Lonewolf685

Tower of Fable

Kanbaru Otoko

Though Katie was a still a danger and Riku was acting to make all the suffering they'd put the dragon through pointless, Kanbaru found herself gripped with indecision. She stood there beside the fungal skeleton, brow furrowed and gaze intense as she watched Akiko ignore her challenge. Yet it wasn't because Akiko didn't care how her actions were perceived, but it looked to her that Akiko didn't even register she was betraying Kanbaru in the first place.

As Katie plummeted and the Abyss still stood, shaken but unbroken, the whale's gaze followed the static hiss of her parasite and saw Nephy no longer deigning to conceal herself. The piss poor attempt at resolving herself was too little, too late, and Kanbaru had far less compunction with venting herself on the wolf then the feline she was steadily realizing her no basis in Kanbaru's reality.

She flickered in and out of sight, each Dash a bound closer to the wolf before appeared before her with Kanbaru's cloak billowing outwards to drown Nephy in its shadow. The JSTR didn't need to offer it's own bloodthirst when the back of her fist swung for Nephy's cheek. "For someone who ached for freedom, your hesitation tells me you'd prefer to remain here. If you've grown so soft a heart you'd rather break trust with me just to spare Katie a little pain, do speak up if I haven't dislocated your jaw."

Grimoiric Heart

Suzuya Kuzunoha

Confusion was smothered. Lies went unheard. The distinction between Suzuya and Burning Heart melted under the flames of her scrutiny as she crouched with her legs coiled. It really didn't matter what either side said at this point, a certainty gripping her that she was in a savage land with savage people and she couldn't spare them a mercy they didn't demonstrate to each other.

Dynasty Queen striking with lethal intent. Camelot turning against her allies over a complete stranger. The stranger herself wearing her fathomless nature openly on her sleeve.

The sudden appearence of the Woman Behind the Curtain may have triggered a conflict if Ozma wasn't immediately acting to de-escalate the situation, trying to get all parties to back down. And...it seemed to be working. The Monkey King was backing off, though casting out enough barbs even Burning Heart felt her tails bristling.

"My Grimoire knows the joys of sisterhood. To hold close those you love with all your heart and share your heart in turn. I ache to feel it myself and not the echoes of what once was...yet I do not see even a shred of it outside of Tsubasa's minions. No wonder my predecessor chose to die alone rather then walk in such shameless circles!"

Roma Bhakti

The weight of the moon itself was set to fall upon Dynsasty Queen yet Tsubasa stayed her hand, smoke drifting from parted lips in loops and whirls as she turned from the disengaging monkey to stand with a shoulder to Tesni and the other to Ozma. Though her expression was as neutral as it had been since she first arrived her eyes narrowed with interest and her chosen tools faded like beams of light smothered by a passing cloud.

That, and the startled cries of her familiars as they found themselves between a credible threat and a fox girl who was gaining an incredibly skewed idea of Magical Girl culture, made it clear what her course of action would be.

"It seems that I shall not be finding new converts just yet, so I shall leave the monkey to her drunken ramblings. Accept this gift and my sincere hope you find enlightenment somewhere more dignified then the bottom of a gourd." The rabbit-eared girl turned fully, waving over her shoulder as she strolled towards Camelot and Ozma.

A hair pin of solid but unyielding gold formed, styled in exacting detail to mirror the very measuring device that would have deigned to crush Tsubasa, appeared in Dynasty Queen's hand. Or at least, it would have been a hair pin if it wasn't shattered in two, the ends splintered as though genuine wood and digging into her hand like the barbs of a fishing hook.

"And Ozma, it has been far too long since I have had the company of a natural red head. My homeland is rather lacking outside certain regions, but I have had a fruitful sabattical spreading my teachings beyond these foggy shores. A shame I could not convince you to come along, but I feel I have returned for a purpose that requires considerable investment of my time and resources, so surely we will have time to reconnect."

Her large, laquine ears twitched under the falling rain, the drops falling from her robes without a drop soaking in. It contrasted with the dampness soaking her long, monochromatic hair and features.

"And Camelot, do not despair. Though my countryman is right and the barbarians are at the gates, the light of knowledge I shall freely provide shall liberate those who wish to rise beyond eternal stagnation. Worry not for we shall meet again soon enough."

There was a moment she considered addressing Lilac Shimmer, but Burning Heart's restraint looked frayed enough as it was, so the tall Magical Girl made her leave from them. The tallest and most developed of her familiar's glasped her hands, the rain around her hanging in the air like beads of glass before light flashed from her person and enveloped herself, her peers, and Tsubasa herself.

And when it faded it left behind nothing but a shattered patrol and the rain of a distant pageless.

Grimoiric Heart

Looks like I need to post soon. Expect Thursday at the latest.

Grimoiric Heart

Suzuya: doesn’t realize standing over a downed Sempai let’s them see up her skirt. Will promptly immolate the entire city from embarrassment.

Grimoiric Heart

Suzuya: Quietly decided Lilac and Belle are the only sane foreigners and resolves to be armed at all times lest the erupt into violence.

Grimoiric Heart

Shockingly it seems the only person left to try diplomacy is Lilac.

I’m just going to pre-emotive my start playing “Let the bodies hit the floor.”

Grimoiric Heart

The next series of posts.

Grimoiric Heart

And posted. In which Tomoe Gozen is triggered by betrayal and Roma considers drowning a monkey personally.

Grimoiric Heart

Suzuya Kuzunoha

For once Suzuya and Burning Heart felt something approaching harmony. The Grimoire was doing the heavy lifting and Suzuya was hesitant still, but both found the idea of fighting alongside Lilac Shimmer to be something they wanted.

Though the prospect of holding hands rendered both eastern personalities blushing and hesitating, culture overcoming warrior mindset as they left the Lilac to bounce along the walls rather then meeting hands in the middle. The heat of the moment was one thing, but that kind of coordination would fluster any maiden. She was fairly certain the actual Tomoe Gozen wouldn't have been so brazen with her husband!

She was still grouned, waiting for her senior to finish her attack before drawing more weapons when a searing flash of light erupted from behind her, overpowering her own naturally intense illumination to make her flinch. But even as her eyes screwed shut she could hear Lilac crash as though swatted from the air by a physical force-

When did I move?

Suzuya inhaled, lungs filling and eyes opening to find she was not where she was standing before and there was a naginata in hand. Though she'd barely claimed any heads since transforming the wood felt aflame against her palms, her grimoire erupting with negativity towards Camelot as she brandished her sword at an ally. The girl wanted to turn away and check on Lilac, but Burning Heart was both girdle and cage, keeping her focused entirely on the one threatening them as her tails thrashed angrily, tips flashing with steel waiting to be drawn.

Roma Bhakti

Tsubasa would readily concede she enjoyed the feeling of being carried in the arms of so venerable a knight, but her dignity was unflappable and she hadn't the emotion to pout at being set upon her feet. She had already experienced Excalibur's radiance before and found it as comforting as ever, but it wouldn't distract her from summoning her minions back to her side. With a splash, a crackle, and a snap of ice that flanked Camelot, expressions rigid in barely held neutrality.

As Camelot was eager to attest to, the Pageless would not lift a claw against them. Something that Roma would have rather not been seen but it wasn't like there was any use denying it now. In one hand materialized a gold tipped smoking pipe, and in the other was a fan of plated gold. The former lit with a puff of magic and she drew deep while she idly fanned herself in Tesni's direction.

"Perhaps you see now that this is partially what I meant by your Evolution growing stagnant. What you see before you is but a triffle of what I and any like me can accomplish if one simply matures beyond the yolk of eternal childhood. The Pageless are indeed being of destruction, but they are not mindless. They are instinctual beings, or in a word, beasts. An animal does not fear the tools of man even if they kill with the ease of a gun or bomb, but they can respect the power."

"Understanding is the first step to begin and end conflict. Know your enemy to fight them, and love them to make them an enemy no more." A long exhale, smoke billowing from her lips to drift to the clouds above, eyes lazily drifting to the Apex Pageless somewhere over yonder vainly struggle to pluck the false angel's wings. Her gaze turned back to earth, where Pageless cowered in unity while Magical Girls all turned upon each other with barely restrained murder in their eyes.

"I believe I can manage to stand now, Dame Knight. Contrary to your estimation of me, I am not the frail child who hid behind their sempai's skirt I once was." The impossibly tall Magical Girl slipped Camelot's arms with the grace of an Eel, pipe now lowered and fan drawn still as she moved halfway between herself and Dynast Queen. "It is important to know, when I speak of understanding, it is for both sides. The Pageless know only hunger, and so one must demonstrate their own to hope for even a fraction of a chance."

"And if the Monkey King desires a conclusion to their story, I will devour the Wheel of Samsara and demonstrate to this world the Moonlit Path to a new tomorrow."

Grimoiric Heart

Now I just need Lilac to post and Camelot to release their next novella.