Prinz

Eschaton, Beyond the End of Days

We'd be glad to have you!
It's been renamed 'Eschaton' and is in the Casual Roleplays section. You can find it here if you haven't already~

Eschaton (In need of roleplayers~!)

The 0th Post of the Character Section will be used to list the accepted characters in this story as well as being the place where the Character Sheet is placed.

The Chosen Few
+ A. V., played by Kuroakuma.

Eschaton Industries
+ K. C., played by Kuroakuma.

Monsters and Misfits
+ [REDACTED.]

Other

The Character Sheet

I. Physical and Mental Profiles

I. Physical Profile.

Name:
Physical Age: (The age your character appears physically.)
True Age: (The age your character appears. Only applies to non-Humans or other special circumstances.)
Gender: (Most beings are male/female, but a lot can actually be considered agender or both genders. Up to you.)
Race: (Self explanatory.)
Subspecies: If they're categorised as 'Monster', do they have a more specific category? For Humans feel free to put 'N/A'.
Description: (Scars? Injuries? Tattoos your image doesn't show? Anything you feel like, really.)
Any differences from your provided image/s: (Optional, but if you had to settle for a faceclaim you didn't want, then this'll be useful to help out.)

II. Mental Profile.

Personality:
Likes:
Dislikes:
Fears: (Phobias or things that downright terrify your character.)
Hobbies:
Secrets?: (Any deep, dark secrets that you have in your heart?)
Outlook on life: (Just another way to help get a bit more of a feel for your character. Once again optional, but it'd be nice.)
Affiliation: (Do they work for Eschaton? A lone wolf? Do they have allegiance to a greater being?)
Moral Alignment: (If you're familiar with this, then it's self explanatory. If you're not, please visit this site for details. Or just keep it a secret!)

III. Statistics.

Willpower: (F to EX Rank - average Human stat is D. A++ and above have access to Boundary Magicks which will be explained later on.)
Faith: (F to EX Rank - average Human stat is D. S is required to wield a Boundary.)
Mana Capacity: (F to EX Rank - average Magick User's stat is D. Any non-Magick Users will put N/A here.)
Magickal Proficiency: (F to EX Rank - average Magick User's stat is D. As above for non-Magick Users.)
Physical Competence: (F to EX Rank- average Human stat is D.)

II. Innate Abilities

I. Active Abilities.

(The schematic for Innate Abilities is
Ability Name: Ability Description.
For example:
Fireball A: It's a fireball.

Innate Abilities are abilities exclusive to your character and your character only aside from specific circumstances such as power theft, mimicry, etc. They cannot be taught but can be inherited by biological children. There's no limit to the amount of Innate Abilities, but try not to make them too crazy.
On top of this, there's a ranking system from E to EX that is added on after the name of the Ability which constitutes the strength of the Ability.)

II. Passive Abilities.
(Same as the above.)

III. Boundary.

(A Boundary is a Spell that tailors itself to an individual so it actually counts as an Innate Ability. On top of that, only Magick users with a Willpower Stat of A++ and above and a Faith Stat of S and above are capable of using these spells. A simple Yes or No answer will suffice as I'm not explaining Boundaries here.)

III. Acquired Magick

(The schematic for 'Acquired Magick' is slightly different:
Name of Magick (Type of Magick): Description.
So, for example:
Enhance Magecraft EX (Buff): It buffs the Magick Power of the target/s. There's certainly no limit here, only limited by the amount of Spells your character has actually learned. A general rule of thumb is that a character's Spell Rank cannot exceed their Magick Proficiency stat, so no weak Mages with strong Spells because that makes no sense.

These Spells can also be Spells your character has created.)

I. Acquired Magick.

Name Rank (Type): Description.

IV. Acquired Skills

(The schematic for Acquired Skills, non-Magickal Combat-based Skills, is identical to the above schematic for Magick, including Ranking.
For example:
Name of Skill: Skill Description.
Something like..
Martial Arts Proficiency B: Description of Martial Arts they've learned.)

I. Acquired Skills.

Name Rank: Description.

V. Familiars

(Familiars are being bound to the character. The schematic for Familiars is below. The amount of effort you put in is up to you, but it's nice to be able to be as detailed or as simple as you like, I feel.)

I. Name of Familiar.

Description:
Personality:
Abilities:

II. Second Familiar's Name (if applicable.)

Description:
Personality:
Abilities:

VI. Equipment.

I. Weaponry.

Weapon Name: Description. (This section also includes armour.)

II. Vehicles and Constructs.

Vehicle or Construct Name: Description.

III. Miscellaneous.

Other Name: Description.

VII. Biography.

(This section is for the background and history of your character. It's a fairly simple section compared to some others. Again, be as detailed as you like here.)

I. Biography.

VIII. Miscellaneous.

(This section is for anything that doesn't fit above. Character themes, bonus information, the like.)

I. Other Information.

Something to note is that you don't have to work with this sheet in particular, although I'd prefer if you did. This is just the standard that I hold myself to with this kind of thing.

To easily copy the sheet, including my preset coding, please click on the 'Raw' button on the top right of this message to see it all.
Then rename the 'The Character Sheet' hider to the name of your character if you have it.

Eschaton (In need of roleplayers~!)

Welcome to the End of Days.

So there's a few things I'd like to throw out there before I get into the actual meat of the story:

[1.] While the 'Small Group' tag has been chosen, anyone who wants to submit a character is free to join if they'd like to. There's no upwards limit on who can join as long as you're able to fit yourself into the story, etc. However I'm free to reject or ask for changes as I see fit blah blah boring stuff etc
If you're not sure how to fit your character into the story, feel free to ask either myself or any of the others for help!
On the topic of characters, consider the world a 'post-apocalyptic setting with magick, monsters and androids'. Cybernetics are allowed, Magick is allowed, Monsters are allowed. If there's any problems with your ideas we can figure it out.
Keep in mind that the major setting will be Sanctuary, but characters from other cities can make appearances.
However, if you're wanting a Round Table Knight or someone from Mirage, please let me know prior to submitting your character so we can discuss things.

[2.] The 18+ tag depends on how dark this story ends up getting, but I chose that tag just in case it does end up getting to a dark and horrible point by the story's end. Please keep this in mind.

[3.] The majority of this story is 'free'; I've got no running plotline and thus players are free to do whatever they want. However, there are some plotpoints/arcs that I do have in mind that will change the pace of the story and in some cases the world itself. Consider it like a game where you have 'Story Missions' but then have free time to meme around between them, in a sense.
.. Maybe there'll be a tutorial..?

Without further ado, I'll be getting to the actual content!

---

~ Introduction ~

When the End of Days had begun, Humanity recoiled in shock.
Judgement. Trials. The very fires of Hell would consume them if they failed.
But far too quickly, Humanity had seemed to fail.
God abandoned us, and we were left to burn. Despite His claims that he would save those He deemed worthy, he instead left them to rot alongside the rest.
The ocean began to dry up, the days seemed to be shorter, the very air itself seemed to change.

Nobody is quite sure what happened that day to make God Himself retreat, but He returned to Heaven above with one last statement.

"The Monsters among you will one day be cleansed. Await my Chosen and you shall be purified of all Sin."

Humanity was left alone. Ruined. Broken.
Abandoned.

Then, with a snicker, Hell itself was unleashed upon Humanity and the planet was shredded apart. Billions of people died, millions of cities were razed. It was only by the work of a single organisation that the last few vestiges of Humanity narrowly avoided extinction.

Eschaton Industries.

Across the world the word was spread.

"Travel to Sanctuary".

A single city, isolated on what was once the continent of Australia, stood tall against the apocalypse that threatened to annihilate life itself. People flocked to it and it grew and grew. A true utopia that was a sanctuary from all of the horrors outside. Massive, polished white gates and walls and what seemed to be a barrier of magic protecting the places where no walls stood.

The change in the air, it seemed, had been the resurgence of magic.

Founded by a company called Eschaton Industries, the city of Sanctuary was a place free of fear, free of pain, free of everything outside.
However, there was always a question on people's tongues.

"Where did Eschaton Industries come from?"

No answers were given and eventually people began to just.. stop asking.
Convenient.
Two decades passed and eventually several other cities began to pop up across the Earth. Slowly, ever so slowly, the planet was being reclaimed by these sprawling citadels.
In Britain, Hyperia Camelot was overseen by a group of people called the Knights of the Round Table.
In the Middle East was a city called Mirage.

These three were the first cities that began to return the world to what it once was.
Home.

But one day a bright star appeared in the sky above Sanctuary, right in the middle of the day, and certain people fell into unconsciousness in the streets.

However these people later awoke, changed, with a new purpose in life.

To destroy the 'Sin' of Humanity.
The Sin that Eschaton Industries was attempting to hide and cover up with their seemingly altruistic actions.

"Destroy them and you shall be free," echoed the voice in the back of their minds.

The voice of God Himself.

And as suddenly as they'd fainted, they were suddenly full of desire to seek out a mysterious individual, cloaked in a pristine, radiant garb of light. The voice in their head beckoned for them to meet with this person, and so they did. It didn't take long, but three days after their unconsciousness,

However..

---

Whoowhee what a thing am I right

Essentially this is a roleplay I thought up quite literally in 5 minutes and got really giddy about before realising I needed to put in some work to get it to happen.

So, to cut to the chase, I'm looking for three things;

The Chosen - those who were spoken to by God and are now given purpose through their new ally.
Eschaton Industries - Those who work for Eschaton Industries and-- [ERROR, INFORMATION HAS BEEN REDACTED. MY APOLOGIES.]
Monsters - As long as they're mean and relatively interested in being villains, they're all good, with some exceptions, that is..
After all, what is a monster?

Those are the applicable 'roles' and they're not limited. On top of these it's perfectly viable to play a normal person unaffiliated with Eschaton or the Chosen but getting them into the plot may be a little difficult compared to if they were directly involved in it via the above options.

Since this is a WIP, I haven't fully fleshed out every single detail but I have a good idea of where the plot is going to end up and how the world works (at least I think so).
As always this is just a place to scream your interest in my poor and weak eardrums and ask questions for me to answer!

Salutations

hello there person i've never met yo wass poppin B

The Pale Hand

I. Physical and Mental Profiles

I. Physical Profile.

Name:
Physical Age: (The age your character appears physically.)
True Age: (The age your character appears. Only applies to non-Humans or other special circumstances.)
Gender: (Most beings are male/female, but a lot can actually be considered agender or both genders. Up to you.)
Race: (Self explanatory.)
Subspecies: If they're categorised as 'Monster', do they have a more specific category? For Humans feel free to put 'N/A'.
Description: (Scars? Injuries? Tattoos your image doesn't show? Anything you feel like, really.)
Any differences from your provided image/s: (Optional, but if you had to settle for a faceclaim you didn't want, then this'll be useful to help out.)

II. Mental Profile.

Personality:
Likes:
Dislikes:
Strengths: (Physical or otherwise. Things your character excels at outside of combat.)
Fears: (Phobias or things that downright terrify your character.)
Hobbies:
Secrets?: (Any deep, dark secrets that you have in your heart?)
Outlook on life: (Just another way to help get a bit more of a feel for your character. Once again optional, but it'd be nice.)
Affiliation: (Do they work for KanaTech? A lone wolf? Do they have allegiance to a greater being?)
Moral Alignment: (If you're familiar with this, then it's self explanatory. If you're not, please visit this site for details. Or just keep it a secret!)

III. Statistics.

Willpower: (F to EX Rank - average Human stat is D. A++ and above have access to Boundary Magicks which will be explained later on.)
Faith: (F to EX Rank - average Human stat is D. S is required to wield a Boundary.)
Mana Capacity: (F to EX Rank - average Magick User's stat is D.)
Magickal Proficiency: (F to EX Rank - average Magick User's stat is D.)
Physical Competence: (F to EX Rank- average Human stat is D.)

II. Innate Abilities

I. Active Abilities.

(The schematic for Innate Abilities is
Ability Name: Ability Description.
For example:
Fireball A: It's a fireball.

Innate Abilities are abilities exclusive to your character and your character only aside from specific circumstances such as power theft, mimicry, etc. They cannot be taught but can be inherited by biological children. There's no limit to the amount of Innate Abilities, but try not to make them too crazy.
On top of this, there's a ranking system from E to EX that is added on after the name of the Ability which constitutes the strength of the Ability.)

II. Passive Abilities.
(Same as the above.)

III. Boundary.

(A Boundary is a Spell that tailors itself to an individual so it actually counts as an Innate Ability. On top of that, only Magick users with a Willpower Stat of A++ and above and a Faith Stat of S and above are capable of using these spells. A simple Yes or No answer will suffice as I'm not explaining Boundaries here.)

III. Acquired Magick

(The schematic for 'Acquired Magick' is slightly different:
Name of Magick (Type of Magick): Description.
So, for example:
Enhance Magecraft EX (Buff): It buffs the Magick Power of the target/s. There's certainly no limit here, only limited by the amount of Spells your character has actually learned. A general rule of thumb is that a character's Spell Rank cannot exceed their Magick Proficiency stat, so no weak Mages with strong Spells because that makes no sense.

These Spells can also be Spells your character has created.)

I. Acquired Magick.

Name Rank (Type): Description.

IV. Acquired Skills

(The schematic for Acquired Skills, non-Magickal Combat-based Skills, is identical to the above schematic for Magick, including Ranking.
For example:
Name of Skill: Skill Description.
Something like..
Martial Arts Proficiency B: Description of Martial Arts they've learned.)

I. Acquired Skills.

Name Rank: Description.

V. Familiars

(Familiars are being bound to the character. The schematic for Familiars is below. The amount of effort you put in is up to you, but it's nice to be able to be as detailed or as simple as you like, I feel.)

I. Name of Familiar.

Description:
Personality:
Abilities:

II. Second Familiar's Name (if applicable.)

Description:
Personality:
Abilities:

VI. Equipment.

I. Weaponry.

Weapon Name: Description. (This section also includes armour.)

II. Vehicles and Constructs.

Vehicle or Construct Name: Description.

III. Miscellaneous.

Other Name: Description.

VII. Biography.

(This section is for the background and history of your character. It's a fairly simple section compared to some others. Again, be as detailed as you like here.)

I. Biography.

VIII. Miscellaneous.

(This section is for anything that doesn't fit above. Character themes, bonus information, the like.)

I. Other Information.

Eschaton, Beyond the End of Days

Hello!

so to throw this out there before I get into the actual meat of the story I'd like to mention a few things:

1. While the 'Small Group' tag has been chosen, anyone who wants to submit a character is free to join if they'd like to. There's no upwards limit on who can join as long as you're able to fit yourself into the story, etc. However I'm free to reject or ask for changes as I see fit blah blah boring stuff etc

2. The 18+ tag depends on how dark this story ends up getting, but I chose that tag just in case it does end up getting to a dark and horrible point by the story's end. Please keep this in mind.

3. The majority of this story is 'free'; I've got no running plotline and thus players are free to do whatever they want. However, there are some plotpoints/arcs that I do have in mind that will change the pace of the story and in some cases the world itself. Consider it like a game where you have 'Story Missions' but then have free time to meme around between them, in a sense.
.. Maybe there'll be a tutorial..?

4. The roleplay will likely be put up right after this Interest Check is because I get really excited about stories but feel free to jump in at any point whether we've started or not, you're welcome and we look forward to having you join us!

Without further ado, I'll be getting to the actual content!

---

~ Introduction ~

When the End of Days had begun, Humanity recoiled in shock.
Judgement. Trials. The very fires of Hell would consume them if they failed.
But far too quickly, Humanity had seemed to fail.
God abandoned us, and we were left to burn. Despite His claims that he would save those He deemed worthy, he instead left them to rot alongside the rest.
The ocean began to dry up, the days seemed to be shorter, the very air itself seemed to change.

Nobody is quite sure what happened that day to make God Himself retreat, but He returned to Heaven above with one last statement.

"The Monsters among you will one day be cleansed. Await my Chosen and you shall be purified of all Sin."

Humanity was left alone. Ruined. Broken.
Abandoned.

Then, with a snicker, Hell itself was unleashed upon Humanity and the planet was shredded apart. Billions of people died, millions of cities were razed. It was only by the work of a single organisation that the last few vestiges of Humanity narrowly avoided extinction.

Eschaton Industries.

Across the world the word was spread.

"Travel to Sanctuary".

A single city, isolated on what was once the continent of Australia, stood tall against the apocalypse that threatened to annihilate life itself. People flocked to it and it grew and grew. A true utopia that was a sanctuary from all of the horrors outside. Massive, polished white gates and walls and what seemed to be a barrier of magic protecting the places where no walls stood.

The change in the air, it seemed, had been the resurgence of magic.

Founded by a company called Eschaton Industries, the city of Sanctuary was a place free of fear, free of pain, free of everything outside.
However, there was always a question on people's tongues.

"Where did Eschaton Industries come from?"

No answers were given and eventually people began to just.. stop asking.
Convenient.
Two decades passed and eventually several other cities began to pop up across the Earth. Slowly, ever so slowly, the planet was being reclaimed by these sprawling citadels.
In Britain, Hyperia Camelot was overseen by a group of people called the Knights of the Round Table.
In the Middle East was a city called Mirage.

These three were the first cities that began to return the world to what it once was.
Home.

But one day a bright star appeared in the sky above Sanctuary, right in the middle of the day, and certain people fell into unconsciousness in the streets.

However these people later awoke, changed, with a new purpose in life.

To destroy the 'Sin' of Humanity.
The Sin that Eschaton Industries was attempting to hide and cover up with their seemingly altruistic actions.

"Destroy them and you shall be free," echoed the voice in the back of their minds.

The voice of God Himself.

And as suddenly as they'd fainted, they were suddenly full of desire to seek out a mysterious individual, cloaked in a pristine, radiant garb of light. The voice in their head beckoned for them to meet with this person, and so they did. It didn't take long, but three days after their unconsciousness,

However..

---

Whoowhee what a thing am I right

Essentially this is a roleplay I thought up quite literally in 5 minutes and got really giddy about before realising I needed to put in some work to get it to happen.

So, to cut to the chase, I'm looking for three things;

The Chosen - those who were spoken to by God and are now given purpose through their new ally.
Eschaton Industries - Those who work for Eschaton Industries and-- [ERROR, INFORMATION HAS BEEN REDACTED. MY APOLOGIES.]
Monsters - As long as they're mean and relatively interested in being villains, they're all good, with some exceptions, that is..
After all, what is a monster?

Those are the applicable 'roles' and they're not limited. On top of these it's perfectly viable to play a normal person unaffiliated with Eschaton ot the Chosen but getting them into the plot may be a little difficult compared to if they were directly involved in it via the above options.

Since this is a WIP, I haven't fully fleshed out every single detail but I have a good idea of where the plot is going to end up and how the world works (at least I think so).
As always this is just a place to scream your interest in my poor and weak eardrums and ask questions for me to answer!

The Pale Hand

Her focus shifted over to the man leaving the hotel.
Apparently both of them were the type of person to arrive early.

Waiting for him to make his way over to the vehicle, Eine's visible eyebrow rose as he stood at attention and saluted her. The edges of her lips curled up and she looked away, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape her. Clearing her throat, she turned back to the young man and, smile still intact, stepped aside and opened the door to the car for him.
"Please, Rick, I am certainly not someone whom you should be so formal with. I am simply a nurse, nothing more than that."
With that said, she waited for Rick to make his way into the car before closing the door quietly behind him and slipping around the front of the vehicle and to the other side. Pulling open the door and sliding inside, Eine closed the door on her side and reached over.

The interior of the vehicle was quite.. unnatural. It was, from the outside, a perfectly regular car. On the inside, however, it was far from it. In front of Rick was the steering wheel that Eine had just been seated at, however, she reached over, did something with the thing and then pulled it from the column behind it and replaced it in front of her. It was a system not too widely seen, but in the case of the WDL it was an innovation that quickly became a necessity. Far too often had an Exorcist gotten in on the wrong side of the car or had their driver shot down and were left vulnerable because of the inability to drive their vehicle. Thus, a pair of steering columns was introduced that allowed a vehicle to be used even if the original driver was out of commission or worse.
She reached over and pushed the collapsible column in front of Rick down into the dashboard and gave him a small smile.

"Our R&D division pulls their weight, I like to think."

Pressing the wheeling in place with a loud affirmative click, Eine swiped her ID card through a card reader embedded in the middle of the dashboard between the wheel columns and the car suddenly roared to life before settling down to a rather fulfilling purr that filled the entirety of the car with gentle humming and vibrations. The lush seats in which they sat seemed far too out of place in such a regular car- in fact, they would be much more at home in a sports car.
Which, despite looking like any old company car, was precisely what this vehicle was. Chasing down a flying demon or a speedy Tengu in a regular locomotive would be nigh impossible, so the WDL had.. innovated.
As Eine pressed her foot down on the accelerator, the car smoothly transitioned from sitting idly to almost hovering down the road.
It felt less like a car and more like some sort of advanced hovercraft in disguise. The bottom of the windscreen in front of the duo lit up and neon red arrows pointed the way they had to follow to get to their destination. It was a long drive for sure as they'd be leaving the city and heading to the airport.

"We will be driving to Rome Ciampino Airport. Vatican City has its own helipad, but as our organisation is relegated to rather innocuous activities we are not allowed to use it. Besides, I thought you might enjoy getting to experience one of the WDL's premier scouting and hunting vehicles firsthand. You may have seen the previous model in your training, but actually driving one is a far cry from the 'sit and stare' nature of those lessons, I feel. On top of that, this is a new prototype of the next generation of the 'Incognito' cars we use. As you may have noticed, it's almost ghostly. Hence the nickname- Phantoma."
The inside of the vehicle was a nice black that matched the outside. To onlookers, a rather normal Maserati GranTurismo would catch their eye if anything. The plush seats inside were stark contrast, however.
The inside was a myriad of technological marvels and also what seemed to be the interior of a competition racer. Seats with four belts and an easy release not unlike those in a baby seat. The windows were all tinted black aside from the front windscreen to prevent unnecessary vision inside.
The car was a wonderful thing, comfortable and practical all at once, and roaring down the streets wouldn't include any roaring at all as the Phantoma was specifically designed for midnight pursuits through empty streets. The vehicle itself was, despite appearances, an all-terrain vehicle.
If you're chasing a flying beast, you can't rely on only roads to catch it, after all.

With the car gliding down the asphalt road like a ghost, Eine pressed a button on the dashboard and soft music began to play. A lovely song, one of Eine's favourites, by the name of Clair de Lune.

Around halfway to their destination, Eine casually pulled over to the side of the road and turned to Rick, faint smile upon her face.
"Would you like to have a turn driving, Agent Brackwall?"

---

The air was surprisingly fresh as Eine stepped out of the vehicle and surveyed the area. Luckily for her there wasn't many people here at this hour who weren't engrossed in their own business or rushing themselves. They'd arrived not long before and been allowed to drive out the back and straight onto the tarmac where the planes themselves were. She exited the car and pushed her door closed behind her, having told Rick where to go as they'd navigated their way to the rear of the airport. Awaiting them was a small plane, much smaller than the other commercial planes that sat awaiting their journeys beside it. Nodding to Rick over her shoulder, Eine made her way across the tarmac, but not before pausing beside the Phantoma and applying pressure to a specific place just beneath the door handle. The car let out a cheerful chirp of confirmation as it powered down and locked itself. With that done, Eine made her way across the ground towards the private jet with, hopefully, Rick in tow. The man and woman standing on either side of the staircase up to the inside of the aircraft both gave her deep bows from their waists and warm, appreciative smiles. Eine returned their bows with a quick nod of her own, a warm smile sitting upon her face as she made her way up into the plane.
However, all Rick was given was a polite nod from either of them.
If Rick were to look back at the Phantoma that Eine had seemingly abandoned, he'd find that it was somehow, impossibly, completely vanished.

Considering the surprising internals of the Phantoma, the inside of the jet was quite normal in comparison. High class and comfortable with enough space for at least ten people, but nothing too different or crazy. Eine made herself comfortable in a plush leather swivel chair that was very, very cube-like beside one of the windows about halfway down the craft and she motioned for Rick to sit opposite her. Between them was a small table upon which sat a jug of water and two cups sitting on coasters. The entire plane had a surprisingly warm feel to the interior.

Without much delay at all the plane took off and their trip was a nice one. Eine didn't push Rick for conversation as she knew it wasn't exactly his forte. In fact, she understood that the time on the plane would likely be spent much more productively for him and he'd prefer it that way.
For her, however, she decided to sleep. Not having slept in a few days was, while it wasn't getting to her by any means, it was never a good thing. She wasn't required in the infirmary for quite a while when she was away in Sighisoara, but she'd still be working.
For now, however, Eine simply closed her eyes and let herself rest.
Simple.

---

Eine's eyes opened as the plane landed and she was more than a little annoyed that her sleep had been disturbed. Reaching up to tiredly rub at her eye, the woman slowly sat up in her seat and looked around as the aircraft began its descent. Staring out at the world around them, she felt a familiar pang of worry in her chest as the aircraft descended to the ground below.
She was never particularly good with planes, but it was a fear she'd quickly learned to bury deep beneath her other concerns.
Like the realisation that she hadn't eaten a proper meal in two days and her body was complaining about it.

That, however, like her fear of the plane crashing upon landing, was buried into her subconscious so she wouldn't worry herself nor her charge.
Much of the success of the upcoming mission depended on him, so having him on edge was something she'd like to avoid at all costs.
Soon enough, the plane had touched down and, not long after, had begun to slow itself before it came to a complete stop. Eine was already standing by the time it did and when the door that doubled as a staircase dropped out and onto the tarmac, she was the first off of the plane. She turned and gave a nod to the pilot who appeared in the doorway behind Rick as they departed and, turning back around, wordlessly made her way across the tarmac to the Phantoma.
The exact same Phantoma, to be precise.

Getting close and unlocking it the same way she'd locked it, Eine pulled the door open and slipped inside.
For the last leg of their journey it was an hour's drive from Targu Mures to Sighisoara. Luckily for them, the Phantoma was quite comfortable. With the steering wheel still on Rick's side of the car, Eine gave him a quick nod and once again closed her eyes. This time, however, she didn't sleep. She meditated.
The car, already with the GPS showing Rick the way to Sighisoara, had the familiar bright red directional arrow in good view on his half of the windshield.

---

Eine came to just as they arrived in Sighisoara and, asking Rick to pull over to change the wheel, did just that. From here on out she'd be at the wheel. She was rested and alert, feeling much better than she had previously. With that out of the way their trip resumed and Eine made her way through the city's streets, eventually parking at a rather surprising locale- a hotel.

Parking the car and getting out, Eine locked the car once Rick had entered her sight and she made her way towards the entrance. The doors opened and she stepped into the foyer of the Hotel Korona. Making her way over to the desk, she announced their arrival and the duo were soon taken to their rooms. A single room for each of them, right beside each other. As they were shown around Eine's room, the woman kept a pleasant smile on her face at all times.
"Would you like a tour of the hotel?"
"No, but thank you very much for your offer. My friend and I will be happy to explore on our own."
The woman gave a nod to the two of them and left, and Eine closed the bedroom door behind her. Immediately making her way over to the window and testing the lock, Eine clicked her tongue in annoyance. Far too easy to open from the outside. She checked every window in her suite the same way and, after exiting her bathroom after checking the window, gave Rick a smile.

"We have the rest of the day to sort things out. Edmondo will be meeting us tonight. Despite the urgency of our task, we cannot do anything until night has fallen. I would suggest checking your room to make sure the windows are not broken and then setting up some innocuous wards around it to prevent intruders and silence your room."

Eine still seemed more than a little tired, but a small smile sat upon her face.
"And, Rick, welcome to Sighisoara for the first time. I do wish your stay was under more pleasant circumstances, but we take what we can, don't we?"

The Pale Hand

With a faint smile and a chuckle to herself, Eine slowly shook her head.
"I would love to stay, but I should head back to the infirmary and allow you to make your preparations in peace. We'll be meeting again soon enough, after all, on a lovely trip to Sighisoara. I hope Edmondo and yourself get along."

With that small smile sitting upon her face, Eine stood from her chair and, giving Rick a curt bow at the waist, she made her exit.

And yet, once again, she was plagued with worries.
A young man in his position, fighting things a boy should never fight..
While Rick was far from incapable, he was still a teenager. He should be in schooling for at least another three years.
However, as she paused just outside the entrance to the hotel, she reached up to gently touch the bandages that covered her face.
However was the key word.
Rick was not a normal young man. This was not a normal young man's world.

"You have my consent."
She hoped he knew what he was consenting to.

At least he hadn't announced himself as some sort of Hero.
That was the worst thing he could do.

---

It was the next night when a message from Eine would reach Rick's phone.
'6 AM pickup from outside the hotel.'

It was a simple message that carried all the weight it needed to.

---

The next morning was still dark as Eine leaned against the side of the vehicle, arms crossed as she waited. She'd made sure to arrive early versus late just in case Rick had managed to get himself together before she'd notified him of her arrival.
With her phone in one hand she sent a second message notifying him of her arrival at 5:50.
'I have arrived early, but please do not rush yourself'.
It was simple.

And thus, she waited, her usual white suit replaced with an almost identical charcoal one. Her other garments were the norm beneath aside from her change to black gloves.
A pair of glasses sat on her face, probably quite surprising for anyone who saw her bandaged visage. Glasses on top of bandages? What was this?

The Pale Hand

Eine nodded and rested her elbows on the table.
"Those are very good questions, Rick. Your supervisor will be a man by the name of Edmondo Liberto. He is a rather laidback man whom originally lived in Rome itself. Lucky man didn't have too far to look for work."
The small smile on her face was kind as always, but made it easy to see that the woman was, despite her occupation, quite able of making a joke every now and then.
"Naturally, this mission will have you in the driver's seat. Edmondo will be chaperoning you, in a sense, but you will be in command. However, Edmondo is both a safety net and a senior, so if he must take command I have no doubts that he shall."

There wasn't much else to speak about on the matter as far as that was concerned. Rick's questions were much better suited for those actually involved in the mission. Of course, Eine would be the voice in Rick's ear, but aside from that, Edmondo was a far better source of information.

"With that said, you have the rest of today to prepare. Edmondo has asked that our meeting place be in Sighisoara, and with that in mind you are in the unfortunate situation of not being able to socialise with your superior until you have already accepted the task. Naturally, I also came here to receive your consent for your participation in this mission."

Reaching into her suit jacket, Eine pulled out two more pieces of paper and slid them across the table along with a pen she produced from her breast pocket. A typical consent and non-disclosure form.
With the pieces of paper in front of the man, all she could do was wait.

The Pale Hand

Yet another young man with far too much suffering upon his shoulders, it seems.

"An official Exorcism mission..."

She knew that look. He was thinking hard about what was to come, no doubt weighing up the possibilities in his mind. Eine's expression, as Rick sat opposite her with his eyes down, was solemn. As soon as his focus returned to her, however, her soft smile was back in place.

"Apologies if I'm being somewhat forward but is this the briefing for the mission or is that scheduled for later?"

"Of course. Miss Illusion is quite busy and Arthur too is out on a task of his own. With that, your briefing has been left to me."
Clearing her throat, she reached down into her jacket and produced a simple manilla folder, placing it on the table and sliding it over to Rick. His powers were truly magnificent, a rather niche set of abilities, but the things he could do with them with proper training and application were truly ingenious.

Inside the folder were several documents- the first was a few pages long and detailed the recent disappearances occurring just outside of Sighisoara, over in Romania. Over the course of a few months several groups of tourists had gone missing in the forests nearby.
Not a single item of clothing had been found.
The only reason the forests down south of the city were suspected is because of a local rumour of a rather shady group of individuals making their home there. For most people, a rumour such as that would hold no merit.
For an organisation that regularly dealt with that same type of cult, it was a rumour that seemed a little too accurate to be just hearsay.
So naturally, the WDL had acted.

The second document was the profile of an Exorcist who'd been tasked with scouting the forest with a group of two others. All three had vanished within a day of stepping foot inside the woods.
The following documents were profiles of the two other Exorcists.

"For your first mission you'll be accompanied by another Exorcist of higher rank to assess you during the task. You'll also be kept under close watch by a team of support staff at any given moment, myself included."
Eine was confident that the infirmaries would be fine without her for the time being.

"You're expected to leave in a few days and meet with the supervisor in Sighisoara. I shall be travelling with you to the city as it's your first time there and having myself and several others on site is a necessity. You are an Exorcist the WDL can't afford to lose, after all. We were previously asked by the sector in Russia to take care of this as their own forces are stretched rather thin and, if I may voice my feelings, they'd rather we lose soldiers than them."

The final document was a map of the area with several markings- where Rick would enter the forests, where the cult was possibly located in several areas, and where the backup would be located.

"We'll be in radio contact during your mission, so the majority of the time you'll be able to radio in for any assistance you may need. However, there might be a lack of reception in the forest, so keep that in mind, especially if the cult uses magecraft to interrupt the signal or hijack it. The basis of your mission is both rescue and reconnaissance. Your three rescue targets are all capable Exorcists, so that goes to show that the threat you'll be facing is nothing to scoff at. You'll be sent in alongside an elder Exorcist as I said before, so by the end you should have a party of five which means you may be able to simply combat your way out in the end. However, that's highly advised against."

Eine folded her fingers between each other and placed her hands in her lap, awaiting any questions Rick had. It was always easier to explain things from questions asked instead of throwing out information in the dark after all.
With that, she waited.