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 Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 7:36 pm
Otto's icy gaze flicked from one person to another, the conversation ping ponging around the group. When Kostya began to talk, Otto stared at him blankly for a while, even after introductions. And then he spoke. "I don't got a clue what ya'll just tried to say, dude." He said deadpan to Kostya, the man's thick accent going right over Otto's limited comprehension.
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 9:33 pm
Yes, it was far too late to obey that command. Shiloh had his doubts that going on a mission with a baby version of the Death lead and ‘Kels’, who seemed to have an apparent disregard for rules, was the right way to rectify the situation. Sure, he was curious as hell about those caves, and about the fact that they had somehow managed to warp through time but wasn’t there that thing about how changing the past changes the future? Then again, he supposed it didn’t matter; they’d likely changed things enough already to warrant height adjustments for all of them. “Nice to meet you,” he said politely as Kostya introduced them, giving Otto a gentle elbow in the ribs. More quietly, “He said hi, dude, play along.” He didn’t argue with Kostya’s terms, thinking at the very least they might be able to find or portal or something to get them out of here.
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Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2013 11:26 pm
Kelsey smiled sweetly, "Oh good, I'm glad we're all in agreement-"
"I'm not!"
"I'm glad that the majority of us are in agreement," she pressed on, "so let us continue. Relax princess, we'll be in, grab some samples, and out before you know it. What could possibly go wrong?"
Not Caelius groaned. "Oh god, please don't say that." He continued to trail behind the group even as they started walking towards the alleged area of the caves, his voice filtering into the background along with the sounds of the rainforest "... and the last two times were almost got eaten by venomous snakes and you didn't even tell me why..." He just kept on going like this for another five minutes until they finally arrived at the clearing, a very sunken, shallow cave.
".. and I strongly advise that we don't actually go in." Not Caelius continued following them regardless even as they were well inside the cave, his voice taking on a nervous edge. "Oh, um, I think I saw some mushroom specimen things outside. Like way, way back that way. At the entrance."
"Over here!" Kels had somehow already made it on top of a giant mound of white glowing mushrooms. "This is amazing. Anyone have anything to cut some samples with - oh silly me I'm holding a Runic weapon, one moment."
"Kels-" Not Caelius warned, as the cave itself began to shake, primary the area around where the Life trainee was standing. "I really don't think-"
SNAP.
And then she was gone. It only took one second for the glowing pile of white to split in half, for it to devour her whole, and then for it to turn a large, fungus-covered head towards the remaining Hunters. The entire cave housed the colossal creature.
A bloodied arm fell onto the ground and still twitched.
In a second the Sun trainee had two Runic daggers in hand and was charging at the creature, screaming bloody murder. He was charging at a colossal rock monster with tiny Runic weapons. The creature merely opened its mouth, ready to snap him up in one fell swoop as well.
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its me debz rolled 1 6-sided dice:
5
Total: 5 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 6:46 pm
It was the strangest thing in the world to hear something like hesitation creep into Caelius' voice. To see him follow instead of lead, and he truly wondered how far back in the past they had gone. The current version of the Division Head was little more than someone's minion or lackey-- albeit one with a mouth on him-- a far cry from the terrifying monster he had come to know and be a little bit terrified of.
Okay.
A lot a bit terrified of. There was no shame in that. Caelius was a scary man, who did whatever it took to get results-- sometimes, those means ended in the death of useless worms that got in his way.
They proceeded through the cave, delving deeper into it. They had their weapons, what was the worst that could happen--
Oh.
Kostya stared in horror as the creature came alive, revealing itself to be some sort of golem instead of some sort of innocuous mushroom, swallowing the Life hunter whole in the process.
"Chyort voz'mi*!" Perhaps. Perhaps this was the worst that could go wrong-- especially since the Division Leader of the Future was going to get murdered. Without thinking, the Moon summoned Syntax, and fired a blast that would hopefully offset the monster's inevitable attack.
* Oh s**t!hp// 40 target// caelius action// defending for 5
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Bittiface rolled 2 12-sided dice:
12, 8
Total: 20 (2-24)
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 7:03 pm
"Oh fer ******** sake." Otto growled. Watching people die made his stomach turn, whether he knew them or not. Worser yet, young Caelius was going to get his trainee a** murdered.
Which, he kind of almost wanted to allow.
But the human in Otto wouldn't simply let someone die, no matter how miserable his future self made life go. Otto quickly summoned Tenya, wielding the six foot boomerang over his head and hurling it at the mushroom before it killed the Sun Trainee.
HP: 60/60
Damage: 14
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mare rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 11:48 pm
Why? Why did people touch things?
WHY?
Never mind the fact that he had totally thought about touching things, his curiosity only held in check by the fact that Kels had beat him to it, and that her curiosity had morbidly made him question ever being curious again. He watching in horror as the monster's jaws snapped shut around her, before any of them could even react or hope to save her. Shiloh swore under his breath, wide eyes narrowing in anger. They'd agreed to come here so flippantly, if they'd just listened to Caelius, apparently wise beyond his years, then perhaps her death could have been prevented, they could have found another way to get back.
[ It's useless dwelling on it, ] Haruko reminded him gently. [ Don't lose focus, you can still save him. ]
Otto summoned an impressive looking weapon, and while the full hunter charged, Shiloh joined Kostya in defending the future inventor of the Death Glare™. He wasn’t about to let their mistake happen twice.
HP: 40/40
Defending Baby Kale: 4
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Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 12:36 am
The creature bellowed deeply as Otto hit it, stumbling backwards, swiping at thin air. Both Shiloh and Kostya had managed to take the brunt of the attack instead, effectively saving one future of someone who would do highly important things such as suck ghost spirits into bottles and pour acid over people's eyes.
Current Caelius was staring at them with sort of wide, almost comically shocked eyes-
- then the rock beast reared up again, intent on the kill the second time, only to literally collapse in half. The cave lit up rather suddenly in a glow of bright blue and the creature easily and simply dissipated. In its place stood a familiar scythe weapon, bright blue and gold-
- And an unfamiliar grizzled looking man in a Death Hunter coat.
Caelius suddenly looked extremely glum as the man approached them. He almost looked like he was doing some teenage sulking.
"We'll talk about consequences later," the man said, "I want everyone cleared out if this cave. Everyone, except you three. Yeah, you three right there." The man was signaling right at Otto, Kostya, and Shiloh even as the Not Caelius hightailed it out of the cave as if lit on metaphorical fire. He sighed, eyes flickering to the evasive Sun trainee, and then back to the three. "I don't remember you in my division at all." This was directed at Otto as he narrowed his eyes. "In fact, I don't remember those weapons at all. Explain yourselves and be honest, if you even still consider yourself Hunters. We're fighting a war here and deceit with each other will only make us lose more ground."
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Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:13 am
It appeared that their efforts were to be in vain, and that the simple act of touching the thing had lead to consequences that would never be the same.
Caelius was going to die and that was going to send countless ripples through time and space. He had seen it in so, so many movies and episodes of Stark Trek.
Except.
A stranger wielding a familiar weapon saved them, and literally their butts, in a single swoop. Kostya froze in place, quietly de-summoning Syntax, his blue glow fading immediately.
"Is long story," Kostya ventured, trying to decipher how to tell the truth and save their universe without messing anything up. Messing anything up worse*. "Still hunters. No lies. Poor English, am sorry. Ally to Deus Ex."
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Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 5:12 am
For a moment Otto's heart stopped. Wasn't that Circe? But the man wielding it, while he talked like Caelius, wasn't him. What was going on? Otto dismissed Tenya, giving the man a grouchy glare right back at him when he felt his stare pointed in his direction. "The funny talkin' dude here touched an artifact while we were scoping out a cave, and we wound up here in bizzarro world of the past." Yep. Honesty, Otto style.
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Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 8:40 pm
At the rate that Not Caelius fled from the cave, seemingly more afraid of facing the strange man than a ravenous monster, it spelled nothing good ahead for the three of them. He hesitated a moment in dismissing Haruko, but then she too was gone, Shiloh not wanting to make the eyes glaring at them narrow anymore. The stranger had to be someone important, a Division leader, Shiloh guessed from the way he addressed Otto. It was just what they needed, another Death lead glaring down at them. “Crazy as it sounds, they’re right,” Shiloh answered, nodding his head at Kostya and Otto. “We’re Deus hunters, we were on a mission and, well, now we’re here.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 12:11 am
The Not Hot Dad frowned, desummoning his Not Hot Dad weapon. "Walk with me, you three." He signaled at the others outside, though Not Caelius seemed to have disappeared entirely off the face of the tropical planet. They reached another small clearing, closer by. He sat down on an upturned bucket, almost wearily, rubbing his forehead. "You said the past, well, that would explain the weapon and outfits. The problem is several complications. There's no such thing as a true timeline, there isn't such thing as time travel itself other than the travel of possibilities. General horsemen research, they're fanatics of it. It also means one of us isn't quite real possibly- and quite honestly, I would rather not." He continued to keep a hand on his forehead. "Why are you here then? It would have to be some sort of item- a- a powerful artifact or something. Why did you come specifically here? Who sent you? What are you searching for?"
He suddenly paused. "I apologize, where are my manners. I am Liam, Death Division lead. You three have done me the courtesy of answering all my questions, but I feel a strange sense of urgency. If you were supposed to find something, you better do it quick before things get even more out of hand."
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:11 pm
The blonde hunter followed after the Death Lead of this universe, caution in the forefront of his mind. If this Death Lead was like their own, he needed to be ready for near-death experiences or lectures. But neither happened. Otto was dumbfounded. This land was magic. Caelius wasn't an a**, and the Death Lead wasn't a homicidal nutcase. He was a decent dude! He talked to them like human beings and not cattle or small children! Otto's eyes seemed to sparkle despite the default frown that seemed to frequent his expression. Otto liked this place. He liked Liam. Otto didn't want to leave."Um..." He looked to the others before he returned his gaze to Liam. "Caelius, the Death Division lead, sent us to monitor an artifact he said would be in a cave."How weird would this sound to him, he wondered.
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 5:27 pm
The whole time Liam talked, Kostya resisted the urge to look at his feet, but couldn't withhold a glum sigh. He had done this, and it was leading to a slew of metaphysical questions he didn't have the answer to. Nonetheless, he was careful to commit each and every statement to memory, in case the information procured would be of use later.
In the mean time, he'd just have to continue to disappoint The Hot Dad, Don't Even Play Zoo, He Is Totally The Hottest.
"Ve vere told not to ...touch artifact..." A wince. "Maybe...touched it..." Kostya turned his head to eyeball the exit. "Am thinking, maybe involves him." He squinted at Liam.
If there was not, in fact, such thing as real time travel, that meant there was only one true timeline-- the one that survived. Which meant that either they or Liam was unreal. Did it mean that this was a time travel imitation, courtesy of the artifact, in some sort of shared hallucination? Or did it mean that they were temporary guests, and when they got snapped back to the future, no real changes would have mattered?
If Caelius had died, would it have resulted in anything different? From the way Liam spoke, Kostya drew the conclusion that no matter what they did, here, it didn't matter.
"Vhat var is going on? Vhat year is it?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2013 5:49 pm
Shiloh was also surprised when Definitely Not Anything But Hot Dad dismissed his weapon, having expected instead to swing at them for somehow not answering the correct way. It was almost too much to breathe a sigh of relief but some of the tension in Shiloh’s shoulders eased considerably. They’d screwed up but given that the Death lead seemed to want to help rather than hinder, they might be able to salvage what was left of their mission. To have information so readily volunteered seemed miraculous, even if the information sent Shiloh’s head spinning. Not time travel but possibility travel? He couldn’t begin to wrap his head around it but he did, however, understand the concept of urgency. He summoned Haruko again, and while Otto and Kostya fielded the questions, and took the time to properly glance around the cave now that they weren’t being threatened by giant monsters. There had to be a clue somewhere.
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Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2013 12:02 am
"Year," definitely Absolutely Not Hot Dad scratched his unshaved chin, "a little before the turn of the millenia, I guess you could say. And you?" His eyes twinkled with a little bit of curiousity at the question. "Also humour an old man like me, you said Caelius is the Death Division lead. That implies in your ah, timeline, he actually commits to a weapon. In fact, it seems all of you have weapons which is quite a rarity here. What exactly were you asked to find, if it isn't too much for me to ask? You are technically not my Hunters, though I don't think asking my boy to come and yell at you is going to produce any more results considering our already strenuous relationship." He chuckled, in good humour, leaning over with interest.
"You see, I also happen to be looking for a specific artifact, as you call it. Does it happen to be shaped like a key?" He was talking primarily to Kostya and Otto now, and suddenly leaned over. "Hey, time traveling pink haired kid, may I borrow you for a second? I have an idea, but I want to hear a few more answers first, if you wouldn't mind."
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