[IC] Magical Notes - A Tale of Songs and Knights [Hiatus]

[Lonewolf685]

Cass Mormont

The Bombardier Knight and the World Serpent awaited for their battle to begin with baited breath, excitement radiating off the draconic spirit despite her gruffness while the Trap starting to drum his fingers along the length of his horn. They could already see the pitched battle that was to come and were as prepared as they could ever be for pitched combat.

Yet they couldn't have foreseen their adversary for the round turn back the way they came and leave the arena, their match totally forgotten in favor of places elsewhere. Jorm's jaw hit the ground in astonishment and didn't return to it's proper place till long after the other combatants threw themselves into their own bouts. "Not that's just not fair. Can they even tease us like that!?"

"Well it's not like they can be disqualified if they've already dropped out." Cass said with a shrug. "If they have lost the will to fight another Song Knight, we can't begrudge them this. At least now there isn't the possibility of animosity being born, even if only from conflict for bragging rights. Guess we can wait for the-"

"One moment of your attention, everyone. I'm sorry to say but, this mockery of a tournament will be cancelled shortly. Please, accept this little present, as a payback for your troubles~"

Such simple words from a figure that Cass would not recognize--having been uninvolved in the prior incident with Mary entering the city via high speed collision-- would precede a maelstrom of chaos erupting in the mighty Bach Empire's capital. In the intervening seconds after the sheaf's of paper spawned their cursed brood amongst the populace, lives were lost to the skeletal monsters for the sake of senseless slaughter. "Now we've got some action! Who needs mock battle when we have the real blood sport right here in the coliseum!"

If the situation were not so drastically dire Cass may have offered his spirit more than a stern glare in recompense for her poor choice of words, but there was work to be done and very little time to do it. This was a wretched battlefield for Cass and Jormundgand, who were more specialized towards using overwhelming force with a great deal of collateral damage, yet now found themselves restricted by the abundance of civilians amongst the Dissonances.

"Don't loose your Earthen Rain unless certain that no innocent shall be harmed. Focus on protecting as many as you can, and keep the exits clear so people can escape!" Cass ordered while a quick whistle expanded the concussion horn to its full size around him. Another whistle had a column of earth raise at an acute angle beneath his feet that launched him up and away towards the bleachers. His descent took him on a course straight for the back of an unawares monster trying to remove its sword off a carcass it skewered. The dissonance would find itself on the receiving end of its own barbarism, Cass drawing his steel mid flight and running it through an undead skull before using the body as a landing pad.

Not a moment was wasted as the Trap turned on the spot and launched himself around the coliseum's circumference, pausing only long enough to skewer another monster that wasn't being dealt with by the others, as he made his way towards the section he recalled seeing the princess residing. While Ires was not the sovereign of his land, Cass and the others were welcomed into her kingdom and now it was only right to honor her generosity by laying his life on the line if this proved to be an assassination attempt.

[TheWendil]

~Farrah Gilden~

---

Farrah planted both feet onto the ground and used her momentum to spin deftly in place, noting how the flaming orb of silver skimmed past her body and into the wall of the coliseum. When she was facing Moros yet again she was back in a speed frenzy, dashing at the boy with blade ready in hand. The clang of metal rang out as blade met staff head on.

The two of them were in a standstill, allowing Moros the opportunity to enact his plan…or would have had Farrah not ignited her other hand with blue flames and made a direct punch for his face. Up above, the battle between Spirits reflect that of their Song knights, metal facing off against the fires of magical prowess. For her part, Ravielin was quite enjoying this fight.

The metal shots aimed at her were easily deflected and blocked by her own metal-like arms. They bounced off with her own strength pushing them back, taking any time she could to fire of streams of flame in Leafay’s direction, turning up the heat with every attack. A grin of battle was sported on her face, the joy of the fight coursing through her veins.

But alas, events were destined to take a terrible turn for the worst. The cheering of the crowd was suddenly silenced by a mocking voice, one that Farrah couldn’t recognize. As such she halted in punching Moros’ face out to listen to the threat…and then her eyes looked up to see the mass of Dissonances falling from the sky. Raining hell.

Well at least she didn’t need to tell Moros about the priorities of this fight. Nodding to Ravielin, she jumped up and let her Spirit carry her, eyes narrowing as she flew ever higher up. Blade in hand, she began to hack and slash at the Dissonances that had yet to form on the ground, still free falling. She really wanted to investigate the source of that mysterious voice but knew her duty as a Song Knight was to protect the innocent first and foremost.

Unbeknownst to her, a Song Knight was already taking up the matter on their own. Darrel was moving like a shadow, gaze resolute and features as stoic as ever. Any Dissonance that wanted to get in his way would find themselves deader than dead. His target was clear: the girl whose voice had caused this catastrophe to begin. For someone walking against the crowd, he was moving through it with little difficulty.

“Ah, Princess Emilia. If I were savvy, I’d say you were the cause of this,” Darrel said, with deadpan reaching the small area in which the royals resided. He stared right through her, wondering if she really did have something to do with this.

[The Irish Tree]

Rhodri Gwynfor

A man of noble blood and of strong body, Rhodri Gwynfor, third son of House Gwynfor, stood beside Princess Warovia. Their houses bore a good relationship, one of mutual gain. The young man himself was not the most well versed member of his household in the matters of finances, but still knew far more than the average man. Occasionally, Rhodri would divert his gaze away from negotiations and off to the arena below. He would be set to join into the fray later, but for now there was ample time for economic matters. Regrettably.

Remaining fairly quiet in order to let the actual negotiators speak, Rhodri sat still as stone, taking in the details and costs of their planned transactions. When Warovia spoke, Rhodri felt a sense of pride in the faith a Princess would have in one such as him...and then things began turning bad rather quick. "One moment of your attention, everyone. I'm sorry to say but, this mockery of a tournament will be cancelled shortly. Please, accept this little present, as a payback for your troubles~" A girl who's voice he didn't recognize rang loud and clear across the arena after a quake took the ground hostage, Rhodri quickly looking to the arena to try and see what the meaning of this was before a rain of...paper showered down to the dirt below. Then sprang the monstrosities that he had long since trained to slay, under the guise of men long since rotten.

Gritting his teeth as he watched, Rhodri looked back to the Princesses, before speaking. "Regrettably, I have business to attend to down there. The Gwynfor Household would be honored to arrange the transaction with the Baking houses. Hywel, see to it that no harm comes to them." As he finished speaking, his Spirit would make its presence known, looming over the three as it spoke. "Hmph. Very well." The Dragonic Spirit spoke as its mouth opened slightly, the tear down the sides of its torso slightly visible. "Fear not...So long as I remain, I will ensure not a drop of your blood is spilled." Hywel added, clenching his fist as Rhodri held in hand his twin maces, his stride steady as he charged forward towards the carnage, his priority being to protect the defenseless civilians. Before one such innocent could be harmed, Rhodri swiftly cracked the Dissonance's head with a strike from both his maces, the skull of the monster being flung away as he began his assault on the Dissonance, flanged maces crashing through bone and tearing muscles as he struck the Dissonance, his expression gravely serious as he saw to the defense of whichever Civilians he could save. "How could this happen...more importantly, where is the mastermind? he thought to himself as he cracked another skull, his maces making quick work with well-placed strikes to the temple, ear, or even a direct one to the bridge of the nose.

[KoL]

Magical Notes

A tale of Songs and Knights

With the quick intervention of the novice Song Knights the situation at the Colossuem was starting to get under control, Randar's songs keeping the crowd as calm as possible while the others fought off the threat, minimizing the civilian casualties still, some deaths were unavoidable when they were fighting such an opponent.

"I believe that the same can be said of you, Black Prince, nevertheless, it's a pleasure to see that you still has not lost your talons" Emilia regarded Darrel with a nonchalant smirk as she calmly sipped some tea. "However, if you are wondering why I don't take care of the threat on my own, given that I am the most powerful Knight here, on the absence of Princess Ires and you? The truth is that I cannot, not without the risk of shifting the blame on my land and possibly beginning a war. That must be the aggressors' objective, to sow distrust between ourselves, causing the barely contained animosity to burst."

"At least that's what I would do, were I in their place." The grin on Emilia's face made it evident that not only would she do something like this but that she probably have done so more than once. After all there was a reason why the Princess was called the Puppeteer of Warovia, among her Song Knight peers.

Nevertheless, Cass would arrive to find that the Royal Tribune was safe and sound, even though Princess Lieselotte (who was attending the tournament and negotiations on her sister's stead) seemed seriously distressed that her Honor Guard was holding her at bay, while the public was being slaughtered by the rampant Dissonances. That was, until a messenger from the city guard arrived, slamming the doors open before falling to his knee in front of the Bach Empire's Second Princess. "Your Highness, the City Guard requires your assistance as the Rear Commander of Imperial Forces. The enemy has just attacked the Imperial Cathedral and massacred those who were attending the service, they seem to have stolen something from the Cathedral. If they reach the Lorelei, well not be able to hold them anymore That's all I had to report, Your Highness, please, your answer?"

"I'll be coming arriving immediately, report back to your officer and have someone reach for my sister at the Palace." Princess Lieselotte stepped away from his guards and moved to the tribune. "Hear me, Song Knights, the Empire of Bach, no... the people we swore to protect, need your help despite whatever national allegiance you may have. The Imperial Cathedral is being attacked as we speak and the masses attending the service, slaughtered like herd animals. I want some of you to volunteer to come with me while the others stay here and deal with the remaining Dissonances. Please, I appeal to you not as the voice of Bach but, as a fellow Song Knight that does not wish to see more meaningless bloodshed..." The Princess appealed with teary eyes.

* * *

As if things couldn't get any worse, the same voice from before sounded, from high up, "Oh my~ Isn't that a moving appeal? Such a shame that we can't allow that, Lord Prophet would be very disappointed if we don't deliver what we came to retrieve~" A whimsical chuckle revealed the source of the mysterious voice. A girl wielding a vicious looking axe perched high above the arena, atop one of the decorative pillars. "I'll be keeping as many of you here as I can!" The girl kissed another handful of music sheets and threw them to the wind, most of them became more undead Dissonances but one turned into a beast of much higher class, a Linnorm, one of the lesser dragons, about 15 meters tall and spewing a potent acid from its maws.

As if it wasn't enough, the mysterious girl joined the fray as well by leaping from her perch, spinning in the air as she rocketed towards Randar. "Hi there, Beansprout~ Did you want to talk to me, earlier?"

---

@McFazzer, @TheWindel, @Pikmin Eye, @Rune_Alchemist, @The Irish Tree, @RiverMaiden, @Lonewolf685, @BurningCold, @Eklispe.

[TheWendil]

~Darrel Black~

---

“The scheming puppeteer shies away from conflict? That’s a first,” Darrel said evenly, finding a nice wall to rest his back against. The young Song Knights below them would not go unassisted. Each one would notice a personal flock of crows summoned forth to fight against the Dissonances. While that battle raged on, a sense of calmness would fall over the two saged Song Knights.

“As treacherous as always Emilia. Lucky for you I’m not one to stick my neck out for either the Empire or any Kingdom for that matter. Be grateful my crows aren’t hungry for a poisonous serpent such as yourself,” Darrel said dryly. As for his intervention, well he’d rather not see children die too easily. He had seen enough of that in his own youth as a beginning Song Knight.

Still, it was plain to see Emilia had something planned and something to gain from all of this chaos. Whatever that may be would have to be investigated further later when people weren’t dying. And they would be dying quickly because the same haughty voice that many of them would recognize boomed all around the coliseum. Grunting, Darrel sent a single crow to investigate the mysterious girl’s location, keeping watch from up high, noting her engagement with one of the Song Knights.

But as these confrontations were centered on a single focal point, those steeped in darkness were using this opportunity to make their move. For further away from the coliseum stood a mighty cathedral whose daily mass was eerily quiet, as if ignoring the sounds of those who perished and those who fought with blade and song.

A look inside would reveal the cause of the silence, all of those who had chosen to attend praise to their god on this day scattered about like the corpses they were. Blood stained the painted windows up high and the single click clack of boots revealed their murderer in full gory.

As if by chance or some cosmic irony, the sunlight up high would shine down onto the lone woman. With it revealed the many patches of deep red running down her attire with some even dripping down the side of her cheek. Through it all, a smile and a soundless hum bled through with the bounce in the woman’s step. All over, city officials were already being notified of the break in…

---

@McFazzer, @KoL, @Pikmin Eye, @Rune_Alchemist, @The Irish Tree, @RiverMaiden, @Lonewolf685, @Eklispe.

[Pikmin Eye]

Randar Xenil

Why must things always go wrong? The situation was finally being contained by the sheer numbers of Song Knights in the area. Yet they just kept raining down from the sky like a hurricane. You could crush, maim, or even kill one and three more were still replacing them. Not much to complain about, the first wave was finally being brought under control. Randar could finally lower his weapon, all the constant songs to reload were getting to him. There was finally a silver lining in the moment.

That was when it just got worse, the princess appealed for Song Knights to help guard the Imperial Cathedral. Guess this attack spanned further than Randar first thought. Just when he was considering helping them out, a 15 meter tall dragon Dissonance was falling from the sky. This was a big problem, and he could probably handle it. The icing on the cake was the familiar voice again. "Hi there, Beansprout~ Did you want to talk to me, earlier?" Did she just... Oh, it's on now.

With a loud voice, he yelled out to the princess. "I got the large Dissonance handled! The small shrimp still owes a chat." He quickly ordered Cothyl, "Make sure the big one keeps his eyes on you, I'll keep the girl distracted." With that he took aim, a few shots should force her to fall a certain way or take a few hits. He fired six shots, steadily aiming to hit her in as many vital spots as possible, he doubted they would actually hit. With this much confidence, she probably had a back up plan. Another sigh as he had to swap to his piccolo to play another tune to charge his gun.

Cothyl was already causing some property damage, at least he didn't harm any civilians. Standing at 17 feet tall, he was gonna be tiny compared to the Dissonance. It didn't matter, if he let that stop him, there would be far more hurt. He wasn't able to help last time, now was his chance to make a difference. Cothyl gave a loud roar, big and obvious. To start, all he had to do was make sure it focused only on him. First step was to trip it and render it immobile, then make sure it doesn't get back up. Well, all while avoiding what looked to be acid coming from it's massive maw. Not like his job is ever easy, or thought through by Randar.

It was happening all around them. Dissonances falling from the sky, and now, a flock of crows were appearing. Looks like Randar caught a break, now they can focus on the big guy, without worrying about leaving the civilians helpless. He yelled thanks to no one in particular, he didn't know who did it. Randar and Cothyl were focused on what they do best, being large and in charge. He yelled to the mysterious girl, "I don't care how large you make my opponent! I will bring you all down!"

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Amelia & Nem~

One by one, her rapier dispatched the Dissonance's with ease. With the help of the other song knights in the area, it seemed as though things were going to end smoothly. A little too smoothly, actually. She was feeling a little disappointed these things were such an easy task to manage. As she killed the last one around her with her piercing the back of its skull, only one thought rang in her head.

Boring.

She wanted a challenge. These small fry's barely even got her excited. Still, nothing much she could do here. If they were that weak, then so be it. It was better that way, after all. Less chances of some innocent person getting harmed. She was about to sheathe her blade and move on, since her work was done when things...escalated quite a bit. The girl who had summoned the undead, summoned quite a larger one. Plus, with the announcement that the cathedral was being attacked...something was going on here, more so than just random attack by a dissonance. She was going to engage the large one herself, but it seemed another beat her too it. A small...person who looked like he was barely a teenager.

...well, if he had a death wish she wouldn't stop him. Besides, the fact that someone would instigate the murder of peaceful churchgoers...well, that was not something she could abide by. As much as she would have liked to join the fray again here herself...she sheathed her sword and walked calmly over to where she could speak to the princess without shouting too much. Nem floated over from her napping spot, seeming to be glad the fighting was over with for now.

The small Imp gave the princess a somewhat...suggestive grin as she leaned her head on Amelia's shoulder.

"Hey, you're the princess right? You're actually pretty cute. How about-owie~"

She didn't get to finish that sentence before Amelia grabbed one of her ears, eliciting a small squee from the Spirit as she pulled it.

"That is the princess, you will show her respect." Amelia didn't waste any more time than she could afford before bowing her head towards the princess. "I shall accompany you to the cathedral your highness."

[Eklispe]

Moros Vorsickle

Moros glanced at the princess as attention shifted to her, pausing for a moment from his bone breaking bash to listen, er, watch. Then things began to get worse, with more skeletons appearing, as well as a fierce larger monster. What had happened to just having a nice tournament for glory and fame hm? The larger one was quickly set upon by a Song Knight who looked as though he may not be the best canidate for the job, but if he believed in his ability to combat it, then it was surely no buisness of Moros's to say otherwise. To his relief someone summoned crows to help keep the skeletons in check, greatly reducing their ability to set upon the mostly gone civilians. Still they weren't handling all the new Dissonance's on their own and Moros anticpaited most knight either moving to help the princess or take down the big guy. Someone had to help keep the weaker ones under control, least they become to great in number and destruction caused. With a sigh of resignation Moros crushed a stray skull beneath his foot, savoring the crunch, and once again began attacking the skeletons scattered around the area. Nasty things Dissonances. Weren't they supposed to be somewhat rare at worst? Yet here they were, that odd little girl dropping them like some sort of deranged pinata.

[Lonewolf685]

Cass Mormont

Under almost any other circumstance Cass Mormont would have followed the foreign princess to the Cathedral, confident that his fellow Song Knights would be able to handle the undead that spawned from the raining sheets of paper, if not for the particular creature spawned. It was fifteen meters tall, draconic in appearance in nature, and only had two arms with no legs so that it slithered along its main body. Cass thought it was a rather ugly creature with all the acid and harsh edges to it, but that wasn't the true issue.

"YOU CHEATING SON OF A BITCH! I'LL RIP OFF YOUR HEAD AND SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK FOR THIS! YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME? YOU AREN'T FIT TO BLOODY MY KNUCKLES, BUT I'LL DO IT ANYWAY! RAAGHH!"

The air shook with the rage of the previously inactive Spirit, the Dragon Jormungand raising to her full height of 26 feet with her wings bared even higher in a primal challenge to the dragon twice her size. Jormungand was beyond incensed by the new arrival that thought to upstage her, and to a lesser extent kill everyone who would witness and spread the tales of her greatness. It barely picked up on oversized lizard lumbering towards the acidic dragon and balked at Cothyl's attempt to face the creature alone.

"Back off. You can pick at this shit's corpse when I'm done burying it." She spat out before launching into motion. Jormungand's form didn't charge forward, but sunk into the ground with a sneer upon her craggy face before there was no sign she had been there but two craters where her fists met dirt. As though incorporeal she moved through the solid ground without disturbing a stone, travelling till she was right beneath the Dissonance and burst upwards. "I'm going to drag you to glory. MY GLORY!"

Meanwhile Cass was forced to watch as his Spirit snapped her jaws around the acid dragon's tail, pulling the both of them skywards while pummeling it's chest with a rain of enraged strikes. It was quiet a sight to see, and undoubtedly going to cause someone much strain once Jorm inevitably sent the Dissonance hurtling back to the Coliseum with a slam of the tail. Though while the Spirits dealt with the monster, the source of the abomination was still a threat that needed to be apprehended. He had seen that the mystery girl leapt down from up high with axe in hand to cleave a shorter than average Song Knight. Randar had shot at the mad woman to try and throw her off course, but Cass wasn't going to leave him defenseless while he played his instrument.

"Your massacre ends here!" With a cry and blare of her horn, Cass launched himself towards the axe wielding girl from her exposed side with the flat of his side ready to strike her down to the ground in a violent and uncontrolled crash before she could harm another soul. The unconscious synchronization of action between Spirit and Song Knight in the heat of the moment showed a rare moment where Jormungand and Cass seemed the soul mates that Spirit and Song Knight should be.

[The Irish Tree]

Rhodri Gwynfor

"That...is a big problem." Rhodri said as he took note of the newly formed gigantic acid spewing dragon. Clutching his maces tighter in his hands, he doubted that he would be able to stop that thing...luckily the Kaiju squad seemed to have it under control, with another giant dragonic spirit pushing aside another dragonic spirit to start brawling with the damn thing. Feeling that the two would have control of the situation against a single opponent, Rhodri diverted his attention back to the undead soldiers, hurrying to slay as many as he could to save those still in the arena.

His blows were precise and devastating against the humanoid Dissonances, skull and bone cracking, flesh and muscle tearing, the flanges cutting and the metallic head crushing. Even without Hywel at his side, Rhodri was a force to be reckoned with when it came to opponents of his own size. "Payback for our troubles...when the day's over, we'll be the ones paying her back." he thought to himself as he crushed the ribcage of an undead dissonance with a twin strike to the abdomen, sending it flying into a stone wall as he continued. Even if all he could do was take care of the smaller ones, Rhodri'd do his best to save as many as he could...and try not to get stomped on by the clash of titans above.

Hywel

Hywel had opted to follow Princess Lieselotte, given that it seemed a fairly powerful Song Knight was assisting in the defense of Emilia. That and her speech had convinced him that she would be utterly...delicious. The succulency of the soul provided by such heartfelt appeal...the tears that spoke of a desire to protect the innocent...all seasonings to make her a probable "9" in terms of flavor. Naturally, he restrained himself, knowing that unless it was absolutely necessary he would remain in his spirit form. He didn't know much of this princess' combat prowess, but he doubted it would surpass his own.

Slithering beside the princess, Hywel gave the Imp Spirit a callous look in his eyes as he heard her...attempt to flirt with the princess. He was an inch from starting something before the Spirit's master wisely told it to cease, which he could appreciate. He'd rather not waste his time on a lowly perverted spirit. "At least one of you is reliable, it seems." he said, speaking in a low and baritone voice. Taking a glance back toward the arena, his hollow eyes momentarily looked for Rhodri, before he turned away. "Naught to worry for. He isn't foolish enough to face that creature. Not with that Spirit already engaging."

[TheWendil]

The Linnorm roared right back at Rander's Spirit, as if challenging it to dare and take it on. The snarls of Cothyl coupled with the sudden flock of crows brought the Dissonance's attention to a single point. That was fine because the creature was hellbent on destroying something and angry, nostrils flaring with rage. It gave yet another roar of power, shaking its head to and fro while scattering its acidic drool everywhere in a nearby radius. The Spirit's assumptions were correct in that the substance was highly corrosive, droplets melting through the ground as they made impact down below.

Yet before it could even lay down one blow, the incessant shouting of one particular giant worm with wings made the creature turn its feral gaze away from its would be opponent and over at a Spirit that actually....didn't rival itself in size. How disappointing. Now this wasn't really a fight, nor even a challenge that overrided its natural instinct to prove superiority. But the fact that Jorm moved underground in the blink of an eye showed that she was indeed a threat to be taken care of. Thus, the creature gave an ear-piercing screech before slithering about just as Jorm rose up from the ground.

As the majority of her body rocketed outwards, the Dissonance reacted quickly by coiling itself around her and lunging forth to take a bite out of what looked like her neck area. Despite its size, the monster still had some intelligence and fighting was all it knew. In the battlefield, that was where it found its home at. Jorm would find that out soon enough.

The skeletons in the stands were easy prey for the Song Knights, their efforts spurred onwards with every innocent soul lost to the dissonances rampage. Whether by mace or by sword they fell in droves, but a few scattered pages that survived Farrah's skywards ascension brought more into the fray. They were scattered a greater distance, far off screams from beyond the coliseum walls telling the few who could hear over the din that a few were no longer contained to the stands and arena itself.

Moros would feel a light weight settle upon his back before a music sheet spawned a skeleton atop him, falling forward atop him with sharp rib bones aiming to skewer him even as the creature flailed to balance itself. Those creatures that were unfortunate enough to be within Rhodri's reach were already dust and splintered bone upon the bleachers, but a nearby hall echoed the screams of those inside the arena itself, the dissonances having followed the fleeing masses in their quest to spill living blood.

Yet the loud blaring of a siren suddenly cut through the tension on the battlefield. Loud enough to briefly interrupt the battle in the colosseum. That was because further away, back in the depths of the cathedral, a certain mismatched-haired girl was silently cursing to herself. Seriously, an alarm? She thought she disabled all of those...her lackeys would be getting a cut in their salary for not informing her of old fashioned security systems. Not like she ever paid them in anything more than a single scoop. With occasional nuts.

---

@The Irish Tree, @Lonewolf685, @Eklispe, @Rune_Alchemist, @Pikmin Eye, @KoL

[KoL]

Magical Notes

A tale of Songs and Knights

"Oh my, did you get angry? What's it, Beansprout, childhood trauma, or is it something else?" The mysterious girl spun her massive axe in the air, deflecting most of Rander's shots, though she still got hit by a bullet in the right thigh. It didn't looked like a serious injury but, with the femoral artery nearby, one can never be too sure.

Cass' tackle found some ground while the psycho was distracted with Rander, but she managed to use her already built momentum to roll on the arena floor, landing as far away from them as possible. "Mmm~ I don't think that I can control myself for too long. Master Prophet, I'm sorry but I can't control myself." The girl run a finger over the bloody patch on her leg, before licking it, a bloodthirsty grin stamped on her face.

Suddenly, she dashed forward in a burst of speed, twisting and weaving her path like a sake uncoiling it self for lunge. As the girl closed the gap between Rander and she, in a mere second, she brought her axe down, hoping to cleave the small Song Knight in half with a single strike. She also threw her very last music sheets at Cass' face, spawning a mere couple of undead to distract him while she tried to carve Rander's flesh.

* * *

Meanwhile, Princess Lieselotte was extremely confused by the sudden appearance of Darell, who she didn't knew nothing about, but as soon as Amelia, Hywel and Nem presented themselves before her, Princess Lieselotte righted her posture, before clearing her throat, to calm herself. "Thank you for your assistance. We should depart immediately. I pray for the gods that those who stay behind will be safe."

* * *

"Your Highness, you finally arrived. Our forces are in disarray here, the enemy's opposition is too strong for us to break through we'll need the power of a Song Knight force to do so... Wait, where's Princess Ires?" The Captain of the Guard said as he hushed to meet the arriving Princess on to see that it was Princess Lieselotte, who isn't an actual Song Knight, just a soldier within the conventional military, albeit a General by nothing but birthright. At least she did bring some knights with her, that was the Captain's only solace.

"My sister couldn't come, our Lord, the Emperor, called for her. I doubt that word of the attack even reach the palace. I'm sorry, but you'll have to make do with only us for the time being." The Princess tried to sound as imposing as she could, after all, she was the commanding officer here, though it was a rather hard task in face of a man that has more than three times her own life expanse only of military records and is almost two heads taller than her, not to say anything of bulk looks. "Give us a report. What's the status of the attack?"

One with good ears would be able to clearly listen to the Captain grumbling something about both of the Princesses being brats that liked to play soldier, under his breath, before giving a straight reply. "The enemy is guarding the entrance of the Cathedral with a single soldier, but we can't break through no matter what, because she has a force of Dissonances at her disposal and seems to wield some kind of Magic. Only a Song Knight can break through it."

"If you are willing to advance, we can provide so that at least you get to the entrance unharmed. Other than that, we will be pretty much useless against those foes." The Captain waited a reply from either Amelia, the Spirits, or the Princess.

---

@McFazzer, @Eklispe, @Lonewolf685, @TheWindel, @Rune_Alchemist, @Pikmin Eye, @The Irish Tree.

[Pikmin Eye]

Randar Xenil

People were leaping into action. As planned, the Dissonance had it's eyes focused on Cothyl. Until the green dragon decided to jump in, well, more like sliding into the fight. This Spirit had both courage and a mouth on it as it yelled, "Back off. You can pick at this shit's corpse when I'm done burying it." Cothyl shook his head, stick to the plan. Once the Dissonance came crashing back down, he planned on punching it as hard as possible. Usually, he was larger than his opponent, so his options were a bit limited. It doesn't mean such a simple plan won't hurt a lot though.

Randar predicted right, she managed to stop 5 shots with her massive blade. He caught a break with the one that hit her thigh. Alright, that should slow her movements some. In a battle, reaction is the difference between a lethal hit, and a grazing blow. The girl just kept talking and it was making Randar beyond mad. "You don't scare me. I can take you on any day of the week!"

The girl was faster than he expected, despite the injury she just kept going. Aiming at a target doing serpentine movements, she knew how to make sure she avoided his weapon. It was a flash, she already was bringing her axe down on him. All he could do in a moment like this was swing around Cothyl to the other shoulder. She was quick, and he was gonna be stuck on defense. He was a weak fighter by himself, so he had to keep her at a distance. Course, when the very ground you are standing on is a Spirit, he already had the home field advantage. he looked upwards and told Cothyl, "Got a gnat on you, get rid of her."

Cothyl simply moved a hand to swat the girl. Considering she just ran into him, this was gonna hurt. Perhaps even grab and squish her. If she ran away, maybe she would be persuaded to not do this again. This should buy Randar time to go back to shooting at her. He aimed his gun and resumed the shots, gotta slow her fast movements. He was aiming to cripple her legs, that should stop her cold.

[Eklispe]

Moros Vorsickle

Moros paused momentarily at the feeling off something on his back, then grunted in alarm as the weight suddenly multiplied. He fell forward, rolling on the ground and hurling the nasty skeleton on his back off him. It only flew through the air for a second before a hard metal ball smashed into its skull. Moros reassessed the battlefield now that the immediate threats were gone. The Skeletons were thinning out somewhat, but that may just be them dispersing. A thought from Lefay alerted him to the presence of them chasing the fleeing spectators, as well as those that had managed to get outside the colosseum all together and were descending upon the town. He didn't think he could any good against the dragon, nor help the song knight assaulted on his own hulking familiar. With a nod to Lefay, she quickly slithered out of the arena to begin destroying those outside. Once finished she would work her way in and begin the same task as Moros, finally if they ran out of skeletons, she would reunite with him. Moros, now befreit of his sprit, headed to one of the colosseum escapes that he could see the tail end of several skeletons in it. The effectiveness of these masses of skeletons was highly vexing, just how many of those sheets did she have anyway?

[The Irish Tree]

Rhodri Gwynfor

"Damnation...they're beyond the walls now!?" Rhodri cursed as he heard the screams from beyond the walls. This was...overwhelming to say the least. Such a large-scale assault, such precise yet seemingly aimless chaos. So much malice, spite, and bloodshed that the mere thought of how the public would speak of Song Knights after this made him shudder. This wasn't how it was ever supposed to turn out...not once did he ever think in his wildest dreams, someone could be so dangerously, perfectly foolish and destructive.

Yet here he was, bashing his way through a Dissonance platoon of skeletons to save what few innocents he could. His maces crunching against bone. His feet crushing their skulls to ensure they were dead. His hands parrying away lethal strikes from his neck and torso. The burning in his left abdomen from a glancing slash from a Dissonance. All of this was real. All of this was happening. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the strongest thing that Rhodri felt as he burrowed the flange of his mace into another Dissonance's head was shame. A deep, burning shame, as if maybe he had done something different, maybe if he were stronger more would still be alive, maybe more would live...maybe what he needed now wasn't more strength. What he needed most was a miracle to arrive and spare the poor people outside the Colosseum a bloody fate.
But sadly, this was the reality of a Song Knight. No one was coming to save that which was close to him. Nobody could be trusted save himself and his arms to disperse these monstrosities. Feeling a deep, infuriating anger burning in his chest, Rhodri let out a bloodcurdling roar as he threw his mace into the skull of an undead legionnaire who's spear was poised to run a mother and son through.

"Blast it all..." he muttered to himself, spitefully glaring at the woman behind all this. The towering dragon nearby, and the hall of innocents that he would soon charge into to try and save. Everything was within arm's reach, but it all still felt so far away. And that siren sure didn't mean that there was an army arriving any time soon to sweep this mess of affairs out of existence.

Hywel

The dragonic earth spirit gave a small bow in response to the far tastier looking princess. It was best to be respectful around these royal types, after all. Sour their mood and their flavor might go sour. Hywel was trying to avoid looking directly at Lieselotte, half to prevent whetting his appetite, half to keep an eye out for any scattered enemies. Yeah. Totally helping.

Once the princess requested a report, Hywel most certainly heard the grumbles of the Captain, slightly opening his mouth while the Captain was looking to get a good view of the innumerous teeth lining his mouth. Of course, such a noble, majestic spirit would never THREATEN such a clearly dutiful and honorable man who probably tasted like rancid garbage. He just didn't like people making snide remarks against fine cuisine. Regardless, he did take the man seriously in regards to the account of the situation and clenched his fist. "Then let us have at it. If no normal soldier can break through, then there is only one answer. Without my master, yet I can dispatch more than a few simple Dissonance. Magic however, might require a more human touch to break through," the Spirit said, glancing back to look at Amelia and Nem. "Shall I leave the spotlight to you two?"

[KoL]

The situation looked dire, with each minute, each second that passed more and more blood was being shed at the streets of Arpeggio, the mighty capital of he Bach Empire tinged red with the blood of innocent and sinner alike, none being spared from the grisly fate brought upon them by whoever was behind this attack that couldn't be described as nothing but plain terrorism.

On the Imperial Colosseum, the fight looked like it was being taken under control by the Song Knights and their Spirits but,the speed at which it was being achieved was too slow, almost a crawl. Or so it seemed like that for the masses dying like flies...

"You'll have to do better than this if want to take me down, Beanspr- Gahh!!!" The mysterious girl gasped as she was swatted by Cothyl, a blow from the gigantic monster shooting her toward a wall, like a cannonball. However, it looked like the girl still had some fight on her, battered and bruised as she was, the girl spun on air, meeting the wall with her feet before rebounding off them, bringing her axe to bear on Rander once more, or so she tried "Uh? What!? Gahh!!!" The girl barely had time to yell, as she lost control of her jump and fell to the ground, bleeding all over almost unable to move an arm from the accumulated injuries.

It looked like the mysterious girl's injuries finally caught up to her, "Cu-curse you a-all..." the last thing she was able to say before losing consciousness, right under Cothyl's feet, at Rander's mercy. However, if one had really good eyes, or knew where to look, they would notice a thin, almost invisible wire a meter or so before Rander's face, flickering off of existence with a faint sound like a violin string being taut to the point of snapping, probably the cause of the girl's fall. Back on the tribune, Emilia sipped more of her tea as she looked at the battle between the young Song Knights "Oh my, looks like the enemy tripped on her own feet. What a terrible blunder, don't you think, Black Prince?" Emilia smiled shrewdly as she regarded Darrel while adjusting her grip on the cup.

With the main foe down, now only the Dissonances lasted, the miracle that Rhodri and many others prayed for, coming in the form of a song a beautiful voice echoing through all of Arpeggio. None other than Princess Ires, performing her Summoning Aria, from the Imperial Palace's balcony. It looked like news of the attack finally reached the sacred halls where the Bach presided and, as they did, the Princess took the defense of the city in her hands. Princess Ires' Summoning Aria is special among pretty much all Song Knights since she has an attribute known as Pure Voice, which only a few Song Knights able to summon using their voices have. The purity of such a song is great enough that it burns Dissonances that listen to it, dispelling them into oblivion.

And so was it, as Princess Ires' song dispelled the Dissonances plaguing the city, in a misty of sparkling magic, only the mysterious foes lasted to be dealt with. What trick could they still have up their sleeve?

---

@McFazzer, @Eklispe, @Lonewolf685, @TheWindel, @Rune_Alchemist, @Pikmin Eye, @The Irish Tree.

[Pikmin Eye]

Randar Xenil

What was this girl? She moved like the wind and carried so many Dissonances with her. Even launching her like a cannonball at a wall, she was coming back already. It was looking to be a game of ping pong, until she fell short. With a last word of cursing Randar, she fell unconscious. She may be a horrible person, and she did deserve the grand act of death. However, Randar wasn't that kind of person. He slid down Cothyl to drag the girl away from the titan fight. She was gonna wake up eventually. He had questions, and he already knew many others wanted her alive. This time, he was gonna make sure she wasn't going anywhere.

With the girl no longer distracting Cothyl, he could finally focus on the fight with the Dissonance in front of him. Perhaps the dragon was too quick, or just wasn't in sight. Maybe it left to go help the others that were in danger. It didn't bother Cothyl though, if you want it done right you have to do it yourself. Size wasn't everything, it's what you do with it. With a mighty roar, he went into battle. He went to shoulder ram the thing off it's two legs. slash, swipe, bite, it wasn't exactly a plan. just play by ear, all while dodging acid. Perks of being a huge Spirit, you don't worry too much about incoming damage, so you can focus on dealing it.

Randar was busy treating the girls wounds. The point of keeping her alive would be wasted if she bled out. He wasn't planning on doing more treatment that critical wounds. Anything considered life threatening, she was an enemy, not a dying civilian. She caused all of this, and she was gonna see justice for this. He took a moment to pull out his piccolo, and played a slower song. It was mainly to help speed up her healing. Doing this might wake her up, but it was still better than letting her die. Once bare treatment was done, he planned on making sure she wasn't going anywhere. Considering the chaos around here, it wasn't likely anyone would have the time to take care of this. Randar made sure her weapon was moved far away from her, and had to wait and see if she was gonna make it through or die. The extra time to make sure she was tied up probably helped as well.

[Eklispe]

Moros Vorsickle

Moros whirled and raised his weapon to smash the pile of bones behind him when it suddenly turned into a pile of dust in conjunction with the distinctive feeling of a Song Knight's music. Moros grunted in surprise and looked around to see all the other skeletons suffered the same fate. Well. That certainly made things more simple. He glanced back inside the arena to see that the girl with the sheets had been dealt with. That left only the cathedral's mysterious solider. Lefay stepped beside him with a bored expression and yawned. "Well that didn't last long." She said casually. Shaking his head Moros said, "Good, now we see what to do next." With that he quickly moved to where the Princess and Captain were. "Shall we deal with the problem at the cathedral now?" he asked politely, bowing repectfully as he did so. Lefay has once again taken his shape but had no interest in being polite, rather she was carefully examining everyone there before sniffing disdainfully and looking away while tapping her foot impatiently.

[TheWendil]

~Darrel Black~

---

“I suppose you wouldn’t have any idea of how this happened, would you?” Darrel asked once again, eyes trained back on Emilia. Oh yes, he had been watching the fight take place between the terrorist and a young Song Knight. All the more reason to deepen his suspicions. Emilia obviously wouldn’t even be here if it didn’t somehow serve one of her purposes.

So he called forth another crow before sending it forward at the unconscious girl. The mass presence of negativity coming off of the Dissonances were suddenly swept away in a wave of power and he knew only one person alive could accomplish such a feat. So Princess Ires herself had finally showed up? About time too and Darrel was stoic as ever.

The crow cawed loudly before landing at the unconscious terrorist’s cheek, pecking it slightly for some kind of reaction before screeching and flying away as Rander picked her up. In truth, it was studying her and making sure this wasn’t some kind of trickery of the like. All of the other crows who had assisted the Song Knights in their deeds dissipated away, leaving behind naught but thick, black feathers.

“Looks like the battle is over,” Farrah said to her Spirit before dropping down from the sky and landing on her feet. Sealing away Ravielin for now, she spotted someone of official standing nearby Moros. Heading up to them, she gave her bow of respect to the Captain before listening in on what had to be said.

“I agree with Moros. It looks like this was just a distraction by that girl while the real enemy is attacking the Cathedral,” she said, noting that all of the Dissonances were dissolving away now, even the dragon fighting Rander’s Spirit. Was this the power of the Imperial Guard?

---

@The Irish Tree, @Lonewolf685, @Eklispe, @Pikmin Eye, @KoL