Gabriel, Thor, and Eliza - More than a Feeling - Final Part
Gabriel studied everything they came across, right up until te dark shape fell towards him. Dog crashed into him, sending him flying out of the way to safety, and as he crashed into a display table, sending its items flying. He scrambled up into a sitting postion, Dog growing lightly, over him, with Rat.
He looked about, uneasy, for what had fallen through the second floor towards him. It almost seemed deliberate. Gabriel rarely took anything to change, nor believed in coincidence's. Was it an out of control spirit, who sought to take the only one that could sense it out of the game as soon as possible?
He didn't know, but he rose. He wouldn't be taken on his back. Blood ran down in a line from a cut on his forehead, running down his cheek, but at least it didn't sink into his eye. He narrowed his eyes, searching.
The laugh rose to a crescendo, audible to all, but now it echoed from every corner of the room. The dark shape that descended from the broken second floor, now splayed on the ground visible for everyone to see, was nothing more than a wooden manikin. It lacked any sort of detail, including clothes, fingers, or toes, save for a crude scratching on its face. Eliza knelt down to it, twisted the head until it faced her, and squinted her eyes to better see what the crude scratchings relayed.
"Leafe this place," she transcribed simply.
The next instant, however, she jumped back from the manikin. A barnacle had appeared on its face, and as she watched, the whole puppet changed. Its wood became waterlogged and ruined, barnacles appeared out of nowhere and littered its surface. Around it, in a radius of about two feet, the carpet became soaked and covered in flotsom. Eliza held out her right hand, crying out,
"Glass Ball!" and a sphere of crystal shot from her palm to smash into the manikin and shatter. The puppet's head exploded from the impact, and a squid slimed out from the neck-hole to plop onto the carpet. Outside, the lightning flashed again, this time a sepulchral green. Again, Eliza shivered, and said,
"Let us keep movink."At the back of the souvenir shop was a metal door, locked with an electric mechanism. Eliza tried to pull it open with her gauntlet, to no avail. She seemed rather on edge, expecting something else to jump out at her any moment. When she stepped back, a small slit near the door's center opened, and a male voice came through from the other side. "The password?" it asked.
Thor was finally getting used to the wiggling of the boat and steadily breathed as they approached shore. Thor slowly stepped on their feet and carefully started walking to the edge in case Thor did trip and fall into the water. As a shadowy darkness came down on them Thor jumped up immediately casting their spell "Lightning Body" Thor flew up in the air at least 15 feet high and stopped to look down at the other two to see if they were okay. It came to notice that the ship they had been traveling on suddenly looked wrecked and torn down. This couldn't have happened in a mere 15 seconds. Even if it did there were clear signs of algae on the side of the ship. Thor widely scanned the area from up high and noticed the whole island was in this state. There must have been some kind of magic surrounding the island or a barrier along those ways. Thor had read upon these kind of magics and they were rather difficult to cast upon large objects. Thor slowly landed on vast land near the docks welcoming the other two at their arrival. Thor still had their magic ready to move quicker if something happened.
The soft whining of the dog and the comment of Gabriel made it clear they had to inspect what was happening any clues might get them earlier off this freaked out island. As the dog began moving Thor quickly followed, the magic did all the work for Thor so they didn't have to take a simple step while walking. Thor flew past the dog and opened up the door to see if anything was inside, the others followed soon after with Eliza closing the door tightly. Luckily the lights of the structure were still on so it wasn't as scary as Thor thought it would be. The sudden lightly strike made Eliza startled and Thor only lightly chuckle at her reaction. Thor wrote a note and showed it to Eliza
"Lightning won't kill you when you're close to me. I promise." Thor lightly smiled at the girl but quickly turned their head as small cracking sounds were heard from the ceiling. Once Thor saw that it was above Gabriel they wanted to shout at Gabriel before it was to late but only a small gasp sounded from Thor as the dark object came falling down.
Thor was relieved that Gabriel was okay but was ready to use their magic against the dark figure. Thor lightly panted that wooden manikin almost gave Thor a mild heart attack. Thor kicked against the large doll when Eliza was done with reading and looked up to see how it fell down. Nobody was there it was just an accident. Thor walked over to Gabriel and tucked lightly onto the side of his sleeve to get his attention. As Gabriel turned Thor showed a note
"Keep still." Thor carefully looked at the cut on his forehead and showed another note
"This will only hurt a little" Thor placed the tops of their fingers of both their hands against the cut on Gabriel's head and closed their eyes. Nothing was happening at first but suddenly a jolt of electricity could be felt. It only took several seconds before the cut was completely healed. Thor opened their eyes again and gave a small smile thinking they had done a good job. At last Thor grabbed the side of Thor's cloak sleeve and started to remove the blood on his face. When Thor was done they started moving again. Thor slowly trailed behind the other two looking behind them from time to time. As they came up to a electronic door Thor lightly squeezed past Gabriel to open the lock but was startled as they all heard a voice from behind the door.
Gabriel was surprised at the...gentleness that Thor show as she healed the cut, and wiped away the blood. Gabriel had always had Michael to do things like that, and he was sure their mother had done it, but most of Gabriels memories of his parents were fading, it had been so long ago. Michael could remember them clearly, while Gabriel was stuck with the fading.
He eyed the broken maniquine suspiciously. Something must have forced it through the ceiling, or the floor had rotted through quite like everything else. They were deal with something water related, then. He followed the others, Dog and Rat with him. As always, the thought that perhaps he should give them proper names came to him. They did after all resemble human shapes. But as they approached the door, the thought disappeared, as he frowned.
As it asked for a password, he assumed they had walked into a trap. His anger rose, a fury of it.
"open the door, you damned cursed spirit, I'm going to kick your arse from here to next century and then turn you into a pretty key" Eliza seemed on edge, but Gabriel was just ticked off. While it could very well just be a crazy wizard, he didn't think so. So if it was a spirit, then who had treated it so badly that it had resorted to this?
He knew that that anger was what made him move around the girls, and try the door himself, using his right hand, and giving it a kick as well.
"open sesesme damn it!" he shouted, unafraid of anything that might happen
For a moment it seemed as if Eliza might be appreciative of Thor's gesture, but her distant look quickly returned.
"It is not lightning that I fear," she informed the hooded wizard. Another peal of thunder rocked the building, and the former dark mage pointed out through the glossy window.
"That color is not natural. This is not a simple hauntink. It feels...deeper."In the tiny slit, a human face could be seen looking. His eyes blinked, looking at the assembled wizards. "...That'll do." The slit snapped shut, and the slicking noises of unbolting reverberated through the door. A moment passed before the door swung inward, creaking noisily from the rust. The inside of the room was darker than a moonless night, but as the neon-green lightning flashed again, a grisly scene was revealed for a split second.
Sitting in a chair behind the door was a man's corpse--no, skeleton, picked clean of all its flesh and garbed in ratty, aged rags. It slumped against the back of its seat, its bony hand resting on a bucket full of water. At the bottom of the bucket lay a shining bluish object, and Eliza, after overcoming her trepidation when faced with a body, held her gauntlet over the bucket. Its eyes glowed white, the object shot up into her grasp, and she held it out for the others to see. It was a sapphire, though encrusted with dirt, and at its core was a faint blue light. As the three watched, the blue light shuddered and shrank, and a noise came from the room that they'd left behind. When Eliza went to look, she found that the souvenir shop looked like it had been flooded, left to sit for years, and then drained. Coral polyps, barnacles, starfish, seaweed, and crabs were everywhere, as well as discarded shells, driftwood, and other flotsam. Dying squid flopped around on the carpet. The door itself was so encrusted with coral that it could barely by seen.
A moment later, a shuttered window in the locked room burst open, a fierce wind blowing through the place bringing rain in its wake. The cackling laugh came again, and Eliza stepped toward the window.
"This think is toying with us. If somethink big is goink on, it is tryink to lead us on, keep us avay from real problem. Come on." Eliza hopped through the window, and in seconds was soaked to the skin by the downpour. Her already-tight bodysuit clung to her frame, and after an embarrassed look at Gabriel, she turned away, blushing. In doing so, she spotted a glowing green light across the resort: a lighthouse.
"O-over there! Let us go. Quickly. Fery wet."Gabriel followed Eliza though the window, his spirits following as well. All three were soaked to the skin in seconds, Gabriel brushed back his hair out of his eyes, grinning. It appeared that even being tormented by something and seeing a skeleton of a man that was most likely the face seen through the door could dampen his spirits.
Or maybe that was the soaking wet Eliza, blushing. Gabriel actually thought it was sweet that she could blush. And that she was embarrassed that the rain forced her clothes against her skin. He smiled, and followed her gaze to the green light. He blinked. Both dog and rat looked like drowned animals, Dogs white hair plastered to head, his pointed ears thin as the fur there was plastered down. He shook, obviously in an attempt to dry himself, and inpossible feet in this rain. Rat simple looked grumpy.
Gabriel studied the light, his expression darkening somewhat. He nodded and followed after Eliza, after the green light, Dog running forward, and rat behind them.
The door into the lighthouse was ajar, and the trio pushed their way in. Aside from a table, some cabinets, and a rack of tools, there was nothing on the ground floor but a spiral staircase leading upward. As the wizards watched, however, a torrent of water began to stream down the stairs and soak the bottom floor. Eliza made to move out of the lighthouse, but found to her dismay the door inexplicably closed and locked behind them.
"Huh...that is a problem." With the only ready exit sealed, the murky water began to pile up on the ground. In no time at all, it was ankle-deep and climbing.
"Quick! We must climb! Eliza led the way up the staircase, struggling somewhat due to the water flow, and the tide behind them rose right on their heels.
They reached the top floor a few moments later, wet and tired but not remotely drowned. The upper chamber was surprisingly empty; only two points of interest existed within. One was the green light that the soldiers had mistaken for the lighthouse beacon; in actuality, it was a lamp, resting on the railing of the lighthouse's balcony. The other was the lighthouse beacon itself, which was dark, covered in chains, and encrusted with seascum. In its console was a small, octagonal opening, where something might have once fit.
Any musing about the beacon, however, was cut short by a particularly loud flash of lightning. In the split second that the world was illuminated, a large, misshapen figure was visible next to the lantern, but it was gone the next second. In the wake of the lightning flash, there came, however, the sound of maniacal laughter from below. Eliza rushed to the edge of the balcony, looked down from atop it, and uttered a long, low groan of fear.
Down on the ground, a horrible thing was afoot. At the center of the amusement park was a blazing bonfire, green instead of red, and dancing around it in an insane frenzy were dozens of skeletons in ragged clothing. The roller coasters were moving again, ridden by a crew of bony apparitions, that shrieked and laughed as the plunged around corners and down drops. Everything in the park was now waterlogged, covered in vestiges of sealife and marine detritus. Nearby, the ocean had risen across the beach, and was lapping at the park's edge.
"My...God..."Everything just seemed wrong, and yet, Gabriel didn't feel scared. Why should he? He had his guild with him, as well as his spirits, and this thing was just toying with them. If you showed it fear, it would just make everything worse, he thought. Eliza though seemed to be...of not scared, way way uneasy. He stepped up, and laid a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze, before removing his hand.
"everything's going to be okay. We're Frenzy plant, after all!" he grinned easily, taking in the scene around them.
He pondered what their next move should be, but e was disturbed by the manifestation near the lantern. He approached the lantern carefully, Dog and Rat by his side. Dog sniffed at the air, and seemed to be on edge. Gabriel didn't blame him.
"a bad smell" dog said softly,
"but there is so much...sea decay around that it could just be that." Gabriel expected that, and it actually gave him an idea.
He approached the window again, looking out, and gave a chuckle. The other two probably thought him delusional. But Gabriel saw something. Bones didn't conduct electricity. But metal did. Water did. And they just so happened go have someone who could use electrical attacks, if the way she had healed his cut was any indication. He looked to Thor, and then Eliza.
He couldn't deny that Eliza was more experienced, at jobs, and with Magic. Gabriel knew his own magic well, or he wouldn't have chosen this. He also had a good grasp on people, else wise he wouldn't know that he only got in the guild because the member he had fought let him win. Gabriel had seen that, and yet he did not care. Because it meant that this was a guild that...was what he wanted. If it seemed a little...strict and solider like...well, Gabriel was sure he could bring life and laughter to the guild, even as it taught him some discipline.
So he decided for now to defer to her judgement and said
"what do you think will happen if we had Thor electrify everything?" he would have asked Thor herself, but she seemed to have difficulty talking, as so far all she had done with him was write on paper and show him the words.
"Fer starters, ye'd kill all my hostages".To Eliza's immediate right, a
being materialized. It stood a foot taller than young woman easily, and wore ancient, rusted armor that in the eerie lighting appeared grotesque and malevolent. In its right had it carried a sword, but its left was an enormous crab claw, and instead of a head a diving helmet sat upon its shoulders. Eliza jumped back, shouting,
"Lightnink Dog!" and an electric clone of Dog surged forth toward the behemoth to attack. It threw out a shocking kick with all its power, but the blow glanced harmlessly off of the being's pincer.
"Nothink?!" Eliza exclaimed, too excited and nervous to stay focused. Her opponent reached out with its claw, fast as a lunging snake, and caught Eliza around the waist. She screamed once before the seaman's touch changed her, reducing her to a skeleton in rotten versions of her own clothes before tossing her. To the wizards' surprise, the skeleton moved and caught herself, preventing herself from falling down--she was fully animate. The now-ghoulish Eliza took one look at herself and, for one reason or another, burst out laughing.
The seaman didn't share her mirth.
"Another new addition to me crew," it sighed happily.
"It's turnin' out to be a won'erful day. An almost inaudible mumbling came from Thor, and an orb of condensed electricity sparked to life in her hand. This she hurled at the seaman like a softball, who held up his claw to block it and shrugged off the accompanying jolt.
"Don't you get fussy. There's plenty o' room aboard me vessel." Its gaze landed on Dog and Rat, and from within the diving helmet came that unnerving, cackling laugh.
"I seriously hope ye don' plan on usin' them to try an' beat me. There's no stoppin' me now...not like ye ever had a chance. Spirits are nothin' compared to Mystic Beasts."He hooked the lantern with his claw, and hovered into the air. Floating out into the empty space above the roaring bonfire, he reeled with laughter.
"Welcome, conscripts!" he called, and the skeletons below all chattered in response.
"It's been a fun couple of days, prowlin' around this port, gettin' friendly-like with the locals. But I came here to find a crew, and here you are, so now it's time to see the ship!" He pointed his sword toward the ocean, and from the dark fog issued a gigantic, tri-mast ship of black and gray, coated with barnacles. Two or three skeletons, both festering with sea creatures themselves, reveled on the deck.
"So we've got a crew. We've got a ship. Now ye just need a captain." He turned to face the wizards in the lighthouse, and held up his lantern. Its shutter swung open and the light died down, revealing a small rectangle within that depicted a man in a noose.
"I am one of the twen'y-six Mystic Beasts! Me card is The Hanged Man, but you may call me Proteus. My brothers and sisters let humans, the Mystic Fate Mages, control 'em, but I've held me own card fer years! Ye think ye can take me, wizards? Give it yer best shot! All the more fun once we set sail."Garbiel smiled. The situation might be dire, and yet, he knew that they would win.
"What do you say, guys?" He turned to his spirits, and continued
"This guy thinks you guys can't beat him. Lets show his ugly arse that we can beat him, and turn him back into a card. After all, we can't go back with a failed job and a guild member skeletal" They both seemed eager, and he smiled, laughing.
It was clear to Gabriel now that the skeleton were people, resort patrons and staff. So, they couldn't attack them. Gabriel just had to hope that defeating Ugly would let them return to their normal forms, return everything back to normal.
He smiled at the Mystic Beast Card spirit, and chuckled
"You'll lose your card, I'll make sure of that, Ugly. Spirits are stronger with wizards. go guys! Go, and show him what spirits can do!" They both darted of, not towardsz the Mystic Beast, but towards the ship.
Gabriel shifted forward, and took from his back pocket, of all things, a sling shot, as well as some ammo. He smiled again, and without taking aim, shot towards the Mystic beast. He just had to hope that the pebble like object would be enough, the spirit magic in it, would be enough to hurt the Mystic beast and give them enough time to do something.
"Eliza! Get your bony arse into movement! Don't let Ugly here control you!"The skeletal Eliza let out a hollow laugh.
”Never planned on it. I've seen transformink spells like this before. Fast-actink ones are far less easy to influence than slow-actink ones. I vill be fine. This Hanged Man, however,” she gnashed her teeth ferociously,
“is another story, for thinkink to pull one over on Eliza.”Proteus, however, laughed last.
"A fight it is, then! Come on, pups, I'll show ye what a spirit made for fightin' can do! The lantern snapped shut, and Proteus leveled his blade at Dog and Rat. A bolt of water shot from its tip, piping-hot judging by its steam, toward the two spirits. He had, however, been expecting them to jump out off the balcony and fight him, and instead they made for his vessel, so he missed.
"Can't kill what's already dead, boyos!” he called down toward them,
"It's called a Ghost Ship for a reason!” There was a slight edge to his voice though; was the Hanged Man gloating over an advantage, or trying to trick the group yet again?
There wasn't much time to think before Gabriel slung a pebble his way. Proteus cackled and swiped at it with his sword, flawlessly cleaving the pebble in two as if it was nothing. A second later, however, white energy arced around his body, stunning him.
"What?” A quiet voice at the back of the group uttered 'Lightning Body' and Thor shot into the air on thunderous wings, ready to fight the Hanged Man in midair.
The two traded a series of vicious blows in mere seconds. Proteus used his clawed arm as both to shield and to grapple, pinching his opponent and holding her in place, though not casting his curse on her, and all the while he kept up a brutal offense with his sword. He even shoehorned in a few metal-plated headbutts. To her credit, however, Thor held up well. Her electrocutions, though seemingly ineffective at first, were becoming more and more powerful as she accumulated charge. The moment of paralysis inflicted upon him by the backlash of Gabriel's pebble offered the lightning wizard a crucial advantage, but nevertheless Proteus boasted a serious level of power. When his back was turned, however, Eliza made her move.
”Helios' Harvest Arc!” A huge scythe made of burning brimstone whirled through the air and smashed into the Hanged Man's back. He span around and threw a swath of boiling water her way. It hit its mark, and Eliza was flung backward into the stairs. She rolled down them, unable to get her balance and fight the steaming flow.
Whenever he could get a clear shot, Gabriel shot another pebble at the hanged man, unafraid that he would hit a comrade. His pebbles always went where he wanted them to, and if they hit a comrade, they would just be harmless pebbles, although he was sure they would still hurt somewhat.
Dog and Rat moved quickly, running over the land, the two zodiac spirits sticking together. Again, they were unafraid. They reached the ship, and Dog kept lightly onto it, while Rat stayed down. Dog smiled, charming on his boyish face, holding out a clawed hand.
"celestial flame", in a soft almost musical voice the spirits did have magical attacks themselves. Dogs were...definetely more spirit like then anything else. Maybe ghost ship...he slammed his hand down on the ship, while Rat sucried about.
As Eliza was flung back, Gabriel gritted his teeth. He could feel the heat of the water from here, but how could he leave Eliza just like that? He stepped towards her, slipped gloves on his hands from another pocket, he darted one hand in, to grab Eliza, and pull her up, and out of the torrent,
"you need to be faster" he said cheerfully, returning to his sling shot
The burning impact tore through the planks with ease--evidently, the ethereal ghost ship was still a rickety old boat after all, with decks not at all designed to tank magical attack. Back in front of the lighthouse balcony, Proteus the Hanged Man growled through his diving helmet. The moment of vulnerability had passed, Gabriel having used it to rescue Eliza rather than press his advantage against his foe, leaving Thor the sole target of his wrath.
"Looks like me ship's got stowaways. I'm afraid ye 'll have to wait a few ticks 'fore I deal with ye properlike." Possessed of an unanticipated speed and critical accuracy, he appeared right in front of Thor, grabbed her, and threw her into the lighthouse with a painful
crack. He cackled madly, and as his glee echoed over the amusement park his body faded away.
Eliza glared at Gabrie as much as she could with neither eyeballs nor eyebrows.
"You try losink a hundred pounds in an instant! It von't be an easy adjustment either!" She pushed herself to her feet, and looked to where Proteus had been a moment before. Remembering something important, and suddenly anxious for the memory, she rushed to where Thor had been thrown. The little lightning mage was unconscious. No further help would be received from her.
"Vhat a dickhead...poor Thor's out cold. She vas the strongest of us. Brute force must not be the right vay." Eliza laid a finger to her bare temple.
"Hmm...lots of ghosts have specific requirements that need to be fulfilled before they can mofe on. Hanged Man is not ghost, but maybe principle is the same?"Proteus manifested on the deck of the ship, directly between Rat and Dog.
"Mutiny, eh? There be a death sentence if I ever here one. All mutineers...be hanged!" So saying, Proteus waved his sword at the rigging, and the ropes slithered to life to heed his summons. Like brown, knotted snakes, the ropes stretched across the deck, tying around posts and worming up masts, until a canopy of nooses lay above the Zodiac Spirits' heads. Across the deck were numerous lines pulled taught; an observant individual might guess that if they were stepped on, a noose trap would spring shut, and yank its victim up to dance to the death.
"Come on then, vermin! Remind me how pathetic the lesser spirits are!""if i lost a hundred pounds if be the weight I was as a toddler. That would be awesome!" Gabriel chuckled, but winced as Thor was thrown around like a rag doll. As the Hanged Man chased after his spirits, Gabriel knelt, but Thor seemed to be okay.
"one thing I've learned, Eliza, is that sometimes even the weakest of us, can be the strongest. You just have to...believe. To want it. And to have something to fight for. If id fought with my spirits, to get in? Well, chances are, I could have reached A rank, although I'd be a poor A rank wizard really at the moment. Because I wanted in. And when my spirits and I work together? We always have something to fight for" he summoned the small bear, which seemed to know what Gabriel wanted, and Stayed by Thor's side.
He rose and smiled, starting out the light house, to go to his Spirits aid if they needed it.
Dog looked to rat, staying still. Rat seemed to sigh audiably, and raised his hands, tail flicking. There was a special thing about Rat. He began to shrink, but it wasn't just that. Proper rats began to appear, physical rats, animal rats. They climbed up anything they needed, to begin chewing at the ropes. Always being careful not to get caught, the rats were quick, darting in and out, While Rat himself simply used his claws, larger then his smaller brothers still, they were effective in tearing up the ropes, as Dog summoned more celestial flames.
"well, you did say vermin" Dog chuckled, puffy tail wagging, as he began to throw the flames at any bit of the ship he could.
If Eliza still had eyes, she would have rolled them.
"Vhat a crock," she said imperiously, strolling to the balcony railing.
"A sheep cannot kill a wolf by believing it can. Havink friends does not make the chicken stronker than the coyote. Skill and trainink are vhat make someone the stronkest." She turned to look at the ghost ship, and stepped onto the balcony.
"If I say, Hanged Man, I have friends, and I believe, that makes me stronk, he vill svat me like a fly. If ve cannot outpower him, ve must outsmart him. That is vhat I do best. And I have a plan." She muttered a combo spell, and a note like a harp strumming sounded. Eliza's body shone, and the radiance washed away the curse like the evanescence of a bad dream. Now whole again, she intoned another spell, and electricity-wreathed batwings appeared to carry her toward her destination.
Back on the ship, Proteus had grown unhappy that the Spirits would not fight him right out.
"Looks like someone in't gettin' the idea," he growled, and flourished his sword. His lantern appeared and attached to the weapon's hilt, and the Hanged Man slammed the sword into the deck. A green wave of energy spread out across the deck, empowering the wood, the rope, and in short, the whole ship. Broken pieces began to repair themselves, and the ropes came to life to wrap around the rats' middles and wring the life out of them without mercy. One of the rodents ensnared was Rat himself.
"Ye aren't quite appreciatin' the power of a Mystic Beast. This ship and I are linked, one strengthens the other!" He held out an armored gauntlet, and a new sword materialized in his hand.
"This in't some second-rate privateer ye've boarded, mutt. Ye've installed yerself in pirate territ'ry, an' ye'll pay the pirate price!" He extended his claw, and wooden hands rose from the boards to grab Dog's limbs and pin him to the deck.
"Proteus," a familiar voice called.
The shipmaster turned himself to see Eliza land, and her batwings vanish. A rumble issued from his diving helmet when he viewed her in human form.
"Ah, the lassie's got an anti-curse, has she? No matter, I'll just kill ye first this time." He lunged at her, sword extended, and impaled her through the ribcage.
Eliza smiled as her image faded.
"Sorry, captain. Kumbha uses Gel Fakes. I improved on his design." Abruptly, she exploded in a ruby-red flash. Proteus howled, the light compounded by the reflective metal in his diving helmet, and was blind. Overhead there came a beat of wings, and the real Eliza removed a pin from the mast and dropped upon Proteus his own noose. Laboriously, and calling upon a combination Strength magic she had in store, she pulled the rope up, and the Hanged Man dangled in his noose, kicking.
"A neat trick, bitch, but ye can't choke a man in a divin' suit!Eliza grinned wickedly at him. Her eyes were wilder than she should have been; she was clearly enjoying her foe in pain.
"Maybe. Maybe not. There are three S-class vizards in Frenzy Plant: Zander, Indigo, and Ludo the Hermit. Recognize the name? He is also Mystic Beast. He said that all of them were once humans who died at auspicious times, and that all are veak to the same thing that killed them...Hanged Man."Proteus howled.
"Still won't kill me! All ye've done is make sure that I'm sendin' ye to the watery depths o' hell when I get loose!" With his attention elsewhere, Dog and Rat were both free, and Proteus knew it. In a state like this, it was conceivable that they'd be able to end him. An enraging but necessary conclusion was made.
"Damn yer eyes! I'll be back fer ye! Mark me words!" He began to laugh, horrible and shrieking and louder than before, until the entire ship was in flux with his glee. Then, as suddenly as it came, the whole thing vanished.
The Spirits and Eliza plopped onto the beach, in a ship-shaped indent in the sand.
Dog leaped aside, avoiding being caught by the deck as Rat was captured. He wasn't for long, as he broke the rope increasing his size to his normal size. He shook himself, and glared at the Beast spirit. Both Dog and Rat prepared to attack the Hanged Man, but before they could, the ship and man disappeared.
Gabriel just chuckled. He figured that there was a lot that he could teach this guild, and a lot he could learn. He jogged across the ground, towards the ship, just in time to catch Dog on his head, falling to the ground with the Spirit on top of him.
"hey! Get off me, you're not a puppy!" Gabriel said, pushing Dog off him, checking both spirits but they seemed okay. There were both still here, and hadn't been sent back to the spirit world, at least. He looked to Eliza, but he wasn't foolish enough to ask if they had won. He rose, and looked about them.
Wordlessly, and without much regard for whether or not her allies followed, Eliza made her way back into the theme park. She found every trace of sealife, every vestige of rot, and every drop of water mysteriously vanished. Where before there had pranced skeletons, there were only normal people now, though as the former dark mage walked by their clusters she could make out a common tattoo on all of them: a circular emblem depicting a squid.
"The job is done, but the task set before us is not. Ve did not beat Proteus, only delay him. Next time, though, ve'll know how to beat him, and who to send. Ve'll know the sights and omens, and next time ve vill eliminate the threat."Overhead, the clouds were clearing. No more rain fell, and no trace of lightning remained but for an eerie memory. Eliza hurried to the top of the lighthouse and found Thor revived, though rather sore. After explaining what had happened to the cloaked mute, the two reunited with Gabriel and his spirits, and began the long journey northward to the fortress they called home.
