has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Margaret accepts Seraph Lanval's Lord Of The Lake for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Amplify, Burst, and Surge applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Margaret pants for breath as the Quebeley rears back. "Well, you're welcome," she tells Mariel. She needs a moment. A moment enough for the Gears to stagger backwards. Please, she prays to the Goddess: Let them smash into each other and fall into a heap. Even if they block the entranceway, we can climb - <br />
<br />
"DAMNATION AND WASTE FIRE" Margaret shouts as they begin to combine themselves together. The fire of her blade dims, though it doesn't go out -- it probably can't, but Margaret may want to try and prolong this blade, if only because she only has so many and is certainly anticipating several battles at this fine pace. And then -- <br />
<br />
Mariel draws on something of her own. An energy pours into Margaret and she is SUDDENLY THRUST INTO THAT STATE SHE REACHED WITH RIXIA'S AID! <br />
<br />
"GAHHHHHHHH" Margaret half-howls half-screams.<br />
<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IfaVEhMKGw<br />
<br />
The world changes color as Margaret shakes her head once and leans forwards, into air that feels more like thin water. She can feel it swirl around her, a sensation normally only felt when one dips one hand out of a window in Neo-Vane, or on a Filgaian train... <br />
<br />
Margaret surges forwards, her burning blade smashing into the air, disrupting the forming barrier long enough for her to get past it. For it's moving so slowly, like mercury on the coldest of cold days...<br />
<br />
She turns then, bicycle-kicking her way up the back of the Asgard unit to reach the top of its head, jumping into the air and flit - flit - flit - the sparkling distortion of the ring Rex had left her feeling different, like, like swimming in lime gelatin - kicking two of the missiles from the side, hitting one at the wrong angle and SEEING that it is starting to explode, letting her flit-zip away from it... <br />
<br />
Into the air. She can hear Leo, screaming - the sound is so interesting, Margaret thinks. It's slowed down, like an extended note, but somehow she knows it's exactly what he is saying. The barrier ripples outwards, and Margaret rises. <br />
<br />
Alright, Margaret thinks. Time to be the hero. <br />
<br />
With what, Margaret thinks further. I don't have attack magic. I'm not going to hit it in time. I can't dash faster - if this was flat ground I might be able to run but it'd still - <br />
<br />
The blade in her left hand still burns. Margaret looks into the curiously decelerated flames. She sucks in a deep breath and raises the weapon upwards even as the billowing cool water -- AND THE RESULTING AIR BILLOW - of Schturdark rises from beneath her. <br />
<br />
"Alright, then," she says to the onrushing thing. "I'll show you what a real sorceress can do." Her left arm brings backwards, her entire body turning with it as she does, twisting in a way that would be quite unpleasant to do on the ground but involves no contact with the ground. This is not a motion bodies usually take, but bodies usually aren't in the air for long. <br />
<br />
Won't be enough, Margaret thinks. But - I've been using the - yes. <br />
<br />
There are three green-glass explosions in the air as Margaret twists herself in place 360, 720, and 1080 degrees in a full rotation before HURLING the burning blade outwards and upwards towards the blade, a spiralling disk of sorcerous flame that erupts as it flies. And when it touches the beam front: <br />
<br />
It explodes! Not into nothing, but into SOMETHING - into a cloud of incinerating metal shards, each of them refulgent with the frustrated dreams of soldiers of a long-ago land and the sorcerous might of the Black Pearl of Houndstooth!<br />
<br />
At this point Margaret is going to have to figure out how she lands, but that is a problem for the Margaret of the future. <br />
<br />
GS: Margaret spends 1 Combo on Link!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with A Continuous Motion...!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has launched an attack Link!<br />
GS: Margaret spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with THE GREAT DIVIDE!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage suffers a terrible blow from Zed's Ultimate Zed for 181 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Gamble: Low! Marivel Armitage solidly guards Margaret's A Continuous Motion... for 56 hit points!<br />
GS: Slow blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage takes a solid hit from Margaret's THE GREAT DIVIDE for 192 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
Lanval earns for his part a glare as Harmaus stalks away from him. Were there other matters than the right to take Althena's head--<br />
<br />
Of course, Kaguya probes the matter more bluntly.<br />
<br />
"Ah??" Harmaus utters in response to Kaguya's remarks. "It speaks such of my Lord? It speaks falsely?! I tolerates traitor not at all!" Fleetingly, the cat-shaped Seraph pivots Kaguya's way, a bolt of corroded gold flinging in Kaguya's approximate direction. She won't even have to move to avoid it; it slams into a nearby statue instead.<br />
<br />
Harmaus, for his part, does not linger. "But, ah-- has I much, much to attend!"<br />
<br />
This being the obstacles in his path, of course.<br />
<br />
The chains do not hold Qubeley long. For all Harmaus' seven hundred and seventy-seven years, he is an infant next to Marivel -- and her technological might. He snarls wordlessly as the machine breaks free, though he has but little time to consider the failure of his arte.<br />
<br />
Here, Lucifer begins its assault.<br />
<br />
Charging for the barrier, corrupted light swelling about him, Harmaus would apparently seek to knock down this particular wall. But there come missiles from above and little room even for a spiritual being to evade them. There are explosions.<br />
<br />
Harmaus slides from the rubble in the moments after, shaking dust and debris from his coat. Ears flattened against his head, he glares balefully at the descending beam.<br />
<br />
Light, terrible, golden, rent through with corrosion and dark flame, leaps out as a nimbus about Harmaus' corpus as he begins to rise into the air. Could this be the mark of his transformation to his Hellionized state -- to again draw the darkness out into the light?<br />
<br />
The light swells. He is the dawn, but it is a sickly, ill-omened dawn.<br />
The light flashes.<br />
<br />
"HER HEAD IS MINE! MINE!" Harmaus screams to the sky above. "FIRST LIGHT!"<br />
<br />
The light flashes green.<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has activated Force Action: Lock On!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has attacked Marivel Armitage with First Light!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel isn't answering anyone. But she did say why. Even a Sorceress of Eld needs to concentrate sometimes... but what sort of magicks is she concentrating on? Is it really what she said it was?<br />
<br />
Kaguya, Hiro, and Leo band together to push back against the orbital strike. Intense light presses against Hiro's blades--and perhaps that little bit of extra aid is what allows the power of the White Dragon to clash against that of the Morning Star, pushing it back--as Leo further provides aid to his allies in the process. The energy presses against this power of Leo's, a power that rivals that of the Morning Star itself. But it's only resisting. Leo can feel himself being pushed out by the pure inertia of the plasma energy.<br />
<br />
That is until Kaguya takes aim with a power of her own, like Vegeta distracting Cell--she fires the shot into the beamstruggle and presses it back. The struggle is further added with the help of ZEDDER ROBO and Margaret further pushing against the beam that weakens with every consecutive strike!<br />
<br />
The final push comes from Harmaus's own light that rapidly crashes hard against the Morning Star's bombardment, pushing it back--nearly to Lucifer itself.<br />
<br />
Leo can feel the weight leaving him, Hiro can see it pushing back farther and farther until suddenly the blast loses just enough cohesion that Kaguya's blast punctures through it, the energy of the Morning Star disperses as the power of Zeikfried slices through Lucifer. The power of Satan stands nothing before the power of a cool gun.<br />
<br />
"GNGGH!" Belle grunts as the blast punches right through her, leaving a thick hole in her midsection. Lucifer rapidly descends as its power thrusters cut out.<br />
<br />
Others prepare for some terrible shit to happen.<br />
<br />
"Chrrrrp?"<br />
<br />
"Krrrrrp?"<br />
<br />
Hob and Nob are getting confused as to what game this is but they know what to do next.<br />
<br />
And terrible things are about to happen as Lucifer rights itself up at the last moment, hovering behind the other three golems.<br />
<br />
Revelry rapidly transforms, forming a large handle as Qubeley's eye closes shut--the two golems form an impromptu DRILL HAMMER that Asgard hefts up into its arms. Asgard fuels the Drill Hammer with his barriers as Lucifer ejects the wounded Belle to the ground and affixes itself to Asgard's back, forming wings.<br />
<br />
Belle sets her eyes on Shige. She doesn't say anything. But she waits, patiently. Expectantly.<br />
<br />
But there is a bigger problem as Asgard says, "ACTIVATING TIMESTOP PROTOCOL." He swings the drill hammer to the side, singular eye narrowing.<br />
<br />
The combined machines start to glow red from overheating, swinging its hammer in a ferocious rage at the heroes (and cat) arrayed against it. ANd one by one...<br />
<br />
The Timestop protocol activates, freezing each hero (and cat) one by one in time.<br />
<br />
This is the last chance to stop Marivel's invasion. It's a matter of whether you can dismantle this combined mecha or if it'll freeze you in place first.<br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has become ENRAGED!<br />
GS: You have activated the Boss Action Enrage! You may attack players multiple times this round and have twice as many actions! After this round, you will be too exhausted to fight for one round, and your defenses will be reduced!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Harmaus with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Hiro with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Mariel with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Marivel Armitage has attacked Kaguya with TIMESTOP!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Interrupt expired!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has activated Force Action: Extend!<br />
GS: You have activated the Force Action Extend!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Zed takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Regen removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Zed!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Zed!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Harmaus with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Margaret with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Zed with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Shige Kiwako with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Seraph Lanval with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked White Knight Leo with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Hiro with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Mariel with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has attacked Kaguya with Drill Gavel!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Mute expired!<br />
GS: Enrage purges all positive status!<br />
GS: Your rage has died down! You can't act this round, and you've received the Shieldbreak and Entangle status effects!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has completed her action.<br />
GS: Zed takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 154 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Zed gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Kaguya partially guards Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Kaguya gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Ruin! Mighty removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Kaguya!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Kaguya!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Kaguya suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 242 hit points!<br />
GS: Mariel accepts Mariel's Red Verbena for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Quick applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Mariel takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Quick and Shield removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Mariel!<br />
GS: Mariel suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 139 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Mariel gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Mariel receives 100 temporary hit points.<br />
GS: Mariel enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Margaret takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Amplify, Burst, Quick, Shield, and Surge removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Margaret!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Margaret!<br />
GS: Margaret takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 69 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Evade bonus activated!<br />
DC: Margaret switches forms to I Am The Starlight!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Lanval gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Ruin! Burst, Quick, and Shield removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Seraph Lanval receives 100 temporary hit points.<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Seraph Lanval!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo solidly guards Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Amplify, Burst, Quick, Regen, and Surge removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: FP up! Guard bonus and Gleam activated!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from White Knight Leo!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated Force Action: Accelerate!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval partially evades Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 113 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Lanval gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 151 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! White Knight Leo gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Gleam activated!<br />
GS: Hiro fully evades Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Hiro gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak blocked!<br />
GS: Hiro solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 67 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Hiro gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Hiro enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Mariel used Force Action: Mystic on Zed! FP up!<br />
GS: Entangle removed!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock solidly guards Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 88 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Ruin! Quick removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Shige Kiwako!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Shige Kiwako takes a solid hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 185 hit points!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock suffers a terrible blow from Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Gwen Whitlock gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Ruin! Amplify, Hyper, and Regen removed!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Gwen Whitlock!<br />
GS: FP up! Countermeasures activated!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Gwen Whitlock!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
Leo shouts Forward, with the Blessing of the White Dragon coming upon him, shielding him from harm. He'd stop to offer thanks, but he can't stop. Nor can he offer the same to Lanval for his own blessings right now, or Shige for his healing.<br />
<br />
They all keep him going, inexorably towards the Square where they are supposed to find Marivel. There's no stopping, none of them can stop lest things get worse, get more out of hand.<br />
<br />
They need to talk to her, but in order to do that they need to stop her. The Time Stop protocol activates and- Hiro freezes. The Drill Hammer looms, as if to come down upon his head and...<br />
<br />
He twitches. The hammer descends, his shield moves at the last moment to intercept it, sparks flying as his shield slams against it in a parry. He doesn't know why he avoided it, perhaps a faint gleam is the only evidence as to why.<br />
<br />
He doesn't waste this opportunity however, as his sword gleams, and suddenly his image splits, while the Time Stop is still active, the threefold images of him leap at the combination of Asgard, Belle, and Lucifer.<br />
<br />
Each one slashes down so brutally it leaves a gouge in space at the point where he slashes each of Marivel's creations, leaving that scar present for all to see.<br />
<br />
"Enough, Marivel." It's not until the Time Stop effect ends, that each gouge spasms, and collapses, the wind rushing in violently and explosively against each of them.<br />
<br />
"Now we hold you to every single one of your broken promises."<br />
<br />
GS: Hiro has activated Force Action: Lock On!<br />
GS: Hiro spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Formation! Hiro has attacked Marivel Armitage with Trinity Crisis!<br />
GS: Hiro has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Hiro's stances have changed from Avenger to Hero!<br />
GS: Hiro gains 63 THP from Regen!<br />
GS: Hiro has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Harmaus solidly guards Marivel Armitage's TIMESTOP for 0 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Harmaus gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: Entangle and Shieldbreak applied to Seraph Harmaus!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: RUIN! All positive status effects and temporary hit points purged from Seraph Harmaus!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus takes a glancing hit from Marivel Armitage's Drill Gavel for 73 hit points!<br />
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Seraph Harmaus gains 1 additional Combo!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Mariel has posed.<br />
Mid-run, Mariel is abruptly picked up by Zed.<br />
<br />
"Eh...? Zed, what are you - "<br />
<br />
Who is then thrown by Gwen.<br />
<br />
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" <br />
<br />
Mariel squeezes her eyes closed, clenching her hands and legs against Zed's shoulders and upper back in a desperate attempt to *hang on*. Her ears blow back from the speed, flopping in the slipstream. Even the arrival of a seat belt does not convince her to either open her eyes or let go. <br />
<br />
She's still clinging when he gets to where he's going, though by then she has opened her eyes. She's going to have WORDS for Zed and Gwen later, but right now she can just barely catch her breath. "...thank you," she gets out, and half-steps, half-falls out of Zedder Robo, catching herself on the staff and pushing herself back upright.<br />
<br />
There's one obstacle left. One thing stopping them from approaching Marivel. And Mariel hates hurting living beings... the machines, who Marivel cares for so much, count as much as any. (That, and she isn't entirely sure how much some of these particular ones think for themselves.)<br />
<br />
"I'm sorry," Mariel says, and these aren't words for Marivel. These are words for the combined machines. She reaches into her satchel, retrieving one - two - three pouches, all of which she opens up and dumps into a cupped hand. In each of them is a gritty green-grey powder: dried seaweed of a particular type, ground up, treated by some alchemical process and mixed with some other ingredients. Little flecks catch the light inside it.<br />
<br />
Mariel holds her cupped hand high, raising it to near her staff. The staff's crystal glows once again as she channels her own Elw magic through it, a little mote of trapped pink in the crystal catching all the facets and casting a tinted band of colours across the powder. The little glittery flecks catch and absorb this, shining with an irregular rainbow; more of the colours involved are from the red side of the spectrum than the blue.<br />
<br />
And then she pitches it at the combined robots, dispersing it into a large cloud.<br />
<br />
Against living flesh, the powder is itchy and little more. Against metal, it weakens it; iron becomes a brittle thing, gold softer, steel strangely stretchy and taffy-like. The combination of Elw alchemy and Elw sorcery takes root, weakening it for what comes after.<br />
<br />
"Stop them - " Mariel doesn't say anything else before a hammer catches her, and time stops, freezing her in midair. That's her last contribution.<br />
GS: Mariel spends 1 Combo on Poison!<br />
GS: Mariel has attacked Marivel Armitage with Smarna Weed!<br />
GS: Mariel has completed her action.<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Mariel's Smarna Weed for 47 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Poison and Shieldbreak applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Shield applied to Mariel!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
The people on the ground, the people in the air (of whom there are suddenly more); all are working together. Kaguya maanges to hover in place thanks to the sheer power of her weapon, but only for so long. <br />
<br />
As Harmaus shoots back at her. She's lucky it /didn't/ hit; she grits her teeth, and has some words for him in a minute. <br />
<br />
Before that, as everyone works together, and Kaguya pushes back the power of Satan--<br />
<br />
She has a very cool gun indeed. <br />
<br />
Kaguya finally starts to fall, and hits a rooftop with her knees bending to absorb the impact. She narrows her eyes down at the remaining Gears. There is much to answer... But--<br />
<br />
The Golems combine. Kaguya narrows her eyes. She hears of it; timestop protocol. It's... something of a problem. But the machines are overheating. It swings its hammer... <br />
<br />
"I DON'T THINK SO!" <br />
<br />
She feels time starting to slow to a stop around her, and Kaguya vibrates with power. She forces herself to keep moving, even as she feels the effect start to slow her down. It's beginning; that hammer is slamming towards her, and oh--it hits, all right. Kaguya takes a terrible blow from it, her armor crunching again as she sacrifices more plating in order to avoid being incapacitated--and blood starts to drip from her side, where the armor crunches in against her hard enough to draw blood. Still, she works to aim. <br />
<br />
"AND HARMUAS!" she calls. "You can betray my ENTIRE ASS!" <br />
<br />
She aims, closely. The world for her seems to fall away. There is only her heart and the target. <br />
<br />
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. <br />
<br />
Just after Hiro, Kaguya FIRES, and power tears from her as she does, a tiny green spiritual bullet moving for center mass of the combination mecha--where it may well trigger a chain reaction. <br />
<br />
Mariel gave the last of what she had for them to take these shots. Kaguya aims to make this count. Elw magic... Well, why not?<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Formation! Kaguya has attacked Marivel Armitage with Moment of Truth!<br />
GS: Kaguya has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Kaguya has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Margaret looks downwards. At Pentagulia, from - wow, Margaret thinks, I am almost as high as Neo-Vane. <br />
<br />
She glances momentarily over at Harmaus, but if he's spending his anger at the bright light - well, as a wise general once said: Let the enemies fight, if they are fighting. Her eyes look downwards then. The great machines. <br />
<br />
I could stay here forever, Margaret thinks. Maybe I would, if I died right here. It's not sleep at all, is it? No, it isn't. <br />
<br />
Not right now, Margaret thinks. <br />
<br />
Zwip-zwip-zwip as she moves downwards, hair trailing behind her as she dives downwards. This means that she's able to see the first time someone becomes temporally locked... <br />
<br />
The hammer, Margaret thinks. Her eyes flick to the side. Would this work? Could it possibly work? Feh, she thinks, listen to what you told Hiro a minute ago, you old bag! Of course it could! And so Margaret leans into her downwards dive and - <br />
<br />
zwip! 'Reappears' on the shoulders of the combined horror-machine with her sword present. Margaret looks carefully for things she can stab but she is surprisingly unproductive in absolute terms. She doesn't seem to have a lot of hope to just carve through heavy steel, so she looks for tubes, cables, joints... stabbing, twisting, tearing. <br />
<br />
And when she feels a tightening in the magic around her -- <br />
<br />
Margaret throws herself forwards to be as close to the head of the great Gear as she can be. <br />
<br />
Rex, Margaret thinks: If you're there, either give me a little luck or get my seat ready-- <br />
<br />
even as time slows down. <br />
<br />
GS: Margaret has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Margaret has attacked Marivel Armitage with Weightless Steel!<br />
GS: Margaret has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: Margaret has completed her action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
Seraph Lanval's sense of the world around him gradually returns as the Morning Star laser is dispersed with, give or take a few other artifacts and distortions from visuals of incredible power on display to protect and reinforce - analogous to how organic corporeal beings eventually have their sight return once a bright light fades (to a point).<br />
<br />
Enough to see the remaining weapons combine their forces into a weapon of comparable destructive power for how much earth, stone, and everything it can move as Asgard hefts the immense DRILL HAMMER over them. As the hammer comes swinging down against the ground near where Seraph Lanval stands...<br />
<br />
He's not 'standing' there any more, backflipping right at the moment of impact that tosses him on up high to give him a better view of a disconcertingly large chunk of Pentagulia. It separates him from the lot, for a moment, making it difficult for him to hear the exact call-outs of defiance and reckoning of Marivel's broken promises while he's just airborne like a large flying albatross.<br />
<br />
"I know naught if thou can hear me," Lanval says as he catches hold of something that nearly falls out of him - it's a bottle.<br />
<br />
It's a bottle of wine from somewhere down in Glenwood that Lanval got his hands on during one of any number of strange bouts of wanderlust the Drifter life imparts.<br />
<br />
"Though many might yet head a path of strife and stagnation," he thinks mid-flight, "#-1 INVALID ANSI DEFINITION: +aquamrine and thou hath far more years than mine own... I doth notice but one constant."<br />
<br />
"Though mayhaps the path and means may never be clear... all doth search for mirth." Do the people here of Pentagulia feel fulfilled, safe, and optimistic living in this Holy City? He's not sure. There's lots of things people are unsure about with Althena and everything, but as he starts the descent with the bottle of wine in hand, feeling... something... slowing him, he can't put a finger on it (something-something time being stopped, from what he's hearing?), he can see how Hiro is going far faster than the surrounding.<br />
<br />
In his hand, the culmination of a well-wish of wine-makers gone, that they did not get to live to see. Though the wine and its contents will not fulfill the wish of being shared as a drink, it will be shared as a wish of well-being and better times, and as he comes down upon the combined machines...<br />
<br />
Should he reach there 'in time,' there will be an exploding bottle of wine upside their collective heads, and... a not-small watery force of explosion and a light, fruity flavor of whatever vintage that was. The well-wish for something better from the past, for a future's enrichment.<br />
<br />
Or, you know, a sopping wet super fighting robot.<br />
<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval spends 4 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 2 into Gatling!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Seraph Lanval has attacked Marivel Armitage with Maiden Bon Voyage!!<br />
GS: Seraph Lanval has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Zed has posed.<br />
What is Zed doing? Zed is being the best kind of taxi. THE FLYING KIND. <br />
<br />
He's probably getting a lecture for this later. But that's fine. A lecture later means he's alive to hear it and she's alive to deliver it. All in all a much better situation than the opposite.<br />
<br />
The last of Lucifer's light fades away, leaving Zedder Robo scorched and burnt in its position over Pentagulia. Smoldering, its armor trails smoke into the sky-- but it is burnt, not broken. "Tch-- is that all you've--"<br />
<br />
TIME HAS STOPPED <br />
<br />
... <br />
<br />
And so... time has resumed once more. <br />
<br />
"--Got?" Zed looks up just in time for a DRILL HAMMER to slam into him. He's sent hurtling through the air, into one Cathedral tower and out the other end and into yet another one tower beyond. "Hnnng... That... was pretty cool... But...!"<br />
<br />
Gripping crumbling masonry with metal hands, Zed lifts himself out of the crumbling rubble. Cape-like cloth erupts from his shoulders, resolving into a single, stylized 'wing.' "I've got another trick up my sleeve too...! Take this-- ZEDDER SHIIIIINE!" Rivers of emerald light flood down from on high, seemingly materializing from empty space. They swirl down, surging into the Metal Demon's battered battle form. He begins to glow, radiating a brilliance that is at once blindingly white and emerald green. "Shine..." Zed rises, shining like an emerald sun. "SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--" He flings himself forward, fully intending to ram straight into the combined machine (WHICH IS SUPER COOL BY THE WAY, HE NEEDS TO FIND OUT HOW TO DO THAT). But then, just in time, he catches sight of Mariel's Elw magic-- and abruptly pulls up. "----AAAAAAAACK!?" He aborts, diverting from his intended flight path at the last moment, but...<br />
<br />
The energy he built up... has momentum of its own! It sails into the fused gear, even without Zed himself at its core! "Oh..." Zedder Robo scratches his cheek, as his surge of energy erupts in an explosion of blinding, viridian brilliance. "...That works... I guess...???"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Sweat drips down Leo's brow, tracing streaks through the grime on is face. Above him, the barrier swirls, currents of pearly-white shifting to better absorb the Lucifer's ruinous onslaught. Where, Leo thinks, was Marivel /keeping/ this monster? His muscles start to knot, painfully, from the shoulders up. He's losing ground. The clear, pure energies of Lanval's power reinvigorate him for a few moments, but it's only once the Lucifer /stops firing/ from the combined onslaught that he allows himself to sag.<br />
<br />
The White Dragon's miracle lingers in the sky above. Motes of light descend on Pentagulia like a blessed snowfall. Leo slumps forward, gasping from exertion. The Crest dangles from his fingers, the gleam on its rune faded--its magic's spent, for now. But the enemy is--combining in a different way...? There's no time to think. Leo unsheathes his sword one-handed, the familiar glow of his aura igniting around him and condensing on the edge. Normally, he precedes this with solemnity--a degree of ceremony, even, in its own way--but he /killed/ the man who taught it to him, and what's left, for now, is rote. The moment of desperate transcendence is gone.<br />
<br />
Leo's blade slices through empty air. The great force of the Lion springs forth, howling, rushing directly at the robot's center of mass.<br />
<br />
Time stops. The hammer is on a direct collision course to slam into Leo and drive him into the ground.<br />
<br />
GS: White Knight Leo spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! White Knight Leo has attacked Marivel Armitage with Lion's Howl!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 2 Combo!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo's stances have changed to Avenger!<br />
GS: Mighty expired!<br />
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
It's not the feline beastfolk's day. Slowed down, she doesn't get out of the way of the follow up as best as she'd have preferred. Battered though, not beaten. Shige struggles back to her feet and staggers for a moment. Teeth gritted and mask blown away by now. That's also a later problem. Instead, she brings the lantern back around. <br />
<br />
They're running low on time, probably literally. That is genuinely a problem. And she's thinking that trying to keep the others going isn't going to help. <br />
<br />
The shadows around her stir. Any shades she can get her magical fingers on drawn in. Earlier had been her personal manifestations. The representations of her magic, or the ghosts that follow her for other reasons. She still never talks about it. Forming up around the square. Uniforms and armor from a wide range of periods. Cold, angry at the attacks. Or reflecting the feline's own feelings. As one, they surge forward. A mass of soldiers and guardians to stop the machines from completing an awful mission. <br />
<br />
Belle is given a look in return. "Is watching this part of your punishment? Seeing my worst nightmares visited on others?" She turns away, continuing her channeling. Guiding the shades. "I'd still see you to where you belong-" The light in the lantern goes out as the mass of shadows attack. Only reappearing as they begin to dissapate, energy spent. Stealing what they could. "-Even if you allowed this to happen." It's a duty and one everyone deserves. Judgement comes after anyway, right? She sounds tired either way. Taking just a moment to swat at a smoldering patch on her blouse. Probably the remnants of the cloak at this point. <br />
<br />
She beckons to Belle after. "If we survive this. I'm taking you to rest." Even if she has to yell at people or something. She's actually at a loss, but you have to play by ear sometimes. She's not sure if they'll beat the time stop.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.<br />
A giddy, surprised laugh leaves Gwen as Zed's gamble works (much to Mariel's horror, likely).<br />
<br />
However, the overarching danger of this future attack still remains, whatever form it will take.<br />
<br />
The hammer swings towards the heroes, and, running high on the rush of yellow energy flowing through her right side, Gwen charges into the assault, barreling through on momentum alone.<br />
<br />
*twitch*<br />
<br />
The glowing Mockingbird.... goes dark, its glow disappearing behind the fabric of her right sleeve.<br />
<br />
She has a moment to make it work. "HAUUUUUUGHH!!!" Heaving the dead weight of her right hand into combined mass of machinery, Gwen pushes the remaining amount of energy back through her right hand.<br />
<br />
And it feels like the worst sort of sensation ever. <br />
<br />
If forcing that energy into her nervous system felt awkward enough, the way it's just drained out feels painful on top of awkward, like the entire affected part of her quickly fading to nothing but pins and needles. She could call it 'pain', but 'pain' would at least signal a release. This is just that awkward space inbetween, like waiting for a sneeze that never comes, and then trying to puke at the same time.<br />
<br />
The punch will be delivered, in its own distorted 'singing toy on low power' sort of glory, but that's it.<br />
<br />
Which is doubly bad, as she's right there, in danger's way, as time stops.<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has attacked Marivel Armitage with Eclipse!<br />
GS: Shige Kiwako has completed her action.<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Full Clip!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Snipe!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated Force Action: Lock On!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock spends 2 Combo on Headshot!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Marivel Armitage with Coronal Discharge!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!<br />
GS: Quick expired!<br />
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Shige Kiwako's Eclipse for 285 hit points!<br />
GS: Purge! Poison and Shieldbreak removed!<br />
GS: Purge explodes for 41 damage!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Weaken Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Delay applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Weaken blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage enters CONDITION GREEN!!<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
Light -- and Malevolence -- fleeing from his form, Harmaus slowly, gently descends back to the broken tiles of the plaza. His tail twitches once, twice.<br />
<br />
There, before him, Marivel's machines begin to transform, assuming the shape of an enormous gavel which Asgard holds in one hand.<br />
<br />
'ACTIVATING TIMESTOP PROTOCOL.'<br />
<br />
Harmaus bares his teeth in a snarl, a single thread of light erupting from his form before he charges ahead as if to defy what Asgard would wreak. "BE SILENT--" he roars, in response to Kaguya's final taunt, before the hand on the clock freezes.<br />
<br />
For, even so, time does not obey Harmaus' wishes. Even in the early centuries of his long life, it never had.<br />
<br />
Time stops.<br />
<br />
He moves with a certain suddenness once it resumes, but it is still not enough to spare him the hammer's touch. It clips him, sends him to slam into the scattered debris of the square.<br />
GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Seraph Harmaus has attacked Marivel Armitage with Light Everlasting!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has gained 3 Combo!<br />
GS: Seraph Harmaus has completed his action.<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Seraph Lanval's Maiden Bon Voyage! for 382 hit points!<br />
GS: Dispel! Purge! Delay removed!<br />
GS: Purge explodes for 18 damage!!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Mute applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Poison blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Margaret's Weightless Steel for 217 hit points!<br />
GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Slow applied to Marivel Armitage!<br />
GS: Interrupt blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts White Knight Leo's Lion's Howl for 414 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Kaguya's Moment of Truth for 318 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Strain! Kaguya takes 44 damage!<br />
GS: CRITICAL! Marivel Armitage accepts Gwen Whitlock's Coronal Discharge for 302 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Jam Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Jam blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!<br />
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Seraph Harmaus's attack becomes clear!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Seraph Harmaus's Pallid Sun for 271 hit points!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage's Poison Ward may block the effect!<br />
GS: Disease and Poison blocked!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.<br />
<br />
It is simply a pale finger of light, a ghost of a mote shed through the clouds of an overcast day. It is little more than nothing in the grasp of time brought to a standstill.<br />
<br />
But time resumes.<br />
<br />
Then, with frightening ferocity, that fragment of light transfigures into the forge of /everything/. The mote has become a star, its light pale and terrible as it burns, consumes, and transfixes that which stands before it to become little more than eternal shadow against its glory.<br />
<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage accepts Hiro's Trinity Crisis for 333 hit points!<br />
GS: FP up! Sufferer activated!<br />
GS: Strain! Hiro takes 58 damage!<br />
GS: Marivel Armitage has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
It begins with Mariel spreading some strange powder against the metal. Such a simple seeming compound and the metal twitches and distorts and bends as it becomes dry and brittle at the perfect time, at the perfect moment.<br />
<br />
Belle tells Shige. "No. My punishment was to see the world I failed to protect plummet into decay, despair, death, and dread. I would have been alone if not for Marivel so I stayed by her side. But now I am just another one of the chains tying her to a past she needs to move on from. My mistake was to think that of Death as a simple thing. Of spirits that needed to move on, and life that needed to die. In truth, life and death are not so simple. There is no shame in living a thousand years just as there is no shame in living twenty. None can choose the time of their passing, not even the Crimson Nobles."<br />
<br />
"But I'm ready. I've given my last regards to my Pen Pal. I want to return to the river and one day be reborn and learn to love again."<br />
<br />
Shige slams her fist into the machinery, clobbering thick slabs of armoring right off it.<br />
<br />
Gwen unleashes her own punch. Her fist knocks free one of the Lucifer's wings and it tumbles to the ground.<br />
<br />
Lanval swings a bottle of wine that looks silly but you'd be surprised how much damage exploding wine can do when the armoring has already been atrophied thanks to Mariel's efforts. thick shards of glass puncture through the armoring leading wine to pour into the sensitive circuitry behind it. Lanval probably has no idea that there even is sensitive circuitry there but luckily--he didn't need to.<br />
<br />
Margaret punctures her blade right through Asgard's eye. The light blinks out as she presses into it, all defenses even in a legendary gear gone thanks to Mariel.<br />
<br />
Leo punctures through Qubeley's eye simultaneously--he is also forced to lean against it to really get it in there, but he can feel the palpable strike. Where was Marivel keeping this monster? The answer may surprise you.<br />
<br />
(Her Garage).<br />
<br />
Hiro and Kaguya strike next, though Hiro's strikes are not immediate evident. Kaguya unleashes the power of her spirit gun yu yu hakusho style--the blast of light struggles until...<br />
<br />
Harmaus, instead of betraying Kaguya's ass (for now) adds his own light everlasting, augmenting the spirit energy of Zeikfried with his own immense power of Light--the beam punctures through the machine, opening up a widening hole in Asgard's center mass.<br />
<br />
At which point finally Hiro's own slashes finally 'activate'. The arms of Asgard are shorn free and the right damage legged cut out from underneath, sparking and sputtering.<br />
<br />
And yet... It's still active.<br />
<br />
...For about half a second before the Zedder Robo basically accidentally knocks it over with one last surge of power that sends everything crumbling into pieces.<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Hob and Nob pull themselves free from the wreckage and make cute noses. They spin around happily like there was just a rousing round of playtime before floating back through to the Goddess Square. Following them...<br />
<br />
Marivel is sitting in the center of an arcane circle surrounded by runes of a language that none of you know except for Mariel, who can pick out a word here or there--but not enough to really discern the meaning except for one word. Empathite Crystal is present in droves, channeling their energies into Marivel. They feel like those 'monsters' and 'ghosts' that you were doing battle with earlier.<br />
<br />
"...She didn't come. Even when I threatened her city. Her people. Her faith. She didn't come. Ragnell must be right about her. I cannot fathom any other explanation. Why would she betray me and then abandon the very people she betrayed me for? All she had to do was show up. Just show up and scold me like old times. She didn't even need to say she was sorry."<br />
<br />
Abysa. The Crimson Noble word for 'Home'. But its more complicated than just a portal spell. Whatever it is. That is the word that Mariel can pick out.<br />
<br />
Marivel sighs, "Yeah okay, I mean, I'm sure I could come up with some legalese to justify an unbroken promise, but I admit it--asking me to do that, I had to play along at least. But how dare you say that I would abandon Filgaia, abandon Kamui...? I would ''never'' abandon my duty, my brethren, my family. If I could be there, I would be... But I cannot be there because I am in the Memory Maze. Fortunately, ARMS will not need me to succeed in their task so you need not worry about them. But you know what's WRONG about those statues? That always bugged me more than anythiing? The EARS. They're all WRONG."<br />
<br />
She dusts herself off and stands up, stretching her arms above her head. <br />
<br />
"Ashley Winchester will plummet into the Memory Maze himself after Heimdall Gazzo's defeat. I can tell you this now that you cannot interrupt what ''has'' to happen. And with that, the timeloop I have been a part of for five thousand years will finally be closed. It is only in this moment where I cannot interfere with ARMS' work yet before the Time of Promise has come to pass that I am completely and utterly free of pacts and obligations."<br />
<br />
She looks to Leo. "Sorry about the mess. I really did the emotional energy. With this much empathite They should be protected from any serious injury. Still, you're right. There is no real justification for any of this. How could there be? All this just for one woman? Ridiculous."<br />
<br />
"...But every time I try to save her, every time--it does not pan out. I am too slow, or we are too weak, or she's gone by the time I can reach my hand, or the methods to reach her are gone... I just... Even if she despises me, she deserves to live. So I took a gamble. Liath told me that her faith in you was absolute. I told her I was willing to gamble everything on this one shot. This one timeline."<br />
<br />
She looks to Lanval. "I haven't felt true mirth in a long time. Joy no longer lingers with me. I can only absorb it from others and it soon fades away. That is the sort of vampire I am. You can't give it to me Lanval."<br />
<br />
She looks to Kaguya. "You've really grown into someone dependable. Trusting you with the Veruni--I can't say for sure. What happens with them is outside my vision. But if anyone can improve their fate--it's you and Dean's crew. But out of all the adventurers out there, you have the hardest job you know? It's easy to save the world, but it's way more difficult to save people from themselves. People who need saving from themselves are always in close contact with their tormentors."<br />
<br />
She looks to Zed. "Not even the blind would miss your inherent kindness. Don't let your pain ever eclipse it just because someone might prod it."<br />
<br />
She focuses on Margaret for but a moment. "10/10 no notes."<br />
<br />
She doesn't say anything to Mariel. She doesn't need to. She can look at Mariel and everything they need to know about this moment is shared in that look. But what needs to be said, with words, isn't in this moment.<br />
<br />
To Gwen she adds, "You may be an unsung hero when all is said and done, but that's actually a good thing. You lift up those around you. In this, you are not unlike Anastasia. In the end, the kindness you deliver to all around you will be your most satisfying delivery."<br />
<br />
To Harmaus...<br />
<br />
Marivel proves that she still tries to save everyone every time even though she already knows it's doomed to favor. "Step off this Seeking Road before it is too late, Harmaus."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
"But it's not over. There's one last thing I need to show you. One thing I need to see. Those machines, they were just to stall for this moment. Yes. I was waiting for this moment for thousands and thousands of years...."<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&t=19s&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel<br />
<br />
The empathite finishes their work and the light dims to black. The empathite turns black, then cracks into dust as their gathered energy is expelled into Marivel. The Time Medium floats out of Marivel's inventory and hovers over her head, shaking. The glow in Marivel's body shakes and shudders as she opens her mouth.<br />
<br />
And devours it all. You can even see the energies pouring into her mouth until all is consumed.<br />
<br />
Then, there is a pulse of light centered on her. Then an explosion of it.<br />
<br />
"I shall become an imitation of light and save Anastasia. That is all that matters. And you shall find what YOU seek..."<br />
<br />
And when the light fades...<br />
<br />
There stands a young woman with long blue hair pulled into two very long tails behind her, held together by two impressively sized red orbs. She wears heavy brown traveling boots and a long purple and white dress. The hair resembles a bit how a certain Crimson Noble wore their hair while wearing her sun protection outfit. She wears brown gloves and her are protected by a pair of vambraces and shoulder pauldrons--other than that, she could look like any other traveler you might find along the road.<br />
<br />
If not for that set of Elw ears--recognizable to anyone who has met Mariel. She extends her hand out to the side and sparkles coalesce into the form of a large blade, nearly as tall as this woman who herself is larger than life, bigger than any human or even Elw could be. A giant, readily thrice as tall as the shortest of you. A side effect of the power of Marivel's memories, perhaps.<br />
<br />
But the blade itself is familiar to those have visited the Sword Cathedral near Meria Boule: It is Airgetlahm, here. It should not be but Marivel's will, her memory, her need brings it forth all the same. <br />
<br />
Althena? Anastasia? Althenastasia?? SHE takes in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly like someone who had just learned to breathe. She lowers her head and then she smiles.<br />
<br />
A black portal erupts behind her, leading into a sickening place that makes your souls quiver.<br />
<br />
It feels a little bit like Marivel.<br />
<br />
The blue haired Elw woman turns and walks towards the portal. "We'll have to continue this discussion inside. I... Marivel?...This was just her vessel..."<br />
<br />
"But the real deal... To see her, there is not enough space here. You'll have to go inside. This isn't something you want open for too long."<br />
<br />
And she steps inside. And the dark portal to the Abyss remains.<br />
<br />
And a choice to follow the Seeking Road yourself.<br />
<br />
<==== TO BE CONTINUED<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2023-03-01:_Boots_On_The_Ground&diff=121862023-03-01: Boots On The Ground2023-03-01T17:45:51Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div><br />
*'''Cutscene: Boots On The Ground'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Solitaire Collier]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Sylvaland<br />
*'''Date:''' March 1st 2023<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Solitaire faces her greatest challenge yet.''<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
It was a fine day in the Sylvaland Market and business was booming even with the threat of Heimdall Gazzo looming overhead. War hadn't touched Sylvaland for a long time and it showed. In truth, Solitaire felt out of place here already and that wasn't even taking into account her current problem. Her expression was sour even though she was sitting by the quite pleasant Eastwise Lake. Solitaire normally enjoyed public parks. Or rather, she enjoyed the one public park she ever experienced before which was this one.<br />
<br />
"Nnm. Don't like it." Solitaire pouted, arms crossed.<br />
<br />
'''~You already admitted that you were willing to get a second pair of shoes so the first pair wouldn't wear out more quickly. And we already paid for it. Try them on.~'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire sighed reluctantly but ultimately sat down on a bench and pulled the boots on, one by one. Then she hopped up and down twice. "...."<br />
<br />
'''~Well...? How are they?~'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire lowered her head. "...They're comfortable."<br />
<br />
'''~See! It wasn't too bad was it?~'''<br />
<br />
Patience frowned, seeing that the frown on Solitaire's face had gotten bigger and the beginning of a tear was forming in her right eye. It took Patience but a moment to figure out what the issue was. Solitaire had grown up on the bottom rung of society and her life had improved tremendously already in her eyes. Maybe a second pair felt like too much?<br />
<br />
Still, they both acknowledged that Erzebet was ultimately correct here so...<br />
<br />
'''~.....Would you like to exchange them for something a little less comfortable?~'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire nodded furiously.<br />
<br />
'''~...Okay... Let's go back to the cobbler and exchange them.~'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire brightened immediately and gave Patience a big hug. "Mmn!" <br />
<br />
Well, Patience thought. So long as she was happy...<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2023-03-01:_Boots_On_The_Ground&diff=121852023-03-01: Boots On The Ground2023-03-01T17:44:29Z<p>Fei: Created page with " *'''Cutscene: Boots On The Ground''' *'''Cast:'''Character :: Solitaire Collier *'''Where:''' Sylvaland *'''Date:''' March 1st 2023 *'''Summary''': ''Solitaire faces her..."</p>
<hr />
<div><br />
*'''Cutscene: Boots On The Ground'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Solitaire Collier]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Sylvaland<br />
*'''Date:''' March 1st 2023<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Solitaire faces her greatest challenge yet.''<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
It was a fine day in the Sylvaland Market and business was booming even with the threat of Heimdall Gazzo looming overhead. War hadn't touched Sylvaland for a long time and it showed. In truth, Solitaire felt out of place here already and that wasn't even taking into account her current problem. Her expression was sour even though she was sitting by the quite pleasant Eastwise Lake. Solitaire normally enjoyed public parks. Or rather, she enjoyed the one public park she ever experienced before which was this one.<br />
<br />
"Nnm. Don't like it." Solitaire pouted, arms crossed.<br />
<br />
~You already admitted that you were willing to get a second pair of shoes so the first pair wouldn't wear out more quickly. And we already paid for it. Try them on.~<br />
<br />
Solitaire sighed reluctantly but ultimately sat down on a bench and pulled the boots on, one by one. Then she hopped up and down twice. "...."<br />
<br />
~Well...? How are they?~<br />
<br />
Solitaire lowered her head. "...They're comfortable."<br />
<br />
~See! It wasn't too bad was it?~<br />
<br />
Patience frowned, seeing that the frown on Solitaire's face had gotten bigger and the beginning of a tear was forming in her right eye. It took Patience but a moment to figure out what the issue was. Solitaire had grown up on the bottom rung of society and her life had improved tremendously already in her eyes. Maybe a second pair felt like too much?<br />
<br />
Still, they both acknowledged that Erzebet was ultimately correct here so...<br />
<br />
~.....Would you like to exchange them for something a little less comfortable?~<br />
<br />
Solitaire nodded furiously.<br />
<br />
~...Okay... Let's go back to the cobbler and exchange them.~<br />
<br />
Solitaire brightened immediately and gave Patience a big hug. "Mmn!" <br />
<br />
Well, Patience thought. So long as she was happy...<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12184Solitaire Collier2023-02-24T04:40:59Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thank you... But this isn't gonna end well, is it?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir... You've grown.."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Solitaire seems really upset that dying doesn't seem to stick with her..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Solitaire seems a little happier lately... I wonder why."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riley Arwell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She hasn't had a classmate before, she seems excited now that she has one..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Makopi Quowaital]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She seems really happy to have another beastkin as a friend."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ganondorf Dragmire]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "It's a difficult world, Solitaire. Don't rush into choices you can't take back."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Juni Vandrer]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-0-red.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Seems to just rub her the wrong way."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riesenlied]]<br />
| Wayside Outreach<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "I'm so proud of her. She's come a long way. Solitaire seems to like her too."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Noeline]]<br />
| Wayside Outreach<br />
| [[file:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "So they finally..."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2023-02-13:_Zodiac_Company&diff=121722023-02-13: Zodiac Company2023-02-13T22:01:31Z<p>Fei: Created page with "*'''Cutscene: Zodiac Company''' *'''Cast:'''Character :: Solitaire Collier> *'''Where:''' Port Rosalia *'''Date:''' February 13th 2023 *'''Summary''': ''A mercenary compan..."</p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Cutscene: Zodiac Company'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Solitaire Collier]]><br />
*'''Where:''' Port Rosalia<br />
*'''Date:''' February 13th 2023<br />
*'''Summary''': ''A mercenary company decides to take matters into their own hands.''<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
<br />
The Zodiac Company had a long and storied history after its founding by James Domino centuries ago but the current iteration had only existed since the Celesti Civil War and even then only one member of the Zodiac Company had actually fought in that war as members left and joined and died in battle but it was in its current iteration that it was at its most profitable.<br />
<br />
Cani the Deadeye, the old dog of the Zodiac Company, decided that private security was a more profitable than war and so that's where the Zodiac Company went but their background as soldiers for hire meant that even their current employers, the Wei Corporation, wasn't inclined to let them linger in their nice hotels outside of work hours. And so, the Company had instead set up shop at the Seabreeze Port away from the nicer part of town in one of the nicer inns in the area.<br />
<br />
Tauria the Tremor was banging her hands on the table they were sharing. "The Solitaire girl done made a fool of me, twice! If I could just get 'er alone." The ox-woman was red in the face from frustration. "But she keeps bringing in this weird alchemist as backup with all these weird powers... And now she's got important company intelligence! Cani, how could you lose 'em?"<br />
<br />
It was actually Lapin the Quickfoot who spoke up first, swinging his metal foot up on top of the table and leaning back. "It's not Cani's job to cover for your mistakes, love. Your passions--they make you easy to run around."<br />
<br />
"Enough," Cani said softly. "It's true that I lost our quarry and it is also true we shouldn't dwell on these mistakes. We should be thinking how to rectify them. If we lose Wei's backing, we'd have to find another client but more to the point--it is important to express professional competency and initiative so that future iterations of the Zodiac Company can rely on a positive reputation."<br />
<br />
Scimmia the ARMwise said, "Not sure I can be much help here. The axe is obviously Hyadean tech but the other weapons I don't have a read on." <br />
<br />
"I didn't ask you for your talents with ruins." Cani said. "I wanted to know if you could track down the guy who ambushed Tauria. He has a very distinctive appearance. That weapon gave me a bad feeling and it'll be easier to deal with the Rat if we can cut her off from allies. Can't do much about the Odessa agent but the scuttlebutt is that Odessa's got bigger problems to worry about and we can make our move on her then."<br />
<br />
"I only fight as a last resort," Scimmia pointed out. "I can track him, maybe even trap him but someone'll need to fight him."<br />
<br />
"ARRRIGHT!!" Tauria's mood improved instantly. "Let me at 'im! C'mon Cani, let me at 'im. He doesn't seem so tough!"<br />
<br />
Cani shook his head again. "Sorry Tauria, but he knows your moves too well now. The ideal officer for an ambush..." His eye settled on Lapin. "Overwhelm him and finish him. Anaheim won't sit still forever and neither will the Rat. The only possible people I could imagine her stealing those documents for would be Anaheim itself. They're useless for anyone else and ARMS would shut it all down if they knew the Master was trying to take Wei's contracts for themselves."<br />
<br />
"Yessir." Lapin said, throwing a sloppy but sincere salute. "Will move out with you when you give the word, love."<br />
<br />
Scimmia frowned and said, "I can do this but--is it necessary? He might not actually have a vested interest..."<br />
<br />
Cani nodded once. He liked to keep tings simple. Focused. "I am sure. Guys like that tend to get pulled into the orbits of others."<br />
<br />
Scimmia didn't argue any further. She left with Lapin, leaving the other two behind.<br />
<br />
"Don't like this," Tauria grumbled, gripping the table tightly.<br />
<br />
"Don't worry, Tauria." Cani smiled. "I am sure your chance will come in no time at all."<br />
<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12138Solitaire Collier2023-01-31T02:50:37Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thank you... But this isn't gonna end well, is it?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir... You've grown.."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Solitaire seems really upset that dying doesn't seem to stick with her..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "See? I was right. This affinity is more like it!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riley Arwell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She hasn't had a classmate before, she seems excited now that she has one..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Makopi Quowaital]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She seems really happy to have another beastkin as a friend."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ganondorf Dragmire]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "It's a difficult world, Solitaire. Don't rush into choices you can't take back."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Juni Vandrer]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-0-red.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Seems to just rub her the wrong way."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riesenlied]]<br />
| Wayside Outreach<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "I'm so proud of her. She's come a long way. Solitaire seems to like her too."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Noeline]]<br />
| Wayside Outreach<br />
| [[file:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "So they finally..."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12134Solitaire Collier2023-01-27T23:02:47Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thank you... But this isn't gonna end well, is it?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir... You've grown.."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Solitaire seems really upset that dying doesn't seem to stick with her..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "See? I was right. This affinity is more like it!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riley Arwell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She hasn't had a classmate before, she seems excited now that she has one..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Makopi Quowaital]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She doesn't seem to entirely know what to do with someone who lived such a fortunate life. It would be good if she could keep it."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ganondorf Dragmire]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "It's a difficult world, Solitaire. Don't rush into choices you can't take back."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Juni Vandrer]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-0-red.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Seems to just rub her the wrong way."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riesenlied]]<br />
| Wayside Outreach<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "I'm so proud of her. She's come a long way. Solitaire seems to like her too."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Noeline]]<br />
| Wayside Outreach<br />
| [[file:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "So they finally..."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12133Solitaire Collier2023-01-27T22:58:13Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thank you... But this isn't gonna end well, is it?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir... You've grown.."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Solitaire seems really upset that dying doesn't seem to stick with her..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "See? I was right. This affinity is more like it!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riley Arwell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She hasn't had a classmate before, she seems excited now that she has one..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Makopi Quowaital]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She doesn't seem to entirely know what to do with someone who lived such a fortunate life. It would be good if she could keep it."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ganondorf Dragmire]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "It's a difficult world, Solitaire. Don't rush into choices you can't take back."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Juni Vandrer]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-0-red.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Seems to just rub her the wrong way."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12132Solitaire Collier2023-01-27T22:57:47Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thank you... But this isn't gonna end well, is it?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir... You've grown.."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Solitaire seems really upset that dying doesn't seem to stick with her..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "See? I was right. This affinity is more like it!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riley Arwell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-4-blue.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She hasn't had a classmate before, she seems excited now that she has one..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Makopi Quowaital]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She doesn't seem to entirely know what to do with someone who lived such a fortunate life. It would be good if she could keep it."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ganondorf Dragmire]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "It's a difficult world, Solitaire. Don't rush into choices you can't take back."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Juni Vandrer]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-0-red.png]]<br />
| style=text-align: left; | "Seems to just rub her the wrong way."<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2023-01-01:_Journey%27s_End&diff=121122023-01-01: Journey's End2023-01-02T05:22:40Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: Journey's End'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Hiro]], [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]], [[Character :: Kaguya]], [[Character :: White Knight Leo]], [[Character :: Rixia]], [[Character :: Margaret]], [[Character :: Talia]], [[Character :: Pearl]], [[Character :: Seraph Lanval]], [[Character :: Seraph Ragnell]], [[Character :: Ghaleon]], [[Character :: Magilou]], [[Character: Layna Manydays]], [[Character :: Shige Kiwako]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Pendrago<br />
*'''Date:''' January 1 2023<br />
*'''Summary''': ''An old Seraph asks the Fiends and other heroes to stop the Lord of Calamity's plans and maybe save a few souls as well.''<br />
<br />
Talia's last pose:<br />
<br />
The Vile Fiends have gathered in an inn in Pendrago, in the wake of the battle of Glaivend Basin.<br />
<br />
The political state of Glenwood could best be described as confused. As it happens, when a gigantic dragon comes crashing down, sides in a war don't matter -- and with the disappearance of Georg Heldalf, the Imperial leadership is in disarray. No one knows /quite/ what will happen, and both Hyland and Rolance seem to be holding back.<br />
<br />
But there is another matter to consider. The Lord of Calamity has made himself known.<br />
<br />
There are decisions to be made about the Lord of Calamity. A meeting was called -- of the Vile Fiends, with word spread to a few other Drifters. But word spread further after that, too, through a few select channels; even to a few Guard, courtesy of another person.<br />
<br />
Talia is one of those here. They have a room in the back of the inn, sitting around a large wooden table. There are tavern drinks and food available; Talia sips from a mug of ale. She also looks at their guest.<br />
<br />
He is a strange one: an old man, wearing a blue and white outfit, with a balding head, white hair with one pale yellow lock on his forehead, and a blue and gold tunic over a white shirt. He also stands on wooden blue stilts.<br />
<br />
Talia is quiet, squinting at him.<br />
<br />
She has no idea that this wizened, bearded figure is Seraph Zenrus, a legendary and ancient Seraph who almost never leaves Elysia. So it goes. Zenrus is sipping from a glass of water.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya is reasonably sure she's still ally to Hilde and White Knight Leo. Does that mean she's still a part of Althena's Guard? She doesn't know. But when Zenrus got in contact with her, she decided to chance it... though with a cloak. She can do subtle. Really! She can! <br />
<br />
Well, maybe. <br />
<br />
Regardless, a short figure in a black cloak is here. She hasn't said much to anyone yet, except to say, "Hey," and take a seat. She has some mead! It's not Gounon apple wine, but it will have to do.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
The enigmatic sorceress, TERA GRAM, and her colleague who appears to have decided she's completely unrecognizable if instead of putting on white pancake makeup she puts on pancake makeup that's white on one side and blue on the other, have come. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram ate her repast in private and presently has a ceramic cup of some sort of light refreshing beverage. (it is probably ale) Dollie, who has fewer issues, is working her way through a cheese plate, which Tera Gram occasionally swipes from. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram's veiled eyes turn towards Talia for a moment, then back towards the Stilts of Zenrus, then back again, then back to Zenrus. Her eyebrows raise slightly throughout. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
These are strange, /strange/ times. One of Leo's contacts--the captain of the Destiny, and one of the Guards who proved their trust--told him that someone wished to meet with him. It needed to be secret, because of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Glenwood is still ready to erupt in open bloodshed at a moment's notice.<br />
<br />
The door opens, and a tall, cloaked figure strides into the room. The cloak is only somewhat effective, because the hood can't quite hide the horn protruding from the middle of the wearer's forehead. It's enough to stop recognition at a casual glance, at least.<br />
<br />
White Knight Leo calmly strides up to the table, takes off the cloak, and drapes it across the back of the chair with a certain flamboyance. (Some things just can't be hidden that easily, and one of them is a flare for the dramatic.) Mercifully, he is /not/ dressed in the flamboyant blue cavalier's uniform: just perfectly normal civilian homespun. Why would Mystere be here? They asked for /Leo/. Leo and Mystere are different people.<br />
<br />
"Talia," Leo says. "Dame Kaguya, Tera, honored elder." He glances at the others in turn. He seems perfectly calm, even if he's not precisely at ease. But he's not grousing about the clandestine alcohol, so that's at least something.<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<br />
Seraph Lanval worked overtime - or perhaps, over time - to see to the well-being of everyone after such close contact and exposure to a Fell Dragon. A Fell Dragon is always a world-moving event when they are unleashed upon mortals at large. (Putting aside a weird sidequesting tangent back on Filgaia, ahem.)<br />
<br />
Seraph Lanval's at the back of the inn and, well, he's glad some of his immediate mortal acquaintances have coin for all the ale that's gonna be drank soon enough, he'd laugh - but he's on his best behavior before Seraph Zenrus, beyond occasionally enjoying a 'smoke' (or rather, a bubble) from his kiseru-style pipe. A pipe, some may recognize, is nearly identical in make to one that belongs to Seraph Zenrus himself.<br />
<br />
Maybe it's a common housewarming gift for Seraphim of a certain caliber, but, moving on from the minutae of Seraphim and pipes...<br />
<br />
...there isn't much to move forward from, he's just kind of working his own native Domain when tensions are running high and some feelings are needed to be eaten.<br />
<br />
Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
'This is covert,' they said.<br />
<br />
'Try not to attract too much attention,' they said.<br />
<br />
Magilou has appeared in this back-end room dressed in a varsity jacket, with orange and blue high socks and pleated short skirt, a keychain of Bienfu hanging from her zipper. Her massive hair has been tamed into two braids, with mismatching hairties. She has a pair of big, thick glasses over her pointed ears, which assuredly don't have glass in them.<br />
<br />
You know. A disguise.<br />
<br />
Pray she does not disguise herself further.<br />
<br />
She knows Zenrus, of course, though even /she/ hasn't seen him often in her life -- Magilou, for all she's kin to the Seraphim, is not a Seraph herself, and declines to violate the sanctity of Zenrus's village.<br />
<br />
"Welcome, welcome," she grins, as another cloaked figure enters the fray. What she's welcoming them to... well, they'll find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel Armitage, far as she can tell, finds the Lord of Calamity situation to be pretty simple. But if there is someone reaching out to the Vile Fiends, perhaps there is more than meets the eye.<br />
<br />
Marivel's current mood is: Anxious. Kamui is still sick and far as her knowledge extends, her fate is due to be a dire one. And it weighs on her more than this latest dire threat to a world amongst other dire threats to the world. As it stands, even considering Vinsfeld there's four other problems that are making themselves more and more urgent.<br />
<br />
She arrives in a cloud of bats that form into a singular Marivel as per the rites of her people. She takes a look at the stilts. A Seraph that looks old must be pretty ancient--or at least feel that way. And if they can stand on stilts casually they must be very powerful.<br />
<br />
She sits down next to TERA GRAM, drawn to her because they have something important in common: Really bad aliases.<br />
<br />
She is presently wearing a corgi doll on her head, a black bat wing out of her left side, and a black feathered angel wing out the right. She is also wearing a school uniform from circa 5000 years ago.<br />
<br />
It is a perfect disguise.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
For Shige's part, she arrived somewhat early and found herself a seat to watch the people coming in. Morbid curiousity getting the better of her at this point, causing her to linger and learn. Snacking on a fish cake, whether one is served there or not and occasionally taking a pull from the inn's drink. You know, avoiding her own stock for now. Especially seeing as how someone else present did something with two of them! <br />
<br />
She's at least dressed like a local. Wearing a fairly simple dress with the folksy patterns and sash. She didn't give a fake name, this sort of thing is mostly new to her. Also you know, beastfolk carrying a strange lantern. Said lantern's under her chair, still chained to the sash instead of a belt. <br />
<br />
She's starting to think she should have stuck with her button up blouse, skirt and boots though. Even if the dress is cozy at least. She also offers a low wave to the few familiar faces.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Rixia... Rixia, um...<br />
<br />
Rixia got washed down the river from Emrys Mire after the battle with the Fel Dragon, and was rescued by Talia in the end; that's the main reason she's here, because she's a sopping wet, lost stray cat of a person that's basically just followed Talia around since then.<br />
<br />
That was the her of before, though; now, she's /warm/, and has /food/ and /drink/ and mmmm everything is so good and comfortable as she stuffs bread down her throat and nearly chokes on it, tail wagging left and right in happiness.<br />
<br />
But Kaguya is here too! And the enigmatic sorceress from the prior battle, and Miss Leviram is there!! And-- whoa, who's that flamboyant person in the cloak with the mask? Is he a friend of Venetia's? <br />
<br />
And Lanval's there too, who she can now see (and given her thanks to), Shige from the battle, and... ... no, since she can't figure out who Mystere is, she sure as heck isn't figuring out who Magilou is.<br />
<br />
Rixia, on the other hand, has absolutely no disguises, so she's in her (cutely modified) Guard uniform because she got to launder that.<br />
<br />
You think she has money for accessories and DLC costumes?????????? Rixia "Yesterday's Bread" Nolastname????<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.<br />
Lanval isn't here alone. Layna's been spending most of her time lately with her crew, planning their next big thing... but, recent events require her attention. The matters that have been transpiring lately affect everyone, so it's time for her to get back into action. It's for her crew's sake, and to fulfill her promise as Lanval's friend and Seer.<br />
<br />
At the moment, Layna... leans back in her chair, knocking back a mug of the inn's finest alcohol, with food plated up right in front of her.<br />
<br />
...Just because this is Serious, Important Business doesn't mean she isn't going to take advantage of the hospitality, after all. She's still paying attention, though, despite her lax attitude.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
The mysterious varsity student who definitely isn't Magilou strolls over to Rixia and takes her glasses off.<br />
<br />
"Here," she says, in Magilou's voice, "you really need a disguise."<br />
<br />
Magilou thusly puts the glasses on Rixia, and transforms her into Nerd Rixia.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
Lanval, who has ruined almost every serious cutscene in dungeons wearing big novelty beer lens glasses (one lens of which is missing), gives a thumbs up.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.<br />
<br />
There is real unease in her movements as Pearl makes her way through Pendrago. She's dressed simply- a long sleeved shirt, sleather gloves, a long skirt, plain boots, and an old students cowl from the Vane Academy. The only giveaway to her identity is is the staff she carried as Ena. She lays a false trail through the city, in case she is watched, before entering the Inn and ordering a juice and entering the back room.<br />
<br />
As a result, Pearl is late and nervous. She's also wondering as she looks at Magilou and Marivel if she should have bothered. What sort of clothes are these? Quietly, Pearl moves to a section of the large table where her present allies are- rather than being sat with her former allies. She's here because she swore she would help Jean and Hiro open the way to Pentagulia, but...<br />
<br />
A traitors guilt is a heavy.<br />
<br />
She lowers the hood of her cowl, watching the room. The old Seraph is an unknown. Talia is Ivan's sister... and someone she helped Lunn try to murder. And the rest...<br />
<br />
"...Duchess Alathfar, White Knight Leo. Good evening." She is wooden, even for Pearl, and her body language is more closed than usual. She lifts the straw of her juice to her limp, and sips. She then turns to Zenrus, hoping maybe she can just listen through this one.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya sighs. Openly. "I was GONNA be subtle," she says, "But it's fine. Nobody's arresting anybody today." She doesn't put back her hood. She just kind of grumbles a little.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.<br />
<br />
Talia looks at Kaguya -- and she hesitates for a second. At the last battle with the fell dragon, they worked together for a moment. Now, there's all the questions that remain. She hesitates a moment, before she lifts a hand and waves at her once.<br />
<br />
Then she has a sip of her ale.<br />
<br />
She looks at Tera Gram -- a bit hard with the veil -- and she smiles. That's easy enough. "The food, it is not bad, no?"<br />
<br />
Then, she looks at Leo. "Ah, Leo. It is good to see you, no?" Then, she waves at Lanval -- and she gawks at Magilou for a moment. She doesn't quite work out something to say. But she stares for a second!<br />
<br />
So she settles instead on smiling and waving at Rixia and Layna. The former, she knows; the latter, she has met a couple of times. Then, she looks at Pearl. She starts for a second -- but... no, if she is here, she must be for a reason.<br />
<br />
Zenrus looks all of them over for a moment. He considers, his brow furrowing. He takes the strange disguises in stride. But, really, he has met Magilou (and he hasn't met many people from Filgaia at all, so maybe it's normal). He does nod to Lanval, then to Leo.<br />
<br />
He stays quiet, at first, as they all enter.<br />
<br />
Zenrus, after a moment, stands up. There are two wooden clacks when he does -- the stilts that he stands on clattering a little, when he does. The old man rising up only makes him as tall as everyone else.<br />
<br />
"I understand that... your paths may lead you to face the Lord of Calamity," the old Seraph says. "I am Zenrus. A Seraph, who maintains the domain over Elysia... and I come to ask you to undertake this task."<br />
<br />
Zenrus's eyes close. "For the Shepherd, Sorey, will be unable to."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
"It's quite nice," Tera Gram answers Talia, even as she is actively stealing a sliver of cheese to nibble on. <br />
<br />
'honored elder' rings through Margaret's head. "Good evening," she answers Leo. The close examination would reveal her soul leaving her body, but she has her dignity. Dollie doesn't answer Leo because her mouth is full. Of cheese. <br />
<br />
By the time Marivel comes in, Dollie's mouth has cleared enough to mumble to her, "You've a dog on your head. Take some cheese if you want." Tera Gram seems to break out of her spell at the mention of the prosaic, grounding topic of queso. <br />
<br />
Kaguya declares an amnesty. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram, whose soul has returned to her body, quietly sips her drink and declines the opportunity to take off her face cover. Probably for the sake of saving time on questions later. She does take in the various other individuals, open, concealed, or magiloucious in the area, but her gaze then returns to Zenrus. <br />
<br />
"... Well, that's dire," Tera Gram says. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Rixia is granted a pair of glasses! <br />
<br />
She gurgles, mid-enormous bite of baguette, "offf thfhnfnk ffuuu"<br />
<br />
The glasses also help her CLEARLY SEE that White Knight Leo is here, instead of a mystere-ous person in a mask, so, still scarfing her food down, she does the double-wave towards her superior to indicate that she's still alive and well.<br />
<br />
She gulps her bread down.<br />
<br />
"Mister Leo, I managed to avoid drowning!"<br />
<br />
She looks to Magilou with a mirthful, round expression. "Haah! Thank you! I didn't know this was a mask party! By the way, you really look like my mentor! She's really nice!"<br />
<br />
Layna she remembers from the Millennium Puzzle, which, ironically, makes her think 'that's the lady with the giant steel machine' rather than Layna's actual profession of being a cool pirate. I'm sorry, Layna...!<br />
<br />
Pearl arrives, but Rixia is a recruit that's happened entirely after the entire saga with Ena; her knowledge of Kaguya and Leo and her appearance makes her think she's an important, powerful sorceress figure, though.<br />
<br />
Before she can natter further, however, Zenrus suddenly speaks -- and she looks left and right and left and right. "W-w-wait, I'm just... oh, you're talking about the others!" That's right, there's a big gathering of cool heroes here...! <br />
<br />
She rubs the back of her head and starts bowing. "Eheheh, sorry, I'm here because Talia fished me out of the river..."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Leo's relationship with the concept of subtlety has gotten much better over the years, but they still don't speak regularly. He glances sidelong at Kaguya, weariness in his eyes. "Apologies," he says. He /did/ make assumptions when he took off his cloak. "All this... skulking around disagrees with me." It's really the /necessity/ of it all, the fear of his own superiors, and everything else that's been festering since Azado. "But it's necessary. I won't complain. We work for justice, after all."<br />
<br />
It's like all those times Leo's asserted the same, except hollow and bone-tired.<br />
<br />
Leo looks back at Zenrus--the elder gentleman he addressed as 'honored', there aren't any other elders here, /are there/--and listens.<br />
<br />
His ears flatten against his head, and his eyes widen in shock. "The Shepherd," Leo says, immediately fearing the worst. Dead? Hellionized? "Has--has something happened to him?"<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya looks back to Talia. But Talia waves at her, so Kaguya makes a sort of 'ah' awkward look, and waves back. <br />
<br />
There's a lot of questions there. <br />
<br />
In the meantime, Kaguya is willing to say for her own part that no one's getting arrested, even though Leo is the one in charge of the Guard here. That's partly just convenience... but only partly. Still, Leo doesn't challenge her on it, and she... didn't really think he would. 'Justice', after all. "That's one of your better qualities," she decides to say instead. And then... <br />
<br />
She looks at Rixia. "Don't worry about it. You don't ahve to come." <br />
<br />
Then back to Zenrus. "...Lord Seraph," she says. "Is that the right term of address? I'm trying to be polite. Anyway, point is, I signed up to help defend Hyland when they decided to throw a title at my face, and I aim to keep my promise. That means defeating the guy who wants to make everything terrible." <br />
<br />
"So Shepherd or no Shepherd, I'm in."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<br />
'For the Shepherd, Sorey, will be unable to.'<br />
<br />
Culturally speaking, among those who live - or lived - within Althena's Boundary or just beyond it in Glenwood... to hear that the Shepherd will not be able to oppose the Lord of Calamity is utterly chilling. An Age of Chaos is upon them.<br />
<br />
Lanval has himself a little more to drink, which by Lanval standards means 'at least another mug-ful of ale at once.' The enormity of what's being asked by that admission alone...<br />
<br />
"It'sh alsho true that we ain't heard anything from the choshen Shepherd of Seraph Liath, neither," Seraph Lanval helps put that into further perspective, he says as he puts down the mug of ale and there might even be a thin layer of drink at the bottom. He will fix this if it's not an animation error.<br />
<br />
With his free hand, he starts rubbing his chin. He'll wait for Zenrus to clarify the situation before explaining how the power of Purification hasn't been lost to those gathered. Most already know, but he's not going to play down the severity of that. When someone like Seraph Zenrus requests presence before them, well.<br />
<br />
Lanval keeps calm while the emotional ripples run through the space.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel pulls off the wings with a *pop* and sets them down under her table. She leaves the corgi doll on her head. It remains perfectly balanced, as if the engine couldn't deal with it sliding around with her movement.<br />
<br />
She looks to Dollie. "It's just a dollie." She tells Dollie.<br />
<br />
She teleports some cheese into her hands and munches on it, almost choking when Rixia shares the story about Talia fishing her out of the river.<br />
<br />
She squints thoughtfully at Rixia for a while before leaning back. What kind of Shepherd can't make it to fight against arguably the biggest thing Shepherds would be around for? It must be something serious.<br />
<br />
She racks her mind considering just what it could be but--perhaps another dangerous hellion?<br />
<br />
The Saint perhaps...?<br />
<br />
"That's concerning. Isn't contending with a Lord of Calamity a Shepherd's primary duty when one should arise?"<br />
<br />
She glances to Rixia.<br />
<br />
She leans in.<br />
<br />
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure you match up."<br />
<br />
She leans back. Lanval's words draw her attention but she doesn't comment on them. Her fists tighten faintly, her face a mask of conflicting emotions.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.<br />
Layna Manydays... isn't here in disguise! She's already a Known Criminal, a fact that she revels in. One more crime couldn't hurt, and she certainly doesn't mind taking the blame if it comes down to it so the others can escape with their identity safe. She nods to everyone in greeting as they come in - and Talia, too, when she smiles and waves at her.<br />
<br />
Most of her attention is on the refreshments, of course - up until Zenrus speaks. Layna is flippant most of the time, but she knows Lanval long enough to know his behaviors. The fact that he's showing this much respect to him is a sign that she should, too. She listens to him... and then frowns, setting aside her drink with a furrowed brow when he speaks of Sorey.<br />
<br />
"...I remember him. Good lad. What happened to him?" She asks.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
Magilou laughs, clapping a hand on Rixia's shoulder. "Oh, no... whatever gave you that impression..!!" She seems to find Rixia's mentor being nice very funny.<br />
<br />
She does look over to Talia, though, straightening up and tapping her fingers to her temple. "So you went fishing for foxes, huh? I appreciate it."<br />
<br />
Magilou saunters over to Pearl, and doesn't so much touch her as exist perilously in her general sphere of space. "Oh, pish-posh poodleoo!" Magilou exclaims, waving a hand. "Shepherds not being particularly useful for existence as we know it isn't /new!/ Besides, since then, we've got all sorts of new juggernauts to throw at the problem." She studiously doesn't mention what juggernauts those are.<br />
<br />
Magilou saunters over to the Mysterious Tera Gram, clapping a hand on /her/ shoulder, instead. "And even /discounting/ me, we have plenty of sorcery, too! So if Sorey's sleeping on the job, it's really no problem!" She's /way/ too cheerful about the Shepherd's possible fate.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige Kiwako finishes off the fish cake she had been working on, there's a crowd of people here and she has no idea who most of them are, or the proper nouns being talked about. Which motsly just means snagging the lantern from under her chair, keeping it in her left hand and making her way over to steal some cheese and maybe another drink. Better than losing her own stash for now. <br />
<br />
"Not.. the meeting I was expecting considering the past-" she pauses, counting on her fingers, then shrugs. She's not fully sure how many days have passed and it's probably best not to ask why. <br />
<br />
"Who?" she asks no one in particular. This is well above her pay grade. Or in a completely different zip code at the very least. There's a nagging feeling she should stay and help conflicting with the other vibe that she should book it back home where she at least understands things. You know. Marginally. Kind of. Barely. <br />
<br />
Really she's not even sure she'll be recognized, but eh. What can you do.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.<br />
<br />
"Nah. It's not like that. Lailah chose 'im herself, you know. If Sorey can't do the job, somethin' bad happened to 'im, guaranteed."<br />
<br />
That'd be one Seraph Ragnell, strolling in like lateness is a fashion statement, responding to Magilou's assertion that Sorey's sleeping on the job. She chooses a wall to lean against and leans against it, arms folded over her chest as she gives a respectful nod to Seraph Zenrus.<br />
<br />
She doesn't ask questions. That's what everyone else here is for. In the same way, she doesn't offer speculation--on Sorey, or on Liath's Shepherd. She might swipe a mug of beer at some point, though.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
So Hiro is running late, on account of a fish market scandal, we're not naming names on who is responsible but it's definitely not Ruby.<br />
<br />
And so two figures sit outside of an inn window, peering inside, "Nice going Ruby, now we're super late - and look at that guy, what kind of respect are we showing for our elders if we waltz in late?!"<br />
<br />
"Quit acting like it's my fault, that fishmonger had it coming!" "Now how do we get in there without seeming disrespectful?" "We just have to play it cool Hiro - if the two of us just /appear/ we can act like we were always there."<br />
<br />
-=-=-<br />
<br />
Cue a tiny precious pink pawsie pushing open a window, and two figures climbing in onto the rafters. It's all going well until...<br />
<br />
Creak.<br />
<br />
The moment that happens both of them are down to the ground floor in a flash - everyone succeeds on their perception checks automatically, catching sight of Hiro pretending to lean nonchalantly against the wall with his arms crossed like he was always there, a bead of sweat on his forehead, Ruby perched on his shoulder.<br />
<br />
"Last time I saw Sorey was in the fight against Mother. Don't know where he went after that."<br />
<br />
A beat, "... The way I see it, this is the reason why Oracles and Seers exist, isn't it? So that we don't have to lean on one person and their retinue to solve these problems. I can see no better way to put those pacts forged between the Silver Star and the Blue one to the test than this."<br />
<br />
Ruby leans over and whispers to Hiro, "Cool as cucumbers... sea cucumbers." A beat, "Now I'm hungry again, sea cucumbers sound delicious."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.<br />
<br />
Pearl's quiet nerves are not eased by Magilou's casual waltzing into her space. A juggernaut, hm.<br />
<br />
Her soul's companion seems pleased with the assessment. And eager to face this warm up for Sin. A good way to come out of idleness.<br />
<br />
"...perhaps. But I do not know how my ally will face down the Lord of Calamity." She pauses, and looks to Zenrus. "Are you familiar with the powers from across the sea? Will they be of aid beyond providing power?" She has not hid her identity.<br />
<br />
When Hiro flashes in, Pearl nods. "...Decent recovery." She leans forward, taking two pieces of cheese off the table. One she slips to Ruby, and one for herself. Cheese is a comfort food these days. She sinks back into quietness, taking a bite.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.<br />
<br />
"No kidding," Talia says, after Tera Gram remarks on the direness of the situation. Then, she looks at Rixia -- and back at the others. She flashes a smile. "It is true, no? I helped fish her out. I've saved her a whole two times, now, in fact."<br />
<br />
She laughs, when Magilou says she went fishing for foxes. "Mm, something like that, no?"<br />
<br />
There is a brief glance at Marivel, before she looks back. Her brow furrows. This sounds bad. Lanval gets that -- she looks sideways, and then she glances down. "...Yeah. It is a bad situation, no?"<br />
<br />
She wants to make a glib remark, but it doesn't quite come.<br />
<br />
But, as a rule, Talia is observant. She looks up as the tiny pink paw opens up the window -- and in come Hiro and Ruby. Talia blinks, but smiles. "Ah! I wondered where you got off to, no?"<br />
<br />
"Lord Seraph or Lord Zenrus will suffice," Zenrus says. He smiles at Kaguya. "Thank you. It gladdens me to know that the people of the Blue Star will stand with us, in this dark time."<br />
<br />
Then, he looks to Shige. "There is no harm in asking," he says. "The Lord of Calamity is a direly powerful Hellion -- one that can spread Malevolence and create a powerful effect, which can bring disaster to the world. Sorey was the previous Shepherd, who has the ability to combat Malevolence."<br />
<br />
He looks to Ragnell, then, and nods.<br />
<br />
He looks to Pearl. He considers her question. "They may, but... not in the traditional way. The Silver Flame of Purification -- that will purify Malevolence. We have found the interaction of pyreflies with Malevolence... it is different. Pyreflies and Malevolence are as oil and water--the pyreflies will push back Malevolence around them, though be warned that even with an Aeon..."<br />
<br />
Zenrus sighs. "You are bringing a lake of water to an oil of sea, with the might of the Lord of Calamity's Domain. You /must/ be cautious, but I think it may afford you a unique strength, Summoner."<br />
<br />
It seems Zenrus read up on Spira.<br />
<br />
Zenrus looks to Leo and Layna, then, and considers their question. His brow furrows. "Zaveid came to me. Direly wounded," he says. "The Lord of Calamity has imprisoned him. His agent, Symmone, successfully trapped him -- and he has been brought into the domain of Heldalf."<br />
<br />
The old Seraph looks down. Worry is writ clear on his face. "Artorius's Throne," he says. "Perhaps we should have expected such a stratagem from a famed general -- for he found a way to cut us to the core. But..."<br />
<br />
Zenrus glances at Lanval, then at Layna. "...As Hiro says. We now have a hope we did not. And if you can free him there, then--you may have aid. If he is able to grant it." His brow furrows. then, he looks to Magilou.<br />
<br />
"Artorius's Throne is a place of... some infamy. Years ago, a previous Shepherd -- Michael -- retired from his position and created a small, neutral village there. Camlann," he says. "Built to pursue peace. It met a bloody fate when fighting erupted. What most do not know is..."<br />
<br />
Zenrus's eyes close for a moment. "...The vessel of the leader of the Five Lords, Maotelus, was moved there by Michael. Maotelus is the one who could grant a Seraph the power to make a Shepherd. And his vessel resides in the Throne. Which... is now at the heart of Heldalf's Malevolent Domain."<br />
<br />
Zenrus's eyes open. "The risk to Maotelus -- thus, to all of Glenwood and the Silver Star -- is great indeed."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
"Then why even--" Marivel begins but Ragnell steps in. She smiles at Ragnell. For once, the one seemingly in danger is not someone she knows or cares for so despite the extra bit of direness it adds to the situation, there's a bit of relief there too.<br />
<br />
Marivel automatically passes her perception check despite having disadvantage due to her distracting thoughts. She looks right at Hiro and Ruby. "Ah, you made it."<br />
<br />
Hiro posits that this is why Seers and Oracles exist in the first place. He's got a point and she'd rather put her faith in those than some Shepherd she doesn't know, especially--as with Magilou--her track record on Shepherds isn't exactly positive. ANd the whole term makes her think of Solaris too on top of it even though it's GOTTA be a coincidence.<br />
<br />
Still, if her track record with Shepherds kinda blows it's all the more shame they can't rely on one that some other person she doesn't know thinks is the bees knees.<br />
<br />
Only captured, Marivel thinks, so there's still hope though being trapped inside a domain is...worrying. Even a Shepherd would probably suffer in one wouldn't they? Probably?<br />
<br />
"Maotelus was... ''moved''?" Marivel asks. "Who is Maotelus? In a domain like the Lord of Calamity, he might already be hellionized." Or worse, dragonified from which there seems to be no way back. Marivel hasn't gotten any closer on that. A project she expects would take ages. She has to imagine that this Maotelus is likely the intended target. If the very power that allows Shepherds to exist is eliminated...<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Dollie purses her lips to the side. "Is that right," she says to the enigmatic Leviramko, not entirely cheerfully. Dollie then sips her own glass, which is mostly one of those horrible beverages with vinegar and fruit must that actually comes out pretty well if you make it right. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram is clapped on her firm shoulder. Hey, if anything it got a little firmer! Is she working out! Yes, with terrifying sword magic. Behind the not-very-distinctive-veil she looks at Magilou and her own lips pull to the side, too. "Well, I admit I am an ageless sorceress of eld," Tera Gram admits, "but one shouldn't move with haste when not compelled. First think, then leap, and you won't be like the cat on an iced roof." <br />
<br />
That's a Tera Gram Aphorism (tm). Armengard's business model is safe. <br />
<br />
Zenrus speaks at greater length. <br />
<br />
"... Oh," Tera Gram says, "Oh, goddess wept. So he's just gone and gotten the seat of power, has he?" She raises her cup to her lips beneath the veil and just completely empties it. <br />
<br />
"Hope not," Dollie echoes towards Marivel rather wanly. <br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Rixia pauses flat as Kaguya reassures her she doesn't have to come. There's a quiet nervousness as she avoids eye contact. "Y-yeah..."<br />
<br />
You gotta work on that social anxiety habit of hers where you immediately exclude yourself from a group you don't feel confident being in, Rixia, because (unintended) confirmation only sets off the second part of social anxiety's trap! <br />
<br />
But the talk of how the Shepherd isn't up to the task... ... maybe Rixia doesn't have as much of a reaction to it as other dwellers of Glenwood (or even Meribia) would. Because she's pretty used to miracles not being a thing.<br />
<br />
Magilou claps her shoulder, though, and she jolts for a moment and squints. Waaaaaaaaait-- oh, she's not going to just blurt her name out loud. Then Hiro arrives, along with Ruby, right on the floor! They... will not have the chance to have cake right now, but she at least gets up to give him a hand.<br />
<br />
Oracles...? Seers...? There's so many terms she doesn't know... will there be a test?<br />
<br />
The Seraph -- Lord Zenrus -- continues his explanation, and she's kinda glad Shige's here, because she ultimately knows as much as the cat-lady despite being from Lunar. <br />
<br />
"Oh... so the feeling that Dragon gave off... it's just as bad with that guy, huh..." Rixia mumbles to herself.<br />
<br />
He explains a more dire scenario, though. The Shepherd Sorey has been imprisoned, and not only that, the vessel to make new Shepherds now resides in a ... ... bad place it shouldn't be, Rixia reasons in the end, because she really is grappling with Proper Nouns right now.<br />
<br />
Please bear with her. "So-- um-- basically, the Lord of Calamity caught the guy who's supposed to beat him up, and then got a hold of the stuff to make... make more of the guy who's supposed to beat him up. Shepherd. Do sheep come in at any point...? Which... which doesn't leave you with options, but some people have said here you found a different way, but it's not as good..."<br />
<br />
Steam is coming out of Rixia's ears.<br />
<br />
Honestly, Rixia thought she'd already seen the worst when she got dragged into the war and had to fight a Dragon in the middle of a horrible thunderstorm while soldiers shriek around her but... now what will you do, Rixia? Ghost everyone like you always do? Kaguya gave you an out... just run away? Just keep running away... that worked for you before, right?<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
Surely Margaret -- Tera Gram -- can feel the way Magilou's fingers tighten, when Zenrus talks about, "Zaveid..."<br />
<br />
She can guess what happened to the little sister, at that.<br />
<br />
It sounds personal, but she doesn't interrupt. Not until Zenrus finishes talking, anyway --<br />
<br />
At which point Magilou releases her steadying hold on Tera Gram, to march right up to him, instead. "How long did you /KNOW,/ old man?!" Magilou demands, and the anger in her voice is hot and and not theatric in the slightest. She jabs a finger towards his chest, before her hands spread out, broadly. "You know my brat's been looking for him for /YEARS?!/ You know we've all been /worried sick?!/ And now you tell me Michael put the kid's VESSEL in ARTORIUS'S THRONE -- leaving /aside/ the history -- now the SEAT of Heldalf's power?!" Her words are punctuated by angry gestures, as she paces, in front of Zenrus.<br />
<br />
"Damn Lunar, /Maotelus/ doesn't deserve that! Not after what he did for you! What he did for ALL of you! You -- you ungrateful /children!/" She gestures out to the crowd, and her anger is for Hiro, and it is for Talia, and it is for Rixia, and it is for Pearl, and it is for Ragnell, and it is for Lanval. And it is for Zenrus, as she wheels on a heel to point to him, again: "How long has he been trapped there?!"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige Kiwako gets a cluster of words that she genuinely is in the dark on, but she catches enough of it to hold a hand up. After she takes a drink. At least she's not shotgunning it. "So related to the dragon and why I'm missing two bottles of alcohol-" she shoots Lanval a glare, though it's close to like one and a quarter. That thought is interrupted with Pyreflies and the other stuff fighting. Then she scowls, trying to connect the two thoughts. "Is it just pyreflies? Or is it the finality of things? When I heard I could maybe brute force purification I had a concern of it being post-mortem, but..." She wriggles the lantern back and forth. <br />
<br />
Hiro and by proxy the other cat are given a look as they enter, talkign about fish. She starts to wave, then pauses and tries to imagine what a sea cucumber would actually taste like. Then she completes the wave and reaches out to snag a fish cake to offer over. One feline to the other. "Looks like you made it out in one piece." since you know, last time she saw the guy he was getting kind of dragon-handled. <br />
<br />
She does recognize Rixia and you know, not being horribly tense herself, sneaks from the table after snagging another bit of fish, because she likes fish. And not even for the reason you're thinking! Rixia's given half as she tries to slide alongside. "You seem like you keep better notes than I do. Or kept better notes than I do. Too much playing by ear." She sounds more confident than she feels, hidden mostly behind her bartender voice. Cheerful, confident and complete BS more often than not. In a quieter voice, having seen the prior... worry and the current panic setting in, she adds, "Can talk if you'd prefer too. I can get the notes from someone else." It's easy to slip into a practiced persona really.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
The news of what happened to Sorey is dire on its own. Key phrase: on its own. The Lord of Calamity's already got the upper hand on them. Hiro, on his arrival with Ruby, points out the one big mitigating factor that helps give some hope to the gathered, but Lanval waits to speak.<br />
<br />
This proves to be wise, as Zenrus points out the origin of where one can grant the gift of the Silver Flame... and how they have been endangered, even outright compromised.<br />
<br />
So, so, so very many years ago, a very young Lanval was terrified about all the stories of Malevolence-filled Glenwood and wanted to dedicate himself to help keeping the Boundary reinforced up in Meribus. Those Seraphim who come into being in that part of Lunar typically... have life a lot easier, and then some.<br />
<br />
Over five-hundred years later, the Water Seraph who found himself forced into the wide world beyond his little slice of Lunar to look over raises a hand to try and bring for calm as some express shock and dismay. (Especially Magilou.)<br />
<br />
"...'m gonna clarify a li'l." Lanval gives a smile over to Hiro. "Thanksh fer the introduction bit there, Hiro. Mmmm. A li'l reintroduction, fiiiiirsht. Er. If ya will lemme take the floor, Lord Zenrus." Zenrus is venerable beyond venerable among Seraphim, after all. Once given the okay, Seraph Lanval stands up with minimal wobbling. Magilou kinda has the floor with angry, terrified shouting. "'m gonna go over the deetsh ash fasht ash I can," he assures. "I really gotta make shure everyone's on the shame page," especially the Guard. They're going to need the Guard's help. "We go in fulla complicated feelingsh right there 'n now, well. We ain't doin' that. Sho!"<br />
<br />
"I'm Seraph Lanval... shome of ya may know me ash the 'Fallen Seraph.' I ushed ta watch over a part of Meribus ash a Lord of the Land... in the later yearsh, ya knew that part of it ash the Copper Rapier." The Copper Rapier was... in short, dive bars would be embarrassed to be compared to it. The Guard burned it down some time after the ban on alcohol was decreed.<br />
<br />
Lanval has a gentle smile. "We ain't gonna worry too much 'bout that part right now. Sho, ash Hiro shaid... shome time after Althena excommunicated me ta Filgaia... a buncha thingsh happened, but, the important bit."<br />
<br />
"At a time of great need, Schturdark - Filgaia's Guardian of Water, bashically all of the very water of Filgaia itshelf - and I made a pact." A spirit and child of Lunar, having somehow made contact with /and/ a pact outright with a greater spirit of another world. "Ash far ash I know, there'sh only one other who made a pact... that one with Moor Gault, the Guardian of Fire. She ain't here right now, but I'll get ya up ta shpeed with her if needed. Don't got much time ta do that right now."<br />
<br />
Seraph Lanval bends down to pick up the drinking gourd at his side. It's small, and attached to a rope, but he holds it like it's something truly weighty. "Sho, ash I sherve the Guardian of Water, 'm their Oracle... their Oracle of Water." He takes a drink from that gourd, and puts forth the presence of water's power. Water, in all its forms great... and not. "But that'sh jusht one half of it. The other half... the Seers."<br />
<br />
He gestures over to Layna. "Layna Manydays, there, ish a Seer of Water. She formed a pact with me in turn... 'n in doin' sho, I sherve ash a conduct between Schturdark, 'n Layna, allowin' Layna ta act 'bout the shame way a Shepherd might when it comesh ta Purification."<br />
<br />
Lanval holds up a finger. "Now. I don't have the power ta Armatize with Layna, or any other Seer of Water, if anyone knowsh 'bout that one. But... regardlessh of how the Goddess feelsh 'bout me, I shwore an oath ta protect Filgaia from Malevolence 'n other shtuff that makesh bein' the water of Filgaia real tough."<br />
<br />
Lanval lowers the drinking gourd down. "'n me bein' here? It'sh a part of that."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the proof of how serious Kaguya thinks this is is that she /is/ trying to be polite. She... moderately succeeds, apparently. Kaguya nods. She doesn't explain the details--they're complicated--but maybe she accepts being a 'person of the Blue Star'. Only she knows for sure. <br />
<br />
She doesn't think too much of reassuring Rixia; she's just not that nice. <br />
<br />
Instead,s he listens. She considers Pearl, the Summoner, and then looks back at Hiro, who saw Sorey, and... <br />
<br />
'Artorius's Throne.' <br />
<br />
Magilou's anger gets Kaguya's attention, too. She looks at her--she obviously has only some idea about the history there. But she's mad. She's mad, and she probably has a good reason... <br />
<br />
"..." 'That sounds bad' seems like something of an understatement. Kaguya considers. Magilou's rage... it means something. It's important. And Kaguya looks at her, seriously. But then Lanval is talking... And what he has to say explains a lot. Seers and Oracles... and the Guardians' power. Of course, the Guardians. She grimaces a little, but there's no hate in it. It's just... <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
"All right then," Kauya says. "Two questions. One: do we need anything special to kill Heldalf? I'm sure we need Purification to deal with his malevolence but like, silver bullets, the ass of a unicorn--uh, sorry--just, what do we need? It sounds like Lanval here has the goods, but does he? The 'water of Filgaia' seems like it would help, to me." <br />
<br />
"And... when do we leave?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
Under his crossed arm he gives Pearl, Talia, and Marivel a thumbs up. It doesn't clear out the sheen of sweat at all.<br />
<br />
He grins at Lanval, listening to his presentation upon Oracles and Seers, most of it he's aware of but it's good to hear it presented, that resolve of him and Layna to combat the problem, to bring proof of the value of the existence of their pacts with deed.<br />
<br />
He listens respectfully to the Lord Seraph, however he then looks around the room as he mentions Zaveid, as if to wonder if anyone knows the guy.<br />
<br />
Artorius' Throne brings his attention back front and center, as a lot more information comes in a short time, about Michael the prior Shepherd, his village Camlann - and the leader of the Five Lords, Maotelus.<br />
<br />
Hiro's heard of the Five Lords but doesn't know altogether that much about them. What he hears though is Magilou upset, emotional.<br />
<br />
"I can't say I know what this Maotelus did for us. It wasn't in the books you pointed out to me." Hiro notes calmly, but then takes a breath, and uncrosses his arms...<br />
<br />
"But it sounds like whatever happened here, it's something we as the people of the Lunar need to take responsibility for."<br />
<br />
Maybe he's recalling a conversation he once had with Ragnell as he says this, "And so we will. And if that means taking responsibility for your anger too...? Then we'll do that too... or at least I'm willing to, after we do what we're here to do."<br />
<br />
Ruby has left Hiro's shoulder, there's just a dotted line. Where is she right now? Snacking happily on a fish cake provided by Shige.<br />
<br />
Kaguya asks questions, and he wants to know the answer to them too, but for now he's focused almost entirely on Magilou.<br />
<br />
Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
"If nothing else," Leo says, "it's something he'd be less prepared for." The White Knight turns to Pearl, finally mustering up the fortitude to look her in the eyes. She's sacrificed so much, and he could put the both of them in danger just by being here... "He's doubtless aware of Summoners, and he's certainly faced them, but... Aeons--" And it is 'Aeons', for once, not 'Eidolons'-- "Are less familiar." A pause. "It's metaphorical, Rixia. The Shepherd safeguards the common people, as a shepherd safeguards their flock from predators."<br />
<br />
Leo reaches out and nudges a pitcher of water towards her. "Drink something," he says.<br />
<br />
The White Knight falls completely silent, his expression growing grimmer with each passing moment. "/All/ Shepherds," Leo says, and that's all he gets out before Magilou erupts. Leo has never seen her this genuinely, expressively angry. His ears twitch, and he stares at her, tense. When she points her accusatory finger at him, he flinches back, as if physically struck. "Magilou," Leo asks, when he finds his composure again, "I apologize if this... is a raw subject, but it sounds as if you knew Saint Maotelus personally."<br />
<br />
Then, Leo turns to Kaguya, and shakes his head. "That power would help cleanse Heldalf's Domain," he says, "but Heldalf is... no different from any other intelligent Hellion. He has to /want/ it, correct? And he..."<br />
<br />
Magilou isn't the only one here who's suffering a great emotional wound. "He's embraced what he's become."<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.<br />
<br />
Pearl is nothing if not a woman who moves to practicalities and underhanded methods first. She often discards the latter now, but some of these things are worth thinking through with a strategist like that. "Are we pursuing one target or two?" She asks, a thought on her mind. "With drifters we may have numbers, but this is a foe not to be underestimated." She leans against against the table. "So... if we can choose only one target, do we seek Shepherd Sorey or do we seek this Seraph and the means to make a new Shep-"<br />
<br />
She stops cold when Magilou bursts into rage. Personal, genuine anger. Pearl seems... a little shaken. Magilou is a being of whimsy- but maybe this is something she needed to understand.<br />
<br />
"...I believe that explains our priorities." She says, simply. She listens as Lanval speaks, taking in the info and closing her eyes. "...If an Aeon can provide a means of protection against the Malevolence somehow, and the Filgaian gods purification, we have a means. From there we need a plan." Pearl takes a few slow beats, as she considers the options.<br />
<br />
"...Commander-" She cuts herself off. "White Knight. Has the church acknowledged Heldalf as the Lord of Calamity, or is Lady Lucia still the official target of the guard?" Is Lady the right title? Hell if Pearl knows, she only saw her once. But she should be treated respectfully.<br />
<br />
A thought comes to mind suddenly- and Pearl's sense of timing in these situations is often... awkward. She whispers to Hiro, loud enough to hear/ "...I suppose that makes your title as Lord of Calamity's Consort invalid." A pause. "Lady Ruby's claim is then uncontested."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.<br />
When Marivel smiles at her, Ragnell shoots her a wry smile back. A similarly wry smile goes Hiro and Ruby's way when they sneak in through the window. But that's not the main point here.<br />
<br />
It's a little weird. Ragnell finds herself less shocked by Zenrus's news that Sorey has been captured and is being held in Heldalf's Malevolent Domain, putting Lailah, Mikleo, Edna, Dezel, and apparently even Zaveid in danger if he succumbs, and more shocked by Magilou's abrupt, outright ''anger'' at the news of Maotelus's fate.<br />
<br />
But then, Ragnell knew Magilou a lot longer than any of the others, excepting Lailah. And, just as weirdly, because Magilou expresses her anger in such an abrupt and unexpected way, it's easier for Ragnell to keep calm over what is explicitly and extremely a fucked up situation.<br />
<br />
So she's quiet when Lanval gets to his feet and explains what's up with Seers and Oracles and how they relate and don't relate to Shepherds. Kaguya asks some important questions; Hiro makes some important statements. There's more than that, too, but there's a question that none of the others are going to know to ask.<br />
<br />
So: "What about Rose? She been captured too?" she wonders evenly. No need to ask about Alisha--she split off and returned to Hyland ages back. "An' if Zaveid got outta there, where's that put Lailah an' the others?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.<br />
<br />
"Good point." Layna says with a nod as Hiro points out that this is why Oracles and Seers exist. Her attention drifts back to Zenrus, then, as he speaks - explaining the situation. Zaveid - Layna doesn't know him, but from the sound of things... Layna frowns.<br />
<br />
"...That sucks." She mutters. "So we gotta go bail him out? We'll take any help he can give us... though, I'll kick his ass if he tries to do something stupid like overexert himself or try to do it alone. If his pal was in bad shape, can't imagine he's in any better."<br />
<br />
But then, Maotelus. Layna frowns. She doesn't know the full story, but it sounds bad. And then... Magilou. Layna has never seen her /angry/ like that - it actually comes as something of a surprise. It sounds like she knew him - knew him personally, at that. ...Well. There's not much that she could say that could match Hiro's words. As for her accusations...<br />
<br />
"We didn't know a damn thing about this. You can point fingers all you like, but this failing ain't on us, unless you're gonna blame us for not knowin' 'cause the folks who came before neglected to tell us the important stuff." Layna replies. "But we /are/ the one's who're here /now/, so you can be damn sure we're gonna do somethin' about it, if there's something to be done for him."<br />
<br />
Her attention goes toward Lanval, then, as he starts to explain about his role as an Oracle, and hers as a Seer. She goes quiet in a show of respect - and when he introduces her, Layna raises a hand in a wave.<br />
<br />
"Ahoy there." She says. "It's as the lad says. If you need a demonstration, I can show you what we can do."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.<br />
<br />
"One of the Five Lords of the Seraphim. Our leaders -- and the source of the purifying power of the Shepherd," Zenrus says to Marival, with a brief glance. Then, he looks to Tera Gram.<br />
<br />
"He has," Zenrus says. "If only... mm. No, not the time."<br />
<br />
The old man shakes his head.<br />
<br />
"It'll be bad, Rixia," Talia interjects. She looks at her for a second -- and then she smiles. "But you'll have friends there, no? You won't be alone. So you'll get through it, if you want to go. And... if you don't want to go, that is okay, too."<br />
<br />
"I am afraid it is as bad as you say," Zenrus says. "And no, sheep do not come up."<br />
<br />
Then, Magilou shouts at him. He tenses for a moment. His eyes close, and he exhales. "Michael did not simply pluck him up. Maotelus asked to be moved... and he said that he wished to place his faith in humanity. In the future," Zenrus said. "I urged him to not, for I saw... a darkness in Michael. Maotelus did, too--and he wanted to make things better than they had been."<br />
<br />
He looks up. "I sought to honor Maotelus's wishes. He wished for his removal to be secret. He wished for it to be honored. I took that oath -- and others besides."<br />
<br />
He keeps calm, but he tenses for a moment. When Lanval asks for the floor, Zenrus nods.<br />
<br />
He quiets, and looks at Layna. "I trust you, Lady Layna. No demonstration is necessary, though I ask you give the Throne many." Then, he nods. "I am confident that this power -- this union of two stars -- may get us through. And..." He looks at Kaguya. Zenrus's bushy eyebrows furrow.<br />
<br />
"As to when you leave... stock well," Zenrus says. He affords a smile. "It is a journey of two days, and through hard mountains. I suggest you rest before you leave."<br />
<br />
Kaguya asked another question. Zenrus doesn't answer it, yet. He looks to Leo, instead. "That is true. That said... I don't know the circumstances of Heldalf's transformation," Zenrus says. "If you can find evidence at the Origin Village, then... perhaps you may have an answer, as to whether he can be purified."<br />
<br />
Pearl makes her declaration, and Talia motions: 'nope nope nope abort abort abort!'<br />
<br />
Zenrus looks to Ragnell. "Rose... she was injured six weeks ago in Adlehyde. I only realized, after the fact, that the assailant was Lunarre. She recuperates, even now. Dezel is with her. The Prime Lord and other Sub-Lords... no," Zenrus says, softly. "We believe they are with Sorey, too. I am sorry, for not mentioning -- but we haven't seen Fell Dragons yet."<br />
<br />
Then, Zenrus looks at Pearl. "Yes. Summon your Aeon only at the right time. It may weaken him -- and it may assist with a tool that Zaveid provided, which I think may give you a chance to defeat him."<br />
<br />
At that, Zenrus reaches into his robes. He pulls out an object none might have expected him to have: a large black pistol, square-ish, with silver inlaid along it. He puts it on the table -- and then slides it to Kaguya. "Of those here, you seem the best equipped to make use of this." Magilou may recognize it, of course. "This is an ancient relic... a weapon, which can convert mana into a bullet. Normally, I would suggest that you fashion it from Seraphic energies... but it naturally creates Althenan magic."<br />
<br />
He looks at Kaguya. "It can also draw upon the energy of the wielder. Magic of the Silver Star and Blue Star, together," he says. "Combined into a bullet of incredible force, which will -- once fired -- bind Heldalf more fully to our world. This will make your great task easier -- to kill him, or otherwise."<br />
<br />
Zenrus nods. "It has been wielded by many. Carry it well, Kaguya of the True Shot. The weapon's name..."<br />
<br />
Somewhere, a Sheriff Star gleams.<br />
<br />
"...is Zeikfried."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel's eyes widen faintly as Magilou starts ranting. Marivel presses her lips firmly against one another. It is a familiar story.<br />
<br />
No, it is a familiar story of a familiar story of a familiar story. She can't help but laugh.<br />
<br />
And laugh she does. It isn't a happy laugh. It is the kind of laugh one unleashes when in utter utter despair.<br />
<br />
No it's not exactly that. Utter despair was reached a while ago. This is beyond despair. It's emptiness. It's what you get when despair burns out and there's nothing left. The metaphorical equivalent of turning into a dragon, perhaps.<br />
<br />
She's so tired. Just a little longer... ...No, no--the wound is raw now. Be a helper just a little longer.<br />
<br />
"Again and again, the same old story." Marivel says softly. "Will you take it all on yourselves, Hiro, and repeat the tale?"<br />
<br />
She doesn't seem surpried that Magilou knew Maotelus. Of course she did.<br />
<br />
"You're already carrying one sacrifice, perhaps you think--ah--then another would be easy!"<br />
<br />
She exhales slowly. "Ah, seeing yourself in others--tis a terrible thing. Hiro, obviously you don't share any blame for what is going on with Maotelus, it sounds like you just heard of him. It is not your task to take responsibility. Surely, if you have any responsibility as a 'Vile Fiend'. The task, if you recall..."<br />
<br />
She snaps her fingers in an Emetian manner. "Tis to change the ending, to change The Answers provided. After all, old ladies such as myself already gave ours. We see the results today. For good or ill, you must make your own choices to take responsibility for. The choices of those with ill intent are not yours to carry nor Lunar's. The best and worst thing about humanity is that they ''don't'' have long memories."<br />
<br />
She specifies Hiro but it could really apply to anyone. She crosses one leg over the other and takes some of Dollie's offered cheese. She spins it on her finger.<br />
<br />
Layna already spells it out just so, but Marivel can be the old lady who says it too.<br />
<br />
She might have gone on about it for a while longer only<br />
<br />
''The weapon's name... is Zeikfried''<br />
<br />
"...."<br />
<br />
"...WHAT A COINCIDENCE." Marivel says.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
The tightening grasp on her shoulder brings Tera Gram out of her ageless sorceress haze with alacrity. Her veiled face turns towards Magilou but she's disengaging -- going over to speak wih fury towards Zenrus -- <br />
<br />
Some part of Margaret thinks: I should do something to stop her from berating --<br />
<br />
But it must be vestigal because the thought just kind of peters out. <br />
<br />
Her words are cutting, and come from the heart; if anything is wrong in them, it's all going to be a matter of emphasis. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram's heart is filled with sorrow, perhaps empathy, at the rest of what Zenrus says. This tale of trust betrayed, of hope dashed, of innocence misled. It's tiring, isn't it? She may be a mere flirty fifty compared to some of the older folks around, but that's long enough to be around the block, several times. <br />
<br />
So it's Dollie who says, "Aye then, so... draw the man out, shock him with the Aeon and then shoot him with this gun? S'got only one shot?" <br />
<br />
She turns her head to look at Kaguya. "Don't miss," Dollie tells her, a little flatly. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige snatches some fish from her side of the table, and she gives her half! Rixia does like fish. "I--I'd be more proud if I was actually jotting it down," she laughs nervously, before staring down at the fish. "But I don't know how to write, so no notes for me." She nips at the fish, at least in the hopes that Ruby won't snatch it away from her.<br />
<br />
Lanval, though, introduces himself as the Lord of the Land of Meribus... she knew he was an important fellow! ... she doesn't know what the Copper Rapier is though. But importantly, he... made a pact? With... someone she doesn't know. But importantly, Layna is a Seer of Water! And so they can do the thing a Shepherd's supposed to do -- protect the flock, as Leo explains.<br />
<br />
"Wow..." she whispers, awed. What else can she say to that?<br />
<br />
Kaguya is to the point; what's needed to kill Heldalf? Rixia wouldn't admit it, but Kaguya reminds her of her father; always straight and to the point, and seemingly fearless. Maybe that's the way in which she admires her, when she wields those ARMs that still intimidate her.<br />
<br />
Pearl speaks about a Lucia, who she doesn't... know too much about, but she's heard the gossip from the other rookie Guards... could there be more than one? She doesn't honestly know. Ragnell asks about other people who may or may not have been captured; she gets the sense that there's another band of heroes, so to speak...<br />
<br />
If that wasn't bad enough, though, seeing Magilou detonate in front of her in a way she hasn't before -- a way she at least understands is very personal and hurtful with what's happened -- has her shrinking further into herself. She feels a bit blue in the face. What she isn't ready for, however, is Magilou redirecting her anger to the crowd, to her. Not after all Maotelus did for her... for Lunar... what does she mean? What does it even mean? Honestly, it doesn't matter, because the barbs are what matters at the moment, and where Hiro kindly says that he'll take responsibility for her anger, and Layna rebuffs it while also saying they're going to do something about it, Rixia's...<br />
<br />
Rixia's left with the automatic doormat response that she says to every angry, (usually drunk) hostess her dad paid to daycare-sit her when they start blaming her for being a war orphan:<br />
<br />
"Sorry-- sorry, um, I'm sorry... for being born..."<br />
<br />
At the very least, Leo tells her to basically breathe and drink water, so she hides herself behind a cup of water, because she can tell he's hurting too. It also kinda helps her hide her blubbering right now, as a grand plan is hatched involving an 'Aeon', who the mysterious sorceress lady of Vane seems to wield, along with Layna and Lanval's purification--<br />
<br />
--and another gun?!<br />
<br />
Rixia keeps gulping more water in nervousness. Where's the bottom of this pitcher...?<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QuXW9myqmY Tales of Berseria - Will of an Empyrean<br />
<br />
Magilou isn't being fair, of course. She's upset. She is so, so rarely /upset,/ the way men are, heart gouged open and bleeding. It's little enough solace that Zaveid made it out alive, knowing what Maotelus goes through, now.<br />
<br />
But Hiro points out that it wasn't in the volumes Magilou gave to him -- and Layna makes it more clear, and Rixia makes it more /personal./ "I know," she insists, tone still heated. "I know it's not your fault, not really! There's aught you could have done about this, I know! But... but he's my /friend,/" she insists, thinly, hands grasping her arms. "Somehow, even surrounded by villains like us, he's grown up into someone like that..."<br />
<br />
Someone who wanted to place his humanity in the future. Grief hollows out the expression on Magilou's face, as she looks back to Zenrus; defeated, she sinks into a chair. Elbow to the table, she buries her face in a hand. "That kid... he really still believes in everyone, after all this time... how could he sneak behind our backs like that?! Rokurou and I, we would have...! Oh, stopped him, I suppose," she grumbles, with a short little breath, "since we're the villains of the story, after all..." She sounds terribly miserable about it all. Who knew Magilou even /had/ feelings?<br />
<br />
(Hiro. Hiro knew that.)<br />
<br />
She takes a moment to calm herself, and looks over, to Zenrus and Kaguya. "Ah... Zaveid's most prized possession," she contextualises it, a little dull. Considering the injuries Zenrus mentioned -- "He's really not doing well, to pass it on in a situation like this, is he..? And Edna's still struggling on, I suppose..." She looks to Ragnell, who thought to ask about them, and the grief in her eyes does recognise that.<br />
<br />
"Let it end a horror, now, Kaguya," she bids her, quite serious. "Just remember... only rational science, now, mm?"<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
Hiro flusters immediately at Pearl's statement, "Invalid!? It was never legitimate in the first place. It was all Leo being - himself!"<br />
<br />
Layna has a different perspective, and Hiro listens, then nods, but, doesn't entirely agree. He can understand though why people wouldn't be so quick to take on the sins of other people.<br />
<br />
Hiro looks sidelong at Marivel, listening to everything she has to say on the subject and, "Marivel this isn't about some sacrifice. It's about humanity taking responsibility for our past sins. If we don't acknowledge that our people have done wrong in the past - and the present, if we don't take it upon ourselves to do something about it and acknowledge the anger of those who were harmed by it, then how can we work towards a better future?"<br />
<br />
Magilou though makes it clear she's just upset about this whole situation, not really blaming them for it. And Hiro's expression softens, because indeed he knew that Magilou had feelings.<br />
<br />
However, she taught him something recently about pursuing these feelings in a moment like this. Moving towards the table, he picks up a mostly untouched mug of something that makes his expression curdle a bit just smelling it...<br />
<br />
... and he puts it right in front of her on the table. For once he doesn't follow up by saying something, he just puts the drink right in front of her then moves back against the wall, eyes still upon her as he watches her go through all of this.<br />
<br />
It's a plan in three parts, and he can see the soundness of it. It's difficult to pull off, with those moving parts, especially against someone named the Lord of Calamity - but, he can at least appreciate his value as a meat shield and distraction.<br />
<br />
"Sounds like we have something resembling a plan then." As if that's enough for him, just having some semblance of one.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Tera Gram straightens up in her seat as she turns her attention towards Lanval, the intoxicated Seraph (no, no - just... merry) speaking with gravity. He mentions Hiro, who Tera Gram turns her head a little, quickly locating and giving a recognized nod, before going back to Lanval and his old hoochatoria. <br />
<br />
The tightening grasp on her shoulder brings Tera Gram out of her ageless sorceress haze with alacrity. Her veiled face turns towards Magilou but she's disengaging -- going over to speak wih fury towards Zenrus -- <br />
<br />
Some part of Margaret thinks: I should do something to stop her from berating --<br />
<br />
But it must be vestigal because the thought just kind of peters out. <br />
<br />
Her words are cutting, and come from the heart; if anything is wrong in them, it's all going to be a matter of emphasis. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram's heart is filled with sorrow, perhaps empathy, at the rest of what Zenrus says. This tale of trust betrayed, of hope dashed, of innocence misled. It's tiring, isn't it? She may be a mere flirty fifty compared to some of the older folks around, but that's long enough to be around the block, several times. <br />
<br />
So it's Dollie who says, "Aye then, so... draw the man out, shock him with the Aeon and then shoot him with this gun? S'got only one shot?" <br />
<br />
She turns her head to look at Kaguya. "Don't miss," Dollie tells her, a little flatly. <br />
<br />
Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<br />
Lanval, having said and clarified what he does, notices Rixia starting to shrink down most of all as the older-timers among them express either their frustration (Magilou) or to point long-resting hopes that there's a better way to resolve all that plagues the world after ancient mistakes (Marivel). The plan is laid out, and something entrusted to Kaguya - a Veruni.<br />
<br />
He can't really render her aid directly by pact, but you know, he's not the one who gave her Zeikfried. He can work around that, and he doesn't think Zenrus is choosing wrong there.<br />
<br />
"One shec," Lanval says. "Hey, Rixia." Lanval takes a moment from having to be a big, important figure in the room, taking a few steps to her direction. "I can tell yer overwhelmed." What if she's told to go home? To lay down, let the 'real warriors' deal with it?<br />
<br />
"Dealin' with that Fell Dragon like I did - like we all did - that wash real shcary too, even fer me." Even when he was jovial and holding himself against a vast quantity of Malevolence that can - and would, and probably has - turn Seraphim down the road of dragonhood almost instantly?<br />
<br />
"...All we can do ish be true to ourshelvesh. The Mirthful Wellspring, alwaysh shqueezin' out a li'l more joy out of the li'l shtuff in life." Seraph Lanval says. "Like knowin' we have a chance ta fight and win againsht the shcary shtuff we were once told wash too shcary fer anyone but a shelect few. Ushed ta be reeeeeeeal afraid ta shet foot down in Glenwood, myshelf." Beat. "Ragnell over there can vouch."<br />
<br />
That one of the greatest hopes of bringing the Lord of Calamity low rests in someone who used to be afraid to even come to Glenwood at all...!<br />
<br />
"Remember... ya faced a Fell Dragon 'n not only lived. Ya managed ta shtay ash yershelf!" Lanval says with a mirthful smile. "Sho. 'm gonna be countin' on ya ash much ash anyone elshe, y'hear...?"<br />
<br />
He knows his other friends and allies here are well aware of their capabilities, desires, and wills to bring this journey's end - but Rixia's as much part of it too.<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.<br />
Rose was injured and is recovering; Dezel's with her. Ragnell nods slowly, before she makes a face and spits not-quite-under her breath, "Fuckin' Lunarre." And naturally Lailah and the others are indeed with Sorey. In the heart of the Lord of Calamity's Malevolent Domain.<br />
<br />
*Now* the anger comes in, a slow and low heat that simmers her words: "'Course, it doesn't matter if she's off somewhere else; she's still Sorey's Squire. If he gets fucked up on Malevolence, she an' Dezel are gonna get fucked up by it too just the same. But hey, that's one less idiot who needs savin'!"<br />
<br />
It doesn't really matter if it was Maotelus's wish or not, though, was it? Once again, a Seraph placed their trust in a human and suffered for it. Given the clapback Magilou's already gotten, she doesn't say this out loud, but trust her: she's thinking it.<br />
<br />
Still, it's not all gloom and glower. There's a plan. There's a hell of a plan, really, and Ragnell raises an eyebrow when Zenrus entrusts Kaguya, of all people, with the legendary gun Zeikfried. "Damn, Kags, major props," she drawls, and despite that, she does sound genuinely impressed.<br />
<br />
That attitude doesn't last as she focuses on Magilou, meeting her eyes across the room as she sinks into a chair, anger sublimating into a helpless sort of grief. She'd go to her side, but they're just not those kinds of people and they just don't have that kind of relationship.<br />
<br />
"Edna's had to deal with enough without all this too. However this ends, it needs to end," she mutters grimly, and she doesn't say Eisen's name, but she knows and she knows Magilou knows. ''That's'' the kind of relationship they have.<br />
<br />
In the same vein, she doesn't interrupt Marivel and her talk of sacrifice. /We're all carrying our wounds into this conversation, aren't we,/ she reflects.<br />
<br />
Of course, she didn't even fight that Fell Dragon. She left that as a trial for the mortals. So when Lanval reassures Rixia, Ragnell shrugs and nods. She's not sure how much her word is worth to someone she doesn't even know, but she's not about to plug up Lanval's flow in this context.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
"...Sorry, Leo." Kaguya shakes her head, as she sees his pain. "I don't see a way to save him. I don't even see someone to save. But I know you do. And..." She puts on a sympathetic expression. "That sucks." <br />
<br />
Well, she tried. <br />
<br />
She doesn't know about Rose, and the matter of who to blame isn't really her concern. She awaits the instead, instead. She considers what Magilou gets as answer--but it's not up to her whether that's good enough for the old, old, old, old, old lady who helped her out before. (Did Kaguya ever tell Magilou she's old?) <br />
<br />
Kaguya obviously doesn't recognize the gun. She recognizes it as a gun, but that's it. In fact, she lifts an eyebrow. "...?" she starts, and then her usually-flippant expressions change. She recognizes it immediately. "But... But I'm..." <br />
<br />
Veruni, she wants to say. The Blue Star has rejected her, and all her people. And yet... <br />
<br />
And yet. <br />
<br />
"...Zeikfried," she repeats, and the same doubts echo in her mind. The magic of the Silver Star and Blue Star, together. Can she even do it? Her eyes unfocus, look through and beyond Lanval, as if waiting for him to object. But he doesn't. Ragnell gives her respect. Kaguya looks at her, too. She doesn't 'heh', like she usually would. Until suddenly, Kaguya's green eyes come back into focus to pierce down upon the relic.<br />
<br />
'Kaguya of the True Shot.' If she can do something... If Magilou believes she can do something. Magilou, in grief she's never seen. Let it end a horror.<br />
<br />
"Because..." <br />
<br />
Kaguya reaches out to the table. Her hand shakes for an instant, before she settles it on the relic. <br />
<br />
"Because Filgaia is my home, too." Kaguya's fingers close and she picks up the legendary Zeikfried. She hefts it, points it towards a spot on the wall, tests its weight. She does not fire, does not even put her finger on the trigger. But she lifts it up, to point at the ceiling, away from everyone else, to look at it, regarding the solid construction, the silver inlays. <br />
<br />
She looks to Zenrus, and nods, utterly serious. "I will. I swear it on my name." <br />
<br />
What else? The Locus Solus? It is a museum now, not a home. It does not belong to her any longer. The planet itself? No, it does not belong to her alone. It would not accept her oath. <br />
<br />
But her name is her own. <br />
<br />
"I swear that I will end Heldalf's campaign or die in the trying." <br />
<br />
Kaguya holsters the weapon at her side. <br />
<br />
"...With rational science, yeah." Only Magilou really knows what that means. But that's enough, for now. <br />
<br />
"Sounds like we need some supplies, then."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige Kiwako doesn't know how far removed Magilou's anger is, catching the tail end of it and falling silent while she goes. Focusing instead on trying to gather information by proxy while keeping an eye on Ruby, resisting the urge to scritch the flying feline distractedly. <br />
<br />
Any attempts at theft would be met with a mean glare from Shige to be fair to Rixia. Ears flat at the swing and a miss on reading. She taps her foot, sandled, not booted so no heavy thumps at least. "It's fine." she suggests, adjusting her grip since she's afraid to hang the heavy lantern from just a country bumpkin style sash. "I bet you can still help me out over here." Trying to sound easy going. <br />
<br />
There are some important details laid out, summoning Even Bigger Fish, dropping it on a guy and then shooting him so they can give him a shower. It's probably best she doesn't write her notes out, but it does help in her memory. Somehow. <br />
<br />
A look goes to Marivel, similar to the time in the swamp, but she doesn't comment straight away as she tries to compose herself. Smoothing her hair, forcing her ears back up, that sort of thing. She glances down at her side, thinking back on the stories. A lot of them do have a lot of similarities. Regrets, sorrow, sadness, even acceptance. She listens dutifully any time she can. "I bet you can help me out with some of the local... everything." she suggests to Rixia in a quieter voice. More serious, less in character. <br />
<br />
Rixia's last comment jerks her attention away though. First a look to Leo, then back to Rixia, who Shige would try to place a hand on her shoulder, offering a reassuring squeeze. "Listen to the Poltergeist, he's got a good point." One she had been about to make, but had put it together too slow. "That alone proves that thought wrong." Referring to standing up to the dragon. "You helped me out there right?" Not that she herself is particularly important, but it's the little things. <br />
<br />
As for the plan, she'll do what she can to help out, but that mostly means getting a handle on what she can, should and will do over here. Especially if she can help with that corruptive force... somehow. She really hopes it's not post mortem. That part's important, but triage is triage.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
"Mm," Marivel says, masking the hurt with flippancy. "Are you 'humanity', Hiro? There's only so much a handful of heroes can carry. Nobody intends to be a sacrifice. Many a burnt witch have made such proclamations. But ever close are you to it."<br />
<br />
She stands up at that. "I best be going." Comforting Rixia is a bit beyond her right now. She feels a step out of time, each whisper too early, too late.<br />
<br />
Shige looks at her. Marivel looks back. She keeps looking until her attention is torn back to Leo, then Rixia.<br />
<br />
"I ought to go. Time is ever ticking. If there's naught else?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Pearl asks Leo a very good question. The White Knight is silent for a few moments; time seems to stretch out, if only to make him squirm as he grapples with rationalizations. For a man who prefers the direct approach where possible, he is astoundingly good at twisting things to support his worldview. Lucia's nature--and the loyalty and virtue of her companions--put the first cracks in it.<br />
<br />
"Heldalf is the greater threat by far," Leo says. "The existence of /multiple/ Lord of Calamity is unprecedented, but these are strange times. So long as I lead, it's... my responsibility to see Heldalf brought to justice for his crimes."<br />
<br />
That was not an answer. It's probably as close as Pearl's going to get, for now.<br />
<br />
But Leo /can't/ stay unmoved, when Zenrus speaks. Why did Heldalf turn? Leo knows precious little: he knows he went to war, and that his family died when his home burned to the ground. His ears droop. A plan is taking shape, but it seems like they're /all/ stumbling in the dark, in some way. Even Magilou, who's coming at this from an angle Leo can't quite understand, is angry and afraid. "I'm sorry," Leo says, turning to Magilou. "I know he was dear to you. We'll save him, you have my word." Which is... a dissonant thing to say about a saint, but stranger things have happened. As Marivel turns to leave, Leo looks down at the table, downcast. "She never forgave herself," he says.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.<br />
<br />
The plan sits with Pearl, crossing her arms. So she and Leviathan would be key to the plan. "And it would be on ourselves to choose the right moment..." A shield or a spear, which would Leviathan be here? "Is this a technique we can test beforehand with a hellion, or is the power gap so large there would be no point?" Practice is a useful tool.<br />
<br />
Her eyes cut to Rixia- not so long ago she would have admonished the girl for weakness. But that was the Shadow Dragon Cultist. The woman slowly building shakes her head. "Your apology is unwarranted. There is no need to bear the guilt of the dead or soon to be so." After all, if this Michael lives, she suspects, he will not when Magilou gets her hands on him. Or perhaps he will wish he was.<br />
<br />
It's Kaguya that reminds Pearl who Leo's master was, and she is silent for a moment in thought as he answers. It's not an answer. But it tells her much. "...Leo." Her use of his name is rare- and a noted choice. "You have been betrayed far more than any good man deserves." She fears those betrayals are not at an end. "This is not a foe you should face as the White Knight, or as Commander of Althena's Guard." Her grey eyes look into his, a firmness in her voice. "This is a battle for Leo, the man who was betrayed by his master. No other mask you wear. If you cannot... this wound will only fester- and it will change the man you are." She breathes in, a fist clenched under the table. "Learn this lesson from one who has learned it herself, for your sake."<br />
<br />
Pearl breathes in. "It seems we have an accord. If this our only plan... let us be sure we do not fail."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.<br />
<br />
"It is something, no?" Talia says softly, as she sees Zeikfried laid on the table. She glances sideways -- seeing Rixia withdraw -- and she frowns a little. When Magilou shouted at her -- well, it didn't dig in too much. But for Rixia...<br />
<br />
It's different. "Ah, Rixia... you shouldn't apolgize for this, no?"<br />
<br />
She looks back at Magilou -- and she hesitates for a second. "Well... if he's gotten himself in trouble... then we need to go get him out, no?" she says. "That's what friends do, no?"<br />
<br />
Zenrus hesitates a moment, before he nods. "Yes," he agrees. "Zaveid will recover. Though... he told me to be sure that Zeikfried goes to someone who can use it well. He said it's always been passed down. Maybe it's time again."<br />
<br />
Talia glances at Hiro -- then she nods. "Mm. It sounds like, no?" she says. "And we'll have all of us there... to make sure it goes off. And to put a stop to him."<br />
<br />
Tall order, she thinks.<br />
<br />
"We'll have to hurry," Zenrus says, with a look to Ragnell. "For all of their sakes. I came once I knew." He may have had it confirmed first -- but that has more to do with the source. Then, he looks to Layna; he smiles at her, after qa moment. "I shall, then."<br />
<br />
Zenrus looks to Pearl -- and he nods. "It is. I could not begin to hazard a guess... ah, but I think all of you are far greater warriors than I!"<br />
<br />
Zenrus glances at Kaguya -- then nods. "Your oath is accepted," he says. "Fight well, all of you. Glenwood depends upon it. I shall leave you to your plans and prepations."<br />
<br />
He stands up. "I ask only that... you bring Sorey, his retinue, and Maotelus to safety. We've all had too much loss, as it is. Farewell, in all you do--I shall help from afar, as I can."<br />
<br />
There is a flash of light, and then the Seraph is gone.<br />
<br />
ELYSIA<br />
<br />
Zenrus reappears with a crackle of lightning, on the windswept hills of Elysia. The village of the Seraphim overlooks towering mountains -- and he stands there, looking out over them. He is not alone, though.<br />
<br />
Ghaleon stands with him. The Dragonmaster has his arms folded behind his back. "Then... they'll go, Zenrus?"<br />
<br />
"They will, Ghaleon," Zenrus says. "May it be enough to save Sorey. May our actions, all those years ago, have not doomed him."<br />
<br />
"We've given him -- all of them -- a chance," Ghaleon says. "It's all that we can do."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Rixia flinches again, as Magilou relents, still in her heated tone. There's a smidge of frustration, in part because she realises she's falling back on bad habits: of being severely conflict-avoidant, to wear blame immediately to keep important people from abandoning her. <br />
<br />
Magilou says that Maotelus is her /friend/, and... and that's important. That has a lot of meaning to her now, more than what he's done for Lunar, many years before she's born.<br />
<br />
Because she can't really think like Hiro -- Hiro's words of taking responsibility for their past sins is something so overwhelming and huge it feels alien to her; does that make her a bad person? she thinks to herself. She doesn't dwell on it. But he's also there for Magilou with his drink, and...<br />
<br />
Shige mentions how she could help out with the local... everything. She dwells on that for a moment, thinking of how she could pay it forward like how Talia once did for her... "I'll... do what I can."<br />
<br />
Pearl speaks of how there's no need to bear the guilt of the dead -- or soon to be so. Talia, too, tells her she shouldn't apologise. She wordlessly lowers her head. She wants to believe it...<br />
<br />
The weight of what's been placed on Kaguya isn't lost on her. Magilou mentions how it belongs to Zaveid, the man who was injured earlier; Ragnell mentions an Edna, and how she's still fighting, still putting up with everything.<br />
<br />
And then Lanval approaches her, which she doesn't expect. And he identifies, correctly, that she's overwhelmed. When he speaks of how it was scary for him... and how relevant it is that she lived -- and stayed herself! How all they can do is to be true to themselves. Squeezing just a bit of joy out of the little things in life.<br />
<br />
He says he's counting on her. Shige, too, urges her to listen to the Poltergeist, with a reassuring hand on her shoulder.<br />
<br />
"I..."<br />
<br />
That makes her look at Magilou again, of what she said in the battle with the Fell Dragon: just continue being you, even if that means being scared. Come on, come on... don't just stay someone who flinches and runs away at the first hurdle...<br />
<br />
Marivel steps out, but as Leo says they'll save him...<br />
<br />
She looks at Magilou again, face full of tears and nose full of snot and blubbering. "Y-you dummy, all you had to say was... your important friend was in trouble... and I would've... I would've come help! I'm not a Seer, or a great warrior or anything, but... but I'll help." Sniffle. Snort. "Because... what's important to you is-- is important to me too...!"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Tera Gram shifts to get out of her seat in a way that might suggest she's going to the bathroom, or perhaps to acquire illicit brew to take the edge off of this particular terror. But that's not where she's heading. Though her veiled face turns towards Magilou for a long moment, hearing that thin and plaintive wail, she instead approaches -- <br />
<br />
Rixia. <br />
<br />
"Don't say that sort of thing," Tera Gram says, reaching up to give her shoulder a brief pat. "None of us were asked, and we're all making out the best we can. The only way you should stop being you is to become a better you, eh?" <br />
<br />
Her head turns towards the door where Marivel is moving to leave. "Be careful," Tera Gram says. "There's perils enough and to spare." <br />
<br />
Tera Gram exhales with some force. "I suppose it's an early night, then," she says, to no one in particular. (The goddess? Explicitly not) <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
Magilou looks over, to Hiro, as he clonks a mug in front of her...<br />
<br />
... and her fingers curl around it, bringing it up to her lips. Glug, glug, glug... "... thanks," she mutters, not quite looking at him as he backs away.<br />
<br />
(She really does sound a little touched, though.)<br />
<br />
She listens, as Zenrus finishes his explanations. "Once you knew... all right, old man. I'll apologise for... jumping to conclusions. We'll... we'll save them," she makes herself say, through her pessimism. "All of them." He disappears -- and she doesn't chase him.<br />
<br />
She's glad Lanval and Margaret are looking after Rixia, to note -- she's certainly not in a state to do it. (She was always a terrible mother.) She wouldn't fault Layna for blaming her, nor for letting it go; the two of them are of one mind, about this sort of thing, really. Well, it's a little embarrassing, hearing her excuse her for it, but...<br />
<br />
"Good," she affirms, to Kaguya, looking to her. "Do Zaveid proud. ... I'm sure you will."<br />
<br />
She looks to Ragnell, with a single, firm nod. "It will end," she agrees, and they know that they know, and Ragnell's with her. For all the both of them are unreliable at the best of times, Magilou knows she can count on Ragnell, about this. Even if it weren't so important to her... she's not the only one invested.<br />
<br />
Leo, too, swears his aid, and Magilou dips her head as she looks to him. "... thank you," she says, and more loudly, to the others: "Thank you. Maotelus is... very dear to me. I..."<br />
<br />
She trails off, for a moment, looking to Rixia, all blubbery and damp and wearing her emotions on her sleeve. Magilou does want to cry -- desperately. She's just forgotten how.<br />
<br />
Her voice tremors, a little, with the emotion suppressed in its lowered tones -- so MUCH emotion, denied and deferred and carved away, all flooding into the wound. "I need your help. I need your help, Rixia! Everyone...! Help me save him, not for the world, but -- but because I care!"<br />
<br />
Her fingers tighten, around her mug of spirits. "I care about Maotelus! I really, truly do!" Magilou cries out, honest with her /own/ feelings, for once in her life. "I don't want him to leave, like half of us have..!" And if only her eyes weren't dry. If only --<br />
<br />
Magilou takes a breath, and a gulp of something which would make Hiro faint.<br />
<br />
"... sorry," she mumbles, finally, into her mug. "I know there's a lot we've not told you, but... I'll... explain later, all right? I just... need a minute." Asking is difficult, but...<br />
<br />
Well, even Magilou can rely on people, sometimes.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige Kiwako pats Rixia and smiles faintly, "That's all I'm asking. Makes my work a lot easier when you're in a strange place and...-" she gestures with her lantern hand briefly, casting funny shadows briefly before shoving it back down to her side. "-All of this." She's mostly referring to the world, but there's a lot going on here that she doesn't have the insight a local might so... either or really. <br />
<br />
A nod to Pearl at the mention of the dead, "Can't dwell on those thoughts. They drag you down. It becomes hard to escape that circle." She rocks back lightly on her heels and glances to the side, "Something for later though." <br />
<br />
The outburst from both Rixia and Magilou gets... well not quite a smile, but in a way it's good that it's all out. At least as she sees it. "I'll do my best." Is the most she can offer there. She's not going to make promises on other's behalf, but she adds, "Just got to ask for help." That last part sounding more like a personal note to herself.</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2023-01-01:_Journey%27s_End&diff=121112023-01-01: Journey's End2023-01-02T05:21:58Z<p>Fei: Created page with "*'''Log: Journey's End''' *'''Cast:''' Character :: Hiro, Character :: Marivel Armitage, Character :: Kaguya, Character :: White Knight Leo, Character :: Rix..."</p>
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<div>*'''Log: Journey's End'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Hiro]], [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]], [[Character :: Kaguya]], [[Character :: White Knight Leo]], [[Character :: Rixia]], [[Character :: Margaret]], [[Character :: Talia]], [[Character :: Pearl]], [[Character :: Seraph Lanval]], [[Character :: Seraph Ragnell]], [[Character :: Ghaleon]], [[Character :: Magilou]], [[Character: Layna Manydays]], [[Character :: Shige Kiwako]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Pendrago<br />
*'''Date:''' January 1 2023<br />
*'''Summary''': ''An old Seraph asks the Fiends and other heroes to stop the Lord of Calamity's plans and maybe save a few souls as well.''<br />
<br />
Talia's last pose:<br />
<br />
The Vile Fiends have gathered in an inn in Pendrago, in the wake of the battle of Glaivend Basin.<br />
<br />
The political state of Glenwood could best be described as confused. As it happens, when a gigantic dragon comes crashing down, sides in a war don't matter -- and with the disappearance of Georg Heldalf, the Imperial leadership is in disarray. No one knows /quite/ what will happen, and both Hyland and Rolance seem to be holding back.<br />
<br />
But there is another matter to consider. The Lord of Calamity has made himself known.<br />
<br />
There are decisions to be made about the Lord of Calamity. A meeting was called -- of the Vile Fiends, with word spread to a few other Drifters. But word spread further after that, too, through a few select channels; even to a few Guard, courtesy of another person.<br />
<br />
Talia is one of those here. They have a room in the back of the inn, sitting around a large wooden table. There are tavern drinks and food available; Talia sips from a mug of ale. She also looks at their guest.<br />
<br />
He is a strange one: an old man, wearing a blue and white outfit, with a balding head, white hair with one pale yellow lock on his forehead, and a blue and gold tunic over a white shirt. He also stands on wooden blue stilts.<br />
<br />
Talia is quiet, squinting at him.<br />
<br />
She has no idea that this wizened, bearded figure is Seraph Zenrus, a legendary and ancient Seraph who almost never leaves Elysia. So it goes. Zenrus is sipping from a glass of water.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya is reasonably sure she's still ally to Hilde and White Knight Leo. Does that mean she's still a part of Althena's Guard? She doesn't know. But when Zenrus got in contact with her, she decided to chance it... though with a cloak. She can do subtle. Really! She can! <br />
<br />
Well, maybe. <br />
<br />
Regardless, a short figure in a black cloak is here. She hasn't said much to anyone yet, except to say, "Hey," and take a seat. She has some mead! It's not Gounon apple wine, but it will have to do.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
The enigmatic sorceress, TERA GRAM, and her colleague who appears to have decided she's completely unrecognizable if instead of putting on white pancake makeup she puts on pancake makeup that's white on one side and blue on the other, have come. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram ate her repast in private and presently has a ceramic cup of some sort of light refreshing beverage. (it is probably ale) Dollie, who has fewer issues, is working her way through a cheese plate, which Tera Gram occasionally swipes from. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram's veiled eyes turn towards Talia for a moment, then back towards the Stilts of Zenrus, then back again, then back to Zenrus. Her eyebrows raise slightly throughout. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
These are strange, /strange/ times. One of Leo's contacts--the captain of the Destiny, and one of the Guards who proved their trust--told him that someone wished to meet with him. It needed to be secret, because of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Glenwood is still ready to erupt in open bloodshed at a moment's notice.<br />
<br />
The door opens, and a tall, cloaked figure strides into the room. The cloak is only somewhat effective, because the hood can't quite hide the horn protruding from the middle of the wearer's forehead. It's enough to stop recognition at a casual glance, at least.<br />
<br />
White Knight Leo calmly strides up to the table, takes off the cloak, and drapes it across the back of the chair with a certain flamboyance. (Some things just can't be hidden that easily, and one of them is a flare for the dramatic.) Mercifully, he is /not/ dressed in the flamboyant blue cavalier's uniform: just perfectly normal civilian homespun. Why would Mystere be here? They asked for /Leo/. Leo and Mystere are different people.<br />
<br />
"Talia," Leo says. "Dame Kaguya, Tera, honored elder." He glances at the others in turn. He seems perfectly calm, even if he's not precisely at ease. But he's not grousing about the clandestine alcohol, so that's at least something.<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<br />
Seraph Lanval worked overtime - or perhaps, over time - to see to the well-being of everyone after such close contact and exposure to a Fell Dragon. A Fell Dragon is always a world-moving event when they are unleashed upon mortals at large. (Putting aside a weird sidequesting tangent back on Filgaia, ahem.)<br />
<br />
Seraph Lanval's at the back of the inn and, well, he's glad some of his immediate mortal acquaintances have coin for all the ale that's gonna be drank soon enough, he'd laugh - but he's on his best behavior before Seraph Zenrus, beyond occasionally enjoying a 'smoke' (or rather, a bubble) from his kiseru-style pipe. A pipe, some may recognize, is nearly identical in make to one that belongs to Seraph Zenrus himself.<br />
<br />
Maybe it's a common housewarming gift for Seraphim of a certain caliber, but, moving on from the minutae of Seraphim and pipes...<br />
<br />
...there isn't much to move forward from, he's just kind of working his own native Domain when tensions are running high and some feelings are needed to be eaten.<br />
<br />
Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
'This is covert,' they said.<br />
<br />
'Try not to attract too much attention,' they said.<br />
<br />
Magilou has appeared in this back-end room dressed in a varsity jacket, with orange and blue high socks and pleated short skirt, a keychain of Bienfu hanging from her zipper. Her massive hair has been tamed into two braids, with mismatching hairties. She has a pair of big, thick glasses over her pointed ears, which assuredly don't have glass in them.<br />
<br />
You know. A disguise.<br />
<br />
Pray she does not disguise herself further.<br />
<br />
She knows Zenrus, of course, though even /she/ hasn't seen him often in her life -- Magilou, for all she's kin to the Seraphim, is not a Seraph herself, and declines to violate the sanctity of Zenrus's village.<br />
<br />
"Welcome, welcome," she grins, as another cloaked figure enters the fray. What she's welcoming them to... well, they'll find out.<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel Armitage, far as she can tell, finds the Lord of Calamity situation to be pretty simple. But if there is someone reaching out to the Vile Fiends, perhaps there is more than meets the eye.<br />
<br />
Marivel's current mood is: Anxious. Kamui is still sick and far as her knowledge extends, her fate is due to be a dire one. And it weighs on her more than this latest dire threat to a world amongst other dire threats to the world. As it stands, even considering Vinsfeld there's four other problems that are making themselves more and more urgent.<br />
<br />
She arrives in a cloud of bats that form into a singular Marivel as per the rites of her people. She takes a look at the stilts. A Seraph that looks old must be pretty ancient--or at least feel that way. And if they can stand on stilts casually they must be very powerful.<br />
<br />
She sits down next to TERA GRAM, drawn to her because they have something important in common: Really bad aliases.<br />
<br />
She is presently wearing a corgi doll on her head, a black bat wing out of her left side, and a black feathered angel wing out the right. She is also wearing a school uniform from circa 5000 years ago.<br />
<br />
It is a perfect disguise.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
For Shige's part, she arrived somewhat early and found herself a seat to watch the people coming in. Morbid curiousity getting the better of her at this point, causing her to linger and learn. Snacking on a fish cake, whether one is served there or not and occasionally taking a pull from the inn's drink. You know, avoiding her own stock for now. Especially seeing as how someone else present did something with two of them! <br />
<br />
She's at least dressed like a local. Wearing a fairly simple dress with the folksy patterns and sash. She didn't give a fake name, this sort of thing is mostly new to her. Also you know, beastfolk carrying a strange lantern. Said lantern's under her chair, still chained to the sash instead of a belt. <br />
<br />
She's starting to think she should have stuck with her button up blouse, skirt and boots though. Even if the dress is cozy at least. She also offers a low wave to the few familiar faces.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Rixia... Rixia, um...<br />
<br />
Rixia got washed down the river from Emrys Mire after the battle with the Fel Dragon, and was rescued by Talia in the end; that's the main reason she's here, because she's a sopping wet, lost stray cat of a person that's basically just followed Talia around since then.<br />
<br />
That was the her of before, though; now, she's /warm/, and has /food/ and /drink/ and mmmm everything is so good and comfortable as she stuffs bread down her throat and nearly chokes on it, tail wagging left and right in happiness.<br />
<br />
But Kaguya is here too! And the enigmatic sorceress from the prior battle, and Miss Leviram is there!! And-- whoa, who's that flamboyant person in the cloak with the mask? Is he a friend of Venetia's? <br />
<br />
And Lanval's there too, who she can now see (and given her thanks to), Shige from the battle, and... ... no, since she can't figure out who Mystere is, she sure as heck isn't figuring out who Magilou is.<br />
<br />
Rixia, on the other hand, has absolutely no disguises, so she's in her (cutely modified) Guard uniform because she got to launder that.<br />
<br />
You think she has money for accessories and DLC costumes?????????? Rixia "Yesterday's Bread" Nolastname????<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.<br />
Lanval isn't here alone. Layna's been spending most of her time lately with her crew, planning their next big thing... but, recent events require her attention. The matters that have been transpiring lately affect everyone, so it's time for her to get back into action. It's for her crew's sake, and to fulfill her promise as Lanval's friend and Seer.<br />
<br />
At the moment, Layna... leans back in her chair, knocking back a mug of the inn's finest alcohol, with food plated up right in front of her.<br />
<br />
...Just because this is Serious, Important Business doesn't mean she isn't going to take advantage of the hospitality, after all. She's still paying attention, though, despite her lax attitude.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
The mysterious varsity student who definitely isn't Magilou strolls over to Rixia and takes her glasses off.<br />
<br />
"Here," she says, in Magilou's voice, "you really need a disguise."<br />
<br />
Magilou thusly puts the glasses on Rixia, and transforms her into Nerd Rixia.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
Lanval, who has ruined almost every serious cutscene in dungeons wearing big novelty beer lens glasses (one lens of which is missing), gives a thumbs up.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.<br />
<br />
There is real unease in her movements as Pearl makes her way through Pendrago. She's dressed simply- a long sleeved shirt, sleather gloves, a long skirt, plain boots, and an old students cowl from the Vane Academy. The only giveaway to her identity is is the staff she carried as Ena. She lays a false trail through the city, in case she is watched, before entering the Inn and ordering a juice and entering the back room.<br />
<br />
As a result, Pearl is late and nervous. She's also wondering as she looks at Magilou and Marivel if she should have bothered. What sort of clothes are these? Quietly, Pearl moves to a section of the large table where her present allies are- rather than being sat with her former allies. She's here because she swore she would help Jean and Hiro open the way to Pentagulia, but...<br />
<br />
A traitors guilt is a heavy.<br />
<br />
She lowers the hood of her cowl, watching the room. The old Seraph is an unknown. Talia is Ivan's sister... and someone she helped Lunn try to murder. And the rest...<br />
<br />
"...Duchess Alathfar, White Knight Leo. Good evening." She is wooden, even for Pearl, and her body language is more closed than usual. She lifts the straw of her juice to her limp, and sips. She then turns to Zenrus, hoping maybe she can just listen through this one.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya sighs. Openly. "I was GONNA be subtle," she says, "But it's fine. Nobody's arresting anybody today." She doesn't put back her hood. She just kind of grumbles a little.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.<br />
<br />
Talia looks at Kaguya -- and she hesitates for a second. At the last battle with the fell dragon, they worked together for a moment. Now, there's all the questions that remain. She hesitates a moment, before she lifts a hand and waves at her once.<br />
<br />
Then she has a sip of her ale.<br />
<br />
She looks at Tera Gram -- a bit hard with the veil -- and she smiles. That's easy enough. "The food, it is not bad, no?"<br />
<br />
Then, she looks at Leo. "Ah, Leo. It is good to see you, no?" Then, she waves at Lanval -- and she gawks at Magilou for a moment. She doesn't quite work out something to say. But she stares for a second!<br />
<br />
So she settles instead on smiling and waving at Rixia and Layna. The former, she knows; the latter, she has met a couple of times. Then, she looks at Pearl. She starts for a second -- but... no, if she is here, she must be for a reason.<br />
<br />
Zenrus looks all of them over for a moment. He considers, his brow furrowing. He takes the strange disguises in stride. But, really, he has met Magilou (and he hasn't met many people from Filgaia at all, so maybe it's normal). He does nod to Lanval, then to Leo.<br />
<br />
He stays quiet, at first, as they all enter.<br />
<br />
Zenrus, after a moment, stands up. There are two wooden clacks when he does -- the stilts that he stands on clattering a little, when he does. The old man rising up only makes him as tall as everyone else.<br />
<br />
"I understand that... your paths may lead you to face the Lord of Calamity," the old Seraph says. "I am Zenrus. A Seraph, who maintains the domain over Elysia... and I come to ask you to undertake this task."<br />
<br />
Zenrus's eyes close. "For the Shepherd, Sorey, will be unable to."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
"It's quite nice," Tera Gram answers Talia, even as she is actively stealing a sliver of cheese to nibble on. <br />
<br />
'honored elder' rings through Margaret's head. "Good evening," she answers Leo. The close examination would reveal her soul leaving her body, but she has her dignity. Dollie doesn't answer Leo because her mouth is full. Of cheese. <br />
<br />
By the time Marivel comes in, Dollie's mouth has cleared enough to mumble to her, "You've a dog on your head. Take some cheese if you want." Tera Gram seems to break out of her spell at the mention of the prosaic, grounding topic of queso. <br />
<br />
Kaguya declares an amnesty. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram, whose soul has returned to her body, quietly sips her drink and declines the opportunity to take off her face cover. Probably for the sake of saving time on questions later. She does take in the various other individuals, open, concealed, or magiloucious in the area, but her gaze then returns to Zenrus. <br />
<br />
"... Well, that's dire," Tera Gram says. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Rixia is granted a pair of glasses! <br />
<br />
She gurgles, mid-enormous bite of baguette, "offf thfhnfnk ffuuu"<br />
<br />
The glasses also help her CLEARLY SEE that White Knight Leo is here, instead of a mystere-ous person in a mask, so, still scarfing her food down, she does the double-wave towards her superior to indicate that she's still alive and well.<br />
<br />
She gulps her bread down.<br />
<br />
"Mister Leo, I managed to avoid drowning!"<br />
<br />
She looks to Magilou with a mirthful, round expression. "Haah! Thank you! I didn't know this was a mask party! By the way, you really look like my mentor! She's really nice!"<br />
<br />
Layna she remembers from the Millennium Puzzle, which, ironically, makes her think 'that's the lady with the giant steel machine' rather than Layna's actual profession of being a cool pirate. I'm sorry, Layna...!<br />
<br />
Pearl arrives, but Rixia is a recruit that's happened entirely after the entire saga with Ena; her knowledge of Kaguya and Leo and her appearance makes her think she's an important, powerful sorceress figure, though.<br />
<br />
Before she can natter further, however, Zenrus suddenly speaks -- and she looks left and right and left and right. "W-w-wait, I'm just... oh, you're talking about the others!" That's right, there's a big gathering of cool heroes here...! <br />
<br />
She rubs the back of her head and starts bowing. "Eheheh, sorry, I'm here because Talia fished me out of the river..."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Leo's relationship with the concept of subtlety has gotten much better over the years, but they still don't speak regularly. He glances sidelong at Kaguya, weariness in his eyes. "Apologies," he says. He /did/ make assumptions when he took off his cloak. "All this... skulking around disagrees with me." It's really the /necessity/ of it all, the fear of his own superiors, and everything else that's been festering since Azado. "But it's necessary. I won't complain. We work for justice, after all."<br />
<br />
It's like all those times Leo's asserted the same, except hollow and bone-tired.<br />
<br />
Leo looks back at Zenrus--the elder gentleman he addressed as 'honored', there aren't any other elders here, /are there/--and listens.<br />
<br />
His ears flatten against his head, and his eyes widen in shock. "The Shepherd," Leo says, immediately fearing the worst. Dead? Hellionized? "Has--has something happened to him?"<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Kaguya looks back to Talia. But Talia waves at her, so Kaguya makes a sort of 'ah' awkward look, and waves back. <br />
<br />
There's a lot of questions there. <br />
<br />
In the meantime, Kaguya is willing to say for her own part that no one's getting arrested, even though Leo is the one in charge of the Guard here. That's partly just convenience... but only partly. Still, Leo doesn't challenge her on it, and she... didn't really think he would. 'Justice', after all. "That's one of your better qualities," she decides to say instead. And then... <br />
<br />
She looks at Rixia. "Don't worry about it. You don't ahve to come." <br />
<br />
Then back to Zenrus. "...Lord Seraph," she says. "Is that the right term of address? I'm trying to be polite. Anyway, point is, I signed up to help defend Hyland when they decided to throw a title at my face, and I aim to keep my promise. That means defeating the guy who wants to make everything terrible." <br />
<br />
"So Shepherd or no Shepherd, I'm in."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<br />
'For the Shepherd, Sorey, will be unable to.'<br />
<br />
Culturally speaking, among those who live - or lived - within Althena's Boundary or just beyond it in Glenwood... to hear that the Shepherd will not be able to oppose the Lord of Calamity is utterly chilling. An Age of Chaos is upon them.<br />
<br />
Lanval has himself a little more to drink, which by Lanval standards means 'at least another mug-ful of ale at once.' The enormity of what's being asked by that admission alone...<br />
<br />
"It'sh alsho true that we ain't heard anything from the choshen Shepherd of Seraph Liath, neither," Seraph Lanval helps put that into further perspective, he says as he puts down the mug of ale and there might even be a thin layer of drink at the bottom. He will fix this if it's not an animation error.<br />
<br />
With his free hand, he starts rubbing his chin. He'll wait for Zenrus to clarify the situation before explaining how the power of Purification hasn't been lost to those gathered. Most already know, but he's not going to play down the severity of that. When someone like Seraph Zenrus requests presence before them, well.<br />
<br />
Lanval keeps calm while the emotional ripples run through the space.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel pulls off the wings with a *pop* and sets them down under her table. She leaves the corgi doll on her head. It remains perfectly balanced, as if the engine couldn't deal with it sliding around with her movement.<br />
<br />
She looks to Dollie. "It's just a dollie." She tells Dollie.<br />
<br />
She teleports some cheese into her hands and munches on it, almost choking when Rixia shares the story about Talia fishing her out of the river.<br />
<br />
She squints thoughtfully at Rixia for a while before leaning back. What kind of Shepherd can't make it to fight against arguably the biggest thing Shepherds would be around for? It must be something serious.<br />
<br />
She racks her mind considering just what it could be but--perhaps another dangerous hellion?<br />
<br />
The Saint perhaps...?<br />
<br />
"That's concerning. Isn't contending with a Lord of Calamity a Shepherd's primary duty when one should arise?"<br />
<br />
She glances to Rixia.<br />
<br />
She leans in.<br />
<br />
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure you match up."<br />
<br />
She leans back. Lanval's words draw her attention but she doesn't comment on them. Her fists tighten faintly, her face a mask of conflicting emotions.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.<br />
Layna Manydays... isn't here in disguise! She's already a Known Criminal, a fact that she revels in. One more crime couldn't hurt, and she certainly doesn't mind taking the blame if it comes down to it so the others can escape with their identity safe. She nods to everyone in greeting as they come in - and Talia, too, when she smiles and waves at her.<br />
<br />
Most of her attention is on the refreshments, of course - up until Zenrus speaks. Layna is flippant most of the time, but she knows Lanval long enough to know his behaviors. The fact that he's showing this much respect to him is a sign that she should, too. She listens to him... and then frowns, setting aside her drink with a furrowed brow when he speaks of Sorey.<br />
<br />
"...I remember him. Good lad. What happened to him?" She asks.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
Magilou laughs, clapping a hand on Rixia's shoulder. "Oh, no... whatever gave you that impression..!!" She seems to find Rixia's mentor being nice very funny.<br />
<br />
She does look over to Talia, though, straightening up and tapping her fingers to her temple. "So you went fishing for foxes, huh? I appreciate it."<br />
<br />
Magilou saunters over to Pearl, and doesn't so much touch her as exist perilously in her general sphere of space. "Oh, pish-posh poodleoo!" Magilou exclaims, waving a hand. "Shepherds not being particularly useful for existence as we know it isn't /new!/ Besides, since then, we've got all sorts of new juggernauts to throw at the problem." She studiously doesn't mention what juggernauts those are.<br />
<br />
Magilou saunters over to the Mysterious Tera Gram, clapping a hand on /her/ shoulder, instead. "And even /discounting/ me, we have plenty of sorcery, too! So if Sorey's sleeping on the job, it's really no problem!" She's /way/ too cheerful about the Shepherd's possible fate.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige Kiwako finishes off the fish cake she had been working on, there's a crowd of people here and she has no idea who most of them are, or the proper nouns being talked about. Which motsly just means snagging the lantern from under her chair, keeping it in her left hand and making her way over to steal some cheese and maybe another drink. Better than losing her own stash for now. <br />
<br />
"Not.. the meeting I was expecting considering the past-" she pauses, counting on her fingers, then shrugs. She's not fully sure how many days have passed and it's probably best not to ask why. <br />
<br />
"Who?" she asks no one in particular. This is well above her pay grade. Or in a completely different zip code at the very least. There's a nagging feeling she should stay and help conflicting with the other vibe that she should book it back home where she at least understands things. You know. Marginally. Kind of. Barely. <br />
<br />
Really she's not even sure she'll be recognized, but eh. What can you do.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.<br />
<br />
"Nah. It's not like that. Lailah chose 'im herself, you know. If Sorey can't do the job, somethin' bad happened to 'im, guaranteed."<br />
<br />
That'd be one Seraph Ragnell, strolling in like lateness is a fashion statement, responding to Magilou's assertion that Sorey's sleeping on the job. She chooses a wall to lean against and leans against it, arms folded over her chest as she gives a respectful nod to Seraph Zenrus.<br />
<br />
She doesn't ask questions. That's what everyone else here is for. In the same way, she doesn't offer speculation--on Sorey, or on Liath's Shepherd. She might swipe a mug of beer at some point, though.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
So Hiro is running late, on account of a fish market scandal, we're not naming names on who is responsible but it's definitely not Ruby.<br />
<br />
And so two figures sit outside of an inn window, peering inside, "Nice going Ruby, now we're super late - and look at that guy, what kind of respect are we showing for our elders if we waltz in late?!"<br />
<br />
"Quit acting like it's my fault, that fishmonger had it coming!" "Now how do we get in there without seeming disrespectful?" "We just have to play it cool Hiro - if the two of us just /appear/ we can act like we were always there."<br />
<br />
-=-=-<br />
<br />
Cue a tiny precious pink pawsie pushing open a window, and two figures climbing in onto the rafters. It's all going well until...<br />
<br />
Creak.<br />
<br />
The moment that happens both of them are down to the ground floor in a flash - everyone succeeds on their perception checks automatically, catching sight of Hiro pretending to lean nonchalantly against the wall with his arms crossed like he was always there, a bead of sweat on his forehead, Ruby perched on his shoulder.<br />
<br />
"Last time I saw Sorey was in the fight against Mother. Don't know where he went after that."<br />
<br />
A beat, "... The way I see it, this is the reason why Oracles and Seers exist, isn't it? So that we don't have to lean on one person and their retinue to solve these problems. I can see no better way to put those pacts forged between the Silver Star and the Blue one to the test than this."<br />
<br />
Ruby leans over and whispers to Hiro, "Cool as cucumbers... sea cucumbers." A beat, "Now I'm hungry again, sea cucumbers sound delicious."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.<br />
<br />
Pearl's quiet nerves are not eased by Magilou's casual waltzing into her space. A juggernaut, hm.<br />
<br />
Her soul's companion seems pleased with the assessment. And eager to face this warm up for Sin. A good way to come out of idleness.<br />
<br />
"...perhaps. But I do not know how my ally will face down the Lord of Calamity." She pauses, and looks to Zenrus. "Are you familiar with the powers from across the sea? Will they be of aid beyond providing power?" She has not hid her identity.<br />
<br />
When Hiro flashes in, Pearl nods. "...Decent recovery." She leans forward, taking two pieces of cheese off the table. One she slips to Ruby, and one for herself. Cheese is a comfort food these days. She sinks back into quietness, taking a bite.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.<br />
<br />
"No kidding," Talia says, after Tera Gram remarks on the direness of the situation. Then, she looks at Rixia -- and back at the others. She flashes a smile. "It is true, no? I helped fish her out. I've saved her a whole two times, now, in fact."<br />
<br />
She laughs, when Magilou says she went fishing for foxes. "Mm, something like that, no?"<br />
<br />
There is a brief glance at Marivel, before she looks back. Her brow furrows. This sounds bad. Lanval gets that -- she looks sideways, and then she glances down. "...Yeah. It is a bad situation, no?"<br />
<br />
She wants to make a glib remark, but it doesn't quite come.<br />
<br />
But, as a rule, Talia is observant. She looks up as the tiny pink paw opens up the window -- and in come Hiro and Ruby. Talia blinks, but smiles. "Ah! I wondered where you got off to, no?"<br />
<br />
"Lord Seraph or Lord Zenrus will suffice," Zenrus says. He smiles at Kaguya. "Thank you. It gladdens me to know that the people of the Blue Star will stand with us, in this dark time."<br />
<br />
Then, he looks to Shige. "There is no harm in asking," he says. "The Lord of Calamity is a direly powerful Hellion -- one that can spread Malevolence and create a powerful effect, which can bring disaster to the world. Sorey was the previous Shepherd, who has the ability to combat Malevolence."<br />
<br />
He looks to Ragnell, then, and nods.<br />
<br />
He looks to Pearl. He considers her question. "They may, but... not in the traditional way. The Silver Flame of Purification -- that will purify Malevolence. We have found the interaction of pyreflies with Malevolence... it is different. Pyreflies and Malevolence are as oil and water--the pyreflies will push back Malevolence around them, though be warned that even with an Aeon..."<br />
<br />
Zenrus sighs. "You are bringing a lake of water to an oil of sea, with the might of the Lord of Calamity's Domain. You /must/ be cautious, but I think it may afford you a unique strength, Summoner."<br />
<br />
It seems Zenrus read up on Spira.<br />
<br />
Zenrus looks to Leo and Layna, then, and considers their question. His brow furrows. "Zaveid came to me. Direly wounded," he says. "The Lord of Calamity has imprisoned him. His agent, Symmone, successfully trapped him -- and he has been brought into the domain of Heldalf."<br />
<br />
The old Seraph looks down. Worry is writ clear on his face. "Artorius's Throne," he says. "Perhaps we should have expected such a stratagem from a famed general -- for he found a way to cut us to the core. But..."<br />
<br />
Zenrus glances at Lanval, then at Layna. "...As Hiro says. We now have a hope we did not. And if you can free him there, then--you may have aid. If he is able to grant it." His brow furrows. then, he looks to Magilou.<br />
<br />
"Artorius's Throne is a place of... some infamy. Years ago, a previous Shepherd -- Michael -- retired from his position and created a small, neutral village there. Camlann," he says. "Built to pursue peace. It met a bloody fate when fighting erupted. What most do not know is..."<br />
<br />
Zenrus's eyes close for a moment. "...The vessel of the leader of the Five Lords, Maotelus, was moved there by Michael. Maotelus is the one who could grant a Seraph the power to make a Shepherd. And his vessel resides in the Throne. Which... is now at the heart of Heldalf's Malevolent Domain."<br />
<br />
Zenrus's eyes open. "The risk to Maotelus -- thus, to all of Glenwood and the Silver Star -- is great indeed."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
"Then why even--" Marivel begins but Ragnell steps in. She smiles at Ragnell. For once, the one seemingly in danger is not someone she knows or cares for so despite the extra bit of direness it adds to the situation, there's a bit of relief there too.<br />
<br />
Marivel automatically passes her perception check despite having disadvantage due to her distracting thoughts. She looks right at Hiro and Ruby. "Ah, you made it."<br />
<br />
Hiro posits that this is why Seers and Oracles exist in the first place. He's got a point and she'd rather put her faith in those than some Shepherd she doesn't know, especially--as with Magilou--her track record on Shepherds isn't exactly positive. ANd the whole term makes her think of Solaris too on top of it even though it's GOTTA be a coincidence.<br />
<br />
Still, if her track record with Shepherds kinda blows it's all the more shame they can't rely on one that some other person she doesn't know thinks is the bees knees.<br />
<br />
Only captured, Marivel thinks, so there's still hope though being trapped inside a domain is...worrying. Even a Shepherd would probably suffer in one wouldn't they? Probably?<br />
<br />
"Maotelus was... ''moved''?" Marivel asks. "Who is Maotelus? In a domain like the Lord of Calamity, he might already be hellionized." Or worse, dragonified from which there seems to be no way back. Marivel hasn't gotten any closer on that. A project she expects would take ages. She has to imagine that this Maotelus is likely the intended target. If the very power that allows Shepherds to exist is eliminated...<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Dollie purses her lips to the side. "Is that right," she says to the enigmatic Leviramko, not entirely cheerfully. Dollie then sips her own glass, which is mostly one of those horrible beverages with vinegar and fruit must that actually comes out pretty well if you make it right. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram is clapped on her firm shoulder. Hey, if anything it got a little firmer! Is she working out! Yes, with terrifying sword magic. Behind the not-very-distinctive-veil she looks at Magilou and her own lips pull to the side, too. "Well, I admit I am an ageless sorceress of eld," Tera Gram admits, "but one shouldn't move with haste when not compelled. First think, then leap, and you won't be like the cat on an iced roof." <br />
<br />
That's a Tera Gram Aphorism (tm). Armengard's business model is safe. <br />
<br />
Zenrus speaks at greater length. <br />
<br />
"... Oh," Tera Gram says, "Oh, goddess wept. So he's just gone and gotten the seat of power, has he?" She raises her cup to her lips beneath the veil and just completely empties it. <br />
<br />
"Hope not," Dollie echoes towards Marivel rather wanly. <br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Rixia pauses flat as Kaguya reassures her she doesn't have to come. There's a quiet nervousness as she avoids eye contact. "Y-yeah..."<br />
<br />
You gotta work on that social anxiety habit of hers where you immediately exclude yourself from a group you don't feel confident being in, Rixia, because (unintended) confirmation only sets off the second part of social anxiety's trap! <br />
<br />
But the talk of how the Shepherd isn't up to the task... ... maybe Rixia doesn't have as much of a reaction to it as other dwellers of Glenwood (or even Meribia) would. Because she's pretty used to miracles not being a thing.<br />
<br />
Magilou claps her shoulder, though, and she jolts for a moment and squints. Waaaaaaaaait-- oh, she's not going to just blurt her name out loud. Then Hiro arrives, along with Ruby, right on the floor! They... will not have the chance to have cake right now, but she at least gets up to give him a hand.<br />
<br />
Oracles...? Seers...? There's so many terms she doesn't know... will there be a test?<br />
<br />
The Seraph -- Lord Zenrus -- continues his explanation, and she's kinda glad Shige's here, because she ultimately knows as much as the cat-lady despite being from Lunar. <br />
<br />
"Oh... so the feeling that Dragon gave off... it's just as bad with that guy, huh..." Rixia mumbles to herself.<br />
<br />
He explains a more dire scenario, though. The Shepherd Sorey has been imprisoned, and not only that, the vessel to make new Shepherds now resides in a ... ... bad place it shouldn't be, Rixia reasons in the end, because she really is grappling with Proper Nouns right now.<br />
<br />
Please bear with her. "So-- um-- basically, the Lord of Calamity caught the guy who's supposed to beat him up, and then got a hold of the stuff to make... make more of the guy who's supposed to beat him up. Shepherd. Do sheep come in at any point...? Which... which doesn't leave you with options, but some people have said here you found a different way, but it's not as good..."<br />
<br />
Steam is coming out of Rixia's ears.<br />
<br />
Honestly, Rixia thought she'd already seen the worst when she got dragged into the war and had to fight a Dragon in the middle of a horrible thunderstorm while soldiers shriek around her but... now what will you do, Rixia? Ghost everyone like you always do? Kaguya gave you an out... just run away? Just keep running away... that worked for you before, right?<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
Surely Margaret -- Tera Gram -- can feel the way Magilou's fingers tighten, when Zenrus talks about, "Zaveid..."<br />
<br />
She can guess what happened to the little sister, at that.<br />
<br />
It sounds personal, but she doesn't interrupt. Not until Zenrus finishes talking, anyway --<br />
<br />
At which point Magilou releases her steadying hold on Tera Gram, to march right up to him, instead. "How long did you /KNOW,/ old man?!" Magilou demands, and the anger in her voice is hot and and not theatric in the slightest. She jabs a finger towards his chest, before her hands spread out, broadly. "You know my brat's been looking for him for /YEARS?!/ You know we've all been /worried sick?!/ And now you tell me Michael put the kid's VESSEL in ARTORIUS'S THRONE -- leaving /aside/ the history -- now the SEAT of Heldalf's power?!" Her words are punctuated by angry gestures, as she paces, in front of Zenrus.<br />
<br />
"Damn Lunar, /Maotelus/ doesn't deserve that! Not after what he did for you! What he did for ALL of you! You -- you ungrateful /children!/" She gestures out to the crowd, and her anger is for Hiro, and it is for Talia, and it is for Rixia, and it is for Pearl, and it is for Ragnell, and it is for Lanval. And it is for Zenrus, as she wheels on a heel to point to him, again: "How long has he been trapped there?!"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige Kiwako gets a cluster of words that she genuinely is in the dark on, but she catches enough of it to hold a hand up. After she takes a drink. At least she's not shotgunning it. "So related to the dragon and why I'm missing two bottles of alcohol-" she shoots Lanval a glare, though it's close to like one and a quarter. That thought is interrupted with Pyreflies and the other stuff fighting. Then she scowls, trying to connect the two thoughts. "Is it just pyreflies? Or is it the finality of things? When I heard I could maybe brute force purification I had a concern of it being post-mortem, but..." She wriggles the lantern back and forth. <br />
<br />
Hiro and by proxy the other cat are given a look as they enter, talkign about fish. She starts to wave, then pauses and tries to imagine what a sea cucumber would actually taste like. Then she completes the wave and reaches out to snag a fish cake to offer over. One feline to the other. "Looks like you made it out in one piece." since you know, last time she saw the guy he was getting kind of dragon-handled. <br />
<br />
She does recognize Rixia and you know, not being horribly tense herself, sneaks from the table after snagging another bit of fish, because she likes fish. And not even for the reason you're thinking! Rixia's given half as she tries to slide alongside. "You seem like you keep better notes than I do. Or kept better notes than I do. Too much playing by ear." She sounds more confident than she feels, hidden mostly behind her bartender voice. Cheerful, confident and complete BS more often than not. In a quieter voice, having seen the prior... worry and the current panic setting in, she adds, "Can talk if you'd prefer too. I can get the notes from someone else." It's easy to slip into a practiced persona really.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
The news of what happened to Sorey is dire on its own. Key phrase: on its own. The Lord of Calamity's already got the upper hand on them. Hiro, on his arrival with Ruby, points out the one big mitigating factor that helps give some hope to the gathered, but Lanval waits to speak.<br />
<br />
This proves to be wise, as Zenrus points out the origin of where one can grant the gift of the Silver Flame... and how they have been endangered, even outright compromised.<br />
<br />
So, so, so very many years ago, a very young Lanval was terrified about all the stories of Malevolence-filled Glenwood and wanted to dedicate himself to help keeping the Boundary reinforced up in Meribus. Those Seraphim who come into being in that part of Lunar typically... have life a lot easier, and then some.<br />
<br />
Over five-hundred years later, the Water Seraph who found himself forced into the wide world beyond his little slice of Lunar to look over raises a hand to try and bring for calm as some express shock and dismay. (Especially Magilou.)<br />
<br />
"...'m gonna clarify a li'l." Lanval gives a smile over to Hiro. "Thanksh fer the introduction bit there, Hiro. Mmmm. A li'l reintroduction, fiiiiirsht. Er. If ya will lemme take the floor, Lord Zenrus." Zenrus is venerable beyond venerable among Seraphim, after all. Once given the okay, Seraph Lanval stands up with minimal wobbling. Magilou kinda has the floor with angry, terrified shouting. "'m gonna go over the deetsh ash fasht ash I can," he assures. "I really gotta make shure everyone's on the shame page," especially the Guard. They're going to need the Guard's help. "We go in fulla complicated feelingsh right there 'n now, well. We ain't doin' that. Sho!"<br />
<br />
"I'm Seraph Lanval... shome of ya may know me ash the 'Fallen Seraph.' I ushed ta watch over a part of Meribus ash a Lord of the Land... in the later yearsh, ya knew that part of it ash the Copper Rapier." The Copper Rapier was... in short, dive bars would be embarrassed to be compared to it. The Guard burned it down some time after the ban on alcohol was decreed.<br />
<br />
Lanval has a gentle smile. "We ain't gonna worry too much 'bout that part right now. Sho, ash Hiro shaid... shome time after Althena excommunicated me ta Filgaia... a buncha thingsh happened, but, the important bit."<br />
<br />
"At a time of great need, Schturdark - Filgaia's Guardian of Water, bashically all of the very water of Filgaia itshelf - and I made a pact." A spirit and child of Lunar, having somehow made contact with /and/ a pact outright with a greater spirit of another world. "Ash far ash I know, there'sh only one other who made a pact... that one with Moor Gault, the Guardian of Fire. She ain't here right now, but I'll get ya up ta shpeed with her if needed. Don't got much time ta do that right now."<br />
<br />
Seraph Lanval bends down to pick up the drinking gourd at his side. It's small, and attached to a rope, but he holds it like it's something truly weighty. "Sho, ash I sherve the Guardian of Water, 'm their Oracle... their Oracle of Water." He takes a drink from that gourd, and puts forth the presence of water's power. Water, in all its forms great... and not. "But that'sh jusht one half of it. The other half... the Seers."<br />
<br />
He gestures over to Layna. "Layna Manydays, there, ish a Seer of Water. She formed a pact with me in turn... 'n in doin' sho, I sherve ash a conduct between Schturdark, 'n Layna, allowin' Layna ta act 'bout the shame way a Shepherd might when it comesh ta Purification."<br />
<br />
Lanval holds up a finger. "Now. I don't have the power ta Armatize with Layna, or any other Seer of Water, if anyone knowsh 'bout that one. But... regardlessh of how the Goddess feelsh 'bout me, I shwore an oath ta protect Filgaia from Malevolence 'n other shtuff that makesh bein' the water of Filgaia real tough."<br />
<br />
Lanval lowers the drinking gourd down. "'n me bein' here? It'sh a part of that."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
Perhaps the proof of how serious Kaguya thinks this is is that she /is/ trying to be polite. She... moderately succeeds, apparently. Kaguya nods. She doesn't explain the details--they're complicated--but maybe she accepts being a 'person of the Blue Star'. Only she knows for sure. <br />
<br />
She doesn't think too much of reassuring Rixia; she's just not that nice. <br />
<br />
Instead,s he listens. She considers Pearl, the Summoner, and then looks back at Hiro, who saw Sorey, and... <br />
<br />
'Artorius's Throne.' <br />
<br />
Magilou's anger gets Kaguya's attention, too. She looks at her--she obviously has only some idea about the history there. But she's mad. She's mad, and she probably has a good reason... <br />
<br />
"..." 'That sounds bad' seems like something of an understatement. Kaguya considers. Magilou's rage... it means something. It's important. And Kaguya looks at her, seriously. But then Lanval is talking... And what he has to say explains a lot. Seers and Oracles... and the Guardians' power. Of course, the Guardians. She grimaces a little, but there's no hate in it. It's just... <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
"All right then," Kauya says. "Two questions. One: do we need anything special to kill Heldalf? I'm sure we need Purification to deal with his malevolence but like, silver bullets, the ass of a unicorn--uh, sorry--just, what do we need? It sounds like Lanval here has the goods, but does he? The 'water of Filgaia' seems like it would help, to me." <br />
<br />
"And... when do we leave?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
Under his crossed arm he gives Pearl, Talia, and Marivel a thumbs up. It doesn't clear out the sheen of sweat at all.<br />
<br />
He grins at Lanval, listening to his presentation upon Oracles and Seers, most of it he's aware of but it's good to hear it presented, that resolve of him and Layna to combat the problem, to bring proof of the value of the existence of their pacts with deed.<br />
<br />
He listens respectfully to the Lord Seraph, however he then looks around the room as he mentions Zaveid, as if to wonder if anyone knows the guy.<br />
<br />
Artorius' Throne brings his attention back front and center, as a lot more information comes in a short time, about Michael the prior Shepherd, his village Camlann - and the leader of the Five Lords, Maotelus.<br />
<br />
Hiro's heard of the Five Lords but doesn't know altogether that much about them. What he hears though is Magilou upset, emotional.<br />
<br />
"I can't say I know what this Maotelus did for us. It wasn't in the books you pointed out to me." Hiro notes calmly, but then takes a breath, and uncrosses his arms...<br />
<br />
"But it sounds like whatever happened here, it's something we as the people of the Lunar need to take responsibility for."<br />
<br />
Maybe he's recalling a conversation he once had with Ragnell as he says this, "And so we will. And if that means taking responsibility for your anger too...? Then we'll do that too... or at least I'm willing to, after we do what we're here to do."<br />
<br />
Ruby has left Hiro's shoulder, there's just a dotted line. Where is she right now? Snacking happily on a fish cake provided by Shige.<br />
<br />
Kaguya asks questions, and he wants to know the answer to them too, but for now he's focused almost entirely on Magilou.<br />
<br />
Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
"If nothing else," Leo says, "it's something he'd be less prepared for." The White Knight turns to Pearl, finally mustering up the fortitude to look her in the eyes. She's sacrificed so much, and he could put the both of them in danger just by being here... "He's doubtless aware of Summoners, and he's certainly faced them, but... Aeons--" And it is 'Aeons', for once, not 'Eidolons'-- "Are less familiar." A pause. "It's metaphorical, Rixia. The Shepherd safeguards the common people, as a shepherd safeguards their flock from predators."<br />
<br />
Leo reaches out and nudges a pitcher of water towards her. "Drink something," he says.<br />
<br />
The White Knight falls completely silent, his expression growing grimmer with each passing moment. "/All/ Shepherds," Leo says, and that's all he gets out before Magilou erupts. Leo has never seen her this genuinely, expressively angry. His ears twitch, and he stares at her, tense. When she points her accusatory finger at him, he flinches back, as if physically struck. "Magilou," Leo asks, when he finds his composure again, "I apologize if this... is a raw subject, but it sounds as if you knew Saint Maotelus personally."<br />
<br />
Then, Leo turns to Kaguya, and shakes his head. "That power would help cleanse Heldalf's Domain," he says, "but Heldalf is... no different from any other intelligent Hellion. He has to /want/ it, correct? And he..."<br />
<br />
Magilou isn't the only one here who's suffering a great emotional wound. "He's embraced what he's become."<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.<br />
<br />
Pearl is nothing if not a woman who moves to practicalities and underhanded methods first. She often discards the latter now, but some of these things are worth thinking through with a strategist like that. "Are we pursuing one target or two?" She asks, a thought on her mind. "With drifters we may have numbers, but this is a foe not to be underestimated." She leans against against the table. "So... if we can choose only one target, do we seek Shepherd Sorey or do we seek this Seraph and the means to make a new Shep-"<br />
<br />
She stops cold when Magilou bursts into rage. Personal, genuine anger. Pearl seems... a little shaken. Magilou is a being of whimsy- but maybe this is something she needed to understand.<br />
<br />
"...I believe that explains our priorities." She says, simply. She listens as Lanval speaks, taking in the info and closing her eyes. "...If an Aeon can provide a means of protection against the Malevolence somehow, and the Filgaian gods purification, we have a means. From there we need a plan." Pearl takes a few slow beats, as she considers the options.<br />
<br />
"...Commander-" She cuts herself off. "White Knight. Has the church acknowledged Heldalf as the Lord of Calamity, or is Lady Lucia still the official target of the guard?" Is Lady the right title? Hell if Pearl knows, she only saw her once. But she should be treated respectfully.<br />
<br />
A thought comes to mind suddenly- and Pearl's sense of timing in these situations is often... awkward. She whispers to Hiro, loud enough to hear/ "...I suppose that makes your title as Lord of Calamity's Consort invalid." A pause. "Lady Ruby's claim is then uncontested."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.<br />
When Marivel smiles at her, Ragnell shoots her a wry smile back. A similarly wry smile goes Hiro and Ruby's way when they sneak in through the window. But that's not the main point here.<br />
<br />
It's a little weird. Ragnell finds herself less shocked by Zenrus's news that Sorey has been captured and is being held in Heldalf's Malevolent Domain, putting Lailah, Mikleo, Edna, Dezel, and apparently even Zaveid in danger if he succumbs, and more shocked by Magilou's abrupt, outright ''anger'' at the news of Maotelus's fate.<br />
<br />
But then, Ragnell knew Magilou a lot longer than any of the others, excepting Lailah. And, just as weirdly, because Magilou expresses her anger in such an abrupt and unexpected way, it's easier for Ragnell to keep calm over what is explicitly and extremely a fucked up situation.<br />
<br />
So she's quiet when Lanval gets to his feet and explains what's up with Seers and Oracles and how they relate and don't relate to Shepherds. Kaguya asks some important questions; Hiro makes some important statements. There's more than that, too, but there's a question that none of the others are going to know to ask.<br />
<br />
So: "What about Rose? She been captured too?" she wonders evenly. No need to ask about Alisha--she split off and returned to Hyland ages back. "An' if Zaveid got outta there, where's that put Lailah an' the others?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.<br />
<br />
"Good point." Layna says with a nod as Hiro points out that this is why Oracles and Seers exist. Her attention drifts back to Zenrus, then, as he speaks - explaining the situation. Zaveid - Layna doesn't know him, but from the sound of things... Layna frowns.<br />
<br />
"...That sucks." She mutters. "So we gotta go bail him out? We'll take any help he can give us... though, I'll kick his ass if he tries to do something stupid like overexert himself or try to do it alone. If his pal was in bad shape, can't imagine he's in any better."<br />
<br />
But then, Maotelus. Layna frowns. She doesn't know the full story, but it sounds bad. And then... Magilou. Layna has never seen her /angry/ like that - it actually comes as something of a surprise. It sounds like she knew him - knew him personally, at that. ...Well. There's not much that she could say that could match Hiro's words. As for her accusations...<br />
<br />
"We didn't know a damn thing about this. You can point fingers all you like, but this failing ain't on us, unless you're gonna blame us for not knowin' 'cause the folks who came before neglected to tell us the important stuff." Layna replies. "But we /are/ the one's who're here /now/, so you can be damn sure we're gonna do somethin' about it, if there's something to be done for him."<br />
<br />
Her attention goes toward Lanval, then, as he starts to explain about his role as an Oracle, and hers as a Seer. She goes quiet in a show of respect - and when he introduces her, Layna raises a hand in a wave.<br />
<br />
"Ahoy there." She says. "It's as the lad says. If you need a demonstration, I can show you what we can do."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.<br />
<br />
"One of the Five Lords of the Seraphim. Our leaders -- and the source of the purifying power of the Shepherd," Zenrus says to Marival, with a brief glance. Then, he looks to Tera Gram.<br />
<br />
"He has," Zenrus says. "If only... mm. No, not the time."<br />
<br />
The old man shakes his head.<br />
<br />
"It'll be bad, Rixia," Talia interjects. She looks at her for a second -- and then she smiles. "But you'll have friends there, no? You won't be alone. So you'll get through it, if you want to go. And... if you don't want to go, that is okay, too."<br />
<br />
"I am afraid it is as bad as you say," Zenrus says. "And no, sheep do not come up."<br />
<br />
Then, Magilou shouts at him. He tenses for a moment. His eyes close, and he exhales. "Michael did not simply pluck him up. Maotelus asked to be moved... and he said that he wished to place his faith in humanity. In the future," Zenrus said. "I urged him to not, for I saw... a darkness in Michael. Maotelus did, too--and he wanted to make things better than they had been."<br />
<br />
He looks up. "I sought to honor Maotelus's wishes. He wished for his removal to be secret. He wished for it to be honored. I took that oath -- and others besides."<br />
<br />
He keeps calm, but he tenses for a moment. When Lanval asks for the floor, Zenrus nods.<br />
<br />
He quiets, and looks at Layna. "I trust you, Lady Layna. No demonstration is necessary, though I ask you give the Throne many." Then, he nods. "I am confident that this power -- this union of two stars -- may get us through. And..." He looks at Kaguya. Zenrus's bushy eyebrows furrow.<br />
<br />
"As to when you leave... stock well," Zenrus says. He affords a smile. "It is a journey of two days, and through hard mountains. I suggest you rest before you leave."<br />
<br />
Kaguya asked another question. Zenrus doesn't answer it, yet. He looks to Leo, instead. "That is true. That said... I don't know the circumstances of Heldalf's transformation," Zenrus says. "If you can find evidence at the Origin Village, then... perhaps you may have an answer, as to whether he can be purified."<br />
<br />
Pearl makes her declaration, and Talia motions: 'nope nope nope abort abort abort!'<br />
<br />
Zenrus looks to Ragnell. "Rose... she was injured six weeks ago in Adlehyde. I only realized, after the fact, that the assailant was Lunarre. She recuperates, even now. Dezel is with her. The Prime Lord and other Sub-Lords... no," Zenrus says, softly. "We believe they are with Sorey, too. I am sorry, for not mentioning -- but we haven't seen Fell Dragons yet."<br />
<br />
Then, Zenrus looks at Pearl. "Yes. Summon your Aeon only at the right time. It may weaken him -- and it may assist with a tool that Zaveid provided, which I think may give you a chance to defeat him."<br />
<br />
At that, Zenrus reaches into his robes. He pulls out an object none might have expected him to have: a large black pistol, square-ish, with silver inlaid along it. He puts it on the table -- and then slides it to Kaguya. "Of those here, you seem the best equipped to make use of this." Magilou may recognize it, of course. "This is an ancient relic... a weapon, which can convert mana into a bullet. Normally, I would suggest that you fashion it from Seraphic energies... but it naturally creates Althenan magic."<br />
<br />
He looks at Kaguya. "It can also draw upon the energy of the wielder. Magic of the Silver Star and Blue Star, together," he says. "Combined into a bullet of incredible force, which will -- once fired -- bind Heldalf more fully to our world. This will make your great task easier -- to kill him, or otherwise."<br />
<br />
Zenrus nods. "It has been wielded by many. Carry it well, Kaguya of the True Shot. The weapon's name..."<br />
<br />
Somewhere, a Sheriff Star gleams.<br />
<br />
"...is Zeikfried."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel's eyes widen faintly as Magilou starts ranting. Marivel presses her lips firmly against one another. It is a familiar story.<br />
<br />
No, it is a familiar story of a familiar story of a familiar story. She can't help but laugh.<br />
<br />
And laugh she does. It isn't a happy laugh. It is the kind of laugh one unleashes when in utter utter despair.<br />
<br />
No it's not exactly that. Utter despair was reached a while ago. This is beyond despair. It's emptiness. It's what you get when despair burns out and there's nothing left. The metaphorical equivalent of turning into a dragon, perhaps.<br />
<br />
She's so tired. Just a little longer... ...No, no--the wound is raw now. Be a helper just a little longer.<br />
<br />
"Again and again, the same old story." Marivel says softly. "Will you take it all on yourselves, Hiro, and repeat the tale?"<br />
<br />
She doesn't seem surpried that Magilou knew Maotelus. Of course she did.<br />
<br />
"You're already carrying one sacrifice, perhaps you think--ah--then another would be easy!"<br />
<br />
She exhales slowly. "Ah, seeing yourself in others--tis a terrible thing. Hiro, obviously you don't share any blame for what is going on with Maotelus, it sounds like you just heard of him. It is not your task to take responsibility. Surely, if you have any responsibility as a 'Vile Fiend'. The task, if you recall..."<br />
<br />
She snaps her fingers in an Emetian manner. "Tis to change the ending, to change The Answers provided. After all, old ladies such as myself already gave ours. We see the results today. For good or ill, you must make your own choices to take responsibility for. The choices of those with ill intent are not yours to carry nor Lunar's. The best and worst thing about humanity is that they ''don't'' have long memories."<br />
<br />
She specifies Hiro but it could really apply to anyone. She crosses one leg over the other and takes some of Dollie's offered cheese. She spins it on her finger.<br />
<br />
Layna already spells it out just so, but Marivel can be the old lady who says it too.<br />
<br />
She might have gone on about it for a while longer only<br />
<br />
''The weapon's name... is Zeikfried''<br />
<br />
"...."<br />
<br />
"...WHAT A COINCIDENCE." Marivel says.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
The tightening grasp on her shoulder brings Tera Gram out of her ageless sorceress haze with alacrity. Her veiled face turns towards Magilou but she's disengaging -- going over to speak wih fury towards Zenrus -- <br />
<br />
Some part of Margaret thinks: I should do something to stop her from berating --<br />
<br />
But it must be vestigal because the thought just kind of peters out. <br />
<br />
Her words are cutting, and come from the heart; if anything is wrong in them, it's all going to be a matter of emphasis. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram's heart is filled with sorrow, perhaps empathy, at the rest of what Zenrus says. This tale of trust betrayed, of hope dashed, of innocence misled. It's tiring, isn't it? She may be a mere flirty fifty compared to some of the older folks around, but that's long enough to be around the block, several times. <br />
<br />
So it's Dollie who says, "Aye then, so... draw the man out, shock him with the Aeon and then shoot him with this gun? S'got only one shot?" <br />
<br />
She turns her head to look at Kaguya. "Don't miss," Dollie tells her, a little flatly. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige snatches some fish from her side of the table, and she gives her half! Rixia does like fish. "I--I'd be more proud if I was actually jotting it down," she laughs nervously, before staring down at the fish. "But I don't know how to write, so no notes for me." She nips at the fish, at least in the hopes that Ruby won't snatch it away from her.<br />
<br />
Lanval, though, introduces himself as the Lord of the Land of Meribus... she knew he was an important fellow! ... she doesn't know what the Copper Rapier is though. But importantly, he... made a pact? With... someone she doesn't know. But importantly, Layna is a Seer of Water! And so they can do the thing a Shepherd's supposed to do -- protect the flock, as Leo explains.<br />
<br />
"Wow..." she whispers, awed. What else can she say to that?<br />
<br />
Kaguya is to the point; what's needed to kill Heldalf? Rixia wouldn't admit it, but Kaguya reminds her of her father; always straight and to the point, and seemingly fearless. Maybe that's the way in which she admires her, when she wields those ARMs that still intimidate her.<br />
<br />
Pearl speaks about a Lucia, who she doesn't... know too much about, but she's heard the gossip from the other rookie Guards... could there be more than one? She doesn't honestly know. Ragnell asks about other people who may or may not have been captured; she gets the sense that there's another band of heroes, so to speak...<br />
<br />
If that wasn't bad enough, though, seeing Magilou detonate in front of her in a way she hasn't before -- a way she at least understands is very personal and hurtful with what's happened -- has her shrinking further into herself. She feels a bit blue in the face. What she isn't ready for, however, is Magilou redirecting her anger to the crowd, to her. Not after all Maotelus did for her... for Lunar... what does she mean? What does it even mean? Honestly, it doesn't matter, because the barbs are what matters at the moment, and where Hiro kindly says that he'll take responsibility for her anger, and Layna rebuffs it while also saying they're going to do something about it, Rixia's...<br />
<br />
Rixia's left with the automatic doormat response that she says to every angry, (usually drunk) hostess her dad paid to daycare-sit her when they start blaming her for being a war orphan:<br />
<br />
"Sorry-- sorry, um, I'm sorry... for being born..."<br />
<br />
At the very least, Leo tells her to basically breathe and drink water, so she hides herself behind a cup of water, because she can tell he's hurting too. It also kinda helps her hide her blubbering right now, as a grand plan is hatched involving an 'Aeon', who the mysterious sorceress lady of Vane seems to wield, along with Layna and Lanval's purification--<br />
<br />
--and another gun?!<br />
<br />
Rixia keeps gulping more water in nervousness. Where's the bottom of this pitcher...?<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QuXW9myqmY Tales of Berseria - Will of an Empyrean<br />
<br />
Magilou isn't being fair, of course. She's upset. She is so, so rarely /upset,/ the way men are, heart gouged open and bleeding. It's little enough solace that Zaveid made it out alive, knowing what Maotelus goes through, now.<br />
<br />
But Hiro points out that it wasn't in the volumes Magilou gave to him -- and Layna makes it more clear, and Rixia makes it more /personal./ "I know," she insists, tone still heated. "I know it's not your fault, not really! There's aught you could have done about this, I know! But... but he's my /friend,/" she insists, thinly, hands grasping her arms. "Somehow, even surrounded by villains like us, he's grown up into someone like that..."<br />
<br />
Someone who wanted to place his humanity in the future. Grief hollows out the expression on Magilou's face, as she looks back to Zenrus; defeated, she sinks into a chair. Elbow to the table, she buries her face in a hand. "That kid... he really still believes in everyone, after all this time... how could he sneak behind our backs like that?! Rokurou and I, we would have...! Oh, stopped him, I suppose," she grumbles, with a short little breath, "since we're the villains of the story, after all..." She sounds terribly miserable about it all. Who knew Magilou even /had/ feelings?<br />
<br />
(Hiro. Hiro knew that.)<br />
<br />
She takes a moment to calm herself, and looks over, to Zenrus and Kaguya. "Ah... Zaveid's most prized possession," she contextualises it, a little dull. Considering the injuries Zenrus mentioned -- "He's really not doing well, to pass it on in a situation like this, is he..? And Edna's still struggling on, I suppose..." She looks to Ragnell, who thought to ask about them, and the grief in her eyes does recognise that.<br />
<br />
"Let it end a horror, now, Kaguya," she bids her, quite serious. "Just remember... only rational science, now, mm?"<br />
<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.<br />
<br />
Hiro flusters immediately at Pearl's statement, "Invalid!? It was never legitimate in the first place. It was all Leo being - himself!"<br />
<br />
Layna has a different perspective, and Hiro listens, then nods, but, doesn't entirely agree. He can understand though why people wouldn't be so quick to take on the sins of other people.<br />
<br />
Hiro looks sidelong at Marivel, listening to everything she has to say on the subject and, "Marivel this isn't about some sacrifice. It's about humanity taking responsibility for our past sins. If we don't acknowledge that our people have done wrong in the past - and the present, if we don't take it upon ourselves to do something about it and acknowledge the anger of those who were harmed by it, then how can we work towards a better future?"<br />
<br />
Magilou though makes it clear she's just upset about this whole situation, not really blaming them for it. And Hiro's expression softens, because indeed he knew that Magilou had feelings.<br />
<br />
However, she taught him something recently about pursuing these feelings in a moment like this. Moving towards the table, he picks up a mostly untouched mug of something that makes his expression curdle a bit just smelling it...<br />
<br />
... and he puts it right in front of her on the table. For once he doesn't follow up by saying something, he just puts the drink right in front of her then moves back against the wall, eyes still upon her as he watches her go through all of this.<br />
<br />
It's a plan in three parts, and he can see the soundness of it. It's difficult to pull off, with those moving parts, especially against someone named the Lord of Calamity - but, he can at least appreciate his value as a meat shield and distraction.<br />
<br />
"Sounds like we have something resembling a plan then." As if that's enough for him, just having some semblance of one.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Tera Gram straightens up in her seat as she turns her attention towards Lanval, the intoxicated Seraph (no, no - just... merry) speaking with gravity. He mentions Hiro, who Tera Gram turns her head a little, quickly locating and giving a recognized nod, before going back to Lanval and his old hoochatoria. <br />
<br />
The tightening grasp on her shoulder brings Tera Gram out of her ageless sorceress haze with alacrity. Her veiled face turns towards Magilou but she's disengaging -- going over to speak wih fury towards Zenrus -- <br />
<br />
Some part of Margaret thinks: I should do something to stop her from berating --<br />
<br />
But it must be vestigal because the thought just kind of peters out. <br />
<br />
Her words are cutting, and come from the heart; if anything is wrong in them, it's all going to be a matter of emphasis. <br />
<br />
Tera Gram's heart is filled with sorrow, perhaps empathy, at the rest of what Zenrus says. This tale of trust betrayed, of hope dashed, of innocence misled. It's tiring, isn't it? She may be a mere flirty fifty compared to some of the older folks around, but that's long enough to be around the block, several times. <br />
<br />
So it's Dollie who says, "Aye then, so... draw the man out, shock him with the Aeon and then shoot him with this gun? S'got only one shot?" <br />
<br />
She turns her head to look at Kaguya. "Don't miss," Dollie tells her, a little flatly. <br />
<br />
Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.<br />
<br />
Lanval, having said and clarified what he does, notices Rixia starting to shrink down most of all as the older-timers among them express either their frustration (Magilou) or to point long-resting hopes that there's a better way to resolve all that plagues the world after ancient mistakes (Marivel). The plan is laid out, and something entrusted to Kaguya - a Veruni.<br />
<br />
He can't really render her aid directly by pact, but you know, he's not the one who gave her Zeikfried. He can work around that, and he doesn't think Zenrus is choosing wrong there.<br />
<br />
"One shec," Lanval says. "Hey, Rixia." Lanval takes a moment from having to be a big, important figure in the room, taking a few steps to her direction. "I can tell yer overwhelmed." What if she's told to go home? To lay down, let the 'real warriors' deal with it?<br />
<br />
"Dealin' with that Fell Dragon like I did - like we all did - that wash real shcary too, even fer me." Even when he was jovial and holding himself against a vast quantity of Malevolence that can - and would, and probably has - turn Seraphim down the road of dragonhood almost instantly?<br />
<br />
"...All we can do ish be true to ourshelvesh. The Mirthful Wellspring, alwaysh shqueezin' out a li'l more joy out of the li'l shtuff in life." Seraph Lanval says. "Like knowin' we have a chance ta fight and win againsht the shcary shtuff we were once told wash too shcary fer anyone but a shelect few. Ushed ta be reeeeeeeal afraid ta shet foot down in Glenwood, myshelf." Beat. "Ragnell over there can vouch."<br />
<br />
That one of the greatest hopes of bringing the Lord of Calamity low rests in someone who used to be afraid to even come to Glenwood at all...!<br />
<br />
"Remember... ya faced a Fell Dragon 'n not only lived. Ya managed ta shtay ash yershelf!" Lanval says with a mirthful smile. "Sho. 'm gonna be countin' on ya ash much ash anyone elshe, y'hear...?"<br />
<br />
He knows his other friends and allies here are well aware of their capabilities, desires, and wills to bring this journey's end - but Rixia's as much part of it too.<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.<br />
Rose was injured and is recovering; Dezel's with her. Ragnell nods slowly, before she makes a face and spits not-quite-under her breath, "Fuckin' Lunarre." And naturally Lailah and the others are indeed with Sorey. In the heart of the Lord of Calamity's Malevolent Domain.<br />
<br />
*Now* the anger comes in, a slow and low heat that simmers her words: "'Course, it doesn't matter if she's off somewhere else; she's still Sorey's Squire. If he gets fucked up on Malevolence, she an' Dezel are gonna get fucked up by it too just the same. But hey, that's one less idiot who needs savin'!"<br />
<br />
It doesn't really matter if it was Maotelus's wish or not, though, was it? Once again, a Seraph placed their trust in a human and suffered for it. Given the clapback Magilou's already gotten, she doesn't say this out loud, but trust her: she's thinking it.<br />
<br />
Still, it's not all gloom and glower. There's a plan. There's a hell of a plan, really, and Ragnell raises an eyebrow when Zenrus entrusts Kaguya, of all people, with the legendary gun Zeikfried. "Damn, Kags, major props," she drawls, and despite that, she does sound genuinely impressed.<br />
<br />
That attitude doesn't last as she focuses on Magilou, meeting her eyes across the room as she sinks into a chair, anger sublimating into a helpless sort of grief. She'd go to her side, but they're just not those kinds of people and they just don't have that kind of relationship.<br />
<br />
"Edna's had to deal with enough without all this too. However this ends, it needs to end," she mutters grimly, and she doesn't say Eisen's name, but she knows and she knows Magilou knows. ''That's'' the kind of relationship they have.<br />
<br />
In the same vein, she doesn't interrupt Marivel and her talk of sacrifice. /We're all carrying our wounds into this conversation, aren't we,/ she reflects.<br />
<br />
Of course, she didn't even fight that Fell Dragon. She left that as a trial for the mortals. So when Lanval reassures Rixia, Ragnell shrugs and nods. She's not sure how much her word is worth to someone she doesn't even know, but she's not about to plug up Lanval's flow in this context.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.<br />
<br />
"...Sorry, Leo." Kaguya shakes her head, as she sees his pain. "I don't see a way to save him. I don't even see someone to save. But I know you do. And..." She puts on a sympathetic expression. "That sucks." <br />
<br />
Well, she tried. <br />
<br />
She doesn't know about Rose, and the matter of who to blame isn't really her concern. She awaits the instead, instead. She considers what Magilou gets as answer--but it's not up to her whether that's good enough for the old, old, old, old, old lady who helped her out before. (Did Kaguya ever tell Magilou she's old?) <br />
<br />
Kaguya obviously doesn't recognize the gun. She recognizes it as a gun, but that's it. In fact, she lifts an eyebrow. "...?" she starts, and then her usually-flippant expressions change. She recognizes it immediately. "But... But I'm..." <br />
<br />
Veruni, she wants to say. The Blue Star has rejected her, and all her people. And yet... <br />
<br />
And yet. <br />
<br />
"...Zeikfried," she repeats, and the same doubts echo in her mind. The magic of the Silver Star and Blue Star, together. Can she even do it? Her eyes unfocus, look through and beyond Lanval, as if waiting for him to object. But he doesn't. Ragnell gives her respect. Kaguya looks at her, too. She doesn't 'heh', like she usually would. Until suddenly, Kaguya's green eyes come back into focus to pierce down upon the relic.<br />
<br />
'Kaguya of the True Shot.' If she can do something... If Magilou believes she can do something. Magilou, in grief she's never seen. Let it end a horror.<br />
<br />
"Because..." <br />
<br />
Kaguya reaches out to the table. Her hand shakes for an instant, before she settles it on the relic. <br />
<br />
"Because Filgaia is my home, too." Kaguya's fingers close and she picks up the legendary Zeikfried. She hefts it, points it towards a spot on the wall, tests its weight. She does not fire, does not even put her finger on the trigger. But she lifts it up, to point at the ceiling, away from everyone else, to look at it, regarding the solid construction, the silver inlays. <br />
<br />
She looks to Zenrus, and nods, utterly serious. "I will. I swear it on my name." <br />
<br />
What else? The Locus Solus? It is a museum now, not a home. It does not belong to her any longer. The planet itself? No, it does not belong to her alone. It would not accept her oath. <br />
<br />
But her name is her own. <br />
<br />
"I swear that I will end Heldalf's campaign or die in the trying." <br />
<br />
Kaguya holsters the weapon at her side. <br />
<br />
"...With rational science, yeah." Only Magilou really knows what that means. But that's enough, for now. <br />
<br />
"Sounds like we need some supplies, then."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.<br />
<br />
Shige Kiwako doesn't know how far removed Magilou's anger is, catching the tail end of it and falling silent while she goes. Focusing instead on trying to gather information by proxy while keeping an eye on Ruby, resisting the urge to scritch the flying feline distractedly. <br />
<br />
Any attempts at theft would be met with a mean glare from Shige to be fair to Rixia. Ears flat at the swing and a miss on reading. She taps her foot, sandled, not booted so no heavy thumps at least. "It's fine." she suggests, adjusting her grip since she's afraid to hang the heavy lantern from just a country bumpkin style sash. "I bet you can still help me out over here." Trying to sound easy going. <br />
<br />
There are some important details laid out, summoning Even Bigger Fish, dropping it on a guy and then shooting him so they can give him a shower. It's probably best she doesn't write her notes out, but it does help in her memory. Somehow. <br />
<br />
A look goes to Marivel, similar to the time in the swamp, but she doesn't comment straight away as she tries to compose herself. Smoothing her hair, forcing her ears back up, that sort of thing. She glances down at her side, thinking back on the stories. A lot of them do have a lot of similarities. Regrets, sorrow, sadness, even acceptance. She listens dutifully any time she can. "I bet you can help me out with some of the local... everything." she suggests to Rixia in a quieter voice. More serious, less in character. <br />
<br />
Rixia's last comment jerks her attention away though. First a look to Leo, then back to Rixia, who Shige would try to place a hand on her shoulder, offering a reassuring squeeze. "Listen to the Poltergeist, he's got a good point." One she had been about to make, but had put it together too slow. "That alone proves that thought wrong." Referring to standing up to the dragon. "You helped me out there right?" Not that she herself is particularly important, but it's the little things. <br />
<br />
As for the plan, she'll do what she can to help out, but that mostly means getting a handle on what she can, should and will do over here. Especially if she can help with that corruptive force... somehow. She really hopes it's not post mortem. That part's important, but triage is triage.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
"Mm," Marivel says, masking the hurt with flippancy. "Are you 'humanity', Hiro? There's only so much a handful of heroes can carry. Nobody intends to be a sacrifice. Many a burnt witch have made such proclamations. But ever close are you to it."<br />
<br />
She stands up at that. "I best be going." Comforting Rixia is a bit beyond her right now. She feels a step out of time, each whisper too early, too late.<br />
<br />
Shige looks at her. Marivel looks back. She keeps looking until her attention is torn back to Leo, then Rixia.<br />
<br />
"I ought to go. Time is ever ticking. If there's naught else?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.<br />
<br />
Pearl asks Leo a very good question. The White Knight is silent for a few moments; time seems to stretch out, if only to make him squirm as he grapples with rationalizations. For a man who prefers the direct approach where possible, he is astoundingly good at twisting things to support his worldview. Lucia's nature--and the loyalty and virtue of her companions--put the first cracks in it.<br />
<br />
"Heldalf is the greater threat by far," Leo says. "The existence of /multiple/ Lord of Calamity is unprecedented, but these are strange times. So long as I lead, it's... my responsibility to see Heldalf brought to justice for his crimes."<br />
<br />
That was not an answer. It's probably as close as Pearl's going to get, for now.<br />
<br />
But Leo /can't/ stay unmoved, when Zenrus speaks. Why did Heldalf turn? Leo knows precious little: he knows he went to war, and that his family died when his home burned to the ground. His ears droop. A plan is taking shape, but it seems like they're /all/ stumbling in the dark, in some way. Even Magilou, who's coming at this from an angle Leo can't quite understand, is angry and afraid. "I'm sorry," Leo says, turning to Magilou. "I know he was dear to you. We'll save him, you have my word." Which is... a dissonant thing to say about a saint, but stranger things have happened. As Marivel turns to leave, Leo looks down at the table, downcast. "She never forgave herself," he says.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Pearl has posed.<br />
<br />
The plan sits with Pearl, crossing her arms. So she and Leviathan would be key to the plan. "And it would be on ourselves to choose the right moment..." A shield or a spear, which would Leviathan be here? "Is this a technique we can test beforehand with a hellion, or is the power gap so large there would be no point?" Practice is a useful tool.<br />
<br />
Her eyes cut to Rixia- not so long ago she would have admonished the girl for weakness. But that was the Shadow Dragon Cultist. The woman slowly building shakes her head. "Your apology is unwarranted. There is no need to bear the guilt of the dead or soon to be so." After all, if this Michael lives, she suspects, he will not when Magilou gets her hands on him. Or perhaps he will wish he was.<br />
<br />
It's Kaguya that reminds Pearl who Leo's master was, and she is silent for a moment in thought as he answers. It's not an answer. But it tells her much. "...Leo." Her use of his name is rare- and a noted choice. "You have been betrayed far more than any good man deserves." She fears those betrayals are not at an end. "This is not a foe you should face as the White Knight, or as Commander of Althena's Guard." Her grey eyes look into his, a firmness in her voice. "This is a battle for Leo, the man who was betrayed by his master. No other mask you wear. If you cannot... this wound will only fester- and it will change the man you are." She breathes in, a fist clenched under the table. "Learn this lesson from one who has learned it herself, for your sake."<br />
<br />
Pearl breathes in. "It seems we have an accord. If this our only plan... let us be sure we do not fail."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Talia has posed.<br />
<br />
"It is something, no?" Talia says softly, as she sees Zeikfried laid on the table. She glances sideways -- seeing Rixia withdraw -- and she frowns a little. When Magilou shouted at her -- well, it didn't dig in too much. But for Rixia...<br />
<br />
It's different. "Ah, Rixia... you shouldn't apolgize for this, no?"<br />
<br />
She looks back at Magilou -- and she hesitates for a second. "Well... if he's gotten himself in trouble... then we need to go get him out, no?" she says. "That's what friends do, no?"<br />
<br />
Zenrus hesitates a moment, before he nods. "Yes," he agrees. "Zaveid will recover. Though... he told me to be sure that Zeikfried goes to someone who can use it well. He said it's always been passed down. Maybe it's time again."<br />
<br />
Talia glances at Hiro -- then she nods. "Mm. It sounds like, no?" she says. "And we'll have all of us there... to make sure it goes off. And to put a stop to him."<br />
<br />
Tall order, she thinks.<br />
<br />
"We'll have to hurry," Zenrus says, with a look to Ragnell. "For all of their sakes. I came once I knew." He may have had it confirmed first -- but that has more to do with the source. Then, he looks to Layna; he smiles at her, after qa moment. "I shall, then."<br />
<br />
Zenrus looks to Pearl -- and he nods. "It is. I could not begin to hazard a guess... ah, but I think all of you are far greater warriors than I!"<br />
<br />
Zenrus glances at Kaguya -- then nods. "Your oath is accepted," he says. "Fight well, all of you. Glenwood depends upon it. I shall leave you to your plans and prepations."<br />
<br />
He stands up. "I ask only that... you bring Sorey, his retinue, and Maotelus to safety. We've all had too much loss, as it is. Farewell, in all you do--I shall help from afar, as I can."<br />
<br />
There is a flash of light, and then the Seraph is gone.<br />
<br />
ELYSIA<br />
<br />
Zenrus reappears with a crackle of lightning, on the windswept hills of Elysia. The village of the Seraphim overlooks towering mountains -- and he stands there, looking out over them. He is not alone, though.<br />
<br />
Ghaleon stands with him. The Dragonmaster has his arms folded behind his back. "Then... they'll go, Zenrus?"<br />
<br />
"They will, Ghaleon," Zenrus says. "May it be enough to save Sorey. May our actions, all those years ago, have not doomed him."<br />
<br />
"We've given him -- all of them -- a chance," Ghaleon says. "It's all that we can do."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Rixia has posed.<br />
<br />
Rixia flinches again, as Magilou relents, still in her heated tone. There's a smidge of frustration, in part because she realises she's falling back on bad habits: of being severely conflict-avoidant, to wear blame immediately to keep important people from abandoning her. <br />
<br />
Magilou says that Maotelus is her /friend/, and... and that's important. That has a lot of meaning to her now, more than what he's done for Lunar, many years before she's born.<br />
<br />
Because she can't really think like Hiro -- Hiro's words of taking responsibility for their past sins is something so overwhelming and huge it feels alien to her; does that make her a bad person? she thinks to herself. She doesn't dwell on it. But he's also there for Magilou with his drink, and...<br />
<br />
Shige mentions how she could help out with the local... everything. She dwells on that for a moment, thinking of how she could pay it forward like how Talia once did for her... "I'll... do what I can."<br />
<br />
Pearl speaks of how there's no need to bear the guilt of the dead -- or soon to be so. Talia, too, tells her she shouldn't apologise. She wordlessly lowers her head. She wants to believe it...<br />
<br />
The weight of what's been placed on Kaguya isn't lost on her. Magilou mentions how it belongs to Zaveid, the man who was injured earlier; Ragnell mentions an Edna, and how she's still fighting, still putting up with everything.<br />
<br />
And then Lanval approaches her, which she doesn't expect. And he identifies, correctly, that she's overwhelmed. When he speaks of how it was scary for him... and how relevant it is that she lived -- and stayed herself! How all they can do is to be true to themselves. Squeezing just a bit of joy out of the little things in life.<br />
<br />
He says he's counting on her. Shige, too, urges her to listen to the Poltergeist, with a reassuring hand on her shoulder.<br />
<br />
"I..."<br />
<br />
That makes her look at Magilou again, of what she said in the battle with the Fell Dragon: just continue being you, even if that means being scared. Come on, come on... don't just stay someone who flinches and runs away at the first hurdle...<br />
<br />
Marivel steps out, but as Leo says they'll save him...<br />
<br />
She looks at Magilou again, face full of tears and nose full of snot and blubbering. "Y-you dummy, all you had to say was... your important friend was in trouble... and I would've... I would've come help! I'm not a Seer, or a great warrior or anything, but... but I'll help." Sniffle. Snort. "Because... what's important to you is-- is important to me too...!"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Margaret has posed.<br />
<br />
Tera Gram shifts to get out of her seat in a way that might suggest she's going to the bathroom, or perhaps to acquire illicit brew to take the edge off of this particular terror. But that's not where she's heading. Though her veiled face turns towards Magilou for a long moment, hearing that thin and plaintive wail, she instead approaches -- <br />
<br />
Rixia. <br />
<br />
"Don't say that sort of thing," Tera Gram says, reaching up to give her shoulder a brief pat. "None of us were asked, and we're all making out the best we can. The only way you should stop being you is to become a better you, eh?" <br />
<br />
Her head turns towards the door where Marivel is moving to leave. "Be careful," Tera Gram says. "There's perils enough and to spare." <br />
<br />
Tera Gram exhales with some force. "I suppose it's an early night, then," she says, to no one in particular. (The goddess? Explicitly not) <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Magilou has posed.<br />
<br />
Magilou looks over, to Hiro, as he clonks a mug in front of her...<br />
<br />
... and her fingers curl around it, bringing it up to her lips. Glug, glug, glug... "... thanks," she mutters, not quite looking at him as he backs away.<br />
<br />
(She really does sound a little touched, though.)<br />
<br />
She listens, as Zenrus finishes his explanations. "Once you knew... all right, old man. I'll apologise for... jumping to conclusions. We'll... we'll save them," she makes herself say, through her pessimism. "All of them." He disappears -- and she doesn't chase him.<br />
<br />
She's glad Lanval and Margaret are looking after Rixia, to note -- she's certainly not in a state to do it. (She was always a terrible mother.) She wouldn't fault Layna for blaming her, nor for letting it go; the two of them are of one mind, about this sort of thing, really. Well, it's a little embarrassing, hearing her excuse her for it, but...<br />
<br />
"Good," she affirms, to Kaguya, looking to her. "Do Zaveid proud. ... I'm sure you will."<br />
<br />
She looks to Ragnell, with a single, firm nod. "It will end," she agrees, and they know that they know, and Ragnell's with her. For all the both of them are unreliable at the best of times, Magilou knows she can count on Ragnell, about this. Even if it weren't so important to her... she's not the only one invested.<br />
<br />
Leo, too, swears his aid, and Magilou dips her head as she looks to him. "... thank you," she says, and more loudly, to the others: "Thank you. Maotelus is... very dear to me. I..."<br />
<br />
She trails off, for a moment, looking to Rixia, all blubbery and damp and wearing her emotions on her sleeve. Magilou does want to cry -- desperately. She's just forgotten how.<br />
<br />
Her voice tremors, a little, with the emotion suppressed in its lowered tones -- so MUCH emotion, denied and deferred and carved away, all flooding into the wound. "I need your help. I need your help, Rixia! Everyone...! Help me save him, not for the world, but -- but because I care!"<br />
<br />
Her fingers tighten, around her mug of spirits. "I care about Maotelus! I really, truly do!" Magilou cries out, honest with her /own/ feelings, for once in her life. "I don't want him to leave, like half of us have..!" And if only her eyes weren't dry. If only --<br />
<br />
Magilou takes a breath, and a gulp of something which would make Hiro faint.<br />
<br />
"... sorry," she mumbles, finally, into her mug. "I know there's a lot we've not told you, but... I'll... explain later, all right? I just... need a minute." Asking is difficult, but...<br />
<br />
Well, even Magilou can rely on people, sometimes.</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2022-12-13:_Enough_For_Now&diff=121102022-12-13: Enough For Now2023-01-01T02:34:50Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: Enough For Now'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Marivel Armitage]] [[Character :: Seraph Liath]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Quartly Village<br />
*'''Date:''' 2022-12-13<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Marivel invites a friend out for an airplane flight.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel Armitage knows there isn't too much time before shit starts to get real and feeling kind of distressed that whenever she talks with Liath things kind of end up being a bit dire, she decided to set aside some time and invite Liath to Quartly, a small village near Meria Boule, where she can borrow a biplane from her old friend JAck in the area and go on a ... relatively relaxed flight around the Meria Boule area. Marivel WANTED to take Liath on a flight with Lucifer but that machine is against the Treaty of Iscariot and even if large chunks of the world pay little mind to that treaty these days, Marivel sticks to it either by pact or stubbornness.<br />
<br />
The village of Quartly is quite small and is a friendly place that hasn't seen too much conflict--a byproduct of its small size and Marivel's intense protection of the community. In the village square there's a statue honoring some kind of four legged machine monstrosity as the Founder of the Town. Someone (Marivel) has put a sticky note on the statue that says 'JACK REMOVE THIS OR I WILL THIS IS NOT FUNNY - M'<br />
<br />
But Marivel herself is further up into the hills of the town on the far outskirts where there's a primitive hangar, and a clearing of some significant space. Hob and Nob and zapping the earth with eyelasers, paving a flat road across the surface of the clearing while Marivel is on a trolley underneath the aircraft and splattered with specks of grease and oil as she digs into the innards. She is pretty focused on the work and, as such, not particularly observant of her surroundings.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
Filgaia remains in many ways a mystery to Liath. This isn't to say she's learned nothing of it -- quite the contrary. Ever since arriving on the fabled Blue Star so many years ago, she has been adamant about learning everything about its so often self-destructive history. The Treaty of Iscariot is just one of the many things that Liath has become intimately familiar with in her time here; ultimately, it was perhaps one of the easiest things to grasp. Human history carries similar beats, even across worlds. <br />
<br />
The only difference is the scales upon which the consequences of their actions are measured. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, there's still a lot of things she doesn't get. Like biplanes! How do they work?? Liath has no idea (she has some feverish, wildly imaginative ideas). Some might be daunted at the prospect of being so far out of their depth about so many things others simply take for granted. <br />
<br />
For Liath, it's an endless marvel of discovery. <br />
<br />
So, of course the Light Seraph accepted the invitation and - of course - she arrives with the impeccable timing she always does. The Seraph takes her time in wandering Quartly itself, taking some time to puzzle over the statue and its post-it addendum with a quizzical frown and the tap of a finger on her chin. Eventually, though, right on time -- <br />
<br />
"Is there some controversy regarding automaton revolutionaries in this village?" <br />
<br />
The question comes from directly behind Marivel, where Liath stands, brows furrowed and her entire expression steeped in thought. One can tell -- she's been stewing over this for a while. <br />
<br />
"Was it some manner of steel tyrant--?" <br />
<br />
God only knows what sort of tale she's woven for the village of Quartly based wholly on a weird statue and a post-it note. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel had a feeling that Liath would appreciate a new experience. She doesn't know how much time Liath has, or maybe she has an infinite amount of time. Hard to say--Marivel's own time is in flux--all the more reason to make good memories. Marivel had always felt she didn't make enough time with her first set of companions. Whether that's true or not is pretty immaterial because there never would have been enough time.<br />
<br />
She rolls out from under the plane, stopping short from colliding with Liath's legs--as the Seraph arrives with her impeccable timing and looks, for a moment, perplexed.<br />
<br />
"Huh?"<br />
<br />
Some manner of steel tyrant?<br />
<br />
Understanding dawns on her. "Oh! Nah, nah, Revelry's one of mine. Not too much smarter than Hob'n'Nob over there. Long time ago, shortly after your ancestors left for the Silver Star--I had Revelry protect this land because it wasn't contaminated by radiation and..."<br />
<br />
She trails off, wondering for a moment if a Seraph of Light knows about the dangers of radiation or not.<br />
<br />
"Eventually it became this town and Jack--the guy who owns this plane--thought it'd be real cute for him to advertise it."<br />
<br />
"But the problem," She says. "Is it could draw eyes to the town and at this point I put a lot of time and effort into this place and don't want to see it explode cause Jack's not cautious enough. But I don't wanna be a tyrant or anything about it." Post-it note aside, apparently.<br />
<br />
She slides back under the plane, tightens a few more screws, and gives the underside an experimental bonk with the wrench.<br />
<br />
"Yeah should hold. Only small odds of it bursting into flame."<br />
<br />
She pulls back out again, this time smiling. "Good to see you, Li. Glad you could make it."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
How much time does Liath have? Really, the answer is the same as it is for most, even if the reasons vary: <br />
<br />
It depends. <br />
<br />
But she could have all the time in the world, or none at all, and if she had a choice... Liath would still want to spend that time seeing and discovering new things. Especially with those important to her. <br />
<br />
Right /now/ though, she's most interested in the history of this village and its terrible tin tyrant -- who, as it turns out, is not actually all that tyrannical at all. Bright gold eyes widen and lips part in a little "oh!" of an expression as Marivel pops out from beneath the plane and explains the situation. At the very least, she seems to look like she understands the basic concept and potential dangers of radiation -- if the solemn cast of her features and her lack of assumption about radiation meaning something wildly different. <br />
<br />
"Mm," she exhales. No -- after all, she studied extensively on Filgaia and its fragmentary history she could grasp. The good and the bad. If nothing else... <br />
<br />
A Light Seraph knows how dangerous that light can be. <br />
<br />
So she listens. And by the end of it, Liath is smiling that warm, pleased little smile of hers, gloved and armored hands clasping behind her back as she looks back towards the village. <br />
<br />
"I understand the source of your worry," she says, earnestly. "But there is something worthwhile in people taking such pride in remembering and honoring their history. And their protector." Her smile broadens, eyes shutting. <br />
<br />
"I think it is a touching tribute, at least." <br />
<br />
Still, Marivel gets back to work. She makes her assessment. And by the time she pulls back out from underneath the plane, Liath is blinking. <br />
<br />
"I am glad to be invited, Marivel," she says, earnestly. A second passes. <br />
<br />
"Are these biplanes oft prone towards spontaneous combustion...?" <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
"I'd give it a small percent chance," Marivel says. "Jack knows what he's doing but the engines of today are primitive so it's not my specialty. Sometimes when society advances it loses track of the building blocks of tech as simpler methods and workarounds become commonplace."<br />
<br />
She is grateful Liath doesn't need clarification on the radiation. Few things haunt Marivel more than the early days of when she escaped the Memory Maze, finding herself not in the time of Ashley Winchester as she expected but in the very world she had failed to protect.<br />
<br />
Liath has her own thoughts on the Protector of Quartly, wiping off her face with a rag. She notices that a thick black smudge has splotted onto her overalls. She t rubs at it but it's gonna take more than that to clean it. She frowns at it but leaves it for now.<br />
<br />
She carefully sits herself up--then stands. "You think I'm being overprotective, huh?" She asks. She'd probably have bristled at the idea of anyone else suggesting it.<br />
<br />
"We'll have to keep a low flight," She adds. "So we don't attract Solaris or any other wandering eyes. I wanted to take you in Lucifer but it's techncially illegal so safer to just take the biplane. This stuff doesn't usually set off any alarmbells provided we don't try to pass over an ocean."<br />
<br />
"Oh! Right--"<br />
<br />
Marivel clambers in and then tosses brown leather aviator helmet (with goggles!) towards Liath. "I tried flying one of these without goggles once and so much gunk got into my eyes."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
"Mm. If they are so fundamental to the building process, it seems woefully irresponsible to lose track of these blocks." <br />
<br />
Liath: has comprehensive understanding of radioactive contamination; has never heard the term 'building blocks' before. <br />
<br />
Such is the dichotomy of the Prime Lord. <br />
<br />
/Her point still stands./ <br />
<br />
At the very least, she doesn't seem too terribly concerned about the prospect of spontaneous combustion. More -- curious. Fascinated, maybe. She wonders over the bravery of humans to fly around in things that might just become a gigantic fireball in the sky at any moment (by her assumption (she probably also has assumptions over why this happens)) when Marivel speaks up. Having been busying herself looking over the plane itself, Liath glances back towards Marivel; her gaze softens. <br />
<br />
"It is a natural instinct for a land and people you care for," is her answer, one that feels as if it comes from a point of genuine understanding. "... Eventually, though, we must trust they can stand on their own two feet." <br />
<br />
Once again, she looks back towards the plane, remarking, "Ah yes, the sky people and their machinations," on the heels of Marivel's explanation. She takes in the biplane and smiles. "As much as I would revel in the opportunity to have flown in Lucifer, this will more than suffice. Experiencing something such as this as they do is all I could ask for." <br />
<br />
Which - it seems - includes goggles and helmets. Snatching the headgear out of the air, she blinks, studying it as she tilts it in her hands. <br />
<br />
"Gunk?" she wonders, and it's anyone's guess just what she's picturing. At the very least -- it does mean she takes the warning to heart, and swiftly puts the helmet on before making her way into the plane. <br />
<br />
'Swiftly.' It takes a couple of attempts. It's confusing and new, don't judge her. She's normally great with helms. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
There's this awkward moment where Marivel tries to respectfully offer help then kind of awkwardly retracts it thinking it's not wanted and then back again.<br />
<br />
"Oh for sure," Marivel says once Liath's inside, this time oblivious to Liath misconstruing what she means as it knid of slides past her usual quick catch of these linguistic misrepresentations. "I don't think it's intentional. They just lose track over time. Passing down knowledge is tricky. You think you wrote everything down but something you thought was obvious--you forget that--or someone is stingy with their notes, so on so forth."<br />
<br />
She flicks some switches and doohickeys. "Biplanes are also easier to fly than some aircraft--you could probably learn how if you gave it, I dunno, a year of serious practice with a teacher."<br />
<br />
Trust they can stand on their own two feet.<br />
<br />
Marivel can't say that Liath doesn't understand because in this, she knows Liath understands all too well. She breathes it in. Out.<br />
<br />
"Trust doesn't come easy to me," She admits. "But... I do trust you. You want me to trust their balance, I'll trust 'em. I'll remove the note."<br />
<br />
History IS important. it still feels weird to be a part of it.<br />
<br />
Oh, right. Another important thing.<br />
<br />
Marivel turns back and adds, "Have you used a seatbelt before? Uh, there should be a buckle on your left, if you pull it out and across your lap and and into the socket on the other side--make sure the strap's in front--I mean, I'm not doing any stunts or anything but safer that way."<br />
<br />
Of course couldn't Liath just pop inside like Boudicca had? Or Ragnell does with Azoth?<br />
<br />
"Yeah like bugs, dust in the air--that sort of thing." She keeps her gaze focused on Liath so she can see how her own helmet is put on.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
Ultimately it might be for the best that Liath was allowed to solve the helmet conundrum on her own. She has her pride, after all. <br />
<br />
She's positively beaming as she snaps those goggles into place over her eyes and boards the plane. She even gives a little "Huzzah!" <br />
<br />
She has achieved great victory! <br />
<br />
Settling comfortably, Liath's hands rest against each other in her lap as she looks out over all the land and earth surrounding them, as if to capture the image as vividly in her mind before takeoff. As such, she can only comment somewhat absent-mindedly as she takes in the landscape, <br />
<br />
"Perchance if they but stored the blocks in a simpler locale, they would have no need to rely on cryptic notes." <br />
<br />
... Not that she doesn't understand the way time erodes knowledge from generation to generation. But she feels strongly humans are very capable of keeping track of some blocks, especially if they're important! <br />
<br />
Still - the prospect that she, too, could learn to fly puts a smile on her face. "I would like that," she says, sincerely. Maybe one day. If nothing else -- when Liath dedicates herself to learning or doing something, she commits herself wholly. <br />
<br />
That smile on her lips just grows into a more radiant thing in answer to Marivel's concession, coming from a place of genuine warmth. <br />
<br />
"I know it is not easy, Marivel," she says, after a moment, "and that is why I cherish your trust in me all the more. Thank you. I believe these people, too, will show you they are worthy of that trust." A second passes. "And it is rather a nice statue. I -- mm?" <br />
<br />
Behind her secure goggles, Liath blinks. She looks down, towards the buckle, and her brows lift. "Ah, yes! I have had some experience with these seated belts before, in some of the Blue Star's landfaring transportations. Let us see..." And here, she will duly fiddle with said seatbelt, ultimately clicking the thing in with a triumphant "aha!" <br />
<br />
The seatbelt might be a bit twisted up but. <br />
<br />
Mostly, it looks fine. <br />
<br />
"Shall we be off, then?" <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
''Perchance if they but stored the blocks in a simpler locale...''<br />
<br />
Marivel opens her mouth, shuts it, opens it again. Does she mean--no, surely--surely Liath has heard the expression 'building blocks' before. Right...? Maybe she's thinking of how the Mediums...? She's not sure how to explain compounding knowledge right now. She's spent the whole day working and she just wants to fly--a lesson learned, perhaps, another phrase to be wary of in Liath's vincinity.<br />
<br />
That smile though... Another stake to the heart, she supposes. Liath has a way of getting past the ribcage.<br />
<br />
"Jack's a good guy. He's had a rough childhood but he's a testament to the perseverance of his people." Marivel says. "I think you'd like him, if you ever get the chance to talk. Only about in his fifties or sixties." Might as well be a year apart as far as Marivel's concerned. "But he's loved macines ever since he was a kid. He promised me, when we first met a while ago, that he'd give me a ride in a plane like this. He kept that promises ages ago."<br />
<br />
The propeller starts spinning rapidly once Marivel has seen that Liath has strapped herself in. She resists the urge to fix te strap. Trust. Trust. And, well, it doesn't really matter if it's a little crooked.<br />
<br />
"Final systems check... All nominal..." Marivel murmurs to herself before saying. "It'll be a bit bumpy...!"<br />
<br />
She pushes the control stick forward and the plane starts pushing forward down the impromptu runway. Hob and Nob flit off to the side to avoid a collission and slowly--<br />
<br />
--but surely--<br />
<br />
--the plane starts to lift into the air. As Marivel promised, it's a bumpy rise up--and in no time at all they're above the houses of the village. A long way down for a human, all told.<br />
<br />
"I wish I could get you above the clouds," Marivel says. "Some day. Maybe the next age..."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
Time is a strangely relative thing. Liath hardly bats an eye at the lack of differentiating an age gap that may be enormous to a human life, but to a Seraph or Crimson Noble hardly constitutes an eyeblink. Yet so many momentous things can happen in that time all the same. <br />
<br />
So many momentous things can happen even in the span of a single minute, like now. <br />
<br />
"He seems someone I would very much like to know," remarks Liath sincerely, "especially to hear you sing his praises so. We Seraphim have created many magnificent things with our artes, but they are things sculpted over hundreds, thousands of years. And yet the things humankind can make within a single breath of that time... it is frightening and stunning, all in one. I have no small fondness for the innovators and tinkerers. The people who seek the answer to the countless 'what if's of the world." <br />
<br />
She truly does adore them. <br />
<br />
It's a fact that's plain on her face -- and certainly so is the look of anticipation that bubbles up in her goggle-covered eyes as the final check begins. There's a certain wonder to experiencing something for truly, the very first time. When Liath first took a trip on a train, she was in awe of it. The locomotion; the power necessary to carry so many countless tons of steel across an entire continent. It was staggering. <br />
<br />
It also made her woefully misinformed about what 'horsepower' actually represented which Ragnell certainly never let her hear the end of, but that's neither here nor there -- <br />
<br />
The point IS. When the plane starts to move? When the chassis starts to tremble with mounting pressure and air resistance? Liath's eyes are wide; her lips part in amazement. Her hands settle against the side of her seat to -feel- the way the plane rumbles and shakes beneath her fingers until -- <br />
<br />
-- wheels lift -- <br />
<br />
-- and air gushes past her as she looks past to watch them rising into the sky with pure excitement. <br />
<br />
"Ah...!" <br />
<br />
It's wonderful. Remarkable. Flight is... something she has done. Can do. In a way she could never truly appreciate. This? This is something she never thought she'd experience. <br />
<br />
'I wish I could get you above the clouds,' says Marivel, but Liath's gaze is so ardently fixated on the way everything shrinks away from them as she lifts up just enough to see the smallness of the world beneath them. <br />
<br />
"... Mayhap," she finally says after a time. <br />
<br />
"But this is more than enough for now, Marivel. It is beautiful." <br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2022-12-13:_Enough_For_Now&diff=121092022-12-13: Enough For Now2023-01-01T02:34:19Z<p>Fei: Created page with "*'''Log: Enough For Now''' *'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Marivel Armitage] [[Character :: Seraph Liath] *'''Where:''' Quartly Village *'''Date:''' 2022-12-13 *'''Summary''': ''Ma..."</p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: Enough For Now'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Marivel Armitage] [[Character :: Seraph Liath]<br />
*'''Where:''' Quartly Village<br />
*'''Date:''' 2022-12-13<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Marivel invites a friend out for an airplane flight.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel Armitage knows there isn't too much time before shit starts to get real and feeling kind of distressed that whenever she talks with Liath things kind of end up being a bit dire, she decided to set aside some time and invite Liath to Quartly, a small village near Meria Boule, where she can borrow a biplane from her old friend JAck in the area and go on a ... relatively relaxed flight around the Meria Boule area. Marivel WANTED to take Liath on a flight with Lucifer but that machine is against the Treaty of Iscariot and even if large chunks of the world pay little mind to that treaty these days, Marivel sticks to it either by pact or stubbornness.<br />
<br />
The village of Quartly is quite small and is a friendly place that hasn't seen too much conflict--a byproduct of its small size and Marivel's intense protection of the community. In the village square there's a statue honoring some kind of four legged machine monstrosity as the Founder of the Town. Someone (Marivel) has put a sticky note on the statue that says 'JACK REMOVE THIS OR I WILL THIS IS NOT FUNNY - M'<br />
<br />
But Marivel herself is further up into the hills of the town on the far outskirts where there's a primitive hangar, and a clearing of some significant space. Hob and Nob and zapping the earth with eyelasers, paving a flat road across the surface of the clearing while Marivel is on a trolley underneath the aircraft and splattered with specks of grease and oil as she digs into the innards. She is pretty focused on the work and, as such, not particularly observant of her surroundings.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
Filgaia remains in many ways a mystery to Liath. This isn't to say she's learned nothing of it -- quite the contrary. Ever since arriving on the fabled Blue Star so many years ago, she has been adamant about learning everything about its so often self-destructive history. The Treaty of Iscariot is just one of the many things that Liath has become intimately familiar with in her time here; ultimately, it was perhaps one of the easiest things to grasp. Human history carries similar beats, even across worlds. <br />
<br />
The only difference is the scales upon which the consequences of their actions are measured. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, there's still a lot of things she doesn't get. Like biplanes! How do they work?? Liath has no idea (she has some feverish, wildly imaginative ideas). Some might be daunted at the prospect of being so far out of their depth about so many things others simply take for granted. <br />
<br />
For Liath, it's an endless marvel of discovery. <br />
<br />
So, of course the Light Seraph accepted the invitation and - of course - she arrives with the impeccable timing she always does. The Seraph takes her time in wandering Quartly itself, taking some time to puzzle over the statue and its post-it addendum with a quizzical frown and the tap of a finger on her chin. Eventually, though, right on time -- <br />
<br />
"Is there some controversy regarding automaton revolutionaries in this village?" <br />
<br />
The question comes from directly behind Marivel, where Liath stands, brows furrowed and her entire expression steeped in thought. One can tell -- she's been stewing over this for a while. <br />
<br />
"Was it some manner of steel tyrant--?" <br />
<br />
God only knows what sort of tale she's woven for the village of Quartly based wholly on a weird statue and a post-it note. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel had a feeling that Liath would appreciate a new experience. She doesn't know how much time Liath has, or maybe she has an infinite amount of time. Hard to say--Marivel's own time is in flux--all the more reason to make good memories. Marivel had always felt she didn't make enough time with her first set of companions. Whether that's true or not is pretty immaterial because there never would have been enough time.<br />
<br />
She rolls out from under the plane, stopping short from colliding with Liath's legs--as the Seraph arrives with her impeccable timing and looks, for a moment, perplexed.<br />
<br />
"Huh?"<br />
<br />
Some manner of steel tyrant?<br />
<br />
Understanding dawns on her. "Oh! Nah, nah, Revelry's one of mine. Not too much smarter than Hob'n'Nob over there. Long time ago, shortly after your ancestors left for the Silver Star--I had Revelry protect this land because it wasn't contaminated by radiation and..."<br />
<br />
She trails off, wondering for a moment if a Seraph of Light knows about the dangers of radiation or not.<br />
<br />
"Eventually it became this town and Jack--the guy who owns this plane--thought it'd be real cute for him to advertise it."<br />
<br />
"But the problem," She says. "Is it could draw eyes to the town and at this point I put a lot of time and effort into this place and don't want to see it explode cause Jack's not cautious enough. But I don't wanna be a tyrant or anything about it." Post-it note aside, apparently.<br />
<br />
She slides back under the plane, tightens a few more screws, and gives the underside an experimental bonk with the wrench.<br />
<br />
"Yeah should hold. Only small odds of it bursting into flame."<br />
<br />
She pulls back out again, this time smiling. "Good to see you, Li. Glad you could make it."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
How much time does Liath have? Really, the answer is the same as it is for most, even if the reasons vary: <br />
<br />
It depends. <br />
<br />
But she could have all the time in the world, or none at all, and if she had a choice... Liath would still want to spend that time seeing and discovering new things. Especially with those important to her. <br />
<br />
Right /now/ though, she's most interested in the history of this village and its terrible tin tyrant -- who, as it turns out, is not actually all that tyrannical at all. Bright gold eyes widen and lips part in a little "oh!" of an expression as Marivel pops out from beneath the plane and explains the situation. At the very least, she seems to look like she understands the basic concept and potential dangers of radiation -- if the solemn cast of her features and her lack of assumption about radiation meaning something wildly different. <br />
<br />
"Mm," she exhales. No -- after all, she studied extensively on Filgaia and its fragmentary history she could grasp. The good and the bad. If nothing else... <br />
<br />
A Light Seraph knows how dangerous that light can be. <br />
<br />
So she listens. And by the end of it, Liath is smiling that warm, pleased little smile of hers, gloved and armored hands clasping behind her back as she looks back towards the village. <br />
<br />
"I understand the source of your worry," she says, earnestly. "But there is something worthwhile in people taking such pride in remembering and honoring their history. And their protector." Her smile broadens, eyes shutting. <br />
<br />
"I think it is a touching tribute, at least." <br />
<br />
Still, Marivel gets back to work. She makes her assessment. And by the time she pulls back out from underneath the plane, Liath is blinking. <br />
<br />
"I am glad to be invited, Marivel," she says, earnestly. A second passes. <br />
<br />
"Are these biplanes oft prone towards spontaneous combustion...?" <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
"I'd give it a small percent chance," Marivel says. "Jack knows what he's doing but the engines of today are primitive so it's not my specialty. Sometimes when society advances it loses track of the building blocks of tech as simpler methods and workarounds become commonplace."<br />
<br />
She is grateful Liath doesn't need clarification on the radiation. Few things haunt Marivel more than the early days of when she escaped the Memory Maze, finding herself not in the time of Ashley Winchester as she expected but in the very world she had failed to protect.<br />
<br />
Liath has her own thoughts on the Protector of Quartly, wiping off her face with a rag. She notices that a thick black smudge has splotted onto her overalls. She t rubs at it but it's gonna take more than that to clean it. She frowns at it but leaves it for now.<br />
<br />
She carefully sits herself up--then stands. "You think I'm being overprotective, huh?" She asks. She'd probably have bristled at the idea of anyone else suggesting it.<br />
<br />
"We'll have to keep a low flight," She adds. "So we don't attract Solaris or any other wandering eyes. I wanted to take you in Lucifer but it's techncially illegal so safer to just take the biplane. This stuff doesn't usually set off any alarmbells provided we don't try to pass over an ocean."<br />
<br />
"Oh! Right--"<br />
<br />
Marivel clambers in and then tosses brown leather aviator helmet (with goggles!) towards Liath. "I tried flying one of these without goggles once and so much gunk got into my eyes."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
"Mm. If they are so fundamental to the building process, it seems woefully irresponsible to lose track of these blocks." <br />
<br />
Liath: has comprehensive understanding of radioactive contamination; has never heard the term 'building blocks' before. <br />
<br />
Such is the dichotomy of the Prime Lord. <br />
<br />
/Her point still stands./ <br />
<br />
At the very least, she doesn't seem too terribly concerned about the prospect of spontaneous combustion. More -- curious. Fascinated, maybe. She wonders over the bravery of humans to fly around in things that might just become a gigantic fireball in the sky at any moment (by her assumption (she probably also has assumptions over why this happens)) when Marivel speaks up. Having been busying herself looking over the plane itself, Liath glances back towards Marivel; her gaze softens. <br />
<br />
"It is a natural instinct for a land and people you care for," is her answer, one that feels as if it comes from a point of genuine understanding. "... Eventually, though, we must trust they can stand on their own two feet." <br />
<br />
Once again, she looks back towards the plane, remarking, "Ah yes, the sky people and their machinations," on the heels of Marivel's explanation. She takes in the biplane and smiles. "As much as I would revel in the opportunity to have flown in Lucifer, this will more than suffice. Experiencing something such as this as they do is all I could ask for." <br />
<br />
Which - it seems - includes goggles and helmets. Snatching the headgear out of the air, she blinks, studying it as she tilts it in her hands. <br />
<br />
"Gunk?" she wonders, and it's anyone's guess just what she's picturing. At the very least -- it does mean she takes the warning to heart, and swiftly puts the helmet on before making her way into the plane. <br />
<br />
'Swiftly.' It takes a couple of attempts. It's confusing and new, don't judge her. She's normally great with helms. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
There's this awkward moment where Marivel tries to respectfully offer help then kind of awkwardly retracts it thinking it's not wanted and then back again.<br />
<br />
"Oh for sure," Marivel says once Liath's inside, this time oblivious to Liath misconstruing what she means as it knid of slides past her usual quick catch of these linguistic misrepresentations. "I don't think it's intentional. They just lose track over time. Passing down knowledge is tricky. You think you wrote everything down but something you thought was obvious--you forget that--or someone is stingy with their notes, so on so forth."<br />
<br />
She flicks some switches and doohickeys. "Biplanes are also easier to fly than some aircraft--you could probably learn how if you gave it, I dunno, a year of serious practice with a teacher."<br />
<br />
Trust they can stand on their own two feet.<br />
<br />
Marivel can't say that Liath doesn't understand because in this, she knows Liath understands all too well. She breathes it in. Out.<br />
<br />
"Trust doesn't come easy to me," She admits. "But... I do trust you. You want me to trust their balance, I'll trust 'em. I'll remove the note."<br />
<br />
History IS important. it still feels weird to be a part of it.<br />
<br />
Oh, right. Another important thing.<br />
<br />
Marivel turns back and adds, "Have you used a seatbelt before? Uh, there should be a buckle on your left, if you pull it out and across your lap and and into the socket on the other side--make sure the strap's in front--I mean, I'm not doing any stunts or anything but safer that way."<br />
<br />
Of course couldn't Liath just pop inside like Boudicca had? Or Ragnell does with Azoth?<br />
<br />
"Yeah like bugs, dust in the air--that sort of thing." She keeps her gaze focused on Liath so she can see how her own helmet is put on.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
Ultimately it might be for the best that Liath was allowed to solve the helmet conundrum on her own. She has her pride, after all. <br />
<br />
She's positively beaming as she snaps those goggles into place over her eyes and boards the plane. She even gives a little "Huzzah!" <br />
<br />
She has achieved great victory! <br />
<br />
Settling comfortably, Liath's hands rest against each other in her lap as she looks out over all the land and earth surrounding them, as if to capture the image as vividly in her mind before takeoff. As such, she can only comment somewhat absent-mindedly as she takes in the landscape, <br />
<br />
"Perchance if they but stored the blocks in a simpler locale, they would have no need to rely on cryptic notes." <br />
<br />
... Not that she doesn't understand the way time erodes knowledge from generation to generation. But she feels strongly humans are very capable of keeping track of some blocks, especially if they're important! <br />
<br />
Still - the prospect that she, too, could learn to fly puts a smile on her face. "I would like that," she says, sincerely. Maybe one day. If nothing else -- when Liath dedicates herself to learning or doing something, she commits herself wholly. <br />
<br />
That smile on her lips just grows into a more radiant thing in answer to Marivel's concession, coming from a place of genuine warmth. <br />
<br />
"I know it is not easy, Marivel," she says, after a moment, "and that is why I cherish your trust in me all the more. Thank you. I believe these people, too, will show you they are worthy of that trust." A second passes. "And it is rather a nice statue. I -- mm?" <br />
<br />
Behind her secure goggles, Liath blinks. She looks down, towards the buckle, and her brows lift. "Ah, yes! I have had some experience with these seated belts before, in some of the Blue Star's landfaring transportations. Let us see..." And here, she will duly fiddle with said seatbelt, ultimately clicking the thing in with a triumphant "aha!" <br />
<br />
The seatbelt might be a bit twisted up but. <br />
<br />
Mostly, it looks fine. <br />
<br />
"Shall we be off, then?" <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
''Perchance if they but stored the blocks in a simpler locale...''<br />
<br />
Marivel opens her mouth, shuts it, opens it again. Does she mean--no, surely--surely Liath has heard the expression 'building blocks' before. Right...? Maybe she's thinking of how the Mediums...? She's not sure how to explain compounding knowledge right now. She's spent the whole day working and she just wants to fly--a lesson learned, perhaps, another phrase to be wary of in Liath's vincinity.<br />
<br />
That smile though... Another stake to the heart, she supposes. Liath has a way of getting past the ribcage.<br />
<br />
"Jack's a good guy. He's had a rough childhood but he's a testament to the perseverance of his people." Marivel says. "I think you'd like him, if you ever get the chance to talk. Only about in his fifties or sixties." Might as well be a year apart as far as Marivel's concerned. "But he's loved macines ever since he was a kid. He promised me, when we first met a while ago, that he'd give me a ride in a plane like this. He kept that promises ages ago."<br />
<br />
The propeller starts spinning rapidly once Marivel has seen that Liath has strapped herself in. She resists the urge to fix te strap. Trust. Trust. And, well, it doesn't really matter if it's a little crooked.<br />
<br />
"Final systems check... All nominal..." Marivel murmurs to herself before saying. "It'll be a bit bumpy...!"<br />
<br />
She pushes the control stick forward and the plane starts pushing forward down the impromptu runway. Hob and Nob flit off to the side to avoid a collission and slowly--<br />
<br />
--but surely--<br />
<br />
--the plane starts to lift into the air. As Marivel promised, it's a bumpy rise up--and in no time at all they're above the houses of the village. A long way down for a human, all told.<br />
<br />
"I wish I could get you above the clouds," Marivel says. "Some day. Maybe the next age..."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Liath has posed.<br />
<br />
Time is a strangely relative thing. Liath hardly bats an eye at the lack of differentiating an age gap that may be enormous to a human life, but to a Seraph or Crimson Noble hardly constitutes an eyeblink. Yet so many momentous things can happen in that time all the same. <br />
<br />
So many momentous things can happen even in the span of a single minute, like now. <br />
<br />
"He seems someone I would very much like to know," remarks Liath sincerely, "especially to hear you sing his praises so. We Seraphim have created many magnificent things with our artes, but they are things sculpted over hundreds, thousands of years. And yet the things humankind can make within a single breath of that time... it is frightening and stunning, all in one. I have no small fondness for the innovators and tinkerers. The people who seek the answer to the countless 'what if's of the world." <br />
<br />
She truly does adore them. <br />
<br />
It's a fact that's plain on her face -- and certainly so is the look of anticipation that bubbles up in her goggle-covered eyes as the final check begins. There's a certain wonder to experiencing something for truly, the very first time. When Liath first took a trip on a train, she was in awe of it. The locomotion; the power necessary to carry so many countless tons of steel across an entire continent. It was staggering. <br />
<br />
It also made her woefully misinformed about what 'horsepower' actually represented which Ragnell certainly never let her hear the end of, but that's neither here nor there -- <br />
<br />
The point IS. When the plane starts to move? When the chassis starts to tremble with mounting pressure and air resistance? Liath's eyes are wide; her lips part in amazement. Her hands settle against the side of her seat to -feel- the way the plane rumbles and shakes beneath her fingers until -- <br />
<br />
-- wheels lift -- <br />
<br />
-- and air gushes past her as she looks past to watch them rising into the sky with pure excitement. <br />
<br />
"Ah...!" <br />
<br />
It's wonderful. Remarkable. Flight is... something she has done. Can do. In a way she could never truly appreciate. This? This is something she never thought she'd experience. <br />
<br />
'I wish I could get you above the clouds,' says Marivel, but Liath's gaze is so ardently fixated on the way everything shrinks away from them as she lifts up just enough to see the smallness of the world beneath them. <br />
<br />
"... Mayhap," she finally says after a time. <br />
<br />
"But this is more than enough for now, Marivel. It is beautiful." <br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12056Solitaire Collier2022-11-22T09:49:33Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
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<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thanks for helping her with her throat. Sorry we gotta fight."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir...I can't..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Clever and could be trouble. Would rather see if we could work together but..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Whew we really owe him a lot. W-wait why is the affinity orange?! HE SAVED OUR LIVES! Are you mad because you don't like feeling indebted???? You should be more grateful--Hold on, are you even listening?? Don't tune me out just because you don't like what you're hearing!!"<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12055Solitaire Collier2022-11-22T09:47:24Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thanks for helping her with her throat. Sorry we gotta fight."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir...I can't..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Clever and could be trouble. Would rather see if we could work together but..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Whew we really owe him a lot. W-wait why is the affinity orange?! HE SAVED OUR LIVES! Are you mad because you don't like feeling indebted???? You should be more grateful--wait, are you even listening?? Don't tune me out just because you don't like what you're hearing!!"<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12054Solitaire Collier2022-11-22T09:43:10Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thanks for helping her with her throat. Sorry we gotta fight."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir...I can't..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Clever and could be trouble. Would rather see if we could work together but..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xander Lovell]]<br />
| None<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Whew we really owe him a lot. W-wait why is the affinity orange?! HE SAVED OUR LIVES! Are you mad because you don't like feeling indebted????"<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
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[[Category:Characters]]<br />
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[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2022-11-20:_Survivor&diff=120532022-11-20: Survivor2022-11-21T21:11:46Z<p>Fei: Created page with "*'''Log: Survivor''' *'''Cast:''' Character :: Solitaire Collier, Character :: Lily Keil, Character :: Venetia Vuong, Character :: Ruth Pauling, Character ::..."</p>
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<div>*'''Log: Survivor'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Solitaire Collier]], [[Character :: Lily Keil]], [[Character :: Venetia Vuong]], [[Character :: Ruth Pauling]], [[Character :: Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Guild Galad - Skyside<br />
*'''Date:''' 2022-11-20<br />
*'''Summary''': ''An investigation ''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
The Blugarde House is a big supplier of Dragon Fossils and is held in high regard by the Master of the city. The household consists of Maximilian Blugarde, Frankie Blugarde (his wife), and their servants as their children left home a long time ago to make their own fortune in November City.<br />
<br />
Recently their workers have been coming down with a strange new illness that has quietly been spreading amongst the long term professional Diggers that help recover Dragon Fossils in the Boneyard. The disease seems to start around their throat before ending up in their lungs. Symptoms include quicksilver beads in the throat and coughing fits, worsening once the disease reaches the lungs. If there's any further complications, they are presently unknown to ARMS. The Dragon Fossils mined up helps the whole ARMs industry but also, flat out, just ARMS itself. <br />
<br />
There have been some preliminary investigations. Venetia and Ruth spoke to a 'Johnathon Bones', a fossicker who was suffering from the illness and one of the only ones willing to speak to ARMS staff. They also met 'Solitaire' (possibly a pseudonym) who had also been investigating and seemed angered by the situation. Venetia believes that the illness was contracted through the inhalation of Dragon Fossil particles.<br />
<br />
Eleanor had also met this adventurer and confirmed that she was, at least, wearing an Odessa uniform at one point and that her goals were for 'strength' and an 'equal world'.<br />
<br />
And Lily Keil had a run-in with her in the lower levels where she was speaking to one of the servants of the Blugarde Household.<br />
<br />
The investigation now points to Maximilian and Frankie Blugarde. Kate Lindberg, the ARMS comms officer and telepath, has officially asked for the Wolves assistance to ensure an efficient handling of the affair as the Blugarde family is theoretically close to ARMS and it is all too easy for there to be a sense of impropriety.<br />
<br />
The manor is in Skyside on the northern side of the city. Kate suggested approaching late in the evening to avoid causing a disturbance. The mood outside of the estate seems a bit grimmer than usual though it is not so severe that they seem to think something is 'up' but the dragon fossil shipments to the local ARMs dealers has taken a downturn in number and quality. There are some whispered concerns that the greatest source of income for Guild Galad might be drying up while others speculate the illness or 'lazy workers' are simply not managing to meet the quotas.<br />
<br />
The gates to the Blugarde estate are manned by a pair of local guardsmen. They don't seem too surprised to see the delegation and send a buzz in to get permission to let the party in.<br />
<br />
There is no response. That encourages the guards to open up ANYWAY and your path to the mansion itself is clear.<br />
<br />
'Careful everyone!' Kate Lindberg emits over the empathite radios. 'I'm getting a bad feeling...'<br />
<br />
And supporting this feeling is the fact that the main entrance doors are already slightly ajar and, why, a guard seems to have fallen asleep propped up against them!<br />
<br />
Well the top half of him seems to be. Lord knows where the other half went. Maybe it went for a walk.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.<br />
<br />
As a rule, the Black Wolves don't really care about who's regarded how by the Master of Guild Galad, nor about what its wealthier citizens get up to. Even strange diseases aren't especially their problem here, though some of them are naturally compassionate enough to give a shit. Even Guild Galad's overall stability is not a particular concern to all of them. However... <br />
<br />
They can be paid to care. And that's what's happening! <br />
<br />
Lily Keil is here, dressed in dark, armored clothing, with a sword at one hip and a pistol at the other. She looks to the local guardsmen as she approaches, and lifts an eyebrow when there's no response. But Kate Lindberg has a warning... <br />
<br />
Lily drops her hands to her sides, loosening up for casting. This is the sorcerous equivalent of picking up a loaded gun, and the Ether in the air might make that plain for those familiar enough to notice it. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.<br />
<br />
It isn't that Venetia Vuong cares about the Master. <br />
<br />
She cares about Guild Galad as a place, perhaps; loss of an industry without growth of another industry is bad for an area, and while it isn't widely talked about, it's true that Guild Galad cannot simply 'go to seed' in the way that some other, more groundbearing nations can-- at least not yet. GIVE IT TIME, PEOPLE. EAT YOUR MUSHROOMS. <br />
<br />
But a new disease is a problem, and the connection of one thing to another is rather clear. Maybe there are underlying reasons but that is why you have to investigate. You have to reach out. You have to understand the situation - THEN destroy the enemy. <br />
<br />
Especially since there was SOME kind of affray... but maybe someone was going rogue. <br />
<br />
Right? <br />
<br />
Venetia is wearing her usual garb, if on the newer, more ceremonial side - hair piece, but not the one that says "THE GREATEST." "ch," she says. "And me without my gun. I suppose I'll have to use my words," she continues, adjusting the strap on her Crest pouch. It does not say 'words'. <br />
<br />
"Dinoginos wept," Venetia says, at the sight of that guard. "Kate, this is looking worse by the moment - someone is in here. If you can, call someone to watch this region's elevators in case they make an escape--" <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.<br />
<br />
Ida has been making inquiries of her own.<br />
<br />
The Fossickers' Union has made no inroads into the Blugarde's business, meaning her contacts there have to rely on /their/ contacts, and everything in that quadrant is coming in secondhand. But Ida can put on a different face--a face neither the workers nor the tabloid reporters will recognize--and go investigating herself. What she's found, and what the others have turned up, paints a distressing picture. People are getting sick. The bosses don't care. And when people are scared and sick and ignored, they'll turn to whomever is willing to listen, even if they're with the likes of Vinsfeld.<br />
<br />
Ida is right behind Lily, dressed for combat as well as the seasonal chill. She's wearing refurbished Hyadean armor and a trenchcoat overtop, and the latter is far more durable than it looks.<br />
<br />
<"Understood,"> Ida says. As the guards step aside, she follows Lily in, and immediately regrets it.<br />
<br />
"Granas," Ida says, as she sees the corpse. She presses two fingers to the Empathite on her collar. <"Watch the vents, too. The shaft on Tenth and Blackstone's big enough to crawl down, and so's the one at Tenth and Opal Avenue.">" Her whole body tightens. The thought of defending people she would otherwise hate twists her guts, but this is not the way forward.<br />
"We've got trouble all right, Lindberg."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.<br />
<br />
Ruth - at first - elects to take a lookout position. Some of it is for her own mental health, given the crusade she let herself be roped into some time back by a former mine worker with a love of fairy tales and stories. Another part of it is that her eyesight remains keen, in case something looks to go deeply awry.<br />
<br />
Another part of it is just that it's a thing of comfort for Ruth to situate herself on elevated terrain somewhere.<br />
<br />
All the same, she can't - and won't - be looking away from what happened to Mr. Bones. By the time she's able to situate herself and get a better vantage point at the goings on... Kate speaks of it before Ruth herself can chime in what she sees.<br />
<br />
Half of a guard, dead at the front door. That's Ruth, over the empathite. She doesn't speculate on what happened, but she knows what she saw.<br />
<br />
She's not too far away if they call for her to step down and rejoin the group from her vague but close-by vantage point (that may, in fact, be an act of trespassing on her part to begin with).<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
As everyone starts heading deeper into the mansion, our heroes (and antiheroes!) will find more bodies (and parts of bodies) scattered around like it's some kind of indie rpgmaker game. Ida and Lily are the first to notice that there don't seem to be any dead servants amongst the bodies so far, just guardsmen. Indeed, there don't seem to be any servants present at all though it IS a mansion so they might just be elsewhere.<br />
<br />
'Understood Venetia,' Kate responds.<br />
<br />
So far the vents seem clear when investigated. Either the person or peoples behind all this didn't sneak in that way or they already cleared it. Most of them seem sealed up by secure gratings though it wouldn't take too much for someone determined to bust one down. You can make that stuff only so tough. It's quiet. Ruth, taking her position at one of the guardwalls, doesn't see anybody leaving the building though she can see, just barely, a half open window on the second floor. Other than that, nothing seems to be stirring. Not even a...<br />
<br />
'Venetia, Ida. I sense two minds nearing your position.'<br />
<br />
Not even footsteps. But as you step into the main foyer, on the second level you can see a familiar (to some of you) mouse beastwoman with a familiar large axe walking by. She is wearing a black odessa uniform with gold trimming, marred by the occasional blood splatter staining the uniform.<br />
<br />
Ida (or more accurately Fafnir) recognizes the axe as Malice Striker, a weapon that once belonged to Metal Demon known as Nidhogg. Others would readily recognize the mousegirl.<br />
<br />
'''We're not alone.'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire turns to look towards the assembled, though from Ruth's position she doesn't know she's outside and in position--but she does expect it.<br />
<br />
She glances to the right towards a second story room that she had been approaching--<br />
<br />
--only to flip herself over to the first floor and make her way to the main entrance, walking at a leisurely pace, intending to just...walk past everyone.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.<br />
<br />
Lily detects an interesting magic about Venetia, but hasn't asked what it is yet. That seems rude. And she can't puzzle it out just by sensing it, because she's not familiar enough with Crest Sorcery. Still... <br />
<br />
"Right. Words." <br />
<br />
Lily does not know GUild Galad nearly so well as Ida or Venetia, so she leaves this matter to them, and focuses with Ruth on keeping her eyes out for what is here instead. More bodies are around. "No servants," Lily notes. "Just guards." <br />
<br />
Odessa uniform. <br />
<br />
"...So your 'friend' is here too," Lily says, looking around for the source of that additional voice that only she hears. Then, she steps into the way of the exit, shaking her head. "We need answers before you leave. Are you the one who killed the guards?" <br />
<br />
"What's happened to the servants?" <br />
<br />
Those are the first two.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.<br />
<br />
Venetia briefly studies the guard. There seems to be a forlorn, crazy hope that perhaps if he'd landed right -- <br />
<br />
No, she thinks. <br />
<br />
No. <br />
<br />
But she had already brought out the Crest, and a liquid-ruby flicker-flow around her settles in as she exhales. >Understood< she replies to Kate, pursing her lips as she steps inwards, prepared, perhaps, for almost anything, but when it is instead the rather petite form of Solitaire coming with her blood-streaked clothing and a great axe... <br />
<br />
Who then flips down to the floor. <br />
<br />
"HOLD IT," Venetia shouts loud enough to echo, but as she's taking a replacement breath, Lily speaks up. Venetia's head tilts backwards as she seems to puff up slightly. She is absolutely doing her Commander of the Occult Forces pose, probably on purpose. <br />
<br />
"You'd be wise to answer swiftly," Venetia says, "because stranger things have happened; and I would rather not see more blood shed." <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.<br />
<br />
The trail of carnage leads inside. All the bodies are in uniform, but that's cold comfort. Ida's eyes dart sideways as Venetia activates /that/ Graph, and her face pulls tight as Kate reports the presence of two minds. The Blugardes? No. It's--<br />
<br />
Ida's head turns up, her eyes focusing on the small, blood-splattered figure. Odessa uniform. Axe looks Hyadean. Axe looks--<br />
<br />
Ida's face twitches as vague suspicion filters into her mind. The source isn't /her/. "You must be Collier," Ida says, her eyes going flinty--<br />
<br />
Flinty, /and/ the right one turns bright emerald-green--<br />
<br />
"Drop the weapon."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.<br />
<br />
'There's an open window on the second floor.' Comes Ruth, over the empathite. Her eyes narrow. A part of her is ever eager to catch the movement. Another part of her is resigned to what will entail should she catch 'it.'<br />
<br />
'I don't see anyone leaving this way.' She is, at the time of stating this, unaware of who is inside other than Kate's note of there being 'two minds.'<br />
<br />
'Moving in to cut off their escape.' Ruth communicates over empathite. From her position at one of the guardwalls, she sucks in a breath that doesn't leave her... and she takes off running.<br />
<br />
Her encumbrance gradually becomes less of a concern as she finds her wind, tapping into that legacy she rejects. That legacy she embraces. Even with the seeming disadvantages of a weapon that was cumbersome to hold, it didn't stop her. There was a time when strength might have been her only virtue.<br />
<br />
'The next sound is me.'<br />
<br />
There's two leaps. The first, one can give a willing suspension of disbelief for the distance traveled and the stress the landing might have on the knees and ankles. The second, Malevolence substitutes for blood and breath as...<br />
<br />
* SHATTER *<br />
<br />
Ruth helps herself /through/ the second floor window, tucking and rolling despite what she carries. If there's a door in her way, it gets thrown open. A faint whiff of Malevolence in the air as it visibly courses up her left arm for support as she draws that rifle, advancing to that vantage point to see down to the first floor below.<br />
<br />
Followed by a sharp twinge of pain in her arm as /something/ gives her pause to look at -<br />
<br />
Solitaire.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
HOLD IT<br />
<br />
Solitaire stops. She unleashes a low exhale. Answer swiftly....<br />
<br />
Solitaire: '''Can I get away with saying no?'''<br />
<br />
Patience: '''I think you should tell them so they don't get their own idea.'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire lets out a long sigh before saying. "Yeah," on the matter of the guards. "Insisted on being... In way."<br />
<br />
She rubs at her throat in irritation but she explains the lack of servants. "Told servants... to leave early. Innocent. Masters..." Her gaze focuses on Venetia. "Gave faulty masks... to workers." She coughs wetly. "Save money."<br />
<br />
Ida gives a command. Drop the weapon. Solitaire does not drop the weapon. She turns to look right at Ida. She stares into her eyes. Like she's trying to read them in spite of the strange things going on with those eyes. Her own eyes narrow dangerously. That kind of command...<br />
<br />
"The old man." Solitaire says. "Gave me clothes. Gave me food. Gave me cards. I gave him nothing. His killers, before me. Pt...Ptolom..."<br />
<br />
"Ptolomea."<br />
<br />
'''They're too much for you. Let me help.'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire nods slowly and then--<br />
<br />
--Ruth shatters the window. She didn't need to! She could've opened it! But she shatters the window anyway and Solitaire moves as soon as the window shatters.<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw<br />
<br />
Deeming Lily as the greatest threat (for once, not because of her sorcery), Solitaire swings the axe towards Lily--intending to catch her throat by the shaft and hit her hard, threatening to slam her into one of the blades too if she doesn't react quickly as Solitaire swings it around in a wide upward arc for Venetia's right side even as she slams it back down afterwards, embedding the axe in the floor and running up it before aiming for a double kick for Ida's body, her tail snapping her back and throwing her up into the air so she can land on the axe's hilt. She crouches down.<br />
<br />
She smiles.<br />
<br />
She provides a 'c'mere' gesture with two of her fingers even as her ear flicks in Ruth's direction.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.<br />
<br />
Lily isn't here to save guards, and she isn't fazed by death. So it makes sense that she's more willing to talk. But Venetia's reaction may be more appropriate, and Ida's suggests knowing something. She knows Ruth went upstairs... <br />
<br />
Lily 'hears' the voices again. And it tuns out... "I see." Solitaire has been able to express herself well enough, it seems. But then when she mentions the old man--<br />
<br />
"Ptolo--" <br />
<br />
'Let me help'. Lily is surprised enough that she's caught off-guard. Ruth shatters through the window, and Lily takes the shaft of an axe to the throat. She throws out her hand and the axe blade bounces off a sudden barrier of dark force, but Lily is still sent to the ground coughing as she tries to regain her breath. <br />
<br />
It's going to take her a moment. She can't speak to give more warnings, or to explain what she's heard. But she doesn't have to be able to speak to use her magic. This may be something of a surprise to Solitaire. <br />
<br />
Lily, from the ground, takes a moment... while from behind the party a black blur surges forward!! <br />
<br />
DOG appears, and /lunges/ at Solitaire, growling furiously as she seeks to snap her jaws onto Solitaire's arm and dissade her from getting any closer to Lily. <br />
<br />
Lily, in the meantime, starts to glow purple.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.<br />
<br />
"An understandable motive," Venetia tells Solitaire, <br />
<br />
because really it kind of is, <br />
<br />
"Still murder," she concludes, <br />
<br />
because really... it kind of is. <br />
<br />
Venetia already had her suspicions about this girl and she steps forwards even as Solitaire comes towards Lily. Venetia's head turns as she puts the Crest back into her Crest Pouch and then Solitaire is coming towards her. Venetia tries to dodge but it mostly pulls her arm up which means that Solitare's axe bites into her side deep enough to make something wet rupture and cause Venetia to gargle blood as she topples forwards, twisted around by the backstroke and rotating in the air -- <br />
<br />
She lands on her back. <br />
<br />
For some reason, she grins. <br />
<br />
NEVER LET THEM SEE YOU SWEAT, she thinks, before the world goes grey and... <br />
<br />
... <br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Death defied!<br />
<br />
Venetia sits bolt upright. Her head feels woozy -- ah, Venetia thinks, fresh from Hell, that must be the blood that actually left my body, that's interesting -- but not enough is gone to stop her from kipping upright and approaching Solitaire just as she makes her come-here gesture to Ruth... <br />
<br />
To kick her in the back of the knee!!<br />
<br />
It's a rather sweeping roundhouse kick; the angle isn't great; and Venetia immediately throws herself backwards, not with a ton of grace, rolling clear and streaking shed blood everywhere *despite that axe wound being completely gone*! <br />
<br />
As she does, she digs into her pouch and throws out - money? IS SHE PAYING SOLITAIRE OFF? Approximately two hundred Gella in arbitrary denomination coins are thrown out in her general direction. Venetia keeps retreating even as she gets out another Crest Graph and holds it outwards towards Solitaire. Her other hand reaches up to tell Kate, hotly: "It's that girl! She's sent the servants off - killed everyone else!" <br />
<br />
The enigmatic Crest Graph's purpose becomes clear when the thrown coins start suddenly flying off the ground to whack into Solitaire's body.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.<br />
<br />
So that's what happened.<br />
<br />
Ida is expecting an explanation. The justification on both sides goes more or less how she'd anticipated the moment she saw that corpse at the door. "They did," Ida says. "And you killed them for it." The anger grows into a hot, bright knot, even as it turns against itself. No one should have done what the Blugardes did. They were a part of the machine Ida hates, the machine she was born into.<br />
<br />
But Odessa cares only for its warped ideals. Ida's heart tightens as Solitaire speaks fondly of a man who died by those ideals. <br />
<br />
"Then come at me," Ida says, her face still cold, her eyes all but unreadable. She glances at that axe, and a flash of Fafnir's confusion bubbles through her own sadness and anger.<br />
<br />
Solitaire comes at her. Ida slips back as the axe slams into the floor, and throws her arms up to block the kick--but Solitaire's right foot slips through the guard and hits her in the chest. The breath rushes from Ida's lungs; she skids back, hits the ground, and lets out a violent, hacking gasp. A moment later, Venetia hits the ground beside her, carved open.<br />
<br />
For some reason, Ida's only reaction is a knowing nod.<br />
<br />
The heiress plants a hand on the ground and surges up to a three-point crouch. She pulls a flare grenade from her belt, ignites it against her palm(?), and whips it at the Odessa operative's head. It cooks off a moment later with a thunderous BOOM and a magnesium flash.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.<br />
<br />
Opening windows slowly is for people who aren't forces of barely contained violence and strife.<br />
<br />
Violence is easy for Ruth to find and follow. She is no stranger to blood. She is late to explanations and motives, but exactly on time for that violence and strife that attracts her.<br />
<br />
But to see the blood on Solitaire, standing on her axe's hilt and giving a taunting gesture to the others in their varying states of fresh injury... Solitaire's ear flicks in Ruth's direction.<br />
<br />
'It's that girl! She's sent the servants off - killed everyone else!' Comes Venetia's words.<br />
<br />
That ear flick, that notice, might be a saving grace as regards the new entrant to the battle, glass shards still glistening and falling off of Ruth as she holds the rifle. Faint clicking noises follow. What conflict, what deliberation Ruth has about whether or not to shoot a young woman hurt enough by the world around her to seek strength... makes it, in a contradictory fashion, a lot easier to pull that trigger.<br />
<br />
A deafening report follows. It won't land anywhere fatal, should it do so. It was deliberation enough to pull herself back from that.<br />
<br />
Words, explanations, and apologies are for when she comes /off/ the tension high, a saving grace being that her monstrous shape is still contained within her former self (which Ruth will, as always, insist /is/ the monstrous form, something history might agree with).<br />
<br />
She catches sight of Ida's flare grenade and briefly ducks behind cover after taking the shot.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
'Eh? How could she...by herself? But I sensed two minds...'<br />
<br />
A black miasmic aura ripples around Solitaire as the Demon Axe starts glowing with energy even though Solitaire isn't presently holding onto it. But she seems ill inclined to not have the weapon close by--least not for long.<br />
<br />
Solitaire wasn't expecting Venetia to go down so easily. When she sits back up from CERTAIN DEATH, Solitaire's mouth hangs open in an o-shape as she asks, "Can you do that...twice?"<br />
<br />
The back of her knee is slammed as she's distracted and she tumbles off the top of the axe, tail-releasing the axe as she snags the weapon with her hand, ripping it out of the floor with the aid of inertia as she drops back down on the floor in a 3 point marvel heroine stance just like Scarlett Johansen!<br />
<br />
A dog (named Dog) leaps at Solitaire--<br />
<br />
--her eyes sparkle with excitement! A dog!!--<br />
<br />
--only for it to clamp its jaws around her arm. She lets out a yelp of pain but she seems to be at a loss as to what to do with Dog. Look, she might be a literal axe murderer but even she doesn't want to hurt a dog.<br />
<br />
A dark tendril expels from Nidhogg towards Dog and--<br />
<br />
--gently lifting Dog off via the collar, setting Dog on the ground nearby and then pats Dog on the head twice. Nidhogg may be a Demon Axe from an alien invasive species but even he doesn't want to hurt a dog.<br />
<br />
Venetia tries BRIBERY. Solitaire stubbornly doesn't reach for the coins but--<br />
<br />
'''Um, we're really low on lunch funds...'''<br />
<br />
Those dark tendrils emanating from Nidhogg deftly snags the majority of the gella coins as they whirl around rapidly thanks to Venetia's mystical arts. Unfortunately, they don't really slam into Solitaire who weaves around the coins quietly while looking embarrassed.<br />
<br />
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: FUNDED A TERRORIST<br />
<br />
Ida tosses a flashbang! Solitaire throws herself right at it and kicks it away with the back of her foot towards Ruth--<br />
<br />
--though she isn't quite fast enough to knock it towards Ruth. A blindening flash goes off behind Solitaire but Ruth already pulled the trigger.<br />
<br />
Ruth pops off a shot and it slams into Solitaire's shoulder, the power of the impact enough to send her crashing to the floor.<br />
<br />
Ruth is frustratingly out of reach.<br />
<br />
Nidhogg finishes putting the coins in Solitaire's pouch. Solitaire grabs at the axe's hilt and starts spinning around in place, threatening to carve into Ida and Venetia before she flings the whole axe hard towards that cover Ruth just ducked behind.<br />
<br />
It won't be cover anymore once Patience hits it.<br />
<br />
Spinning on a heel, Solitaire throws herself at Lily, rearing back with her head to try striking at her neck with the back of a spare knife. She's not too happy about being this far from her axe. She could have easily swapped to the BLADE for that throat strike but she isn't electing to. It would still suck though!!<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.<br />
<br />
Lily wasn't expecting Venetia to go down that quickly, either. She grits her teeth when she sees her fall, because she liked her. And then she... gets back up. tThe wound is gone. Lily's eyes widen. "...?" she wonders. There was a flash of magic, and... <br />
<br />
Ida is moving. Ida is angry. And Ruth is firing again, Lily can /hear/ and practically feel it. Lily gasps for breath again, but she can't catch it. Frowning, she decides what she needs to do, even as she sees Dog lifted off by the.. axe? "Ts," Lily vocalizes, and Dog as ordered gets behind her again. And then Soltaire throws herself. Lily finds her neck targeted again, but it's by a blunt edge. Lily has to dampen her sorcerous output in order to funnel that power into her body, and she burns violet-black for an instant as she makes the switch. Then her eyes snap up. <br />
<br />
"Smart," she rasps, and then lifts her hand.<br />
<br />
Red begins to shimmer from within Ida, Ruth, Lily, and Venetia, an aura of light shining around each that fades after a momen, and brings with it health and restoration. <br />
<br />
"I'll be honest," Lily says. "I'm here to discover the truth. What you've done doesn't change my pay any. ...But Odessa is my enemy." <br />
<br />
"So if you want a fight..." <br />
<br />
Lily rises to her feet again, and pulls the sword at her hip, adopting a two-handed stance.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.<br />
<br />
"I'd be stupid to answer that question, if you're going to insist on fighting us," Venetia tells Solitaire. "I'm not stupid. Throw away your weapon or signal you can't and we'll work from there!" <br />
<br />
The dark tendrils capture her thrown coins and Venetia arches an eyebrow. Her mask is designed to make this action at least DISCERNIBLE. <br />
<br />
"Touche," Venetia states, to herself, even as there is a flashbang - kicked away - Venetia digs out a different Crest Graph, because it seems that her cleverness may not win the day, requiring other, less clever, more kinetic solutions. <br />
<br />
She does not strike right away, pivoting to follow the action with a Crest in hand. After Lily erupts in strange light, and then begins to glow in some other way, Venetia brings that one up - a more familiar one, a personal one. <br />
<br />
One that hurls one huge and thirteen moderately-sized amethysts at Solitaire! CATCH THESE, Venetia thinks, even if aloud, she says, "There's more to Odessa than you think...!!" <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.<br />
<br />
Two minds, it is repeated from the empathite. Two minds. There's another.<br />
<br />
The glowing miasma-like aura between Solitaire and the Demon Axe is noticed, but it takes a backseat to watching - and knowing - she shot Solitaire in the shoulder.<br />
<br />
Moments later, the Demon Axe comes to collect. It bisects the cover (editor says... it was a grandfather clock), missing Ruth's skull by /this much/ as stray sharp mechanical bits escape from the cleaved upper half graze her, some of which fall into the space provided by shawl and overcoat to give a few extra chance to poke and lacerate.<br />
<br />
Rather than be stunned by the near-miss on her life, Ruth ducks down and moves again as Patience's thrown arc sees something /else/ in its warpath collapse, because like hell would Nidhogg's axe be stopped and stuck in some inferior ornamental object. Something larger, something heavier, that crashes onto the ground with enough force and velocity to bring a floor that had already been visited by 'Patience' against fallen guards to its limit.<br />
<br />
The floor Ruth stands on gives out, and she falls in a crouch as the bayonet blade of her rifle carves a line in its path. (This also allows 'Patience' to eventually come down and be on the same floor as everyone else, too, in a manner befitting them.)<br />
<br />
Ruth doesn't delay before swinging that blade outwards in a horizontal slicing motion, Lily's warm red-hued Ether reinforcing strength and lightening (some of) the physical tension involved in exerting strength over something that had always been unwieldy for her to hold.<br />
<br />
"So," Ruth says all too softly with a smile there, "where's your friend?" She asks. "There's another here..."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.<br />
<br />
That is not a normal Hyadean ARM. Recognition glimmers in Ida's eyes a split-second before those shadowy tendrils form, and she blinks--momentarily stunned--as they start /grasping things/. Even /less/ normal than she expected, then. Is Collier controlling it herself, or--<br />
<br />
Ida slips back into a defensive stance, arms up in a boxer's guard. The axe digs into her forearms, cutting through armor and spraying a few drops of blood onto the floor. Ida grimaces in pain.<br />
<br />
Not all of the blood is red. It's easy to miss, though. A moment later: Two minds. /Two minds/?<br />
<br />
Ida lets out a hiss of breath, and then rushes forwards, blood trailing down her sleeves. Golden-white Breath erupts from her fingertips, forming an aura around her hand. She drives it palm-first at Solitaire's chest, and if it hits, that power will snap loose, and sink into her. It /burns/.<br />
<br />
Two minds, Ida thinks. That axe. Is it--?!<br />
<br />
She says this as 'Patience' should be some ways behind her.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire might be a LITTLE stupid. She pouts a little when Venetia doesn't tell her the secret to her technique like she's about to complain about how unfair that is--<br />
<br />
She is thrust off of Lily by her expulsion of power. She pants for breath. Patience is too far away but she couldn't just let Ruth keep taking pop shots at her or eventually she'd have readily popped one in her head no matter how fast she is. She struggles to express what she wants to express to the psionic sorceress.<br />
<br />
She takes another step back. "Why? No slaves. No masters."<br />
<br />
Throw away her weapon? She shakes her head emphatically. She can't? Or she won't? Or is it both? She brings her own hands up, ears flicking behind her to keep track of Patience and Ruth. Venetia's thrown amethyst (no pearl or garnets) slam into her hard, cutting up her upper body significantly as she slides backwards, closer and closer back to Patience.<br />
<br />
'''I feel someone familiar.... A name.... comes to me? .... Fafnir?'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire's attention snaps to Ida. She weaves to the side. The power burns into her but it isn't a direct hit as she stares into Ida's eyes. "You know...Patience?" the hardness in her eyes peels back some and she says, softly, "He... saved me."<br />
<br />
'''Fafnir... I am sorry...She needs me...'''<br />
<br />
Solitaires raises up and shakes her head.<br />
<br />
She places her hand to her chest. "Solitaire Collier. Killing Malice."<br />
<br />
She nods once. "The Prayer Bells... Will Not Toll."<br />
<br />
She starts hopping in place and rolling her neck from side to side as Patience suddenly jerks out from behind Ruth, cleaving for her from behind as it snaps into Solitaire's hand as despite her vocal issues shouts--<br />
<br />
"The Prayer Bells Do Not Toll!"<br />
<br />
She raises the axe above her head and gives one heavy swing for Ida, not seeming particularly happy about it--but that isn't stopping her right now even as a dark aura erupts out of it, threatening to envelop Ida in toxic miasma.<br />
<br />
Solitaire then swings 'Patience' into the large amethyst chunks, sending shrapnel flinging towards Venetia and Lily--really, they have the least to worry about right now.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.<br />
<br />
No slaves. No masters. "Odessa will only replace the masters of yesterday with their own. There will still be slaves. Nothing will change, except who holds the reins of 'power'. Those like my father." <br />
<br />
"...Fafnir?" Lily ks then, and looks around. That voice. "...Patience. The--" <br />
<br />
Lily's eyes widen. "The axe?" <br />
<br />
But Solitaire explains who she is. And the prayer bels.. <br />
<br />
Lily takes a few hits from the shards of amethyst of the spell, and they slide straight into her jacket. Most wedge in the armor there, but a number cut through, and her blood is quite red, actually. <br />
<br />
But that's when she bursts into flame. <br />
<br />
Through her jacket, symbols of red are visible, little bits of her circuitry shining through at her collar, at her hands. It glows brilliantly as starfire bursts into being around her, around her weapon. Then Lily charges. "Your strength requires that I meet it with my own." <br />
<br />
She /spins/ around when she gets halfway there, and the flames gather on her sword, burning forward and outward like a sunspot as they all drain off directly for Solitaire.<br />
<br />
"There's no need to be sorry," Lily says as she rights herself into a battle stance. "We do what we must."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.<br />
<br />
No slaves; no masters. <br />
<br />
Oh, for Dinoginos's sake, Venetia thinks, her class awareness being RATHER LOW. Perhaps this is because she is in the LABOR ARISTOCRACY. Either way, there is definitely more going on in this room than CLASS CONFLICT, and as such Venetia's initial focus is to deal with the spray of amethyst shards flying back at her. "That damn axe's strong!" she says, staggering and bleeding a little. The bleeding from THESE isn't stopping. <br />
<br />
She introduces herself. <br />
<br />
She's killing -- no, that's the name of -- <br />
<br />
That sounds bad. "Damn your bare face," Venetia shouts, "We've been rolling up Odessa and all of the sad people they've been using as rounds in their gun! I won't take your pain from you, Collier," ah good she knows the last name so she can be polite, "BUT IT'S BEING USED AGAINST YOU!"<br />
<br />
Venetia reaches for her gun, which is not there. She swears under her breath; what comes out instead is a different Crest, which erupts in sparkling (and significantly more friable - and hence, less dangerous) crystals. Also different: they try to engulf around and embrace Solitaire rather than, like, fly at her really hard. <br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.<br />
<br />
Ruth staggers once with the follow-through of the swing of her rifle, Malevolence rolling up her left arm to offset its weakness. It is hard-won discipline wrought from uncomfortable understandings of who she is that prevents the majority of it from escaping into the air around her.<br />
<br />
For now. Ruth forces her gaze down to not let the woundings of comrades around her incite more... but there's something else in all this that brings a pause that the near-death experience with the thrown axe prior did not.<br />
<br />
'Why? No salves. No masters.'<br />
<br />
A LONG TIME AGO<br />
<br />
"Some may claim the land!" Shouted someone on the corners of war-torn Guara Bobelo, after its siege a little over a quarter century ago. "But all live under the blue sky above!" A revolutionary, who bore the colors of brown, gold, and blue from left to right. A believer in a democratic Aquvy Union, against oligarchs who flexed their material might to bring the now-domed city low.<br />
<br />
A young woman with pointed ears, driven to grief, anger, and guilt, contemplates the borrowed revolver she took off a dead soldier as she stared into a puddle formed from a ruptured, ruined water tower.<br />
<br />
She didn't look back.<br />
<br />
NOW<br />
<br />
Ruth's only hint is a scent of worry, somewhere... behind her. But there's no one there.<br />
<br />
'The Prayer Bells... Will Not Toll.'<br />
<br />
The axe goes for her, and Ruth puts her rifle between it and herself. The clash produces clouds of Malevolent miasma as they lock, for a moment.<br />
<br />
Wills fight, only for that singular moment.<br />
<br />
It is 'Patience,' whose purity of purpose wins out. Solitaire needs them, and there is nothing - nothing! - Ruth can do to hold back the one known quasi-living remnant of one of the greatest warriors of the Metal Demons on that alone.<br />
<br />
Where she isn't cleaved in twain, she's /flung/ like a ragdoll across the length of the chamber they all fight to equally injurious impact. Things collapse - ornamental objects of wealth, stolen Hyadean racks and pieces turned into gaudy mockeries of what they once were thanks to 'restoration experts.' Ruth disappears underneath that pile.<br />
<br />
It might have been enough to remove her from the equation. Under the crushing pile of debris, Ruth goes motionless.<br />
<br />
Solitaire, a victim of cruelty. Of... course she'd know, the cruelty inflicted upon people like herself. She would know. Her desire for strength... she would know. Her desire for a more equal world through unparalleled violence...<br />
<br />
Ida, of all people, would keenly know and feel /when/ someone decides to undo the metaphorical chains holding one's Malevolence within their heart and soul, and the form that /shrieks/ out of that is no different than expected. That stone gray single-winged grotesque, plowing through wing-first before /stabbing/ the edge of a somewhat transofrmed bayonet blade towards Solitaire, trying to pin her.<br />
<br />
Glowing purple eyes bear down upon the mouse-form beastfolk, unable to resist trying to meet her gaze. Ruth doesn't want to see Solitaire hurt. She doesn't want to see Solitaire become hurt by how much she will hurt.<br />
<br />
"I've /lived/ that sssssame fight," she hisses and hissing is never a great sign, "where it endssss... to become sssso sssstrong to desssstroy everything and leave /nothing/...!"<br />
<br />
Her heart knots up into the idea that the best way to not hurt Solitaire further is to run her through and try to impart the fear and pain of a failed war to impart a more equal society. The sort of contradictory double-think that further emboldens.<br />
<br />
But can Solitaire be dissuaded?<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.<br />
<br />
Ida blinks. Both eyes act in unison; there's no tic or twitch or asynchronous movement that would give away Fafnir's control. There's only that distinct color, and perhaps that mental 'passenger' that just grew active in the back of Ida's head. /That/, to someone with the right knowledge, and the right powers--<br />
<br />
Ida presses two fingers to her Empathite, and focuses for a few precious seconds. Both her mind and the 'passenger's' presence grow clearer, thanks to the psychoreceptive material. She can almost hear...<br />
<br />
"The weapon--!" Ida breathes. Patience. He saved her...?<br />
<br />
He doesn't... what? That can't be--<br />
<br />
Whatever Solitaire and her partner have done, it's introduced a distraction, and Ida pays for it. The heiress throws up her arms again, and this time the exoskeleton comes out--a sluicing wave of biometal that hardens into plates. The axe-blade grinds and strikes up sparks as it skids down Ida's forearms, but the armor does nothing to stop the miasma from sinking in. Ida coughs, violently. Distantly, she thinks it's good the others are /talking/ because she's in no shape to. The lingering energies of Lily's sorcery give out, leaving Ida's body without reinforcements. "Ruth," Ida chokes out, horror in her eyes as the Hellion goes flying. She knows what's coming, knows Ruth's tougher than that, and she /feels/ the very instant when the gloves come off.<br />
<br />
On one level, Ida knows Ruth has the best chance of /getting through/. But she could just as easily escalate this, and it needs to stop.<br />
<br />
Ida lets out a breath; toxic smoke flows from her lips as she expels some of the weapon's taint. In the next breath, she takes a step, and pulls back her first. More of that Breath-aura builds around it, gold-white surrounding an aura of fiery orange-red.<br />
<br />
There's no scream, this time--just Ida's face frozen in a rictus of pain and defiance as she rushes Solitaire like an oncoming train. A sound like a thunderclap rattles the windows as Ida drives her fist for Solitaire's center of mass.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Earlier!! Ruth got a good thick crimson carve along Solitaire's back! She's slowing down though maybe less than you might like. She is incredibly nimble but her body is likely to give out before her speed.<br />
<br />
"You're on fire," Solitaire points out to Lily because she doesn't seem to be noticing it. She's not sure where the fire came from. It didn't come from HER. Yeah Solitaire might be clever in some ways but she's still fifteen and is definitely not book smart. Granted, would book smarts help with this 'why is Lily on fire and why is she cool with this?' question? Maybe a little?<br />
<br />
Venetia (and Lily to a lesser extent) suggest that her loyalty to Odessa is misguided and furthermore, that they just want power for themselves. Solitaire cocks her head to the side.<br />
<br />
"Maybe." She admits. Especially now that so many have died, imprisoned, quit, or fled. "Then I use them too. If they become Masters, I have.... My next target."<br />
<br />
It's easier to speak when she's empowered by Nidhogg but it isn't a perfect solution either. There's still this raspiness to her voice, it's more likely she just doesn't feel the sensations as much.<br />
<br />
The flames on Lily's sword gathers like a heavy metal album cover as they impact solidly against Solitaire's chest, causing the young woman to bowl over. The smell of sizzling flesh permeates the air. The crystals then slam in, pinning her tightly. For a moment, Solitaire just...can't move at all.<br />
<br />
Ruth comes in first, unleashing her inner monster. Solitaire doesn't get a good look until after Ruth is already upon her. There is a faint widening of her eyes because one just doesn't usually expect on to turn into a gargoyle but she doesn't scream in terror. She fixes her gaze upon the gargoyle.<br />
<br />
She looks like a monster but...<br />
<br />
A monster wouldn't be pinning her against that crystal with a bayonet blade now would they?<br />
<br />
Like recovering from a jumpscare, Solitaire's heartbeat gradually returns to normal as she looks at Ruth, bleeding from that heavy wound in her shoulder. Now both shoulders are in pretty bad shape.<br />
<br />
"You Are NIce." Solitaire says to the woman who treated her throat every time they met. "No matter... the costume..." She suddenly twists her shoulder, using her own joints as a pin to pry the weapon free and send it flying away. She bites her tongue so she doesn't scream from the pain of it.<br />
<br />
The malevolence doesn't seem to affect her in a noticeable way. It even affects Marivel but Solitaire has the confidence of a lion and there is little doubt to be found within her. Maybe she could've been a shepherd if she was born on a kinder world. Whether she would've been a good one is another matter.<br />
<br />
"I have met... scarier monsters... That wear human costumes..."<br />
<br />
Blood drips from her mouth from her lips as she swings her head forward, aiming to cudgel it into a gargoyle's head before slamming it back hard against the Amethyst behind her. It cracks and shatters, finally releasing Solitaire. She drops down into a crouch but all that took a lot out of the girl.<br />
<br />
And Ida is coming in hot.<br />
<br />
'''They know now... But Soli, we need to escape.'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire shakes her head. Despite all the physical agony, the fire in her eyes is still burning. And she can't run, not after hearing that from Ruth. She is having trouble seeing and Ida--<br />
<br />
Ida throws her punch. The windows in the manor shatter. A decorative statue, less durable than Ruth, crumbles. Solitaire can't move yet--<br />
<br />
--but Patience--Nidhogg--can. The axe turns its body around on its own and intercepts Ida's punch.<br />
<br />
Its jaws open wide and bite down on Ida's fist. An echo of a dragon on dragon combat that still continues long after their passing.<br />
<br />
'''I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!!'''<br />
<br />
The Demon Fist pushes forward, slipping out of the jaws and through the shaft, ripping it in twain. She still gets a good solid hit to SOlitaire's chest, but it doesn't go THROUGH her chest.<br />
<br />
The head of the demon Axe crashes to the ground as the shaft crumbles to dust to Solitaire's side.<br />
<br />
"Patience...?" Solitaire asks, throwing herself forward and curling around the Demon Axe's head as she scampers across the ground on all fours, using one arm to hold the head close to her body. "Patieeeence......!!" She wails, tears flowing from her eyes. "I'm sorrrrryyy!!"<br />
<br />
'''Urggh... don't kill me...already...'''<br />
<br />
"Patience...!" Solitaire beams happily. "You made me worry, you dummy...!"<br />
<br />
She looks around for a bit longer, reaching into her pouch, drawing out a flashbang of her own--and slamming it down as it bursts into a huge flash of light.<br />
<br />
And when the light fades, a big hole in the floor leading into a sewer drainage slide can be seen as can Solitaire sliding down it.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.<br />
<br />
'If they become Masters, I have.... my next target.' <br />
<br />
"Fair enough," Lily answers. She doesn't answer the bit about being on fire, though. The fire is intentional, and indeed, for some people booksmarts only make Lily's fire /more/ of a problem, rather than less. <br />
<br />
She looks sharply at Ruth as she feels the change come on her, as she /sees/ her monstrous (less monstrous) form. Strength... <br />
<br />
'To become so strong to destroy everything and leave nothing.' Lily looks away, at that, feeling a pang of something in common with this monster that is not the fact that she once nearly became a Hellion herself. <br />
<br />
The weapon. Ida sees it, too. Ida sounds her defiance, and that fist of hers slams forward. Lily watches, thoughtfully, as it happens. Scarier monsters? Perhaps Lily is one of those. <br />
<br />
"I hear their thoughts," Lily says, as they fight. She doesn't make to attack again, yet. <br />
<br />
"The axe... protects her." <br />
<br />
Lily averts her eyes at the flashbang, and then looks back to the light. She sees the hole in the floor, Solitaire sliding down it. <br />
<br />
"..." <br />
<br />
A monster in human skin... <br />
<br />
"...This is as far as my pay goes," Lily says after a moment, turning away from the hole to look over Venetia and Ruth and Ida. "If ARMS wants more of the Black Wolves' help, you'll need to pay me more." <br />
<br />
Lily doesn't voice her sympathy for Solitaire. It doesn't matter. <br />
<br />
"But I'll go back and report what happened. That much is in my contract."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.<br />
<br />
Ida hears that second voice, distantly, as her fist smashes through the weapon. It's like it's coming from the bottom of a vent, distorted and tinny, but...<br />
<br />
Ida comes to a halt, fists clenched, face tight. Her breath comes in short, raspy gasps thanks to the poison, and her vision swims. Solitaire's wailing sets bands of tension around her heart. She is a sorrowful, desperate, angry girl, and she killed people. Would it have been better if she'd never found that weapon?<br />
<br />
The flare goes off. Ida staggers back, hisses out a raspy "Shit!", and shakes her head. It takes a few moments for her ears to stop ringing, and another few for the spots to fade. She turns to Lily, emotions roiling in her chest: a mix of frustration and sorrow and despair Lily knows all too well.<br />
<br />
"I'm going to see if anyone survived," Ida says. She doesn't have high hopes.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.<br />
<br />
Solitaire hits Venetia with an answer she did not, to be honest, expect. Maybe, but she doesn't care. She's using them back. <br />
<br />
Venetia, whose dignity is like a bar of two-inch-diameter bronze that a child is trying to bend in half by raw strength - a woman of towering ego, however channeled - simply stares at the very idea. Her mouth hangs slightly open. <br />
<br />
It's probably just as well; because Venetia is the human among monsters, it would seem. Solitaire is able to fend off Lily, or at least, recover; she is able to evade what Ruth says, and what Ruth seeks to do; she tears her clothing, she gets loose from the Cavern of the Crystals; <br />
<br />
Is this discpline? <br />
The ARM? <br />
<br />
Venetia does not doubt herself, but there is, rarely for her, a moment of hesitance -- but she reaches for her Crest pouch again. Cursing herself for not bringing that tool of swift and decisive violence, the GUN, yet again, she gets another one of the Crest Graphs out even as a great echo of draconic battle rings out-- <br />
<br />
FLASH!<br />
<br />
"Gahhh!!!" <br />
<br />
So much for her initative. <br />
<br />
"Tch...!" she says, once her eyes clear. Her face turns muzzily towards Lily. She makes a face, but it is perhaps partially involuntary gurning... partially. Straightening up, she puts a hand on her hip and says, "A professional, then, through and through!" <br />
<br />
Blinking away lights, she hears Ida - she looks round. <br />
<br />
Venetia's voice --milds slightly. "Give me a moment to check in with the home office." Mentally: >> Kate, the instigator got away. Miss Keil speculates that you were hearing a mentality inside of her ARM. <br />
<br />
Aloud to Lily, she says, "You were able to hear the mind of the, ARM, yes? The axe?"<br />
<br />
Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.<br />
<br />
If Ruth's hissing, it's a consitent measuring stick as to whether or not she's on the verge of losing lucidity. Her serpentine tongue flicks for that fear, that distress, that pain that serves as fuel for a perpetual feedback loop of despair and sorrow that gives her strength. It's the first time in months that Ruth's let herself go that deep into it, a tenuous grip on that leash.<br />
<br />
The widening eyes are nearly enough to break that grip she has. It's always the fear in the eyes that bring out her worst, but that 'worst' hits a brick wall when the rise in Solitaire's heartbeat... stops.<br />
<br />
There is no further fear. For seeing the color and shape that is Solitaire in front of her, it's almost like going invisible. A culmination of Solitaire's determination even after several blows that could have - and have! - felled others like her. Slight of build, young of age...<br />
<br />
'You Are Nice. No matter... the costume...'<br />
<br />
For Ruth's much larger stature, the way Solitaire wrenches herself free staggers Ruth off to the side. She could avoid this by letting go of the rifle. She cannot - her tail has coiled around it tightly, as it often does. Her grip upon it is uncontestable. It is also her undoing.<br />
<br />
For those who would chance looking into Ruth's eyes as Solitaire speaks of scarier monsters in human costumes, it's unmistakable.<br />
<br />
Solitaire's unshakeable resolve is frightening. Her desire to continue on her path of strength, unbowed and unconvinced, is frightening. That she already knows her next target should Odessa become the new masters...<br />
<br />
The bestial grotesque is stunned by Solitaire's uncompromising acceptance of her without diverting from her desires or goals. It is the axe that bears that emotional scent that should draw her, but she does not pursue it.<br />
<br />
There is wailing that follows that she turns back, once, to Solitaire's honest worries - but she is /afraid/ to pounce again.<br />
<br />
The axe is under the ward and protection of a pure heart of unshakeable conviction. Lily's mention almost goes unnoticed (only because Ruth's deaf ear is facing her so she has a hard time hearing her above her own head).<br />
<br />
The flashbang goes off. It doesn't blind Ruth's eyes - her senses are rarely deterred by most conventional means - but she does not dare follow her. Ida's and Venetia's own yells keep her anchored (somewhat) to the world around her rather than the whims coursing through her.<br />
<br />
She nods in acknowledgement for the search of survivors. This, she can help. This, she can do.<br />
<br />
It will be any time before she can get her mind off of Solitaire. She can see 'it,' and it scares her like little else has.<br />
<br />
She can see that young woman grasp an unaccountable strength that might even transcend the kind she used to have.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.<br />
<br />
Nobody challenges Lily on her reasoning. Nobody seems to plan to make an issue of the fact that there's more than /just/ the terms of her contract on the mercenary's mind. <br />
<br />
"That's right," she says to Venetia. A professional. <br />
<br />
"And that's correct," Lily answers about the ARM. "They seem to be in some kind of telepathic contact. 'Patience', I think was the axe's name. It has thoughts and ideas of its own." <br />
<br />
The others go to check for survivors. Lily says, "...I'll give medical attention if you find survivors." <br />
<br />
That's about what she can do. Should do. <br />
<br />
"Then I'm out."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Solitaire Collier has posed.<br />
<br />
Maybe Nidhogg would have been better off if he had never found that mousegirl.<br />
<br />
Solitaire knows where she'd be if she hadn't found him though but that is a revelation for another day, not that Solitaire is particularly chatty about her past. Instead it's time to check the damage and provide reports.<br />
<br />
Venetia checks in with Kate who has this to say. 'It could be, Ma'am. We'll send a forensics team and correlate it with your story and we'll be able to confirm for sure. Please let Miss Keil know that the money has already been transfered and we'll include a small bonus for the helpful intel regarding the ARM.'<br />
<br />
Outside of the servants who are unharmed (even the ones that didn't actually listen and didn't leave. There's always a few like that), there are some guards on the upper level that just didn't run into Solitaire--showing up to stop Solitaire might have saved their lives. There is one more guard who did survive that was only knocked out on the second level too. He didn't see what got him--Solitaire probably dealt with him nonlethally because it didn't slow her down to.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately Frankie and Maximilian Blugarde are definitely dead from Head No Longer Attached To Body Disease. Further investigation of their documents will prove that a) Yes they were ordering cheap masks to make more profit that they really didn't need b) they kept using them even after they realized improper filtration was causing the Dragon Lung disease and c) They were ordering them from a supplier in Port Rosalia. It is unclear whether or not the supplier knew what their cheap masks were doing but this might provide a suggestion as to where SOlitaire might be making her next strike.<br />
<br />
The good news is that replacing the cheap masks with better masks will curb the Dragon Lung disease and no further workers will be hit by it. Marivel is bloody furious about this and will supply the new masks free of charge and also promises to see what she can do for the suffering workers though she does comment that Wyatt or Kasim would be better at this sort of thing so there may only be so much even she can do.<br />
<br />
But it's better than nothing and at least it won't hit anybody else. Johnathan Bones is grateful.<br />
<br />
Frankly in the long term, this is probably better for Guild Galad's ARM production that the Bluegardes are no longer in the picture but in the short term this is a pretty significant disruption to ARMS's weapon supply chain. And so shortly before the planned attack on Heimdall Gazzo... And the tensions between the classes are heavier than ever...<br />
<br />
But you do know more about this Odessa agent now too. That's not nothing. Next time you're sure to be better prepared. She might be too.<br />
<br />
To the surprise of nobody, despite Venetia's warning to the elevators, Solitaire is not found and captured.</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12051Solitaire Collier2022-11-21T08:09:09Z<p>Fei: /* Soundtrack */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thanks for helping her with her throat. Sorry we gotta fight."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir...I can't..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Clever and could be trouble. Would rather see if we could work together but..."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU - Solitaire Main Theme<br />
<br />
* Steal - Akudama Drive https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn4bacShbjw - Solitaire Battle 1<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12050Solitaire Collier2022-11-21T08:07:32Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruth Pauling]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Thanks for helping her with her throat. Sorry we gotta fight."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-1-orange.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Fafnir...I can't..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "She's really dangerous!! We should try to avoid her, Soli."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Venetia Vuong]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Clever and could be trouble. Would rather see if we could work together but..."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12040Solitaire Collier2022-11-15T06:20:47Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Patience]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| [[File:Affinity-5-cloud.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Don't worry, I'll help you with your dream."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12039Solitaire Collier2022-11-15T06:11:54Z<p>Fei: /* Relationships */</p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor Klein]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12038Solitaire Collier2022-11-15T06:04:14Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Patience Says!<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12037Solitaire Collier2022-11-15T06:03:01Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''Solitaire Collier'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[file:]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Solitaire (Alias: Solitaire Collier)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Female<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 14? 15? <br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Mithysmere<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Black and White<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Seeker of Strength<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Antagonist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| None<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#98fb98; border: 2px #000000 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#000000">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Original Character<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."'''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
= Background =<br />
<br />
FOIG<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 1, Act 4 and Epilogue==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 1==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 2==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 3==<br />
<br />
NOPE<br />
<br />
==Chapter 2, Act 4==<br />
<br />
You app an Odessa agent NOW?<br />
<br />
= Skills, Powers and Abilities =<br />
<br />
Later<br />
<br />
= Relationships =<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 90%; text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Affiliation<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Comment<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ratatoskr]]<br />
| [[Odessa]]<br />
| [[File:Affinity-3-green.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Guess it's good Solitaire made a friend..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Eleanor]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| [[File:Affinity-2-yellow.png]]<br />
| style="text-align: left; | "Doesn't seem to be one of her targets but I think their dreams are gonna clash eventually."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=Soundtrack=<br />
<br />
<br />
*For The Oppressed - Akame Ga Kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU<br />
<br />
==Donations==<br />
<br />
= Logs and Cutscenes =<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 1 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 2 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 3 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
== Chapter 2, Act 4 Logs ==<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
= Chapter 2 Cutscenes =<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 2]] [[Character::Solitaire Collier]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Antagonists]]<br />
[[Category:Odessa]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Solitaire_Collier&diff=12036Solitaire Collier2022-11-15T04:24:54Z<p>Fei: Created page with "{{Character |MUSHName=Solitaire Collier |BGColor=#EE0000 |BorderColor=#AA1111 |TextColor=#EEEEEE |Img= |Name=Solitaire Collier |Gender=Female |Age=14-15 |Birthdate=Unknown |Ho..."</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
|MUSHName=Solitaire Collier<br />
|BGColor=#EE0000<br />
|BorderColor=#AA1111<br />
|TextColor=#EEEEEE<br />
|Img=<br />
|Name=Solitaire Collier<br />
|Gender=Female<br />
|Age=14-15<br />
|Birthdate=Unknown<br />
|Hometown=Mithysmere<br />
|Hair=Black and White<br />
|Class=Seeker of Strength<br />
|Role=Drifter<br />
|Bounty=<br />
|Theme=Original Character<br />
|Group=<br />
|MajorGroup=[[Odessa]<br />
|Player=Fei<br />
|Profile=<br />
''"Mmn... Gonna be strong."''<br />
<br />
Solitaire Collier only knew servitude growing up but a chance encounter with the Demon Axe gave her the opportunity to free herself and escape her captors. Now having an edge thanks to having her hands on a powerful weapon, Solitaire hopes to fulfill her dream of being truly strong. Having joined Odessa for the opportunities to find strength, Solitaire has little concern for the systems and societies of the day and its history shaping conflicts but she does have a particular disgust for slavers and those who profit directly or indirectly off of it. She is not particularly talkative or emotive but her determination to find this 'Strength' on her own terms and the endurance of her inner world has ensured that the Demon Axe she carries tends to follow her lead rather than its own.<br />
<br />
|Background=<br />
<br />
|Powers='''Demon Axe''': That's one unusual axe.<br />
<br />
|Relationships=(Removed because it was very out of date and I'm super bad at updating it, sorry! Maybe I'll redo it one day, but for now, I have this.)<br />
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== Soundtrack ==<br />
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<ul><br />
<li><b>Main Theme</b> - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYoBm0bgRCU Akame Ga Kill - For The Sake Of The Oppressed]</li><br />
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== Gallery ==<br />
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<table><br />
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</table></div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2022-10-30:_Life_Will_Never_Be_Perfect_Without_You&diff=120232022-10-30: Life Will Never Be Perfect Without You2022-10-31T07:33:42Z<p>Fei: Created page with "*'''Log: Life Will Never Be Perfect Without You''' *'''Cast:''' Character :: Marivel Armitage, Character :: Tidus *'''Where:''' The Farplane *'''OOC - IC Date: 30th Oc..."</p>
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<div>*'''Log: Life Will Never Be Perfect Without You'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]], [[Character :: Tidus]]<br />
*'''Where:''' The Farplane<br />
*'''OOC - IC Date: 30th October 2022'''<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Tidus and Marivel commiserate over lost family and toilet paper.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel Armitage visits the Farplane periodically. Despite her vampiric nature, the plane doesn't really hold much for her in of itself. But it is quiet and--thanks to a certain battle against Sin and the following war with the Althena Guard, she actually does have plenty of people she can conjure in the Farplane.<br />
<br />
But that isn't why she comes here.<br />
<br />
Now that Guadosalam isn't being run directly by an omnicidal individual, she can visit again. She sits and looks quietly into the pyreflies--<br />
<br />
--but nobody is appearing. The people that Marivel really wants to see didn't die in Spira.<br />
<br />
Hob is napping on Marivel's lap, whom she is petting gently with her hand while Nob is rubbing himself against Marivel's cheek in an attempt to stir her, but she's just watching.<br />
<br />
Thinking.<br />
<br />
It might be a little strange to have someone lurking around in here without actually seeing any of their loved ones in the pyreflies but nevertheless--that's what Marivel's been up to. At least it IS pretty quiet and far enough out of the way that she doesn't have to worry about her responsibilities knocking on her metaphorical door.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.<br />
<br />
Either they didn't die in Spira--or they're still alive.<br />
<br />
But this is Marivel we're talking about, so let's be real: they probably really are dead.<br />
<br />
It's not as though someone ''has'' to die in Spira to show up in the Farplane, either. Tidus's mother appeared here when he thought about her. But... Yuna said that she must have accepted her death while she was still alive. And maybe... Zanarkand--whether his or not--is more a part of Spira than separate from it. After all... it's being dreamed up by those within it.<br />
<br />
A lot of really not-great thoughts all around, here. Overall, Tidus can't say he's really crazy about the Farplane, nor is he generally eager to visit it. But with Guadosalam out from under Seymour's control (or at least out from under the control of those mindlessly loyal to him), it's nice to be able to walk around. And someone mentioned to him that they saw someone matching Marivel's description come over this way, so...<br />
<br />
"So you ''were'' here," he says at the edge of the strange platform that forms the overlapping tile of the Farplane. He walks over to her and flops down into a sit next to her. He looks down at the napping Hob with a smile, the cheekrubbing Nob with a little concern, and Marivel with more concern. "...You doing okay?" he adds.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
Marivel looks up, startled. She really was lost in her thoughts!<br />
<br />
She does smile. Tidus has defended someone MArivel sees as a close friend from a danger considerably more insidious than the garden variety fiends. Even if it was mostly something she saw through Cid's transmissions. She's fond of the guy.<br />
<br />
"Didja defeat Sin? I've been off world so, you know, I thought maybe I missed it." Ever the optimist apparently.<br />
<br />
Nob spins around and turns to face Tidus. It chirps merrily upon seeing him and bobs around his head excitedly, grinning its many sharp teeth as it bounces around happily. Nob spent a lot of time with Rikku due to being on loan to Rikku for a while.<br />
<br />
Is she doing okay?<br />
<br />
Marivel grimaces. "Well--mm--- Did Zanarkand have something like...Halloween? Tis a spooky season we have on Filgaia that was brought down by some travelers a while back. There's a few names for it. Anyway, around this time I usually invite a whole bunch of outsiders to the Castle and they have this big party--we're all about the spooky seasons down there!"<br />
<br />
She cups her chin. "This year I haven't really been feeling it so I've been letting them have the Castle while I was looking for somewhere a bit more quiet."<br />
<br />
Marivel being down on Halloween? This truly is dire. Not that Tidus might neccessarily KNOW that. Still!<br />
<br />
"'Twas my father's favorite holiday." Marivel adds with a sigh. "I mean, it generally is for my people, pretty predictably honestly." Was it her mother's favorite holidady too?<br />
<br />
It's tough to remember, actually.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.<br />
<br />
Tidus smiles back. It's reflexive, really. He's a naturally sunny guy, even if he's got a lot of things weighing on his mind, and it makes him happy to see his friends happy. ...Even if maybe she isn't actually happy, and is just likewise happy to see a friend. Look, these things are way too complicated for a mere jock!<br />
<br />
He does bark out a laugh at the question of if they beat Sin already. "Ha, no, I wish. But we're still working on it," he says firmly. He grins more broadly at Nob's bobbing, leaning back to look up at him before focusing back on Marivel.<br />
<br />
The look on her face alone says 'no.' Still, Tidus lets her speak, even if it gets her a blank look. "Halloween? What's that?" A spooky season... but also a party? Tidus scratches his head. "Not really," he says with an apologetic shrug. "Sounds like a fun time, though."<br />
<br />
He doesn't know that being too down for Halloween is a massive bad sign for Marivel. But yes, still.<br />
<br />
"Oh, so it's a holiday?" he adds. "What exactly d'you do on Halloween? Besides throw big parties and, uh... be spooky, I guess?" He gives her a lopsided grin.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
"Oh it is! It is a great time." Marivel assures Tidus. "Well, children go around bugging their neighbors for candy. They shout 'Trick or Treat' and uh, they get candy. Though..." She frowns. "I wonder if they still do that?" Maybe they have their own traditions now. "Anyway if you don't give them candy, traditionally speaking they are then allowed to 'trick you' which usually involved throwing toilet paper all over their house."<br />
<br />
She blinks a few times.<br />
<br />
"Uh, toilet paper...it's... You know, its not important, but you don't want it thrown all over your house is my point." She has no idea what Spira uses. Probably some kind of toilet sphere? Marivel hadn't really spent time investigating.<br />
<br />
"Anyway, ah, the most important thing is that you wear costumes." Marivel explains. "Usually a costume that is... 'something scary', you see. So naturally as a kid it was one of the few ways I'd get to go out. Accompanied of course... Everyone would think we were wearing costumes."<br />
<br />
She sighs, turning back to the Farplane mists.<br />
<br />
"You know due to our natural inclinations, we didn't really have to wear a costume. Though one time I tried wearing a human costume, mom was so mad heh heh..."<br />
<br />
"...I spent most of my last days with them fighting with my father. When he--mom too, were gone--it was so sudden. I had no idea that--I don't know, that they were even listening."<br />
<br />
Listening to what? She doesn't immediately clarify.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.<br />
<br />
Kids running around getting candy? "Hey, that sounds like a pretty great time. Now I wish we ''had'' had something like that," Tidus says with a laugh. "I sure wouldn't have minded free candy as a kid!" But getting tricked, huh... Tidus makes a face. "Uhh, you don't need to explain that one. We definitely had toilet paper in Zanarkand."<br />
<br />
It's one of the things he misses the most, honestly. But he doesn't say that.<br />
<br />
Scary costumes, huh... That explains the spooky season she mentioned. And--ahhh. Understanding dawns on Tidus's face. "So no wonder you loved it so much," he says quietly. "I never really thought about that before... It must've been tough for you, having to hide yourself." For her and her people--but he keeps that last bit to himself.<br />
<br />
He does laugh at the mention of Marivel wearing a human costume. It's just a funny mental image. "What did that even look like?" he wonders.<br />
<br />
He sobers when Marivel mentions her father and mother suddenly being gone. It's... well, it's something he understands well. His own mother's gone, and his father... his ''not'' being gone is still something he's grappling with. He's been trying not to think about it too hard.<br />
<br />
"It's tough, huh," he says quietly. "When you're left on your own all of a sudden." He scratches his head. "...Well, I guess I still had Auron. But to me way back when, he was just some guy who showed up one day, claiming he knew my old man. I guess it was better than no one at all, but... still."<br />
<br />
A pause. He takes a deep breath, then looks back at Marivel. "What were you fighting with ''your'' old man about? Was it about... whatever you wanted them to be listening to?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
"Oh! Sorry. I did visit the 'New Kasim City' but wasn't sure how much of that made it to Zanarkand." Marivel frowns. "And I did ivsit that library too. It seems like there was some concerted effort to be 'away' from the Blessing. Unsure why."<br />
<br />
She smiles again. "Well, I mean, it wasn't like the Emperor was still hunting us--but it wasn't so bad. Humans are fundamentally decent people in my book. Least by the time I got to know them. And well, eventually they were mostly about the sort of people I ''could'' get to know. Any sort of group of people can be ''aimed'' in a destructive way like that."<br />
<br />
Her hand tenses slightly at the mention of Auron. She hasn't seen that guy in ages.<br />
<br />
"I guess I remember one case--" She thinks. "Sakura..."<br />
<br />
She trails off before she can get pulled into some memory or another.<br />
<br />
She'd rather focus on her parents right now anyway. "Heh, I had Belle--and Anastasia and...other folks. They weren't, you know, my family. And many of them were gone real suddenly too."<br />
<br />
This isn't really true it's just Marivel's perception, really. To her any mortal end is sudden even though she does have some understanding that it isn't that way for the humans themselves.<br />
<br />
"I think being totally alone is--unusual, actually. Instead of being totally alone it is more likely you just have a certain---element of connection that you are missing. Perhaps you have yeour family, but you are missing friends. Perhaps you don't have family, but you have friends who are practically family. Like missing limbs. I am certain it happens, that someone has noone--but I don't know too many people like that. Maybe in the black market, but there's usually ''something'' or ''someone''."<br />
<br />
Is she accidentally entering optimism? Well...<br />
<br />
She looks back to Tidus when he asks what the fight was about.<br />
<br />
"Well, it isn't really just...one thing, you know? There's a few major things, of course, but..."<br />
<br />
"Well," She says. "There was the fact I liked humans and my dad thought they were dangerous. He was worried about my safety because I was still young and honestly not that good of a sorceress... He didn't like I was more into machinery than the mystic artes.. I was actually a pretty mediocre swordswoman... Sometimes I'd overhear my parents talking about it."<br />
<br />
"The other thing is--ah, well, Crimson NObles didn't really have a 'government', exactly. We were too few and spread out to really need one? My dad managed a few things, for sure, but generally we kept to ourselves. We were isolationist and dad wanted to keep that going. I wanted to be more a part of that other world. And he wasn't exactly elected or anything--he was just hte leader because he led us out from the void."<br />
<br />
"Anyway, he wanted me to look after taking care of the people, but he wanted it to be his way?"<br />
<br />
"I don't know, it's been so long it can be tough to remember the details over the broad strokes."<br />
<br />
What did a human costume look at? Marivel tries to remember.<br />
<br />
"Well, I cut my hair short in a kind of buzzcut, put on these thick glasses, wore a headband to hide my pointy ears, and then wore a striped shirt and slacks with like pens in the shirt pocket? And I held a clipboard that had a bunch of math on it."<br />
<br />
"Humans back then really enjoyed their offices and accounting and numbers."<br />
<br />
...Right?<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.<br />
<br />
"Oh, yeah, we went through that place too. Me and Yuna and everyone, that is," Tidus clarifies. He frowns a little that even Marivel doesn't know why that particular exodus away from the Blessing happened. "Huh," he says, and leaves it at that.<br />
<br />
His expression softens at Marivel's clarification about what was going on back then. He's prepared to listen to her anecdotes about humans she knew back then, but she doesn't get caught in that trap, instead talking about her close friends... who probably also included mortals.<br />
<br />
"Unusual, huh... Yeah, when you put it like that, you're right. When I got--ejected, I guess? Out of Zanarkand, I was totally alone, but that lasted, like, half a day at best. Then Rikku found me and brought me onto the Al Bhed's ship. And, yeah, then I got tossed off of ''that'', but then I washed up on Besaid where Wakka found me, and, well... the rest is history." Even if they were strangers in the beginning, now they're all so tight-knit. It gives Tidus ''feelings''--ones that make his chest tighten up--so he coughs into a fist and nods instead. "I think that's a good thing, that it's rare," he concludes.<br />
<br />
The topic shifts to the argument. Tidus listens in sympathy, nodding every so often. He grimaces at some of it, like her overhearing her parents talking about her shortcomings behind her back. "That's rough," he says. There's not much more he can say about that, but... he really does sympathize.<br />
<br />
No further comment on Auron, though. He misses her hand-clench about him entirely.<br />
<br />
The description of Marivel's human costume, though? That makes him burst out into peals of laughter. "Seriously?! That's hilarious!"<br />
<br />
Looks like Zanarkand had its share of nerds, too.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
"Rikku huh?" Marivel grins sharply. That seems to perk her mode up. She's about to say more but Tidus clarifies the Al Bhed tossed him off the boat. She blinks a few times in abject confusion. "Huh?" Oh, wait, she tells herself--Tidus can breathe underwater right?<br />
<br />
Tidus can see the neurons firing because the natural explanation for why Tidus was thrown off an Al Bhed ship doesn't seem to occur to her. Well, her experience with the Al Bhed started strong and only got stronger.<br />
<br />
"Only half a day though. I'm impressed. Naturally charismatic, are we?"<br />
<br />
That's a good thing, that it's rare.<br />
<br />
Marivel nods slowly. If it wasn't rare... Well, Marivel went off to the Farplane to be by herself so she's naturaly inclined to isolation despite her own frustrations with it-- a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy--but she can easily imagine herself succumbing even further to that kind of life if it was somehow 'less rare' to be something like that.<br />
<br />
"Oh good humans aren't relaly as much like that these days, so I was worried you wouldn't get it." Marivel grins. "How about you? I know a bit about your dad, but you've never talked about your mother that I recall."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.<br />
<br />
"Yup! I owe her a lot," Tidus says with friendly affection. The confusion gets ''him'' confused, though, and he stares at her for a moment before he realizes what that must have sounded like. "Oh, they didn't kick me off, the ship got attacked and I fell overboard!" he explains. He can't actually breathe underwater, but he can hold his breath for sufficiently long that he may as well, so he doesn't explain about that. It doesn't occur to him that that's what Marivel thinks, anyway.<br />
<br />
He laughs though. "You know it!" he jokes, winking. It fades a moment later. "Seriously, though, they just happened to show up where I was. I'm pretty sure that old temple was abandoned. If they hadn't happened to come that same day, or if they'd come and left before I got there..." He grimaces. "I don't know what would've happened to me."<br />
<br />
Especially since there'd been a lot of strong fiends there. The Al Bhed ''really'' saved his bacon there. Either way, he didn't have to be really, truly alone for very long.<br />
<br />
The people of Spira are, for the most part, naturally good people, Tidus reflects.<br />
<br />
He still laughs for a bit longer, but he grins back at Marivel. "Hey, I'm from a huge metropolis, remember? There were ''plenty'' of people like that back home." Marivel might notice his use of past tense; Tidus does not. Still, the mention of his mom gets him to hesitate, humor fading. "Ah, well... She died when I was a kid. She wasn't a bad mom, I guess, but... I guess she liked her husband better than she liked her son. Man, that sounds bad, doesn't it? I mean, it's not like she didn't feed me or give me hugs or anything. Just, when my old man was around, she ended up forgetting I was there. And when he went missing, she just... gave up on life. 'Til she wasted away. Auron was actually pretty messed up about it."<br />
<br />
He pauses. "Guess she was really in love," he concludes gloomily. Or maybe it's more accurate to say 'sullenly.' Some things are hard to forgive ''or'' forget, even if it's not his mother he blames.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
"Oh!" Marivel says. She is... not a sportsball person by any stretch of the imagination and probably hasn't dwelled on the difference of 'breathing underwater' and 'indefinite breath holding'. THOUGH REALLY IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, indefinite breath holding is kind of more awesome? Especially if you, for example, also have to deal with underwater random monster encounters...<br />
<br />
"You were very fortunate to run into Rikku, Yuna and her friends as the first people you met in this land. I can only imagine what might have changed if--" She hesitates. "--Well, I'll rely on Yuna's faith here, rather, actually. I imagine I am not giving the best shake here."<br />
<br />
While she had plenty of positive experiences on Spira--she worked most closely with the Church and, well, their betrayal still stings. Especially with the sort of stuff Seymour would end up unleashing upon Filgaia.<br />
<br />
"Ah-- Don't worry, I'm not questioning your city boy credentials! I was more thinking of back home. We've got cities like that sure--there's November and all--but they're a rare breed."<br />
<br />
She hears Tidus talk about his mother. She listens carefully, and then she nods slowly, thoughtfully. She doesn't speak about it for a long time. Lets Tidus get it off his chest. Seeing Tidus gloomy is rare enough, he's the sort of guy who'd force a laugh rather than bring down others' parade. She could learn a lot from him.<br />
<br />
It doesn't come as naturally for Marivel. She can wear that costume for a time but in the end, it is a costume.<br />
<br />
And there's something about the way he says that. It makes her think of...<br />
<br />
"Maybe I've been worrying too much about her," Marivel murmurs. "That I left Kamui alone too often."<br />
<br />
It can be easy to forget that Marivel is a mom too. A bit of insecurity enters the normally quite arrogant woman's tone.<br />
<br />
"Ah, but-- you know, that story... We like to think--parents like to think they can just give everything for their children, but at the end of the day--a children is their own person. You can guide them, but you don't decide who they turn out to be. You can guide them but in the end no matter what they do, they can be pretty different."<br />
<br />
"I'm not, ah, you know--defending her giving up like that, of course. You're a great guy. Even if life was never going to be perfect without the man she loved, she could still...walk into the future with you. She could still find some happiness. I'm sorry she... I'm sorry she couldn't do that, Tidus. But I'm sure she still loved you just as much just--the pain of the loss was just too strong. Sometimes pain is like that. Even if you love someone the same, you just...can't stop thinking about the love you lost. It's unfair but...it's what it is."<br />
<br />
If only it wasn't too late...<br />
<br />
She looks back to Tidus. "I feel bad for her, not being able to see how incredible her son became."<br />
<br />
She looks out over the farplane.<br />
<br />
"Guess we have that in common though. Ultimately they chose to leave us behind."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.<br />
<br />
"I know what you mean," Tidus says with dry humor about Yuna's faith. "Still, you know, I ran into two totally different groups on Spira and they were both good people. So I think the people of Spira are nicer than we're used to thinking, after all that stuff with the Church of Yevon. Just 'cuz the guys in charge were jerks doesn't mean everyone is." He looks out towards the misty waterfalls of the Farplane. "I've had some bad experiences here... but I think most people here are good people."<br />
<br />
He was just thinking it, even!<br />
<br />
He laughs a little at Marivel's reassurance. "Yeah? I never really explored as much of Filgaia as I woulda liked," he muses. "It's so much bigger than Spira, and even when we were there, there was so much of the place we didn't get to go around and see." November was ''way'' off the map of what they had access to.<br />
<br />
But the topic turns to parents--or rather, turns back to parents--and while Tidus turning gloomy isn't too frequent, it does happen. To the surprise of no one, it almost always happens when his dad is the topic, even if by proxy. He blinks, though, when Marivel brings up Kamui. It ''is'' easy to forget that she's a mom. She just doesn't have that vibe to Tidus. He falls silent to let her weigh in as a parent. He... didn't really have much of a relationship with ''either'' of his parents, looking back.<br />
<br />
Still... the more she says, the more his emotions swell and stick in his throat, choking him up. His father used to mock him for being quick to cry, and on some level, Tidus is still that crybaby. He just can't hide or hold back his tears. They overflow now, and he wipes at his face with one sleeve. <br />
<br />
"Thanks," he says thickly. "For--just... thanks."<br />
<br />
He looks out with her as she speaks of what they have in common. He laughs weakly. "Yeah... thanks," he repeats. "Sometimes it's... you know. It's hard to talk about this kinda thing. So I'm sorry you got left behind, but... it makes me feel a little better knowing you get it." He rubs the back of his neck. "I hope that's okay to say."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
<br />
"That is often the case," Marivel agrees. "Even of course if you know that it can be difficult to keep your experiences and truths disparate." She is quiet for a moment. "Yes, most people are good people. People, at least in my experience, need other people and if you need other people a certain level of cruelty will just keep you away from the people you need." This makes her think of Janus but she doesn't really want to dwell on that man.<br />
<br />
Marivel WAS hoping to reassure Tidus some. Obviously she can't really know what was going through that woman's head but she does know what it's like to have a lost love gripping your heart so tightly that it can be difficult to see the blessings around you. Even love, at its extremes, can be dangerous. Just ask Caina.<br />
<br />
She isn't expecting the tears. Marivel's eyes widen with some mild panic, worrying she just made things worse--she does that sort of half reaching out thing people do sometimes when they want to do something but are gripped by a moment of indecision.<br />
<br />
Instead she looks down at her own lap when Tidus thanks her. Her own eyes get a bit misty when he says he feels a little better even if it is in the sense of shared tragedy.<br />
<br />
She wipes it away with her arm, trying to be casual enough about it that it might get missed. Marivel is a crybaby too, in the end, at least by the standards of her own people. Her resolutions to not cry again have largely fallen by the wayside. She hasn't managed it.<br />
<br />
"Heh, yeah, I can imagine." Marivel says. "In grand stories they often push everything to extremes and tales of more common struggles fall away."<br />
<br />
Depression is one of hte more common afflictions there is.<br />
<br />
"It's--fine, I don't mind. Actually, more than that ah--I mean, ahah, it is a little better knowing you get it too for me too. It is hard for me to talk about--the stuff that bugged me about them."<br />
<br />
One can imagine so when she feels like she is responsible for their demise. "Reflecting on their imperfections, it can feel a bit like a betrayal but it doesn't mean I don't love them any less."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Tidus has posed.<br />
<br />
Luckily (?) for Marivel, Tidus is so busy wiping away his own tears that he doesn't catch Marivel swiping at her own. He'd likewise feel bad that he made her cry too, but... at the same time, he'd feel better about that, too. It's nice to have someone cry with him for once, instead of always mocked for having feelings.<br />
<br />
Though at least in his case, he never made any resolution to not cry anymore. People (men) can give him guff for it all the want; he's not going to stop being himself because someone else doesn't like it.<br />
<br />
"Grand stories, huh," he murmurs, sniffling. "This is my story... but I guess it's not so different from the other stories out there, either."<br />
<br />
He offers her a watery smile. "Glad I could be there for you too, then," he replies. "It really is good that it's rare for people to end up all alone, huh?" He leans back on one hand and looks out at the vista. "...I'm glad we had a chance to talk about this, Marivel."<br />
<br />
It might be a little bit of an odd way of putting it, but... surely for right now, it's fine.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 4]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Marivel_Armitage&diff=11909Marivel Armitage2022-08-10T21:03:15Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
<!-- WARNING, when using a character template, you cannot edit the individual sections of your character page, you must use the edit button at the very top. Additionally, please don't leave fields blank unless there is a comment after them stating you can --><br />
|MUSHName=Marivel Armitage<br />
<!-- your @name on MUSH, very important for log searching --><br />
|BGColor=#FFCC66<br />
|BorderColor=#E18F37<br />
|TextColor=#E18F37<br />
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|Img=[[File:Marivelinsanctuary.jpg]]<br />
<!-- example: [[File:RoseDefault.png]] consult mediawiki via google for help with inserting images, and upload your image first using the button in the left sidebar called Upload file. Leave blank if you have no image --><br />
|Name=Marivel Armitage<br />
|Gender=Female<br />
|Age=Immortal<br />
|Birthdate=Probably Halloween<br />
|Hometown=Crimson Castle<br />
|Hair=Blonde<br />
|Class=Filgaia's Rightful Ruler<br />
|Role=Drifter<br />
<!-- Drifter, Antagonist or Bystander only, case-sensitive --><br />
|Bounty=0 Gella<br />
<!-- if you leave this blank it will default to 0 Gella --><br />
|Theme=Wild Arms 2<br />
<!-- either your source (i.e. Xenogears, Tales of Zestiria, etc.) or Original Character --><br />
|Group=<br />
<!-- minor groups, leave blank if none --><br />
|MajorGroup=ARMS<br />
<!-- Althena's Guard, Metal Demons, Veruni or Solaris only, case-sensitive, leave blank if not relevant to you --><br />
|Player=Fei<br />
<!-- your wiki username --><br />
|Profile=Marivel is the last of the Crimson Nobles after the entity known as Lord Blazer slew her family and the rest of her brethren. She assisted the Sword Magess and Luceid in defeating Lord Blazer but since then has been traveling the world in order to prepare and prevent ... something. Marivel is an incredible engineer who employs both lost knowledge and modern techniques into her work and works as an ARMS Meister who is both picky about whom she works for and strange about the payments she asks for. She is connected to the Valeria household as far back as anyone can remember. She often comes across as snooty and frankly more than a bit arrogant but behind it all is someone who deeply cares about Filgaia. ...Or so she says, anyway. Strangely as of late she has picked up her activities but if she's trying to prevent another worldwide disaster...one might wonder why she is being so tight-lipped.<br />
<!-- from your +finger --><br />
|Background=<br />
<!-- your backstory, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Powers=<br />
<!-- your powers, abilities and resources, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Relationships=<br />
<!-- your relationships; may not be friendly to wiki code, if your relationships section includes a lot of code or formatting, just append it after this template ends instead and leave this field blank --><br />
[[File:MarivelSocialLinks.jpeg]]<br />
}}<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; style="text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Group<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Field Notes<br />
|-<br />
| [[Anastasia]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm not okay with it. I'll never be okay with it. Even if it's against your will."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Luceid]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Does the candle look forward to being used? If tis my desire, then I shall satisfy it. I shall be selfish until my heart aches no more."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Althena]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You threw us away. Was it worth it? WAS IT WORTH IT!? I'LL DEVOUR YOU, SOUL AND ALL!!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Irving Valeria]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He would not ask sacrifices of others he is unwilling to offer up himself."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ashley Winchester]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You still won't leave me? Are you that desperate to be a hero?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Brad Evans]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Once again, through my fingers like sand."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kamui]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Mother, huh... Is that what they meant?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Acacia]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Was she always so charming? She is quite good with the kids. Very impressive quality. Best treat her well, Yue."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Clarissa Arwin]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You are more than you think you are. In more ways than one I think."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Clarine]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I've really grown to rely on your companionship. I'm not the kind of friend you want."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Mariel]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 99%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Tears and smiles huh?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Boudicca]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm counting on you."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hiro]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Growing stronger. And kinder."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruby]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally! Proper respect! A grand dragon already as far as I'm concerned."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Isolde]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Have you walked into the sun yourself, my friend?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xantia]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Hn."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Auron]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's so much like me. May your promises be fulfilled, and a glimpse of a better tommorow be your final sight. When you walk into the sun, I will be there to see you off."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yuna]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand duty. I understand sacrifice. It is your choice but I beg you... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tidus]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's a good guy. A real good guy. I can trust him. He won't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Rikku]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"How you maintain your optimism in a world so cruel to you is a testament to humanity's strength. Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lulu]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand why you see no other path before you but... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Amelia Rose]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Behind the attitude and past the culture I find a kindred spirit."<br />
|-<br />
| [[White Knight Leo]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I knew he was a good man. I wonder what he's up to."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Erzebet Lefanu]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Reminds me of my youth, but this old girl has some tricks yet."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'd much prefer ARMS to seize victory but this is not a good start."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"There is a limit to one's ideals if you don't live up to those expectations yourself. It's a risk, but the world admires the risk-takers."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ivan]]<br />
| Caravan Kinship<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I smell the blood on his hands, but tis often those that have once fallen who are best at lifting others up."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yue Rohay]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm sorry. I can't handle more martyr complexes. But when you are ready, I will be here. Always."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kaguya]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I admire your determination to survive."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Liath]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 99%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"One of your dearest companions..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Ragnell]]<br />
| I Respect Your Ability To Work For Everybody Simultaneously.<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Woof."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Red Skills ==<br />
<br />
Falling Into the Ambush With A Sexy Lure - Erzebet - High Damage Bullet Rain From Above<br />
<br />
Rubyvention - Ruby - Low Damage Fire Breath<br />
<br />
Shut Up And Jam Ball - Oblitzerator - Mid Level Jam Blitzball Attack<br />
<br />
Aura Bolt - Gusong Monk Manual - Low Level Free Attack Technique<br />
<br />
Push Back - Chocobo Eater - 0 Level Push Back<br />
<br />
Hound of Hell - Jack, Hound of Hell - Stored soul belonging to a Hound of Hell. High Level Damage.<br />
<br />
Thousand Detonations - Qactuar - A thousand detonating needles - OMG.<br />
<br />
Mighty Guard - Behemoth King - Powerful Defense Buff.<br />
<br />
Bad Breath - Malboro - Iconic.<br />
<br />
== Major Discoveries ==<br />
''A Dark World Looming Behind''<br />
<br />
In the end, once the Golem twitches its last and lies still, you're able to <br />
pass through the once-sealed doors -- now that the alarm system has calmed <br />
-- and enter into a formerly closed-off chamber. What could have been so <br />
valuable to seal it so carefully? <br />
<br />
The answer stands before you in the shape of a projector-like machine. While <br />
the shape may be foreign -- with age to some, with purpose to others -- a <br />
still-shining screen at one side of the projector mechanism draws the eye <br />
and suggests investigation. At a touch, it speaks, at first unintelligible. <br />
And then: <br />
<br />
...LINGUISTIC MATCH OBTAINED. TRANSLATING: PLAY LAST RECORDING? <br />
<br />
At a yes, a series of images project against the wall, still brilliant and <br />
luminous after so many years. <br />
<br />
A beautiful land. A thriving land. A land crippled. <br />
<br />
"Did we invite this upon ourselves?" the narration reads out, against the <br />
image of cities that reach for the sky as if to scrape the heavens. "I have <br />
often wondered. Perhaps it is pointless after the end. The TF System worked <br />
-- we sacrificed our land to stop the demon, but perhaps it was already <br />
dying. Perhaps I would be making this last record still." <br />
<br />
A land in fear. A land burning. A dead land. <br />
<br />
"I leave this only as one record among many, in the hopes that somebody <br />
someday might hear it," the narration continues, against the backdrop of a <br />
civilization's graveyard. "I elected to stay on Filgaia. Others have left to <br />
seek a new home among the stars, but I could not leave. To restore Filgaia, <br />
much is required. This facility is but one step forward." <br />
<br />
The image against the wall fades to nothing. "No matter what happens to me, <br />
I feel I owe even that glimmer of hope to the future. To whoever is able to <br />
listen, please, forgive us for what we have done. <br />
<br />
"...We who have buried our past and forsaken our future."<br />
<br />
<br />
''A Sea of Stars''<br />
<br />
The door beyond the generator opens with a hiss, revealing the room beyond. <br />
Though the generator appears damaged, it still shows signs of life; given <br />
the nature of this place it may not remain inactive forever. So be it. <br />
<br />
Was this a storage area? At a glance, it looks the part: shelving units, <br />
locking safes, and all the rest of it, bundled into this tight place. But <br />
what catches your eye yet is the terminal in the back. It still retains <br />
power -- perhaps it has some way to cache energy in the event the generator <br />
goes offline. With some manipulation you bring up the following information: <br />
<br />
>RESTORING... RETRIEVING SERVICE HISTORY AND SHIP'S LOG FOR PFS-037 <br />
PHILADELPHIA, LIBERTY BELL-CLASS RESEARCH VESSEL. <br />
<br />
You learn... you learn a number of things. <br />
<br />
This -- the Philadelphia was a ship that sailed the stars. One of a number <br />
of star-faring ships of an organization named only as the Pangalactic <br />
Federation, this was a research vessel. In particular, the record notes that <br />
the ship carried a number of experimental nanoreactors alongside the <br />
standard-issue Federation models... whatever that means. But it never got to <br />
where it was going, a place noted in the records as Gliese 667. <br />
<br />
It ended up suffering a catastrophic engine failure around 6016 SD, whatever <br />
that means, and diverted to the forbidden territory Kepler-186 in <br />
desperation. But something happened. <br />
<br />
It crashed. <br />
<br />
And that's where the record ends.<br />
<br />
== Tools ==<br />
[[File:mari-smol.jpg]]<br />
== Soundtrack ==<br />
<br />
=== Overall Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ4Lc5W75I - White Lies - Monogatari]<br />
: ''In the darkness, Moments, Secrets, Regrets<br />
: ''Never Lie!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 1 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vw9ftAWSc Connect - Puella Madoka Magica]<br />
: ''Time now begins to away incessantly''<br />
: ''Let's open the closed door while carrying our unchanging feelings.'<br />
<br />
* '''Chapter 2 Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deakr4AHeo4 - Answers - FFXIV]<br />
: ''To all my children in whom Life flows abundant.''<br />
: ''To all my children to whom Death hath passed his judgement.''<br />
: ''Answer, Answer, Answer together.''<br />
: ''Thou must live, die, and know.''<br />
<br />
* '''Lighthearted Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24NZaT2_gaA - Magilou - Berseria]<br />
: ''Oh no!''<br />
: ''I meant to confess my sins, but instead my confession was another sin!''<br />
<br />
* '''In The Lab With Professor Lumen!''' - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwkwyi-mEYg - Robotrek - Title Sequence, Research, and Development]<br />
: ''Ah...! I'm sorry Professor!!'<br />
: '' I promise I won't teach her about the birds and the bees please calm down!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 2 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Anastasia and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2oLSuongkY - Magia - Kalafina]<br />
: ''Someday, the light of love lit within your eyes will transcend time.''<br />
: ''And certainly destroy one dream of a world that races towards its destruction.''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel's True Plan''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - I was waiting for this moment]<br />
: ''Whether the time of heroes is eternal, whether the time of disaster is at hand once more...''<br />
: ''I refuse to accept her death as her will!''<br />
: ''How could I just throw her away for a few moments of peace?''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Luceid''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lclt459JpVQ - And Then Is Heard No More - Library of Ruina]<br />
: ''Do the candles look forward to being used? Enjoy bidding adieu adieu?''<br />
: ''Every word I saved for you came out wrong afterwards so I spoke no more?''<br />
: ''Must be great being you. Power comes as second nature.''<br />
: ''Must feel amazing being longed for, longed for.''<br />
: ''Day and night your ghosts continue to haunt me.''<br />
: ''If I went with you, will there be happily ever afters?''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 3 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''You Speak As If You Know Her''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4 - Third Warning - Lobotomy Corporation]<br />
: ''Judgement Day is approaching.''<br />
: ''Be patient... Be patient...''<br />
<br />
* '''Mariel, Boudicca, and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FfC7YkrLCY - Yearn to Bloom - Ikenfell]<br />
: ''Once I knew a little girl...'<br />
: ''She grew gardens out of hope that she'd leave a legacy'<br />
: ''Of prosperity'<br />
: ''For her world.'<br />
<br />
* '''Kid Marivel and Kid Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2gQS8HJoI - Eternity With You - Adventure Time]<br />
: ''But honestly I think you are the coolest'<br />
: ''And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul'<br />
: ''And I don't want to sound all sweet and sappy'<br />
: ''But all I wanna do is make you happy'</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2019-03-23:_Answers&diff=118232019-03-23: Answers2022-06-30T02:16:43Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Cutscene: Answers'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Character :: Marivel Armitage]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Spira<br />
*'''Date:''' [[Has date::23 March 2019]]<br />
*'''Summary''': ''The world ablaze''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
There had been a flash of light. Searing pain. A blazing sun bore down on her and the water she splashed in did nothing to help keep the rays off her. She flailed in the water for her hat but couldn't find it. This was not where she was expecting to be sent. Erzebet's bullets had opened up numerous holes in her clothes leaving room for the sunlight to hit her.<br />
<br />
<br />
Where was she? It didn't matter where. What mattered was what going on and what was going on was that she was burning.<br />
<br />
<br />
She ducked down under the water, covering her head with her hands, twisting around so her protected back was raised towards the sun's angry rays.<br />
<br />
<br />
She needed cover first and foremost. Hob and Nob burbled in the water near her. She had no idea where her bloodboxes have gone. She swam down down down, down as far as she could go. Not enough, she thought. The UV Rays were weaker but not enough. She was having trouble thinking.<br />
<br />
<br />
There! She saw it! Opportunity! There was some kind of shipwreck nearby and resting on the ocean floor--a treasure chest. Hob and Gob floated over and helped her tug it open.<br />
<br />
<br />
She slid herself inside and slammed the lid shut.<br />
<br />
<br />
Relief. Now all she had to do was wait for nightfall.<br />
<br />
<br />
''Until I got involved with the movement all I was DOING was remembering dead things. It was like my brain was a COFFIN, and now I can feel my blood pumping!!''<br />
<br />
<br />
She smiled, briefly... But with her wounds, with her burns, and with her being hungry...she closed her eyes and fell fast asleep in short order.<br />
<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-flsT6LWwY<br />
<br />
<br />
And she dreamed wordless dreams of sepia. Moments jumbled together, twisting through time...<br />
<br />
<br />
Fire shot down from the skies, punching through tall buildings and blasting up plumes of dust and toxins into the air. Coughing, screaming soldiers rush by her, one seizes her arm and drags her along in an attempt to help. She is surprised and tis no time to smile, but she allows her arm to be seized and runs along with them. <br />
<br />
<br />
Tis no heavy feat to be valorous during the end of the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
She sees men, women, and Elw alike collapsing underneath waves of dust and smoke. Even though it is evening, even though her body was eternally cold...warmth blistered on her skin. Gunfire splatters across her body and that of several nearby soldiers and she tumbles backwards, the spell she was thinking of casting vanishing from her mind. The dying crash to the floor beside her. Black smoke wafts away from her body. Tis an unpleasant feeling. The howls of pain and panic surround her.<br />
<br />
<br />
A shout calls for the reploids to move forward. A squad of machine people advance forward as Marivel pushes herself up to her feet but an Elw's hand presses down on her shoulder and says something to her. She feels her wounds subside, the howls cease as the men and women near her stand themselves back up. Marivel looks towards the Elw that helped her, a people distant like her own but here and now were as close allies as you could get.<br />
<br />
<br />
There is an explosion from ride armor artillery. Reploids are sent flying back. The reprieve is over. One in blue armor lands near her, Marivel looks at her face. Her eyes widen faintly. The machine woman gets up, unafraid. She says something to her and keeps firing her pistol into the enemy. Marivel can't afford to stop her.<br />
<br />
<br />
So this was war. All their adventures and they couldn't stop it.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Elw shout present recognize the threat first. They shout out a warning and Marivel looks up.<br />
<br />
<br />
Nuclear missiles. While they were fighting, the war had expanded. The bombs detonate and everyone--<br />
<br />
<br />
The Crimson Noble shouts out her spell. The missiles undetonate and pull themselves back together, wounds are repaired, time rewinds. They pull back. Only a few short seconds were bought but they were enough.<br />
<br />
<br />
The wolf reacts first, consuming missile after missile in inky blackness. The Crimson Noble smiles with hope and shouts their name. They vanish to try and catch more across the way. One of the missiles is left behind for her, their teamwork instinctive. Anastasia catches the armageddon weapon in a white aura shield that practically covers the whole field.<br />
<br />
<br />
The fighting along the ground is simmering down. A few bursts of gunfire from the blue armored reploid is enough to send the foolish scattering. Most remain, even the enemy. All look to Anastasia. They cheer her bravery, they cheer her power, they cheer her justice. They claim she is invincible.<br />
<br />
<br />
Marivel looks into her eyes. She sees terror and desperation. Raising a hand she opens a power and relieves Anastasia of that concern by banishing the weapon to hell.<br />
<br />
<br />
The shield fades. Anastasia turns to smile at her...Is it over?<br />
<br />
<br />
It's not over.<br />
<br />
<br />
The Crimson Noble isn't sure what it is, but in a flash of light it is as if a sun entered the battlefield. Marivel shields her eyes, grimacing as the new adversary is shrouded in light and flame. Screams punctuate the battlefield.<br />
<br />
<br />
The sun approaches Filgaia slowly but inevitably. Marivel feels her body burning. Smoke drifts off her limbs. Pain beyond pain fills her.<br />
<br />
<br />
Anastasia dives and protects her body with her own. A white rippling barrier crackles around her and as many other people as she can manage. Marivel loses a few seconds of time when her eyes instinctively shut.<br />
<br />
<br />
And when her eye opens again, she sees behind Anastasia the King of Darkness.<br />
<br />
<br />
Marivel called him the King of Dorkness.<br />
<br />
<br />
Dad. Mom too. Her people! All here! "Why...?" Marivel asks.<br />
<br />
<br />
There is voice here, for this moment, as her father holds off the sun with darkness beyond darkness, everyone together pushing back inevitability. "As the supreme species we have a duty to protect this world."<br />
<br />
<br />
"Now that duty is passed onto you. Tis your inheritance, our little hope."<br />
<br />
<br />
Mother gestures with one hand and a mass teleportation spell shimmers underneath their feet. "No matter where you go," She tells her. "You'll never be alone, sweet demon."<br />
<br />
<br />
Marivel shouts mother. She shouts father. But the last she sees of them is the darkness being pushed back by the light...<br />
<br />
<br />
...and everything consumed. The darkness. Her people. Their souls.<br />
<br />
<br />
Time passes in a blur. She doesn't drink. She doesn't eat. She doesn't even sleep. Time is strange. Time is jumbled. She remembers...<br />
<br />
<br />
She remembers arguments.<br />
<br />
<br />
She remembers karaoke.<br />
<br />
<br />
She remembers joy.<br />
<br />
<br />
She remembers reassurances.<br />
<br />
<br />
She remembers little robots dancing around their creation's head.<br />
<br />
<br />
She remembers microphones.<br />
<br />
<br />
She remembers plans.<br />
<br />
<br />
Time is strange.<br />
<br />
<br />
Time...<br />
<br />
<br />
The time comes.<br />
<br />
<br />
The final battle begins.<br />
<br />
<br />
The plan is in motion.<br />
<br />
<br />
She sees herself and the woman she loves fighting an unstoppable enemy.<br />
<br />
<br />
She remembers Desire at her side.<br />
<br />
<br />
But when Marivel sneaks a glance behind her...<br />
<br />
<br />
...all she can think about is how her mother was wrong.<br />
<br />
<br />
They are alone.<br />
<br />
<br />
''Sounds like someone who has been hurt before...''<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 1]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Id&diff=11773Id2022-06-21T19:41:48Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
|MUSHName=Id<br />
|BGColor=#bf0c0c<br />
|BorderColor=#bf0c0c<br />
|TextColor=#bf0c0c<br />
|Img=[[File:IdDoodle.jpg|200px|thumb|left|High Resolution Id Picture]]<br />
|Name=Id<br />
|Gender=Male<br />
|Age=?<br />
|Birthdate=?<br />
|Hometown=?<br />
|Hair=Red<br />
|Class=Civilization Destroyer<br />
|Role=Antagonist<br />
|Theme=Xenogears<br />
|Player=Fei<br />
|Profile=A mysterious figure with fiery red hair and unimaginable power, Id is a man ill-inclined to answer questions about where he came from. The few who know of him speak of whole villages in Elru laid to waste, during the Garlylean Apocalypse, as he rampaged across the continent save where the Veruni could hold him at bay. Id wields a catastrophic power, seemingly without remorse, and with the sort of cruelty that only comes from those who have been hurt and wish to hurt back in stark retribution. He is apparently the primary personality operating Fei Fong Wong but for some reason can only take over in certain circumstances. While Fei and Id's willingness to work together is at an all time high, the Demon lurks within and even when he takes the role of an Angel, he remains about as subtle as one and trouble tends to follow. Despite everything, he still seems himself as a helper.<br />
}}<br />
Just some asshole.<br />
<br />
[[Nasrin]] "Going through this shit so you don't have to go through it."<br />
<br />
[[Riesenlied]] "She kept her promise... Not a waste of time, then." RANK 2.<br />
<br />
[[Noeline]] "Turned out to be pretty useful in there." RANK 1.<br />
<br />
[[Elhaym van Houten]] "That woman... is gonna cause problems. Why do I think of her when I'm trying to solve problems?" RANK ?<br />
<br />
[[Grahf]] "Old Man thinks he can control me?"<br />
<br />
[[Siegfried]] "You gonna keep dragging your people into war until there's nobody left? You can't punch Filgaia into accepting you. We're not so different, buddy, we can only relate to this world through destruction."<br />
<br />
[[Lady Harken]] "Fast... but I'll catch you."<br />
<br />
[[Myyah Hawwa]] *mad howling* RANK ?<br />
<br />
[[Xantia]] "Well I helped her out, probably. Wonder what'll happen when she finds out the truth because you don't need to be around as long as I have to know it'll be nothing good." RANK 1.<br />
<br />
[[Lily Keil]] "Patient confidentiality is useful huh." RANK 3.<br />
<br />
[[Ida_Everstead-Rey]] "So much like her ancestor... She should push Riesenlied to the brink."<br />
<br />
[[Fei Fong Wong]] "Fake..." "Coward..." "...Useful..."<br />
<br />
ENEMIES<br />
<br />
[[Dean Stark]]: >:X<br />
<br />
[[K.K]]: >:E!</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Fei_Fong_Wong&diff=11673Fei Fong Wong2022-05-13T01:09:13Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{| class="toccolours" style="width: 25em; float: right; margin-left:2em; margin-right:0em; margin-bottom:2em; text-align: left; font-size: %110" cellspacing="2"<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#FFCC66; border: 2px #E18F37 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#E18F37">'''Fei Fong Wong'''<br />
|-<br />
! colspan="2" align="center" | [[File:Thisisfine.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#FFCC66; border: 2px #E18F37 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#E18F37">'''IC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Full Name:<br />
| Fei Fong Wong<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Gender:<br />
| Male<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Age (Birthdate):<br />
| 20? (???)<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hometown:<br />
| Lahan<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Hair Colour:<br />
| Dark Brown<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Class:<br />
| Martial Artist<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Role: <br />
| Drifter<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Bounty: <br />
| 30,000 gella<br />
|-<br />
! style="background:#FFCC66; border: 2px #E18F37 solid; font-size: 110%;" align="center" colspan="2" | <span style="color:#E18F37">'''OOC Information'''<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Theme:<br />
| Xenogears<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Groups:<br />
| Yggdrasil Alliance<br />
|-<br />
! style="text-align:left" | Player:<br />
| [[User:Fei|Fei]]<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
A mysterious young man from the town of Lahan, Fei was forced to flee the village was attacked by Kislev military forces chasing down a stolen Gear, known as Weltall. Boarding the Gear in the midst of battle, Fei unleashed a mysterious power that destroyed most of the village. Banished due to the destruction, he wanders the countryside seeking answers to the mystery of both his newly acquired Gear and his own mysterious past. Skilled in an unknown style of martial arts and unusually adept at piloting, Fei's prowess in battle is matched only by his desire to not be swept up in the conflicts of the world - a desire which is likely to be left unfulfilled as mysterious forces push him towards his destiny. <br />
<br />
== Background ==<br />
<br />
Fei has lived in utter obscurity for the past few years in a recently wiped off the village of Lahan. He must be a protaganist. Nevertheless, he's had amnesia for any time from before Lahan. His on-screen flashbacks will be included here.<br />
<br />
''' The Kakei '''<br />
<br />
ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO<br />
<br />
That man from before. Not Valeria, the one with the black hair. The vision is hazy. It's incomplete. But there's something here this time.<br />
<br />
A woman with grey-blue eyes walks behind him. She says something but he can't quite hear it. The vision intensifies. He's looking at a waterfall but can see the reflection. He doesn't turn back and look at the woman. Not yet.<br />
<br />
"I'm not interested," He says.<br />
<br />
"He was right. You're just a coward." The woman says.<br />
<br />
"Maybe the brave thing to do is to NOT kill people with my bare hands." The black haired man suggested instead. "When has war ever fixed anything?"<br />
<br />
The woman with the grey-blue eyes pulls him around and slaps him in the face. "Wake up! This isn't a war over territory, it's a war over survival! Maybe one day we can talk about this, but we don't have the luxury right now!"<br />
<br />
The man with black hair didn't respond. He just looked at the floor. The woman, disgusted, stormed off but the man raised a hand and said, "Hold on--"<br />
<br />
The woman stopped.<br />
<br />
"...Let me at least teach you something to keep you safe. Maybe you can adapt it with your ARM. It's called the Kakei..."<br />
<br />
<br />
'''Finish Mother'''<br />
<br />
<br />
ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO<br />
<br />
<br />
Deus Ex Machina smelled of blood. The scattered bodies of Metal Demons lay across the great aerial fortress of the Metal Demons, and they were joined by scores upon scores of human dead. Mixed in, here and there, were the broken bodies of the Elw -- singed and burnt. Even now, Berserk's furious cries echoed down the hallway. Siegfried lay in a heap, armor burnt and blackened.<br />
<br />
<br />
And Harthcourt Valeria stared down at the woman who lay crumpled, hand outstretched. The meager healing his magic could offer was so little, though.<br />
<br />
<br />
"Elly, please," he rasped. "Please, stay with us--we're almost through with this. We'll finish Mother yet. Guardians, just... just stay with us! You..."<br />
<br />
<br />
But he didn't speak to Elly, then. He looked up, slate grey eyes lifting, to stare at the form of the black-haired man standing tall before him. So familiar -- and yet that gentle, friendly visage was gone in a wash of terrible, angry red.<br />
<br />
== Powers and Abilities ==<br />
<br />
''' Baroness Evangeline von Sheepington '''<br />
<br />
Sephilia made Fei a fuzzy woolen plush sheep doll. It is hand-crafted with care. It shimmers with the power of friendship. <br />
<br />
''' Moor Gault, Guardian of Fire, Stone Medium '''<br />
<br />
Though not a shaman, Fei found this tablet in his possession. Can he use this? He feels stronger in its presence.<br />
<br />
'''Shevat Open-Handed Arts'''<br />
<br />
Fei Fong Wong utilizes Shevat Open-Handed Arts though it's modified ever so slightly. Fei is hardly a master of this art though sometimes he uses incredible high level techniques he really shouldn't be able to utilize at all. It's very mysterious.<br />
<br />
'''Weltall'''<br />
<br />
[[file: Xeno-weltall.png]]<br />
<br />
<br />
Ugh this giant robot. It keeps showing up and following Fei wherever he goes. He's resigned himself that his fate and Weltall's are interconnected and he can't escape it because people like Bart and Citan keep throwing the thing at him. So far it's destroyed one hometown of his as far as he's aware but other than that? It's been really useful! If you think about it, that's a really good record.<br />
<br />
'''Random Flashbacks'''<br />
<br />
Fei Fong Wong sometimes gets weird visions of the past of people that look like him. Sometimes it's informative, usually it's just reliving the suffering of his past lives so again it's something that's really mostly there to keep him from having too many restful nights and being happy for too long. These flashbacks go all the way back to the destruction of the Eldridge.<br />
<br />
'''The Contact'''<br />
<br />
25 Percent Awake<br />
<br />
'''Id'''<br />
<br />
Fei has an alternate personality deep within him. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. How bad could it be?<br />
<br />
[[File:3176626-xenogears id by clarityblue.jpg]]<br />
<br />
Oh.<br />
<br />
== Relationships ==<br />
<br />
[[File:wanted.jpg]]<br />
<br />
<!-- your relationships; may not be friendly to wiki code, if your relationships section includes a lot of code <br />
<br />
or formatting, just append it after this template ends instead and leave this field blank --><br />
}}<br />
<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; style="text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Group<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Field Notes<br />
|-<br />
| [[Elhaym van Houten]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Perhaps one day I could learn to love like you, but every day I see the <br />
<br />
differences between us."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lily Keil]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"We're so similar...but is that a good thing? We both have our secrets but..."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Leon Albus]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You gave me a place to live in again. I'm terribly grateful but I only hope you <br />
<br />
don't regret it one day."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Riesenlied]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I wish I could have your faith, but...do you realize how loud your thinking is <br />
<br />
sometimes? I swear I can hear it sometimes."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Noeline]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"It's nice having someone around without so much baggage though sometimes I get <br />
<br />
the feeling that you're not being entirely open."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xantia]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"She wishes for her memories so powerfully...whereas I wish I could stop seeing <br />
<br />
mine. I hope you prove me wrong."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Jude Moshe]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He acts like he doesn't care and is above it all but actions speak louder than <br />
<br />
sass."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Josephine Lovelace]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Josie's a bit like Jude, but in her case I'm worried she means it."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hammer]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"We're really lucky to have him around. Good to see he's keeping busy."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lunata Croze]]<br />
| Ally<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Your situation is incredibly tragic and I hope you realize it before it's too <br />
<br />
late."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Cecilia Adlehyde]]<br />
| Ally<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I know you'll make the right choices in the end. I believe in you."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Cassidy Cain]]<br />
| Ally<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"There is so little I know, and that I suspect it is deliberate worries me."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Bartholomew Fatima]]<br />
| Ally<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 55%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I can't forget what you told me. I hope we can fight together again soon."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Claude C. Kenny]]<br />
| Ally<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 45%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Why does 'Earth' sound so familiar? Why does it make me want to cry?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Zed]]<br />
| Ally<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 35%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You don't need to act this way. We already care about you."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruby]]<br />
| Friend<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You're watching out for me, aren't you? When you're near, I feel like things will <br />
<br />
turn out alright."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hiro]]<br />
| Friend<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I have a feeling Lucia is going to only need you more as you get closer to the <br />
<br />
truth. She's lucky to have you."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Jean]]<br />
| Friend<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"It's tough facing your past, be proud that you are managing it. You'll find <br />
<br />
justice one day."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| Friend<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You seem so much better now. That makes me so happy."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Dean Stark]]<br />
| Friend<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"A good man but it's hard to not feel pain when I am reminded of the life I used to have."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Avril Vent Fleur]]<br />
| Friend?<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"A fellow amnesiac. She has a dark side, though, I can sense it."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ethius Hesiod]]<br />
| Friend?<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Be wary around this one."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Citan Uzuki]]<br />
| Friend<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Doc, I could really use your advice right now."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Lanval]]<br />
| Friend<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He deserves better than what he's getting, but maybe he's actually blessed after all."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Sephilia Lampbright]]<br />
| Friend<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm glad I was able to do some good for her."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Siegfried]]<br />
| Enemy<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 20%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You used to be friends...how did Lacan betray you? Why do I feel like it's my <br />
<br />
fault?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ramses]]<br />
| Enemy<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 20%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"This guy is the leader of Gebler? He said something, what was it?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Corwynt]]<br />
| Enemy<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Zealotry and the creatures that ruined your life have, no doubt, much in common."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Gryndille]]<br />
| Enemy<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm sorry. I know it was not your own will, but I will avenge their friends so <br />
<br />
they can move on and so you can rest."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Dietrich Keil]]<br />
| Enemy<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I wonder what Lily would have been like if it hadn't been for your maddening <br />
<br />
amount of cruelty. We're in agreement. You have to die."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Grahf]]<br />
| Enemy<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 80px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; <br />
<br />
border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 5%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Don't think I'll forgive you just because I found a new life. I know as long as <br />
<br />
you live, I will never be free."<br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
== Soundtrack ==<br />
<br />
* '''Fei and Elly''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECKvMS0VzEk Avantasia - Into The Unknown'']<br />
: ''Let us go together, neverending ways, got to roam forever, always carry on<br />
: ''I've seen dreams come and go''<br />
* '''Reisenlied In Contact''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QEi7ZKkVHU NieR Automata - Weight of the World Cover'']<br />
: ''Tell me God, are you are punishing me?<br />
: ''Is this the price I'm paying for my past mistakes?''<br />
* '''Fei and Siegfried''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sabsuEKPdMk NieR - Song of the Ancients Cover'']<br />
: ''Did I betray you or did you betray me?<br />
: ''We betrayed ourselves''<br />
* '''Fei and the Black Wolves''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnCilOe1Gu8 Radiant Historia - To The Future That Awaits Ahead'']]<br />
: ''Even if we're on the wrong path<br />
: ''We'll make fate bend for us!''<br />
* '''The Fall of Zeboim''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uozt4N72a5U Ayreon - Age of Shadows'']]<br />
: ''We never saw this coming, pride comes before a fall<br />
: ''We never heeded the warnings, buried deep within us all.''<br />
* '''Fei and Id''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vYYMghd5so Ayreon - Pain'']]<br />
: ''I can't believe there is no way out, you'll find that you're wrong, you fill me with doubt, you were never that strong.''<br />
: ''I can't believe this is the end, it's written in stone, where are my friends, you were always alone.''<br />
* '''Fei and Grahf''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkOBgT0KT40 Ayreon - Loser'']]<br />
: ''Cos you're just like your mother, well, where is she now? You'll end up like her soon six feet under ground!''<br />
: ''I came here to watch you bleed, oh how I love to gloat. If you had any balls at all, you'd grab me by the throat!''<br />
* '''Fei - Siegfried's Death''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZdnJLdmRlI - Song of the Ancients - Popola'']]<br />
: ''All I had wanted...''<br />
: ''Was for your eyes to light up with joy.''<br />
* '''Id - Eulogy''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhMzZ_KCp_E - So Happy Together'']]<br />
: ''To my fallen brother, I give this song from my mother.''<br />
: ''His name was Siegfried.''<br />
* '''Id - Chapter 1 Finale Battle''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofBUsqpz3cQ - Avantasia - Memory'']]<br />
: ''Is it just a dream...''<br />
: ''Or just a wicked memory?''<br />
* '''Fei - Layer One Personasphere The Blame''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxke2YUjBcM - Traditional Song of Shadows'']]<br />
: ''Can you bear the weight...''<br />
: ''Of knowing this world is your fault?''<br />
* '''Fei and Elly Love Theme Ch 1 Finale''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX6xpVVNF2o - Hoshi no Arika'']]<br />
: ''Be it loneliness or pain, I want to feel you no matter what.''<br />
: ''If we can look into our eyes once more, our wish will surely come true.''<br />
<br />
== Logs and Cutscenes ==<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 1 Logs ===<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Logs]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Fei Fong Wong]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 1 Cutscenes ===<br />
{{#ask: [[Category:Cutscenes]] [[Category:Chapter 1]] [[Character::Fei Fong Wong]]<br />
|format=ul<br />
|class=askcolumns<br />
|limit=200<br />
}}<br />
[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Drifters]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=File:Thisisfine.jpg&diff=11672File:Thisisfine.jpg2022-05-13T01:08:29Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=File:This-is-fine-meme.webp&diff=11671File:This-is-fine-meme.webp2022-05-13T01:07:22Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Marivel_Armitage&diff=11219Marivel Armitage2021-07-22T20:19:28Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
<!-- WARNING, when using a character template, you cannot edit the individual sections of your character page, you must use the edit button at the very top. Additionally, please don't leave fields blank unless there is a comment after them stating you can --><br />
|MUSHName=Marivel Armitage<br />
<!-- your @name on MUSH, very important for log searching --><br />
|BGColor=#FFCC66<br />
|BorderColor=#E18F37<br />
|TextColor=#E18F37<br />
<!-- you don't have to mess with the colors if you don't want to --><br />
|Img=[[File:Marivelinsanctuary.jpg]]<br />
<!-- example: [[File:RoseDefault.png]] consult mediawiki via google for help with inserting images, and upload your image first using the button in the left sidebar called Upload file. Leave blank if you have no image --><br />
|Name=Marivel Armitage<br />
|Gender=Female<br />
|Age=Immortal<br />
|Birthdate=Probably Halloween<br />
|Hometown=Crimson Castle<br />
|Hair=Blonde<br />
|Class=Filgaia's Rightful Ruler<br />
|Role=Drifter<br />
<!-- Drifter, Antagonist or Bystander only, case-sensitive --><br />
|Bounty=0 Gella<br />
<!-- if you leave this blank it will default to 0 Gella --><br />
|Theme=Wild Arms 2<br />
<!-- either your source (i.e. Xenogears, Tales of Zestiria, etc.) or Original Character --><br />
|Group=<br />
<!-- minor groups, leave blank if none --><br />
|MajorGroup=ARMS<br />
<!-- Althena's Guard, Metal Demons, Veruni or Solaris only, case-sensitive, leave blank if not relevant to you --><br />
|Player=Fei<br />
<!-- your wiki username --><br />
|Profile=Marivel is the last of the Crimson Nobles after the entity known as Lord Blazer slew her family and the rest of her brethren. She assisted the Sword Magess and Luceid in defeating Lord Blazer but since then has been traveling the world in order to prepare and prevent ... something. Marivel is an incredible engineer who employs both lost knowledge and modern techniques into her work and works as an ARMS Meister who is both picky about whom she works for and strange about the payments she asks for. She is connected to the Valeria household as far back as anyone can remember. She often comes across as snooty and frankly more than a bit arrogant but behind it all is someone who deeply cares about Filgaia. ...Or so she says, anyway. Strangely as of late she has picked up her activities but if she's trying to prevent another worldwide disaster...one might wonder why she is being so tight-lipped.<br />
<!-- from your +finger --><br />
|Background=<br />
<!-- your backstory, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Powers=<br />
<!-- your powers, abilities and resources, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Relationships=<br />
<!-- your relationships; may not be friendly to wiki code, if your relationships section includes a lot of code or formatting, just append it after this template ends instead and leave this field blank --><br />
[[File:MarivelSocialLinks.jpeg]]<br />
}}<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; style="text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Group<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Field Notes<br />
|-<br />
| [[Anastasia]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm not okay with it. I'll never be okay with it. Even if it's against your will."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Luceid]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Does the candle look forward to being used? If tis my desire, then I shall satisfy it. I shall be selfish until my heart aches no more."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Althena]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You threw us away. Was it worth it? WAS IT WORTH IT!? I'LL DEVOUR YOU, SOUL AND ALL!!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Irving Valeria]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He would not ask sacrifices of others he is unwilling to offer up himself."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ashley Winchester]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You still won't leave me? Are you that desperate to be a hero?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Brad Evans]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Once again, through my fingers like sand."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kamui]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Mother, huh... Is that what they meant?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Acacia]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Was she always so charming? She is quite good with the kids. Very impressive quality. Best treat her well, Yue."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Clarissa Arwin]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You are more than you think you are. In more ways than one I think."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Clarine]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I've really grown to rely on your companionship. I'm not the kind of friend you want."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Mariel]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 99%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Tears and smiles huh?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Boudicca]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm counting on you."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hiro]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Growing stronger. And kinder."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruby]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally! Proper respect! A grand dragon already as far as I'm concerned."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Isolde]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Have you walked into the sun yourself, my friend?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xantia]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Hn."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Auron]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's so much like me. May your promises be fulfilled, and a glimpse of a better tommorow be your final sight. When you walk into the sun, I will be there to see you off."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yuna]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand duty. I understand sacrifice. It is your choice but I beg you... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tidus]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's a good guy. A real good guy. I can trust him. He won't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Rikku]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"How you maintain your optimism in a world so cruel to you is a testament to humanity's strength. Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lulu]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand why you see no other path before you but... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Amelia Rose]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Behind the attitude and past the culture I find a kindred spirit."<br />
|-<br />
| [[White Knight Leo]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I knew he was a good man. I wonder what he's up to."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Erzebet Lefanu]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Reminds me of my youth, but this old girl has some tricks yet."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'd much prefer ARMS to seize victory but this is not a good start."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"There is a limit to one's ideals if you don't live up to those expectations yourself. It's a risk, but the world admires the risk-takers."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ivan]]<br />
| Caravan Kinship<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I smell the blood on his hands, but tis often those that have once fallen who are best at lifting others up."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yue Rohay]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm sorry. I can't handle more martyr complexes. But when you are ready, I will be here. Always."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kaguya]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I admire your determination to survive."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Liath]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 95%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You showed me trust first, I won't forget that."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Ragnell]]<br />
| I Respect Your Ability To Work For Everybody Simultaneously.<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"The world needs people who dare the world to be better more than it needs heroes."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Red Skills ==<br />
<br />
Falling Into the Ambush With A Sexy Lure - Erzebet - High Damage Bullet Rain From Above<br />
<br />
Rubyvention - Ruby - Low Damage Fire Breath<br />
<br />
Shut Up And Jam Ball - Oblitzerator - Mid Level Jam Blitzball Attack<br />
<br />
Aura Bolt - Gusong Monk Manual - Low Level Free Attack Technique<br />
<br />
Push Back - Chocobo Eater - 0 Level Push Back<br />
<br />
Hound of Hell - Jack, Hound of Hell - Stored soul belonging to a Hound of Hell. High Level Damage.<br />
<br />
Thousand Detonations - Qactuar - A thousand detonating needles - OMG.<br />
<br />
== Major Discoveries ==<br />
''A Dark World Looming Behind''<br />
<br />
In the end, once the Golem twitches its last and lies still, you're able to <br />
pass through the once-sealed doors -- now that the alarm system has calmed <br />
-- and enter into a formerly closed-off chamber. What could have been so <br />
valuable to seal it so carefully? <br />
<br />
The answer stands before you in the shape of a projector-like machine. While <br />
the shape may be foreign -- with age to some, with purpose to others -- a <br />
still-shining screen at one side of the projector mechanism draws the eye <br />
and suggests investigation. At a touch, it speaks, at first unintelligible. <br />
And then: <br />
<br />
...LINGUISTIC MATCH OBTAINED. TRANSLATING: PLAY LAST RECORDING? <br />
<br />
At a yes, a series of images project against the wall, still brilliant and <br />
luminous after so many years. <br />
<br />
A beautiful land. A thriving land. A land crippled. <br />
<br />
"Did we invite this upon ourselves?" the narration reads out, against the <br />
image of cities that reach for the sky as if to scrape the heavens. "I have <br />
often wondered. Perhaps it is pointless after the end. The TF System worked <br />
-- we sacrificed our land to stop the demon, but perhaps it was already <br />
dying. Perhaps I would be making this last record still." <br />
<br />
A land in fear. A land burning. A dead land. <br />
<br />
"I leave this only as one record among many, in the hopes that somebody <br />
someday might hear it," the narration continues, against the backdrop of a <br />
civilization's graveyard. "I elected to stay on Filgaia. Others have left to <br />
seek a new home among the stars, but I could not leave. To restore Filgaia, <br />
much is required. This facility is but one step forward." <br />
<br />
The image against the wall fades to nothing. "No matter what happens to me, <br />
I feel I owe even that glimmer of hope to the future. To whoever is able to <br />
listen, please, forgive us for what we have done. <br />
<br />
"...We who have buried our past and forsaken our future."<br />
<br />
<br />
''A Sea of Stars''<br />
<br />
The door beyond the generator opens with a hiss, revealing the room beyond. <br />
Though the generator appears damaged, it still shows signs of life; given <br />
the nature of this place it may not remain inactive forever. So be it. <br />
<br />
Was this a storage area? At a glance, it looks the part: shelving units, <br />
locking safes, and all the rest of it, bundled into this tight place. But <br />
what catches your eye yet is the terminal in the back. It still retains <br />
power -- perhaps it has some way to cache energy in the event the generator <br />
goes offline. With some manipulation you bring up the following information: <br />
<br />
>RESTORING... RETRIEVING SERVICE HISTORY AND SHIP'S LOG FOR PFS-037 <br />
PHILADELPHIA, LIBERTY BELL-CLASS RESEARCH VESSEL. <br />
<br />
You learn... you learn a number of things. <br />
<br />
This -- the Philadelphia was a ship that sailed the stars. One of a number <br />
of star-faring ships of an organization named only as the Pangalactic <br />
Federation, this was a research vessel. In particular, the record notes that <br />
the ship carried a number of experimental nanoreactors alongside the <br />
standard-issue Federation models... whatever that means. But it never got to <br />
where it was going, a place noted in the records as Gliese 667. <br />
<br />
It ended up suffering a catastrophic engine failure around 6016 SD, whatever <br />
that means, and diverted to the forbidden territory Kepler-186 in <br />
desperation. But something happened. <br />
<br />
It crashed. <br />
<br />
And that's where the record ends.<br />
<br />
== Tools ==<br />
[[File:mari-smol.jpg]]<br />
== Soundtrack ==<br />
<br />
=== Overall Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ4Lc5W75I - White Lies - Monogatari]<br />
: ''In the darkness, Moments, Secrets, Regrets<br />
: ''Never Lie!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 1 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vw9ftAWSc Connect - Puella Madoka Magica]<br />
: ''Time now begins to away incessantly''<br />
: ''Let's open the closed door while carrying our unchanging feelings.'<br />
<br />
* '''Chapter 2 Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deakr4AHeo4 - Answers - FFXIV]<br />
: ''To all my children in whom Life flows abundant.''<br />
: ''To all my children to whom Death hath passed his judgement.''<br />
: ''Answer, Answer, Answer together.''<br />
: ''Thou must live, die, and know.''<br />
<br />
* '''Lighthearted Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24NZaT2_gaA - Magilou - Berseria]<br />
: ''Oh no!''<br />
: ''I meant to confess my sins, but instead my confession was another sin!''<br />
<br />
* '''In The Lab With Professor Lumen!''' - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwkwyi-mEYg - Robotrek - Title Sequence, Research, and Development]<br />
: ''Ah...! I'm sorry Professor!!'<br />
: '' I promise I won't teach her about the birds and the bees please calm down!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 2 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Anastasia and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2oLSuongkY - Magia - Kalafina]<br />
: ''Someday, the light of love lit within your eyes will transcend time.''<br />
: ''And certainly destroy one dream of a world that races towards its destruction.''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel's True Plan''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - I was waiting for this moment]<br />
: ''Whether the time of heroes is eternal, whether the time of disaster is at hand once more...''<br />
: ''I refuse to accept her death as her will!''<br />
: ''How could I just throw her away for a few moments of peace?''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Luceid''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lclt459JpVQ - And Then Is Heard No More - Library of Ruina]<br />
: ''Do the candles look forward to being used? Enjoy bidding adieu adieu?''<br />
: ''Every word I saved for you came out wrong afterwards so I spoke no more?''<br />
: ''Must be great being you. Power comes as second nature.''<br />
: ''Must feel amazing being longed for, longed for.''<br />
: ''Day and night your ghosts continue to haunt me.''<br />
: ''If I went with you, will there be happily ever afters?''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 3 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''You Speak As If You Know Her''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4 - Third Warning - Lobotomy Corporation]<br />
: ''Judgement Day is approaching.''<br />
: ''Be patient... Be patient...''<br />
<br />
* '''Mariel, Boudicca, and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FfC7YkrLCY - Yearn to Bloom - Ikenfell]<br />
: ''Once I knew a little girl...'<br />
: ''She grew gardens out of hope that she'd leave a legacy'<br />
: ''Of prosperity'<br />
: ''For her world.'<br />
<br />
* '''Kid Marivel and Kid Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2gQS8HJoI - Eternity With You - Adventure Time]<br />
: ''But honestly I think you are the coolest'<br />
: ''And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul'<br />
: ''And I don't want to sound all sweet and sappy'<br />
: ''But all I wanna do is make you happy'</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2020-12-27:_Heroes_Never_Die&diff=105222020-12-27: Heroes Never Die2020-12-28T06:33:37Z<p>Fei: Created page with "*'''Log: Heroes Never Die''' *'''Cast:'''Marivel Armitage Brad Evans *'''Where:''' T'bok Village *'''Date:''' 12/27/2020 *'''Summary''': ''Marivel lets Billy know of B..."</p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Log: Heroes Never Die'''<br />
*'''Cast:'''[[Marivel Armitage]] [[Brad Evans]]<br />
*'''Where:''' T'bok Village<br />
*'''Date:''' 12/27/2020<br />
*'''Summary''': ''Marivel lets Billy know of Brad's fate.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.<br />
The Village of T'bok is a small place - a few rows of homes, a few rows of barns for animals, a few buildings that might have been shops once and now don't look safe to work in. The kind of small settlement, slowly limping along to its death, that people are talking about when they say Filgaia is dying. A place slowly limping from its last legs to its deathbed...<br />
<br />
Near the center of the small town, the local Armsmeister - a graying old man who must not have his own shop, seeing as he's sitting next to a pile of boxes clearly containing the materials of his trade - sits nearby a woman in a blue dress; that latter is the local member of Irving Vold Valeria's Memory Service, the small army Irving employs to keep tabs on everything happening out in the world. There's only one or two children playing, though there are a few older teens about. One, a young girl with short, slightly wavy blonde hair down to her shoulders, dressed in a plain villager's dress, emerges from a house in the middle of town, and sits down on the step, hand rubbing down the flank of an old, brown-furred dog.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel held off for a time. She's not sure hwy. She thought, maybe, Brad would step out of the shadows or reveal himself to be on Spira. She isn't someone to give up on the hope that someone she thought was dead could possibly actually secretly be alive. It's not uncommon for soldiers thought dead to turn up--perhaps wounded or otherwise--having been lost in the fog of war. And sure, Brad blew up a bombaround his NECK but Filgaia is a strange enough place. She gave it some time.<br />
<br />
And then she thought of Billy.<br />
<br />
Marivel, shrouded in her Sun Prevention Gear, steps into town--having appeared outside it. She makes her way through the village, glancing about. Her eyes settle on Valeria's Memory Service agent for a time but it doesn't reall disrupt her plans. She turns, glancing around. Her name, she thinks, her name it was...<br />
<br />
She approaches the young girl with blond hair. Just an average villager, she thinks, living a normal life except for one key element.<br />
<br />
"You're Merrill, right?" Marivel asks as she approaches.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.<br />
The young girl looks up, patting the dog a couple times on the back. "I am," she says, with no hesitation. There's a smile on her face. "Miss Marivel, right? I remember. You all saved us with Mister Brad."<br />
<br />
She smiles even brighter at that. "We heard about the big fight off at Kattelox. T'Bok's sleepy, but we get our news sooner or later. Guess y'all must have been on some big adventure. Good to see ya came back."<br />
<br />
She leans to either side, as if attempting to find someone lurking behind the pile of coats and hats.<br />
<br />
The big brown dog looks up, peering at Marivel. Dogs always sense the problem before people do. He ruffs, unhappily.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel smiles. She looks at the dog and she exhales out a sigh. What is it with her, lately, and upsetting canines. First Luceid, now this good boy. She doesn't want to think about it too hard because the harder she thinks about it, the harder it is to share the news she has to bring. "It--yes." Marivel says. "The big fight off at Kattelox is what I wished to talk about. I would have come sooner, but we were stuck elsewhere for a while so I couldn't visit, and I wanted to give it some time just in case but..."<br />
<br />
She does not look behind her. She knows who Merrill is looking or. "Tis--It's about Brad."<br />
<br />
She could lie, she thinks, say that it isn't as if Brad is confirmed deceased. It's even true, but it is a lie all the same. Marivel learned a long time ago how to lie without lying.<br />
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.<br />
Merrill sets a calming hand back on the dog's back. "Easy now, Rush, no need to get Miss Marivel wrapped up in your horseplay."<br />
<br />
She looks back over to Marivel with a giggle. "Rush is gettin' a little older, but he still loves to play. Don't mind him none."<br />
<br />
She tips her head a little, curious at Marivel's reticence. The smile stays on her face, though it does dampen down a little. She's not a fool, she can read a mood, even if Marivel's outfit makes her face unreadable. "Did he get himself hurt?" she asks.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel's eyes can be seen but the mouth is mostly hidden by scarves. She DOES have to at least see, even if the hat is big enough that it shadows her face.<br />
<br />
"He... We were in a battle against Odessa agents." Marivel says. "But as the battle was nearly over, we got ambushed by a Gebler weapon along some of Odessa's clone soldiers." The less Merrill knows about Solaris the better, Marivel reasons. "We had to fall back from our position suddenly and quickly. To cover our escape."<br />
<br />
"...I told him not to, but Brad did not listen to me. He charged into the thick of it and forcefully detonated an explosive with himself as the epiccenter to buy us time to escape."<br />
<br />
"He saved us but he's... He's gone." Marivel says. "I tried to give it some time in case of a miracle but... We haven't heard from him since."<br />
<br />
There's still a chance for a happy ending, she thinks miserably, but not for him, not for Billy...<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.<br />
Just hearing the name Solaris can mark a person. Best to avoid it. Gebler is already a more fearsome thing than someone like Merrill could expect to reckon with. She doesn't really look like she's following the play by play....until Marivel explains the point. Her face freezes.<br />
<br />
Perhaps she should weep. But she just looks down. "Gone again....has he," she murmurs, distantly. "You know...this isn't...the first time, he's left us. But I thought now that he'd come back, maybe, maybe he'd...."<br />
<br />
Rush snuffles his head up into her lap, distracting her enough that she keeps it together, patting the old dog on the head.<br />
<br />
She smiles down at him, then wipes wetness from her eyes. "Guess we should tell Billy, huh?"<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Maybe she could have passed this off to one of Irving's people, Marivel thinks, so she didn't have to see this. She hates it. She hates the whole damn concept of heroes. But she chose to be the one. She could have just left them to it. Let the understanding slowly dawn upon them. No more tears, Marivel, the world shall weep instead.<br />
<br />
"...He wanted to come back. I wanted him to come back." Marivel says. "To be honest, part of me was hoping he was hiding out here. I'd pretend I didn't see him and we'd never see each other again."<br />
<br />
She looks to Rush and says, "He's a good dog. I'm--"<br />
<br />
She sighs, shaking her head. "...Yeah, we probably should tell Billy."<br />
<br />
She raises her head. "I'll--I'll come by more often too. Help out and... Do what I can for him, while Brad can't."<br />
<br />
He'd probably laugh at her to see her like this, she thinks. She can't stop thinking about how for a moment, she thought he was up to something treacherous. She didn't want to look ahead and know.<br />
<br />
She moves closer.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.<br />
Merrill stops at the doorway, briefly, after Marivel speaks. "You don't have to worry too much," she promises, quietly. "The village has been doing our best for him."<br />
<br />
She steps into the house. It does look like a home someone lives in - tapestries on the ground, pictures on the walls, a kitchen table with chairs and a stovetop ready for use. But the key fixture of it all is the man in the rocking chair, facing away from the door. Caucasian - and quite pale, now, seeing as he scarcely goes outside. He looks about as healthy as a man whose mind has shattered can - he isn't raggedly thin, though certainly he hasn't been eating well. <br />
<br />
He stares out the open window, with a peculiar posture. Like he weren't aware of himself enough to sit properly. His eyes are a thousand miles away.<br />
<br />
Merrill squats a bit to his side, putting a smile in her voice. "Billy. One of Brad's friends is here."<br />
<br />
He moans a reply.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel looks up, cheeks puffed out. "I'm not worrying...! I'm doing just fine...! I just owe him, that's all." Not even Rush is going to believe that lie however adept she is at it.<br />
<br />
She follows after Merrill. She looks around the house. She takes it in. It's a humble abode. She wanted to live in someting nice and small and less empty too, she remembers. The Castle was too big even before her people went extinct, and it's even emptier now--yet she can't bear to just leave it be.<br />
<br />
She approaches Billy. She crouches down nearby. This up close, it's easy to see Marivel's age. It's not in her skin or her body--it's just something in the eyes, just how tired they look.<br />
<br />
"Hey Billy," Marivel says, crouching as she extends a hand, but--pulls it back. "Hope these fine people have been making good company."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.<br />
Billy Pilder's blonde hair has been trimmed and kept. He's definitely not being neglected, at least, for all his blue eyes barely see.<br />
<br />
But his head does slowly drift from the window. He doesn't look at Marivel, quiet; but the way he seems to shift his hear toward her, halfway turn his face, is an approximation of attention.<br />
<br />
Merrill slips backwards a bit, giving them room. "We do our best," she says, quietly. "He's been getting better, lately. Town doc helps him do exercises so his legs don't go all bad. I think..."<br />
<br />
She wants to smile but something catches in her throat. "He seemed a lot happier, after Mister Brad came by."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel's eyes widen when Billy looks right at her. She doesn't say anything for a while. "..." She lowers her head. It was hard to tell this to Merrill, it's practically impossible to tell Billy. "Brad," Marivel says.<br />
<br />
She is quiet again. She just managed to say his name. Is that all she can do?<br />
<br />
Her time in the Memory Maze. It was less terrible because she was with Ana. But now she's here. And she's there. But soon she will just be here. Once Ashley's time catches up--well, there is no time in the Memory Maze, but...Maybe she can collect one of thoe Brad Clone bodies, work on it for a while, reconfigure it, use her darkest sorceries to fetch Brad's soul and slap it inside--<br />
<br />
--but she doesn't actually have that sorcery. And if she looked, she's adventured long enough to know what kind of horror she would find.<br />
<br />
"I'm sorry," Marivel says. "Brad won't be able to come by again."<br />
<br />
It is hard, she knows, but who is she really hoping to please by lying but herself? She must be honest. Even if it's impossibly hard. "I'm sorry. Nobody was supposed to--"<br />
<br />
She scrunches up her face and exhales out slowly.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.<br />
Merrill cannot, quite, suppress a sob, a hand over her mouth. She stands rigid, supporting herself. You have to be that strong to try to be a 'normal villager', out here.<br />
<br />
Billy just looks at Marivel. His gaze is a million, billion miles away. When he breathes, it's slow.<br />
<br />
"He," he croaks, words forming. He shifts in his chair, more quickly than before. "He......."<br />
<br />
He squirms, an uncomfortable thing to look at. "He...!"<br />
<br />
His eyes go wide, tension alive through his entire body, fingers gripping the rocking chair's armrests with sudden white-knuckle power they shouldn't even possess. "Hero...!!"<br />
<br />
He shifts, throwing the rocking chair aside. His legs are paralyzed; he falls immediately to his knees. But not before he grabs Marivel by the shoulders.<br />
<br />
And meets her eyes.<br />
<br />
And for a second, she can see him - the man Brad Evans loved. A wild smirk on his face, his eyes kind but focused. She can practically hear the danger in the air. Like a memory lived out.<br />
<br />
"Heroes never die," he says, with total, perfect clarity.<br />
<br />
"Not as long as they have the will to fight."<br />
<br />
A second passes, then two, then three, and then his legs fail him and he falls to his side.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel looks up into Billy's eyes. He starts speaking. He. He. He.<br />
<br />
He's going to break down, she thinks. She was honest to him like a fool and he will collapse into despair and die. He will lose his will to live, rapidly lose his strength, and die and it'll be her fault, just like the people in Adlehyde she failed to save, just like Lumen she failed to save, just like the King she failed to save, just like Brad and Yuna and Ana and--<br />
<br />
''Hero...!!''<br />
<br />
Marivel hates that word. Her fists tighten into fists. She hates it. It's like nails on the chalkboard, a lie masquerading as truth, a fancy way of saying 'Sacrifice'.<br />
<br />
But then Billy's eyes focus on her. He places a hand on her shoulder. And she accepts that she will be struk.<br />
<br />
But then she sees it. The smirk.<br />
<br />
Ana...she'd smile like that from time to time. It's a grin that she's only ever really seen on a human face. The immortals of these worlds could imitate but never quite match it. It's brilliant.<br />
<br />
Like staring into a sun that does not burn her.<br />
<br />
Heroes never die. Not as longn as they have the will to fight.<br />
<br />
She remembers her hands shaking, then, on that last day. Anastasia resting her hand upon h er own until she stopped shaking. Without a word.<br />
<br />
"...Billy..." She manages.<br />
<br />
He falls to his side.<br />
<br />
CANCELLER<br />
<br />
Until he doesn't. Just as he's about to tumble to his side, Marivel whispers the spell and catches him in a hug before he tumbles. It's fierce, like the man had just saved her life.<br />
<br />
Only for a moment before she gently sets him down in his chair.<br />
<br />
"...I underestimated you, Billy." Marivel smiles. "...Surely I underestimated him too."<br />
<br />
In this moment, at least, she actually believes it. "So...just be patient. No more sacrifices."<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Brad Evans has posed.<br />
His strength is gone, but Marivel catches him. <br />
<br />
That ferocity, that focus, is gone. He's off in his own world again, his body limp like a sandbag. But as she puts him down, he breathes, "My......hero....." to someone far, far away.<br />
<br />
Merrill has stood on, shocked beyond action in the frenetic few seconds this all has taken. But as Marivel sets him back to rights, and comes to her own epiphany, she dabs at her wet eyes, and tries to muster a smile. "I think...we'll keep on hopin' too, Miss Marivel. Mister Brad's crawled out of one hole and came back to us. Took him ten years, last time, and we never lost hope. I'm gonna keep believin' in him."<br />
<br />
Rush trots into the room, like the old hand who knows he hasn't been needed. He steps right up to Billy's chair and flops down at his feet, gruffing a canine agreement.<br />
<br />
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.<br />
Marivel isn't going to let this man tumble over like a broken man. Whatever happened to him to make him the man he is now--<br />
<br />
--wasn't enough to destroy the man he was. Not entirely. She watches Billy for a long moment before pushing herself up to her feet. That weight is never entirely gone, but it feels lighter now. Once again humanity--it's just so incredible. She refuses to put her faith in any goddess or even the Elw. Only humanity has stuck by her through all this time. Only they haven't abandoned her.<br />
<br />
She looks to Merrill, smiling back at her. "Thank you for letting me see him."<br />
<br />
She dips her head once to her. "If he keeps you waiting for another ten years I'm never gonna let him hear the end of it. He's lucky to have someone like you in his life. I hope one day he can stay here instead of ... return here."<br />
<br />
She pauses a moment. "Allow me to assist with the chores for today. I'll be out of your hair on the morrow, but I hate to be a guest who did not pay their host due respect."<br />
<br />
[[Category:Logs]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Marivel_Armitage&diff=10389Marivel Armitage2020-11-23T23:26:12Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
<!-- WARNING, when using a character template, you cannot edit the individual sections of your character page, you must use the edit button at the very top. Additionally, please don't leave fields blank unless there is a comment after them stating you can --><br />
|MUSHName=Marivel Armitage<br />
<!-- your @name on MUSH, very important for log searching --><br />
|BGColor=#FFCC66<br />
|BorderColor=#E18F37<br />
|TextColor=#E18F37<br />
<!-- you don't have to mess with the colors if you don't want to --><br />
|Img=[[File:Marivelinsanctuary.jpg]]<br />
<!-- example: [[File:RoseDefault.png]] consult mediawiki via google for help with inserting images, and upload your image first using the button in the left sidebar called Upload file. Leave blank if you have no image --><br />
|Name=Marivel Armitage<br />
|Gender=Female<br />
|Age=Immortal<br />
|Birthdate=Probably Halloween<br />
|Hometown=Crimson Castle<br />
|Hair=Blonde<br />
|Class=Filgaia's Rightful Ruler<br />
|Role=Drifter<br />
<!-- Drifter, Antagonist or Bystander only, case-sensitive --><br />
|Bounty=0 Gella<br />
<!-- if you leave this blank it will default to 0 Gella --><br />
|Theme=Wild Arms 2<br />
<!-- either your source (i.e. Xenogears, Tales of Zestiria, etc.) or Original Character --><br />
|Group=<br />
<!-- minor groups, leave blank if none --><br />
|MajorGroup=ARMS<br />
<!-- Althena's Guard, Metal Demons, Veruni or Solaris only, case-sensitive, leave blank if not relevant to you --><br />
|Player=Fei<br />
<!-- your wiki username --><br />
|Profile=Marivel is the last of the Crimson Nobles after the entity known as Lord Blazer slew her family and the rest of her brethren. She assisted the Sword Magess and Luceid in defeating Lord Blazer but since then has been traveling the world in order to prepare and prevent ... something. Marivel is an incredible engineer who employs both lost knowledge and modern techniques into her work and works as an ARMS Meister who is both picky about whom she works for and strange about the payments she asks for. She is connected to the Valeria household as far back as anyone can remember. She often comes across as snooty and frankly more than a bit arrogant but behind it all is someone who deeply cares about Filgaia. ...Or so she says, anyway. Strangely as of late she has picked up her activities but if she's trying to prevent another worldwide disaster...one might wonder why she is being so tight-lipped.<br />
<!-- from your +finger --><br />
|Background=<br />
<!-- your backstory, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Powers=<br />
<!-- your powers, abilities and resources, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Relationships=<br />
<!-- your relationships; may not be friendly to wiki code, if your relationships section includes a lot of code or formatting, just append it after this template ends instead and leave this field blank --><br />
[[File:MarivelSocialLinks.jpeg]]<br />
}}<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; style="text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Group<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Field Notes<br />
|-<br />
| [[Anastasia]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm not okay with it. I'll never be okay with it. Even if it's against your will."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Luceid]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Does the candle look forward to being used? If tis my desire, then I shall satisfy it. I shall be selfish until my heart aches no more."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Althena]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You threw us away. Was it worth it? WAS IT WORTH IT!? I'LL DEVOUR YOU, SOUL AND ALL!!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Irving Valeria]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He would not ask sacrifices of others he is unwilling to offer up himself."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ashley Winchester]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You still won't leave me? Are you that desperate to be a hero?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Brad Evans]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Once again, through my fingers like sand."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kamui]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Mother, huh... Is that what they meant?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Acacia]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Was she always so charming? She is quite good with the kids. Very impressive quality. Best treat her well, Yue."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Clarissa Arwin]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You are more than you think you are. In more ways than one I think."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Clarine]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I've really grown to rely on your companionship. I'm not the kind of friend you want."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Mariel]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 99%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Tears and smiles huh?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Boudicca]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm counting on you."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hiro]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Growing stronger. And kinder."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruby]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally! Proper respect! A grand dragon already as far as I'm concerned."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Isolde]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Have you walked into the sun yourself, my friend?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xantia]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Hn."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Auron]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's so much like me. May your promises be fulfilled, and a glimpse of a better tommorow be your final sight. When you walk into the sun, I will be there to see you off."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yuna]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand duty. I understand sacrifice. It is your choice but I beg you... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tidus]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's a good guy. A real good guy. I can trust him. He won't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Rikku]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"How you maintain your optimism in a world so cruel to you is a testament to humanity's strength. Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lulu]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand why you see no other path before you but... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Amelia Rose]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Behind the attitude and past the culture I find a kindred spirit."<br />
|-<br />
| [[White Knight Leo]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I knew he was a good man. I wonder what he's up to."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Erzebet Lefanu]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Reminds me of my youth, but this old girl has some tricks yet."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'd much prefer ARMS to seize victory but this is not a good start."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"There is a limit to one's ideals if you don't live up to those expectations yourself. It's a risk, but the world admires the risk-takers."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ivan]]<br />
| Caravan Kinship<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I smell the blood on his hands, but tis often those that have once fallen who are best at lifting others up."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yue Rohay]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm sorry. I can't handle more martyr complexes. But when you are ready, I will be here. Always."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kaguya]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I admire your determination to survive."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Red Skills ==<br />
<br />
Falling Into the Ambush With A Sexy Lure - Erzebet - High Damage Bullet Rain From Above<br />
<br />
Rubyvention - Ruby - Low Damage Fire Breath<br />
<br />
Shut Up And Jam Ball - Oblitzerator - Mid Level Jam Blitzball Attack<br />
<br />
Aura Bolt - Gusong Monk Manual - Low Level Free Attack Technique<br />
<br />
Push Back - Chocobo Eater - 0 Level Push Back<br />
<br />
Hound of Hell - Jack, Hound of Hell - Stored soul belonging to a Hound of Hell. High Level Damage.<br />
<br />
Thousand Detonations - Qactuar - A thousand detonating needles - OMG.<br />
<br />
== Major Discoveries ==<br />
''A Dark World Looming Behind''<br />
<br />
In the end, once the Golem twitches its last and lies still, you're able to <br />
pass through the once-sealed doors -- now that the alarm system has calmed <br />
-- and enter into a formerly closed-off chamber. What could have been so <br />
valuable to seal it so carefully? <br />
<br />
The answer stands before you in the shape of a projector-like machine. While <br />
the shape may be foreign -- with age to some, with purpose to others -- a <br />
still-shining screen at one side of the projector mechanism draws the eye <br />
and suggests investigation. At a touch, it speaks, at first unintelligible. <br />
And then: <br />
<br />
...LINGUISTIC MATCH OBTAINED. TRANSLATING: PLAY LAST RECORDING? <br />
<br />
At a yes, a series of images project against the wall, still brilliant and <br />
luminous after so many years. <br />
<br />
A beautiful land. A thriving land. A land crippled. <br />
<br />
"Did we invite this upon ourselves?" the narration reads out, against the <br />
image of cities that reach for the sky as if to scrape the heavens. "I have <br />
often wondered. Perhaps it is pointless after the end. The TF System worked <br />
-- we sacrificed our land to stop the demon, but perhaps it was already <br />
dying. Perhaps I would be making this last record still." <br />
<br />
A land in fear. A land burning. A dead land. <br />
<br />
"I leave this only as one record among many, in the hopes that somebody <br />
someday might hear it," the narration continues, against the backdrop of a <br />
civilization's graveyard. "I elected to stay on Filgaia. Others have left to <br />
seek a new home among the stars, but I could not leave. To restore Filgaia, <br />
much is required. This facility is but one step forward." <br />
<br />
The image against the wall fades to nothing. "No matter what happens to me, <br />
I feel I owe even that glimmer of hope to the future. To whoever is able to <br />
listen, please, forgive us for what we have done. <br />
<br />
"...We who have buried our past and forsaken our future."<br />
<br />
<br />
''A Sea of Stars''<br />
<br />
The door beyond the generator opens with a hiss, revealing the room beyond. <br />
Though the generator appears damaged, it still shows signs of life; given <br />
the nature of this place it may not remain inactive forever. So be it. <br />
<br />
Was this a storage area? At a glance, it looks the part: shelving units, <br />
locking safes, and all the rest of it, bundled into this tight place. But <br />
what catches your eye yet is the terminal in the back. It still retains <br />
power -- perhaps it has some way to cache energy in the event the generator <br />
goes offline. With some manipulation you bring up the following information: <br />
<br />
>RESTORING... RETRIEVING SERVICE HISTORY AND SHIP'S LOG FOR PFS-037 <br />
PHILADELPHIA, LIBERTY BELL-CLASS RESEARCH VESSEL. <br />
<br />
You learn... you learn a number of things. <br />
<br />
This -- the Philadelphia was a ship that sailed the stars. One of a number <br />
of star-faring ships of an organization named only as the Pangalactic <br />
Federation, this was a research vessel. In particular, the record notes that <br />
the ship carried a number of experimental nanoreactors alongside the <br />
standard-issue Federation models... whatever that means. But it never got to <br />
where it was going, a place noted in the records as Gliese 667. <br />
<br />
It ended up suffering a catastrophic engine failure around 6016 SD, whatever <br />
that means, and diverted to the forbidden territory Kepler-186 in <br />
desperation. But something happened. <br />
<br />
It crashed. <br />
<br />
And that's where the record ends.<br />
<br />
== Tools ==<br />
[[File:mari-smol.jpg]]<br />
== Soundtrack ==<br />
<br />
=== Overall Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ4Lc5W75I - White Lies - Monogatari]<br />
: ''In the darkness, Moments, Secrets, Regrets<br />
: ''Never Lie!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 1 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vw9ftAWSc Connect - Puella Madoka Magica]<br />
: ''Time now begins to away incessantly''<br />
: ''Let's open the closed door while carrying our unchanging feelings.'<br />
<br />
* '''Chapter 2 Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deakr4AHeo4 - Answers - FFXIV]<br />
: ''To all my children in whom Life flows abundant.''<br />
: ''To all my children to whom Death hath passed his judgement.''<br />
: ''Answer, Answer, Answer together.''<br />
: ''Thou must live, die, and know.''<br />
<br />
* '''Lighthearted Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24NZaT2_gaA - Magilou - Berseria]<br />
: ''Oh no!''<br />
: ''I meant to confess my sins, but instead my confession was another sin!''<br />
<br />
* '''In The Lab With Professor Lumen!''' - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwkwyi-mEYg - Robotrek - Title Sequence, Research, and Development]<br />
: ''Ah...! I'm sorry Professor!!'<br />
: '' I promise I won't teach her about the birds and the bees please calm down!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 2 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Anastasia and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2oLSuongkY - Magia - Kalafina]<br />
: ''Someday, the light of love lit within your eyes will transcend time.''<br />
: ''And certainly destroy one dream of a world that races towards its destruction.''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel's True Plan''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - I was waiting for this moment]<br />
: ''Whether the time of heroes is eternal, whether the time of disaster is at hand once more...''<br />
: ''I refuse to accept her death as her will!''<br />
: ''How could I just throw her away for a few moments of peace?''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Luceid''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lclt459JpVQ - And Then Is Heard No More - Library of Ruina]<br />
: ''Do the candles look forward to being used? Enjoy bidding adieu adieu?''<br />
: ''Every word I saved for you came out wrong afterwards so I spoke no more?''<br />
: ''Must be great being you. Power comes as second nature.''<br />
: ''Must feel amazing being longed for, longed for.''<br />
: ''Day and night your ghosts continue to haunt me.''<br />
: ''If I went with you, will there be happily ever afters?''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 3 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''You Speak As If You Know Her''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4 - Third Warning - Lobotomy Corporation]<br />
: ''Judgement Day is approaching.''<br />
: ''Be patient... Be patient...''<br />
<br />
* '''Mariel, Boudicca, and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FfC7YkrLCY - Yearn to Bloom - Ikenfell]<br />
: ''Once I knew a little girl...'<br />
: ''She grew gardens out of hope that she'd leave a legacy'<br />
: ''Of prosperity'<br />
: ''For her world.'<br />
<br />
* '''Kid Marivel and Kid Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2gQS8HJoI - Eternity With You - Adventure Time]<br />
: ''But honestly I think you are the coolest'<br />
: ''And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul'<br />
: ''And I don't want to sound all sweet and sappy'<br />
: ''But all I wanna do is make you happy'</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Marivel_Armitage&diff=10388Marivel Armitage2020-11-23T23:21:15Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
<!-- WARNING, when using a character template, you cannot edit the individual sections of your character page, you must use the edit button at the very top. Additionally, please don't leave fields blank unless there is a comment after them stating you can --><br />
|MUSHName=Marivel Armitage<br />
<!-- your @name on MUSH, very important for log searching --><br />
|BGColor=#FFCC66<br />
|BorderColor=#E18F37<br />
|TextColor=#E18F37<br />
<!-- you don't have to mess with the colors if you don't want to --><br />
|Img=[[File:Marivelinsanctuary.jpg]]<br />
<!-- example: [[File:RoseDefault.png]] consult mediawiki via google for help with inserting images, and upload your image first using the button in the left sidebar called Upload file. Leave blank if you have no image --><br />
|Name=Marivel Armitage<br />
|Gender=Female<br />
|Age=Immortal<br />
|Birthdate=Probably Halloween<br />
|Hometown=Crimson Castle<br />
|Hair=Blonde<br />
|Class=Filgaia's Rightful Ruler<br />
|Role=Drifter<br />
<!-- Drifter, Antagonist or Bystander only, case-sensitive --><br />
|Bounty=0 Gella<br />
<!-- if you leave this blank it will default to 0 Gella --><br />
|Theme=Wild Arms 2<br />
<!-- either your source (i.e. Xenogears, Tales of Zestiria, etc.) or Original Character --><br />
|Group=<br />
<!-- minor groups, leave blank if none --><br />
|MajorGroup=ARMS<br />
<!-- Althena's Guard, Metal Demons, Veruni or Solaris only, case-sensitive, leave blank if not relevant to you --><br />
|Player=Fei<br />
<!-- your wiki username --><br />
|Profile=Marivel is the last of the Crimson Nobles after the entity known as Lord Blazer slew her family and the rest of her brethren. She assisted the Sword Magess and Luceid in defeating Lord Blazer but since then has been traveling the world in order to prepare and prevent ... something. Marivel is an incredible engineer who employs both lost knowledge and modern techniques into her work and works as an ARMS Meister who is both picky about whom she works for and strange about the payments she asks for. She is connected to the Valeria household as far back as anyone can remember. She often comes across as snooty and frankly more than a bit arrogant but behind it all is someone who deeply cares about Filgaia. ...Or so she says, anyway. Strangely as of late she has picked up her activities but if she's trying to prevent another worldwide disaster...one might wonder why she is being so tight-lipped.<br />
<!-- from your +finger --><br />
|Background=<br />
<!-- your backstory, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Powers=<br />
<!-- your powers, abilities and resources, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Relationships=<br />
<!-- your relationships; may not be friendly to wiki code, if your relationships section includes a lot of code or formatting, just append it after this template ends instead and leave this field blank --><br />
[[File:MarivelSocialLinks.jpeg]]<br />
}}<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; style="text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Group<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Field Notes<br />
|-<br />
| [[Anastasia]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm not okay with it. I'll never be okay with it. Even if it's against your will."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Luceid]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Does the candle look forward to being used? If tis my desire, then I shall satisfy it. I shall be selfish until my heart aches no more."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Althena]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You threw us away. Was it worth it? WAS IT WORTH IT!? I'LL DEVOUR YOU, SOUL AND ALL!!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Irving Valeria]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He would not ask sacrifices of others he is unwilling to offer up himself."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ashley Winchester]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You still won't leave me? Are you that desperate to be a hero?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Brad Evans]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Once again, through my fingers like sand."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kamui]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Mother, huh... Is that what they meant?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Acacia]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Was she always so charming? She is quite good with the kids. Very impressive quality. Best treat her well, Yue."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Clarissa Arwin]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You are more than you think you are. In more ways than one I think."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Clarine]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I've really grown to rely on your companionship. I'm not the kind of friend you want."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Mariel]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"So that's what happened... Mariel is not merely a lost ally, but she is the best of them."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hiro]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"A trusting man. Will he understand?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruby]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally! Proper respect! A grand dragon already as far as I'm concerned."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Isolde]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Have you walked into the sun yourself, my friend?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xantia]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Hn."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Auron]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's so much like me. May your promises be fulfilled, and a glimpse of a better tommorow be your final sight. When you walk into the sun, I will be there to see you off."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yuna]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand duty. I understand sacrifice. It is your choice but I beg you... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tidus]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's a good guy. A real good guy. I can trust him. He won't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Rikku]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"How you maintain your optimism in a world so cruel to you is a testament to humanity's strength. Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lulu]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand why you see no other path before you but... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Amelia Rose]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Behind the attitude and past the culture I find a kindred spirit."<br />
|-<br />
| [[White Knight Leo]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I worry about what will happen when he realizes the truth. He deserves someone kinder to break it to him than I but would he believe someone so kind?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Erzebet Lefanu]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Reminds me of my youth, but this old girl has some tricks yet."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'd much prefer ARMS to seize victory but this is not a good start."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"There is a limit to one's ideals if you don't live up to those expectations yourself. It's a risk, but the world admires the risk-takers."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ivan]]<br />
| Caravan Kinship<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I smell the blood on his hands, but tis often those that have once fallen who are best at lifting others up."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yue Rohay]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm sorry. I can't handle more martyr complexes. But when you are ready, I will be here. Always."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kaguya]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I admire your determination to survive."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Red Skills ==<br />
<br />
Falling Into the Ambush With A Sexy Lure - Erzebet - High Damage Bullet Rain From Above<br />
<br />
Rubyvention - Ruby - Low Damage Fire Breath<br />
<br />
Shut Up And Jam Ball - Oblitzerator - Mid Level Jam Blitzball Attack<br />
<br />
Aura Bolt - Gusong Monk Manual - Low Level Free Attack Technique<br />
<br />
Push Back - Chocobo Eater - 0 Level Push Back<br />
<br />
Hound of Hell - Jack, Hound of Hell - Stored soul belonging to a Hound of Hell. High Level Damage.<br />
<br />
Thousand Detonations - Qactuar - A thousand detonating needles - OMG.<br />
<br />
== Major Discoveries ==<br />
''A Dark World Looming Behind''<br />
<br />
In the end, once the Golem twitches its last and lies still, you're able to <br />
pass through the once-sealed doors -- now that the alarm system has calmed <br />
-- and enter into a formerly closed-off chamber. What could have been so <br />
valuable to seal it so carefully? <br />
<br />
The answer stands before you in the shape of a projector-like machine. While <br />
the shape may be foreign -- with age to some, with purpose to others -- a <br />
still-shining screen at one side of the projector mechanism draws the eye <br />
and suggests investigation. At a touch, it speaks, at first unintelligible. <br />
And then: <br />
<br />
...LINGUISTIC MATCH OBTAINED. TRANSLATING: PLAY LAST RECORDING? <br />
<br />
At a yes, a series of images project against the wall, still brilliant and <br />
luminous after so many years. <br />
<br />
A beautiful land. A thriving land. A land crippled. <br />
<br />
"Did we invite this upon ourselves?" the narration reads out, against the <br />
image of cities that reach for the sky as if to scrape the heavens. "I have <br />
often wondered. Perhaps it is pointless after the end. The TF System worked <br />
-- we sacrificed our land to stop the demon, but perhaps it was already <br />
dying. Perhaps I would be making this last record still." <br />
<br />
A land in fear. A land burning. A dead land. <br />
<br />
"I leave this only as one record among many, in the hopes that somebody <br />
someday might hear it," the narration continues, against the backdrop of a <br />
civilization's graveyard. "I elected to stay on Filgaia. Others have left to <br />
seek a new home among the stars, but I could not leave. To restore Filgaia, <br />
much is required. This facility is but one step forward." <br />
<br />
The image against the wall fades to nothing. "No matter what happens to me, <br />
I feel I owe even that glimmer of hope to the future. To whoever is able to <br />
listen, please, forgive us for what we have done. <br />
<br />
"...We who have buried our past and forsaken our future."<br />
<br />
<br />
''A Sea of Stars''<br />
<br />
The door beyond the generator opens with a hiss, revealing the room beyond. <br />
Though the generator appears damaged, it still shows signs of life; given <br />
the nature of this place it may not remain inactive forever. So be it. <br />
<br />
Was this a storage area? At a glance, it looks the part: shelving units, <br />
locking safes, and all the rest of it, bundled into this tight place. But <br />
what catches your eye yet is the terminal in the back. It still retains <br />
power -- perhaps it has some way to cache energy in the event the generator <br />
goes offline. With some manipulation you bring up the following information: <br />
<br />
>RESTORING... RETRIEVING SERVICE HISTORY AND SHIP'S LOG FOR PFS-037 <br />
PHILADELPHIA, LIBERTY BELL-CLASS RESEARCH VESSEL. <br />
<br />
You learn... you learn a number of things. <br />
<br />
This -- the Philadelphia was a ship that sailed the stars. One of a number <br />
of star-faring ships of an organization named only as the Pangalactic <br />
Federation, this was a research vessel. In particular, the record notes that <br />
the ship carried a number of experimental nanoreactors alongside the <br />
standard-issue Federation models... whatever that means. But it never got to <br />
where it was going, a place noted in the records as Gliese 667. <br />
<br />
It ended up suffering a catastrophic engine failure around 6016 SD, whatever <br />
that means, and diverted to the forbidden territory Kepler-186 in <br />
desperation. But something happened. <br />
<br />
It crashed. <br />
<br />
And that's where the record ends.<br />
<br />
== Tools ==<br />
[[File:mari-smol.jpg]]<br />
== Soundtrack ==<br />
<br />
=== Overall Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ4Lc5W75I - White Lies - Monogatari]<br />
: ''In the darkness, Moments, Secrets, Regrets<br />
: ''Never Lie!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 1 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vw9ftAWSc Connect - Puella Madoka Magica]<br />
: ''Time now begins to away incessantly''<br />
: ''Let's open the closed door while carrying our unchanging feelings.'<br />
<br />
* '''Chapter 2 Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deakr4AHeo4 - Answers - FFXIV]<br />
: ''To all my children in whom Life flows abundant.''<br />
: ''To all my children to whom Death hath passed his judgement.''<br />
: ''Answer, Answer, Answer together.''<br />
: ''Thou must live, die, and know.''<br />
<br />
* '''Lighthearted Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24NZaT2_gaA - Magilou - Berseria]<br />
: ''Oh no!''<br />
: ''I meant to confess my sins, but instead my confession was another sin!''<br />
<br />
* '''In The Lab With Professor Lumen!''' - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwkwyi-mEYg - Robotrek - Title Sequence, Research, and Development]<br />
: ''Ah...! I'm sorry Professor!!'<br />
: '' I promise I won't teach her about the birds and the bees please calm down!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 2 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Anastasia and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2oLSuongkY - Magia - Kalafina]<br />
: ''Someday, the light of love lit within your eyes will transcend time.''<br />
: ''And certainly destroy one dream of a world that races towards its destruction.''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel's True Plan''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - I was waiting for this moment]<br />
: ''Whether the time of heroes is eternal, whether the time of disaster is at hand once more...''<br />
: ''I refuse to accept her death as her will!''<br />
: ''How could I just throw her away for a few moments of peace?''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Luceid''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lclt459JpVQ - And Then Is Heard No More - Library of Ruina]<br />
: ''Do the candles look forward to being used? Enjoy bidding adieu adieu?''<br />
: ''Every word I saved for you came out wrong afterwards so I spoke no more?''<br />
: ''Must be great being you. Power comes as second nature.''<br />
: ''Must feel amazing being longed for, longed for.''<br />
: ''Day and night your ghosts continue to haunt me.''<br />
: ''If I went with you, will there be happily ever afters?''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 3 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''You Speak As If You Know Her''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4 - Third Warning - Lobotomy Corporation]<br />
: ''Judgement Day is approaching.''<br />
: ''Be patient... Be patient...''<br />
<br />
* '''Mariel, Boudicca, and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FfC7YkrLCY - Yearn to Bloom - Ikenfell]<br />
: ''Once I knew a little girl...'<br />
: ''She grew gardens out of hope that she'd leave a legacy'<br />
: ''Of prosperity'<br />
: ''For her world.'<br />
<br />
* '''Kid Marivel and Kid Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao2gQS8HJoI - Eternity With You - Adventure Time]<br />
: ''But honestly I think you are the coolest'<br />
: ''And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul'<br />
: ''And I don't want to sound all sweet and sappy'<br />
: ''But all I wanna do is make you happy'</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Marivel_Armitage&diff=10387Marivel Armitage2020-11-23T23:17:30Z<p>Fei: /* Soundtrack */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
<!-- WARNING, when using a character template, you cannot edit the individual sections of your character page, you must use the edit button at the very top. Additionally, please don't leave fields blank unless there is a comment after them stating you can --><br />
|MUSHName=Marivel Armitage<br />
<!-- your @name on MUSH, very important for log searching --><br />
|BGColor=#FFCC66<br />
|BorderColor=#E18F37<br />
|TextColor=#E18F37<br />
<!-- you don't have to mess with the colors if you don't want to --><br />
|Img=[[File:Marivelinsanctuary.jpg]]<br />
<!-- example: [[File:RoseDefault.png]] consult mediawiki via google for help with inserting images, and upload your image first using the button in the left sidebar called Upload file. Leave blank if you have no image --><br />
|Name=Marivel Armitage<br />
|Gender=Female<br />
|Age=Immortal<br />
|Birthdate=Probably Halloween<br />
|Hometown=Crimson Castle<br />
|Hair=Blonde<br />
|Class=Filgaia's Rightful Ruler<br />
|Role=Drifter<br />
<!-- Drifter, Antagonist or Bystander only, case-sensitive --><br />
|Bounty=0 Gella<br />
<!-- if you leave this blank it will default to 0 Gella --><br />
|Theme=Wild Arms 2<br />
<!-- either your source (i.e. Xenogears, Tales of Zestiria, etc.) or Original Character --><br />
|Group=<br />
<!-- minor groups, leave blank if none --><br />
|MajorGroup=ARMS<br />
<!-- Althena's Guard, Metal Demons, Veruni or Solaris only, case-sensitive, leave blank if not relevant to you --><br />
|Player=Fei<br />
<!-- your wiki username --><br />
|Profile=Marivel is the last of the Crimson Nobles after the entity known as Lord Blazer slew her family and the rest of her brethren. She assisted the Sword Magess and Luceid in defeating Lord Blazer but since then has been traveling the world in order to prepare and prevent ... something. Marivel is an incredible engineer who employs both lost knowledge and modern techniques into her work and works as an ARMS Meister who is both picky about whom she works for and strange about the payments she asks for. She is connected to the Valeria household as far back as anyone can remember. She often comes across as snooty and frankly more than a bit arrogant but behind it all is someone who deeply cares about Filgaia. ...Or so she says, anyway. Strangely as of late she has picked up her activities but if she's trying to prevent another worldwide disaster...one might wonder why she is being so tight-lipped.<br />
<!-- from your +finger --><br />
|Background=<br />
<!-- your backstory, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Powers=<br />
<!-- your powers, abilities and resources, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Relationships=<br />
<!-- your relationships; may not be friendly to wiki code, if your relationships section includes a lot of code or formatting, just append it after this template ends instead and leave this field blank --><br />
[[File:MarivelSocialLinks.jpeg]]<br />
}}<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; style="text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Group<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Field Notes<br />
|-<br />
| [[Anastasia]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm not okay with it. I'll never be okay with it. Even if it's against your will."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Luceid]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Does the candle look forward to being used? If tis my desire, then I shall satisfy it. I shall be selfish until my heart aches no more."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Althena]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You threw us away. Was it worth it? WAS IT WORTH IT!? I'LL DEVOUR YOU, SOUL AND ALL!!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Irving Valeria]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He would not ask sacrifices of others he is unwilling to offer up himself."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ashley Winchester]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You still won't leave me? Are you that desperate to be a hero?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Brad Evans]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Once again, through my fingers like sand."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kamui]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Mother, huh... Is that what they meant?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Acacia]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Was she always so charming? She is quite good with the kids. Very impressive quality. Best treat her well, Yue."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Clarissa Arwin]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You are more than you think you are. In more ways than one I think."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Clarine]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I've really grown to rely on your companionship. I'm not the kind of friend you want."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Mariel]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"So that's what happened... Mariel is not merely a lost ally, but she is the best of them."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hiro]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"A trusting man. Will he understand?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruby]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally! Proper respect! A grand dragon already as far as I'm concerned."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Isolde]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Have you walked into the sun yourself, my friend?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xantia]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Hn."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Auron]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's so much like me. May your promises be fulfilled, and a glimpse of a better tommorow be your final sight. When you walk into the sun, I will be there to see you off."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yuna]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand duty. I understand sacrifice. It is your choice but I beg you... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tidus]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's a good guy. A real good guy. I can trust him. He won't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Rikku]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"How you maintain your optimism in a world so cruel to you is a testament to humanity's strength. Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lulu]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand why you see no other path before you but... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Amelia Rose]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Behind the attitude and past the culture I find a kindred spirit."<br />
|-<br />
| [[White Knight Leo]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I worry about what will happen when he realizes the truth. He deserves someone kinder to break it to him than I but would he believe someone so kind?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Erzebet Lefanu]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Reminds me of my youth, but this old girl has some tricks yet."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'd much prefer ARMS to seize victory but this is not a good start."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"There is a limit to one's ideals if you don't live up to those expectations yourself. It's a risk, but the world admires the risk-takers."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ivan]]<br />
| Caravan Kinship<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I smell the blood on his hands, but tis often those that have once fallen who are best at lifting others up."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yue Rohay]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm sorry. I can't handle more martyr complexes. But when you are ready, I will be here. Always."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kaguya]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I admire your determination to survive."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Red Skills ==<br />
<br />
Falling Into the Ambush With A Sexy Lure - Erzebet - High Damage Bullet Rain From Above<br />
<br />
Rubyvention - Ruby - Low Damage Fire Breath<br />
<br />
Shut Up And Jam Ball - Oblitzerator - Mid Level Jam Blitzball Attack<br />
<br />
Aura Bolt - Gusong Monk Manual - Low Level Free Attack Technique<br />
<br />
Push Back - Chocobo Eater - 0 Level Push Back<br />
<br />
Hound of Hell - Jack, Hound of Hell - Stored soul belonging to a Hound of Hell. High Level Damage.<br />
<br />
Thousand Detonations - Qactuar - A thousand detonating needles - OMG.<br />
<br />
== Major Discoveries ==<br />
''A Dark World Looming Behind''<br />
<br />
In the end, once the Golem twitches its last and lies still, you're able to <br />
pass through the once-sealed doors -- now that the alarm system has calmed <br />
-- and enter into a formerly closed-off chamber. What could have been so <br />
valuable to seal it so carefully? <br />
<br />
The answer stands before you in the shape of a projector-like machine. While <br />
the shape may be foreign -- with age to some, with purpose to others -- a <br />
still-shining screen at one side of the projector mechanism draws the eye <br />
and suggests investigation. At a touch, it speaks, at first unintelligible. <br />
And then: <br />
<br />
...LINGUISTIC MATCH OBTAINED. TRANSLATING: PLAY LAST RECORDING? <br />
<br />
At a yes, a series of images project against the wall, still brilliant and <br />
luminous after so many years. <br />
<br />
A beautiful land. A thriving land. A land crippled. <br />
<br />
"Did we invite this upon ourselves?" the narration reads out, against the <br />
image of cities that reach for the sky as if to scrape the heavens. "I have <br />
often wondered. Perhaps it is pointless after the end. The TF System worked <br />
-- we sacrificed our land to stop the demon, but perhaps it was already <br />
dying. Perhaps I would be making this last record still." <br />
<br />
A land in fear. A land burning. A dead land. <br />
<br />
"I leave this only as one record among many, in the hopes that somebody <br />
someday might hear it," the narration continues, against the backdrop of a <br />
civilization's graveyard. "I elected to stay on Filgaia. Others have left to <br />
seek a new home among the stars, but I could not leave. To restore Filgaia, <br />
much is required. This facility is but one step forward." <br />
<br />
The image against the wall fades to nothing. "No matter what happens to me, <br />
I feel I owe even that glimmer of hope to the future. To whoever is able to <br />
listen, please, forgive us for what we have done. <br />
<br />
"...We who have buried our past and forsaken our future."<br />
<br />
<br />
''A Sea of Stars''<br />
<br />
The door beyond the generator opens with a hiss, revealing the room beyond. <br />
Though the generator appears damaged, it still shows signs of life; given <br />
the nature of this place it may not remain inactive forever. So be it. <br />
<br />
Was this a storage area? At a glance, it looks the part: shelving units, <br />
locking safes, and all the rest of it, bundled into this tight place. But <br />
what catches your eye yet is the terminal in the back. It still retains <br />
power -- perhaps it has some way to cache energy in the event the generator <br />
goes offline. With some manipulation you bring up the following information: <br />
<br />
>RESTORING... RETRIEVING SERVICE HISTORY AND SHIP'S LOG FOR PFS-037 <br />
PHILADELPHIA, LIBERTY BELL-CLASS RESEARCH VESSEL. <br />
<br />
You learn... you learn a number of things. <br />
<br />
This -- the Philadelphia was a ship that sailed the stars. One of a number <br />
of star-faring ships of an organization named only as the Pangalactic <br />
Federation, this was a research vessel. In particular, the record notes that <br />
the ship carried a number of experimental nanoreactors alongside the <br />
standard-issue Federation models... whatever that means. But it never got to <br />
where it was going, a place noted in the records as Gliese 667. <br />
<br />
It ended up suffering a catastrophic engine failure around 6016 SD, whatever <br />
that means, and diverted to the forbidden territory Kepler-186 in <br />
desperation. But something happened. <br />
<br />
It crashed. <br />
<br />
And that's where the record ends.<br />
<br />
== Tools ==<br />
[[File:mari-smol.jpg]]<br />
== Soundtrack ==<br />
<br />
=== Overall Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ4Lc5W75I - White Lies - Monogatari]<br />
: ''In the darkness, Moments, Secrets, Regrets<br />
: ''Never Lie!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 1 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vw9ftAWSc Connect - Puella Madoka Magica]<br />
: ''Time now begins to away incessantly''<br />
: ''Let's open the closed door while carrying our unchanging feelings.'<br />
<br />
* '''Chapter 2 Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deakr4AHeo4 - Answers - FFXIV]<br />
: ''To all my children in whom Life flows abundant.''<br />
: ''To all my children to whom Death hath passed his judgement.''<br />
: ''Answer, Answer, Answer together.''<br />
: ''Thou must live, die, and know.''<br />
<br />
* '''Lighthearted Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24NZaT2_gaA - Magilou - Berseria]<br />
: ''Oh no!''<br />
: ''I meant to confess my sins, but instead my confession was another sin!''<br />
<br />
* '''In The Lab With Professor Lumen!''' - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwkwyi-mEYg - Robotrek - Title Sequence, Research, and Development]<br />
: ''Ah...! I'm sorry Professor!!'<br />
: '' I promise I won't teach her about the birds and the bees please calm down!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 2 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Anastasia and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2oLSuongkY - Magia - Kalafina]<br />
: ''Someday, the light of love lit within your eyes will transcend time.''<br />
: ''And certainly destroy one dream of a world that races towards its destruction.''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel's True Plan''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - I was waiting for this moment]<br />
: ''Whether the time of heroes is eternal, whether the time of disaster is at hand once more...''<br />
: ''I refuse to accept her death as her will!''<br />
: ''How could I just throw her away for a few moments of peace?''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Luceid''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lclt459JpVQ - And Then Is Heard No More - Library of Ruina]<br />
: ''Do the candles look forward to being used? Enjoy bidding adieu adieu?''<br />
: ''Every word I saved for you came out wrong afterwards so I spoke no more?''<br />
: ''Must be great being you. Power comes as second nature.''<br />
: ''Must feel amazing being longed for, longed for.''<br />
: ''Day and night your ghosts continue to haunt me.''<br />
: ''If I went with you, will there be happily ever afters?''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 3 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''You Speak As If You Know Her''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4 - Third Warning - Lobotomy Corporation]<br />
: ''Judgement Day is approaching.''<br />
: ''Be patient... Be patient...''<br />
<br />
* '''Mariel, Boudicca, and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FfC7YkrLCY - Yearn to Bloom - Ikenfell]<br />
: ''Once I knew a little girl...'<br />
: ''She grew gardens out of hope that she'd leave a legacy'<br />
: ''Of prosperity'<br />
: ''For her world.'</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2020-11-22:_Eternity_With_You&diff=103782020-11-22: Eternity With You2020-11-22T20:44:10Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Cutscene: The Promise'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Moonflow Hotel<br />
*'''Date:''' 11/22/2020<br />
*'''Summary''': ''A recuperating Marivel dreams of a long lost love.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Marivel looked up at the chateau. It was smaller than the castle and yet still loomed large and larger than her own home. She swallowed faintly. There was still a light in Ana's window, so she was surely awake. Unless she slept with the lights on? She knew humans did that sometimes. Okay, sometimes Marivel did too.<br />
<br />
And she looked at the small guitar she had in her hands. She strummed it a few times experimentally. Each small tone felt like a betrayal to her people's sense of poise. "Try singing it huh...?" She puffed her cheeks out. "'Thena, if I could do that I'd be able to just tell her...!"<br />
<br />
And what was she kidding anyway? A Crimson Noble and a human? Her parents wouldn't approve. And her people definitely wouldn't. Humans were far too greedy, and even if she wasn't one of those greedy humans--what of her family? What of her mortality?<br />
<br />
Marivel knew all this. These were attitudes drilled into her from a young age...And well everybody said she was still plenty young so maybe it was more accurate to say that they were in the process of being drilled into her even now to say nothing of the silent expectation that she would bring more Crimson Nobles into this world. Just enough to bring a new guard into this world that would defend against any further incursions from hunters and thieves.<br />
<br />
And though it felt as wrong as anything, she did heed her people's advice. Bring Anastasia into the fold as a dhampir at least. And she tried in her own fumbling way, but Ana just freaked out and Marivel in turn freaked out and fled. She messed it all up. And that's when she asked Althena for her advice and she said if she had trouble speaking to Ana about her feelings she should just try singing it.<br />
<br />
That was even scarier than just saying them!<br />
<br />
But she remembered Ana's frightened face and she stepped forward only for--<br />
<br />
''klonk''<br />
<br />
Her foot bonked against a sword, just lying in the grass like discarded trash. She tried to pick it up but found that she couldn't. That...was also strange. But she wasn't going to let that stop her. Whatever strangeness that was all about would have to wait!<br />
<br />
She floated up to Ana's windowsill. She glanced in to see if Ana was there and indeed she was--reading. A book about emotional support animal AI. Maybe she should wait? No, no. The longer she waited, the longer maybe Ana hated her?<br />
<br />
Steeling her courage, Marivel strummed her guitar once. Just to move past the point of no return.<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq81nOI8hs8&ab_channel=WaterTowerMusic<br />
<br />
Just sing it.<br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
"Turns out this broken glass will not be healing<br />
<br>And I'm just trying to put away my feelings for you<br />
<br>Cause I messed up so bad, thought I was dreaming<br />
<br>I'm not sure... who I am anymore..."<br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
Marivel was getting into it just like she was warned. Like a deluge of water finally pushing through a clogged faucet, she started banging her head as she carefully shifted her fingers from chord to chord. Her cold fingers were excellent for the guitar. They could readily keep the strings down and she didn't have to worry about welts.<br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
"But honestly I think you are the coolest<br />
<br>And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul<br />
<br>And I don't wanna sound all sweet and sappy<br />
<br>But all I wanna do is make you happy<br />
<br>You know--"<br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
Her ear flicked as movement drew her out of the song and into reality. Her voice cracked in surprise as she sensed Ana's presence had moved closer. She slanted her eyes towards the window and fumbled her guitar into the grass below when she saw Ana had pulled a chair up to the window and was leaning against her hand against her cheek with a sly smile on her lips.<br />
<br />
"...Oof," Ana said. "Hope you didn't rent that one, Mari. You dork."<br />
<br />
A blue blush surged across Marivel's cheeks. "Shuddup nerd."<br />
<br />
She flew down to pick the guitar back up and was wholly intent on just walking around when...<br />
<br />
"Wait." Ana said, having pushed open the windows.<br />
<br />
Marivel stopped.<br />
<br />
"I want to hear the rest of the song. Please?"<br />
<br />
Marivel picked the guitar back up and flew up to the window.<br />
<br />
"Y..yeah?" Marivel brush some hair behind an ear. "I'm sorry if I was being pushy. I thought--I listened to my dumb parents' dumb advice."<br />
<br />
"The great crimson noble apologizing huh?" Ana laughed.<br />
<br />
"I'm serious--!" Marivel's temper flared before she could pull it back.<br />
<br />
"Oh--no, no. I'm sorry, Mari. I shouldn't be teasing you right now." Ana gestured, blushing herself. "Please, please I like the song. I promise."<br />
<br />
Marivel tested the strings. "Y..yeah?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah." Ana smiled. "It wasn't anything you did, you know. I know you wouldn't have done anything I didn't want. I just... I don't want to die and I got scared and.... Isn't that just pathetic..? Wanting to live in times like this?"<br />
<br />
Marivel came to a realization about herself and about Anastasia, then. She cared about her people, of course, but all she really wanted was to spend as much time with this woman as she could.<br />
<br />
"I don't think it's pathetic at all. Wanting to live in times like this... That's the bravest thing I know." Marivel hugged her guitar close. "Do you... have a problem with people like me? By most definitions I'm dead. I was born that way."<br />
<br />
"I made you feel that way... No, Mari. You're nothing like the Dead."<br />
<br />
''You're nothing like the Unsent''<br />
<br />
"I'm just afraid that I couldn't live for that long." Ana said. "Thirty years? Forty? Gosh even a hundred? Easy. But ... forever? I don't know if I could manage that. And then where would I be? I'd be so lonely without my friends. That kind of isolation... that'd be a fate worse than anything I could imagine."<br />
<br />
''The Unsent lose themselves... Maybe not right away... maybe not for a long time, for a truly extraordinary will. But in the end... if they are never Sent, they become the most terrible monsters of all. Resentment over their deaths, given flesh by the pyreflies, becomes hatred for the living.''<br />
<br />
It was strange to hear it. For Marivel, being Forever seemed as natural as breathing. Her parents had warned her that no matter how pure her feelings for Ana, eventually death would separate them. She wasn't sure if she could handle /that/. But...<br />
<br />
"Then... don't be forever. If you don't want to. I'll stick with you forever. Even if you're not here, I'll always be thinking of you. I won't be alone. You'll still be with me. Like a stake in the heart! And neither will you. No matter where you go... No matter where I go. Neither of us will never be alone, okay?"<br />
<br />
Ana laughed. "You promise?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah...! I promise!!" It was Marivel's first real promise. It should be easy enough to keep.<br />
<br />
''That's why I say you're nothing like them. Because it's obvious that... no matter what happens, or how much time may pass, you're still very, very much yourself. Maybe even....Growing a little.''<br />
<br />
The two shared a long laugh and then, with renewed energy, Marivel strummed her guitar singing with Anastasia until the sun rose.<br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
<br>Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
<br>Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
<br>Is spend all of eternity with you..!"<br />
<br />
<br>"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
<br>Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
<br>Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
<br>Is spend all of eternity with you!"<br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br><br />
<br><br />
Marivel slid her eyes open. Harmaus's repeated burns against her body still ached. The little inn room Boudicca rented out might not be a place of respite for long. Would Yuna still think she wasn't one of them if she showed her how she really looked right now?<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Marivel smiled. She probably would. That nerd.<br />
<br />
But she has been avoiding a difficult talk with Yuna. Should she try singing it again? She could figure it out along the way over. She placed a stack of gil on the counter, opened up a window, and leapt out through it and into an uncertain future.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2020-11-22:_Eternity_With_You&diff=103772020-11-22: Eternity With You2020-11-22T20:38:57Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Cutscene: The Promise'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Moonflow Hotel<br />
*'''Date:''' 11/22/2020<br />
*'''Summary''': ''A recuperating Marivel dreams of a long lost love.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Marivel looked up at the chateau. It was smaller than the castle and yet still loomed large and larger than her own home. She swallowed faintly. There was still a light in Ana's window, so she was surely awake. Unless she slept with the lights on? She knew humans did that sometimes. Okay, sometimes Marivel did too.<br />
<br />
And she looked at the small guitar she had in her hands. She strummed it a few times experimentally. Each small tone felt like a betrayal to her people's sense of poise. "Try singing it huh...?" She puffed her cheeks out. "'Thena, if I could do that I'd be able to just tell her...!"<br />
<br />
And what was she kidding anyway? A Crimson Noble and a human? Her parents wouldn't approve. And her people definitely wouldn't. Humans were far too greedy, and even if she wasn't one of those greedy humans--what of her family? What of her mortality?<br />
<br />
Marivel knew all this. These were attitudes drilled into her from a young age...And well everybody said she was still plenty young so maybe it was more accurate to say that they were in the process of being drilled into her even now to say nothing of the silent expectation that she would bring more Crimson Nobles into this world. Just enough to bring a new guard into this world that would defend against any further incursions from hunters and thieves.<br />
<br />
And though it felt as wrong as anything, she did heed her people's advice. Bring Anastasia into the fold as a dhampir at least. And she tried in her own fumbling way, but Ana just freaked out and Marivel in turn freaked out and fled. She messed it all up. And that's when she asked Althena for her advice and she said if she had trouble speaking to Ana about her feelings she should just try singing it.<br />
<br />
That was even scarier than just saying them!<br />
<br />
But she remembered Ana's frightened face and she stepped forward only for--<br />
<br />
''klonk''<br />
<br />
Her foot bonked against a sword, just lying in the grass like discarded trash. She tried to pick it up but found that she couldn't. That...was also strange. But she wasn't going to let that stop her. Whatever strangeness that was all about would have to wait!<br />
<br />
She floated up to Ana's windowsill. She glanced in to see if Ana was there and indeed she was--reading. A book about emotional support animal AI. Maybe she should wait? No, no. The longer she waited, the longer maybe Ana hated her?<br />
<br />
Steeling her courage, Marivel strummed her guitar once. Just to move past the point of no return.<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq81nOI8hs8&ab_channel=WaterTowerMusic<br />
<br />
Just sing it.<br />
<br />
"Turns out this broken glass will not be healing<br />
And I'm just trying to put away my feelings for you<br />
Cause I messed up so bad, thought I was dreaming<br />
I'm not sure... who I am anymore..."<br />
<br />
Marivel was getting into it just like she was warned. Like a deluge of water finally pushing through a clogged faucet, she started banging her head as she carefully shifted her fingers from chord to chord. Her cold fingers were excellent for the guitar. They could readily keep the strings down and she didn't have to worry about welts.<br />
<br />
"But honestly I think you are the coolest<br />
And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul<br />
And I don't wanna sound all sweet and sappy<br />
But all I wanna do is make you happy<br />
You know--"<br />
<br />
Her ear flicked as movement drew her out of the song and into reality. Her voice cracked in surprise as she sensed Ana's presence had moved closer. She slanted her eyes towards the window and fumbled her guitar into the grass below when she saw Ana had pulled a chair up to the window and was leaning against her hand against her cheek with a sly smile on her lips.<br />
<br />
"...Oof," Ana said. "Hope you didn't rent that one, Mari. You dork."<br />
<br />
A blue blush surged across Marivel's cheeks. "Shuddup nerd."<br />
<br />
She flew down to pick the guitar back up and was wholly intent on just walking around when...<br />
<br />
"Wait." Ana said, having pushed open the windows.<br />
<br />
Marivel stopped.<br />
<br />
"I want to hear the rest of the song. Please?"<br />
<br />
Marivel picked the guitar back up and flew up to the window.<br />
<br />
"Y..yeah?" Marivel brush some hair behind an ear. "I'm sorry if I was being pushy. I thought--I listened to my dumb parents' dumb advice."<br />
<br />
"The great crimson noble apologizing huh?" Ana laughed.<br />
<br />
"I'm serious--!" Marivel's temper flared before she could pull it back.<br />
<br />
"Oh--no, no. I'm sorry, Mari. I shouldn't be teasing you right now." Ana gestured, blushing herself. "Please, please I like the song. I promise."<br />
<br />
Marivel tested the strings. "Y..yeah?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah." Ana smiled. "It wasn't anything you did, you know. I know you wouldn't have done anything I didn't want. I just... I don't want to die and I got scared and.... Isn't that just pathetic..? Wanting to live in times like this?"<br />
<br />
Marivel came to a realization about herself and about Anastasia, then. She cared about her people, of course, but all she really wanted was to spend as much time with this woman as she could.<br />
<br />
"I don't think it's pathetic at all. Wanting to live in times like this... That's the bravest thing I know." Marivel hugged her guitar close. "Do you... have a problem with people like me? By most definitions I'm dead. I was born that way."<br />
<br />
"I made you feel that way... No, Mari. You're nothing like the Dead."<br />
<br />
''You're nothing like the Unsent''<br />
<br />
"I'm just afraid that I couldn't live for that long." Ana said. "Thirty years? Forty? Gosh even a hundred? Easy. But ... forever? I don't know if I could manage that. And then where would I be? I'd be so lonely without my friends. That kind of isolation... that'd be a fate worse than anything I could imagine."<br />
<br />
''The Unsent lose themselves... Maybe not right away... maybe not for a long time, for a truly extraordinary will. But in the end... if they are never Sent, they become the most terrible monsters of all. Resentment over their deaths, given flesh by the pyreflies, becomes hatred for the living.''<br />
<br />
It was strange to hear it. For Marivel, being Forever seemed as natural as breathing. Her parents had warned her that no matter how pure her feelings for Ana, eventually death would separate them. She wasn't sure if she could handle /that/. But...<br />
<br />
"Then... don't be forever. If you don't want to. I'll stick with you forever. Even if you're not here, I'll always be thinking of you. I won't be alone. You'll still be with me. Like a stake in the heart! And neither will you. No matter where you go... No matter where I go. Neither of us will never be alone, okay?"<br />
<br />
Ana laughed. "You promise?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah...! I promise!!" It was Marivel's first real promise. It should be easy enough to keep.<br />
<br />
''That's why I say you're nothing like them. Because it's obvious that... no matter what happens, or how much time may pass, you're still very, very much yourself. Maybe even....Growing a little.''<br />
<br />
The two shared a long laugh and then, with renewed energy, Marivel strummed her guitar singing with Anastasia until the sun rose.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you..!"<br />
<br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you!"<br />
<br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Marivel slid her eyes open. Harmaus's repeated burns against her body still ached. The little inn room Boudicca rented out might not be a place of respite for long. Would Yuna still think she wasn't one of them if she showed her how she really looked right now?<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Marivel smiled. She probably would. That nerd.<br />
<br />
But she has been avoiding a difficult talk with Yuna. Should she try singing it again? She could figure it out along the way over. She placed a stack of gil on the counter, opened up a window, and leapt out through it and into an uncertain future.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2020-11-22:_Eternity_With_You&diff=103762020-11-22: Eternity With You2020-11-22T20:38:04Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Cutscene: The Promise'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Moonflow Hotel<br />
*'''Date:''' 11/22/2020<br />
*'''Summary''': ''A recuperating Marivel dreams of a long lost love.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Marivel looked up at the chateau. It was smaller than the castle and yet still loomed large and larger than her own home. She swallowed faintly. There was still a light in Ana's window, so she was surely awake. Unless she slept with the lights on? She knew humans did that sometimes. Okay, sometimes Marivel did too.<br />
<br />
And she looked at the small guitar she had in her hands. She strummed it a few times experimentally. Each small tone felt like a betrayal to her people's sense of poise. "Try singing it huh...?" She puffed her cheeks out. "'Thena, if I could do that I'd be able to just tell her...!"<br />
<br />
And what was she kidding anyway? A Crimson Noble and a human? Her parents wouldn't approve. And her people definitely wouldn't. Humans were far too greedy, and even if she wasn't one of those greedy humans--what of her family? What of her mortality?<br />
<br />
Marivel knew all this. These were attitudes drilled into her from a young age...And well everybody said she was still plenty young so maybe it was more accurate to say that they were in the process of being drilled into her even now to say nothing of the silent expectation that she would bring more Crimson Nobles into this world. Just enough to bring a new guard into this world that would defend against any further incursions from hunters and thieves.<br />
<br />
And though it felt as wrong as anything, she did heed her people's advice. Bring Anastasia into the fold as a dhampir at least. And she tried in her own fumbling way, but Ana just freaked out and Marivel in turn freaked out and fled. She messed it all up. And that's when she asked Althena for her advice and she said if she had trouble speaking to Ana about her feelings she should just try singing it.<br />
<br />
That was even scarier than just saying them!<br />
<br />
But she remembered Ana's frightened face and she stepped forward only for--<br />
<br />
''klonk''<br />
<br />
Her foot bonked against a sword, just lying in the grass like discarded trash. She tried to pick it up but found that she couldn't. That...was also strange. But she wasn't going to let that stop her. Whatever strangeness that was all about would have to wait!<br />
<br />
She floated up to Ana's windowsill. She glanced in to see if Ana was there and indeed she was--reading. A book about emotional support animal AI. Maybe she should wait? No, no. The longer she waited, the longer maybe Ana hated her?<br />
<br />
Steeling her courage, Marivel strummed her guitar once. Just to move past the point of no return.<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq81nOI8hs8&ab_channel=WaterTowerMusic<br />
<br />
Just sing it.<br />
<br />
"Turns out this broken glass will not be healing<br />
And I'm just trying to put away my feelings for you<br />
Cause I messed up so bad, thought I was dreaming<br />
I'm not sure... who I am anymore..."<br />
<br />
Marivel was getting into it just like she was warned. Like a deluge of water finally pushing through a clogged faucet, she started banging her head as she carefully shifted her fingers from chord to chord. Her cold fingers were excellent for the guitar. They could readily keep the strings down and she didn't have to worry about welts.<br />
<br />
"But honestly I think you are the coolest<br />
And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul<br />
And I don't wanna sound all sweet and sappy<br />
But all I wanna do is make you happy<br />
You know--"<br />
<br />
Her ear flicked as movement drew her out of the song and into reality. Her voice cracked in surprise as she sensed Ana's presence had moved closer. She slanted her eyes towards the window and fumbled her guitar into the grass below when she saw Ana had pulled a chair up to the window and was leaning against her hand against her cheek with a sly smile on her lips.<br />
<br />
"...Oof," Ana said. "Hope you didn't rent that one, Mari. You dork."<br />
<br />
A blue blush surged across Marivel's cheeks. "Shuddup nerd."<br />
<br />
She flew down to pick the guitar back up and was wholly intent on just walking around when...<br />
<br />
"Wait." Ana said, having pushed open the windows.<br />
<br />
Marivel stopped.<br />
<br />
"I want to hear the rest of the song. Please?"<br />
<br />
Marivel picked the guitar back up and flew up to the window.<br />
<br />
"Y..yeah?" Marivel brush some hair behind an ear. "I'm sorry if I was being pushy. I thought--I listened to my dumb parents' dumb advice."<br />
<br />
"The great crimson noble apologizing huh?" Ana laughed.<br />
<br />
"I'm serious--!" Marivel's temper flared before she could pull it back.<br />
<br />
"Oh--no, no. I'm sorry, Mari. I shouldn't be teasing you right now." Ana gestured, blushing herself. "Please, please I like the song. I promise."<br />
<br />
Marivel tested the strings. "Y..yeah?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah." Ana smiled. "It wasn't anything you did, you know. I know you wouldn't have done anything I didn't want. I just... I don't want to die and I got scared and.... Isn't that just pathetic..? Wanting to live in times like this?"<br />
<br />
Marivel came to a realization about herself and about Anastasia, then. She cared about her people, of course, but all she really wanted was to spend as much time with this woman as she could.<br />
<br />
"I don't think it's pathetic at all. Wanting to live in times like this... That's the bravest thing I know." Marivel hugged her guitar close. "Do you... have a problem with people like me? By most definitions I'm dead. I was born that way."<br />
<br />
"I made you feel that way... No, Mari. You're nothing like the Dead."<br />
<br />
You're nothing like the Unsent<br />
<br />
"I'm just afraid that I couldn't live for that long." Ana said. "Thirty years? Forty? Gosh even a hundred? Easy. But ... forever? I don't know if I could manage that. And then where would I be? I'd be so lonely without my friends. That kind of isolation... that'd be a fate worse than anything I could imagine."<br />
<br />
The Unsent lose themselves... Maybe not right away... maybe not for a long time, for a truly extraordinary will. But in the end... if they are never Sent, they become the most terrible monsters of all. Resentment over their deaths, given flesh by the pyreflies, becomes hatred for the living.<br />
<br />
It was strange to hear it. For Marivel, being Forever seemed as natural as breathing. Her parents had warned her that no matter how pure her feelings for Ana, eventually death would separate them. She wasn't sure if she could handle /that/. But...<br />
<br />
"Then... don't be forever. If you don't want to. I'll stick with you forever. Even if you're not here, I'll always be thinking of you. I won't be alone. You'll still be with me. Like a stake in the heart! And neither will you. No matter where you go... No matter where I go. Neither of us will never be alone, okay?"<br />
<br />
Ana laughed. "You promise?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah...! I promise!!" It was Marivel's first real promise. It should be easy enough to keep.<br />
<br />
That's why I say you're nothing like them. Because it's obvious that... no matter what happens, or how much time may pass, you're still very, very much yourself. Maybe even....Growing a little.<br />
<br />
The two shared a long laugh and then, with renewed energy, Marivel strummed her guitar singing with Anastasia until the sun rose.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you..!"<br />
<br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you!"<br />
<br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Marivel slid her eyes open. Harmaus's repeated burns against her body still ached. The little inn room Boudicca rented out might not be a place of respite for long. Would Yuna still think she wasn't one of them if she showed her how she really looked right now?<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Marivel smiled. She probably would. That nerd.<br />
<br />
But she has been avoiding a difficult talk with Yuna. Should she try singing it again? She could figure it out along the way over. She placed a stack of gil on the counter, opened up a window, and leapt out through it and into an uncertain future.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2020-11-22:_Eternity_With_You&diff=103752020-11-22: Eternity With You2020-11-22T20:37:43Z<p>Fei: </p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Cutscene: The Promise'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Moonflow Hotel<br />
*'''Date:''' 11/22/2020<br />
*'''Summary''': ''A recuperating Marivel dreams of a long lost love.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Marivel looked up at the chateau. It was smaller than the castle and yet still loomed large and larger than her own home. She swallowed faintly. There was still a light in Ana's window, so she was surely awake. Unless she slept with the lights on? She knew humans did that sometimes. Okay, sometimes Marivel did too.<br />
<br />
And she looked at the small guitar she had in her hands. She strummed it a few times experimentally. Each small tone felt like a betrayal to her people's sense of poise. "Try singing it huh...?" She puffed her cheeks out. "'Thena, if I could do that I'd be able to just tell her...!"<br />
<br />
And what was she kidding anyway? A Crimson Noble and a human? Her parents wouldn't approve. And her people definitely wouldn't. Humans were far too greedy, and even if she wasn't one of those greedy humans--what of her family? What of her mortality?<br />
<br />
Marivel knew all this. These were attitudes drilled into her from a young age...And well everybody said she was still plenty young so maybe it was more accurate to say that they were in the process of being drilled into her even now to say nothing of the silent expectation that she would bring more Crimson Nobles into this world. Just enough to bring a new guard into this world that would defend against any further incursions from hunters and thieves.<br />
<br />
And though it felt as wrong as anything, she did heed her people's advice. Bring Anastasia into the fold as a dhampir at least. And she tried in her own fumbling way, but Ana just freaked out and Marivel in turn freaked out and fled. She messed it all up. And that's when she asked Althena for her advice and she said if she had trouble speaking to Ana about her feelings she should just try singing it.<br />
<br />
That was even scarier than just saying them!<br />
<br />
But she remembered Ana's frightened face and she stepped forward only for--<br />
<br />
*klonk*<br />
<br />
Her foot bonked against a sword, just lying in the grass like discarded trash. She tried to pick it up but found that she couldn't. That...was also strange. But she wasn't going to let that stop her. Whatever strangeness that was all about would have to wait!<br />
<br />
She floated up to Ana's windowsill. She glanced in to see if Ana was there and indeed she was--reading. A book about emotional support animal AI. Maybe she should wait? No, no. The longer she waited, the longer maybe Ana hated her?<br />
<br />
Steeling her courage, Marivel strummed her guitar once. Just to move past the point of no return.<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq81nOI8hs8&ab_channel=WaterTowerMusic<br />
<br />
Just sing it.<br />
<br />
"Turns out this broken glass will not be healing<br />
And I'm just trying to put away my feelings for you<br />
Cause I messed up so bad, thought I was dreaming<br />
I'm not sure... who I am anymore..."<br />
<br />
Marivel was getting into it just like she was warned. Like a deluge of water finally pushing through a clogged faucet, she started banging her head as she carefully shifted her fingers from chord to chord. Her cold fingers were excellent for the guitar. They could readily keep the strings down and she didn't have to worry about welts.<br />
<br />
"But honestly I think you are the coolest<br />
And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul<br />
And I don't wanna sound all sweet and sappy<br />
But all I wanna do is make you happy<br />
You know--"<br />
<br />
Her ear flicked as movement drew her out of the song and into reality. Her voice cracked in surprise as she sensed Ana's presence had moved closer. She slanted her eyes towards the window and fumbled her guitar into the grass below when she saw Ana had pulled a chair up to the window and was leaning against her hand against her cheek with a sly smile on her lips.<br />
<br />
"...Oof," Ana said. "Hope you didn't rent that one, Mari. You dork."<br />
<br />
A blue blush surged across Marivel's cheeks. "Shuddup nerd."<br />
<br />
She flew down to pick the guitar back up and was wholly intent on just walking around when...<br />
<br />
"Wait." Ana said, having pushed open the windows.<br />
<br />
Marivel stopped.<br />
<br />
"I want to hear the rest of the song. Please?"<br />
<br />
Marivel picked the guitar back up and flew up to the window.<br />
<br />
"Y..yeah?" Marivel brush some hair behind an ear. "I'm sorry if I was being pushy. I thought--I listened to my dumb parents' dumb advice."<br />
<br />
"The great crimson noble apologizing huh?" Ana laughed.<br />
<br />
"I'm serious--!" Marivel's temper flared before she could pull it back.<br />
<br />
"Oh--no, no. I'm sorry, Mari. I shouldn't be teasing you right now." Ana gestured, blushing herself. "Please, please I like the song. I promise."<br />
<br />
Marivel tested the strings. "Y..yeah?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah." Ana smiled. "It wasn't anything you did, you know. I know you wouldn't have done anything I didn't want. I just... I don't want to die and I got scared and.... Isn't that just pathetic..? Wanting to live in times like this?"<br />
<br />
Marivel came to a realization about herself and about Anastasia, then. She cared about her people, of course, but all she really wanted was to spend as much time with this woman as she could.<br />
<br />
"I don't think it's pathetic at all. Wanting to live in times like this... That's the bravest thing I know." Marivel hugged her guitar close. "Do you... have a problem with people like me? By most definitions I'm dead. I was born that way."<br />
<br />
"I made you feel that way... No, Mari. You're nothing like the Dead."<br />
<br />
You're nothing like the Unsent<br />
<br />
"I'm just afraid that I couldn't live for that long." Ana said. "Thirty years? Forty? Gosh even a hundred? Easy. But ... forever? I don't know if I could manage that. And then where would I be? I'd be so lonely without my friends. That kind of isolation... that'd be a fate worse than anything I could imagine."<br />
<br />
The Unsent lose themselves... Maybe not right away... maybe not for a long time, for a truly extraordinary will. But in the end... if they are never Sent, they become the most terrible monsters of all. Resentment over their deaths, given flesh by the pyreflies, becomes hatred for the living.<br />
<br />
It was strange to hear it. For Marivel, being Forever seemed as natural as breathing. Her parents had warned her that no matter how pure her feelings for Ana, eventually death would separate them. She wasn't sure if she could handle /that/. But...<br />
<br />
"Then... don't be forever. If you don't want to. I'll stick with you forever. Even if you're not here, I'll always be thinking of you. I won't be alone. You'll still be with me. Like a stake in the heart! And neither will you. No matter where you go... No matter where I go. Neither of us will never be alone, okay?"<br />
<br />
Ana laughed. "You promise?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah...! I promise!!" It was Marivel's first real promise. It should be easy enough to keep.<br />
<br />
That's why I say you're nothing like them. Because it's obvious that... no matter what happens, or how much time may pass, you're still very, very much yourself. Maybe even....Growing a little.<br />
<br />
The two shared a long laugh and then, with renewed energy, Marivel strummed her guitar singing with Anastasia until the sun rose.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you..!"<br />
<br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you!"<br />
<br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Marivel slid her eyes open. Harmaus's repeated burns against her body still ached. The little inn room Boudicca rented out might not be a place of respite for long. Would Yuna still think she wasn't one of them if she showed her how she really looked right now?<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Marivel smiled. She probably would. That nerd.<br />
<br />
But she has been avoiding a difficult talk with Yuna. Should she try singing it again? She could figure it out along the way over. She placed a stack of gil on the counter, opened up a window, and leapt out through it and into an uncertain future.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2020-11-22:_Eternity_With_You&diff=103742020-11-22: Eternity With You2020-11-22T20:37:33Z<p>Fei: Created page with "*'''Cutscene: The Promise''' *'''Cast:''' Character :: Marivel Armitage *'''Where:''' Moonflow Hotel *'''Date:''' 11/22/2020 *'''Summary''': ''A recuperaating Marivel drea..."</p>
<hr />
<div>*'''Cutscene: The Promise'''<br />
*'''Cast:''' [[Character :: Marivel Armitage]]<br />
*'''Where:''' Moonflow Hotel<br />
*'''Date:''' 11/22/2020<br />
*'''Summary''': ''A recuperaating Marivel dreams of a long lost love.''<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
Marivel looked up at the chateau. It was smaller than the castle and yet still loomed large and larger than her own home. She swallowed faintly. There was still a light in Ana's window, so she was surely awake. Unless she slept with the lights on? She knew humans did that sometimes. Okay, sometimes Marivel did too.<br />
<br />
And she looked at the small guitar she had in her hands. She strummed it a few times experimentally. Each small tone felt like a betrayal to her people's sense of poise. "Try singing it huh...?" She puffed her cheeks out. "'Thena, if I could do that I'd be able to just tell her...!"<br />
<br />
And what was she kidding anyway? A Crimson Noble and a human? Her parents wouldn't approve. And her people definitely wouldn't. Humans were far too greedy, and even if she wasn't one of those greedy humans--what of her family? What of her mortality?<br />
<br />
Marivel knew all this. These were attitudes drilled into her from a young age...And well everybody said she was still plenty young so maybe it was more accurate to say that they were in the process of being drilled into her even now to say nothing of the silent expectation that she would bring more Crimson Nobles into this world. Just enough to bring a new guard into this world that would defend against any further incursions from hunters and thieves.<br />
<br />
And though it felt as wrong as anything, she did heed her people's advice. Bring Anastasia into the fold as a dhampir at least. And she tried in her own fumbling way, but Ana just freaked out and Marivel in turn freaked out and fled. She messed it all up. And that's when she asked Althena for her advice and she said if she had trouble speaking to Ana about her feelings she should just try singing it.<br />
<br />
That was even scarier than just saying them!<br />
<br />
But she remembered Ana's frightened face and she stepped forward only for--<br />
<br />
*klonk*<br />
<br />
Her foot bonked against a sword, just lying in the grass like discarded trash. She tried to pick it up but found that she couldn't. That...was also strange. But she wasn't going to let that stop her. Whatever strangeness that was all about would have to wait!<br />
<br />
She floated up to Ana's windowsill. She glanced in to see if Ana was there and indeed she was--reading. A book about emotional support animal AI. Maybe she should wait? No, no. The longer she waited, the longer maybe Ana hated her?<br />
<br />
Steeling her courage, Marivel strummed her guitar once. Just to move past the point of no return.<br />
<br />
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq81nOI8hs8&ab_channel=WaterTowerMusic<br />
<br />
Just sing it.<br />
<br />
"Turns out this broken glass will not be healing<br />
And I'm just trying to put away my feelings for you<br />
Cause I messed up so bad, thought I was dreaming<br />
I'm not sure... who I am anymore..."<br />
<br />
Marivel was getting into it just like she was warned. Like a deluge of water finally pushing through a clogged faucet, she started banging her head as she carefully shifted her fingers from chord to chord. Her cold fingers were excellent for the guitar. They could readily keep the strings down and she didn't have to worry about welts.<br />
<br />
"But honestly I think you are the coolest<br />
And you don't even mind that I'm a broken lost soul<br />
And I don't wanna sound all sweet and sappy<br />
But all I wanna do is make you happy<br />
You know--"<br />
<br />
Her ear flicked as movement drew her out of the song and into reality. Her voice cracked in surprise as she sensed Ana's presence had moved closer. She slanted her eyes towards the window and fumbled her guitar into the grass below when she saw Ana had pulled a chair up to the window and was leaning against her hand against her cheek with a sly smile on her lips.<br />
<br />
"...Oof," Ana said. "Hope you didn't rent that one, Mari. You dork."<br />
<br />
A blue blush surged across Marivel's cheeks. "Shuddup nerd."<br />
<br />
She flew down to pick the guitar back up and was wholly intent on just walking around when...<br />
<br />
"Wait." Ana said, having pushed open the windows.<br />
<br />
Marivel stopped.<br />
<br />
"I want to hear the rest of the song. Please?"<br />
<br />
Marivel picked the guitar back up and flew up to the window.<br />
<br />
"Y..yeah?" Marivel brush some hair behind an ear. "I'm sorry if I was being pushy. I thought--I listened to my dumb parents' dumb advice."<br />
<br />
"The great crimson noble apologizing huh?" Ana laughed.<br />
<br />
"I'm serious--!" Marivel's temper flared before she could pull it back.<br />
<br />
"Oh--no, no. I'm sorry, Mari. I shouldn't be teasing you right now." Ana gestured, blushing herself. "Please, please I like the song. I promise."<br />
<br />
Marivel tested the strings. "Y..yeah?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah." Ana smiled. "It wasn't anything you did, you know. I know you wouldn't have done anything I didn't want. I just... I don't want to die and I got scared and.... Isn't that just pathetic..? Wanting to live in times like this?"<br />
<br />
Marivel came to a realization about herself and about Anastasia, then. She cared about her people, of course, but all she really wanted was to spend as much time with this woman as she could.<br />
<br />
"I don't think it's pathetic at all. Wanting to live in times like this... That's the bravest thing I know." Marivel hugged her guitar close. "Do you... have a problem with people like me? By most definitions I'm dead. I was born that way."<br />
<br />
"I made you feel that way... No, Mari. You're nothing like the Dead."<br />
<br />
You're nothing like the Unsent<br />
<br />
"I'm just afraid that I couldn't live for that long." Ana said. "Thirty years? Forty? Gosh even a hundred? Easy. But ... forever? I don't know if I could manage that. And then where would I be? I'd be so lonely without my friends. That kind of isolation... that'd be a fate worse than anything I could imagine."<br />
<br />
The Unsent lose themselves... Maybe not right away... maybe not for a long time, for a truly extraordinary will. But in the end... if they are never Sent, they become the most terrible monsters of all. Resentment over their deaths, given flesh by the pyreflies, becomes hatred for the living.<br />
<br />
It was strange to hear it. For Marivel, being Forever seemed as natural as breathing. Her parents had warned her that no matter how pure her feelings for Ana, eventually death would separate them. She wasn't sure if she could handle /that/. But...<br />
<br />
"Then... don't be forever. If you don't want to. I'll stick with you forever. Even if you're not here, I'll always be thinking of you. I won't be alone. You'll still be with me. Like a stake in the heart! And neither will you. No matter where you go... No matter where I go. Neither of us will never be alone, okay?"<br />
<br />
Ana laughed. "You promise?"<br />
<br />
"Yeah...! I promise!!" It was Marivel's first real promise. It should be easy enough to keep.<br />
<br />
That's why I say you're nothing like them. Because it's obvious that... no matter what happens, or how much time may pass, you're still very, very much yourself. Maybe even....Growing a little.<br />
<br />
The two shared a long laugh and then, with renewed energy, Marivel strummed her guitar singing with Anastasia until the sun rose.<br />
<br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you..!"<br />
<br />
"Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you<br />
Yeah, all I really wanna do<br />
Is spend all of eternity with you!"<br />
<br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
Marivel slid her eyes open. Harmaus's repeated burns against her body still ached. The little inn room Boudicca rented out might not be a place of respite for long. Would Yuna still think she wasn't one of them if she showed her how she really looked right now?<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Marivel smiled. She probably would. That nerd.<br />
<br />
But she has been avoiding a difficult talk with Yuna. Should she try singing it again? She could figure it out along the way over. She placed a stack of gil on the counter, opened up a window, and leapt out through it and into an uncertain future.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Cutscenes]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2]]<br />
[[Category:Chapter 2, Act 3]]</div>Feihttps://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=Marivel_Armitage&diff=10207Marivel Armitage2020-10-10T16:24:32Z<p>Fei: /* Soundtrack */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Character<br />
<!-- WARNING, when using a character template, you cannot edit the individual sections of your character page, you must use the edit button at the very top. Additionally, please don't leave fields blank unless there is a comment after them stating you can --><br />
|MUSHName=Marivel Armitage<br />
<!-- your @name on MUSH, very important for log searching --><br />
|BGColor=#FFCC66<br />
|BorderColor=#E18F37<br />
|TextColor=#E18F37<br />
<!-- you don't have to mess with the colors if you don't want to --><br />
|Img=[[File:Marivelinsanctuary.jpg]]<br />
<!-- example: [[File:RoseDefault.png]] consult mediawiki via google for help with inserting images, and upload your image first using the button in the left sidebar called Upload file. Leave blank if you have no image --><br />
|Name=Marivel Armitage<br />
|Gender=Female<br />
|Age=Immortal<br />
|Birthdate=Probably Halloween<br />
|Hometown=Crimson Castle<br />
|Hair=Blonde<br />
|Class=Filgaia's Rightful Ruler<br />
|Role=Drifter<br />
<!-- Drifter, Antagonist or Bystander only, case-sensitive --><br />
|Bounty=0 Gella<br />
<!-- if you leave this blank it will default to 0 Gella --><br />
|Theme=Wild Arms 2<br />
<!-- either your source (i.e. Xenogears, Tales of Zestiria, etc.) or Original Character --><br />
|Group=<br />
<!-- minor groups, leave blank if none --><br />
|MajorGroup=ARMS<br />
<!-- Althena's Guard, Metal Demons, Veruni or Solaris only, case-sensitive, leave blank if not relevant to you --><br />
|Player=Fei<br />
<!-- your wiki username --><br />
|Profile=Marivel is the last of the Crimson Nobles after the entity known as Lord Blazer slew her family and the rest of her brethren. She assisted the Sword Magess and Luceid in defeating Lord Blazer but since then has been traveling the world in order to prepare and prevent ... something. Marivel is an incredible engineer who employs both lost knowledge and modern techniques into her work and works as an ARMS Meister who is both picky about whom she works for and strange about the payments she asks for. She is connected to the Valeria household as far back as anyone can remember. She often comes across as snooty and frankly more than a bit arrogant but behind it all is someone who deeply cares about Filgaia. ...Or so she says, anyway. Strangely as of late she has picked up her activities but if she's trying to prevent another worldwide disaster...one might wonder why she is being so tight-lipped.<br />
<!-- from your +finger --><br />
|Background=<br />
<!-- your backstory, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Powers=<br />
<!-- your powers, abilities and resources, leave blank if desired --><br />
|Relationships=<br />
<!-- your relationships; may not be friendly to wiki code, if your relationships section includes a lot of code or formatting, just append it after this template ends instead and leave this field blank --><br />
[[File:MarivelSocialLinks.jpeg]]<br />
}}<br />
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 50%; style="text-align: center;"<br />
|-<br />
! scope="col" | Name<br />
! scope="col" | Group<br />
! scope="col" | Affinity<br />
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Field Notes<br />
|-<br />
| [[Anastasia]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm not okay with it. I'll never be okay with it. Even if it's against your will."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Luceid]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Does the candle look forward to being used? If tis my desire, then I shall satisfy it. I shall be selfish until my heart aches no more."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Althena]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 100%; background: #FF0000; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You threw us away. Was it worth it? WAS IT WORTH IT!? I'LL DEVOUR YOU, SOUL AND ALL!!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Irving Valeria]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He would not ask sacrifices of others he is unwilling to offer up himself."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ashley Winchester]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You still won't leave me? Are you that desperate to be a hero?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Brad Evans]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Once again, through my fingers like sand."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kamui]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Mother, huh... Is that what they meant?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Acacia]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Was she always so charming? She is quite good with the kids. Very impressive quality. Best treat her well, Yue."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Clarissa Arwin]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"You are more than you think you are. In more ways than one I think."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Seraph Clarine]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I've really grown to rely on your companionship. I'm not the kind of friend you want."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Mariel]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"So that's what happened... Mariel is not merely a lost ally, but she is the best of them."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Hiro]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"A trusting man. Will he understand?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ruby]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally! Proper respect! A grand dragon already as far as I'm concerned."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Isolde]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Have you walked into the sun yourself, my friend?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Gwen Whitlock]]<br />
| Vile Fiends<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 30%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Finally!"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Xantia]]<br />
| Black Wolves<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Hn."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Auron]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 80%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's so much like me. May your promises be fulfilled, and a glimpse of a better tommorow be your final sight. When you walk into the sun, I will be there to see you off."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yuna]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand duty. I understand sacrifice. It is your choice but I beg you... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Tidus]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 90%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"He's a good guy. A real good guy. I can trust him. He won't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Rikku]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 60%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"How you maintain your optimism in a world so cruel to you is a testament to humanity's strength. Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Lulu]]<br />
| ???<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I understand why you see no other path before you but... Don't make the same mistake we did."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Amelia Rose]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 40%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Behind the attitude and past the culture I find a kindred spirit."<br />
|-<br />
| [[White Knight Leo]]<br />
| Althena Guard<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I worry about what will happen when he realizes the truth. He deserves someone kinder to break it to him than I but would he believe someone so kind?"<br />
|-<br />
| [[Erzebet Lefanu]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"Reminds me of my youth, but this old girl has some tricks yet."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Vinsfeld Rhadamanthus]]<br />
| Odessa<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 10%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'd much prefer ARMS to seize victory but this is not a good start."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ida Everstead-Rey]]<br />
| ARMS<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"There is a limit to one's ideals if you don't live up to those expectations yourself. It's a risk, but the world admires the risk-takers."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Ivan]]<br />
| Caravan Kinship<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 50%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I smell the blood on his hands, but tis often those that have once fallen who are best at lifting others up."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Yue Rohay]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I'm sorry. I can't handle more martyr complexes. But when you are ready, I will be here. Always."<br />
|-<br />
| [[Kaguya]]<br />
| Veruni<br />
| <div style="height: 8px; width: 160px; background: #fff; position: relative; border: 2px solid #505050; border-radius: 16px;"><br />
<div style="height: 100%; width: 70%; background: #A6A6A6; border-radius: 16px 0px 0px 16px;"></div></div><br />
| style="text-align: left; |"I admire your determination to survive."<br />
|-<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Red Skills ==<br />
<br />
Falling Into the Ambush With A Sexy Lure - Erzebet - High Damage Bullet Rain From Above<br />
<br />
Rubyvention - Ruby - Low Damage Fire Breath<br />
<br />
Shut Up And Jam Ball - Oblitzerator - Mid Level Jam Blitzball Attack<br />
<br />
Aura Bolt - Gusong Monk Manual - Low Level Free Attack Technique<br />
<br />
Push Back - Chocobo Eater - 0 Level Push Back<br />
<br />
Hound of Hell - Jack, Hound of Hell - Stored soul belonging to a Hound of Hell. High Level Damage.<br />
<br />
Thousand Detonations - Qactuar - A thousand detonating needles - OMG.<br />
<br />
== Major Discoveries ==<br />
''A Dark World Looming Behind''<br />
<br />
In the end, once the Golem twitches its last and lies still, you're able to <br />
pass through the once-sealed doors -- now that the alarm system has calmed <br />
-- and enter into a formerly closed-off chamber. What could have been so <br />
valuable to seal it so carefully? <br />
<br />
The answer stands before you in the shape of a projector-like machine. While <br />
the shape may be foreign -- with age to some, with purpose to others -- a <br />
still-shining screen at one side of the projector mechanism draws the eye <br />
and suggests investigation. At a touch, it speaks, at first unintelligible. <br />
And then: <br />
<br />
...LINGUISTIC MATCH OBTAINED. TRANSLATING: PLAY LAST RECORDING? <br />
<br />
At a yes, a series of images project against the wall, still brilliant and <br />
luminous after so many years. <br />
<br />
A beautiful land. A thriving land. A land crippled. <br />
<br />
"Did we invite this upon ourselves?" the narration reads out, against the <br />
image of cities that reach for the sky as if to scrape the heavens. "I have <br />
often wondered. Perhaps it is pointless after the end. The TF System worked <br />
-- we sacrificed our land to stop the demon, but perhaps it was already <br />
dying. Perhaps I would be making this last record still." <br />
<br />
A land in fear. A land burning. A dead land. <br />
<br />
"I leave this only as one record among many, in the hopes that somebody <br />
someday might hear it," the narration continues, against the backdrop of a <br />
civilization's graveyard. "I elected to stay on Filgaia. Others have left to <br />
seek a new home among the stars, but I could not leave. To restore Filgaia, <br />
much is required. This facility is but one step forward." <br />
<br />
The image against the wall fades to nothing. "No matter what happens to me, <br />
I feel I owe even that glimmer of hope to the future. To whoever is able to <br />
listen, please, forgive us for what we have done. <br />
<br />
"...We who have buried our past and forsaken our future."<br />
<br />
<br />
''A Sea of Stars''<br />
<br />
The door beyond the generator opens with a hiss, revealing the room beyond. <br />
Though the generator appears damaged, it still shows signs of life; given <br />
the nature of this place it may not remain inactive forever. So be it. <br />
<br />
Was this a storage area? At a glance, it looks the part: shelving units, <br />
locking safes, and all the rest of it, bundled into this tight place. But <br />
what catches your eye yet is the terminal in the back. It still retains <br />
power -- perhaps it has some way to cache energy in the event the generator <br />
goes offline. With some manipulation you bring up the following information: <br />
<br />
>RESTORING... RETRIEVING SERVICE HISTORY AND SHIP'S LOG FOR PFS-037 <br />
PHILADELPHIA, LIBERTY BELL-CLASS RESEARCH VESSEL. <br />
<br />
You learn... you learn a number of things. <br />
<br />
This -- the Philadelphia was a ship that sailed the stars. One of a number <br />
of star-faring ships of an organization named only as the Pangalactic <br />
Federation, this was a research vessel. In particular, the record notes that <br />
the ship carried a number of experimental nanoreactors alongside the <br />
standard-issue Federation models... whatever that means. But it never got to <br />
where it was going, a place noted in the records as Gliese 667. <br />
<br />
It ended up suffering a catastrophic engine failure around 6016 SD, whatever <br />
that means, and diverted to the forbidden territory Kepler-186 in <br />
desperation. But something happened. <br />
<br />
It crashed. <br />
<br />
And that's where the record ends.<br />
<br />
== Tools ==<br />
[[File:mari-smol.jpg]]<br />
== Soundtrack ==<br />
<br />
=== Overall Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AZ4Lc5W75I - White Lies - Monogatari]<br />
: ''In the darkness, Moments, Secrets, Regrets<br />
: ''Never Lie!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 1 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Anastasia''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1vw9ftAWSc Connect - Puella Madoka Magica]<br />
: ''Time now begins to away incessantly''<br />
: ''Let's open the closed door while carrying our unchanging feelings.'<br />
<br />
* '''Chapter 2 Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Deakr4AHeo4 - Answers - FFXIV]<br />
: ''To all my children in whom Life flows abundant.''<br />
: ''To all my children to whom Death hath passed his judgement.''<br />
: ''Answer, Answer, Answer together.''<br />
: ''Thou must live, die, and know.''<br />
<br />
* '''Lighthearted Marivel Theme''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24NZaT2_gaA - Magilou - Berseria]<br />
: ''Oh no!''<br />
: ''I meant to confess my sins, but instead my confession was another sin!''<br />
<br />
* '''In The Lab With Professor Lumen!''' - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwkwyi-mEYg - Robotrek - Title Sequence, Research, and Development]<br />
: ''Ah...! I'm sorry Professor!!'<br />
: '' I promise I won't teach her about the birds and the bees please calm down!''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 2 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''Anastasia and Marivel''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2oLSuongkY - Magia - Kalafina]<br />
: ''Someday, the light of love lit within your eyes will transcend time.''<br />
: ''And certainly destroy one dream of a world that races towards its destruction.''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel's True Plan''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oYslv-lWYY&ab_channel=Sakuranoangel - Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica - I was waiting for this moment]<br />
: ''Whether the time of heroes is eternal, whether the time of disaster is at hand once more...''<br />
: ''I refuse to accept her death as her will!''<br />
: ''How could I just throw her away for a few moments of peace?''<br />
<br />
* '''Marivel and Luceid''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lclt459JpVQ - And Then Is Heard No More - Library of Ruina]<br />
: ''Do the candles look forward to being used? Enjoy bidding adieu adieu?''<br />
: ''Every word I saved for you came out wrong afterwards so I spoke no more?''<br />
: ''Must be great being you. Power comes as second nature.''<br />
: ''Must feel amazing being longed for, longed for.''<br />
: ''Day and night your ghosts continue to haunt me.''<br />
: ''If I went with you, will there be happily ever afters?''<br />
<br />
=== Chapter 2 Act 3 Tracks ===<br />
<br />
* '''You Speak As If You Know Her''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qe54-ZOkC4 - Third Warning - Lobotomy Corporation]<br />
: ''Judgement Day is approaching.''<br />
: ''Be patient... Be patient...''</div>Fei