Konan375

~Chrono Asylum: Devil's Plague

Fallen and Konan Collab

Half an hour earlier

Olivia snorted at Cade's comment about blending in at a club. "Of course I would. It was part of my training. It doesn't mean I like it, though." While she talked, Olivia pulled a stack of post-it notes and a pen out of her purse, a red one, naturally, and started scribbling on them. She looked up at Cade, continuing to write on the post-it notes. "How much time do you think it would take to for you to work out this stress?"

"Depends. I wouldn't depend on time, but rather the caused. This boils down to three factors."

Cade lifted up a finger for each stress factor he listed as he went through them.

"First, Anya's location. When that's discovered, a great part of that worry and stress will be solved. Second, getting her safely out of here. When that's done, I don't have to keep looking over my back and expect to find lurking killers in the shadows. Third, finding out why the Legendes were killed in the first place without causing more issues."

He paused to catch his breath.

"I much rather not work while drugged. We might need the sedatives or muscle relaxers for the event I have to patch up one of you. Especially if things go wrong."

Olive adjusted one of her notes and clicked her tongue "Thirty minutes it is, then. I'm not talking about drugging you. You do bring up a good point, though." She looked at the two sticky notes she had on the table with sigils etched on them and smiled a Cade. "Lucky you. You get to see the better half of SenDep." She pulled a black sleeping mask out of her purse and handed it to Cade. "Granted, it won't actually be thirty minutes, but it'll feel like it." She paused for a second. "This'll most likely help relieve some of the strees."

Cade raised his left eyebrow in question over the statement Olivia just made. Confusion poured over his expression at what she meant. How in the world could she make him relax and focus without some sort of drug-induced state?

When she handed him the black mask, then to the sigils. He recognized them to be Sigillum. Cade used himself for more powerful Alchemy, then frowned.

“Alchemy? I do not like this idea…at all.”

Cade objected. He hesitated over the whole plan. Mostly because he knew what was actually involved and it was going to be a form of mental manipulation. At least he suspected it was. It was one thing to use Alchemy on things on the outside, such as Kiara’s shadows. Mental manipulation was a totally different thing.

"Have you ever been in a sensory deprivation chamber? Usually, it's a tub of water that is heated to the temprature of one's body heat. The water has a very high salt content to allow you to float, and you are in pitch blackness." Lawrence spoke up, taking note of Cade's hesitation. "It's used by some to relax, and for others, it allows them some insight." He pointed to one of Olivia's notes. "That one numbs you and acts like the water." He pointed to the other note, "That one changes one's perception of time. Depending on how it's written, it could stretch minutes into hours, but it's been set to you percieving five minutes as thirty. I'll take care of the noises."

Olivia gave Cade a reassuring smile. "This is all voluntary, but it should allow you to clear your head and be able to focus on helping find Anya."

Cade looked like he wanted to argue but he found it difficult. He didn’t have the better dog in this fight. He was useless while a ball of stress and they all knew it, now they wanted to fix it. It wasn’t their fault he found alchemy changes conflicting. Especially since his surge.

The doctor inhaled. He debated a moment longer before finally agreed.

“How do I activate them and so I just set them on my eyes or what? I tend to use Sigilum for bigger spells since they require more time and energy to set up.”

He looked at Olivia like a lost puppy.

It took everything Olivia had to not visably gush over Cade. There was a kind of innocence to the man that Olivia was surprised AMRO had not snuffed out. She heard Lawrence scoff next to her as she could not stop gushing mentally over the Asylum. "It's easy. All you have to do is put on the blindfold." Olivia smiled at Cade as she picked the notes off the table stuck them to him. "And we will do the rest."

Meanwhile, Lawrence started muttering under his breath and tapped Cade's forehead.

Before the man was engulfed in silence Olivia spoke up. "Remeber, all you have to do is speak up at any point if you want to stop"

Cade leaned back as he placed the blindfold on. Everything immediately went black as his skin began to numb. A sense of fear rushed to his system, followed by adrenaline. Memories, unwilling, flooded behind his closed eyes.

Snow… bloodstained.

Life flowed from his system, leaving his skin to prick and figure to tense more than before. Just for a moment. On reflex, Cade’s hands fell to the side of his seat. The fingers gripped the plastic covering.

For the first two minutes, his figure remained stiff. Struggling between relaxed and unknown stress. Several times Cade seemed to want to scream for them to stop but resisted it. Finally, something seemed to give. His body settled into the numbing sensation produced by the sigils and Lawrence.

Olivia bit her lip as she watched Cade fight against their attempts at calming him down. She glanced at Lawrence, who shook his head slightly. He was about to burn out. Sometimes, one's own thoughts are the most insidious. He commented to Olivia through their link.

Olivia relaxed as Cade did. She hoped that the expirence would be helpful to the man at least, even if it didn't remove his stress fully. She leaned back into her chair and sipped at her drink. It was nearly gone and she was ready to order another. But that could wait until the session with Cade was over.

---

Lawrence tapped Olivia on the shoulder as Ante Mortem approached them. She looked at the two approaching and felt a knot form in her stomach. Something had happened, that much was certain. Get ready Lawrence sent to Olivia. She nodded, and started tying her hair back into a ponytail. Lawrence stiffened next to Olivia as Angel revealed that management was dead. Soon enough, they were surrounded by security and had fireballs launched at them.

Then the world shattered and they found themselves somewhere else. Olivia looked around the room and noticed that some of her fellow Asylums looked slightly different. Lawrence didn't change. He looked exactly like he did at Ouroboros. Olivia, on the other hand, looked quite different.

Her hair was dirty and disheveled. She was wearing a ragged and yellow-stained white shirt that was slightly too big for her frame. The noticeable feature was the blood. Her clothing was splattered with it. She listened silently as Angel and Rin and Rena briefed them on what the plan was and what they would do next.

The next thing Olivia knew, they were back in Ouroboros and they were surrounded again. Immediately, Lawrence started muttering under his breath. The air around them shimmered and formed the shape of a dome, encompassing them and security. The sounds of the club outside the dome died out. Any noise made within the dome echoed and reverberated around them loudly.

Now would be an ideal time to scream, Lawrence sent telepathically to Kiara and Maeve

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Leith Calder

The fumes were dulling Leith's senses. As the elf swung her trident at him, he knew he had to move, but his reactions felt sluggish. He staggered to the side, away from the crates he had his back against. The trident still connected with him, slashing across his chest, but the wound was shallow. The pain pulsed hollowly through him, almost as if it wasn't his pain, but someone else's.

Leith shook his head. He needed to deal with the elf before he made any more mistakes. He had left his sword in the carriage when he chased after the thief, but he still had a weapon. He pulled at the leather necklace he had around his neck. It pulled off easily, and he gripped the small, trinket-sized sword in his left hand.

"To be fair, it wasn't you I was sneaking up on," Leith said, his speech slightly slurred. He glanced back in Ssarak's direction. There was another Esyire facing off against his friend. "Although maybe facing you would have been an easier challenge."

He took a step forward and swung his right fist at the elf. He wasn't intending on hitting her with it. It was a cover to try and prevent her from noticing him enlarge Sephrim Sword in his other hand to the size of a longsword and take a swing at her leg.

~Chrono Asylum: Devil's Plague

Olivia flashed Cade a smile as he made suggestions on what to do. It made sense to split up to look for information. Before she could say anything though, Samad scoffed and walked away from the conversation. Olivia glared at the man's back as he walked into the crowd. What an ass. She thought to herself before shrugging and turning to Cade. She sipped at her drink while she examined him. He was a bundle of raw nerves. That just wouldn't do. Before he could hurry after Samad, Olivia put a hand on Cade's shoulder to stop him.

"Let him go." Olivia grinned at Kiara. "He needs some room for all of his baggage." Who didn't have baggage working for A.M.R.O., though? She looked back at Cade. "You, however, are going to have a heart attack if you don't stop your worrying. Granted, I get why, but all this stress isn't going to help."

"She's right." Lawrence was at Cade's other shoulder. "If you continue like this you're going to be little to no help in a fight."

"Gee, thanks for that lovely insight." Sarcasm dripped from Olivia's voice. "Please, leave the talking to me." Lawrence shrugged and motioned for Olivia to continue.

Olivia nodded. "Good. Now come, let's take a seat." She made her way to where Kiara was seated and took a seat herself. "I'm not much of a club person, either." Olivia answered Kiara's question. "Say, do you want to help us in de-stressing Cade here?"

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Darius Jura

Darius scoffed at Aramir's words to Mar. He scowled at the elf. "Do not create lies to comfort her. The college is neutral. There is...there is nothing we or the college can do for Yarosmere unless we want to start a war between the college and Yarosmere." Motes of air popped and snapped around Darius as he watched Aramir grab the stone she was incessantly shouting for earlier and break it. Other than that, he stayed silent as the rebels came from the shadows and took them to their base of operations.

The time at the headquarters was of little note to Darius other than right after traveling and making his choice of recently stolen weapons. He stayed quiet and let the others talk to the rebels and was among the first to leave to the college. Luckily, this time wasn't as bad and he was able to keep from retching. He made his way to Uicle's office. He had his report to give to the suit of armor. As he passed through the courtyard, he took note of the two people talking to Val. They didn't look like a threat, so he paid them no mind and continued his march to Uicle's office. Once there, he rapped sharply on the Necromancer's door and waited.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Leith Calder

The strategy worked. Leith couldn't help but smile as his attacker staggered away from him. He had time to rip himself free of the confines of his cloak, though it pained him to do so, and untangle the ropes that tangled around his feet. Once free, he got to his feet and looked at the Wood Elf in front of him. She looked ready to block any attack he threw at her. A smile tugged at his mouth with that thought. What if he threw something at her? He grabbed a nearby barrel, the sharp tips of his gauntlet sank into the top of it, and hurled it at the elf.

If only it worked that well.

The top of barrel ripped off the barrel, sending it spinning horizontally over the elf's head. The liquid contained in the barrel spewed out as it spun coating Leith and quite possibly the elf in the fluid. The barrel hit the wall several feet behind the elf with a tremendous crash, sending its contents everywhere. Leith didn't notice any of this. He had stood frozen in place the moment he was covered in the liquid. He couldn't see what it was in the darkness of the warehouse, but he could smell it.

It was lamp oil.

For a few moments, he wasn't in a warehouse, fighting an elf. Instead, he was in a burning village, its inhabitants recently dead, and he was watching a different elf burning alive. The heat, the smell, the screams, they all came back to him in stunning vividness. It was the screams that rooted him in place. He could hear them as if it was happening in right in front of him.

Leith shook his head. He couldn't lose focus on the fight at hand. Harder said than done, though. Each shaky breath he took brought him right back to the village. He was starting to get light headed, but he wasn't sure if that was because of his suddenly labored breaths, or because of the oil he was doused in.

One thing brought him rushing back to the present. A lamp that had been hanging on the wall just above the spot the barrel hit had one of its moorings knocked loose. It hung awkwardly on the wall, teetering from side to side. Leith watched as the lamp fell off the wall and fall towards the now spread out lamp oil. With a cry of alarm, he shot his arm out towards the lamp, and a ball of water coalesced around the lamp and snuffed the flame inside it. As he set the lamp down gently, a wave of vertigo washed over him and pain lanced in his skull. He stumbled backwards and bumped into a nearby crate. He looked at the elf across from him and chuckled.

"We wouldn't be able to try and talk this out, would we?"

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Leith Calder

Leith hissed in frustration as the rope tangled around his feet. It didn't help that the rope had wrapped his cloak around his feet. His right arm was now trapped between the cloak and his body, and unfortunately he didn't have the leverage to free the arm. Worse yet, it seemed that his fall had been noticed. As a figure walked towards him with a trident, Leith's mind raced. There wasn't much he could do from his position except wait.

As the person stood over him with their trident raised and poised to strike, Leith had an idea. He needed to be precise. Any mistake and he would be skewered by the trident. On the down-stroke Leith tucked his head down and moved his right arm upwards to cover his head.

CLANG

The sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the room and the trident struck Leith's gauntlet. He sighed at the sight of the holes in his cloak. "That was my favorite cloak." He muttered under his breath. He moved his hand to grab onto the trident and keep his assailant from retrieving it and with his free hand he held it out and tapped the yellow-stoned ring on his ring finger with his thumb three times.

As the ring started to hum, Leith shouted out to his friends.

"RING!"

During their ride in the carriage, the group had developed a few strategies for if their diplomatic mission ever turned sour. One of them had been for Leith to shout a word to potentially distract their opponents and warn his allies at the same time. He covered his eyes in the crook of his arm, and hoped that his friends had heard him as a bright flash erupted from the ring. He then gave a tug on the trident and then pushed back on it. There was a ripping noise as his arm tore free of the imprisoning cloak.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Darius Jura

Darius watched silently as the situation in front of him unfolded. He stood up once the king had. He grimaced as the snow elf repeatedly mentioned the stone. Maybe it was because he had become desensitized to death and wasn't shocked by what happened, or maybe because he had been a part of a few negotiations that had gone south and ended in a bloodbath, but he could understand what the king was doing. A show of power to demonstrate his strength, and to show the College that he is not someone to be trifled with.

Darius laid a hand on Aramir's arm as she aimed the her bow at Yolin and shook his head slightly, glancing around the room at the people slowly dying. "There is no need for that," he said calmly. Panicking here would do no good. He looked to the others and jerked his head towards the door. "Lets go. Nothing can be gained from staying here." He was ready to drag Mar out of the room if she refused to move. He gave a respectful nod to the king before he left through the doors.

Once the doors were closed, Darius quickly lead the others back to the room where they waited for the feast. It was empty, but Darius doubted it would be like that for long. Once inside, he closed the doors and barricaded them. He then turned to the others.

"Now would be a good time to use one of those stones."

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Leith Calder

Leith had noticed one issue with the door while he waited. The hinges had been horribly maintained and were now rusted. They would make a terrible noise if he opened the door. By the time Ssarak contacted him to go in, he had come up with a solution. With a grasping motion, he started pulling water from the air. When he had enough he split the collected water into two spheres and sent them towards the hinges. When Ssarak said go, Leith clenched his hand into a fist and had the spheres envelop the hinges. He forced the water into the crevices and hoped that it would work.

The door gave a long, quiet squeak as it opened, but Leith figured it was quieter than it would have been, and definitely quieter than the sound of breaking glass opposite him in the warehouse. He quickly pulled himself inside and shut the door behind him. He quickly used one of the stacks of boxes as cover as he tried to get a glimpse of the robber. Instead, he heard the sound of a heavy chain. He caught sight of Ssarak, with white scales oddly enough, about to be hit by said chain. He was too far away to do try and stop the chain, but he might be able to stop the assailant.

Taking a deep breath, Leith focused on sensing liquid. He held his hand out in front of him as he pushed his focus into the darkness behind Ssarak. The warehouse had a damp atmosphere and it made it difficult to find what he was looking for. After a few moments, he found it.

A heartbeat.

Quietly, he made his way towards the pulsing liquid. A plan started forming in his mind. He'd sneak up behind this person, and use his gauntlet to hurl one of the many boxes in the warehouse at them. He was nearly there, just a few more steps and he could-

Leith tripped.

He had been focusing too much on the heartbeat and didn't see the coil of rope in front of him. A quiet curse left his mouth moments before he clattered to the ground loudly. The air rushed out of him in a whoosh. He really hoped that he hadn't been heard.

~Chrono Asylum: Devil's Plague

Ouroboros. The asylum for alchemists. Olivia grimaced as she thought back to being corrected. She'd been there before, of course she knew what the place was. Pushing the annoyance aside, she admired the dress that she decided to go with. Even though Rena had been teasing her when she pointed the dress out, it had its charm. It didn't matter whether or not Maeve liked it, Olivia liked it, and that was that.

Olivia looked over to Lawrence. It was always interesting to see the man in clothing that wasn't a type of camouflage. He wore a maroon button up shirt with a pair of black dress pants. It was simple, but it worked. Lawrence noticed her gaze and gave a small nod. Olivia nodded back and stood up a bit straighter.

Time to look professional. SenDep was at Ouroboros.

They made their way towards one of the booths in the lounge and took a seat. When someone came to ask what they wanted to drink, it went the same way it normally did; Lawrence ordering Crown on the rocks and Olivia ordering something creamy. As they waited for their drinks, Olivia noticed Cade and Samad. She looked over at Lawrence.

So what's their problem? They don't seem to get along that much.

Lawrence looked at Olivia then over at the Experimental Team.

Well, I'd assume you'd have a bit of a problem with your new partner not long after your old one died. He looked back at Olivia, whose eyes widened in shock.

But don't most link-

Yes, most linked teams do die together. It's not often that one survives. It was one of the reasons why I... Lawrence trailed off, then looked back at Samad I would imagine Samad hasn't quite gotten over it, and with Cade nearly dying a few weeks-

"He what?" From the sound of it, Lawrence was pretty sure that Olivia had said that out loud as well as through their link. And from the looks of the people nearby, she must have said it quite loud.

As amusing as that was, you might want to keep a bit more quiet. Unless you want us to draw undue attention?

Olivia flushed red. No, I don't want that. So should we gather information like we usually do? Lawrence waved her off.

Not yet. Let's see if any of the others have a plan.

Their drinks arrived. Olivia picked up hers and stood up. Well, I'm going to make sure those two don't tear each other apart.

Lawrence stood up as well. Oh, that's not going to happen. Not here, at least He followed her towards Samad and Cade.

"So what's the plan, boys?" Olivia asked with a smile as she arrived. She took a sip of her drink. Oooh, she had to get the name of this one.

~Chrono Asylum: Devil's Plague

Same here