Realistic or Modern BEING HUMAN

[IG42]

"Acrobatic? I'm no circus act but I've broken into plenty of upper floor windows before." Tannur left out the part where he hadn't done any of that since arriving on Earth but chasing Silver and her deciding she simply didn't feel like feel like walking by herself anymore had helped him get the hang of moving his new, smaller body around. "As long as it's nothing too crazy I sh-" He broke off sharply as the nearby locals began to yell again, looking around Tannur saw that Lucien had noticed the crowd and was making his way over to check that none of the people he was searching for were hiding among them.

Grabbing Ana and Morgana's wrists Tannur dragged the two of them out of sight again assuming that Juniper would have the good sense to follow them, hunkering down again he spoke rapidly. "Alright no more time for banter we need to handle him before he decides to just blast all those people instead of searching for us, I say Morgana and Juniper go get his attention and get him over by those shops over there." He gestured to a line of craft shops with an elevated concourse running along above them. "Me and Ana will try and jump him from the upper level and get that thing off of him. Any objections?"

koala LoneSniper87 Shotgunpenguin

 

[LoneSniper87]

"I agree. Let's get going, no more time to waste And with that she ascended up. The climbing, as little as there was, was surprisingly hard. She perched on the second floor landing, watching for the fallen angel to arrive. She couldn't wait to get a hold of the medallion, she wanted to personally kill him after all he's done.

 

[koala]

Loading ELENA. . .

Fading in and out of consciousness, Elena didn't perk up until she noticed Roland's faint silhouette making its way over. She offered a small smile, but her eyes were filled with a familiar sense of worry. He couldn't have lost Staxos so quickly, which meant him being there was putting them both in danger.

"No. No. Roland, I ca-." Elena grumbled, shaking her hands weakly when Roland said he'd remove the branch. Her argument was tossed out the window, however, when the object was suddenly pulled from her body. A loud, crushed groan and cry escaped her lips and she blurted out a jumble of slurs. Tears formed in her eyes and for the slightest second, everything went back. All she could feel was the burning sensation on her side as she almost glared at Roland in pain.

Taking off her raincoat, she hastily tore off the inner cotton material and asks Roland to tie it around her. Within a few quick movements, she was up on her feet and ready to move, even if she really wanted to lay down and cry for a few hours. However, a new figure soon came into view. Elena didn't know the girl, but from the rude way she spoke, she knew the girl was no good. Too weak, and quite frankly too nice, to say anything. "Let's go." She muttered quietly as they began to get out of plain sight.

As they walked, Elena was carefully scanning their surroundings for any sign of Staxos. She was trying to think of the best way to deal with powerful being with what they could use. The only thing that came to mind was toppling a building on him. Unless Staxos was actually the Hulk, that should do a little damage. But how could they even make a building fall? It wasn't as if there were any explosives lying around.

"The car." Elena said aloud, stopping in her place. She looked from Roland and then to the silver-haired girl. "Sorry. I was thinking of a way to handle Staxos. What if we were to lead him into a building and someone else drive a vehicle into one of its support beams? That would lead to the building toppling onto Staxos. I mean... I don't know if it'll actually kill him or anything but that's something... right?"

Location: Streets of Covent Garden

Date: --

Time: Too crazy to tell

Mentions: --

Interacting: Roland MagicPenguin , Silver WillfulWren

Spoiler

Fading in and out of consciousness, Elena didn't perk up until she noticed Roland's faint silhouette making its way over. She offered a small smile, but her eyes were filled with a familiar sense of worry. He couldn't have lost Staxos so quickly, which meant him being there was putting them both in danger.

"No. No. Roland, I ca-." Elena grumbled, shaking her hands weakly when Roland said he'd remove the branch. Her argument was tossed out the window, however, when the object was suddenly pulled from her body. A loud, crushed groan and cry escaped her lips and she blurted out a jumble of slurs. Tears formed in her eyes and for the slightest second, everything went back. All she could feel was the burning sensation on her side as she almost glared at Roland in pain.

Taking off her raincoat, she hastily tore off the inner cotton material and asks Roland to tie it around her. Within a few quick movements, she was up on her feet and ready to move, even if she really wanted to lay down and cry for a few hours. However, a new figure soon came into view. Elena didn't know the girl, but from the rude way she spoke, she knew the girl was no good. Too weak, and quite frankly too nice, to say anything. "Let's go." She muttered quietly as they began to get out of plain sight.

As they walked, Elena was carefully scanning their surroundings for any sign of Staxos. She was trying to think of the best way to deal with powerful being with what they could use. The only thing that came to mind was toppling a building on him. Unless Staxos was actually the Hulk, that should do a little damage. But how could they even make a building fall? It wasn't as if there were any explosives lying around.

"The car." Elena said aloud, stopping in her place. She looked from Roland and then to the silver-haired girl. "Sorry. I was thinking of a way to handle Staxos. What if we were to lead him into a building and someone else drive a vehicle into one of its support beams? That would lead to the building toppling onto Staxos. I mean... I don't know if it'll actually kill him or anything but that's something... right?"

 

[MagicPenguin]

Roland Fairchild
Flooded Streets

Roland walked alongside Elena as they moved away from the tree into which she had been thrown. Staxos would be back once he realized he'd been tricked; they needed to be away when he did. Much as it galled him to run away again, Roland knew that fighting Staxos without a plan was still suicide and he needed to tend to his injured friend first. Though she seemed able to walk on her own, the prince suspected that Elena was much less steady on her feet than she appeared. He stayed within arms distance of her in case she fell. On his other side was Silver walking with a puppy in her arms that she'd gotten from who knows where. How she could be so unconcerned with her mistress gone and death chasing them all around every corner, he did not understand. There was taking things as they came and then there was just plain obliviousness.

"You realize Staxos and Lucien are still out there, right?" he said to the shifter. "That they intend to kill us the way they killed Lucrezia?"

The albino walked slightly behind the others, clutching onto the dog tightly, apparently worried that he might run off, but she sped up a little when Roland spoke to her, splashing through puddles as if she didn't care about the cold water on her bare legs. She frowned, glaring at the redhead with pure venom. "Lucrezia isn't dead," she said fervently, red eyes burning with her desperate denial. "She can't be dead, she's too strong and great...and...and...She just can't." Her voice shook slightly, grip tightening on the puppy until he whined, causing her to stop.

"She could've fooled me," Roland replied sarcastically, "what with that spear through her chest and her blood in the streets."

Silver shook her head as if to clear it and suddenly donned a bright smile. She spoke with an abruptly cheerful and probably forced optimism completely at odds with her tone of a second ago. "They can't kill us if we kill them first!"

"True enough," Roland said wearily. "Easier said than done, though. It's all I can do just to avoid getting killed myself. I don't suppose anyone here has any bright ideas about how to turn the tables on him?"

On the other side of him, Elena suddenly stopped in her tracks. Roland half expected the injured girl was about to collapse, so he turned to her and held out his arm as if to catch her. He was surprised, however, to see she was completely steady on her feet despite her grievous wound. "A car," she said softly, as if to herself.

"Elena?" Roland asked, puzzled.

"Sorry," she responded. "I was thinking of a way to handle Staxos. What if we were to lead him into a building and someone else drive a vehicle into one of its support beams? That would lead to the building toppling onto Staxos. I mean... I don't know if it'll actually kill him or anything but that's something... right?"

"It...would leave a mark, probably. He's not invincible, no matter how much magic he has, but...taking down a whole building might not be as simple as driving a car into it. Not unless the building was already..." Roland's eyes widened as an idea slowly came to him. "I...think I know how we can make this idea work. If we do it right. Elena, I assume you have a car in mind that we can use?"

Elena nodded. “I drove a car into this area. It shouldn’t be too far from where we’re standing, so I can bring it to where it’s needed.”

"I see. Perfect, then. Are you sure you want to do this, though? You're badly hurt and you could die. You should run and hide. It isn't your fight and I certainly won't force you. Just tell me where the car is and I'll find a way to do it myself."

“I knew what I signed up for when I decided to come back," she responded. "Don’t worry about me."

Roland looked at the woman with a bit of surprise at her courage and a new, rapidly growing sense of respect. It felt as if he were seeing her for the first time. Here she stood, injured and bleeding nearly to the point of unconsciousness, and she was still offering to risk her life to fight a nearly immortal masked maniac. She had no duty to do this, no obligation to stay, but still she freely offered. All for someone she hardly knew, for a group of people not even of her world. When he first met her, Roland thought the girl a little too soft, but now he was quickly re-visiting that hasty assessment. "You're made of tougher stuff than I thought," he told her with genuine admiration. "Much tougher."

"All right, then," he said, satisfied. He turned back to Silver warily. He did not trust her. He did not like her. The thought of working with her made him nearly sick to his stomach. He was not entirely sure she wouldn't try to stab him in the back before this whole thing was through. But he had no one else right now and if he didn't work with her, they'd probably both die and everyone else on both sides, perhaps even everyone in this city, right along with them. "And what about you, girl? You and I are enemies. You've killed friends of mine and I've probably killed friends of yours. That said, we've both been betrayed by those who should have been among our closest allies. Are you willing to put our war aside, call a temporary truce, and work together until these traitorous insects are exterminated?"

A long, blank stare of apparent confusion was all Roland got in response. Gradually, he could see the gears beginning to turn behind the shifter's eyes, her mind arduously working through some complicated problem. Roland was about to ask again with simpler words when all of a sudden, those scarlet eyes widened as - finally - she seemed to work out the answer to whatever her problem was and the penny dropped. Almost along with herself, as she stumbled and only barely managed to right herself again.

"You're the hero! With the glowy sword!"

At that, Roland nearly tripped and fell himself. He couldn't help himself from choking out a loud laugh. "You only just realized that now?!" He hefted the golden sword in his right hand before her eyes. "What with the glowing sword in my hand and the dragons on my arms? The offers for surrender and trial in Alcamoth? Seriously?" He guffawed again. She deserves a genius award, this girl. "Apparently your brother Marcus inherited all the common sense in your family," he joked. She merely gave him a very blank stare at that, which just made Roland laugh even harder. The boy was overly nervous sometimes, but, despite his youth and inexperience, he usually put two and two together pretty quickly on his own, sometimes even before Roland himself and others could. Evidently, his sister did not share that trait.

She bit her lip in thought. "I think Lucrezia would want me to kill you... But she isn't here, and I'm sure she would want me to kill Lucien too... Okay! Truce!"

Biting back the desire to laugh again, Roland held out his hand to shake on it. "All right, then. Truce," he said with a blessedly straight face.

"Well," he said to his two companions, "since we're all in agreement, here's what we're going to do." The three hunkered down in a nearby building and hashed out the details of how they were going to kill the nigh un-killable High Sentinel Staxos.

Some ten minutes or so later, the three of them had a plan and were in their respective positions to execute it. Roland waited alone near the tree where Elena had been injured. He knew Staxos would come back here eventually to try and trace Roland's movements. The prince was hiding behind a dumpster in front of a building some thirty feet away from the tree, eagerly awaiting the High Sentinel's arrival. As he expected, it was not long before the shining figure with the bloody lance came striding back around the corner. He passed by the dumpster behind which Roland hid without even a second glace and made his way over to the tree to kneel down and inspect the branch still wet with Elena's blood. Likely, he intended to look for a blood trail and follow it to Elena, where he expected Roland would be as well. The red-headed prince saved him the need for the detective work; he stepped out from behind his dumpster to stand out in the open once the High Sentinel was a good distance away from him.

"Staxos!" he called. The High Sentinel turned back to face him. "Traitor! You want this sword? Come and take it, if you can, fool!" Roland turned and jogged back toward the intersection in which the building Lucien blasted had fallen down. He moved quick enough to stay well out of Staxos's reach, but slowly enough that he was sure that he was always within the man's line of sight, even when he was still walking as slowly and casually as a man taking a stroll through the garden. Once back in the area with the fallen building, Roland rushed past the debris, trying his best not to dwell on the memory of the structure collapsing right on top of Arryn's head, and on toward the place he was looking for: the still-burning restaurant across the street from the cafe. The second floor was all but obliterated after the fire spirit's earlier explosion, two outer walls missing and ceiling collapsed in on itself, but the first floor was still standing, if only just barely. Through the windows, Roland could see hazy smoke and bright orange dancing flames still burning brightly even now. The hero turned around to make sure Staxos was still following him, which he was, though still at his interminably snail-like pace. What the man was hoping to accomplish moving so slowly, Roland could not possibly imagine. He supposed he had no room to complain about it, though. Just near Staxos, Roland smirked as he noted the silver car parked on the side of the road--one among many, but the only one that currently had a passenger. Its lights were on and its windshield wipers were flying back and forth rhythmically.

When he was sure Staxos saw him, Roland entered the burning restaurant once again. He ducked low to the ground, trying to avoid inhaling smoke as much as possible before the coming showdown. He moved into the main seating area, relatively small compared to most restaurants with only a few tables and booths for customers. Spread around the room were four columns, some smoldering on fire and others still standing firm. Roland took careful note of their positions, then turned to the door through which he'd entered just in time to see Staxos stroll through. The man simply stopped once inside and seemed to glare through his mask at Roland where he stood in the center of the burning room as if to say, "what now?" If he suspected a trap, he showed no signs of it.

"I tire of playing defense," Roland declared loudly as he took an offensive stance with his sword in hand. "No more running. Now, I've decided it's time to kill you. Do you think you can defeat me as easily as you did Lucrezia? Prepare yourself, snake." Staxos still said nothing; he merely twirled his glowing spear skillfully all about his body, spinning it so quickly the blade blurred past the point that Roland was able to follow it with his eyes. Carefully, Roland lunged forward and thrust his sword at the man's chest. Before he could get anywhere near, of course, Staxos used his lance in one hand and easily intercepted the blow, forcing Shadowsbane to the side. The parry was quickly followed by the blade on the other end of the weapon whirling at Roland's now undefended face. Gasping in surprise, the prince ducked the blow, though a few red hairs were neatly sliced from the top of his head. Not stopping to give Roland a chance to breathe, the High Sentinel pressed his attack, thrusting at Roland's kneeling body; the prince turned one blow, dodged another, and was grazed by the third as he took three quick steps backward toward one of the burning columns behind him.

Roland took another step back to avoid a sideways swipe at his torso the likes of which had been Daniel Payne's undoing. It was promptly followed by a lighting quick stab at his face, which Roland forced aside with Shadowsbane. This man spent so much time plotting his petty political schemes and giving high-handed sermons about the Light on Aether, Roland had forgotten just how adept he was with that weapon. He commanded such skill with it that it was as though the golden double-bladed spear were an extra limb. He maneuvered it in fluid, graceful arcs, flowing seamlessly from one attack into the next, leaving no openings for Roland to do anything but dodge, block, and retreat. One second attacking his head, the next his legs, then his torso, Staxos pressed his advantage relentlessly. Up, down, left, right, the blows came nearly faster than Roland could keep up with, raining down on him like the water in the hurricane outside the barrier. As his attacks intensified in speed and power, Staxos took one sure step forward after another, forcing Roland to take several steps back in turn. Wide-eyed and struggling not to panic under the merciless assault, Roland forgot about offense entirely; it was all he could do not to get skewered. He tried to take yet another step back to avoid a slash meant to separate his head from his shoulders, but found suddenly that he could move back no further; the column was behind him now. "Ah!" Roland gasped as he dove to his right, over a burning table, and landed in a roll on the other side of it. The column where he'd just been standing fell hard to the floor, sliced cleanly in two, and the building seemed to creak and groan under the assault. If he'd been standing there just a microsecond longer, Roland thought, he would've been sliced through just as cleanly.

The hero rose cautiously to his feet. "Is that all you've got," Roland asked over the flames engulfing the table between him and the High Sentinel, trying not to sound too flustered. His palms were sweaty and his limbs were shaking with the effort of barely parrying all of Staxos's attacks before they could mortally injure him. Despite his outward display of cockiness, he was not sure how much longer he could withstand this man's might. He wasn't even using his magic yet. With a cry and a burst of adrenaline fueled strength, Roland pushed his free hand underneath the table between him and Staxos, ignoring the burning pain from the flames, and upended it straight at him. The move was intended to distract the High Sentinel long enough for Roland to close in and land a blow. He could not get close enough otherwise, not with Staxos wielding that long lance and Roland just a stubby short sword. The table exploded in a shower of wood and fire as Staxos sliced through it effortlessly and Roland attempted to dart in for a quick stab. He thrust his sword at Staxos's unprotected torso while he had an opening. For a response, Staxos merely tsked and threw the fist of his free left hand into Roland's stomach, cutting the prince's short lived assault even shorter. Roland began to double over in pain, but not before Staxos followed up his blow with another wicked punch straight to his face, such force behind the blow that it sent Roland flying backward into another thick, fiery column. It snapped like a twig under the prince's weight.

The air knocked out of him and his broken nose a bloody, swollen ruin in the middle of his face, Roland could do no more than lay pathetically where he fell and clutch pitifully at the hilt of his sword. Staxos took the three steps toward his crumpled form, staff raised for the killing blow. Roland paid no attention to his impending doom, however. His pleading eyes fell instead on the slender silhouette behind Staxos, hoping against hope that his life was not yet doomed to end.

Interacting: WillfulWren koala Avari

Written in collaboration with WillfulWren and koala

 

[WillfulWren]

Silver Ferae, Flooded Streets -> Burning Building, MagicPenguin Avari koala
After that short conversation and the declaration of a temporary truce (What did temporary mean, again? She had forgotten. Oh well, it couldn't be important) Silver went back to the back of the group, brow furrowed in thought. I don't have a brother. He's just stupid. She thought to herself. That was the only logical way she could look at that offhand comment: Th hero had been hit on the head and was being an idiot, or mistaken her for someone else.

And yet, the name he had mentioned - Marcus - seemed gut-churningly familiar, like she had heard it before. She murmured it to herself as quietly as she could, trying to picture where she had heard it before and coming up empty. As the particulars of a plan started to be discussed, however, she pushed the thoughts of a brother aside, trying her best to focus on the plan.

She barely understood it in the end, but she made an effort, which was more than she'd normally manage. Throughout the explanation, things kept drawing her attention away. A bug landing on her arm, an empty crisp packet drifting on the miniature stream made by the floods... But she got the gist of it. Hopefully. Prince Roland - she was going to tell him off for lying about his name, as soon as they were out of danger - was going to distract Staxos, along with herself, who was obviously a better distraction, even if no one else seemed to think so, and the stupid girl who had got stuck on a tree was going to drive a car into the building after something had been destroyed, and then the building would collapse on Staxos. She didn't know where she was meant to go while the building was busy collapsing, but she didn't question it. Roland might laugh at her again.

Using his damp, ripped up leash, Silver tied Hogan to a railing in a side street away from the burning building, petting him behind the ears and promising in a whisper to come back soon. It seems she can be nice and caring... Just not to humans. Hearing Roland and Staxos draw closer, she moved around to the back of the building, slipping in through the staff entrance. By smashing the window and reaching in to open the door. Darting through the kitchen and ducking behind the counter in the main restuarant, Silver waited until her talents as a distraction were needed.

Hidden behind the counter, she watched the fight between Roland and Staxos with wide eyes. Before, she - inevitably, one might say - got distracted by the pattern of broken glass across the floor, and how prettily it reflected the flames. When she finally remembered she was supposed to be doing something and sneaked a look over the top of the counter, Roland was on the ground, the Sentinel approaching, staff aloft for a killing strike...

And Silver froze. That was the Hero, the man who had been out to kill her queen from the start. If she turned and fled, she could hide, climb up a tree somewhere and stay there until the danger passed. And then her queen would stop playing dead and would deal with Staxos herself. Boom. Two birds with one stone. And Silver herself wouldn't draw Staxos's attention to herself.

She took a few steps backwards, and... Stumbled, slicing her leg open on the glass with a yelp of pain.

Well, no chance of remaining unnoticed now.


Silver gritted her teeth against the pain and went around the counter, yelling as loud as she could to draw his attention away from the fallen prince. "Hey! Stupidface! The... The church of Light is dumb! And so is that mask!" And then she threw a piece of table at his head. Apparently she is a good distraction after all.

Staxos's attention hadn't shifted at the shout. He remained focused on finishing off his prey to the exclusion of every other thing in the area. That was a good thing, though, because it meant when she threw the table leg, he didn't know he should duck until it was too late to do anything about it. It caught him cleanly in the back of the head, pushing his face down with a grunt and preventing the killing blow from finding the hero. That was all the distraction Prince Roland needed. The red-head grabbed his glowy sword and sprang from his fetal position on the ground quick as a striking cobra. Staxos moved in time to avoid the sword going into his heart, but the shining blade still got him in the side, leaving a painful-looking gash. With a growl, the shiny high sentinel kicked Roland off of him, forcing the sword out and the prince back. In a rage, he launched himself at the prince, the golden staff again spinning in a blurringly fast series of arcs. The prince was back to blocking his blows and dodging.

"Ha! You're slower now, Staxos. What's wrong? Did that little cut hurt," asked the prince with mock sympathy. Though he still wasn't attacking, Roland seemed to have a lot less trouble keeping up with Staxos's movements than he had before.

"Silver," Roland called to her in an uncharacteristically nasally voice in between blocking Staxos's attacks, "I'll keep him occupied! The columns! Take down the other two columns! Quickly!"

Oh, right. Columns. That's what the pair of them were meant to be wrecking. Silver nodded, darting towards the closest. It was creaking alarmingly - almost enough to make her wonder if the building would collapse just from knocking it over. Large cracks split the plasterwork apart, and Silver picked up a chair. Slamming it into the place where most of the cracks met, over and over again until the column buckled and toppled.

"Okay, next one," She muttered to herself, discarding that chair, which was now missing a few of it's legs - them having been snapped off - and hurrying to the other column. This one was groaning and creaking loudly, cracking more and more by the second. Large flakes of plaster were falling off... And then she kicked it, over and over, before slamming into it with all her strength. It collapsed.

"Hey, Roland! Or Ronald! Whatever your name is! Time to go!" She yelled, ignoring the pain in her wounded leg to head out the way she had came, jumping over the counter and out through the kitchen door.

"Right. Just in time, too," the prince replied from near a window over by the front door where Staxos's aggressive onslaught had forced him. Any further, and the man would be pushed into a corner with nowhere left to run.

"Well, Staxos," he said conversationally, "this has been fun, catching up, but I think our time here is just about done." Without turning his back on his attacker, Roland ducked under Staxos's latest attempt to cut his head off and then leapt backwards straight into the window; the already cracked glass shattered into a million pieces and Roland landed on the other side in a roll. Staxos moved to follow, but not before Roland turned and yelled down the street in a seemingly random direction.

"ELENA! NOW! DO IT NOW!"

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Juniper Arc
Streets of Summerset

"None here. Just make sure you stay out of sight until we lead him there. Lucien may not be smart but if he sees all of us together he's likely to just scorch the entire street." Juniper nodded before turning to Morgana "As soon as we get the amulet we need to get back to Hannah as fast as possible. No matter what happens just keep running." Taking a deep breath she rose from her crouched position and walked out of the alley. Lucien was still busy trying to find any of them inside of the group of fleeing civilians, although the growing orb of energy in his hand hinted at his growing frustration.

"Hey bird-brain!" She shouted, hoping to turn his attention towards her. She didn't really have a plan, not much time for that, but then again she was pretty sure that whatever plan she did have would go out the window as soon as Lucien started to focus on her. For right now getting him closer was probably a good start. "You think that Lucrezia trusted you? She trusted me more than you, and I'm just a lowly human!" Juniper started to back towards the craft shops that Tannur had pointed out, hoping that Lucein wouldn't just kill her outright. "She didn't even trust you to know the plan for the least likely scenario, for what to do if she ever fell!" She jerked her thumb at herself while putting on the most shit-eating grin that she could manage "You want to prove your loyalty! Then come down here face to face and I'll tell you how you can prove it! Come down and I'll tell you how to revive the Queen!"

IG42 , koala , Avari , LoneSniper87

 

[Avari]

Lucien glanced around, picking up a clear voice amidst the screams of the fleeing crowds and roaring fires. His eyes narrowed at Juniper, but visibly grimaced in annoyance at her words. With a powerful flap of his wings, that caused strong blasts of air to push out in all directions - he changed his course to focus on the Human who was hurling insults at him.

"Ugh. All kinds of people today..." He muttered to himself, clearly becoming rather fed up with the whole thing. For a moment it looked like he was going to blast the girl there and then with the magical orb he had been preparing, but instead a cold smirk flashed over his features as he climbed higher into the air.

"Lucrezia never trusted anyone. If you thought she did, you didn't know a thing about her." He called down, bringing his arm up to ready a deadly blast.
"But hey! Maybe you can ask her about it in the afterlife."

He hadn't noticed Ana, perched like a praying mantis preparing to strike.


---

LoneSniper87 Shotgunpenguin

 

[IG42]

Having followed Ana up top Tannur crouched next to her while they waited for the other two to get Lucien into position. Hearing the dark angel take Juniper's bait he whispered to Ana. "Here he comes. You should go first, if he gets you off he'll more likely focus on you and not look out for a second sneak attack after you got him earlier." He hesitated for a moment then handed her one of his spare knives, she seemed sensible enough not to stab him in the back at least while everything was going on. "Here, you lost yours the first time right?"

LoneSniper87

 

[koala]

Loading world for MORGANA. . .

Distracting Lucien wouldn't be a problem normally if she hadn't already overexerted herself. Morgana could barely recall how many kilometers she'd ran and objects she'd throw herself over. A weakling wasn't who she was, however, so the exhausted woman only nodded in reply to Tannur, turning to Juniper to confirm the red-head had also gotten the message.

At the mention of acrobatics, the brunette couldn't help but snicker. A circus doer would've been the perfect role for Tannur but she decided to keep the words to herself. Arousing and tension was the last thing the woman wanted, especially with their current situation. On any other day, Morgana would've been more than entertained from bickering with the thieving half-elf.

Everyone began getting into place, Morgana lagging behind Juniper somewhat. She was about to get up from her crouched position, but her companion's words stopped her. Plan? What plan? The banshee's eyes showed her obvious befuddlement, her first thoughts going to why Juniper knew of this plan and not her. There was a small, unrecognizable sting in her chest the more she dwelled on it, unable to tear her gaze away from the other woman. However, she finally managed to at least blink and return her attention to the task at hand.

"You are behaving like a child, Lucien." Morgana stated, noticing the fallen angel's growing irritation. "No wonder you could never win against me in hand-to-hand." Those words seemed to do it. The negative energy in the man's eyes could be seen for meters and the tension grow as he moved closer to the target spot.

Any time now.

Location: Streets of Covent Garden

Date: --

Time: Too crazy to tell

Mentions: --

Interacting: Juniper Shotgunpenguin , Tannur IG42 , Ana LoneSniper87

Spoiler

Distracting Lucien wouldn't be a problem normally if she hadn't already overexerted herself. Morgana could barely recall how many kilometers she'd ran and objects she'd throw herself over. A weakling wasn't who she was, however, so the exhausted woman only nodded in reply to Tannur, turning to Juniper to confirm the red-head had also gotten the message.

At the mention of acrobatics, the brunette couldn't help but snicker. A circus doer would've been the perfect role for Tannur but she decided to keep the words to herself. Arousing and tension was the last thing the woman wanted, especially with their current situation. On any other day, Morgana would've been more than entertained from bickering with the thieving half-elf.

Everyone began getting into place, Morgana lagging behind Juniper somewhat. She was about to get up from her crouched position, but her companion's words stopped her. Plan? What plan? The banshee's eyes showed her obvious befuddlement, her first thoughts going to why Juniper knew of this plan and not her. There was a small, unrecognizable sting in her chest the more she dwelled on it, unable to tear her gaze away from the other woman. However, she finally managed to at least blink and return her attention to the task at hand.

"You are behaving like a child, Lucien." Morgana stated, noticing the fallen angel's growing irritation. "No wonder you could never win against me in hand-to-hand." Those words seemed to do it. The negative energy in the man's eyes could be seen for meters and the tension grow as he moved closer to the target spot.

Any time now.

 

[LoneSniper87]

Anastasia Kochenkov

Ana sat silently, waiting for her shot. Eventually she saw Lucien come around, being edged closer until she sat directly over him. She at this moment dropped from the scaffold, aiming to come down on him and wrench that medal off his neck. She managed to get herself on him, trying to grab for the chain if the medallion, pain radiating in her shoulders.
Avari

 

[koala]

Loading ELENA. . .

She was sitting in the driver's seat, body leaned forwards slightly with one arm wrapped around her waist. The adrenaline had worn out long ago and there was nothing left except pain--excruciating pain. The woman sat there with tears rolling down her cheeks, lip trembling as she tried not to sob or cough out any bodily fluid. Where that brave woman only ten minutes ago had gone, she didn't know. There was only an injured girl on the brink of unconsciousness.

Elena's eyelids fell slowly before fluttering open. The rhythmic movement of her breathing and the sound of the car's engine was putting her to sleep. No, no! She thought to herself before slapping the side of her cheek a little too hard. Surprised at her own strength, the woman rubbed her flushed face slightly to ease the burning sensation before she was suddenly jolted into action.

"ELENA! NOW! DO IT NOW!"

Alarmed and without any hesitation, the blonde slammed on the breaks. The silver vehicle began to speed up with ever meter and her heart kept beating faster and faster. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the door handle, she prepped herself to jump and prayed she didn't get anymore hurt than she was physically. The door handle, however, didn't budge.

Panic arouse for a few seconds as she kept her foot on the acceleration while her hands pulled aggressively on the handle. Finally, the door swung open and with all her might, Elena launched herself out of the speeding car and used her arms to protect her face and head. The woman rolled like a barrel until she came to a complete stop on her stomach. By then, however, the unconscious state she'd fought so hard to stay out of was winning.

After the loud crash of car to building filled the air, Elena blinked a few times before everything went black.

Location: Streets of Covent Garden

Date: --

Time: Too crazy to tell

Mentions: --

Interacting: Roland MagicPenguin , Silver WillfulWren

Spoiler

She was sitting in the driver's seat, body leaned forwards slightly with one arm wrapped around her waist. The adrenaline had worn out long ago and there was nothing left except pain--excruciating pain. The woman sat there with tears rolling down her cheeks, lip trembling as she tried not to sob or cough out any bodily fluid. Where that brave woman only ten minutes ago had gone, she didn't know. There was only an injured girl on the brink of unconsciousness.

Elena's eyelids fell slowly before fluttering open. The rhythmic movement of her breathing and the sound of the car's engine was putting her to sleep. No, no! She thought to herself before slapping the side of her cheek a little too hard. Surprised at her own strength, the woman rubbed her flushed face slightly to ease the burning sensation before she was suddenly jolted into action.

"ELENA! NOW! DO IT NOW!"

Alarmed and without any hesitation, the blonde slammed on the breaks. The silver vehicle began to speed up with ever meter and her heart kept beating faster and faster. With one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the door handle, she prepped herself to jump and prayed she didn't get anymore hurt than she was physically. The door handle, however, didn't budge.

Panic arouse for a few seconds as she kept her foot on the acceleration while her hands pulled aggressively on the handle. Finally, the door swung open and with all her might, Elena launched herself out of the speeding car and used her arms to protect her face and head. The woman rolled like a barrel until she came to a complete stop on her stomach. By then, however, the unconscious state she'd fought so hard to stay out of was winning.

After the loud crash of car to building filled the air, Elena blinked a few times before everything went black.

 

[Avari]

Lucien gave a cry of surprise as the unknown assailant grabbed on to him, an arm around his neck and another clawing at the medallion that was now dangling from it. He panicked and thrashed, his huge black wings prevented from opening by Ana as they both began to tumble to the ground, thrashing and struggling. Ana's knife stabbed desperately at his right side as the woman tried to hold on - only for the metal to shatter like glass against his skin as the one from earlier. Lucien clearly felt it however, as he snarled in anger and his elbow connected with Ana's nose. Ana's vision promptly went white, and there was the ugly sound of a loud crack as her nose took the brunt of the strike. She felt something hot dribbling down her chin. Ignoring the pain, her left hand remained tightly clenched around the golden chain keeping the medallion in place - and with a final, painful effort she pulled with all her might.

There was the sound of a snap as the golden chain cracked. Ana desperately reached for the medallion that began to fall, just as Lucien did only for the pearl like jewel to slip through her fingers and plummet to the ground. Before the fighting pair could do anything else however, the medallion gave out a pulse of magic in protest, and Lucien and Ana found themselves separated and blasting off in different directions.

It was a few seconds later, with the world spinning and her vision fading she felt something break her fall.

It was Juniper.


--

LoneSniper87
Shotgunpenguin

 

[IG42]

Crouching on the upper floor Tannur gripped the railing in front of him ready to vault it should Lucien manage to throw Ana off, he itched to get in the fight but he was just as likely to knock Ana off of the dark angel or hurt both of them in the process. Fortunately his hold on the railing allowed him to keep from being blown backward by sudden burst of magic, shaking it off he saw the medallion rolling on the ground.

Seeing the opportunity he swung over the railing and lowered himself down to ground level, rushing over to the fallen pearl he snatched it up and clutched it tightly in his fist sucking in a sharp breath at the familiar feeling of the mana within. "I have it!" He called out to his companions and looked for them seeing a bleeding Ana lying on top of Juniper. "Damn, Morgana you still up go? Good hold this and let's!" Lucien probably still had at least a little mana inside him he could use and it was never a good idea to stick around after a heist anyway, pressing the pearl into Morgana's hand he ran over to the two downed women and pulled Ana up barely managing to support her dead weight. "Juniper are you awake?!"

LoneSniper87 koala Shotgunpenguin

 

[LoneSniper87]

Anastasia Kochenkov

Ana shook her head. Everything hurt. Something warm and sticky flooded down her face, leaving a metallic taste in her mouth every time she sucked in a breath. She shook her head groggily, feeling like she was hauled up. Her eyes fluttered open, looking around to see she was being dragged by the man from before. Her eyes were ringing, so she couldn't make out what was said. Her worls was fading in and out it felt like, certain things coming in and out of focus randomly. "Hmm...?" She let out a confused grunt, trying to plant her feet into the ground.

 

[MagicPenguin]

Roland Fairchild
Flooded Streets

Covered from tip to toe in small cuts and bruises, his bleeding and probably broken nose aching horribly, Roland ran as hard and fast as his tired legs would carry him away from the burning wreckage of the restaurant as Elena's silver vehicle smashed into its front wall at high velocity. Roland looked back only long enough to see his view of Staxos in the restaurant's front window obscured when the car plowed into his shining torso and forced him further back inside. Roland turned back and ran to Elena's un-moving body on the floor some thirty feet from the impact, face down in the floodwaters and likely to drown in them if she stayed there for much longer. Enduring as best he could the booming sound and violent vibrations of crumbling and crashing behind him, Roland spared as little time as he could to scoop the unconscious girl into his arms face up and continue his mad dash away from danger. Despite how light she was, Roland found it a surprising struggle to carry her; his arms and legs felt like wet noodles after fending off Staxos's punishing strikes for so long, not to mention all the running and climbing he'd done just prior. Only when he reached the cafe across the street did Roland judge he was a safe enough distance that the two of them were no longer in danger of being squashed or hit by flying debris. Exhausted, he lay Elena in a sitting position up against the side of the building and plopped beside her himself, each breath coming with a struggle, utterly out of energy now. He threw a cursory glance over her abdominal wound and was pleased to find it was still safely covered and had not reopened despite the girl's exertions.

Satisfied of her immediate safety, the red-head turned back to the scene of the falling restaurant. By now, the wall with which the car collided had crumpled like tin foil. The ceiling and what was left of the second floor had apparently crumbled inward shortly after, for they now lay in rubble atop the flaming remains of the first. The last three walls still stood, surprisingly, though they looked as though they could fall at any moment under no more than a light breeze. This lasted only a few seconds, though, until another explosion from beneath the rubble sent huge chunks of stone and burning wood flying outward in every direction and the three remaining walls crumbled just as surely as the first. Roland felt the force and the heat of the big bang even from the relative safety of his current position. If he had to guess, he'd say that was the car blowing up, either from the fire or from something Staxos had done to it before the whole thing came down on top of him. Looking at the flames and the destruction, Roland couldn't help but grin with savage pride. No matter how powerful he was, Staxos was going to feel that one. He'd probably be too injured to cause them any more problems after an ordeal like that. If he even survived at all, that is. Roland wasn't actually sure anyone who'd been anywhere near that collapse could still be alive. His grin faded as his thoughts turned to Silver. He wondered if she had gotten away in time or if she was somewhere beneath all that wreckage, crushed to death beyond any recognition right alongside the traitor she'd helped him defeat. Roland was surprised when he felt a pang of worry for the girl and stamped down on it ruthlessly. He tried to convince himself his worry was all for Marcus once the poor boy found out what happened to his sister. As for her, the world would probably be a better place without murderous, callous creatures like that in it. That was the thought he clung to as he surveyed the ruins, but he did not notice, nor could he help, the concerned grimace on his face nor the furrow in his brow as he thought of the silver haired shape shifter and all she had done to help him.

Silver clearly hadn't been crushed, however, as after several long moments she emerged from a side street, limping slightly and leaving a bloody trail from her cut leg. The wound was gaping wide - clearly in need of stitches - and her jaw was clenched, though she managed a smile as she waved at Roland and bounded up to him, seemingly forgetting the pain. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, a sigh that most certainly was not one of relief, he told himself firmly.

"Well? Did we kill him," she asked.

"I don't know," he replied. He winced when his words came out in an embarrassingly nasally voice thanks to his ruined nose. "Hard to imagine anyone could survive that. Until we see a body there's no way to know for sure, unfortunately. We should probably get out of here in case he IS still alive." He gestured to the girl's badly bleeding leg. "Don't you think you should do something about that first, though?"

Silver looked down at her leg and shrugged. "It isn't that bad... It doesn't even hurt!"
A total lie, as she wasn't even putting any weight on it, and her eyes were shining with what could have been tears - but she wasn't planning on looking dumb in front of the hero. "What if he chases us when we aren't... Like... Umm..." Silver frowned, trying to remember her train of thought. "Oh! What if he sneaks up on us?"

Roland tsked in annoyance. "He won't be able to sneak up on us if he doesn't know where we're going. Which he will, if you leave him a gigantic trail of blood to follow, fool. Just what do you intend to do? Bleed until you pass out and I have to carry you? You can get that out of your head right now, because I'll leave you crumpled in the street for the vultures before I start hauling you around to save you from your own idiocy."

"I'm not a fool!" The girl snarled, hands balling up into fists, and glaring at him.

Using Shadowsbane, Roland carefully cut a strip of cloth out of his blue trousers near the ankle, a strip of cloth a bit less than a forearm's length and about a hand's width, leaving his left ankle bare to his lower calf. First his shirt burned to cinders and now he was slicing his pants up for clean cloth; by the time this night was over, he thought sourly, he was going to be completely naked. He thrust the strip of cloth at Silver. "Fix it," he commanded her.

"You're the idiot.." She muttered, but snatched the piece of fabric, looking between him and it for several long seconds before she quietly admitted:
"I don't know how to fix it..."

Roland raised his eyebrow questioningly. "Aren't you a soldier? Haven't you seen injuries on the battlefield? How do you not know how to...ugh. Never mind. Just tie it around the wound. Make sure it's tight enough to put pressure on the cut. The pressure will hopefully stop the bleeding, eventually. You'll need something more permanent later--likely stitches if it's as deep as it looks--but that will have to do for now." The hero was again struck by how different this girl was from her supposed brother; he'd seen Marcus make tourniquets more than once with a sure hand. He'd even bandaged up Roland himself once or twice while they were on the march. The two shifters looked similar enough, but they were like polar opposites in just about every other way that Roland could see. "Perhaps the kid was just mistaken about her..." he muttered under his breath absently.

"I'm... I'm a fighter, yeah, but other people take care of things like this. I'm really important, remember?" Proudly puffing up her chest to announce: "I'm one of Lucrezia's closest confidantes!"

"Well, wasn't she lucky," he interjected bemusedly.

Still, she got on the ground and followed his instructions, tongue sticking out slightly as she concentrated. The end result was messy but workable, and she looked up at Roland with wide eyes. "Like that?"

"It'll do," he told her. At least she wasn't leaking everywhere anymore. "We should get moving." Roland looked up again at the destroyed, smoldering restaurant. The debris had settled now and all seemed quiet. "Staxos is done, but Lucien's still out there." The aches in his tired muscles seemed to spike painfully in response to the thought of more fighting, but there was no helping it. Finding the man shouldn't be hard, if the explosions going off periodically somewhere to the north were any clue to his whereabouts. First things first, though. He had to hide Elena somewhere safe. He also wanted to get in contact with Ana, if he could; they had a better chance fighting the dark angel together than alone, if not by much. He hoisted himself to his feet from his sitting position against the wall and rolled his shoulders and limbs to ease the stiffness settling into them. Eying his sword in his right hand and Elena, whom he'd have to carry, on the ground, Roland wished for what felt like the millionth time tonight that the sword had come with a scabbard. It was very inconvenient that he had to carry his blade in his hand at all times. Thinking of no better solution, he placed the blade in the small gap between his underwear and the waist of his trousers; he'd have to move carefully if he wanted to avoid cutting himself or his clothing, but there wasn't much else he could do. He knelt again to lift Elena and carefully arranged her on his back into a piggyback position so he could carry her and use his hands at the same time.

"Come on," he told the shifter as he started to walk down the street to find a relatively safe building in which to drop his unconscious charge. "Let's get going. We'll find somewhere safe for her and then try to find Lucien. Maybe we can make contact with some of our other allies while we're at it." He made it a few feet before chaos erupted.

A rumble.

It was the sound of heavy stone being scrapped across other stone. The sound of solid metal screeching in protest as it was bent and snapped. The noise echoed throughout the street and through the alleyways. The solid floor beneath their feet gave an ominous shake as huge slabs of stone that had once been part of the restaurant's roof fell from their place at the top of the pile of wreckage and shattered on the floor.

And then suddenly, without warning a blast of golden light exploded from within the core of the building's dilapidated corpse. Stone was thrown out high into the air, only to tumble and rain down in a deadly hail. It was a lucky thing that no one was crushed by it.

As the smoke cleared, and the golden light faded from a blinding glare to a gentle flicker - a man dressed in resplendent white robes stood atop the wreckage like a conquering hero.

"Not possible," Roland muttered, voice tense and mismatched eyes wide with disbelief at the scene before him.

Possible or not, though, Staxos stood there, seemingly unscathed from the fall his mask glittering in the fires that were steadily rising from the surrounding area.

He took a moment to inspect one of his gloved hands, as if he was looking for dust.

A moment later, seemingly satisfied with his inspection, he turned to regard the three individuals below him. But his attention quickly centered on Roland.

"I have always had the greatest respect for your ingenuity and bravery, my dear child. You fight, even when you know you cannot win. You are truly one of Meyneth's chosen. I can feel her love for you. It bleeds from every pore."

Roland wasted no time on a response. "RUN!" he shouted. He turned from the self-righteous figure staring down from above and high-tailed it as fast as he possibly could down the street, Elena jostling up and down on his back. He did not wait to see if Silver followed; if she had any brain cells at all, she would not need any further encouragement from him.

They did not get far. The group had barely made it ten feet before Staxos called out something that sounded like a magical summon from behind them, and thick golden vines suddenly and aggressively burst out of the ground around them - wasting no time in wrapping around their legs and arms. The vines pulsed with golden light, and held them in place, legs a full foot off the ground.

Silver let out a panicked noise, clawing at the vines, kicking and squirming - even trying to bite through them. She didn't seem to be completely in control - more like a panicked animal than her normal self.

"Damn it!" Roland cursed, struggling in vain against the binds that held him. "The Light burn you, you traitorous dog!"

Staxos vanished from atop the wreckage, and reappeared back into existence directly in front of Roland.

"Traitor?" He echoed. The word seemed to have given the mad-man pause. He considered for a moment, and then gently held up his right arm. With his left, he grabbed the tip of his finger and pulled - removing the glove.

It revealed a human shaped hand. But there was something clearly wrong. The flesh was burned and scarred, blackened like charcoal. Beneath the skin, there seemed to be an odd golden glow - akin to lava, glowing between cracks of black rock. He held the hand up, for Roland and the others to see, before placing the glove back on.

"You know nothing of treachery."

"Spare me your pitiful sob story, you wretched sack of pig shit," Roland growled in response.

Staxos moved a step closer, but not quite close enough that Roland's mostly restrained foot could reach his masked face as the prince intended when he tried to swing it. "Do not be afraid my child. There will be no further bloodshed. I will not kill you, nor your...friends. I merely require the power that resides within you."

He slowly reached out, towards the hilt of the small blade that was poking haphazardly out of the waistband of his trousers and, ignoring the man's useless squirming, gently pulled it out.

Staxos stepped back for a moment, inspecting the blade.

"Fascinating." he murmered, his tone full of awe. "It has changed form once again...but I digress. This...trinket is useless to me."

He casually chucked the blade over his shoulder, where it landed with a loud, undignified clang. It might have been almost comical, if the situation wasn't quite so dire.

The albino paused her panicked struggles, going totally limp, breathing heavily. Energy spent and tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. She could take a lot, fights, collapsing buildings, fire, without seeming fazed, but being trapped? Bound?
No. Too far.
She was terrified, panicked, willing to do anything to get back to the ground and free of the vines.
"I have nothing to do with this, or that stupid sword." She said somewhat sullenly, voice shaking. "I want to go home..." As if everything leading up to this point was just fun and games.

"What madness are you planning, Staxos," Roland all but snarled at him from beside the shifter. "Betraying my family? Working with Lucien, of all people?! The disgust and disbelief in Roland's voice were starkly evident when he spat out the dark angel's name. "What is the purpose of all this if not the sword? Spare me one of your flowery sermons and tell me plainly what you're after."

Staxos tilted his head. "Madness?" he repeated. "There is no madness, my dear child. No treachery. Far from it - The Church's very purpose is to protect the Fairchild bloodline! Since the days of the God-King Verity, the power of Meyneth has flowed through the veins of all his descendents. We were formed by your ancestor to ensure the Fairchild dynasty's existence and superiority."

He took a step forward. "But that is not our only purpose." He added as a gloved hand gently wrapped around Roland's exposed neck. He did not squeeze, but slowly stroked his cheek with his thumb. Roland bucked his head away as far as his restraints would allow, cold eyes burning with rage, his facial features twisted in disgust.

"The power that dwells within you is all that remains of Meyneth in Aether. It is by that very power that Aether was created, and it is through that very power that Aether endures. Without it, our entire reality would become as dust. As such, the energy must routinely be...harvested from its bearers. It is a painful process, that unfortunately leaves the subject dead or worse. Naturally, this fact has been hidden from your family - The Church prefers to perform this glorious duty on those laying upon their deathbed...but sometimes it is not possible. Occasionally...family members are disposed of early due to...mitigating circumstances. Like your father for example."

"What?"

"I do not know how King Hartmut discovered the truth. But it was not long before he would have moved against us. I was forced to make...adjustments. Lucien was a useful tool in that regard. Alcamoth burning was a small price to pay."

"A small price to..." Roland blinked in disbelief, mind reeling from what he was hearing. "What are you saying? What does my father have to do with this?"

"He would have warned you. He was never one to understand the bigger picture. I killed him. The death was blamed on the Mad Queen. Naturally, this, along with your sudden discovery of Shadowbane galvanized our forces. His sacrifice was incredibly effective."

"You lie," Roland sputtered breathlessly, the rage in his eyes suddenly replaced with uncertainty. "You're lying. You have to be. If that's the truth, then I...the reason I've been fighting all this time...It's all been--"

Staxos rolled right over Roland's weak protests mid-sentence, as if he were not even aware the man was speaking. "But you...you were different. Your affinity for wielding Meyneth's power is far beyond what was ever thought possible! You could have ruined everything! After all, you were headstrong and foolish - but well-meaning. You would never have understood....but we could use you. Against the Mad-Queen. A holy weapon that would cleanse the world of her taint. With her dead, and the power of your soul...the Church's dominance is assured and with Ophelia as our Queen, Aether's continued existence is promised. In time...perhaps even the Creator will return to her lost children."

At the mention of his older sibling, the fire returned to Roland's eyes, and his struggles against the vines of light began anew. "You will stay away from my sister," he bellowed furiously. He could not bear the thought of it; his proud, independent Ophelia, an unknowing pawn in this snake's machinations. Or worse, a victim of them as their father and the people of Alcamoth had apparently been six years ago.

"She will be safe. Forever." Staxos replied. Before Roland could wonder what that was supposed to mean, the High Sentinel's hand suddenly tightened around Roland's throat. There was a burning sensation of indescribable pain that began at his neck and quickly spread through his entire body as Staxos began his ritual. All of Roland's sensations abruptly seemed to multiply in strength a hundred fold. He felt with renewed, otherworldly intensity the pain of his broken nose; the tired ache of his fatigued arms and legs; the tightness of Staxos's hand around his vulnerable throat; the low sound of Silver whimpering beside him; the pressure of Elena's body pressed tightly against his back; and the sensation of her steady breathing on the back of his neck. Even the simple feeling of the damp air on his skin seemed more than it had been a second before--colder somehow. Goosebumps emerged, covering his bare arms and torso, his body's weak attempt to cope with the new strain that was now being placed upon it as something was dragged kicking and screaming out of Roland that he had never even known was there. There was a loud, screeching noise in his ears whose origins he did not know and whose qualities he did not have the presence of mind to adequately describe.

He wasn't even aware that he was screaming.

Avari WillfulWren koala

Written in collaboration with WillfulWren and Avari .

 

[Avari]

FLOODED STREETS

A small smirk formed on Morgana's lips once Lucien was in place. Ana soon dropped down from above and landed on the fallen angel, the two of them almost looking like they were dancing in the sky. She cringed slightly at the sound of metal shattering, pieces falling to the ground as the spider-like woman attempted to retrieve the medallion but her eyes remained on the two airbourne figures before they came falling to the ground.

Juniper shielded her eyes as a pulse of magic expanded from the medallion kicked up and whipped wind in every direction. She uncovered her eyes only to have her vision obscured as Ana hurtled towards her. She crashed into her like a cannonball, carrying the both of them a few feet as they slid on the ground. For Juniper everything went white, there was a pain like none she had ever felt and the taste of blood rapidly filling her mouth. Every breath was short and pained, her lungs burned as her vision came back blotchy. She tried to shift Ana off of her but she simply didn't have the strength.

The banshee's amber eyes remained glued to the golden medallion, which was beginning to free fall a few feet away. She stepped forwards and followed the object a bit clumsily, hands reaching out so she could catch the medallion before it fell.

“Come. We need to go.” Morgana beckoned, nodding up towards Tannur upon their success and assisting Juniper and Ana as best she could onto their feet. Without wasting a second, she was already running down the roads and through each alleyway she had passed during Lucien’s persist. Upon reaching the area she’d left Silver, however, she frowned. The shifter was no where in sight.

Idoit girl thought Morgana as she continued on. While she was somewhat peeved Silver hadn’t listened to her, there wasn’t much she could do. Silver was smart enough to at least not get herself killed, so Morgana’s only real concern was returning to the place her queen was resting.

"Just down here, that's where I left her." Juniper dragged her feet as she followed Morgana, her arms hanging limply at her sides

Approaching Lucrezia as well as the brunette woman from earlier, she knelt down and gazed almost sadly down at the cold, wet body.

There was the sound of ragged breath, suddenly at Morgana's ear.

She turned to see the Human girl from earlier. She was ghostly white, and judging by the stains on the front of her bloody apron - she must have been vomiting quite severely. But she had stayed at Lisa's side as instructed, despite the chaos that was raining down around them.

"W-what's going on?" She asked.

Sighing, Morgana rubbed her temples. She didn't feel like, nor want to, explain everything that had happened. It would've been so much easier if someone could erase the pale girl, but alas that wasn't really an option. Feeling obliged to at least acknowledge the waitress for staying with the queen's body, however, she replied.

"We," she began, motioning from her, to Lucrezia, and to the wreckage around them to emphasize the destruction, "are not from this world. You people may call it a fantasy land, but as you can see... it is our reality." The woman pursed her lips, not quite sure what else to say. It wasn't like her to explain things or feel like she owed someone an answer. Perhaps Earth was affecting her more than she'd wanted to admit.

Hannah stared at her blankly. "Did you...uh...knock your head? Maybe you should come...sit down for a moment, yeah? How does that sound?"

Juniper sighed and practicaly threw herself against the alley wall to keep herself standing "Remember when I said that we weren't from this world? I wasn't lying when I told you that."

She reached out a hand to gently grab Morgana, only for her eyes to widen as she saw the glimmering jewel that was glittering brightly in Morgana's tightly clenched hand.

"What...what is that?"

"It's what's going to bring Lucrezia back. Hopefully" The last part came out in a quiet whisper.

Morgana turned to Jupiter, eyebrows slightly scrunched since she still had no idea what the other meant by "bring Lucrezia back". She didn't really want to ask though. If Lucrezia trusted the red-headed human enough to tell her something like that, perhaps it was only best to follow along.

"Here," Morgana said as she handed the medallion to Jupiter and motioned towards Hannah for assistance. "Can you move? We should move her body out of the alley and into the open." Counting to three, Lucrezia was pulled onto her back without much struggle. Blood, still slightly warm, began to stain the back of Morgana's shirt as she walked but it didn't bother her as much as the cramped alleyway. When they made it to a small section without much debris, she gently laid Lucrezia down with a small sigh.

"Alright, here we go." Kneeling down beside Lucrezia's body Juniper placed the amuletlet straight over her heart. She stepped back, unsure of what exactly was about to happen.

"You have mentioned bringing the queen back many times now. At first, I thought you were playing a mind game with Lucien, but I see I was wrong." Stated the banshee as she crouched down, arms crossed across her chest.

"Y-yeah." How was she supposed to tell them that there was never any plan? This whole thing was based on a single comment years ago, one that couould have easily meant something else. She couldn't say that now, they'd already risked too much just getting the amulet in the first place.

For a full minute, the three women stared at Lucrezia's corpse. The gigantic wound in her chest still oozing blood onto her dead white skin and damp pavement.

"Is...something supposed to happen?" Hannah asked quietly.

Then, without warning or any obvious cause - the medallion loudly shattered, From within the glass orb, a small puff of ghostly blue light emerged. It shimmered and crackled like a small fire, but moved unaturally - as if it had a mind of its own. It floated in the air for a moment, swaying side to side in almost an inquisitive fashion - before into the air like smoke and evaporated into nothingess.

A moment of quiet.

"What was-" Hannah began.

Then she screamed and jumped back in terror, as Lucrezia's body gave a sudden, terrible shudder. As if a jolt of electricity had been applied to it.

Morgana jumped back, unsure of what was going to happen. She'd pushed Juniper back in the process and placed her arm in front of other as if trying to protect her companion from whatever abomination was about to appear. The woman wanted to speak, but something was lodged inside the base of her throat. Something that almost felt like confusion and fear.

The convulsions continued, becoming more severe by the moment. A odd, inky blackness began to crawl under her white skin, beginning somewhere beneath her torn clothing and spreading outwards. The dark liquid was spreading through her veins - pushing slowly up her neck and into her head and to her fingertips. From there, it continued to spread like some sort of groteseque infection as the entire corpse was was consumed in the oil-like liquid. A few moments later, it was if the entire body had been drowned in crude oil. The black liquid was pouring from every pour, every orifice - though it did not spread across the pavement as one might expect, but clung hungrilly to Lisa's corpse, as if it was feeding upon it. Before anyone could intervene, it was impossible to tell if there had ever been a body at all.

Another shudder. This time, it was accompanied by the gruesome sounds of bones snapping and tearing, beneath the sickly squelching of the black gunge - which pulsed and flowed like a living thing that had just consumed a particually large meal.

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god," Hannah was babbling, scrambling to get away from the inky mass.

And then it began to move. The inky flowing liquid slowly rose - the horrific sounds of bones snapping, followed by more increasingly violent shudders. A moment later, the ooze was standing upright - and whatever was at its core (If there was even a body left) began to seemingly struggle. Bulges appeared and vanished accross the inky surface, as if something within was trying to escape - punching and kicking in a seemingly futile fashion.

The sickening fleshy sounds of bones snapping was replaced by muffled screams. The inky substance began to struggle from whatever battle was happening within it, and seemed to shrink diminish. A moment later, an arm stabbed through the darkness from within, its hand balled into a fist. The arm was fleshless, made of exposed muscle, bone and sinew, but rapidly increasing in bulk before their very eyes as veins and skin began to weave themselves around the arm that reached around and began to tear at the blackness, ripping off handfuls and throwing them away - where they landed with a wet splat and quickly disolved into nothingness. The thrashing continued as more disturbingly incomplete body parts were exposed to the world outside the dark womb. Internal organs that squelched and pulsed. Lidless eyes that formed in empty sockets that soon formed a skull.

The entire process completed in roughly half a minute, but to its onlookers - it could have been hours. Listening to the screaming as a body was woven painfully into existance by dark magic.

The last of the black oil dissapated, and where it had left - stood a woman, panting and clutching her chest. Steam rose from her body. A few torn, bloody remains of clothing protecting her modesty.

And whoever this woman was, she wasn't Lisa. That much Hannah was sure of.

Nor was she Lucrezia. Juniper and Morgana were sure of that.

She was far taller, her face sharper. Her hair was not black, but a silvery grey that flowed down to her shoulders. But her eyes - her eyes were familar. Yellow and cat like.

She gazed around, confused. Drawing a few more painful sounding breaths, before noticing the three women who were staring at her.

She stared back, her face contorted in disgust.

"Ugh, that was probably the grossest thing I've ever-" She said finally. Then she clutched her throat in surprise.

"Ooooh new voice! Hellooooo? Hello? One-two-three? Oh, I like that. Bit deeper than before...It's been yeaaaars since I've had a new voice! Not to mention - "

Her hand left her throat, and began to explore. Muttering to herself as she did so.

"Definitely a bit taller...bit more muscle, that's always good. Wow, tongues are weird. Oh!"

She quickly grabbed a handful of her own hair and pulled it down, so she could inspect it. Her curious and excited expression quickly became one of dissapointment.

"Grey? What on - am I grey??"

The strange girl rounded on the other three.

"You there! What color is my hair? Has anyone got a light, or a torch or something? Do I look old? Please don't tell me I'm old."

She clapped her hands together in sudden excitment.

"Do I have freckles? I've always wanted freckles."

Junipers jaw hung loose, her eyes practically bulging out of her head as her mind raced to make sense of what happened. "G-grey," the words slipped out of her mouth as her legs shook dangerously "your hair is grey." She trailed off, staring at the woman while falling onto her knees

"Like, old woman grey or cute grey?" The girl demanded, hands on hips. She did not seem concerned that the other woman seemed to be on the cusp of a mental breakdown.
"C'mon this is really important. I worked really, really hard on this. Help me out here."

She glanced at the other two, a hand still running through her hair. Steam still rising from her head. Yellow eyes glimmering in the darkness, taking in her surrondings. A moment later, she noticed the bloody rags she was wearing and made a small tut of disgust. She clicked her fingers, and a pulse of purplish light emenated from her body. The light shimmered and shifted as it molded itself to the girl's body - changing shape and texture, before fading away - revealing brand new clothing. A black low-cut shirt and a rather short denim skirt and a unpleasently spiky, jagged necklace that gave her a rather punkish appearence.

"Ahh...that's better don't you think?" She asked them. If she was looking for approval, she was evidently dissapointed as she took in their blank faces.

"Okay seriously, is there something on my face?"



written with Shotgunpenguin koala

MENTIONED: LoneSniper87 IG42

 

[IG42]

Still supporting the semi-conscious Ana Tannur followed as he was told more carrying the woman rather than helping her walk. Reaching where Morgana had supposedly left Silver and finding her gone was worrying if not all that surprising, at the very least she must have recovered a fair bit to be able to run around.

At the sight of Lucrezia's corpse he quickly looked away and scowled as Morgana tried to explain what was going on to an Earth girl. "Is that why we came back here? Just to educate the local populace? We should be out there looking for Silver and Raijin." As the unfamiliar girl questioned Morgana's sanity he scoffed loudly impatient to be away from where he had to look at the dead eyed stare of a woman he had...a lot of complicated feelings for but what Juniper said next nearly made him drop Ana in shock. "You can do that?! You can bring her back?"

Finally shocked into actual silence Tannur followed them out into the street with his burden and watched until the ravaged body jerked. "Shit!" Jumping half out of his skin he managed to get his legs tangled with Ana's and fell backward with her. Sitting up he looked on as the foul goo consumed the body until the half-formed arm burst out sending him scrambling to his feet to move away. Once the harrowing process was over he watched the strange girl who had replaced his queen check herself over, strange that is except for those same slitted yellow eyes. "Are you?...Who are you?"

LoneSniper87 Avari koala Shotgunpenguin

 

[Avari]

Still supporting the semi-conscious Ana Tannur followed as he was told more carrying the woman rather than helping her walk. Reaching where Morgana had supposedly left Silver and finding her gone was worrying if not all that surprising, at the very least she must have recovered a fair bit to be able to run around.

At the sight of Lucrezia's corpse he quickly looked away and scowled as Morgana tried to explain what was going on to an Earth girl. "Is that why we came back here? Just to educate the local populace? We should be out there looking for Silver and Raijin." As the unfamiliar girl questioned Morgana's sanity he scoffed loudly impatient to be away from where he had to look at the dead eyed stare of a woman he had...a lot of complicated feelings for but what Juniper said next nearly made him drop Ana in shock. "You can do that?! You can bring her back?"

Finally shocked into actual silence Tannur followed them out into the street with his burden and watched until the ravaged body jerked. "Shit!" Jumping half out of his skin he managed to get his legs tangled with Ana's and fell backward with her. Sitting up he looked on as the foul goo consumed the body until the half-formed arm burst out sending him scrambling to his feet to move away. Once the harrowing process was over he watched the strange girl who had replaced his queen check herself over, strange that is except for those same slitted yellow eyes. "Are you?...Who are you?"

LoneSniper87 Avari koala Shotgunpenguin

The girl turned on her heel to find the source of the question, and her eyes widened in interest as she spotted Tannur. In fact, she clapped her hands together.

"That is a fab question lady!" She said, sounding pleased. "I am Lucrezia. Except not really. Or that is to say...I am...uh. I come from... her?"

The scruffy looking girl began waving her hands about in an overly dramatic fashion as she attempted to explain. "She was dying you see. looooong before that spear got her. All that dark magic swirling in her was way too much for her lil' human body to handle, She was practically rotting from the inside out! So just healing herself with all that mana you so kindly provided wouldn't do the job - so she went for a full rejuvenation. Brand new body! With a few teeny improvements of course to facilitate all that dark magic pumping through my veins."

She rose a finger to her chin in thought. "I'm pretty sure I've got two livers now, but I can't be sure. Something sure is squelching in there. I'll check it out later."

The grey haired girl began to inspect her fingernails, looking rather smug.

"Of course, new body means a new brain - which means a brand new me! Or rather her. I am her, she is me. But I am also me. Do you understand? Good. Now then..."

She clicked her fingers, and two spurts of dark flame sparked into life. One in each hand. They floated just above her palm, and practically pulsed with energy. She giggled happily, as she casually began to juggle them back and forth between her hands before a small frown appeared on her face.

"So...who are you guys then? I feel like I should know who you are. It's on the tip of my tongue."

---

Shotgunpenguin
koala
IG42

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Juniper Arc
Flooded street

"Y-you really don't remember us?" a lump started to form in Junipers throat as she choked back her tears. The woman was clearly her former queen, her presence and knowledge was enough to convince her of that.

But the way she was acting showed almost no trace of the calm and mature woman that she knew. If Juniper had to say this woman was acting like a teenager. It was hard to tell if she was actually any younger than before, but that was mostly due to how ageless she was in the first place.

"Juniper," If her queen truly has forgotten who they were then giving answers would be the best solution for the time being "Juniper Arc. I am one of your generals my queen." The others could introduce themselves at their own pace, but for now there was one burning question in her mind. "What do you intend to do now? Are you strong enough to fight Stalox in your current state?"

Avari koala LoneSniper87 IG42

 

[koala]

Morgana

Streets of Covent Garden​

Morgana stared blankly at the silver-haired girl standing before the group. It was so obvious that the new being was their queen. Even though Lucrezia's appearance was different and her personality was... questionable, the air around the female was familiar. The banshee had been around the dark queen long enough to at least feel that.

When the reborn Lucrezia asked of their identities, Morgana instinctively stood up straighter and taller. Her right hand formed a fist and she crossed her arm across her chest like a robot. After so many years, the action was automatic and felt like something she'd always been capable of doing. This time it felt a little different, however. It felt a little forced and there was a tiny voice in the back of the woman's mind reluctant towards the very movement.

"Morgana, my queen." She spoke, her voice strong and unwavering as she kept her gaze low. "I am your personal guard and head of your security."

Avari LoneSniper87 IG42 Shotgunpenguin

 

[IG42]

"L..lady?" Tannur was a little unsure whether she was even speaking to him or still confused by her dramatic transformation particularly since she didn't seem to recognise them even though she seemed to just before the chaos started and was randomly playing around with magic like a child.

The other two seemed to be playing along and he supposed he might as well do the same and see if they could help her get her head unscrambled. "I'm Tannur, you know a man." Really he didn't look that girlish did he? Right? "Juniper has a fair point, while we've taken the source of Lucien's power from him Staxos is probably still around and no matter how much or little or Lucrezia is still left in you I'm not watching you die a second time today."

Realising that in all the mess he had dropped Ana and forgotten about her, taking her arm he helped her up again. "Sorry about that."

Avari LoneSniper87 Shotgunpenguin koala

 

[LoneSniper87]

Anastasia Kochenkov
Out and about

In her state of mind, she had no idea where exactly she was going. Street signs were blurs, the length of her thumb was stained red from wiping blood off her face. She was a mess, and only came to some form of sense when she saw Lucrezia's body. She got off of Tannur, watching them the amulet on her corpse. Really? All this power, and they choose to revive someone when they could have solved this problem, maybe even this war. Leave her a martyr. She didn't speak aloud then, not yet. After a few minutes, the body jolted. She gave barely a half-step back.

The body jolted again, and her veins turned black, soon enveloped in the black mass. Bones snapped, mthere we're muffled screams, someone was going into a panic, and she just watched silently. The mass rose, and she looked at it, as if staring down Death itself. If the Dark Queen herself really was to come back, what would she do? What would the others do if they learned of this? She broke free of her inky confines, and she looked... Nothing like before. She still looked like an Evil monarch, but in a different sense, she supposed. But at the same time... It was weird. She never thought of the Dark Queen to be the type to fret over... Hair color of all things. She supposed at some point her legs have buckled, because she now fell. She was aware of having felt something against her, then falling, and a voice saying sorry. It was enough to jar her to reality.

She rose, then spoke sort of quietly, but still easily audible. "You're reputation precedes you, Lucrezia. Not that you know who I am." She said neutrally, sort of leaning on Tannur now, soaked through and cold after falling.
Avari IG42 Shotgunpenguin koala

 

[Avari]

The silver haired girl held up her hands in an effort to stem the endless tirade of questions and introductions that were being thrown at her, but a coy little smile had appeared on her lips as if she was rather pleased with everything. She took a few moments to look from study each of the humans in turn, Her yellow eyes glimmering with curiosity.

"Huh, I sure collected an interesting bunch of misfits didn't I? We'll all have to have a natter later on. It'll be fun! We'll have a sleepover and talk about boys."

"I'm Tannur, you know...a man."

"That's hilarious." The girl replied, favoring him with a rather lustful wink.

"What do you intend to do now? Are you strong enough to fight Stalox in your current state?" Juniper interupted, and the girl scratched her chin in thought for a moment, before a wide smile appeared.

"No idea."

She clicked her fingers, and her hands were suddenly engulfed in a dark purple flame. She gave a sly giggle, as the dark magic danced back and forth over her fingertips before gently coaxing the fire off her hand. The flame rose into the air before stopping just above the girls head, where it began to slowly spin around her head like a satellite. No larger than an egg, though they looked and acted like fire - it gave off no heat or sound. She repeated the process three more times - and seemed content with that, smiling at the four individual fires that now span merrily around her head and nodded to herself.

"Spell wisps." She explained to the group. "Fairly low tier magic in the greater scheme of things, but I need to preserve what little I have left. They should give the wielder some small smudge of power for a time. Enough for what I need. Aren't they cute?"

The girl smirked as she gestured towards two of the wisps. They eagerly broke formation and floated directly in front of her face, as if eager to hear what she had to say.

"Search." She said simply. It seemed to be enough for the wisps to understand however, as they promptly rocketed off into the sky and out of sight - leaving just two, that continued serenely orbiting the girl.

"And now-" She held out the palm of her hand, and one of the flame-like wisps broke formation and fluttered down, coming to a rest on her hand. She looked between Juniper and Morgana for a moment, considering - before holding it out towards Morgana.

"This wisp should give you ample Mana," She noted, sounding rather business like all of a sudden. "There's a lot of Humans still stuck in here with us. I need you to wipe their memories. Can't have them all talking to the BBC about this, I'd rather do my own PR. There's enough magic here for a couple of dozen amnesia spells. Think you can do that for me, cuties?"

She held out the flame to her. Her features bathed in dark magic made her look rather demonic.

"...Or I guess you could kill them all. Y'know - if you wanted. I'm not your mother."

---

FOR koala / Shotgunpenguin

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Juniper Arc
Flooded streets

Kill them? Concern flashed on Junipers face before she forced it away. Her queen couldn't have meant that, could she? She tried to read her queen, find any sign that she wasn't serious, but her face gave nothing away.

"Y-yes my queen. Come Morgana." As she turned away she grabbed Morgana's hand and lead her away from the group. After she felt that they were far enough away she turned to her.

"We aren't going to kill anyone right? There's no way Lucrezia would order us to do something like that?" she asked, hoping that Lucrezia maybe gave her special instructions somehow. She wouldn't believe that killing all of these people is what she really wanted.

Avari koala

 

[Avari]

The girl watched Juniper practically drag Morgana away with a amused expression on her face and her hands clasped behind her back. She bounced back and forth on heels as the two remaining wisps continued to flutter around her head, bathing her and most of the street in a dull purple light. As the pair vanished around the corner and out of sight, the girl glanced up at the sky.

Stars were visible. The angry swirling clouds had all but vanished, leaving a few spots of grey in an otherwise clear sky.

"Storm is subsiding...not a super big surprise - I guess Lucien couldn't keep it up anymore."

She shot Tannur and Ana a glance out of the corner of her eye, seemingly to watch their reaction.

"...Happens to lots of Angels." She added, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Ana had let out a short laugh at that. "What's that supposed to mean? I never took the Queen of Darkness to make sex Jokes. If that's what you are doing."

"Queen of Darkness is it?" The girl sniffed in distaste, before putting her finger to chin in thought for a few moments,

"Kinda over-dramatic. That was more Lucrezia's thing. Just call me Lisa, alright? I've already got way too many names swimming around my head."

Lisa looked at Ana quizzically.

"You're not one of mine are you?"

"H..hilarious?" Tannur echoed helplessly, Ana was right this was or at least had been the Shadow Queen not someone to joke around like a teenage girl. Trying to catch up he rejoined the conversation. "As you might be able to tell from the mixed up title no she isn't." He glanced down the street that Juniper and Morgana had left on. "How serious where you about killing everyone?" While 'Lisa' had yet to seem serious about anything he hadn't taken Lucrezia as one to butcher people for the hell of it and mentioning it so casually worried him.

Lisa shrugged. "I didn't say anything about wanting to kill everyone - I just gave them the power to do it. If they will or not is completely up to them."

Ana nodded. "No, I am not one of Yours, Lisa. I... was... under the contract of the Church of Light... but after this, I may be reopening myself for hire."

"Oh?" Lisa rose an eyebrow. "Well aren't you strange."

"Strange is all perspective. What makes you think I'm so strange? Bear in mind I didn't just completely change from hair to personality." She said, her voice even.

"Nothing strange about a blade for hire looking for change in employer, especially when a representative of that employer tries to kill them." Tannur commented while watching the wisps dance. "Are those for anything in particular?"

Lisa glanced up at the Wisps, as if she hadn't noticed them before.

"Oh. These? Probably murder. You know what they say - when the going gets tough, the tough use Necromancy."

She span on her heels and began to walk away. A rather slightly spring in her step.

"It's a shame I can't quite remember how to cast such magic right now - but hey-Ho. I'm sure it'll come to me when it matters..."

"I don't... Ok." She didn't really feel like arguing a small detail. "I guess I should help you? Do you really even care?" She asked, taking a few steps to follow.

"Do what you like," Lisa replied smoothly, waving a hand but not looking back.

"Just don't get in my way. I think I'd hate that."

Smirking a little Tannur followed along. "You certainly did before."

"Perhaps I could help then. You aren't killing Staxos or Lucien alone."

Lisa simply laughed.

---

written with IG42 and LoneSniper87