Crescendo

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

The fight was finally over, and despite how brutal it had been everyone was alive, thankfully. There were some grievous wounds to be sure- Lesley was now missing a hand, much to everyone's sadness. Brandy himself was sporting a bloody wound on the back of his head from when the witch had thrown him and Song against a tree, while Martini was clinging onto Avian, magic having been exhausted from trying to contain the witch. She hadn't known the extent of her magic before this, and had been surprised when the bubble dome was strong enough to restrain the witch. The magical effort meant that she couldn't support her own bubble ring, and had ended flopping into the leaf litter by the end. Brandy had taking to leaning on Songbird for support, feeling slightly dizzy even after the unicorn's feather

Still the relief of having survived at all was evident on everyone's faces, and they trudged on to the run down cottage where the prisoners were allegedly being held. Unfortunately, however, the room didn't hold any traces of the riders or the baby dragon.

"Do you think there might be a hidden room."

Martini and Brandy turned to Harper, and the rabbit gave a thoughtful nod. "That would be the most likely scenario."

"Didn't you say Leila found the passage behind the bookshelf? You think something similar would be in here too then?" Martini piped up, momentarily forgetting her position and nearly hitting Avian in the face with her tail. "Oh gosh sorry darling-"

The humans started to search for any buttons or levers that might reveal the hidden path. Avian had joined the search after placing the mermaid on a rickety chair in the corner while Brandy rifled through the shelves in hopes of finding something that would point the way to where the prisoners were being held.

"If any of you find anything suspicious, tell me and I can check for leftover traces of magic." The rabbit ran a hand through his hair, wincing as he brushed against the dried blood and the still tender wound. "I don't have enough magic left to scan the whole room. Sorry."

Martini, stuck as she was on the chair until her magic came back, went through the thing on the table next to her, poking at a pile of dust with a wince. She listened as the humans started to reminisce about the last day in their world and frowned sadly. They must be so homesick- really, they were all just children wanting to go home. Except for Haku, but he was a strange one so he didn't quite count.

She puffed up her cheeks determinedly. "Don't you sweethearts worry, we'll totes get you home, okay?" She thumped a fist against the tabletop. "That's what we guides are here for!"

"Yes, she's- oh fudgesicles," Brandy stepped back and closed the drawer of dead bugs he had opened. This house was absolutely filthy, and he would've taken a broom to it all if they weren't so busy trying to find the missing riders. "Has anyone found anything yet?" He rubbed his temples in aggravation.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Gonna finally post soon wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee /o/

And I'mma go for the first or second banner for Lesles ehuehueh

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Pft you so excited YAY FOR TALES THOUGH GONNA PLAY THE HECK OUT OF IT

Also finally posted I cry

*blames pach for distracting*

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts: Northern Section

A loud crash rang through the theatre, causing everyone to look around for the source. Aria was next to a door, having darted over to lock it before the thief could escape. As she stared through the darkness to try to find out where the noise had come from, a dark figure flew up from the seating area, screeching loudly.

Her first thought was something along the lines of oh shit this guy's going to escape through the roof, until his descent, lit briefly by Simon's camera, had him landing back to the ground.

Aria quickly leaped over a few row of seats, only to see that a giant cage had been constructed around the criminal.

"You did it, Dylan!" She crouched down to examine the man, only to blink. This wasn't the thief they were searching for- so who was he? He had a mask, but that was about the extent of his resemblance to the Phantom. He had dark hair instead and a cool looking beard, and a much less flashy outfit. Dylan asked the question they were all wondering, while the illusionist just peered more closely at the guy.

"I don't suppose you're in cahoots with the Phantom?"

If there were more thieves, it certainly explained Lulu's and Moira's groups' dilemma.

---

The Academy of the Arts - Western Section

"Please don't break down the room..."

The man in the rabbit mask grumbled quietly, giving the block in his hands another wiggle. Mattis had successfully slipped in behind the large woman, and was quickly trying to slip the charge into the nook without causing too much noise. The charge was rather bulky, and he couldn't shake the feeling that it was going to end up exploding in his hands. The clanking of the armor was getting louder, and he couldn't help but glance backwards at the approaching suit of armor. He couldn't tell if it could see him or was coming this way by chance, but he was going to end up cornered at this rate. So focused he was on the armor and the bomb in his hands that he barely noticed Moira's newly made substitute for a flashlight until it shone in his face.

He stared at them through his mask and they stared back, his magic haven been unfortunately too weak to fend off the focus of the two this time. Luckily the bomb had least finally clattered down into the hole, but the large man was caught in a corner between two people and some suits of armor.

Before the two of them could act, however, the shattering of glass distracted the three and they briefly ducked to try to escape the falling glass.

“Good work, Mattis.”

Ah, of course he would be the one to make such a flashy entrance. The woman was quickly caught in a flurry of glass, and while the green haired man's attention was distracted Mattis shot up to his feet, darting up to the suit of armor and hefting it up. It clanked angrily but before it could cut him, he threw it at the green-haired man with a grunt.

"You're late," he frowned a the grinning masked figure, sighing. They'd hopefully have taken down the other two, which would free them to go help the others. It sounded as if Fabian was in trouble, and Mattis was getting antsy about the boy. He had a tendency to leap into things without thinking, much to the man's exasperation.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Be typing up a post now!!

And wow, good luck with everything Rex! Hope everything goes swimmingly for you c:

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts: Northern Section

“What the fuck is going on?!”

Tobias had phrased their thoughts quite aptly- how was the Phantom with both Moira's group and Rose's? Could that be his power? It wasn't implausible, but if he could then Aria would have expected him to have shown off during that little performance of his last night. The people around her, judging by their body language were just as confused as she was.

"Hey Simon, by any chance, does your camera come with a light thing or something that'll help us see better?"

She turned towards the sound of Xan's voice, mulling the idea over. "Yes, your camera would have flash, wouldn't it? Is there no way to turn it on-"

"There's someone over there!" Dalia shouted, startling the group as she pointed. The illusionist reeled around, hearing faint footsteps in the direction of the entrance to the theatre. After a quick shoulder check to make sure that it wasn't Simon again, she sprinted after the figure, slowing down slightly after nearly tripping over a wire on the ground.

"Quick! We can't let him get away this time!"

---

The Academy of the Arts - Western Section

Mattis shook his head at the myriad of sounds coming through the communicator in his ear. His teammates were lively as always, weren't they? He only hoped they wouldn't end up being caught in too much trouble, especially with a bear having somehow gotten inside the building.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are you little shit," Gods above, this woman sounded vicious. No doubt his brothers would be having the time of their lives repeating the words this woman was spouting if they were here. "Or have you shat your pants and legged it?" The taunting only made him retreat deeper into the shadows, eyeing the sharp and dangerous looking sword the woman had drawn out and the newly arrived suits of armor. It was be a right pain to have to deal with them- he backed up, fingertips brushing against the explosive hanging from his belt.

The crevice where he was supposed to place the explosive was right there in the corner of the room. It would be nest, he decided, to plant the and slip out before the woman could use that dangerously glinting steel blade of hers or the man could tackle him with one or both of the sentient suits of armor. He also didn't want to risk the charge going off prematurely- of course, the rest of the team had reassured him that it wasn't likely to happen but he still disliked the feel of it bumping against his leg every time he took a step. He edged towards the corner, keeping a careful watch on the armor as the gazes of the two slid off him as they scanned the room. He didn't know if the armor was affected by the magic, but if it spotted him and attacked the other two would most likely notice him as well.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Gonna start typing up a post yey /o/

Might take a bit longer than usual due to the lack of microsoft word and the new spacing between letters on this lappie :')

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

All the best wishes for Riley and you, Rex! > < *giant huggles*

I'll be posting later than usual today since I'm going back to Beijing /o/

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Yooooooo-

Sorry for lack of news OTL Ill be getting home tomorrow so I'll be able to resume posting yey!

If it makes poor lesles feel better he can get one of those super pretty and fashionable prosthetics go look them up they're so purtyful <3

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Aliquam: Academy of the Arts: Northern Section

Aria watched Estelle run down the hall, disappearing around the corner right as more footsteps sounded behind them. She whipped around, half expecting a man in a mask and cape only to see Xan, Marcus and Dylan. She waved, cupping one hand around her mouth.

"Guys, false alarm! You need to go back-"

The room was plunged into darkness, cutting her words short as the illusionist let out a surprised squeak. She heard Xan and Dylan cry out as well, followed by the sounds of them stumbling and falling to the floor. Aria blinked furiously, willing her eyes to adjust to the unwelcome darkness. After all that work lighting the place only for all their efforts to go to waste- it was all very frustrating.

"I thought there was increased security around the generator!" She growled, disliking the fact the Phantom had beaten with the same trick for the second time. Estelle was the only one in the group who could've provided a light source, and even she had gone. "I don't suppose anyone thought to bring a lantern of some kind?" She grumbled as she slowly started to make out the figures of Xan and Dylan picking themselves off the floor as Marcus approachedr. Now they had no Phantom, one broken communicator and an unguarded area where Marcus' group should've been. The theatre had no windows, and the only lying that kept the large room from being pitch black was the moonlight filtering in from the hallway.

"Who has the communicator in your group? We need to tell the others that it was a false alarm before everyone ends up here." She pinched the bridge of her nose, upset at the turn of events. Dalia was looking around, trying to discern any foreign auras that might have approached in the dark and serving as the only sentry.

---

Mattis pressed the button on the ear of his mask as the lights died, assessing the group that had passed in front of him that was now frantically trying to find their bearings. One stout woman with a dangerous looking sword, one green haired man and the tall one that has noticed something was wrong just as the lights went off. The woman had a dangerous looking sword while the other two weren't wielding any visible weapons and looked rather lacking in physical ability, which led him assume they most likely had magic of some sort. It would certainly be troublesome if that was the case- he could only hope to take them all out while they were still floundering and trying to adjust to the sudden lack of sight.

He crept up behind the tall lanky one, swiftly grabbing him from behind and giving a deft strike to the man's neck. He dropped the body gently, retreating back into the dark shadows of this statue as the other two started to recover.