2021-11-08: Link to the Past

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<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    The Drifters have arrived at the bottom of the Keqili Forest Temple -- a holy ground suffused by the very presence of the Ley, where not one, for two altars to the Guardians important to them exist:

    One, a shrine to the Guardian of Life, Odoryuk. As is befitting the usual image of the Guardian to the Fereshte, it is depicted as a unicorn with blue-white butterfly wings...

    The other, the Guardian of Illusion, Duras Drum. Depicted as a powerful, bipedal insectoid warrior carrying blades on his hands.

    A short and fanciful battle with the Poe sisters occurred; one of the residual phantasms of the temple from long past, who speak of the importance of both Guardians: to depict the many illusions in life, the many facets and masks that one wears. And upon the battle's climax...

    In an impressive clash of colours, the Poe-manifestation erupts into little more than sparkles and confetti. The distinct laughter of children can be heard in the wind, then disappears, as if no more than a distant memory.

    There is silence and peace for a moment... then--

    Aah!

    The Poe's sudden yelp accompanies a violent spark as the disruption in the Ley concentrates; two figures appear at the exit to the inner chamber. They are...

<Pose Tracker> Leehalt Alcaste has posed.

One of them comes wearing white robes. They cover him head to toe; the exception is his hands and face. The skin there is a sickly shade of grey -- human, but the sort of shade that speaks of ill health. His hair is long and black, but stringy. He looks to be in his forties or fifties, a face that is lined and hardened. His eyes are dark, and he glances about them for a moment.

"Asgard," Leehalt Alcaste says, "come."

He steps into the room. His hands vanish into the sleeves of his robes; not visible as he stands there, looking over them all, and then looking at two altars. Two altars to two Guardians, great in statute, and hidden away here.

"We have business with these," the Prophet says. Then, he issues a single command: "Leave."

He waits, expectantly, like this group should do exactly that.

<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.


The footsteps thud against the ancient chamber, shaking its ancient stonework, which trembles with a small release of dust and debris from the ceiling every time he does from the sheer weight.

The Golem stands a massive four and a half sharls high, swathed in a trenchcoat that may make him seem reminiscent of Boomerang, save that his is closed and buttoned. It's movements stilted, as if it were more armor than apparel.

"Yes, Master." He shadows the other figure like an obedient hound. And yet he does not overshadow him regardless of his height and weight.

Asgard knows his master's power. And he respects it.

The Golem is looking momentarily at the altars, as their objective.

Until he sees the intruders.

And then his attention is solely focused upon them, many of whom he recognizes

He does not move any longer after that. Like a Hound on a leash, waiting for a command. He recognizes many of them, and he finds this tingle in his circuits thinking about...

... what happens next. When the leash is slipped, and he is given leave to do...

... what he wants to do, more than anything else in the world.

Despite himself, the Golem clenches a fist, a slight spark of blue dancing over his form.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied is breathing with light difficulty after the exertion from the unexpected battle with the Poes; the appearance of two more intruders to the inner sanctum of the Keqili is the last thing she expected, let alone someone she recognised from the last attempt they had on the shrines of the Guardian--

    "L-Leehalt..." she whispers, "... and... Asgard!"

    She slumps a little on her wheelchair, and redoubles herself to pull her form into something vaguely resembling fighting-fit. This isn't good... the excursion through the Temple already tired her out.

    He states that they have business with the altars. A pause.

    "The Ley here is unstable enough as it is... even if I were to let you, something unusual or terrible could happen!" Riesenlied urges. "And..."

    She bites her lip. "These are the shrines of the Keqili Tribe... I cannot just abandon them! Nor will I let you do as you please to them. They have suffered enough."

    Her look becomes more conflicted as she glances to Asgard, knowing that the relationship between him and Leehalt is not exactly... on even ground. "Asgard, please, listen to us!"

    Even as she urges, her heart's already sinking; she knows words alone can't reach the Golem as he is right now -- and as such, energy is already flickering Noeline's way, to bolster her with power and protection should the worst arise.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly van Houten relaxes from her theatrical flourish of a martial posture. She wonders, obscurely, if Fei would have been proud of how well she evolved the maneuvers. And if she should look into getting a new staff. This one -

Her thoughts do not tarry, because through the concentrating ley and the disrupted Poe and beyond that, there is a man.

Older. He does not look well.

Elly straightens upwards.

"If you're here to show your devotion, I doubt any of us would stop you," Elly states to the Prophet, "but we didn't come here for a lark, ourselves." Her fingers tighten round the staff, relaxing after Riesenlied speaks, then firming up again. Her attention turns to Asgard -- not the first being of that name she has seen -- and then back to Leehalt.

"Have you only just come here?" Elly asks.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor Klein does not often enjoy battle for its own sake, but this one... This one is fun. It is play. And the laughter of children rings in her ears, leaving Eleanor with a small smile on her face.

It fae quickly as that yelp and spark happen. Eleanor's eyes narrow as she looks upon the man with the gray face and the stringy hair. And--"Asgard," she repeats, looking btween the two of them for a moment. She does not leave. Instead she turns to fully face them both, and reaches a hand down into her bag, settling over her Crest case. She doesn't strike or cast, yet--but she has no illusions that this problem will be solved with peaceful means.

"We will not leave," Eleanor says. "Your 'business' is unwelcome."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline's battle with the Poe sisters is one of play rather than outright battle - but to honour the spirit's wishes to play their hearts out, she still takes it seriously. Flares of drifting shadow twist and ebb around her to cause a chaotic array of shapes and rainbow patinas, and though the rules of the 'battle' often change she is flexible enough to take it all in stride, stumbling backwards or pressing forwards as the flow of her act demands.

    And when the laughter fades away, she's left gazing with fondness and nostalgia up at the dual shrines. Noeline's lost track of how often she's dreamed of this place since coming here - how often she's relived the moment in her mind when her destiny radically changed. Before coming here she had truly been a free agent, whiling away the days however she wished. Upon leaving... it had taken a very long time to come to fruition, but she can say now that that was when everything started to change.

    The hairs on the back of her neck prickle as she feels rather than hears the Poe's panic; when she turns, it's a slow and careful motion despite how tense she is. If she can prevent anything from disturbing the peace of the shrine for even a moment longer, she'll take it - so she watches the man in the white robes step forward in silence, a frown flickering across her face as the golem keeps pace.

    "... as a custodian of this place, I am not about to follow your orders," she says evenly, her sword blinking into existence in her hand just in time for her to plant it against the ground in front of her. It is at once a line in the sand, a challenge, and a wall to protect her partner. Energy flickers between them, and Noeline draws in a slow breath - because it isn't just flickering between _them_. As she breathes, the shadows in the corners of the shrine seem to ebb and expand.

GS: Noeline spends 1 Combo on Reload!
GS: Noeline has attacked Riesenlied with When I'm With You...!
GS: Noeline assumes the Avenger stance!
GS: Noeline gains 10 FP from her Daredevil!
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! and Gleam!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Noeline with I don't have to be Afraid...!
GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Riesenlied has launched an attack Link!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Riesenlied with Let's See a New World Together!
GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Riesenlied assumes the Stoic stance!
GS: Riesenlied gains 1 Combo from she Cautious!
GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
GS: Riesenlied heals Noeline! She gains 215 temporary hit points!
GS: Shield applied to Noeline!
GS: Riesenlied heals Riesenlied! She gains 115 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    The Poes vanish, finally at peace. Dean smiles as he watches them explode into colorful bits of light and listens to the laughter of children fade, as Twin Fenrir too flash out of his hands back to whatever subspace they go to when Dean's not actively using them.
    
    But then there is a scream. Two figures appear. Dean whirls around to face them. One of them is a creepy old man. The other is...
    
    "Asgard!!" he cheers, lighting up at the sight of his good buddy and definitely not enemy, Asgard. He waves with vigorous enthusiasm. "Hey, Asgard!! How you been?? It's good to see you again!"
    
    But then the creepy old man tells them to leave, and Dean frowns a bit. Actually, looking at him again, he looks kind of like that creepy young woman who was ordering Asgard around before too. And he claims he's got business with the altars... Dean's frown deepens.
    
    "No," he replies, just as clear and direct as the Prophet himself. And, if that weren't enough to make his intentions clear, Twin Fenrir flash back into his hands. Riesenlied tries to plead with Asgard, but she knows, as Dean does, it won't be enough.
    
    "It's okay, Riese. Fighting *is* the way to get through to him. Zed taught me that," he reassures her. "So let's go, Asgard! We'll all take you on and get you away from that creep bossing you around!!"

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    There is, for a handful of moments, a sort of rare 'joyful combat'. Avril's blade may do poorly against the Poe sisters and their creation, seeing as they are spirits, but it is not any grave matter: rather, it is a rare moment when she can enjoy the form and motion of her particular style instead.

    She bows to them when it is all over, one combatant to another.

    But they cry out. The Ley itself seems to buckle and tremble. Whirling about, Avril beholds the two who have ventured into this place--

    One she knows well.
    One she knows not.

    She is silent at first. Asgard says not a word -- indeed, it is the unknown other who speaks.

    "Absolutely not," is Avril's reply to his request. In her one hand is her blade. In the other shines her Medium.

    "Lucadia!"

    There is a faint scent of salt and surf, an impression of a rising wave. It does not crest simply about her but about Dean, who unlike Rebecca, rushes into the fray.

GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Dean Stark with Tidal Wall!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Tidal Wall!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.
GS: Avril Vent Fleur accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Tidal Wall for 0 hit points!
GS: Shield applied to Avril Vent Fleur!
GS: Quick applied to Avril Vent Fleur!
GS: Dean Stark accepts Avril Vent Fleur's Tidal Wall for 0 hit points!
GS: Shield applied to Dean Stark!
GS: Dean Stark has attacked Asgard with Power Booster!
GS: Dean Stark has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Oh cool," Lydia says. "My standing orders last I heard was to take out Odessa agents and here is one. Maybe it'll result in a happy bunnygal."

She flicks her hand and SWORD peels out of her arm into her hand. "How long y'all gonna hide behind Asgard huh??"

She darts forwar rapidly, and takes a quick swipe with her blade towards Leehalt--

--Asgard's there before she can get a proper strike in and she says, "Guhh....!" as she hops back, narrowing her eyes at Asgard...

...Then sighing faintly. "...Just another machine used by someone who doesn't care whether they live or die... Fuck, man..."

Apparently fighting Asgard IS the way to get throuhg to him?

"Well I guess if it works..." She doesn't sound exactly thrilled by it.

GS: Eleanor Klein heals Lydia Seren! She gains 210 temporary hit points!
GS: Quick applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Asgard with Speed of Light!
GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren assumes the Stoic stance!
GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action.
GS: Asgard solidly guards Dean Stark's Power Booster for 44 hit points!
GS: Mighty applied to Dean Stark!
GS: Asgard activates Guard bonus!
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Lydia Seren's Speed of Light for 40 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Riposte applied to Lydia Seren!
GS: Asgard activates Evade bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

The Poe-manifestation disappears and, with a relieved sigh, Yulie dismisses Code O which disintegrates into particles of light. She lets herself relax for a moment.

"I hope that affords you all some manner of-" Yulie is suddenly as a yelp from one of the Poes sounds, followed by a swelling disruption in the Ley. "What's...?"

Two figures appear - an ill-looking man and a larger man... a Golem, something tells her. Yulie flinches back at the sight of them, looking between the two.

"Do you all... know them?" Yulie asks quietly, looking back at the others. There's familiarity in their voices... but, if they're all standing against these two, then she will as well.

"G-get back!" She demands of them, casting both of her hands out. A wave of force emits from her position toward them, to push them back and disrupt attacks.

It's a technique she learned from Raquel and Arnaud... she just hopes it'll work against them.

GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Retreat Wave!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Asgard with Retreat Wave!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action.
GS: Leehalt Alcaste partially guards Yulie Ahtreide's Retreat Wave for 39 hit points!
GS: Delay applied to Leehalt Alcaste!
GS: Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste activates Guard bonus and Sufferer!
GS: Asgard solidly guards Yulie Ahtreide's Retreat Wave for 32 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Delay applied to Asgard!
<Pose Tracker> Leehalt Alcaste has posed.

"There are many tribes. There are many lost peoples. There are many lands given over to devastation," Leehalt says to Riesenlied. "We have to think of the whole, not of the singular. The power of these statues... is necessary for my ends."

Then, a glance to Elly. "We have." He looks back to Noeline -- tilts his head -- and then shakes it once. "Call yourself what you will. The coming age will render such titles meaningless.

He glances at Avril's blade -- then at Dean -- and he is quiet for a second.

His eyes turn towards Asgard, then. The Golem has changed -- Leehalt is much too smart, much too aware of scientific innovation, to deny that -- but he accepts it. It does not deter his mission; it does not change Asgard's loyalty to him, much as Lydia says. But he sees eagerness there; that eagerness comes as a great surprise to him. It gives Leehalt a moment's pause.

But Eleanor tells him that their business is unwelcome. "So be it. I do not explain myself, nor justify myself, to the remnants of dead worlds and meaningless dreams. I strive forward to the future, without apology, and I leave useless detritus in my wake -- whoever and whatever it may be."

'Get back!' Yulie cries. A wave of force explodes out towards him. It strikes him, driving him backward. His robes flutter violently; his eyes close, strain visible on his face, and then they snap open. They meet Yulie's and look at her, silently and judging.

His hands fly out of his sleeves. He has a Crest Graph in each -- grasping two of them, though his fingers let go and they float ahead -- and he traces fingers before them in fast, deliberate motions. Light flashes before the left one; then, around Riesenlied and Eleanor, the air grows thick and a green shade appears. Bubbles of some toxic filth rise; the air itself becomes noxious and poisonous.

The right hand moves in different patterns, at the same time, and it's a feat of incredible concentration. The air around Avril and Elly grows darker with those movements. It darkens -- and there's a violet shade, and the air is sweet when they breathe it in. There is a stink of antiseptic, too, though.

GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Noeline with Waiting... and Watching!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Waiting... and Watching!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Riesenlied with Venom!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Eleanor Klein with Venom!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Plague!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Plague!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has completed his action.
GS: Delay! Attack weakened!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide suffers a terrible blow from Leehalt Alcaste's Waiting... and Watching for 0 hit points!
GS: Riesenlied takes a solid hit from Leehalt Alcaste's Venom for 52 hit points!
GS: Poison applied to Riesenlied!
GS: Riesenlied activates Guard bonus, Arcane Font, and Gleam!
GS: Healthy! For entering Condition Green, Riesenlied receives 100 temporary hit points.
GS: Riesenlied enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Delay! Attack weakened!
GS: CRITICAL! Noeline solidly guards Leehalt Alcaste's Waiting... and Watching for 0 hit points!
GS: Noeline activates Guard bonus, Power Burst, and Gleam!
GS: Eleanor Klein partially guards Leehalt Alcaste's Venom for 47 hit points!
GS: Poison applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur partially evades Leehalt Alcaste's Plague for 0 hit points!
GS: Disease applied to Avril Vent Fleur!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur activates Evade bonus and Arcane Font!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur loses 0 THP from Disease!
<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.


"My status is... Green, Dean Stark." The Golem answers, somberly, "But you... should obey... my master."

'Absolutely not' Avril says, and the Golem finds himself growing eager. Like he smells blood, or the scent of meat. Yet it is simply a tingling in his electronic consciousness.

The memories which Riesenlied infected him with, are ones he kept. And so when she pleads in his direction, there is the faintest lift of his chin, as if he were looking solely at her for a time.

"Do not... plead with me. My master has given me orders... and I will obey. That is all. If you will not... depart as he commands... then defend your position with all your strength."

The Golem simply stares at her, as if believing that she more than anyone else should understand that from the memories which are now stored in his data.

Just as he hears Noeline's words - his Master removes all doubt. "Your will be done... Master." In that moment, it is clear that whatever Leehalt is speaking on of the coming age, he will defend it. "Codename: Divine Fortress - Asgard. Dash... yourselves... against me."

And then Lydia moves towards his Master. In that moment, Asgard seems like he's standing still. And then... as fast as Lydia is, her blade glances off an energy field. An energy field with a Golem standing behind it, palm outstretched. "You speak of that..."

The energy field suddenly drops, and Asgard's hand shoots out to try and grab Lydia by the leg, and suddenly hoist her upside down. "... as if it matters." With crushing force, he attempts to damage something vital.

BGM Change: Black as Sin, Red as Blood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-1xRvk0NUs

Pitilessly, Asgard moves forward perhaps even with Lydia still in hand, and his barrier pulses outwards. The energy slamming into both Noeline and Riesenlied and... infecting their magic, as if the barrier itself was eating away at it. And perhaps them too.

Yulie's Wave of Force crashes into her barrier. The disrupting force causing it to briefly crackle.

And then the Golem shoots forward crashing his still crackling barrier against Yulie as recompense for her transgression. "No."

Dean then, the attacks of his arm strike against his barrier. "Do you think... I would be grateful... for that... Dean Stark?"

The Golem suddenly turns around and attempts to drive his barrier encased fist into the young man's ribs, trying to plow through the guard of his ARMS. "You are wrong."

GS: Asgard spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Asgard has attacked Noeline with Barrier Clash!
GS: Asgard has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Asgard spends 1 Combo on Poison!
GS: Asgard has attacked Riesenlied with Barrier Clash!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Asgard has attacked Lydia Seren with Iron Grip!
GS: Asgard has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Barrier Knuckle!
GS: Asgard has attacked Dean Stark with Barrier Knuckle!
GS: Asgard has completed his action.
GS: Yulie Ahtreide takes a solid hit from Asgard's Barrier Knuckle for 79 hit points!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide activates Guard bonus and Countermeasures!
GS: Riesenlied has activated a Force Action!
GS: Delay! Attack weakened!
GS: Riesenlied partially guards Asgard's Barrier Clash for 45 hit points!
GS: Disease and Poison applied to Riesenlied!
GS: Riesenlied activates Guard bonus and Gleam!
GS: Riesenlied enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Riesenlied loses 118 THP from Disease!
GS: Delay! Attack weakened!
GS: Noeline partially guards Asgard's Barrier Clash for 46 hit points!
GS: Disease and Poison applied to Noeline!
GS: Noeline loses 150 THP from Disease!
GS: CRITICAL! Elhaym van Houten suffers a terrible blow from Leehalt Alcaste's Plague for 0 hit points!
GS: Disease applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Elhaym van Houten activates Sufferer!
GS: Elhaym van Houten loses 0 THP from Disease!
GS: Lydia Seren partially guards Asgard's Iron Grip for 43 hit points!
GS: Slow applied to Lydia Seren!
GS: Lydia Seren activates Power Burst!
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"Filgaia's not dead yet!" Eleanor retorts. "You'll see how 'useless' we are."

Eleanor pulls not a Crest, but something else as she sees the light flash. The air is thick, and ggreen she is here; Eleanor coughs at the noxious air, but is already moving, rushing out of the area of its effect and pulling a small flower from her bag, the white, sparkling blossom known as the War Respite. "You--"

Eleanor brings out the flower and it glitters with light as she holds it above her head, drawing out its power. The light shines, and then a warm aura begins inside the others, blossoming outward into white, healing light.

"Asgard, we won't let your master do as he wishes with this shrine!"

GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Mystic Cure!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Noeline with Mystic Cure!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Riesenlied with Mystic Cure!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Mystic Cure!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Eleanor Klein with Mystic Cure!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Lydia Seren with Mystic Cure!
GS: Eleanor Klein has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Eleanor Klein takes 27 damage from Poison!
GS: Eleanor Klein has completed her action.
GS: Riesenlied accepts Eleanor Klein's Mystic Cure for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Disease and Poison removed!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Hyper applied to Riesenlied!
GS: Eleanor Klein accepts Eleanor Klein's Mystic Cure for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Poison removed!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Surge applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Quick applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Noeline accepts Eleanor Klein's Mystic Cure for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Disease and Poison removed!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Burst applied to Noeline!
GS: Noeline enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Elhaym van Houten accepts Eleanor Klein's Mystic Cure for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Disease removed!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Blitz applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: CRITICAL! Dean Stark partially guards Asgard's Barrier Knuckle for 71 hit points!
GS: Dean Stark activates Countermeasures!
GS: Lydia Seren accepts Eleanor Klein's Mystic Cure for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Slow removed!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Lock State applied to Lydia Seren!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur accepts Eleanor Klein's Mystic Cure for 0 hit points!
GS: Restore! Disease removed!
GS: Pray grants a random effect! Shield applied to Avril Vent Fleur!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Noeline stands guard in front of her, slamming her sword to the ground as a challenge and as a line in the sand; she bites her lip, but knows that, of all battles, this one's important to her. "I--I am with you, Noeline."

    Dean explains that fighting him is the way to get through to him... Zed taught him that. "I--I see..." she looks just a little dismayed at that, but there's some sense in it -- fighting is all Asgard knows right now. ... was this really the best way?

    But Asgard speaks that same truth -- do not plead with him. He has been given orders, and he will obey...

    Avril summons the power of Lucadia, and Eleanor empowers Lydia; she blinks as Lydia says there's an Odessan agent here. "Odessa...? Are you-- associated with Odessa?" Riesenlied asks of Leehalt and Asgard. It seems that that knowledge is new to her.

    Yulie has a burst of energy that she uses to push them back; then-- there's a noxious green light as the air around her becomes noxious, and she starts coughing as the toxins start to take hold inside of her. Poison isn't something she's terribly able to resist, given her poor constitution.

    "'Think of the whole'... I have heard that from so, so many, back in the Photosphere. Sacrifice the few, for the many... always attempting to justify that manner of thinking... no more! I will have no more of that...!"

    Asgard's Barrier Clash makes things worse as well, as the energy slamming into them causes the power in her to start to feel warped -- infected -- as if Asgard's barrier itself was pushing hard against it. Fortunately, Eleanor is there to rescue her -- her mystic cure relieving both the poison and the strange distortion Asgard is imposing on her.

    "... very well. ... I ... understand that you have a very specific language that you speak, Asgard," Riesenlied whispers, focusing as--

    In one brief sparkle, a crystalline sword appears in her hand. The reinforced one she obtained in Yder Cave, glistening with a beautiful blue hue. The arc she trails with it is slow and deliberate, but taking advantage of the already-erratic manner of the Ley in the air...

    She creates a very familiar weapon -- this isn't the first time she's thrown it Asgard's way: the ephemeral copy of Glumzambor.

    "Sieg Impulse!"

GS: Riesenlied spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Riesenlied has attacked Asgard with Ley Artes - Sieg Impulse!
GS: Riesenlied gains 1 Combo from she Cautious!
GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Riesenlied's Ley Artes - Sieg Impulse for 98 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Delay applied to Asgard!
GS: Cover applied to Riesenlied!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline stands her ground as the others spring forwards. Dean has enough insight into Asgard to face the golem down directly, whereas their daughter--... Noeline shouldn't really be quite so rude when it comes to Lydia's current position, but she can't help but glance across for an instant and pay particular attention to the orders she received from her handler. It isn't exactly welcome news, but she's at least relieved that things don't look like they're going to get uncomfortably messy.

    When it comes down to it, she has more than enough trust in the others to let them move forwards on the attack; she remains standing resolute in front of the altars, her sword still held against the ground as she strikes an impassive figure. As far as she's concerned, her charges are here, and she covers Riesenlied and the altars as best she can. She's not about to put it past their enemy to play dirty, and gods know she's seen enough pyrrhic victories that she doesn't particularly want to take chances.

    She does allow herself a snort, at least. "You should perhaps not follow up 'think of the whole' with 'I need this for my ends'," she points out with a humourless smile. "And as for which age is coming - we shall just have to see. I've faced a great many people who said exactly the same thing, and yet we are all still standing."

    Noeline too has watched Asgard's journey from 'owner' to 'owner'; another frown flickers across her brow as she looks across at the golem, the lightest of sighs under her breath. She's not entirely certain what, if anything, they can do to try to help Asgard - but even the strongest of shields can be chipped into over time, whether physical or mental.

    She pushes forwards as the barrier reaches her, meeting it with the flat of the slab of metal she calls a sword; her feet ground against the stone, and though she feels something beneath her creak, she manages to hold her ground. "That's-- my line," she grits out. "You really thing you can face me here, of all places?"

    Her presence suddenly blinks away in time for Riesenlied's attack to breach right through her. Her image hasn't vanished - but her form suddenly seems made of little more than smoke and shadow, the edges of her body drifting away into echoes of light and shadow around her as the Glumzambor flies right through her. Noeline billows in the aftermath, into so much smoke - and then reforms at one side, her sword already cutting a horizontal line of misty grey as she sweeps it sideways.

GS: Noeline has attacked Asgard with Material Adept - Shadows Dance!
GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Noeline gains 10 FP from her Daredevil!
GS: Noeline enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Noeline has completed her action.
GS: Asgard takes a solid hit from Noeline's Material Adept - Shadows Dance for 144 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Cover, Mighty, and Riposte applied to Noeline!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"But if we ignore the individual parts in the name of 'the whole,' then what is the use of 'the whole'?" Elly asks, except that, yeah, this isn't going to be a conversation. That becomes apparent on a range of levels, not just Riesenlied's understandable wariness but, well, a lot of other movement.

Lydia's positive ID of an Odessa agent startles Elly. Not least for her double-thinking. Is that TRUE, or is that what Lydia THINKS? Or, potentially, was TOLD--

And he only just came here?

It's a big old mystery, Elly van Houten, and unfortunately, it is being interrupted by having a sort of miasma emanate towards her. It feels, smells sweetly sick, like something chemical. Elly flinches, because for a moment something feels very painful in her lungs and throat-- but Eleanor's flower dispels it, or sends it away before it can take hold, leaving only a soreness behind as she sets her jaw.

Moving, now. Moving away from Asgard. She looks towards the golem as it speaks to Dean and to Avril and to others. Let it focus on them, Elly thinks tactically if with regrets. It's okay to be overlooked, because it means that you have certain advantages. For instance:

A sudden surging bolt of white-hot flame erupts towards Leehalt, coming not so much 'from Elly' as 'sort of sixty degrees to the left of Elly, from nowhere in particular.' This mendacious trick can easily be seen through by a magician paying attention, but maybe that's the hope: that there isn't one.

GS: Blitz! Elhaym van Houten has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Thermo Crystalmelt!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Leehalt Alcaste solidly guards Elhaym van Houten's Thermo Crystalmelt for 70 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leehalt Alcaste gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia Seren is dangling upside down in Asgard's hands.

"Sup nerd?" Lydia asks. "I mean, it's relevant if you're not a murderhobo." Lydia pauses a moment and then adds, "Murderhobo is a term originating in relation from the hit tabletop game called Hobgobs and Hovels and--" Before Lydia can show her own Nerd level, SQUISH go her legs.

Lydia falls to the ground.

"Is that all you got buddy?" Lydia says, rolling over onto her stomach. She sort of wobbles forward, inching as healing magic gradually restores hey legs. "Thanks Eleanor!" She says, but for now she wibbleewobbles forward.

She pushes her sword into the ground, lifts herself up, hanging upside down by her hands and then coming down towards Asgard as her feet turn into giant mallets that aim to KERSLAM against Asgard's body. Or his field. Either or.

"Is that all you got, nerd??" Lydia asks despite having just described the HobGobs and Hovels game today like she knew it in depth.

"I'm okay mom! It was just my legs! Like WHATEVS you know?"

GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Asgard with Rabbit Heart!
GS: Lydia Seren has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren's Stoic stance ends. She enters the Avenger stance!
GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Though Rebecca may not charge into battle with the rest of them, and in fact may be hanging back doing something else entirely, it's fine. While she might be a lot more cautious than Dean, he knows she's no coward. Whatever she's doing, it must be important, and he trusts her to get it done and protect their backs while they're facing the enemy.
    
    Similarly, when Avril calls down Lucadia's power to protect the two of them, he flashes her a grin and a thumb's up. "Thanks, Avril! And Lucadia, too!" The Sea Guardian may not be physically *here*, but Dean can express his gratitude all the same.
    
    Riesenlied and Lydia express something else: a lack of enthusiasm. "I know how you guys feel. I didn't want to fight him either. But when he was fighting Zed, Asgard was really happy and into it!" Dean explains earnestly. "So we just gotta do our best!"
    
    Asgard confirms he's in the green. Which is good, probably! "Sorry, we can't just let your master do whatever he wants," Dean says firmly. At least he has dedication, which might help make up for the fact that he hasn't stopped to question what exactly it is Leehart is here to *do*, and if it's something that needs stopping. (It probably is. But Dean doesn't actually *question* that.) "So we'll defend these shrines with all our might, just like you said!"
    
    Asgard turns, fist reinforced by a barrier, to attempt to punch through the guard of Dean's ARMs and right into his chest. Twin Fenrir's combat rods are very solid indeed, so there is something of a compromise: Asgard doesn't punch through them, he simply punches *into* them and impacts Dean's ribs by proxy. It's still a powerful hit. Dean's breath is knocked out of him for an instant, and he just barely manages to stay on his feet.
    
    But he *does* stay on his feet.
    
    Would Asgard be grateful if they separated him from his 'master'? Coughing as he staggers back a step, Dean shakes his head. "You won't know until you try living your life out from under his thumb!" he croaks, bringing his combat rods around and up to attempt to smash them right into Asgard's head.

GS: Dean Stark has attacked Asgard with Violence Vice!
GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
GS: Asgard takes a solid hit from Lydia Seren's Rabbit Heart for 128 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Asgard activates Evade bonus!
GS: Asgard's Break Ward prevents an effect!
GS: Asgard partially guards Dean Stark's Violence Vice for 59 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

Riesenlied says something that she hadn't caught from Lydia.

"Odessa...?" Yulie repeats out of surprise, looking back toward Leehalt and Asgard. ...They don't seem to be with Brionac, at least. It's the smallest of mercies.

Leehalt fixes her with a stare, then. Silent and judging. It's... awful. His eyes remind her far too much of the scientists from the White Orphanage. She flinches back with a slight ill feeling and is forced to look away as she backpedals away from him.

But Asgard is upon her in the next moment. With a yelp of surprise, she raises her hands, creating a sorcerous barrier to intercept his. But it's nothing like the Divine Fortress - Yulie is pushed back before her barrier shatters, the backlash of it sending her stumbling several steps back.

"Who... who are these people...?" Yulie asks quietly. They're terrifying - both of them. Will things be alright if they continue like this...? She isn't so sure... so she draws out a Crest Graph, holding it out in front of herself.

"Divine protection, hear my call...!" She calls out. Lines of blue and yellow light pulse out from beneath her in a hexagon, looking to encompass her friends and protect them from harm.

GS: Yulie Ahtreide has activated a Force Action!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Lydia Seren with Protect!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Protect!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Riesenlied with Protect!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Eleanor Klein with Protect!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Protect!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Dean Stark with Protect!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Noeline with Protect!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action.
GS: Eleanor Klein accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Protect for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Dean Stark accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Protect for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Dean Stark!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Noeline accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Protect for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Noeline!
GS: Riesenlied accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Protect for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Riesenlied!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Protect for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Avril Vent Fleur!
GS: Quick applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Elhaym van Houten accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Protect for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Lydia Seren accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Protect for 0 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Lydia Seren!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "This is a sacred place. I shall not permit you to defile it," Avril promises Leehalt -- a name she learns through Riesenlied's outburst alone. She glances the once at Lydia, her expression growing ever more grim. "...So you are Odessa. Your people have already come to this place, the villagers have said. There shall not be a second time!"

    But Leehalt is intent -- as intent in his own way as Asgard is. A cloud the shade of a new bruise breaks into this space at his command, and though Avril throws up an arm to attempt to ward off the scent it carries with it, she still inhales it, coughing in spite of the immediate sweetness of it--

    It is not as sweet as it fills her sinuses.

    "Dean, be careful! There is something about him that is not right! Rebecca--"

    It's a remark that Avril breaks off, perhaps out of fear of drawing attention to the other woman.

    "You know what to do," she finishes, quietly.

    Light breaks from Eleanor. A moment more after it washes over Avril, and she can again breathe clearly. "Thank you!" she calls out, looking Eleanor's way. Medium clutched close against her chest -- can Lucadia understand Dean's gratitude? -- she brandishes her blade, her gaze turning from Asgard to Leehalt and back again, as if she were making her decisions about who she might target.

    Yulie's spell -- and the protections it brings down upon her -- make the decision for her, as does Dean's method of advance.

    She breaks for Leehalt, her blade a glint of silver as she makes to carve Absolute Zero in a line right across his chest.

GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Spirit Saber!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.
GS: Leehalt Alcaste solidly guards Avril Vent Fleur's Spirit Saber for 44 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leehalt Alcaste gains 1 additional Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Leehalt Alcaste has posed.

Leehalt watches Asgard move to the fore. Ready to defend him, which is only right. Then, his eyes move towards Eleanor, and he narrows his eyes. She used her power to undo some of his spellcraft.

"So be it," he says. His fingers work -- this time at the air, as a metal casing running up one glows. Wires on it pulse. Then, around Eleanor, the air seems to shift. She blinks her eyes -- and world becomes static, outlines of people visible as black and white snow. Voices and sounds are screeches, for a moment.

And then it snaps back into place.

"There will always be sacrifices," Leehalt says. "Accept this and find the value to be gained."

Flame erupts, shooting at Leehalt at a strange angle. Leehalt raises a barrier, intercepting it quick-as-you-please. The shimmering wall of golden light pushes it away, leaving his clothing only lightly scorched at the edges. He shakes his arm, the flames put out before they can catch.

He looks back at Elly. He moves that hand, with armored fingers, and a few lines of golden light are traced in the air. The space around Elly suddenly shudders. Gravity seems to flicker -- she lifts off her feet -- then falls back down with a clatter. Time moves slowly -- then speeds up, sounds distorting with it.

"We call ourselves the Prophets," Leehalt says to Yulie. "For we bring a new age."

He still looks at her, but not for as long. Avril rushes for him, and he looks at her for a moment. "We are aligned with Odessa, as long as our interests overlap."

Her blade slashes at his chest -- and catches a barrier of silver light. Sparks explode when blade meets spell and it only just holds it back from cutting him open.

He flicks a hand out -- and a Crest Graph floats over it. Individual symbols alight; then, a field of grey light crashes down over Yulie and Avril. It shatters, then, like a glass pane -- and that shoots a feeling of enervation through them, sapping their defenses.

His other hand also produces a Crest Graph. It spins, and then then a white light flashes up around him, and infuses him -- leaving a faint glowing outline for a few seconds.

GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Eleanor Klein with Anti-Observation!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Reality Malfunction!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste assumes the Avenger stance!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Breakdown!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Breakdown!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Lock State!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has completed his action.
GS: Leehalt Alcaste accepts Leehalt Alcaste's Lock State for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper, Lock State, and Quick applied to Leehalt Alcaste!
GS: Elhaym van Houten takes a solid hit from Leehalt Alcaste's Reality Malfunction for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Entangle applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Elhaym van Houten activates Sufferer!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide suffers a terrible blow from Leehalt Alcaste's Breakdown for 0 hit points!
GS: Break applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.


"Vocabulary files updated." Is all he says of Lydia's Murderhobo comment, even as she slips from his hands. The Golem finds this strange, as if he's trying to analyze the composition of her, when suddenly her feet turn into Giant Mallets that try to slam into him, sending him off balance. "No. It is not."

The Golem seems to catch his weight on his back foot, his eyes gleaming dangerously, as he suddenly charges like a lineback to try and slam her into a wall of the Temple head on, as if his solution to her morphology were just to reduce her mass even more.

"Logic Error - You do not have the strength... to stop my Master." The Golem notes to Eleanor, as he releases pressure from Lydia.

The Golem was about to reply to Riesenlied, when she summons a spectral Glumzambor again. And his stance shifts.

His eyes flare red. And his barrier suddenly flares to life as it smashes against it. It's arc trying to penetrate the barrier. Until with one motion, the Golem grabs the hilt with a hand encased in a barrier.

"Good... Now..."

The Golem slings back his arm before the energy fades, a gleam in his eyes.

"... Catch."

As he sends it flying end over end back at her, as if trying to catch her with it before the spell fades entirely.

Noeline though asks if he really thinks she can fade her here? "Absolutely." He says without hesitation.

He then lifts up a hand as Noeline's sudden swell of shadowy power fools him, and the Shadow Dance catches him, dragging a line across his trenchcoat like armor with a screech of Metal.

He responds how he normally does to someone getting this close, as his opposite fist suddenly turns to drive downward straight towards her skull to test whether she is in fact solid right now. His Gemini Circuit already looking for the solution to her powers. "Searching... Optimizing."

Dean though had been saying that he was very happy and into it. The Golem doesn't... respond. Is that... what happiness is? How he feels?

Either way, the young Golem loving boy tries to punch his ARMs right into him and through his Guard, in response, he simply grabs one of his rods for just a moment.

"You do not... understand... the purpose... of a Golem."

There's a sudden glow of blue light of his barrier, which then erupts around the room, sending out a low energy but wide area pulse of his barrier that slams into Dean like a solid moving wall... but it also slams into many others besides, in an attempt to make some space for him and his Master. And as it does... the moment the barrier energy makes contact. Spells fade... enchantments undone by the Wisdom of Hyades.

"STEP BACK... FROM MY MASTER!" The Golem bellows in an abrupt increase in volume.

GS: Asgard spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Asgard has attacked Lydia Seren with Savage Analogism!
GS: Asgard has attacked Riesenlied with Barrier Throw - Sieg Impulse!
GS: Delay expired!
GS: Asgard has attacked Noeline with Iron Fist!
GS: Asgard has attacked Dean Stark with Barrier Pulse!
GS: Asgard has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Barrier Pulse!
GS: Asgard has attacked Eleanor Klein with Barrier Pulse!
GS: Asgard has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Barrier Pulse!
GS: Asgard has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Barrier Pulse!
GS: Asgard has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Asgard has completed his action.
GS: Gamble: Moderate! Dean Stark solidly guards Asgard's Barrier Pulse for 13 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Dean Stark gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Mighty, Quick, and Shield removed!
GS: Dean Stark activates Countermeasures!
GS: Dean Stark enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Moderate! Yulie Ahtreide suffers a terrible blow from Asgard's Barrier Pulse for 41 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Yulie Ahtreide gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Quick removed!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide activates Countermeasures!
GS: Noeline solidly guards Asgard's Iron Fist for 45 hit points!
GS: Disrupt applied to Noeline!
GS: Noeline activates Power Burst and Gleam!
GS: Eleanor Klein takes a solid hit from Leehalt Alcaste's Anti-Observation for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Eleanor Klein gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Blind and Drowsy applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Eleanor Klein activates Countermeasures and Gleam!
GS: Delay! Attack weakened!
GS: Riesenlied suffers a terrible blow from Asgard's Barrier Throw - Sieg Impulse for 38 hit points!
GS: Gamble: Moderate! Eleanor Klein takes a solid hit from Asgard's Barrier Pulse for 55 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Eleanor Klein gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Shield and Surge removed!
GS: Eleanor Klein activates Evade bonus, Countermeasures, and Gleam!
GS: Eleanor Klein enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS:  Mystic extends positive status by 2 rounds!
GS: Riesenlied used Mystic on Riesenlied! Status effect durations increased by 2! Gained 180 Temporary HP!
GS: Riesenlied has activated a Force Action!
GS: Gamble: High! Elhaym van Houten takes a glancing hit from Asgard's Barrier Pulse for 36 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Blitz, Quick, and Shield removed!
GS: Elhaym van Houten activates Sufferer!
GS: Elhaym van Houten enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur partially evades Leehalt Alcaste's Breakdown for 0 hit points!
GS: Break applied to Avril Vent Fleur!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur activates Arcane Font!
GS: Gamble: Low! Avril Vent Fleur partially guards Asgard's Barrier Pulse for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Avril Vent Fleur gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Quick removed!
GS: Charge!! You gain 35 FP!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Lydia going squish and being fine with that is concerning to Eleanor, but long stretches of time dealing with Kamui detaching her head has helped her cope with this kind of thing. But the others--the others have a lot to say, and Eleanor is proud to stand with people who believe in people like they seem to.

"Yes, Asgard operates with Odessa," Eleanor confirms from Lydia's statements. She doesn't comment on the game, though perhaps it's one Xiumei knows and thus Eleanor has heard of. Levity is far from her mind, though. She watches Leehalt watch her, and something in the air... pulses. Eleanor narrows her eyes again--and suddenly everything is vague, indistinct, and she stumbles back when it snaps into place. "Gh--" It's nauseating, to say the least, and she feels disconnected from the world, still can't see properly.

There will always be sacrifices, he says, and the way he says it chills her blood. "I--I won't believe in a world like that!"

Eleanor tries to catch her breath, and reminds herself--calm is how to get through a battle like this. The power Yulie brings to bear to protect her is the main shield she has against Asgard's barrier--she can at least hear him. The blue light hits her, and Eleanor hits the ground. Much of the magic is undone, if not all of it. That is enough, though--enough remains in the trails to guide her towards the others...

Eleanor pulls a Crest, and on it shines the doubled power of Fray. "Look out," she advises her friends, and turns, letting her magical senses guide her towards her opponents. She traces out along those lines of Ley that affected her, and closes her useless for the moment yellow eyes. "...Primeval flame, scorch the threads of Fate and let Time take its due! Desert of Years!"

A whirling torrent of flame erupts from either side of her, rocketing towards Asgard and Leehalt, as much dangerous for the rapid aging and wear it might inflict as for the literal heat.

GS: Eleanor Klein has activated a Force Action!
GS: Eleanor Klein has activated a Force Action!
GS: Eleanor Klein spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Asgard with Desert of Years!
GS: Eleanor Klein has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Desert of Years!
GS: Eleanor Klein has completed her action.
GS: Asgard has activated a Force Action!
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Eleanor Klein's Desert of Years for 94 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Shieldbreak applied to Asgard!
GS: Asgard activates Evade bonus!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste solidly guards Eleanor Klein's Desert of Years for 81 hit points!
GS: Shieldbreak applied to Leehalt Alcaste!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste activates Sufferer!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied, too, shares a rather vivid concern for the circumstances that surround Lydia, but... it isn't something she can do anything about at the moment. And... well, the latest news of how Seraphita is taking care of her -- that's something she'll have to trust the seemingly most-trustworthy member of the Elements with.

    (Yeah, that statement just happened.)

    Noeline's form is little more than smoke and shadow, something she's seen before -- she has to admire the mastery she has over her domain, as she answers, "I-- am right behind you."

    Elly has the same question for Leehalt, on the topic of the whole; what use is it if you ignore the individual parts?

    "P-please exercise caution, Lydia..." Riesenlied begs as she watches Lydia's legs give out, but, well, Fei and Elly aren't the only ones with a nanomachine daughter around! When Lydia breaks a leg, she doesn't just mean it metaphorically.

    Yulie asks who these people are, and Riesenlied wishes she had a better answer -- "I met them before, Yulie, when they tried to usurp another Guardian shrine to their own ends -- whatever they wish to do with the Ley... it cannot be anything good."

    Leehalt responds -- that there will always be sacrifices. Accept it... and find the value to be gained. He also calls himself a Prophet -- and aligned with Odessa... so long as their interests overlap.

    "... there are so many people like you, who think they have the right to choose who to be sacrificed..." Riesenlied looks rueful for a moment.

    Her eyes widen, however, when Asgard does the lastt thing she expects Asgard to (she should know better) and... catches her spectral Glumzambor, and not only that, he... he...

    Sends it back at her.

    "Ah--!!" Riesenlied stares for a moment, before drawing her arms up with her sword as she conjures a barrier; there's a withering flinch as the sheer impact nearly knocks her out of her chair, sending it skidding back with a dithering whine from the wheels.

    Eleanor creates a powerful spell of flame that she advises caution around -- and after a moment of catching herself with her breath, she looks to Asgard once more as he declares the purpose of a Golem.

    "I do not believe a Golem is only created for one 'purpose' alone... that is something I have learned from travelling with Dean, Avril and Rebecca -- and the other Golems I have seen with my own eyes...!"

    She's at a disadvantage against the Divine Fortress, given she isn't the most skilled of attackers... but she must give it a try. The water-aspected crystal sword should do well here with...

    "Gather before me, Ley of Muse... and strike! Stasis Sword!"

    Her next attack is angled from the ground rather than from her -- as a hexagon of water-aspected Ley gathers, frosts over... and *erupts* as a blade of icy judgement.

GS: Riesenlied has attacked Asgard with Ley Artes - Stasis Sword!
GS: Riesenlied gains 1 Combo from she Cautious!
GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Riesenlied's Ley Artes - Stasis Sword for 63 hit points!
GS: Riesenlied drains Asgard! Riesenlied gains 42 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Even Noeline pauses for a moment, concern flashing across her face before Lydia gives them both a thumbs up. She doesn't grimace in their daughter's direction, but her face is carefully schooled - at least until you notice the faint amusement in her gaze. "Young lady, we need to have a serious talk about the things you should and shouldn't normalize," she gets out after another brief pause.

    The golem swings down towards her. There is definitely an impact of some kind, and a momentary hiss of breath, but at the same time it's like trying to punch the surface of the water; her form shifts and twists as she blinks back away from her hit-and-run strike, reforming in front of Riesenleid as she returns to cover her partner.

    She swears suddenly under her breath as Glumzambor blurs past her, too fast to react to - and she blinks again, this time resurfacing to catch Riesenlied's backwards motion with a grunt of effort. "I'm with you too," she adds under her breath. She doesn't need to raise her voice to trust that Riesenlied hears her and feels that connection, or to understand her partner's trepidation. Part of her is well aware that fighting Asgard usually means the golem returns the effort in kind - and the last thing she wants to do here is kindle that further. But at the same time, she can't see a great deal of alternative, as implacable as the golem is.

    "I will not let you touch these shrines. I will not let you disrupt a history decades in the making. I will not let you take away our best chance at moving forwards," Noeline growls under her breath. "And if you think you have control of the space here, you truly have another thing coming." Her hand closes around open air, but around _something_ else as well - and when she pulls, it is as if reality itself lurches at an angle to follow.

    A ripple suddenly runs through the shrine, a breeze moving the still air all of a sudden. Except it doesn't stop at just the air - the very walls seem to shift and heave in an unnatural fashion, twisting and flaking away in a manner that stone and wood absolutely should not. A small hole crumbles away from one wall as cracks race through the stone, but rather than earth and soil what is revealed is little more than a sea of dim, distant, and formless shadow beyond.

    The atmosphere in the shrine suddenly feels that much more oppressive - and as Noeline starts to bring her cupped hands together around the empty space that is held between them, that thick feeling coalesces into a solid and then piercing pressure. All at once, they are in the Keqili shrine... but somewhere else as well, whose space is rapidly contracting around them, tearing at Asgard's barrier and the Prophet in a method that seems to echo the golem's own power.

    Even when it recedes, even when the shrine seems to reestablish itself in what passes as the real world, something still feels-- not wrong, but certainly off. Suddenly, the temple around them feels aware, some presence mixing with the far-off sound of Poe laughter. In the middle of it stands Noeline, power bleeding off her as her form seems to drift on the boundary between solid and shadow.

    "... I am the chosen of Duras Drum," she declares. Even a few hours ago, she might have laid claim to the title of Heritor - but she knows better than that now, at least until they can work to change everything that means. "This is his domain. If we have to eject you from it, then so be it."

DC: Noeline switches forms to Ring-Promised Chevalier!
GS: Noeline has attacked Asgard with Material Adept - De Le Metalica!
GS: Noeline has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Material Adept - De Le Metalica!
GS: Noeline has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Noeline gains 10 FP from her Daredevil!
GS: Noeline enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Noeline has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Lydie!" Dean shouts when her legs get crushed. She seems okay, though, and Dean has experience with friends for whom would-be crippling wounds are barely even a thing, so he doesn't worry. He doesn't hear Yulie's question about who these people are, so it's good that Eleanor handles that--especially since Dean's strike doesn't even faze Asgard, who sends out a barrier pulse that rips the magical boosts Avril and Yulie had given him right off of him. Rude!!
    
    Damage-wise, it hadn't hurt too much, at least; Dean had been able to defend himself against the physical effects of the barrier, though his shoes had left skid marks on the far harder floor. The side effects are still a killer, though.
    
    Avril shouts him a warning. Misunderstanding who she means (or maybe correctly understanding who she means??), Dean calls back, "Okay, I will! But he seems the same as always to me!" (Leehalt is apparently barely worth acknowledging to the Golem-loving young man.)
    
    Asgard claims he doesn't understand the purpose of a Golem. Dean frowns--he doesn't want to argue this point with an actual Golem--so instead he asks, "What's that purpose to you, then? The one you decided on for you--not a purpose someone else forced onto you?"
    
    ...which may just be proving Asgard's point. All the same, Dean takes advantage of the distance Asgard's last barrier forced in pushing him backwards by opening fire on the Golem with a stream of bullets, one gun-other gun-one gun-other gun, until his ARMS are ready for a reload. Better shoot off-screen before Asgard takes another swing!

GS: Dean Stark spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Dean Stark enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Dean Stark has attacked Asgard with Bullet Shower!
GS: Dean Stark enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"I can't accept that," Elly answers Leehalt, to her very mild interior surprise. She explains: "Maybe you're right -- but I can't --" And then he's doing SOMETHING, something new and horrid and anomalous. The world around her begins to jitter and move, and what is worse is that PARTS OF HER seem to move at different speeds for heart-breaking seconds.

Literally so - she wobbles, feeling the threat of syncope and the strange numbness some places, mingled with strange swollen/aching feelings in others; it is nauseating, painful.

But --

But she's not collapsing. Another ripple of Ley washes over her, and she can see Avril coming this way as well. Elly leans against her staff for a moment, but just one, and then she brings it upwards.

Asgard gives her a direct order.

The pulsing slam makes her stagger-- and she answers him with: "I refuse," a moment before she rushes in and swings round the iron staff in a twisting strike from above - first downward stroke, hard enough that it is likely to CLANG and recoil back up from the stone floor, and followed immediately afterwards by a second. Where flames may fail, iron may not.

GS: Elhaym van Houten has activated a Force Action!
GS: Elhaym van Houten spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Formation! Elhaym van Houten has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Iron Staff!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Asgard suffers a terrible blow from Noeline's Material Adept - De Le Metalica for 190 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Asgard suffers a terrible blow from Dean Stark's Bullet Shower for 155 hit points!
GS: Asgard activates Countermeasures!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste suffers a terrible blow from Noeline's Material Adept - De Le Metalica for 177 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leehalt Alcaste gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Lock State removed!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste activates Sufferer!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste suffers a terrible blow from Elhaym van Houten's Iron Staff for 148 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leehalt Alcaste gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste activates Sufferer!
GS: Delay! Attack weakened!
GS: Lydia Seren takes a glancing hit from Asgard's Savage Analogism for 55 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Lydia Seren gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren activates Power Burst!
GS: Lydia Seren enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Then," she tells Leehalt, "we are enemies."

    Her blade meets a wall. It may have been stone itself for all that her blade screams and scrapes across the barrier that should not be there. Is it merely a spell--

    Something flickers over his hand and it takes her a moment to resolve it for what it is. A Crest Graph--

    She twists to attempt to avoid it, all for naught: a sensation of exhaustion and weakness rolls over her and she stumbles backwards.

    It's quite interesting, if someone watches her closely in the next half-second. Her eyes widen, as if she were realizing something. She starts to turn.
    But it's far too late: blue light is already burning across the room. It's burned right through her. But save for a sudden feeling of loss -- of a heaviness in her limbs -- Avril does not feel a thing for the light's touch.

    Had there even been anything she could have done in that instant of a moment?

    Straightening, she exhales. The air around her begins to sparkle, as if something were catching the light. "What is it that you hope to gain here?" she asks of Leehalt, pivoting back towards him once again. One by one, forming around those specks of sparkling dust, small irregular 'stars' of ice manifest in the air about her as she stands before him, blade in one hand, Medium in the other.

    And one by one, they rocket towards him, a screaming storm of miniature icy meteors.

GS: Avril Vent Fleur has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Full Clip!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur spends 3 Combo on Gatling, loading 3 into Gatling!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Courant Glaciaire!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Leehalt Alcaste takes a glancing hit from Avril Vent Fleur's Courant Glaciaire for 98 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leehalt Alcaste gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste activates Sufferer!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia says, "Okay so....he's like Zed?" Lydia asks of Dean as she looks up up up at Asgard. "Okay. So he's like. Big Zed."
Shehe feels more support from Yulie. Riesenlied just gives emotional support and honestly Lydia tends to need that more often so--fair. She walks on her hand for a moment. "Oh uh." She says to Asgard. "Was hoping it was but. You know. Fine. Fine."

Did Asgard's foot just get bigger?

Oh.

Asgard SLAAMS Lydia into the backwall hard enough that her lower body briefly liquifies. It snaps back into legs moment after though Lydia still seems to have felt it on the inside, even if the exterior has reformed itself.

"Fffdffgggfff. Okay mom, I'll be uh. Something resembling cautious. Hopefully."

She rolls onto her feet, gives Dean a thumbsup, and says to Yulie, "Sisterly Team Attack Go!"

She then throws a hand forward, sending a dark gravitic pulse around Asgard to try and strip away any defenses he pulled around himself!

"It's okay we can make it up on the fly Yulie!"

GS: Lydia Seren enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Asgard with Illusions Scattered Away With The Tide!
GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action.
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Lydia Seren's Illusions Scattered Away With The Tide for 70 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Leehalt Alcaste has posed.

"Belief doesn't matter in the face of fact," Leehalt states to Eleanor, matter-of-factly, and then flame rises up around him. A golden shield flashes about -- flame batters into it, the worst of it kept back. But Leehalt sags under the sheer heat of it.

Sags, but doesn't sweat. He grunts, once, and then he looks at Riesenlied. "Someone must decide."

He looks back at Eleanor, and raises his hand. The armored finger curls, like a claw -- and he punches out into the air. Reality suddenly ripples, as a gravitational shockwave explodes out for her like a bullet. The distortion causes points of light in the room to shine far too brightly; it causes sounds to distort, higher voices becoming low, and it draws Eleanor closer, before trying to pitch her away to the pulse of gravity like a rag doll.

Noeline is on him, then. A ripple that shoots throgh the air, a great pressure -- an illusory sense, perhaps, that he is in two places at once -- and he grunts, sharply, as he is driven backward by the force of Noeline's blow. He keeps standing, though, and looks at her defiantly.

"So you are," Leehalt rumbles in response to Noeline. "But chosen fall. I am of the Prophets, and our prophecy will be the final one for Filgaia."

Elly's iron staff swings in before he can muster an immediate counterattack. It strikes -- and he exhales, as it slams into his ribs with a CRACK -- and then a field of white and grey light crackles. Her next blow strikes, hitting his side; pain blossoms, red hot, from his kidney.

The barrier of light flashes.

And then Elly feels it, too: the sudden CRACK of an iron rod smashing into her ribs, and the promise of a bloody bruise on her kidneys. "Witness," Leehalt commands her. "The pain your existence causes!"

Avril's summoned ice slams into him. He cannot evade them all; while some smash into the ground as he moves and turns, others slash through his robes. They vanish into their mass. Then, one hits his cheek. It slices it open.

Dry, dead flesh is cut open. "To make Filgaia whole -- to bring forth the instrument of salvation. To turn to the power of the future... not the follies of the past. The specifics shall not be divulged."

His armored finger jabs forward. He stabs into the air -- and reality ripples like a pond, a ripple that passes through air and stone alike. And then Avril's muscles and skeleton are, briefly, moving in two places away. Bones howl with pain, as they bend subtly the wrong way, muscles not keeping up. Muscle and sinew--

--STRETCHES, and YANKS, and TEARS--

--inside her skin, as she briefly exists in two seconds at once, then snaps into place like a released rubber band.

Leehalt turns, finally, towards Noeline. Then, he looks at Riesenlied. He considers them both for a moment. His armored finger, with the rest of his hand, curl into a fist.

Noeline and Riesenlied are suddenly apart. It's like it's 300 years ago -- it's like Riesenlied waits for a letter. It doesn't come. It's like it's 300 years ago -- it's like Noeline's pen is over the paper. But letters won't write.

And then they snap back into place, time rejoining itself.

GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Eleanor Klein with Distortion Static!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Rule of Vengeance!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste enters a Counter stance!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste's Avenger stance ends. He enters the Stoic stance!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Riesenlied with Quantum Interference!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Noeline with Quantum Interference!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Riesenlied solidly guards Leehalt Alcaste's Quantum Interference for 0 hit points!
GS: Break, Disease, and Slow applied to Riesenlied!
GS: Riesenlied activates Guard bonus and Gleam!
GS: Riesenlied loses 150 THP from Disease!
GS: Eleanor Klein takes a solid hit from Leehalt Alcaste's Distortion Static for 186 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Eleanor Klein gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dispel! Quick removed!
GS: Delay and Disease applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Eleanor Klein activates Countermeasures!
GS: Eleanor Klein enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Eleanor Klein loses 0 THP from Disease!
GS: Elhaym van Houten suffers a terrible blow from Leehalt Alcaste's Rule of Vengeance for 0 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Reaper applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Cover applied to Leehalt Alcaste!
GS: Elhaym van Houten activates Sufferer!
GS: Elhaym van Houten enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Noeline takes a solid hit from Leehalt Alcaste's Quantum Interference for 0 hit points!
GS: Break, Disease, and Slow applied to Noeline!
GS: Noeline loses 105 THP from Disease!
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

'We', Leehalt says. Yulie frowns, at that. Does that mean... there's more people like him? It's a chilling thought, and one she doesn't want to dwell on. She listens, then, as Riesenlied explains - this isn't the first Guardian shrine they've tried to usurp. Yulie manages to pull together a little courage.

"I don't think... I'd like whatever new age you're trying to bring. You're just like them... you don't care who you hurt in the name of some vague 'progress'..." Yulie replies with a shake of her head. "I'm so sick of adults like you."

She catches a motion of Leehalt's hand, and a Crest Graph that floats out. Yulie quickly raises her own hands to prepare a barrier just as a grey light crashes down - and shatters like glass. Yulie stumbles a little... and her barrier begins to lose its luster, just as Asgard unleashes his barrier in a wide pulse that tears through her own like paper and throws her back.

It'll take a strong push to get through them... but maybe she can help facilitate that.

"You who gather, hear my call...!" Yulie calls out, drawing out a Crest Graph. Another pulse emanates from her position - this time it's spatial magic, to give her allies the opportunity to reposition themselves more optimally. The repositioning effect is optional - it's a potential advantage even for those who don't take it.

Lydia calls out to her, then - Sisterly Team Attack!? Yulie frets for a moment.

"W-wait, now? I'm not ready, I-" She panics. ...Well, her spell at least might help the others take advantage of the opening Lydia provided?

GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Lydia Seren with Gather!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Gather!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Gather!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Dean Stark with Gather!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Noeline with Gather!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Riesenlied with Gather!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Eleanor Klein with Gather!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide assumes the Hero stance!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action.
GS: Riesenlied accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Gather for 0 hit points!
GS: Blitz applied to Riesenlied!
GS: Noeline accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Gather for 0 hit points!
GS: Blitz applied to Noeline!
GS: Eleanor Klein accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Gather for 0 hit points!
GS: Blitz applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Quick applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.


The torrent of flame strikes Asgard, the column engulfing him utterly for a moment. And yet... there's a perfectly spherical shape within it encompassing his body, energy pulsing out.

"Temporal distortion... detected."

It is impossible to truly age a Golem built to withstand an eternity. And yet, Eleanor manages, the magic of the spell causing some of the sheen and luster to fade away. When the flames disperse completely, Asgard looks as the Prophets found him originally - before he'd been fully restored and his auto repair cycle took over. His entire frame looking like it's been in disrepair for so long. Even the luster from his eyes seems faded, the optical sensors... flickering.

"Auto-Repair... cycle - initiated."

But... that's already rapidly changing. The signs of wear and tear slipping away.

"Your belief... is noted... but it is mistaken."

Asgard says to Riesenlied, as Water Aspected Frost erupts out of the ground and skims off his frame, shattering into a cloud of ice.

Whereas Noeline tells him he will not disrupt the shrines... the Golem looks at the Chosen of Duras Drum as the feeling around him grows thick, and the space around him seems to contract. His prematurely aged joints creaking under the strain.

"I accept... your challenge." The Golem says, as if deciding that Noeline's words, issued by someone 'Chosen' means they are strong. "My Master lays claim... you will not eject him."

Dean's bullet storm pounds against him, and the Golem waves his arm, his barrier seeming less effective than before. Dean's bullets pock marking his trench coat with divets of where each one tries to penetrate.

"I do not... have that freedom. But if I could decide... my purpose. We would still be fighting... now."

The Golem says, as if to perhaps drive that point back home. Whereas Lydia's pulse seems to tear away his barrier briefly.

"Make it up... on the fly."

The Golem repeats, as if that's actually something his circuits are considering, like the concept is similar to his adaptation.

And then abruptly he stands taller. "Barrier Generator Restoration - Complete."

And indeed, while the rest of his body still appears aged, the blue sphere on the back of his massive right fist appears... whole, brand new.

"This... is my purpose." The energy seems to gather, and there's a terrible feeling like it is gathering around everyone present. "Making... my master's wishes... come true."

Suddenly everyone in the room feel themselves being gripped upwards, lifted into the air as if being held between two vice like grips.

"BEGONE!"

Which then abruptly close with terrible brutality, before they're dropped back down.

GS: Elhaym van Houten accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Gather for 0 hit points!
GS: Blitz applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Elhaym van Houten activates Sufferer!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Gather for 0 hit points!
GS: Blitz applied to Avril Vent Fleur!
GS: Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Asgard has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Wide Barrier!
GS: Asgard has attacked Dean Stark with Wide Barrier!
GS: Asgard has attacked Eleanor Klein with Wide Barrier!
GS: Asgard has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Wide Barrier!
GS: Asgard has attacked Lydia Seren with Wide Barrier!
GS: Asgard has attacked Noeline with Wide Barrier!
GS: Asgard has attacked Riesenlied with Wide Barrier!
GS: Asgard has attacked Yulie Ahtreide with Wide Barrier!
GS: Asgard has completed his action.
GS: Eleanor Klein suffers a terrible blow from Asgard's Wide Barrier for 195 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Eleanor Klein gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Eleanor Klein activates Countermeasures and Gleam!
GS: CRITICAL! Yulie Ahtreide solidly guards Asgard's Wide Barrier for 126 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Yulie Ahtreide gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide activates Guard bonus and Countermeasures!
GS: CRITICAL! Noeline solidly guards Asgard's Wide Barrier for 150 hit points!
GS: Riesenlied solidly guards Asgard's Wide Barrier for 150 hit points!
GS: Elhaym van Houten solidly guards Asgard's Wide Barrier for 178 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Elhaym van Houten gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten activates Sufferer!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur suffers a terrible blow from Asgard's Wide Barrier for 337 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Avril Vent Fleur gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Dean Stark accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Gather for 0 hit points!
GS: Blitz applied to Dean Stark!
GS: Quick applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Dean Stark solidly guards Asgard's Wide Barrier for 133 hit points!
GS: Dean Stark activates Guard bonus and Countermeasures!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Causality Ripple!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Accelerate!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur takes a solid hit from Leehalt Alcaste's Causality Ripple for 326 hit points!
GS: Mighty applied to Leehalt Alcaste!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Even dazed as she is, Riesenlied has the time to hear Noeline's dramatic, bold words; words she's speaking, she knows -- and feels -- from her heart. There's a part of her that's flush with admiration, from how far she's come... how much certainty she has in herself. She can only watch, as her partner twists space and plays with it as if it is little more than a toy -- bringing them through formless shadow and space alike...

    To be the chosen of Duras Drum...

    Can she... say the same thing? The chosen of Odoryuk... no, the title she tried to hold to herself, the Heritor... is not one whose role in the world she's accepted into her heart for how...

    For how... final it is.

    This seed of doubt proves to be the gap that Leehalt needs, as a quantum interference comes over them--

    --and she's suddenly alone again. The chill winds of Arctica blasting over her face, as she clings her hands over a low railpost gazing into the distance, in the direction of Ignas and beyond, where someone important has gone beyond where she can go.

    She wants to go.
     She can't.
    She wants to write... so desperately...
     But to who? She doesn't know.

    Loneliness. Longing. The anxiety of not knowing. Day after day being spent, uselessly staring into the great distance, the yawning physical chasm between them, every day spent uselessly saying:

    I should've said something.
     But I couldn't.
    I should've reached out...
     But I was afraid.

    Then-- they snap back into place, but Riesenlied's mind is still reeling from the gap that she's been run ragged through. She looks distant and listless for a moment, and it's only at that point that she hears the words--

    BEGONE!

    Then she's suddenly fling into the air and held between a great force-- closing around her with terrible power, before she's thrown back onto the floor, skidding against it as her chair topples one way.

    "I... I may not be chosen by anyone," Riesenlied ruefully speaks. "Not in the Guardian Temple years ago, not when I revisited the Fereshte even when I reclaimed this Medium... not even now, when the story of the deceiving dragon lingers around these people like an ill omen..."

    She sounds deeply out of energy -- but -- Yulie's push and pulse gives her a little bit of verve to keep going. The wounds and duress of battle her friends are taking take priority--

    "But... but I must do something, regardless. Hold strong, Avril...! Please!"

    An enormous RUSH of the Ley, raw and unrefined into any of the four aspects Crest Sorcerers could name, sweeps across the ground; by the time they reach the Ice Queen, a sudden shroud of healing and raw power seeks to shield her, her emotions ebbing and flowing off off it.

GS: Blitz! Riesenlied has attacked Avril Vent Fleur with Grand Channeling - Spiriting Away!
GS: Riesenlied has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Riesenlied gains 1 Combo from she Cautious!
GS: Stagger expired!
GS: Riesenlied has completed her action.
GS: Riesenlied heals Avril Vent Fleur! She gains 320 temporary hit points!
GS: Regen applied to Avril Vent Fleur!
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Belief doesn't matter in the face of fact. Eleanor's spell is her retort, but but it isn't enough for her. "I won't allow such a--" Reality ripples, and Eleanor is hit hard, suddenly launched forward by the spell and then pitched away, hard, where she impacts the wall with a noise of pain. She can't even see the strange effects Noeline is making, is having trouble making out everyone's voices in the distortions. But she pushes through, to hear. The prophets... the chosen.

"You don't understand the future!" Eleanor calls to Leehalt. She almost thinks her spell was enough on Asgard--almost. But she hears him speak. "I'm... not mistaken..."

He talks of freedom, and he restores his barrier. His 'purpose'.

And suddenly Eleanor is lifted into the air again and slammed back downward, moving much like a rag doll as she rolls on impact, a little noise in the back of her throat her main answer. It hurts, to say the least. But she also feels Yulie's spell gathering around her, and it gives her sokmething to push through towards. The spatial magic cuts through her blindness, lets her at least pretend to target. But the nausea, the static, is too strong--she can't focus on her spells. "Someone... must decide," she agrees, pushing up to sit on her knees. "...But not you. We--" Her eyes flash, for an instant. She remembers--or she sees. She knows, all of a sudden, where she must strike, and it clicks into place. She has seen this before, this distortion. This vision...

"Filgaia ill needs 'salvation' such as yours."

Eleanor rises to one knee, from both, and pulls a small, golden gun. It fits perfectly in her hand, of Day of Collapse make, perhaps, but more recently excavated and repaired. She pulls it, and aims straight for Leehalt, despite being unable to see him. She remembers.

She starts firing, three shots for Leehalt, and then turns, aiming straight for Asgard's face, her ARM glowing with Mystical power as she fires the rest of its bullets at him, emptying the weapon all at once.

GS: Eleanor Klein has activated a Force Action!
GS: Eleanor Klein has activated a Force Action!
GS: Eleanor Klein spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Blitz! Eleanor Klein has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Abundance!
GS: Blitz! Eleanor Klein has attacked Asgard with Abundance!
GS: Eleanor Klein has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Blind, Delay, and Drowsy expired!
GS: Eleanor Klein has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Moderate! Asgard partially guards Eleanor Klein's Abundance for 109 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Jam applied to Asgard!
GS: Quick applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Asgard activates Guard bonus and Countermeasures!
GS: CRITICAL! Gamble: Moderate! Leehalt Alcaste takes a solid hit from Eleanor Klein's Abundance for 161 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leehalt Alcaste gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Jam applied to Leehalt Alcaste!
GS: Quick applied to Eleanor Klein!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste activates Countermeasures and Sufferer!
GS: Lydia Seren accepts Yulie Ahtreide's Gather for 0 hit points!
GS: Blitz applied to Lydia Seren!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: CRITICAL! Lydia Seren takes a glancing hit from Asgard's Wide Barrier for 173 hit points!
GS: Lydia Seren activates Evade bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Uhh??" Lydia says when The Golem seems to be taking her words to Yulie as personal advice. Shit, is she accidentally helping a Golem actualize itself or something?! This could be bad, since as it turns out, it seems like it'd want to fight them regardless of Leehalt's commands. "Oh uh." Lydia says. "..."

"...Live your best life then, man." Lydia decides. "It's kind of weird not having to sort of have a debate while trying to hit you though, can we continue on like we still got something to yell at each other about? Otherwise I just feel like I'm hitting someone with a kind of ill intent and I don't like that, so..."

"YULIE! IT'S OKAY! TEAM SISTER COMBO ATTACK ATTEMPT TWO REDUX!" She shouts.

And then she dives in, closing into close range and then--

--she brings both hands forward as she channels the power of Rigdobrite through her into her hands.

"PIZZA WITH PINEAPPLE AND HAM IS COMPLETELY VALID AND DELICIOUS NO MATTER WHAT THE NAYSAYERS SAY!" She yells as if Asgard believes otherwise and then unleashes a hefty ray of light that explodes out of her hands and into Asgard!

GS: Lydia Seren enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Blitz! Lydia Seren has attacked Asgard with Material - Rigdobrite!
GS: Lydia Seren has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lydia Seren enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action.
GS: Asgard takes a glancing hit from Lydia Seren's Material - Rigdobrite for 89 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Asgard activates Evade bonus!
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline could say many things in return to Leehalt's jab at her, but she doesn't; she's already being perhaps a little presumptuous calling herself Duras Drum's chosen as it is, given that the Guardian of Shadow is not one for laying out such titles so obviously and clearly.

    Instead, she shakes her head. "You come in force. You refuse to divulge the details of your grand plans to save only a select people. What you're doing does not stand a chance at making Filgaia whole. It is a plan completely formed on the idea of tearing it apart, and not giving two damns about any reformation. Do not think for even a moment that--"

    She hisses all of a sudden as her perception warps. One of the things Noeline doesn't like to admit - likes to keep quietly private with Riesenlied - is that she does tend to spend quite a lot of time looking back to the past. The subject of the lonely path she trod through Aquvy all those years ago is one that has been on her mind as of late as they retrace her steps, and from that she's naturally looked even further back, to Arctica and beyond.

    What would have happened were it not for their meeting? Would she have made it out of the Photosphere without the aid of a young Hyadean whose name she never learned, who snuck her medical aid and food? Would she have managed to cross Aquvy without the silent support of someone looking out for her all that time? Would she have accepted and nurtured the Medium within her, or torn through her metal until it was shorn out of her?

    The what-ifs resonate with her more deeply than she'd like to ever admit, and she stands there stunned and shaken.

    But Noeline is also someone who prides herself on her own sense of identity, and in having a rock-solid belief in 'what' she is. She blinks out of the reverie with a growl of genuine and petulant annoyance, in the barest of time to slam her sword into the ground, embedding it a foot deep in what could be called solid ground were it not for the odd shifting and heaving around the shrine is undergoing.

    It protects her from the worst of Asgard's assault; she's still thrown into the air, but her grip on the sword holds enough to lessen the fall afterwards. Rolling with it, she grimaces as she can feel the wavering of Riesenlied's emotions over her link.

    "... I don't... believe that's true," she gets out as she lifts herself back up to standing with an effort. "I want to believe that Odoryuk and Duras Drum knew that this would come to pass. That events would lead in a circle back to this place, with you at my side. And certainly that Equites saw something in you to believe in, and that Nasrin trusted you to carry the title of Heritor forwards to something new. That is all worth so much more than a moment's boasting," she adds with a fond glance and a gentle smile back to Riesenlied.

    She kind of expects a grumpy voice in the back of her mind to provide some backlash for that last one, but pays it no mind as she sucks in a breath and turns, whirling to sweep her sword up in Asgard's direction. Except no physical attack comes; instead, the air itself crackles over every part of the boundary between shadow and the golem's barrier, tearing at the shield with countless little blades of sorcery in an attempt to wear down its integrity.

GS: Blitz! Noeline has attacked Asgard with Material Adept - Border of Shadow!
GS: Noeline has gained 4 Combo!
GS: Noeline gains 10 FP from her Daredevil!
GS: Cover, Mighty, and Riposte expired!
GS: Noeline has completed her action.
GS: Asgard suffers a terrible blow from Noeline's Material Adept - Border of Shadow for 350 hit points!
GS: Asgard has activated a Force Action!
GS: Asgard has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

Asgard seems to come to a decision and Yulie can feel the energy in the air, gathering, building... and then pushing her upward. She spreads her arms open wide to create a wider shield. The energy closes in clamping down on both sides and squeezing tight. Yulie winces at the backlash... and then gasps as the currents of energy smash through her shield and send her falling to the ground. She manages to land on her feet... but the sheer effort of maintaining her defenses against that force took a lot out of her.

She has to take a moment to take a breath, but then she hears Lydia calling out to her.

"...Okay. I'll... do my best!" She says. ...What is 'her best' in this situation, though? ...There's 'that', she supposes. But is it safe...? At this moment, she might be too upset at Leehalt to worry about that, though.

"...Linking to the Material. Driving over: Code G." Yulie whispers to herself. The device on her wrist unfolds into its true form and relays her commands. At her words, glimmers of silver light, much like when she called out Code O just before begin to materialize. Rather than the finned serpent, this time a monstrous, saurian beast with a pair of spikes jutting out of its back, glowing with an earthy orange light appears - built piece by piece as the nanomachines assemble. To those familiar, it feels a lot like the Guardian Grudiev... but not, at the same time.

As Lydia unleashes a ray of light carrying the power of Rigdobrite, Code G raises one of its mighty arms at Yulie's direction and brings it down with great force upon Leehalt and Asgard with the fury of the earth itself.

GS: Yulie Ahtreide spends 2 Combo on Headshot!
GS: Formation! Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Asgard with Material Drive - Set E!
GS: Formation! Yulie Ahtreide has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Material Drive - Set E!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Yulie Ahtreide has completed her action.
GS: Leehalt Alcaste takes a solid hit from Yulie Ahtreide's Material Drive - Set E for 131 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste activates Countermeasures and Sufferer!
GS: Asgard takes a solid hit from Yulie Ahtreide's Material Drive - Set E for 120 hit points!
GS: Quick and Shield applied to Yulie Ahtreide!
GS: Asgard activates Countermeasures!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly might have been about to say something to Leehalt when she is struck in the side. The words die in her throat and she lets out a huge gasp, staggering before she ends up slumping downwards, the staff falling from her hands as she crumples, in body and in features, gasping for breath.

The man is speaking but the world is full of pain for Elly and she rips and she tears even as sorcery is turned elsewhere. A moment later she is lifted upwards and there is blind animal panic as she struggles to understand WHY she is rising up, and in a sense the crushing and twisting blows that come afterwards are a relief: they are more pain, but afterwards it is over.

Mostly.

I shouldn't have come here, Elly thinks, coughing weakly into the sleeve of her blouse. This wasn't my fight. This hurts. It -

I -

Something rocks back in the back of her head. There is a sensation of guilt in there. The memory of the Fereshte and its compromise, so long ago now, it seems; but it wasn't that long, was it? Just several years. Little Janey and Mikaia must not be so little any more. They might not have gotten any bigger at all if I hadn't been lucky, Elly thinks, swallowing back copper and pushing herself upright.

"... if I can help even one person to stand up..."

Elly doesn't reach for her staff. She spreads her hands in front of her, turning them palm up. "... you've got a very defensive mindset, Mr. Prophet. That's... a really powerful spell, isn't it? But you've also got Asgard, the ultimate of defense, with you... with something like this, I suppose it must feel very, um, very secure..."

Her fingers curl together. Ether tightens, not Ley. It is building upwards, forming a sort of swirl that stirs the air and moves some dust as it gathers around the great feet of the image of Asgard. "What I kind of wonder, is... was this just a, 'insurance policy,' or are you..."

For some reason Elly giggles, perhaps at what she was about to say. She doesn't finish her sentence and breathes out. The Ether completes itself and

FIRE ERUPTS FROM BENEATH ASGARD! THE BREACH OF THE WORLD'S CRUST! PLANETARY HATCHING IMMINENT: not quite; but the sudden surge of multiple layered sheets of condensed plasma, like Asgard had just stepped on a mine, give off a hellacious flash-burst of heat, the visual afterimage expanding aftermath (complete with some smoke and debris, courtesy of vaporized stone) rising upwards like an image of a great bird.

GS: Elhaym van Houten has activated a Force Action!
GS: Blitz! Elhaym van Houten has attacked Asgard with Thermo Phoenix!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten takes 49 damage from Reaper!
GS: Entangle expired!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Asgard takes a solid hit from Elhaym van Houten's Thermo Phoenix for 151 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Asgard gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Shieldbreak applied to Asgard!
GS: Asgard has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "To... make Filgaia whole? What do you mean by 'salvation'?"

    He says already that the specifics will not be divulged. Perhaps Avril should not have asked such a question. Whether she will get any sort of answer -- let alone one she might appreciate -- will be another matter altogether.

    In an instant, she's well beyond minding all that much about any answer he can give, anymore. It starts as a strange sensation of occupying two distinct degrees in space, of being off-kilter. It immediately becomes much worse.

    She screams. There is nothing more for it -- she feels as if she has become one who has been torn apart. The mind gives up at times like this and the animal takes over, and all the animal self can do is scream.

    Avril staggers once released from the sensation, her head bowed forward, her shoulders hunched. She draws a ragged breath.

    Suddenly, she is simply born aloft. Caught as if strung up, she has only barely recovered from such a thing when she is lurched with force up into the air. To this, she doesn't even cry out. Perhaps she cannot even get the breath in her lungs to manage such a feat.

    As if a marionette with her strings cut, Avril drops to the floor heavily. She does not rise nor does she stir where she lies. She does not even make a sound.

    She does nothing at all in fact, not until that sudden rush of Ley power reaches her. Then slowly, as if she were rising from a light slumber, Avril gathers to her feet.

    The temperature around her is dropping.
    The temperature around her is freezing.

    As she sweeps towards Asgard and Leehalt, ice has begun to crackle at her feet and slowly weave itself upwards into great crystals.

    BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y9NFgwiszw

    "No more," speaks the Ice Queen to Prophet and Golem alike. "It is over."

    In her left hand she bears a Medium, shining steadily now with its strange inner light. In her right hand, she bears a blade.

    Leaping the once in the air, the Queen seemingly takes flight, hovering there above the both of them within this sacred place. Frost fills the air behind and about her, as if it were bearing her aloft. The light catches her blade; her blade shimmers and glows.

    It is brilliant indeed as she carves into the space before her a cross, a sweeping X that rends through the very air, burning and glowing as if this were the atmosphere and the passage of her blade a meteor.

    It descends, trailing with frost, blazing with enough light to even blind.

    Avril herself lands with barely a sound and raises her blade stiffly before her as if in salute. Absolute Zero glows from within with a terrible, frozen light.

DC: You switch forms to The Ice Queen!
DC: Avril Vent Fleur switches forms to The Ice Queen!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Full Clip!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Snipe!
GS: Blitz! Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Leehalt Alcaste with Soul of Lolithia !
GS: Blitz! Avril Vent Fleur has attacked Asgard with Soul of Lolithia !
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur gains  THP from Regen!
GS: Break expired!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur has completed her action.
GS: COUNTER! Leehalt Alcaste counterattacks Avril Vent Fleur with Counter Attack!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste suffers a terrible blow from Avril Vent Fleur's Soul of Lolithia  for 205 hit points!
GS: Reaction switch bonus! Leehalt Alcaste gains 1 additional Combo!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste activates Sufferer!
GS: Leehalt Alcaste enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur drains Leehalt Alcaste! Avril Vent Fleur gains 100 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    As bullets pound against Asgard's barrier, the Golem claims they'd still be fighting now if he could decide his purpose for himself. "Right, 'cuz you love fighting! I know that," Dean replies, nodding fiercely. "But would you really still be protecting this shriveled up old geezer?"
        
    He points at Leehalt as he says this. It's a good thing Leehalt isn't either of his companions, or else he might have suffered critical damage at a result. Instead, Dean is gripped by an intense energy that picks him up like an unruly puppy, squeezes him in midair, and then drops him to fall flat on the floor.
    
    It kind of sucks!
    
    But Dean at least manages to land well and mitigate the damage. That's cold comfort, considering he nearly collapses afterwards, even blacking out for a split-second from the pain.
    
    Even so, he gets back up--though it might only be for another moment. Just long enough to finish things. "If that's really all your purpose is... then I feel sorry for you," he rasps at Asgard with all honesty as he straightens and points a gun at him. "I can't imagine being passionate about something a bad guy forced me into doing."
    
    The six-shooter barrels of Twin Fenrir begin to glow with building power for a moment, until they fire a beam of light in the form of pure energy--one that will hopefully pierce through Asgards armor and stop him in his tracks.
    
    Before the Ice Queen snows them *all* out.

GS: Blitz! Dean Stark has attacked Asgard with Scarlet Dynamo!
GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
GS: Asgard suffers a terrible blow from Avril Vent Fleur's Soul of Lolithia  for 145 hit points!
GS: Avril Vent Fleur drains Asgard! Avril Vent Fleur gains 72 temporary hit points!
GS: Asgard has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
GS: Asgard solidly guards Dean Stark's Scarlet Dynamo for 44 hit points!
GS: Asgard activates Guard bonus and Countermeasures!
GS: Asgard enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Asgard has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Asgard has posed.


"Yes." The Golem says to Dean of whether he'd be protecting Leehalt, "Without question."

The bullets of Eleanor's ARM plink against his shield - One. Two. Then the Third penetrates. Smashing into where his collarbone would be, leaving a smoking pock mark.

"What Filgaia wants... is irrelevant."

The Golem says, his auto-repair systems working hard to try and restore the sudden age to them.

"You do not have the strength to defend... it's wish."

Whereas Lydia channels the power of Rigdobrite at him. A hefty ray of light being met by a brief burst of his barrier as it attempts to divert the beam as much as possible.

"Your... logic circuit... is malfunctioning."

The Golem says of Lydia's Pizza comment almost as if he doesn't believe that Lydia is a person, but a construct.

But the TEAM SISTER COMBO ATTACK won't be denied... as Yulie summons... Grudiev??? The Golem has encountered Grudiev being summoned against him, which causes his Logic Circuit to decide that the energy is indeed Grudiev, but it's appearance is new Data. The Golem tries to catch Grudiev's arm, but is driven into the floor, the stonework around him cracking around him as he's driven to his knees.

And then his head jerks up as Noeline's spell tears at his barrier. A thousand tiny blades of sorcery wear it down. The Golem's barrier flares, but then it is simply overwhelmed by so many of them. The barrier abruptly disintegrates, and he is skewered by so many sorcerous blades.

"So... you accept... your purpose."

Wait that's the Golem's summation of Noeline's heartfelt feelings???

And then Elly's small giggle attracts his sensors, the Golem battered... "I... withstand..."

The Golem's declaration is cut off by the sudden flash haze of heat, that of a great bird consumes him. When he reappears, his armor is on fire, parts of him... melted, if only perhaps the outer layer.

And then... the fires are snuffed. The temperature around him dropping so abruptly.

Frost fills the air, and now there is steam rising around the Golem from his superheated armor making contact with the frost... except that steam is fading rapidly. Two crosses of energy and...

"This... power..."

Despite the Golem's damaged state... he sounds... excited? Giddy? As if whatever mechanical spirit within him still wanted to go on, even if his mechanical frame might not allow it.

The descending blade strikes him, carving a frosty swath across his armor, as he is sent hurtling backwards, the stonework only not shattering... because there is now a thick layer of ice over it. The ice breaks off in sheets of it, and perhaps, so does part of him.

In the aftermath, Dean's six shooters erupt in a charged shot... that slams into him.

And burns a hole in his chest. The contrast of heat and ice having rendered his armor far more brittle than any Hyadean Alloy ought to be.

There is silence, for many long moments.

And then, the Golem's hand... sweeps out the ice from in front of him.

In a parody of tortured, mechanical movement, the Golem rises up. And steps forward. His joints creaking all the while.

"A G-Golem..." He says with a mechanical warble, that modulates briefly into a static hiss before coming back, "...ex-exists... to serve." Is his simple answer to Dean's on the fact that he feels sorry for him. Whether it is a rejection of his pity or not is unclear, but perhaps it is a rejection of the idea that he regards his lot as pitiable.

"Condition... R-R-Red." The Golem announces. "Never... the...the... less..."

There have been those who have seen Asgard flee when he grew too damaged to battle onward. Whether by Summons by his master, or order, or some protocol of self-preservation. However...

... right now his Master is here, and still fighting. He is still here trying to make his wish come true.

Rather than retreating. The Golem steps forward, as if he's going to put it all on the line and keep fighting even now.

"... t-this-this... c-continues..."

The Golem says, as if rejecting even the commands of the Ice Queen, for the sake of his Master.

<Pose Tracker> Leehalt Alcaste has posed.

"Progress must come. It is not inevitable -- and if some are hurt, then many have better lives for it," Leehalt answers Yulie, coldly. His eyes narrow.

"And what do you know of Filgaia's needs?" Leehalt demands of Eleanor. He watches her rise -- and she fires before he can get his barrier up. Two shots don't strike his face. One grazes a shoulder; one plunges in at the collarbone. The third slashes open his face, and reveals more dry and bloodless flesh.

Whatever he is, he doesn't bleed.

And he still doesn't when Yulie summons a Guardian -- or, perhaps, not. His eyes widen, as he realizes, seeing Grudiev be built from nanomachines. "This is--"

What has Brionac hidden from him?

"Yes--" The power slams down into him. The earth shatters and rumbles under his feet. He only barely keeps upright. "I... understand."

His eyes turn back to Avril. She screamed; he is good at ignoring screams. Screams come with his tasks. A teamster cares not for a horse's whinny; an engineer pays no mind to the railroad's rumble. But then he catches the ice forming. He turns.

And he has a second realization.

Her blade cuts into him, and slashes through clothing -- and through his dead, dried out flesh. He hacks, rasping, and stumbles away. "Nngh--you are-- the Ice Queen!"

He has trouble keeping upright. But he sees that Asgard is, as well -- and while he may be using him, he finds value in him. But it isn't the value that they do. He shakes his head, quickly.

"Asgard. We withdraw," he says. "We will... reevaluate. The fact that one is a chosen of this Guardian -- and the appearance of the Ice Queen..."

His eyes narrow, as he looks at Noeline, then to Riesenlied. "We leave."

He holds a hand up. Light flashes around him and Asgard both. It rises up -- pulses -- and both vanish.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Nice Yulie!" Lydia is basically the ultimate sister. She will support you no matter how many people you murder.

She waits until Asgard and Leehalt are gone before slapping her butt at them (she was kind of afraid they'd come back if they saw it and shoot her directly in the butt).

"You really kicked butt today!" She adds, giving Yulie a fistbump on the shoulder. It's pretty gentle because of the tremendous pain she's in!

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied's heart sinks a little when she realises that, in this moment of... well, perhaps it's not exactly a moment of triumph -- but certainly a moment of clarity for Noeline, she's ended up making it... about herself. A sour disgust twists in her, but she pushes it aside.

    "It is not... a boast," Riesenlied responds in turn as she clings towards her hand in turn. "Do not call it boasting... I have never been more proud of you, than in this moment."

    Yulie summons the power of Code 'G' -- and a saurian beast erupts from out of the earth, materialising in a way that seems so familiar to her; "Yulie..." Seeing the girl do her best -- even use a power that she was so afraid to show just months ago -- fills her with a sense of relief.

    Elly picks away at Leehalt's mindset; it is a guarded one, is it not? One that seeks to manipulate everything... just what was behind this person, whose power saw it fit to briefly twist the perception of reality?

    Avril rises once more and -- Riesenlied's eyes widen as she suddenly speaks in a tone that can only mean one thing. It is over, she declares, and certainly the brilliant show of power that occurs, as she shields herself from the ice is nothing but that.

    Eleanor speaks of the future, and how Leehalt doesn't understand it... and it all ties back to the speech about 'purpose'. In a way, even to Asgard, as she insists that he has more than one purpose... she's being a bit hypocritical.

    Asgard struggles -- at code red -- but still he stands; ever true, ever loyal. Something about the inexorability of his spirit... even towards the end...

    "... thank you, everyone," Riesenlied barely lets out as she fumbles and drags herself back towards her whelchair, when they both vanish. There's a delicate smile as Lydia cheers over Yulie and tells her what a good job she did. "Thank you..."

    She glances back towards the altar of Odoryuk, biting her lip. She doesn't want to admit that Leehalt's pried open a long-unchecked wound even further now...

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Yes," the Queen answers Leehalt, in those few fading moments before she swings her sword. "I am she."

    The force of her blade's swing lands mere moments after she touches ground. Light streams from both of those her blade had struck and grounds itself in her sword and not the merest flicker of emotion graces her expression.

    "Do not return," she says, as Prophet and Golem alike make their exit.

    Do not return.

    Where had she... heard that?

    Avril exhales sharply and takes a step forward, as if she were suddenly stricken and slowly blinks the once as she steadies herself.

    "I... am all right," she says, and after a moment more there is no blade in her grasp, only the Medium -- still shining -- held in her arms.

    She is all right. If there were any injuries, there are none now. There could be none after that expression of the Ley's power and her own, in tandem.

    "Do you think that they will... return?" she says then, turning about to gaze at the others.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline keeps her gaze steady on Asgard and Leehalt as the golem goes down to one knee, and as the battle seems to pause around them long enough to offer them a retreat. The shrine, alive as it is in the presence of so much of Duras Drum's power, does not seem inclined to pursue them. The Hyadean marks their exit in a solemn sort of silence, doing her absolute best not to show how aware she is of the Veruni next to her carried on winds of ice.

    It's only when they leave that she sags with a mixture of relief and fatigue, her vision blurring a little - and not in the otherworldly way of the shrine, but out of sheer exhaustion. Space reasserts itself with something like a little 'pop', and the holes and cracks that were scarring the wall simply seem to fade out like so much illusion, back to the flat stone that it started out as.

    "... please don't say we have to fight her next. I hope we can at least talk her down," she mutters. She's got enough strength to stay standing and help get Riesenlied up into her chair, but does end up leaning on the handlebars of Riese's wheelchair quite heavily afterwards. The way in which she's hovering over her partner suggests that at any moment she could just take a nap on one of Riesenlied's shoulders, and actually might given half the chance.

    Whatever she could do to help the Ice Queen, though, she knows that Dean and Rebecca are far more likely to get through to her. So instead of worrying about it too much, she focuses in on Riesenlied, taking the other Hyadean's hand in hers with a soft chuckle. "... I was rather saying it just to try to knock him off guard," she admits with a tired laugh, but leaves it at that as she closes her eyes to nudge against her partner.

    "... and don't change the subject from what I said," she quips with amusement; concern and affection mingle in her gaze. "I will always believe that your own actions and hopes are what drew the Guardians to you. It may not have been an explosive event, but there are many types of 'chosen'." With a sigh of effort and relief, she lifts up and grasps the handlebars. "Let us at least go and give the Keqili the good news. We have bought time to strengthen the place, at least."

DC: Avril Vent Fleur switches forms to The Amnesiac Girl!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Leeholt and Asgard depart. Elly waits for three moments and then just... sits down; right where she is. It's not very nice but it still hurts. She puts a hand at her side, breathing more evenly now that she's not moving. Her eyes rest on Avril, wordlessly.

That change...

It's a little familiar in some ways, isn't it? If perhaps not quite as...

... explosive.

She sort of sits for a couple of moments, numb. No thoughts. Head throbbing.

Elly finds herself talking even so:

"Riesenlied," Elly calls out. "I don't know if it slipped away, but... it sounded as if they weren't behind the strange things... from what he said, they'd just arrived." A second or two passes, and then, "I think... I mean, I can't tell them, of course... but I think this place will be safer, if there were people here, sometimes... More often than there seemed to be, at any r, rate."

<Pose Tracker> Yulie Ahtreide has posed.

That realisation... it doesn't escape Yulie. She stares in surprise... and suddenly seems very afraid that she may have mad a mistake.

...But, whatever consequences there might be, they'll have to wait until later. Leehalt and Asgard withdraw, leaving the rest of them to deal with the aftermath. Yulie sags a little after that, suddenly feeling... very tired. She flinches a little at Lydia's shoulder-fistbump, still a little tense from the fight, though she does turn to send a small smile her way.

"Th-thanks, um... you were great too, Lydia." Yulie replies. She looks toward Riesenlied, then, quiet for a moment.

"Um, Miss Riesenlied..." Yulie starts, and hesitates. ...It seems like she's hurting, but Yulie isn't actually really sure what to say... She wants to reassure her, but she's not sure she fully understands the significance just yet. And so she trails off, going quietly and speaking up only when Avril asks about Leehalt and Asgard.

"...I don't know, but that man... he frightens me." Yulie murmurs, wrapping her arms around herself for a moment. She'll let the others figure out how to best approach keeping this place safe.