Jackson "Nidhogg" DuCarthy and Dawn Daniels - Under the Domes Elizabeth Daniels, Assisting
@RaijinSlayer@Expolar Possibly
@Crimson Raven@Caits@CirusArvennicus@t2wave@Silver Fox For those of you near Elizabeth you can just read the stuff in between the line separators.
Nidhogg finished up his snack shortly after Dawn got his bearings on his surroundings. Tossing the rest of it over his shoulder, he walked towards the young mage. The burns on his body were quickly lessening as the healing factor kicked in, Nidhogg's defense form luckily keeping everything important, like his organs, from getting damaged. The rest was easily healed, and after a few moments of pacing, it was down to a lighter burn, making his skin look rather pink in some areas. Once he felt better, Nidhogg finally decided it was time to speak, cracking his neck to make sure everything was in alignment.
"So, I'm going to beat the crap out of you because I just had a shitty day. Could've been anybody, really, but your little fire trick interrupt my chance of letting those two brownosing brats know exactly what I think about orders from our guildmaster." Nidhogg spit out the word like it was a curse, looking down at his stomach and the burned remains of his shirt to glare at the Shadow Heart Insignia emblazoned in his body like brand. Days like today reminded him why he hated having to be in this guild, because he always had to deal with that bitch's commands.
Letting off a tired sigh, he gave Dawn a side-long look before cracking his neck again, followed by a swift cracking of knuckles, the snapping 'pop' noise resounding within the darkened chamber as the hydra's heads watched on with hollow sockets. Nidhogg stepped right up to Dawn, staring him down with his crimson eyes like he was a gnat. Something was pulsing behind those crimson orbs, something... dangerous and hungry.
"Since you've been dragged into this mess, I'm going to give you a chance to get out of here alive. All you have to do is hit me three times while I'm beating the shit out of you. Just 3 hits with some weight behind them, easy enough, right?" Nidhogg would give a small smile as he nodded to himself, arms crossed over his chest as he felt the decision was most fair.
"So, with that decided..."And there it was, the hungering darkness flitted behind the lich's eyes again as he began the assault, assuming that Dawn would be too weak to actually move with any quickness, with a quick roundhouse to the face, followed by a jab to the gut with his other hand, before ending the maneuver with a quick spin-trip to drop Dawn to the floor, using the momentum to bring his foot high into the air. As soon as it rose, the foot would fall in a punishing axe-kick to the boy's chest, likely hitting hard enough to cause a few fractures in his rib cage. While Nidhogg didn't particularly hate this kid, Dawn had gotten in his way, and need a severe punishment for that offense, something beyond mere tenderizing. What that would be, he'd figure out later, but right now, he'd just delight himself in causing the brat as much suffering as he could.
In the darkness Dawn could see only one thing. The glowing red eyes of the lich that had dragged him down here. As he spoke Dawn's heart started to sink. This was an undead monster and while Dawn's flames up above had been impressive and far more than even he himself had thought he could manage it had tapped his reserves completely. He barely had the energy to stand let a lone conjure up something to defend himself with.
The lich approached Dawn drawing closer and closer, his eyes glowing with hostility and a hunger for destruction. Dawn knew what was coming next but he didn't have the strength to stop it. His limbs felt as heavy as lead, it was taking all it strength to keep himself standing. Nidhogg's leg struck Dawn in the face, the only thing that kept him from toppling right there was lich himself. The undead sorcerer grabbed Dawn by the shoulder to prevent him from falling and nailed him squarely in the stomach before he knocked Dawn's legs out from under him. Dawn's breathing was coming in heavy. He was going to die here, he was never going to see his sister again. He couldn't help her... who would look out for his family if he wasn't there.
Almost a mile away in the corridors of the stadium for the Grand Magic Games a girl gasped in pain as each blow landed on her brother. Elizabeth's body showed no sign of damage but all the same it seemed as though she had been struck as she suddenly fell away from Karn's immobile form. She was breathing heavily, grasping in air as fast as she could. Her eyes turned bright silver once again and ice started to spread from her body, coating the floor and crawling up the walls. The air in the corridor dropped in temperature ten degrees as the Luna mage's powers went wild, turning the hall into a corridor of ice. Underneath her she touched her hands to the frozen surface, each place that her skin made contact the ice melted then instantly refroze. Her body was boiling with heat but she seemed not to feel it as she melted a single word into the ice:
Brother
Beneath the streets of Crocus something happened to Dawn. His body suddenly became charged with mystical energy. He felt jittery and strong. Like he'd overdosed on a stimulant but it felt all wrong. The energy burned like fire in his veins. All of his muscles shouted that something wasn't right but his mind didn't seem to care. Almost quicker than he could think Dawn's hands reached out in front of him grabbing Nidhogg's boot as it came down to smash his ribs stopping it in place before it could do any damage. Dawn's eyes started to glow with a brilliant silver light that illuminated the darkness and ice started to formed from Dawn's hands onto Nidhogg's boots crawling up the lich's leg, with the intent to seal the lich inside of block of the cold substance.
Nidhogg had hoped his little offer would get some sort of response out of the mage, but alas, they were feeble prey through and through, never even attempting to struggle against him. How utterly boring... or so he thought. Nidhogg hadn't expected the sudden burst of magical energy coming from the brat, nor the interception and freezing his descending foot. He was quick to tear the frozen limb out of Dawn's hand, looking it over a bit before breaking the ice with a swift kick against the ground.
"Well... that was odd." Nidhogg noted offhandedly, head tilted slight as he looked from Dawn to his foot, then back to Dawn again. As he looked at the prone figure, a smile broke across his face, like a kid with a new toy he couldn't wait to break... or continuing break, as the case may be.
"Now then, let's see how many more times we can get you to do that. Two...? Five...? Maybe ten...? Only one way to find out."Nidhogg finished his sentence by lashing out with a harsh kick to the boy's side, the blow was hard enough to send Dawn skidding across the ground. The Sol mage went tumbling over the rocks feeling every one of them dig into his skin. His head felt hot and feverish, his mind was in a haze as he heard the lich approach his unmoving form, cracking his knuckles as he went, a new air of excitement surrounding Nidhogg as he stopped right next to Dawn, stomping down on his face savagely as he prepared to really lay into the him.
Some distance away Elizabeth began to glow with an ethereal light almost blinding to look at. A childish grin lite her face as the ice in the corridor started to thicken. She melted another word into the ice beneath her:
Safe
Before the blow could make contact with Dawn's face there was a flash of brilliant silver light that hit Nidhogg's boot like a club knocking him off balance and sending him toppling to the ground. Spots danced across Dawn's vision. The strength that this energy had given him earlier was gone, replaced by intense heat. He felt like he was boiling alive.
Nidhogg got back to his feet slowly, keenly aware that he had all the time and all the power in this situation. Anything Dawn could do would simply stave off the havoc that Nidhogg intended to wreck on his body for a moment longer.
"My my, that little piece of randomness really does intrigue... You can expect to survive this little beating, and those to come, that is until I figure out what's causing it." Nidhogg chuckled to himself as he face twisted into a cruel smirk, bringing his foot up in order to bring it back down hard on Dawn's head. Dawn flinched when he saw Nidhogg's boot raised again to strike him however, the blow never came. Nidhogg had frozen mid-motion. An annoyed twitched on his face, he turned round to look at the newcomer(s) that had appeared in his chamber.
There was a moment of solitary silence, only to be followed by the loud, unnerving roars of three Hydra heads, their barely formed vocal cords distorting the sound into a haunting mockery of what it was supposed to be. To accompany the shrieks of the beast's heads were three streams of necrotic energy shot out of there mouths, barreling towards the intruder(s) intent on leaving naught but bones behind. Nidhogg watched with an annoyed glare as he muttered angrily to himself.
"Sixth time, that was the sixth fuckin' time I've been interrupted by some random ass coming to ruin my fun, first with the Robin idiot, then comes this little shit," He'd emphasize this point with another kick aimed at Dawn's face. The Sol mage had just enough foresight to role so that it instead collided with his chest. He heard a crack as one of his ribs fractured. "Then I had to deal with Shiro, then Manami, then this shit again," Another kick, harder and to the torso this time, "and finally I have you jackasses. Why can't I be allowed to enjoy myself today, I swear. Mortimer, cut it off."
With that command, the torrent ended leaving Nidhogg only a third of his normal reserves, not a good state to be in. If the intruder(s) were still alive and well after that attack, Nidhogg would be quick to back away, a plan of action forming in his head.
Dawn just lay there. He couldn't focus. He'd managed to avoid most Nidhogg's beating but it felt as though his body was rebelling against him as his muscles groaned under a stress that wasn't there. He felt hot and at this moment he would have liked to simply pass out but his situation desperately demanded that he hold onto consciousness just long enough to see if his rescuers had survived or if he was about to become Nidhogg's personal punching bag for a very long time.
In the bowels of the Grand Magic Stadium the smile on Elizabeth's face grew wider yet if anyone was close enough to see her face or cared to look there was a sadness in her eyes that didn't match her contented smile. She wrote one last word in the ice:
Consequences. Before her head rolled to the side and she passed out, her mind going blank.
