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 Posted: Sun Jul 23, 2023 8:39 pm
Since the end of the Star Festival Mel couldn’t help but feel that things were a little too quiet, having spent a number of nights during the festivities out and about, participating in whatever she could. The city was just so alive during the various festivals and holidays, not just the Star Festival, that, after a while, she found herself thinking normal nights were a bit too…lonely.
Lonely?
That seemed to fit. Or maybe that was more a reflection of her own emotions when she was on her own at night.
Mel stamped that thought straight to its death, a blush having crept to her cheeks because of it. She blamed her coworkers and all their jokes. They were funny–most of them, anyway–but often inappropriate. They joked to help to lighten the mood in the office considering their line of work. She never participated, but she did at least understand. And she did draw a line whenever needed. In any case, those inappropriate jokes did sometimes twist her otherwise innocent thoughts into something entirely not innocent.
“Not like I was prude or anything before working there, but still,” she muttered, for some reason wanting to defend herself from her own scrutiny. She turned into a nearby park, planning to cut through to save a few minutes on her usual walk home. There was a short path through a small wooded area that led straight to the front of her complex.
As soon as she entered, though, she realized that she would have been better off taking the long way home.
There, floating along the path, was a dark ball. It was faceless, at least from what she could see, and apparently burning, fully engulfed in a strange, ethereal-looking flame.
Mel froze where she stood, too scared to make a move or a sound. For all the times she believed she wanted to experience something of the supernatural, she realized in that moment that…no. No, she actually didn’t.
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Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2023 6:14 pm
“Over here!” Ephesus hissed a whisper to the young woman who seemed frozen on the path leading towards the spooky looking youma. Ephesus was already trying not to seem too afraid in front of Amarynthos, but the tightness in which he was gripping his boyfriend’s hand probably made it obvious how scared he was.
And it wasn’t as though he’d never seen a youma before! He just hadn’t seen one that looked like a ghost. How were they supposed to defeat a ghost? Luckily it didn’t seem too interested in them just yet. Or maybe it hadn’t noticed them. He and Amarynthos were trying to keep their distance while they figured out how they wanted to attack it.
Preferably before it attacked them.
“Don’t let it see you,” he tried to explain in as hushed a voice as he could, even as he was pretty sure his legs were trembling and his voice was shaking.
Except, apparently in his desire to try and get the young woman out of harm’s way, the youma heard them and spun around to reveal giant eyes and a gaping mouth and Ephesus let out a shrill squeaking yelp of terror and nearly tripped over himself as he ducked behind Amarynthos.
What even was that thing??
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2023 5:04 pm
Amarynthos absolutely unnerved by the youma, but he wasn’t going to let his boyfriend see that. He wasn’t scared of it, but he was taking a practical approach. Youma were unpredictable, menacing little monsters, and he didn't want to let this one hurt anyone.
They were going to have to fight it, one way or another, it just would have been better if the woman facing off with it wasn't in the direct line of fire.
He squeezed Ephesus' hand in silent support, but it was meaningless in the horrifying face of the ghost youma. If it hadn't had such an identifiable signature, he might have let himself be spooked. Just a little.
Awkwardly, Amarynthos tried to wedge himself between the youma and the woman while still keeping a solid barrier between himself and the other Knight, but--would that even matter? This thing was so ghostly, it looked like it might be able to pass right through him.
"Or, um." Amarynthos was a quick thinker but he didn't have a sudden, immediate plan for how to deal with this. "Maybe you should just get out of here. Before it decides to do something more than just stare at us."
Maybe he was too confident when he thought this thing wasn't scary; the longer he stared into it wide eyes, the more jittery he started to feel.
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Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2023 10:00 pm
In her fright the hissing actually freaked her out a little more. It made her wonder if the thing was able to maybe project its voice, or maybe speak directly into her mind. ’How did ghosts work, anyway?’ was the prevalent thought, and then she finally turned and saw the two curiously dressed boys and realized.
“Oh!” she mouthed silently. Before she could do or say anything else the blonde boy screamed while the other moved to step out in front of her. Mel, for her part, wanted to know what the scream was about. Turning her head answered that question for her.
She nearly passed right out.
But she didn’t. She held her ground. Trembling, but she held it, granted there was someone standing between her and the ghost.
The ghost floated toward them at the speed of smoke in a near-nonexistent breeze, its huge eyes staring and gaping mouth staying perfectly…well. Open. It looked like someone had frozen its face in that position, but the more Mel looked the more frozen in her spot she felt.
“Thank you. I might just take you up on that,” she finally managed in a very mousy voice. She didn’t move.
Actually, it felt more like she couldn’t move.
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Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2023 5:02 am
Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no! It was moving! It was coming at them! Ephesus squeaked in fright again as he clung to Amarynthos’s hand but -- oh, that probably wasn’t being very useful. And it didn’t look like the woman was able to move either.
“Maybe-- could Mary carry you?” he suggested, looking frantically from the woman to the youma to Amarynthos to the youma and woman again. “Just to get to safety? If you're okay with that? I --”
Ephesus swallowed. Because he knew if Amarynthos was carrying her, that meant he would have to be the one to make sure they were defended. He gripped his staff with his other hand, even as he curled it close to his body like an uncomfortable security blanket.
“I can keep the youma away,” he squeaked as he very, very reluctantly released Amarynthos’s hand so he could take a shaky step to the side.
“H-hey! This way!” he tried calling to the youma with barely a voice. And his eyes closed as he clutched tightly to his staff. Oh, he should probably actually be watching to make sure it was following after him and not Amarynthos or the woman.
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Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:49 pm
Amarynthos did not want to leave Ephesus alone to fight a ghostly youma. Effie had been tryin to get stronger, but Amarynths knew he hated fighting. He had complete faith in Effie, though, and he trusted that he wouldn’t have offered to do this if he didn’t think he could try.
And, anyway, Ephesus was tough! He’d survived losing his starseed!
“You got this, Effie,” he said with absolute certainty. “I’m going to be fast.”
Ephesus didn’t have magic that could do damage, but Amarynthos was stronger and faster, so it made sense for him to get her to safety before they thought of fighting. He didn’t ask if it was okay to pick her up–he would have, if there was more time, but she looked completely frozen. And anyway, he just needed to get her out of the way enough that she could run while he and Ephesus dusted this youma.
He gripped his staff–if it could be called that–and turned it to the side so he wouldn't whack her on the head. In the same motion, he hooked one arm behind her knees and scooped her into his arms.
She wasn’t heavy, not when he had his magical boost, but he knew he couldn’t carry her far like this. He couldn’t risk dropping his staff once they hit the treeline, he just needed her away from the youma. He didn’t know what it could do yet, and if he had to, he could cast his magic to try and–well, he didn’t know what magical moonlight could do to a ghost–no, youma–but he was ready to try out.
“Sorry,” he apologized. He was already darting away. “Are you okay? If I put you down can you run? We’re going to fight that thing, it’ll be okay. But it’s dangerous so you should run as soon as I put you down, can you do that?”
its_ p a o Let me know if this is okay, I can edit!
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Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2023 10:02 pm
Mel listened, eyes still on the youma (is that what he called it?) though she managed a very stiff nod at the plan. She wasn’t a fan, actually. They looked much younger than her, if she were going to base that just on their looks alone, and if anything she kind of wanted to tell them to get behind her so she could do the protecting. Given she was struggling to just move or say anything at all, though, it made more sense that their plan be executed. So before she knew it she was being princess carried away, presumably to safety.
The ghost-youma, meanwhile, continued to move toward them. Slowly, very slowly. It had its eyes on Mel up until Ephesus called to it. It paused for the moment and turned, ever so slightly, until its large, unblinking gaze settled on the young knight. And then it began moving again, floated faster, so much faster, toward him.
The further they got, the more she could move. First her fingers, then her wrists, then her arms, and she tested her ankles next because she was still being carried. “I’m good, I’m good. Let’s go back, we have to help your fr–”
Maybe she wasn’t good, given she now saw a floating…pan (or maybe it was a pot lid), just behind his head where she was currently looking, trying to check on the other boy to make sure he was okay. Hard to tell now because this thing was in the way, so with the goal of getting it out of the way she grabbed it, and what happened next…she had no idea. She felt a surge of power flow through her, and then…
…suddenly and all at once she felt hot. Probably because she was now fully covered from head to toe in a bright blue and fur-lined outfit. It looked like she was dressed for some kind of Christmas costume party. Cute, maybe, but definitely a bad idea in the middle of summer.
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Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2023 5:48 am
Oh no, oh no, oh no. This was a horrible idea! What was he thinking? He couldn’t take on a youma that was so scary looking by himself! No, no, it was okay. He was a Knight! He had, um, magic.
Healing magic.
Okay that wouldn’t work. Unless he could heal the youma to make it… not want to attack them?
“Maybe, um, please don’t?” Ephesus squeaked and stumbled backwards, but held his staff out between himself and the youma to deter it from getting closer.
And then suddenly there was a surge of power. The young woman that Amarynthos was carrying to safety before was suddenly no longer just a young woman, but a knight.
Which was a good thing, because even if he could try to keep the creepy youma away from him, Ephesus still tripped backwards on the edge of the sidewalk and landed on his butt in the grass. Wow, that was embarrassing. But the youma was really weird!
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Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2023 11:05 pm
The surge of energy from a nearby Page was almost overwhelming, and Amarynthos nearly tripped over himself when he realized he was practically right on top of it. Or, more accurately, she was in his arms.He was surprised enough that he nearly dropped her, but instead he just skidded to a stop. “Oh.” Oh. Oh, he didn't have time to be stunned! Ephesus was dealing with that youma all by himself, she was right! He needed to go back, he needed to help. She’d have been safe here–probably–if she didn’t have an aura now, but, here she was, a Knight of… Well, he didn’t know. He couldn’t see. She didn’t look like she was from the Moon, or Ganymede, or Lysithea, or Jupiter, but they could figure out all the details later. “I’m going to put you down. You–oh, man.” She was going to have questions. Questions he had the answers to! But questions he didn’t have time to answer right now. Carefully, but hastily, he dipped her so she could get he feet on the ground before he released her completely. “You’ve got magic now, we’ll explain it all later. That thing is dangerous and evil and–I can’t let him hurt my friend. You don’t have to fight, but I do.” He flashed a quick, brief smile, but that was all he had in him before he turned. If he’d run, he might have been able to make it to Ephesus before that thing did, but he didn’t want to risk it. Just in case. He clutched his staff in his hand and bolted towards it, but not before he started channeling his magic. He didn’t know if it would work–maybe it would distract the youma. Maybe it would get scared and run off. All he cared about was putting himself between it and Ephesus, and he was ready to slam his staff into it as soon as he was within range. …But making sure Ephesus had a chance to get up and make sure he was safe was more important. He’d just fend it off to buy some time for that, if he could. Quote: Knight Magic: Moonlight sparkles in the air around Amarynthos and all enemy targets within fifteen feet will feel enlightened; they will become hypercritical of their flaws and shortcomings, and may rapidly be filled with regret for instances where they failed in the past. The forced introspection can be incredibly distracting and make targets feel overwhelmed and unable to interact with the present. They may suffer physical symptoms of stress, such as aches and pains, a racing heart, dizziness, exhaustion, or even anxiety or irritability. The magic can be channeled for up to 60 seconds; the circle will move with Amarynthos but if characters leave the radius the effects will fade. Players can choose to take lasting damage if they prefer, but otherwise all symptoms will fade when the magic is no longer being channeled.
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 5:04 am
The ghost-youma continued its approach, now mere feet from where Ephesus lay in the grass. The closer it got the bigger it would look to him, and the wider its mouth became, like it was turning into a ghostly PacMan and the young knight was one of those white dots on the game board. It was nearly on him when suddenly moonlight shone on and all around it. The youma froze, its focus immediately broken once distracted by the magic, turning this way and that as though unable to determine where its target was anymore.
And it made a ghastly, shrieking sound as a result.
Ekstrom’s worries about the weird outfit and the heat and what the hell was happening to her all but left her once she was properly on her feet. He said she didn't have to fight, but even if whatever happened hadn’t happened she would have tried to go back and help, anyway. Now that it felt like she could, there was no way she would just stand aside. So she followed him back. To her shock (and awe) she watched as the air changed, beginning to sparkle, around them. She would have been caught up in the glamor of it (because yes, she liked pretty, shiny thinigs) had the youma not made a sound.
She turned her eyes to it when it did, and she glared daggers at its confused, floating figure. Seeing the opportunity to possibly get rid of it, she ran straight toward it. Her grip around the handle of her pot lid tightened, and as soon as she was close enough she swung it down. Hard.
Like a scene straight out of a cartoon, she had her eyes closed while she screamed, "“You! Leave! Us! Ah-lone!” at it, punctuating each syllable with a blow of the pot lid. By the end of it she was red in the face and heaving, but the youma was gone.
Not that she knew it yet. She still had her eyes closed. She stopped swinging because she sensed a change in the air around her, but she was still a little too scared to open her eyes.
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Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2023 8:15 am
“Mary!” Ephesus cried in relief when Amarynthos came back to help him. But more than that, the new knight was there to help him, too. He could have cried, he was so grateful.
Okay, he did have tears in his eyes and was crying a little already, but he didn’t want to make her think he was hurt or anything. He was just relieved.
While she took care of finishing off the youma, Ephesus reached up to take Amarynthos’s hand and pulled himself up with his help, and gave him a tight but quick hug in thanks.
Thankfully, the young woman who was also a knight was super brave and was able to take care of the youma once it had been distracted. It burst into dust, and after focusing on the auras around them, it seemed as though they were safe.
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