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Sophie soon arrived at the square with Natalia and their monster companion. Since the ship was literally right next to the square, it wasn't a long walk at all. Sophie saw Arianna and Arlin and smiled a bit, wondering how their search went. But, she was very happy to see Arianna. She hoped she'd be able to help their new companion. The four reached each other quickly and Sophie looked back at the jackel creature before smiling a bit and looking at Arianna. "Arianna, this one's hurt. You take care of monsters, don't you? Can you help him?"






This was bad. Very bad. Daermod was in a very bad situation. The moment he was spat from the rift, he was attacked by some sort of monster that he couldn't see because it was so dark. Dark to the point he couldn't even see his own nose. Now, he was limping away, his leg having been bitten by the unseen monster. There was no source of energy for him to use his spells to defend himself. There was no mana, or whatever the equivalant for mana was wherever he was right now. His swords were gone, too, and so was Ankoko. Right now, all he could do was limp away as fast as he could and hope the monster would lose interest. But, of course, that was wishful thinking. It had tasted his blood and now it was going to hunt him down like a lion did an antalope.

Daermod had begun to feel ill from the evil energy and ended up tripping on something, causing him to fall. His injured leg jolted with pain and he let out a scream before trying to stand. His body froze when he heard steps on the dirt. He only heard a series of two steps at a time, meaning it wasn't the four-legged monster that attacked him. "Ankoko?" There was a laugh, though it was an evil and hostile laugh. A demon, maybe? Whoever or whatever it was, it wasn't Ankoko.

Ankoko walked through the dark mist of evil energy. He could see fine, and he felt a surge of energy growing the longer he remained in the area. As much as he would have liked to stay and relish the feeling, he had to find Daermod. If he was caught up in this, then he wouldn't last long. He wasn't a sword anymore, and he wasn't a demon. Daermod would suffer greatly if exposed to this air for too long. The problem was that he had no idea where he was or which direction to look in. As he stopped and tried to focus his energy to maybe get a reading on Daermod, there was a scream he recgonised. "Daermod." The other was in trouble. Hurrying in the direction he heard the sound from, Ankoko soon came across his companion's swords. Picking them up and placing them in the long pocket on the inside of his cloak, he hurried on.

It took less than a minute for him to find Daermod, passing a slain chimera of some kind on the way, and when he did, he saw the demon that stood over him, ready to strike. "Don't you touch him. Shadowdance!" Arms of darkness sprung from the ground behind the demon and latched onto the demon's arms and neck, pulling him back. The demon spoke to him in their bizarre language, to which he replied in the same jumbled words before slaying the thing. He didn't even bother with its soul. Sheathing his sword, he knelt in front of Daermod and rested a hand on his shoulder. He was out of it. Either from the fear of being killed or from the air. He was alive at least. "Let's find somewhere safer for you to rest." Ankoko stood and lifted the unconsious body, making his way from the shadow until they were out and back within the world of mana. ...This is close to Iselia. As much as I don't want to go to that infuriating village, I have no choice. It's the safest place for Daermod to rest and recover. This was going to be an annoying experience.

LUTZ
Where: Luin
With: Sheena, Likaia, Repede
Status: Normal

Lutz was staring silently at the river; lost in his own thoughts about possible connections between the world he had found himself in and his own, his musings were interupted when a dark gloom fell over the town, the Grey Fox gave a start and looked around; the townspeople had to make a commotion about the sudden haze; it made Lutz remember something Sheena had said before; She said the blacked areas on the map were dangerous...is this gloom related? the fox felt a chill go through his body; he shivered and drew his cloak more tightly around him Something's certainly wrong; I'd better find Sheena with a worried glance behind him Lutz headed into town to find the human woman

OOC:

Upon finishing her suggestion, Pascal watched Hubert's calm face turn bright red with his trademark flustered blush. Even during their travels, seeing him blush like that was always a treat for her. D'aww~<3 Hu looks soooo cute when he blushes. Her amber eyes fixed at him curiously when he declined her offer, but she wondered why. It couldn't be because he was too shy; she remembered him being perfectly fine when they went to the beach resort in Strahta. Then what could it be? Her train of thought was cut short with the arrival of a long-haired girl with a strange creature in tow. Those words of hers struck a chord with her. Pascal felt a familiar sensation recently . . . and not the good kind. It was familiar to the feeling she had when she was caught in that dark mass of shadow that pulled her into this unfamiliar land. With Hubert's instructions fresh in her mind, Pascal gave him her usual cheerful salute. "Y'okay! We'll wait for you outside the town. Be careful out there, Hu." Now, her amber eyes turned to Serenity, still in her bed with her worn out legs. "Heya, Serenity. Do you need help walking? I can give you a piggyback ride if you want."

Arianna smiled softly and shook her head. "They're not monsters. Anyway, I think I have just the thing for this little guy." She knelt and got into her bag, getting out a cream-like substance and a bandage. "My Lucario gets hurt a lot keeping the farm safe from unruly wild Pokémon. Since Lucario are the evolved form of Riolu like this, this cream should help him heal....May I, Riolu?" The Riolu hesitated before coming closer to her and holding out his arm. Smiling softly at the little guy, Arianna rubbed the cream on the edges of his wound, careful not to get any in it since it would sting worse than a Weedle's horn. After she was done with the cream, she wrapped the wounded area of his arm in the bandage before standing. The Riolu returned to Sophie and stood next to her. Seemed the little guy chose Sophie as his trainer. "Heh. He likes you. If that's the case, here. Check the wound every few hours. If it looks dry, rub more cream on it. He'll be more comfortable with you doing it."

Serenity looked at the new girl, and her...dog thing. Whatever it was, it was pretty. Hearing that Gaius sent her had the heiress concerned. Hubert told her and Pascal to leave town ahead of him and Gaius, and Sersnity frowned. She appreciated his concern for her, but she was fine. Sure, her legs still felt a bit weak, but if she could manage to summon one of her duel monsters, she could easily help out. But, she felt she was too weak to manage that. Sighing, she gave in. "I can walk, but I might need your shoulder to keep me up." Serenity stood, but didn't move yet. She had to get used to being on her tired legs. "...Be careful, Hubert, and tell Gaius to be careful for us. 'Kay?"

Though the miasma and air of evil energy that reached the towns isn't too dense yet, the latter will start to lightly play with people's negative emotions and memories. It slightly increases the tendency of unreasonable attitudes in the townspeople. It's apparent in their actions—the intensified fear spurs people to make a mad scramble out of the shadow, on the brink of creating a stampede. The angry, in their frustration, shove and yell at others to get out of their way. There are a scant few—namely, those weakened by sickness and the elderly who are brittle—who give into despair and believe this spells the end for them, and thus have lost the motivation to move and save themselves.

Some monsters that dwell closest to the towns appear to have wandered in past the boundaries. Those in Asgard may find themselves encountering Ghosts, Poltergeists, and Slimes, which have seeped in from the Underground Ruins. Those in Hima may spot Axe Beaks, Bears, and Skeletons descending from the mountains. In Luin, Imps, Gremlins, and Spiders may be trickling in from the nearby Lake Sinoa Cave. Lastly, common to the general area surrounding the three towns are Velocidragons and Cockatrices, so those might be encountered upon exit.

Though they're not mutated yet, they more than likely will attack anyone and anything with the ferocity of a rabid animal due to their pained, muddled, and irritated state.



((So basically, um, yeah, this is the groundwork for creating your own commotions. ^.^ As for how the air could start affecting your characters, I'm going to illustrate a light example with Jade here...))



"Please calm down and move along in an orderly fashion, people. Your panic is only making it harder on yourselves. The town gates aren't too far away," Jade commanded in an authoritative tone, observing the crowd rushing by him as he directed them down the clearest path with gestures.

As he looked ahead to see if people were encountering trouble further back in the crowd, he caught sight of a vague, but familiar figure hovering over the people—one that was tied to memories that were none too pleasant. It was a woman of pale blonde hair...donning a revealing outfit that was half black and half white. Wing-like appendages of the same colors were protruding from her upper and lower back, with the former being smaller than the latter.

The woman was smiling a rather taunting grin at the Colonel. She raised a hand, making a sort of gesture that spoke, "Come hither. I dare you."

"You...!" Jade gritted his teeth and sharply creased his brow, half angered and half shocked at the sight. Instinctively, he summoned his spear. It can't be...I destroyed her at Mount Roneal... Bypassing the crowd, he dashed toward the figure of Nebilim, only to find her drifting farther out of reach with each step. However, it didn't take him too long to sort out what was really going on. The civilians didn't seem to notice her at all, and it was kind of off that she wasn't slaughtering them out of mere amusement given the replica's mental instability. But the real clincher was that she wasn't giving off the same aura of power like she did when she appeared to him and his company at that crag.

Jade sighed in relief as he regained a calm stance. It's just an illusion, he mentally said to himself reassuringly. Upon making his realization, the image of Nebilim ceased to be. He was slightly disgruntled that he had reacted so hastily, but it was still concerning that such an illusion would appear to him in this foreign world. But the incident helped him understand a little better why the people were starting to behave a little irrationally.

He snapped back to alertness when he heard a young woman's scream, and turned to see that one was trying to wrest an old man out of the clutches of three Skeleton monsters. And it was the same old man that explained things upon his and Krystal's arrival.

"Save yerself, Marlene!" he cried out to his granddaughter, then added under his breath, "Ain't no more hope fer this old man..."

Jade swooped in and proceeded to distract those Skeletons with a few strikes of his spear. With that, Marlene was able to drag her grandfather out of harm's way. "Th-Tha..." the young lady began to stutter, but was cut off by the old man.

"You! Trouble didn't show up 'til you lot came 'round!" he barked, shaking a fist at Jade. "That lady's in league with them monsters, ain't she?!"

"G-Gramps...!"

Jade interrupted (before they would drag things out into a conversation),"I'd advise you not to dawdle." As he spoke, he kept his gaze trained on the Skeleton monsters, which were preparing their counterattack. "Move along now. I can buy you plenty of time."

Marlene quietly nodded, draped her grandfather's arm around her shoulders, and helped him walk along as quickly as she could. Jade immediately started using his heavy-hitting spear artes against the Skeletons, minding a few more that were beginning to approach the scene.

~~~

Zaul was muttering curses as he made his way up the area of his choice. He wanted to move faster, but a few monsters were annoyingly impeding his progress. The area was almost entirely cleared out by now, but he had one more big concern before leaving entirely. He eliminated a handful of Axe Beaks that were trying to hop after the crowds, then caught a Bear cornering a mother and her child at a cliff edge and proceeded to take it down with a Freeze Lancer, allowing the two to escape.

At last, he reached the cave at the top where the Dragon Tamer housed his tamed Velocidragons, though they were now roaring and thrashing wildly in their cells. The tamer himself was hunched over and on his knees before them, weeping. "Th-these fellows are my livelihood...I already set free my flying wyverns... I've got to take them with me, but I know the moment I open those bars, they'll tear me apart..." Zaul thought it was a little ridiculous how the Dragon Tamer had stayed back like this, but figured it must've been very long and hard work taming those dragons and understood the man's plight a little better.

In that moment, he started feeling a little odd. Like his body was sort of brimming with mana, and he was expecting such an excess to become a visible aura, yet it didn't. He froze in a defensive stance and ignored the tamer for a few moments as he saw his surroundings sort of "change" before his eye. It was more that transparent but bright images of a forest were superimposing themselves on the cave walls. He saw a tree surrounded by small waterfalls...it looked like an ordinary sapling, but why did it give off a feeling of great significance?

Shaking his head to snap back to reality, Zaul remembered there was no time to waste questioning what was happening to him right now, and quickly decided to put his current state to good use. To try out his idea, he stood very close before one of the Velocidragons' cells and stared intently at it. After a while, it actually stopped thrashing and looked puzzled. When it curiously drew closer to the bars of its cell, he dared to rest a hand on its head, between its eyes.

To his relief, and also surprise...it acted a lot calmer.

"'Ey!" he called out to the Dragon Tamer, "Ya can let this one out, n' we can work on settin' the other ones free, but y'all gotta stick close ta me, y'hear?"

The tamer got up to his feet, looking at him with astonishment and nodding. He didn't understand what was going on...how this half-elf stranger was able to get one of his dragons to settle down...but he was left with no choice but to run with it.



((Um...yeah, same, you can bring out a few random monsters or illusions if you want to create your own commotions. ^^))

After the portal phased out, the three also caught sight of the mysterious writing that appeared on the ground. Indeed, even the two long-lived seraphs didn't find it any familiar. Kratos kept his silence, simply giving it a thoughtful gaze, but still kept his hand on the hilt of his blade as he didn't believe there would cease to be a threat so easily. Yuan looked upon it with a mixture of puzzlement and apprehension and lowered his hands, yet didn't break the summoning position for his swallow blade. Meanwhile, Azura stared at it curiously while starting to fish around inside her coat for another one of her devices.

But while they stared, Rhone went ahead and touched the sign. "Wait, don't—!" Yuan interjected and even began to move in an attempt to stop him, but was cut off by the light bursting out in place of the writing. "AUGH! What on EARTH is it with you and your inability to anticipate the consequences?!" he ranted at Rhone as he went ahead and brought out his swallow blade out of reflex. He was actually about to say "What were you thinking?" but at the last second, thought, "No, he isn't thinking at all."

"There's still the barrier spell, Yuan," Kratos reminded, to appease his old friend, "But of course, let's not let our guard down."

Azura had finally taken out the device she was looking for—her sapphire-colored G-Droid—but found herself too late. She had shielded her eyes from the flash, then proceeded to stare at the golden circle. "I...kinda wish you hadn't done that! I could have taken photographs of those markings for analysis!" She didn't find herself all too worried yet since the possible threat didn't seem to be too immediate.