....

@hatakekuro@Caits@Lugubrious



As soon as Enma told him to quit his bitching, he would stare down the hole at the three tilting his head a bit at how to ponder Enma's demise. So you tell the one person who can help you up, to quit his bitching and prepare his scrawny pale ass. Well you just sign yourself up for a big fuck you. And that is what Enma would receive, so when he started climbing, Ike held on surprisingly well. Yet as Enma would climb, he would notice no change in the height he would gain. That being cause Ike kept on making the rope bigger and bigger, so the more Enma climbed the longer the rope became pushing him right back at the point. "Come on now its easy! You put your left hand first or right either one, and then you follow it up with a go fuck yourself!" Ike said holding a middle finger over the hole directly for Enma to see. And then Ike simply extinguished his energy rope and let Enma fall to the floor. "Awwww did the big boy fall? I'm sorry, my scrawny ass just couldn't hold your fat ass any longer. So how about we try without the being a dick huh? Maybe being a dick isn't the way to get help? Hmm? Just maybe?" Ike asked only to sigh and shoot out a energy rope again. "You're just lucky Sanders would get pissed if I left you in there." Ike said while grumbling about being right about the choices about who went where being the wrong choices.

Jessie
@hatakekuro

ferris seemed quite reluctant to leave, indeed as he kissed her she responded, kissing him back and tangling a hand through his hair. When he pulled away she gave a whine, which was soon stifled when he kissed her neck, and she sighed softly. His touch was soft, timid-shy actually and he seemed nervous. Which she found sweet. She wondered, fleetingly if she should tell him nothing has happened their first date, but that thought was swiftly sweeped out her head as his touch became bolder.

She trailed her fingers down his neck, wanting to keep going, to just stay close together. And then he pulled away again, just before the charms failed. As he hurried spoke, leaving her, Jessie watched him, perplexed.

"Did...he just...?"

He had just told her he loved her. Jessie rode the wonder of that for a moment, before giving a soft sigh, and standing. Her room wasn't far, and perhaps she could shower and be back before Ferris was out. Especially if she used a charm...

Heading out the room, she stopped, and quickly wrote a note in case Ferris was out before she was back. I love you, too. Going to get some clothes, I'll order room service so we can have it for dinner, and just stay in ; ) before hurrying out. She got to her room, throwing random clothes on the bed, and jumping into the shower.

She didn't take long, muttering a few charms she found the perfect combinations that helped get rid of the smell. Another charm had her hair dry, and she wriggled into the clothes, a eccentric combination of yellow and pink, tying her hair back and headed back out the room, and back to Ferris's.

gabriel
@lugubrious@Oblivion666
Gabriel would grab Enma hand, and say "I'm not a damn dog!" he crossed his arms over his chest, watching the display Ike put on. He shook his head, wanting to get out of the hole, starting to feel of all things claustrophobic. He closed his eyes, and drew in a breath before letting it out slowly. Opening his eyes, he looked up the hole, before leaping back as Ike let Enma fall.

"Jeez! Ike, just please get us out!" He said, "I'd rather not be flattened by a falling Enma, thanks and that fat woman could come back and push you down here with us!"

jamie
@GamerXZ
Jamie blinked, and looked back. She had assumed Alan would follow Mako, but apparently that wasn't the case. She stopped and gave an apologetic smile "I'm sorry, of course I have the time. What is it you need to discuss?" she said, wondering just what else was going on.

....

Earlier during the day, Grane joined the Council meeting but remained silent for the entire time. Ever since the ivory and shadow dome, Grane has been what could be happening. This was something that he went over in his room once the meeting finished. To add to the list, some rune knights have reported a strange cave in that seemed to have appeared on street in Crocus. A closer investigation found that the cave in was a tunnel that traveled into the Mercurius underground space. How and why that tunnel formed was still a mystery.

While he was in the middle of all these thoughts and reports, a rune knight quickly opened Grane’s door and reported that another ivory dome has been reported in a park and that a battle between multiple wizards have started. From what the knight said, a similar group of people from before are fighting again. Expecting it to be the exact same wizards from before, Grane hoped that they could solve this and prevent too much damage from happening again. He ordered the knight to call and command all the nearest rune knights in that area to evacuate and clear the area of any civilians.

As Grane was walking through the hallway to leave the Council’s temporary Crocus’s HQ and end another battle related to the ivory dome, another rune knight came rushing through the hallway as he tried calling his name. The knight’s facial expression showed serious distress for something. The moment that the knight reported that a civilian called in that Frye Gauss was in the city, Grane’s usual cold serious expression changed to disbelieve and became more distress of Frye being in the city than the current battle occurring at the ivory dome. ”Don’t inform anyone that he is here. It’s better the less that people know of him and leave him alone than someone trying to test his power. I’ll handle this myself.”

From where the last sight the Frye was reported to have been spotted, Grane followed the direction that he was said to of been heading and could notice Sayatachhi in the distance.

@hatakekuro@Lmpkio
The man expected no less. Every time he gave someone the same option as the one he just gave, they almost always seem to ignore him instead. As always, Frye was prepared for anything when turned his back to everyone and could already sense something approach the field around him. The same routine as always, such a bore. As the needle flew towards Frye, it would quickly halt as it stopped close enough below his neck to appear as if it touched him. Pretending that he was shot, Frye let his body collapse with the needle remaining in the same position as if it held on to him.

From when the Council woman picked him up to when she was leaving the crowd, Frye heard her words and knew that she clearly wasn’t aware of who she was messing with. While he was still being carried over her shoulder and when she stopped saying anything, he took the advantage when her guard was down. Frye’s hand instantly heated up to burning temperatures and gave a tight squeeze on the cheek of the woman’s rear end. As he could feel her jump from the reaction, he gave the woman a hard kick back as he magically flew into the air and gave the council member a disappointed facial expression. ”I gave you an optioned.”

He gripped his right hand and flicked his index finger out as a few pebbles shot out from the ground near crowd, each one piercing a guard trough the chest and one through the old man that ratted out Frye. As they collapsed, chucks of earth from the ground that the pebbles appeared instantly flew towards and around the crowd of people who in seconds were encapsulated in a massive ball of earth with the excess earth and dust orbiting it. Their screams could faintly be heard as the ball of earth flew up high into the sky. With a boring expression, Frye’s quickly shot up his magic at astonishing levels compared to Nolan without stopping until he decided to instantly revert back to hiding his magic power. Frye simply said, ”I hope you understand how serious I was when I gave you that option earlier. So don’t bother with me or else everyone there will fall and be crushed, or vice versa. And those guys that I shot aren’t completely dead yet, but will be if get in my way again.” This woman might have reminded him of some of the women from his past that drove him crazy. Although it usually made things interesting, this lady was probably too much business, makes sense since she was part of the Council. Although he respected the business type of people since those are his usual clients, he wasn’t in the mood of dealing with one since he already finished a job yesterday.

From a voice inside her mind, Sayatachhi could hear Grane voice ”Listen, Nijiko! Try to restrain the man’s right hand with your magic. Make sure it doesn’t move and do the same to the rest of his body. If he wanted to, he could devastate the entire city in an instant. But his arrogance is as big as his power. So make sure you distract him, get his attention away from the civilians and only on you. Once his guard is down, tell me when your about restrain him as quickly as possible so I can try to save the civilians by teleporting them away.” Grane was hidden inside a building as he peaked through a window. His fingers remained rested on his forehead as he waited for Sayatachhi’s signal to start.

@Lmpkio@Caits
Away on a job for several months, it reminded Wes of the days when he was on long jobs. ”Mmm, several months. Well, you’re not the only one that goes on long missions or take your time when you’re out on one. I’m still surprised that we were able to cross each other’s paths and meet all those years ago. I almost forgot about those stars that I would gaze at night during those long jobs.” Wes reached over to take a drink from his tea “We probably haven’t seen each other for awhile because I was stuck in Edolas with amnesia for about ten years. But when I returned, I found out that only a few months have passed. Since then I’ve been on my own… wait, did no one tell you happened when I returned. Right, you said you were gone for several months and just got back a few days ago.”

When Michael spoke up about Phoenix Wing’s attack on the Magic Council, Wes fell silent with a disappointed expression as he didn’t like hearing about that event. ”That is something that I’m aware about. Although I appreciate the guild caring for me, I wish Jamie didn’t bring the guild into too much danger with the future risks and problems that might occur from that course of action. The Council might have been corrupted, but by stopping them, it only puts the guild at more risk of other dangerous groups who now has their eyes and minds on the guild. Ever since what happened to my home and when I was young, I wish I could find some place to stay that felt almost like home. Eventually I found the guild, but I didn’t want to trouble them with my past, so I rarely showed up in the guild hall. But it’s because of me… it’s my fault of not being able to protect myself that the guild is probably going to be in some potential danger.”

”Sorry about the lengthy monologue, I didn’t mean to bring everyone’s mood down.”

My Hider [+]

Ethel Storm, Jessica Albert, Manami Fuyu, Cody Bloodstein, Shiro Hime, and James Lumin

@Raijinslayer@Zarkun@Joshua Tamashii@Roseletta@Infichi@Caits@Crimson Raven
Jessica grimaced slightly from the effort to keep her blade in check against James...to be honest, while she was skilled with the blade, Jessica's sword was more for show and for aiding her magic than actual combat. So against a swordsman of James calibre, she didn't stand a chance alone. However, she wasn't alone.
She managed to peel away and dodge the kick, as well as the shoulder check, but the smite slammed straight into her gut. She skidded backwards from the blow but quickly stopped by slamming her sword into the ground.
"I care not for what you say Paladin, your words are meaningless against justice itself." With the flick of her wrist, the darkness which had enveloped the blade now formed a solid barrier in front of her. Unfortunately she wasn't prepared for it to ricochet and slammed into her back now. That made her shield disappear and allow James to lock blades with her once more.

The other James meanwhile (Lumin that is) couldn't stand by and watch Jessica fighting James (not him). Quickly forgetting the entire reason they were here, he sent a single spear of light aimed at James' (not him, the other one XD) back as he prepared a spell to blind him. However with James focusing on James (...eh I'm sure you can work out who is who XD), that left Shiro and Manami open in a brief window.

At the mention of a plan, Ethel looked up towards Verrick with her head cocked ever so slightly to the side.
"Verrick makes plans?" It was tough to gauge whether Ethel was messing with him or not, as she said it with a deadpan serious look. Well as serious as a look of surprise can look I suppose.
She nodded briefly at the points he made. Yes her sister was (surprisingly) a girl. Ethel wasn't sure why he had to state something so obvious, and state that girls like Chu's twice, but she simply nodded and went along with it. However at the mention of a Chu army...that got her attention.
A grand image of Chu's in armor mounted atop more, smaller Chu's charging into battle quickly entered her naive, childlike mind. Each Chu wielding a small, chu sized sword (or other weaponry). Now that was something she had to see!
She was somewhat disappointed by the sight of just....well a large amount of ordinary Chu's. But only somewhat. It was still a lot of Chu's! As Verrick gave his army his evil, devious orders and laughed manianically Ethel had already scooped up an entire armful of the fluffballs and nuzzled her face up against them while muttering one, single word.
"Cute."

Cody looked over as Time Lord spoke to him....who the heck was that? He gave him a surprised, confused look as Time Lord walked up but before he could really think about much he found James calling out to him to stop Shiro and Manami. That left a question in Cody's mind, how? Surely his magic couldn't be cast in time to stop them. I mean it wasn't like an army of super adorable, fluffy creatures would swarm over and distract them long enough to throw up a barrier.
That was just crazy talk.....or maybe not. Cody watched on in disbelief as the army of Chu's swarmed across the battlefield, hereby causing the distraction he needed. With just the tips of his fingers glowing as he drew imaginary lines in the air before him.
"Here goes nothing....Absolute Dome." Cody hadn't quite gotten this spell down to a fine art just yet, but he didn't need it to repel attacks right now so it should serve it's purpose of locking Shiro and Manami within. It would be fragile, but as long as no one did anything crazy it should hold.

Shiro was peacefully attempting to help Manami up, but that all changed when the Chu army attacked. The sheer surprise of such an adorable army running at her caught her off guard, as they now knocked her over and swarmed her downed body before unleashing their ferocious attacks of nuzzling, licking and letting out various cute noises and other cute things they would do which were also harmless.
"Wait....stop...help..." Shiro let out as she held back an urge she hadn't felt for a long time, the urge to laugh. These Chu's were worthy foes. They had found out her one, true weakness. She was highly ticklish.
An almost invisible barrier was now erected around the two dark mages and Amelia, since she had walked into the spell just as Cody had cast it. So while he hadn't meant for her to get trapped within it, she ended up getting herself stuck.
Oh well between Shiro being swarmed by Chu's and Manami having lost consciousness at this point, it wasn't like any harm would come to her anyway. In fact, she would be slightly safer within the dome.

Verick let out a few deep breaths and inhaled even deeper. “Damn that… that took a lot out of me… “ He rubbed his stomach and groaned a bit. “Gonna need to eat a big meal later… But hey! It worked. See that kid! You shouldn’t doubt...” He turned to look at Ethel, but she was currently busy with her handful of Chu’s. “Hey… Hey… Those guys are supposed to be attacking the enemy...” He shook his head and facepalmed. “Well I suppose I should just be happy that the plan worked out… I mean we don’t have to fight anyone or anything… seems like it was a pretty decent idea… So, Why not sure, go and hug the Chu’s Ethel… But if you wanna keep em their One thou a pop.”

michael
@Expolar
Michael listened to the monologue, and without hesitation, and without stuttering, he looked tk Wes and said "with all due respect, that is bullshit. Phoenix wing, Dragon Fang, all the main guilds, their members, we know what we are getting into. Danger is something we expect. Yes, sometimes out actions led danger to us, but it would happen anyway.

You didn't cause it.

the council would have had to be taken down in one way or another. I don't think Master Jamie would have let that continue, not so I think Master Jack would have allowed it to either.

The guild is at risk, because it is always at risk. Not because they attacked the council to save you. They would have done it for every member. Each and every member had their own choice, and they chose to do it, because they wanted to try and get you back. And they knew the danger. I mean, look around you. The guilds are being attacked, by being unconnected to you, to what happened because dark guilds don't need a reason to attack light guilds.

So what is it? Is that just an excuse? Or are you ashamed of something you have done?" Michael seemed to have found a hidden strength, not turning away, as he stared at Wes. Nor did he seem to care that he was probably angering Wes.

.....

Amaya looked around as she managed to sit up rubbing her legs trying what she could think to feel feeling back in them as she watched Joshua battle the monster before she let out a gasp getting picked up only to be thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes or a slab of meat. "Uh I hope you can run faster you got company."She said seeing tenticles rush after them. She was trying to think what she could do "Blade of the ice dragon"She whispered allowing ice to transform her hand as she swiped at any blades that got close as she wasnt sure what else to do"She said

As Sayatachi slowly walks away from the site seemingly victorious, she over hears Nolan calling her a hag from under his breath. However, she simply ignores it as the two began walking their separate paths. She had a lot worse things being said to her anyways, so just the term hag mean't nothing to her.

As she continues walking, she takes a glance at Frye's back neck, as if she was going to pull it out since it should've done the job on paralyzing him. Yet she suddenly realizes that the needle didn't even hit the target! But before she could act accordingly, something really hot touched the Rainbow Majesty's rear end. With a surprised gasp, combined with a growl of anger, she suddenly felt a hard kick crash into her back as the magically flew into the air. Surprised, Sayatachi regains her footing and looks at him with a surprisingly calm look.

"I was wondering why the serum seemed to be a bit more powerful then it is..." she says with a growling hint as he looks at the man, "Clever."

Frye only gave the council member a disappointed facial expression.

”I gave you an option.”

He gripped his right hand and flicked his index finger out as a few pebbles shot out from the ground near crowd, each one piercing a guard trough the chest and one through the old man that ratted out Frye. As they collapsed, chucks of earth from the ground that the pebbles appeared instantly flew towards and around the crowd of people who in seconds were encapsulated in a massive ball of earth with the excess earth and dust orbiting it. Their screams could faintly be heard as the ball of earth flew up high into the sky. With a boring expression, Frye’s quickly shot up his magic at astonishing levels compared to Nolan without stopping until he decided to instantly revert back to hiding his magic power.

Either this guy was really, REALLY drunk out of his own mind, or he was actually sober to begin with. Whatever magic he had, it too was also incredibly strong. It was like a simple drunkard from a power level of 0, to a powerful wizard of over 9000. It looked rather impressive, but none of the less it was a sight that Saya had seen too many times. It simply bored her. As she looks on, Frye simply said, ”I hope you understand how serious I was when I gave you that option earlier. So don’t bother with me or else everyone there will fall and be crushed, or vice versa. And those guys that I shot aren’t completely dead yet, but will be if get in my way again.”

The Council woman takes a glance at the fallen guards, the entrapped pedestrians from within the dome, and back at Frye. She still wondered how he was able to fake getting hit in the first place, but none of that mattered. She and Nolan were now forced to fight this mage while also trying to save the others. But neither knew his weakness... so how were they going to take him down without endangering the others?

Suddenly, Sayatachi hears a familiar voice in her head, this voice coming from another Council person, Grane Falo.

”Listen, Nijiko! Try to restrain the man’s right hand with your magic. Make sure it doesn’t move and do the same to the rest of his body. If he wanted to, he could devastate the entire city in an instant. But his arrogance is as big as his power. So make sure you distract him, get his attention away from the civilians and only on you. Once his guard is down, tell me when your about restrain him as quickly as possible so I can try to save the civilians by teleporting them away.”

Aha. Finally some info on his weakness.

Not wanting to give the attention that they were being supported with information, Sayatachi gives the signal of confirmation by putting her left hand behind her head, as if she was scratching it, and nodding. Wherever Grane may be, he should be able to recognize the signal. Regardless, Saya needs to act quickly and retrain the man as quickly as she can, along with the help of Nolan. She looks at Frye and gives out a few tsking sounds with her tongue, her finger tips preparing to fire fiber magic at the opponent.

"Serious you say?" she replies to him with a chuckle, "Don't make me laugh. Your magic bores me. The only thing I understand about you is that you're a simple fool! You want to crush these poor people? Hmph... You'll have to get through us first."



And with that, she slowly raises her arms out diagonally and quickly fires all of her fiber needles from her fingertips. They begin head upwards, whizzing alongside one another in a pair of five in the sky until each making a wide symmetrical turn from one another. They then sprint towards Frye's direction at an incredible speed, almost congregating back into one mass, only for them to split off again, confusing him for a bit. At that point, she looks over at Nolan and jerks her head at the opponent, signaling him to attack him as his guard was down. If they can keep this up, Sayatachi will quickly be able to trap his right hand and ultimately his entire body. They just need to distract and slightly weaken him for just a little longer before she is able to get a clear shot on him.

---

---

”Mmm, several months. Well, you’re not the only one that goes on long missions or take your time when you’re out on one. I’m still surprised that we were able to cross each other’s paths and meet all those years ago. I almost forgot about those stars that I would gaze at night during those long jobs.” Wes replies as he takes a sip of his tea.

"Yeah," replies Samir with a nod, "Same with I. And it isn't really that I take my time with these missions *chuckles*, it's just that they can be so tedious at times, or simply the objective can be very mobile and hard to track."

“We probably haven’t seen each other for awhile because I was stuck in Edolas with amnesia for about ten years. But when I returned, I found out that only a few months have passed. Since then I’ve been on my own…"

The mentioning of Edolas raised an eyebrow on the Archer's face. He was in Edolas? The alternate-dimension of Fairy Tail? She only heard legends about that place, along with the story of several Fairy Tail guild members being in there back in the day.

"... Wait, did no one tell you what happened when I returned? Right, you said you were gone for several months and just got back a few days ago.”

"Edolas huh?" Sammy replies with curiousity, "That must've been fun, or brutal I don't know. You'll have to tell me more about it some day."

Then Michael finally spoke up.

"I imagine t-t-that has s-s-something to do with t-the magic c-c-c-council attack, weren't you the r-r-reason why that c-c-came about?"

Wes fell silent with a disappointed expression as he didn’t like hearing about that event. ”That is something that I’m aware about. Although I appreciate the guild caring for me, I wish Jamie didn’t bring the guild into too much danger with the future risks and problems that might occur from that course of action. The Council might have been corrupted, but by stopping them, it only puts the guild at more risk of other dangerous groups who now has their eyes and minds on the guild. Ever since what happened to my home and when I was young, I wish I could find some place to stay that felt almost like home. Eventually I found the guild, but I didn’t want to trouble them with my past, so I rarely showed up in the guild hall. But it’s because of me… it’s my fault of not being able to protect myself that the guild is probably going to be in some potential danger.”

”Sorry about the lengthy monologue, I didn’t mean to bring everyone’s mood down.”

Michael then suddenly found some strength to begin talking some more.

"With all due respect, that is bullshit. Phoenix wing, Dragon Fang, all the main guilds, their members, we know what we are getting into. Danger is something we expect. Yes, sometimes out actions led danger to us, but it would happen anyway.

You didn't cause it.

The council would have had to be taken down in one way or another. I don't think Master Jamie would have let that continue, not so I think Master Jack would have allowed it to either.

The guild is at risk, because it is always at risk. Not because they attacked the council to save you. They would have done it for every member. Each and every member had their own choice, and they chose to do it, because they wanted to try and get you back. And they knew the danger. I mean, look around you. The guilds are being attacked, by being unconnected to you, to what happened because dark guilds don't need a reason to attack light guilds.

So what is it? Is that just an excuse? Or are you ashamed of something you have done?"

Samir was silent through the whole run, only to issue a little nervous chuckle after Michael finished.

"I-I think that's enough," she says towards the young man as he tries to defuse any growing feelings amongst them, "Please excuse him Wes-san. I suppose there are some strong feelings that have some aftershocks still attached you know?"

Even she didn't know if she was helping or not, simply trying to relax as she sips her own drink as well.

The ground cratered where the oversized undead's fists made impact, sending dirt, dead leaves, and fragments of twig flying in every direction. A direct hit from such an unnaturally powerful attack might have obliterated either of the girls' skulls in just one attack. If not for the rebuke of the war guild's prestigious sigil, Ashlyn, Thor, and Harper would have been Frenzy pudding. When Ashlyn took steps to try and remove the curse mark assaulting her soul, her monstrous opponent took the initiative. A huge hand flew toward Ashlyn's head to grab and crush it like a nut between its fingers.

As mentally compromised as she was, Harper knew that she could not let that happen. Time seemed to slow down as adrenaline rushed through her veins. In less time than it would take to down a glass of soda, her new comrade would be dead. Gritting her teeth, Harper shrugged off Thor's push and threw herself toward the ogre-like enemy. Landing atop its shoulders, the young ninja pulled the first thing she could find from her belt -a three-pointed shuriken- and jammed it with all her strength into the creature's eye.

A bellow of pain shook the clearing, but from the monster, not Ashlyn. Harper grinned crazily to see that her stupid, rash plan had gone off without a hitch, but found the next moment that her elation had been preemptive. The meaty fingers of the once-human thing to which she clung locked around her through, and with a small squeak Harper was thrown violently to the ground. Though she slammed into nothing but dirt, a vile cracking noise told the others that several of her bones had broken nonetheless. So much pain coursed through her that she couldn't move at all. Her lungs contracted like balloons, sending a slow stream of air out of her open mouth like a sigh. ”Aaaaaaaaaah....” While her eyes would open, they were already glazed over, and could not see the massive foot about to reduce her head to a pulp, nor the white light that heralded her ally's restoration.

Then a burning strike connected with the fiend, courtesy of the wizard that Harper had saved. Ashlyn's fist gutted the obese zombie, punching a messing hole straight through her and cauterizing the wound. The lack of resistance, however, meant that not much force had been imparted to the undead monster itself. Still, the blow caused the path of its foot to change. Instead of falling on the ninja's face, it fell on her stomach.

The next second, Ashlyn's fire-infused punch exploded, rocking the copse and blowing the creature in half. Both parts, still flailing around, sailed off the cliff and to a messy end below. Any kind of joy that might accompany the monster's defeat, however, fizzled out before it got started. Harper lay on the dirt, almost cut in half herself. Her blood soaked the soil, and the light had left her eyes.



Enma's resolution against using his magic garnered a shrug from Mercury. As much as he didn't like the current situation, weakening the floor with vibrations enough to send the whole place hurtling into the depths of the cragland canyon was probably not a good alternative. The little argument between the oni and the kid didn't capture his attention, but a voice from above prompted him to look skyward. ”Who cares how? Jus' make the rope and get us outta this hellhole. We can't risk collapsin' the place with magic.”

He cast an irritated glance at Gabriel as he yet again felt the need to get all prickly with an ally. However, the true problem, as Mercury quickly discovered when the rescue attempt really began, was Ike's ego. Did that moron really just risk injuring an ally and potentially undermanning a town's defense force simply for the sake of his pride? Mercury's own temper flared red-hot in less than an second. ”Bet Sanders will be real happy to know your braindead screwin' around cost us this operation, at least if I don't kill ya first! Get it in gear, Ike!”



The atmosphere before a storm felt like a vacuum. Everything felt eerily still just when people expected the winds to be picking up. Damian's question hung limply in the suddenly muggy air, but it got the wheels inside Ni's head turning. Did Phoenix Wing's blade mean to suggest that this scorched man was one of the two beings within the hovel that burned down just recently? Since the bones that she'd pulled from the debris matched a human female's, that meant that this fellow could only be Singed Willard himself—if that wasn't completely preposterous. Not only had the fire victim died, but he'd been incinerated, and his ashes gathered into a pot for interment. Yet...

Crows, storm, graves, sickness, and more. Nobody in their right mind could take a look at Belka now and not feel it to be haunted. Not in the sense of poltergeists, perhaps, but the town oozed the suggestion of some kind of supernatural occurrence. In a place like this, and with the limitless potential of magic in mind, could it really be so impossible that the dead could rise? The thought made Ni Rensa shudder, her face a mask of muted fear. Belka did not harbor citizens of exceptional physical well-being, but there were a lot of them, and if some sort of necromantic catastrophe befell the place Ni didn't know whether or not the guild could escape being overwhelmed.

She had to make sure. Heedless of what Damian might think, she approached the young man and whispered, full of dread for whatever answer may come, ”Who are you?”

He adopted a quizzical expression, though in the poor light it could have been a ghastly leer. “Willard, of course,” he replied as if it were the most obvious, ordinary thing in the world. “Everyone knows me...the klutz who lights the lamps.”



Gravely, Frenzy Plant's general listened to the report of the guild's newest private. Around him, the soldiers had already begun to move, their suspicions rewarded with decisive action at last. Sanders barely even needed to issue an order to galvanize the last few warriors into shape, and in only a handful of moments the first squad of soldiers was ready for deployment. ”Riona, please join Kilo, Joakim, Beardo, Riggs, and Kumbha on the way to the chapel. Private Riggs, please facilitate a swift journey, and if battle erupts, a casualty-free fight.”

The young woman gave a salute, her usual carefree attitude completely absent. ”Yes sir!” She moved her lyre into playing position. Around her, the other soldiers adopted runners' stances, like sprinters preparing for the pistol-shot to start a race. ”Here we go. Up-tempo!” A pass of her practiced fingers on her instrument sent a wave of ethereal blue energy frolicking through the air around the soldiers. At once they set off, moving far more quickly than they possibly could have otherwise. They would also not lose stamina doing so, and Riona, for whom fatigue was already issue, felt her breath returning all at once.



At least Argus seemed eager, though the thought of him laying waste to the whole region with demonic sorceries did worry Bytan a good deal. ”Yes. Let's move.” The two took off at a fast pace, with the old man in particular running at a speed that defied his age. Compliantly the townsfolk moved out of their way, concern and fear in their dull eyes as they made sure to offer no obstruction. They raced through the claustrophobic, wood-dominated district of Belka, emerging onto the main plateau on which stood the gate to the unpopulated cragland. While Bytan didn't want to ruin what little the villagers could coax from the earth beneath his hasty heels, the threat of an unknown, imminent horror made the notion of circumventing the little farms completely out of the question, so he endeavored to step between the rows of scraggly vegetables on his mad dash toward the cemetery and the chapel nearby.

They didn't take long, but nevertheless, by the time they arrived the entirety of Belka had become smothered in the calm before the storm. Lightning flashed in the distance and thunder rolled through the cragland immediately after. The noise made by the pounding footsteps of Bytan and Argus changed as they stepped from the dirt of the town onto the stone path of the graveyard leading up to the chapel. With zero hesitation they rushed down it and through the splintered wooden door into the building.

Before them stood the same room that Bytan had seen not so long ago, but its content had changed. Viscera covered more than just the healing altar, now—it leaked out from the corpses of four clerics heaped on the ground near that same table. The short, portly one with which Bytan spoke before was now kneeling, bent over, on the altar itself, facing him. Around him stood three ominous figures. They wore ragged clothes that revealed only their faces, and those faces were deathly white, raw, and suffused by black veins. Only groans interrupted the silence, not from these strange beings, but from the bodies of the clerics themselves. On closer inspection, traces of black mist surrounded them, and their skin, too, was pale.

One of the standing men rasped hoarsely, “Too late. This place, and its treasure, is ours. But you may watch, outsiders, and despair.” The slam of a door caused Bytan to look to the right, and he saw two more deathly interlopers emerging from the passage that he knew linked to the chamber with the pit of flesh. Before he could speak or act, each of the five invaders slit the throats of one of the clerics, and they gurgled their last. The barbarity of it caused Bytan to ground his teeth, and he prepared to cast a spell.

Then the dead clerics moved. Around them, the black fog thickened. Before the soldiers' eyes, their bodies deteriorated, becoming rotten, beastly, and slightly larger. Baying like mad hounds, the five undead sprinted toward Argus and Bytan as fast as they could, eager to tear them to pieces.

From a tattoo gotten in memory of a long-dead sage of magic, Bytan summoned his magic. From his outstretched palm a beam of blue and teal arcane energy the width of a wagonwheel surged forth, obliterating two of the zombies in seconds. He expected Argus to take care of the threat on his own, and possible the invaders as well. Those evil, accursed men, however, did not seem overly concerned. If anything, they looked as if their job had already been done. Bytan soon found out why.



An awful, horrible noise rumbled through the chapel and the graveyard, filling the whole eastern side of Belka with its unholy din. Within the back room of the chapel, something began to move. Its awakened thrashing turned wood to kindling and sent walls tumbling down, and as the rear area of the chapel collapsed, Frenzy Plant's soldiers got a good look.

Malignant black fog surrounded a huge and disgusting amalgam of flesh—the great pit of spare and recycled parts made and preserved over the years by Belka's unique healing. Whatever plague of undeath festered in the newly-created undead thanks to the foul breath of their less fresh counterparts had brought the visceral heap to life, and now it stood like a grotesque titan above the remains of the chapel's back half. The dust that filled the air blew away in the headwinds of the oncoming storm. Rain poured down from the sky, which undulated like the sea in shades of green, black, yellow, and gray. Lighting flashed among the clouds, illuminating the repulsive, horrific giant for far too long. Its tortured, guttural cry thundered through the town, from deadwood copse to silken grotto.

From the misshapen clump of limbs and organs that might have been its head, a black fog wafted forth. It cascaded down and spread over the ground, blanketing the whole town in only a few minutes as an inexorable tide. The townsfolk it touched collapsed, clutching their heads and crying out in wordless terror. The soldiers of Frenzy Plant felt it too: a crushing sensation of hopelessness emanating from an evil sign newly etched on their minds. One light remained: a burning magical beacon of indomitability emanating from the guild marks on their necks.

Still, that execrable behemoth loomed like death itself. Its abominable image, standing in the throes of a raging thunderstorm, promised to wipe out all life in the region.

Ruin had come to Belka.

Damian took a surprised step back and his hand went up to Durandal's hilt, an inch of the blade coming free before he caught himself. However, he didn't sheathe that inch of blade. As he goes to say anything in response to the young man's revelation, there is a sound that catches his attention and that of those around him. Turning, he cringes at the sound of the abomination, his magic flaring instinctively between him and it. "Holy Nine Circles of Hell, what is that thing?!" He had little time to contemplate that as a black mist rolled over them all and suddenly Damian could feel...something wrong with his head. He wanted to give up hope and lay down and die.

But that wasn't who he or Phoenix Wing was. He could feel something about the mark on his hand protecting him as the feeling of hopelessness receded between the protective magic within the mark and his own will power, though whether it was gone or not would be known after everything was done. He turned immediately to Ni and Eliza. "So...anyone bring cannons?"




James heard the spell called out behind him and sidestepped, allowing it to instead impact the man's ally instead before countering with a Holy Lance towards, him the spear of holy magic appearing to have been launched like a ballista bolt. He would then unleash another blinding spell on the pair and remove himself from between them, keeping himself ready defensively.

@Zarkun@hatakekuro@oblivion666@liferusher@Caits@Raijinslayer@Lugubrious
Ash hadn't really registered what had happened to Harper. She had been too focused on the opponent before them and had made the decision to eliminate the threat, then make sure the others were ok. It was a logical conclusion really, since they couldn't really risk checking on each other with that fat bitches unnatural speed and strength. They would be dead before they could blink. As her fiery punch exploded upwards, a column of fire would shoot straight up and light up the gloom around of them momentarily. It would've been big enough and bright enough for hopefully the others to notice it as well.
"Harper!" However with the easy defeat of the creature Ash couldn't help but feel disappointed....but that feeling quickly left her as she knelt down besides Harper. Ash looked shaken by the condition the ninja was in, she had just met Harper but so far she found the ninja quite an enjoyable presence to be around.
So to find her on the ground practically dead, if not already dead, like this was quite distressing. However Ash knew she had to stay calm here, otherwise Harper will die. Ash had very limited healing avenues, and she couldn't heal anything major like broken bones or a raptured organ so she hoped against hope that she didn't have the last one. However she could stop the bleeding and provide some relief...
"Thor get to Sanders immediately! I'll do the best I can, but Harper needs proper medical attention. Quickly, before the storm hits!" Ash called out over her shoulder as she placed her hands on Harper's chest. Soon a bright white flame burst forth and covered Harper's body, but it soon disappeared. Her bleeding would mostly stop now, but Ash couldn't move otherwise what little life was left in Harper might be snuffed out for good.
However that was when the rain started to kick in. Each drop which hit Ash caused a small amount of steam to raise as she gritted her teeth in frustration. Why now?!
Why did it have to rain now?! Her heat would only last so long and the rain was only going to get heavier....as soon as she couldn't create a spark, Harper would be dead.



@Caits
Jasmine nodded briefly as she saw the city walls fast approaching in the distance. They would easily clear them of course, but they were what Jasmine had her attention on right now. Although she could feel some form of sadness in Penny's laugh, Jasmine wasn't too sure if it was her place to pry....Penny was helping her after all. It might be rude to ask something personal.
Although from here a particular sight caught her eye....
"...Is that magic?" Jasmine asked as she narrowed her eyes as if to try and get a better look, which from this height was pointless to say the least. But there was no mistaking it, either that or someone was having one crazy light show over there.



@Raijinslayer@Zarkun@Joshua Tamashii@Roseletta@Infichi@Caits@Crimson Raven
Ignoring Time Lord, Sora turned on his heels and started to walk over to where Ethel was. It would seem they were having difficulties, and honestly the sooner they got the sister the better so he had better step in. However he did glance over his shoulder at Ferrin now.
"Well regardless of why you came here, I suggest you hold onto something." Sora said with confidence as he turned his attention to James and Jessica. It wasn't a threat he gave Ferrin either, he had simply suggested it because Sora felt like it. He took a deep breath now before activating his magic.

Shadow-James attack disappeared before it could hit Jessica as he glared towards Phoenix-James as he sidestepped his attack, the lance now flying harmlessly past him before Phoenix-James unleashed his blinding spell.
However it had no effect on Shadow-James.
"Something like that won't have an affect me, light magic that is." Shadow-James had also diverted the light away from Jessica, so she too was unaffected.
"Lady Shiro, Lady Manami!" Jessica throw a glare Verrick's way now as his army of Chu's overwhelmed the injured Shiro. Without her scythe, how was she supposed to fight back against such creatures?! Although they were quite adorable....Wait that wasn't the point.
However before they could do much else a tornado now crashed down on them without any prior warning. Any of the Chu's outside the barrier were now picked up and thrown away, as was a lot of the nearby buildings as the tornado now wreaked havoc in the park.
Cody had to throw another dome around of himself just to make sure he wasn't picked up by the powerful winds. Jess at this stage had regained her sight and was hidden underneath a barrier of ice with Mai to prevent the same thing happening to themselves.
Meanwhile Ethel quickly grabbed hold of Verrick as the winds threatened to pick him up as well before her skin once more took a more metallic shine to them.
"Ethel got Verrick, don't let go. Warning from Sora would've been nice." Ethel was blunt and direct as usual as she barely budged under the powerful winds.
Phoenix-James (Zarkun) however would be safe as he found himself in the eye of the storm, and would notice a man now walking out of the wind to join him.
"Don't mind me. I'm just here to pick something up, don't interfere." As soon as Sora said that the tornado quickly dissipated till there was nothing left. Shadow-James and Jessica were on opposite sides of the park to the other right now, covered in various scratches, bruises and other injuries. Walking over to the dome around of Shiro and Manami, Sora raised a hand and sent out a blast of wind to shatter it.

Rosalina aimlessly wandered the streets of Crocus. She wasn't ready to retire to the hotel just yet, too busy processing the conversation with Gregory Vale. It was an odd request, but one the council member understood well enough to know there was no malicious intent behind it. Rosalina wondered what kind of person this Luna girl was. Perhaps she'd have the stuff to make an excellent Knight.
"Rosalina Idwal? I require a moment of your time." The man's voice cut through her thoughts, stopping her dead in her tracks. She watched him bow before her before slowly raising her hand to her forehead in a polite salute. Being as socially exhausted as she was, the gesture came off quite lethargically. She wasn't in the mood for dealing with another stranger and her manners would only last so long.
"Speaking. How may I help you, sir?" He looked strange indeed, and Rosalina's eyes wandered to what appeared to be various tattoo's poking out from various places in his attire. From the way he spoke and acted, it was clear he was not native to Fiore. The question was what did he want from Rosalina?



"You know, for all the crap you give her, you sound more like you wish it was you going with her than me." Jane's words hit Bullet like a truck, leaving him stunned. In his frustration he hadn't realised just how much he had let on about his feelings.
"As if!" Bullet spat out defensively, talking through grit teeth. "Besides it's none of your bu-"
"Of course, that's none of my business, so I'll rather ask how long you've known each other". Jane interjected, leaving Bullet speechless once more. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, the young man shoved his clenched fists into the pockets of his jacket and awkwardly mumbled a response.
"Seven years". Seven years didn't sound like a long time, but it was a long time to Bullet. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of bells jingling. Turning around, Bullet saw Isabella exit the store with the scarf wrapped around her neck and a triumphant grin plastered across her face.
"Where to next friends? I feel like celebrating my victory over the demon hag".

Shane Disappeared into a shadow portal never to be heard from again. He was one with the shadows and nothing could be done to stop him. He stepped right though the portal he created and disappeared along with his Shadow demon friend and shadow vines

Mako stood straight before answering, not wasting any time one why he was there. "I am looking for a bandit, a man with a metal stump on his wrist that allows for the attachment of various tools and weapons, an eye patch on his right eye, and a scar in the shape of a lion's paw on his back. I was told that he was last seen fleeing from you and your rune knights two years ago. I wish to know of his fate and, if he escaped, where he is."




James stood very confused about what had happened, but stayed on guard all the same.




Jane started to reply to Bullet when Isabella exited the store with a scarf wrapped around her neck and a triumphant grin plastered across her face. "Where to next friends? I feel like celebrating my victory over the demon hag". Jane raised an eyebrow, not sure what she meant by demon hag, but didn't ask, instead opting to turn towards the food court.

"Well, I'm actually pretty hungry. Skipped breakfast trying to meet new people in the guild and it's starting to catch up to me." Truth was she wanted to surprise Isabella with the dress she had in mind for the ball, but she was also pretty hungry.

jamie
@GamerXZ
Jamie blinked, and looked back. She had assumed Alan would follow Mako, but apparently that wasn't the case. She stopped and gave an apologetic smile "I'm sorry, of course I have the time. What is it you need to discuss?" she said, wondering just what else was going on.

Alan took in a deep breath to prepare himself, "Umm...Master Jamie...my friend and I have traveled quite a distance as a result of our mission. However, our request is...a bit of an odd one, to be honest. I don't know how much help you can be but even if you can point us in the right direction, that would be a big help and we'd be in your debt...now.."

He sighed and gestured to his companion, "This is Aura. She's a Sprite. I ran into her a little over a year ago and, through a series of events, we ended up traveling together. The Aura you see before you is...well, not the complete Aura. She has a mild form of amnesia but she remembers enough that she was once...shattered, is perhaps the best term to use...so we're trying to find those lost fragments of hers..." He scratched his noggin, "Thing is..we don't know what they look like. Could be people or items, or anything...the only thing we know for sure is...well.."

Aura took over, taking a seat on his shoulder, "It's hard to explain but...I felt something coming from this city...call it a sprite's intuition but there was ALOT of powerful magic being emanated from here, and when we heard the stories about your guild...well, we figured we might as well take the plunge and see what happens."

After realizing she was in a barrier and being mugged by the cutest little creatures she had ever seen, Amelia dismissed Undine and checked on Manami while laughing as the creatures nuzzled and licked her. Despite her cheery demeanor at the moment, she was well aware of all the danger around her and kept an ear open for the sound of definite trouble.

When the tornado struck, she barely managed to keep her calm and helped comfort a few of the fuzzy creatures that had ran to her arms as she watched as some of their brethren were sucked and blown away, a fact that angered her greatly. The creatures were harmless and didn't have to be treated in such a manner. When the storm ended, her focus went immediately to a man who was focused on Shiro and Manami. Guessing she was the wind mage, her grey crystals glowed bit the sprites inside came out and formed a new spirit, which raised a hand and redirected the wind mage's wind blast to the sky. Amelia stared at the mage with narrowed eyes and let the creature's go before standing up.
"You're going to have to try harder before you're able to hurt them." She said, her tone calm but slightly heated.

James listened and was able to put two and two together quick enough. The man who'd summoned the tornado must be assisting the girl with the bow who'd gotten hit with the dark spell earlier. "Amelia, wait. He's not going to hurt them. Shiro, the one I was fighting with the scythe, is the sister of that girl with the bow. I have reason to believe Shiro's been brainwashed to forget her though."