As the final ounce of the tower's power flowed into the Devils Vanguard's weapon, he reached out, grabbed the naginata and handled it in a flourish of spinning slashes closer in nature to a violent dance that began floating the boy off the ground and several feet in the air before he stopped posed like dangled a javelin thrower on strings, only angled so far back he was aiming directly up.
And up it went. In a thunderous crack it vanished into thin air as it left his hand, a tiny vanishing trail of small wisps of light blue energy glittering in its wake. The world shook, even if it was near impossible to see, the floor shifted back and forth under unseen pressure. The floor flashed again, reflecting a small body of light that grew larger, larger, and larger still, and just as it came into view, Dumael collided with the floor like a comet... passing through as though diving into water... only what trailed behind him, a torrent of shimmering silver threads came down onto every surface... hit the floor... then as though the reflections came to life, passed back out of the floor flying into the sky forming an image similar to geometric art as curved arcs passed to and fro up and down over one another.
All those trapped outside the barrier, undoubtedly being bound in place by the magical demon threads... unable to move, unable to defend, helpless to whatever came next.
The walls clouded over once more... only this time, like frost over windows, flowering white and blue spiderwebs crawling over everything. Several surfaces cracked, allowing water to spill fourth in fountainous streams before they froze in place near instantly. Even from the safety of the multi-layered, shielded dome, everyone could feel the cold of the air bite at them.
At last, the accumulation of symptoms reached a climax and all shattered. Literally.
The walls, the spanning archways, the massive double doors, the pillars, all but the floor was blown away like dust starting from a simple star straight above them that swiftly expanded revealing an otherwise empty ice field in all directions as far as the eye could see. Above, was a massive several story tall trident recognizable as Mateus' signature weapon sinking from another frightening image, primarily the visage of a world eater... otherwise known as the gigantic black holes responsible for destroying Earth and Destiny Islands.
After freeing its shaft from the world eater, Mateus' spear fell like a meteor to the ground, though rather than speeding up as gravity might dictate, it started off like a bullet from a barrel... and slowed as it reached the floor, decelerating to a near complete stop above Louis' chest as he stood there, arms open wide to the chaotic heavens above greeting the colossal projectile as his breast spout forth whipping tendrils of darkness that... just as the slowing of the trident had stopped in place.
The clear sound of crystal chimes, soft tone of glass tapping together to release a pleasant note for the ear. A whistle, whisper of wind drawing in... howling, torrential screeching of metal beams struggling to maintain weight. A chorus of voices joined as one in crescendo.
Silence.
For a moment, all was ice. The air itself was infested with the same frost that had before covered the walls, as though every drop of moisture across the entirety of that mirror-floored realm had flash frozen and become entombed in ice.
Snap.
The ice in all in overwhelming amounts detonated, shattering vision of the world outside, scattering light till nothing remained of even the horizon but pitch black. No stars. No moon. No sky... just darkness. Reality resumed its normal pace on this reflective, empty world that had been wiped clean of all features. An empty wasteland. An apocalyptic ruin. A clean slate.
The pictomancer could hear her shard screaming in defiance the entire time frostwave had passed them over. Somewhere along the lines, she could feel the shard's hold on that shield give. She could see him lurch over before throwing his arms up projecting another shield behind one of the layers the others had projected. This had repeated until only one layer remained and at last even that fell away and she could see her reflection on the floor, the one that instead showed her shard fall on his hands and knees before closing his eyes, his words sighing on her mind, "I... think I need to rest a bit." And with a blink he was gone, replaced once more by her own reflection.
Miraculously, their efforts were far from in vain. Despite the tremendous scale of the attack that had wiped out the castle in its entirety, all those inside the cumulative shield were safe, completely unharmed.
Then the archer heard it, "Bobbi, I am here. What is wrong? Where are you? Wait... where am I?" It... was Dawn. That was Dawn's voice and it was in her head... no, her heart... crying out as though from a distance, "Wait... they- they're alive! The others! Bobbi, please, can you hear me? The others are alive!"
"How..." Louis spoke, staring at them a raw, shocked expression engulfing his face as his lower eyelid twitched as his mouth hung agape slightly, "HOW?!" he grew angry, furious, darkness flowing off of his as his eyes turned dark purple, "WHY ARE YOU ALIVE?! THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!"
"Bobbi-nee! Hold on! We're coming! Just hold on a little longer!"
"Enough of this farce! I'll just do it all over. I can manage that. Again. Just start over... reset... erase... delete. This whole scenario is wrong!" Louis gripped his head in his hands, dragging his fingers through his hair violently in mad frustration.
Below their feet, there was another flash, a pulse... like a heartbeat. When the light cleared, they no longer saw a reflection of themselves, but instead, a scene of somewhere... else. A castle hall alive with the chaos of battle. Explosions of light, fire, and various elements shot across. Then... there... Sora leading a charge through structure, his feet striking the floor were theirs rested... only... reverse, upside-down, or mirrored.
One by one, others joined him across the floor, running, leaping, and dashing about fighting a battle they couldn't entirely perceive as the image was still cloudy... but they were all there. Every single one of their lost comrades were on the other side of the mirror fighting viciously against an opponent they couldn't see but could easily guess.
"Again! Again! Again! Behold, the 3rd dam's collapse! Hope and faith draw thee to a precipice of tragedy. Blinded by thine light, judgement follows a march through hell. Pray blind thyself to false hope and claim thy own oblivion!" Louis was chanting once more, it was new to the earthlings yet... drove nails in the backs of their minds of dejavu, "Breach the gates-"
"NO. YOU. DON'T!" Kyle glowed like wildfire suddenly before from him spat eight swords of light. Beneath him in his reflection... was that the shard of Louis everyone saw... not Kyle's own reflection? Each shot out, vanished, and returned as massive replicas great swords that crashed into the floor around the field like shining pillars of a coliseum.
As Louis attempted to finish his chant, he found his words cut off, his throat mute. Darkness that had gathered at the edges of this pocket reality to his call crashed against the invisible barrier of light.
The swords' glow grew brighter, so much so it might have seemed blinding, but for some reason did nothing to hinder anyone's view, but rather defined the silhouette of Louis his screamed in... was it anger? Agony?
On the other side of the mirror, they could see Sora slide to a stop beneath Louis before pointing his keyblade down, or by perspective directly up at Louis. A circle of prismatic light like the glare of the sun on glass spread across the entire battlefield and started to glow around the edges while beams spat through cutting endless pillars into the sky.
"Now! Hit him now! Use everything you've got! This trial ends here!" Kyle's shard shouted, while obviously strained in his voice.
The ground, the sky, the air itself, everything seemed to be cracking.
This mirrored world was falling apart...
[[ Mod Note: Due to the duration of these events, with everyone in the shield waiting out the storm, you can assume you had approximately a full turn (no more Haste) before the "Now! Hit him now!" comment (which yes, all can hear). The massive spell was fast, but we were in a locked space watching. So, basically, you have 2 full turns, give or take--one for during, and one for the present. ]]
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 12:18 pm
[ Council of the Sages : Disney : Throne Room ]
“This is terrible! Horrible! Cataclysmic!” Genie shouted, his already loud voice projecting moreso, bellowing through the great royal chamber. He pulled out hair that was never there to begin with, and ceased existing soon after.
“It's certainly not pleasant,” the hooded Enchantress muttered in response, her stoicism a stark contrast. “But I wouldn't call it a disaster.”
“She's right. They prevented three lost worlds while separated,” King Triton said, a sweeping blue-scaled sarong covering most of his legs, his feet bare. He had taken easily enough to life above the waves, though he had yet to bother with a shirt. “And now, they are together.”
“And they have proven successful in the face of greater adversity than one deranged peer,” King Kashekim spoke up, his gravelly voice stern in his determination. Still, he glanced to Yen Sid, his white eyes gauging. “But they also say your Keyblade Masters have fallen, among others.”
“The train shouldn't have gone down,” Merlin muttered, mostly to himself, his face scrunched in frustrated confusion. “It shouldn't have gone down... it doesn't make sense...”
“Whaddawedo?!” Genie cried out, only to suddenly puff his chest up, his body instantly clothed in a modern military uniform, carrying an AK-47. “Do we go in, guns blazing?!”
“Her rescuer warned against any more intruders,” Flora chided, shaking her head at the Genie, who quickly looked disheartened.
“Yes, her 'rescuer',” Triton spoke up, his eyes narrowing and tone chilling. “How can we trust this man's word? I am not ungrateful for her safety, but why could he only pull these two out of the storm?”
“Whatever this growing field of darkness is, we can no longer assume it's simply a storm,” Yen Sid finally spoke up. He remained standing near the throne, looking to the side in deep contemplation. “Aslan has explained that this magic—whatever it may be—is fundamentally altering Narnia. This Earthling is using dark magic to seize control of the land itself; he is likely altering the rules to his liking.”
“And the young woman's account suggests that the forces of Darkness are funneling into the storm, as well—against this Earthling’s forces,” the Enchantress added, glowing eyes peering out from under her hood. “It would seem he is no ally of the Darkness. At least, not willingly.”
Aslan, who had remained silent through most of the conversing of the wise ones, finally stepped forward and introduced relative silence to the room. Despite the troubling news, he appeared to be calm and resolved.
“I will return to Narnia,” He began, his voice soft but still reverberating through the room. “And I will wait for the rest of the earthlings to return from the dark storm. I sent them, and I am responsible for them. And I am responsible for Narnia—it is my land, and I will do what I need to protect the rest of it. I will wait for them to resolve the issue until dawn. If they have not done so before then, I will do my best to remove them from the storm . . . and I will have to remove the tainted portions of Narnia before the darkness swallows any more of it. It is the only way to protect the rest of the land, and a sacrifice I must make to save my people.”
Most of those involved were stunned, if only momentarily, before more than a few tried to protest, each stopping when they realized someone else was trying to speak first. This went on for a rather awkward moment. Finally, however, it was Merlin that spoke.
“But the cost... an entire swath of your world—”
“It is the only feasible course of action to take, given what we know,” Yen Sid said, turning toward the council and nodding his assent to Aslan. “And I would not deter you from doing what you can for your own world. Go, and be safe, Aslan.”
Bobbi was barely aware that someone—Dani?—had grabbed her, or that someone else—Matt?—had teleported them into Kyla’s protective sphere. She had gone completely catatonic, too lost in shock and grief to notice or react to the goings on around her. Once released, her knees gave out, and she sank to the floor, staring blankly, unblinking. She heard voices, people shouting, people talking, but she couldn’t make sense of any of it, nor did she care to.
~:Bobbi!:~
Crashes, shattering glass, flashes of light, all of it washed over and around the Archer, and none of it mattered to her. Dawn was dead. Dawn was dead, and there was nothing she could have done about it. Or was there? She could have told Dawn to stay at the castle—but what would have been the point? Dawn was always headstrong and determined to do things her own way. She would have found a way to come no matter what, and the entire situation could not possibly have been avoided.
~:Child, you need to move! Grieve later, act now.:~
"Bobbi, I am here." Like a gift from the gods she had never quite believed in, the Archer heard a new voice in her head. Only… only it wasn’t new. It was familiar, a balm to her wounded heart.
D-Dawn?
"What is wrong? Where are you? Wait... where am I?""
Dawn, I… You were—
"Wait... they- they're alive! The others! Bobbi, please, can you hear me? The others are alive!"
Then another voice, this one almost as welcome—
"Bobbi-nee! Hold on! We're coming! Just hold on a little longer!"
Louis?
Right, the shard! The piece of his heart that had sought refuge in hers… one of at least three pieces of good that were originally part of Louis. He was asking her to hold on, Dawn was telling her that everyone was alive, and there was a battle raging that she was totally ignoring at the moment. Suddenly, it seemed as if time started again, as if her heart started beating after being still for far too long. She took a deep breath, inhaling through her nose, and got slowly to her feet. Slowly, because the area around her was packed with people seeking refuge from dark!Louis’ attack, and she didn’t want to accidentally head-butt anyone on her way up. She reached out as she reeled a little, and gripped someone’s arm—Dani’s—to steady herself for a moment.
"I’m okay now," she said, calmly. She even managed a genuine smile. "Thank you."
Drawing Taulmaril and setting a Piercing Icicle to the string, she opened her mouth to tell Louis to shut up, but Kyle had beaten her to it. Dawn’s words in her head, shard!Louis’s reassurances, seeing the friends they had lost along the way in this god-forsaken mission battling fiercely beneath their feet… She Read the Wind, increasing the speed of her arrow, and enacted her Expert Focus, giving her shots much more accuracy.
"Now! Hit him now! Use everything you've got! This trial ends here!"
Give me strength, she begged as, with a scream of defiance, she loosed her arrow, aimed directly for Louis’s heart.
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 9:48 pm
[Kyla: Narnia: Hall of Forsaken]
Xions theme His screaming was as agonizing as if it had been her own. Her heart ached at the ferocity of the pain she could hear echoing inside it. Echoing within the confines of her form like she was far deeper and vast inside then she could ever be- and so its reverberating echoes were loud in her ears.
What could she do expect try and fortify if the shield did not hold- yet it did… If she could place her hands over his where they mirrored each other holding her book she would. Griping the spine exactly where his fingers in the reflection tightened over them, Kyla hoped to convey in some small way if she could hold fast alongside him, they’d not have to fight alone.
Though the ice bit her, making her go pale and ache in her joints- she was alive. Kyla held fast building her magical charge with all she had for one good final strike- fi this was really going to be it…
The Trident, she stared up at it as it decent towards them like a comment- held her breath as it slowed. And then felt her heart leap into her throat as the world turned to black…for a moment.
What now? What happened- where is he?!
‘Louis?!’ She saw him fall, and flinched as if she could catch him somehow- but how, in-through the mirror?! His voice dimmed in her mind and she called out to him. Because of him they were alive- for now. Much to Louis’ dark counterpart. They were alive- and it didn’t end there-
‘It’s ok, go rest for now, let us take care of the rest.’ Vector To the Heavens Remix Having used her first ether she was well enough on mana for now- their power made her nerves shiver, shuddering down through her body like a jackhammer to the senses.
'just rest...We got this.'
That was all she could say. She hope though, if there was still some safety inside her being where he could curl up and hide, somewhere in front of that fire they saw before- she would find him still there. If things were going to end now for what remained of him, now howling in frustration in and anger before them-
-whatever piece of Louis she had left, she’d keep it safe. Please let him be safe.
I don’t care how, I just want to protect what little left there is of his light. And if he has none.. he can use what’s left of mine.
'It’s over....just rest.'
They’d take it form here- and boy did they ever. The truth was revealed in the floor- it was all just a horrible nightmare, a pocket reality of this shadows machinations. Meant to bear them down using hope as the most acidic of poisons. There was everyone below, on the other side in a perfect reversal of perspective.
- in the end.. I am perspective. Right?
So from this side, Louis was the dark hero, sending the poor souls of the enslaved light bearers to a blissful void. Shields dropped with the signal of Kyle’s shard, golden swords appearing like shred fragments of wings, ready to tear into the enemy.
Kyla clutched her heart- feeling the power reach its breaking point, it burned in her chest like it could burst from it- best not tempt fate. With something wet streaming down her face, she didn’t need to see perfectly to know where her attack would land-
From her, Kyla's biggest attack yet bloomed in branches of light that opened and stretched-
-Arbor Unitas-
Sights on his heart, the maelstrom would be HUGE, and she’d pack everything she had into it.
“..I’m sorry...”
With tears streaming down her face she crossed that bridge and meant to put the poor man out of his misery. If she could change the nature of her power to heal instead of destroy, to create something new she’d do it. Inside she made a prayer that if she could, all the destructive strength she had in her could birth something from the shattered piece which would surely fall. What good was an artist who didn’t create?
Unitas grew bigger and bigger till it was only waiting on who or whatever would use it along with her before releasing its combined strength on the target.
Dani sighed in relief as Matthew came over and teleported us over to the shield with the group. She kept looking over Bobbi for any sign of life or sign that she would be with them as she braced for whatever was meant to come at them.
Much to her surprise, herself and everyone in the shield was left unharmed as she looked at the wreckage. The castle torn to bits due to ice that had luckily hit the shield thanks to Kyla. She watched as Louis was enraged that they were not defeated. Not even in the slightest.
She focused back on her charge, Bobbi, noticing that life was returning to her as Bobbi gripped onto her. She smiled before she watched as everyone around her was starting to engage. Weapons were being drawn. As she was about to draw her own a voice appeared in her mind again.
“Young one… I think we need to throw everything at it.” Leviathan spoke softly to the assassin.
“I know but I am not sure what I can do in order to help them,” Dani thought to Leviathan. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Just one…” Leviathan left the idea hanging for her to figure out.
Dani looked over the group for a quick sec as Bobbi was loading an arrow into her bow. She wanted to be able to support her friends as much as she could. Even if that means that she sacrificed herself in the process. “Okay Leviathan… I get it. Give ‘em hell for me okay?” Dani chuckled out loud before she turned to Bobbi. “Beat the crap out of him for me-“ Dani said before she cut herself off and pushed Leviathan to the front of her. Giving her summon the use of her body.
A loud roar suddenly broke in the battlefield that sounded primal and not entirely human. The scared assassin was no longer in control. This… was Leviathan. “YOU!” Leviathan roared again in the assassin’s body. “THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH YOU LITTLE WELP.” The assassin’s body started to twitch as the sea serpent spoke. Slowly but surely a liquid started to drip and spill from the assassin’s body. This liquid was not her blood, nor was it sweat from the battle; it was her water magic starting to pool onto the ground. “YOU HAVE THE GALL TO HURT WHAT IS MINE! YOU HAVE HURT NOT ONLY MY HUMAN BUT HER FRIENDS, “ Leviathan boomed across the battlefield. The water from the assassin’s arms was starting to pour even faster now as Leviathan made the body step forward.
“YOU THINK YOUR ICE IS ASTOUNDING DON’T YOU… WELL LET’S SEE WHERE THAT ICE COMES FROM.” Leviathan finished as the water beneath the assassin started to move and form. With pressure to increase the speed a piercing pressure blast of water headed right to Louis’s chest. Right before Leviathan was ready to strike again he heard an earthling shout and turned the assassin’s head towards the sound, which in this case was the dragoon.
“Now! Hit him now! Use everything you’ve got! This trial ends here!”[Note:: Turn 2 as specified]
Leviathan reached out with Dani’s hand and started to form a familiar pressure bubble. With her other hand he formed water around that chakram. Finally with all of his might Leviathan threw the water chakram at Louis and with the other hand threw the other water ball. The water chakram seemed to be fueled by leviathan’s rage as it soured right towards Louis’s head. The ball of pressure however, headed towards the center of Louis before exploding in the familiar water flare that Dani had used when they first came here.
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 12:20 am
[Joe: Narnia: Forsaken Hall]
It was happening again. Not nearly as bad, but still, too much was starting to go on, he was having trouble taking it all int.
crack
He couldn't absorb it all. He just didn't have the mental capacity at the moment. Instead, he decided to do something more productive, and focused.
He started tuning most of the stuff going on out, his staff still raised in a guard. But he was intent on his focus, breathing slowing and body building up energy.
The call to attack him came, and Joe focused his strength a bit more, then reeled his hand back, staff pulled back, and threw it with all his might, the staff flying straight for Louis' face, like a javelin, with a shout of "GO!"
Things had gotten very interesting in the past few moments. One instant, he's dragging his sword into this magic bubble, the next, their world was literally being torn asunder and Nicholas got to watch! How exhilarating! Then things continued to change. Louis appeared, and began a magical incantation.
...Really? Don't you know what happens when the mage insists on doing a solo incantation?
And sure enough, magical attacks barraged the Esper of Ice, and Nicholas smiled. Trope awareness means survival, dammit. As he looked around at the others, he noticed that it was time to attack. The call had rung out, but he hadn't been paying attention to what the words that had been spoken were.
Inhaling, he began to drain his own life force and force it into Garland's Blade. The sword had a blood red hue emanating from it, and the blade itself seemed to be dripping blood. With a heavy overhand swing, Nicholas shifted the blade to its chain form, sending the rather large pointy end straight for Louis' torso.
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 1:35 am
{James : Narnia : Forsaken Hall}
James focused on Louis, his eyes not leaving as he continued to glare at their target, the murderer. He watched it all unfold relieved that everyone had successfully made it into Kyla’s barrier and feared what might have happened to them had they not. The entire castle froze over and cracked chilling the air to the point that it was nigh unbearably cold. All the while the corsair focused his energy, preparing it either to counter attack or to be called upon to defend if the barrier did not hold. He watched as Mateus’ trident descended to stop before Louis, his chest writhing with dark tendrils showing and in another instant the whole castle was frozen over and then in a snap the entirety of the castle was destroyed as it all detonated. The shards and cold tearing away at the barrier they were in the cold biting as it tore all around them. As it all cleared though leaving nothing but darkness around aside from the floor it was clear that the shield held.
{{Cue: Heavens Divide}} Louis bellowed in a rage, perhaps dread or awe as he saw they were all alive and he began to ramble about doing it all over and began to chant. Preparing to perhaps do just that. Kyle bellowed and swords of light descended, cutting Louis’ incantation off. He watched as Louis writhed and screamed perhaps the light burning him
"Now! Hit him now! Use everything you've got! This trial ends here!"
James began to charge another attack the barrels glowing with the deep purple energy that represented his Lunar aspect. All six of the barrels emanating light as if for another Grenado. However, that wasn’t what he had in mind as he saw Kyla cast the Arbor de Unitas once again. The lunar gunner knew exactly what to do.
”This ends now! Take all that you have coming to you! Have it! You have it all!!” The corsair bellowed in rage and finality as he unleashed the Lunar Barrage Three projectiles blasted out of the barrels in a controlled burst, each going into one of the targets on the tree and with them all of the corsair’s anger, pain, and sorrow from all that had transpired since they had come to hunt down the projectiles intended target.
He felt it more than saw it. Magic crackling around them, crashing against their shields like tidal waves against an unstable shore. Barriers flickered, fractured, and were replaced as soon as they could be. They would survive to coming storm--as a unified front, they were making sure of it.
Still, Kyle had nothing to add. Defense was hardly his specialty, unless one counted specialties in shortcomings. He could probably work something out, sure--lock the air around them in time so that it became like a solid wall of atoms, or with enough power, pull them forward so that they passed the attack all together. But both were costly--the latter was probably even impossible. No, what he would have to do is prepare for what came next. And for that, he needed to be as fast and unrelenting as the winds of a hurricane.
"Su Grah."
The air around his limbs grew thin, their resistance disappearing entirely, and his body seemed as light as the breeze. His movements more closely matched the speed of his thoughts--but there was yet more he needed to do. For even hurricanes needed time to build.
An ephemeral vision of a silver clock appeared beneath his feet, the hands moving faster and faster while the ticking noise was drowned out by the blizzard outside. With the power of Hastega, the world around him slowed to half-time (though, truthfully, he had simply ascended to double-time). Indeed, with every action he took, it felt as though the others were struggling to keep up just in processing their surroundings, in hearing the dull roar of the spell--of course, it was only a dull roar to him, at this speed. To them it was certainly more a piercing howl.
But if he was to be as devastating as a hurricane, he would need strength. His eyes glowed for an instant, and then the light pulsed through his circuits, visibly glowing down his arm, though it came and went as quickly as a heartbeat. Dragon Force gave him the might upon which he would base his assault, just as soon as he was able.
The spell was ending. The barrier fell. And Louis stood there in shock.
Good.
He could feel anger rising from the depths of his heart. It was not his own, nor was it Ultima's--not at first, anyway. This was the man they sought to save? Who stood there in shock and rage at their insistence on survival? He watched, his muscles tightening, and listened as Louis began striving to cast--recast?--his spell, striving to start it over. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck and arms rise up in outrage. This was a fragment of the same person who now resided in Kyle's heart?
No, this was not originally his fury. This was Louis' own fury. And Kyle... Kyle empathized.
He would have you broken, Kyle.
Her voice was stoic--tight, restrained. Like himself, she was a force of nature, waiting to be set free, eager to unveil the truth of ruin.
Show him the price of folly.
She empathized, too.
"NO. YOU. DON'T!"
The fury unleashed.
Everyone, of course, had their eyes set on their target; Kyle was no different. But had anyone bothered to peer around, they would have seen his figure and the air around distort, like a single space in the world on fast-forward. Everything about him was a blur, and within the frame of a couple seconds--
Energies flooded him, and he was Quickened--and then again, they overwhelmed him, repeating the process.
His weapon reappeared in his hand, and it glimmered in warm, golden brilliance, En-veloped in Light.
The polearm sparked with green bolts of mystic energy within the light and he channeled the dragon's hunger, Lancet, into an Aura around it.
The emerald sparks and golden light were joined then by silvery distortions, like rising fluid essence within the combined magics, as the magic-dispelling Unwound Cog fused into the maelstrom of power.
And then Kyle began to distort further, as if he was trying to phase out of reality entirely, transitioning between dimensions, his circuits beginning to flare up, his power charging.
"Now! Hit him--"
--he was gone. Those with quick eyes and quicker perceptions would have seen, ever so briefly, Kyle's distortions suddenly take a vertical orientation in the fraction of a second before his disappearance. But as it was, Kyle was entirely out of sight.
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:42 pm
[Amy : Narnia : Forsaken Hall]
Killing Louis was a moral dilemma, but at this point Amy didn't know if the "Louis" before them really was Louis, or if it was just Louis's body possessed by Mateus. The shards were supposed to be Louis, and due to the shield that had been created by Louis!shard, the Earthling group was still alive.
A pulse came from below them, like a heartbeat. Amy was holding her attacks, charging a Diaga spell. When the floor pulsed, she looked down. She wasn't expecting this. It was a scene of somewhere else, a castle hall, and everyone one of their comrads who had died was there and very much alive. This was bizarre. Had the entire thing been an illusion? Since when? The bridge? The train crash?
"Louis" was chanting again, and Amy's head snapped back up, glaring at him. She had never heard that chant before... but had she? Breach the gates-
Kyle cast some sort of a spell with glowing swords- not Kyle, she realized - Louis's shard. Sora, on the other side of the mirror, stopped beneath Louis and pointed his keyblade up at "Louis".
Hit him now! the shard was shouting. All around her attacks were being unleashed upon Louis. She had chosen Diaga because it only caused harm to those of dark-alignment. Even if that was Louis, and not Mateus, he would have to be a dark creature to be hurt by this spell. She shot the spell at him with her guns, a charged Diaga spell in the form of a bullet.
She had the presence of mind to realize Kyle had disappeared, but enough weird things were going on, and had been going on with him especially, that she didn't find it particularly alarming.
Joe could hardly tell what was going on as he braced himself, casting another Mana Mist and a Mist Wind before bracing and beginning to charge his next attack. The castle was blown apart, the air was filled with nothing but ice and blackness for a moment, and then snap. After all was said and done, there was nothing left but a frozen wasteland covered in darkness.
How they had gotten through that, he didn't know. The protective circle must have had something more to it then just Kyla's magics. He didn't think anyone left in the group had protective magics that strong.
Whatever had happened, they had gotten through intact. And Louis was pissed. Joe would have found the breakdown amusing if it weren't for the fact that he was clearly about to try something else that would most assuredly kill them if he pulled it off.
Luckily for them, Louis had made one more enemy tonight: himself. Or at least whatever shards of goodness he deposited inside of Kyla, Kyle, and Bobbi. Now it made sense, those shards had been protecting them and now were pinning Louis in place, leaving him open to every attack they had.
The others were giving him a volley: arrows, bullets, elemental blasts, thrown weapons. It was all well and good, but Joe decided that if he had an opening, he was going to take a more direct approach. ‘He can’t come back from this one. This has to end.’ He thought as he continued to charge his attack, lining his blade into position. Then, with a sharp exhale, he moved.
To everyone else, it would look like the man had propelled towards the arcanist like a rocket, blasting towards him at such a speed that it was impossible to track. To Joe it felt more like the world’s most powerful bungee cord. After all, he had used all his magical strength to propel himself towards Lewis at hypersonic speed.
Speed that made his strikes hit much harder.
With that in mind, Joe brought down his blade on Louis’s neck, hoping to end this in one clean blow.
A few notes: Joe’s Buffed stats are Magic [18], Resistance (30), Skill (14) and Speed (6)
The others effected by the buffs are: Kyla, Dani, Bobbi (Faith) and Kyla, Dani, Bobbi, Joe (Haste).
G-Impact works by launching Joe at his opponent at a velocity determined by his magic strength, with the final attack damage being current magic strength plus current physical strength. In this case, he has 18+6 (3 turns charging) plus five (his current physical strength. This means that the strike going for Louis has an effective strength of 29.
Due to the more direct nature of this attack, this post is assuming that Joe’s attack lands last this round.
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 7:47 pm
[ Anthony ; Melisandre ; Sayrike ; Matthew ; John ; Kyle : Narnia : Forsaken Plane ]
John, his maul heavy in both hands, was waiting, over-eager to get a whack at the man who had been toying with them for so long. His expression clearly frustrated, he empowered his hammer with Rending Power, hoping to clear the way for whatever physical attacks might erupt. Still, he was slower than most, so he would have to focus on his timing.
Anthony grimaced, trying to figure out what to do as his Polarity Wall began to fall. Pre-planning, he cast Thunder Coat on himself, giving him both the physical thunder element but also charging half his magic power into his muscles.
"Feel the burn!"
As the sorceress suddenly shouted, Anthony felt a wave of heat and witnessed ethereal flame pulse outward from Melisandre, and he felt his thunder element replaced with that of fire, a blazing aura enveloping not only himself, but all allies nearby. It would not only give them that element, but burn away hostiles nearby.
And with that, his grimace became a grin. He took a sideways stance, pulled one fist back, and drew power deep from within--not truly 'magic', but his own sort of chi. With a shout, he thrust his first forward, unleashing a fiery Air Render.
Matthew felt the new heat, and dug into his repertoire before finding the ability he felt most appropriate. Drawing out his Scimitar, he raised it into the air before beginning to swing rapidly in Louis' direction, releasing blazing crescents one after another--Beatrix's Climhazzard ability. Typically reserved for multiple enemies, he channeled each strike in Louis' direction, aiming to stack on as much damage as possible.
Sayrike, meanwhile, pulled her mirrors back to her, and with a thought, they shattered, creating a many-fragmented barrier around her. She did not hesitate, but neither did she feel comfortable with this ending--with little pomp, she pushed her arms forward, channeling the storm of shards into a Mirror Rampage that surrounded Louis like a tornado of ten-thousand cuts. Though it was her weapon, the spell's properties made it so that her allies would simply phase through them unharmed.
Melisandre, having let loose her shout, dispersed with her weapon entirely, instead lifting her arms skyward, unified and gripping each other. Mystic energy began to channel around and through her, neither flame nor bolt, neither mist nor dust--simply raw magical power. Pulling her arms down, the occult powers flooding through her, she unleashed a single Arcane Blast into the pictomancer's Arbor de Unitas. While not as potent as the previous spell, Kyla would still feel a hefty weight the moment the energies were added and tripled--this spell may have been non-elemental, but its power was always critical, as it were, in assaulting enemy beings.
The tree then erupted with its combined magic. Kyla's default five projectiles from the main body, and Melisandre's three projectiles from the large off-shoot, erupted outward like the blooming tree it so symbolized, spreading out and rocketing forward, all lined up to impact Louis' chest with potent energy.
John was prepared. With the other attacks letting loose, now was the only time to strike. So he twisted himself, as if building up an spiral momentum--
It was a blur of motion, barely slower than one might expect of Zantetsuken; he had used Sonic Maul to get behind Louis, and with the spinning momentum from before enhanced by his sudden rocket forward, his maul crashed into Louis' back, pushing his chest forward...
... and popping his head back, making his neck clearly vulnerable for Joe's oncoming jugular assault.
The blade connected--and whether the body was decapitated (a gruesome sight, to be sure) or whether some innate magic kept his body in one piece, Joe's attack thrust an incalculable amount of momentum into the magician's upper torso. This, combined with John's lower attack, caused the man to be knocked flipping in midair, his chest vulnerable to the sky for a split second.
And as if that wasn't already overkill, as if Louis wasn't already certainly taken care of, an attack of raw, spiteful retribution came crashing down.
As with everything lately, it happened in less time than it took to blink. Kyle descended at terminal--no, greater than terminal velocity, a furious meteor from the sky. The elegant-side of the spear was down, his feet lodged between the two side-blades, as he completed his earlier Vault. Except now, his body was not simply glowing--it was burning, so incandescent with magical energy, the circuitry lit like burning brands, his Basilisk Break having been activated mid-fall. And his eyes--they were blinding bright, the circuits around them making it appear as though the skin on his face were cracking and burning apart. He was screaming, but it was less the shout of a human and more the roar of a wyvern.
WE ARE JUDGMENT!
He slammed into the body--or corpse--with such impact, such power, that a shockwave rippled outward, the ground cracking, cratering underneath them.
[[ This is all plot-y anyway, so numbers are insignificant, but all told:
Anthony: 8 Fire (average of STR+MAG) Matthew: 13+ Fire (MAG) Sayrike: Constant, accumulative DoT shard damage
John: 9 Fire (MAG) + Rend Power [lowers STR and DEF] Joe2's essentially-Zantetsuken-like finisher: 23 Fire (STR) and Kyle's overkill-meteor-jump: 48 Light (STR) + Dispel + Lancet (as if there's anything left EDIT: I take that back, should be plenty of mana...) ]]
Louis was helpless... and to no surprise, every attack, hit solidly. Beginning with Bobbi's arrow, the shot streaked through the air before plowing into his chest. “YOU THINK YOUR ICE IS ASTOUNDING DON’T YOU… WELL LET’S SEE WHERE THAT ICE COMES FROM,” Leviathin's shout carried across the expanse followed up by both of Dani's summon-driven attacks that spiraled in behind, plunging Bobbi's arrow through his chest entirely and out the other side, before the flare lodged in the wound detonated, expanding it to the size of a baseball causing him to lurch forward as black and red bled out onto the floor and his torso... just in time for Joe's bo-staff to collide with his face, cashing into his eye, spinning him around in a stumbling mess... the bo still impaling his eye and consequently his skull as he stood there somehow still breathing... and... chuckling as darkness ran down his cheek like a tear from the lost eye.
The light spilling through the floor was growing as the cracks across the field of vision intensified, pieces falling away and shattering across the floor like vanishing glass.
Nick's cleave followed up, slicing through his torso like paper, spitting darkness or blood across the shinning, white floor. As his spinning slowed momentarily, a bullet passed through his body once more... it wasn't clear it it went in or exited his back but the hole left behind was enough to clearly indicate a bullet impacted his stomach.
The world was shaking now, but it didn't seem to effect the earthlings in the slightest. Louis stared blinded by the light, unblinking despite it burning his remaining iris as though it bled the very darkness that flowed from its edges like smoke.
At last the final assault joined in, a glass tornado cutting at his limbs, a ferocious strike of lightning and light and fire cutting another clean chunk from his side, crimson arcs of energy passed through his body, sending pain through every inch of his limbs... then Kyla's tree of power bore fruit and its projectiles scattered out, colliding with the boy at last, lifting him into the air slightly as John passed by, spinning before placing a spine shattering blow to his back that bent him backwards forcing blood from his mouth with a very audible crack.
"I... am the... devil's... vanguard," he whispered, his eyesight blurring as he stared at the light at the end of a pitch black tunnel... or a glowing sun approaching overhead.
Joe the stranger flew by the spiraling world for a brief second.
I... am... death.
WE ARE JUDGEMENT!
As Kyle and his spear flew down... or to the less quick of eye merely appearing in a blast of ear shattering thunder, piercing the chest of his pray, a pair of flaming, golden wings burst from his back and flared upward, while simultaneously light spilled from every crack in the floor, every color imaginable bleeding together into a pure white that engulfed all vision... or it should have.
Like the standing pillars of light summoned by Kyle's shard of Louis, the light did not blind, but rather washed their surroundings away.
For awhile, there was no sound, just the still, soft white expanse in which they all stood as though on solid ground that was neither visible, nor tangible. It was calm, a breath of fresh air against the torture they'd experienced for the past hour and a half. Then, the world moved again, only this time, unnaturally so. From Kyle, an image of himself lifted off, but Kyle was still there, spear skewering a body that was still pinned to the floor amidst a contrast rose colored bloom... and yet the airborne body of Louis spun above them, translucent like a ghost spinning as a similarly ghost like figure of Joe lifted off from the floor and reversed direction through the sky. This repeated for everyone, their movements and motions reeling back like a roll of film on rewind.
Then it sped up.
Flickers upon the white endless expanse showed their arduous battle flying past them:
...Louis, Alan, Dumael...
...the investigation, the murders, the opening act...
...the party, their loved ones, the dim entryway...
...the courtyard, the gate, their lost comrades...
...the dragon, the bridge, the hoard...
...the ice... the lake... the cold...
...the chocobos...
...the train...
...the crash...
All flew by them with increased intensity, with each new step backwards, their attachment to each growing, the tug on their chest, the feeling of chill on their bones, the rush of wind in their face, every memory as fresh as though it had just happened only a moment before... and as though there were a blast of sub zero air against their eyes, it became hard to see, hard to look at what it was they were seeing. The lights dimmed, flickered and flashed.
Then all went dark. The feeling of being trapped within an enclosed cylindrical space hung heavy on their hearts.
Sounds like wood creaking under pressure, crystal, glass and metal clattering together, as well as wind surging outside windows as they shuttered. Everything seemed to quiver in fright.
The sounds intensified, groaning and wailing from the winds outside grew louder. Soon the earthlings were forced to brace themselves or fall to the floor as the entire world shifted beneath their feet to one side.
Soon it felt like an earthquake, lights flashing giving them momentary glimpses of a blurry surrounding. This continued for a few more frightening moments before one last jostle rocked them and the lights went out entirely.
At last they emerged, black peeling away bit by bit, like clumps falling from the windows.
They were back on the train.
Everyone was there, all the earthlings, Dawn and Jenny included. Every non-earthling that had fought and had been thought to have died sat and stood about the cars just as they had been before they had entered the storm... before the beginning of their tragic story. However, in addition, two more individuals could be seen, each next to their respective host. That was right, for some reason, Kyle and Bobbi's shards of Louis were there among them, visible and physically present to the touch.
Outside the window, even more had changed, immediately apparent was the sky, rather than a whirling vortex was a black abyss dotted with innumerable multicolored pieces of crystal that floated about, bouncing off the sides of the train harmlessly as though trapped in zero gravity. Below, rather than the countryside of Narnia, was a single bridge crossing a pit filled to the brim with hundreds of thousands of yellow eyes swaying like the waves of a sea... yet these seemed passive and disinterested to harm the train or its inhabitants.
At the far end of the bridge was the familiar castle... only rather than ice covering it from the highest tower to the foundation, it was infested with a creep-like, organic substance... pulsing and writhing like veins, organs, and intestines that glowed with a sickening hue with each beat of whatever infernal heart that fueled them.
They were free from Louis' illusion... that much was clear, but it would seem they still had something else to do.
-------------------------
Far below on the bridge suspending them harmlessly above the hoard of heartless, stood Nick and Melisandre, able to spot the train clearly above them. It would seem they too were free of Louis' influence... and would also seem neither were simply figments of the arcanist's demented imagination.
Louis' Limit Break Heart of Corruption - Nightmare's Illusory History : Arctic Apocalypse ~ 99% Distortion {Dispelled}
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 6:48 am
Joe : Narnia : Train
Still in mid-air Joe shielded his eyes from the light as it overtook their surroundings. 'What is going on now? Does this a** have another form to grace us with?' 'If he does, your organ-sack friend is apart of it.' 'What are you...' Joe stopped as he saw a figure of Kyle jump up from where he was instead of down. Followed by an image of him striking Louis in reverse. 'What...'
Joe grimaced as he watched everything that happened play out in reverse, each event flashing in front of him before fading away like fog on a mirror. Sounds and sensations flew past him and the world went black.
And then he was back on the train.
He was back on the train along with everyone else, including the people who were dead. On the train that had been blasted full of holes and sent to the bottom of a lake an hour ago. With two more people who looked exactly like Louis.
His eye twitched. He knew immediately what had happened, but his mind was still in denial about it.
He looked out the window and he saw that they were apparently floating around a bunch of crystals over a bridge surrounded by passive heartless. The castle was in front of them, looking even more menacing then before.
Joe hunched over head in his hands and seemed to convulse for a few moments, like he was sobbing. However, anyone who would have checked up on him would have immediately stopped after what happened next.
Joe raised up his head and laughed. Laughed the long, hard, and bitter laugh of someone who was completely and utterly done with what was going on around them.
"You've got to be kidding me.." he said, still chuckling in between words. "All of that was just another illusion? Or is this one too, apparently deceased included?" he gestured towards Dawn, Jenny, Sora, and the rest of their supposedly lost comrades " I honestly can't even tell anymore."
Watching the others attack, Bobbi held her breath, not daring to hope, not daring to pray, just throwing the entirety of her will behind each assault. With each successful attack, the Archer’s smile widened further and further, until, with Kyle’s final assault, she let out a triumphant whoop, baring her teeth in her shout—
And time reversed itself. She watched everything that had happened going by in reverse, relived everything as it flew past her eyes. She glanced around, wanting to see if the others were having the same experience, and she saw some wincing, blinking, grimacing, not at the memories, but as if something was affecting their vision.
Then, suddenly, darkness. The feeling of being trapped in a small area—one Bobbi usually enjoyed, but right now she was kind of freaked out, considering she had no idea what was going on. But the sounds, they were familiar. She couldn’t see, and she stared around frantically, terrified that she had somehow lost her vision. But before she could do anything more to assuage that fear, the floor tilted, and she reached out to brace herself—and her hand encountered a familiar surface, specifically, the countertop in the Dining Car.
"What the—"
She looked around as light started to return to the world, and saw things almost exactly the way she had left them. The stew she had put on before they had entered the storm was simmering beautifully. Everything seemed… normal.
"What."
The gears in Bobbi’s head were churning like mad, trying to put two and two together. She stared off into space, thinking over everything that had happened, how everything seemed to reverse itself, from the moment Louis was defeated—and that seemed like such a tame word compared to what went down—and backwards to this very moment.
It wasn’t…
It couldn’t be…
It was.
"Son of a b***h," she archer shouted, bringing her fist crashing down on the countertop. She hadn’t even noticed the manifestation of her shard of Louis standing nearby. She just stood there, breathing heavily as she tried to calm her seething rage, staring absently into the lightly bubbling pot of stew. She heard someone laughing in one of the other cars. It sounded like Joe2, but she couldn’t share in his laughter. Rather, she wanted to cry, very, very badly.
How many times do we have to kill him? she wondered, the thought born of equal parts frustration and despair.
