2021-09-02: A Visit from Brionac
- Log: A Visit from Brionac
- Cast: Yulie Ahtreide, Lily Keil, Riesenlied, Ruth Pauling, Noeline, Ashley Winchester, Scythe Riebaure
- Where: Celesti Wastelands
- Date: September 02, 2021
- Summary: A humanitarian project in the Celesti Wastelands is suddenly interrupted as Scythe, revealing himself to be a member of the elite organization Brionac presently aligned with Odessa, appears in attempt to abduct Yulie. Questions are asked, and two shades of the past meet...
===========================<* Celesti Wastelands *>=========================== Decades ago, the nation of Celesti ripped itself apart in a vicious civil war. Outside of a handful of settlements, its former territories are lifeless. The remains of trenches, bunkers, and barbed wire lines serve as lingering reminders of the conflict--scars that have yet to heal. The earth is dry and barren, and much of the groundwater has been contaminated by biological or chemical weapons. Travel through the Wastelands is treacherous. The roads are pockmarked with shell craters, and Reapers have been known to haunt its blasted plains. A handful of functional rail lines cross the wastes, but these travel directly to their final destinations. The shattered remains of ghost towns dot the landscape. Some may yet hold things of value, but experienced travelers know better than to go treasure-hunting on a whim. The war-dead of Celesti do not rest. Ghosts aren't even the strangest things one can find here. As the war dragged on, both the Congressional Knights and Aquvy Union dug up ancient weapons to aid their efforts--including, it's rumored, ARMs from Zeboim. These rumors draw both the daring and desperate into the wastes, and more often than not, to their end. BGM: Shin Megami Tensei IV - Blasted Ichigaya
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
The lands that once belonged to the nation of Celesti have yet to fully recover. It may be possible that it never fully will. Even so, some settlements still cling to life in the wartorn landscape, unable or unwilling to relocate from the lands that they called home. Somehow they manage to get by, but it isn't easy so they're disinclined to turn down a helping hand when it's extended.
And that's what brings Yulie and a certain group of Drifters - close friends that she's made along her travels - to one of these settlements today. It was a farming community, once, now inhabited mostly by the old and the young - those in no position to fight in the war. It's fairly close-knit, and while they were initially suspicious of everyone at first, their presence has come to be appreciated.
Yulie can be found humming a little tune to herself as she helps with the tasks at hand, helping transport some crates of supplies over to their warehouse. But there's still a lot left to be done around here!
This is fine, for Yulie. After the other day, she's glad to be doing something that feels like she's helping people.
DC: Ashley Winchester switches forms to Musketeer!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily Keil is occasionally willing to help people out--perhaps more than occasionally, but don't tell anyone. It's not a good reputation for a mercenary to get! ...But as a medic, she has some particular expertise a small town like this might need: she can do the doctoring they'd ordinarily have to travel to another town or get lucky to get. She has both ordinary medical expertise and curative magic, so there's few ills they're likely to have that she can't do something about, and that is what she is doing in the square of town, not too far from Yulie humming to herself. There is a lot to be done... and Lily doesn't mind helping. Now and then.
She does however make sure to keep her sunglasses on; she may be a little unsettling, in layered military style clothing and concealing her eyes, which are black with prismatic colors for iris and pupil. But Yulie was able to win them over, and Lily's clear expertise isn't hurting.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
This work is life and blood, part and parcel for Riesenlied and by extension the Wayside Outreach; just because the Fereshte is stuck in Spira and they don't have their main tools available doesn't mean their work has changed. And the blasted wastelands of Celesti and the people who cling to life there need aid, with all the trouble they've gone through...
... though, she isn't in particular of that much use lifting crates of supplies. But she is there to try to reassure and empathise the people of the farmlands that they're here to help in any way they can.
"... mmm... then, two crates of medical essentials to this household, and two more crates to the house next door," Riesenlied is checking her clipboard, since administration and management is something more her speed as she sits back on her wheelchair.
"We may need to ask them about water supplies too... that is a note for next time," Riesenlied muses. "Wayside has purification tablets in a pinch, but a community needs a more permanent solution..."
She does smile at Yulie's humming, pleased to see the girl in good spirits. She's also reassured to see Lily and Noeline here...
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Ruth keeps a low profile in this particular travel - she might have been the one to talk about this settlement (tersely). No matter what one believed in for how Celesti should be, everyone was caught in the middle. The Aquvy Union, should they have won, would have had their hands full not getting splinter resistance groups out of those caught in the crossfire.
She would know this all too well. She hasn't advertised who she is, having hid most of her head under her hood. Her rifle has been kept wrapped up without cause to be drawn, even after a full watch for possible bandits or raiders. Whether she is trusted by the others to hold her worst to herself or not, so far, she's managed to keep herself inside who she once was.
Once successfully convinced to stand relieved of this duty for someone else to take watch, the quiet sharpshooter sees herself visiting a nearby graveyard. She pays her respects in Granasian prayer, the sleeve of her oversized overcoat rolled up to show the rosary wrapped around said forearm. Guilt seeps into her, draining some of the buzzing that goes on in her mind. (This is, for her kind, a form of self care - and given her track record today, it's working fine.)
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline reflects as she stands alongside Riesenlied, one of the medical crates balanced on one shoulder as she quite literally carries it single-handed. She's listening, but half of her attention is stuck in nostalgia, reflecting on how long it's been since they did something so simple and easy. Scooping up the people of Azado and Spira and plucking them out of the way of Sin, or climbing Mt Gagazet to the limits of their exhaustion - it feels like an age since they last just handed out aid.
"We may at least be able to do some temporary repairs on their water pump. Nothing permanent, but perhaps enough to let it eke out a few more months of life while a better solution is found," she chips in as she comes out of her reverie. "And I've already earmarked some bags of fertilizer im hopes of getting a little life back into the soil." She leans over to scan the list - checking who should be getting the box in her arm.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Shooting terrorists in the face is only one of ARMS' many duties. Technically it's the only real official one, seeing as their remit is mainly the defense of the land against threats such as Odessa and its ilk, but when you recruit a bunch of big-hearted hero-types to your paramilitary organization, they inevitably find ways to stick their nose in everybody else's problems.
Case in point, Ashley Winchester, who is making good use of his strong back (by surface area, second best in all of ARMS. First place is of course Brad's and will always and forever be Brad's, because noone's neck's as incredibly thick as Brad Evans') to help move sacks of supplies around the poor Celesti community. It's a tiring, body-aching kind of work, but it's the sort of salt of the earth labor that's good for the soul when it's given willingly and doesn't come at the end of a whip.
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Thanks to everyone's efforts, there's a stack of supply crates waiting just outside the warehouse door. They're full of essential supplies--bandages, preserved foods, medicines that will keep in the long term. Things a tiny, precarious settlement desperately needs.
And as Yulie sets her crate down next to the stack, there's a faint *pop* from above, and a shadow falls across her. The sun peeks down through a hazy layer of clouds, backlighting short blonde hair and gleaming off sharpened canines. "Look who's being a good little helper, today," says Scythe, as he looks down at the Paladienne. He waits a beat, as if counting on Yulie's panic to take over--to freeze her in place, and make his job easier. "I'm not one for sentimentality, but someone back at Headquarters cares about you, and wants you in one piece."
There's another *pop*, and Scythe is right in front of Yulie, reaching out to try and grab her arm. "Why don't you make his job--and mine--a little easier, and come quietly?"
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Thanks to everyone's efforts, there's a stack of supply crates waiting just outside the warehouse door. They're full of essential supplies--bandages, preserved foods, medicines that will keep in the long term. Things a tiny, precarious settlement desperately needs.
And as Yulie sets her crate down next to the stack, there's a faint *pop* from above, and a shadow falls across her. The sun peeks down through a hazy layer of clouds, backlighting short blonde hair and gleaming off sharpened canines. "Look who's being a good little helper, today," says Scythe, as he looks down at the Paladienne. He waits a beat, as if counting on Yulie's panic to take over--to freeze her in place, and make his job easier. "I'm not one for sentimentality, but someone back at Headquarters cares about you, and wants you in one piece."
There's another *pop*, and Scythe is right in front of Yulie, reaching out to try and grab her arm. "Why don't you make his job--and mine--a little easier, and come quietly?"
Scythe is counting on getting out of here before the others can intervene, but nor is he being subtle. All it takes is one person to sound the alarm...
GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Gentle Grab So We Don't Make Kresnik Upset! GS: Scythe Riebaure has completed his action. GS: Yulie Ahtreide takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Gentle Grab So We Don't Make Kresnik Upset for 0 hit points!
DC: Riesenlied switches forms to Heritor of Wayside! DC: Ashley Winchester switches forms to Musketeer!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied has a gentle nod at Noeline as she points out fertiliser; she's also already thinking about water pump repairs. It might not be much, and the filters probably need replacing, but that will be a start. It's very difficult to live a decent life without clean water...
Her eyes catch over to where Ruth is quietly praying in a graveyard. There's a quiet smile on her face, and then she turns to Ashley. "Thank you, Mister Winchester," she calls out. "Should we take a break soon? Just a few more and--"
A pause, as she senses something amiss. She takes another look around, and--
Suddenly there's a man she doesn't recognise, and he's got his hand on Yulie. Her eyes shoot wide open. "Yulie!!"
The Tainted thrusts her hand out, instinctually; the Ley flows through her body, channeled through the Tear, and creates a brief but startling sparkle as a barrier of light forms around the Paladienne's body -- to protect her, but hopefully enough to startle the mysterious assailant for a moment to let her go.
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Ley Channeling - Sterling Sea! GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied heals Yulie Ahtreide! She gains 110 temporary hit points! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Blitz applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
For a little while, the bustle is very reminiscent of Wayside in general. Between that and the sight of the rural village, she feels something she would never have expected a couple of years ago - a pang of homesickness slithers through her, making her think of their beloved crater and valley back near Adlehyde. Even if Wayside has moved on, it's the only one she knows, and she's lost in fondness when it happens.
Noeline's head snaps around instinctively, a little earlier than it perhaps should - she can thank her link with Riesenlied for that, as all she needs is the burst of concern to pull her attention in that direction. "Yulie!" she calls loudly along with Riesenlied, aware of the value in causing as much noise as possible.
Her arms tense, as she recognizes that her options for a response are currently rather limited; there is technically a weapon in her hands, but she's certainly not about to just throw a crate of medical supplies at the interloper's face. Instead, she focuses as sharply and quickly as she can as she puts her trust in her partner's abilities - and while it might be clumsy, it's still a burst of energy over their link to help strengthen that barrier.
At the same time, her expression drawn, she steps to one side and sets the box down as carefully as she can on a nearby cart. "Alright," she nods, as her sword appears out of nowhere and into her hands, and she turns back to the altercation.
GS: Noeline spends 1 Combo on Reload! GS: Noeline has attacked Riesenlied with When I'm With You...! GS: Noeline has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied accepts Noeline's When I'm With You... for 0 hit points! GS: Shield applied to Riesenlied! GS: Riesenlied activates Noeline's Reload!!
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
It's nice, seeing everying working together in the ways they're best able. Yulie approaches the nearest stack of crates, then looks over toward Riesenlied and Noeline as they make some considerations.
"Oh, I'm sure that'd be a big help..." She replies, setting the crate down. ...But as she does there's a subtle 'pop' from above, and a shadow looms over her. She looks up quickly, surprise - soon followed by fear crossing over her face as a familiar voice reaches her ears.
"I-It's... it's you! The Crimson Noble...!" Yulie gasps in surprise. Yes, despite Marivel's insistence to the contrary, she still fully believes he is one - he certainly has the power to back up that claim. She freezes in place, though, as he mentions 'someone' back at headquarters.
"Who? I don't-" She starts, confused... but the distraction is all he needs to teleport closer, reaching out to grab her by the arm. Her reflexes are too slow to get away... but what he grabs hold of isn't her arm, but a protective barrier of light that forms around her to repel the attempt.
"G-get away...!" Yulie calls out, her free hand reaching into her coat and drawing out one of her ring blades. She swings it toward him - more of an attempt to force him back rather than actually wound, but it certainly wouldn't be pleasant, either.
The moment she gets an opportunity she backpedals to put as much space between Scythe and herself as possible.
"Th-thank you, Miss Riesenlied..." She murmurs, sending a glance in her direction. She's appreciative... but worried, too. This situation was one of the things Yulie had been fearing for a while - her friends getting drawn into this mess...
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Basic Circle! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Looking up from where she was talking to an old man about his bad back, Lily abrubtly stops wheat she's doing as she senses the magic of Scythe's appearance. But she doesn't immediately know what's happened, despite being sure something has. "Excuse me," Lily says, and then--Riesenlied calls out. Yulie calls out. Lily looks, and sees Yulie and the strange man Scythe. Talking of breaks was nice--
"Dog!" Lily calls. "Go!"
From where she'd been lying on the ground next to Lily, a large black hound charges Scythe, leaping to bite at his arm and grab him hopefully before he can get Yulie away, as Lily moves in front of the villagers she was still near to shield them from whatever happens next. "You should go," she tells them. "It's not safe."
The Crimson Noble, is it...? Dog will attempt to get him away from Yulie regardless.
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Dog Interrupt! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
The (former) elf lets her piety keep her emotionally as anchored as well as it's going to be. She wouldn't be of much help picking up and moving heavier crates as it is, as her left shoulder is in dire enough state that even lugging around the rifle seems a ludicrous thought. Her eyes, on the other hand...
Someone - Riesenlied - screams Yulie's name. It's almost missed, as the shouting comes from the direction where she's effectively deaf (also her left). There is a different sense that tugs to her as she turns her head (Noeline's call comes in much clearer). Something that rings a little louder than the ambient dread and melancholy of people living on the fringes, which have muted until now with the promise of having at least more time to live.
Distress. Fear. It pulls at her. Rising from her kneel, Ruth knows the 'feel' of when Yulie expresses them, just making out her demands for someone to 'g-get away.'
She draws her revolver from a holster set towards her right hip, with only a hiss of pain from her shoulder. She steps with purpose as Lily shouts for a 'dog' to 'go.'
Her eyes catch sight of Scythe - and a specific pattern on his uniform. She doesn't even dwell on it, the reflex is automatic like a needle driven into her heart. She has a clean shot from this angle, this distance, this positioning.
The revolver discharges two rounds as a part of her becomes conflicted about voicing in her mind or aloud what it is she's shooting at, and her heart beats a little faster.
GS: Ruth Pauling has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Bang Bang! GS: Ruth Pauling has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ruth Pauling has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Ashley breathes a sigh and wipes a glistening layer of sweat from his brow. Before him stands a meticulously stacked and arranged array of barrels, albeit one with a path that snakes through the lot, barrely hidden by trick of perspective. Perhaps if one were to follow it to its end, they'd find a prize waiting for them? Perhaps a tasty apple, or a powerful fruit, or even... a <<Tiny Medal...?>>
It was hard work getting them all set up properly, but this way, the townsfolk should have no problem accessing their contents. Finally, all that block puzzling has found a practical application...!
But then, someone shouts. A voice cries out in distress. Ashley's eyes sharpen as he darts out of the storehouse, his Bayonet whirling from its back-strapped holster. That was Noeline's voice, wasn't it?
It was.
And the reason for such a sudden shout is...
"You... Saif!!" Ashley shouts, lifting his Bayonet in a single, practiced motion. In a split second, he takes aim, and in the next instant, he fires. A slug the size of a man's fist soars towards the 'Crimson Noble,' liable to take off an arm if it hits-- but he's sure the man is far too durable for such an injury to stick. "Get your hands off of her!"
GS: Ashley Winchester has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Shot Weapon! GS: Ashley Winchester has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ashley Winchester has completed his action. GS: Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Yulie Ahtreide's Basic Circle for 106 hit points! GS: Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Ruth Pauling's Bang Bang for 67 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: CRITICAL! Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Lily Keil's Dog Interrupt for 137 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: CRITICAL! Scythe Riebaure takes a glancing hit from Ashley Winchester's Shot Weapon for 66 hit points! GS: Scythe Riebaure activates Evade bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
'I-It's... it's you! The Crimson Noble...!'
"The one and only," Scythe says, with a wide, toothy grin. "Now hold st--" Energy flickers through the air as someone calls Yulie's name, and a wall of force springs into being between her and her attacker. Scythe's hand presses against the barrier, and he snarls, baring teeth as he glances past Yulie, at her comrades. "Well, well. So it's a fight, then? By all means--"
Scythe was not expecting Yulie to do what she does. Why, in his eyes, would the skittish little mouse strike at him like that? It costs him. Yulie's chakram slices a bleeding gash into his bare chest, and the "Crimson Noble" steps back, eyes wide with shock. He touches a hand to the wound, and it comes away red. "Does the lab rat have a spine after all? I might have to take the gloves off--"
Dog charges fearlessly into the fray. Teeth clamp down around Scythe's forearm, tearing through his jacket and the flesh beneath. "Guh--!" he chokes out, as he grits his teeth. "Damnable mutt!" He pulls back his arm, at first only succeeding in deepening the wounds. Then, with another *pop*, he vanishes, reappearing twenty yards away, outside someone's front door. Ruth is already drawing a bead on him. With a BANG, the first bullet races through the air, clips the Brionac operative's shoulder. The second glances off his side. Both would be enough to stagger a normal foe, and Scythe instinctively glances back along the ballistic trail.
"Who--" he says. "Wait, is--"
Of course, then someone else makes his appearance, firing a slug that should leave Scythe on the ground, gasping and bleeding. His reflexes save him. In a blink, Scythe is behind the two Hyadeans, and paying them absolutely no attention. Blood drips down his bare skin. "You," Scythe growls, at Ashley Winchester. "YOU! It's time I repay you in full for your humiliation!" The "Crimson Noble" sweeps out a hand, and the air around Riesenlied and Noeline grows hot. A moment later, a burst of wind rushes out at them, like the backdraft from an explosion. Yulie has to contend with much the same--she knows perfectly well the warlock has more lethal spells at his disposal. Is he trying to spare her?
Scythe vanishes a moment later, reappearing next to Ashley Winchester with knife in hand. His face twists in an ugly snarl as he stabs at the Musketeer's left kidney, a quick, efficient strike to a vulnerable location. Red light glints off his knife as he gestures again--Symbological tattoos ignite as he gestures at Lily and Ruth. The air around the both of them straight-up ignites, spewing out streamers of flame that chase them down.
But Scythe sees something, in the moment he focuses on Ruth. "No," he says. "It couldn't be. You--you're still alive?"
GS: Scythe Riebaure has activated a Boss Action! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Thermal Jet! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Riesenlied with Thermal Jet! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Noeline with Thermal Jet! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure spends 2 Combo on Headshot! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ashley Winchester with Empty the Vein! GS: Riesenlied solidly guards Scythe Riebaure's Thermal Jet for 42 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Riesenlied activates Arcane Font! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ruth Pauling with Inferno! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Lily Keil with Inferno! GS: CRITICAL! Ashley Winchester takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Empty the Vein for 162 hit points! GS: Hyper, Quick, and Quick applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure has completed his action. GS: Lily Keil suffers a terrible blow from Scythe Riebaure's Inferno for 129 hit points! GS: Lily Keil activates Arcane Font! GS: Yulie Ahtreide takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Thermal Jet for 100 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Yulie Ahtreide gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Ruth Pauling takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Inferno for 110 hit points! GS: Ruth Pauling activates Guard bonus! GS: Noeline partially guards Scythe Riebaure's Thermal Jet for 59 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Scythe Riebaure!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied pauses and her eyes widen slowly when Yulie calls him the 'Crimson Noble'. A sweltering feeling of curiosity but also protectiveness wells up inside of her, filtering in through their rings at the same time she feels that power come back, empowering her.
Lily comes to the rescue a moment later, as Noeline arrives with her sword; Dog is on the loose!! Then, Ruth opens loose with her revolver, though Riesenlied does notice her quiet hiss of pain. Is she wounded...?
Ashley fires as well, accompanying it with a line. Saif...?
Scythe doesn't take this lying down; of course he doesn't. Instead, he teleports several times -- and appears behind them, and it's her empathic instincts that has her whirling around -- and wheeling around a lot more slowly than she'd like. This isn't going to be easy.
"... this is rather unseemly behaviour for a Crimson Noble, do you think? You are a disgrace to your name," Riesenlied murmurs, letting go the topic of whether he is one or not -- she's clearly rather protetive of the title.
Her eyes are on Noeline for a moment, and she nods as she knows their focus has to be on protecting Yulie... that said -- it seems like he's acquainted with Ashley? And... Ruth as well?
A grimace and a shake of her head, and she spreads her hand -- a barrier forms around her beloved Crimson Noble, and the weave of sparkling Ley flows through... until it forms a barrier around Lily as well. "I am with you, Noeline, Lily!"
GS: Riesenlied spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with I don't have to be Afraid...! GS: Riesenlied has gained 2 Combo! GS: Riesenlied has launched an attack Link! GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Riesenlied receives 100 temporary hit points. GS: Riesenlied enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Riesenlied has attacked Lily Keil with Let's See a New World Together! GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo! GS: Riesenlied enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action. GS: Riesenlied heals Lily Keil! She gains 120 temporary hit points! GS: Riesenlied heals Noeline! She gains 120 temporary hit points! GS: Shield applied to Noeline!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Excuse me," Noeline huffs towards their charge, coming out of her solemn focus and allowing herself a moment of levity only once she's sure that Yulie is a far enough distance away from her attacker. She moves forwards as the young woman backpedals, planting her sword in the ground to make a line in the sand. "There is only 'one and only' Crimson Noble present here today, thank you very much, and it is certainly not him."
Her voice is clipped and kept light, but the frown on her face is a deep one as she studies the man in front of them. She's one to trust Marivel, but that does leave the question of what Scythe actually is still on the table... though she could certainly venture a couple of choice terms. "That is not just the name of a race, but also a title. One you have not earned," she declares solemnly, adding her words to Riese.
"You certainly have a lot of humiliation to repay, it seems?" she adds; she's on guard as the temperature around her heats, tensed for an attack, and prepared enough when the sudden backdraft comes - enough to put her sword in the way of the brunt of the attack, though there's really only so much she can do when the assault is more environmental than anything else.
"Yulie, stick close," it isn't meant as an order, but she's a little too tense for it to come out as anything else. When it comes down to it, the way she sees it is that Scythe is the one who wants something here, and if they can simply keep their distance, they've come out on top.
She's faster at tracking him than Riesenlied is, her head jerking to and fro - but still, it's hard to pin him down, or even discern where he might show up next. Rather than try, she lifts her sword, and slams it back into the ground; there is a spark of power, and then a dim wave of disruptive sorcery ripples outwards, the air distorting ever so slightly around her.
GS: Noeline has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Material Adept - Shadows Dance! GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo! GS: Noeline has completed her action. ===== +attacks: Yulie Ahtreide Form 1: Paladienne Yulie ======================== _ Name/Flags (Combo) |___________________________| Tier/Stat/PL |_____| Min/Cst _ _ Basic Circle F TEC 5 15 / 0 _ _ - Reserve _ _ Heal Db SOR 0 10 / 5 _ _ - Area, Heal, Refined, and Restore _ _ Protect Db SOR 0 10 / 10 _ _ - Efficient, Quick, and Shield _ _ Retreat Wave Db SOR 4 15 / 5 _ _ - Area and Delay _ _ Soothe Db SOR 0 15 / 10 _ _ - Area, Refined, Regen, and Restore _ _ Gather Db SOR 0 30 / 25 _ _ - Advance, Area, and Blitz _ _ Mind Recovery Db SOR 0 30 / 30 _ _ - Area, Inspire (1), and Reload (1) _ _ Enhancement Protocol Db ARM 0 30 / 30 _ _ - Amplify, Hyper, and Reload (1) _ _ Reduction Protocol Db ARM 0 30 / 30 _ _ - Brutal1, Delay, Jam, and Weaken _ _ Ray Thrust Db TEC 3 30 / 30 _ _ - Headshot (2) and Recover _ _ Paladienne's Prayer Sig SOR 0 40 / 40 _ _ - Area, Lock State, Pray, Pray, and Restore _ _ Material Drive - Set E Sig ARM 7 60 / 30 _ _ - Area, Formation, and Headshot (2) _ _ Material Drive - Code O Sig ARM 0 60 / 50 _ _ - Area, Full-Heal, Reload (1), and Restore _ _ FP: 93/150 +attack +15 / +guard/+evade +15 / +charge +20 / +accept +5 _
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
"I still don't know why you hate me so much!" Ashley shouts at the guy whose name he, for the life of him, just can't seem to ever remember properly. What is it about the name 'scythe' that stymies his memory so? Regardless, this time, the Noble is able to get the jump on him, driving that knife into the musketeer's back. It's only by raw reflex and pure luck that Ashley dodges in such a way that the dagger digs into a bit of tissue that isn't a massive concentration of blood vessels. His white shirt nevertheless turns crimson as blood seeps from the wound, the musketeer spinning on a dime to drive his bayonet into the teleporter's chest.
...Before pulling the trigger to fire another of those slugs at point blank range.
"But you didn't come here for me. What do you people want with Yulie!? She's got nothing to do with Odessa's plans!" Except for the horrifying amount of power that she wields with her access to those strange Guardians. That is definitely something he can see Odessa wanting to get their hands on.
GS: Ashley Winchester has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Dead or Alive! GS: Ashley Winchester has gained 2 Combo! GS: Ashley Winchester has completed his action. GS: Scythe Riebaure takes a solid hit from Noeline's Material Adept - Shadows Dance for 136 hit points! GS: Dispel! Hyper and Quick removed! GS: Scythe Riebaure activates Evade bonus! GS: CRITICAL! Scythe Riebaure solidly guards Ashley Winchester's Dead or Alive for 52 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Disease applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure loses 0 THP from Disease!
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
She only sees that emblem for a split second. Ruth's eyes miss little. There are so many things she can no longer unsee. A simple arrangement of colors, a sphere with an upward lance. That should be innocuous. Even as the mysterious man displaces himself in space, the anger, the negative emotions sitrring about the gathered floods her perception as much as that.
Air explodes and ignites around the overdressed, hooded woman without much recourse on her part, the displacement blowing her hood clean back as searing flame licks and consumes. The gray eyes, the dull copper hair. The harsher features, the pointed ears. The military tags hanging off a necklace say her name, as she stands not quite unflinching but underreacting for burning under a potent Symbologist's conjured inferno.
"Brionac." Her gaze lowers, a sad little smile spreading. "Is it in style for young men, now? Wearing that emblem like it's nothing more than a fancy patch for that jacket of yours." She sounds more like she's speaking to herself, than to Scythe. As if convincing herself that's the case. Talks of Crimson Nobles somehow reach her ears as she can feel that buzzing gather in her mind. "The elite of elites among the Congressional Knights... you'd masquerade as one of those while you... do this."
Laughter follows. Pained laughter. "A Crimson Noble, like from fable," her clothing starts to blacken from spreading flames, "descending from the darkness to strike fear in the innocent... hm." She steps out from the shade of the nearby warehouse that has shaded some of her features, and as she steps closer...
Her flesh starts looking a bit paler. The dull copper of her hair seems to have something of a patina applied, rapidly greening. It's about as far as she can 'hold' it. Just one more push, and what's just pushing at the surface will take its leave. One more reason, as she internally seems to reason with herself what she's seeing can't be what it is.
Denial is a stage of grief.
The revolver is lifted again, less with the cold, calculating, legendary marksmanship and something stained and strained alike with emotion as she holds the revolver again and empties the last four shots of the clip.
She holds her composure just enough that if Scythe starts to warp mid-shot, she can correct it.
When she looks up again, he can see a tear going down her face.
"That's... not the first time I've heard that question," she replies ever so belatedly to Scythe's disbelief. She's never had a good answer for it, even where a simple 'yes' ought suffice.
GS: Ruth Pauling has activated a Force Action! GS: Ruth Pauling has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Four Out Of Six Ain't Bad! GS: Ruth Pauling has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
Yulie is almost surprised, too, her eyes widening a little as she manages to land a solid hit with her ring blades. She flinches, then, as he calls her a 'lab rat'... which is when the others hop in.
Yulie can see it, the way everyone comes to her aid - the way Noeline draws attention and draws her sword, Lily sending Dog after Scythe and sending the villagers away(who, by this point, readily agree), Ruth and Ashley unloading their firearms into him...
...She's grateful, but she feels a little ill, at the same time. She knows they've assured her that this kind of thing is what they do, but she still doesn't feel great about dragging them into her mess. But still...
"Everyone... thank you." She murmurs. ...Of course, she isn't out of the woods yet, as Scythe conjures a burst of heated wind. Riesenlied's barrier flickers as it intercepts the spell, protecting her from harm. Her gratitude only increases, at that.
"O-okay..." Yulie says, ducking behind Noeline without complaint as she moves in protectively.
With Riesenlied seeing to Noeline and Lily, Yulie decides to take this opportunity to tend to the others.
"Light of healing, hear my call...!" She calls out, drawing out a Crest Graph and invoking its power. Soft, healing light settles briefly over Ruth and Ashley as she draws on her healing magics.
Ashley asks what they want with her... and Yulie is quiet. Should see say anything? It's then that Ruth says something quite interesting.
"Brionac...? I thought... he was with Odessa?" Yulie repeats, glancing her way in surprise. This is the first she's heard of Brionac... but then again, she probably wouldn't have heard of it.
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Ashley Winchester with Heal! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Ruth Pauling with Heal! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 1 Combo! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
The others have more history with Scythe, but Lily is about to forge some of her own. She hears 'lab rat' and that gets her attention all right. She sees his look at Ruth and that, too, gets her attention.
As Dog is suddenly left bereft of Crimson Noble flesh, she pads back to the ground and growls, looking around for his scent--and then at a snap from Lily the Dog returns to her mistress's side, as Lily steps forward. She recognizes Symbols, but does not know them well enough to try to counter the spell before it goes off--Scythe's inferno crashes into Lily, igniting her jacket and knocking her backward with its concussive force. Dog immediately interposes herself between Lily and Scythe, but a moment later the sorceress has thrown out her hand. "Flame, then. I understand flame."
Her sunglasses melt in the blaze, falling from her face and shattering on the ground to reveal inhuman black sclera. The burns on her arms are hard to spot, but Riesenlied's power puts out the remaining flames wiht its sparkling light. The Ley flows around her, and Lily calls back, "And I'm with you, Riese. Let's take this asshole down."
She looks to Ruth--pained laughter, talking of that emblem. She notices the flood of emotion, and looks in some concern at what may be the source. "Brionac?" Lily wonders. "They were elites... but they disbanded."
This just got a lot more dangerous. Lily makes the calculation in her mind--and decides it's necessary, despite the risk to the town. "-Limiters released-," she invokes in the Ancient Tongue, and begins to rise a few inches from the ground, spectral wings erupting from her back in brilliant angular colors.
"I have an answer to fire," she says, and extends her hands. The temperature drops precipituously, frost gathering on the ground all around her as abrubtly a spear taller than she is erupts from her hands, straight for Scythe's midsection, jagged ice slamming outward.
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Scythe Riebaure with The Grief of the Snake! GS: Lily Keil has gained 1 Combo! GS: Lily Keil assumes the Hero stance! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action. GS: Yulie Ahtreide heals Ruth Pauling! She gains 115 temporary hit points! GS: Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide! GS: Yulie Ahtreide heals Ashley Winchester! He gains 115 temporary hit points! GS: Scythe Riebaure partially evades Lily Keil's The Grief of the Snake for 95 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Mute applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure activates Evade bonus and Arcane Font! GS: Scythe Riebaure solidly guards Ruth Pauling's Four Out Of Six Ain't Bad for 43 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
'... this is rather unseemly behaviour for a Crimson Noble, do you think? You are a disgrace to your name.'
"I'm merely arranging a reunion," Scythe says, with a shake of his head--still, Riesenlied's empathy can pick up something beneath the surface level of annoyance and devil-may-care and egotistical anger. Something has him spooked. The others can see it, ever-so-slightly, in his eyes. "Someone who cares for her sent me to bring her home." But he sees Ashley move, sees him bring that musket in--for a bayonet strike? Scythe can't chance it. The glyph he used against Riesenlied, Noeline, and Yulie flares again, summoning a point-blank blast of superheated air to knock the strike away.
It's not a clean deflection by any means. Even without Lord Blazer's power, Ashley has proven himself strong and skilled. He shoves against the air currents, and the blast sends shrapnel ripping across Scythe's side.
In the next heartbeat, Scythe is behind Noeline, grinning like a razor. "And who might you be, to make such bold claims?" Scythe raises his bloodied blade for another strike--preparing to drive it through that shield of hers. Then his momentum vanishes in an eyeblink; the warlock vanishes as he senses that surge of sorcerous might, only to discover that Noeline's spell doesn't care about his evasive maneuvers. The air around Scythe seems to condense and curdle, and the unholy flame within him starts to dim beneath Duras Drum's might. He stops in his tracks, shoulders bunched, and shudders, as if he'd suddenly been caught in a snowstorm with no coat. The glare he shoots Noeline is venomous.
"You're going to regret that," he growls. The "Crimson Noble" throws his knife at her, and it twirls end over end--only to vanish, and reappear a dozen feet away from her, still flying--and then reappear again, less than a foot away from her back, with all its momentum.
At the same time, Scythe teleports in beside it, alien energies blazing in his eyes. He drives a second knife for her ribs. Then he turns on Ashley. "And you--TAKE THIS!" he roars, clenching a fist. A column of flame roars across the battlefield, like a great, burning spear. It moves with lightning speed, seeking out Ashley Winchester's heart.
Another beacon of sorcerous might ignites. Scythe whips his head to face Lily just as her sunglasses fall off. His eyes widen in surprise, and a dangerous, intrigued smile spreads across his face. "And just what, exactly, are you?" She lunges. He feels the ice forming, channels power through three of those glyphs--the air grows hot, then cold, then hot, then cold--pressure waves wash outwards as the two sorcerers battle with the very elements as their weapons. Lily's spear melts, partway, but it cuts deep into Scythe's torso. He steps forward, drawing himself closer--and the spear starts to crack. Scythe closes the distance between them in a single lunge, and makes to cut Lily's arm open. If he can manage that, he licks the blade clean.
And as if that weren't enough, he vanishes again, reappearing just out of sight behind the town well, beside a cowering villager. He reaches into his coat, comes up with a vial filled with deep crimson fluid. He pops the waxen stopper free, breaking the Symbological seal, and drinks. More blood. More power.
Scythe drops the vial just in time to see Ruth's face in full light. "It is you," he says. "Death's Door." His pupils start to dilate. He can feel his heart hammering against his ribs. "How wrong you are. Brionac lives. And under the command of Odessa, we will fulfill our mission. We will bring order to this madhouse." Another grandiose gesture, this time with the knife--Scythe holds it like he's cutting reality itself, and power gathers around the edge. More of that strange energy flows from the gaps, seeking out Yulie, Riesenlied, and Ruth. "And you--die, Death's Door, and be forgotten!"
GS: Scythe Riebaure has activated a Boss Action! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Noeline with Noblesse Oblige! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure assumes the Hero stance! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ashley Winchester with Red Lance! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 2 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure's Hero stance ends. GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Lily Keil with Deep Drink! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 2 Combo! GS: Recover! Disease removed from Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Riesenlied with Otherworldly Surge! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Otherworldly Surge! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ruth Pauling with Otherworldly Surge! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Scythe Riebaure with The Blood is Life! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 2 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure has completed his action. GS: Ashley Winchester suffers a terrible blow from Scythe Riebaure's Red Lance for 152 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ashley Winchester gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure accepts Scythe Riebaure's The Blood is Life for 0 hit points! GS: Lock State and Surge applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Mighty applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: CRITICAL! Noeline critically guards Scythe Riebaure's Noblesse Oblige for 50 hit points! GS: Noeline activates Guard bonus! GS: Yulie Ahtreide solidly guards Scythe Riebaure's Otherworldly Surge for 47 hit points! GS: Hyper applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Riesenlied takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Otherworldly Surge for 93 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Riesenlied activates Guard bonus and Arcane Font! GS: Ruth Pauling partially guards Scythe Riebaure's Otherworldly Surge for 95 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Ruth Pauling gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Quick applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: CRITICAL! Lily Keil takes a solid hit from Scythe Riebaure's Deep Drink for 179 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lily Keil gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Lily Keil enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
There's a measure of pride from Riesenlied as Noeline redoubles her words, on the topic of the Crimson Noble. In truth, it's in part to unbalance him; he doesn't seem to be the sort to be a calm, cool combatant, so if they can rile them up, perhaps they can seek an advantage...
Still withering a little from the backdraft -- something she only timely protected herself from with a barrier -- and Ashley says he doesn't know why he hates her so much. There's a wince as he draws blood; he asks the salient questions. What does he want with Yulie?
Ruth drops some revelations, however. Brionac... the elite of the elites among the Congressional Knights. And the way she talks -- suggests she was once part of that group. Scythe seems to know her... and that association then makes sense. Were they old war comrades? Or somehow, involved during the war...
Lily knows the unit -- they were disbanded. But clearly, they've still here, and that would mean, as Yulie asks...
"... was Brionac assimilated into Odessa, perhaps? Former elites of a previous war, a revolution of the now..."
Scythe goes after Noeline, and her heart wrenches a little -- as he goes after her with his knife. There's a wince as she moves to act, focusing a spell -- but she's forced to bandon it as reality starts to twist and strange energy flows from the cut he's made from the edge of his blade. Her first instinct is to throw a barrier against it as always, but she realises -- she realises some of the work being done to the energies in the air...
It takes a lot out of her, and she's left gasping for air, but she summons something akin to a counterburst that prevents the worst of the magics from affecting her. Fight the un-Ley with the Ley, as it were.
"She is the Crimson Noble Noeline, and I am Riesenlied, her Crimson Bride and eternal companion," Riesenlied boldly states words that would send her curling up in embarrassment, but combat and tense moments have a way of eliciting people to say the darndest things.
There's a faint crackle of electricity in the air as she takes advantage of that errant energy from Scythe's opening of reality and channels it into power; in a moment's notice, she has her crystal sword out to channel that tear in turn--
"Now if you would please get away from her."
--and BLASTS Scythe with an enormous phantom sword of pure lightning arcing through the very aether.
Still, she's wincing deeply after; perhaps that spell did more to her than she'd like to admit...
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Ley Artes - Lightning Stab! GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Like I _said_," Noeline insists in the background of Ruth's speech, a small figure near the corner of the screen - or at least that's how it feels as she lets herself be petulant for a few seconds longer, now that she's allowed her sorcery to fill the space around her. "Crimson Nobles are hardly creatures out of fable. You are just looking in quite the wrong direction."
The stages of irony involved here, especially given the way she started out calling herself a Crimson Noble and then somehow managed to become an honorary one along the way, are not lost on her. But if Marivel is any indication, the title also carries with it a hereditary level of swagger and resistance to shame.
She never got to visit Slayheim. Now, she never will. There are not many places she can say that of, she thinks quietly to herself as she glances at the man's coat of arms. She can't say she's terribly surprised. When all you know is fighting, you naturally drift towards groups that can promise that. Privately, she hopes that the remnants of the Photosphere are doing alright. How many of them might have ended up with Odessa?
"... I am the real thing," Noeline claims with a solemn look on her face. Normally, she might hedge her bets and say she's only 'as real as it gets', or crack a grin while she says it - but after an attempted kidnapping, she does not feel quite as charitable as usual. "A Crimson Noble, as christened by Marivel Armitage. And, believe me, of all the things I do regret, I doubt very much that this will be one of them."
She braces as Scythe's dagger first warps, fully expecting the man to use the same disorienting tactics he's already shown in attacking the rest of the group. The way she tenses, she is almost expecting him to appear behind her, and in that respect the entirely frontal assault almost does its job. But she shares two sets of senses, and has reflexes that are quite literally not human - and while the knife does catch home enough to puncture her armor and graze her, there's enough time to try to grab the man's wrist and wrench him away.
She's left scoffing somewhere between laughter and amazement - with a great deal of affection and pride for good measure - as Riesenlied comes down on Scythe like a ton of bricks. She can't resist a rather cocksure smirk, even though the sensation over her link makes her concerned for Riesenlied as she can feel the other Hyadean flag from the effort. "As my dear Bride says..."
Her sword is raised again in the same manner as before, but this time rippling with a greater energy. This time, it is no wave - the space around them positively reverberates with Duras Drum's power, the air oppressively heavy as the light seems to dim grabbing at the man to slow him down. The sorcery almost grabs at his limbs, seeking to pull Scythe into place and bind him.
GS: Noeline has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Material Adept - De Le Metalica! GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo! GS: Noeline has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
If Ruth so much as cranes her neck anywhere else, she can watch and take in some unforgettable sights. The Etheric pressure of which she has never felt anything like from Lily. The life-sustaining warmth of the Ley, felt all the way over here from Riesenlied even when not targeted by it. The modicum of trust Yulie has become able to spare someone who frightened and hurt her with the help of curative power. The simple resolve and composure of a man battling an even greater demon from the inside.
Scythe, for someone she wants to dismiss as a young poseur, provides too much truth in his existence to her denial. Throes of pain from the flames as Yulie helps put them out occasionally tug her out of the miasma of her own feelings. His unnatural warping of space. The very colors in his eyes, the sheer otherworldly energies. He is no 'fake,' in so far as being a member of Brionac goes.
'Brionac lives,' he shatters that illusion with those words, and Ruth's eyes shut. "No," her voice is too soft, right hand to her heart. The beads of her rosary noisily pull more taught around her forearm. When her mouth opens next, there are fangs. Her gloves feel ever tight.
Otherworldly power races out, enveloping 'Death's Door.' It swirls and obscures her, and the colors go across a cool hue gradient into a swirling mist of blackish, purple miasma filled with...
Guilt. Shame. Regret. Despair.
...That's not Scythe's power.
That's Malevolence, and a kind not unfamiliar to at least a few here.
Raindrops start to strike against the roof of the makeshift warehouse from what was once a clear day. Some of it leaks through cracks, each one leaving behind a puff of discordant melancholy... as the otherworldly power swirls and parts to an enormous silhouette...
And a piercing, shrieking hiss as a singular enormous leathery wing swings out, redirecting some of the collective power of that otherworldly blast as it's aimed. A drawn rifle in both now ungloved hands - warped into an unfamiliar but not completely dissimilar shape from the infamous rifle of Death's Door - has its bayonet blade kick up sparks against the ground in a horrible grind.
It is swung upward in a diagonal cut going for across Scythe's bare upper torso, the figure in question more clearly revealing their features. Gray stone-like skin, green moss-colored hair. Four horns, more angled back. Glowing purple eyes. A flicking, serpentine tongue. The aforementioned single wing on her right. An overly lengthy tail ending in a hollow barbed outline of a heart further sweeping across the ground of the warehouse as it snaps back up the revolver. Elongated clawed feet. Enormously well-built, and yet somehow seeming withered at the same time within an overcoat that remains too large.
Basically... a monster. (A Hellion, specifically a gargoyle. Most would agree that's still 'a monster.')
"The war is over!" That's Ruth's voice. That's her - her facial features are (oddly) a bit softer but that's her. Tears are still going down her face. "Stop... stop dragging everyone into this," her heart races. Guilt. "Did that heartless monster not... kill enough?" Pulsing. Her guilt about how many Death's Door has killed, clashing against equal guilt she didn't kill enough. Two contradictory feelings held as true, giving form to her inner demons. "I'm... I'm not that monster, any more... but you know... I see your fear."
It's tantalizing. That flip-flop of personality. That kind, empathic (if odd) woman who is such a great shoulder to cry on, to the hint of something sadistic. One who promised herself to never again be numb to the pain of others. "Your nightmares... tell me, will I find good company among them...?" Her tongue flicks, and that smile softens and not in a kind way. "I have many neighbors behind my eyes."
GS: Ruth Pauling has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Scarring Blow! GS: Ruth Pauling has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ruth Pauling has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
"A... a reunion?" Yulie repeats, shaking her head. "I... don't know who you're talking about. If they really cared, they wouldn't send someone like you after me."
...It's a little harsher than she anticipated, but it's completely understandable in the moment. She looks toward Lily, then, when she explains that Brionac was an elite group... but Scythe corrects her, stating that they live - assimilated into Odessa, as Riesenlied states.
"How could... they bring about any order...?" Yulie asks, shaking her head. She draws out her other two rings, then as Scythe unleashes a flood of strange, otherworldly energy. The three rings float in front of her in a circle, forming a sorcerous barrier to intercept the flood of energy. The flood parts around her, but the feedback causes Yulie to wince. She can't defend herself like that the whole time... there's only so much she can take.
And then... Riesenlied makes a declaration!
"Aw... that's so sweet..." Yulie gasps, as Riesenlied declares her Noeline's Crimson Bride. It's a very heartwarming scene! But she manages to take her eyes off of that just long enough to hurry over to Ashley.
"Um... Ashley, if you're okay with it... I can tune up your ARM a little. It's only temporary, but..." She murmurs, holding out her hands. If he agrees, then, after a moment of concentration, a silver light - with a distinct hint of nanomachines to those who can detect it - flows into his arm. Like she said, it's only temporary, for an ARM not composed of nanomachines - but the effects are keenly noticeable in the form of a greatly improved power output, but modulated so as to not be uncontrollable.
This is another aspect of the power she was given - one far more subtle than the Material Drives, but no less powerful in its capabilities.
But in the process, she's taken her eyes off of someone that she probably shouldn't have. She whirls about, looking in surprise as she feels a surge of familiar Malevolence. Ruth's. She's transformed. It's something of a relief that she still seems to be focused on Scythe... but it's still concerning.
"Miss... Miss Ruth! Please! Be careful! Remember where you are...!" Yulie pleads, concerned.
GS: Scythe Riebaure takes a solid hit from Riesenlied's Ley Artes - Lightning Stab for 144 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Lock State removed! GS: Scythe Riebaure activates Arcane Font! GS: Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Noeline's Material Adept - De Le Metalica for 152 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Hyper, Mighty, and Quick removed! GS: Yulie Ahtreide spends 1 Combo on Reload! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Ashley Winchester with Enhancement Protocol! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 1 Combo! GS: Blitz expired! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action. GS: Ashley Winchester accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Enhancement Protocol for 0 hit points! GS: Amplify and Hyper applied to Ashley Winchester! GS: Ashley Winchester activates Yulie Ahtreide's Reload!!
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Brionac. The name pings something at the back of the Musketeer's mind, which is sadly a place that is also dealing with something else entirely at the moment. Too much to deal with in the present to fully process the fact that a bunch of 'heroes' from the past have inexplicably returned to the battlefield at the behesst of one Vinsfeld Rhadamanthys. He reflects, passingly, that Scythe is too young to have been a member at the time of the war, but maybe that's just one of the Crimson Noble privileges he's abusing rampantly?
More pressingly, there is a wave of flame tearing towards him, a blast of supernatural fire aimed squarely at the Musketeer's heart.
It catches him there, setting the young man ablaze. His Bayonet is all that stands between Ashley Winchester and being turned into a pile of so much ash.
Or...
So it would seem to the outside observer, anyway.
In truth, his body is attuned to a far greater blaze, forced and expected to contain a fire that could consume the entire world. This flame scorches his skin and turns his shirt to ash and char, but...
Ashley truly hopes that the lack of pain is only because his nerves have been flash-fried. In fact, it's likely due entirely to Yulie's healing magic settling on his body, mending his flesh and closing his wounds... But there is still a mote of fear at the back of his mind that it's the fault of something more.
The flame fades, Ashley fixes Scythe with a glare as what's left of his shirt flutters away in the breeze. His physique is more cut than it once was, courtesy of personal training sessions with the hero of Slayheim himself. "...What Yulie said. If that person really wants to see her again, he can come do it himself. Sending someone who doesn't even bother to ask before putting hands on a lady is just impolite if nothing else!"
Yulie offers to do... something to the Bayonet. Ashley gives her a curious look but ultimately nods, "Sure! I appreciate the help-- ah."
Ashley... has no idea what Yulie does to his ARM, and the effect isn't something he notices until he turns and fires a canister over Scythe's way.
Normally, this one would only be augmented by the sorcery he'd acquired on Lunar, but this time the freezing canister does so much more. The shot sails towards the Crimson Noble, bursting a moment before impact into a haze of cryogenic vapor... That soon condenses into a veritable glacier right overtop of Scythe's head.
Best move out of the way, or else...!
GS: Ashley Winchester has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Hi-Canister - Frigid Coffin! GS: Ashley Winchester has gained 1 Combo! GS: Ashley Winchester has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily and Scythe clash, their spells roaring against one another--pressure whips her hair back as she stretches forth her hands to bring her ice forward. He draws himself closer as her spear cuts into him, and then in a single lunge he's in melee, where she's less able to defend. He slashes forth, and cuts straight through the stiff material of her jacket, spraying blood on the ground and getting quite a bit on his blade. From within the sleeve her arm glows blue from circuitry that is mostly hidden, and she hisses in either pain or irritation--it could be hard to tell which.
"I'm a Black Wolf," Lily answers Scythe at the question of what she is, not so thrown this time as when Juno said it. "Give my regards to Colonel Keil."
"Odessa's order is misguided. I won't let you have your way." Death's Door... Lily looks in some alarm to Ruth, and Dog starts barking immediately, wary of the Hellion revealed. She doesn't attack--but she moves to shield Lily from her at that wave of emotion.
But Scythe is next to a villager... He's cutting reality, somehow. She isn't used to other people pulling that kind of trick. Wha tare those strange energies in his eyes?
"Yulie's right. I don't much approve of forced 'reunions'." For her part, though, Lily adopts a changed stance, pulling her knife from its sheath and adopting a blade-out, point-down motion with it as the villager picks up and flees. This gives Lily the opening she needs.
She can't quite put a finger on what Yulie's power is like--but she smiles at Riesenlied's assertion. She rushes forward, and suddenly black-and-violet power collects on her knife, turning it from a simple knife to a long, deadly-curved sword made up of disintegrating power. She swings it from beneath and upward, using the arc of her arm as a slash, and a burst of light explodes off of it, seeking to steal his enchantments for herself.
"Haah--!"
GS: Lily Keil has activated a Force Action! GS: Lily Keil enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Lily Keil has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Eclipse! GS: Lily Keil enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Noeline affirms the existence of real Crimson Nobles -- and how they aren't just a species, but a title. Yes, it's how one acts that in Marivel's mind makes one a Crimson Noble too, she once said; it's something Riesenlied has also taken to heart, not just for her sake, but her own species as well.
But then she pauses, as she senses a familiar miasma she's quite vulnerable to -- Malevolence?! There's a gasp, but she looks-- and it's coming from Ruth. A wing pierces out with a swing, and rain falls... guilt, shame, regret, despair... she withdraws Death's Door, that infamous rifle... and slashes at Scythe with a bayonet.
"Ruth..." Riesenlied whispers. Yet... despite her monstrous appearance -- she can still sense her deep inside. For all her monstrous visage, all she can think about is how deep and pervasive her guilt is...
Yulie pleads for her to remember who she is. "That is right... we are here with you, Miss Pauling."
A moment later, she senses something inside Ashley for a moment -- something truly spine-chilling; it's passed in a moment, however, and she blinks once -- and looks back towards Ruth, wincing again.
Exerting herself against that rip was too much... and the Malevolence... she knows it isn't Ruth's fault. "Noeline--" she gasps once, exhausted. "Sorry, right now, this is a bit much..." She has faith in the others, though, that they'll see this through.
GS: Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Ruth Pauling's Scarring Blow for 80 hit points! GS: Misery inflicts a random effect! Disrupt applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Lily Keil's Eclipse for 137 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Surge removed! GS: Mighty applied to Lily Keil! GS: Scythe Riebaure activates Arcane Font! GS: Scythe Riebaure's Slow Ward prevents an effect! GS: Scythe Riebaure solidly guards Ashley Winchester's Hi-Canister - Frigid Coffin for 67 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Delay applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure activates Guard bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Malevolence flares across Noeline's vision, a mixture of her own perception and Riesenlied's highly attuned senses. It is almost blinding, and enough to send her reeling a little to one side before her attention is tugged towards Ruth - or whatever the woman counts as right at this moment. 'Lucid' is the first answer to that question, and remarkably so, enough to make Noeline's eyebrows shoot upwards.
There are many questions that could be raised in light of what she says, and part of Noeline's mind shelves them away for the future; she can feel how much the Malevolence is eating at Riesenlied's state of mind, and hisses softly under her breath, pulling her sword from the ground and letting it dissipate in her hands to melt back into her.
Indecision wars for a moment as she remains tensed where she is; they are technically meant to be protecting Yulie here. But loyalty and concern for Riesenlied win out, and without really recognizing she's moved she is already at Riesenlied's side. "Lily!" she calls, a whole sentence behind that word; her trust in the Black Wolves is more or less absolute, and she nods a little as she implies she's leaving things to her.
For a moment, she looks back at Scythe, her mouth drawn into a line. "... I hope you will reconsider." Exactly what, she doesn't know - his stance? his associations? his organization? - and there is not a great deal of hope behind it. Still, she says it anyway, because it feels like it's something she ought to say. There are only so many Crimson Nobles in this world, even self-proclaimed ones.
Then, her head is down and she's moving, getting Riesenlied as clear away from the source of the pressure as she can.
GS: Scythe Riebaure has adjusted their boss level for 4 opponents! GS: Scythe Riebaure has activated a Boss Action!
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
For a moment, Scythe struggles against his own vanity. "Assimilated? We've simply found new leadership. Leadership that we deserve--not what that Union rabble would have forced upon Celesti." He grins viciously at Ruth, pointing the knife-blade at her. "You were here to help these... benighted souls. Do you know what a delicious irony it is to see her here, attempting to aid you? Do you know how many she's killed? It would take the seven seas to wash her clean of blood!"
But Riesenlied has something else to say, something that interrupts Scythe's mockery. "Crimson Bride, now, my. Had I any idea I was treating with a fellow Noble, then--"
Lightning rips through the air, sends Scythe jerking back like a puppet on trembling strings. As his limbs twist, he looks at Noeline, hears her words. "Armitage," he hisses. "Your Progenitor?!"
But it's already too late. Noeline's sorcery seizes upon him. Shadows wrap around him, holding him in place--reaching into liminal space, even, to stop him from breaking free. "But I acknowledge you, Crimson Noble... Crimson Bride." A compliment? Was that a compliment?
But something else seizes Scythe's attention. Even as he struggles, he stares at Death's Door--or the entity she's become. He knows that stench. He first ran into it several weeks ago, a strange sorcerous phenomenon that animated rocks and moss and twisted creatures into mockeries of themselves. And here, it's taken one of the greatest heroes of the Celesti Civil War. Scythe doesn't know whether to scream in terror or cackle with glee at the challenge she presents--the glory he can gain if he kills her, or takes her back in spatial chains. The emotions meet halfway, entangle. Yulie's questions are more than legitimate--she has every right to demand to know who sent him--but for now, they go unanswered.
"Hah," Scythe says. "Hah hah--" He laughs, even as his eyes widen, and fixate on Ruth. "W--what are you now, Death's Door? A... a good Nisanite, and... and what else?!" Despite himself, he trips over the words. He thrashes against Noeline's bindings. Eldritch light pours from his eyes. In a single, mighty surge, he tears himself free, but it's too late. Ruth's blade carves yet another gouge into his chest, this one tainted with Malevolent energy. At the same time, Lily's blade comes arcing in, past Ruth, and rips across the Crimson Noble with its terrible, draining might. The power Lily draws from him feels... wrong. There's the energies of a normal sorcerer, yes, but the 'core' doesn't feel like anything Marivel calls upon. It feels wrong, like the space-warping power he threw at Riesenlied before. She and Noeline have ample time to escape.
Above, the glacier takes shape, and falls. It crashes into the ground, shatters into hundreds of shards. Is Scythe gone?
No.
"Do you think you can scare me?" says Scythe, from just behind Ashley. His voice sounds as ragged as he looks. He has a knife in each hand, and drives them towards the Musketeer in vicious strikes, bringing an old Celesti school of knife-fighting to bear. He makes no attempt to drink his blood. "Do you think either of you can surpass the fear my heart can make?!"
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Space begins to warp. Yulie and Lily might find themselves in the centers of two distortions--places where spacetime seems stretched, somehow, like they could run forever and go absolutely nowhere. Scythe clenches his fingers and twists and pulls them apart, as if he were working with taffy. Then he slams both hands together, and a horrible shudder echoes through reality. Crushing force comes to bear against Lily and Yulie--lesser for Yulie, of course, because someone still wants her alive.
"AS FOR YOU!" Scythe roars, throwing his hands open. Symbols blaze along his arms, from the backs of his hands to the inner curves of his biceps. The air grows intolerably hot, and tendrils of flame start to erupt from the ground, surrounding Ruth like the petals of a blooming flower. They curl inwards, spinning around and blazing brilliantly. "Suffer in endless torment! Death Blossom!"
The flower blooms. In doing so, it engulfs the Hellion with cataclysmic, blazing power. The very earth catches flame. Some of it comes dangerously close to several nearby buildings, including the warehouse the Outreach just started to stock.
GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ashley Winchester with Noblesse Oblige! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure assumes the Hero stance! GS: Scythe Riebaure spends 1 Combo on Link! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Lily Keil with Spatial Chains! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Spatial Chains! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure has launched an attack Link! GS: Delay expired! GS: Scythe Riebaure spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Lily Keil with Spatial Crush! GS: Scythe Riebaure has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Spatial Crush! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Delay! Attack weakened! GS: CRITICAL! Ashley Winchester suffers a terrible blow from Scythe Riebaure's Noblesse Oblige for 138 hit points! GS: Quick applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Ashley Winchester enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Yulie Ahtreide suffers a terrible blow from Scythe Riebaure's Spatial Chains for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Yulie Ahtreide gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Drowsy applied to Yulie Ahtreide! GS: Yulie Ahtreide enters CONDITION GREEN!! GS: Yulie Ahtreide partially guards Scythe Riebaure's Spatial Crush for 144 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Yulie Ahtreide gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Lily Keil takes a glancing hit from Scythe Riebaure's Spatial Chains for 0 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lily Keil gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Drowsy applied to Lily Keil! GS: Lily Keil activates Evade bonus and Arcane Font! GS: Lily Keil solidly guards Scythe Riebaure's Spatial Crush for 100 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lily Keil gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Lily Keil activates Arcane Font! GS: Scythe Riebaure spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: MYSTIC ARTE! Scythe Riebaure has attacked Ruth Pauling with Death Blossom! GS: Scythe Riebaure has gained 1 Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure has completed his action. GS: Ruth Pauling suffers a terrible blow from Scythe Riebaure's Death Blossom for 321 hit points! GS: Hyper and Quick applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Ruth Pauling enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
It is absolutely not Ashley's day, at least where knives are concerned. This is, he figures, his comeuppance for that item crash the other day. He has expended too much knifergy, and has become vulnerable to them as a result. To wit, Scythe's blades find perhaps too much purchase, almost as though this is what happens when all of your armor is burnt off and you're trying to fend off two knives with a greatsword because you can't use the other thing to push the knifejerk away without setting the town on fire. By the time Scythe teleports away, the Musketeer's torso is a star chart of bloody lines.
Inexplicably, impossibly, losing all that blood still leaves the Musketeer standing upright. As if his body were animated by something more than mere blood.
Almost as though... he were fighting, a man possessed...
Or maybe it's that he's simply being fueled by burning something extremely abundant in the local environment right now. Lord Blazer is a monster which devours negative emotions, after all, and right over there...
Right over there is a Hellion...
Or maybe he's just built 0.5 Brads tough! Maybe it's all the training he's put in. Yeah, that's definitely it. Ashley winces as Scythe warps away, giving Ashley the time and space he needs to reach to his belt and drive the crystalline canister stored there into the Bayonet's breachloader. Light, pure and blue, shines from within the oversized rifle like a pharos blazing across the sea. "Irony or not, misplaced charity or not, it doesn't matter! At least she's doing something to help real people! Not just the people and the nation that someone imagines exists somewhere in the future!" Ashley levels his ARM at Scythe, braces his bloody form as best he can, and pulls the trigger.
A column of azure light lances out at the Crimson Noble, painting the ruined wasteland of Celesti in the colors of a crystal clear sky for the briefest of instants before vanishing into the horizon...!
GS: Ashley Winchester has activated a Force Action! GS: Ashley Winchester has activated a Force Action! GS: Ashley Winchester spends 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Ashley Winchester has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Rising Nova! GS: Ashley Winchester has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
Yulie frowns a little as Scythe jeers at Ruth. ...But it's not like she can say he's wrong, either. She knows what Ruth has done, she's not about to excuse it. But...
"...She's trying to help. That means something..." Yulie murmurs. Her question ends up going unanswered. But she supposes it makes sense, considering the distraction in front of him.
"Be safe, you two...!" Yulie urges, as Noeline aids Riesenlied's retreat. She turns her attention back to Scythe just as space begins to distort - manipulated to Scythe's whims. With a gasp of shock Yulie generates her barrier once more as he sends the spatial distortions crashing into her and Lily. Her barrier holds up only briefly underneath the strain, shattering like glass and sending her collapsing to the floor.
"I-I'm... I'm still okay..." Yulie mutters, picking herself up to her feet with some effort and taking a moment to brush off her skirt. "Miss Lily...?"
Yulie takes a deep breath. ...They're all doing this for her sake. She has to try and help, as much as she can.
""Everyone... hold on! May Calucion's blessings be your guide..." Yulie murmurs, clasping her holy symbol tight in both hands in front of her as she whispers a prayer. A soft, golden light emanates from her position, offering them whatever assistance she can muster, in whatever form it takes...
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Ruth Pauling with Paladienne's Prayer! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Lily Keil with Paladienne's Prayer! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Ashley Winchester with Paladienne's Prayer! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 1 Combo! GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action. GS: Ashley Winchester accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Paladienne's Prayer for 0 hit points! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Amplify, Hyper, and Lock State applied to Ashley Winchester! GS: Lily Keil accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Paladienne's Prayer for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Drowsy removed! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Amplify and Lock State applied to Lily Keil!
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
What Noeline observes is something that should frighten to the core - Ruth is lousy with Malevolence, and she is by appearances lucid enough to acknowledge Scythe and what he just said at minimum. Yulie pleads that she remembers where she is, and guilt creeps up to make a feeble attempt to bring a leash to a racing heart that pumps more of that venom of the soul through her. A flinch, at that and Scythe's admonishment.
He speaks unvarnished truth. Those who went to Siddim Canyon saw a vile slice of the life of 'Death's Door' - one who slaughtered innocent people, by the admission of her own inner regrets. That she could ever think she's anything other than a monster now is... a debate that will be reignited countless times for as long as she blights the scars of Zoara.
What else is she? The single wing is a culturally important detail to Nisan. The Granasian rosary around her right forearm, stretched to the limits of its elasticity, is a contradiction to that. Or is it the wing, that is? She doesn't have an answer. She's had a harder time answering that since she was stood up to at Halim.
"He's so young," she whispers to herself as Scythe challenges as to whether or not she can scare him, as if horrifying herself with this fact. The youth, the feeling of invincibility, having discovered some talent, some ability, some circumstance. "Why?" Even as Riese voices her support for her, she starts to curl into herself as associated memories of fights with the Brionac of the past flood in. A near-miss with the Baron of Gore bearing down her...
Space warps, to her eyes, pulling her out of replaying those scenes. Yulie and Lily (Yulie, who radiates more heightened emotion on average, tugs her strings a bit more) hold their own to the spatial rending and chains, and Scythe bears down upon her with a roar as she looks up.
Whatever she says is drowned out by flames. Flames of equal purity of purpose but impurity of origin, powered through an immensely talented Symbologist engulf her. The fire is lit, twisting, consuming all within the blossom of what could be her funeral pyre.
To the souls of those wronged, this may be the greatest act of good Scythe may perform. There is naught but the cacophony of crackling, roaring flame that would consume all until naught remains...
...And the heavy pouring of rain, underneath a sky that shouldn't have any. It builds to a squall, and some of the roofing collapses as it starts to flood into the warehouse. Guild. Shame. Regret. Despair. It floods, and this is officially a Minimum One Oracle Bad Feels Alarm.
It splashes into the blooming pyre, otherworldly power and emotional discord forming smoky, purple-black mist. In the waves of flooding rainwater that pour down into there, the only detail that can be clearly made out are two glowing purple eyes.
Rock-gray skin is molten under there, her outfit singed at the ends but revealing little more of what's underneath, Malevolent smoke rising as the only thing that holds her together is in her negative emotions. Tears streak down her face as more of the rainwater splashes along her, and she is rapidly moving to close that space between them. This rainwater might help put out the fire, but it leaves its own problems in their wake.
Rifle in hand, she thrusts that blade straight into Scythe - attempting to run him right through, and hold him up. Her arms shake. It takes all her courage to look up to him. In the eyes. And... smile, gently.
"It's all right to be scared." Embers fall off her strands of hair, eldritch fire having won out the clash of elemental forces... and a bitter laugh. "You weren't there... you don't want to go there." She tries to lift it up a bit more, if she holds him there. "I'll take you there," she abruptly screams in anger.
GS: Ruth Pauling has activated a Force Action! GS: Ruth Pauling has activated a Force Action! GS: Ruth Pauling accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Paladienne's Prayer for 0 hit points! GS: Pray grants a random effect! Blitz, Lock State, and Surge applied to Ruth Pauling! GS: Ruth Pauling spends 1 Combo on Poison! GS: Ruth Pauling has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Scars of Celesti! GS: Ruth Pauling has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Ashley Winchester's Rising Nova for 269 hit points! GS: Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Ruth Pauling's Scars of Celesti for 130 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Dispel! Hyper and Quick removed! GS: Disease, Disrupt, and Poison applied to Scythe Riebaure! GS: Scythe Riebaure loses 0 THP from Disease!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lily looks sharply to Riesenlied--but Noeline is getting her out, so Lily will handle matters as Noeline has entrusted her. "Got it."
Can they? Not the point. They must.
"A soldier is a soldier," Lily says to Scythe, impassive regarding the blood that must be on Ruth's hands--for now, at least. Perhaps it will matter later. Maybe sooner than later, given the transformation she's just undergone, but Lily fights one battle at a time.
Soon... The power Lily drains feels wrong--but Lily's power is already wrong. It should alarm her greatly, the energy in this sorcery, its reality-warping power. It should be a problem. But instead she simply looks down at herself and examines the magic thoughtfully, considering the taste, the texture--the 'feeling' of it. "...You're strange," she says, and can't quite put her finger on why. Something to think about.
She gets a more and less direct experience of that power a moment later--space begins to warp, and reality stretches around Lily, narrowing her eyes as she notices the distance increasing and increasing. She starts to channel some kind of power herself--but then Scythe tears that space apart, and crushing force slams against her. A black-and-violet barrier of energy crackles into existence where the crushing force is hardest, eating away at it and devouring part of that energy before it hits her, though enough hits that she's still knocked from her feet and to one knee for a moment.
"Tch," she says. "Space magic..."
Yulie asks after her, and Lily from the ground looks up. "I'm fine," Lily answers, and while to look at her this obviously isn't true--she's bloody and battered to be sure--she sounds sure of herself. That soft, golden light envelops Lily a moment later, drawing away the fatigue that comes of the strange space and making her feel alert, amplified. The strange circuits at her collar glow more brightly.
"...A flower of death. Pretty." She rises to her feet, and Dog barks at her side, growling Scythe's way... but not trusting Ruth once more. Lily notices the fire and water clash, she noties Ruth's smile. This is alarming--for a moment, the calculation in Lily's mind screams for the obvious: destroy both monsters before they can harm anyone else. The enemy must be neutralized.
But Lily grits her teeth and cuts off that particular rush of power. "No--"
The sorceress charges up with her knife instead, and swings it out snicker-snack, sharp as anything to drive down into his back as Ruth holds his attention. "Bring order to Hell."
GS: Lily Keil has activated a Force Action! GS: Lily Keil spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling! GS: Formation! Lily Keil has attacked Scythe Riebaure with Black Wolf's Claw! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Scythe Riebaure suffers a terrible blow from Lily Keil's Black Wolf's Claw for 300 hit points! GS: Reaction switch bonus! Scythe Riebaure gains 1 additional Combo! GS: Scythe Riebaure has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Scythe Riebaure has posed.
Scythe sags visibly after that last spell--he reaches up to press a hand to his bloodied torso, and then reaches for another vial. "So certain," the Crimson Noble says, as Ashley declares his convictions. "I'll be sure to have them engraved on your tombstone." It's a bluff. Scythe has burned through more of his reserves than he anticipated. He has one more dose of blood left--
And Ashley pulls the trigger. Scythe twists out of the way, turning a direct hit into a glancing one. Instead of burning clean through his torso, the beam rakes across his upper arm. The vial shatters in Scythe's hand. He screams in pain.
And then Ruth is upon him. The bayonet catches his side, punching through flesh, and his jacket--it's not the horrific gut wound Ruth might've been hoping for, but she hefts him off his feet, holds him into the air. In a heartbeat, the cocky Crimson Noble facade evaporates. It's like tasting Ashley's blood all over again--that feeling of helplessness, of terror, of facing something alien and deadly. "I--" Scythe chokes out, blood dripping down his torso. "You won't--"
Ruth shakes him like a dog shaking a toy. Another scream tears from his throat. He grips the rifle's barrel with trembling fingers, shoves hard, pushes himself off the bayonet...
And right into Lily's strike. The knife hits home. Scythe shudders, coughs, spits blood. His eyes dart sideways, looking at Lily with equal parts fear and rage and admiration. "Well played," he chokes out. Reality twists. In a heartbeat, Scythe is gone.
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.
...It's over. Ashley, Ruth, and Lily force Scythe into a retreat. Yulie assumes it's a retreat, anyway, but she can't help but look over her shoulder as if half-expecting him to make one last attempt. But he doesn't and eventually the adrenaline leaves her and she sinks to her knees, sore and exhausted. She looks up, then, at Ruth.
"Miss Ruth, it's..." She was about to say 'it's okay', but... is it really? ...No, probably not. "He's gone. Please come back to us..."
That plea is all she can do. She can't purify - she can only make an attempt to reach out to Ruth herself.
She thinks back to Scythe, then, and what he is was after. A reunion, though she's not too sure about the truthfulness of that, but also the only reason she can think of why Odessa - Brionac - might want her.
...This settlement, come to think... it's not too far from the Great Stairway, isn't it? And beyond that, is...
Yulie's expression darkens, just a little.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Scythe disappears. For a hot minute, when Ruth whirls around to look at the gathered, there's a wild, dangerous look in her eyes. Distress is distress, fear is fear, pain is pain. There is no such thing as an IFF system when it comes to these sensations that drive and entice her. The same instinct that draws her to people hurt and in need is the exact same that just feasts on exacerbating it.
Hellions are creatures of contradiction - and it's when Yulie speaks with that quiet, tired plea, the single-winged gargoyle comes down to a kneel. Her tail wraps around the shaft of the transformed rifle... and, gently, the butt of it sits down on the ground. The rain doesn't subside immediately.
Lily's logic and instincts may not be wrong. They have all seen the damage Hellions powerful and/or 'fortunate' enough to be lucid as their Malevolent shades can do, when they put their mind to it. (It's more accurate to say 'when they don't put their minds to something other than whatever their negative emotion-driven whims and obsessions compel them to do.')
"I'm sorry." She wants to say two separate things, apologetic but for completely different and contradictory reasons. I'm sorry I've hurt so many people. I'm sorry I didn't hurt enough people.
That she is apologetic at all and hasn't started pointing her rifle at them is a plus, though her right hand reasserting her grip over the end of her tail might be a bit ominous in whatever reflex or thought she might be resisting doing.
She tilts her head downwards. Away from the lovers, from an Ashley who is a real eye-catcher, from the powers and patterns Lily has going around her, and especially Yulie towards a now stagnant puddle of Malevolent rainwater she herself is kneeling in. She still flicks out that tongue every so often, curling her wing around herself as if to try and hide her face entirely but never quite getting there.
There are no other words for what happened.