Being filled full of icicles was not something Nicholas would consider a 'funtime activity'. Cursing under his breath, he began pulling the icicles out of his flesh one by one. It hurt, yet the wounds barely bled, and the smaller impalements didn't even bleed at all. He should be bleeding heavily, but the swordsman shrugged and chalked it up to 'magic' then turned to the group. They were arguing with Traitor about the new 'choice' for the group.
The archer girl (Bobbi, was it?) told him to flip her the bird, but before he could raise his hand in a glorious gesture of awesomeness, the dancer girl hit the invisible wall as if she was a cartoon character. Nicholas stared for a moment, then let out a small laugh and a very slow golf clap. After a few seconds of being a patronizing a*****e, he reached for one of the larger pieces of ice he had removed from himself and threw it full force towards the group. It flew true until hitting where Dawn had faceplanted, then shattered into hundreds of little pieces.
"Welp, looks like I'm stuck on this side for a while."
OOC Note: Nicholas can hear the group, but his words cannot be heard. Awkward conversation, go!
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 2:31 am
[Kyla: Louis’ Heart:Tower of Nightmare: In the depths of Blackness]
Kyla wasn’t entirely sure expending so much mana was a great idea, she was already overburning her reserves - but she just had to fight, to make it go away, to dispel the darkness in any way she could. As the artist continued her panicked driven assault on the obsidian phantom of her deepest horrors, her magic continued to grow and weave itself in brighter and intricate designs of woven light. Brighter- she had to be brighter; bright enough the creature couldn’t get near! If she could summon somehow the cornerstone itself damnit she’d like to right about now!
Esteem then called to her, and she could feel the poking from her summon alongside her cheek to turn her head and look up. Still not entirely able to speak right, her throat spewing nothing but incomprehensible half jargon dialogue, gasps of breath and hysterical sobbing- the artist did manage to force herself to look up and follow Esteem’s line of sight. Lights, falling like shooting stars-
Kyla had seen that image too many times to not know what that could be. Esteem was right, they were coming down, but from where? Who cared- Esteem and Carbuncle were right-…she wasn’t alone.
“..fr..iends..?”
It still seemed more like a question then a statement. Lonely, she was so damn lonely here in the dark. She need to be sure. Despite all the evidence she needed to prove it to herself. Just seeing those lights falling closer made her heart slow down a little more, beat by beat…
Kyla was terrified of the dark, the darkness, but not if she wasn’t alone. Alone.
She looked through the bubble around her at Esteem, and then at Carbuncle at her side. She felt ashamed- they had been there all along, why did she doubt them so much? Whatever- she’d figure it out later. Her shield dropped- but before fear gripped her again she reached out desperately to take Esteems hand. In this place, he should be solid to some extent. Kyla held that glowing hand tightly like a life line, eyes shut tight.
“It’s ok now Kyla- it’s going to be ok.” Carbuncle murmured, nuzzling tight against her shoulder. Their collective touch kindled sharpened her grip now, and the closer those lights became, the calmer she felt. “…ok…” Her voice was so incredibly small, raw, and weary. But the light that flooded from Kyla’s own body was suddenly blinding. She’d banish that nightmare once and for all. She unleashed a flock of birn strikes which continued to circle her like a swarm. Each flying bird of light dragged with it a thread that continuously woven a much grander pattern beneath her feet. Each connection linking to another and drawing itself in the air till it make an elaborately woven design of a giant lotus flower in bloom, open with branched petals. This massive platform hovered there and Kyla finally touched down on something solid at last. Assuming the others were heading towards her, so would they, for if they off course, she intended to direct it towards them. All the while the brilliant bird kept flying around her, acting like animated lanterns in the dark. Kyla finally had some control of her breathing, her heart no longer pounding so rapidly in her chest she could have a heart attack. “…thank you…*hic* both of you..*hic*.for staying...”she said this between little hiccups that made her squeak from crying so hard. "I- I'm*hic* sorry..." the artits eyes were dowcast again, a rush of shame changing her cheeks as pink as her eyes. She had lost her wits so badly it was pathetic. Some chosen of the light she was- so terrified of the very thing they had to defeat. Her fear back home was such a childish thing, something children worry about- but it never left her. Now it posed a serious problem. Surely- there couldn't always be someone there to hold her hand. Not always right? "I- I really am *hic*- sorry."
"Uh, I don't know about in "all," because I have no idea what you're talking about," Sora responded, tilting his head and scratching the back of it, a mixture of concern and confusion expressed in his furrowed brows.
"It's not literal. Not for us," Sayrike explained, sighing. Riddles and riddles, layers and layers. "I'm not sure about the exact idea he's trying to reference. Conformity, maybe. Repression of curiosity and growth?"
Sora blinked, and then a look of understanding washed over. "Oooh... maybe it's an Earth thing, because I can't think of anything like that being encouraged at home."
"Maybe," Sayrike muttered before speaking back to Prisoner. One step at a time. "No, we're not them. If anything, we oppose them, so we're definitely here to help you. Would you mind if we took off your blindfold?"
[ Riku : Louis' Heart : Traitor's Test ]
The events all took place in a flurry, but for Riku, time seemed slow. He sighed, trying to calm his heart and mind, as the others erupted in sorrow and fury around him, and Nicholas was taken away. They wouldn't get it, would they?
Bobbi's and Dawn's outbursts denounced the speaking specter, but it was James that triggered Riku's first reaction. The Keyblade master turned, a look of bewildered frustration covering his face, as if to scream, "What are you doing?" Dani's own chilly reaction earned an equally bewildered look.
Then Dawn took off.
Riku was right after her; her plan was reckless and terribly thought out, as the odds of Dani being able to get her magic over to Dawn and make it solid enough to jump off of was about as likely as Donald achieving perfect harmony. Luckily, the girl slammed into an invisible wall, and he skidded to a halt behind her, sighing.
Then Bobbi made her call.
"Oh, good, someone realizes we're supposed to be one unit," Riku called out in response, his frustration seeping into his voice; he couldn't even bother with the charms, he didn't want to risk more tainted thoughts. "Maybe we should start with not talking for the party without talking to the party."
He cast a deadpan stare at James before shaking his head. "Too late now, I imagine. You've already cast the vote out."
[ Kyle ; Jenny : Louis' Heart : Victim's Vault ]
Kyle seemed to grimace at the progress of the conversation. Was it a trap, or was this genuinely how the shard was corrupted? Louis was such a difficult individual.
He noticed Jenny's sympathetic look, and an urging gaze to Kyle, her flute in hand. He nodded, but mentally added, "After one thing."
"We are not here to cause pain in any way if it can be avoided," he said, walking toward the bed directly next to the boy. "I can't speak for everyone, but those of us here--we have only ever wanted to stop pain. Prevent suffering. Something I think we have in common."
He lightly placed his hand on one of the boy's arms, and with a sympathetic smile, he started draining away the grotesque scars that marked his forearms, as well as taking away whatever injuries or damage might have remained in those regions as a result of whatever broke them. All the while, though his smile remained, his jaw clenched; true, his arms weren't re-breaking, as he was only taking the pain, not the physical representation of it, but the pain of broken bones was some of the worst pain a human body could endure--or so he'd been told. He didn't want to find out what else was worse, to be sure.
"We are here to heal you," he said, his voice somewhat strained after completing his damage-siphon, though his expression never faltered from its supportive mask. "And my friend back there would like to complete the healing process, with no cost or burden traded. Would you be okay with that?"
[ Matthew : Louis' Heart : Nightmare's... Nightmare? ]
The blue mage snorted. "Yeah, it's Johnwhatthemonkey--"
The sudden shattering of reality had Matthew clinging and squeezing John onto him instinctively, especially with the sudden falling sensation. After realizing what was going on, though, he let go, giving the other man time to breath... just in time to rocket past Joe and Amy, descending faster toward the strange explosions of light and fire.
Oh noooo.
He wanted to activate Phase Shift, but he looked to John--Phase Shift couldn't affect two people that he knew of. "You got anything to slow down with?"
[ Melisandre : Louis' Heart : Core of the Cornerstones ]
"The Order of Whispers, the Vigil, and the Durmand Priory are three multi-racial orders working against the Great Dragons that threaten the world--or, at the very least, my world," she explained, extending fingers as she counted the three of them off. She then began to point to each one. "The Vigil is a military order that believes the most effective way to stop the dragons is to defeat them with pure force. The Order of Whispers is a spy order focused more on gathering intel and secret information, and their methods are discrete--how exactly they plan to deter the dragons is unknown. The Durmand Priory is a scholarly order of researchers and explorers who think that the secret to defeating the dragons is in lost lore and forgotten ruins from times before our own era."
"As for why this was suspected to be related to a dragon," she went on, shrugging slightly at the topic. "It had a lot of the same signs as the northern dragon, Jormag. Ice, darkness, corruption--a growing blizzard of dark magic that fundamentally altered the magic of the world it covered seemed right up his alley."
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:10 pm
{Demyx,Zell .:. Louis's Heart .:. Cornerstone of Death}
"Makes sense, if you don't know what's going on in the rest of the world. Umm, worlds? World," Zell said. He was pacing around the platform about halfway to the edge, glancing at each of the towers, part of him hoping he could see what was going on inside. He knew he wouldn't be that lucky, but he couldn't help looking.
"You should get these folks talking with Disney," he continued. "We could help ya with your dragon problem, and I bet you could help us with our war on darkness problem."
{Bobbi .:. Louis's Heart .:. Tower of Traitor}
Bobbi sighed and ran both hands through her hair, pressing them tightly to her head as she thought.
"If the vote was already cast and counted, something would have happened already. Okay, let's approach this rationally," she said. She didn't meet anyone's eyes--eye contact would be a distraction she didn't need at the moment. She needed to focus. "The riddle or order or whatever is 'to save one, you must sacrifice the other two.' I'm not sure what that means, but whatever. Facts are, we have three groups hea-aaaah, that's what it means." At her sudden realization, Bobbi had taken her hands away from her head and was now staring blankly at the edge of the platform.
Now here is a riddle to guess if you can, sing the bells of Notre Dame~ Shut up, brain.
"There's us, Nick and Rae, and the Narnians. To save one of the groups, we have to sacrifice the other two. Does that make sense to anyone but me? What are your thoughts, guys?"
As Kyla came to accept the aid from the others and her light sprang forth in the form of fluttering and glowing doves leaving trails through the air, Esteem disappeared in a flicker of light, only a floating ember in his place that began circling the girl faster and faster adding to the growing lotus around her.
The others above either careening of falling at a pace of their own, could feel themselves slow as though floating down in water, gently reaching the same level of Kyla. Light sprang from each and circled around them entwining with the air like embroidery weaving itself into the tapestry of darkness surrounding them.
As constellations connected and patterns held true these disconnected fabricated lights formed shapes and objects, texture and tangibility, just as this monochrome image grew vivid enough to grasp, their collective light detonated, blowing away the darkness leaving all standing or sitting on a cobblestone floor in a simple room with 3 walls.
There were small end tables, a desk, windows frosted over behind cracks in the rich brown and copper curtains, the sound of storming outside clattering the shutters. Two fairly large candelabrum stood on the end tables.
It was quiet, calm, sleepy, the soft light warm and nonthreatening.
Skitter skitter, clack clack.
The sound of something, many things moving across cobblestone could be heard... originating deep within the black abyss left by the one missing wall.
Skitter clack clack hisssss.
Light from the candles caught something moving, and off that, a shower of reflections could be seen within the darkness illuminating it all for a momentary glimpse.
In that deep darkness, a circular room extended from theirs. Hundreds of massive needles lined the walls like a gigantic iron maiden. Moving about within those confines, hundreds, perhaps thousands of legs clicked and clawed at the cobblestone flooring. A massive pulsating, glossy carapace rolled and coiled about the room before stopping at a head that hovered over the center of the fantastical torture chamber.
A millipede, easily the size of a bus hovered its mandibles, its fangs and thousands of tiny teeth lining the inside of its circular maw over a single human figure at the center of the room.
In the flash they would know, it was Louis, sitting on his knees, arms limp at his side as he stared up at the looming creature, expression empty, pale, and motionless from the demonic presence.
And in that flash of a moment, the candlelight sputtered away from that miraculous angle and everything went dark inside, leaving now only the sound of insectoid limbs scratching this way and that and a soft, near inaudible sobbing.
Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 7:27 pm
Joe : Louis' Heart : Prisoner's Tower
"No repressive voices here either." Joe added, genuinely unsure of what this shard was playing at. "If anything, the voice in my head is telling me to seize the day and shake off the outdated morals around me." 'As you should'said voice responded.
He turned to the Sora"It could mean any number of things, really. I doubt it's conformity though, even conformists have arts they enjoy. This goes deeper, it's more like some kind of cultural Panopticon."
His eyes returned to the blindfolded man. "Is that it? Are you thinking your every thought is being watched and judged by someone else?"
[ Matthew : Louis' Heart : Nightmare's... Nightmare? ]
The blue mage sighed with relief as his descent slowed automatically, though he was too busy shielding his eyes from the explosions to see much else. When they finally cleared up and he was looking around, the room seemed normal enough... except for the noises.
Those noises.
Every hair on his neck and arms stood up and he turned to look into the room, immediately focusing on the gigantic insect. Then... the light flickered, no longer able to pierce into the abyss beyond.
"No," Matthew said. It was simple, like a declaration of intent, or a response to a question. "No."
It's all he said. Just stared, his expression hidden behind the mask, his position held and scimitar gripped tightly. He was silent for a moment. Then: "No."
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 4:09 pm
[Joseph: Louis' Heart: Nightmare Tower]
Joseph let out a shudder after the light went out. Millipedes and Centipedes creeped him out. Not an outright fear, but definitely a lack of desire to be around them or touch them.
He also mentally noted how he felt about this. The same guy that dared use a giant spider, had a nighmarish fear of a giant millipede. Talk about hypocrite...well at least that's what Joe thought at the moment.
Mathy's 'No's brought him out of his thoughts, though. "More like yes, we should...probably deal with that. If we light up the room...Mathy, can you just...fire up something without hitting Louis but making him visible?"
He turned to Kyla. "You can lotus him, keep him safe...and possibly keep us safe from him."
He looked at Pie and Amy, then. "We'll go offensive. I mean, with Amy's distance advantage and our strength, we should be able to take care of a giant bug pretty easily. Especially one like that."
He nodded, as if to himself. "Yes, let's do that. Any objections?" If not, he'd motion to Mathy to begin lighting things on fire(preferably not Louis) so Kyla could step into place and then they could attack without much worry about Louis.
"Interesting," the boy on the throne mused at Malisandre and her explaination, "Perhaps my predecessor would have had a great deal to learn from this dragon, Jormag... and here he just had some desperate plan to wield the world's leylines as a weapon or a shield to protect himself from vengeful gods. Wrap it up by binding his summon to the seal perpetuating the spell, absorb residual magic left behind by a long-dead ice witch, and weave some intricate illusions to dominate the local population and bam, hook, line, and sinker, you've got yourself an apocalyptic spell cast by a 7 day amateur mage absorbing the entire world and trapping thousands in its thrall. Some days I surprise even myself."
[ Melisandre : Louis' Heart : Core of the Cornerstones ]
The sorceress listened to Zell reply, and though she seemed mildly interested, Nemesis' reaction drew her attention away before she responded otherwise.
"Entire world?" Melisandre repeated with a look of amused questioning, her brow raised and lips curled. She tilted her head back and up before giving a couple laughs, loud, booming things that would have echoed long after she finished had there been walls. She seemed genuinely amused, as if the small man had told some joke over a drink.
"Maybe the entirety of this small world-ling, but by Raven, the whole? Not a chance!" she said, still smiling wide. "For one, by using his heart as the consuming factor, he's jinxed the spell to an early collapse--I'd give it two days, and that's assuming this dead ice-witch he's depending on was nigh-unstoppable herself."
"And second, if all he's doing is leyline twisting, any skilled witch worth her weight in ale could cut him off long enough for that collapse to happen even sooner," she said, running a hand through her dark hair, enjoying the down time. "You get someone generally powerful, or with special skills related to the geomancy of this world, and it would be a simple task. The only reason not to do so would be the elongated healing time--that's probably why this Yen Sid fellow Nicholas told me about sent this lot first."
"I suppose it would be a decent temporary shield against gods tied to this world, though," she admitted, her entertained attitude diminishing slightly as she threw the ponytail back over her shoulder; her tone was replaced with the usual curiosity that accompanied a researcher or explorer. "It's contorting this land's geomantic properties, so they probably don't have power over him. Dare I ask what worldly spirits he's disturbed?"
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 7:31 pm
[[Nemesis : Cornerstones of Death]]
"Depending on your knowledge of other worlds and their cultures, gods, and powers, the name may mean nothing to you. He attempted to wrest god-ship over the seas from Calisto. It was a risky plan but the reward of taking over, even if for a moment could have granted him divinity that would have set the stage for an even greater maneuver that ultimately might have earned him the true power of a god... without any of the drawbacks the goddess had placed on the sea's previous governor. Ultimately, the plan went horribly wrong and he retreated, forming a barrier of absolute dominion over this place as protection against the goddess from hunting him down and exacting her revenge for trying to stop her from gaining back her own godhood which had been stripped away."
The young man sighed and leaned even further into his closed fist, "There was no way to know the location would be booby trapped specifically against someone trying to interfere in the ritual, even more-so that the trap would be powerful enough that even the goddess of the sea would have been impressed I'm sure. Now that I think of it, the power presented that day was of far greater caliber than anyone would have expected from them given all those present... like another god besides Calisto had decided to intervene. Regardless, there's no use wondering what wen't wrong, only what to do to fix it."
Perhaps it was strange, but Namesis did not reply to Melisandre's judgement of Louis' plan to engulf the world in his spell, only a cracked smile at the corner of his lips.
"I... don't think... I know. They're there. They're listening. Watching. Waiting. Your every action, every thought is tested, weighed, and judged. Those thoughts steeped in pitch sink to thier gaping jaws... but you... you don't know them. You don't see them like I do. You may have a cha-"
Mid sentence, he paused, shifted his head... listening carefully, "They're here. I can hear them... you brought them with you."
As he said this, there was a sound like dripping as droplets like rain zipped past their vision beyond the large glass backdrop of their library refuge. Black, monochrome contrast dots counted in the millions clattered against the glass atrium staining all and eventually blotting out every semblance of light from the outside.
As he spoke, there were images ghostly figures at the edges of the circle, soundless images of a small boy who looked like Louis fighting with a woman. He held tightly to a book as she wrested it from his hands. He tried to get it back but was denied at every turn. Just as quickly as it appeared, the image was gone, vanished in wisps of ghostly aura.
"No... no no no, they know you're here. They'll know I spoke to you. They won't just stop with a beating and shorten the chain, they'll torture me!"
Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 10:27 am
[Dawn : Louis' Heart : Tower of the Traitor]
"Owe owe owe," Dawn said as she slowly sat up rubbing her head from both the unexpected barrier and the mental flick and chewing that Bobbi gave her, "Well that didn't go as expected."
"Look. I did what i thought was right. I jumped to the chance to try and do something. Sometimes the best option isn't always planned out. You should all know this by now." she let out a sigh as she tried to explain herself.
'As if what I would of done would make a difference anyway. Why should I of bothered. This is what always happens anyways.'
"We are left with 3 choices here," Dawn continued to answer Bobbi, "Either we save the girl, who is already lost, save the people we are sworn to protect, or save our companion we barely trust. Though it would seem obvious of what I was trying to do. Get to the one we know is real'."
Riku slightly raised an eyebrow at Bobbi's "deduction" and would have corrected her, had Dawn not spoken up. His lips grew taut with a deadpan expression, and he tapped one fist against his thigh.
"It doesn't matter if the best option is or isn't planned out, what matters is we work as a team, Dawn," Riku said. How is it that he had to sit here and coach people older than him on what teamwork meant? What was so broken about their planet? "If you cannot work as a member of a team, then next time we need to leave as a team, you can stay behind."
"And you guys keep assuming he's real. How do you know he's real? The same way you knew the train crash and your loved ones were fake immediately, too, I assume," he continued, his snark getting the better of him, if only momentarily. He shook his head. "You're all making assumptions based on what's being presented, but absolutely nothing we've encountered since we flew through that storm has been the way it seemed."
"Kyle told us from the start that Louis had Rachel's heart, which we need if she's ever going to live again. We also know that he's taken in dozens of miles of Narnian countryside, where these people could have lived," he explained, looking at the remaining four of them. James, Dani, Bobbi, Dawn... where was Joe when you needed him? "And now he's taken Nick. What he said wasn't a riddle: there are three choices. The ally we know, the friend we lost, and the innocents we came here to save. Whether or not we like it, it's entirely possible that all three of these options are completely viable--and that isn't an accident."
"Liar made us face lies. Traitor, then, will likely be living up to his own title, and that's what we need to consider," he said, crossing his arms. "What do these choices represent? Not just on the surface, but beneath all the possible layers."
