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Encore! Of Snowglobes and Snowbirds
An icy castle towers over the side of a road. Its walls have become incredible defined, with bricks and intricate patterns. The entrance is open, the two gate doors spread out. There's many ways this can be interpreted. A castle. A fortress. A prison.
Who knows until they enter?
*Gin looks up at the castle.*
A castle of Ice, eh? Heh. This is my kind of place.
Somewhere near the outskirts of a certain city area of Shibuya, a young man can be seen walking through a calm walkway, talking to someone on his phone. He seems rather stressed, judging by the speed of his strides.
S-Sorry, I just can't let this go b-
He notices the castle from a distance and stares in awe.
...I think this might be the distraction I need.
[???]: Wait, what are you...?
He proceeds closer to the entrance, spotting a familiar face, his expression softening as he sees him.
A slight breeze comes out from inside, cooling the castle's exterior. Whatever created this, it's probably magic of some kind to keep it solid at this temperature, let alone build it.
a humongus, bat-wyvern like animal, fly's right above the tower, as if it was learning bout this tower
*Gin glances over at Rom as he approaches.*
Rom? It's been a while. Though, I guess formalities can wait. Shall we?
*Gin gestures at the front door of the castle.*
Long time to see, Gin.
He stares at the castle's infrastructure as if analyzing it, and turns back to Gin.
Needless to say, something's going on here... We should take a closer look.
The same voice from his phone comes back.
[???]: Be careful, you two. I'll start a scan of the area in the meanwhile.
Thank you very much, Cal.
the bat ting then lands right besides ROM and gin, giving a quiet, pacifist like growl
The inside is an icy hall, with a floor covered in snow to prevent slipping. This leads to a grand main room, with halls to the left and right. There are staircases on either side of a massive orb of ice.
A blue haired teenager with his arms crossed stands at the bottom of the tower, looking up at it. If you look closely at him, he seems to be shivering a bit.
"W-Well, this is a kind of impressive c-castle if I do say so m-myself.... I need a heavy jacket or something..."
as the nargacuga, walks in, it rises its head high, looking around, needing to know what this place is
Sam (Comms): Look out guys. That beast looks like it's Rep in disguise and rarely wins fights. Also, tell Rom he's a nerd.
Rom, Sam says you're a nerd.
*Sam enters the castle, not caring at all about the cold, and looks around. He lets out an impressed whistle.*
Now, this is a nice place.
Rom looks around the main hall, retaining a calm expression. This is disrupted by Sam's interjection. He chuckles.
You're correct, but aren't we all? Anyway, whoever built this sure has a lot of time on their hands. Cal, what's the status on that scan?
[Pascal]: Coming right up!
A small holographic screen appears in front of Rom. He scrolls through it, hoping to get a reading of the building's basic infrastructure and heat signatures.
From what everyone can see, the walls are decorated with various images of birds and other creatures.
The scan reveals a large room to the right, and a curve in the left hall. The second floor has another area farther in that may lead to the massive third floor room.
The area is overall below freezing, but coldest in the third floor and on the orb's surface.
(edited by Hundred-S)
Jiyu enters the castle as well, taking a look around at the main hall. While scanning the area, he takes notice of the others.
"Oh, other p-people are here... Great."
the nargacuga, then jumps onto the wall, and trys to climb upwoth its sharp claws, breaking a few pictures while trying
(edited by The-nargacuga)
A man wearing a red cap with a moustache carrying a giant baguette with a winged croissant on his arm walks into the area, hearing about a Nargacuga in the area, checking his pockets and pulling out a red can, popping it open and downing it. A hot drink to be exact.
Une boisson chaude pour garder le froid loin! Maintenant! Chasser!
With that phrase said he runs in with reckless abandon, into the ice castle he goes!
(edited by Je_Suis_Monte)
Rom doesn't seem to notice the cold because of his affinity with ice. He zooms in and looks at the schematics carefully one by one. He turns back to the others, showing them the scan data.
So, what to choose...? It would be unwise to split up suddenly.
(edited by Rom_Dolos)
*Gin sighs at the Repgacuga's actions before turning back to Rom*
So, this place seems pretty big to me. Anywhere you want to start looking in particular?
After thinking about it for a second, Rom turns to Gin.
How about the left? I'm a little curious about where it leads...
Jiyu starts heading towards the two, trying to keep warm by crossing his arms.
"I m-mean, what are we supposed to be looking for in this castle?"
I'm down with left.
*Gin starts heading left, but looks over his shoulder at jiyu.*
You cold, man? Heh heh.
it would continue to climb up, not making much progress, instead, it's making gaint scrapes in the ice
(edited by The-nargacuga)
Rom notices Jiyu, his face grew concerned.
Jiyu? Are you alright? I could give you my hoodie if you want in the meantime. Also, we can't just leave this place unattended. Something might happen.
(edited by Rom_Dolos)
The orb of ice pulses faintly as more scratches are made in the castle walls.
The left hallway is long, arcing towards the back of the castle. Once it reaches a room, the explorers can see a pulsing red egg, sealed in a pillar of ice. A few books are stacked on a desk made of ice.
it would finally give uox and drops down to the ground, makinna a small tremur, and moves to the right hallway
Jiyu starts slowly following Gin while nodding his head.
"Y-Yeah... I've hated being c-cold all my life..."
Jiyu then looks over to Rom.
"N-Nah man, I'm fine... Actually..."
An orange and blue light appears in Jiyu's right hand, a second later the light manifests itself into an orange glowing semi transparent sword with a warm aura surrounding it.
"God that feels much better..."
* Gin leans his sword, Elementa Omnis, over one his shoulders, smirking.*
That's COOL I guess. Well, you seem like a CHILL dude. I don't we've met before. Names Gin. ICE to meet you Sorry if we have met and I just forgot. My memory ain't the best, sorry to stay.
*Gin picks up one of the books from the table.*
Rom becomes calmer after Jiyu warms himself up.
That's good. I didn't want to summon Nan Dou, he would have melted the place... Let's proceed if you're ready.
He starts slowly walking down the hall, taking in his surroundings while occasionally glancing sideways at the holographic screen. Rom picks up a book as well, laughing at Gin's puns.
Heh... You have SNOW many good puns! They never get COLD. Make sure not to SLUSH us with your sword... Anyway, FROST of all, how should we go about the egg situation?
After hearing Gin and Sam's puns, Jiyu lets out a long sigh while shaking his head.
"Were those puns necessary? But I gotta admit, they were pretty ICE. By the way, Gin, the name's Jiyu, nice to meet you."
Upon walking in the room, Jiyu takes a look around once more before stopping when he sees the red egg.
"Ooh, what's that?"
little bit of frost appears on its fur. But still continues forward
The room in the right hallway resembles as armory, or perhaps a lab. Weapons of ice and crystal as well as some freezing flasks dot the tables. Interestingly enough, the only flasks left are broken ones... Did someone pack up and leave the broken stuff?
Gin's book is something about "Guardian Spirits," with a few bookmark sticky notes. One marked page talks about one labeled "Heat Death," with the image of a flaming skeletal bird.
Unlike many Guardian Spirits, Heat Death has the honor of being a "forbidden" Guardian Spirit. It tirelessly seeks a host when hatched, and its power is so dangerous that nobody should attempt to contract it. The only known way to suppress it is to keep its egg below a certain temperature, or it will hatch.
Rom's book seems to be a journal about interactions between the writer and a mother "Guardian Spirit" bird. The pages are somewhat faded.
Well, that's probably foreshadowing.
*Gin closed the book and puts it back where he found it.*
The owner of this castle really likes birds, huh? How EGGcelent.
Judging by the state of the pages, it seems this place, or at least this legend has been around for more than a while...
Rom reads some of the pages attentively, trying to get a solid grasp of the situation.
I see... BEAKause of what is written here, I'm lead to believe this is foreshadowing as well...
the nargacuga, being an animal/monster and all, doesn't really care, and continue's walking toward, steping on broking piece of flask, giving a small welping sound, but continues anyway
Not even taking the time to read one of the books, Jiyu starts walking towards the the ice pillar.
"Wow... What if I..."
Jiyu slowly starts to put his sword up to the ice pillar to melt it, but just before it touches the pillar, his instincts told him not to melt it because something dangerous could happen if the egg hatches, so he put his sword back to his side.
"I should probably wait for the others."
(edited by Jiyu-Hatanaka)
Well then.
Rom closes his book and puts it in his satchel. He turns back to Gin.
What should we do next?
Hmm. I suppose looking for the owner of this house. I wanna know how he built this place.
*Gin looks over to Jiyu*
Hmm? Whatcha looking at, Jiyu? That's a big egg.
Sam (Comms): Could make a hell of an omelette outta that.
Rom gathers that a Guardian Spirit named "Avierno" had worked with the writer to create this castle. She couldn't leave the core of her domain, but her still-living offspring could freely visit and leave with a special key...
The egg pulses slightly as the sword draws near, but this pulse weakens when the sword is put away.
The beast finds a few uninteresting rooms, with multiple ice sculptures that just kind of sit there. Not much else.
Jiyu looks back at Gin with his sword still clutched in his hand.
"Well, like you said, I'm looking at a bird egg. Did you not notice it when we walked in here?"
the nargacuga, now getting bored. Slams its tail into his one of the statues, and laughs to itself,
and continues walking forward
Heh, Heat Death must taste like spicy chicken wings... Y-You may be right, Gin, but I don't know if they are even around anymore. It's still worth a try though.
Rom stops to reflect on what he read.
So the writer must be the owner... That could support my theory. Also, it mentions the guardian spirit Avierno's offspring. Perhaps that could be a lead.
U-Um, well...
Sam (Comms): Gin ain't exactly known for being that observant.
Sam!
Sam (Comms): Just stating the truth
Mayu (Comms): OWNED!
Sam (Comms): Mayu! Get out of my... Have you been drinking?
Mayu (Comms): Naaaaaah.
*Gin chuckles nervously before turning off the Comms system*
That didn't happen, OK?
The beast suddenly hears some creaking, and multiple statues get off their pedistals and begin stabbing at its hide with spears of ice.
In the room with the egg, the temperature drops slightly.
Jiyu smirks and chuckles a bit.
"Heheh, whatever."
Jiyu then looks over to Rom once again.
"Hey, what are you saying over ther-"
Jiyu's sentence gets interruped by the sudden temperature drop making him scan the room once more.
"Huh? That's weird. It feels warmer..."
(edited by Jiyu-Hatanaka)
not caring until it feels alll a lot of cold pokes, it then rawrs incredibly loud, and, it then swipes its spike like tail a full 360, knocking the statues back, allowing it dash away in a flash
Rom begins to feel the temperature drop and looks at the egg for any potential changes.
Hmm... That's odd...
Hmm. That's definitely a strange egg. Heh. I guess it didn't appreciate Sam's Omelette comment.
The statues break, but more footsteps begin to come down the hall. It's as if an alarm was triggered.
The egg's pulse strengthens when Rom gets closer, but it doesn't seem much different otherwise.
the nargacuga run faster and faster, trying to get away, making little to no noise
Jiyu slowly backs away from the egg just in case something happens.
"We should get a safe distance away from that thing..."
Rom then backs away from the egg to Gin and Jiyu, once he starts hearing footsteps from the hall.
Yup, we've been caught.
[Pascal]: Executing wave 1 cognitive measures!
Rom's lance appears on his back with its own separate strap, along with his mask, both appearing within a slew of red and black 1s and 0s.
(edited by Rom_Dolos)
Split
*At his command, Gin's sword splits in two as he prepares for combat.*
Be prepared
The beast flees and hides behind the central staircase.
The ice soldiers run past it and into the egg room. They mindlessly charge forward with spears in hand.
as it runs behind the central staircase, making a few scraping sounds, and leaving some sctrach marks. Of closes its eyes, only hearing for now
Oh jeez! Careful, everyone!
Rom's expression and tone become more serious as he tears off his mask, temporarily increasing the mobility of the group as he sidesteps and sweeps one of the guards' legs.
"Heheh..."
Jiyu turns around to face the ice soldiers with his sword raised a bit. He seems to be waiting for one of them to attempt to attack him.
"Come at me!"
Elementa: Twin Flare
*Gin's swords light on fire. As he thrusts the two together, a large ball of fire launches at one of the guards.*
So, who woke these guys up?
Something large is moving on the third floor. The Nargacua can feel the vibrations from its movements.
The guard that was tripped falls easily, slamming into the ground. The two that were blasted with fire still charge, but their bodies and spears have mostly melted. Two more jab at Jiyu and Rom. Their movements are robotic, devoid of emotion or complex thought.
Gin, please be careful not to heat up the entire room!
Rom then proceeds to parry the guard's spear upwards with his own lance, exposing its chest area, and proceeds to envelop his own foot in a blue psychokinesis aura as he kicks the guard back, increasing the force and knockback of the kick.
the nargacuga then has an idea, when it heard the shaking, it dashes to a really dark part if the room, and opens its eye, showing thank its glowing really red now,it now waits for the thing to come from the third floor
(edited by The-nargacuga)
Before the guard can hit him Jiyu pierces his sword into the ground and jumps on the hilt of it, balancing on it with one foot.
"You gotta be quicker than that, man."
Jiyu does a somersault off of his sword to get behind the guard. Once he gets there, he tries to grab it by its waist, lift it up, and suplex it to the ground.
(edited by Jiyu-Hatanaka)
Oops. Probably should watch that. In that case, Twin Pulse
*Gin hits his swords, emanating a shockwave of sound from the blades at the soldiers.*
The guards shatter, although the one Jiyu suplexed is still punching him despite missing a head. The tide of soldiers has stopped in favor of... something crashing down in the distance.
A massive lizard of ice barrels down the stairs, crashing into a wall. It growls and turns around, firing a few icicles from its spiky "beard" at the glowing red eye.
it then pounce's on the lizard, only letting the icicles hitting its wings, making some small holes in it, with a ferocious growl, and leaps onto its back, and continuously slash at it, and bite it's back, while its tail, pokes at its backside, and all at incredibly fast speeds
(edited by The-nargacuga)
"Still alive, eh?"
Jiyu throws the guard's body away from him just before snapping his fingers. As he snaps his fingers, his sword shoots a small orange beam at the guard from the hilt.
This is getting serious!
[Pascal]: Executing wave 2 cognitive measures!
This time, Rom's full metaverse outfit appears, comprised of a mage-like blue trench coat with a hood, a chest piece, a pauldron on his right shoulder and scaly-armored combat boots and gauntlets. Rom tears off his mask again, summoning a block of ice, blocking access to the egg, and keeping its temperature cool.
The last guard breaks beyond repair...
The lizard snarls and flips itself over, trying to crush the beast under its weight and spiked back. The spikes under its neck flare up in rage.
[and with that, we shall continue tomorrow]
(edited by Hundred-S)
the spikes go deep into its front parts giving, a trumendus amounts of pain, it then bites, the lizards neck, allowing it to turn back around, and slam the head part money times into the ground, and dashes far away from it, it gives a blood curling rawr, and then, it climbs up the wall, up far up the wall, it then drops down smack middle of the lizard, with its steel hard like wings first
A small child walks into the immediate area and takes her glasses off her face, wiping the frost forming with her uniform before placing them back on, muttering to herself
What... is that a.. I must investigate! I can't be imagining this!
Checking her pockets she pulls out a slingshot and begins to run into the castle, ready to face whatever shows up!
Aside from the giant monster fight near the icy stairs in the castle, there's hallways to the left and right. A gigantic orb of ice pulses between the two staircases.
Hilda watches the giant monster from afar and begins to run towards it, however when she spies the orb of ice it catches her attention, sidestepping and breaking off her regular path to dash to the orb
Let's see what this thing is! Maybe it can help me.
The orb doesn't do much, but if it were touched, Hilda's hand would literally sink into the not-so-solid surface. It's as cold as... well, ice, colder than the rest of this castle.
Hilda approaches the orb and stares at it for a second, after a few seconds she dips her hand into it before pulling it out, holding it close to try and warm it up again before getting an idea.
Hmm, if my hand sinks into it why don't I use my clothes!
Hilda then tries to take her uniform and stretch it out under the orb and bring it up, hopefully, cusping it and transporting the strange orb!
I forgot to mention that the orb is massive, towering up to the second floor, but Hilda's uniform just sinks in either way.
Gak! The sheer size of it was fogged by her glasses! She should really get new ones! Taking this new information to heart she thinks for a second before getting a stupid idea.
This might be a bad idea, but it can't be that bad! Here we go!
Taking a deep breath, she runs into the orb at full speed! Let's see what happens!
Hilda is suddenly hit by the shock of cold water. She's floating in it, a few fake snowflakes flying up at her arrival. The inside of this orb is full of water, and a forest leads to a cabin at the base of a mountain. It resembles a snowglobe...
Hilda freezes upon hitting the cold, but after a second she pushes through and steels herself, looking around she tries to swim over to the strange snow globe, perhaps there is something inside? Better then sticking out here at least
It's a bit jarring, but the place she is in IS the snowglobe. It's slightly surreal, with its plastic trees and snowflakes that are either plastic or some other light material. The water becomes colder as a crane of ice soars/swims above her, muttering.
"This is not good... Too many intruders..."
Hilda looks around stunned for a second, this... this is a snow globe? How strange... It definitely is cold though, very very cold, Hilda thinks about leaving and trying another path, however, when she hears a voice she looks around for it and tries to speak
Um? Hello?
(edited by Hilda_Adams)
Hilda finds that, despite the water, she can breathe with ease. The ice bird glides down and practically tackles Hilda with a hug.
"Roara! You're back! It's been too long! When you left so suddenly, I was worried I'd never see you again, but you came back to me!"
..? Ro-Roara?
Hilda starts to panic, getting tackled by a birb was not something she was used to, however when she sees that it wasn't necessarily hostile she stops in her tracks and accepts the hug, returning the favour
Urm! My name is Hilda! Not Roara! Um do I know you?
"Don't be silly! You said that last time! Although it was Sayaka instead of Hilda..."
The bird stares off into space for a few moments, then gives her a gentle push towards the cabin.
"But enough of that! We've got to get you inside! Even if you're in my domain's core, it's still dangerous with intruders around."
Ehh? Sayaka? Who are you... N-nevermind!
Shaking her head she follows along for now! Might as well play along with this person's demands, she had a feeling that if she tried something it wouldn't be exactly the best for her wellbeing. Besides, how bad could it be?
Okay then! Show me the way!
A young man, concealing most of his dark gray outfit under a long, black cloak looks upon the castle from a distance, it doesn’t seem to be melting, obvious signs of some interference, perhaps this other force will prove worth his time? Regardless, Luard walks towards the doorway, keeping an eye out for anything of note as he goes
Surprisingly, the cabin is pretty nice for being made out of plastic. There's even a plastic fireplace.
"Now, I have some business to attend to, so stay here, alright?"
The ice bird flies out, leaving Hilda alone inside. Either an escape or exploration can be done... although the former might be slightly risky.
---
Walking inside, Luard immediately hears the crashes of battle between a lizard of ice and... some other creature. They seem too distracted to do anything else at the moment, so best to not interfere. Halls stretch to the left and right, while a staircase is on either side of a gigantic orb of ice.
(edited by Hundred-S)
Hilda nods to the strange icy birb and decides to take a look around, she shouldn't betray someone's trust so easily now! Trying to warm up with the plastic fireplace before looking around!
Luard looks around the frozen palace, he could probably be in there all day if he just searched at random, instead the young man sighs, rapidly drawing a magic circle in the air in front of him, it’s a simple pair of circles with some meaningless runes between them, once he is finished, Luard reaches for the circle with his palm, and sends a pulse throughout the nearby area, this pulse would resonate with any living thing it finds, sending back a vague idea of their vital signs, location, and magical ability
The fireplace gives off no heat, but Hilda kinda feels warm anyway just from the thought of a cozy fire. Upstairs is a bedroom with nests instead of beds. On a nightstand is a book with a blue cover. It's very worn and old, from its appearance alone.
---
There are multiple people with notable magical ability down one of the hallways, while there's only a single one within the massive orb. The latter's body temperature is dropping. The beast fighting the ice lizard is already visible, but with no magic. Another being in the orb has no vital signs, but it's magical energy resonates throughout the whole area.
Another note: an intense amount of heat energy is concentrated in the hall with the group of magic-users.
Luard takes mental note of the magic-using group, he can’t know whether they are friend or for, so for the time being it is best to avoid them. With that, Luard looks to the central orb, an energy signature with no signs of life whose power resonates throughout the castle? Likely a type of frost elemental.
And his target. Without Hesitation, Luard would put one hand on the orb in order to see if he can enter, before jumping in if possible
Hilda scurries around the place and notes nests, birbs. Don't forget now, the blue book does catch her eye, however, perhaps some backstory? She walks up to the strange thing and decides to take a look
After the encounter with the ice guards, Jiyu would get back up on his feet and stretch his arms.
"Well, that was a nice warm up. No pun intended..."
Jiyu hears the giant monster fight nearby, but it's probably under control.
---
Leaping in, Luard is immediately surrounded by cold water. The inside of the orb is essentially a giant snowglobe, complete with plastic trees, a mountain, and a cute little cabin. A crane of ice is circling the top of the dome.
---
Hilda opens the book...
Day 3 since I've become a Guardian Spirit. My human friend is writing this for me. He's been teaching me how to read and write! Maybe I'll look back on this and understand it soon...
Day 7. We've frozen Heat Death, so all I need to do is wait here. Roara and Fenix came today so I wouldn't be alone. I can't leave, or I'll lose my focus.
It's standard stuff for a while, although the later entries...
Day... they're too hard to count now. I'll just say year 3. It's been a while since my human friend has visited. I wonder if he's okay. He's clearly worried about something...
Year 7. He's been working tirelessly. I hope he doesn't freeze.
Year 20. Nothing entered.
Year 100. I never expected to live this long. I don't even know if it's the right year. I can't tell time like I used to.
Year... something. Roara came back. She fell asleep overnight and never woke up.
Roara and Fenix came. I don't know when. Fenix left, but Roara stayed and fell asleep forever.
It happened again.
Why are they leaving?
Luard looks up and watches the crane for a moment, its likely the elemental, or perhaps a sentry of its, regardless, he has met several... Interesting beings in this world, perhaps they are capable of the same thing, in which case Luard may be able to avoid conflict after all. For now, Luard draws a small, simplistic circle in the air, and uses it to launch a bright flare that bursts in the sky, his presence announced, Luard would begin walking towards the cabin, either it or the mountain being the most likely candidates for this realm's master residing
Hilda takes a seat as she goes over the book... It starts off pretty sweet, Guardian Spirit with a human companion? Heat Death? 100 years? Something is up here, and Hilda will do her best to fix whatever is wrong here. It's her job as a Magical Girl!
Hrm.. I have to help this bird. It's my duty! The question is how...
Hilda then paces around the room before idea strikes her head, she then goes over to the nests and checks them. Perhaps this Roara left something behind?
Upon hearing the fight that's close by, Jiyu gets quite curious to what's happening.
"Hmm, it sounds like there's another fight going on nearby... I'd might as well check it out to see if anyone needs my help."
Before he leaves the room, Jiyu takes his spirit-like orange glowing sword out of the ground and starts walking towards the sound where the fight's taking place, spinning his sword in the process.
Some of the nests are broken, as if something heavier than a bird was put in. Hilda notices a flare outside the window.
---
Good news: the flare got everyone's attention.
Bad news: the ice crane took that as a threat.
It swoops down, and three shards of ice rocket toward Luard with a flap of its wings.
---
Jiyu is greeted with a huge ice lizard wrestling with a narcagua. They seem to be at a stalemate.
Naoya walks by, just to see some ice castles, "An...ice tower?" He asks himself, looking at it...
It gives him some memories back at the SEBEC incident, when the snow queen took over the school..."Sheesh, just as I was on my way to karaoke, this pikes my interest...", he said as he touched his face a little. Though he'd rather go to karaoke at the moment, something about the tower didn't sit right with him. He then heard fighting with it as he entered it moments later, taking out his sword and heading towards the location of where it is.
(edited by Naoya_Toudou)
Hilda looks through the nests and notes the wreckage, perhaps humans? Were these names from people? Too many mysteries were surrounding this place... Anyhow a blinding red light bursts outside and Hilda runs outside to check what is happening. Red is never good.
What's going on? Does someone need help?
from his position far out in the snow, Luard grins, it appears the creature isn't intelligent after all, which of course, means he can effectively do whatever he wants.
I think you'll come to regret that soon enough.
With that, Luard springs into action, the creature's flight is going to be somewhat of a problem if he allows it to, so, for now Luard leaps to the side, ice shards scraping against his cloak, leaving it with some minor cuts, but Luard himself would be fine. Luard rapidly begins drawing a magic circle in the air in front of him, aimed slightly upwards, as with the scanning, its main body would consist of two, glowing red circles in the air, with runic script between them, some of these runes would somewhat resemble a fire, with several zig-zagging, straight lines between them
As Jiyu comes across the two giants battling, he watches them brawl for a few seconds with his left hand in a fist on his hip and his sword rested on his shoulder. He was surprised by the size of the lizard since he has never seen a lizard that gigantic before, but it didn't really impress him that much.
"It looks like they're pretty evenly matched. Maybe I could help with the fight to break the tie."
The lizard's movements suddenly slow. It's not fighting as hard, as if its attention is diverted elsewhere.
Naoya nearly gets hit by a stray chunk of ice that breaks off the lizard's body.
---
The bird suddenly slows, giving it time to turn away from the rune. It glides down to land in front of Hilda, facing Luard with wings spread wide.
"Stay back, Roara! This is one of the intruders that I was talking about. I don't want you to get hurt, so hide in the house."
"Woah!" Naoya fliches a little as the stray chunk of ice hits the wall behind him. "That's close...but I guess I'll have to deal with you guys first..." he says as he summons his persona, his hand slightly over his face,
"Amen Ra, Agilao!" he said, as the Egyptian Sun God unleashes medium fire damage on the two lizards, not to light, yet not too hard, as if he were trying to weaken them first before they could land a hit on him.
(edited by Naoya_Toudou)
Hilda takes a step back, an intruder? Maybe she can convince them to stop fighting? It is her duty after all. To save everyone and to help the world!
H-hold on! I'm sure this is misunderstanding! I'm sure we can all sort this out right? I can fight myself so don't worry! You there! We can solve this without violence right? At least without death? Please?
Upon seeing the fire attack heading towards the two beasts, Jiyu turns to face Naoya with a slightly angered expression on his face.
"Hey, don't attack the one that's fighting the lizard! He's on our side."
He points to the Narcagua.
Luard watches the situation with interest, seems the creature is intelligent after all, oh well, this still counts as self-defense, however, the bird seems to care for the child behind it, the cloaked figure doesn't particularly wish to harm them either, yet he might be able to take advantage of this. Luard finishes drawing his circle, before thrusting his palm into the center
Infernal chain.
Luard names the spell lazily, almost as bored as if he'd done it a million times today. Once his palm strikes the center, four blazing chains emerge from fire-shaped runes near the edge of the circle, two of them aimed directly at the bird in hopes of wrapping around and containing it, two aimed at Hilda for the same purpose, if he can guess the bird correctly, that should keep it from trying to avoid his spell.
The cloaked figure gives "Roara" a wicked grin, a hint of sarcasm in his voice
I merely walked in here and announced my presence and found myself being assaulted by this beast. Everything I do is in mere self-defense.
The bird seems ready to fly away, but...
"Look out!"
With a shove, the bird attempts to get Hilda out of the chains' way, although gets bound by all four in the process. She cries out in pain as her icy body tries to remain solid despite the heat.
---
The lizard breaks away and seems ready to strike Naoya, but suddenly collapses as the huge orb in the center of the room pulses wildly.
Look! That isn't exactly nice of you eit- Gah!
Hilda gets shoved to the side as she speaks, grunting and preparing for the worst
If you won't listen to reason I'll have to resort to force! Here I come!
Hilda then takes a small gem out as purple light begins to eclipse her, slowing burning away her regular uniform and transforming into a light purple dress with a small shield on her arm, taking a slingshot out from her pocket
Magical Girl Hilda! Your time is up!
With new found vigor and a soul gem in her hand dashes out of the birbs way and fires a rock right at Luard's eyes to test the waters, no use using her ability just yet and revealing her hand!
(edited by Hilda_Adams)
Luard calmly steps around his circle, sure to leave it floating where he once was, it can be tiring to maintain for lengthy periods, but fortunately he seems to be almost done here, Luard walks towards the bird
That was a bit easier than expected, no worries, it'll be simple enough to....
with his attention being focused entirely on the bird, the cloaked figure makes no effort to dodge the stone, which strikes him directly on his forehead, the flaming chains waver for a moment, still notably attached to his initial circle, as he loses focus, but soon return to their usual bright orange flame. Luard reaches up to his forehead, before removing his hand so he may inspect it.. There's a little red, likely his blood. Luard closes his hand, before turning to glare at Hilda
I neither know nor care what you are, I had planned on simply ignoring you, perhaps even helping you leave, but if you really insist.
The cloaked figure draws a large, silver blade from within his cloak, a bejeweled sword almost as tall as he was. Luard imbues the weapon with a vague hint of lightning, before swinging it vertically at Hilda, sending a shockwave, a mixture of force and electricity through the air towards Hilda
(edited by Luard)
Naoya was about to counter until he sees the huge orb in the center, "What's this?" he wonders as he decides to get a little closer...
Naoya, should he touch the ice orb, would feel his hand sink right into the surface.
---
The water isn't ordinary water, although it does still slightly conduct the electricity. That's probably why the flames are still burning, too. The bird slowly stands, weakly sending an ice shard at Luard.
"Don't... touch her..."
Jiyu looks back to the lizard with a sigh, twirling his sword.
"I'd might as well finish it off..."
Jiyu gets in a jumping position just as two transparent legs wearing white pants and black boots manifest near Jiyu's legs. As he jumps, he flies towards the lizard with his sword raised high, getting ready to strike it. As he gets close enough to the lizard, he lands on it and gives it a powerful stab with his sword that could probably kill it.
(edited by Jiyu-Hatanaka)
Not so fast!
Hilda smiles as time slows to the a crawl and eventually freezes like the atmosphere, running past the lightning strike and moving directly in front of Luard and firing 3 pellets point blank before moving over to ice birb as time resumes. Taking a moment to try and free the ice birb as her time stop begins to recharge
Come on! We have to get you out of here!
(edited by Hilda_Adams)
Luard was likely still withdrawing his sword when time stopped, of course, he'd hardly be able to move out of the pellets range, closing his eyes as they strike his face, it wouldn't cause too much damage, but from the look he gives Hilda, its obvious he's starting to hate her. Luard would catch the bird's ice shard in his left hand as he uses his right to hide his blade beneath his cloak once more
I'm somewhat surprised you can still move, no matter.
Hilda might be shocked to discover that the chains are made entirely out of fire, leading all the way back to the original magic circle that spawned them, though they give off no smoke, the heat makes the water around them uncomfortably warm, one can only imagine what actually touching them would feel like.
Luard sighs and begins creating another, this one consisting of the usual two circles, with all sorts of runes between them, most notably one that resembles a winding road, and another that seems to resemble the fire from earlier
If you don't leave, I may be forced to dispose of both of you, and I don't think anyone wants that
As Hilda grasps a chain her hand burns, causing her to jump back and shake it in pain, turning back to Luard and frowning
Well nobody wants you to kill anybody in the first place! Who do you think you are?
However when Hilda sees the runes she tenses up and loses some of her spunk, hearing the birb speak to her again doesn't help her resolve as she digs in her heels, placing her shield in front of her as it continues to cool down. Can't use her ability just yet...
I won't leave you! I just can't! If your going to kill her then kill me as well! I won't abandon people as it's my duty!
Seeing the lizard already defeated, Rom's metaverse uniform reverts to his regular clothing, except for the mask and lance. He looks back at the block of ice he had created around the egg and nods confidently. With that, he goes back to the main hall, hearing a couple of noises, hoping to assess the situation. He mutters to himself quietly while walking:
This is a lot to take in... I must have missed something.
As the lizard shatters, Jiyu jumps off of it and runs to Rom's side with his sword still in his hand.
"I guess practicing that new move really payed off."
My name is Luard, I am a researcher primarily, I was looking into this palace in hopes of studying the source, but since you keep interrupting my efforts, suit yourself.
Luard finishes this next circle, causing the first to begin vanishing, admittedly he had hoped not to do something like this, rather wasteful to flat-out kill the bird, but since this Hilda child won't cooperate, he has to try something drastic. As Luard thrusts his palm in the middle to activate this one, his first magic circle fades away, taking the chains with it and freeing the ice bird.
Cursed Dragon's fury.
Upon naming his spell, a massive serpent made of a deep, dark orange flame would emerge from the circle, opening its maw as it rushed towards Hilda and the newly freed bird in an attempt to devour them both in its cursed fire
Rom, slightly startled by Jiyu, turns to him and sighs of relief.
You're safe! Looks like you sure warmed up to that move! ...Sorry, I had to. So, what do we do now? Did I miss anything in here? I just had to make sure the egg was safe.
Rom seemed genuinely concerned for Jiyu, muttering and shifting his eyes from place to place as he walks with him.
The bird can barely move, let alone dodge. She looks up at the flaming serpent.
Perhaps Hilda would block it by some miracle. But for now, the bird accepts its fate...
---
The entire castle shakes, some parts falling off. A few cracks appear in the large ice orb.
Hilda watches as the serpent comes and closes her eyes, clenching her fist as time stops right before it strikes, Hilda looks around the snow globe and reviews her options. It was quite clear that no matter what she did it was impossible to save the birb. Looking up at Luard her rage begins to mount. Running forward and striking him with the shield as time resumes on contact, Hilda continuing her strike with another punch
You..!
As Rom reaches the main hall as it shakes, he grabs the doorway of the hallway he just came from, steadying his view of the place. He then stares at the orb for a few seconds, wondering what to do. His view shifts from the orb to Jiyu, not sure of what to do.
[Pascal]: What is going on?! Another scan incoming!
Pascal sets up another scan as Rom looks towards Jiyu, more panicked.
W-What do we do?
Jiyu smirks before looking over to Rom.
"Well isn't it obvious? We should get the hell out of here before we get crushed!"
Jiyu sprints towards the exit, motioning for Rom to follow him.
(edited by Jiyu-Hatanaka)
Fair enough, just checking!
Rom quickly follows Jiyu, trying to regain his composure. He almost looks back at the orb but hesitates and continues running. He then looks towards Jiyu, grinning sarcastically.
You know, I was kinda starting to like this place!
(edited by Rom_Dolos)
As Hilda moves out of the way, there would be little to stop the conflagration from striking the bird, unfortunately this would likely finish it, Luard grins an instant before time stops, allowing Hilda a rather therapeutic strike on his smug face, time resumes with Luard taking a few steps back, only for him to grab Hilda's arm with his right hand, Luard takes a deep breath, thinly veiling the rising temper in his voice
Me? Why, if it were just me I could have easily captured the subject and studied its energy flow, it would have been a simple matter, one spell is all it would take. I gave them plenty of warning, and with it a chance to demonstrate intelligence, but no, you just had to run out and ruin everything, didn't you? Now this entire trip's a waste...... Unless....
Luard looks at the gem on Hilda's left hand, there's something off about it, that's for sure, Luard rapidly uses his left in an attempt to draw a much smaller circle than before, one that, if successful, would send a pulse in the immediate area to scan Hilda's life and magic signs
Jiyu looks back to Rom, chuckling at what he had just said.
"Heheh, same here. I didn't even get to explore this place that much."
All that's left of the bird is water, mixing into the globe's own liquid.
Just as Rom and Jiyu escape, the castle shatters, crumbling into a heap of ice. Luard and Hilda are protected by the mostly-intact dome, which is already beginning to crack and melt while the liquid pours out.
The castle is no more.
Somewhere in the rubble, an egg begins to warm.
And that ends this. It's time for me to eat.
As they both escape, Rom pants heavily, holding onto his lance tightly. He looks at the castle from a distance, suddenly surprised. He then proceeds to mutter the words:
H-Heat Death...!
Sounds good, I just hope I'll be there when you return.
(edited by Rom_Dolos)
OOC: Very well, I hope to be around when the next one starts
As Luard scans Hilda he finds a lack of life and magic in the girl. All the energy seems to have been concentrated inside in gem itself, meanwhile Hilda meets the opposition with her own words, waiting for the time stop to ready itself again
Life isn't something you can take so lightly! I doubt you could have done it without killing! I won't stand for this! Not ever! You are truly despicable!
Taking a deep breath she tightens her fist and raises her leg up for a kick in the stomach, paying no mind to the destruction around her,
completely focused on the person in front of her
You got it! I'll just leave this here!
"Wow..."
Jiyu stares at the castle's destruction, gripping his sword tightly. But suddenly, he remembered about the egg in that ice pillar that he saw earlier, wondering what could've happened to it. His sword disappears from his hand right as he crosses his arms and looks down, thinking.
OOC: Wait, I was under the impression they were effectively done posting, leaving us the ability to continue in the ruins if we wanted, or perhaps I am misinterpretting the situation. I suppose the thread creature Hundred-S here can answer that later, unless they're off for the night entirely
OOC: wonderful, in that case, I will continue
IC:
fortunately for Hilda, while he is quite a powerful spellcaster, Luard is much less prepared for Close quarters, Hilda strikes his stomach, causing Luard to let go of her arm and stumble backwards for a moment, frustrated, Luard lets out another sigh, ignoring the shattered castle around him, one entirely his fault, before fiercely glaring at the girl
You have absolutely no idea what the world is like, petulant brat. Don't mess with matters well beyond your own understanding
with that, Luard lunges forwards, bringing out his left arm to swipe towards Hilda's own left hand, almost as if for a handshake, rather than make contact, if nothing is done, Luard's hand would phase through her, only to grasp the Soul Gem and yank it away
OOC: I'd like to remind my lamer self that in Magical Girl form her soul gem is attached to her hand, right one I believe, but point is that it would be rather hard to pull out.
OOC: It is in fact the left hand, same as Homura's shield arm, which perhaps means she is left handed, but that is beside the point I will admit, no one ever went to take a Soul Gem, so I am unaware of how difficult it would be to remove one
(Big oof, I didn't realize people were still posting, and yes my non kid friendly self is correct. My bad! Let's just say the soul gem is embedded in the left hand from now on!)
OOC: It is quite alright, I've had to start typing a paper anyways, no harm done, of course, I'll linger during the duration of it, should still have plenty of time
(edited by Luard)
You say that I but only look like a child! I've fought things you can even begin to imagine!
Hilda watches as Luard reaches for her gem. Luard would find it quite difficult to remove, meanwhile Hilda takes her free hand and strikes at Luard's wrist, not wasting time to let him take it
You'll have to do better then that if you want my gem!
(Sounds good!)
With his, admittedly not so strong frame, being unable to remove the gem, that leaves his hand sort of.. Half phased in Hilda's, Luard stares at the point for a moment, commenting
Well this is awkward.
being struck would give Luard a perfect excuse to release the gem and step back, wrist and chest sore, he already tried, and failed, to remove the only remaining thing worth his time, so for now Luard would simply get some space between himself and his attacker, looking at Hilda wih annoyance
Just try me, as a researcher it is my duty to discover the secret behind everything, from the simplest of spells to the very essence of life itself. I've spent years going out to retrieve such things, and even longer in rigorous study, so please, enlighten me.
Hilda frowns at Luard, enlighten him? That was a pretty low priority on her list of things to do. But she might as well. Taking a deep breath she takes the hand with the soul gem and shows it, pointing towards it
Fine then! This is a soul gem. It holds my very life inside of it. You make a wish to an incubator and your life gets turned into a gem. With this wish comes power. In my case time stop. In exchange we hunt down witches. Their sole purpose is to send people to the Shadow Realm. Never to be seen again... Luckily someone dear to me sealed away all the witches so people don't have to deal with them anymore. Is that enough explanation for you?
Luard briefly nods along with Hilda, slowly and carefully removing a tablet from beneath his cloak, cradling it against his right arm and typing notes rapidly with his left, Luard almost seems to have forgotten they were fighting mere seconds ago, he speaks rapidly, Luard's words coming out almost as quickly as he types
So the crystal is called a soul gem, I was aware it contained your life force, that's what the smaller circle that didn't seem to do anything was for, and also the only reason I went after it. But that's beside the point. Since we're talking anyways, would you mind answering a few questions about these things, namely, can you describe the general appearance of an Incubator and these Witches, as well as the abilities they generally possess. I would far rather be able to meet one myself, but for now I shall simply have to take your word for it, a little information is far better than none.
OOC: Of course, there's no need to actually describe appearances, since its not particularly important to the situation, you can simply mention that in the italics part if you choose to do so.
Hilda composes herself and scratches her head at the plethora of questions. Taking a second to breath and take it all in before responding
Okay okay! One at a time! An incubator... He looks... Square? You can imagine a big bunny, but it has a square face with long ears. It also has rings on each end. Pretty hard to mess. I doubt you'll see one though. They communicate telepathically.
A witch... They can look like anything really. It all depends on who they came from. Hard to explain it without seeing one, and like I said they shouldn't exist anymore.
Luard's hand flies across the face of his tablet, working to keep up with the words as they leave Hilda's mouth, unfortunately the actual information is rather sparse, but there are several kinds of creatures that manage to be unique while falling under one category, like humans, once he has it all written down, Luard sighs
Quite unfortunate then, these Witches sound like quite the subject. But I suppose if they no longer exist then there's not really any point in learning about them, is there?
Luard pauses to think for a moment, tapping his foot as Luard slowly returns the tablet to its secret pocket within his cloak
Well that's the thing. They shouldn't. But from what I see it doesn't look right... There is too much magic here which is why I came here to investigate. Don't you feel it too? A certain uneasiness? Something isn't right, and it's my duty to fix it!
Luard briefly glances around, he's always been able to feel a faint pressure of energy, yet he never bothered to make note of it before
Where I come from, magic is so intertwined with society that it is almost impossible to distinguish from science. Readings like this are normal to me, which is why I never thought anything of it, but I take it such things are foreign to you.
Hmm... That sounds interesting! Albeit I've been hunting witches for so long it might be more strange to not feel an oppressive atmosphere ! Hehe! At any rate anything else? What do you think we should do next?
I think we should wait for ol Hundred now yeah?
OOC: I was under the impression that this thread was over, insofar as the GM was concerned, so I suppose I will make this post vague, just in case
Luard pauses for a moment, before sighing and glancing around at the ruined castle
I am perfectly fine, so I suppose there is rather little of interest remaining here. If you happen to find anything dangerous, don't hesitate to give me a call, especially if its one of these witches of yours, I would quite enjoy the opportunity to observe one.
With that Luard waves to Hilda as he begins to walk out of the castle, he'll have to return to his lab later in order to properly analyze his data, but for now pretty much anything will do
ooc: Yep, thred over, but you can do stuff I guess. Good night kiddos, gotta slep
OOC: I had thought so, very well then, I believe I shall be off as well