Omnibus - Fleo, Ariel, Annalise and Trinity
Ariel glanced back at her guildmates. She spoke softly, "
Cover your eyes," and created two balls of light in her hands. Smashing them together produced a blinding flash of light. Usually, the easiest way to win a fight is to hinder the opponent.
While fast, Ariel's dazzling flare wasn't instant, giving Angel enough time to throw up an arm in front of her eyes. It didn't afford her complete protection, but did keep her sight sharp enough to bull into the smaller woman at close to full speed. At the same time, the reseacher threw up his own arms and wailed,
"Barrier Magic: Searing Mist Shield!" and Angel's body was enveloped by a protective cloak of steam. She reached out to grab Ariel by the hair.
Trinity drew her full incantation Ice Arrow from her quiver, calling "get away" before loosing it into the steam shield enveloping Angel's body. She called "Lightning Arrow!" next and loosed that into the same target. Though the ice arrow melted into vapor in contact with the searing steam, the second projectile had a pronounced effect, and caused Angel to momentarily stagger. Ariel didn't exactly need a warning to get away, considering a large woman was barreling toward her. Thankfully, she was quite nimble, a rather important requirement for the physical weapon she carried. Angel had a better reach, though, so while managing to avoid a couple grabs, her proximity and higher conductivity of the mist made for a rather nasty shock for Ariel as well. This, of course, made for the third time she'd been hit with lighning. Taking a tumble, Ariel rolled away but felt several more shocks after the fact. "
Come on, not right now. Trinity..."
Fleo was in motion. Thinking quickly, she leaped up onto the wall, using her Sirocco to glide across its surface. She made a beeline for the researcher, who quickly conjured a blue energy shield around himself.
"Hokori Kurafuto: Twinhammer!" Now wielding a sledgehammer in both hands, she initiated a furious beatdown on the researcher's shield, yelling,
"Hold her off until I can take this guy out!"Ariel was clear and her attack was primed! "Sorry, but now I can Archery Magic: Repeating Shot!" Trinity unleashes three more lightning arrows on the poor steam-shrouded woman, before firing two at the researcher. Though the lightning arrows toward Angel all hit their mark, stunning her and almost making her lose her balance, Ariel was forced to duck to avoid them. In that moment she was vulnerable, and Angel reached out and successfully grabbed the smaller woman. Instantly the crimson resonance around her hands resolved itself into a draining effect, replenishing Angel's stamina at the cost of her opponent's. While using her Siphon Magic, however, Angel couldn't do much else but rely on her shield and hope that she could heal faster than Trinity could pepper her with arrows.
Meanwhile, the two lightning arrows directed at the researcher were rendered useless as they diverted into Fleo's dust. At that point, however, she had hounded the researcher into the corner with her hammer assault, and was just about to break through his protection.
While in Angel's grasp, Ariel could feel her strength leaving her. What kind of magic is this? Oddly enough, her own magic wasn't being drained. It didn't look like she was getting away on her own so might as well make the best of this situation until her guildmates could free her. Switching to her Fire magic, she could resist the heat better. Reaching up, Ariel grabbed Angel's arm and began to draw off her magic. It wasn't rapid, but a noticable twinge.
"Tsk." She could leave the researcher to Fleo, clearly. She hadn't counted on Fleo's magic nullifying her attacks not aimed at her, but... Oh. Say, Ariel could also... Trinity needed to keep her focus on the hitwoman here. She needed Ariel to get distance, so she could hit this lady with more lightning. Or, perhaps... She was thinking of the steam as water, but it was different than that. When she hit the woman, the whole cloud lit up. The electricity jumped between all the different drops of water and went around the woman more than hitting her directly. "A tornado in my hand, Wind Arrow. Raiden's Fury will rain upon you, Lightning Arrow. Bright Arrow." She incanted quietly. The woman seemed like she was in a comfortable position, so she had an opportunity here. She notched her Bright Arrow first, aiming for the woman's face before she looses it. This would need to happen fast. "Dust, now!" It might not be necessary if Ariel could get away, but she couldn't depend on that.
Trinity's call took a moment to process in Ariel's mind. It was getting harder to think clearly. Dust, did she mean Fleo or... Finally connecting the dots Ariel's magic slowly shifted to Dust. The bard-mage was already in the process of loosing the next step in her plan, her incanted Wind Arrow, as this happened.
A call rang out from the opposite side of the room. [color=C2B280]"Hold it just a minute! I've almost...got him!"" With a triumphant cry, Fleo brought down both hammers on the researcher's shield, and it shattered. She raised her weapons again to knock him out and bring down his partner's steam shield, but to her astonishment and dismay the man smugly summoned another shield. When Fleo's hammers fell, they ricocheted off of it, and dissolved. Fleo took a look back at her friends, very much in need of her help, before she clenched her teeth and screamed,
"Damn it! SUNAKEMURI!". Her voice took on a malefic echo, and dust all around the room streamed toward her. As it swirled around her, her bandages were thrown off, and the woman disappeared in a ball of particles and cloth. A second later, it burst with a tremendous noise, and Fleo was thrown to the ground. Except...it wasn't quite Fleo.
Her cap had fallen off, and her arms and legs of dust were longer, larger, and spiky, and her hands both had sixth fingers. The bandages slithered across her like snakes, constantly in motion, as the sound of a heartbeat rang out. All eyes were upon her as the hovered into the air like a marionette and the heartbeat sped up. Faster and faster it went, and higher and higher she rose, until she was back in a vertical position. The lines beneath her eyes had lengthened, and grown jagged, like cracks. Her eyes flashed open, and they were totally black. She howled, and sprang at the researcher, raking across his shield with cruel claws. His shield fell in seconds, and the next instant he was thrown against the wall, unconscious and bleeding. So to did the steam shield collapse. The Dust Devil's inhuman voice echoed across the chamber,
"Finish it now!"She had planned for her Wind Arrow to blow the shield of steam apart, but as the arrow did its work, the source of the shield disappeared. No matter. She didn't have to be told twice, already following up her Wind Arrow with her last prepped attack, her incanted Lightning Arrow. Ariel hadn't had time to build up an aura of dust yet, she had only just changed magics, so that shouldn't be a problem. Her wind arrow would have dispersed any, anyway. She loosed it, but her inexperience with lightning arrows resulted in a small backlash. Her aim remained true, but the current bit her drawing hand as she let loose the thunder. "Agh, shit!" She held her hand up for a moment, trying to control the spasms before she crouched and put her hand to the ground.
Fortunately, her true aim made the difference. Without her partner lending her support, Angel boasted minimal defense to magic, and the electricity infused into her did far more damage than its recoil did to Trinity. Angel collapsed to the ground, twitching, her glasses falling to shatter. After that, the room would have been quiet, if not for the sound of grinding dust.
Fleo walked slowly toward her friends, trying not to trip over her elongated legs. With the moment of excitement passed, her bandages had settled back over her limbs, though their new proportions and spikes made it so that they weren't nearly completely covered. She held up a clawed, six-fingered hand.
"It's been a really long time since I used that spell. The shield guy forced my hand." she laughed nervously, very aware of the fact that her eyes were completely black even if she couldn't see them.
"Guess we're all revealing weird magic today. It...it'll deactivate in a few moments...you guys okay?" her eyes fell upon the questing girl.
"Annalise..."Now that the fight was over, Trinity took a moment to absorb Fleo's transformation. Her arms were made of dust... made of her magic. Was that why they were wrapped? To hide it? "I suppose we all have our secrets, don't we. I'm alright, but..."
Ariel had taken another hit of electricity, but not nearly as bad as before. Even with Dust magic it wasn't as effective at resisting a shock, at least not with as new as she was to it. Dropping to the floor she managed to sit herself up. "
Oh, this is going to hurt for a while." Still feeling the shocking by not it was apparent to her that the Lightning magic had built up enough to actually become a part of her selective magics. Unlike most of the others though it was a rather painful transition. Each shock caused her muscles to tense up and contract.
At a time like thing switching magic again would not be a great idea. But she didn't have the strength or clarity to fight it. Curling up into a ball arcs of electricity jumped across her body until she cried out in pain. The tortuous shocks ceased have a negative effect once her eyes, hair, and clothes shifted to a bright yellow, signaling she was now a
Lightning mage. Laying out flat on the ground Ariel glanced at the others. "
Much better, I guess. Don't worry about me I'll be up in a minute, or two, or ten."
"Sorry, Ariel. That steam barrier was annoying..." Trinity knelt next to the little one, resting her yellow head in her lap and stroking her hair softly. She looked up, scanning the room. They weren't done yet. "You lay here and rest, Ariel." She pat her head twice and gently lay her back down on the ground, standing and slowly approaching Annalise. "Hey." She didn't know what to ask, but it didn't seem like she would have to.
As if noticing Trinity for the first time, Annalise raised her head.
"Is Sagan gone? Her probing eyes found the researcher's unconscious body.
"...Good. He did not understand...what he was messing with." She gestured at the thirty-six people lying motionless around the chamber.
"These people are all asleep. Some have been for only a few days...some for ten years, when Sagan's brother ran the show. Sleeping, endlessly, except..." she reached her head out for Trinity's, and placed it on the prone woman's heart.
She felt nothing.