Estylwen

The Dark Beyond: Adventures in Candyland (Prequel)

The speed is absolutly the best. I really appreciate how each of us spends so much time here. We've created an amazing story so far, and I love every minute of it.

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

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Black Throne - 盟主 Meishu

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Alizée Altieri

Location: Veni Vedi Veni, Parking Lot
@Punished GN, @AtomicEmperor, @FernStone

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“… The real question is, why the fuck are you two doing this!? I was doing nothing but sitting there, you crazy bitch!”

Alizée smirked, her head tilting to the side as she shot the redhead a glance, all cozy and snug in Alizée's grasp.

"I can't speak for him," she gestured towards Leon, "But I have a quota to fill, you know."

She watched the girls surrounding her carefully, feeling her heart pick up a beat. The atmosphere shifted. Something had changed, she could feel it. The moment she smiled, something felt... off.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone slip out of the strip club. Should she be concerned about an audience?

Void brought her attention back, whispering in her ear, his metallic voice low enough that it wouldn't carry. "Get ready."

Alizée glanced at the Void Heart quizzically, before her eyes settled back on the woman on her car. She started to speak after having some sort of twitch. “… We’re just trying to get some blow so we can party-"

BOOM.

The wind howled. Alizée found herself knocked off her feet, tossed on the concrete like a rag doll. She splayed out, grinding to a stop, her head lifting off the pavement. Almost immediately, she summoned her other phantom hand to cover her and take the brunt of the wind storm. Razor-sharp leaves impaled themselves on the back of the dark hand, and Alizée swore, hissing under her breath. It stung.

Ethereal white caught the edges of her vision, and Alizée scrambled to her feet. Alas, she was a second too late. In her attempt to leap back, her foot got caught in the web.

"Ah, hell!" She cursed aloud, trying to shake her foot free.

But that didn't get her angry.

The girl with the glasses. Staring intently at the redhead in Alizée's grasp. And, the frustrating sensation of an invisible force opening the phantom hand. Without Alizée's permission. That.

That was infuriating.

Near instantly, she unsummoned and re-summoned her free hand, getting rid of the leaves. Like an oversized laser cutting the sky, the dark hand shot toward the girl with glasses, aiming to pummel her into the ground. Whether the girl would dodge or not, the dark hand would shoot straight through, impacting the pavement hard enough to form a small crater, lines cracking across the surface with a resounding crunch.

The moment after the hand impacted, it would rise like a heat-seeking missile, dark fingers outstretched, trying to catch the girl in its grasp. Anything to distract glasses from trying to take the redhead away from Alizée.

"She's mine!" Alizée snarled, her eyes alight with Void Light, crushing the muscular girl in her grasp hard enough that she heard a crack. It might have been a rib. White energy flowed voraciously as Alizée tried to take her victim's energy fully. She just needed more time!

"My turn," Void spoke in her mind, shifting to move in front of Alizée. Two more Void Hands were summoned, like two small cars, and began spinning rapidly around Alizée, Void, and Leon. They slowly moved outwards as they spun, aiming to strike the girls and send them flying into the opposite street.

As the hands spun, red eyes started opening in the sky.

The Dark Beyond: Adventures in Candyland (Prequel)

It's perfect! The struggles of a father really hit home in this one...

I think that means it's my turn again. What a lovely round! I will aim to have a new post up tomorrow!

Iris Ascendis

Awesome. I'll probably have another post up after @ERode.

@Nanaya Since Ciara's magic is primal, would she notice anything extra about the essence in the room?

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

It seemed some people hadn’t changed one bit.

Oh heck yeah. B)
//pops another mouthful of popcorn

The Dark Beyond

@Days


Words can not describe... the work of art I've just witnessed.

The Dark Beyond

Hehe, well I think this round is going to prove itself to be very, very Interesting.

The Dark Beyond

//presses drama button

New post is up!

The Dark Beyond

Unknown Museum, Office

@WhiteAngel25

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The pickaxe struck through. The stone angel cried out as it was destroyed and soon became nothing but crumbled stone. After a moment, it reduced to dust and scattered across the room. Sabrina was successful, tactfully heading off the attack by the Hollow. The darkness returned to normal, and the museum fell silent.

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Mediterranean Sea, Slowly Sinking

@Days

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”Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Star said, reaching out to Subject #3, who was a shivering mess, barely holding back the tears in her eyes. She tried to be brave, nodding despite her trembles.

"I'm okay, Star. I'm... I'm... I'm okay. Wh-what..." She couldn't finish her sentence. What happened? What was that? Her eyes searched the silhouette of Star, trying to make out her expression in the sinking darkness.

Subject #3 took a moment to completely get out of her hazmat suit, pushing it to the side as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She then lurched to the side, the submarine losing its balance again as it slowly swirled in the water. Subject #3 held onto something. It felt like a seat.

"I- do you have my location? I think- I think I need some help.” Star said, making Subject #3's head turn.

"Are... are we gonna... die..?" She whispered, feeling the submarine take another sinking dip into the darkness.

Then, a metallic thud. And another. It was impossible to see without the submarine lights, but it felt like something big, and something massive, was circling the sub.

Subject #3 stared out the dark window, a petrified look on her face.

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HiveMind Underwater Research Facility, Sub Contained Lab

@WhiteAngel25

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"What is going on? Where am I?"

The researcher's eyes lit up, and she gave the lollipop a voracious lick before speaking, "You're not dead. In fact, you could say you've never been better!"

The lights stopped whirring, settling into a uniform pattern over Stella's head, and the magnetic stimulation stopped.

The researcher looked down at her clipboard, her lollipop sticking out of the side of her mouth as she clicked a pen. "You're in the deeper levels of HiveMind's facility. You're under my care until your father comes by."

She mumbled to herself incoherently for a long moment before her gaze focused back on Stella strapped to the table. "There's a lot to do to make sure you're ready for that, though. Absorbing a DCE, a Heart of Hearts, a nexus of energy, is like having a nuclear bomb tucked under your ribcage. I'm sure it feels... interesting."

She got closer to Stella face, where Stella could feel the hot breath of the enthusiastic researcher. "Tell me, do you notice anything different? Any murderous tendencies? Anything I should be worried about?"

She smiled gleefully, waiting for an answer, before leaning back slightly in her wheelie seat. "You're one of the first of your kind. We've tried many, many times, but all of our experiments were failures. It seems it's just your destiny to be your father's perfect daughter, no?"

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HiveMind Underwater Research Facility, Floor 3, Secure Control Room (And the 'Storage Closet')

@Lexisheeps, @Days

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"Do you have family, Von? What's the rush? You've got all the cards."

Von Galloes stared hard at Thierry, sitting across from him. He watched silently for a long moment, the tension in the room palpable. His eyes narrowed finally, before he glanced at Mr. Cress.

"Mr. Cress. You might want to avert your eyes."

At a click of a button, lights flickered on the screen overhead. Lights on the headpieces, activated.

"Monsieur Thierry," Von Galloes smiled, revealing sharp teeth. "You should know this game better by now. I get what I want, always. But I should be congratulating you. After all..."

He leaned forward, raising his glass of wine with an evil smirk. "You're the one who just signed the death certificate of your two beloveds."

And just like that, the needles dove into the skin of both Nick and Aurélie.

Biting.

Delivering its contents.

Nearly instantly, Nick and Aurélie would feel a strange sensation. If one had to describe it, it felt like a sticky sweet blanket wrapping around them, coating them in what could be pins and needles. In another instant, there would be a strong disconnect from their mind and body, feeling wholly drugged. In the following instant, there would be an immediate slack in their bodies as the neurotoxin paralyzed their limbs. Unable to move or speak.

Limp in their seats, woefully limp and still, appearing dead.

Von Galloes smiled, watching Thierry's reaction hungrily. "You sure you were wise not to give me what I wanted, little Thierry?"

Von Galloes' eyes glanced to Ramses, then to Aaron beaten and broken on the floor. His eyes were alight with malice. "Well done, my dear."

He gestured to Ramses and Mr. Cress as his gaze focused on Thierry, "See? Polite and obedient. You could learn a thing or two from your colleagues."

He swirled the goblet in his hand, relaxed in his seat. "I have all the cards, yes. You and your cohorts are nothing but dust under my feet at this point, my beautiful, broken playthings. Oh, how I adore your struggles. But you know all struggles must come to an end."

He pulled out a letter from within the folds of his jacket, and passed it to a security drone, which then presented it in front of Thierry, along with a pen.

Von Galloes stared over his goblet, waiting for Thierry to open and read the letter. It was a contract, legally binding, and had been curated for this specific moment.

"If you read that, you'll find everything I want from you, for now. All Louvre assets you own, your title, your power and status, everything you control, you will relinquish and turn over to me. It will become the property of HiveMind."

His tone dropped to a darker note, not leaving any room for debate.

"Sign it, and you might walk out of here with your family in one piece..."

Iris Ascendis

Ciara Ventura

Wingram Academy, Main Building
@Nanaya, @ERode

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Ciara listened carefully as Otis spoke, absorbing his advice readily. The leylines of Wingram had a nexus. And, with the fates that be, she just so happened to be fighting against an ordained knight who would be taking full advantage of that. Ciara didn't have as much of an opportunity to study Iraleth's fighting ability, but form what she gathered in the auditorium, she wanted to be very, very careful when approaching that sword of hers, especially with the nexus at her back.

Ciara held back a roll of her eyes. Iraleth could also fly. That would prove troublesome.

Was there anything else Ciara was missing, though? She had only seen Iraleth's flying, her armour, her sword, and her shield. These would all be enhanced by the nexus. But... was there anything else?

Ciara pursed her lips, staring hard at the ground as they stood. She supposed she'd find out later that day. And why she was an anointed knight. What that meant.

"You are doing this because you can't afford to lose, right? If not, then I can puzzle out how to make for a reasonable defeat instead."

Ciara's temper flared slightly as her amber eyes locked with his. They paced down the hallway, exiting the cafeteria, Ciara catching a glimpse of Chunji out of the corner of her eye.

There's no time, focus.

She glanced back at Otis, trying to hide that he had ruffled her feathers.

"Defeat is not an option. I'll happily destroy the proving grounds if it means Iraleth is caught in the blast."

Did she actually mean that?

She had to. There wasn't any other option. Not for a dark soul like her. Not for a broken toy left out in the cold, not for a bruised and battered haunt that didn't understand her place in the world.

As they stood outside room 103, a familiar dark aura started seeping off Ciara's form.

"I.. can't afford to lose."

As soon as the aura started, it stopped. There was a ringing in Ciara's ears. Her eyes widened in realization.

Iraleth had no temporal lord. She served the church. The church was known for its use of Ciara's ultimate bane: white magic.

She got a bit pale in the face, hoping against all odds that she was wrong. That she had come to an incorrect solution. Her hands pressed on her knees.

She might actually be severely outmatched, if white magic was going to be amplified in the nexus.

"...I think I'm going to be sick."