mickilennial

Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether

Location: Mystic Prophecy Chapterhouse, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“No, I am not aware.”

It didn’t surprise her, but had she been aware? Not really. Between the new economic demands and the difficulty reaching out to other members several kingdoms over, it wasn’t in hers or Priscilica’s purview to play the game like they used to.

Her eyes met Benkei’s, carefully looking at his body language. Anxiety. Tension. His fist was curled and although he was speaking to her like he would before there was something to it that she couldn’t place, something that indicated concern and worry. Did he feel guilty about what they all had survived? Maybe. If they did, part of her wanted to feel content with that conclusion but another part of her felt unnerved by it. She had said some strong, in-the-moment things to Kazuki. She had lost her fiance and her best friend. Although the brothers had little to do with it, she was still coming to terms with accepting that; she was having trouble coming to terms with accepting anything at the moment. It was why she spent so much time practicing her technique. She was basically becoming a shut-in.

“Are you aware that only two of us are able to do anything around here?” She remarked, colder than she intended. “I’ve been struggling getting back to normal. If Pris and Shev were not here…”

She cleared her throat. This wasn’t any of their problems. She didn’t need to burden their whole group and its stability because of her and Leaves psychological downpour, after all.

“Yes. Refugees. Right. I don’t know what you want from me, Pris already opened the doors for your entire group. I don’t know anything about these disappearances. What could I possibly help you with?”

Where It Always Rains

---

April 7th, Year 1

---

Akari liked sitting alone. As the other students minded their own business and some got way too involved, Akari sat with the food she had made as she contemplated how explicitly disappointed she was with her brother for deciding to, in his own words, “not show up”.

He had been doing a lot of that lately; not literally with school given the school year was still rather fresh, but in general. She couldn’t blame him completely. Akari wasn’t sure why she felt like she should try in anything and wasn’t exactly concerned with her own future. But she still did what she had to. Kenzo needed to be reminded of that. She was bigger than him and smarter–and he was going to get an earful the next time he pulled something like this. If she had to drag him to school tomorrow by his neck she would do it.

“Stupid idiot moron.” She muttered, as she dug into the food she had prepared. “If I have to, he has to. That’s the rule. That’s the promise.”

Her eyes moved back to the people around her and she let out a sigh. This year was going to suck.

Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether

Location: Mystic Prophecy Chapterhouse, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“Idiot…” Rael sighed as Alja barged into the chapterhouse without even considering knocking.

It seemed no matter who was in her group, she always stuck with someone who didn’t think before they did things. At least with Graves he was smart enough to not forget knocking was customary. It struck her as strange given the disappearances of wayfarers that Seele had mentioned that Mystic wasn’t locked up like Fuchū Prison, though.

Did Priscilica not consider the threat that dire, or was it something that they weren’t particularly aware of yet? The idea that one of the most prominent wayfarer groups being unaware of that kind of thing didn’t settle in her mind particularly well, but then again it wasn’t like Mystic was exactly in a good state. Pris and Shev were the only ones who were mostly unaffected by the loss of Enos and Aaginim; and that wasn’t accounting for the schism that had occurred before the glitch. Mystic was far from being at full power and probably would be for awhile. The red-haired Japanese girl shrugged off the thought, sighing as she followed Alja into the halls.

It didn’t take long for the group to run into one of the members, given they had basically kicked in the doors and made a big show of showing up. Unfortunately, the first one they ran into was as cold and prickly as the last time Rael and Kazuki had shown up at Mystic. With her hand on the hilt of her sword, said member moved from one of the common rooms into the entranceway. Upon seeing that it was Alja leading the charge she did seem to relax her position, though not completely.

“Ah. Here I was worried over nothing.” Luci remarked as her eyes moved from Alja to Kazuki, Benkei, and finally to Rael. “What do you need. I assume you are here for a reason.”

Rael crossed her arms, Alja wanted to barge in so she could bother with dealing with the swordsinger herself.

What Are You Listening To?

Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether

Location: City Streets, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

This guy was freakin’ nuts!

Siegfried was glad the other members of the group like Alex and Artemis had stayed inside the tavern and not made it outside. In his mind, nobody should’ve had to see this kind of shit. It was unsettling and ultimately made little-to-no sense. Sometimes in the world of Pariah Siegfried forgot they were in this intrinsic magical world of sorcerers and monsters; sometimes he thought he was back in Kansas, but then something would always bring him back to earth. Graves breaking free of his weird magical bloodlust or whatever it was and turning his own knife on himself made him raise an eyebrow, though he still maintained his guard as Sif and Seele did their thing.

When the blood knight asked him to end it, his face hardened and he slammed his spear into the stone path underneath their feet as the knife clattered downward.

It was also when he punched Graves in the face. Hard enough to send him flying back.

As Graves went flying backward Siegfried kneeled down on the ground looking at the knife itself. As a weaponsmith there might’ve been something he picked up about the item now that he had a closer look at it. His voice lowered as he spoke to Seele and his sister, as if looking to them to do him a “solid”.

“Heal him.” He grumbled as he used wind magic to clear the blood from the knife. “Ask questions later.”

As far as he knew, the knife wasn’t one of the game's weird ancient artifacts. No distinct carvings. No weird metal inscriptions. Just a knife.

While Siegfried had intended to make a point, the only thing he came out of the fight with was that Graves’ abilities were spookier than anybody knew. They just hadn’t noticed because he had always directed it at things like rats, goblins, and ogres before. His eyes looked forward as Sif moved to heal his wounds. What kind of questions could someone ask when the dust settled? A twisting feeling encircled his gut and he wasn’t sure how he was going to handle this. If a little bit of rude statements could get him like this, how would they fare if he turned on them? What if a demon got inside his head? He discarded the thoughts. He wasn’t Benkei. He wasn’t the leader. He looked to Seele and felt a twinge of guilt. Had he not started the whole fight she wouldn’t have had her friend try to kill her. He owed her something. Her plan was still stupid, though.

Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether

Location: City Streets, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Siegfried had expected a brawl, two men solving out their issues fist-to-fist; but what he received was something entirely different. Graves came at him like a beast, an unstoppable force. Denizens and Wayfarers on their way to the Worg had stopped in their place, if they hadn’t immediately reconsidered their life decisions and made their way elsewhere as the two men went at each other like blurs in the street before the tavern, one full of rage and the other unrelenting as he moved between each strike, spinning his feet to move.

The ginger-haired man wasn’t as good as Rael with this sort of dance, but where he faltered Seele’s magic helped him greatly. Siegfried had made his remarks, but whatever he said… it wasn’t like throwing punches. Graves wasn’t hearing it; he wasn’t listening.

It became so dire Siegfried had to actually draw his weapon, but then just as Graves pounded against the barrier protecting Siegfried from the blood knight’s skill and magic, he turned and… the tone of the fight changed for a second time.

He’s going after Seele? What? He’s–

Siegfried’s brows narrowed. When he told Graves he had doomed Seele to her death he didn’t mean he personally dug the knife into her heart. This was impossible, crazy, and made no sense. What kind of magic did Graves use that it made him like this? There was no time to think about why and how. His legs surged with enhancement magic as the air behind him began to murmur and instantly a gust of wind propelled him over the blood knight and in front of Seele. The Hero-Blacksmith of Thorinn did not expect he would have to fight a dungeon where the boss was Graves, but then again, that’s exactly what this appeared to be.

“Have you lost your goddamn mind you stupid idiot?!” He shouted as he slammed his feet into the earth and prepared to block Graves’ onslaught, the stone wrapping around his feet as he did so. Earth Magic. Wind Magic. Alteration Magic. The only three he knew how to use.

“Sif! Shields! Debuffs! Now!” He commanded, “Seele, I hope you have a good fucking plan!”

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

Am I permabanned from these things yet? Feel like I'm finally in a position to dedicate the time to something like this again,if you'd have me.

@ErsatzEmperor

I missed ya, Steve. Glad to see you around.

Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether

Location: Trade District Markets, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

By the time Graves and Siegfried had gotten into their altercation, the group of four that had left had made it well into the markets and not that far from the doors of Mystic Prophecy.

Rael still wasn’t sure about how the interactions would go. The last time Rael and Graves had visited they had asked Priscilica, the new interim leader of the group, if she needed anything and she didn’t exactly give them a list of things. It was a group of smart people who had money lying around, so it wasn’t like they would be in danger with the new motion for taxation. Ideally, Rael just wanted to be away from the tavern and do something and Benkei had the excuse of wanting to look into apprenticeships. What was the list Sif had rambled about? Check in with anyone they knew. Communicate with craftsmen organizations. Try to get an audience with the queen.

It was still very early. But Kazuki hadn't had much luck, so she wondered how they could fix that.

“So Mystic’s right here.” Rael mumbled as the early morning sun shined upon the group; her eyes glancing back before her hand motioning toward a different direction, upward to the left. Toward the castle that overlooked the city. “...‘less you wanna do something else.”

Location: City Streets, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

Siegfried should’ve been scared.

But he wasn’t. Morons. Bullies. People who got people hurt through their bad decisions. Every friend he had in Kansas City had been like that and after the accident he had sworn he wouldn’t stand by and let it happen again. That wasn’t even accounting for his parents and what he had to endure while his sister was treated like a prized turkey. It was part of why he wanted to become an electrician–to do something where his sister didn’t need to rely on their parents and their get rich quick schemes or their constant ways of abusing their kids. That aside, he knew Graves was a good guy. He wasn’t like Siegfried’s parents; he led the group, did the dirty work, and probably had good intentions. But he didn’t have the courage to tell Seele it was a bad idea. Just like Siegfried–Jimmy didn’t tell his friend David it was a bad idea to do what he did. By morning David was in the morgue.

Graves was outside of the tavern now, staring at him with as much rage as he showed the ogre in the dungeon. Good. He got under his skin. When Sif scrambled outside not too far behind him, it didn’t shake him. He gave her a look–stay out of this; let it happen..

The blood knight did not wait for a remark to start the fight.

One Universe: Unlimited - A Marvel/DC Comics Roleplay

Me: I only have time for this one character

Brain: but what about this other concept

@Sep

Ain't it something?

Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether

Location: The Laughing Worg Tavern, The City-State of Thorinn, Aetheria

---

“Sieg. Jimmy. James. Oh my god.” Sif stammered as she found her brother storming off before getting into a fight with Graves, or at the very least trying to.

It was all a bad dream–a dream that Sif had seen a hundred times before, a dream that existed long before she entered the dreamscape and dragged her brother back into her life. Much like when she was younger, she just couldn’t stop it.

Her brother was arrogant, stubborn, and bullish, and nothing really changed about that when he entered Pariah Online and made the persona that was Siegfried. In fact, it made him even worse than he had been back in her parent’s three bedroom house on the west end of Kansas City. She never knew what the arguments were about, but she remembered the yelling and the sound of broken glass. Whenever he got like this it was like a memory sinkhole that she couldn’t control and she hated it. Worst of all, when he got like this there was no stopping it.

“Let it run its course.” The words ran through her head like a cancer. “Focus on your studies.”

Seele’s eyes connected with hers and she felt utterly helpless.

She had magic, but nothing really that could stop what was happening. She was a full-fledged support. Sure, she had some offensive spells but nothing that could work. Her brain went full speed through her spellbook in her head, frantically trying to figure something out. She mumbled as she did so, until Seele tried her own tactic as Jimmy shrugged before continuing outside. Worst part of it all is the comment he said to further goad Graves into following him.

“Might be the last time you see her. Should probably think about that.”