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 Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 6:18 pm
Rei simply stood his ground to the verbal exchanges. He knew the insane mage wouldn't stop his ramblings, so he simply blocked out all that was being said. Banter doesn't win battles, after all. The hot winds, though slightly warmer than one would expect in the autumn, were hardly close to fazing the Druid. If this was a magical asault, it wasn't a very good one. So, the Druid only watched, slightly in horror, as he saw Vika begin to essentially drool blood after losing her tongue. Wonderful. Simply, completely and totally wonderful. They'd encountered a first-rate loon, this time.
He'd have done something about the tongue, but before he could even fully comprehend it, the raven had used magic, and then transformed, and began her own assault on their foe. Her tenacity was to be commended, to say the least.
A presence pulled his attention from the battle unfolding around him, pulling his attention towards the bookcases. That.... that was... a dragon. A real dragon, and it was black. Was it some sort of bastardized Idoun? Or was it just conveniently black? Regardless, the sight of Lugh on its shoulder was more than enough for the Druid. He'd already seen Lugh once, and "his" appearance only complicated things before. And if that was actually Lugh, then he surely wouldn't be standing up on that dragon. If Lugh was going to appear in Learania, is sure as hell would not be in this twisted place. Knowing Lugh, he'd appear in a candy shop or something.
The Druid calmed his nerves as much as he could, before removing an especially ornate tome from his cloak. As tired as he was of using it, this was about one of the only cases where he would cave. The front cover of the tome flew open, the Druid's energy willing it to turn to an unused page.
"...I don't know what you're planning..." he said, mostly to himself, as a dark aura began to form around his entire body. Then, he began to laugh. "But a dragon and my brother? Really, you should know better than that!"
No more games... he thought, pointing a hand towards the dragon's body. Rei only planned on doing this once, so he was definitely going to make it count. "Hellish vortex, consume these ghastly apparitions! Apocalypse!" As the incantation finished, a purplish-black whirling portal was conjured behind the colossal dragon, threatening to do away with it then and there. And if that wasn't enough, arcs of purple lightning began to shoot from the portal, either scorching the tops of bookcases, or the dragon's back itself. If the two humanoid ghouls didn't move very quickly, the lightning could just as easily do some nice residual damage to the both of them.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 6:24 pm
His legs wouldn't move, no matter how hard he commanded them, they just, wouldn't, MOVE! Dammit Ephraim! Of all times! The only movement the lancer was able to pull was a dodge roll as a something large suddenly emerged.
What was that!? He screamed in the back of his mind, once his eyes focused on his surroundings once more, Ephraim looked up. Nearly shocked at what he was seeing, This time for sure it wasn't an illusion. This was all his doing. "Lyon..." he's not there..its not him! Lyon wouldn't be here in the first place..Lyon was dead! Killed by his best friend's own two hands! Ephraim dammit focus! He scrambled to his feet and just as he did, a surge of hot air nearly knocked him off balance once more.
"You..will not..." Ephraim murmured, arms raised in front of him as he squinted at the black dragon, Lyon and one other figure. "You will not destroy my friend's image any longer!" He shouted, barely enough for anyone who was near him to hear. This has to end..it needs to end.
He lowered his head, leaning it against the nearly destroyed killer spear. "I'm sorry.." murmuring a small prayer after. Ephraim glanced up and took a few steps forward before that turned into a sudden dash toward the dragon. The large creature wasn't his target at the moment. He leaped, using some of the broken chairs that layed on the ground as a rebound support to get himself up to the one target he was after, Lyon.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:29 pm
Jasper's eyes swiveled the room, calmly observing the scene. It was pretty chaotic, but well construed. It seemed no one noticed him, floating in the presumptuous air and sitting on a cloud. It wouldn't make much sense to notice Jasper, he's most likely the least important character of the bunch.
He took a minute, counting how many he had left strapped to his chest. 17, that's perfect. Considering how his usual skirmishes leave him with less, it was always a good thing to have a lot of useful ones, using them at random.
But that conjure was impressive. Jasper couldn't take down a dragon, he knew he didn't have the zealous tactics.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:35 pm
Soren had dodged. Vika had expected that much from him.
So when his body actually warped to avoid her, instead throwing a blade into her path, she veered sharply to the side, flapping her wings once more to send another gust of wind in the mage's direction. She then veered around, spotted the great dragon and a pair of figures upon it on the ground below, decided that her primary concern was Soren. The pain in her mouth had subsided to a dull empty agony, the damage having transferred over to this form. It still bled, but less so than it had before.
She circled around upon hot currents of air once again, gaining speed again. The faster she was, the less time he'd have to avoid her. She flapped frantically, sending razor after razor of wind at Neros and his counterpart. They whirled around, making it nearly impossible to dodge all of them entirely. Though, Vika knew, knowing Soren, he would find a way to dodge them. She spotted Blossom taking aim at the magician, twisted her own body, tucked her wings in, and rocketed towards him once again.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:57 pm
The dragon opened his jaws in an earthshaking roar, still trying to find a good position among what remained of the tables and chairs. He was a massive dragon and quite unfortunately that put him at a bit of a disadvantage. The chamber might have seemed large, but it was actually dwarfed in comparison to the beast, so all he could do was roar in frustration and prepare a blast of fire. Instead, Rei's Apocalypse stuck him from behind. The dragon let loose a roar so great that his companions' eardrums seemed to have burst.
Lugh winced as he staggered off of the dragon's shoulder and fell for the marble floor meters below. He quickly conjured a puff of wind magic to cushion his descent, his feet alighting upon the floor and his eyes fixed upon his brother. There was a bitter sadness in them. He put his arms out to the side and, without even uttering an incantation, Excalibur wind blades shot inward toward the group from both sides.
Lyon himself was more preoccupied in a more personal conflict. Instead of falling off the dragon he leapt off of his shoulder and, as Ephraim came up, fired a burning blast of elder magic into the Renais king.
Soren had avoided Vika's initial Vortex attacks and seemed to calculate immediately that he ought to be prepared for more of them. A shield was erected in front of Neros and himself, a barrier of hot bladed winds that churned into themselves, much like a blender. They held enough strength to disrupt the razor offensive that Vika put up. However, they were not put at the right angle to protect him from Vezra's assault, and nor did he make the shield strong enough to withstand Vika's velocity.
The blades cut deep into his back, black substance bursting out from the wounds, but he continued to sew Neros's wound up. And then -- if Vika didn't pull out at the last minute -- the raven's beak would tear right through him, almost sundering him in half. He would quiver terribly for a moment although he wouldn't turn away from his job.
And then tendrils rose from his back, spearheaded and jagged, and they wound in and out of his skin like giant sewing needles. He was fixing himself.
Neros watched everything. Even though black substance dribbled down his chin, the realm had fixed him as well, restoring his tongue with the sensation of maggots wriggling in his mouth. The black maggot-like creatures had eventually fallen out of his mouth and left him with a new tongue. Vika's would not regrow in the same manner -- well, not unless he made it so somehow. But it was clear to Neros that this was not something of his own will.
He looked at the reflection of his former self repairing himself while he sewed up the wound, then down at those fighting for their lives. Looked at the dragon, looked at the two Negatives that had been formed with the materialization of this realm.
His fault. All his fault.
The Door was in his mind again. Faces of old comrades, some friendly, some not so kind. Some carrying terrible memories, some that used to give him a bit of hope. And then pain, inexplicable pain, and then he was looking at himself and the Goddess through tear-stained eyes, and he'd known that he was a product of sin, known that he was just a mistake and kept making it worse and worse with every turn.
He looked down tiredly at the group. The people who just wanted to live happily ever after, and were willing to die for it. The people who shouldn't have to put up with this.
He closed his eyes and reached out...
All of you, he broadcasted mentally to everyone there, you have to kill me. Attacking him won't do a thing. But I think it's fine to remove the dragon and the two illusions. If you keep him occupiYOUR EFFORTS ARE FUTILE. FOR REFUSING REPENTANCE NO HEAVEN WILL AWAIT YOUR CONDEMNED, TAINTED SOULS.
Now Soren wasn't allowing any sort of that kind of communication either. Neros solemnly bowed his head, confirming that fear to be true: he'd lost control of this realm.
Once Soren repaired himself, he swung around with another swathe of the double bladed scythe. A massive, burning blade coursed through the chamber, distorting the storm of leaves so badly that it took on the guise of true fire.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:26 pm
The dragon took a nasty hit from Rei's nasty-looking spell. The gray-haired man seemed preoccupied with Ephraim, and the green-haired one was... WHOA! "FLY!"
Aph didn't need to be told twice, flapping hard to rise above the wind spell. Normal wind magic was one thing, but wind blades like that seemed to be something else. I can't tangle with that, wind magic that strong is still dynamite...
She looked up. The one Soren appeared to be fixing... his other self? Himself? Both his selves? ...Yeah, that sounded about right. All he really cared about was fixing, not taking part in the battle at all. That didn't seem right--after saying something to the effect of "I will cleanse you myself", he should at least back up his words. Actions speak louder, after all, and speaking of actions, Charice and Aph simply rose higher and higher, vortex wind attacks subsiding as they appeared at Soren's level.
Nobody else was set up to make an attack, and Soren was still focused on repairing his "other self", stopping as if to override the bizarre thought that lodged in her brain about killing the bound man...
And swung around, darting away just before the free Soren could swing the scythe. The burning blade moved downwards towards the ground, but that scythe had been right where Charice's head had been.
"Close," she said as Aphrodite turned, "but not close enough!"
Drawing her lance, Aph surged forward towards the two Sorens. She'd clearly be visible to the actual Soren now, and he could make another swing--he'd have enough time. Plus, he was too close to the bound Soren, making him too-well defended. No, her best bet...
She angled her mount down and away from Soren, out of reach of his scythe. She could take a blast of magic if he did that again, but if it was only fire, she would live. She'd be burnt, but she'd live. She could hit Neros with her lance, sure, but it'd be something to the effect of impaling him in the foot. Impaling in the foot a killing blow does not make. No, she figured, I'll do away with these chains and let gravity do the rest!
She stopped for only a split second, plunging the lance into one of the long chains binding Neros' foot to the wall, snapping the link apart with the forceful blow. She turned around to get out of Soren's range, hoping to try it again...
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:40 pm
Now I'm stuck here
But I don't belong here 
~Ninian~She felt sick.
Ninian had seen the soldiers coming. But her eye had also seen a flash of red. Instinctively, she had turned towards it to find Amara running into her mother's arms. Without thinking, the dancer had run towards the tactician and her now safe daughter. And Blossom, too, was safe.
Then she saw the portal. Something told her--no, screamed at her to stay away, but the soldiers were coming. With little choice, she followed the others inside, into the swirling, rotating room. Eerily calm, everything felt dead, cold, nothing.
She felt sick.
I should not be here, she thought, afraid. We all should leave. We are not suppose to be here.
Choosing to stay put, she surveyed the room. Her headache was almost completely gone, but even before she saw the corpse suspended in midair. She clamped a hand over her mouth, fighting to hold back the bile. Slowly, carefully, she followed the others as they explored the room.
A sudden light had her blinking her eye rapidly, trying to adjust to the sudden change. And it wasn't just the light that had changed. This place, if the last had been a nightmare, was like a dream, tranquil, peaceful. She stared at the stained glass for only a moment before her eyes were drawn to the figure seated at a table.
". . . Neros?" someone asked. Their voice fell flat, not echoing or reverberating off of anything, as if absorbed by the very air itself almost immediately. "Neros . . . Neros, it's Vika. A-are . . . are you there. . . .?"
Ninian shuddered. She did not know or understand who this Neros was, but the bird woman who had spoken . . . her voice just sounded wrong. The seated man's voice was worse, even though it sounded normal. Ninian had heard about people losing their minds in Eyris, wondering again if that was what had happened to her when she had seen her husband, but what was this about needing to be fixed? Yes, she knew she was broken in some ways, but that was for her to discover and fix on her own, for her to work at becoming a better person by herself and with the help of her friends. But for someone to say that they needed fixing? That they needed tweaking? Just what was this man talking about? Some of the others voiced their questions, but Ninian chose to remain silent, not wanting to hear her own voice sound so wrong.
Blinded? Stained? Cleansed? Just what was this man going on about? Ninian didn't understand, and neither, it seemed, did anyone else. Her head started to throb, not entirely from the effort of trying to understand this strange man.
The winged woman--was her name Vika?--said something, and something seemed to change abruptly in the man--Neros? And then Vika lost her tongue.
Ninian didn't even see the woman's attacker, or anything, spell or weapon, come near the woman. And then everything started to go wrong. A massive black dragon appeared as if from nowhere, what appeared to be two magic users riding on its shoulders. Everyone moved to attack. Everyone except the dancer.
She stood frozen in place, though her mind screamed for her to do something, anything, just move! Fire blasted out from a source she didn't see, the dancer instinctively taking a step back.
All of you, she heard inside her head, an unknown voice calling to her, you have to kill me.
What? Kill, her? What?
Attacking him won't do a thing, the voice continued. But I think it's fine to remove the dragon and the two illusions. If you keep him occupiYOUR EFFORTS ARE FUTILE. FOR REFUSING REPENTANCE NO HEAVEN WILL AWAIT YOUR CONDEMNED, TAINTED SOULS.
Ninian fought the urge to cry out, falling to her knees and holding her head in her hands, eyes watering form the forcefulness of the sudden shout.
Things were happening that the dancer did not understand. But she did understand one thing: her friends and comrades were fighting and she stood behind, doing nothing. Not because she couldn't, but because she wouldn't.
NO. No more. I will not stand by and watch others fighting while I do nothing. Not anymore. She stared at Briseschal for a moment, gripping the flowing cloth tightly in her hand. Teifi, please! Show me how to wield this! Briseschal, help me!
The scarf must seem as if it an extension of your body, Ninian, just like a sword is an extension of the arm of the person who wields it.
Ninian gasped, staring forward into nothing, her mind a thousand years in the past.
Just let it flow, darling. Like a river.
Extending her arm, Ninian directed the scarf to the side in a quick movement. Jerking her wrist upwards, the scarf changed directions, flying up. As the dancer moved her arms, so too did the scarf move.
That's it. Now you have it! I knew you could do it! A little more practice, and you'll have it, my dearest!
Ninian smiled. Rushing forward, she flatted her hand, snapping her fingers together. One end of the scarf snapped straight, a thin razor blade, the rocks and the end of the waterfall. Leaping up, the dancer flung her arm out. Briseschal went flying down, aiming for the dragon's leg. I wanna be where you are
Maybe I'm not so far from home
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:42 pm
 ...Injured with pain and sadness, the you that cannot be healed
Shoulder the burden of the past that cannot be erased; don't throw away your will to live...[ X ][ O ]Blossom[ O ][ X ] →Blossom flinched hard enough to drop Vezra at the mighty roar of the dragon, but it was back in her hands in an instant. She was not being targeted by any of the enemies at the moment, so it was imperative that she do as much damage now while she could. She had to swallow down the cheer as Vezra's strike made it past his barrier, apparently having been angled just right to slip past it, and crashed into his body.
Yes! He's wounded! He's really wounded! All we have to do now is deliver the final blow and wait he is healing himself with weird tentacles things what gives here?
Blossom gripped her sword more tightly. She didn't have more power in Vezra to launch at him, and he was much too high for her to reach. She would only be able to attack that dragon that had roared, or apparently a pair of boys that she wasn't familiar with at all. Blossom was about to move towards the green-haired one when she heard a vaguely familiar voice speaking.
"...Isn't that... Soren's voice?" Blossom whispered under her breath. It wasn't quite the same, but... Blossom turned her eyes back up to the darkness, and finally, she was able to pinpoint the vague outline of Neros lashed against the inky depths of blackness. If she could somehow reach him...
Wait, was that a big arc of flame heading towards her? Crap!
Blossom held Vezra before her and braced herself, closing her eyes. Some of the flames filtered right into the blade, but some rushed past and hit her shoulders, searing through the fabric on both shoulders, through the bandages, and leaving behind burnt sleeves and raw, red skin. It wasn't as bad a burn as the one she had gotten previously, but it was enough to make her wince as she lifted Vezra back to a fighting position. When she looked back up, Charice was swooping around, having apparently already done something to Neros up in the darkness. Blossom looked down at Vezra. Some of the runes were pulsing again.
"...Time for round two?"
Blossom looked back up, trying to locate Neros' outline again. When she finally decided her aim was as good as it was gonna get, she began to run, then leaped up into the air and swung hard, sending out a bright white arcing blade that soared right for (what Blossom assumed to be) Neros' stomach.
We readers will only have to hope that her eyes didn't fool her.←  You'd better forget everything. Remember. . . your different Life?XXX
You'd better forget everything. Remember. . . though, we cannot returnXXXLike in times of warped memories, we can understand somedayXXX
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:58 pm
I feel like I can face the day... ...and I can forgive. ♦ ◄ALIHI► ♦
————————————
Slowly but surely, Alihi was becoming a human shield. Hot air? Turn and have it hit her back. Excalibur? Same thing, only it hurt a bunch more, and she had to curl up more due to the way the wind blades were coming at them. Fire? Step out of the way. Though she wanted to help, there was not much else Alihi could do at this point; she didn't want to let go of Amara, so unless she wanted to try to kick a dragon or one of the magic users, she pretty much was forced to dodging and staying on the sidelines.
(( -mourns for a posting muse that died when she hit 50k words in NaNo- MAY YOU RETURN SOON. ;~;
And Akihi's just runnin' around. I would make him fire Elfire but my brain denies me of writing ability AND makes me hear creepy songs when I try to think. Baw. ))
———————————————— And I'm not ashamed to be... ...the person that I am today.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:07 pm
Vika felt it. Vika felt every emotion Neros felt. Even if he was a twisted version of his former self, he only wanted the same thing Vika had wanted all along. He wanted to belong, he wanted a home. And he'd done all this to created a world just for him, only to have it robbed out from under him by this incarnation of his own self. Vika felt his agony from the connection the two still had. Neros was her friend. And Blossom was too. It was then that she realized one thing. Vika could live without a tongue. It'd be hard to, but she'd cope.
She couldn't live in a world Soren would create just to spite existence.
And she definitely couldn't live without people who cared about her.
Her mind was made up. She pulled away from Soren. He was already healing himself; it would be impossible to destroy him at this rate. She heard Neros's words and, even though she really didn't want to kill him, she knew he was right. She fluttered around, sent another hellstorm of Vortex at both Soren and Neros, attempting to aim the ones meant for Neros more at his shackles than his form itself. And then the blade of fire came. She was getting weary; mages got tired after casting this much magic, she was nearly tapped. She flapped her wings, sending a flurry of wind out to catch the flames and carry them back towards their caster and Neros. And then she drove cleanly through them, talons extended towards their would-be target of Neros, and let whatever higher power there was above decide her final fate.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:23 pm
Rei simply watched as Charice wove around the blades of wind that soared through the air. It was good to see that someone was totally undaunted by the mental screams, because Rei sure wasn't. The man's screams sent chills up his spine, though the blasts of hot air did a little to counteract that. Hot air was comforting and relaxing, after all.
As Lugh fell from his perch, he shot a volley of Excalibur. But, Rei thought, the group seemed rather spread out now, so there should be little worry of more than maybe two people getting injured. But, this disgusting doppelganger was appalling. Taking the visage of his brother, his twin, no less, was a crime that he would not let go unpunished.
Apocalypse was "sheathed," so to speak, back in Rei's cloak. The next tome, however, was Erebus. He actually managed to not use the thing more than only a few times, this whole ordeal! But, he would use it at least once more, before this was done, it seemed.
With a simple wave of his hands, the tome in one, of course, four pools of dark energy shot from the ground under the imposter Sage. Two grabbed the boy's outstretched arms, two grabbed his legs. All four of them, together, kept the boy suspended in midair, only inches from the ground.
The entire scene unfolding around him: the dragon's flames, the bursts of magic, the screams and caws, he blocked it all out. Nothing mattered to him, but doing this one thing, this one deed, he felt he would not let himself leave unfinished.
He would send this warped memory back to the abyss, as painfully as he could. It was the least he could do, after seeing what Soren was doing, after all.
With a sigh, wishing the being that hung before him was real, Rei began to raise his hands above his head. His fingers were arched, like they were controlling a marionette. "Come, puppet, let me pull your strings!" he cackled, looking on the verge of insanity. His moved his hands about, simply laughing as the fake Sage waved his arms around, conjuring up more blades of Excalibur.
"And now we're gonna spin!" he screamed, whirling his arms in circles above his head. These motions made Lugh do the same thing, and the motions sent his Excalibur spell rocketing in two directions: one was towards the dragon he just dismounted from, the other was towards Neros, in the depths of the inky blackness that Charice and Vika so consistently aimed.
But, he didn't bother to look towards where the second burst of Excalibur went, that would take too long! Besides, he was sure that the others could handle Neros well enough to handle the situation. So, with the Druid's attention focused back on his twin, his mouth contorted into a twisted grin.
"Time for the puppet to be thrown away." he said in a singsong voice, before closing his hands into fists. Then, each tendril pulled with tremendous force. A sickening crack later, and the Sage was torn asunder, each limb pulled from the body. The moment the body fell out from underneath the air, and onto the ground, Rei released his spell, quickly averting his gaze to the scene unfolding with all of the fire and whatnot. If he had to look at the bloody, dismembered corpse of what looked like his brother, he might lose his lunch.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:48 pm
ˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣˣ
ં
ં
ં
fear has been lost to faith
the darkened night has come before the end
of which we must prevail The chain that Charice severed moved ever so slightly on its own. Right before everything else happened.
Lyon landed after he'd done his job in front of the dragon, but Ninian's attack left the beast staggering and roaring. The sage looked up, eyes wide, as the beast toppled away from him. He sighed with relief.
The false Lugh was appalled to have himself manipulated in this manner. He tried with all his effort to fight the strings, but an illusion such as himself bore no power of will, and so he looked on helplessly as he found himself casting Excalibur upon his allies. The false Lugh cried out just as the dragon roared once again in pain and the other Excalibur went flying into the darkness. How dare he, how dare he, how dare he! He tried with more effort, but to no avail.
Rei tore apart the epitome of Ignorant Envy.
Back to that second wave of Excalibur. The darkened wall was actually lit up a bit by the furious storm of fiery leaves and the blinding red and orange lights pouring down from above, the heat intensifying with each second. Soren had stopped his job and whipped right around, sending his own blade of wind cutting through Excalibur with a swing of the scythe. Everything was happening so quickly; in a moment Vika was on them as well, and Soren had to intercept Vezra's white-hot attack with something at least equally powerful to cancel it out. Blades of Vortex hacked away at the chains before Soren could induce another swing to intercept those as well.
Neros threw his head back as Vika's talons tore into him, hoping — through the agony and his gurgling scream in spite of him having his tongue back — that this would abolish the connection between the physical realm and this warped realm of desire and emotion and dream.
Soren swung the scythe down. He was still a wind mage: a tempest of wind blades consumed the raven in one simple swathe, shredding at every feather and bit of skin they could find. And Neros was falling, falling toward the ground, unbound, eyes closed.
The chains came to life. They lifted away from the wall, shot down, wrapped around him. Snapped him back to the wall. His eyes widened and he struggled, but they would not lose him, would not let him go. Soren would not allow the bridge between this realm and theirs to break. He wanted madness to take over and eliminate all which had ever given life happiness and joy and blessing.
As Neros was snapped back to the wall, bleeding from Vika's blow, Soren reached forward and RIPPED his left arm off. And at the same time, Aphrodite's left wing would suddenly be falling to the ground, torn straight out of its socket.
Neros was screaming. Screaming bloody murder. But Soren knew that even if he mutilated the boy, it would not kill him so long as he was fixed each time, and that would keep the bridge between realms alive. No longer concerned with doing a neat job, however, he waved his hands and several of the thorned chains messily repaired Neros's wound themselves, using the existing flesh as threads. Neros shrieked on the wall and kicked and flailed as Soren turned toward the group.
This whole time, the dragon had been stampeding back and forth, knocking tables over, breathing fire in all directions. Lyon had been shooting masses of elder magic in all directions. (Treat these two as NPCs, do whatever and make them do whatever in your posts. Be careful with contradicting each other though.)
"It would be unwise to preserve any of you," said Soren, but it was not his voice, it was a thousand voices at once. He hefted the scythe and leaped down from above, slamming the scythe into the floor. The room was at boiling temperature. The rush of fiery leaves drowned everything out now, but everything on the wall burned a deep blackness, a terrible void consuming even Neros himself (who was now missing his left arm).
The chamber shuddered and thorned chains began to raise out from the wall.
"Goodbye," he said in a thousand voices. amidst the pitch of steel we shall arise
i will destroy all those who oppose me!
heroes! always! pay in! their
BLOOD!
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:09 pm
Pain.
Suffering.
Death.
Vika gasped awake. Vague blurs of light circled around her eyes. They were open, but they needed time to adjust to...whatever this place was. She breathed heavily, and was aware that she had a tongue once again. The taste of blood was gone, and the agony that had wracked her body only moments before had disappeared.
Her arms spread out, fingering her own wings sprawled out beneath her, then the ground underneath her. It seemed to be...grass? Yes, it was grass, short, crisp, healthy grass. And the air smelled so...calm, airy. She blinked a few times, clearing whatever was from her eyes, and opened them once again, staring up at a clear blue sky. Then she rolled over onto her side, picking her body up from the ground, and looked around. She was in a meadow, reaches of grass and blue skies as far as the eye could see, and a bright sun shone above. The atmosphere was warm, so calm...
"Vika?"
Vika spun around to face the voice.
"Vika, I'm so glad you made it."
Hands were joined.
"Come on. Let's go home."
Great black wings were spread, and the two flew together into the sun above.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:13 pm
Now I'm stuck here
But I don't belong here
~Ninian~Her attack had hit. For the first time, Ninian was on the giving end instead of the receiving end of one. The first time she could remember anyway. And she didn't even have time to stop and realize this before she had to back away or get hit herself.
Spinning away from the flailing beast, Ninian dodged the dragon, keeping clear of its powerful legs as it knocked over the tables and breathed fire everywhere. Whenever the dragon gave her the opportunity, she lashed out, cutting deep into the dragon's flesh. Dark magic was flying everywhere, flames burning.
Jumping around a dark spell, the black dragon made a mistake, jerking its head to the right as Ninian came at it from its left. Shoving off, the dancer flung her arm out, her fingers pointed straight at the dragon's neck.
Forgive me, she thought in the brief moment before Briseschal cut through the dragon's thick hide, severing an artery. The dragon flailed around some more, roaring in pain. Finally, it collapsed, having bled to death.
Ninian landed, one hand on the ground, the other extended for Briseschal to wrap around as it returned to the dancer. She stared up at the dragon's corpse. Her first fight . . . and her first kill. And it had been one of her own kind, a kindred dragon. But this dragon had tried to harm her friends.
She would think of this later when there was time and mental energy to do so. For now, the dancer resumed dodging the many dark magic spells the other magic user was casting; the first was already dead.
Without warning, what souded like thousands of voices cried out. Ninian turned to see Neros--no, not Neros--hefting a scythe, slamming it into the floor. Everything felt like it was on fire, and the half-dragon collapsed, feeling as if she were dying from the heat. Her head pounded, and ache she had not noticed while she was fighting, so focused was she on the fight and stopping the dragon from hurting anyone. Everything seemed to shudder.
Somewhere, someone and many someones whispered a goodbye.I wanna be where you are
Maybe I'm not so far from home
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:13 pm
Ha ha! That did it! The chains were broken! Now to just let gravity do the job and let him fall to his doom and--hey, wait. What? She watched as the chains hefted Neros back into position, seemingly repaired. Oh, damn, and here I thought that was the end of it. Hey, wait, what's he doing to--!
"NEEEEEEEEGH!"
"What th--AUGH!"
She turned back around.
Her face blanched as one-winged Aphrodite gave one last desperate buck in an effort to stay airborne. Where the hell was that left wing!? It was right there a second ago, and now it was gone!
Granted, it was merely floating down towards the ground, and Aphrodite was clearly in great pain from suddenly having her wing torn like that, but when you realize you're about to fall to your doom, you don't really notice those things very well.
"N-NO! NOOOO--"
And Aph could hold up no longer, gravity taking hold and starting the plunge, falling off to the right, Charice falling out of the saddle instantly, both headed for what could only be described as "pancake time".
She couldn't throw the lance to make one last shot at Neros, she needed solid ground (or her pegasus) for that. But no, it was too late now, she'd failed and was going to die in this godforsaken place and--
Her fingers grasped the Sonic Sword, pulling it out as she fell faster and faster. Neros was rapidly moving farther and farther away, yes. She and Aph were both going to die thanks to gravity, yes.
But if there was one thing Charice couldn't stomach, it was the last words in her dream:
"At least I had the decency to die by a REAL weapon! You fail."
So I can't escape the dream after all?
"Maybe," she said, gritting her teeth, "BUT IF I GO DOWN...!"
She couldn't exactly twist her body around to do it--the various forces of magic wouldn't let her get in a good position, doing that. Instead, she simply let herself fall, feeling the hot air give way as she fell through, coming rapidly closer to the ground...
Finally, her body was facing upward towards Neros.
"I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!"
She concentrated everything she had into that last shot, slicing forward as strongly as she could, the wind blade shooting out from her Sonic Sword, breaking through the heat wave, rocketing towards Soren in a last-ditch attempt to free him from this nightmare!
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