20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
“Hey, Alex…” Lily suddenly spoke up. ”After we have saved these people...Let’s just chill, ok? Just me and you, and maybe some anim-I mean, something you’d want to watch?”
What Alexander wanted to do after this was find Mariette and talk to her, but he didn't have it in him to say no to Lily, especially with her like this. Besides, he couldn't deny that taking some time to just chill sounded really good after the mess that today had been "That...that actually sounds kind of nice." He let himself relax just a little while Lily called out to Dina, with only Mariette's echoing voice as any kind of response 'It almost feels like she's mocking us' Alexander grimly noted. But this came to an end when the two of them came across a strange metal crate, and the magical girl who came out of it
”Hey, what’s going on here? Where’s Dina?”
Lily, unsurprisingly, wasn't suspicions at all. To Alexander however, this whole thing screamed 'trap'. So he stayed silent, while getting ready to throw up a barrier between them and her if the strange girl became hostile 'But seriously, what's with the box?'
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
With the chaos of battle over, Alexander was finally able to be alone with his thoughts. He wandered over to the beach and laid down on the sand where the waves could wash over him, and just relaxed...or at least tried to 'Sure it ended up working out okay...I think, But I don't think the others care that much. As far as they're concerned; Lily betrayed them. Dammit, I can't just do nothing' he sat up and huffed 'Only problem is that I'm shit at talking to people. So how the hell am I supposed to get everyone to forgive her?' He groaned as he got to his feet "Screw it, I'll just try talking to Mariette"
---
Alexander made his way back to the hotel to find Mariette, but ran into Lily first “Hey Alex...” She held an arm behind her back as she looked down at the floor with a frown in her face. “I talked with Mariette, but it didn’t work out. She was still upset. I don’t know what to do next...”
For a brief moment, Alexander was reminded of how Lily was after Ixion died. 'It feels like just yesterday. I...I don't know if I could handle seeing her like that again so soon. Lily isn't like me; she doesn't seem as used to being alone as I am. Having so many people hate her...I don't think she'll take that well' He had already decided to do something before, this just bolster his resolve. Yet before he could do much of anything, something else happened
‘Dan’s holding a Christmas party, and everyone's invited. Please bring as many friends as you can. If you focus on the envelope, it will duplicate, so go ahead and spread them as far as you can. I will see you there,’ A portal opened above Lily and a letter fell down on her
"Christmas, huh?" Alexander mumbled to himself, suddenly feeling grouchy, when suddenly he realized something; this was his first Christmas since he got his powers. 'That's right...this year is different! No stuffy orphanage or lonely cold apartment. This year I'll be spending it on a beach resort. And not only that, but this year I actually have someone-' His eyes shot wide open "Fuck" he hissed under his breath before looking to an excited Lily who was bouncing around while handing him a letter, which he took 'That's right; there's a whole lot of people pissed off at Lily right now. If I can't fix this in time, it might fuck up her Christmas' His mind quickly imagined up a lonely Lily at a Christmas party with everyone either avoiding her or sneering at his. Tears in her empty looking eyes. He snapped out of it while quivering in equal parts fear and rage 'Fuckkkkkkkk! Now I'm on a time limit. Dammit, this is already going to be hard enough, I don't need the extra chal-'
“Ahem, may I have your attention please!” Dan interrupted the raucous crowd and Alexander's crazed internal panic with the sound of a Party Horn of In-Laws Slaying (with a +9 bonus) blaring out. Now, I know you all may be excited for this party, but there is a crisis on our hands! The Penrose Sanctuary is under attack, putting everyone there in danger!” He then opened a blue portal. “This portal will lead you right outside the Sanctuary. If anyone here could please go there and help Dina save the locals, I would be grateful.”
Alexander was on the verge of extremely loud rage crying, but Lily's voice distracted him
“Not a problem, Dan! This is a job for us magical girls! Come on, let’s go, Alex!” She then grabbed his hand. “Oh, I’m fine now, no need to worry!” She then quickly blurted out, as if expecting Alex to raise a logical concern over her recovery.
'I highly doubt that.' Alexander thought to himself, not willing to call her out to her face. However, he was finding his rage fading away, leaving fatigue in it's place
As she ran through the portal, she waved at Mariette, who had arrived upon hearing the call for help. “Thanks for the invitation Mariette! See ya at the partyyy!”
Alexander sighed "Let's...let's just get this over with" And with that, the two disappeared through the portal.
---
The Sanctuary was a mess.
Not huge news, considering Penrose, but it was more of a mess than was normal for the area. Lily quickly got her motorcycle ready, and Alexander took his seat behind her, shifting to his Beast Mode as he did so. Once the magic settled, the screams became much more clear "I really hope this isn't as much of a chaotic mess as the last fight."
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
Lily very clearly wasn't okay, but things were far too chaotic for Alexander to bother arguing with her. ”Dan made a portal. We gotta...leave...” Lily said as she put her arm around him for support "The dolphin? When did he get here!?" Alexander started to make his way to the portal "I really can't wait for the after action report, because I'm not sure what the fuck just happened." He tried picking up speed, but Lily's stumbling kept slowing him down. "Fuck it" he groaned as he swept her up into his arms, surprised at how light she felt 'Did I get stronger?' but he didn't give it much thought as he raced to the portal. 'I really can't wait for the after action report, because I have no idea what the fuck is going on anymore.'
---
'Got to say, it feels really good to not be on healing duty for once' Alexander thought as he let himself relax. As sketchy as the dolphin was, he at least didn't allow violence in his realm, so Alexander felt safe in letting his guard down just a little. He had forgotten about the swimsuit thing, so he was surprised when he noticed that his Primal Form's weird robe thing had been replaced with a pair of trunks. However, now that the battle was over, he had returned to his base form. With things finally safe, Alexander put Lily down "Just tell one thing dolphin; are we going to worry about the time dilation again? Because that caused a lot of trouble last time, and I can't leave my animals alone for too long without warning, not again" He then leaned into Lily's ear and whispered "We're going to have a lot to talk about once we get some time alone."
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
It took awhile for Alexander's brain to understand what he was seeing; the idea of Lily suddenly turning on her allies, on a friend made him feel sick to his stomach, almost enough to vomit right then and there 'You better know what you're doing Lily' His first instinct was to reach out with his magic and strengthen her. Since he wasn't sure exactly what her plan was, it was a good way to help without accidently getting in her way. However, there was the anti-magic field 'Dammit! What the hell do I do!?' He ran after her, hoping that he would have some kind of plan when he reached her.
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
By the time Alexander had noticed the spear going after Lily, Sakura was almost there. So before he could really do much of anything, Sakura was impaled by it. A memory flashed before his eyes, of a strangely familiar woman in a castle fading away before his eyes, one he later found out that he did actually know, one he couldn't save. 'Fuck, not again!' he roared in his mind. His rage was quickly put out however, when he noticed a familiar face arrive to Sakura's aid, and relief instantly filled him 'Good, I remember he also has healing magic. Sakura should be okay.'
Alexander sighed "Guess we don't have any other options. This has to end" He hadn't had as much time as he would have liked to rest, but it would have to do. Calling upon the full force of his magic, he once more entered his Primal Form. Once it settled, his willed his magic to create a sword shaped barrier coming out of his wand...but nothing happened 'Dammit, I was afraid that would happen, but I had to at least try.' With a huff, he tried calling upon Absolute Direction, and found to his delight that it answered him 'Well that's a relief. I don't think I'd be able to keep track of this Leena girl in all this chaos without it.' With a mere thought, he willed it to home in on the girl responsible for the anti magic field, and not even a second later he had his bearing 'Right, let's try and make this quick.' While Alexander still had most of his magical capabilities under the effect of this anti magic field, he didn't consider that much of an advantage. After all, it only made sense for someone with an anti magic field at their disposal to be used to fighting under it's effects. Hell, her own magic might even be immune to it.
Alexander started to take off, but before he could get very far, he heard a massive boom from behind him "What!?" Thinking they were under attack, he turned around to repel whoever it was 'I don't have time for this!'...only to see Lily reaching out to Mariette with an electrified hand '...huh?'
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
”Mariette hasn’t destroyed anything! What are you talking about, Justine?” ”You’re here too! Listen Lily, Mariette is the one behind Penrose’s destruction! She is merely using you, just like I have! She is lying to you!” 'I don't suppose you have any proof?' Alexander wondered. Now having his jaded suspicions confirmed, Alexander mentally prepped himself for battle. He now knew that it was going to come down to a fight...however what he didn't see coming was the massive antimagic field. Once it went up, he could almost feel it shredding any magic that left his body.
Fortunately for Alexander, a good chunk of his kit was left unaffected. He could still strengthen himself, while others would be even more handicapped then him. However the entire world shaking was a pretty major cause for concern "No way. You crazy bitch, you're going to kill us all!" He turned and ran over to Mariette "Mariette, please tell me that there's a way out of her other then your portals. This entire world feels like it's going to go, so we need to leave now!"
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
When Alexander finally found Lily, she was busy being flattened by a Gorelion "Lily!" He screamed, his heart beating so fast it felt more like it was trying to kill him from the inside out '[color=aba000]Dammit woman, I take my eyes off of you for a few minutes, and this [/i]is how I find you.[/i][/color]' He ran to try and help her, but found himself blocked by another Gorelion "How many of these fucking things are there!?" He tried to simply go around the beast, but it seemed to want to keep him away from the others, as it kept readjusting its position to stay between him and it's ally "Listen kitty, I do not have time for this nonsense!" The beast just replied with a roar 'And if I try jumping over it, that'll just give the thing a clear shot. Fuck!' Left with little other option, he charged at it.
The beast quickly learned to not try and bite him, when its first few attempts cost it an eye. Enraged, it then stuck to swiping at him with it's claws. Alexander was able to keep himself by throwing barriers in the way of its attacks, but he was struggling to gain any ground. Then, the beast over committed to an attack, and the rebound off of his barrier knocked it off balance 'Finally!' Taking advantage of the opportunity, Alexander dove under the beast to the other side, lashing out with his blades at it's underbelly while also spearing it with tails. The creature howled in pain as it slumped to the floor. checking back up on Lily, he saw her get webbed up and dragged through a portal. Not wanting to fall behind, he ran through the portal before it could close. Once they were out of the battlefield (kind of), he walked up the the bound Lily, tore the webbing off of her, and pulled her into a tight hug (tails included) "Lily, you havegot to stop almost dying! Just because I can heal heart attacks doesn't give you an excuse to keep giving me them! Sometimes I worry that you're a magnet for doom, and I question how you've managed to live this long."
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
Despite his best efforts, people were still dying. While Alexander was able to patch up anyone who his clones could drag to him, sometimes they didn't make it that far. Some were killed as his clones tried to drag them back for aid, and some were just outright killed. 'Dammit! This is insane! How long have we been at this, it feels like hours.' At the very least, Hilaria was fine...strangely so in fact. While she did get hurt, it seemed to take awhile for her wounds to build up, and he was able help her natural regeneration when they started to get to be too much. They were never severe enough that he needed to work up close. Alexander was starting to fall into a sort of lull as he reapplied forcefields, barriers, buffs, on top of healing. A lull that was broken by a familiar face "Lily!" on instinct, he slapped a forcefield and quick buff on her as well, before she began unleashing a storm of arrows. With that (along with a sudden surge in firepower from their side), Alexander took some time to catch his breath and recover what magic he could "Fuck...this has been going on for so long"
His body was starting to cool down from all the magic he had been using, when a strange red orb crashed into the assault line. The red part melted away to reveal a black crystal "Duck!" Alexander instinctually cried out as he threw up a barrier between him and it, as well as a bunch of other barriers surrounding it. Seconds later, it detonated, energy beams flying out like shrapnel and managing to cause significant damage to the room. His barriers managed to hold up for a few seconds under the assault, but eventually fell. "Fuck...since when were magic magical grenades a thing!?" he complained as he got to his feet when it was done. Before he had even finished standing up though, four very familiar looking huge beasts fell on them. "...Fuck" This was the closest he had ever been to these things before while they were alive, and they looked like they had gotten an upgrade or two. He put up a barrier, and began charging it with magic to toughen it up. Not even a second latter, one of their tongues jabbed said barrier, but was thankfully deflected. "They...they're trying to eat us alive" He realized as he noticed a girl speared on one of them flying into the mouth of one of those beasts like a snack.
And after all the blood and death that he had seen today, this was the straw that broke the camel's back, because something inside of Alexander snapped "That DOES IT!" The beast half of his magic flared in response to his anger, and outfit to his beast enhanced form. Acting quick, he ran around his barrier to the giant lion tongue that had tried to spear him. It hadn't retracted yet, so he had time to reach out and grab it. Moving his staff over to his mouth and holding it in-between his teeth, he squeezed the tongue with his now free hand, right before it started to retract. He took of like a jet, being dragged towards the waiting mouth of the monster. All the while, his anger grew, and as his Reinforcement and Beast magic flared in response, his body started to change. He angled his sword just right, so that when he got pulled in, it would stab the beast in the head. However, tongues aren't the easiest things to hold on to, so his grip failed him right before impact. This threw off his aim, and he was only able to cut into it's side "Fuck! Guess I have to do this the hard way" He readied his wand in his other hand and grew a barrier sword out of it, and charged at his foe.
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
When Alexander and Hilaria reached the battlefield, it was already chaos. 'I'm starting to understand old war movies better.' While Alexander was no stranger to fighting, or even massed combat, something about this just felt more like trench warfare then any other time before. Not wanting to waste any time, he hurried over to the girls who had just been hurt by what he could only call a frag spear, while putting up chest high barriers in front of whoever he saw. Once he got to the first girl he put up another chest high barrier, crouched down, and made a few clones. Said clones rushed off to grab more wounded as Alex got to work. 'And once again, I'm stuck on healing duty. Fucking hell.'
Once the girl he was healing was back up, he gave her a quick back on the back while also slapping a forcefield on her "On your feet soldier" he said while channeling his best NCO. With a bit of time before his first clone arrived with another wounded, he spotted Hilaria and put a forcefield on her as well, along with all the others he could spot before then next patient came to him. As he was healing her, a thought came to him '...I wonder...' Once he finished the next girl and placed a forcefield on her, he made another clones and started channeling magic to it. With it's own supply of magic, the clone then placed a strengthening buff on Hilaria, and then did nothing but keep it up. In the few seconds he had before then next patient arrived, he replaced and/or repaired any barriers, while putting forcefields on anyone he could find without one on (or who had lost theirs) 'If she's going on the front lines, she's going to need all the help she can get' Alexander thought as he got to work on the third wounded fighter.
20/13|Male/Male|Reinforcement, Beast Mystic, Melee|Duplication, Tentacles|Deity Enhanced Sustenance, Awareness, Masculinity, Fated, Sorcery, Gifted, Absolute Direction Paragon, Blessing, Clergy, Mana Fount, Gifted Item Arrogance, Unknown, Loud, Big Brother
Alexander wasn't too tactically minded, but the defensive line already prepared sounded decent 'This...might work. But I'm still worried about Lily.' Hearing that the roof was so open didn't fill him with confidence 'I'm just going to trust her. With her magic, she should be able to escape if things get too dicey.'
”On second thought, maybe I’ll go to the..eeh, foyer. It looks like it has plenty of space, and it doesn’t look super cold.”
'Oh thank fuck!' Alexander let out a sigh of relief. He felt better knowing that Lily would be somewhere more fortified then a rooftop. Suddenly remembering, he let his Beast magic flow as his costume altered and his head became uncovered 'I really need to remember to do that.'
"Lexander~?"
'Fuck. Am I just the nickname guy now?' Some heavily armored girl approached him
"If you don't have any plans, Hilaria would love for you to accompany her~"
'Is...is she talking in third person? Fuck it, it's not that big a deal' He sighed before responding "Well Lily was planning on going to the rear lines...I think. So if you're off the the front, then sure" Alexander took her explanation to Mariette that she preferred close range combat a yes.
”Anyway, I’m gonna go now. And, um, Alex...I...” Lily's voice drew his attention. But seconds after he turned to her, she kissed him.
Alexander froze up, the world around him becoming hazy for a little while as he felt a strange warm tingle flow through him from his lips 'Was that...lightning magic?' he wondered. His faculties returning, he raised his wand and proclaimed in a slightly drunken manner "To the front lines!" before walking to the portal to the artillery line, the one Mariette mentioned having the most chance of close combat.
Lildear18