Illyria - Illyria Finale - Aspect Of Fire
[Toggle Names]Description: Filled with hate and wrath, Kulshedra's Aspect of Fire surrounds Nine, seeping through the tiniest cracks in the seals and wards that bind her. The sorceress finds herself momentarily free of the magics that bind her, but this is a fleeting dream, as she soon finds herself under the dragon's control instead. Its command is simple: come to Illyria Castle and set everything ablaze, friend or foe, and Sorcha and Lotus are unlucky enough to find themselves directly in Nine's way....
[SORCHA]
War.
It seems the inevitable outcome of almost every major human conflict for history has shown that mankind has a propensity for settling its differences with violence. The entire planet is drenched in the blood of countless soldiers, each believing their cause to be righteous and just. There is no corner of the world which has remained free from the touch of death and destruction for the very act of being alive is made meaningful only by way of its inevitable, and often brutal, end.
Though modern civilization believes itself to be better than the warlords and petty tyrants of old, war continues to rear its ugly head time and time again. It is an inescapable force of nature for as long as one person is willing to resort to force of arms then those whom they seek to oppress have no choice but to follow suit or be consumed as kindling for the flames of conquest.
Now, like so many before it, a new war has come. Three forces clash for supremacy within the small and oft ignored countryside of Illyria. A minor country whose only claims to fame lie buried in the annals of history, it is a strange place for one of the world's most deadly conflicts to unfold. Devoid of the rich resources or industrial wealth that might make it an enticing target for a rising global power, its fate has been interwoven with the flames of destruction by way of forces long since thought to be little more than myths, an increasingly common occurance of late.
Caught between the desire to do what they believe is right and the consequences of their betrayal, nearly all of the blame for the devastation currently running rampant can be laid at the feet of the group calling themselves the Sacred Order. Lead by prophecy and, some might argue, necessity, they have brought war to the fae creatures that current hold sway within these dense forests and mountains. Though their companion has been freed from the clutches of the Novis Orbis Librarium's dark mages, the price of that freedom might very well be paid for by the blood of the innocents they claim to protect. Rightly decrying them as traitors and thieves, the NOL now turns their military might upon what should have been their greatest ally even as the fairies unleash a weapon of pure horror not seen in the world for a thousand years.
And where one encounters such gatherings of conflict, strife, and suffering, so too will they find the forces of Chaos at work.
The atmosphere of the dark woods carpeting the rolling foothills surrounding Illyria's great mountains is heavy, very air laden with oppressive tension that smothers everything like a wet blanket. Silence reigns here, made all the more dark and ominous by the telltale signs of life. Some worn-down game trails here, some hoof prints in the soft mud there, all of them fresh. An occassional rustling can be heard in the foliage as small critters dart about in the underbrush, the sounds amplified in the void of ambient white noise. It's almost the picture perfect scene for a cheesy horror film. All it needs now is a proper monster.
As if on cue, the silence is shattered as reality itself splinters apart. Deep jagged cracks split the air asunder, rending the forest as if it is a flat mirror that has just been slammed with a hammer. Bits and pieces of the tapestry flake away and drift into the air, suspended in slow motion like motes of glittering dust caught in a whirlwind. With every passing second the fracture in time and space grows wider, turbulent swirls of churning multi-hued light spilling out into the open in wild haphazard smears as if a child is finger-painting upon the surface of material reality with the very substance of Chaos itself.
Finally, after an indeterminable amount of time, for such concepts do not operate the same within the influence of such powers, the mirror fractures completely and collapses in on itself. A gaping wound in reality bleeds the raw power of the Void into the air around it, corrupting everything it touches with wild and rapid mutations. The grass combusts into a carpet of black heatless flame, forming the shape of a perfect circle around the epicenter of the magical phenomenon. Many of the nearby trees begin to melt like max, their leaves and bark sloughing off in thick clumps of sticky green and brown goop that sizzles with acidic intensity as it falls upon the ground. The now denuded pines twist and bend, snapping their limbs and trunks asunder as they tilt towards the shimmering portal in an apparent effort to prostrate themselves before it.
".....waaaagh?!"
The sound of a nasally female scream suddenly echoes from within the cavernous maw, growing steadily louder as if its occupant is being rapidly catapulted through a long and narrow tunnel. With a brilliant flare of rainbow light, the portal disgorges the owner of the voice into the open, depositing the form of a young woman in an unceremonious heap on the ground. Its purpose apparently fulfilled, the crack seems to suddenly replay its arrival in reverse, sucking the shattered bits and slivers of the world back into place like the pieces of an impossibly complex jigsaw puzzle. It takes mere moments for reality to regain its former grip on the land, though the evidence of the chaotic warp magic continues to burn happily in the center of the now mutated glade.
Climbing to her feet, Sorcha dusts herself off, a task made much more efficient by way of her multitude of arms to set to the task. Her heterocromial gaze sweeps out over the forest, taking in the fire and the broken trees and the piles of steaming slag still sizzling away, taking it all in.
"Uuuhh... I don't think we're in Kansas any more, Toto. Guessing this isn't Billy's Pizzaria and Used Auto-Parts. Damnit! And they were having a two-for-one sale on meat-lovers and mufflers!"
The spindly chaos witch makes her way across the flickering circle of flames without so much as a pause, striding through the fire on bare feet as black as tar. She sniffs at the air as she walks, twisting her head back and forth like a blood-hound that's caught the scent of something interesting and is trying to pinpoint the source. Her first stop is one of the piles of melted leaves. She scoops some of the stuff up in her hand, sniffing and then tasting it with noisy munching noises.
"Eh... needs ranch."
A couple of handfuls of the stuff are dumped into the small satchels strapped to her body and then she moves on, heading deeper into the forest. There isn't really anything guiding her forward save the vague sense that something important has brought her here. Teleportation magic is a dangerous and finiky thing at best, something that only the strongest mages in the world are capable of with any real reliability. No sane person would ever attempt to use it as flippantly as the little witch does but then no sane person ever gave their soul away for the chance to become a servant of Chaos either, now did they?
Despite the logistics, Sorcha's command over teleportation magic is quite impressive, often depositing her right at or right near where it is she wants to go or thinks she wants to go. It's kind of fuzzy sometimes, but it usually works. The downside is that the Chaos gods have a habit of hijacking her flight when they want her to be somewhere else, often dropping her out in the middle of nowhere without any clue what she's supposed to be doing there. Then again, just being somewhere tends to vastly increase the levels of things on fire in the area which is a pretty good way to spread a bit of Chaos!
"Hmm... smells like... oooh, a story plot! And that means SWEET LOOT! Awww yis!"
[LOTUS]
Not long after the trees melt, just as Sorcha has a taste and starts to move on, there's a loud SPLASH from one of the bigger nearby piles!
A figure bursts out of the effluvia with a loud scream, landing and running for a few feet before falling over. Steam wafts off the slender womans body as she rolls around in agony...... until something strange happens. The screams slowly change, and it isn't long before they are replaced with a strange cacophony that is all at once pained screaming and insane laughter.
The figure begins to push themselves to their knees, as Lotus gives a maniacal sideways stare at Sorcha with a bloodshot eye. The flesh on her face is largely gone in places, including her cheek, showing sharp fanged and bare teeth resembling a rictus grin. This lasts only a moment as her flesh visibly begins regenerating before Sorchas eyes, also visible through the holes where clothing was burned away.
Lucky for Lotus she got out before anything other than surface damage was done.
The stab-happy darkstalker pushes herself to her feet, her currently mostly-healed mouth tight with both mirth as well as pain, her catlike eyes meeting Sorchas mismatched gaze "Nice trick four-arms. Now not only is my hiding place gone, but a lot of the cover in this direct area! Now i have to move again!". She stops, and steps a bit closer, peering at each of Sorchas limbs "The charm bracelet prices must be MURDER for you to keep up with! Not to mention going to the salon!".
[SORCHA]
"Uwagh?!"
Sorcha wheels around in surprise at the unexpected noise, lost in her own thoughts. Her arms splay out in various directions, the limbs arranging themselves into a haphazard assortment of balled fists, curled claws, and straight knife-hand postures as she rears back on one leg like some kind of karate spider ready to strike in any direction. It's just as ridiculous and likely ineffective as it sounds.
Upon seeing the sizzling form of a humanoid creature covered in the slimey gunk created by her rather flashy arrival, the witch blinks and then relaxes. She points at the half-melted figure and barks out a harsh laugh, only to find her own amusement ecchoed by the rise of Lotus' crazed cackling. Whether trying to out-compete this sudden challenge to her dominance as the master of unhinged laughing or simply finding the whole thing funny, she escalates her own giggling to near manic levels for a few moments.
"Ahahahaha... stop laughing. Ahaha...hahahaHAHAHA! STOP LAUGHING!"
Fortunately for the sanity of, I dunno, the squirrels that might be nearby, both of the nutballs seem to regain their composure at the same time. The odd woman's half-healed toothy grin is mirrored by the witch, her own freakish maw stretching wide like a zipper being drawn, a bit of imagery reinforced by the twin rows of interlocking triangular teeth within. It's kind of hard to see behind the tall collar but but the /readers need to know this stuff/, okay?! She holds up one of her long slender arms, the blackened limb sporting only three fingers on its hand. She unfolds them one by one as she rattles of several words in rapid succession.
"Three questions! ONE - Who are you?! TWO - Why aren't you on /FIRE/ right now?! THREE - I can't think of a third question!"
[LOTUS]
What Lotus can see of that mouth only makes her own grin wider. Someone as insane and loving of chaos as herself? Oh, THIS is a treat!
"Three answers! ONE - I'm your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate! You can call me Lotus. TWO - I WAS on fire! At least until I wasn't..... gooooood times...... THREE - GIGGLES!".
Lotus stands there grinning at Sorcha for a moment "MY TURN! ONE- WHO are YOU!? TWO - WHY aren't you BLEEDING right now!? THREE - Is it just me, or do i smell something wicked this way coming? Cause seriously, this place..... some things around here have NO sense of sanitation!".
[SORCHA]
The witch recoils at this, gasping loudly as her eyes go wide, her hands pressing to her cheecks in mock surprise while her voice rises to an even more ear-grating pitch.
"Uncle Jimmy?! But you died in 98' in a tragic roller derby accident when Russia sent a secret task force of trained otters to blow up the Thunderdome in order to steal the treasure of Atlantis! This explains /everything/!"
Yeah, you can't out random someone who's literally infused with Chaos. Nice effort though, chump!
The rest of Lotus' response goes largely ignored because honestly, who just bleeds and giggles all the time for no reason? That's freakin weird! This place is really going down the tubes, I tell ya. Sorcha might not be the psycho this world deserves but she is the one it /needs/. Kinda like this walking Ginsu commercial /needs/ more third-degree burns. But, everything in its proper time!
"Hey, I resemble that remark," she growls in response to the last bit. One of the downsides of being a conduit of raw chaotic energy seems to be that she always smells a bit weird. What precisely that smell might be is never quite the same and everyone seems to have different answers when asked so it's impossible to know what Lotus might be experiencing. Sulfur? Burnt-toast? A pleasant bouquet of aromatic incense? Leeeeemons?! Mmm...
"But, uh, yeah... there's definately something weird going on around here.... and for once it /ain't me/!"
[NINE]
The miasma that seemed to be clinging to her defences was somehow following even as she shifted and sped across the terrain, turning over in the air to glance back behind her she can make out the immense heat distortion just in her wake. Whenever she stooped it immediately enclosed her once again. It was an irksome thing! Whether she teleported away in hops, ran or flew; none of it seemed of much use separating her from the affect, She was free for an instant as though the tide had retreated, then a moment later a wave would return.
She first noticed it had started whilst she was still engaged in the fighting; the aura of oppressive heat that gathered against her wards and been radiating outward was gradually increasing in size and scale. Notably once it began affecting nearby NOL troops, her 'allies' as well as enemies her hand had been forced.
She must withdraw, puzzle out what this phenomena was and destroy or suppress it. It was required of her.
Only the merest particle, embers like little bright orange bubbles that left a rancid smoke as they cooled and extinguished. Little else could make it through her defences and the heat itself was a non-issue, relatively harmless levels to her, for the moment.
Seventy feet above the gathering of Darkstalkers Nine was scowling darkly at this nebulous enemy. Fine perhaps she burst it apart or cooled it off with enough cold and ice that would be the end of it. A shift in the clouds movement in response to the gathering ice. Let's see how you handle this!!"
<< 'Onee-san!! ...Happy Birthday!' her tiny and oh so adorable little sister was holding a surprise box. She was immediately suspicious of just how her sister had gotten a hold of something like that. Had she snuck out again? Her eleven year old hands awkwardly reach out to accept the gift gratefully, already preparing her tempered questions she would use to drag the truth out of, and THEN lecture her sister on the dangers one more time. 'No! you have to open it! I worked hard on it.' Something her little sister handmade? What could it be... she'd have to find somewhere to display, wear or eat whatever it was right away? When the contents of the box is something looking up at her she flinches as searing hot winds and darkness swirl, circling around and tearing at her as she screams in sudden panic.>>
"HiiieeeeeeeaaaAUAHHGGGGGGGH-OUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
The scream of a woman in pain is joined and amplified by a base that shakes the leaves on the trees and with a vibration that stirs pebbles on the ground to shift and ever so slightly shift away from the focal point of the roar.
A witch drops listlessly and powerlessly out of air and toward the ground below as a new pilot tries desperately to work out the controls of a vessel they've never encountered the like of before.
<<'You are absolutely not allowed to call him that! Nee-san!!' I point a finger at and make prodding and sparring gestures at the creature sitting on my shoulder. It's not in the least part cute. That was a fright, it leaping out of the box like that. Maybe it actually was a proper magician's pet; a salamander. "I don't like it. It's weird." It didn't seem to like her much either, they were both getting working up glaring at one another. It had bulbous and suspicious eyes with tiny pupil. Super suspicious. In return it got it's back up and produced a small flame. Kiisssssshe!! If it wanted to play that game! The ball of flame flaring to life in her hand she counter-threatens it with was several times larger than its entire body. Her precious little sister was tugging at her sleeve. 'S-I-S-TER!'>>
The powerless falling body winds back an arm as a massive tongue of flame appears in her palm and spears downward into and shearing the top off a small hillock, wiping away everything that existed there and burning a dimple into the land itself.
Her descent aided by this the witch glides to the ground seemingly happy with herself but silent. Standing in the harkening clearing surrounded by a ring of fire she reaches up to pat either side of her face, examine and move her arms as if unfamiliar with the concept , and how the joints were meant to work.
Nailed that.
Now, how did the breasts work? ...Did the move? Or was it ballast or a swim bladder or something? Humans swam didn't they.
[LOTUS]
Lotus blinks, hearing screaming somewhere..... above? "I'm not screaming, and YOUR not screaming..... so who IS screaming?".
At this moment, the hill next to the two lunatics is suddenly incinerated in a giant conflagration, and this unknown-looking woman in lady-like gandalf clothes drops to the ground. Lotus points dramaticly "YOUR who i've been smelling all day! Bout TIME you joined the party!". She peers over at Sorcha, her expression one of amusement mixed with suprise "Looks like another firebug. I'd give the entrance an eight-point-five. Friend of yours?"
[SORCHA]
What's this? Ominous rumbling? Screams of anguish and misery? Random explosions in the distance? Wait, is it Taco Tuesday?!
"Crap, I totally forgot the guacamole!"r
Lamenting this lapse of etiquette, Sorcha wobbles around as the ground shudders under the force of the unidentified flying object's sudden violent outburst. The fireworks are pretty big and flashy, if a little mundane. I mean, it only exploded, comon. LaaAAAME~! If your magic can be recreated with a few sticks of dynamite it's not terribly impressive.
Where's the screaming skulls of fire? Where's the clouds of noxious gas that sing Christmas carols? Where's the sparkling rainbows that make your brain melt? Where's the /Chaos/?!
Well, atleast the bimbo has the good sense to use fire. There's few things that bring out the screams and panic like a good blaze! The multi-armed mutant rubs her chin with one hand as she examines the new addition to this strange little teaparty in Wonderland. A woman - and one that fills out her rather provocative outfit rather nicely. She ain't that bad to look at either though her lack of extra limbs is definately a point against her. Good taste in hats though!
"I LOVE YOUR DRESS!"
Sorcha calls out to the witch, waving at her enthusiastically all of the sudden. Her voice, normally comparable to an angry cat being rotated in a gravel-mixer with a side-dash of nails on a chalkboard, completely changes tone as she rambles on. It becomes rather...normal, the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from any teenager, though there's a lilt to it that makes it sound somewhat off - like a used-car salesman trying to convince you that the vehicle you're looking at most definately came without a bumper.
"Still gonna set you on fire and loot your corpse though, because, you know, it's kinda my thing, but we should totally exchange numbers and go shopping sometime!"
[NINE]
Such crude yet dexterous limbs. Humans did with manual labours what could be better accomplished with magic; or the slave labour of lesser accomplished beings or peers. Slaves or worshippers, it made no difference to the craftsmanship. Regardless of what humans built, it all burned like matchwood before a dragons awesome breath.
The presence of other creatures jerks Little Bolla out of this self-examination and discovery. Bearing witness to (a part of) the revival of the destroyer. So blessed were they! They would know the mercy of a quick death and provide nourishment and tinder for the fires which would grow to cleanse the world!! Oh! She was on, time to impress the natives.
"I HAVE MANY--"
%First the shrouded one cuts small Bolla off, talking to the other and then said other joins in with a sudden shout and waving their limbs about as if to flaunt possessing so many. The dragon-vessel pauses; mute and horrified at the lack of any proper reverence for their peerless might and majestic appearance. Oh ...of course!! To those not in the know they were simply seen as the vessel appeared. Arm's folding across the breasts firmly and appearing increasingly bitter and borderline angry, a tongue of blue flame emerges from pouting lips as the witch exhales. The memory of this encounter was something they would never share with another living soul or the other aspects of the whole.
It was a little embarrassing.
*a---Hem*
"I have had many names. I have been called Abbadon! I have been called Fafnir! I have been called Bolla! I have brought the pestilence of a thousand plagues upon-"
The small dragon begins to introduce itself once again! The impressive and bellowing voice gone she uses a moderate (if brisk) tone. An illustrious history of destroyers, plague bearers and monsters that left enduring scars as their mark upon the world. With each name she can't help but look between both faces for any hint of recognition, acknowledge the great power that stands before you! Understand the momentous time you live in! The end is nigh mortals!
The few grasses beneath her cute boots wilt and turn to ash as fire bleeds out of her body, her outline becoming indistinct as flame grows and swells around her. Partly she was consuming and fuelling a fire that was eating away at her edges; then it rises upwards as pillar as though it was contained or directed so.
COMBATSYS: Nine has started a fight here.
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Nine 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Nine charges her next attack!
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Nine 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Nine has joined the fight here as a boss!
NINE
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[LOTUS]
Lotus actually looks a bit suprised "Fafnir? I get that reference! I KNOW THAT NAME!" then she blinks "Not sure from where, though. STILL! I've heard it before!". Then she notices the ground burning, and the flames coming up around Nine. She can't help but grin, though it is unknown if any more of the names ring any bells in her disjointed belfry "So am i to take it then that you plan to destroy the world and massacre it's occupants?".
Lotus draws her weapons, unable to suppress her mirth "Oh, the irony..... SORRY! No PROPER monster would allow some big ancient sleepyheaded potentially evil whatever do their job FOR them! Besides saving my own ass from incineration, not that incineration wouldn't be fun, i can't just stand by and LET you cause such mass havoc! If YOU do it, *I* can't do it later!".
With that, Lotus does potentially the worst thing ever: she leaps TOWARDS the fire, and the person generating them! Sharp pointy bits first! Pointy bits she tries to jam into the soft spots between the shoulder joints and collar bones!
COMBATSYS: Lotus has joined the fight here.
NINE
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Lotus 0/-------/-------|
[SORCHA]
Sorcha cocks her head to the side as the strange woman speaks, her floppy hat shifting atop its precarious position nestled between her pigtails.The names rattled off most certainly sound familiar, I mean, what self-respecting fantasy nerd wouldn't know their mythology? However, this individual looks like neither a demon nor a dragon - more like some JRPG floozie designed to appeal to lonely nerds in their basement.
The intense heat coming off of Nine's body carries a little more weight to it. Whatever she might look like, it's obvious that this person has a great deal of power. It's practically radiating off her in waves like some kind of thick perfume as if she's screaming for attention.
Let's go through the list, shall we?
1) Dramatic entrance
2) Overly fancy clothes
3)Haughty monologue
4)Name at the top of the health meters
Smells like a booooss fiiight~!
"Hey! I kill me! NOBODY ELSE!"
The little mutant doesn't really care about this weirdo's plan to set everything on fire. That was her plan, after all. She'd be kind of a hypocrit to take exception to that. On the other hand, if this really is a dragon in disguise that means there must be some /epic/ loot hiding somewhere in that epic cleavage. And she'll be damned if she's going to let some shiny new salvage slip through her fingers!!
With a soft pop, blazing balls of black fire flare to life around each of Sorcha's hands. Her fingers interlock and shift as she goes through some strange arcane motions, fel runes of power forming in the air around her. Her own aura of magic starts to grow more intense, raw Chaos energy building within her grasp with each passing moment!
COMBATSYS: Sorcha has joined the fight here.
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Lotus
COMBATSYS: Sorcha charges her next attack!
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0 Lotus
COMBATSYS: Nine blocks Lotus' Catch the Prey.
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/-----==|=------\-------\0 Lotus
[NINE]
The wavering form of the with raises her hand to catch the falling daggers as one of these mad creatures lunges. The unexpected jolt and rasp of cleaving flesh pains 'her' these hands, moving heedless of the dangers in responding as she does. Closing soft pink flesh and bone around razor sharp steel to stop the descending blades. A flinch of pain from so mighty a creature with a new realization: lack of glorious scales made even simple weapons like these dangerous.
"Wha- Biting or stinging!!"
The tide of flame ramps up in intensity while turning her figure into a superheated orange mass. Her features gradually becoming more indistinct with the heat as she turns into living fire, the pillar ceasing to climb skywards as the heat is drawn inward instead, compressed and stored away inside her body.
"INSECTS ARE STILL INSECTS."
That was what that other girl reminded them of... a spider!
Her one eye can see that girl in the distance, she was preparing some kind of spell? The magic's smelt old and unfamiliar at this distance. Probably not a master of the arts and undoubtedly defensive in nature, they would be dealt with in time and for now would just be a distraction. You chased one prey item until you caught it, let the fear spread as you destroyed or devoured without fail. Others would know their time was slowly coming.
A short time after leaning into Lotus's face with a fiery indistinct face and cartoonish smile. The witch drives forward at Lotus in a propelling dive, feet no longer touching the ground and in flight she trails wings of fire and a curtain of thrown up ash.
She lances forward in order to throw lotus back and pressure then incinerate the bug with a frightening burst of aggression and powers. Grinning right up until the moment she disappears in an orange cloud, an explosive blast wave of heat and black magics.
COMBATSYS: Nine successfully hits Lotus with Empowered Crimson Raider EX.
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/-----==|====---\-------\0 Lotus
[LOTUS]
BOOM!
Once thrown back, Lotus is about to dodge when suddenly, instead of slipping sideways, shes ON FIRE AND IN PAIN OH MY GOD IT BURNS!
The flames continue to burn away at her body, just like the acidic chaos goop did earlier, only worse. THIS burn is actually outpacing her bodies attempts to regenerate itself! She begins to giggle madly as the pain washes over her, and with a flick she sends a long, narrow, VERY sharp stiletto at Nine.
A present to keep her busy until Lotus can once again close the distance!
[SORCHA]
Defense? Hahaha! The best defense is MORE FIRE!
Left entirely to her own devices, a situation that only ever ends in tears (that are also on fire somehow), Sorcha gathers the twisting energies of the universe into her body as she chants nonsense in a language that she probably made up. Occasionally the odd recognizable word slips in here and there but without any context it just sounds like the ravings of a crazy homeless person talking to their invisible friend. Her mutated flesh hums with raw power, all four arms blazing with the dark fire all the way up to the elbows by the time she turns to unleash what she has wrought upon the 'dragon'.
"Higgledy-piggledy... bigglety... BOOP!"
Thrusting a hand towards the flaming pyre that is the possessed mage, a blast of screaming energy erupts from her palm. It streaks towards its target like a bolt of foul lightning, zig-zagging jaggedly through the air as if only barely able to be controlled in any real fashion, but Sorcha manages to reel it in well enough to keep it barreling towards its objective more or less.
Upon impact, whether it be with Nine or the general surroundings, the energy violently explodes in a column of twisting fire. It is within such close proximity that it would become obvious that this magic is not something normal. Though it burns like flame, the true source of its power is not that of heat, but change. It tears at the reality around them, altering flesh and shifting truths until what was is no longer.
The grass all the point of impact does not melt, as might be expected, but instead begins to grow and stretch into something far less mundane. Long whip-like blades spin and flail around like the tentacles of some angry beast. Their fury is short but deadly, lashing at anything in range including each other until they have all be cut down by their own frenzied bloodlust.
"And that is why keeping your yard mowed is important, kids! Now GET OFF MY LAWN!"
COMBATSYS: Nine auto-guards Sorcha's Empowered Chaos Magick!.
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Lotus
COMBATSYS: Nine overcomes Pinprick from Lotus with Rebullite of Rage.
- Power hit! -
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/------=|=====--\-------\0 Lotus
[NINE]
A dainty wave of her offhand as if waving goodbye as she points toward the stricken an apparently melting and falling apart Lotus. With her dominant hand she raises a finger, stabbing and directing something towards. From a distance it might seem a pointlessly and callous way to mock an adversary yet a mage tends to direct their power and attention where they are pointing. The fact that creature had drawn yet another knife had not gone unnoticed, it seemed excited by the pain and burning, wriggly with it even though it was falling apart.
Ick!
Hrrrgh. Creatures like this always made destruction at least a little uncomfortable. There was always some weirdo who enjoyed pain or being on fire! Cultists wanting to be sacrificed was understandable, they loved something more than they did themselves. These things though? Not only soft, wriggly and weak but they occasionally enjoyed being destroyed, or gathered up in big groups expecting they could stop the threat.
Those times it was generally easier than hunting them down in small numbers.
A disc of spinning glyph and formulae; appearing in small scale and spreading across the ground beneath Lotus. The catalysts for and directing the summoning of a gigantic horned flaming skull which begins lunging up out of the ground with its maw already open in a scream lost to the sound of the fire itself, or perhaps to take a bite out of the little monster. The dagger disappearing into the maw as it bears down upon her.
Size impoverished but no less impressive Bolla was so fixated on the usual hum-drum immolation and destruction of an adversary she nearly misses that bee-lining bolt of arcane energy. Reflexively reaching a hand out toward to block it again but this time- circles within circles, layers upon layer the guard wall of magic expands into being as she shifts her offhand and focus toward the threat. Still smirking to herself, and rather enjoying the work. Colour drains from her face as the pillar of fire erupts against her defence. She was holding it off but the fire appearing substance wasn't fire, and it was expanding, the small vestiges of grass and clumps underfoot were mutating badly and in stomach churning ways. Slimy and disgusting and gross!!
Both hands come together as she redoubles her focus on defence and increases the sides of her warding, flowering it around and over the impact site like a cone she focuses the threat back towards the girl, as the entire conflagration suddenly collapses in on itself. The wriggling masses fighting and killing one another even as she sanitizes the area with a jet of flame.
The witchy bug of many arms most definitely had her full attention now her friend was dealt with.
COMBATSYS: Nine successfully hits Lotus with Rebullite of Rage.
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/------=|=======\=------\1 Lotus
[LOTUS]
Second verse, same as the first: BOOM!
Lotus has but a split second to notice her thrown weapons destruction before the flaming skull impacts her full on, causing a massive conflagration centered on herself!
As Nine turns to pay attention to Sorcha.... theres sudden motion from the molten remains of whatever else was incinerated in that spot. A blackened and burning figure, skin melting and burnt in many places, face half-blackened, with the skin of her cheeks burned away. Lotus seems to almost be looking PAST Nine, in a haze of pain and burning. Her body still has places where it is lit and smouldering, preventing her flesh from knitting back together at the pace she is used to....
She grins inhumanly, a movie coming to mind "Heeeeeeeere's JOHNNY!". With that she rapidly closes the distance, knives drawn and seeking blood with a series of fast slashes at what she thinks are Nines vulnerable places! With how much shes burning, any rise in temperature is not felt by her at present.
[SORCHA]
"Ooooh, so critty!"
The giant flaming skull that consumes Lotus earns a bit of respect from Sorcha. You just can't see that sort of art and not appreciate it. The regenerative powers of the psycho seem unable to keep up with the sheer amount of destruction being unleashed in her general vicinity, reinforcing the idea that rogues are not front-line party members. That's why she's still way back here, not being charred to a cinder.
"Hey, I can totally see inside you!"
Despite being scandalously exposed, Lotus seems intent on continuing to try the whole stabby approach. Well, you know what they say about crazy and expecting different results from the same actions. But, hey, more power to her! She atleast makes a decent distraction for the moment. Dragon-lady is giving her the fish-eye though.
"Wait, wait, one sec! Let's try that again!"
Sorcha's hands once more begin to weave together as she draws more magic into her body. The air around her distorts and wavers as if being corrupted by some foul miasma. Gazing upon such fel powers directly causes a bit of nausea and disorientation for mortals, no matter how powerful, were never meant to interact with the very stuff unpinning creation itself. It would be like trying to gaze into the concept of Change and understand it, an eternally shifting void of infinite possibility that for some reason looks like smudgy rainbows and smells vaguely of lemons.
"Look, power tastes like /lemons/, okay!? Deal. With. It!"
COMBATSYS: Sorcha charges her next attack!
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Lotus
COMBATSYS: Nine dodges Lotus' Slice and Dice.
NINE
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Sorcha 0/-------/----===|=======\====---\1 Lotus
[NINE]
Standing with her ankles together, knee ever so slightly bent as she contemplates how to best handle the spiderling magus. Having so many arms seemed like it would be pretty helpful. Defend and counterattack at the same time or even just the extra places she could scratch an itch. There should probably be some kind of stratagem or something you'd usually employ in a duel of mages.
Feint into counter feint, a probing attack with counterspells readied.
That sounded boring and complex. Bolla didn't want to burden the soul he had suppressed for their knowledge on the topic. Too many steps were involved and she would rather skip to the part where the spider got squished underfoot. !! A strike of genius, Illustrious Bolla the wise would skip straight to that part of the battle.
Still appearing paused in thought and a finger crooked and brushing her lower lip while she was allowing her opponent to increase and gather her power. It seemed fitting! As the crispy and delicious Lotus rises and begins her lunge, andvancing and slashing while screaming the dragon doesn't even turn her head to watch. If the creature had not thought to announce itself so loudly then it had been on her blind side.
The attack meets empty air only because Nine the Phantoms body is no longer present. Slashing blades pass through purple flame and carve the air asunder even as the possessed revenant reappears just off to Sorchas right. Dipping into a crouch she kicks up with frightening force and a scandalous display of black panties as she kicks for Sorchas head intent on taking it off, or sending her spiralling up into the air.
There many ways to get rid of bugs, an open flame, zapping them, stomping or swatting. This attack seemed to favour using the sole of her boot.
COMBATSYS: Nine knocks away Sorcha with Scarlet Vein.
NINE
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Sorcha 1/------=/=======|=======\====---\1 Lotus
Grounding that kicking stiletto hell back down Nine's body sags backward powerless, arched backward with an almost euphoric smile gradually widening further and turning up at the edges until it's an honest and true slashers smile. She lunges forward and stabs her hands toward the earth. Wrist crossed one atop the other as her cape bursts upwards with the sudden move.
"Scarlet --Vein!"
Two gate glyphs etched out of threads of fire wheels about and position themselves either side of the flying spider. Holes opening in thin air and there is a bone shattering crash and rumble as two massive arms of stone and fire clash together with Sorcha pinned between. Nine's body reaches up to adjust the brim of that so wide witches brim hat, watching as the fists quickly dissolve in a wave of flame under the force of their own explosive collision.
"You two are a fun diversion. But, I have a job to run and do real quick!"
That castle needed to burn, it wasn't ideal that this vessel had fled so far before it could be taken, then she'd literally fallen onto a nest of crazy.
"If you'd lay down to die I promise I'll obliterate you really quick."
Not painlessly, The awesome and magnanimous Bolla planned to use fire after all.
[LOTUS]
The giggles whisper to Lotus...... problem is, no one else can hear them!
What do they say, you ask?
'Chocolate is better than vanilla'.
Yea, the giggles never really seem to make sense, or at least anything relevant to the current situation or crisis.
That said, Lotus herself remains in her somewhat pain-maddened state, her body in overdrive moreso than it's used to as it attempts to keep her addled mind intact "Party aint over YET, pretty-pretty-princess!". She brandishes one of her knives, pointing it suggestively towards Nine "I got your job to do RIGHT HERE!".
Very mature..... not THAT Mature..... the other, more sarcastic kind.
Lotus blurs into motion once more, the oxygen feeding the smoldering areas making her burn worse, as she comes in at Nine from the side with a pommel strike aimed at the possessed witches head!
[SORCHA]
Sorcha's head, as it turns out, is remarkably resistant to being removed from the rest of her. The heel smashes into the side of her face, disrupting the bizzare words of her spell which causes the energies to diffuse into the air in clouds of dark acrid smoke. The mutant mage tumbles sideways right into the sweet spot for the summoned fists of stone and her spindly body vanishes from sight for a couple of seconds as the giant palms squish her like a bug.
"Ahaha... Ahahaha.... AHAHAHAHA!!"
The sound of manic laughter fills the air from within the cloud of fiery destruction. When the flames and smoke clears away a few seconds later, the crazed teenager reappears, leaping through the air on direct impact course for the haughty dragon. Bits of magical flame cling to her body, a few fresh scorch marks the only obvious signs of damage inflicted by the powerful assault. A couple of her arms seem like they might be bent at odd angles but then again nothing about Sorcha is particularly normal and she shows no signs of being in pain or hindered by any potential broken bones.
"POW!"r
Calling out the name of her attack like some kind of comic book villain, the mutant thrusts all four of her arms forward as she draws within striking range. Her momentum simply stops as a massive blast of searing black flame explodes into Nine's personal space, filling the air with more of that nauseating power. She doesn't really seem to care that Lotus might get caught in the collateral, it's not like they're working together so much as both attacking the same target. The explosion sends Sorcha flying backwards but she lands gracefully on her feet several feet away, fingers already wiggling as she prepares to conjure up another blast of magic.
COMBATSYS: Nine dodges Lotus' Power Strike.
NINE
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Sorcha 1/-------/=======|=======\=======\1 Lotus
COMBATSYS: Nine blocks Sorcha's Empowered Shadowflare.
NINE
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Sorcha 1/------=/=======|=======\=======\1 Lotus
[NINE]
They categorically refused Bollas offer of a quick death, already leaping back toward her and grinning madly as she blew them apart and burned them. That she chose to do instead of her job! This wasn't fun at all. They didn't scream in anguish or lament their impending doom. She swatted them and they kept getting up and trying to bite, or spit stinking old magic at her like it was a poison all while trapped in this fragile and helpless human form.
This was every girl's worst nightmare! Girl? Bolla wasn't a girl! The vessel however was, and the natural inclination to be repulsed by these things: Things like skrittering bug-like undying horrors intent on harming her was bleeding over between these souls held in such close contact..
"ENOU-UFF!! EeeeeeE-NOUGH!! Nauseated yet Brave Bolla has had enough! You're both squicky, Crazy and should both be already dead! You scream with laughter as you're dying!"
But they refused to die from that dying. If only she had her full strength and was a big and mighty dragon, then they would treat Bolla with the respect that they deserved. They were at least an aspect of a world destroying power the soul of fire., Even while still small.. Bolla was a big goddamn deal!
"I'M SICK OF YOUR MOCKERY!!!"
She would reunite with the others and then they would burn this world to --Ashes-yes, Burn. The other elements could go soak their heads, stick them in the ground or something. This was a job for fire, cleansing and purifying flame. Fuck this world! It was infested.
The leggy witch spreads her arms welcomingly but tightens the clawed hand into excruciatingly tights fists, the slash wounds in her palms contributing to gentle red haze appearing at the corners of her vision. She needed more rage though, greater synergy to get more power out of this body.
<<"Focus! Lightning is an element that can easily slip out of your control."
Celica needed to learn some offensive magics. She had the capacity to learn but was too soft-hearted to see the need for her to ever attack, which made this very frustrating to teach. 'B-but.. s-i-ster.' Konoe swallows down her desire to comfort her sister and feigns immunity to those tearful eyes. It did indeed seem pointless-- the sound of the lightning scared her, this was truly pointless if her sister would not use it. Fine, she'd relent this time, tomorrow though!
A hand closes over her sisters shoulder and pulls her away. That bastard was eerily focused entirely upon a still startled and tearful Celica, he said nothing but she knew why he had his hands on her. He was after her because Celica was special, and to take her away from Konoe. She would never allow it! She raises her hand toward the sky ready to call lighting down upon him. "Don't you DARE lay a hand on-"
If only Celica learned some attack magic for herself she wouldn't be helple--
The scene shifts and Terumi is standing over a corpse she doesn't want to look too closely at. Face down on the floor, her precious little sister didn't even have a chance to defend herself. She had not the slightest chance at all -- because Konoe had been too soft, had not trained her. The salamander on her shoulder smiled brighter and wider as->>
TEEEEERRRRUUUUUUU-MIIIIIIII
Bolla was shaken and rattled about by the scale of this sudden rage, but the sudden rise in synergy between them was glorious. The magnitude of Nines aura redoubles as the witch appears to visibly seethe with anger. A diffuse purple glow partially shielded from sight by a veil of pink hair illuminates half of her face. Unlike before this time the dragon-vessel moves with some form of grace and power, she ducks into a lower stance and slips sideways evading the hilt of the knife aimed at her head. Instinctually clasping the brim of her hat to keep it affixed the other curls into a claw, ready to strike back at the melee ranged attacker. Nine's body instinctively reacts to the incoming presence only a smidge too late.
The battle scarred clearing where both Lotus and Bolla stood is completely empty.
Her palm angled towards Sorcha is barely enough done a fraction too late as the ignition of the flame drives her back. Her palm searing and twisting as the warding buckles inward enough to expose her flesh. Full force she is shoved back into Lotus and in an instant vanishes in a plume of purple fire, her lack of resistance allowing the black fire to blast away all in its path.
Meanwhile back at the Castle, Nine the Phantom reappears out of thin air plus one with an unintended passenger.
"Bolla, will make the end start now! I. BRING. RUIN!"
Whoa, to these ruins? This Castle had seen better days. She vaults backwards and settles down gently atop a huge fallen hunk of masonry that was once a carved column of some kind. Nine flings an arm overhead sending an orb of fire shooting up into the air. The sky rumbles overhead and clouds begin to roil about, stirring and pulsing with unnatural light.
COMBATSYS: Nine charges her next attack!
NINE
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Sorcha 1/------=/=======|=======\=======\1 Lotus
[LOTUS]
Lotus' eyes, wide with madness, stare down at Nine as the attack is dodged. Despite all the failure, she is not discouraged. After all...
No one can dodge forever! SOMETHING will work sooner or later as Nine tires..... The question is more about tiring her out first.
In contrast to Sorchas claws-on-chalkboard cackle, Lotuses giggling and laughter is deep and insidious, much like what you would expect from Mark Hamills Joker. Her response to Nines anger at being mocked and the duos lunacy is one of amusement "Welcome to wonderland, Alice! The lunatics run the asylum here!". She abruptly "OOF!"s as Nine runs into her, and lands in a heap nearby.
The change of scenery doesn't seem to matter to the stab-happy madwoman. With a gleeful growl, she pushes herself up off the ground, sprints towards the column, and runs up the side of it ninja-style! Reaching the top as Nine does her thing, Lotus swings both knives upwards, attempting to gouge a pair of parallel lines up Nines torso before leaping back and away to land on the ground some distance away!
[SORCHA]
While Sorcha might be mad as a hatter, there's an obvious glint of insidious cleverness in her eyes. She isn't ruled by the insanity that has gripped her but it has shaped her view on the world into something that most people simply can't understand without looking into the void themselves. When nothing around you is what it seems, it can be hard to tell the difference between truth and fiction.
The twisted little mutant grins as she draws upon her magicks, chaotic corrupted powers granted to her by eldritch gods long since forgotten by mankind, but she does not immediately throw herself back into the fray, instead remaining at a distance while her more blood-thirsty partner of convenience continues to press the assault. Death holds little fear for Sorcha - she's already died once and all it did was send her on a short vacation in some girl's hairpiece. Nice kid, real looker, but kind of a stick in the mud. It does make it sort of hard to get things done when she doesn't have a proper body though and the moment she starts /expecting/ to get ressurected is precisely when it ceases to happen. Chaos is kind of contrary like that.
At first, the sudden disappearance of both witch and weirdo doesn't raise any alarms. Nine has already shown she can teleport around at will, atleast for short distances, marking her as kind of a badass in the magical department. That she took Lotus along for the ride is even more impressive. After a dozen seconds of eyeing the fire-blasted terrain around her, watching for any signs of ambush or fireworks that might tell her where they've gotten off to, it dawns on her that the busty broad might have gone and buggered off.
"Hey! Get back here! THAT WAS MY BOSS FIGHT!"
Growling in frustration, the accumulated magic in her hands is hurled at the forest, blasting apart trees and shrubberies in shimmering oily explosions and columns of screaming fire. It's a regular parade of violence over here. Once she's expended her energy, Sorcha huffs and dusts herself off seeming to simply brush her wounds away as if they were little more than painted on decals that crumble into tiny flecks of black paint.
"Nrrrrgh, I /hate/ not killing!"
Sniffing the air, she wanders around the battlefield for a little while until something finally catchs her attention. Cackling with fresh enthusiasm, she takes off at a sprint, skittering into the trees with agile leaps and bounds. Occassionally, the ground rumbles as it is rocked by fresh explosions, the booming roar punctuated by shrill mad laughter.
COMBATSYS: Nine auto-guards Lotus' Vicious Rake.
NINE
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Sorcha 1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Lotus
[NINE]
The brewing storm overhead was bulging at the seams, almost ripe and readied to fall upon this stuffy and mouldy old castle. The body of Nine the Phantom revels in the impending catastrophe. Face turned upwards wanting to watch it happen in real time. HURRY AND BE READY! Murky black clouds were unmoved by Bolla's wishes while barely concealing the elemental powers as they burst open and mixed.
Instead she turns her attention back towards the ground, the swift pattering footfalls and leap of the bitey one with the tiny metal fangs. It demanded her fullest attention, the combat instincts honed into the body responded to the threat before Bolla might even have wished.
The swift and dangerous rogue was a predator archetype who all mages were on some levels concerned about. There were no spells to aid the wizard with a slit throat. Some depended on others to protect them; others avoided situations where there might be the case with smarts and planning. And then there was the third type.
The stiletto heel steps out as though she intended to walk across or stop the ascending knife edge. The knife biting deep into sole of her shoe she lifts her stocking knee to help bleed off momentum, chambering a kick as her thigh crosses the front of her pelvis, the angle of her foot changing to lock the blade between the shank and the heel as though it were a sword breaker. Nine shunts the attacker away into a graceful backwards flip with some distance on it. Tch! She and Bolla both would rather it fallen on its face.
The third type: Just might be the kind of mage who would happily spar barehanded with a husband who was a Master Swordsman.
"I'VE TRIED FIRE. LET US SEE HOW YOU LIKE SKY FIRE!"
Which was still largely fire, but mixing it with lighting for good measure and even greater levels of heat. The first few bolts of vivid white-orange lighting fall where they may, strobing at still tall structures and stone features; carving deep swathes of molten rock, magma filler fissures into the walls and foundations alike. After the first second the bolts begin to fall in rapid and unending succession a trail of strikes landing so closely together the same bolt of plasma hot lightning might as well be walking towards Lotus.
The same energy striking close to nine arcs around her as though an invisible sphere or protection surrounded her. Or of course because the bolts were descending form above there was cover to be found all around, if any of it proved sturdy enough to survive a strike.
COMBATSYS: Nine successfully hits Lotus with Empowered Uvarote of Undoing.
Grazing Hit
NINE
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Sorcha 1/------=/=======|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Lotus
[LOTUS]
Seeing Nine focusing, and generating this LARGE firey and electrifying attack, and send it towards her, Lotus does what she does best: the WORST thing!
She charges Nine as the attack comes towards her, eyes alive with intensity! This may well be her final chance.......
On reaching Nine, both daggeres are thrust violently towards the soft shoulder areas, glowing with sickly venomous chi! If she hits, they are then torn outwards, through the flesh and along the bones, causing large amounts of damage!
She isn't done though! She then slices the weapons the OTHER way, aiming for the stomach area, attempting to causing deep bleeding, almost disembowling wounds there! Finally, she swings the weapons a final time, one up groin to head, the other the opposite!
This unfortunately, leaves Lotus wide open for the attack to strike her full on!
COMBATSYS: Lotus can no longer fight.
NINE
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Sorcha 1/------=/=======|
With a large explosion, Lotus is engulfed in a mix of fire and electricy! This is more than even HER insane regeneration can handle as it sends her flying back to smack into the wall across the room with a sound akin to an exploding watermelon!
Blood, burnt flesh, and other disgusting things are smeared all over, as Lotus drops to the floor. She is still a moment, before suddenly regaining consciousness with a gasp of breath! However, the damage is too great, and all she can do is glare at Nine, twitching uncontrollably due to the damage to her nervous system done by the electricty. As a result of all the fire damage, she is little more than a red wet mess of scorched flesh, still trying to move, but unable to do much at this point.....
COMBATSYS: Nine instinctively dodges Lotus' #Drawn and Quartered#.
NINE
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Sorcha 1/------=/=======|
[NINE]
The entire stage lit in ambient red and harsh shadows as fire gnaws. the wicked witch standing atop her pillar stands in silhouette against a backdrop of growing and brightening red. The fires she has called down starting all over the grounds and combustible materials catch alight, molten stone runs and gathers in pools at the base of walls.
The vessel was scowling however. Despite such a frightening display of power she could not dissuade and keep this madman down. It was on her, giggling or chuckling every moment it wasn't blasted away with fire; Even then it soon returned after regaining its feet. Not even the arcs of lighting passing around the shield around her appeared to be a sufficient ward.
A eye framed with pink lashes blinks in time to miss the evasion but not the headlong rush towards her position. Bolla's instincts kick in and dictate a too late attempt to flee into the air. The body chooses to react differently, leaning backwards from the pillar until it's certain she is falling; the thrust of the knives for her collarbone passes high, harmless. Calmly, precisely follow the movements of her shoulder and react before the strike. Predict the knifes path and don't be there.
The disembowelling slashes pass close enough to her abdominals she feels the blade pass by and the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. She throws herself into a backarching plummet headfirst towards the ground , cape fanning out behind either side as she pitches back into it. Even if she landed safely on the ground below the enemy would quickly fall on her, she was merely delaying the inevitable and risking breaking her neck. Bolla flails at the controls.
With a clap of air there was a great wingbeat and Nine's body is rising away from Lotus instead of falling. Tails of her cape extending either side of her body and fanned out like wings they make another animated flap and she rises, bobbing another half foot in the air. Unfairly standing beyond the range a rogue could even expect to reach her. This is how mages and dragons both fight when they're getting serious.
Making no move to attack, her shield still surrounding her, Bolla merely has to wait as the lighting seeks out the monster-girl standing atop a pillar while the tiny area of safety is withdrawn and centred upon Nine the Phantom.
"THUS, YOUR STORY ENDS."
Descending to the ground in a graceful glide she bouncily strolls through the carnage and sets a foot down beside the charred girls face with an air of finality. Toe of her foot resting against one of those pesky knives she gives it a nudge further away. A mature woman's giggle of her own as she notes the fact her victim glaring up at her, Bolla wasn't so simple has to leave an enemy just /mostly/ dead.
"You were persistent Johnny. Right up until the very end, still fighting mad."
That was the name wasn't it? To have made such an impression on a great beast like the all-destroying Bolla would be its legacy. It's single greatest achievement.
"Be glad you survive this world in some small way!"
[LOTUS]
The burnt and messy figure squirms on the floor, and as Nine steps near, she snaps out with her teeth! Unfortunately for Lotus, the damage to her jaw muscles combined with the lack of decent leverage mean she misses, but the attempt has been made anyway! When she speaks, her voice comes out in an a cross between a hiss and a whisper (that she can speak at all is in itself amazing) "My name...... is Lotus.... bring your foot closer..... i'm not done yet!". She then devolves into hissing, wheezing laughter, making her spasming body tremble further. The insane mirth, however, doesn't reach her eyes, which still glare sharply into Nines from the floor.
The laughter peters off as Lotus takes a ragged breath before speaking again "If you strike me down, i shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!". She chuckles, grinning up at Nine "Always wanted to say that.....". If she IS gonna finally die, what better words to go out on?
[NINE]
The claw she was raising for this last decisive strike flexes, tingling with excitement, with anticipation of the kill. A globule of white hot light growing from a pinhead in diameter until it fills and strains against each of her surrounding fingers. Orange and cooling at the edges a constant scattering of sparks fall from her hand while she sneers at the Darkstalker. Poised to strike to end this torment once and for all.
She is suddenly torn.
"Then -why- did you call yourself Johnny?"
If she killed it now? Several thousand years from now she'd still be annoyed wondering why the hell anyone would have said the wrong name during a once in a lifetime fight, a battle to the death! As the creature dissolves in hacking giggles once again the smirk draws back into a snarl.
She would end it now, her future self be damned and could deal with the annoyance!!
Then Lotus utters such a horrifying phrase that the dragon vessel takes a step backward. Neither her host body nor all a dragons lifetimes made light of such a statement. There were creatures and beings who DID gain strength as they were killed. Beasts who possessed those who struck them down and forever gained greater powers and battle prowess.
Nine continues her retreat to a safe distance, balefully glaring and wondering whether it was a risk Bolla dared risk testing. The synergy between both souls inhabiting the body was falling and there was absolutely no knowledge and a shared sense of confusion and wariness. No, the end would come in proper time. it was best to play it safe.
Releasing her hold the globe falls to the ground with a ringing noise as if it were metal and squelch as it begins melting into the flagstones underfoot. A hot knife through butter.
"YOU HAVEN'T ESCAPED."
With an unceremonious pop the human appearing body drops limply to its knees. Wiggling wildly in the air above her shoulder a large plump newt with bizarre proportions, overlarge eyes a thin body and chubby little legs bellyflops to the ground and makes a rapid scrabble towards the hole so close-by. Diving into the hole it causes a jet of flame to rise; the flagstones shifting with a rippling wave.
Withing minutes the waves have steading and started to move in a trailing motion as something a dozen feet long and sinuous as a snake begins to move, swimming through the foundations toward a pool of fire a serpent form of fire leaps vaults from one pool to a rent in one of the walls, swimming effortlessly through the walls and rubble it continues to jump from one fiery hotspot to another, eating through the heart and remnants of the castle.
Destroy. Destroy the castle! Perhaps the hazardous environment would destroy the pesky creature and the unconscious vessel before it recovered.
The swimming speed redoubles as Bolla excites at the thought. Great Magister Bolla was the smartest! Possess the magma asshole.. assume control of that vessel and be burned to death along with her!! Ahahaha~heh.
"GUU-OUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOooo"
Content and euphoric with the ensuing ease destruction and growth the dragons head pauses in its attack, shaking the ground with a roar as it snakes back and forth in the air. The rumble of its voice mostly resounding through the ground and rattling the thin stone crust and tiles that was all that remained of the castles foundation.
The serpents head retreats underground, a slow, steady slither of one who was both satisfied; and luxuriating in the warmth. Bolla could more easily travel undisturbed in such a manner underground, reunite with the others! Then the real fun would begin.
At ground level: A jolted awake Nine was scrabbling away from the burning crater that had been threatening to swallow her. Nursing a burned arm and collar she scrabbles, with great haste and complete lack of dignity to get back to her feet on the unsteady ground.
[LOTUS]
The look in Nines eyes is PRICELESS! The wheezing, wet laughter redoubles as Lotus first blinks in pained disbelief, then realized what just happened and loses it!
Her regeneration, having had time to really kick in, is becoming more and more obvious. Parts of her skin have gone from exposed bone and muscle to third or even second degree burn status, and while still a mess, Lotus is able to shakily stand. What scraps of clothing she has left are partially melted into the still-healing injuries, but this doesn't seem to bother her.
With a quick glance to the left, Lotus grins at the home audience, saying with pained snark "Remember kids! Pop culture references can save lives!". Her public service statement said, she twists her head back around to look at Nine as the dragon-thing leaves her in a shaken and distured state. She shambles over to the now-released magic user, peering at her, face looking like Two-Face as she half-grin-half-glares. She speaks much more clearly than before, her vocal chords and lungs having recovered just enough to be clearer (though still weak) "I recommend we depart. Scales-and-Tails seems to have left you, and seeing as how it's turning this castle into a blast furnace, staying put would eventually kill even me!"
In a rare moment of what resembles sanity, Lotus extends what is more exposed muscle, bone, and shreds of burnt flesh than a hand, though whether this is out of real concern, a bigger plan, or just so she can make ANOTHER pop culture reference "Come with me if you want to live!". She has to force herself not to squeeeeeeee with glee at being able to use that phrase AND actually mean it!
[NINE]
Still kneeling Nine acknowledges and turns toward Lotus when the darkstalker speaks. She understands only the face value of the words and that there was amusement. For some reason. The skin of her cheek is scorched and raw; the wound broad and spread nastily up the side of her face. Eyelash flickering as she Nine attempts to open her eye.
Shit! Shit-shit-shit. She only HAD the one eye to begin with and in this kind of dire straits she was rendered useless on the field. There was no Trinity Glassfille at her side to patch her back up so she could return to the fight. Nine cautiously lifts her hand toward the one extended toward her, it rapidly it swam in and out of focus but she talon-like fingers close over the top of Lotus's palm.
"We're agreed."
The pair of them vanish as another great swath of the castle plummets into the magma which fountains up to obscure the pair.
Appearing in a world of pure sky blue, their feet rooted on a stone platform floating in the middle of an endless void. Below them though, the blue was a muddied and dirty orange. There were other platforms at a distance but difficult to reach and far less hospitable with crags and stalagmites making for much worse footing.
Hold onto your memories while we're in this place."
Nine draws on the offered hand to stand and with her offhand opens the hand palm up, a stoppered bottle appearing out of thin air. She had no time to go about policing someone's memories up. Massaging a heavy dose of the viscous oil into her palm and then smearing it across her eye and cheek. A weak cure potion, she recalled leaving a few odds and end lying around one of her former home away from homes. It wasn't more strenuous than she could handle, bringing the objects to her but she was relying more on her memories than her vision. She offers the bottle toward Lotus stopper first. The smell of very old oil and medicinal herbs, alchemically made but long past their expiry date.
Now she just had to wait and see if her vision recovered enough. Waiting was the absolute worst. Standing absolutely stock still as a statue with her eye closed she deliberately folds her arms beneath an impressive bosom with some finality and waits for the blasted application of medicine to have some effect. She was muh more worried than she let on outwardly. The prospect of being blinded and trapped with an insane person wasn't exactly calming. The prospect that they might be worried how to leave here or distracted by the void.
All around her that orange glow keeps rising. The blue giving way to a sunset orange and then a deeper glow coming from below it refracts off those nearby floating rocks and as they warm to that building glow, at first in is only in spurts and then a steady stream of magma just like that they had narrowly escaped. Fire begins to fall endlessly. The sky of blue growing dim as a veil of darkness rises like smoke.
"Wherever you path takes you beyond this place - aspiring to reach Heaven or falling into hell. The world might believe you are dead; this is a rare and enviable opportunity to choose for yourself. As a free agent ... If you choose to flee I will allow it! Returning you to a place of safety."
Certain offenses can be forgiven in this age after all, but certain others in the age to come. The creature's apparent lack of sanity made it pitiable but perhaps not to blame for its condition. There were plenty more engineered monstrosities roaming the world than singling out just one who was murderous, joyful and oddly compassionate to a former foe was practical.
Nine continues to stand quiet and yet to open her eye at the world twisting and mutating around her, a vast column of rock rising in the distance and a pointing up toward the sky at an unnatural angle. A pillar rising from the depths adjoining the very stone they were standing on, a fragment of a staircase with a bannister slotting neatly into place.
The newel of the stairs sliding into place with an unseeing stare from a mournful looking stone skull, smattered with cracks and splits. A spear tip emerging from the top of the skulls head while the post it's likewise part of flares to dangerous sharp points and edges.
The world twists with her thoughts. Nine was already dead; there was no hope for salvation in this world or this age. Time healed no wounds, nothing she had loved or cared for was fated to be happy or prosper. All her dreams were ass, only the weapons and arts she forged as weapons survived. Heaven was denied to her, her only path forward was to walk through Hell and come out the other side, ready to forge this piece of shit into a brand new world.
COMBATSYS: Nine has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Sorcha 1/------=/=======|
[LOTUS]
For all her dischord, and sometimes obliviousness of what is going on around her, for once Lotus is seriously impressed and in awe. She has no idea where or when they are, nor why she would need to hold on to memories (not that she has many that she cares about anyway), but regardless she feels bad for Sorcha now. This would likely have been something akin to heaving for the caustic pyromaniac.
Seemingly without concern, seeing Nine use the potion on herself puts Lotus at ease on it's effects. With a quick "Thank ye!" she takes the bottle, pops the cork, and chugs the whole thing as if it were a can of beer! It's healing effects drasticly increase her already evident regeneration, and it isn't long before her body completely finishes healing itself right before Nines eyes. Due to all the fire, Lotus is more or less naked at this point, with only a few scraps of her clothes in places where it healed into her skin. Regardless, she seems completely oblivious and unconcerned with this, looking around with a large smirk "VERY impressive place you got her! So THIS is where all that fire of yours was coming from!".
Slowly looking around, taking it all in, she turns back, her yellow cat-like eyes locking with Nines "Your right. No one knows we got out. Technicly i could make up any story i liked..... but". At this, her vicious smile returns ".... i was completely serious back there. What fun is it instigating shenanigans, spreading chaos, and causing trouble for giggles if someone or someTHING does it FOR me!? I can't just let some big 'ol whateveritis that's coming do it FOR me!".
Lotus tilts her head to the side ".... and i am almost certain something big IS coming. These kinds of things never seem to end without the power calling the shots showing up..... just play any Final Fantasy game! Just gotta figure out who the final boss is!". She leans forwards and stage-whispers "Besides...... the giggles told me so, and they NEVER lie!". This is followed by a wink.
Having retrieved her daggers from the floor before helping up Nine, one held at present in each hand in their sheaths, she grins and flips one of them with one hand, catching it by the tip with each toss "I suppose the question is whether you want in on this action or not. I have the feeling you didn't want that thing controlling you, or you wouldn't be here now, and i'd be in a much deader state".
That said, Lotus does that thing so unusual for her to do.....
She holds out a hand. An offer for an alliance? An offer to team up? An offer to come along and enjoy the spectacle? Take your pick. More or less all of the above, in some way or another......
Giving Nine the choice of what she wants her part in this whole debacle to be, since Lotus has already made hers. She is simply curious to see what the flame witch will do.....
Log created on 20:13:10 05/01/2018 by Lotus, and last modified on 12:55:49 05/16/2018.