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 Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 8:37 am
'Maemi' drew closer when Lumine wrapped her arm around her, pretending to be nervous about the agitated rabbit.
Ochiba stopped in her tracks when Lumine got up and went to her, leaving the 'tengu' behind her. "You know that makes no sense right?! If she came back from Hakugyokurou she'd be in a different body. Where she a ghost, she'd lack legs, if she was a jiang-shi, her body would show deterioration, and if she was any third thing you could probably tell!" Ochiba pointed at Fuzen,"That thing isn't your friend!"
"what?" Maemi stood, apparently quite annoyed with the little youkai,"Just because you've known Lumine longer than me doesn't mean anything."
"That's not what I'm talking about!"The rabbit continued to jump in place,stomping between words,"And you! Get away from Lumine!"
The rabbit made a jump at the winged figure. "Eeep!" Maemi moved to the side, leaving a clenched fist in place of her. Ochiba landed right into her fist bouncing off clinging to her stomach.
"Ah! I am sorry! I didn't mean to-"
As the 'tengu' got closer once more to help the rabbit straighten herself, Ochiba batted her hand away,"St--stay away from me!"
"Ah-" Maemi looked from Ochiba to Lumine with a hurt face. Fuzen wondered how long the game would go.
"That thing is a demon, not your friend!" Ochiba growled,"She is a but a temptress!"
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:52 am
Lumine stared blankly as Ochiba broke down the logic behind Maemi's sudden reappearance. What she said was true, every word of it. But she didn't want to believe it. She clenched her fists, to the point of her fingers becoming white-knuckled. She shut her eyes, trembling. "O...Ochiba-a...please...don't take this from me..."
Lumine heard movement, a mild thump, and Maemi cry out. Her eyes snapped open and she turned, just in time to see the Tengu's hand being swatted away by the rabbit. "Ochiba!" The Celestial slid to one knee, ending just beside the rabbit's prone position. "A-Are you okay?! Where do you hurt? Is it your glasses??" Her words were absent-minded, because she was focusing on other issues. Something about Maemi's body language didn't sit well with Lumine. Maybe it was just doubts put into her mind by Ochiba...
Maemi wouldn't have lashed out - she would have sidestepped the rabbit, or at very most deflected or redirected her energy. Master Kazuko taught her control. And she wouldn't have apologized either; she would have become annoyed, and probably yelled at Ochiba for the sudden outburst.
Lumine put a hand on Ochiba's stomach, focusing solely on the rabbit, her back to 'Maemi'.
"Ochiba...shouldn't a soul... be warm...? ...Why...aren't you warm..."
All of the Celestial's things were on her bed, beside them all. She reached out and grasped Maemi's Nodachi.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 1:33 pm
Ochiba looked as Lumine came to her side, "I am okay, it's just a punch." The rabbit looked at the celestials "I know it hurts you, Lumine, but that isn't your friend! Trust me, please.... I would never lie to you."
Maemi watched as the celestial reached for the nodachi," You are going to believe that non-sense, Lumine? " The tengu took a step back,"I am cold because I am dead, you said it yourself; You saw me die."
"Roaming souls are naturally cold like ghosts... One with a body has no reason to be cold..." Ochiba responded, her eyes glaring from behind her glasses that where beginning to slide to the tip of her nose.
"Are you questioning me?" The tengu crossed her arms with a frown.
" MAAAASTEERRRR!"
"Eh? Katrina?" The disguised woman pushed away from the current game with the celestial and rabbit moving out the door quickly.
Katrina, finally stopped,"Maaaster!"Looked over her shoulder, then quickly ducked as a knife flied to stabbing next to the door frame.
"I got you now demon!" Michiko pulled out both Dual blades. Maemi sighed.
"Oh my, ... youkai around here are trouble some." She moved to Livid's side,"The wolf chased you all the way out here...?"
Her follower nodded.
Ochiba was still by Lumine's side,"Good job Michiko."
"No problem, little rabbit."
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:03 am
"Why...? What did I do...to deserve all this?"
"...You...aren't...my grumpy Tengu!!" Just as Lumine was going to draw her blade, the Tengu rushed passed her, answering the call of some foreign voice calling out for "Master". With the Nodachi gripped tightly in one hand, Lumine pushed off her knee and broke into a run, bolting out the door and following 'Maemi'. There was a fire burning in her eyes, bearing an energy like no other.
She paused as she saw more people approaching. Ducking the knife, she spied Michiko, chasing after some other unknown figure, though she seemed to know 'Maemi' somehow.
With a wild swipe, Lumine ripped the Nodachi from its sheath, tossing it to the side to hold the sword with both hands. The moment the blade met the air, its polished steel ignited into a bright crimson with Will-embodied energy, fueled by her burning rage and quite literally dripping from its tip.
Holding the sword in both hands, she placed herself in the stance she had seen Maemi take many times throughout her training with Master Kazuko. Her emotions were overflowing, as shown by the crimson droplets falling from the blade's edge, because in her state of mind and erratic thoughts, the Danmaku was improperly formed around it. "Michiko! What's going on?! Who is this woman? ...Maemi, or whoever you are, explain yourself," She gave a quick swipe with the sword, releasing droplets of crimson energy. "Now!!"
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:34 am
Michiko nodded at Lumine, "I don't know who it is, but I don't take kindly to random Demons invading my home."
Maemi smiled as she took notice of the dripping blade. "This is Katrina, a friend of mine," the tengu put a palm up letting her pitchfork appear; probably an odd addition to Maemi's visage."There is no need to be overly feisty~ "
"I really hate liars." The wolf tengu dashed forward ahead of Ochiba or Lumine. Katrina was too tired to react, but the now armed 'swordswoman' stopped both blades at the bottom of the pitchfork's curves. A twist of the weapon flicked the weapons away from Michiko, and with a quick swing, she hit the wolf tengu pushing her back. 'Maemi' chuckled a bit at Michiko's sudden disorientation.
She flipped the hair over her shoulder, at last letting her charade drop. The flick of her hair let fall perfectly over her shoulder. Now it was Fuzen who stood before the group,"That was fun, and it is not nearly over."
Ochiba gritted her teeth, "Lumine, we can't run into battle... Like Michiko did, These are two demons we are talking about."
Fuzen listened leaning her weapon on her shoulder, while Livid appeared her spear. "Come on now, I can hear you perfectly, Old Little Rabbit~"
Ochiba grumbled a few curses under her breath as she put away her glasses. Michiko was standing now, earning a tense look from Livid.
"And what do you mean by explain Myself~?" fuzen smiled,"It was a game... I am sorry, i didn't know it would hurt you so much." Typical sweet words that seemed to seep truth. The droplets where easily blocked with a small shield.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 11:17 am
So it was true... it was all true. Ochiba was right. This wasn't Maemi at all... The Celestial's worst fears had been realized.
Lumine's stance lowered, the sword almost touching the ground. Seeing Maemi once again vanish before her eyes dealt a critical blow to her psyche. The energy encasing the sword's blade wavered, dimmed, and then glowed, alternating states of solidity and strength while corresponding to the different emotions Lumine was feeling.
This woman, this Demon, had a lot to answer for. Using her beloved's image so whimsically, without concern or knowledge of her importance to Lumine, created a pit in her soul that burned with a seething hatred for the Temptress who stood before her. Soon, the blade's crimson shell reformed, solidifying and glowing with an intense vibrancy. "Shut...Shut the hell up!! How dare you...?! How dare you...use Maemi...like that!"
Lumine lunged forward, ignoring Ochiba's warning altogether. "Hiiiyaaah!!" She slashed with the long Nodachi in a wide horizontal arc, releasing a crescent of excess energy in the process. The wave of danmaku broke apart and expanded in the wake of Lumine's slash, spreading its payload of crimson, glass-like shards across a wider field at the expense of becoming weaker and easier to dodge.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 12:54 pm
Fuzen took a single step back taking a black soul and crushing it in her hand. She held her palm out, and a black almost transparent shield formed blocking the blade and the excess energy, but only for Fuzen.
Katrina and Michiko both had to scramble out of the way. Michiko tried to dive forward to reach for her blades while Fuzen was busy blocking with Lumine, but the demon quickly shifted to stab at the tengu with her pitchfork while she ran by.
Ochiba having taken hints of this ran with Lumine's attack, grumbling about how she hadn't listen. She jumped and landed on the pitchfork, crouching and taking it in her hands before jerking her body to the side.
The movement knocked Fuzen off balance, killed her shield and made if possible for Michiko to slip by. As the rabbit jumped off , the temptress had already taken it in her mind that she would be killing the pesky bunny that kept so rudely ending her fun. Fuzen stabbed forward aiminh for the rabbit's chest, but Ochiba managed to take hold of the weapon's prongs, digging her heel in to stop the attack. The center tip did dig through her clothes, but near her stomach, having moved the attack lower and away from more vital organs.
While Fuzen and Ochiba were in a dead lock, Livid flied to ram down Michiko, and quickly bounce of to try and ram Lumine, her spear defensively and ready to block the large nodachi.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 5:49 pm
The reprecussions of her attack happened fast, much quicker than she had expected. When her physical attack was blocked, she recoiled with the weapons weight, nearly knocking herself backwards and onto the ground. Regaining her footing took some effort, and by the time she had, the situation had changed drastically.
Lumine looked up in time to see the other woman bash into Michiko, and then aim for herself. Seeing Ochiba in the position she was in, Lumine knew that if she waited to properly defend the other demon's attack, she might be too late. Instead she chose a more drastic option: using all of her strength, Lumine flung the large weapon forward; it spun as it flew towards Livid. Using the forward momentum from the swing, Lumine also rolled forward on the ground, passing under both her own spinning blade AND Livid.
Once on her feet again, she dove for Fuzen's spear, intent on using her hands and body to knock the weapon out of the demon's hands, or at the very least shove its tip away from Ochiba...
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 7:22 pm
Livid hit the floor, ducking, though Lumine pushed by her. The demon stumbled to the side, and too baffled she did not see the recharged wolf tengu pounce her and knock her down like only a wolf could.
Fuzen looked in time to dig her heel and brace against Lumine, whose determination to struggle the pitchfork away from her. It have Ochiba time to pull back and down, tackling the demon's feet.. Though that didn't get her to budge. "IZANGI'S LAMENT~ Shiang-Ji's love!"
The black-soul danmaku bursted out, pushing Ochiba back, and Fuzen swung the pitchfork around to smack Lumine with it, promptly trying to jab into her.
Meanwhile, Livid's spear vanished as she wrestled with the angry hermit, the two women rolled scratching and punching at it each other. When the wave of danmaku cane though, Michiko took advantage of being under the demon. She gripped Livid's cloak and pulled her down onto herself, digging her nails into the demon. By pulling the demon onto herself, Michiko hid herself from the danmaku, making Livid a shield. The demon screeched as her master's danmaku impacted her.
Ochiba rolled over her back running for Lumine's blade, Fuzen was too busy with the celestial, so when the huge blade stabbed at the temptress' feet, making her split and jump back launching the pitchfork at the rabbit who flipped back, narrowly avoiding it.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 12:31 am
Once again, retribution was swift. Lumine managed to divert Fuzen's attack from Ochiba, allowing her to escape the pitchfork's points, but instead of running, the old rabbit tried to counter-attack the demon.
The Temptress declared a spell card. Where Lumine and Ochiba were, they were in absolutely no position to dodge or defend themselves in any way - luckily for Lumine, the blast seemed focused on Ochiba, allowing the Celestial to escape unscathed. For the moment, anyway.
Soon after Ochiba suffered from the spell card's effects, Fuzen made her next move, swinging the pitchfork around in an attempt to strike Lumine. She quickly ducked under the first sweep, but her bare foot slipped on the soil, and her knee met dirt. Off-balance and on one knee, she was unable to move in time, and Fuzen's next attack, an attempt to pierce her, struck true. Part of the pitchfork's points stuck into Lumine's shoulder. A burning pain erupted from the wound, causing Lumine to cry out in agony.
Thankfully before Fuzen could make another move, the Nodachi suddenly cleaved the earth between them. The Demon's quick reflexes meant she escaped the attack unscathed, and returned to combat quickly after by hurling the pitchfork like a spear. While she was distracted, Lumine grabbed the Nodachi's hilt with her good arm, kicked the back of the blade, and ripped it out of the ground, sending a wave of crimson danmaku slicing forth, splitting the earth. Not only did it cut a path towards Fuzen's feet, but it also sent up medium-sized chunks of earth in its wake.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 1:32 am
"DemonicVeil!" Fuzen made a think pillar like wall of the energy drained from the black souls, easily fending off Lumine's attack. The demon herself was very accustomed to using her spellcards like average attacks.
While she was behind the wall, she took to account Lumine's injury; the celestial would be easier to end. The rabbit, on the other hand was far more worrying, but she seemed hell bent in protecting the celestial girl. So, it was obvious that attacking Lumine would end in Ochiba scrambling in the way to protect the girl. Fuzen cut her spellcard short, saving the rest of it in case need be, but raising her next card. "At Hell's Gates! ~ Past Court."
The shadow of the large gates formed with black flamed danmaku, burning with some ominous force. As 'the gate open' a frenzy of black flame danmaku mixed with red disks and orbs fired out.
Ochiba jumped infront of Lumine, leaving a good two meters between them," Twisted Wonderland , Queen's Heart!" The red orbs of danmaku traced the shape of a heart behind her, the space within with the same rippling blue energy as alway. With Ochiba infront, blocking some of its power, the card became a huge shield. The rabbit crossed her arms as the danmaku rained on her and then her shield, but behind the wall, Lumine was safe.
Charred and bruised the blind rabbit lowered her arms, teeth bared in a more animal attempt to stay fierce, but Fuzen was upon her with her smile. "Blazing Flames, Scorching Hate! " The flames ones again ignited, this time in a circle around Ochiba and the demon. The temptress's steps would leave small patches of fire,and it was as if her fingertips where ready to ignite with the same energy.The demon brought down her elbow, nailing Ochiba on the shoulder. Not crumpling, the same elbow impacted her across the chin, before the demon's hand reeled back, another black soul crushed before she punched into the rabbit. The black poison of the soul seemed to go through the small youkai, but her skin wasn't broken. As Ochiba clutched her abdomen and doubled over, her card shatter, as did the shield, breaking into millions of shiny blue shards.
The pitchfork reappeared, and with a swipe, Fuzen tried to impale Ochiba again, but the rabbit caught it once more. Now really annoyed, Fuzen lifted the pitchfork and Ochiba along with it. The old youkai did slip a bit into the sharp prongs of her weapon, finally yelping and kicking like a small animal in pain. Fuzen gave up and flung her to the side, where the rabbit crumbled in the floor, curled up from trying to get up but failing through the pain and poison that ran through her.
Fuzen though, was obviously out of breath, three cards in a row and a direct attack left her tired; Lumine could exploit her new sluggishness, even if she had her weapon in her hand.
... They could ignore Livid and Michiko who were still at it separately and in their own little world of hate.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 6:24 pm
The upheaval of the Nodachi left Lumine exposed and in a bad position. After the sword met the sky and unleashed its attack, her wrist twisted, and the blade fall into the earth again, this time behind her, and it took the Celestial with it.
With the sword stuck into the ground, Lumine leaned against it, clutching her wounded shoulder. She watched helplessly as her attack was so easily defended against by the powerful Demon. Silently, she counted how many declared spell cards Fuzen had used; two had been used already, with in quick succession. The Temptress was surely in a level of power all on her own, and now, she declared a third. Lumine's stood awestruck and frozen to the spot as the giant wall of danmaku rose behind Fuzen, looking as though it could block out the sun with its size.
She slid down the sword's length. At long last, maybe she'd be seeing Maemi soon. Lumine shut her eyes, awaiting the finishing blow to be dealt... but it never came. Another spell card had been declared. The Celestial opened her eyes. Ochiba stood before her, taking the brunt of the Demon's attack in her stead.
"Ochibaaa!!!"
Before the Rabbit could recover from the barrage, Fuzen was upon her. With a fourth spell card declared and a small exchange of blows, Fuzen sent her flying, and resumed her attack with the pitchfork. Lumine clawed herself to her feet, ignoring the crippling pain in her shoulder and wrested Maemi's blade free from the earth. By the time she returned her gaze to the fight, Ochiba had been cast to the side, helplessly writhing on the ground. By chance, it seems the Demon was also in a moment of weakness. Now it was Lumine's time to shine.
She reached into the neck of Seijin's tunic, withdrawing her own spell card. She tossed it into the air and cut it with the Nodachi, releasing its magic in the flurry of a white gale. "Devotion Sign: Heaven on Swift Wings!" A powerful wind erupted, blowing outward and with Lumine at its epicenter as large wings made of danmaku formed across her back. The white wings glowed with a heavenly light. They were large and powerful, and easily lifted the girl's light frame off the ground, even with the Nodachi's weight in tow.
"YYYAAAAAHH!!!"
With a flap of the wings, Lumine rocketed forward, poised with the Nodachi to attack. As she approached Fuzen, she aimed the sword straight and true, and was entirely inclined to pierce the Demon on its length.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 10:23 pm
The demon was too busy trying to gain her composure, the gale of white wind was what made her attention spaek.
Fuzen's eyes darted to Lumine, in time to see the celestial dashing towards her, trying to stab through her. She restarted DemonicVeil with a hand, but Lumine shattered the spell.
Quickly, she jabbed the pitchfork up, catching the nodachi and pushing up slightly, slicing into the demon's shoulder. The temptress was too out of breath to fight back as Lumine stabbed into her flesh, rendering an equal wound to the celestial's.
"Eye for eye, mh, my fallen angle?" The demon gave a frightful grin through her pain. All Fuzen did was dig her heel into the floor, and prepare to retaliate, but then her underling flied past, crashing down and into a tree that made the border of the Forest Of Magic. Still with a firm hand to prevent the nodachi from further hurting, she spotted down the glint of the scythe's blade.
Knelt by a panting Michiko that seemed to clutch her side, Hanari stabbed her scythe into the earth leaving a hand on the wolf tengu. But that wasn't what got a real look of fear from Fuzen-mara. No, next to the shinigami stood the shepard of souls, Tebiki, with her staff by her side as per usual, with the many souls circling her. It the made sense that the attack that had knocked the Seven Sin Youkai off had been from the cleansing light the Shepard carried.
Fuzen immediately began to unwrench herself from the celestial's blade,"Ah-- Shepard!"
Tebiki walked surely forward, telling the Temptress was weak. "Do not release her shoulder, Celestial, do not allow her escape."
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 1:19 am
For a moment, Lumine thought her attack had failed to phase Fuzen. She raised her pitchfork, ready to strike Lumine down when the woman's attention was suddenly turned elsewhere, as the other demon flew past them both. After a moment, the demon's face turned concerned, even...fearful. Obviously, this worried Lumine, too. She turned her head to see what had caught her attention, to find Hanari and another strange girl standing beside her and a wounded Michiko. Lumine could tell neither meant any harm to the wolf, perhaps even meaning to protect her, but something about the other girl made her uneasy, and if it drew a similar reaction from the Temptress, then perhaps her own fears weren't unfounded.
Even so, Lumine dared not turn her attention away from the Demon for long, even as the other foreign voice joined the chaos. She gripped the Nodachi tightly and with both hands, fighting against the repelling force of Fuzen's protective spell.
"Fallen... angel?! I am a Celestial! Highest.. order... of beings!" Her feet met the ground. She took a step forward, pushing harder against the barrier, gritter her teeth as she did. Her wings beat powerfully again, adding more force behind her advance. "I'm way cooler... than a harlot like you, who uses cheap parlor tricks! But call me... what you want! This is payback! For screwing with my emotions! For hurting Ochiba! And this is for disgracing Maemi!!!"
With one final beat of her wings, Lumine thrust forward with all her might...
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Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 8:34 am
Fuzen tensed again against the renewed pressure Lumine put to her blade, but the demon didn't cringe. "Call yourself what you will... You are in a place where you don't belong. For all the judges care you are as dangerous as I am~" The temptress laughed at the celestial, until the nodachi managed to break through her pitchfork and jabbed into her shoulder further. Fuzen-mara clenched her jaw , digging her heel and readjusting to stop Lumine again, even as her blood flowed.
The shepard reached the two, and she raised her staff, shoulder to shoulder to the celestial and Maemi's nodachi. "Higan Sign ~ Guiding Beacon." The lamp begun to glow, before the outburst of icy blue light exploded in a five meter radius.
Lumine would't be hurt by it, because she herself was an enlightened being, but the explosion of energy sent Fuzen back, to crash and lose consciousness.
Graciously for her, Livid was getting up, she ran to her master's side. "Master-! A-ah! I better get you out of here!" The sinful youkai begun to gather Fuzen in her arms, cradling the sleeping demon against herself. She quickly ran with a head start, and spreading her wings hurried away.
Tebiki watched but said,"Let it go.... Putting an end to Fuzen-Mara is like ending a ghost... She returns either way, in one manner or the other." The girl put her staff down, and from next to Lumine, she spoke to Hanari next,"Is the wolf tengu well?"'
"Her side has a big cut... And she is out of breath, maybe a bit of shock... but she refuses to let me help; Can't even put pressure on her wound."
"Prideful...." She turned to the celestial,"You. Are you hurt?"
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