"Hmm, I see..." Eris muttered while lightly bitting tip of one of her pencils. She had been scribbling on her sketchbook for a good time now, making notes about whatever she could infer from their language based on the books she had found.

So far, Eris had noticed that they use three different sets of characters, each with its own use, not so different from what she had heard about the Japanese language. Eris could learn at least the way you write the names for the main elements of magic on this world and compared the ones for fire and Yin, to the spells she remembered that were used in Maria's office. She also learned the basic of their numerical system by cross referencing charts and page numbering.

"Still, it's a pity to squander such an irreplaceable memento." Of course, Eris was thinking of her drawing kit, after all she was sure that nothing they could have on this world would match 21st century technology. "Either way-Huh what was that?" Eris' train of thought was derailed by a commotion that she spotted on the gate right outside of the library's window.

Apparently, a girl in a school uniform was trying to force her way in, but the guards were blocking her entrance within the HQ. "Someone else from Earth? What is happening here? Either way, she looks distressed, I might as well see if I can help her."

A few moments later, Eris would appear on the gate, kneeling down to meet the other girl's eye level while extending her hand to her. "Hi there, my name is Eris Reinhardt, from Germany. Are you lost here as well? Please, don't cry, I'm sure that things will get better is we stay together." Eris said with as gentle and calm a voice as she could, while smiling softly. She knew what the other girl was going through, being a friendly hand was the least Eris could, owing to her own ethos.

"I'm sorry for the commotion, sir. I'm one of Lady Maria's guests and this girl was with me before, but we got separated on the city. Could you please let her through as well? I'm sure that Lady Maria will like to learn of your compassion." Eris didn't felt particularly good about "stretching the truth" so much as she was, but She was also sure that Maria wouldn't care for her name to be used in such a way. And, if she did, Eris would take whatever she had coming, either way she couldn't let someone in the same situation as she was pass the night on the street of an unknown city of an unknown world.

---

@liferusher

@liferusher @Spriggs27 @Lunarlors34 @FamishedPants



Dante would growl like a dog at the long hair guy if he came too close. You don't need to be a dog person to know what that means.

"Miss, I would suggest you take a few steps backwards." He warned. "I was made to question your mental stability when you decided to call someone on the verge of killing you an idiot, but even then, surely you can understand that the man right next to you may as well be called "ground zero". If you have sustained any injuries from being attacked, we can get you somewhere safe to get them treated, but you do have to be alive for this to be possible."

Dante then responded with. "I heard on the verge of killing her...you got to admit he said sound pretty damning." he told the silver-haired women. "Also any body part that gets with 5 feet of her get chopped off. Is that crystal?" He treated them pretty damn calmly.

Dante then watched as the Vesta girl tried showing him proof...only for her to begin looking around in her pockets and having what seems to be a panic attack before going into a rage. "Err..." he said cluelessly. If this was a anime his eye would be completely white and small as he wonders what the hell was going on? It seems she having a fit about missing something, and he been there...only he happen it a lot better(No he doesn't).

"....As I was saying. Unless you have a death wish you will lower your blade and beg for my forgiveness. If you don't lower your blade I will not hold back in the slightest. Even in my current condition I can handle you easily enough."

and now she dodged the subject of proofing her innocents...great. Nevertheless, Dante wasn't planning on surrendering. I great it is time to fight her off how hard can it be...

"Ms Parralex...you're not helping here." Vesta sighed before clicking her fingers. A spike of earth now flew through the air just to the left of Dante's head. He would feel the air rushing past as it passed before flying off into the night sky.

Sudden a spike flew near his left and spooked him. This woman...This woman didn't seem to need an incantation so launch the earth spell back there. This was going to be troublesome, Dante couldn't afford to let his guard down so he tightens his grip on his sword to prepare for a fight. "I have no intentions just surrendering so you can just kill us both." Dante told her.

Dante then watched the dragon lady cut apart the stone wall.

."I believe I should be able to defend my name as much as your going to defend yours." She told Vesta." I stood around when you fought that crazy guy earlier, I won't be standing around here."

Good god, Dante stepped in a massive pile of crap didn't he and he realize this himself. "Seriously, you're already injured and you still planning on fighting me." He asked her sounding surprised he then turn to Aya and quietly told her "Run, I'll hold them off." But then suddenly the horned lady break a ring of fire that seal off their escape route. "Oh, son of a bitch!" He said in frustration before the horned girl charged at them, her stance tells him she was likely going to use a heavy attack, and in order to make there, the Horned girl doesn't go after the Maid girl after he attempts to dodge Dante need to dodge at the absolute last second. As soon as Horned girl swings her weapon Dodge need to skilfully dodge her attack either by dodging to the left if she used a vertical attack or jump back if she uses a Horizontal. Dante could easily dodge a Vertical at the last second but do the same with a Horizontal may result in him get cut cms deep past his clothes.

Either way, Dante would quickly go on the offensive once he dodges, he would first try to thrust his sword into her center and if she manages to dodge or block Dante would spin with his sword counter-clockwise once, and would attempt to slash at the women hips, the amount of power could be felt behind it by the wind his attack created. When Zin survives all that she would know the Dante isn't just some wannabe swordsman he put a lot of hard work into sharping his swordsmanship.

@Lunarlors34@ZekariVoblis@Soragoku

"As much as I hate to invoke any horror movie cliches, I think we should split up. We'll be able to cover more ground that way. On top of that, what's the maid's name? We can yell that out to help get her attention better.

"Splitting up? Like scooby doo and the gang?"

Duncan quirked a brow at the redhead's reference; he'd suspected the blond guy of being from his neck of the hypothetical inter-dimensional woods, but in all honesty, he'd kinda figured the girl with a honest-to-god wizard's staff dressed in medieval fantasy-land attire would be... y'know, from medieval fantasy-land.

And then she went on to patch 'Mr. Ease' up (whose name, admittedly, made him do a double-take as it sounded like that of someone who makes soundtracks for softcore porn-flicks for a living) with a touch of her hand and a single word, before handing out magical beetles like Halloween candy.

'Well, that would've been useful a while ago...' MacAiden thought as he watched Ease's wound knit itself shut at the mage's touch, his mind drifting back to the slums.

Where his friend was laying on the ground, dying.

Where a young girl, terrified and in agony, begged him for help.

Where he crawled along the cold ground on the stumps where his hands used to be, scorched and mutilated, the sound of what remained of his own vocal chords trying to scream echoing in his head as the crushing helplessness of his situation slowly rose from the pit of his stomach and left him lying on an empty street, begging for death.

*Squeak...?*

And suddenly, Duncan was back, just now noticing that one of the spectral beetles the mage-lass had summoned had made it's way onto his shoulder and had apparently been trying to get his attention for some time now.

And how tightly his fists were clenched.

And how his heart thundered away in his chest.

"Alright. You and me are gonna go this way. They seem to have their ways taken care of. Plus...we gotta talk about stuff."

The red-clad man only barely registered Ease's words as he slowly removed his hat and wiped the sweat he only now realized was coming off his brow on his sleeve, his eyes betraying the lingering emotion his stiff upper-lip would not.

"Come on!"

"Right... Right." Duncan replied, his features quickly reverting back to their usual disciplined calm as he put his hat back on and opened his breast pocket, motioning to the roughly junebug-sized beetle to get inside (which stared at him for a moment longer, before acquiescing and crawling inside with another audible 'Squeak!') before running to catch up with the other man.

"Duncan MacAiden." he introduced himself as he got close and slowed to match Ease's pace "...And before you ask, the stupid get-up is because I work for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and my bosses have a weird obsession with red jackets and striped pants."

The Mountie's eyes briefly flicked back down to his breast pocket, where the beetle within let off another 'Squeak!' as it began... almost nuzzling against his chest through the fabric, which was either adorable or mildly unsettling, he couldn't decide which but it was probably both.

"Well, now that that's outta the way, first question: Where the fuck am I and why is everything fucked?"

Grian Rothfell_

@Delta44@noodles

Seeing as the wound on Kurokono's leg was healing, Grian felt releived. He wasn't sure why, but he could only reasonably be thankful so that this brat doesn't slow him down. Grian decided he wants to discover teh secret of these people appearing on the streets fast, and by the looks of it, he could either choose a custom man who is talking bullshit, or an amnesiac girl. He put his bets on the last one, but kept the other in his backpocket if needs be. But ebfore he could thank Emile or make any interaction with her whatsoever the girl rushed off towards the slums.

"Ah thats just my luck." Grian observed teh girl running off for some time, until she disappeared behind some corner. He wanted to run after her, his muscles ready to jump after her. But his mind kept him back from running away from his companion. Whatever happened today, it was strong enough to change the big wolf. With a very agitated face he looked back at Kurokono, who was putting on a new costume. He just watched speechless, as the guy put on a fake mustache and a bright red hat. If this is what he called disguise, then the guy had terrible ideas about disguise. He dozed off at thoughts of what a proper disguise needs to be like. He snapped back to reality after Kurokono decided his outfit was not good enough to go to a bar, and that they should rather go to the slums. Grian didn't like the guy's tone and the way he talked for the most part, but there was this undeniably charismatic thing about him. Even though he was weak and most likely useless, the guy had courage even Grian admired. And then he remembered a question the guy asked when Emile ran off, and he ignored back then. "Don't call me gorilla. Humans are close to gorillas, but my ancestors are more wolves than anything."

He sighed as he looked at Kurokono, his face distorted with a frown. "Eh what the heck. The name's Grian. You better remember that for your own good. Cause if I hear anymore "gorilla" then I'll gut you where you stand." Grian stopped and looked at the starry sky. Yeah, this was good enought to threaten the guy to not call him gorilla. Unless the nickname sticks. Which would probably result in Grian cutting the tounge of a few people. The starry sky seemed to have calmed his nerves, and the soothening wind ease his fatigue. He looked back down at his companion who was already headed towards the slums. Grian catched up to him with a slow pace, given his large stature.

When they arrived to the slums, it seemed as if nothing had happened. grian always beleived he was quite good at observing facts and truths, but he just couldn't make sense of what was going on. There was no smoke, or trace of fire and explosion. It seemed as if nothing had happened. A few people passed by him, seemingly unoblivious of what had happened here a few minutes ago. Grian walked closer towards where the smoke pile existed to be, and left Kurokono behind. The guy was ought to make trouble again, so he didn't care much for keeping track of him. They are probably going to bump into each other again, knowing his luck. However amongst the people on teh street was a girl familiar to Grian. Emile. Without hesitation he rushed to her and grabbed her shoulder. "What are you thinking? You know how easely you can get hurt in these parts?" Grian put on his serious face, and was furious deep within. It was not because someone upset him, but rather because the woman went off without him to protect her. The fact that he stayed with the penguin guy could have costed her life. Grian let go of Emile and looked at the house, still confused as to what happened. "Do you have any idea what happened here?"

@Sir Lurksalot




The man quickly caught up to Ease so, naturally, Ease kept up on his pace and run. After all, if he could catch up to him, then no need to slow down right? The man give an introduction. Duncan MacAiden...Okay admittedly kick ass name. And he was a...Mountie? Oh yeah. That name and outfit do look like they correlate together. Well, at least that's what his memories are telling him.

Wait...His memories were coming back? Maybe these people coming here are gonna be helpful in ways he couldn't even currently imagine. Well, need to focus on topic for now.

"Huh...Won't lie. Kept mistaking you for a nutcracker a number of times. I can't even entirely remember what that is to be honest, but I know you look like it."

Then came the pretty obvious question-Where is the Mountie man and why is everything shitty beyond repair? Ease but let out a sigh. Well...Gotta rip this bandaid off, hmm?

"Well considering you just saw magic and shit and, well, a giant and a wolf-boy, no sense in hiding it anymore. This shit fest of a place is called Lugunica. Long story short-you were teleported here from Earth. I'm from there too. Alaska to be exact. Ironically we're neighbors huh?" He said looking back quickly at him before turning a corner into an open street. "AYAAAAA!" He quickly shouted aloud before doing another turn into another alleyway. His footsteps were surprisingly nimble. Guess Avery did a better job healing him than he thought.

"As for the shit that's going on, the girl we're looking for seems to have gotten teleported here as well. Same with that boy we saw." He then raised an eyebrow. Why didn't he feel as...angry anymore about this news? If anything, it's only been an hour or so since, well, everything happened to him. Shouldn't he still be absolutely livid? Was his mind finally feeling good about the news of people he can actually relate too? Well, that or maybe he's just so unbelievably enraged he's come full circle. Well, either way it's time to end this.

"There's another one that was in the tavern named Hishamie. So far, seems like we're all meeting there for...whatever reason. Seems kinda like random happenstance if anything." As he dashed into another street, he yelled out again. "AYAAAA!" No immediate signs....Dammit. How far could she have even gotten? The city's big, yeah, but it wasn't New...New something City. She shouldn't have gotten far by now....right?

"Most importantly, keep your guard up alright? This might be some fantasy land but it's probably just as dangerous as some worse parts of Earth. Especially since, well, as you saw, magic is sort of a thing here." He gripped the sword shaft on his back. He was already used to standing on guard from all his hunts in the forests. If anything came out, they needed to be prepped up after all. However, there was another stray thought back on his lack of rage. Now that he thought on it...it truly was refreshing to have some to actually explain what's going on. That probably had something to do with why he was so alright now.

His stray thoughts came to a head though. These people were new as hell here. And while, yeah, other people can easily teach them whatever they need to know or their respective magics, he was the only one they could really relate too. Well, more like the one who could break things down into more Earthen terms and ideas. Not to mention...it's kinda been awhile since he's really had people he could just talk to about...phones. Or games. Or that Picass Vinci guy. Or anything really. Some of it he could barely even remember. Now they're all here...He let out an inward smile.

In the heat of the moment, the dragon woman thought of all the possible things she could do in a split second, her head filled with dozens of different attacks and moves she could do to get an advantage over on the boy. She didn't want to look weak in front of Vesta nor lose to this common rabble on the street. At the last second of the heavy slanted swing, she ended up grabbing the handle of her sword in an odd way to attempt to slam the hilt of her greatsword to the guy's head. If the attack landed, she would switch her left hand over to the bottom of her sword and try to slice him vertically if that plan didn't work for her she could attempt to kick the boy or if she is quick enough she could backhand him.

As the fire around them grew hotter and the flames grew taller, Zin didn't care for the girl that the boy was trying to protect or cared about why he was protecting her. She was angry and wanted to fight something whether it was a skilled knight or some lowly thief, she didn't care what it was. When Dante started attacking, Zin only covered her face and head with her good arm and let Dante land his blows on her, the second he was done with his strikes, the dragon woman let out a loud roar. Zin put both her hands firmly on her blade and swung her blade in a slanted motion, and at the end of the swing she balled up one of her hands and threw a heavy punch in his direction.

The guards had no mercy for the poor girl even after her plead the guards were still in no mood to let her in. One of the guards took the spear of the ground and pointed it right at the girl her face now only a few inches from hurting her.



Shiina looked quite terrified at the spear point with her arms shivering. She fell backwards out of fear still shivering. Shiina let out a quiet sob as shifted her legs around to sit on her but instead of some half weird pose. Her hands slowly moved behind her wanting to shift herself away from these creepy men.



Why were these men so mean to her. She didn't remember ever having such rude men in her own city. Was it that much of a problem that she couldn't come in for shelter. Shiina heard a voice that wasn't there before. She looked up at the girl with a quite sniff. Her mouth was agape a little while looking at her. She was offering a hand? Shiina glanced at the hand and at the clothes. This girl seemed nice and pretty. Shiina shifted her legs yet again to sit on her knees again. The guard looked at the girl offering the hand out to Shiina. She came from inside so she probably has been there already and her mentioning Maria made it all to clear that she was her quest. The guards lifted up their spears again and held them positioned.



Their attitude had completely changed again to a more calmer state. Without a word they let the two girls through. Shiina patiently stood up again brushing off her skirt lightly. She lifted her arm up to meet the girl her hand with her own and placed the other hand balled up in front of her lips. Her head was lowered as they started walking past the guards. Shiina couldn't ever forget this very moment being so scared of other people.

They walked towards the main square where they stopped for a moment. Shiina didn't let go of her hand still looking quite frightened from only moments ago. It perhaps also came to attention her shoes and socks were gone just like her blazer. It looked pretty cold to say at least.



The man she was looking at spoke up to her. She tilted her head a little to the front looking from the top of her eyes at him. He was trying to get her to step away from the fight a little. Aya turned her head around for a moment to look at the expression on Dante his face and back at the jojo man. She wasn't completely sure if she could trust the large man but it might be better than standing here.



When she was about to step over towards Ford a stone flew right past her head. She took a step back with both her hands in front of her in protection. Aya turned her head around to the origin of the flying stone and saw Vesta who was just trying to help her having fired the stone. Meanwhile she could see Zin smashing a stone wall in two. Aya found herself to be behind Ford cowering in fear. When did that happen?



They were engulfed by fire all of the sudden with no way out. Aya hugged herself against Ford from the heat. She was crying out to him in panic.

@ZekariVoblis

"Huh...Won't lie. Kept mistaking you for a nutcracker a number of times. I can't even entirely remember what that is to be honest, but I know you look like it."

Duncan's brow raised a little at that, but he didn't exactly seem offended.

"S'alright, I get that at least five times a day. 'Least you're not some drunk Texan tourist screaming it at the top of his lungs." He replied with a bit of a snort as he kept the pace as the rounded a corner "You'd be surprised how ornery people can get when you won't let them piss on monuments in the middle of the day. AYAAA!"

The shorter man listened intently while Ease gave him the 'Where-the-hell' and the 'Why-the-hell', though the 'How-the-hell' was decidedly absent, probably because he didn't know either. Though, apparently there were some others (aside from the maid-costumed Japanese girl they were looking for) stuck here with him, which was some kind of a relief, he guessed.

One thing stood out, though, making his head snap back towards the man in surprise.

"...I'm from there too. Alaska to be exact. Ironically we're neighbors huh?"

"No shit, really? Whereabouts?" For the first time that day, Duncan was actually grinning at something he'd heard "My Granddad's old war-buddy lives out in Juneau, we used to run up that way in the summer to go camping and hunting... Hell, first shot of Jack I ever had was on a boat headed for Anchorage when I was fifteen."

They turned another corner and with it, he let out another cry for this enigmatic Japanese schoolgirl in a maid outfit (something that he was still having trouble thinking he'd ever be doing) before continuing, still grinning at this small, actually pleasant thing he'd found out.

"...Myself, though, I grew up further east, in the bush around the north end of Lake Superior. So 'Neighbours' would be a bit of a stretch."

Not entirely accurate, but frankly it wasn't his overwhelmingly perfect, douchebag family that dropped him like a bad habit the second they realized he really took after his namesake(s) that made him into the man he was today, it was his crazy old Grandpa Duncan and the family of similarly crazy old veterans (and their kids/grandkids) that he brought him into that did. So he almost never mentioned them whenever he had to talk about his youth... That, and he always found it a good idea to avoid people catching on and connecting the dots between him and his more famous siblings. Especially his twin sister, the big damned movie/music star of oh, so many talents.

That shit always lead somewhere awkward.

But that was neither here, nor there, and the scarlet-adorned baldy shelved the thought as Ease spoke again.

"Most importantly, keep your guard up alright? This might be some fantasy land but it's probably just as dangerous as some worse parts of Earth. Especially since, well, as you saw, magic is sort of a thing here."

"Noted. Though I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume I'm the only guy here with a gun." Duncan responded patting his holster slightly to demonstrate his point "So we got that going for us. For now, at least."

Another corner turned, another shout of 'AYAAAA!', another round of nothing but confused alley cats staring at them as they ran past.

Duncan felt his brow twitch a little. This was starting to get a little irritating.

"The fuck is this woman, Usain Bolt? How goddamn far could she've gotten?"

@liferusher @Spriggs27 @Lunarlors34 @FamishedPants



Dante was on guard as he prepared to dodge the horned girl attack, he expects her to swing her weapon down on him when she moves with striking distances but instead, she holds off and move oddly close. it was at that moment he knew something was off, so he looked up. His expression changes to horror as he realizes what she was planning to do.

*Bam!* *Crack!*

The horned girl had hit him, but not in the place she was aiming for. Dante had attempted to dodge by moving to the right and in doing so the Horned girl had missed his head but on the way down the hilt of her blade hit his left shoulder and she probably hit enough to leave a bruise or almost dislocation his shoulder. He going to be feeling that in the morning. Since the girl women had technically hit she would then try to which slice him vertically to which Dante would dodge to the right as so soon as she attempts to execute the attack it instead of at the last second like he planned earlier. He dodged her slice only for the horned girl to tried to landed a kick only for him to block it with his right arm, which sent him flying backward.

Dante stayed on his feet however as he straight out his arms to the side to slow himself down,his feet begin sliding on the ground as he began to slow down. When he regain his balance he then held his blade in front of him with both hand and took a minute to prepare his next attack. He then growled at her like a dog before telling her "I'm not going to let you harm her you foul wench!". He yelled at her before leaping towards with his blade raised above his head. As soon as she came in striking distance he would try to swing his blade down on her.

If she blocked his attack then Dante would make several attempts to bring his sword back up and slam it down on her multiple times before stopping on the fourth strike. If she however dodges, then he would move close to her and instead of slashing at her he would attempt to launch a kick to her stomach sending her flying back to her own near her own ring of fire.

The feel of a cold blade through Malakaus's back told him that something had gone wrong. He had kept his eyes on the madman this entire time, and he was fighting alongside his allies. So how could one of his cronies had managed to sneak up on him? The simple answer was that it wasn't a minion of the madman, but Tani. With the golden blade in hand, she had attacked him in a dazed expression. "Of course. It was the sword. It's always the sword." Malakaus had heard many tales of cursed weapons that drive it's weilders insane. To him those tales just sound like excuses of a madman trying to justify his murders. But in this world of fantasy, such things were more a reality then Malakaus cared to admit. But regardless of what the truth was, Malakaus knew what he had to do.

He had to stop Tani.

Atisha would face off against the madman's magic while Malakaus mustered his strength to stop Tani. While the blow upon his back was painful, compared to everything else he went through it was just a scratch. As Tani ran towards Maria and some stranger who was helping her (Who seemed vaguely familiar to Malakaus, but he couldn't place the face right now), Malakaus quickly caught up to Tani, reaching out to grab her legs. If he could stop her from moving, the rest could pile on and remove the sword from her grasp. Otherwise Malakaus would have to kill the mad knight.

"Tani, stop this at once! Release the sword! No one else touch that blade!"

@Seirei No Hai@Forett@dabombjk@ADamnFiddle@liferusher@FamishedPants@Zelosse

---

"I'm not finished yet!"

There were two parts of this spell: the first was to draw the mana around her to create a wall of ice. It had many uses, from defense, offense, and utility. It was as hard as earth yet could be drawn from the air around them, allowing it to be used in many different situations. But summoning the ice wall was just the beginning. The next was to control the ice wall. With a flick of her hand, the wall of ice shattered into large, sword-sized blades of ice. A wall that was teen feet tall, two feet thick, and nearly thirty feet wide. That was many ice swords. At least twenty of these blades burst from the glacier to impale the man, their blades as hard as any mortal steel. As for the fireballs, Atisha had many of the other blades come to her defense and intercepted the fireballs, impacting them while they were still in the air before they could strike Atisha. And while she had many of these swords intercept the fireballs, there were a dozen more floating around Atisha, ready to fight and protect her, as well as the next dozen that were in the process of hacking and slashing the madman like an army of soldiers.

The feeling of dread and powerlessness was starting to return. Atisha was now certain that this man was the cause of it, though Malakaus's shouting also gave her the impression that the sword may also have some hand. But Atisha wasn't going to give up just because some eldritch force commanded her to. Be it kings, dragons, or gods, Atisha wasn't going to let herself be put down by anyone. Even as she struggled to maintain the concentration on her spells, she would fight until there was only one left standing. With the ice swords acting in her defence, Atisha steadied her mind and readied for any other counter attacks. She doubts that even the madman could cast while being assaulted by her blades, but in case he had more tricks up his sleeve then Atisha was ready to show off her tricks as well.

@ADamnFiddle@liferusher@Zelosse@GamerXZ

Pretty late coming in to the skirmish happening near the tavern. Blanc had to leave the meat shield behind and just ran through the streets to where the voice of Malakaus boomed. It took her a while to get used to the various alleyways leading to the explosion as well. She could feel her breath shorten with each time she ran, panting as she neared the source...

...and there it was... it looked like a small war and she just saw Malakaus attempt to pin down whoever the knight was. She just stood there with a shocked expression. She didn't know what to do, then there was this "madman" that the new elf was dealing with. Perhaps if she had ran faster and caught up to Malakaus, she wouldn't have been so lost in the first place.

Raising both her palms forward, a light blue rune with a snowflake emblem appeared and several spikes of ice started to form on either sides of her shoulders. She was staring straight at Tani and the "madman". Whoever attacked first gets impaled by her barrage of small ice spikes. That is, if she doesn't hit Malakaus or Atisha.

She trembled, giving off signs of hesitation. Perhaps Malakaus should guide her on where to help out?

@Lucius Cypher@Forett@dabombjk@ADamnFiddle@liferusher@FamishedPants@Zelosse@GamerXZ

Vesta Celestia

Vesta watched on in mild disbelief that Dante was still so idiotic as to not surrender. Where on earth did he get this quite frankly insulting idea that she would kill him if he surrendered? She told him already. She would merely give him a minor beatdown for insulting her and her companion in Zin. Although if he seriously wanted to fight....she wasn't going to be able to guarantee his survival.
It was at this stage that Zin now slid out in front of Vesta while holding her sword with both hands to show she's gonna use heavy attacks."I believe I should be able to defend my name as much as you're going to defend yours." She told Vesta." I stood around when you fought that crazy guy earlier, I won't be standing around here."
"Very well Ms Parallex. I shall allow you a chance to redeem yourself here. I'll stand aside so long as you teach him the folly of insulting the Celestia family." Vesta was passive in her response and now began to act as though the fight happening before her was of no concern to her wellbeing. Despite being up close to it. If Zin did happen to lose then Vesta would take care of him herself anyway.
In fact she showed complete and utter disregard for it and now made her way over to where Aya was cowering behind of Heinrich. Crouching down so that she was eye-to-eye with Aya before doing something which seemed completely out of character for her.
She actually have Aya a genuine, reassuring smile. That's right a goddamn smile. Something she hadn't done all day.
"It's ok young lady. You're safe so long as you stay with me." Vesta spoke softly, much like one would to a scared child. Which was exactly how she was treating the situation.
Because despite the harsh exterior, the constant stream of insults she gave and the 'tough guy' attitude she gave off she was actually a huge softy. Especially for kids, which was what she was viewing Aya as.

Avery Ackbar Celestia

"MS AYA!" Avery yelled at the top of his lungs. He wiped the sweat which had been forming along his brow as he glanced around his surroundings uncertainly. He had been running for what seemed like hours, when really it had been like ten minutes. He now took a moment to slump against the wall off a nearby building to catch his breath.
If he had the mana right now, he would've simply just summoned an owl or something to aid in the search. While he still had probably enough mana to make one, he wanted to reserve what mana was left. Who knows when he could need it...That and between his various beetles an owl added on would make things a little complicated.
"Where could she have gone?" Avery sighed before pushing off the wall. Now was no time to rest. She was out there, unarmed and defenceless in an unforgiving, harsh new reality.

(OOC note: that "Ah" down below is to detail the sound effect in the clip since I can't find it anywhere)

The slums were of little concern for Emile. Perhaps it was her noble upbringing and frightening lack of understanding for the world with her newly found amnesia, however she didn't feel afraid. In fact, it was almost natural to the young woman, almost as though she had been there many times before. She found she could guess what was around any particular corner with a high probability of success. Without any clear destination in mind, however, Emile finds herself wandering without any real destination, and once again becomes lost.

"Well... getting lost at a time like this really is annoying..." She groans softly, before correcting herself with a mere 'ahem', staring up at the night sky, stars glistening in her eyes like gemstones. "Well... at least the sky is still memorable..."

Ah.

A vivid flash crosses her vision, yet for but a fraction of a moment. A memory appears in her mind, however vague and misleading. It's but a simple canvas of a memory, herself staring out from a tower at a starry night sky. It's a beautiful scene - one of peace and serenity, and...

... danger?!

"What are you thinking? You know how easely you can get hurt in these parts?" Spoke a familiar voice, his hand resting on her shoulder. Emile spun around deftly, only to be greeted by a rather scary-looking Grian, much to her dismay."I-I-I, uhh, I-I mean I c-can explai-" When she saw his expression, she knew he wasn't having it. It reminds her of the feeling when she knew she was in trouble or she'd made someone mad. She doesn't like that feeling. It seems, however, Grian wanted to change topics quickly, and instead focus on the building where the fire once was. "Do you have any idea what happened here?" He asks her bluntly; she almost had half the wit to reply with a yes out of spite.

"I have no idea." Emile responds somewhat calmly. "It's weird, I asked around a bit but nobody seems to even be aware it happened... Kind of like my own predicament." She found herself unconsciously muttering that last part, still unsure of what her 'own predicament' actually was. Even so, fires disappearing wasn't something she was used to. If this was commonplace in this world, she knew she'd need to know why and how. "Maybe we should take a look inside to see if anything has happened...?"

@Lucius Cypher
@GamerXZ
@Zelosse

It was his time to shine. The hero of the story. The person given by divine right the ability to continue throughout his existence. He had given his grace to all those around him. He had found his “ally”.

Another person with the same “smell” as him.

Someone who was given the same “love” as him.

Someone who was in the same “boat” as him.

Oh! Marvelous time. Oh! Great time. Oh! Wonderful time.

How could there be someone who was “loved” like him. Was this the workings of fate? Was his “Lady” giving him a sign? He had to act. He was not going to interfere in the instance of battle. He was there to gain information. He wasn’t there for anything else besides that. However, the “stench” was perdiant in the air, filling his nostrils with the “love” of what he wanted. What he longed for. What he desired.

How could these people not see the LOVE!?

Why weren’t they asking what is going on?

Why weren’t they asking if he's going to stay?

Why weren’t they asking if he's going away?

“Oh yes _____,” His words seemed to distort, as if there was nothing there to begin with, but ‘something’ was heard. “I will. I will discover and take and know and become. Promised. Fulfill my reason. I'm strong enough, I know I am. Crack reality in two, then consume what pours out. But I can't. I'm not, I'm just man and flame and space and weak and weak and weak compared to the All, imperfect to the totality and infinity. Cannot be corrected, all but a futile wish.”

His tone began. The first of it’s kind. The elf girl and the boy who had accompanied her should have felt it. Something inhuman. Something that shouldn’t exist. Something that should not exist with “humanity”.

The fate of those who didn’t believe was dead. There was no exception. Even to those who believed, if there was a degree of disbelieve or questioning of his orders, there was only death. Unless they were like “him” and had the “voice”.

He had shown himself, but the shadow covering his face was still reflecting itself off the shine of the lampposts, and the crumbling remains of the rooftops.

Fear was a useful tactic. However, so is the lack thereof. For when an individual stops fearing a monster, the monster is able to act in any way to get close to its prey. The constant false reporting had given him his break to act as he wished to do within any portion of the world. The divine word allowed him to constantly dodge those who were not important. However, his divine word didn’t extend to the heretics in the area. They were nuisances. They needed to be “removed”. No one would interfere with his rise to the top.

They were heathens. Heretics. “Witches”. People who didn’t believe in the divine future his “Lady” desired. They must be punished. All who didn’t believe should be punished. But there was no instructions for him to continue.

Why

Why

Why

Why weren’t there instructions for what he must have done! Was the “Lady” testing him!? He needed to act. If he didn’t, he would lose his “ally in belief”. Someone who wanted what he wanted and that was the “Divine word of his lady”.

“Oh wonderful ally! Another who the lady have given her graces! I can see it upon you, friend; the mark! How could I ignore the suffering of my greatest friend I have never met? Is this divine intervention!? Is this fate!? Oh wonderful Lady, give me your Strength to overcome all adversities!”

As if speaking to a long-lost friend, he began to step forward, closer and closer to the friend where Mithral and the others were engaging in combat.

But he was no normal man. Anyone could tell, even with his face obscured by both a cloak and the shadows of the night reflected upon the flames which purged the area, Yes, they must all burn. Burn. Burn. Burn. Burn. Burn. Just like “they” had in the past. Just like he had “Seen”. A face of someone he knew, but couldn't put into fruition came to his mind. Perhaps they were someone he truly cared about, but once someone delves into the inhuman, humanity is lost forever. He didn’t care anymore. She was nothing. “She” was everything.

“WRRRRRY!” he croaked, shouting at the top of what he was able to produce, before shortly calming himself. However, even if it was a shout for him, it likely didn’t carry much weight. His voice had been destroyed long ago. His cries never heard. Except by “her”. He had the divine judgement of his purest “Lady” to deliver. There was no way for him to not abide from this.

Logic strove for order, but rational argumentation and transparent transfer of information were rooted in assumptions on the nature of being. Every mode of thought carries an ontology sequestered within it, but being is in a constant state of flux. If the origin is irreducibly plural, then not gaining access to the origin takes on another meaning. Its negativity is not that of the abyss. It need not operate in the dialectic mode of-

“My friend who I have never met, what would you ask of me!? Are we not lifelong friends who have just met!? I shall grace you with a single favor!”

However, the madman was in the middle of a battlefield. How could someone be oblivious to such a thing? The life-and-death situation could not be emphasized enough.

But for whatever reason, his hardly audible voice seemed to reverb as if possessing some sort of greater power. As if something was not all that it seemed about a man in a cloak walking towards the individuals.

There was something “wrong” with this man.

There was something “wrong” with this man.

There was something “wrong” with this man.

His presence. He couldn’t be real, but there he was. He “existed”.

He had appeared out of nowhere, as if appearing from the ether itself. This man was unrealistic. Someone who shouldn’t exist.

“Ah, I am sorry. Perhaps you have having fun with the … whatever they are. I don’t want to cause you discomfort as my long-lost friend who I have just met.”

His body seemed to shamble in an odd way, not unlike the jarred movements of a person constrained by something, but he didn’t seemed to have the posture that would suggest any such bondage.

“Oh, they are heathens. Then, my long-lost friend I had only just met, I shall assist you!”

Of course, there was no conversation. No thoughts shared between these two individuals. Perhaps individuals was not the correct word to use. They were freaks. Those who shouldn’t exist in this world. But even so, these two oddities seemed to flow endlessly into the waters of life as if it was their given rights.

The walk was a somber one. One that seemed almost lazy in its walk, bearing the rather jagged-like movements It was the sort of walk that someone would expect from a friend preparing to meet someone in the streets rather than a man going against a Ice magic using Elf.

---

@Zelosse
@Lucius Cypher
@liferusher
@FamishedPants

Tani?

What had happened. Maria had not comprehended the power of the sword. She had not the ability to know what it felt to have someone else control one's mind, shrouding it in darkness. Her blessing had prevented any sort of callings to reach her mind.

Maria didn’t care if she was in pain. She didn’t care if even within her darkest time she had to fight.

She cared that Tani was probably in danger. She couldn’t stand to know the fact that her ally had lost herself to the madness. Perhaps something along the lines of “Why couldn’t it have been me” reverberated through her mind, but there was little time for such a thing.

They weren’t strangers like the previous user of the sword.

They weren’t enemies who fought each other under the pretenses of order and disorder.

They were allies. They were friends.

No, they ‘are’ friends.

Perhaps she would not have noticed the situation had the young girl not heard the collision of blade and flesh from Tani’s assassination of Malakaus. It was an unfortunate situation, but Maria needed too analyse what she could do to better make the situation passable. To salvage what was terrible to something passable. She didn’t want any of her friends to die. She didn’t want the pedestrians like Aleph to die either.

She had moved into the fight to protect Aleph. She couldn’t allow him to die. Placing her blade in a fashion that would allow her to support the strength of the blow with her forearm, blocking the attack upon the flat of her blade.

Maria took her blade and attempted her best to push back her opponent. Tani wasn’t a weak person by far, but perhaps if Maria had the will of force to allow for such a thing to occur, perhaps she could save “Tani”. The individual known as “Maria” didn’t care for the safety of herself. She wanted to see her friend smile once more rather than losing her to the madness.

“I am sorry Tani. I will save you.”

Taking a stance that would seem to leave openings to her "ally", Maria stood there and waited. Waited for her friend to come to her like she always had.

The Boy was pretty good at what fighting and Zin somewhat respected that, when he started launching strikes at her with his sword Zin simply blocked his trio of slashes and hopped away from the fourth strike only for Dante to kick her nearly into her own fire, Zin stabbed her greatsword into the ground slowing herself down. The edge of her coat caught fire and Zin simply tossed it to the side as the fire began to claim it." I care not for this girl, this entire day has been nothing but a number of misunderstandings you foolish idiot and your gonna learn not to just dive head first into situations with accessing them." She told him.

The Dragon woman turned her blade around into a reverse grip, not just to look cool, but also to mix up her style, she could see that just swinging away at the boy with heavy hits wouldn't exactly help. Zin swung the great blade as if it was a simple dagger twice before she switched her grip back to the two-handed stance and finishing her small combo with a heavy stabbing strike." It's fools like you keeping us from finding Avery, you keep side tracking us and preventing us from doing what needs to be done." Zin told the boy. Suddenly the flames around the group began to die down, to the point where they could easily be stepped over or put out from someone stepping on them, tiny sweat drops began to form on Zin's forehead.

---

---

Heinrich blinked.

He blinked in such a way some would be envious of the form he owned when blinking. If they were paying particular attention to his eyes and also could perceive time slow enough to accurately watch. Essentially, he blinked in a way that could be seen as fabulous, but since it was the act of blinking, it had happened too quick to actually see in enough detail to actually admire properly, and thusly it would be right to say there was literally no point in this action.

But it still happened, even if there's no way to describe how one would blink fabulously and nobody could see it.

"Hmm..."

Ford had a lot of experience with girls relying on him to protect them, a lot of experience with girls putting all their trust in him. And, as you may expect, he had shared intimate relationships with many woman as well. Truly a man among men. Of course, the problem with this particular experience of his was that it all pertained to girls of the 2D variety, and thusly was on a whole different level than these filthy 3DPD womyn. Wait what the fuck it doesn't count womyn as an incorrect word what the fuck spellcheck And so he was not entirely sure how to handle the fact that this girl was now hiding behind him, terrified of the ensuing battle between the cosplayer, Celestia, and that other dude who showed up and started accusing people of random crimes. He could at least sympathize with her. Heinrich himself might be a bit put off if he was suddenly attacked by some cosplayer for trying to help and then the situation just escalated into a giant clusterfuck.

"PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE!" demanded the scared girl.

He was not sure what he was supposed to do. Honestly, his ability to do anything in this situation was close to zero. All he had was his impressive figure and the inability to outwardly show weakness, which did seem to be working against him as it was probably why she was suddenly hiding behind him. He honestly wasn't having too much fun either right now, but his expression currently looked very solid. A stable, stoic expression that might have given one the idea that he wasn't in the least fazed by the goings on of the others.

"Stay behind me and we'll wait for an opening to appear." he instructed the girl calmly. It sounded like it might be a good idea and might even make him look cool, so that's what he decided to go with. Hopefully they wouldn't be part of the collateral damage between the people fighting? He might as well play the role of hero or something like that at least once. Making her panic by telling her he wasn't actually able to do anything would not benefit him in any way, and would probably just be annoying.

Unfortunately, him being the "hero" was a mistake that cost the lives of everybody in the city, as Vesta approached and did the unthinkable!

Approaching the cowering woman, she knelt down and faced the girl, as if to have a little heart to heart. But what came next was gruesome. The edges of her lips curled up, followed by a blinding light that stole Heinrich's vision from him temporarily. An explosion of force then propelled him and presumably everybody backwards at incredibly high speeds, with Ford slamming into a wall and being unable to move. Were his bones shattered? He could swear he felt an indescribable pain throughout his entire body. But that wasn't all. Soon, he looked up to notice that the air was... wavy? He didn't know it, but it was the very fabric of space and time distorting in a way that was clearly visible to the human eye.

Ford was terrified. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move, and he couldn't understand what had just happened. But yet the scene got grimmer. Everybody in the immediate area had seemingly disappeared, leaving only him to witness as a literal tear in nothingness spawned a void that began to devour the surrounding environment. Color first, then sound, and then finally everything else in one strong pull. Somehow, deep down Heinrich knew that this was the end of the world, that nothing would remain when this tear finally had its fill. Scared beyond belief, confused, but still able to accept this situation, he closed his eyes and awaited the end of his life, no, his very existence. The existence of existence itself.

And that was what it felt like to see Vesta smile.

Ford certainly did not know this Vesta woman at all, but he somehow felt like she wasn't one to smile all that often. He could be wrong though since that was just based on what he had seen of her so far.

"It's ok young lady. You're safe so long as you stay with me." Vesta had said to the woman taking shelter behind Heinrich. Ford pretended to forget that she had gotten rather close to nailing the girl with a rock moments earlier, and hopefully the young woman would too. That would make things easier.

"Dragonborn aside, I do not believe Miss Celestia has any reason to cause you harm." he told Aya in an attempt to assure her that this Celestia would be trustworthy. Hopefully the words of the one she was hiding behind had some weight to them. "And," Heinrich noticed the flames had died down quite a bit as the fight raging in the background dragged on. "It would seem our opening has shown itself."

@liferusher@adamnfiddle@Lucius Cypher@GamerXZ

Mithril did not register the ice wall or the threat it posed. The mad blademaster didn't care that Atisha existed at all. In the state of mind he had been driven to by the sword, his every movement was now dedicated purely on returning his precious blade back to his hand. It demanded it. There was no force in existence that could stop its command over Mithril in his current frame of mind.

The whispers! The pain! The pleasure of the fight! All of it was promised to him by the incessant nagging voice in his mind, screaming for him to finish what was started.

To kill the one who had taken it from him..

Mithril launched himself off the roof without a moments hesitation, the flaming spheres hovering in the sky lingered where they were.

The ice wall shattered mere moments after he had jumped, a few razor sharp shards cut his arms and neck. The whistle of wind in his ears was brief as he focused on how to prevent the potential nosedive from being a suicide. Step one; aim for the cart with the hay. His light armor made the fall more tolerable, but it was the acrobatic nature of his training that allowed him to suffer the fall with less damage than Maria had. The moment his feet hit something solid he threw fell forward in a controlled roll, absorbing the shock of collision to the ground. The roll deposited him right off the cart and into the streets hot on the tail of Malakaus, Tani, and Maria.

Mere moments before the golden sword would strike.



Tani's mind was in a battle of its own. Dominated by the sword but not consumed by it, the young swordswoman struggled against the ethereal shackles that crept up on her soul like snakes, coiling around her thoughts and feelings to smother them completely. Alas the poor girl was still just a young girl, however strong or well trained she may have been it was still the will of a child. Naivety had been her downfall and so too now would it become the blood on her hands.
Rather than continue with her initial strike against the defending Maria, Tani pivoted mid swing and thrust the sword behind her at the instruction of her masters will. What did it matter if the Knightess took this puppets life, took any life for that matter? The golden sword was eternal. Nigh indestructible! A new host would reveal itself in time if these fools took it from its favored puppet. For now it simply enjoyed the feeling of revulsion and terror that raged in Tani's heart as the golden sword skewered the charging form of Malakaus through his chest, cracking ribs and popping a lung as it passed through bone and flesh effortlessly, until the shining tip ruptured out his back.

The evil grin plastered on the dominated young womans face showed the pleasure of a kill. But her eyes sparkled with tears and regret.

Heinrich gave her a reassuring reply. It didn't appear they were gonna move from this exact same spot any time soon but she was reassured Heinrich would get them out of here. Probably when the battle ever ended though.

Aya had her hands on her head, herself being slightly lowered in safety from Zin. She didn't expect Vesta to stop fighting and trying to calm her down, still she was happy she showed so much care for her... oh dear god what was being summoned to the fight. She felt her vision fade, her face was being pulled backwards like a very heavy wind was trying to pull her away.



She thought to herself, looking at heinrich she found him reacting the same way. Aya glanced back at the smile of Vesta and found herself being drawn in. Next thing she knew there was only darkness. Aya had passed out on the ground behind Heinrich from the creepy smile of Vesta.

@liferusher @Spriggs27 @Lunarlors34 @FamishedPants



Dante held his blade in front of him as he began to brace for her next move as he focused his mind on keeping her near the edge of her own ring of fire. Suddenly the horned women took a weird stance where she held her sword backward and he could help but raise his blow as he wonders if she can pull off combat style. The Horned girl then pulled off her combo, Dante was fast on his feet dodge her first strangle swing but her second swing ended up drawing blood when it cut him a few centimeters deep past his skin, thankfully that wound wasn't very deep. Regardless Dante was able to narrowly avoid her last attack by side step though her blade cut the red coat he as wearing.Once her offensive was done, Dante decided to take a minute to reply.

I care not for this girl, this entire day has been nothing but a number of misunderstandings you foolish idiot and your gonna learn not to just dive head first into situations with accessing them." She told him.

It's fools like you keeping us from finding Avery, you keep side tracking us and preventing us from doing what needs to be done."

[color=9e0b0f]"First assume that is true, What the point if you kill me!" He yells at her holding his wound with the left hand while holding his blade tightly with the other. "Second what is this Avery girl to you?" He yelled at her in anger accidently revealing that he may know about the person they are looking for. He then turned his head to notice the beauty boy help Aya out of the fire before she faded. "Maid girl!" He called out to her, it was at this point he found himself inflicted about what to do about it. Should he finish the fight or first or let the other group take her out of danger.

---

---

When he was informed that they were in the middle of a rather serious situation, Aleph did feel a bit embarrassed that he had missed this. Perhaps it was all the commotion already going on, but until it was pointed out that right now was now happy time for the group he had found himself assisting, he hadn't noticed the shenanigans or whatever was occurring on the rooftops. He wondered just how he should help, then. What would a Hero do in this situation? Would it be best to find his way up and help fight... whatever that murderer was supposed to be? Or should he stay down here?

Aleph's right hand began to sting with a pain in intensity he had never experienced before in his life. Around that time, the orc (that Aleph had intentionally been avoiding due to recognizing from earlier) had found himself subject of a rather brutal attempt at a weight loss program. Or maybe he was being attacked? You never could tell nowadays. At least until Tani had decided to turn and face him, shambling like some being who had lost its very soul and will. But that did not appear to stop her from beginning to approach him and using his perfected detective's deduction, he figured she was very unlikely to be advancing towards him for any peaceful reason.

The Hero took a step back.

What the hell had happened to suddenly cause this odd behavior? First, she was telling him she didn't need help just yet, and now she had attacked an ally and was targeting him? Well, the only thing he could think of was that creepy sword. Something was up with that, probably. It made the most sense, at least. So, then, all they needed to do was get rid of it, right? That was always easier said than done, wasn't it? She was a knight and Aleph certainly respected the power a knight held, no matter where they may have come from.

Preparing to fight, Aleph reached back and unsheathed his blade, only to find that Maria had suddenly taken it upon herself to defend Aleph from the possessed Tani.

How heroic. If he was a heroine in some bishoujo (it tried to correct me to Bishop which is rather hilarious if you know who they are) game, his affection meter would have gone up. But since this was no such thing and no such measurement of one's like of another exists... well, his affection meter still increased because heroic deeds like that would always earn Aleph's love. Unfortunately for Maria, Aleph is a pure waifu and thusly has no H-scenes in his route.

In short, Aleph appreciated her courageous decision to defend somebody she but a minute's experience with, even though she had suffered some form of injury herself. It was a selfless action that reflected a Hero's heart within her. If she kept it up, she might even be able to become his sidekick.

Aleph kept his hand on his blade and was prepared to provide assistance to Maria, should she need it. Judging from how she was currently holding herself, she was rather open. Was that intentional? Possibly, a knight of her class should be capable of counterattacking to a fine degree. He had hoped this was the case. It would cause him distress if she was unintentionally leaving such openings in her stance, but there was no way to tell until Tani attacked. And so, the Hero patiently waited as the possessed Tani approached and attacked--- the wrong person! The orc who was attempting to stop her advance was apparently dispatched with haste mid-attempt. It was a rather sudden movement, one Aleph honestly wasn't expecting from her.

"Th-that's..." Aleph wasn't sure what to say. He did not mind people attacking him. He was used to it. But to see somebody else be attacked and stabbed like that... hurt. He felt like he had failed as a Hero. If he couldn't protect people from evil, then what was he good for? Worst yet is he couldn't even be mad at the person who had done the stabbing. A strange feeling he got from looking in her eyes told him that she was no happier than him about this, even if a wicked smile tainted her face. What should they do? At this rate, this knight was going to kill or be killed, and neither of those were preferable outcomes. They had to do something!

"Knight Maria... the sword... the sword seems to be the cause of this! At least I think so! If you would like that knight to survive, then I believe we need to disarm her!" he gripped the handle of his sword tightly. How could something force another person to do actions that went against their own will? It was sickening! Aleph's hand tingled with a light pain. He knew this feeling. It was when his body craved justice! It was when good needed to prevail! He would do anything in his power to help these knights, a Hero like himself was expected to do as much.

"Allies harming each other is just too sad..." he muttered mostly to himself - who knew if Maria caught it or not. He simply hated this kind of situation from the bottom of his heart, is all.