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The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Aww, our most yaoi moment, yet =3 I'm not counting that Lesley-Haku moment as yaoish, since the icy mage was on murder mode XD

I so didn't feel motivated last time I posted, but now I want to write so badly! ....Ah, school. You make me inspired for all the wrong reasons. *sigh* MUG, be prepared. Haku has a new idea~ Pin the icicle on the Inadi~

PS: is on phone

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

And finished~

I expect Lesley to suddenly pull a hug attack. XD

Ah....parents make me clean my room early in the morning...Oh well, as the lovely Catie Wayne said:

6 AM . . . Yesterday

ERode said
Wait wat. There's a skype group? goddammit, Sky, why didn't you tell me?I need to lay down the groundwork for Gabe to become the super harem battle butler prince.

Eror (nickname moment =3 ), don't blame Sky-can. I didn't tell them, because I haven't seen/accepted their character, yet. If you all have Skype, feel free to PM me your names. It's not entirely safe to post them up out in the open. Remember that harasser at the old guild? Who's to say that jerk isn't floating around again. -.-

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

From the location of the orc’s defeat to the cave they would eventually take refuge in, Hakuren remained completely silent, a fact he detested quite. Jasper had managed to give him a pinch of power, just enough to keep him from falling unconscious, yet his body’s condition had barely improved. During their climb he could not feel the piercing wind that swept through everyone else. The young man was the embodiment of ice. There was nothing that could make him feel the cold. However, it had become harder to breathe. It was as if something had a strong grip on his lungs and prevented him from inhaling and exhaling properly. This made him fall behind several times as they followed to rocky path towards the peak.

The state he was in made the mage irritated with himself. If he was going to be dragging everyone down, at least allow him to complain about the hardships and suggest to halt. But this was not possible, for he felt as though the moment he would open his mouth would be a signal for something to come out, be it blood or acids. There was nothing specific that could truly exit the human’s stomach. He had not eaten neither at the tea party, nor at the prince’s castle. That cotton candy he had shared with Leon in the lovely garden had long since disappeared, like a dream that never was. The lack of energy both inside his amulet and in his body made the rest of the journey far more exhausting than it should have been. Going hungry wasn’t a foreign feeling for him, but it never lasted more than a week. In the timeless world that was Nowhere, at certain moments it felt like only three hours had passed and at others - three months. Needless to say, the youngster was simply too tired to partake in any conversation. Their current location was also not favorable for a friendly exchange of words. The rest of his companions seemed to agree with that statement and kept quiet, whilst they used every drop of strength they had left to march forward.

Eventually, the group was reunited with the rest of their comrades, as well as with the guides. It was not a touching reunion, for every single person was weary and visibly reluctant to laugh everything away and sing a mountain song. Hakuren and Leila were the only ones to be assisted, by Avian and Victoria respectively, to the cave where the party took shelter.
Once inside, the black-blue-haired magician slid down to the moist ground, resting his back to the stone wall. Deliberately having positioned himself next to Jasper, he intended recover quickly or to at least have some fun teasing the girl.

“Thanks for the heal, Bear-chan~” he told her in a friendly manner. “You did me a favor twice. I’m indebted to you. Would you like another light one in return? I was as gentlemanly as possible the first time, but I can definitely give you some ~special service~ now that we’re in the dark and out of danger.”

For better or for worse, Harper “came to the rescue”, oblivious to what the older male had told the girl.

Harper said "How are you both holding up?"

“Perfectly fine, mon capitan” Hakuren responded with a smile. “How’s that right hand of yours? Still got the courage to swing?”

Riddle himself wasn’t at the prime of his power, much like the other members of the gang. Even the dragoons had dared to lose their poise and drop to their knees. If they got ambushed, it would likely spell the end for some of them. With not a single one of them being at their one hundred percent, they were like sitting ducks, an easy picking for anyone who meant harm, be they a dragon or those hooded marauders.

Albeit he appeared unfazed and cheerful, the “ice king” remained vigilant and alert. Even in the dimness someone had to keep a look out in case something occurred and he had no intention to be caught off guard. Yet his head continued to pound, the hammering sound not ceasing to take a rest. The liquid inside the charm was slow to return, making it all that harder to endure. He could no longer see veins in front of his vision, but the taste of blood was still in his mouth. Sitting down apparently made him feel even worse, due to the need of sleep, the most natural method for recovery. His insistence to remain awake could only bring more harm. Despite the pain that stung from different sides, the human did not allow himself to show it. There was no evident reason to display his agony, yet there was also no logical point in hiding it. With both being acceptable in his eyes, the young man chose to conceal these troublesome sensations, merely because he didn’t find any pleasure in the thought of letting out a loud complaint at that very moment. If he were to allow his desires to take a hold of him, his mind would have already drifted off to dreamland, yet the duty to himself was knocking at his door, keeping him awake for the sake of being alive.

Just as he felt like his entire being had settled down among the chattering of his crew, a roar shook the entire cave.

Dragged by Avian yet again, Hakuren moved from his comfortable seat to a position behind a massive boulder at one end of the cave along with Leon, Riley and Jasper, while Victoria rallied Harper, Ace, Leila and Inadi at the other. The only one left behind was Lesley, who had fallen asleep on a sandy spot and didn’t give the slightest indication of waking up anytime soon.
The green-blue-eyed magician felt like he could hit the hay as well, for the sudden shifting of his body, rather than stir him up, made him drowsy. For a bit he decided to close his eyes, holding his staff in his hands as he sat behind the boulder.
Not a single thought crossed his mind. This phenomenon only occurred when he was utterly exhausted and the case at present was no other. It was unknown how much time the lad spent like this. After all, time itself was not relevant in this world. A few seconds? A day? Maybe a year? It did not matter. What did was that nothing had vastly changed when he regained consciousness and that he had come back in the first place. It was most peculiar, the thing which awoke the philosopher from the daze of slumber. A memory of sorts, of a person he could not recall neither the identity of, nor the manner in which they had met.

“You’ve got a knack for appearing out of nowhere, don’t you?”

‘Same as you.’

The answer to that neutral voice was instinctive. It had no meaning, no definite origin. It had merely come, just like the wind. A spark of curiosity emerged in his mind, enough to bring him to reality.

Slowly lifting his eyelids, Hakuren broke the chains of sleep only to find himself surrounded by jolly chatter. Rubbing off the last of the haze, he rose up, using his staff for support, and looked around. Small puffy clouds were floating in the cave, whilst a little dragon made of the same material soundly slept atop Sleeping Panther Beauty’s head. Puppy had also dozed off next to them, but the rest of the band was wide awake.

“Well, well, well. A baby dragon.” the young man said as he walked over to Harper and company. As he crossed the short distance, he tapped one of the little clouds with the moon of his staff, simply out of curiosity. The small wind formation turned into a miniature flurry, but stayed in one place, not causing any rampage whatsoever.

Ace said "You guys should make it laugh." Ace reminded as she day on top of the boulder.

Riley said "Sounds easy enough." Riley gave her friend a thumbs up then looked around at the others.

Harper said Harper nodded, a smile stuck to his face as well. "Ace is right, now, are dragons ticklish?” He stood on his toes and gave the fluffy thing a pat on its head. Funny, how they had all been scared of it.

“It’s a cloud dragon, Harper. I doubt it’ll be ticklish.” Hakuren told him, keeping his smile and friendly expression. “Little kids get really cranky when you wake them up abruptly, so suddenly tickling it would startle it anyways.” he pointed out and continued “I suggest a game of tag to get it more comfortable with us. Children like it when adults make fools of themselves, so one or two of us can fall over on purpose. That might get it giggling as a start.”

Getting closer to the critter, Hakuren minded his distance. While the magical being seemed harmless enough, there was no telling what it and the Lord of Pink and Rainbows, who appeared to still be out cold, could do. The mage put his hand on the dragon’s head and pet it, while saying:

“Little dragon~ Wanna play a game?”

6 AM . . . Yesterday

Lol, Four nailed it XD

In any case, everyone, one human and one Key have been added to the site. All I'm waiting for is Shin, Sky and Necro. Considering the latter's schedule, we might not be able to wait for her.

I advise the already formed pairs to discuss the names of the Keys.

Also, in the Sky chat two ships have set sail! Hehe, the story hasn't even started yet and there are already ships out at sea XD
1. Rasui X Kei
2. Rasui X Librarian

If we add the one here, that makes three. Ah, I feel like my Levi will be the hot potato of the love ocean X3

6 AM . . . Yesterday

Seeing as Van has stuck around for more than a month, I'll give them time. Perhaps until Sky finishes their Key sheet. Technically speaking, the only ones who haven't given me their sheets are Shin (key), Necro (key) and Sky (key), hense our lack of Keys. Hopefully, everything will be ready soon enough.

6 AM . . . Yesterday

Two days since my last post. Sorry, everyone! I'm a little late ^ ^"

My excuse: Key sheets
You'll get the idea when you click.

6 AM . . . Yesterday

I've also been waiting for that very same reason. Guys, I thought you were going to fight over who gets who. Where is my OOC cat fight? （ｉДｉ）

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Finally posted~

I'll honestly say I was hesitant when I finally finished it. Even though I clarify that Haku is in awful condition and that he's pretty much weak at this very moment, I'm not sure I gave him enough pain -.- Should I make him bleed more? That spell was a hard one, so it did take almost all the liquid. Maybe I should get him to hallucinate? Cry tears of blood? Get his fingers blue from the cold? If anyone thinks I should give him a harder time because of the massiveness that was "Mirror Labyrinth", please, speak now or forever eat your celery XD

In any case, I didn't want to use something along the lines of "freeze it from the inside out", since that would rob Lesley and Leon from their moments of awesomeness. Now that the monster is trapped, they can use wind to get on one of the pillars and deal damage from above.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

What is ice? It is merely frozen water. A hard forgery of something else. It can not erase something’s existence or bring inspiration to the soul as fire can. Nor can it bear the fruit of life and offer shelter as the earth does. It is another form of something, which in itself is on the boundary between the living and the dead.
In the water is where all life began. This concoction of two simple elements is a substance that existence needs to remain valid. Yet this “motherly spirit” can drown you with its “love”. It can poison you, restrain you, ultimately taking away the life it has given. Water may heal or help you decay. It can be calm and it can be restless. Clear and murky. Deep and shallow. Never remaining in one state for long, changing its form with every new container. A mysterious intricate anima, which does not recognise the borderline between reality and imagination.
Albeit created by this embodiment of harmony, ice is not a scale, on which two opposites reside perfectly in balance. There is no situation in which it may aid the creation of new animate beings, for it possesses a cold and unforgiving nature. Made of crystals pure and graceful, an angelic bringer of death it is, freezing one’s entire being and robbing them of their final breath without so much as creating a single scratch on one’s flesh. Indeed, ice is the true “kiss of death”. A gentle touch that ends all sorrow with an eternal sleep in an embrace deprived of warmth.

This all being clear and said, it can not be expected of something so “black” to be merciful in battle. The stage of war it may silently leave, yet behind it shall be a path of soundless demise. A beautiful white star spreading darkness on its way across the welkin. Obstacles that appear on the road will only meet their peril sooner. This statement is not only true for foes, but for allies as well. An essence so bitterly cold that it stings every fiber of your body is not meant to be one’s faithful companion, like a simple-minded dog that allows not its mind but its heart to lead the way.

Just as a wolf would carefully stalk its prey before unleashing an attack, Hakuren observed the bloodstained arena below him, all the while contemplating on the matter of his power.

Sitting on a branch of one of the trees that surrounded the clearing, he had reached the beforementioned conclusions already and was taking his ~time~ to decide upon his future actions, whilst various happenings occurred with the involvement of his teammates. The young man had taken this position shortly after a tree had fallen between him and the ogre, when Lesley had given him the opportunity to slip by unnoticed, whilst the human of a now not so questionable orientation performed the skill named “Care bear stare”. The ice mage had known from the beginning that his ability was not meant to be used within a short distance, thus he had taken the advantage created by the commotion to occupy a spot that better suited his liking.
However, this did not mean that he had not realized the danger of his new location. Having demonstrated its ability to demolish anything in its path, one swipe from the beast’s sword at the bark could mean a broken leg or worse. Yet the pros outweighed the cons during the moment of action and further dominated them, since the only way for the living terror to specifically pick to cut down the tree he was resting on was to witness the youngster using his ice steps to reach his hiding spot. With Panther properly attracting its attention, it would not have been possible for it to have noted where its other enemy went.
Safely masked behind the many leaves of blue, green and violet, which shivered as the wind blew at them, the green-blue-eyed magician followed closely with his gaze the continuation of the play.

It lasted for what felt like a ~short time~, yet that period was enough for the mythological figure to break free from its attacker’s grip and lunge at the albino healer of the group. Due to her inability to do anything other than mend injuries, the girl had been incapable of escaping the ogre’s hands and became trapped in its hold. Fortunately, her instincts kicked in and her mind made use of whatever was on hand, namely the staff that had been given to her before their departure, and stabbed the fiend in the eye. Taking a staff to the eye. That was a worthy successor of “an arrow to the knee”.
The next actor to step on the stage had been Riley, the heroine of the flame, whose impressive imperfect control over her element had so far in their journey dealt a decent amount of damage. Like any main character out to have fun in the battlefield, she had displayed typical recklessness and confidence by leaping into the air with the aid of Leon’s wind and landing on the monster’s head. The lass had wrapped her arms around its neck and clung onto it like a clingy girlfriend, her intention being to allow her comrades to take a clean shot at the armband, an item which had thus far been absorbing their magical attacks. Things had turned for the worse when the beast attempted to take her off. It had obviously been in a state of panic, seeing as its precious piece of defensive equipment was being targeted. Realizing that she could not hold on any longer, the young woman had fired a shot at the inanimate object, the fire burning away the leather that had strapped the gem to the limb. With this final task done, her mission had been completed.

In the end the humans had achieved their first order of business, not without taking a toll for it. Jasper was scratched and bruised, cowering behind Lesley, who had also taken an injury or two after being pushed away by the ogre. Leon was rather out of it, his body no doubt aching after taking a direct hit from the villain’s shield. But the one, who had received the most pain from them all, was Riley, who now lied on the ground unconscious after being thrown off by the enemy.

And during the passing of all these events Hakuren had not so much as lifted a finger. Watching them struggle from his comfortable seat, his staff placed atop his lap, the thought of casting a spell had not been far from his mind. In fact, using his ability was the topic of his internal monologue, yet the moment to play his part had, until this point, not yet come. There were numerous openings that could have been taken, but what had prevented him from doing so was the fact that his companions were simply too close. Even if he could give the order for the ice to attack and move in a certain manner, he could not draw out the detailed course of action. Ice was like a cat. A pet with a great dose of independence. In all of the instances when the rest of his group needed his aid, a shot from him would not only affect the ogre, but them as well. Understanding that this would be a waste of energy, not to mention friendly fire at useful teammates, this individual preferred to stay in the shadows and lie in wait. His patience was bound to be rewarded.

An icicle fell out of thin air on the armband gem, which had not been picked from the ground. The jewel shattered, lights flashing brightly as they escaped their container. The magical nullifier was no more. The humans were longer at a disadvantage. The monster was unsteadily standing on its feet, blood pouring out of the fresh wound where its eye used to be. With half of its sight now gone and tired from the chase, it was now a sitting duck.
The atmosphere became cold. Bit by bit the temperature dropped. Transparent shards could be seen fluttering in the air as light glided on them, before disappearing into the nothingness. Seemingly in an instant the ground beneath their feet became pure ice, layer upon layer of thick crystal clear sheets. Frost started creeping its way up the trunks of the trees around the clearing, as well as up the legs of the ogre, yet in the second case its purpose was not to hold it down. Considering the being’s brute strength, it could not hope to accomplish such a feat, thus its priority was its penetrating property, rather than its chaining function. The animal’s skin may have been thick, yet it could definitely feel the cold. It was not necessary to reach to the muscles beneath it. Simply enter a few millimeters down and drop the temperature. This was of the ice’s own “free will” after being released upon the earth and, despite the target being the monstrosity, those who were not capable of movement could also be affected lightly. That was the reason why Riley’s skin was losing colour and miniature bits of ice were forming on her fingers. If someone did not reach out and pick her up, her slumber would be eternel.
Only for a heartbeat did the serenity of the ice remain. With a thunder-like sound deformed pillars, huge spikes and cones started rising from the ground, all of them made of ice. The direction they took was offtimes to the side, ranging in radius from 30 to 78 degrees. Their number was great and with their various shapes and positions, they effectively blocked the monster’s view of all of its targets. In addition, the ice was polished to perfection, becoming the same as a mirror. Even when many of them did not manage to sting the opponent, the trap was a success.
From the appearance of the icicle to the end of the obstacle formation and restructure of the arena, Hakuren recited a piece of literature he could remember from memory, despite not being able to recall when or why he had learned it:

“Whereat I turned me round, and saw before me
And underfoot a lake, that from the frost
The semblance had of glass, and not of water.
So thick a veil ne'er made upon its current
In winter-time Danube in Austria,
Nor there beneath the frigid sky the Don,
As there was here; so that if Tambernich
Had fallen upon it, or Pietrapana,
E'en at the edge 'twould not have given a creak.
And as to croak the frog doth place himself
With muzzle out of water,--when is dreaming
Of gleaning oftentimes the peasant-girl,--
Livid, as far down as where shame appears,
Were the disconsolate shades within the ice,
Setting their teeth unto the note of storks.”

And when all was completed, he resumed in his normal voice
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” He had stepped from the branch down to the ground. “That’s how Dante describes Cocytus in the final circle of Hell, where all traitors, including Lucifer himself, are frozen and tormented by neverending cold. To be able to restrain even the so called “Devil Emperor”, ice must be an amazing thing.” he sighed and rested his back on the tree behind him.

This one complicated spell, which gave form to many objects all at once, was given the name “Mirror Labyrinth” by Hakuren, due to the confusion created by the ice reflections. Even if the ogre tried to cut through it, there was simply too much hack off of one or two goes. Yet, as magnificent was this creation was, it did not leave its owner to only marvel at the sight. Five sixths of the liquid within his amulet had been used for the fruition of the maze. Lacking so much life energy made the young man’s head pound and blood veins were visible in front of his eyes every few seconds. He felt like he could choke out blood at any given moment. Some of it even dripped down his mouth. His intention to additionally bring forth a shower of ice needles upon the beast, yet that was not possible in his current state.

As if that wasn’t enough, the temperature of the atmosphere had dropped dramatically. It was as if it was the middle of winter. Frost formed on the trees. Some bugs were even frozen in place.

~Beautiful. Powerful. Dangerous. Cold. Ice as a power can’t be controlled.~