How adorable. A feisty one, wasn't she? Mie's tail swished back and forth eagerly in mild amusement. No less, she was mistaking her for a kid! Or at least, she was willfully addressing her as one. How quaint. Fufu. This would be quite enjoyable indeed, wouldn't it? The fox decided to play the part at least, in a semi-believable manner. No actually, where would the fun in that be?
"This 'little one'," She began in a somber tone, casting her gaze to the side, ears drooping slightly. "is so very sorry, miss. My parents died in the war so I never learned not to talk to strangers, but you seem nice, explodey mage." She finished, the somber tone vanishing quickly as she turned back to looking back at Calliope. "So let this little fox walk with you? Or are you gonna toss a poor orphan out on the streets again? You couldn't be that cruel, could you?" Her ears perked up a bit as she made the offer, giving the magic user a challenging, confident smirk. She knew exactly what she was doing, after all.
Not that she particularly cared what Calliope did in the end. She just wanted to see how far she wanted to play this. Fufu, maybe she could get some free food or something if she was intent on playing this little scene out.
“For life and death are one, even as the river as sea are one.” - Khali Gibran
What was new about a world that was so climatically similar to a world whence one came. For individuals to arrive in a new place with remnants of the old is a mockery to the very concept of a new world.
Let’s explore the unknown.
A series of whistles. A whistle spanned the Heroes District. It was a terrible whistle, not for what it sounded, but for what it forebode. This whistle was soon to be a symbol to these new worlders.
The sound echoed like a tea pot left on for too long, and suddenly, the Heroes District was flooded with armed soldiers. One by one, from every crevice and alley, soldiers filled the streets. Some of them were armed, while others were off duty. Regardless of gear, all of them began to fill the streets near the meeting hall.
At the center of this all was a group of eighteen heavily armed and exquisite soldiers, lead by a single nefarious looking individual. Their face was covered by what the isekaier’s would identify as a gas mask. They walked with their back vigorously straight, and their arms were religiously pressed against the base of their spine. Their chin was tilted upwards. They gave off an air of supreme pretension.
This was Mono.
Mono continued leading this group, and the soldiers that flooded the street began to clear the pedestrians. All except for Duran and Alistair, which the soldiers kept a wide distance from. This nearly choreographed exhibition took all of a minute, during which the individuals were left to wonder what was going on.
Finally, Mono and his group stopped in front of the meeting hall near Duran. Mono made a signal to his group, and the eighteen soldiers barged into the hall, leaving Mono in front of Duran and Alistair.
Mono took a moment to appraise the situation in front of him. It was somewhat perplexing to him, but there was no way for the individuals in front of him to know this. With raids of this magnitude, it was expected to be facing down an extremely powerful monster. He had came prepared for such.
Alistair caught Mono's attention, and he looked at him for a moment longer than Duran. Mono tilted his head even further up, as if he had just caught the whiff of something rancid.
He stepped towards the group, raised his right arm, and pointed his index finger at Alistair. Without hesitation, two words escaped his mouth and his index finger snapped across his thumb. ”Al Huma”
It was one of Mono’s more specialized spells, but it was also among the most powerful. Mono did not have much talent when it came to magic, so this spell was an incredibly efficient usage of his magic. It took years of practice to even contemplate using this skill, but the results were obvious from the individual in front of him.
Alistair would feel a sharp pain, but slowly, he would black out. To the outside world, he would start to turn black and blue, as if he was bruising all over the body. It was too late to save Alistair, as this spell was made to instantly kill an opponent. On Mono’s end, all it required was for him to freeze a little liquid. Approximately 4.7 to 5.5 liters, to be precise.
Mono would lower his hand, ignore Duran, and enter the building after the eighteen soldiers.
DEATH COUNT : 1
Without warning, the soldiers flooded into the building. They lined themselves up around the only entrance, blocking any means of escape. If anyone was brave enough to approach the heavily armored brutes, they would be physically detained. Before anyone had an opportunity to react, Mono made his way into the building. The soldiers let him in, letting him stand between the non-natives and their exit. He stopped in front of the eighteen soldiers. His overbearing presence alone was enough to make the meeting hall feel overcrowded.
His voice was deep, and every bit as sinister as his appearance would suggest. The way he trailed off every sentence gave the distinct impression that he was talking down the to non-natives. ”Let's start with the semantics. As per his royal decree, you're all charged with subversion of the state. Until proven otherwise, the penalty is death. Let me explain what's really going on here. You FUCKING cultists are going to explain what the FUCK is going on right FUCKING here before I turn you all into FUCKING pea coats. NOW.”
Just like any other day the pink haired girl could be found strolling down the market street at the exact same haplily humming to a song that had been stuck in her head for weeks now. Brightly she beamed a smile to every single shop owner that she found alongsides the street. Most of the market people knew her name already from having spoken or seen her before. She was one to pass often by their stores and look at their wares despites having no money. Aki would occasionally make some small talk with them and in best cases hand her some free leftovers. They enjoyed her performances and her bright spirit that she always did for no asked money, so they were happy to hand her a present from time to time. She was a hard worker and did her best after all!
Aki tugged along quite a package behind her. She had put all her performance needs in the knapsack on her back. She was holding the straps tightly with both hands as it moved from left to right with every pace she took. All this stuff was needed for todays performance. Her performances were diverse so everyone could enjoy one or two of her shows! This one needed a lot of practice from beforehand so she was pretty nervous.
Today Aki wore something not too heavy. She wore a boyish farmer type tunic with simple brown trousers and hefty looking leather boots. The boots were from her mother so they were still one too many sizes to big for her to walk normally in. Her hair was nicely tied in a high ponytail behind her back so it wouldn't get into her eyes while doing her tricks. She needed a lot of concentration.
Aki slowly paced softer and came to a halt. Aki easily put her knapsack about and began undoing it before putting all items on the ground close by. Some people walking by look at her quite strangely and others would suddenly stop knowing what was going to happen. She had gotten to talk with a few of her usual quests before she was going to do her show and finally set up. Ready to start. Aki put down a small wooden bowl with a sign that said 'Please support Aki the great performer!' with a small drawing of what was suppose to be her own face brightly smiling and waited for everyone to put their attention to her.
"Hello! Good afternoon! Today, Aki the great will be doing juggling and balancing tricks that are not to be done at home! You can hurt yourself if you try them, I have atleast, Teehehe..."
She awkwardly brushed the back of her head a little after her introduction had been finished. There was some comic relief mixed into her show mostly about her own clumsiness.
"Please watch carefully as I begin with three balls!"
Aki casually pulled up three balls from the ground and gave a deep breath before she started. She threw one up and simply started juggling. It was a little wanky at first but gradually seemed to improve the longer she did. More people came to watch although there were only about a handfull right now. Aki walked around a little and began doing a few tricks with the balls like throwing them differently or behind her back. She catched all three of them and awkwardly laughed a little as she recieved an applause.
"Hehehe.. Thank you, thank you. You're all too kind."
Her next moves went out to just about the same thing but with more balls and more tricks. Eventually she had ended with her 5 ball tricks and stepped it up a notch. She wiped the sweat of her forehead and took a circular piece of wood and a plank. She sat the plank onto the circular wood and stood with one foot on the plank before slowly setting the other food on the other end as well. She put her balance just right to balance the plank on the circular piece of wood and spoke to the people a bit more.
"A-as for my next trick, I'll balance while juggling and using magic!"
Aki softly chuckled as she had a hard enough time balancing. She softly threw up one ball and began doing her thing. It took a little while to get comfortable with juggling and balancing at the same time but she managed.
"F-fura!"
Two color stroke of color paper begane spinning next to her in tornado like fashion as Aki furrowed her brows. This was hard... She concernedly chuckled during her act and smiled awkwardly.
"T-tada..."
Aki was begining to get more slacking with her juggling before finally she lost balance and fell sideways.
"Fura!"
She quickly called out before hitting the pavement. A gust of hair lifted her body up momentarily above the ground before she tud dowm onto the ground.
"Ittai!... T-ta da..."
She yelped but turned her face back the audience and softly smiled while raising a thumbs up. The 5 balls that were still in the air rained down on the top of her head all hurting one by one as she yelped with each individual hit.
"Thawnk wou fo watwing mee!"
People slowly left as Aki regained her body from the ground feeling somewhat dizzy from all that. She spoke to some of her people that thanked her for the performance and finally was left alone once more. She slowly started to scrape together her act and put it all inside the knapsack once more. The bowl of coins was still behind her while she was still cleaning and unknowingly to her for anyone to grab at the moment. She softly hummed on as she cleaned the stage. Aki had not taken notice of the horrid scene a few fifth meters further.
It had all happened so fast. First, all these children were discussing the possibilities of what had happened to them, and how they found their way here. And then, soldiers. Plural. Flooding the room. Not looking to give a tour of the world outside this building.
Be a hero.
The soldiers blocked all the escapes, ensuring that none of these children, children, escape. Alive. Suzaku looked around him as these guardsmen encircled him and his newfound compatriots, a blank expression on his face where there should be fear and worry. What followed was who appeared to be their leader. The one wearing a gas mask.
Be a hero.
The person with the gas mask began with his orders; to execute a group of cultists. Criminals, in these lands, from what Suzaku could interpret. Whoever or whatever must have brought himself and the rest here must be a sinister individual, indeed. Somehow much more sinister than a man who would yell obscenities at children.
Be a hero.
Suzaku knew what to do.
Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a hero. Be a
"The one in the coat knows everything," Suzaku began, already with his knees on the floor and his hands behind his head. "I had just woken up here, dazed and confused," he sounded neither dazed or confused, speaking quickly but coherently, like a robot, "and I heard them talking about some sort of... witch, you said? I need medical attention, I'm injured, with an open wound on my chest. I don't know what they would have done to me if you hadn't shown up.". He kept his head down and his eyes closed, though he kept an ear out for any footsteps coming towards him, preparing to react as necessary.
And so, Suzaku decided to save who he believed was worth saving at the time; himself.
Mono looked down at the figure prostrating itself before him. He tilted his head to the side, and raised his hand towards the individual on the ground. If anyone had seen what had just happened to Alistair, they might have an inkling of what was about to happen to Suzaku.
However, instead of killing the individual before him, he turn his hand around and made a beckoning motion. Suzaku's perjury had worked.
One of the soldiers quickly darted out of formation, and grabbed Suzaku's forearm from the ground.
"Bring him to the ward. After they're done with him, make sure he's brought back to the barracks for questioning."
The soldier would pull Suzaku up, and leave the meeting hall with him in tow. Only seventeen soldiers remained.
It was abrubt. It came from nowhere. The knights. They charged through the area. Normally, Duran would have thought not much of it other than someone violating the law. But it was bigger than that. They were ready to kill without mercy. Water magic. Damnit. Duran grimaced while the boy collapsed into his arms. It was already too late. But he had to try. He didn't even know this boy, but it didn't feel right to just let him die.
"Jiwald! Jiwald damnit!"
Duran tried. He tried to breath life in the boy. He transferred heat into the body to melt the frozen liquid. It wouldn't be enough. The vessels were sure to have burst already. Tears dripped down his face. Damn. Damn it.
He didn't know why, but Duran felt great sadness. He had had companions of weeks of adventuring die in his arms before, but this hit him hard. Harder than he could figure.
"Hold on lad. It'll be fine. You'll be alright. Just relax."
At the very least, he could try and make him pass in peace. A smiled at the boy as he felt the life fade out.
"U-um... Thank you..." Priscilla accepted the babyfaced youth's kind gesture. As she took a small mouthful of the beverage, it gave her much to think about. That thing most certainly tricked her. And now they're in this strange, alien landscape. Her eyes didn't deceive her on this reality. This is happening, whether she liked it or not. But their odd way of coping up with this abnormal and illogical situation had dawned on her, the piney citrus flavor enveloping her taste buds. "Staying positive, huh...? What is even wrong with me? That's supposed to be my specialty..."
"That's right. If you don't know the way out, you just gotta look for it, right?" Her insipid smile from before had finally reverted back to its usual form, an ebullient grin. She reverted back to sitting down three seconds after she stood, her legs not giving her as much energy as her smile did. "I am a bit bushed, though... So I guess--" It was then that the blonde delinquent, Alistair Archibald, had taken the initiative to move out of the forsaken hall. "Um... Please be careful!", she called out. He probably didn't hear her, as he took off without saying a word. "Then again, looking at his stature, he'll probably be alright."
It had been ten minutes since then. The others were still deliberating about their respective strategies, while Priscilla tried her phone. No connection. "Figures, should have known that it wouldn't be that easy..." With a sigh, the girl returned the phone back to her shoulder-bag alongside her notes and other accessories that were most certainly useless in this predicament. "Well, I'm not as wobbly as I was a while ago, I think we should--"
Then they heard it. Footsteps. Lots of them, rushing all at once."!!!" She wasn't even given the opportunity to react properly, and they were already surrounded; a bolt from the blue. Tall armored men of white-and-gold, sword-and-buckler, more than thrice their number."U-um... W-what's going on...?" Whoever they were, their initial actions alone proved that they didn't come to greet and welcome them with open arms. And it didn't take some fantasy-lover to figure that out.
And then their big boss showed up. Or rather, the small boss, as he was smaller in comparison to his subordinates. But that didn't take away from this particular standout's terrifying mien. "W-wha..." His intention, accompanied by his voice, made his bone-chilling terror more apparent, and on a scale greater than that enigmatic figure she met half-an-hour ago. "C-c-cu...", she stuttered. "D-d... death..?!" It was the first time that she had encountered the word from a direct perspective. It really is difficult for a 17-year-old millennial to form words when she's flat out threatened with death. All that hope she had garnered, trampled on once more like it was nothing but ash.
About to tear up, she saw the calm, androgynous male step up, as if to explain their current state of affairs and defend them. But...
"I don't know what they would have done to me if you hadn't shown up."
From his vague elucidation, it was already apparent. Betrayal. He was selling them out to save his own hide. "..." It hasn't even been an hour, sure enough in his defense. But to think he was this willing to betray them this early as he sees fit, it was unbelievable for her. Their "comrade" now taken away and out of sight, the harrowing atmosphere in that decrepit hall became even more intense. "I..." She wanted to say something. Anything. But the lingering fear was overwhelming. What can someone like her do in this situation?
Before she even realized it, Priscilla was bawling, tears pouring out of her orbs uncontrollably.
Artwork Originally of Jason Levasseur from Moonlight Apparition, a webcomic made by one Darkhalo4321; all credit given to her.
Crap. Despite all his words, Ashton found himself unprepared for Alistair just leaving the room and planning to come back 'later'. At night. When there'd be no way to find this place again. As he prepared to run out after Alistair, things went to hell and high water faster than he could have imagined as several soldiers and a man in a modern-looking gas mask entered the room and declared that they were all wanted for treason and slated for death. This was not in the plan, but in a more realistic universe, no amount of planning can compensate for the paranoia of Medieval folks...especially when there probably is a genuine Cult or threat around somewhere.
The boy stepped forward, positioning himself protectively before the crying Priscilla, and said to Mono, "Please, let the others go. I am the true leader of the Cult and the one who brainwashed them into coming here. They are under my mental influence and thus not responsible for their own actions, and will be released from it soon once I am killed. Why am I revealing this all?" A sharp grin that only the other Earth-ers would recognize as a lie. "Because I can kill you all where I stand, and none would be the wiser. Hope's Heart!"
A bright light flashed from the boy as he transformed into a form resembling a Fantasy Rogue, with a black sleeveless top, long black gloves, and a black leather belt, pants, and boots. Two daggers were at his hands as he cut towards Mono, his instinctive use of Yang Magic strengthening his body to endure at least one attack.
He had to make this look good. He had to make it look like he was telling the truth, so that once he died, the others would be released peacefully. For he was going to die.
It seems I'll never see Mom, Dad, and Pidgey II ever again...
Ashton may have enjoyed talking about grand plans, but from where Kimura was seated, he could clearly see Alistair drop dead, no more than a half foot away from the entrance, his skin an abnormal complexion. Black and blue, like corpses frozen during a nightmare blizzard. A lost cause. And a half-beat later, knights dressed in impossible armor burst in, heralding the appearance of another anachronism: a smaller individual with a gas mask. Outnumbered. Outmatched. And they had no information at all that'd make any sense. Yuuki sucked in a breath, about to try to explain everything, before Nakkun acted first.
Acted. Betrayed. Not just the group, but himself, personally.
Priscilla burst into tears, the scent of pine splattering against the room as she accidentally knocked over the mug. The pressure Yuuki felt intensified, yet more decisions spiralling before him like a flowchart that stretched out to infinity. Dying wasn't a problem, but he didn't want to go like this. Not knowing a thing. Not understanding a thing. Not having even stepped outside yet. He shifted from his seat, hands r-
"Hope's Heart!"
What the fuck? What the actual fuck? Are you for real? This heaterfucker! Huh?! Nope, nope, NOPE!
A flash of light, almost blinding, but Yuuki could see the changes that emerged within, a thousand threads of radiance weaving themselves into new attire, new weaponry. Dumbass dumbass dumbass. Aggression would only exacerbate the situation! Nakkun, as much of a lying dick as he was, proved at least that there's a way to not die in this scenario. And even if they escaped, they had no information at all, while these folks looked to be at least on the upper echelon of society! It grinded into his cranium, a thousand black words bursting for release, and the first one that he chose was...
"STOP!"
It didn't matter if it may have been too late for Ashton to stop his first dumbass attack. Only that he stopped the second one.
"Holy SHIT, Ashton, why the hell are you getting swept up in this?" Yuuki spat, throwing his hands up in the air. "There's literally no reason to attack these people! As far as we know, they're just doing their jobs! Don't make it worse for literally everyone involved, you ratsucker!"
A deep breath. He stepped in front of Priscilla as well, hands raised, his large pack jingle-jangling from all the trinkets within.
"Alright, here's what we know: basically nothing. We woke up in this room together," the brunette began, shooting a sharp glance towards Ashton, "and spent the rest of our time trying to figure out what happened and where we are. I have no idea what this witch is, nor what this cultist thing is, but I do know that the person you just hauled away called himself an archer, and asked us to get him a bow and arrows immediately."
He breathed deep. Hoped they could read how bewildered and genuine he was being, the truth behind his proclamations.
"My name is Yuuki Kimura. The girl behind me is Priscilla. The person who just transformed is Ashton Andrews. I don't know the woman in the far corner, cause she hasn't spoken yet. The person who you've just lead away called himself Nakkun, because his real name was too complicated. The person you just killed was named Alistair Archibald. Alongside that, we know of two other names: Od Laguna and Cameron. Do any of those names ring a bell at all?"
Ugh. He was talking too much. His mind was scampering in too many directions. He felt like throwing up and he felt like running away.
"I'm willing to talk about everything we know, which, I should warn you, is hardly anything. In exchange, please tell us what these witch cultists are, and what this world even is. Let's begin a dialogue, okay? Please? It shouldn't be hard to tell, but we're all strangers to this place. Seriously, just look at our clothes. Except for Ashton. I have no idea what's up with that. Promise. But I don't think he means harm. Cause why would he spin a story like that? Amirite? Makes no sense if he's super evil. So yeah, don't kill him too. If he brainwashed us, he could be using us as shields or distractions. So hey. Peace peace yay??"
Holy fuck he was going to diediediediedie.
Before his feet could give out, Yuuki tried to sit down on a chair, only for his pack to knock the chair away and for him to fall down on the dusty, wet floor for a second time.
Iskemia couldn't help but visibly grimace. She'd taken her to be proud from the rumors about her, but never quite so blatantly. Iskemia mumbled something of an affirmation, knowing full well the oni could probably snap her neck if it came right down to it, much as she put trust in Eristaria's judgement on how to act in public.
"R-right. I don't care either way. Elf, oni, elven oni... Walking slime or weird-looking dragon; I really couldn't care less. There a reason you get so flustered about it, anyhow? I mean being mistaken so often, personally I'd take it in stride as a big cosmic joke to my life," Iskemia chuckled. "I'd almost go as far as to say it's not a birth defect, but a unique feature to distinguish yourself, y'know? Like being special, in a good way. After all there's nothing wrong pointy ears." Iskemia took note of Eris's demeanor, and figured it was time to call it quits on 'cheering her up' in any way.
"A-anyways... Name's Iskemia Scolan. Pleasure!" she said, throwing an open, jovial hand towards Eris, "Do hope I can convince you not to smack me around later on, or really at any point. You see I was born with glass for bones... It's tragic. A real birth defect, if ever there were any," Iskemia said, feigning sadness.
