Realistic or Modern BEING HUMAN

[QizPizza]

Lucien staggered forward, his once handsome face contorted in pain and rage as he used a brick wall to support himself as he slowly advanced. His whole body felt heavy, as if he was wearing heavy plate armor and every step was a focused, pained effort. A fiery pain was spreading across his chest that made it hard to draw breath.

He knew what was happening of course. Angels such as he were actively maintained by the mana flowing through their veins - without it, it was really only matter of time before he wasted away to nothing and slipped back into the void from which he had originated. And while things had gone more or less to plan so far as far as he was concerned, the idea of just standing around and...well - dying - was not exactly Lucien's idea of a successful operation.

He gave a gasp of pain as he turned the corner. The storm he had created had long since dissapated, causing a notable drop in the whirling waters that had been flooding the streets. The barrier that Staxos had created however was still very much active. It was fairly weak magic in the greater scheme of things - back on Aether, it would have only been considered a mild nusience; but on Earth...well. Lucien doubted there was anything that could break through it. He was as trapped as the humans that been inside when Staxos's trap had been sprung.

He wasn't too concerned however. One way or another , the barrier would dissapate soon and Lucien could finally escape. He just needed a bit of time...somewhere to hide. He really couldn't afford to lose any more mana...

He glanced around, and spotted a large building nearby. A colorful and glass laden building that contained all sorts of artifacts within. A sort museum? Lucien nodded to himself. It'll do for now.

Just as this thought occured to him, a sudden sharp impact took him in the side of the forehead just a few short millimeters from his right eye, causing it to close and his hand to fly to his face, both on pure instinct. This was followed by a small splash somewhere to his right. "Ow!" he shouted almost petulantly. In truth, it wasn't too painful- on the contrary, he might not have even noticed it if not for the sudden involuntary movement of his head under the unknown projectile's force--but it was enough to get his attention.

"What in the-who DARES to-"

The angel's head spun wildly while he sputtered, eventually flying down and to the right where he heard the splashing sound. His eyes quickly came to rest on a small metallic object on the ground, a shiny hexagonal piece with a hole in the middle, the inside of which was lined with tiny ridges. He tried to kneel down to inspect it, but before he could another object macked him with a solid thunk right between the eyes.

"Arrrgh!" he growled, rubbing at the point of impact. "When I find who's throwing these... Come out! Fight fair, you cowardly son of a-"

Thunk.

"Agh," the angel roared, holding a hand to his cheek where the latest bolt hit him.

Had the dark angel been paying more attention to his surroundings, he might have noticed the stooped figure hiding behind a parked car not too far from the museum's entrance. The shaggy, brown haired man hiding there dipped his hand in his pants pocket to grab another piece of ammunition from the tiny sack of nuts and bolts he'd taken from the museum's garage. He loaded it into his paper clip and rubber band slingshot and prepared to fling it at Lucien. Arryn Bennet, as he called himself now, knew this wouldn't really hurt him; that was hardly the point. He'd only come out into the streets to lure him or Staxos back to the museum, where the real assault could begin. The former blacksmith thought he would have to go searching half the streets of London before he found either of them and then avoid dying for as long as it took him to lure one or both of them back. As it happened, though, the dark angel had appeared virtually right in front of him, hobbling and injured, almost as soon as he walked out the building's front door. Given how outmatched he knew he was, Arryn was not sure if he should feel very lucky about that or very, very unlucky.

When he rose from behind the parked car to fling another bolt, he stopped as soon as he realized the dark angel was now staring right at him. And he was seething. If looks could kill, Arryn would have been decapitated ten times over by the ferocity of that glare. Whatever injuries had been plaguing the man before Arryn started pelting him seemed forgotten for the moment as the man began to menacingly march his way over to his now-revealed hiding spot.

"You puny, wretched, insignificant little knat," Lucien spat venemously as he came steadily closer. "I'm going to rip your worthless entrails out and feed them to you. I'm going to flay your ugly skin from your cursed bones, slowly, inch by bloody fucking inch. I'm going to..."

Well, safe to say I've got his attention, Arryn thought wryly as Lucien's list of creative tortures went on. Mission accomplished. Arryn turned and ran headlong back to the museum's front door; he had a significant head start on Lucien, so he had plenty of time to get inside before the dark angel came anywhere near.

Making sure to cover his eyes against the blinding lights of the cars' high beams pointed straight at the entrance, Arryn barreled into the film museum's main exhibit hall and shut the doors behind him. As before, at least twenty cars dotted the hall's floor, all facing different directions. Different from before, all of them were now turned on, lights blaring brightly, engines humming contentedly. Also different from before was the single pair of scissors laying near the tire of one of the cars in the back, though these were unlikely to be seen unless one already knew they were there, as Arryn did.

"Raijin," Arryn called as loudly as he dared, "Lucien's coming! Get in position!" As quickly as he could, Arryn all but dove into his own spot behind that car and grabbed the scissors, then waited silently for Lucien's arrival.

Though Arryn had known to cover his eyes before entering, Lucien had no such foreknowledge. He plowed in, massive front doors blowing clean off their hinges, hurling snarls and curses best left unrepeated, and stopped dead in his tracks when the high beams hit him.

"Bah," he called in frustration and exasperation, eyes watering from the sudden brilliance of the close bright lights compared to the darkness outside. "What kind of foolish magic is this? Earth isn't supposed to have light producing magic! Grrr, what does it matter, anyway? Do you really think a few bright lights are enough to stop me, fool?! Come out and face your death like a man."

Of course, Arryn didn't think this was enough to stop Lucien. But then, the maniacal bastard had no idea what was still waiting for him. We'll see who flays whose skin, Lucien, thought the former blacksmith. He fingered the scissors in his hand anxiously and waited for his temporary partner to make the first move, as they planned.

Just moments after Arryn had shouted the warning and Lucien began to run his big mouth, the fallen angel walked into the showroom containing all of the cars. The moment that Lucien dared to step foot past the lobby, Rai snipped the scissors and began to run off to the next car, snipping the twine beneath that car’s steering wheel as well, and moved on to the next.

What did the twine hold? Quite simply, it was a brick. However, what made the cutting of the twine so crucial was what lay straight beneath the brick that the twine held. The car’s gas pedal. The moment the taunt string was severed, the brick was dropped upon the gas pedal, setting off the acceleration of the car.

The screeching of tires against the glossy tile floor and the roar of the engine filled the showroom as the first car barrelled towards Lucien. Though the fallen angel was caught off guard, the first car was easily avoided given how slow it was going. “A horseless carriage that acts on its own! Was not Earth supposed to be devoid of magic? No matter! This parlor trick is not enough to stop me, h- Ack!” The first car may not have done much to Lucien, but the second car managed to run into him as he focused on the first car.

“Did you not hear me, mortal? This isn’t enough to stop me, so spare yourself the effo- Agh!” The third car Rai set loose was able to gain slightly more speed that the other two as it met Lucien’s body and drove him into a wall. With some significant strain, he pried himself away from the car that rammed into him, ”I’ve had enough of this insolence! You have done nothing except anger me! Show yourself and I will consider making your death swift.”

The red haired Rai slunk back deeper into the museum as the dark winged traitor walked through the showroom, searching for Arryn and Rai. Taking Rai’s place at sending the cars off towards Lucien was Arryn, crouching out of Lucien’s view as he cut the twine on two more cars. However, but now, the dark angel was aware of this trick and easily dodge the linear paths of the two cars. “Come out...this is getting quite tiresome.”

Once again, Lucien was struck by a small hexagonal piece of metal in the head. He growled in anger as he looked to see Arryn standing behind a car with his weapon in hand. He began to walk towards Arryn, radiating anger and hatred, but Arryn’s running speed proved to be too great for Lucien as the blacksmith followed Rai towards the back of the museum and turning a corner where they had the final trap prepared.

Rai hid behind some German sports car while Arryn took refuge behind a sports utility vehicle directly across from where Rai hid. Between the two cars laid a small loop of rope concealed by papers scattered across the floor. Inches above the ground, the rope was tied to a sturdy stick held in place by two upside down y-shaped pieces of wood Arryn nailed straight into the floor on either side of the stick earlier. Past the stick, the other end of the long rope went upward, where it was draped over several of the horizontal beams running along the museum's high ceiling. It came back down some distance away, out of immediate sight, where it was tightly secured to three very heavy boxes of documents, tools, and other odd and ends they'd found around the building. If the stick was dislodged from the upside down y pieces that held it by, say, an unwary foot, the heavy boxes would pull the loop taut around whatever was in the middle of it, forcing that into the air as the suspended boxes used for counterweight descended back to the floor. With this, they could hopefully kill Lucien and recover the medallion from him and regain some of their powers.

Of course, no person in their right mind would just walk straight into a trap like this; even if they were not immediately visible, a moment of observation would reveal the wooden trigger on the ground or the suspended boxes hidden behind a car several feet away. However, there was little bit of motivation for Lucien, so that he would not look around long enough to notice these things. Right past where the cars were was a corpse. More specifically, the corpse that Arryn and Rai had discovered while preparing the trap, hastily dressed in Arryn’s hoodie. And laying on the floor in a small puddle of blood. It would be more than enough to draw Lucien in so that he could finish the blacksmith off while staring at the pitiful expression of his target’s face.

Soon enough, Lucien turned the corner into the length of the showroom containing the final trap. As predicted, the fallen angel took the bait and began to approach, running his mouth. “I told you to surrender yourself mortal. It would’ve been a swift death, but you decided you could fight back. You thought wrong.”

Lucien was now right on top of the snare, looking down on the Arryn decoy with cold eyes only for his wounded prey. “If only you could see yourself now. Tripping over yourself as you fled in the face of my power and laying on the floor bleeding out. Pathetic. But I am not a being without mercy. I will allow you the privilege of dying by my bare hands.”

As he reached down to turn over the body, Lucien's foot inadvertantly triggered the trap, the stick dislodged from the y pieces and the rope free to go up as the boxes to which it was tied on the other end went down. The loop on the floor tightened around Lucien’s ankle as Rai and Arryn turned the keys in their respective cars. On the fallen angel’s face was a priceless expression of surprise and anger when he was left hanging upside down in midair by the leg snare trap tied around his foot. “Let me down this instant, mortals! I have had enough of your tricks. Show yourself so that I may end you now!”

“How about no, Lucien? I can’t help it. A demon is an angel’s worse enemy and he can’t help but play tricks on them.” An expression of pure rage was plastered on Rai’s face as he put his foot down on the gas pedal with Arryn following suit. The two cars shot out from where they were parked and smashed into each other with Lucien being caught in the middle. Smoke began to rise from the engines of both cars as the blacksmith and the Oni stepped out of their vehicles and approached where Lucien hung.

Arryn's ears rang from the jarring impact of the two cars and his vision was uncomfortably blurry. His knees felt wobbly as he approached Lucien. The dark angel hung upside down, unmoving now, his upper body completely squished between the two cars. For the first time since he'd entered the building, the maniac had finally fallen silent.

"Well, that worked better than I expected," Arryn said louder than he probably had to because of his ringing ears, "Now, quickly, we must get the medallion from him before he regains his bearings." If he was even still alive at all after being trapped between two colliding cars, Arryn added mentally.

Raijin nodded grimly and used his pair of scissors to saw through the relatively thick rope used in the leg snare. After a small struggle, the rope snapped and Lucien's leg came down to rest beside the one that had not been caught. Arryn and Rai each took one leg and pulled in attempt to extricate him from the wreckage of the vintage cars.

When they finally got the body out and all but threw it unceremoniously to the floor, the pair got a good look at the lethally effective results of their death traps.

The once handsome villain's face was a complete, bloody ruin. The skin of his cheeks was torn and ripped where it was not totally disintegrated. His lips were gone, leaving his teeth all bare in what the pair would have thought a feral grin if they were not so certain he was unconscious or dead. His once luxurious black locks were partly torn out and partly matted and tangled with blood. A shard of shrapnel from one of the cars' front bumpers was jammed into his forehead, just above his nose, the wound oozing blood and pus at an alarming rate. One eye was swollen shut, but the other was nothing but an empty socket, the eyeball dangling from it on its stretched optic nerve to rest against the side of his face. It was like looking at something straight out of a horror movie, but despite all that damage, the creature's chest still somehow rose and fell gently with the rhythm of his continued breathing. He was merely unconscious.

"Oh, by the Light," Arryn moaned with a grimace, "I...I think I'm gonna...urp!"

The shaggy haired blacksmith hastily stepped back toward the nearest column and bent over so he was obscured behind it. The pizza he was so proud to have ordered earlier came back up all at once followed by a pained groan.

If the Oni was similarly bothered by the sight of the ruined dark angel, he gave no signs. While Arryn hurled, he patted the corpse down from head to toe as methodically as any detective might.

"Oh, come now," Raijin muttered as he pawed at Lucien's immobile body. "This is nothing. Don't tell me it actually bothers you. If this empties your stomach, you would have fainted to see the fates of some of my opponent. Once, I actually managed to strike a man in the head so hard, his skull collapsed in on itself and his brains started leaking out of his--"

Arryn groaned again as his stomach rumbled ominously "Oh, Light, no more, no more! Please, not another word or I'll-" abruptly, he cut himself off with a hand over his mouth nd ducked back behind the column to empty what little his stomach still had in it.

"Suit yourself," Rai said, though he sounded as if he wanted to go on. "More importantly, we may have a problem here. I can't find the medallion."

"W-what?" Arryn walked back to Rai and the body, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand s he did. "But then where could it...ugh, no wonder he didn't use magic back there. Raijin, I don't know what's going on, but if it isn't here we'd better go before he regains consciousness."

Before Rai could respond, Lucien's body gave a sudden jerk and a ragged gasp emerged from his lipless mouth.

"RAIJIN...?"

The oni's name came out of Lucien as a horrible grating sound, like nails on a chalkboard, one that raised the hairs on the back of Arryn's neck. Lucien's one remaining eye shot open and his hand darted forward to grab Rai by the hair of his head faster than either of the Aetherian pair could even follow, let alone react to.

"DID YOU SAY...RAIJIN?" the monster repeated in that terrible, broken voice as it rose to an upright position with the Oni still in hand. Rai beat at the hand and kicked at the angel's body, struggling as much as he was able, but Lucien might have been a statue made of concrete for all the good it did him. Raijin was the one suspended above the ground now, held off his feet by Lucien's iron grip on his hair.

"So you were the insect who set up all these petty distractions." The corners of his mouth quirked upward in what might have been a smile even as his teeth seemed permanently locked in a snarl. "You have no idea how happy that makes me, Raijin. Of all the people I could've run into, I ran into you."

Raijin ceased his struggling when it became apparent that it did nothing but waste energy. Lucien could not help but laugh, a guttural cackling sound that was somehow even more disturbing than his speaking voice.

"Oh, how far you've fallen. Where is your thunder now, God of Storms? Where is the legendary power of the Oni king?" Again, he let loose that raspy, broken cackle of his.

"Would you like to hear a secret, Raijin? Oh, who am I kidding? Of course you would." He brought Rai's face closer to his own and leaned forward so his mouth was close to the oni's ear. Lucien's dangling eyeball brushed wetly against Rai's cheek. "Of all of Lucrezia's new so-called 'generals,'" he said in a low, menacing whisper, "I've always hated you the most. You were the first, you see. Before you, I was her favorite. And suddenly you show up and it's as though I never even existed! No matter what I did, how many I killed, how far I expanded her territory, how many I forced to bow to her, she would never even look at me as long as she had you, Raijin. You and that insufferable lot of fools she so loved to coddle like favored pets." He moved his head back to speak normally again. "So you can see why I'm so happy we met here tonight. I'm not going to kill you. Not right away. First I'll torture you. I'll torture you until you wish I had killed you. I'll cause you such horrific torment that the gods themselves will cringe to see it. Only once I've grown tired of your screams will I finally give you the sweet release of death. Only then and not a second before." Again, he let loose that grating cackle. He eventually stopped again, but that insane, gleeful grin remained plastered on his destroyed face. "Ah, but before we begin..."

The man shifted his body 180 degrees. His dangling eye swung wildly with the sudden motion until it smacked against the side of his head and then fell to rest uselessly against his face. His working eye, however, found another bug trying to sneak up on him while he wasn't paying attention. The shaggy fellow from before no longer had his slingshot. Now he held instead a sharp, gleaming piece of glass that he got from who-knows-where. "I WAS trying to conserve mana, but for you..." Lucien held his free palm straight out toward him and let loose a blast of dark energy, a perfectly round orb blacker then the blackest night. It took the man right in the torso and kept going, forcing his body to go with it.

"Aaah!" Arryn was blown clear off his feet, the glass shard sent spinning from his hand. The dark orb kept moving, him right on top of it, higher and higher, faster and faster, until it finally forced him against the museum's high ceiling and his body had no where else to go. The orb kept trying to push his body higher still, though, forcing Arryn's stomach so far inward that something inside him ruptured and he abruptly coughed up a gob of blood. Had Lucien put any more magical energy into it, it would have kept going until it either drilled a hole right through him or else forced his body through the ceiling altogether. As it was, the blast's energy dissipated before either of those things could happen and it vanished. Arryn fell the full distance back to the ground. He made not a sound except for that of his body landing as he came to rest in a crumpled heap next to the wreckage of one of the destroyed cars. His limbs shuddered once and then he did not move again.

"These humans," said Lucien to Rai almost fondly. "So brave, but just so squishy and fragile, don't you think? Anyway, where were we? Ah, yes. Horrible torture." He raised his free hand and balled it into a fist. The fist abriptly became encased in a cocoon of dark energy much like that which he had thrown at Arryn. Black lightning crackled malevolently up and down the length of his arm "So, then, 'old friend.' Shall we begin?"

Rai Kaminari​

Physical Status: Mildly Injured
Emotional/Mental Status: Terrified
Location: London Film Museum
Interacting With: MagicPenguin (Arryn) Avari (Lucien)
Mentioned: ​

 

[koala]

Morgana

Streets of Covent Garden​

What was running through Morgana's head? Was it shock? Was it pain? Was it confusion? Was the silver-haired person in front of her really the queen she'd promised her life to? Was this Lucrezia merely a body or was she really the new person the banshee must swear her life to? She hadn't felt so disoriented in such a long time. In fact, it'd been decades since she felt so lost. For a brief moment, she breathed like the young girl fleeing from the hidden laboratory deep in the woods. It was like her body was experiencing it all over again, and she could feel her hands and feet tingle and burn, as if nature were scratching aggressively against them.

Morgana kept gaze low, feeling the all-too familiar yellow eyes on her. A blue wisp floated its way over and the woman reacted by raising her hands towards it. It flickered as it met the tips of her fingers before dissipating like smoke inside of her. Her body tensed before shaking as a sudden chill filled her core. The coldness almost burned, the discomfort clear by the sudden contortion in her face. She clenched her fist a few times as the feeling subsided, gaining control of her nerves once again.

"As y-" the brunette began before being dragged away by Juniper. When they were a good distance away, Morgan roughly shook the human's hands off her and scowled. "Do not touch me so easily, Juniper. You are above me in rank only." After speaking her mind, she crossed her arms and thought carefully on the other's words.

Killing them would make things easier, but there was a nagging voice in the back of her head telling her not to. The guard Morgana wouldn't have hesitated in her response, easily choosing to slaughter them all without a second glance. The human her, however, almost felt pity. It was not their fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"It's much easier to erase their memories," Morgana began as she began looking for humans. "I can use my voice since I am a banshee after all."

It wasn't long before she'd found a group of humans--there weren't many of them but it was a start. After climbing onto a chair and getting their attention on her. She opened her mouth and a voice that wasn't her own came out. It was loud, haunting, and there was a slight echo to the way she spoke. "Humans," Morgana began, insuring she made eye contact with everyone there. "Relieve yourselves of any and all memories of tonight. You were caught in a bad storm. Nothing more, nothing less."

Shotgunpenguin

 

[Avari]

The streets were chaos. The sky was filled with smoke from blazing fires that had erupted within several of the buildings around Camden - some a byproduct of Lucien's earlier rampage, many more caused by the actions of panicked humans, caught within the barrier with no means to escape. And though the flood was finally receding now that the rain had at last relented, the sound of screams still echoed from every direction.

Lisa had taken to a light jog, the two wisps that had been fluttering around her head had vanished into her hair to hide themselves from the gaze of locals. She occasionally slowed her pace to stare at various ruined shop fronts and homes.

It wasn't until she nearly tripped over a mangled, ruined body laying against a beaten looking truck that she finally came to a halt.

It was the corpse of a man, or at least - half of one. The lower half of his torso was missing entirely, leaving a bloody trail of entrails pouring from it. Blood has steadily pouring out into a puddle - most of which was slowly trickling down into a nearby drain.

Lisa bent down, seemingly unperturbed by the grizzly sight. She gently held out her hand, a small pulse of sickly purple energy emanated from it - lighting the water logged corpse in a eerie light and a dark chill filled the air.

Ana will have followed, stopping as she saw the half of a body. "Is that." She knelt down, then recognized him. "Oh no..." She said quietly. "Damn fool..."

Lisa frowned, as she searched her fragmented memory in an attempt to put a name to a face. She knew that her previous form had cataloged all of Roland's closest compatriots - but right now she was drawing a blank.

"Who was he?"

"That was Daniel... Older fellow... A werewolf. He was good guy." She rises. "Shame he got cut down, and for what?" She shook her head.

Ana's question went unanswered as a hand reached around Ana's throat from behind and yanked her back like a dog on a leash. The force of the pull wrenched her off her feet and she landed with a rather painful thud roughly ten feet away from Daniel's corpse.

A moment later - before she could get her bearings, Lisa was kneeling by her, yellow eyes glowing in the dark. An eerie smile on her face.

"Did you touch the body?" She asked simply. "Any contact with his blood?"

"Ow! And no... And ow! It's not even like he's contagious."

"Werewolves aren't that contagious are they?" Tannur asked unruffled by the gruesome mess.

"One drop is all it takes." Lisa replied simply.

Ana got up, brushing herself off. "He ain't even a werewolf anymore. We almost got jailed for tying him up naked In the park cause of it."

"Bet your life?" Lisa asked, before waving Tannur over. "Could ya..uh - try to find his legs? Don't touch them obviously, unless you wanna start wearing a dog collar... Then again...that might be kinda hot."

Taking a step back Tannur looked down trying to see if he had stepped in any of the mess. "I thought it at least had to get inside you instead of on you." Taking a look around he grabbed a piece of broken pole and used it to nudge some debris aside. "They might call me The Mongrel but I've never been one to let anyone collar me."

"Shame."

"I am not wearing a dog collar! I am much too dignified for that sort of... Degradation!" She said with a huff, rising with haste to glare at her.

"That's the spirit champ."

"What?" She asked, now confused. All the fire from her voice gone.

"Nothing."

"You truly are an... Interesting sort."

"I get that a lot."

With anyone else Tannur would have happily responded to the flirting but with 'Lisa' it was just distracting, so much so that he didn't notice the blood trickling into the gutter until he had stepped in it. "Dammit." He yelped jumping backward and trying to flick it off. "I really can't afford new shoes." Looking around he followed the blood trail and gingerly lifted up a tarp that had blown in from somewhere revealing the missing part. "Unless there's someone else who got really unlucky I've found it."

Lisa appeared by his shoulder and nodded, looking rather put-out by the entire thing.

"Okay. Good. I can work with this - if we leave ol' Daniel here with his entrails scattered all about who knows what could happen. This world wouldn't be able to handle Lycanthropy, can't fix that with paracetamol - He's gotta go."

She span around and snapped her fingers, and one of the two remaining Wisps appeared from within her hair and resumed its cheerful circle of flight around her head. Lisa held out her hand and the purple glob of energy settled on her palm like a bird in its nest, before fading into her skin. The dark purple light did not vanish however, but spread up her arm - ending at her shoulder.

She pointed a finger at Daniel's torso.

"Quasaba."

At once, a black puddle began to pool around his corpse. The liquid was thick and oil like, and seemed to cling hungrily to his body. From within the darkness, frail skeletal hands began to emerge accompanied by weak, painful moaning. The hands clawed at his corpse, and began to drag it down into the thick liquid. A few moments later, there was no sign of his remains - and the black puddle simply faded into the pavement, as if it had never been there to begin with.

Lisa turned, and repeated the process with Daniel's legs. After which, the purplish hue that had been glowing around her arm had faded as well. Whatever spell she had used had obviously been quite a task - as she bent over, looking winded.

"Ugh - even that low tier spell was hard to cast..."

"Yeah, seems to be the theme here... Magic is a fantasy concept."

"Doubt it's a coincidence." Lisa muttered, clutching her side as if she had a stitch.

Unruffled by the display of magic Tannur stepped forward to offer Lisa support if it was needed. "Place felt half-dead when I first got here without any magic in the air. Should probably save what power you have until we make sure Lucien and Staxos are dealt with right?"

Lisa used Tannur's arm to support herself for a moment, as she looked oddly woozy - before standing up and smirking confidently. Tannur noticed that her eyes were no longer bright yellow, but had settled into a more human-like hazel brown.

"Oh those two? Shouldn't be a problem."

As if on cue, a deafening scream echoed through the street and column of bright light blasted out into the sky - somewhere from the next street over. Lisa's eyes widened for a moment as if she had suddenly remembered something.

"Okay...It's definitely a problem."

She span around and pointed at something behind where Daniel's body had once been.

"I'm gonna need that truck."

---

WRITTEN WITH LoneSniper87 and IG42

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Juniper Arc
Flooded streets

Juniper gripped the hand that Morgana tightly against her chest, remembering the fact that if she wanted to she could easily kill her. And that was before she had access to magic. "S-sorry, I wasn't thinking." she paused before letting out a sigh "It's just... what happens now? Once this is over I mean. Things are obviously more complex back home than we first thought."

It felt weird to say it out loud; before today she always thought that once she found the queen then all of their problems would be solved. But now Lucrezia is gone, or not gone, but with a new personality. Juniper could already feel a headache forming from trying to understand exactly what happened to her queen. For now though she needed to focus on the task at hand, which mainly was following Morgana around and pointing out any civilians that she saw.

"It might be faster if we split up." While it hadn't taken too long for the duo to find a group at first there was no telling how long they had. If even one of the civilians were to slip away with their memories intact it would cause huge problems. Not only for Lucrezia, but for them all if any of them would be recognized. "If I find anyone else I can tell them that there's an evacuation point at one of these buildings and lead them back here. Then you can wipe them and we can leave them here until the barrier goes down. What do you think?" She asked the banshee

koala

 

[MagicPenguin]

Roland Fairchild
Outside collapsed restaurant.

"Ugh..."

Eyes opening slowly, Roland came gradually back into consciousness. At first, everything he could see was blurry and indistinct and, though it was dark out, the night seemed bright enough to blind him. He forced his eyes to remain open anyway. His limbs felt like lead and his head, aching horribly, felt tight as a drum. His broken nose--when had that happened, he wondered--was a big knot of searing pain dead the middle of his face. His memories were all jumbled; he couldn't quite remember how he got here, nor what was going on around him. If he didn't know better, he would have said he was waking up after a long, wild night in a tavern with the hangover to end all hangovers. That thought in his head, he made to raise his body as slowly and carefully off of the hard, wet ground beneath him as he could. No fast, sudden movements; that was about the worst thing you could do after a night on the town. He knew that much from more personal experiences than he would care to admit to anyone.

When he managed to lever himself into a sitting position, his eyesight finally ceased spinning and came into focus. He took a moment to look around at his surroundings. With every glance, he recalled a little more of what had happened. The streets around him were flooded, though the waters seemed to be rapidly receding. There had been a storm, and a fire, and he was there when Lucrezia had been...he let the thought trail off and resumed his survey. Off to his right, a building lay in ruins. The smoking remains of a pick up truck were jammed into the rubble, the doors and mirrors blown off after an apparent collision. A restaurant, Roland remembered, though the truck didn't ring any bells. Memories flashed rapidly before his eyes, one after another. A roaring inferno, flames licking at him from every side; a screaming woman, a mad rush to reach her; a monster of living fire; a golden, double bladed staff, whirring and flying faster than his eye could follow, its wielder's desire to end him made plain with each lethal blow Roland only just managed to turn aside...

"Staxos!"

Abruptly, with a gasp, Roland was on his feet, his hand fumbling for a sword at his hip that was not there. His hangover and his fatigue were forgotten with the memory of Staxos and what the traitor had been doing before Roland lost consciousness. And the things he'd been saying...they were crazy. Unthinkable. The ravings of a rabid madman, hardly worth a thought. Roland was panting as if he'd run a mile, though more for the memory of what had happened than any physical exertion on his part. He twisted and turned, eyes searching for his opponent. Staxos was no where to be seen now. His memories were returning now, everything from earlier in the night all crashing back at once. Where was Elena? She could not be far; she'd been on his back last he recalled. She had to be nearby.

His frenzied searching ceased when the low murmur of softly talking voices drifted into his ears from somewhere close by. Following his ears, he stumbled on weak legs toward a set of bodies near the destroyed building that he had not noticed before. They seemed to be examining the wreckage of the truck, most of them adopting a defensive posture as if wary a rabid animal would leap out of them at any moment; only a small, skinny waif of girl with hair so blonde it was almost white seemed to be at her ease. While he could have sworn she had been watching him approach, her attention was now glued to the destroyed truck as . Had that person been there when everyone was gathered in the intersection earlier? Roland did not think so; he did not remember her, though he supposed he might have just missed her. Or she might have joined them later on.

In any event, he did not dwell on the newcomer long. There, beside the feminine looking fellow named Tannur, was a woman he was all too glad to see. "Ana," he called out, though his voice came out a hoarse croak. "Ana," he called again, a little stronger this time. The murmurs of their conversation stopped as several heads swiveled to face him.

He picked up his pace a little at the sight of the mercenary who called herself the Spider. When he was within a few feet of the ragtag group, he noticed the prone bodies laying behind Ana and Tannur. Ana stood in front of a still-unconscious Elena so that she was between the wounded girl and the wrecked truck. Tannur did the same or Silver, who was on her knees behind him and next to Elena. He neither knew nor cared whether she was conscious or not.

Roland spared a venomous warning glare for Tannur, but his heart was not really in it and he redirected his attention back to Ana fairly quickly.

Sparing only a moment to show The Hero a hand gesture he understood was offensive among Earth people Tannur crouched next to Silver. "Hey there, didn't we tell you not to wander off?" He said trying to keep his tone light in spite of her obvious injuries.

"I was cold." She muttered, pouting a little. "And the dog was upset, so I had to go and find him!" Not explaining anything about the dog, just moving to a more comfortable sitting position so she could hug her knees.

"Well it's alright now because I'm back right?" He said comfortingly. "Want to go find Morgana and then get warm?" As much as learning that Lucrezia was still sort of around would've made Silver feel better he didn't want her blabbing it to everyone in earshot just yet.

"No, it's not alright!" She snapped, "Lucrezia is... Is..." Her voice shook as she came close to acknowledging it - to stop pretendng nothing had happened and to say it. But instead, she settled for biting Tannur.

"I wanna find the dog first... He's my friend, and I don't want him being alone and scared..."

Nearby, Roland spoke to Ana. "Thank the Light you're alive, Ana," he exclaimed, his voice all relief. "When we were separated, I feared the worst." He swung his glance down at Elena, but directed his questions at Ana. "And her? She was wounded badly earlier, but alive. Is she still...?"

"I didn't check. But as you can see... I brought some acquaintances." She said. "I take you are alright enough, Roland?"

"Well as can be expected, under the circumstances." He tried assiduously to ignore his aching nose, which was starting to itch as much as it hurt. He knelt down to check Elena's pulse and breathing. He let out a sigh of relief when he confirmed she was alright. He wanted to check her dressing too, but that would have to wait for later when they were somewhere safe.

"The innocent always pay for the sins of the guilty, it's the fate of the weak." the odd girl suddenly said, watching the pair out of the corner of her eye before turning her attention back to the wreckage.

Roland raised a questioning eyebrow at the strange little slip of a girl's unsolicited philosophizing. "Food for thought," he replied sarcastically in a dry tone of voice. "And you are...who exactly?" He did not know whether she was a random earthling or one of Lucrezia's, but he had his suspicions and he remained appropriately wary of her.

"She is just someone we found on our way here... We think Aetherian," Ana said slowly.

"I...see," Roland replied, eyes narrowed suspiciously. He supposed he would have to accept that for now. Not much time to dig any deeper. "Well, whatever the case," he said, filing his suspicions away for later, "we had best leave before Staxos comes back." He bent down to pick up Elena and position her on his back as before. "Coming, Ana?" He turned to walk away, trusting the spider and her new "friends" had enough common sense to follow.

"Coming where, Roland? You aren't in much of a condition to fight. You beat up pretty bad." She said, walking forward.

Roland stopped and shrugged. "It isn't as bad as it looks," he said. A few scrapes, a broken nose, maybe a bruised rib or two. Nothing serious. Anyway, we should get away from here first of all. We'll figure out the rest once we're somewhere safer. We should try to find Arryn, too. Then we can tend our injuries and come up with another plan to deal with Staxos. If we drop enough buildings on his head, he's got to feel it eventually, right?"

Quietly noting that Ana hadn't taken the opportunity to out Lisa, Tannur hefted Silver onto his back wincing at the strain of having to support someone for the third time in a matter of hours, even before travelling between worlds had changed him that on top of fighting his way through a catastrophic storm since morning would have worn him down. "Come on, there's nothing else to be done here for now."

Silver wriggles, trying to scramble down, before her bad leg gives way. Well, that plans done with then. She consented to be carried with a sigh.

As everyone started to slowly walk - or stumble if they couldn't manage that - away from the wreckage, Roland began doing the same. He didn't get far before he felt a hand grab his arm and pull him back. The young grey-haired girl. Their eyes met for a moment, golden red against hazel brown.

"Not you," The girl said briskly, gesturing to the wreckage in front of them.

"You're not done here."

"Listen, lady," Roland said impatiently, "I don't know about you, but I'm not suicidal. You can stay if you want, but I'm getting clear of this place before it turns into another battlefield."

There was a sudden metallic screech from within, and the truck jutted forward slightly.

"You're not done here." She repeated.

Roland sucked his teeth with an audible tsk. Staxos was under the truck, was he? He'd give a pretty penny to know how those three had managed that. No time to run if he was about to pop out. Hiding would be better, but where?

"I disagree," he replied absently as he looked around for a good spot, "I'm quite done here. Believe me when I say no one wants to kill that bastard more than I do, but he has magic and I don't. As they say on this world, 'you don't bring a knife to a gun fight.'" Not that I even have a knife anymore, he mused darkly, thinking of the stunted Shadowsbane laying somewhere in the rubble. He could retrieve it easily any time he wished--at least, he thought he could--but in its present state it wouldn't do anything more than take up one of his hands.

He spied an open doorway not far away. He didn't like it, but that seemed the best hiding spot on such short notice. If they were lucky, it'd have a back door they could slip out of. Nodding to himself he made to move in that direction hoping he could get inside before Staxos popped back out. "No time to run. This way if you want to live, lads and lasses."

He had barely taken his first step towards the doorway before a vice like grip around his right arm yanked him back like a dog on a leash.

The girl was looking at him blankly.

"Staxos is maintaining the barrier. There's no where you can hide, he'll just pick you off one by one if this isn't done now. This is the best - and only - opportunity you'll get."

She gestured to the pile of twisted metal that gave another shudder, and despite Roland's attempts to pry himself out of her grip, she refused to let go. She was so small; where did she get that strength from?

"Those with the will to fight are never truly powerless. You think that stupid sword was what made you special? Relax. We've totally got this - I bet your life on it."

"Are you out of your freaking mind, woman? Let go!"

"I wonder that myself," she replied cheerfully.

Fine. If she wouldn't release him he'd just drag her. He made to do just that, even managed to pull her a couple steps, but before he got any further...

Another rumble. A pulse of light from within as whatever power was building from inside began to spill out.

"Well, great," he declared, "Now you've killed us both. Happy?"

"I'm sensing some negativity," she replied.

With an exasperated sigh and a roll of his eyes, he stopped trying to drag the girl, removed Elena from his back, and all but shoved the unconscious woman into Ana's arms. "Take her and run as far as you can get," he told her. "It's me he's after. He won't bother to chase you if I stay. And don't take your eyes off those two," he said gesturing to Silver and Tannur. "I don't trust them one whit. They'll stab you in the back if you give them half a chance." He turned to the small, blonde woman who had almost certainly ensured his death. "You go with them. You won't want to be here when he breaks out of there. Trust me."

Ana nodded a bit, taking Elena with some difficulty. "I don't feel alright with leaving you, Roland. You better get back to us."

Roland nodded grimly. "The Light be with you, Anastasia Kochenkov."

"Same to you, bud..." She said, making her way out of sight like she always knew best.

Ana whistles as she leaves, and those who look a bit harder notice her tapping her legs, intervals of short and long pauses between each tap. It was code that she had personally made, that only very few knew what it meant. Not even Staxos knew. She tapped out 'it's her' on her right leg as she left, vanishing into shadow soon after. The secret code was something she had thought up back on Aether, but also a form here, known as Morse. She doubted anybody looked into it, but she did teach her form of it to a few of the others she met beforehand, Roland being one of them.

Roland gaped incredulously at Ana's retreating form. He stared wide eyed, gaze darting from her to the other girl disbelievingly. "What did you just--"

The truck embedded in the rubble exploded in a shower of steel and concrete before he could get the rest of his question out. The others were gone by the time Roland opened his eyes again. Now it was just him, Staxos, and, apparently, Lucrezia.

Written with Avari WillfulWren IG42 and LoneSniper87

 

[Avari]

ROLAND AND LISA

​

Without warning, the wreckage was suddenly exploded. Flaming metal blasted out in all directions as a blinding white light within its core tore what remained of the ruined truck apart.
The pair barely had time to react before the glowing light charged forward, revealing a masked man in torn white robes and golden staff in hand. He brought the staff down with his full weight behind it in an attempt to seemingly skewer both the strange girl--Lucrezia?--and Roland. She looked nothing like he remembered. How could she possibly be the Shadow Queen?

"Abyss Shield!" The girl roared, and a purplish glow enveloped both of them as she rose a hand towards Staxos. Roland's eyes widened in disbelief and his mouth hung wide open. Time seemed to freeze. He raised a hand to reach out and touch the barrier between him and Staxos, sure he must be seeing things. Before he could, though, reality reasserted itself and the staff made contact with the shield. There was a deafening clang, like metal on glass and the pair were blasted back by the force of the impact. Their feet skidded across the pavement, but it seemed that whatever spell the girl had cast had prevented them from being cleanly sliced in two.

He turned to the girl and licked his lips. Her? Lucrezia? No. He'd seen her die. But then...she could use magic. No one else could do that. He was afraid to ask, but... "Just who are you?"

She had the audacity to wink before her expression went serious. She glanced up, looking a little winded - to see the white and gold monk a short distance away. The collision had knocked him back as well, and he had been forced to crouch low and bury his staff deep into the stone pavement to keep his balance.

"Dude time to focus, c'mon. - Where's your sword?"

"No," he replied in a surprisingly calm tone. It was a cool, stony calm that was only real on the surface. He was hardly paying attention to Staxos now. "I'll hear it from you. Explain. Are you truly Lucrezia?"

"Yes. Well. No. Sort of? -- Look, I said later!! Do you have the bloody sword or not?" She snapped back, as with a grunt of effort, Staxos yanked his staff from the ground and glanced up at the two Aetherians as the magical barrier continued to shimmer around them.

"Are you or aren't you?!" he roared, calm facade abruptly shattered. His sword was the furthest thing from his mind just then. He quivered with rage. It was all he could do not to reach out and snap her neck where she stood. But not yet. He needed answers.

The girl's eye visibly twitched, though she didn't look at him. Her gaze fixed on Staxos.

"You're kinda embarrassing me here." She whispered to him out the corner of her mouth.

"I'm about to do more than that, you Shadow-souled son of a--"

He never finish his sentence, as with a agitated flick of her wrist - as if swatting at a bothersome fly - the girl's hand connected with his chest and sent him flying through the air. He past through the barrier without resistance, and landed in a rather unceremonious heap atop some soggy cardboard boxes a few meters away. The girl now stood alone between himself and the advancing Staxos.

"Geez he's cranky..." Lisa sighed to herself. "Best if he stays out of-"

It was now her turn to not finish her sentence, as with an almighty clang - Staxos's staff impacted on her barrier, and she felt her knees buckle under the strain of the hit.

"Witch..." Staxos growled quietly as he put his entire weight onto his staff, causing the barrier to crackle and groan in protest.

"Why do you keep interfering?"

"Because you keep touching my stuff." She replied through clenched teeth, as she rose both hands to supply what energy she had left into the barrier.

Staxos renewed his assault, the bladed end of his staff smashing against the rapidly weakening barrier.

"Killing you once was never enough for me Lucrezia!" He snarled between strikes. "How blessed I am to have another opportunity!"

"I gotta admit - I can't quite remember why I feel so angry right now. Someone told me once that rage can cloud your vision..." The girl gasped, as cracks began to appear in the shield, as if it was solid glass that had just been struck by a rock and was going to shatter any second.

"But everything's petty clear to me right now."

For a moment, the girl's brown eyes glimmered yellow. The barrier shattered, and a pulse of black smoke blasted out. Staxos was fast to dash back, his staff brought up in front of him to deflect the worst of what had been a powerful dark counter spell.

The smoke cleared a moment later as Staxos slowly strightened up, blade extended towards his prey. She looked in a rough shape, sweat had plastered her grey hair to her face, and her clothing was torn. But she was standing, and in her right hand was a small sharp looking object. It looked like purple glass, but shaped like a dagger. She had conjured it with the last part of mana she could spare. She pointed it at the Sentinel.

"-And my name is Lisa."

--

Nearby, Roland clawed his way back to his feet, leaning heavily on the side of the building into which he'd been thrown. His face was a mask of pure hatred and mismatched eyes smoldered with rage and frustration as he watched two of his worst enemies face each other down. Staxos and Lucrezia--for he had no doubt now that was who she was, however she looked--were right there, and he could do nothing. His injuries hurt very badly--cuts and bruises covering him from head to toe, probably a few broken bones--but his helpless impotence felt by far more painful. If I only had my magic, he thought despairingly. With it, he could make them both pay and be home in time for supper. Without it, he might as well be an insect trying to move a mountain. Two mountains.

Stop it, he scolded himself. Self-pity accomplishes nothing. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, centering himself so he could think clearly, as his sword mentor taught him. Instead of thinking of the magic he didn't have, he had to think instead of what he did have. So, he asked himself, what did he have? He opened his eyes and saw again his opponents facing one another down like rabid hyenas squabbling over a dead carcass. They spared not a single glance for him. He idly wondered if that made him the carcass. As little attention as they paid him, he had the element of surprise and with that, opportunity.

If he slipped away, he wagered neither of them would notice. They would batter away at each other until one or both collapsed. Once one was dead--and he would guess that would be Lucrezia, the way Staxos had pummeled her just now--then he would have only one opponent instead of two. If he fought Staxos one on one, the odds were still woefully against him, but one enemy armed with magic was better than two. It would also give him time to think of another plan, choose his battlefield, put the fight on his terms instead of theirs. Maybe if Lucrezia pushed him hard enough before she bought the farm, she could even soften the High Sentinel up for him a little. Either way, he couldn't be immortal; there had to be some way to kill the bastard and he aimed to find it.

So, knowing a strategic retreat was his least bad option but still feeling a stark coward for doing it, Roland took one last look at the objects of his malice staring one another down, burned the sight of them into his memory, swallowed his pride, and turned to run down the street in the opposite direction.

"She'll die if you leave. So will your allies."

Roland didn't stop, but gave a surprised start at the unwelcome tone of the old Lucrezia's voice in his mind. With a growl, he shook his head as if to dislodge a buzzing bee stuck in his ear. He suddenly worried that must have hit his head harder than he thought in that last tumble If he was hearing voices in his head.

"I can't go mad now," he grumbled irritably, as if sudden insanity were no more an inconvenience than stubbing his big toe would have been. "Too many enemies to kill and too little time."

"Her confidence is a mask. She used most of her mana saving your little friends. If you do not intervene, she will die."

"That's the idea," he mumbled. Light, he was responding to it now. He shouldn't respond to it.

A cold chuckle. "Perhaps we have more in common than I thought. Regardless - only she knows how to return to Aether. Only you two know of the truth of the Church."

It was impossible to know for certain, but it was almost as if the disemboddied voice moved closer.

"-and then they'll come for your sister."

The thought if his sister on puppet strings she couldn't see slowed his steps a little, but he still did not stop. One problem at a time, he thought to himself. If Staxos had a way back, there must be more than one way to do it. He'd find one. Then he'd figure out what to do about the Church of Light. First he had to focus on not dying tonight. Then he could worry about that.

"Roland. Please."

Roland stopped in his tracks now and looked back over his shoulder. More for the tone in which she spoke than for the words themselves. He had heard a lot about how hard the Shadow Queen was, how demanding or ice cold she could make herself sound when she needed, but never had he ever heard of her pleading for anything.

"Damn you, woman. Isn't it bad enough you plague me in the flesh? Now you're in my head? Will I never be free of you?"

"Perhaps."

"Even if I wanted to do something--and I don't see any reason I should--but even if I wanted to, if you can't do anything with magic, I'd just be throwing myself into a meat grinder. I've got no magic at all."

"The sword, Roland."

"What about the sword? What good is any sword when my opponent can hurl fireballs with a thought?"

"It has always come to you when your need has been at its most dire has it not?" her tone was impatient now.

He had no idea what was wrong with him, humoring the imaginary voice in his head. But he did what he usually did on Aether, not even sure if it would work on Earth given the absence of magic. He sent a mental command outward for the sword to return to him. Surprisingly--or perhaps not; Shadowsbane had many functions that did not require mana to perform as normal magic did, oddly--the sending worked. He felt the sword echo his call and he stretched his hand out in anticipation. As with his umbrella earlier, Roland's hand was again encased in a cocoon of bright, white light. In the blink of an eye, the cocoon shrank and shaped itself like a statue from a block of marble. When the cocoon became little more than a bar of light in his fist, the brightness softened until the shape of Shadowsbane's stubby short sword form was clearly visible, its blade a beacon of glowing golden brilliance against the darkness of the night. The whole process took little more than a few seconds.

"Great. I have the sword. So now what?" When he got no response, it was all he could do not to yell. Throw him headfirst into a wall and then ask a favor, would she? Ask a favor and then blatantly ignore him? No common decency! What should he have expected from the self-proclaimed queen of darkness? With gritted teeth, he looked once more at the two figures again locked in combat, both still ignoring him. He felt his feet moving him back in that direction before his mind even knew it had made a decision. He didn't fully understand why. After all, he had every reason in the world to leave the witch to her fate and every reason to believe he would die trying to save her anyway. All he could say for sure was that he had an odd hunch that it was somehow the right thing to do. And that, somehow, everything would work out if he did it. He found himself circling around to Staxos's blind spot, working out distances and looking for weak spots. Was he actually about to try to save that wretched woman's life? After everything she'd done? Everything he'd done to stop her? Based on nothing but a voice in his head and an odd hunch? Light, he really had gone mad!

Not far away, the girl and the Sentinel were in a feral dance of spinning blades. Staxos's movements were certainly more laboured than before - perhaps the multiple heavy knocks he had taken so far had finally began to take their toll, or perhaps whatever magic he had been using to sustain himself was finally running low. His golden staff slashed to and fro, leaving a trail of golden light hanging in the air as it moved. Lisa was getting freqently blasted back unable it seemed to match the strength of the larger man, but somehow remaining on her feet and looking rather irritated by the entire situation as she was knocked back yet again. And this time the knockback caused her to slip and land painfully on the pavement.

Staxos pulled his staff back to deal the finishing blow to his quarry. "It's over," he purred with grim satisfaction. With a snarl of feral glee, he thrust the blade of his staff forward with all his strength, driving the point right toward the middle of Lucrezia's chest. It came within scant inches of its target only for it to halt abruptly at the last millisecond. Staxos's snarl ended just as suddenly, only to be replaced by a sickening gurgling noise. From the middle of the High Sentinel's neck blossomed a golden glowing blade coated in crimson. The man fell to his knees, revealing the shorter figure of Roland behind him, hand on the hilt of the sacred sword buried into the back of Staxos's windpipe.

"As the prince of Alcamoth," he panted, "I, Roland Fairchild, find you, High Sentinel Staxos, guilty of high treason. The penalty is death." With a grunt, he ripped the blade out of the man's throat, brought it all the way back and flew right into a savage sideways thrust through Staxos's neck, cleanly separating his head from his shoulders. The body, gushing blood like a fountain from the neck, coated Lucrezia from the waist up, causing her to scramble to her feet with a look of herdisgust on her face. Staxos's fell to the ground one way and the still-masked head rolled the other. The body twitched and spasmed for some time before it finally came to rest, but the second it hit the ground, it was already out of Roland's mind. He fixed his steady gaze on the Shadow Queen next.

She stood there for a moment, looking him up and down with bright yellow eyes.

"...I had that under control."

"Your turn. Kneel and I'll make it quick--that's far more than you deserve, truly. For the sacking of Alcamoth and the slaughter of her people, to say the least of all your other crimes against the nations and peoples of Aether across the centuries, I will do my duty and dispense justice."

Face hard as stone, eyes cold as ice, Prince Roland pointed his crimson-coated, golden sword straight at the face of Shadow Queen Lucrezia, his mixed emotions carefully hidden behind a mask of regal dignity.

"Kneel, Witch, or you will be knelt."

She eyed him for a moment, a huge smile on her face - seemingly oblivious to her current situation. Before looking down at herself and wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Roland was not amused. The hard way it is. Five steps between him and her. He took the first, sword in a white-knuckled grip in his hand.

She did not even appear to notice him approach. "Ugh. I liked these jeans." She sighed, before glancing around. The was a certain undefinable change in the atmosphere - it felt like a certain pressure they hadn't been aware of had lessened some what. The air felt clearer.

He was on the third step, placing both hands on the sword's hilt and drawing back for a powerful thrust.

"Huh. Barrier's down. Won't be long before this place is crawling with police. We haven't got long." She nodded to herself before finally turning her attention to him.

The fifth step was a lunge, his blade aimed right for Lucrezia's chest before she could make an attempt to escape, right about the same spot Staxos would have hit with his staff had he not been interrupted. Like Staxos, though, Roland froze with the tip just a hair from the girl's chest. He put more force into it, but he could not move his arms. Or any other part of his body for that matter. He was bound all over by some invisible force, frozen in mid-attack.

"Rrrgh...Let. Go."

Lisa tiled her head quizzically. Her expression suddenly flashed with annoyance - and then scrunched into resentment.

"Oh it's you doing this is it? It's not funny, I had this all handled y'know I-- Ugh fine...fine..." She muttered to no-one in particular before waving a hand at Roland. "Voice in my head is nagging me right now. Says she wants to chat. How about ya put down that sword? I can honestly say killing me won't solve anything - it probably won't even slow her down all that much in the greater scheme of things."

His invisible bonds forced him to his knees, hands placed on the ground, his clenched fist pried open and his sword landing uselessly at his side. His face was forced up to look at the girl, who's eyes widened in surprise before a bemused smile grew across her face. He appeared to be begging her for something, or perhaps worshipping at her feet.

"'Kneel, or you will be knelt!" she parroted back to him in a mock serious tone.
"...Okay I take it back - this is pretty funny."

"Insufferable tyrant...you think...your little tricks...will stop me?"

Teeth clenched and bared in a snarl, Roland put every ounce of strength he had remaining into moving something. Anything. Lucrezia did not seem impressed. His faced turned beet red with the effort. Veins popped out on his forehead, throbbing purple against the red of his face. "I...will...not...allow...this." His voice was low and tight with tension, hardly audible. In between words, his breath came out in gasps and pants.

Then, the unthinkable: his right leg moved, off the knee and onto the foot. Lucrezia quirked an eyebrow, as if suddenly interested. She looked at him almost curiously, as a scientist might look at a lab rat who was trying to navigate a maze and find a piece of cheese.

"Oh look at you being all defiant."

"How many...centuries has your bloody war gone on?" His posture went upright, from kneeling to a shaky standing position, voice still tight, face still red, but fighting still against the bonds that tried to hold him. "How many...nations destroyed, wiped off the map forever at one of your petty whims...?" He took a faltering step. His hand rose in halting, jerky motions, fighting against whatever invisible force tried to pull it back down, defying it through sheer force of will. "How many cities and villages burnt to the ground, or worse, its people enslaved...?" An old memory flashed through his mind, that of Alcamoth burning, his country and his people in flames, a night of despair and terror unlike any he'd known before or since. "How many innocent lives claimed...? Children left parentless..." an image of Arryn Blacksmith as he was on Aether jumped next into his mind's eye. "...wives without husbands..." His old sword tutor Natalie, red faced and puffy-eyed, left a widow when his friend Georg died. "...Brother set against sister..." Marcus and then Silver. "...you caused all of that...you...and still you walk free...grinning like an idiot...like none of it matters." His hand inched closer to her neck. She merely stared. "It is not right...I will not allow it. Listen well and mark my words, Lucrezia. Whatever it takes...I will...bring you to justice. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But you will not get away with it. I will not let you." His hand a hair's breadth away from her neck now, still jerking forward centimeter by shaky centimeter. "Know this now and mark my words. If it is the last thing I ever do, Lucrezia...whatever it will take...I will do my duty."

"You'd die trying." The voice in his head again.

Something snapped inside him. Bloody insanity. "I...will..." His hand fell from Lucrezia's neck, fingernail brushing gently against her windpipe. His legs buckled. He was on his knees again. "...kill..." His mismatched eyes went glassy. The rest of him fell bonelessly back to the hard, wet pavement. "...you..." The last word escaped as the few remaining vestiges of his consciousness left him completely.

"I can see why she likes you," He heard Lisa chuckle. Before once again, the world was nothing but a sea of black.

---
Avari
MagicPenguin​

 

[IG42]

Having hauled Silver a safe distance from whatever fresh hell was breaking out, hopefully one that would end with The Hero getting blown up, Tannur could feel his stamina running out, the fatigue from his day long marathon had been pushed aside for a short time by the adrenaline rush of getting attacked by Lucien and Staxos but it was quickly fading.

Staggering over to a bench he dropped Silver onto it as carefully as he could manage and collapsed into the space next to her. "I...I need a minute." He said in between panting while rubbing a little at the spot where Silver had bit him feeling that she had put more force into it than her usual petulant nips though the chill from being soaked to the bone wasn't helping either, either way it was obvious she was taking Lucrezia's apparent death harder than the others. Thinking it over while he caught his breath he decided it couldn't do that much harm to tell her, she wasn't in any shape to run off back to Lucrezia or Lisa or whatever it was now and he suspected that Ana had already outed it to The Hero anyway.

"So...about what happened." He began slowly. "After we got separated I managed to meet up with Morgana, Juniper and this other lady who worked with the Light people and long story short we managed to get this mana filled amulet Lucien was using for power. Then Juniper said we could use it to...help Lucrezia, that girl who came with us that's her or sort of."

WillfulWren (Are Juniper or Ana still with them? MagicPenguin LoneSniper87 )

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver Ferae, who even knows where at this point - IG42
No matter how careful Tannur had tried to be, the short drop to the bench was jarring, and the albino did let out a startled squeak before focusing on her makeshift bandage sloppily tied around her leg. Luckily, the cut's bleeding had slowed almost to a stop.
When she was satisfied that her leg - hopefully - wasn't about to fall off, she leaned against him with a soft sigh. Red eyes almost closed, until he spoke and they snapped back open, Silver rounding on him with teeth bared.
"That was her?! Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Well, she's going to be sulking about how no one tells her anything for ages now.

 

[QizPizza]

In the midst of all the fighting and fleeing and dying within the barrier, high above the skies of London, two small wisps of flame danced and flickered as they followed the command that had been given to them. "Search," they had been told, though for whom or for what, only they and their creator knew. If they had any mind beyond fulfilling their purpose, they might have noted the wholesale destruction the night had brought unto this small slice of London. Though the floodwaters were receding, the damage they caused remained: downed trees and signs and telephone poles and power-lines dotted the city's streets and it seemed the first floor or basement of every second or third building still had a moderate amount of water trapped within. Other buildings were free of water, though, whether due to lightning strikes or the mad rampage of a certain spell-flinging dark angel, bright red flames still crackled and spit within their confines, consuming everything they touched with a hunger that bordered on starvation. A structure that still stood as it had before this night began, free of any damage whatsoever, was a very rare sight indeed. People were no better off. They crowded into whatever dwellings still seemed even moderately safe--which was to say, as long as a place was not on fire, it seemed as good a place to hide as any--packed like sardines, strangers mourning their injured and their dead, huddling against one another for warmth and comfort in the midst of a conflict in which they had no part, one they could not and did not understand.

Of course, the dancing wisps of magical energy took no notice of any of this. Their targets were somewhere in the eastern section of the area within the barrier. They could feel the two of them, their essences faint, their souls suffering, their lives all but extinguished. The wisps hurried along until they descended upon a huge structure within the barrier and sank right through the wall. Inside, had they ears, they would have heard the blood-curdling screams of the tall, red-headed man held off of his feet. Had they eyes, they would have seen his arms and legs jerking unconsciously in a horrific struggle only he could feel. The one who held the poor man in one hand by the hair of his head, though once handsome, was now a grotesque thing, his face a ruin, his wings bent and twisted beyond any usefulness, his mouth painted in a crazily gleeful smile and his one good eye shining with a light that spoke to the feverish insanity that drove him to do as he did. The creature's arm, the one not holding the red-headed man aloft, was encased in the blackest of black magic and rested inches from his victim's face. A pitch black mist oozed sickeningly out of the fingers and the palm of his hand and flowed like a malevolent river into every open orifice it could find: into his eyes and his nose, his mouth and his ears. Inside his head, the mist navigated the pathways of blood vessels and neural networks until it found his unprotected brain. Once there, it could have simply snuffed out all thought, told his lungs to stop breathing, his heart to stop beating, or just obliterated the mass of gray matter in one bloody explosion, but to the twisted dark angel, that would have been too easy, a mercy his victim did not deserve. Instead, the mist operated with the precision of a surgeon, locating the exact pleasure and pain centers of the human brain responsible for interpreting certain types of nerve signals from the rest of the body. With an almost loving caress to these areas in just the right ways, the mist could make the brain believe its body was undergoing any kind of torture its creator wanted.

One moment, he was being burnt alive, feeling every inch of himself on fire. The next, his limbs were cut off, one by one, and his tongue was cut out and his eyes were removed from their sockets with hot pincers. He was drowned and dropped from unimaginable heights; he was skinned alive with a rusty knife and his bones and muscles left exposed to the open air; perforated from head to toe with foot long spikes; his heart exploded and his lungs collapsed, his fingers and toes torn off one by one, his body crushed and his bones mashed into a fine powder. Sometimes, there was no context at all for the pain he felt; it was just pain, everywhere throughout his body, as sharp and long and horrific as he could be made to feel without breaking his mind altogether. That the red-headed victim could see his torturer and his surroundings, that he knew in his mind that, objectively, none of what he felt was really happening to him, that his body was, in fact, as hale and healthy as when the tortures began; none of this was any defense against the sensations his brain was telling him he felt. They all felt as real to him as anything possibly could feel. No matter how strong a person was, such feelings could turn any man into a gibbering, weeping lump of madness in a scant matter of seconds if administered improperly, one too far out of his mind for the pain to mean anything any longer. His torturer was an expert, however; he knew just how far he could push without driving his prey over the line into insanity or unconsciousness, knew just when to hold back so that his heart did not slide into cardiac arrest. And he knew just when he could start the cycle over again, make the man feel everything anew. Where torture was concerned, he was an artist, and his victim was the canvas.

One wisp of magic floated off to the side, to a crumpled, unconscious heap of a man on the floor who was himself only just barely still breathing, coughing up another gob of blood every now and then. The other wisp planted itself firmly between the dark angel and his prey. The magic of which this wisp was made up was like the lifeblood of angels such as the one in front of it. Without mana, such beings could not stay alive. So, when the dark angel, who was dangerously low on mana himself, saw the wisp, dropped from the heavens like a gift from on high, he abruptly gasped in surprise. His tortures momentarily ceased, a brief second of relief for the oni-turned-human dangling like a broken doll from his hand. The angel reached out with his free hand to grab the wisp, to replenish his life energy--and immediately felt as if he were touching an invisible, rock solid wall between himself and the object of his desire. The wisp was not for him. He could not have it. A sudden shockwave exploded from the wisp, causing the angel to drop the red-headed oni in surprise and fly a short distance backwards with a look of boiling rage on his face. The red-head fell to the ground on his knees, eyes glassy, his brain still experiencing faint echoes of the sensations it had been forced to feel; even just those echoes, mere shadows of what had been done to him, made the man want to curl into a ball and weep.

Gently, very, very gently, like a mother embracing her long, lost child, the magical wisp of fire settled itself into the man. The mana that comprised it pumped through his veins along with his blood, energizing him, re-igniting a fire long thought extinguished. The dark angel, realizing what was happening, flew at the man in alarm, desperate to prevent it, but he crashed headlong into that invisible wall again and all he could do was watch the beginning of his end like a man on the train tracks looking at an oncoming locamotive. The red-head's hair fell out, replaced with sharp horns; his arms and legs thickened, the skin darkened and hardened; his clothes tore as his body outgrew them and fell off of him in shreds. His chest and back rippled and swelled, the muscles expanding to superhuman size. His legs lengthened, and in his hand an object seemed to manifest itself out of nowhere, a massive club with nasty-looking spikes sprouting all up and down its length; to anyone but him, it would have been too heavy to lift. When the transformation was complete, the creature rose slowly to its feet and opened its eyes. It let out an earth-shattering roar, one that shook the very foundations of the building in which he stood. It felt like his first in eons, though it had really only been a month.

Raijin the Oni General, Lord of Thunder, God of Storms, was back. And Lucien stood not five feet from him, wide-eyed and nearly pissing himself in fear, wondering how it had all gone so wrong, how the tables could have turned so very, very quickly.

With a snarl, Raijin dashed forward swung his wicked club at the dark angel. The impact that struck Lucien would’ve shattered every bone in the body of a normal man, but the angel’s resilient body was hardly a saving grace. Raijin intended to pay the angel back for every bit of pain he inflicted on the Oni. The strike sent Lucien flying like a ragdoll, but Raijin never gave him the opportunity to even land. The Oni dashed right under where Lucien was and struck the body again, this time adding crushing pressure waves to the strike, as well as pressure waves right above Lucien, sandwiching the angel and producing a feeling that would resemble his bones shattering bit by bit.

“Did you enjoy that Lucien? I hope so, because I’m only getting started!” The guttural, roaring voice of Raijin’s grew even deeper and loader, rumbling through the air, shattering glass and shaking the ground. Next came a series of strikes that impacted Lucien so quickly, that it would’ve been but a blur to the outsider. Each strike just as powerful as the first and each enhanced with immense pressure waves, crushing Lucien’s body. When the strikes were done, Raijin grasped Lucien’s throat and growled. “How the tables have turned, haven’t they Lucien? All your hatred for me, I could never understand before...but now...thanks to your little tricks, I’ve learned what true hatred is. So as a token of my appreciation, I’ll return the favor.”

The Oni’s grip on the angel’s throat tightened, as he made the air pressure in the dark angel’s lungs build up, expanding them to absurd levels. Raijin didn’t stop there, he made the very oxygen and carbon dioxide in Lucien’s bloodstream increase in pressure, making the mangled angel’s veins bulge and blood to spurt out in high pressure streams. The same was done with the oxygen in the brain, making the brain expand and begin to press up against the skull.

“Oh, how much I wish I could hear you scream right now...screaming just like how I was just moments ago!” With Lucien’s neck in hand, Rai raised him up a few more inches before driving his face into the ground and smashing it several more times just for good measure. The hyperinflated lungs of the angel bulged through his ribs as the pressure inside built up. Taking his club, Raijin swung down hard on the chest numerous times. At this point, even Lucien’s enhanced body was reaching its limit. His ribs were shattering and his lung bursting from the pressure and the shards of bone that embedded themselves from each of Raijin’s strikes. “But I forget, you can’t utter a single word without your lungs!”

Raijin took a moment to roar in wicked laughter. His sadistic cries being as thunder through the museum, breaking what wasn’t yet broken already. His devilish smile only grew wider as Lucien staggered up and attempted to run away from the Oni’s wrath. He didn’t even make it twenty feet before a torn off car door impacted the angel and sent him flying into another car, creating a person-sized dent in its side. “You have your share of revenge, Blacksmith! Though nothing like a fair match, it is still sweeter than water to a parched throat!”

With a grunt and the screech of twisting metal, Arryn Blacksmith, nearly naked except for the remaining tatters of clothes torn to shreds because they were too small to stay on his larger, seven foot tall, 230 pound Aetherian body, pried another car door out of the pile of wreckage. The metal gave way as easily as wet tissue paper, as far as Arryn was concerned, though such a feat would have been impossible for him a few seconds ago. He did not know why their Aetherian abilities had decided to come back now--perhaps Meyneth was looking out for them in her own way--but he would not waste the opportunity. He was not usually someone who liked conflict, nor did he have much interest in revenge as a general rule, but he had to admit he was looking forward to this just for the sake of flexing muscles he had been beginning to think he'd never have ever again. His beard itched more than he remembered for some reason, though. With an exultant battle cry, he rushed at the crippled dark angel, holding the car door in front of him as a shield in case Lucien had any tricks left.

For his part, Lucien could hardly stand at this point, his limbs and torso bloated and perforated beyond recognition and twisted at odd angles, his one remaining eyeball bulging unnaturally in his ruined face and his forcibly inflated gray matter oozing out of his nose and his ears. Just looking at him made Arryn want to sick up again, but he resisted as much because he had nothing left to throw up as because he did not have the time or luxury to do so now. How any man could live, let alone stand, with injuries like that baffled Arryn--though he supposed it shouldn't, considering he'd already survived a beheading--but the dark angel did indeed manage to get himself on his feet. Desperate to stay alive, he tried to ignore Arryn running at him like a charging bull and made for the museum's front entrance that he'd come in through. He had a considerable head start on Arryn; even hobbling as he was, he might have made it if Arryn had not had another projectile ready in his hand. He stopped his charge, reared the door back in his hand to toss like a frisbee--only to stop in surprise when a flaming pinwheel came roaring through the door Lucien was aiming for, taking him right in the face, obliterating half of his skull and setting the rest of his upper body aflame in a crumpled heap two steps from his much desired escape. The object that hit him did not stop; it kept right on going as if it had hit nothing at all and made a beeline straight for Arryn.

With a startled gasp, Arryn released the door in his hand and reached out to grab the thing's spinning handle just before it did to him what it had done to Lucien. Once he caught it, the flames on one end of it subsided, revealing the head of a hammer emblazoned with a golden leaping wolf. "Mah'alleinir," Arryn cried in his deeper, natural voice. His enchanted war hammer, left as nothing more than a simple sledgehammer when he came to Earth, whose name in the ancient language of the Dwarves meant "He Who Soars." It had certainly lived up to its name with that entrance. He knew it was capable of granting him near immunity to any magical attack and blazing with holy fire, but...He looked at Raijin in surprise. "I left it at home; it must have flown here once we got our powers back, but...I actually didn't know it could do that," he confided, perhaps unwisely, to his one-time enemy. He scratched at his oddly itchy beard and looked curiously from the corner of his eye at Lucien trying once more to stand even with half his head gone. "I wonder..." Arryn muttered.

With all his strength, he threw the hammer right at the dark angel's body. Its head ignited again and it flew head over handle in a fast spinning arc of fire straight for the creature, nailing him again and knocking him back to the floor. It kept going until its velocity slowed considerably a little further past its target and then completely stopped in mid-air--though still spinning. Without falling to the floor, it abruptly reversed direction, accelerating again and flew straight back to Arryn's hand. "Nice," Arryn exclaimed as he caught and held his pride and joy aloft in the air. "New trick."

Lucien did not move again except for the occasional twitch of a burning limb. Even so, Arryn knew from experience that they could not assume him dead. "Let's finish this. We have unfinished business elsewhere," he reminded Raijin grimly. Casually, he walked over to the Oni and tapped his monstrous club with the head of his hammer. At that glancing touch, each weapon briefly granted the other a small measure of its own power. The club ignited with the same holy fires that engulfed Mah'alleinir. The hammer, in turn, vibrated with the same magic that allowed Raijin to create shockwaves and control the pressure of the air. With a joint battle cry, the Aetherian duo rushed at Lucien's prone body, weapons ready to deal the final blow. As one, hammer and club fell with savage strength, the sheer power of their blows rocking the foundations of the earth beneath them, the magic of their weapons tearing Lucien's body limb from limb in a violent explosion of blood and thunder and fire.

When the smoke cleared, Arryn and Raijin stood alone, their weapons returned to their natural states. Lucien was just...gone. No corpse, no clothing, no sign that the creature had ever been there--except for one thing. A small shining ring, black as night and engraved with runes whose origin Arryn did not know and topped with a blood red gem that seemed to glow with an otherworldly light. Curious, Arryn bent to pick it up and hold it between himself and the oni. "Any idea what this is," he asked curiously.

"It’s a ring. I expect a blacksmith to know that much...or am I thinking of a silversmith...Keep it, it won’t even fit me."

"I...see..." Touchy, the colossal blacksmith thought a little irritably. What was he so twisted up about? They won! Of course, Arryn had been unconscious during Rai's "treatment," so he knew nothing of what the man had just been through. He pocketed the ring in his overstretched, outsized, torn trousers, though he had no idea what to do with it. "Well, I suppose I will hold onto it for now. Might make a nice souvenir." Or an interesting object of study, if he could learn what it could do and how it was made, he finished silently. "Anyway, we have more important things to worry about. Staxos is still out there, and all the others, and now that we've got our true forms and our weapons back, we might actually be able to do something about--"

As if his words had been a cue, there was a flash of bright light that caused the pair to shut their eyes. All the magic and strength that had miraculously appeared at the last minute to save them now flowed back out of them just as quickly. When the bright light subsided, no longer were they an Oni and a blacksmith. The red-headed human form of Raijin stared again at the puny, weak body of the former blacksmith once more, now holding an average sledge hammer where Mah'alleinir had been. His mouth hanging open in purest shock, Arryn thought he could have wept. His normal body, his normal strength, his normal appearance, even his enchanted hammer...he'd had it all again! And now it was gone! Like having a juicy steak dangled right in front of his face only to disappear into thin air the second he took just a small bite...Why?! Blessed Meyneth and her Divine Light, why?!

"You just had to open your mouth, didn't you?" Raijin asked him accusingly, as if it were all his fault their natural forms were gone again.

"I...I..." Arryn had no words. He licked his lips and swallowed. "We should...still go. We have to help the others somehow, abilities or no," he said weakly. Dear Light, why was this happening?!

With no more than an irritated grunt for agreement, Raijin made for the entrance. The pair marched off to fight another battle to the death, leaving the museum and all its priceless artifacts in total ruins without even a backwards glance or a single thought for the cost of the destruction they caused.

Back outside of the museum, it appeared that the waters filling the streets were a lot lower than when the came in. In the distance, sirens could be heard screeching in the air. That was such a familiar sound in the city, that it didn’t even register to be strange until the two would remember that earlier, the area was completely isolated from the outside world. The red headed man would note, “We should probably leave as soon as possible...it sounds like the police are going to be here soon...and I don’t think they will appreciate the damage we caused to the building.”

Arryn nodded and began to walk briskly away from the broken shell of a museum back down the slightly less flooded streets, “Of course...we should find Roland and-”

“That self-righteous fool? No way. I’m not going to him for any reason.” Rai stood where he was as Arryn walked away. He wasn’t happy at the prospect of finding the “Hero of Light” even if Staxos tried to kill him...That reminded him...Staxos...That bastard will pay for killing Lucrezia just as much as Lucien paid for the pain he caused the Oni. “You do what you want, but I’m going to find Staxos and end him.”

Arryn grimaced. Roland wasn't self-righteous. Much. Usually. "End him how? Dirty looks?" The man turned and walked his own way as if he had not even heard the protest. Rolling his eyes and suppressing a groan, Arryn followed. His top priority was finding Roland, Elena, Daniel, and Ana. He had no idea where to look though, so following the oni was as good a plan as any. If they got ambushed, two of them together would have better chances of survival than each moving alone. If not by much. Besides, knowing Roland, if they DID find Staxos, the brave fool wouldn't be too far away from him, anyway, plotting some mad scheme to turn everything around. He only hoped Elena and everyone else would be alive and well right beside him.

Rai Kaminari​

Physical Status: Human Again
Emotional/Mental Status: Annoyed
Location: London Film Museum
Interacting With: MagicPenguin (Arryn) Avari (Lucien)
Mentioned: MagicPenguin (Roland) ​

 

[Avari]

​

Bird song.

The feeling of soft grass on skin. A gentle breeze brushing against his face. The sound of trickling water nearby. Roland opened his eyes to find himself in a meadow - thick, ancient looking trees stretching towards a clear blue sky. Small luminescent lights fluttered whimsically amongst the foliage.

He felt ... good.

His aches and pains were absent from his body, and he felt oddly content with his surroundings. He was in his Aether form, his 30 year old body, his eyes so light blue they were almost gray. He was wearing a rich red coat to match his fiery hair with golden dragons embroidered on the collar around his neck. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing the dragons coiling up his forearms. His weapon was missing and he was defenseless, but for some reason that did not shake the calm he felt. The odd pleasant feeling of this place smothered any feelings of fear, anger, or discomfort before they could even begin. The gentle breeze caressed him, carrying with it the murmur of two voices in the distance. The sound of two female voices arguing. How anyone could argue in a place like this, he could not comprehend. He followed the noise to a clearing where he found a long white table covered in fine looking plates, cutlery, and flowers.

The two women are sitting at the far side. One was scruffy and grey haired, and was leaning with her elbows on the table. The other was Lucrezia - raven haired and regal. A onyx crown threaded intricately into her hair. She was sipping from a small cup, listening to the complaints of the other. They both have yellow eyes, though the scruffy one lacked the cat-like pupils that Lucrezia had. Recognizing them as the Shadow Queen in both of her forms, Roland lost hold of the calm that had seemed so unshakable just a moment before. His body tensed Now that he was closer, he could hear what they were saying to one another.

"I had it under control!" The grey haired girl snapped, looking incredibly annoyed about something. "Why can't you just let me deal with this?"

Lucrezia took another sip from her cup, seemingly nonplussed about the entire situation.

"You were being reckless." She said finally, taking a moment to dab her lips with a napkin and taking the tone of a patient adult speaking to an unruly child. "I had to intervene for our safety."

The grey haired girl snorted. "Oh geez, thanks mother."

"Please don't call me that. You know I'm nothing of the sort...this -" Lucrezia gestured to the grey haired girl and then to herself. "- Personality fracture will heal in time. Until then you do as I say."

"Whatever you say mother."

"I have no idea where you got this attitude is from." Lucrezia sighed as she carefully placed down her cup.

The grey haired girl snorted and folded her arms. Before looking away from her shadowy partner and noticing Roland for the first time.

"Oh. He's here. Great."

Lucrezia glanced over. There were now two pairs of yellow eyes now fixed on him. "Ah. Roland. Do not be alarmed - you are quite safe. Would you like some tea?"

"No," he replied simply, eyeing everything around him with new suspicion. Where she was involved, nothing was ever as it seemed. "Where am I? Dead? Why Meyneth saw fit to place me in hell is beyond me, but if there are two of you here, that must be where I am."

Lucrezia chuckled and grabbed a ornate teapot from the table, it's handle in the shape of a dragon and began pouring a cup for herself. Steam spiraling into the sky.

"You are still in London, quite alive I assure you. At least physically speaking. I used the last of my magic-"

"My magic..." the grey haired girl grumbled.

"-My magic..." Lucrezia continued as if her contemporary had not said anything. "To temporarily summon our spirits to a temporary plane created by my subconscious. It's a fairly simple spell - very useful for long distance communication. Time stands still here, plus we can not harm one another... Not that I would wish to."

She gestured to a seat at the table.

"I'll stand," he responded, arms crossed, waiting for her to explain to him why he was here.

"Very well." Lucrezia replied cleanly, smirking as she lifted up her cup and took a drink, before setting it down and turning her attention back to him. The grey haired girl swayed side to side, humming to herself.

"You asked why I wished to wage war against your nation, seemingly without provocation or justification outside of tyrannical cruelty." she began, her tone matter of fact.

"The truth is It was all for you, young prince. And the sins of your ancestors that you carry in your blood."

"That doesn't make sense. Your conquest started ages before my birth."

Lucrezia smiled and nodded. "Indeed it did. Perhaps I should begin at the start... A history lesson then."

She clicked her fingers, and the Meadow they had been sitting in dissolved away into blackness. Only the table remained, and the ground - mercifully - remained solid.

​

"Before Aether became as it is now, before there was Light and Dark, before there was time, space or matter - there was the void. Within this great emptiness, dwelt the Creator; who in the ancient tongue was known as Meyneth; the Mother of all."

A single, glowing fantastic light appeared in the sky above them. The grey haired girl looked up, distracted from her humming.

"She made the Aurelia - who were offspring of her thought. A manifestation of what she wished to be the concept of life. Meyneth tasked the Aurelia with the creation of reality. To put form to her dreams."

The single blinding light was suddenly joined by thousands of other smaller pinpricks of light that looked akin to stars. They began to plummet downwards and solid rock appeared where they landed.

"-They formed the World; and the laws of nature that would govern it. Once the work was completed, Meyneth sent these spirits down to the World - which they called Aether, where they took physical form."

The solid rock spread out in all directions. Water appeared across its infinite surface. Oceans, lakes and rivers. Grass grew in the blink of an eye, covering featureless brown with vibrant green. The lights from the sky continued to pour down, but rather than simply vanishing upon the surface, they reformed into tall, regal like human shaped statues clothed in white.

"They were tasked with keeping order, and spreading life to all corners of its surface. They created the first great city - Odania, and used the powers given to them by their Mother to give form to new, lesser races who would go out from the city and in turn create their own nations. This much is taught by the Church."

Great structures appeared across the surface, none greater than the one at the center. A city that stretches off into the horizon. Among the towering white figures, children emerged from behind their robes. Roland recognized what were clearly elves, Dwarves, and finally humans along with hundreds of other creatures that begin to wonder off in all directions, the Aurelia watching them leave and raising their hands to the star in the sky in prayer.

"For an age, the Aurelia oversaw a blossoming world of prosperity... That was until..."

The great star in the sky suddenly vanished. The world was cast into black. Lucrezia and the girl's eyes glowed in the darkness as the Aurelia glanced up to the heavens in alarm.

"Meyneth closed her heart to her creation. For reasons unexplained, the creator abandoned her children and returned to the void - leaving Aether to its fate. The Aurelia found themselves striped of much of their power and were no longer able to create new life; nor could they will matter into existence. Aether began to fall into instability and chaos as the children of the Aurelia began to war against each other."

The lands suddenly erupted into fire; it fractured and completely fell apart in places. The Aurelia gazed down at the chaos, seemingly distraught and confused. For a very brief moment, Lucrezia looked melancholy before going back to storytelling.

".. Aether was maintained by the presence of God, and without her it was only a matter of time before everything sank back into the.. nothingness. And so - in their wisdom and desperation, the Aurelia combined what remained of their God-given power into two great vessels - that would act as anchors of creation, allowing the world to maintain stability. The first Vessel was called Rakuyo - meaning Darkness. The second vessel was named Luxetsu - meaning Light."

The towering white statues did as she described. Two gigantic sun like light sources appeared in the sky where the original star once shone. One shined bright white; the other looked more like a full eclipse. The Aurelia were no longer pure white, but covered in dirt and vines. They looked old and tired. The fires beneath them lessened, however, and the world - though looking quite beaten and fragmented, was no longer falling apart.

"The Aurelia were diminished. Much of their power was given in the creation of this final gift to their children. And though their mother had left them, they continued to observe Aether. As they were created to do so. They would watch, and never interfere, living in hope that perhaps one day... Meyneth would return."

Roland and both Lucrezias gazed down at Aether. The grey haired girl was mesmerized; the original Lucrezia seemed to be more interested in the bottom of her cup of tea.

"Until one day... One of the Aurelia stepped outside the walls of Odania. They say she had grown tired of spending eternity simply watching the other races. The world was not the peaceful place it had been during the times of Meyneth - chaos still existed throughout the world. She wanted to walk among her children. Speak with them. She had been given the gift of curiosity by Meyneth - and she wished to use it."

A single Aurelia appeared outside the great white walls of Odania. She was hooded and cloaked and promptly vanished into the world.

"The first man she met was one of Humanity. An innocent man who had been injured in a great war between two powerful Human families who fought for control of the great plains. His family had been slain in front of him, his wife and daughter, and he was laying at the side of the road, alone and dying."

The road she spoke of was clearly visible now. Hundreds of bodies littered the blood-soaked fields surrounding it. Torn flags and broken spears lay everywhere around the wounded man. Roland recognized the flags of two ancient human houses - Cainhurst and Hinokah. The hooded Aurelia glided among the bodies, many meters taller than any man. She floated, feet at least half a foot off the ground, and seemed confused by what she saw. She spotted the wounded man among the bodies, not wearing any armor, clutching a grievous wound, weeping for the loss of his loved ones. He was a weathered man in his middle years and had the tanned, rough complexion one would expect of a farmer who spent all his long days toiling in the sun.

"The curious Aurelia came to the man, and healed his wounds - but the man suffered from a wound no spell could hope to heal. Despair. The Aurelia decided to bring the man back to Odania. The first of their children to walk back into that sacred city since the days of Meyneth."

The scene shifted again back to the city of Odania. Roland could see the man looking around wide eyed at all his surroundings. There was an Aurelia with him - a full two meters taller than he, draped in white cloth. She appeared to be showing him parts of the city.

"-The other Aurelia were displeased of this. They had chosen isolation from the world, fearing not only that their interference might damage the natural order that had been put in place. But the corruption in the hearts of their children might spread into Odania itself."

In the scene above, the pair was now standing in what appeared to be a gigantic cathedral of pure white. The two powers of Luxetsu and Rakuyo floating at its core. The weathered-looking man stood staring at the twin powers with awe, which slowly began to twist into something else: a look of lust, a stark naked desire to possess that power for himself.

"And they were right."

Lucrezia smiled coldly.

"The man asked the Aurelia many questions. He could not understand why the Aurelia - with seemingly limitless power - were content to watch the world go by. To not intervene in times of horror and bloodshed. Why hadn't they stopped the war? Why hadn't they saved his family? The answers given to him did not satisfy him. And it is said that madness began to swell in his heart - birthed from his sorrow and anger. He yearned for the strength to prevent any more suffering..."

The man reached towards Luxetsu. The curious Aurelia moved to stop him, but too late. The moment he touched it, the entire vision went black.

"...and once he had that power..."

The man stood amid the flames, eyes hard, a blade that looked like Shadowbane in his hand, albeit in the shape of a blazing greatsword. The Fairchild banner rose up behind him, a blazing red-gold dragon on a white field, and a large crowd of soldiers, nobles, and commoners alike grew around him, all bending knees to give him their fealty.

"You know the name of this man. The man who the Church teaches was the chosen one of Meyneth. Verity Fairchild."

"Unbelievable," Roland said. Verity was Roland's ancestor. The histories taught that Verity gained his power, what would become the hereditary Fairchild magic, through a blood pact with an ancient dragon. That he forged Shadowbane himself using long lost magic. This was completely different from anything he'd ever heard before of the original Fairchild's origins. She wanted him to believe Verity started as a farmer? That the power he used to carve his ancient empire--the very magic he wielded now--was unrightfully stolen? Simply unbelievable.

"But his power came at a terrible price." She continued. "Luxetsu and Rakuyo were two great powers kept in perfect balance. If one was to be removed..."

The great white city of Odania was swallowed by what appeared to be a black hole at its center. Many of the Aurelia attempted to flee. Others seemed to accept their fate. Everything went white and when sight returned Odania was gone, replaced by what Roland knew was there today: a gigantic crater in the middle of Aether--Lake Odania.

"Odania vanished. Along with Rakuyo. With only Luxetsu now present in Aether, the world became unstable. Corrupted creatures came from the darkest depths of the world. Much of the land became poison. Lush forests were reduced to poisonous bogs. Fertile plains became lifeless deserts. It was years later, when the man who had become King of a united Aether was confronted by someone he thought long lost. A single Aurelia who had survived the cataclysm of her home."

A fiery plane emerged above. Verity stood amongst the flames, resplendent in golden armor. Shadowbane in hand. Towering over him stood an Aurelia. It was no longer tall and regal, but blackened and worn.

"The two began a terrible battle. Though Verity wielded the power of Luxetsu, the Aurelia was a God in her own right. Much of Eastern Aether was ruined in their struggle. But in the end, despite her strength - Verity cast down his enemy."

Verity stood triumphant over the body of the Aurelia only to glance down at it and suddenly look distressed.

"It was then he realized that this last Aurelia had been the one that saved him an age ago. He had slain his one true friend. His despair consumed him, as he realized the destruction he had wraught upon his home and his eyes were opened to his folly."

The vision fades, and the three are returned to the garden.

​

"Verity died soon after and his empire crumbled in his wake, leaving his descendants with only a small chunk of it, that which would become Alcamoth. But it seems he forsook the power that had made him a God shortly after that battle, passing it down to his children. This power has endured to this day through his bloodline. It is a power that resides in you, Roland. The power of Luxetsu."

Lucrezia leaned back in her chair, hands resting upon its arms. Despite the fact it looked like a fairly plain garden chair, she still somehow managed to make it look rather regal.

"A pretty light show," he said skeptically. "But how do I know any of it is true? It flies completely in the face of every written history of which I am aware." He gestured to the blackness around the trio. "This is your place; you can manipulate it however you like, show me whatever you choose." He flashed her his most insolent grin. "You are not known as the Mother of Lies for no reason."

"Quite so." Lucrezia replied, as the grey haired girl chuckled into her own cup, and then scrunched up her face in distaste. She promptly reached across the table and grabbed a small cup of sugar cubes, and began dropping them into her tea one by one.

"I would be disappointed if you believed me as easily as that." She continued, then flashed him a look.

"-Tell me... You have had strange dreams and visions since the blade called Shadowbane revealed itself, have you not?"

Roland gave an uncomfortable shudder, suddenly feeling violated. He had not told anyone about those except his sister. How did she know of them? He did not answer her question, but she must have read something on his face, because she went on as if he had.

"I had a lot of spies Roland." Lucrezia explained smartly, already intercepting his question before he asked it.

"Can your spies read minds," he muttered disconsolately.

"Your sister kept a diary. I had a vested interest in your well being and development." The elf replied.

Roland had no idea his sister kept a diary. He shifted uncomfortably again.

The grey haired girl paused her sugar shoveling and glanced over. "I'm sure that sounded far less creepy in your head."

Lucrezia ignored her, instead leaning forward towards Roland, a glint in her yellow eyes.

"You saw things didn't you? A White city crumbling. A World of fire. Darkness spreading across the land. A man in golden armor standing against shadow. You thought these visions might be a Premonition of things to come but they were not - they were of the past. Ancestral memories. Things Verity saw."

"All very well," he replied, now wishing to change the subject. This woman knowing his deepest secrets, his sister's deepest secrets, made him feel like he had insects crawling all over him. "But what has that to do with your war?"

"Ah yes." Lucrezia smiled as she pushed another bowl of sugar cubes towards the other girl who grumbled her thanks.

"What do you know of Mipha? I trust your education included at least some information about her."

Roland wracked his brain, knocked somewhat off balance by the sudden shift in topic. "Um..." He had learned this at some point, he was sure of it. "An ancient oracle, I think," he said uncertainly. "A powerful seer. She secluded herself in the East somewhere. It's thought she was an elf, but not much else is known. The place she died is a library of her old prophecies now, some fulfilled, some not, and some so unclear that no one is sure whether they have come to pass."

"Mostly Correct. She was someone I traveled with in ancient days. And she sought me out many millennia after to visit upon me a vision she had foreseen: She said she saw the end of all things. Of Aether falling into the void. But... In an age of chaos and the ascension of a Shadow in the East - a reincarnation of an ancient hero would be born, wielding the true power of Light. His birth would herald the dawn of the last days of Aether, unless Dark and Light would again find balance."

Lucrezia's cat like eyes narrowed.

"I am the last of those Elder days now. Even the other immortals have wasted away...or left for places I cannot follow. Only I and a few others know the truth of Odania, and the corruption of Aether. I understood the prophecy but not all of Mipha's visions came to fruition...I could not simply wait and hope for the best. I had to ensure that this one became reality."

The Elf clicked her fingers, and the silverware that been covering the table promptly vanished - along with the cup that the other girl had finally began to drink. She gave a groan, which Lucrezia ignored. In their place was a map of Aether. A moment later, a dark cloud appeared in the East, covering the entire mountain range.

"I decided to become that shadow. I claimed the East for myself and loudly proclaimed myself a Shadow Queen. All I had to do was play the role, and wait for the prophecy to appear."

"And all it cost was the near-extinction of the Dwarves of Magruhdul," Roland said flatly. "I'm sure what few remain will be relieved to hear it was all just a big misunderstanding."

"Such is the cost of salvation. Those that surrendered were treated with great respect." Lucrezia replied simply, then shot him a look.
"However, the attack on the Dwarves was for a different reason. As I had set up a information network around Aether to listen for the coming Hero. .. I learnt something that...complicated matters."

The Grey haired girl suddenly nodded in understanding. It hadn't been clear if she had actually even been listening.

"The Church?"

"Yes. As you have no doubt learned yourself from that parasite Staxos - the Church had been actively feeding off of the Fairchild bloodline. Draining the family of power at regular intervels in the name of maintaining creation. In reality...Well. Staxos is not the only one who wished that power for himself. Luxetsu was the secret to his long life. Taken from your family. With that knowledge in mind, I was forced to make a few adjustments."

Lucrezia waved a hand over the map of Aether. The dark cloud advanced to the West, and dozens of small fires appeared, all across the land.

"It became increasingly clear that the Church would claim Luxetsu for itself the moment the blade reappeared. There was only one solution... Make the Church so very desperate that they wouldn't dare try to take Luxetsu from you until I had been dealt with. I even went as far as to spread a false prophecy that you were destined to destroy me. It worked out rather well I think. Historians speak of the great tacticians that won wars against unspeakable odds - have you ever tried to fight a war where it was vital you didn't accidentally win? It's a far more complex affair."

The Elf looked up.

"As long as I lived, and was a threat - the Church would never dare try to claim your power for themselves."

Roland shook his head in exasperation. "This is ridiculous. I had the sword for six years before we met. If Shadowsbane--or Luxetsu or whatever you want to call it--if obtaining that was your goal, why did you not simply come to me as soon as I obtained it?

"I had to be sure." She replied. "There's an awful lot of legendary swords laying around Aether. I had waited three hundred years already, a few more was not overly taxing. Not only that ,It would time for you to learn to wield it. I decided to make several tactical blunders to give you the advantage, and simply wait for you to walk through my front door."

A shadow of a smirk appeared. "Who do you think got you and your friends out of Blackrock before I destroyed it anyway? I did wonder."

"I wasn't sure," he admitted reluctantly. He had thought about it, but could never come to any conclusions. "Why destroy Blackrock at all, though? You had me right there, sword in hand. All you had to do was take it and you just decide to blow everything up and leave?"

'I couldn't allow Blackrock to fall into the hands of the Church. I had hoarded copious amounts of information during my campaign. Thankfully, I had six years to move everything vital far away. Along with most of my forces. There's a reason you fought mostly undead. A literal... Skeleton army."

The grey haired girl snorted at the pun.

"As for your second question - I had confirmed what I wanted. That Luxetsu had truly found someone who could wield its potential. I had no intention of taking it from you. Now I simply required the other half of the puzzle."

She looked at him. Expectantly.

"The other sword," he supplied.

"Well not technically a sword. Its shape is a manifestation of the needs of its wielder, but yes. I had found the location of Rakuyo after quite a exhausting amount of research. It, along with Odania had not been destroyed as was believed - but completely moved into a different realm."

Lucrezia waved her hand, and the map vanished. In its place, all the cups and plates reappeared.

"The rest I'm sure you can piece Together. Rakuyo is... Somewhere on Earth, of that I'm sure. Once we have both powers in our possession, we can return home and stop the void from consuming Aether. Truth be told, I am unsure if even this realm would escape the total collapse of reality but it IS here. I know it is. I just need time. The loss of my powers was unexpected. I thought I could simply storm in and take it. Alas. Complications."

This time, she shot the grey haired girl a look who glared back.

"So you want my help to find the thing, is that it? Just forget about everything that happened and hold hands happily ever after? Tch..."

Roland exhaled slowly, closed his eyes, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Should he believe her? If she was telling the truth, could he afford not to? The destruction of reality? Then again, this could still all be an elaborate ruse, a way to keep herself alive, buy more time until she could stab him in the back. Damn this woman, this was supposed to be simple; good versus evil, right versus wrong. Heroes in stories never had to worry about this sort of thing. She was tying him all in knots.

"...Fine," he said after some deliberation. "I will find this long lost city and the power it holds. I will even put my grudge with you on hold. I will not let reality crumble just to kill you. But..."

He walked up to Lucrezia, slammed his hands hard down on the white table in front of her, loomed above her.

"I meant what I said earlier. Whatever your reasons--and I still am not sure I believe you about those--but whatever they are, you've caused more suffering than any person who has ever lived. I will not forget that. And you will face punishment. If you cannot agree to that, I will kill you and conduct the search on my own." His eyes bored into hers. Anyone else might have shrunk from the intensity of his gaze, but she didn't even flinch and gave it right back to him to boot. They stared so hard at one another, yellow eyes meeting crystal blue, their gazes might have struck sparks. A conflagration, even.

"Agreed." Lucrezia a moment later. she looked rather pleased with herself in fact and leaned back in her chair.

Only for the grey haired girl to slam her own hands down on the table.

"Wait. Excuse me? Y'know you're agreeing for me to be punished right? I didn't do any of this stuff, I was only born like, an hour ago!"

Lucrezia blinked, it seemed she had forgotten about the other girl completely for a moment.

"Ah, Roland. This is..."

"Lisa."

"It calls itself Lisa. I found to my detriment that a Human body is quite incapable of containing my power. Lisa is my solution."

"Stop calling me it!" Lisa snapped, her own yellow eyes practically glowing with anger, but Lucrezia simply waved her off.

"Our personalities will reform in time. For now, she lacks much of my power and knowledge. We will take things slowly - I don't want to burn out another body. I assure you she'll be quite capable regardless...despite her attitude."

Roland studied the two. Could a reincarnation be held responsible for the sins of her predecessor? If she was, at bottom, the same person who would, eventually, have the same memories, was she not more or less the same person, or at least as much of a threat? Tying him in knots, indeed...

"I'll figure it out," he mumbled, eying the younger one like a rattlesnake. She responded by baring her teeth at him

"One way or another."

Lucrezia looked between them, and then smirked.

"This will be the last time I will speak to you as I am now, at least for quite sometime .When you awaken it will be as if only a few seconds have passed and I would recommend keeping a low profile in the days ahead."

Lucrezia leaned forward in her chair, her yellow eyes burning bright.

"Now the true work can begin."

The world around them began to fade right along with her and, for what felt like the hundredth time today--he was really getting tired of this--Roland's sight went black.

----

MagicPenguin
Avari
WillfulWren
koala
QizPizza
IG42
LoneSniper87
Shotgunpenguin

TLDR: Roland's ancestors stole the power of gods and Aether has been disintegrating ever since, there's a second power on Earth and once the two are joined once more everything will be A-OK

NOTE:
Final epilogue post is coming!
Wrap up your posts, get your characters out of the area/home if you can. Police are coming. One more post at most. Wrap it up!​

 

[MagicPenguin]

Arryn Bennett
Near destroyed restaurant -> Road Home -> Home

After wasting a great deal of time scrambling around the remains of the collapsed building that earlier separated Arryn from Roland and Elena, he and the moody oni made it back to the restaurant where everything had begun. Or what was left of it, at least. Beneath its rubble stood two figures over a headless, distinctly non-shining corpse: that of High Sentinel Staxos. "Well," he said to his temporary companion with relief, "I guess we don't have to worry about him anymore." Examining the two people near the body, Arryn could make out the shirtless form of Roland standing tensely with arms crossed, Shadowsbane's hilt sticking out of the waistband of his trousers. He was dirty, covered in minor scrapes and bruises and his nose looked broken and bloody, but for the most part he seemed alright. He was looking very hard at the woman he was with, a silver haired girl covered from waist to head in blood that Arryn didn't recognize. If he didn't know any better, Arryn would have said Roland was glaring at her. The woman meanwhile, was eyeing Roland with disgust - as if he had just thrown up on her shoes. Odd.

"Roland," Arryn called out as he picked up his pace to reach the two. At the sound of his voice, the prince stopped glaring and directed his attention toward the approaching blacksmith.

"Arryn," he exclaimed with a look of surprise. He walked up with a smile and wrapped his arm around Arryn's shoulder companionably, causing the girl to make an "ugh" sound and fold her arms as she pointedly looking in the other direction. Very odd. "You're alive! I thought that building crushed you for sure!" After looking him up and down, Roland's smile turned to a grimace. "Just what happened to you out there, Arryn? Your clothes are in even worse shape than mine." For the first time, Arryn thought about what he must look like. His pants were torn all over, ripping at the seams from his sudden earlier growth. His legs were nearly bare. His shirt was even worse, though concealed beneath his unblemished hoodie that he had time.to retrieve from the corpse in the museum before he left it.

"It's a long story," he replied. "It's really good to see you alive Roland, but where is Rose? She was with you last I saw. And...who is this?" Arryn gestured to the silver haired girl, who was still looking off into the distance. "And what about Ana? And Daniel? And Silver and the red-head and...all those others?"

"Slow down, man," Roland said as he made soothing motions with his hands. "Elena is fine; injured, but alive. I left her with Ana. I'm sure she will take good care of her." At that, Arryn let out a breath of relief. "As for her," Roland continued, "that is...also a long story." He paused as if unsure how to go on and threw the girl another angry look as if it were somehow her fault. She snorted loudly, but didn't elaborate.

"Okay," Arryn replied, confused at Roland's inadequate explanation and the girl's response. The hostile way they looked at one another might mean she was another one of Lucrezia's, but why did Roland not just say so, then? Very, very odd.

"I'll explain later," the hero said, waving a hand at her dismissively. "More importantly, I have to tell you something. Privately," he emphasized with another look at the woman before he led Arryn away from her so she could not hear what was said.

"That's fine. I'll just... stand here I guess," the girl called out behind them. Arryn spared her one last confused glance over his shoulder as he was led away. What in the Light is going on with these two?

When she was out of earshot, he went on in a low voice anyway, as if she could still hear every word even though she was several feet away by now and getting further. "This is going to be hard to hear, Arryn."

Arryn shot him a somewhat suspicious look. "What is," he asked warily. Instead of answering, with a sad look, Roland gestured ahead of them, wherever he was leading the two of them. Abruptly, Arryn noticed that Roland had not chosen a direction at random when he started walking away from the other woman. He was leading his friend over to the same place he last saw Daniel, a raised set of steps beneath a pavilion. Only, Daniel was not there anymore. Arryn tensed, suddenly afraid of what Roland was going to say.

"It was during the fight with Staxos, when he was chasing me," Roland said when they stopped. His eyes darted about, seemingly looking anywhere but at Arryn as he spoke. "I came back to try and help Daniel run, but Staxos was chasing me and..." he took a deep breath and finally locked eyes with Arryn. "I'm sorry. He's gone, Arryn. He saved my life and died for it here."

Speechless, eyes wide, Arryn sat down on the step, where he had been before, right next to Daniel. He could find no words. If he listened hard enough, he could almost hear the last words the old man had said to him just before Arryn left him to die. "Always forward, Arryn." The shaggy haired man cradled his head in his hands where he sat, trying to process that he was actually gone for good.

"Where is his body?" Arryn was surprised how steady his voice was given the roiling tangle of emotions inside him.

"As I understand it, the body was disposed of safely so the blood could not infect anyone."

"He was not a werewolf anymore!" Arryn spat, suddenly and a little irrationally angry. Stamping down his frustration with a deep breath, he modulated his tone and went on in a smaller voice. "He would have wanted to be buried, Roland. You know he would have. We owed him that much."

"I know," Roland responded simply. He still stood, again looking away from Arryn guiltily.

"Light, he survived so much, even regained his youth. Why did he have to die now?" Arryn's eyes burned with unshed tears, but he forced them back, unwilling to lose hold of his emotions here. "It's all my fault," he choked out. "I knew he was injured, knew he couldn't defend himself, and I left him anyway. How could I be such a fool?"

"It isn't your fault, Arryn. You did your duty, exactly as he would have wished you to do. If you stayed, he would have beat you senseless and cursed you for an oath breaker even as you tried to save his life."

Arryn couldn't help but chuckle at that, knowing it was true. For a time the two said nothing, just comforting one another through their respective grief in silence. "Lucien is dead," Arryn said after a while. "The oni and I killed him. He was surprisingly helpful, for an enemy."

Roland nodded thoughtfully. "The oni are said to be an honorable people, in their own way. They make for invaluable allies and implacable enemies, much to the Light's misfortune. I am only glad he decided Lucien's treachery to his cause was more worthy of his wrath than an enemy from the Light. He might easily have decided to side with Lucien against you instead. Either way, you did well to kill that monster. Death is too good for him. Him and Staxos both." Roland sighed and rubbed his head tiredly. "Now I just hope we can count on the oni's honor and good will a little bit longer," he finished.

Arryn looked at him quizzically. "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

Roland opened his mouth to explain, but before any words could come out, a golden, barking blur came barreling down the street and jumped straight on top of Arryn. Hogan licked his face excitedly. Arryn laughed and hugged the pup to him closely. "Hogan," he exclaimed happily. At least one of his roommates had survived.

"You have a dog," Roland asked curiously. After a second he added in an amused tone, "And you named him Hogan?"

"It sort of just happened," Arryn replied. "And what's wrong with naming him Hogan," he asked a little defensively.

"Nothing," Roland said, still far too amused for Arryn's liking. "I think it's cute. The old blacksmith would have been flattered no doubt." He knelt down to rub the pup behind the ears affectionately, which Hogan appreciated greatly. "He's a brave little fella. Aren't you? Yes, you are. I saw him running about during all the fighting more than once."

A siren blared not far away. "That would be the local authorities," Roland said as he stood up again. "Time to go, Arryn. I'll explain everything on the way home." While Arryn gathered Hogan's leash--which was chewed clean through at the handle end; wily pup--and made sure his sledge-hammer was secure at his side, Roland ran over to the silver haired girl and said something to her low enough that Arryn could not hear. She rolled her eyes in response and looked like she was about to argue, before glancing around at where the sirens were coming from. Evidently deciding it wasn't worth the effort, she simply nodded. So, so odd, those two. Arryn was more curious than ever now at just who she could be. Before long, Roland came back to join Arryn. "Ready," he asked insistently.

"Yeah, but...what about Ana and Rose," Arryn asked, concerned.

"Ana is a smart woman," Roland replied. "She'll take care of herself and of Elena. There's no time to look for them anyway. We need to worry about ourselves now."

Arryn agreed reluctantly and the two headed away from the scene as quickly as they could, silent while avoiding the growing numbers of police vehicles, fire trucks, and ambulances. When they'd gotten a few streets away, away from the most heavily watched areas, they relaxed a little and slowed their pace. It was then that they traded stories about what happened, while little Hogan pattered along silently at Arryn's side. Arryn recounted the traps they set and the fight with Lucien. When he got to the part where their true forms returned, Roland snorted a laugh. "That magic-nullifying hammer of yours would have come in handy against Staxos," he said wryly. "Very handy."

Then it was Roland's turn to explain. Arryn thought his own tale would be too crazy to believe, but Roland's story made it sound like a regular stroll through the park. He dropped a building on top of Staxos? And Rose helped him do it by driving a car into the wall?! After being impaled by a tree and nearly dying! Arryn was appalled that Roland allowed her to do such a thing, but when he said so, the hero merely shrugged.

"I told her to run," he said. "She was adamant that she stay and do it. She was very brave. More than I expected." Pride in his friend mixed with worry for her. Well, of course she was brave, Arryn thought, but that didn't mean the slack-jawed fool had to let her try and kill herself!

Those thoughts were quickly drowned out by the tale of what came after. Staxos being responsible for the attack on Alcamoth and Hogan's death. His attempt to do the same to Roland. That woman from before was Lucrezia? Or...a reincarnation or...something? The whole tale about Verity and two powers of creation...it was all craziness! And now they were in a truce to find an ancient city. Where did one even begin to look for something like that?

Roland sighed. "Truth be told, I'm not even sure if that story is true. What do you think? Can we trust her?"

"I...don't know," Arryn said. "Probably not. She's supposed to be evil incarnate." He snorted. "But then, the Church of Light was supposed to be righteousness incarnate and look how that turned out. I have no idea what's true anymore." The woman was still ultimately responsible for old Hogan's death, though, and Arryn told himself silently that he would not soon forget that, truce or no.

"You and me both," Roland said. "She would have me believe that because she is a reincarnation, she is absolved responsibility for her former self's crimes."

"That is a question far above my pay grade," Arryn admitted. "Trying criminals and meting out justice is a job for a prince, not a blacksmith. All I can say is, time will tell if she reverts to old habits or...is someone different entirely."

Roland sighed. "I suppose you are right about that."

The two said their farewells and parted at an intersection between their two apartments. Roland thanked him and told him he would be in touch and that Arryn could always reach out if he needed something. They went their own ways and before Arryn knew it, he was walking in his apartment's front door.

Everything about the place was the same. The pizza box was just where he'd left it. The empty cupboards. Hogan's doggy bed in the corner of the living room, where the pup even now curled up to go to sleep. Even for all that was the same, though, the place still seemed...emptier than before, somehow. Lonelier. The rugs and carpets Daniel so loved were still there. His book collection in the corner. His bedroom door...Everywhere he looked, Arryn saw some little reminder of him, another little sign to remind him that his old friend would never be coming back. He'd have to find a way to pay rent himself, he thought. He'd have to do something with all Daniel's stuff. He'd have to...Arryn all but ran to his own room, trying to block out the things he did not want to deal with right then.

When he got to his room, he was greeted with a smashed window, glass all over the roof just outside. "What in the world," Arryn almost shouted. It hadn't been like that when he left. After a bit of thought, he figured it must have been the hammer. He left it here and it flew to him by itself in the museum when he got his true form back. It had to get out of the apartment somehow, and Arryn supposed the broken window he was looking at was how it did. Just one more thing to add to the pile, he thought. Ignoring the draft, Arryn removed his boots and his wet clothes and plopped down in his bed, eager to forget everything that had happened tonight. For a while, sleep eluded him. At first, he thought about calling Rose to see if she made it home alright. He decided against it, though; if she was as injured as Roland said, she needed rest, not a midnight phone call from him. After dismissing that idea, all Arryn could think of then was Daniel, all the lessons about fighting and honor and duty the old werewolf had taught him. All the ways he'd helped Arryn when he first joined the army and when they first got to Earth. He was a mentor and a father and a brother and a drill sergeant all rolled into one. There was no one who could ever replace him. The former blacksmith was surprised when he felt tears rolling down his cheeks.

Arryn did not remember crying himself to sleep, but he must have, because at some point he opened his eyes and the morning sun greeted him cruelly through his broken window. He rose jerkily with pains all over and prepared himself to go to work as if everything was the same as before when he knew in his heart it never really would be ever again.

Interacting: Roland, QizPizza Avari

Mentioned: Daniel, koala , WillfulWren , Shotgunpenguin LoneSniper87

 

[IG42]

Resisting the urge to lean away from the furious Silver he nevertheless was thankful that her teeth were a lot less pointy than they used to be. "Because you probably would have tried to stick around even more than you already did even though it's clear that you can't even walk right now!" He tried a disarming smirk. "Besides we've already seen that a little thing like death isn't going to stop her, she'll be better off without us getting in the way."

Leaning back he rubbed at his eyes futilely trying to hold back his fatigue for a little longer and looked up just in time to see the barrier fizzle out and vanish. "See? Barrier's down so that bastard is either dead or fresh out of mana." He relaxed a little more until the sirens started sounding a few moments later. "Aaaand break time over. We need to clear the area before the locals start asking annoying questions." Grimacing he stood and looked back towards where they had left Lucr-Lisa behind, in her current state she seemed almost as likely to wander off and get into trouble as Silver and he had no idea where Rai had got to. "Come on." Crouching down to let her climb on his back again he headed back to Lisa.

WillfulWren Avari

 

[WillfulWren]

"I can walk just fine." Silver muttered, still glaring at him. "I could have been loads of help! I could have...Umm... I could have...." Trailing of as she tried to think of ways she could have helped in her current, magic-less state. She sighed as nothing came up, but seemed to calm down a little. Maybe he was right to take her away from the fight.
Not that she would tell him that.

"We're going home now?" She asked, climbing onto his back. For once in her life, she didn't even attempt to bite him.

Maybe he was forgiven.

"We left Lucrezia with the hero of light.... Do you think he tried to hurt her?"

IG42

 

[Avari]

Silver's question was unintentionally answered as a familiar (or perhaps not so familiar) sight came barreling around the corner - a messy knotted forest of hair and torn clothing that was a little too large for her, and a pair of yellow eyes that widened in surprise as she almost careened straight into the pair of them. She attempted to skid to a halt, forced to frantically wave her arms to keep her balance and thankfully avoided an all out collusion - coming to a stop barely an inch from Tannur's face.

"Oh! Tannur right?" She wondered, before nodding to herself. "Yup. Tannur. I remember. Did you know there's a pretty girl hanging off your back? You sly old dog you."

She put all her weight on her right foot and leaned to get a good look at the girl. Lisa's face was blank for a moment, and then realization dawned on her face.

"Silver!!" She practically screamed as she threw her arms wide to invite the girl to embrace. (No one had ever seen Lucrezia hug anyone before).

"Look at you! Oh wow look our hair is totally matching. You'd think we were sisters!"

---

IG42 WillfulWren

 

[koala]

Morgana

Streets of Covent Garden
Shotgunpenguin
​

After wiping the memories of the group Morgana was working on, the dark-haired woman turned to her comrade. She listened to Juniper carefully, being polite and making eye contact but adamant at ensuring there weren't any secret enemies lurking about. Although she was sure Lucien and Staxos were the only two to make an appearance, there was nothing wrong with being extra careful. Perhaps her carefulness was why she'd managed to survive so long after escaping the Mad Mage, even though she did get recaptured at one point.

"Yes," Morgana responded simply with a slight nod of the head. "While you lead them here, I will clean up the nearby civilians. Hopefully it will take no more than a quarter hour, but I'm unsure with how much land the barrier encompasses."

With those words, Morgana went off her own way and casually collected multiple small groups of people. There weren't as many civilians as she'd thought, most likely due to how late it actually was. That made her job a lot easier, but it also sent a faint, annoying shock to the back of her mind as she wondered what would happen if she actually missed someone. What would the consequences be? Would they all be exposed? Would anyone believe a human spouting about magic in such a mundane world?

Nonsense, Morgana, she thought, pursing her lips in annoyance. You are not one to worry or make such a large mistake.

 

[WillfulWren]

Ruby eyes widened as the girl approached, Silver struggling to reconcile the regal queen she knew with... This girl. Tilting her head in the manner of someone puzzling through a difficult maths problem, but then she noticed the yellow eyes.

The new (and improved?) Lucrezia clearly passed inspection, because Silver happily hugged back, perhaps tighter than strictly necessary.

"I think your hair is just a tiny bit darker than mine... But it's still really nice! Better than Tannur's stupid hair!"

IG42 Avari

 

[IG42]

Thankful that Silver had realised protesting was pointless he even managed not grunt in discomfort as she clambered onto his back again. "That's what we're going to find out." He said in response to her second question. Staxos he might be no match for but The Hero he thought he could at least do something about.

His grim imaginings about what could have happened to Lisa evaporated as she suddenly appeared and nearly ran into him. "Nice to see I made such an impression." He said dryly. "Oh is there? I stopped noticing the girls hanging off me after the first two today." Stumbling as Silver lunged off him to hug Lisa he stretched with a groan. "Hey! My hair is great in any world." He brushed a lock out of his eyes but it was too weighed down by a combination of rainwater and sweat to stay up for long. "On a good day at least. I take it you dealt with Staxos then? How about his Royal Pretentiousness?"

WillfulWren Avari

 

[Avari]

"It's dealt with," Lisa replied breezily as she released Silver and gently pushed the other girl away - but not before playfully patting her on the head.

The sirens got louder. The sounds of panicked voices started to echo from the surrounding buildings as the locals were evidently becoming aware of the situation.

"Time to get out of here." She sighed. "No time to find the others. Lots of awkward questions if we stay - gimme your address Tan, I'll rock up during the week sometime. Maybe."

---

IG42 WillfulWren

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Juniper Arc
Streets if Covent Garden

"Alright," Juniper gave a nod in return "be careful, some of these structures look like they could collapse at any second. I'll try to bring or direct anyone that I come across to this area. Hopefully we can finish before anyone from outside of the barrier attempts to enter."

Juniper turned and walked in the opposite direction from Morgana. There were a few small groups that she came across, the largest of which being a family of four that had taken refuge inside of a dumpster. She directed them back towards the area where they found the first group, hoping that Morgana wouldn't be too far away from there. Her shoe splashed into a crimson puddle as she grimaced. A man laid face down on the street, the back of his head caved in by a piece of rubble as she stepped around him. There were a few unfortunate souls who were killed during the chaos, whether by accident or hunted down by Stalox or Lucien. It was a little sad, their deaths would be covered up and the truth of what happened buried, but their existence couldn't be made public.

In the end she found another group, a man and a woman who were huddling together in one of the abandoned stores. As she was leading them back the sounds of sirens started to grow. Had the barrier already fallen? She needed to hurry, if any of the authorities intercepted them it would lead to some very hard to answer questions. She had the two of them pick up their pace, walking faster until she caught sight of Morgana. "Morgana," Juniper said, jogging up to her "We need to finish up and get out of here. I'll give you my address, come by when you can after this. I need to in contact with everyone else."

koala

 

[IG42]

Only too happy to escape the 'scene of the crime' Tannur quickly supplied the address. "I don't have anything to write on so don't forget it." Picking Silver back up he turned to leave. "Don't go dying again before I see you again. Until then."

Stumbling through the still drenched streets and going unnoticed by the occasional emergency vehicle on it's way to more pressing matters Tannur and his burden made their way across the city back to their cramped little flat though by the time they reached it the exhausted half-elf may as well have been arriving at a Promised Land so great was his relief.

Getting inside he dropped Silver onto the bed and walked into the bathroom, removing the panel concealing the food stash he simply left it on the floor too tired to care about subtlety anymore. "Food in bathroom, feed yourself and don't wake me unless an army has broken down the door." He mumbled as he flopped onto the bed next to Silver and instantly fell asleep.

Avari WillfulWren

 

[koala]

Morgana

Streets of Covent Garden
Shotgunpenguin
​

Not too much time had passed when Morgana and her comrade met up again. As Juniper had promised, she'd sent civilians towards their agreed spot and Morgana speedily erased all memories of the night. The woman had done it so many times at that point that she didn't even need to think of what to say--it just came out as naturally and robotically as she took orders from her Queen. There were a few occasions where some of the humans weren't as willing to follow the female, often sparking words of debate and annoyance, but the brunette erased their memories as well nonetheless. It all went fairly well. Too well in fact.

"Morgana," came a voice that grew steadily louder. "We need to finish up and get out of here. I'll give you my address, come by when you can after this. I need to in contact with everyone else."

Turning, she noticed Juniper running towards her. Taking in her comrades words, Morgana began scanning the surround area and noticing that she could hear sirens and more people in the distance. There was also a slight drizzle falling onto her naked shoulders, forcing her to let out an uncontrollable shiver. "Yes, well," began the brunette as she unconsciously brought her hands to her bare arms, "I believe I've taken care of everything. Shall we walk together?"

Walking alongside Juniper, she took out her handy cellular device and gave the red-haired woman Tannur's number since that was the only one she actually had. After providing her own, she described the location of her current housing situation and mentioned that she only worked in the mornings to early afternoon. "Get in contact with everyone when you can," Morgana began as they reached a crossroads, "There's no gain from me visiting where you're residing now. Everything is chaotic and I don't even have everyone's contact information. It's best to rest and call our companions tomorrow."

 

[Avari]

EPILOGUE
​

Chief-Inspector Morgan was not the kind of man to let any sort of situation get the better of him. In the twenty something years he had served in the force he had dealt with everything from petty knife crime to IRA bombings and whatever the problem he held fast to the same motto that had seem him through thick and thin: Keep calm, and get it done.

So when he had got a rather panicked phone call from the desk Sargent at two in the morning to inform him that Camden had basically been destroyed - he had simply thanked the man with a brisk tone and calmly asked him to get the team over there for immediate closure of the area. No fuss, no irate demand for answers; just a calm, orderly response.

Half an hour later, he stood in the center of Camden Town - or what was left of it - in a perfectly ironed uniform with glistening buttons, barking orders out in a concise fashion.

"Get a parameter set up from Camden High Street to King's cross. I don't want a single news team anywhere near!"

"I want armed officers at every bridge - No one is to cross without my permission!"

"Get those roads cleared, we need room for the ambulances..."

It didn't matter to him right now how this had all happened. It didn't matter how exactly it had all gone down so fast, without anyone noticing - those were questions for later. Right now it was his job to get everyone safe and he was going to do it right. Early estimates had put the number of injured at over a hundred. No bodies yet, thankfully but it was far too early to tell how truly lucky everyone had been. The damage from the storm was going to play havoc with the roads, might even be a case of getting the military involved...

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts, that he hadn't noticed one of the younger police constables was standing in front of him, holding a clipboard of all things and looking rather nervous.

"Um...sir?"

Morgan looked the man up and down - a kid really, couldn't have been more than twenty one. Probably new to the force. That was fine though - every body counted.

"Ah. Sorry didn't see you there..."

"Cook sir. C-constable Ben Cook."

"Well then Cook - I need you to get over to Greenland Road and-"

"O-oh. Sorry Sir." Cook replied, looking uncomfortable. "I was asked to let you know that someone called Kaysen is here and wants to speak with you? He was very...adamant sir."

For the first time that evening, Morgan visibly twitched. His hands clenched into fists and Cook inadvertently took a step back out of punching range, just in case.

"I'm s-sorry sir, it's just-"

"Where is he?" Morgan mumbled quietly. His eyes scrunched shut as if the very words he were uttering were causing him indescribable pain.

Cook winced as he pointed to somewhere behind Morgan. The Chief-Inspector span around to see a young, white haired man a small distance away. Wearing a waistcoat and suit, He was flanked by several heavily armed soldier types in black body armor, their faces hidden behind full helmets and visors. They looked like they were built for war, not disaster relief.

The man spotted him looking, and had the audacity to give him a cheerful wave.

"Who is he sir?" Cook wondered out loud. "...Wasn't he on TV the other day?"

"Yes. Yes he was." Morgan began to advance on the Kaysen - but not before pinching his nose and taking a deep breath. It had been around this time last year that Jack Kaysen had strutted in as if from nowhere and walked all over the police force with his expensive boots. Oh, it had all been very hush-hush up in head office of course. Morgan had been told just to keep his head down and not worry about it, but he had done a little digging himself...pulled a few strings with a couple of senior ministers that owed him some favors...

All he had found out was that Kaysen was in the employ of the government, on some sort of Special Ops team. And if the Chief-Inspector wanted to get his pension, he'd stop sniffing around so much. Now - Morgan wasn't a fool, nor was he one to allow himself to be bullied around by some bloody desk jockeys - but the thought of his wife and him having nothing when he finished with the force wasn't worth his pride. He had let it go.

And now, every few months - usually on the more inexplicable cases Morgan was in charge of, Kaysen would waltz in with his stupid hair and glimmer in his eye and take over the operation without so much as a cursory explanation.

Well. Not today.

​

Kaysen was giving orders to his own men. They replied in clipped tones, their voices were so heavily filtered through their helmets they sounded almost robotic before marching off in all directions - ignoring the Chief Inspector completely as they stomped past. Only a single one of the soldiers remained by Kaysen's side; an imposing giant who was no doubt the boys personal guard or some such. The gesture was not wasted on Morgan, but damn if he wasn't going to be intimidated by some teenager.

Kaysen had the audacity to smile at him. His piecing blue eyes practically glittering in the dark.

"Good Evening Chief Inspector. Thank you for your assistance so far - we'll be taking it from here."

"You can't just go wherever you want and start ordering my men about boy." Morgan growled in response.

"Of course I can." Kaysen replied smartly, a small smile appearing on his face. "I'm doing it right now - don't you see? I've been given complete command of this situation."

"By whose authority??"

"Oh, everyone pretty much - let me just..." Kaysen took a moment to dig into the inside pocket of his coat, and pulled out a rather official looking letter. He flicked it open dramatically.
"Yes.... Here we go. The Chief Super-Intendent, the Mayor of London, the Minister of State, the Prime Minister and.... Let's see here - ah! - here we are. The Queen."

Morgan felt a sudden surge of anger and snatched the letter from Kaysen's gloved hands, and quickly read through the letter.

He saw the signatures.

There were a lot of signatures.

"Is that enough authority for you?" Kaysen wondered quietly, as he plucked the letter out of the older mans hands and lovingly folded it before sliding it back into his pocket.

"I-"

"Splendid. Now - would you kindly move your fine officers out of the area? I dare say they may get in my way. Agent Black here will assist you in finding your way."

Morgan glanced at the soldier by Kaysen's side again who promptly removed their helmet.

It was a woman. Blonde hair tied into a tight bun, her expression cold. Without a word, she stepped forward and grabbed onto Morgan's arm with a vice-like grip.

"Wait just a min- unhand me right this-"

Kaysen was no longer listening to the man as he was promptly dragged away by his subordinate. He had already turned his attention back to the smoldering wreckage of Camden Town. Troops in black armor were spreading out in ever direction, blaring instructions to the wounded and emergency services alike. Guns were promptly drawn when compliance was too slow. Harsh - but time was of the essence tonight. He began to walk down the street, taking in the destruction all around him - the still smoldering buildings, the destroyed roads, the upturned cars, the weeping and sobbing of the injured who so far - oddly - could not quite explain what had happened...

​

He turned the corner, to see two of the troops crouched over something laying in the middle of the road. They both seemed to sense his approach and instantly snapped to attention.

"DIRECTOR." One greeted, his voice mechanically treated and practically booming. "WE HAVE A BODY."

"Oh?"

Kaysen approached to see the body in question - or rather, what was left of it. The body was wearing fine robes of white and gold - the sort one might expect to see somewhere like the Vatican, not in the middle of London. The robes were stained red with blood, and the body...

"Was it like this when you found it?" Kaysen asked the trooper.

"YES."

"How interesting." Kaysen glanced down at the shriveled, smoking body. Clearly, it had once been a man - but one would have thought that it had been left to rot for several weeks at this point. The skin had blackened and burnt, his face - reduced to a skull.

"WE FOUND THIS." The trooper growled, as he held up a golden mask - ornately decorated and emblazoned with symbols Kaysen recognized. It seemed to shimmer and glow in the dark, although there was no obvious power source.

Kaysen gently took the mask, admiring it. His own face reflected in the golden plate. A smile spread across his lips.

"It seems we have visitors."

END OF CHAPTER 1

​

MagicPenguin WillfulWren QizPizza koala Shotgunpenguin LoneSniper87 IG42​

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Juniper Arc
Streets of Covent Garden

"Right, lead the way." Juniper nodded and followed alongside her companion, leaving the two civilians who were following her to come back to reality from the memory wipe. With the barrier gone a slight drizzle of rain and a cool wind were able to assault the already cold girl. She found herself rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm them up, a useless endeavor as her entire outfit was soaked and ruined already. The two of them walked in relative silence, the sounds of sirens and the slight patter of rain were the only things that broke it. Morgana pulled out her cell phone, prompting Juniper to do the same as the two exchanged information. Juniper entered the numbers into her phone, and told Morgana that she only works during the day, although with the loss of her bike that might change soon.

The two of them stopped at a crossroads, Junipers apartment was a while down the left in the opposite direction of Morgana's. "Alright, I'll try to get in contact with Tannur as soon as I can." She turned to walk away, but paused and looked back. "Hey Morgana," she seemed unsure of what she wanted to say, but after a few seconds continued "Make sure you get home safe." Hell it was probably dumb saying that, she didn't need her to tell her that. But for some reason it made her feel better.

Her walk home was uneventful, most of the streets were barren as most sane people would be staying indoors because of the storm. There were one or two people outside, probably to check if there was any damage to their homes or businesses. She ignored them, quickening her pace when they noticed her and asked her if she was ok. The bleeding from the wound on her back had stopped, but it still itched and burned when her clothes rubbed against it. Combined with the rain and the cold Juniper was a shivering mess, huddling over herself as she rounded another corner.

It took a good twenty minutes for her to make it back to her apartment, as she unlocked the door and turned the lights on to the barren room. The first thing that she did was bolt the door behind her and throw off her soiled clothes. They laid in a wet pile by the corner as she entered the bathroom and turned on the sink, grabbing a small washcloth from under the cabinet. Wetting it, she gently began to dab and scrub the matted blood from where she could reach on her back, wincing when she brushed against the cut. It wasn't deep enough for serious concern, infection was more likely to kill her than this was, but that didn't mean she could ignore it.

After that was finished Juniper opened the cabinet again and pulled out a roll of bandages. Slowly, she began to wrap them around the cut on her back. When that was done, she wrapped a small amount over the cut on her forehead before placing the bandages back in the cabinet. She left her bathroom and made her way over to her bedding, a blanket and pillow laid on the floor. Sleep came easy to her, she had barely laid her head down before everything went black.

koala