[IC] Game of Tails

[PlatinumSkink]

‘You’re willing!?’ Solia probably looked like she was about to explode in relief and joy at that statement of Alam’s. ‘Thank you! Thank you! A-and yes, the change of clothes is certainly absolutely irrevocably important! What kind of nation would I make Graelian look like if I couldn’t even outfit our heroes in the proudest and most stylish garb available to us!?’ She said in clear excitement, the young white-haired dog-girl jumping on the spot in excitement with her black tail swinging eccentrically behind her. And then, the girl… ‘Oh, wow…’ While Yui hadn’t given any indication on willing to fight quite yet, and in fact she didn’t really have to anymore since a single hero would be awesome in himself but that’s a completely different matter even if two heroes would be SO cool, she did light up at the mention of the costume and Solia could almost imagine the tail that wasn’t there wagging as she went with them. And… ‘Oh, wow…’ Lucrezia was doing THAT… Solia backed off a bit and brought a single hand over her mouth for a bit, watching her head maid leading the boy towards the tents and Yui following along… Oh! Solia needed to change, too!

The princess dashed over to the two lieutenant maids which were keeping the two rings which were the nation’s two weapons were standing. ‘Thank you very much for keeping track of these~!’ The princess told them before snatching up the rings herself. Solia didn’t think too much if she wasn’t supposed to do that or not, but she did. It was her duty to give them to the heroes, after all. But that was… after they were changed! … And after she had changed too! That said… ‘I need to be done changing before the heroes are! Excuse me!’ Both rings in a single hand the young princess dashed off past the three of them towards wherever she had been intended to change. She simply needed to do it. And so, she dashed into a tent of her own which probably contained a few prepared maids, ready to perform their duties.

[Zombehs]

Alam didn’t turn towards Lucrezia, but the slowly reddening blush was enough to tell anyone he was aware of her approach. Between her and Solia’s insistence, he was quick enough to relent, sighing and muttering, “Fine…” Whereas Yui darted on ahead, eager to get changed, Alam slouched and trudged along, not nearly as motivated and still rather reluctant. Even that didn’t last for long though, as he felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders and push him along. That alone might not have been enough, but the accompanying sensation of the head maid’s bosom against his back lit his face up with a scarlet hue. “O-okay, I get it,” he stammered out, a bit flustered, as he picked up the pace, if only so he could disappear behind the stall’s curtains.

Yet, when he pulled the red curtain aside, the first thing that concerned him was not the regalia that had been prepared, though it certainly caught his attention. No, rather it was the two maids that stood beside the stand propping up the costume. Pinching his forehead as he groaned, he held up a hand to stop any questions before they could be asked. Alam didn’t think himself too rude, but he had to draw the line somewhere. “I’m sorry, but no. I appreciate it, but I can get dressed myself.” His tone made it perfectly clear that this was not an issue they would be able to convince him on otherwise; no room for negotiation, just a flat declaration. With nothing else to be said, the two maids, if looking a bit disappointed, bowed to him before they stepped back and out of the stall. Left alone, Alam was finally able to get a good look at the clothes that had been laid out for him, and after a few moments he sighed and grumbled, “Damnit.”

True to his words, it didn’t take long for him to switch into the costume, unwilling as he was to do so. He might have thought that the colors just threw the entire design off, but he had already given his word. As he slipped the gloves on, he marvelled for just a moment at how they had managed to fit the costume to his size before the thought made him frown. ‘Now wait a minute...’ Shaking his head, he pushed aside that line of thought before it turned too negative and gave himself a quick once over; well he was more or less dressed, with maybe a bit of straightening out needed. He also thought he looked pretty damn silly, the bright yellow just did not fit. On his left hand he twirled the half-mask that had been part of the set. He had tried wearing it, but it interfered with his breathing, making it more difficult, and it wasn’t like it would be of any use. His hairstyle would give him away instantly, as would the colour of his skin, and that was if he wasn’t paraded around after the “war” ended. Rolling his neck and cracking his knuckles, he sighed once more, brushed aside the curtains, and stepped back out with a sarcastic, “Ta-da…”

[Skyswimsky]

Without much trouble, and a lot of motivation, Yui moved into the stall next to Alam; ready to change in whatever glorious costume was chosen for her! She didn't even think about how they got her small sizes, nor did she care. Of course Yui could employ the help of two maids as well and, with everyone being a girl, she had no problems; apart from the fact that the chests of those two were bigger than her own too.

Pushing her nitpicking thoughts aside she greeted both of them while looking around the small room. "So where is the c-c-costume?!" She lost her words for a moment as she saw the obvious mannequin at the other back dressed in a kinda revealing attire that was most likely meant for her. Well, it was definitely not an armor-bikini that would skyrocket her hidden defense stats but revealed enough skin to please the one or other male that was into the still developing kind of body that Yui had. Furthermore it was not like she never wore such kind of clothing, thus her initial enthusiasm. With a motivated nod she continued stepping forward. "Alright, I am in your care!...?" While Yui could swear one of them looked a bit disappointed, the two maids responded with a warm smile before they finally helped her getting changed ... .

The first thing Yui noted after she changed into her new costume was how unexpectedly comfortable it was, a true blessing if she was supposed to wear it for a prolonged time. "Thanks you two!" giving some kind of parting words to the two maids Yui pulled the curtains aside and stepped out. If Yui felt embarrassed she made a damn good job hiding it, full of enthusiasm she stroke a pose, giving away a way more positive "Ta-da~~" than her male counterpart.

[PlatinumSkink]

Solia dashed away and got into a tent of her own, where she had a few maids assist her in getting herself into her battle attire. In difference to her new heroes, she had done this quite a few times before, and although not quite as much of a terror on the battlefield as the others Solia was still the princess and a pretty good archer / swordswoman commander-level individual, and as such knew the ins and outs of things. Quite rapidly the princess had been stripped of her usual go-about-her-day outfit and been redressed in a kind-of combat dress with armored legs, arms and torso outfitted in pink and with a tiara on top of her head to show her princess-ness. (Ignore the head, I’ll just put her in this one) Delighted in being dressed up for battle, Solia ran out and met with the heroes, delighted to see them dressed for battle as well.

‘Aaaaaaah-hah-hah…!’ She made an excited sound clapping her hands together in joy. ‘Alam, you look great! And Yui, you look so pretty!’ Both their outfits gave something of a heroic flashy mystery vibe, meaning that when they were seen on the battlefield they’d be making great first impressions! Alam’s yellow color would match great with the weapon she was about to give him, and that blue outfit with the weapon Yui would be given would be a really nice clash against the color of her hair and really give her a distinct personality, even on range! … Yeah, Solia had somewhat of a sense how things would look on the screen, and she wasn’t about to let the people down on the appearance of her heroes. Smiling happily and with her black little tail wagging, Solia approached the two heroes.

‘You both look good! And now… I have something to give you two.’ The princess, slightly shyly, stepped forward towards the two heroes. Her hands had been clasped together, but now she closed them beside each other, making fists that obviously contained something. While Solia honestly didn’t know if there were a proper way to do this (she had never summoned heroes before, OK?), but here goes. She stretched forward her hands, one to Alam and one to Yui, and opened her hands. Both hands revealed the existence of this small ring, a metal ring made to fit the index finger. Both of them had colored orbs in the middle of them, the one she offered to Alam had a bright and shiny yellow one and the one to Yui had a dark but beautiful blue one. Solia looked hopefully at the two of them.

‘These are the National Treasure Weapons of Graelian. I wish you to use them, and let them serve you well. This one…’ She lifted the one to Alam. ‘… Is the Divine Arms, Soladium. And this one…’ Lifted the one to Yui. ‘… Is the Lunatic Scythe, Lunaria.’ She held them forward hoping the two heroes would pick them up. ‘You merely have to equip yourself with the ring and think of the kind of weapon you would like to battle with, and by the use of Frala the weapons will form before you exactly like you want them.’ They will, however, take a color-scheme which matches that of the weapons themselves, which would mean bright and yellow for Soladium while Lunaria would be pretty and blue, mostly. And artistic adding of other colors.

‘You will also be able to use Frala later to create great magical attacks and other things… But for now! Try out the rings! Try them out!’ Solia was happily jumping before her heroes, hoping them to try out their new equipment. Hoping they’d accept as well.

[Zombehs]

Despite its color, Alam nevertheless took a moment to appreciate the regalia he had been given once he saw Yui and Solia’s. Even if the clothes didn’t look or feel like it would be able to do more than soften a few hits, at the very least it looked more practical than the girls’ by a long shot. Still… insulting someone’s clothes, particularly girls’, was a great way to piss them off, so Alam held any comments to himself. He mumbled something indistinct off to the side at Solia’s excitement, scratching the back of his head in discomfort. It wasn’t until the princess approached the two of them that Alam focused his attention back to her, having been more preoccupied with glancing about the room and taking in small details as a way to distract himself.

“You too.” He wasn’t even just being polite, the costume certainly did stand out and catch the eye; although Alam did wonder how smart it was to paint a target on yourself on the “battlefield”. That concern was brushed aside by his interest in what Solia was holding though, and he blinked in surprise when the rings were revealed; though really, he wasn’t sure what he had been expecting. He picked up the yellow-set ring while Solia was explaining exactly what they were, frowning for only the briefest of moments. It was… rather plain for something with as fancy a name as the Divine Arms; only a simple grey band fitted with a polished yellow orb.

“Calm down, jeez.” Despite him waving for her to stop hopping about, Alam couldn’t, or rather, didn’t hide the small grin he wore and his tone was good-natured. While he wasn’t too sure about the “great magical attacks”, he was plenty excited about the other possibilities. Wasting little time, he pulled off the pair of gloves that had been provided so he could put the ring on. “Huh…” It didn’t exactly fit and took a few moments of twisting and adjusting before the ring was comfortable on his finger. Hell Alam might have even said the thing had changed itself to fit snuggly; he didn’t think it would be impossible and it certainly hadn’t fit a moment ago.

He stared at the ring on his finger for a few moments before deciding that trying it out would probably be a good idea. Solia had said that all he had to do was think of what form he wanted it to take, so he closed his eyes and began to think. Alam was never all that creative so rather than think of something original, he settled on something which he was already familiar with. It was probably unnecessary, but he felt somewhat compelled to, at the very least, mutter, “Divine Arms, Soladium.”

Even with his eyes closed, the bright golden light managed to light up his vision and as it faded he felt an unfamiliar weight on his hands. Once the glow had dimmed he brought his hands, now clad in a pair of golden gauntlets, up and grinned at the result. The metal plates were fastened to the fingerless leather gloves and reached about halfway to his elbows. The weight was something he would have to get used to, but at the very least it suggested these things would be able to take some punishment, so that was a comfort. What purpose the red jewel embedded in the center served was revealed with a quick touch; the tip that jutted just a bit ahead of his closed fist was dangerously sharp. “Divine Arms, huh? I can work with these,” he said with a nod as he turned his attention back to Solia.

[Skyswimsky]

Wow, that was a lot of yellow, too much yellow on a male for Yui's taste and he himself didn't seem to enjoy it either. Before Yui could give him a word of encouragement the princess appeared yet again. Clothed in something quite different from before, it was probably her fighting outfit, something in-between a ball-dress and a battle-armor with a lot of pink it definitely offered more protection than her or Alam's outfits.

With Alam's yellow and Solia's pink it was actually a bit disappointing that Yui herself was rather black. "Thanks! You look very pink, too!" Whatever those words meant for the excited princess was for her to find out, but maybe she wouldn't even care. The overflow of enthusiasm was nearly a bit creepy."Lunatic Scythe..Lunaria?" The ring looked anything but a scythe; maybe the creator just didn't know of any weapon starting with the words "Luna...". Taking the ring from the hyperactive royalty Yui didn't hesitate to put it on her finger.

Without Solia's explanation and the ring-weapon-thing being titled "scythe" it would have surely been something swordish, instead, Yui transformed the accessories into a scythe(picture will follow soon™)."Woah...but...I don't know of any Mahou Shojou's using that kind of weapons!" She couldn't wait to get magic teached.

[PlatinumSkink]

‘Oooooh...!’ Solia sounded out happily as the two heroes accepted their weapons and allowed them to use them. She already knew they’d work, she had used them previously herself just for the sake of trying them out (and because she’s royalty, she had to just try). The young princess held her hands together and looked on in awe as the two heroes equipped themselves… Alam seemed to be happy with the gauntlets he made them to, while Yui… seemed quite amazed with the scythe she made. And they had both equipped themselves with…

‘You’re… actually making them into their namesakes…?’ Solia realized that she might have something to explain with her remark, so she focused her bewilderment and explained with a somewhat serious tone. ‘The weapons, Lunaria and Soladium, both have, so to say, a true form. It is… currently unavailable to us, but, um, if you two prove yourselves it will surely appear! But, um… you both made them into such odd weapons instead of the typical sword or something…! Even if it is in the name of the weapons, it is…!’ Solia stared at them with a serious but bewildered expression. ‘… Perfect for our heroes! Kyaaah…!’ She then proceeded to shout out in a bit of happiness, bounce a bit on the spot and worry the nearby maids (not including Lucrezia, Neke decides what she feels) between their smiling at the princess’ happiness. After a few bounces and a wagging tail (which obviously stuck out of the dress on the backside), Solia turned back towards the heroes with a practically shining expression.

‘Mahou... Shoujos...?’ Solia would look a bit curiously at Yui. She seemed to have used it like if it was a title or something, so it felt like she was refering to something Solia had no idea what it was. However, the word "mahou" did well enough to remind Solia of...

‘Ah! That’s right! I need to explain…’ It needs to be, right? ‘Crest skills! Um. They are abilities that use the Frala which exists in the air and lands of Fralanthe. To use them, you’ll need to draw the Frala to your crests and mix it with your life force to create…’ To show what she was referring to, Solia held forward her right hand, palm down. She took a breath for preparation, although she didn’t really need to since she was so used to doing it but it was for her own nervousness, and then activated her crest. It should show up on the back of her hand as a green (because I decided her magic to be green, but that might be unsuitable now when I got her this dress…) transparent national crest, charging a bit of power. ‘… Power with which you can do many things, including attacking enemies. This can be done in a variety of ways, depending on how you shape the power, and how much of it you use.’ To demonstrate, Solia turned her hand around and faced her palm up, where she created a green little ball of power, before sending it soaring upwards to do a minor little pang of a tiny explosion above their heads. With that, Solia would smile at them.

‘Of course, they’re much larger than what I just showed, but can be rather tiring in large amounts. If you could learn to use them, it would be a great advantage on the battlefield.’ Solia clasped her hands together, the excited royal bouncing slightly on the spot making the armor-dress she was wearing sound a bit as she looked towards the happily. ‘S-so? Are you two willing and ready to head out to the battlefield and see what you’re capable of…?’ Oooooooooh, Solia would have to make an announcement before heading to battle herself! An announcement about the heroes that had just showed up! It would drive the public absolutely nuts! Hahahahaha…! Oh, she hoped so desperately that this was a good idea, but it really did feel like one…!

[Zombehs]

“I see…” Well, count on sacred treasures to have a ‘secret form’. Now they just needed some sort of crisis to justify unlocking them… A quiet sigh was had before Alam stopped thinking about which cliches would pop up next and started to dwell on how hyperactive Solia was. He couldn’t really understand what she was feeling at the moment, but still…
Well she was younger than him, and he wasn’t even really an adult yet, so whatever. Anyways, he responded to her confusion with a small shrug as he brought the gauntlets up. “Nobody really uses swords, axes, bows, or things like that where I’m from. Though nobody really uses gauntlets either…” Alam trailed off as he narrowed his eyes in thought, wondering about exactly what the ring could do. He would have to experiment if he got the chance, if only to satisfy his curiosity.

Another quiet sigh was had at Solia’s explanation of how to use ‘magic’. Though the visual demonstration was nice, it didn’t really do much more than show. As things looked, it seemed like he would have to figure things out for himself. While he could feel something, probably Frala, in the air if he closed his eyes and relaxed, that was about as far as he got. Large magical lasers were probably a thing if all things were considered and frankly Alam wasn’t a fan of making himself look like a lighthouse in the middle of a battlefield. There wasn’t much time for him to think about it though given Solia’s enthusiasm for rushing to the, already-started, battle.

“Let’s get to it.” Alam could share the princess’ excitement to see what he was capable of at the least; he could try and think of some ‘Crest Skills’ on the way there. Though it was less pronounced than Solia’s, he was bouncing on his heels. It was unbelievable, even now, and a bit silly, but the situation was without a doubt amazing. Might as well enjoy and make the best of it right?

[Skyswimsky]

"A true form? I bet THAT is a Scythe then, right? I never had such a weapon before...except...well, but that was not the same." And if the "true form" was really supposed to be a scythe then it wouldn't be bad to get some practice with it, no? Yui simply tried to swing the weapon around a bit and, while fortunately transforming no one into a ball of fluff, noticed the handling of the weapon was strangely comfortable. "We have...bows that can penetrate bodies and fire multiple rounds in a short time and instead of magic explosives that everyone can use! Also in our world, people die when they are k- beaten in 'war'" She didn't sound sad at all while making this clarification but not happy either.

Deciding to focus on more less depressing things right now Yui followed Solia's "instructions", and succeeded. A small ball full of the wonder that was titled magic appeared in her palm while the back of her hand revealed Yui's own Crest. "Woah! It was every little girls dream to be-" more excited than she should have been, the ball harmlessly exploded in her palm. Giving a depressed sigh from her Yui realized just now that she was nearly left behind. "You could like, wait for me!" and make haste to catch up.