@PerseusArcheanYuki watched as Boreas took Occus to another place, where he may be even safer. It was good to know that Hecate cared so much about her son. She may even care about him like a human mother does, worrying about the relationships between him and his friends...or subjects? Minions? Fae. Occus' fae. Still, that did leave Yuki to wonder what type of relationship those two had. Questions for another time, she supposed.
Yuki smiled when Hecate agreed to hear her out. She seemed nice. Why she was dead was beyond her, but Yuki made it a point not to ask about such things should the occasion arise. It would be rude, after all.
"
Thank you, Hecate-sama. Though, you might regret that last part." said Yuki, giggling a bit.
"
You are a goddess of magic, correct? Have you any knowledge of Corruption magic? If so, I would very much appreciate it if you would share it with me. I might have to deal with a user of such magic in the near future."
@CuccorulerClaire had expected an ambush, but she wasn't expecting it to be so blunt. Neither literally nor in its execution. The music goddess tried to step out of the way, but a tree root from the creepy-looking kid a small distance away had caught her ankle. More popped out to immobilize her so John Henry's hammer could smash her flat without any difficulty. She grit her teeth at how early s*** hit the fan, and prepared to feel the brunt of the hammer swing.
Of course, something unexpected happened. Instead of completing his downward swing, John Henry and his hammer were pulled into a thick, red fog. The clashing of thin metal against a thicker mold was heard for a moment, before the corrupted version of a legendary African-American was thrown near Appleseed. Claire knew who just helped her out
The thick mist surrounded Claire, and a voice whispered in her ear.
"
Hey, Claire. Let's play a game."
"
Try to keep up with the music this time, Miri."
The roots were cut, and the mist began to spread. Music began to emanate from Claire's body again. As the beat of the drums started it off, Claire emerged from the fog, riding a cloud of darkness.
John Henry looked to Appleseed, who nodded as if they had crafted a plan. Mr. Henry charged again, jumping up to feint a swing of his hammer. Claire did fall for the feint, and was rewarded by a bunch of tree roots sprouting and heading for her. Appleseed grinned, thinking that the music goddess wouldn't escape this time. However, his roots never caught her. The boy with the bucket on his head looked to see what had happened, and found a woman with a scythe standing in the cut up pieces of his tree roots.
She had a small smile, and white/silver hair. Appleseed assumed that she was the one who saved the Merged girl from Mr. Henry. The woman began running toward him. Realizing that he had found his own opponent to fight, Appleseed pointed to her. Guided by their master, the roots of his apple tree began rising, and whipping at the woman, only to be cut away.
Miriam was giggling. After all these years, Johnny Appleseed was still a child, after all. He probably thought that a bunch of moving roots would be able to stop her advance. Still, he was learning. He had stopped and switched tactics. His pointed finger reformed into an open palm. From it, he shot seeds as fast as bullets, and just as deadly. Miriam would have fun with this.
...
Claire's movement and attacks were not necessarily pattern-based. But they were music-based. The better the moment, the stronger the impact. Unfortunately, due to Miriam's request, Claire was stuck using a song that toyed with the opponents, hurting them, hitting them a barrage of light energy, impeding them with restrictive blobs of darkness, but always holding off on the heavy hits. Thus, Mr. Henry was able to fight on more than just equal ground.
Sometimes, she would get too close, and he'd get a swing in, cutting her with the speed that his hammer was swung at. That's not to say that he'd be easily defeated had she put on some other music. He had a few tricks that she never thought he'd have. He'd smash his hammer down on the ground with enough control and force to cause a tremor, while forcing earthen spikes to shoot out from beneath Claire. In a way, the music was helpful, as it was meant to mock them for not being able to do much.
It was more akin to that of a chase scene. If the chase scene involved a crazy Earth-bender with a hammer, smacking boulders and bigger pieces of stone at a girl riding on a cloud, shooting beams of light that twitched to the sound of a guitar. Of course, sometimes Claire would shoot with her pistol, like an actual chase scene would involve, but considering that the guy she was shooting at was a deity, she had to question how useful the mundane bullets were.
As the music continued, Claire recognized how far along it had gone, and smiled. She stopped in place, and began moving her arms about when the low notes of a piano began to sound. John Henry didn't what she was doing, but he was intent on stopping her before she was finished. He sprinted up to Claire, Hammer raised, and was immediately set upon by wild shadowy strings. He tried to bash them away, but they clung to him and his hammer like spiderwebs. The more he struggled, the more they gathered together. By the time he was fully immobilized, the dark strings had formed into a shadowy arm and hand that gripped him tightly.
...
Johnny Appleseed was FAST. Kids were inherently energetic, but he was a low-end speedster. He was able to dodge and keep his distance from Miriam as she pursued him with her scythe. Every chance he got, he launched a small volley of seeds at her, only to miss. The passed by each other a great many times, each one missing their attacks. Then Miriam changed it up, and kneed the boy on one of those passes. Finding an opening, Miriam sliced off one of his arms, and kicked him a fair distance away.
Appleseed got up, anger clear on his face, and red eyes shining more menacing than before. He spat out a seed from his mouth, and placed his wound over it. His blood began to surround it, and the seed melted into the ground. A moment passed, and the ground began to quake on its own. Johnny was elevated into the air, as a giant apple tree sprouted from where the seed was. It's bark parted in three spots, and a face was revealed. The ground shook some more as the tree's roots began to uproot themselves.
Johnny Appleseed had summoned a grand treant to fight alongside him. Miriam continued to smile her small smile. Its branches were many, and acted as arms that attempted to grab or bash Miriam as she tried to make her way up to her true opponent. She suffered many minor scratches from the leaves, but she continued to dash up to the child. When she made her way up to him, Appleseed grinned, swinging his only arm to signal a branch to hit her. She was flung away.
As she descended from the great height, the mist began to redden, and gather around her. Miriam swung her scythe again, and the mist rushed to the tree, mimicking the same sharpness. It cleaved through the treant, causing it to topple, and Apple seed to fall. He was met with Miriam again, and she took his other arm.
...
John Henry had been caught in Claire's trap. He was immobilized by two dark hands that spastically tightened their grip to the stressed beats and organ. John struggled to get free, but then heard the music change a bit into a softer melody that involved a violin, a piano, and a chorus of sorts. His attention was then turned to a bright light that slithered from where Claire was standing. It was beautiful. It was serene. It, for a moment, calmed him down.
The light entered his body, and began to shine even brighter. So bright that it could be seen escaping from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. His body began to disappear, subtly disintegrating from the inside out.
...
While that was happening, Miriam was finishing up with her own fight.
With the apple truant dead, Miriam could see that Appleseed was at his limit. His breath was labored, and his body was fully armless now, with no living tree providing him branches to replace them. He was about to lose, and in a game like this, losing was bad.
As a sort of last resort, he opened his mouth and began shooting seeds in bunches at a rate that was comparable to a gatling gun. Still, Miriam managed to sidestep and dart to the side, circling him, and slowly inching closer and closer as the barrage of seed bullets continued. When she got close enough, she swung her scythe upward, forcing Appleseed to shut his mouth to avoid the cut.
The blade of the scythe detached from the staff, and Miriam began a dance of blade and stick, playing to the music, and only slashing and bashing the boy. with a swipe of her leg, Appleseed was on his back on the floor. She came up (uncomfortably) close to him, and whispered in his ear,
"
You're time's passed, kid."
The music ended, and her fog gathered and thickened around them. He tried to attack her again, but Miriam disappeared from his sight. The boy had no idea where she was.
"
Die."
Miriam's voice echoed in his mind for what seemed like ages, before he fell apart. First his left side, then his right. The sound of two halves of a bucket clanging on the floor emanated from the impact of the armless, bisected pieces of its owner.
Miriam swung her sword, dispersing her fog while flinging off the child's blood from her scimitar. She smiled a moment before laughing out loud at how easily the blood of an old deity had left her blade, as if it was sharp enough to scare even that.
Claire bonked her on the head to shut her up and get her ready for the next fight.
