Fantasy City of Salem {ded}

[Caffeine Freak]

Seth couldn't control his arm as it moved by its own will, forcing him to drain the cup entirely. The cups are cursed! -Is what Seth planned to say when he finally had the strength to set the goblet down - but the words that left his mouth weren't quite his own.
"D-Delicious wine, you guys should try some."
"Indeed. This wine has aged for many years. I'm glad it's to your liking." The Owner made that weird popping motion with his fingers next to his mouth that foreign chefs usually do to show that something tastes exquisite. Seth never did get anything that cooks do. Why his mind was on that particular detail instead of the pressing matter at hand, however, eluded him. Once more, he tried to warn the others, but could only speak alien words.
"I think I'll pour myself another."
The Owner brushed his grin with the side of his thumb. "Please... help yourself."

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance twitched, knowing what was happening, but she seemed to be immune to the spell. Either that, or she was just smart enough to talk herself out of it somehow. She stood up and took a breath, wondering just how to go about this without alarming the rest of the street. She placed her finger on Seth's cup and lowered it back to the table, eyeing the man at the other end of the table.

"Enough funny business."

She wouldn't let her newly found friends perish like the girl did. She refused. She'd die saving them if she had to, but she was rather hard to kill, so she doubted it would come to that.

"I suggest you tell us what happened to the girl, or things are not going to go your way."

 

[Caffeine Freak]

"Oh, what a shame." The Owner stood up. "I was hoping the rest of you would season yourselves with wine, though I suppose you'll all taste just fine." The room began rumbling, and the group's half of the dining room began lowering. Seth, feeling the spell's grasp on him loosen, went to lunge at the Owner, only to be wrenched back by a forcefield spell.

Soon enough, the platform they stood on lowered enough to reveal some sort of underground stage, with hundreds of red-eyed spectators cheering. Not a stage - Seth realised as the platform stopped below the audience - but, in fact, an amphitheater.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The Owner appeared in one of the raised audience stands.

Seth folded his arms.

"I present to you, tonight's banquet! Non-human flesh!"
The rows of ghouls cheered deafeningly loud, though a few booed when Seth picked up a rock from the cavern floor and hurled it at the spectators - only for it to hit a forcefield and bounce off. "Let's loosen those tendons now, shall we?"
A large metal gate whirred open, one that a large, horribly disfigured giant stumbled through. In the beast's clutches was a rather painful looking barbed club.

"This place looks awfully familiar" Seth muttered while drawing his sword, though he couldn't quite figure out why.

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance could only groan and draw her weapon as well. She snarled at the Owner and spoke to him rather loudly, to overcome the almost deafening yells of those watching.

"Why can't anyone in this town just cooperate?!"

The beast took a blind swing in her direction, causing her to stumble backwards. She continued to creep back until she was behind Seth and looked up at him, her fiery red eyes full of ambition, though had a tinge of fear scattered deep down. She looked at the giant, who was stumbling towards them, her heart racing, she spoke up to her companion.

"When he gets close enough, you go right, I go left, try to catch it off guard and swing for the legs. If we can catch it off balance, we can find it's weak points," she took a breath. "And if I somehow don't make it out of this, please, just watch Luana for me." The words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

 

[Floodwater31]

Alex found himself raising the glass to his lips, not of his own volition but because of an unknown force. He took a sip before giving the wine a swirl, just because he couldn't resist the wine didn't mean he couldn't savor it, a little loophole for magic of this type. Alex wasn't completely in the dark as to what was compelling him either, a combination of the wine, the goblet, and the compulsion from their host's voice. When you considered the level of magic and the control over the ghouls outside, it was fairly obvious that the host was a fair way up the vampiric hierarchy. Alex went to say as much but ended up complementing the wine as Seth did, "Great year, really amazing", he took another sip.
After Sance confronted the host, the floor began to lower, soon the immaculate dining room set was seated in the middle of an arena complete with a crowd of blood thirsty patrons. Alex sighed, it really did seem that the only way to solve anything is to kill it. As he attempted to open his bag, he realized he couldn't put down the glass, rolling his eyes he downed the rest of the liquid and threw the goblet to the side, allowing him to pull his revolver from his bag.
Now for some experiments, he held his gun up and aimed not for the host or the giant in the ring, but at a random patron. The host had already displayed a force field which was more powerful than the rounds he carried, ordinary silver, but any shielding the crowd would possibly receive would be lighter. Besides, their host was quite the showman, who knows what would happen if the crowd became upset.
After announcing his presence with a gunshot, he called to the other two, "If you need help with the big guy, just ask, I'll be wasting time in the meantime". He knelt down and began digging through his bag, perhaps he had some different rounds or something for impromptu alchemy.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

"Yeah, well waste time faster." Seth hissed, tearing right and swinging for the beast's legs. The giant saw the blow before it came, and swung its bunk bed sized club at his face. Quite used to fighting bigger opponents, Seth bolted his swing's momentum sideways in order to clear the club's trajectory, taking advantage of the giant's sluggish reload by rolling back and striking at its ankle.

To Seth's dismay, the sword bounced off the seemingly impenetrable skin. As he went for his silver sword instead, however, it was the beast's turn to take advantage - and Seth was flying backwards with a flick of its wrist.

The tavern wall wasn't all too welcoming as Seth barrelled into it, an impact that knocked the air out of his lungs. "Damned... giants..." He muttered, feeling for his sword's hilt - only to realise with no shortage of disappointment that it had been flung from his grasp during the flight, and an angry-looking giant now stood between them.

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance hissed back at him, his rude remark only agitating her more. She swung left and went to take a slice at it's ankle, the jagged end of her blade taking a chunk of flesh with it.

Before she knew it, Seth was hurled through the air and into the nearby wall. She was caught off guard, the giant stepping on the end of her blade. She swung around, dodging several fatal blows the being tried to throw at her.

She placed her palm on the ground, two rather small creatures emerged and began to distract their tormenter. With that, she ran and grabbed Seth's sword and tried to help him up. With a pat on the shoulder, she didn't quite see the giant gaining on the two again. Her creations had fled.

Before she could even turn around, or feel anything, the club smashed into her side, flinging her to the other side of the room with a dull thud. She slid lifelessly across the floor for a few feet.

 

[Floodwater31]

Gauss, regretful tears, antiseptic, tape, a job well done, tums... another bullet... He slid out the chamber and loaded the new bullet into the last, recently vacated slot, he had absolutely no idea what it did, but it was made out a warm, red metal, which was promising. Alex looked up from his bag to see Sance fly across the room, it seems he'd just missed Seth encounter a similar fate. "I said ask for help!", he turned and stood, leaving his bag on the ground, and began unloading shots at the giant. While the silver would pierce the giant's hide, he doubted the caliber was high enough to do any real damage, he was relying on the mystery bullet. That and the fact the giant couldn't actually kill him, might pose a decent distraction for the other two to regroup. He stopped firing when he had one bullet left, there was no guarentee it would be effective, but he wasn't going to waste it, he needed to draw the lug in closer first.
"Hey big and ugly! Your disfigurement is most likely a result to being raised in crampt conditions, frequent injury, and poor diet! I know your capable of understanding me you reject of nature!", Alex realized his insults were more of an observation, hopefully the giant was self-conscious enough to get angry.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Seth, enraged, brought his blade down on the giant's foot - the enchanted silver slicing through skin like butter. Howling, the giant smashed the space Seth had occupied mere moments before, as Seth himself was now tossing rocks at the creature and backing up toward Alex. "Yeah! You look- uh- dumb... et cetera..." He was a witcher dammit, not a comedian, but details of his job description were hardly important at current rate. "Shoot it. Shoot it now." Seth hissed as the thing roared and charged at them. Sance still wasn't getting up, and the longer this thing stood standing, the more infuriating it became.

 

[that1aj]

When Sance confronted the owner of the place, AJ stood up as the floor lowered. The elf hadn't had any of the wine, since she's only 17, but she had come close. Must be some kind of magic. Looking around, there were suddenly things charging at them. Pulling out her bow, she started shooting at the beasts.

Spoiler: Tags

Caffeine Freak Floodwater31 V e r t i g o

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance couldn't feel anything, throbbing darkness surrounding her conscious. She then found herself surrounded by a white light, no clue as to where she was she walked forward.

There was nothing, just pure white.

She continued to just walk forward until she could see something, and what she saw, sent a chill down her spine. It was like a movie screen, playing the vivid details of what was happening in real time. She saw AJ shooting her arrows, and Seth yelling something at Alex. Why did he look so angry?

And her lifeless body, just lying slightly beyond their grasp, the giant beast standing in their way.

She cringed. She knew what this place was, and her seconds were ticking down as she watched as the events unfolded. She folded her arms nervously, her nails instinctively raising to her mouth; a nervous habit of hers.

 

[Floodwater31]

The giant didn't seem interested in the man who'd just shot it, or the girl who'd put an arrow in, or, thankfully, what may or may not be a corpse. It seemed rather interested in the man poking it's foot with a sword and throwing rocks, it a had a 'I'm going step on you' expression, then again, that could be any expression, it's not a pretty face. It seemed like a good of time as any to fire, and he did. Fire erupted from the side of the giants, a smoke trail was present. It was almost as if he'd shot an rpg from his his revolver, which lay in several pieces scattered among the cave. Alex wondered if that would kill the creature, also, why did I forget about something that explosive in my bag?
Alex calmly walked to where he'd left his bag, and picked it up with his left hand, the other hung uselessly at his side, a temporary inconvenience. The smoke hadn't cleared yet, but it really didn't matter, if it was dead, it was dead, if not he'd get hit pretty hard, then the giant would die from sustained injuries.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Seth cautiously stepped over to where the creature now lay. Even if smoke obscured his vision, he sure didn't hear anything. "Nice work there, Mary Poppins." Seth poked fun at Alex's 'magic bag', brushing his hands together. "I think you got him."

"Indeed." An all too familiar voice mused, but its teeth were already in Seth's neck before he could so much as react. The world was a little more blurry to Seth as he managed to free himself by slashing out with his blade, a move the Owner dodged casually, straightening his suit's lapel. "A little salty, but nothing a little saffron won't fix."

Growling, Seth surged forward while clutching his bleeding neck with his free hand - although the Owner merely took a step back and vanished into the smoke, nowhere to be seen when it dissipated. "Half ghoul... half vampire." Seth muttered, the scent of the Owner still fresh in his nose. Even though he was bleeding quite heavily, Seth managed to make it over to Sance, who he just slung under his arm. "To t-that gate. Come o-on." Vampire saliva was quite the sedative, Seth only had his witcher physique to thank for not dropping unconscious on the spot. "Find a w-way to get it open." He glared at the metal gate, the audience booing in the background.

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance lay still lifeless in Seth's arms, blood dripping from her forehead. She was only growing in anticipation and anger on the other side.

Sance threw her fists against the screen. She could feel the darkness slowly ebbing at her again, the purity of this place fading rather quickly. Looking around, she grimaced, now able to feel her injuries somewhat. She continued to beat at the screen, but obviously no one could hear her. She was trapped in her own mind that was slowly destroying itself.

She hissed and yelled.

"Seth do something. Get out and hold me, anything. Don't be scared, just think!"

 

[Floodwater31]

After retrieving his bag, Alex heard Seth compare him to one Marry Poppins, Alex didn't see the connection but he supposed it didn't matter. This was right before the host gave a great deal of attention to Seth's neck, not Alex's concern, but it was quite rude to sample without permission. Alex was more interested in the unconscious form, on the ground. There wasn't anything he could really do in a short time frame, well there was one thing, but he doubted she could handle the strain on the soul even if she was all there. Seth picked up the unconscious armored girl over his shoulder and struggled to the gate, Alex being only minorly impaired compared to them, followed slowly.

Seth turned to Alex and requested something preposterous, open the gate.

"How do you suppose I do that, I'm not a wizard! I prepare things, I don't improvise well! The only ideas I have involve either chopping the giant corpse into itty bitty pieces or some entire other form of stupid!". He put his bag down and opened it, after a little digging, he found what he was looking for, a phial marked 'paranioa', he held it up, "See, stupid!"

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Seth rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well- !" A second gate directly behind them rattled open, and yet another giant growled as it stumbled into the arena. While he was in no condition to fight, Seth did have an idea. "Stand still." He muttered, slowly setting down Sance a healthy distance aside from the gate.
The giant immediately spotted them and roared, legs pumping as it charged at the group.
"Hold..." Seth stared down the oncoming monster. It was so close that he could feel the creature's hot breath on his skin.
"Now!" He put all his strength into rolling out of the way of the warpath, just as the giant careened past and shattered the gate right off its hinges. "Huh that actually worked." Seth mused, hoisting up Sance. "I mean- of course it did, run!"

The giant laid there, groaning atop the barbed metal gate as Seth slipped past, leaving behind the chamber of disappointed and angry banquet guests. Thankfully, there appeared to be a staircase leading right up, which Seth didn't hesitate to scramble up. When he burst out the door, however, Salem's central park wasn't quite where he expected to end up. The room behind him was not a stairwell, but a maintenance closet under a bridge.

Seth set down Sance against the side of the bridge, wiping his brow. "Well... glad that's over."

"Not quite." A voice appeared from nowhere.

Sighing, Seth drew his sword and whipped around to face to Owner. It seemed this park would be the deciding place of who lived or died.

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance growled, but was soon silenced by the mortal pain she was now feeling. Yet another sign of her fading life force.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before sitting down. She felt miserable with how weak she was, and the Owner was much more of a problem than they all had imagined. If she had done more... no.
She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to make excuses. Her companions were in trouble and she'd be damned if she let them perish.

Standing up, she closed her eyes and focused as hard as she could, chanting a few verses in demon tongue before she could slowly feel use of her body again.

Silently, she slipped to the side of the bridge. She stopped once around, her throbbing headache taking a toll on her. She shook it off and snuck around as the Seth took his fighting stance. The Owner, who was lightly picking at Seth to anger him, was completely unaware of the girl creeping up behind him.
With her vision blurred, she slid a silver knife from her boot and limped forward once more before plunging it into the mans back as hard as she could, twisting the blade as it cut through.
As he fell, Sance just stood there for a few moments. Blood still dripped from her head and various other places, but she looked up and smiled at her group.

"You're all safe."

Her voice was soft and faded, but her face soon contorted with pain, though she fought it off and continued to smile before falling to her knees.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Seth lowered his sword. She'd... done it. His awed surprise was short-lived, however, as Sance dropped to her knees. "Aw, hell." Seth muttered, bolting over. "Come on, S, you haven't got time to die." He tried to grin, but could only grimace at the blood oozing from her wounds. The sun was rising, the park would be opening soon. Seth had to think fast-

Sirens wailed as an ambulance cut through the trees and screeched to a stop beside the bridge. The back doors swung open, revealing none other than the Mayor himself. "Inside, make haste!" He waved his hand toward the stretcher bed beside him.

Never happier to know the Mayor had been keeping tabs on him, Seth lent down to take Sance's wrist. "Come on, just a little further." He coaxed, hoping the others would lend a hand if she couldn't move.

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance smile at his remarks, chuckling. "I've got all the time in the world." She grimaced as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself up.
She wobbled for a moment, but kept her balance, smiling at the rest to hopefully ease some of the tension.

Linking her arm with Seth's, she nodded toward the stretcher before she used him like a crutch. She practically collapsed onto the stretcher. Everything in her ached. This is the first time she had felt true, mortal pain. She tried to focus on something else, but her headache was only getting worse.
Shifting herself, she weakly lifted her arm so she could wrap her pinky-finger around Seth's. She let her arm rest, finger still around his before smiling up at him.
"Stop frowning," she smiled. "I'll be alright."

 

[that1aj]

Following Seth as he went into the park, AJ was in complete shock. Sance was... Dying? And all they could do about it was hope that they got help soon enough. As Sance killed the Owner, AJ snapped out of her trance. "Ohmigosh, Sance, are you okay?" the elf asked, following everyone else onto the ambulance and sitting next to the reaper.

Caffeine Freak V e r t i g o Floodwater31

 

[Caffeine Freak]

"The witches at the hospital we're heading to now ought to have something for her injuries, till then, I'd it can't be all bad if she's still breathing." The mayor straightened his jacket, taking a seat at the far end of the ambulance. Seth, meanwhile couldn't find it in himself to move from his spot.

T
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~~~ Two Days Later ~~~
​

After all of their efforts, the nightly disappearances of women seemed to have stopped. The Mayor made sure he knew every detail of the group's mission, and made sure the brothel they visited was discreetly compensated for their assistance in the investigation and the scratches the group had left on the place's paint job. The last victim's Ex-Husband was found dead at his apartment, and unfortunately left no visible leads to the killer that had been caught by the other half of the enlisted team.

Sance's injuries had been treated by rather questionable but nonetheless effective potions and ailments, apart from whatever side effects such compounds could cause, the witches insisted the girl would be fine.

The group was finally allowed to rest, only their holiday was somewhat short lived.

Seth, seated in the hospital waiting room, had his letter brought to him by a nurse. He presumed the others would've received the same message.

Dear enlisted,

A recently released viral video details a group of young people trekking through a forest, claiming it to be haunted. Since the vlog's inception, the bordering forest has been hit by masses of hikers looking to brave the woods, and I fear they have brought the undead's attention. We cannot afford to have them drawn out this close to the city - that leaves two options - convincing the creators of the viral video to announce the haunting is fake, and to lure the undead back into the depths of the forest. Addresses enclosed.

Seth read the addresses, one was the Salem woodland park connecting to the forest and the other was a number of home addressed, presumably to the vlog creators. Seth rolled his eyes. Trust humans to start stirring up trouble.
Deigning to check the first home address, Seth slid back into the elevator and hit the combination of buttons that took him to the witches' floor, figuring he should check to see if Sance was in any shape to tag along with the others.

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance was already up and walking around her room by the time Seth knocked on the door. Her cheerful voice traveled through the barrier, telling him to come in. She wasn't completely healed, but was definitely in good enough shape to tag along.
She smiled at him when he entered. Over the last few days, the two had become rather close, Seth usually staying in the waiting room to make sure she was stable. It meant a lot to her to have someone that wasn't Lua.

Lua had come by a few times, but somewhat shaken by her sister's critical condition, she stayed away and let Seth do his best at comforting her. She definitely wasn't one for smiles and check-ups. She'd prefer just to sit back and wait for her sister to heal, like she knew she would. Reapers were hard to find, but immensely hard to kill. She smirked at the thought of her sister becoming less powerful, the thought tingling in the back of her mind.
This morning, though, she was at their home, preparing for the day, when a letter appeared at the doorstep. Reading it, she rolled her eyes. "More mortals to take care of..." She whispered, walking in the direction of the hospital.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Seth returned his own grim smile as he entered. "How are you feeling?" He muttered, looking Sance up and down. Indeed, she was remarkably well-recovered for someone who had previously suffered fatal injuries, the sight made Seth unable to contain his relief - which by his emotional standards was the expression of a slightly-less-grim smile.

After a moment of contemplating whether he should drag Sance into the mayor's dirty work, Seth at last figured the girl was more than capable of handling herself, and so extended the letter. "Got this a few minutes ago." He handed the note over. AJ and Alex presumably recieved the message too, but whether Seth would meet them at the site or if he'd bump into them on the hospital visit remained to be seen.

 

[V e r t i g o]

Sance noticed the change in his smile rather quickly and giggled. "Wow, don't look so happy, bud."
She read the letter, laughing a bit to herself before looking down at herself.
She was still in her hospital robes, which she just kind of shrugged off. She had undergarments on, but it wasn't unusual for Reapers to not care for such things as decency. If they were gonna get something done, it would be done then.
Opening the closet nearby, she pulled her clothing out, casually throwing it on and smoothing it out with her hands. "So, some punk-ass teenagers making ghost stories?" She scoffed. "Well, I'm more than ready to hop on the train, maybe give 'em a spook." She smirked.

 

[Caffeine Freak]

Seth folded his arms. If Sance wanted to get dressed quickly then he wasn't about to complain. "Either that or the tourists are gonna get their own spook when they wander into an undead hotspot." He snapped his fingers, armor and weapons shimmering into view. "Looks like they all live in one big house, so that should make visiting them a little easier." Adjusting his shoulder pauldron, Seth cracked open the door and indicated with a seeping gesture. "Malevolent entities first." He muttered with mock chivalry.
While Lua hadn't come by much, Seth had a feeling that she wasn't far off given she'd received the same letter.