[center][h2]Diabolical Incantation III[/h2]
Lvl 3 [color=ef6069]Grimm[/color] (31/30) Zenkichi, [color=D34C25]Primrose[/color], Lvl 9 [color=gold]Roxas[/color]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 3,008[/center]

Zenkichi pushed himself to his feet even as he began to reload his revolvers, breathing heavily from the damage he’d sustained, even through his defensive buffs. [color=BFBFBF]”Come on, come on, come on!”[/color] He hurried himself, pausing to dodge out of the way of a dark lance thrown his way, and finished reloading the first gun. [color=BFBFBF]”Good enough! It’ll have to be.”[/color] He sighed, lifting the firearm and letting loose, firing all six shots into Malphas’s bird body, before Ragnell was summoned again. [color=BFBFBF]”Should’ve dropped a Heat Riser…no going back now.”[/color] He muttered, firing another series of energy blasts as he rolled past a dark magic lance and rising. [color=BFBFBF]”Valjean, Triple Down!”[/color] He called, another healing burst emanating from him as Valjean fired a trio of gun blasts at Malphas and the bird demon body.

After being forcibly brought back down to the ground due to Malphas' dark wave, Primrose found her feet just in time for a swirling portal to open up next to her. She knew what was coming, but the demon bird was fast. The talon that struck out through the portal grazed the dancer as she twisted out of the way. Rather than wait for another portal to appear next to her, Primrose's eyes flickered to Malphas' main body and she quickly crossed the arena with her own teleportation skill.

With Ravaging Confession it wasn't Roxas that appeared behind Malphas, but Primrose. She'd seen the magic the third torso was casting and countered with her own, Black Fire Orbs crashing against the demon's orbs of darkness, showering the immediate area in shadowy embers. She'd cast with one hand, the other wrapped around the hilt of her dagger to follow through with her attack.

[color=D34C25]"You underestimate us,"[/color] she hissed at Malphas as she slashed at the demoness.

When Primrose took it upon herself to attack from behind this time, Roxas responded in kind. Rather than open with StepSword again, he instead transformed into a streak of light that zigzagged at Malphas and opened into a Cross Slash from the left side of one of her lower bodies. He got grazed and was knocked back by a couple of incoming spikes, but the Nobody reacted quickly enough. As soon as his feet were on the ground, Roxas summoned Kayano again. But instead of shifting everyone’s positions, she instead swapped Roxas with Primrose. This allowed the Keybearer to resume his assault on Malphas a mere moment after the dancer had neutralized the dark orbs and slashed at the demon herself. And it would hopefully protect her from the inevitable retaliation that Malphas was sure to hit back with.

Once the thundercrack of Valjean’s gunshots echoed off the hollow’s walls, the exasperated detective found himself staring down the demon bird alone, for Grimm had disappeared as well. In a scarlet flash, the Troupe Master warped in to take the fight to Malphas as well. After Primrose’s dagger cut deep through pallid, wormlike flesh and Roxas beat the devil out of Malphas with his key-shaped bludgeon, the nightmare flames of point-blank firebats blossomed amidst the dancer’s darkness. With all three bodies besieged by vicious close-quarters combat, Malphas couldn’t cast. She could only force her lower half forward in a desperate bid to buck the Seekers off, but no matter how it thrashed, the Seekers persisted.

Grimm, especially, would not be dislodged. His savage claws not only slid through her flesh like wet paper, but also set her alight thanks to his reward from the Gaster battle. That kind of punishment could not be tolerated, and in a brief moment between two of Grimm’s attacks, Malphas found her chance to retaliate. A portal appeared behind him, through which the hatchling’s leg extended to snatch the Troupe Master and pull him through. Once lifted up through the second portal beneath the demon’s bird body, the portal closed and the monster’s leg slammed down with Grimm beneath it. He burst into a swarm of tiny bugbats that streamed out between the wicked talons, swarmed up past Malphas into the air.

[center][hider=For Grimm]New ability:
[b]Pufferfish[/b]
While suspended in the air, Grimm can turn himself into a paper lantern in order to inundate the arena with twelve waves of scarlet fireballs, all stronger than their small size would suggest. Each wave has only a couple openings between the fireballs, randomly placed, and the waves come fast, one every .9 seconds. Grimm cannot defend himself otherwise, but he’s extremely difficult to stagger in this state[/hider][/center]

When Grimm coalesced, he enclosed himself in his cloak, which then bulged outward, covered with spikes and alight with inner fire like a scarlet paper lantern. [color=ef6069][i]”Ssaire!”[/i][/color] A deluge of scarlet fireballs rained down indiscriminately, with openings small enough that agile allies could get through, but not Malphas. The demon shrieked as she burned, her attempt to take back some momentum ruined, and the Seekers could finish the fight–as long as they could weather the firestorm.

Left alone on the ground while the others launched themselves into the air to attack Malphas’s actual body, Zenkichi focused on taking out the chicken demon thing again. One, putting this thing down again would take Malphas’s focus off killing them, if only for a few moments, and two, he didn’t fancy his odds of not accidentally hurting one of the others. He’d mostly gotten lucky this far, but her actual body was rather small, so the risk of friendly fire with his more area-oriented attacks would be fairly high. So, he ran in, swinging on and unleashing a combo on the demon’s body, even as Malphas used her portals to attack Grimm. 

Roxas followed up on his attacks against Malphas’ actual body by continuing his own assault. When gravity inevitably pulled him back toward the ground, he turned into a streak of light that zagged back upward so he could use Cross Slash and continue his string of Keyblade attacks. Sensing the end wasn’t far away, Roxas became more liberal with throwing spells like Firaga and Blizzaga as well. He noticed them growing in size as they lurched toward their intended target thanks to the boon he had acquired in the previous room. Whether this increased their actual power, he wasn’t sure yet, but increasing a spell’s area or reach certainly had its uses regardless.

After Roxas had shifted places with her, Primrose was in a much more advantageous position from which to avoid Grimm's fiery rain and keep up her own casting. She glanced up at the troupe master's pufferfish form to see if she could note any type of pattern to the fire balls, but finding none she'd just have to rely on her evasiveness as they came down. She moved this way and that, turning gracefully in the space between the troupe master's falling flames as she once more conjured dark magic to her hands. When the Moonlight Waltz was ready she let the spell fly, bursting against Malphas and her bird.

While Zenkichi struck from below, the others bombarded Malphas with elements, and their sheer volume of magic quickly whittled the revived demon’s health back down even after Grimm’s Pufferfish attack concluded. For all of her tricks and sorceries Malphas just couldn’t regain control, and not even an emergency escape through a portal could stave off the onslaught when these Seekers stuck to her like glue. With her challengers going all-out on offense, this fight was a race to the finish, and the heroes turned out to be faster.

At last, the detonation of Primrose’s Moonlight Waltz seemed to do the job, eliciting a distorted wail from the demon as one of her three torsos withered and died, driving the rest of the fused monstrosity to thrash in what seemed to be death throws. Grimm wasn’t taking any chances, however, and whether or not it might be needless excess, the Troupe Master warped in to drive his claws into another torso and tear the pallid scion from the trunk to which it had been grafted. He leaped from the body with his prize just before the frenzied bird slammed to the ground, a wretched croak issuing from between its rotten teeth. Motes of dark magic rose like the sparks of a dying fire, and the demon began to disintegrate into dash. “How…how do you have so much…power!?” The last torso slumped down atop the ashen carcass, and the battle was over.

Grimm narrowed his eyes at the one-armed growth he’d excised as it began to dissolve in his grasp. [color=ef6069]”An impassioned dance…I am nearly spent.”[/color] He’d lost two thirds of himself amidst the feverish revelry, so while he didn’t appear to be in bad shape, appearances could be deceiving. He tossed the corpse aside with a dramatic air.

[color=D34C25]"Impassioned is certainly a word for it."[/color]

When it was over, Roxas decided to use the last of his MP to cast Curaga. [color=gold]”Heal!”[/color] Similar to when he was casting Firagas and Blizzagas earlier, the green ring for the Curaga expanded outward slightly while the spell took effect. So that Super Nova card he picked up could help his Curaga reach more allies to heal? He couldn’t deny the usefulness of that. The spell washed over the group, Grimm included, and provided those who needed it a solid amount of restoration to their health. A moment, cards appeared from the either, three apiece for the victorious few.

[hider=For Primrose][b]Burnt Offering[/b] - increases max life by 50%, but you must sacrifice an ability
[b]Funeral of Sensory Pursuivant[/b] - whenever an enemy takes damage from your DoT, applies 2 stacks of Suspicion, which increases damage suffered by DoTs. 1 stack of Suspicion is lost every 5 seconds
[b]Pie of Five Fruits[/b] - all your elemental status effects now deal instant damage instead. This also applies to elemental status effects done to you[/hider]
[hider=For Zenkichi][b]Dying Wish[/b] - whenever Hitch-afflicted foes are slain, nearby foes take 15% extra damage from the killing blow
[b]Frenzy Charm[/b] - can be pinned to a persona, a striker, or summon to make it perform its next action twice, but prevents that same action for the rest of the fight
[b]Point Blank[/b] - ranged weapons fired in melee range deal 30% more damage[/hider]
[hider=For Roxas][b]Lucid Gain[/b] - you slowly regain MP while in contact with your own spells
[b]VEP-18 Occipital Lobe[/b] - when using a Limit or Limit Break, you penetrate 20% of your targets armor and elemental resist, and each additional enemy caught in the Limit increases that penetration by 3%
[b]Old War Stealthkit[/b] - every 30 seconds, falling below 25% health will boost your movement speed and make you invisible for 5 seconds (any attack or spell reveals you)[/hider]
[hider=For Grimm][b]Slow Cooker[/b] - deal 2% more damage per Nightmare Flame or Hestia boon
[b]Spinal Spur[/b]  - your basic attacks have a 24% chance to crit
[b]Fire Enthusiast[/b] - when inflicting a burn, receive a burn, and restore 20% health when burned[/hider]

For Grimm, this was an easy choice. If burning his foes meant that he’d be burned, and being burned would restore him, then the fact that his previous reward gave him burning attacks meant that he could expect constant healing from now on. Once he made his pick, he felt deep within him an extravagant, soul-soothing warmth, as one might expect of a bowl of warm stew on a cold day. [color=ef6069]”[i]Shaaah.[/i] May the heat of battle stoke the flames of war, and the fire in our hearts sustain us evermore.”[/color]

Roxas stared at the cards before him for what felt like forever. Between the three of them, he was looking between Lucid Gain and VEP-18 Occipital Lobe. On hand, he could increase the hitting power of his Limits and Limit Breaks. On the other hand, he could potentially mitigate his MP consumption, even if only a little. After his gaze shifted between the cards a few more moments, the Nobody finally reached out and touched one, choosing Lucid Gain in the end.

But he didn’t return immediately. Instead the guy who was depicted on the card appeared before him. And then spoke. “Greetings from Olympus and well met, there, sunshine! Look, we can’t get to the Guardian, but if you truly mean to stop it, then the least I can do is light your way down!” But before Roxas could even say anything back in return, things went back to normal and he was among the others in the hollow again.

Primrose looked over her own card choices. [i]Elemental statuses... ah, like the 'scorch' from the last choice.[/i] In the thick of battle she'd paid little attention to that boon, especially with the fire of her own and Grimm's magic a consistent presence. Primrose didn't much feel like giving up any of the abilities she'd gained, and though the thought of a slow torture by fire over time had a certain appeal to it, especially for some people she could think of... she wouldn't say no to some instant gratification, particularly if it meant she wouldn't have to suffer any similar effects herself. She selected the last card, and once warped back into the hollow she let out a small sigh.

Another battle won, another trio of cards to choose from. For Zenkichi, the choice was actually fairly easy. While the charm could prove useful in certain situations, losing out on flexibility in combat was not something he had any desire to deal with. And while he sometimes used his revolvers in close quarters as a sort of hidden strike to seriously injure opponents, it wasn’t something he was keen on doing often enough to make that boon worth it. No, the boon that showed the same woman as last time would reinforce his best strength- against large groups of enemies. And who knows, maybe if this sort of thing happened again (once was odd, twice was a pattern), focusing on one type of benefit could start to really work up how useful it was. He chose Dying Wish. Rather than return to the battlefield like last time, however, the woman depicted on the card appeared before him, speaking.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance finally, my dear! Already had enough of this world, yes? Heh, well I promised myself that once you demonstrated your resolve to us, I'd take you under my wing. And I always keep my vows.” That was…ominous, Zenkichi decided. Once she was done, though, he reappeared with the others, confusion evident on his face. [color=BFBFBF]”Did…any of your cards talk to you?”[/color] he asked.

[color=gold]”Wait yours did, too?”[/color] Roxas almost immediately responded. [color=gold]”So it’s not just me?”[/color]

[color=D34C25]"I was spoken to briefly before, but not this time,"[/color] Primrose said. That was curious. Visions aside, it appeared that the rewards were still simply just that: rewards following the battle. And with everyone having chosen said reward, it also stood to reason that they could keep moving on. But before they did, the dancer went to collect Malphas' spirit, and when she returned she produced a small flame of Warmth.

[color=D34C25]"Does anyone else need a little more patching up?"[/color] she asked. Roxas' healing pulse had certainly helped, but she would rather go into whatever next awaited them as healthy as possible.

Zenkichi nodded, and so Primrose pressed the healing flame to him, though his faraway expression indicated he was still thinking about what those cards and the people that spoke to them all meant. If he saw one of them again, he’d have to try and ask.

After being restored by Roxas, Grimm definitely seemed to relax. [color=ef6069]”Ssehhh…”[/color] Untroubled by any inexplicable visions, he lifted his arm beneath his cloak, and when the fibrous curtain fell open it revealed the Grimmchild dangling from its father’s limb like a bat. Grimm bowed his head to Roxas. [color=ef6069]”You could learn much from the spiky one, child,”[/color] the Troupe Master rasped, gently prodding the insect’s belly with claws as soft as silk. Seemingly in reply, his progeny let go, then fluttered over toward Roxas to sit in the pointy blonde nest atop his head. After a moment, Grimm glanced over at the spirit of Malphas, then to an untouched Qliphoth vein nestled amidst the iridescent oil shell. [color=ef6069]”If this pattern of escalation holds, this next dance may be our most spectacular yet.”[/color]

With that Primrose agreed. Though it technically did not bode well for them, it also must have meant they were getting closer and closer to their goal.

[color=D34C25]"It stands to reason that we'll reunite with more of the others as well,"[/color] she said. [color=D34C25]"Moving around like this has been quite... disorienting, but we must be nearing the top of this tree."[/color]

[color=gold]”If we are, I can’t tell. This whole tree’s been a confusing mess.”[/color] Roxas said, tilting his head in thought. [color=gold]”It’s weird though. We got split up into twos, then I guess we got put into fours? Almost the exact same thing happened to us in Midgar. Talk about history repeating itself.”[/color]

Zenkichi shrugged. [color=BFBFBF]”Yeah, it’s pretty weird. Last time it made sense, super-high tech security system and all that. This is just…weird demon tree thing.”[/color] He definitely found it strange, but complaining about it wouldn’t get them anywhere. [color=BFBFBF]”Let’s just hit the top and get this done with. I hate this place.”[/color] He started off without further delay, and the others fell in behind him, curious -but not optimistic- about what awaited them beyond this next bloodstream.