FujiwaraPhoenix

Fate/Eternum

Jason Liu

Between Hijikata's own threats and the possibility in being wrapped up in even more trouble, Jason could only take a deep breath as he processed the other Master's words. Certainly, letting the Berserker run rampant meant that he, personally, wouldn't be harmed...

But letting things proceed as they were would mean that he also wouldn't be dragged off by the police and... Well, all things considered, being thrown into a detention hall for his break wasn't much better than being on the run instead.

"...Alright, let's just try this, then! By my Command Seal, I order you: stand down!"

Brandishing the marks on the back of his hand, Jason watched and waited.

And waited.

And nothing had changed. The Berserker barely shrugged—no, barely even made note of what he had done, which caused Jason to furrow his brows in worry.

"Stand down, I said!"

Despite using a second Command Seal, though, those present would find out that, other than a marginally more irritated Berserker standing at the ready, nothing had actually changed.

"I... What? But—" Jason began to say, flustered as he looked at the back of his hand for a moment before hearing the sound of another gunshot ring out. This one, however, was aimed at Altera's head.

"If that's your decision, then that's how it'll be," he said, charging forward at the enemy Saber before leaping into the air, katana drawn and readied for a slash at her head.

@Raineh Daze

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

When the hail of arrows arrived, the purple-haired Servant wasted no time in beginning to evade. Spinning around gracefully about the floor, Meltryllis watched as the arrows whizzed by her body and lodged themselves into the ground or the walls opposite their origin. From a distance, it could be seen as simply toying with her opponent.

But this was simply how she fought.

As the barrage of projectiles continued, Meltryllis pressed ahead, only barely noting that her Master was caught up in her own battle off to the side. It took but a moment for her to break off from pursuing the Archer hiding in the shadows and instead turn most of her focus towards the large, hulking shadow that Nanako had just thrown off course.

"I guess that staying close may have been asking a bit too much of you," Meltryllis sighed as she swung her body around, slamming into the enemy with one of her legs and launching it towards the other side of the room. "That Archer's gone missing again, since I had to spend time getting that... Thing off of you, so stay on your guard."

It was, admittedly, quite irritating to let the more mobile target escape, but if her Master died here, then it wouldn't matter if she caught her quarry. Even she knew this much.

@VitaVitaAR

---

---

Fusang Hospital

The hospital room that Hakuno walked into was all but silent, and despite the relative hustle and bustle of people outside the room, it seemed that there had been no visitors for Mary up until then. The young woman, now dressed in a hospital gown as she quietly turned towards the door, simply nodded in response to the girl's request. It seemed that, despite everything that had happened that morning, she was in a well enough state to speak.

"A-ah... Alright..." she began, nodding her head as she watched the Master-Servant pair walk inside and take their seats. "It, um... It's not that long a story, really... I, um... There was someone that I knew who had been having a bad streak of luck recently, and, um... We hadn't talked in a while, so I suggested we hang out for a little bit. One thing led to another, and, um... Well, we decided to try and summon a Servant. I can't really remember much after that, though... All I remember was a lot of shouting, a few gunshots, and the next thing I knew, I was lying in a pool of my own blood..."

Mary shook her head, almost as if attempting to wave off what had just been said. Her right hand subtly glossed over the dressing that had been put over the wound, with the bullets having passed through her cleanly instead of lodging themselves with. The wounds were still very much present, and despite having been sewn up, the phantom pains that came from them still lingered around.

"I, um... If there's anything specific you want to know, though, I'll do my best to try and remember..."

@RolePlayerRoxas

Warped Earth, Twisted Air (An Urban Fantasy Dungeon Crawler RP) — Now Open!

Mausoleum

The marble that Albrecht had dropped into the hole would find hard stone soon enough, revealing that the indentation was no more than roughly three inches deep. The staff that Xu Jian placed inside soon thereafter would find no such luck in manipulating the nonexistent structure withing. Nothing was keeping the marble in place, either, and once removed, there would be no remaining mark. Not even the slightest hint of manipulation would make itself present, which meant that the stone, hard as it was, had no essential moving parts that could be manipulated with things as they were now.

@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@Duthguy@ERode@OwO

Castle of Snow

Once the group had moved past the imposing steps to meet the castle gates, what would make itself abundantly clear at first glance was that the doors—almost implausibly tall and wide had the explorers not been used to such grandeur—seemed to part as they stepped forward. The gust of warm air from within was a far cry from the biting cold outside, and the warm lighting from the various candles lining the walls of the main entryway coupled with the luxuriously-designed interior made it seem as if someone—or something—had been expecting guests.

Lined along the walls, all the way down the entryway and into the main hall, stood suits of armor, each ornately decorated and wielding some sort of weapon. Interspersed between pillars and other decor, such as vases or stone busts, these pieces of equipment stood by. The flickering candlelight coupled with the chandeliers hanging overhead made the meticulously polished pieces shine even further; a testament towards their craftsmanship, or something more?

@Anonawrimo@Lugubrious@Rune_Alchemist@SquishStar45@TheFake

Fate/Eternum

Jason Liu

To the comments of those opposing him, Hijikata simply breathed out through his nose and glared at the Servant pointing her weapon at him. Despite being a Berserker, he had enough sense about him to realize what the girl was saying—not that it mattered, of course.

"That kid will be fine; I've seen people roughed up worse," he responded in turn, his weapon still aimed towards Altera. "But if you're just here to protect some little girl, then get the hell out of my way. I don't have the time to be playing silly games like these."

By this point, Jason (who had thus found himself rolling across the pavement) had finally managed to right himself, having taken more damage from the aftermath of the throw than anything else, and slowly dragged himself to his feet. He was still out of breath, of course, but seeing that his Servant was confronting another only caused him to worry further.

"What are you trying to do—" he began to ask, only to be stopped by a rifle bullet whizzing a few centimeters away from his head.

"Stay quiet and let me handle the negotiations. You're a nuisance, so just wait for me to finish up here before you go yammering about," was the reply from Hijikata as he put his rifle away and stared back at the duo in front of him. "So, what will it be? Are you going to move, or am I going to have to cut through you both to get anywhere?"

@Raineh Daze

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

Following her Master's directions came as a simple matter of course, and given that the girl had said nothing and acted far more demure than she had yesterday, Meltryllis silently internalized the punishment that she had concocted as effective enough to instill a sense of fear into the girl.

"As it should be," she mused to herself as the pair made their way to their intended destination. A half-complete building was not exactly the most promising of locations to have to deal with something, but it was better than any further open exposure of her own abilities. A few steps toward the compound, though, and the Alter Ego felt a shiver down her spine. This was unlike the Moon Cell, where all combat was fairly straightforward; there was cover here, and cover meant things could hide and ambush them.

"Hmph. So it's like that, BB? A combat test?" she remarked, the irritation in her voice clear as she made her way into the compound. The immediate sound of something whizzing at her head from the side, however, caused Meltryllis to lean backwards. The source—a crossbow bolt—was embedded into the wall, and when the Alter Ego turned to face the source of the arrow, there was nothing to be seen.

"Predictable. An Archer, then? Master, stay close; if you get hit by a stray arrow, I can't guarantee that you'll live to see the next day."

@VitaVitaAR

Warped Earth, Twisted Air (An Urban Fantasy Dungeon Crawler RP) — Now Open!

Akuta Daichi

The white-haired university student couldn't help but let a nervous smile slip as the person who was sharing the table introduced himself. Kay had already explained the situation, and so the subsequent handshake and apology for the assumptions were only natural.

"Kirk, then? Thanks for letting us sit here. Daichi—Akuta Daichi. Surname last and whatnot; I hope it doesn't come across as too odd," he followed, shaking the man's hand before the question regarding food came back to the forefront. The suggestion given seemed enticing enough, and before long Daichi had waved the waitress over to put his order in as, essentially, what Kirk had just suggested. It was only reasonable to follow along with what the a local suggested; they knew the food here best, after all, and there was nothing to be gained from rejecting goodwill that was so freely given.

"I don't have any method of my own to contact Lizzie, so I'll leave it to you," he said to Katie before receiving a message on his own phone. Given that it would be a small while before his food arrived proper, Daichi decided that it was fine to glance it over.

"The boat driver we had contacted to escort your group to the Rift has called in sick today; it may take a while to find a replacement, so please wait a while longer as we handle the process."

"...No boat driver? That... Hm. That's problematic."

---

By the time Lizzie had arrived, Daichi had finished the chicken that had been delivered to the table and was just beginning to eat through the muffins placed alongside them. The issue regarding a boat driver through the bayou had been settled without all of the additional problems that he had been expecting, courtesy of the man who was seated with the four of them right now. Daichi had thought that it was an odd skill to have, all things considered, but there was no reason to complain about fortune falling into their hands like this.

That being said, though, his companion's duffel bag hitting the floor caused Daichi to pause for a moment and glance around, half in hopes that nobody else would notice the sound it had made. This was still a civilian space, after all, and undue panic would only give everyone involved, including the higher-ups, a headache.

"Well, I'm just about done here, so let me just pay my bill and we'll be off."

---

The combination of a drive out of the city, a minor trek through some of the more rural areas of the region, and the subsequent boat ride (rough as it was) had eventually given way to the group's destination—a moderately-sized Rift, appearing as a glowing tear through what seemed to be the fabric of space in front of them. Daichi had taken the chance to change into something a bit more fitting for wading through the swamp, and with the backpack he was carrying, it almost seemed as if he was a hitchhiker rather than a student.

After confirming that everyone else had finished their preparations, the Japanese university student was the first to step inside the Rift. Carefully shielding his eyes as he stepped through, the first thing Daichi found was that it had connected to what seemed to be a broken down shack that seemed to be far too worn out to not have been abandoned. The rotting wood parted to show what seemed to be walls of trees, far larger than the ones outside the Rift, blocking off most of their advance around. The only direction allotted to the group seemed to be right in front of them, with the muddy water beneath the broken shack flowing towards them and towards the rear.

"Ah... Hm. You know, it's pretty annoying to have to travel upstream five seconds after entering, but at least this place seems relatively safe," he remarked, staring down the pathway and towards the tree that seemed to be waiting for them at the end of the path. The size of it was comparable to that of a skyscraper, and despite the humidity and heat, Daichi could help but glance up to try and see how far up it went.

"If we have to climb that, though, I'm going to kill someone."

@HereComesTheSnow@KoL@TheWindel@Vesuvius00

---

---

Mongolia

The first thing that the team would see upon entry was the clean-cut stone walls, adorned with highly meticulously-cut decorations that seemed to extol the craftsmanship of the stonemason—or of whatever was housed within the confines of the building that the group now found themselves in. Examining behind the Rift would show a pair of stone doors, firmly cast shut and sealed with what looked to be some sort of magic (given the pulsating light it gave off). To their front, on the other hand, there stood a similarly-cast pair of doors. The only difference here, of course, was that these were left ajar.

Entry past those would give way to a large room, octagonal in structure; in its center was a single raised platform with a hole in the center. Other than the entrance from which the Rift was placed past, however, there seemed to be only a single open door, directly to the west from the center of the room.

@Raineh Daze@VitaVitaAR@ERode@Duthguy@OwO

Warped Earth, Twisted Air (An Urban Fantasy Dungeon Crawler RP) — Now Open!

Akuta Daichi

With his eyes occasionally flicking around, from his phone to the door (whenever it opened) and back to his phone, Daichi found it somewhat convenient that it didn't take too long for someone to call out for him. Turning to face the source of the voice was only a matter of courtesy, and that was soon followed with a smile and a firm handshake. The young man had traveled enough over the last few years to not seem like a fish out of water when it came to common courtesies like these, if anything, and the enthusiasm that the girl showed was a breath of fresh air compared to the usual methodical nature of the groups he ended up involved with. Granted, he had not met the girl in front of him prior to this mission beyond the brief overview he had been given last night, but there was no reason to draw any conclusions

"Yes, that would be me. Katie Bastion, correct? I'll be in your care," he said, nodding his head in response to her assertion. The sound of another person calling out to him from another table was enough of a reason to drop the handshake and slip his phone into his pocket, and with a glance back towards Katie, Daichi walked over to the table where he was being called towards and calmly took a seat.

"Hm... Kay Clarke... Was it? I think it was written that you preferred that nickname, but if I'm being discourteous, please, do let me know," he said, scratching the back of his head before looking at the other person seated at the table. "Er... Did we... Have a fifth on the roster? I don't mind if the clients wanted to put some extra manpower in, but I'd have appreciated a notification beforehand or something..."

With a shrug, the university student calmly took a menu from the table and began to skim over it, quietly going over each menu item in his head before placing his hand on the table.

"Mmm... You know, I'm actually at a complete loss for as to what to get here. The food itself isn't exactly unfamiliar, but I don't want to eat something too heavy before we head off... You know?"

@HereComesTheSnow@KoL@TheWindel@Vesuvius00

Fate/Eternum

Jason Liu

Despite what should have logically been enough exhaustion to force him to pause, Jason continued to follow the Servant as he charged through the early morning streets—or, more accurately, Jason continued to be dragged along in his wake. His legs had long since felt like they had turned to lead, and given that he was by no means neither a marathon runner nor did he have the stamina to keep pace with a Servant for so long, the young man found himself flapping in the breeze like a kite as the kimono-clad man held the back of his shirt in a vice-like grip.

Jason had the sense to continue to attempt to stare forwards, though, which meant that when a wall of ice suddenly appeared in front of the pair, he was the first (and only one) to freak out.

"H-hey, what are you doing?! If you keep moving like this, we'll—"

"Shut up, kid," came the immediate reply as Jason was promptly thrown into the air. Within the span of a single breath, the Berserker leaped into the air and, readying his rifle, blew a hole through the obstruction. Catching Jason on the other side (once again by the collar of his shirt), the Servant switched his rifle for a katana and pointed at the apparent source of the obstruction.

"Are you Satsuma? Choshu? I'm in the middle of something right now, so hurry up and answer me or I'll cut you down where you stand," was the immediate declaration from Hijikata, flicking Jason off somewhere to the side as he went tumbling off to the side of the road.

@Raineh Daze

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

Given that her Master had given no real retort towards anything said or done thus far today, the purple-haired Alter Ego silently wondered, though only momentarily, if the punishment she had deemed appropriate had done something to the girl's brain to make her so obedient. In her situation, Meltryllis wouldn't have taken any straight orders from BB without a reason at minimum, and given that the two of them were simply told to just "go to a location", the least that could be done was a brief summary regarding said problem.

"...Mmm... Melt, did you do something last night?" BB asked as she watched Nanako leave the apartment complex in silence after retrieving her phone. "I was only joking about being mad, but it's really no fun bullying someone who can't fight back, you know."

"Be quiet, BB. If you were aware there was a problem, you'd probably just try to make it worse anyways," Melt shot back as she got off the the couch and followed after her Master. "Just let us know when we're near the problem and I'll handle it on my own. No need to involve that useless child right now."

"Oh? Well, if you're so confident, then you can just leave, Melt. I look forward to seeing your results; you'll know what the problem is when you see it."

With those parting words, BB turned off the TV, leaving a silence that seemed to hang in the air. Rolling her eyes, the Alter Ego calmly exited the apartment and glared at Nanako.

"Just stay quiet and bring me over to the place BB showed. I'm not so stupid so as to force you to fight when I know you're as useless as they come, so let's hurry up and get this over with before she starts shrieking in my face again."

@VitaVitaAR

Warped Earth, Twisted Air (An Urban Fantasy Dungeon Crawler RP) — Now Open!

Akuta Daichi

New Orleans, Louisiana

The only thing on Daichi's mind, having arrived just this morning from a terminal Rift in Saitama Prefecture, was how hot Louisiana was. He had seldom, if ever, come to the southern United States before—in fact, he had spent more time simply not going to any destinations within proximity of the Equator up until now. It may have been some subconscious desire to not feel like he was boiling alive, but given his scholarship, it was probably only a matter of time before something like this would have happened.

Not that he liked it any better than freezing half to death in Siberia, though, and if he was going to choose between either of them, the locale with the more interesting culture (as opposed to a frozen wasteland) was far more appealing.

The first order of business, it seemed, was to make contact with whatever student-slash-Rift Diver from Louisiana State University that would be working as their representative, along with any other people who had decided to buy in. All he had heard from the higher ups before leaving was that he would end up in the middle of a bayou even before entering, which was... Not the most exciting of prospects.

"Mmm... I think the meeting place was around here, maybe...?" Daichi muttered to himself, glancing at his phone every so often in order to confirm his location. "Restaurant name, 'Willie Mae's Scotch House'... I think this is the place."

With the matter of finding the location handled, the only thing left to do was find whoever it was he was supposed to meet up with. Hopefully, the way he stood out as the only semi-Asian person in the area meant that it would be easier for the other party to find him than it would the other way around.

Maybe it would do him some good to try some food before he left; who knew how long exploring the Rift would take, after all...

@HereComesTheSnow@KoL@TheWindel@Vesuvius00

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

The orcs being routed as expected, Tiral wasted no time in pushing forward with the rest of the Knights. This was the third time today that they had handled creatures such as these, and it wasn't as if there was any reason to falter in dispatching these enemies. The same could not be said of the magical attack to come, though, as the mage-knight found himself having to maneuver his way around magical assaults that seemed to strike their position from odd—if not outright impossible—angles. His usual methodology of deflecting attacks wouldn't function at this point, so Tiral simply motioned for the next best course of action.

Which, in this case, meant just charging forward and playing it by ear. He was no Captain, of course, but it seemed like she had the same idea, so he found it suitable to simply follow suit. Hopefully, the casualties before they entered the tower proper could be mitigated in turn...

Warped Earth, Twisted Air (An Urban Fantasy Dungeon Crawler RP) — Now Open!

@SquishStar45: Accepted.

It's likely we'll start later tonight, so be prepared.

Fate/Eternum

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

The sound of BB's self-proclaimed (and self-composed) theme song blasting from the room over, followed by the eventual silence into the sound of a running shower, was enough of an indication to Meltryllis that her Master had finally woken up from having to deal with her poison. It was likely that the necessary fear had wormed its way into her heart, which meant that things were all going according to plan thus far. So long as she remained at arm's length and acted impartially as a Master, then the Alter Ego would have no qualms about what she had done. Not like she had in the first place, though.

"I see that you've finally managed to get off of your bed. It's a miracle, really; I had expected you to remain curled up in bed for the rest of the morning," she remarked as Nanako walked into the kitchen. Before she could verbally abuse her Master any more than, that, though, a piercing voice—BB's, of course—shouted out the ever-quintessential introduction to her program before her visage appeared on the television. The AI, it seemed, was fuming.

"Hey, what's the big idea, leaving me hanging like that?! Senpai, you're horrible! The worst! Scum of the earth!" BB scolded, the TV's speakers loud enough for Meltryllis to feel the vibrations from where she was seated. "Well, it's your first day of vacation, so this magnanimous BB-chan will cut you some slack for now, but in! Any! Case!"

With that, a map popped up on the screen, right next to BB; it looked to be an overhead diagram of Fusang City, with their current position and a marker indicating... Something near the southern side of the city.

"Alright, you two... Okay, maybe just senpai, but I'll address you both for now. Both of you, head to this location, right over here, and deal with the anomaly that just popped up. The sooner, the better. Am I clear? I'm clear, riiiight~?" she added, pointing at a route with her baton before leaning towards the camera on the other side of the TV.

"Yes, yes, I understand, BB," Meltryllis responded, rolling her eyes as if the AI's outburst hadn't fazed her in the least. "Well? How about you, Master?"

@VitaVitaAR

Ruler — Sherlock Holmes

Holmes simply smiled wordlessly at Othis' remark about 'authorization' as he rose from his chair, dusting off his outfit as he walked towards the door.

"A taxi shall do, Miss Obberhausen. Walking may give us the reprieve of collecting our thoughts, but when the only course of action is to gather more information, then time is of the essence. Wouldn't you think so?" he responded in turn, walking towards the door nonchalantly before waiting for his Master to catch up. "If it is my knowledge of Atlantis that you desire, though, then the most that I have is a combination of Sir Francis Drake's testimony coupled with a few miscellaneous facts thereafter. If you wish to hear those en route, I would not mind in the least."

---

The prompt arrival of a taxi coupled with a small lecture meant that the ride felt considerably shorter than it might have been otherwise—no, the fact that the taxi had arrived so promptly was worthy of at least some note. It was as if someone was waiting for them to head out in the first place, which necessitated some degree of caution from here on out.

"We're here, you two," the taxi driver spoke as the port, trading vessels and all, came into view outside the window. With a quick exchange of cash, both the Ruler and his Master were soon simply standing idly by at the entrance to the locale.

"This is... A tad too convenient, wouldn't you say? I have a sneaking suspicion that something is amiss. Remain cautious, Miss Obberhausen, for we know not what force it is that desires our attention."

@KoL

---

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City Streets

The most notable thing about the crime scene was probably how haphazardly it was left. The culprit, it seemed, had come and gone like a storm. The security camera, positioned right outside the apartment, for example, was shot clean through with a rifle bullet not unlike the one that had wounded the girl living in the complex. More notable than that, though, was the lack of evidence of leaving. No, rather than that, as the birds soon noticed, the Servant who had done this act had not left via the stairs or the elevator. No, they had instead leaped off of the railing and, having landed in the gardens beneath, left behind footprints on impact. The number of tracks left over, distinct by the means of what sort of imprint they left, simply showed that whoever did this didn't care enough about being traced to even attempt to cover up what they had done.

The dirt that they tracked thereafter seemed to indicate that the shooter had headed west, though there was only so far to follow the trail before it petered out entirely. With this newfound knowledge in hand, the sparrows soon returned to their master to report their discoveries.

@RolePlayerRoxas