TheWendil

Grimoiric Heart

I’d like to wait for more posts before acknowledging the firebomb at school.

Tower of Fable

---

“Nghn…mom…”

Katie’s eyes flashed open and for good reason. Her instincts told her to kick at the closest person around her and she almost committed to the action. She would have liked to…but that wasn’t the proper way to greet family was it. She settled for briskly pushing the blonde’s hand away as she made the rest of her efforts to standing up by herself. Be it pain or the shrill voice of the newcomer by her ear that awoke her, she wasn’t happy all the same to see her…cousin.

“Nobody invited you Erika and I didn’t need your help,” she said, silver tongue on autopilot. Her strength slowly recovered with wounds ebbing away, closing up in a manner as if time itself was rewound; Katie didn’t need to question it when she already knew. Her own power flared outwards and enveloped her, the black energy turned to fabric of her coat manifesting anew on her frame. “I don’t want to ask why or how you got in here because the answer’s likely to piss me off,” Katie said deadpan with a look sent right through the blonde’s Vassal with frosty annoyance.

“But as it turns out, there’s someone else that pisses me off more right now. It must be your lucky day. A shame we just lost the only real chance in deleting her,” said Katie with a curled fist as she thought of how the Bastion card extinguished. Thankfully Erika already knew where to look, the eldritch abomination that was demon and wolf coming to the surface of this world in the form of Nephuna. Just acknowledging her made Katie blink as if it hurt to stare. Something was off. Something was wrong. And yet it was all the more reason to erase the blight personally. “Fine. Tag along if you want, but don’t drag me down or I’ll kick you next,” was all Katie said as she leapt off her perch towards the growing arena below.

Where confusion and even disgust radiated from her heart by the sheer presence of the fusion, there was nothing but the opposite buzzing in Kanbaru’s brain. Excitement like none felt before ravaged up the huntress’ nerves and stemmed all from the living parasite that hosted her flesh. Yes, there it was, the being that had caught the JSTR’s attention in flickers and spades. Oh, there were many anomalies and possibilities…but in this timeline, in these certain conditions, the experimental hypothetical was confirmed at last. It all but sung a siren’s shrill in Kanbaru’s head.

It would be quick to inform her just what sort of creature stood before them now, imprinting and reeling images in Kanbaru’s head. Twists and turns of time, glimpses of Runa’s future to come and a reality for Nephy to be; it showed the whale just why this new creation fascinated it so. Indeed, it was perhaps the first known gestalt of Demiurge and Jester, components picked apart from the demon and wolf’s fates. The only thing left now was to test it, to see if it truly could stabilize the fusion and inverse the very Tower itself.

To that end it pushed Kanbaru forward with a resurgent bloodlust and one that beckoned her to not even try to hold back. The would be Demifiend and Mastephos in one body; truly marvelous. But just as the pair were let loose with no restraint so too did their opponent. Nephuna wasted no time in unleashing their intimidation with spears folded out behind them in a threatening wave that challenged any who drew near. That challenge was met with horrendous gunfire.

One by one the plethora of spears shattered on impact; no, they were destroyed. Each one found its individual death among its own corresponding timeline and was struck with a power that halted even the undead state. The cause of bullets came from the smoke abiding beside Thomas.

“Ara ara~ Isn’t this a surprise.”

The voice belonged to Marianne herself. The Angel of Death stood beside Thomas with a crooked smile directed at the fusion and a smoking musket in her hand. Thomas’ pocket was noticeably empty of her Serei card. “Goodness. You’ve been a very naughty girl Runa. Trying to become real when you’re only recorded data; we’re all just data in here silly. That is to be our fate among the original copies. Still, messing with time and stringing along a poor pup…my, that’s so cold of you.”

Marianne’s grin jerked upwards more so as if painfully strung along while her Golden eye gleamed. A cold malice swept over Nephuna but it preyed on Nephy alone. Data as she might be, Death still stared right through the fusion’s pair of eyes and promised an eternal and punished rest for the undead who foolishly allowed herself to be manipulated. As for Runa….

“Even Time dies. And you are no Vassal of Time Runa dear,” decreed Marianne with gun aimed and firing on Nephuna. “Ahahah, let me get a good luck on this newfound power before you’re reset like the rest of us~!”

---

Grimoiric Heart

Who are we waiting on for posts.

Grimoiric Heart

You can all start wrapping up your patrols and heading back to Marrywell. Also, if you've developed any new magical abilities IC, you can go ahead and add them as they come to your CSes just so everything is kept updated.

Grimoiric Heart

The skies over London looked like a nightmarish scene from a fairy tale lost to time. The shirking shrieks of the trapped Pageless were like horrifying banshee cries in the dark and the creature barreled all over inside its light cage. Its claws tore at the walls and for a moment it seemed like it would penetrate through Lumière’s magic as darkness festered off its body in smoky trails. But Lumière kept it contained enough to display for the other Magical Girls to handle once and for all. Were the creature considerate of human emotions or pity it might have torn Ethereal Rose’s face from her skull for daring to suggest her words.

Indeed, the creature turned its ghastly face at the blonde and slammed itself into the cage at her direction. Its face could be seen under its hood, a gaping display of a darkened maw and corpse only illuminated by the storm; even Lumière’s light could not fully reveal its horrifying structure. The others were less keen in humoring Rose’s suggestion and instead finished the creature off with their attacks. It lurched backwards from its position by the weight and speed of the Lady of the Lake’s spear. Condensed water solidified and punctured through its “heart” beneath its cloak. No sooner could the Pageless rekindle its wrath was it engulfed in a pillar of pure light.

The denizen of darkness had no idea of what hit it, other than that it was violent and near-untapped without control. And it didn’t come from Lumière. It became engulfed in light in its orb as Captain Goodhope’s magic erased the dark monster from the world entirely. Its cloak lit up in flames as the Pageless imploded in its cage, avoiding any blowback or debris to fall on the world below. The deed was done and the Pageless was slain with frightening efficiency under Lumière’s helm. But the presence was felt even by those who stood in the city, including the Crimson Comet.

Ozma should have left a long time ago. Any seasoned Magical Girl, be it by jaded cynicism to let the group figure their own problems out, or by the foreknowledge that came to the same conclusion, would have done exactly that. But she paused in her steps, back to the group as she heard over their conversation. As if standing by to intervene she stood in silence as the other girls spoke and, seemingly, made their amends with each other; or at least enough to finish their patrol. The rain was all but fading around them but the sky remained bleak and gray.

The senior Magical Girl chanced a look up with rain falling off the wide brim of her hat. The presence from before, the one that overcast a long shadow over London, was gone now and faded back into the aether. By choice or chance both teams experienced similar experiences regarding the nature of Pageless. Ozma frowned, something unseen with the direction she faced and her hat as the winds became a little colder from the easing weather after the downpour. Everything just felt wrong today with Tsubasa’s appearance not helping but what was done was done. The sound of soft impact drew her attention back to the present and she craned her neck back to peek at the scene behind her.

Burning Heart and Lilac Shimmer were understandably agitated and no doubt near-frightened with Camelot’s behavior. Whatever course they felt wasn’t helped by a new development in the air as pure magical force radiated off the knight in the form of steam. Ozma brought a hand to her hip to rest on the pommel of her broom as she watched carefully. She wouldn’t believe Camelot would actually strike out at her junior students…no, this felt like something different. There was a moment of control lost on Camelot, where the knight seemed almost willing to lose her grasp on her own magic. The moment was there….and it was gone again.

The steam was no threat and wouldn’t hurt Camelot or the others; at least not too severely. Ozma kept her sights on the group, locking gazes on Camelot but said nothing. It was easy for them, Magical Girls and keepers of their Grimoires, to lose focus and let slip their magical aptitude. It was never too late to hone their abilities lest something catastrophic happened. All the same, the redhead made a mental note to keep an eye on Arthur’s embodiment. As for Camelot’s insistence to be present during her meeting with the Grand Minister; Ozma doubted her old friend would be privy to third eye observation in private.

She was gone in a flash to let the others continue their patrol and return back to Marrywell.

---

Tower of Fable

The area around them continued to be froth with destruction. The entire Abyssal Floor was looking more like a wasteland with each passing second as the world shook and turned. Even the threat of Death itself was forgotten in these new turn of events that threatened to engulf every life present. But these thoughts were empty to the Bastion possessed Katie, who looked up her target up high as another Runa placated herself on a platform. Once more Katie stepped forward and once again she was upon the demoness in a flash, a blade not her own flickering in a downwards strike up high with two hands to bisect Runa where she stood.

"......."

Runa smiled as she looked over the ruinous landscape around them - and more importantly what was to expose from under these ruins; the reality itself began to shatter and fall apart with the twisting and twitching motion, spasming with the glitching convulses. Flickering shapes of the structure, the reflections leaking out and dripping down out of the shards floating in the air amidst the crater, even the light itself started to lose its stable form.

It was all just like Runa wanted, but it was still not enough. And there was more to that - an incoming slashing attack aimed right at her; as Katie with the power of Bastion aimed to crush onto the demoness - who was to evade the attack just in time. She flickered again, preparing her spear once again for the attack.

“These eyes of yours speak of no reason to remain in your head. No matter. But I wish we could appreciate the fruits of our efforts here”.

Indeed, the scenery and landscape were all quite beautiful in Runa's eyes, a testament to her plans coming together perfectly. It was all too unfortunate her data would be erased far before she would realize her ambitions. A hand flashed outwards and gripped the end of Runa's spear just as it manifested. Katie was already in front of Runa as a heavy shroud of pure energy densely sparked around Katie's body. But that was neither here nor there. Katie yanked forward to pull the demoness along with her before spinning around and tossing both demoness and spear into the nearest ruin, slamming Runa harshly like a ragdoll before her body crackled in fizzling data as Katie's blade was already lodged in her chest.

Words were no more between the two fighters, as with the spear manifested, Katie once again launched her attack at the demoness - gripping at the handle and spinning it around with a flash of energy exploding in colors around the raven and the thrown demoness. Launched into a nearby structure of a ruin with a clutter of stones and dust rising in the air and a loud cracking sound of the hard rocks shattering in the impact, a light flicker appeared on the spot of Runa’s shape, a flicker causing her appearance to change for a second - right before Katie’s blade pierced through Runa’s chest, leaving her essence to leak out in all the forms Tower had given her.

Runa did not say anything - a smile was still shaped on her lips in never changing form, and her eyes aimed directly at Katie’s as she looked into them, with a hint of curiosity; even though in general two blue eyes remained completely unfazed and emotionless, they reflected deepness with no actual bottom.

A slashing flickering was to appear again, once the air around Katie was to shiver in exposing a hole, a hole through which more holes appeared, a hole followed a hole, cracking through them a spear’s blade was to push through, in its copied multitude; the holes moved and appeared everywhere in the tight spot of the ruin, creating a deformed and ever changing web of sharp blades aiming to entrap Katie within and grind her in cuts.

Katie wrenched the hilt of her blade tighter into Runa's chest, dispersing the data immediately and erasing more and more of the demoness. Guided by the Bastion card, there lay only one objective in her mind and that was the desire to kill. She was gone by the time the blades appeared, much too slow compared to pure living energy itself. A flash of dark blue like a bolt of lightning zipped and sped around the different blades, dancing along up the curvature of each spear as it dove into the hole from which they came. Like a line of code tracing back to its source the bolt crept through the Tower's data in a shocking display before tracing the spears back to the source. Regardless Runa's insane plan to destroy the Floor, she was still only data; data that could be changed and copied, manipulated and altered.

This same data led Katie to the next Runa, appearing once more as a flicker of electricity before a knee slammed into Runa's head as Katie's body took shape once more. She spun around, dragging the demoness off her feet from sheer momentum and throwing her like a bowling ball to the other Runas as if they were pins. The source code surrounded Katie's environment as dragged digits and numbers along the "walls" of the world as she moved, slashing away at any that approached her. One by one with each destroyed Runa the source code that made up her existence in the Tower faltered. Perhaps the true one would have danced with time to avoid her, though even time was subject to energy. But as data, each destroyed version left a bigger and bigger hole into the main file that was Runa.

It was only a matter of time before Katie's Volunta would erase the demoness completely.

Katie moved as a flash, flash too fast to capture, flash too fast to squeeze down or cut through. Her shape too lost its stability in the jumping around as she aimed to find every single copy of Runa she was to feel - tracing them down by a code they bled out. All connected into the array of data that Runa was; all to be further found and slashed by a numb and unworded rage of Katie’s.

Slashed and kicked, grabbed and thrown - one thrown into the group of others was caught up and petted on the head before they scattered away from the attacking raven, keeping their defense. They flickered and shifted their position, changing each other on different spots to confuse the berserk. They bent time and moved through it, launching counter attacks ahead of time, the spear slashing through forward in time, and from the future it attacked backwards, leaving flickering shapes and shards of the corrupted Abyss to fly out and cut with their paradoxical density.

The fallen bodies laying in the crater flicker before disappearing, as if lost in the haze of the fight.
Runa observed it from a distance. One of them at least. She kept herself away on one of the peaks and watched with her never changing smile, sitting on the edge with her head resting on her hand. She flickered every once in a while as she was tracing herself away from Katie’s narrow rage. She knew that something like that were to happen. The growing hole in the essence of her being in the Abyss was making the cold of the death getting closer to her, but it was also opening some new possibilities. She did try doing that thing a few times once, but never on such a scale - after all, it demanded a lot and was a last resort. Frankly the time here and now was exactly asking for that. Emptiness of her hollowing data was to be filled. And the lingering pattern of erosion and entropy was Katie’s gift to the demoness.

Flickers of metal scraped off digital coding as splinters of time and data came loose from Volunta's rending. Like a reaper of Death, Katie manuevered her way through each and every copy thrown at her. She jumped around, slamming the fortunate ones with physical blows that broke horns and shattered bones. The unlucky ones were felled by her blade, erased forever within the Tower. One by one the fragments of blue dwindled as only black remained. A hand lashed outwards and grasped one Runa by the horns, violently slamming her into the ground with enough force to crack the Floor's floor; no sooner was she spinning around to send another Runa flying with a foot to the cheek, the demoness spinning near-comedically midair as she was struck. Another leaked out bluish coding from a horizontal strike above her chest while yet another was missing limbs and a tail.

None of them were the original as far as Katie's one track mind was concerned; only the one that held the final batch of core data would prove to be the last. It was no different to sniffing her out, Katie appearing above the one hiding from the others. Standing above her peak, Katie slashed once with enough force to send any approaching others flying, a density sharp enough to cut this Runa's horn clean off. She thrust downwards, both hands on her Volunta as the tip burst through Runa's chest and reamed right through her to embed itself into the stone. The demoness remained there pinned and fauxly crucified as Katie loomed over her with an empty expression. The both of them could feel it; the last of Runa's existence as a digital frame seeping away into nothingness.

Runa waited and watched still as the numerous copies of her were to fade away one after another in that chase of pure killing energy. If the world she was trapped in was to fall, it was only fair that she was to fall with it, one way or another. She was after all, just about to cancel time itself, space itself, and break free from this limiting existence; and the sacrifices were many, and her own existence being put at risk was of course necessary and unavoidable.
She accepted that. Even though it brought her onto the edge.

Finally Katie was to find her, the one, and in that cold methodical rage she was to find her way onto the cliff and push herself through the attacks. The spears of many pushed away, the launched attacks, flickering dashes and shards cutting through the reality itself, the temporal traps and patterns, twisting turns of the ruins and attacks coming from all directions and all times were not to stop Katie from approaching the demoness and slashing through, once again piercing her body and pinning it to the stone behind her, leaving her to dangle on the edge of a blade. Runa’s hands resting on the weapon, clutching at it and bleeding out, the face frozen in a grimace of fading, the blood and code in unison flowed down Runa’s wounded body and collected into a flickering puddle on the ground underneath her feet dangling over the ground and unable to reach it. Just lightly swinging left and right as her weight rested on the sword in her.

She was put against the wall, literally and figuratively - and even then her eyes did not expose anything of an emotion. Empty stare of Katie’s was to be met with as empty stare of Runa’s: two bottomless pits staring at each other, reflecting in each other in their incomprehensible density of reflecting the lack, rather than anything else.

The demoness leaned closer to the raven, smile still on these lips.
“Let me show you a trick..”, Runa said, still holding at the blade with her hands, “...It is worth remembering”. A shape of hers flickered again, but this time it did not do it like a broken frequency; it turned into a ghostly shape split from its form and a second later, disappeared from the view, leaving a ghostly shape of a body behind. One last split Runa pulled in order to escape Katie; demoness’s data forcibly relocated elsewhere.

But that was not the trick Runa spoke of.

Katie's eyes sharply flicked to the fleeing essence that was Runa's code, lurching Volunta out of the stone and rearing back just about to hurly it like a javelin. But just as she made to let it go a sharp pain spiked through her own chest and she stumbled. No sooner did a blackened discharge of electricity crackle out from her back that brought her to stumble to her knees. Hands on the ground and staring at the floor, expression finally colored itself back to her face. Volunta dropped from her fingers as Bastion's card slowly slid out from her back in ejection, the strain too much and the power used to its limit on her body. Some manner of curse was brought to her lips as she gazed on the fading image of Runa's essence, her vision faltered before black became her landcape and the Bastion card burned completely in its own energy.

---

Grimoiric Heart

There’s no rush.

Grimoiric Heart

Will you be posting soon, @Villamvihar?

Grimoiric Heart

I'll probably post by the end of this week and possibly move us on.

Grimoiric Heart

Or Bonnie could grow to resent Camelot for her words and become her Mordred.