[IC] Iris Ascendis

[Estylwen]

Ciara Ventura

Iris Record, First Floor Eastern Halls
@Nanaya, @Sifr

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"Lord Leuvalt declared it folly to turn back and see what the mobilization of security was for, but I for my part could not ignore it."

Ozhiah

Ciara scoffed, holding her abdomen with a wheeze. Lord Levault. That boy deserved to have the hordes upon him, not her.

"If you give yourself up now, you will not feel pain when the hammer of order is brought upon you. Of this, I can be certain."

Ozhiah

Ciara's red eyes stared back, before glancing at Hildegunde. The tingling running down her back. The splatter of blood on the floor.

A moment of hesitancy, soon preyed on by The Voice.

"Is this Ciara Ventura? Will this be her last dance, bleeding and limping like a cornered animal, prancing like a court jester soon to knowingly reach the king's guillotine?”

That Voice

It was true. If she was caught, she wouldn't survive. All the slivers she knew about the Umbralists told her they didn't survive. They were killed with impunity. Such a fate awaited her, if she stopped now. If she gave in.

She'd never give in.

Her lips pulled back in a snarl, her eyes fixed on Ozhiah. Her words were for him, and for the Voice taunting her within.

”Go to hell.”

And she breathed in.

With all her might and speed, she drew in the energy, the life force from both Ozhiah and Hildegunde, hoping to, and aiming to wither them down to immobile, barely breathing husks. Not kill them, but bring them close to it.

Ozhiah was an obvious target, but Hildegunde? Ciara didn't have time to negotiate, to beg for help. She assumed Hildegunde would react poorly to her attack on Ozhiah, so Ciara made it easier: she simply included Hildegunde in the attack.

The sound of breaking walls spurred Ciara on. To hell with Davil, she had to get out. Now. She was foolish for even daring coming this way. Now? Now she would follow Hildegunde's path. It would make sense it would lead to the arena, then to the entrance.

Without sparing Hildegunde or Ozhiah a look, Ciara gritted her teeth, and teleported down the hall, retracing Hildegunde's likely pathway in an effort to make it outside quicker than the encroaching feeling she could feel breathing down her neck. Quicker than the consequences of her actions. Faster than whatever was coming for her.

[AThousandCurses]

The unpleasant sounds of pain and agony echoed from the halls. For a person who didn't want to be labeled as an Umbralist, Ventura was certainly good at inspiring fear amongst the masses. The soldiers nearby were even quivering in their boots as they recovered from their initial skirmish. It is odd to see how they were struggling against Ventaura, but it could also be said that was how strong Ventaura was. Or perhaps it was the fear of an umbralist that weakened their hearts.

"It is nothing to be sad about. My former classmate chose this course of action, and what is happening now are the consequences of it." It wasn't atypical since he doubted Ventaura had any real friends or support in this facility. The only personal Chunji saw around Ventura was Otis, and he could hardly be called the bastion of friendship. "Even if we are told not to engage the enemy, we can still evacuate everyone to a safer place. From what I could see, Ventaura's last attack was quite devastating. It would not surprise me if someone was severely injured in the attack." Chunji looked over and opened the nearest door.

It was a room filled with alchemical equipment. Chunji entered and dipped his head back out. "You should gather yourself and a few others to rescue anyone in trouble. If I recall correctly, a hero not only fights evil but saves lives. I'll prepare a suitable space for the injured in this room." With that, Chunji closed the door and took a deep breath. Ideally, Chunji hoped that Ciara would head up to the next floor, but the superficial woman decided to flee for her own life.

"Dayin, I need your help." Once more, Chunji summoned his Adapa in front of him. "Prepare this room for the injured." Chunji flipped through a couple of hand signs and cast a spell.

"方向 八德 十六个目的 三十二种武器 六十四星" (One Path. Two Hands. Four Directions. Eight Virtues. Sixteen Purposes. Thirty-Two Weapons. Sixty-Four Stars.)

"九诈 蜕变" (Nine Deceptions: Transformation)

Finishing the sign at Monkey, Dayin transformed in front of him. From the faded smoke emerged a figure reminiscent of Chunji's own. Dayin stood before him as his carbon copy. A copy who could replicate even his own voice, judging by how Dayin tested its voice. A perfect doppelganger that Chunji needed. "Try to maintain the illusion, Dayin." Now, it was time to perform the spell on himself.

Chunji transformed himself into a rat. Dayin opened the door slightly to let him out. With due haste, Chunji made his way to the nearest staircase to his west. The chaos should have averted any eyes that would've gotten him caught in the halls. If Chunji were to ascend the stairs by himself, he would've peered onto the second floor with his Ethos.

He needed to get to Davil. Chunji needed to confirm his suspicions. The words that plagued his mind echoed in Chunji's head.

"The world cannot advance in this direction; this whole thing is a sham and a disgrace. Heroics will not win the day, nor will the trampled we know be redeemed. Meer was right - fury is our strength. We must abide by the old, for it is our only path."

[ERode]

_{@Nanaya@Estylwen@AThousandCurses@Psyker Landshark@Sifr}

And now, alone in the arena, Otis spoke of his own Ethos at last.

“Show me wonders of this world.”

The Door emerged behind him, and from it, he called up a plush chair that the Strigidae promptly sank into, before delving deep into the permissions that had been given to him. One hour wasn’t too much time, but he doubted that Ciara herself would survive one hour inside the Iris Record to begin with. They all had to make do, when it came down to it.

Pulling at his Adapa, Otis drew up panels upon panels of projected images. The highest floor was off-limits, and he hadn’t even known that the basement wasn’t accessible either, but the rest? Information flowed through his mind, amber eyes flicking from panel to panel as he ‘captured’ as many doors as he could. As a side mission, he flicked open his tome to another page, scribbling a quick message to be sent to the Hildegunde, Chunji, and Iraleth: “Davil is not anywhere that I can see, but I have no access to the basement or the top floor.”

More essence flowed through, as if extensions of his nervous system. Otis continued to analyze the situation, watching the flow of student as he reorganized his viewing panels to construct a three-dimensional overview of the Iris Record in its entirety. The doors to the arena itself closed, then locked, a sealed fortress to keep out any annoyances, before more doors and bulkheads began to collapse upon the hallways and corridors of the first floor in a sequential manner. Students and guards were caught between the subdivisions, of course, but they ought to thank him for keeping Ciara away from them, really.

Grasping control of all arcane cameras upon the first floor, Otis altered the functionality with a flick of the wrist, and in the next moment? Light bloomed within the Iris Record. Not a blinding brilliance that would cast stark shadows, but a soft, diffused light to thin out the darkness until it was hardly perceptible.

And as the medium from which Ciara’s Ethos manifested from waned, as Iraleth neared in her vengeful pursuit, yet another voice joined the others in her head.

“Don’t bother with the entrance. Third door to your left is still open. Go inside, then break past the wall directly in front of you. Run 20 meters straight ahead within three seconds; you’ll barely make it past the bulkhead before it closes if you manage that. Stairs will be westward. Third floor has no cameras.”

[Psyker Landshark]

Iraleth Kyrios

As Iraleth continued in her pursuit, her Adapa pinged, and the Inheritor's helmet tilted slightly to read it even as she crashed through yet another doorway. Right. Davil. He'd been in the back of her mind still, and Iraleth did want to save him from whatever predicament he'd landed in. But...

Ciara's desperate flight was endangering so many more people. It would be downright immoral to concentrate on Davil at this time instead of her. Iraleth murmured a quick prayer for forgiveness under her breath, hoping that Davil would survive whatever what he was going through until she could make it to him. Her shield hand scrawled a quick response on her own Adapa, sending the message out as quickly as she could.

"Aid Davil if you can. I will handle Ciara. Thank you."

Iraleth caught up to Ciara just in time to see her drain Ozhiah and Hildegunde, teleporting away not a moment after.

"Damn her!" She howled in fury, stopping just long enough to throw enough healing to stabilize the two of them (mostly Hildegunde, really) before continuing in her pursuit, sending a second message on her Adapa as she did so.

"Hildegunde and one of Leuvalt's worthless parasites are downed. Ciara's work. Send medical aid."

Ciara may have been able to teleport, but she'd hit rebound faster before Iraleth did. Shifting through space had to be more taxing on the body than maintaining her Ethos, and when Iraleth caught up...

@ERode @Sifr