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Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

---It didn't make any sense.

These were highwaymen. Robbers.

Certainly they weren't as elegant. Certainly they weren't as lethal. Robin, who had spent so much of her life practicing her skills, honing both her theatrics and her talent for defeating enemies to the sharpest point she could manage, was able to recognize as such at the sight of a single swing, as her blade met the blade of one of the bandits with the scraping sound of metal against metal.

They weren't honed to the same point that she was, for one reason or another.

But she recognized every motion, every block, every thrust and slash.

This was the very same style she had been trained it. Her first reaction, when she drew her blade and immediately parried one of their opening strikes in the very same motion, had been disbelief. Or perhaps that it may have been a mere coincidence. There was no way that these highwaymen had learned the very same style of swordplay as she had.

And yet---

Undeniable truth had come to stare the girl directly in the face.

No matter how much less they focused on theatrics, these men fought with the same method as she did.

That didn't make any sense.

She'd learned from the old man. He'd taught her. She'd never seen him teach anyone else. And she certainly had never seen him teach the sort of people who would rob from others.

He wouldn't. Of course he wouldn't.

So who could these men have possibly learned this from?

The sound of blade on blade rang out once again. This time, Robin caught her opponent's blade and guided it upwards, striking again as she brought her weapon low and putting it through the man's sword-arm.

These men robbed from the weak on threat of death.

But she had to know. She had to know where they learned to fight.

In the very moment she rammed her elbow into the man's face and sent him to the ground, clutching his injured arm and knocked senseless, she was caught by the attack of another of their number, attempting to take her while she was preoccupied.

---Even if you fight just like me, I'm still better!

Steel rang out through the alley as she forced the attacker's blade aside, and this time swiftly pierced his throat with a thrust. While he'd hoped that his angle and the opportunity he'd seen would take her off guard, instead she'd responded quickly as to turn the situation around on him.

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

"..."

Immediately upon citing the corpse, Kaku Seiga's eyes narrowed.

Perhaps much more surprisingly was the fact the dead girl was moving. Rocking side to side, as if attempting to get up without the use of her arms.

A faint 'uuuuu' sound could be heard from the body. The fact she was facedown muffled it, but it was still audible.

The blue-haired necromancer was almost immediately by her side, her hands on the corpse's shoulders and pulling it up. Rather then looking at all decayed, despite her pallid features she was completely intact. That and the fact she was sniffling slightly, even as her arms stuck out stiffly in front of her, made for a surreal sight.

"Nyan-nyan..."

The undead girl trembled, her eyes watering.

"They took my orders and pushed me down now I don't know what to doooooo..."

"Tch. There there, hold on a moment..."

Reaching into her clothing, the necromancer produced a paper talisman and swiftly attached it to the jiangshi's forehead.

"It's a good thing I always keep a spare on me. Who did this, Yoshika-chan?" Seiga said, as she placed her hands beneath the undead girl's armpits and hauled her up to her feet.

A vacant expression crossed Yoshika's watery eyes for a few moments, and after a pause that would make one question if she had somehow fallen asleep she finally spoke.

"Intruders! They went inside!"

It was likely Seiga was hoping for a more specific response, but that wasn't what she received. Still, rather then expression irritation, she merely ran her hand through the jiangshi's hair before returning her fallen hat to her.

"Then I'll deal with them. Unfortunately, there's little time to introduce you to my guests, though at least one of them already knows you," she said, glancing back and gesturing towards Sanae and Rayne.

The jiangshi stared at the pair for a few moments, recognition appearing on her pale features after a few moments.

"Kochiya!" she declared, rather brightly despite her prior mood, "And... another!"

"I'll introduce you all later," Seiga declared with a wave of her hand, "Follow me. I have some rats to take care of, but then I'll be able to alleviate your symptoms.

---

Heir to the Konpaku

---The timing really can't be any worse.

When it comes to people in Gensokyo, there's not very many I can say I find truly uncomfortable to be around. I might dislike someone, or I might want to avoid them for one reason or another(not that I would lose to them in a fight).

Kaku Seiga is one of these few. Her very presence is discomforting. Every word out of her mouth is discomforting. If I had a choice to avoid entering in Senkai, I would have taken it.

Not that I can't defeat her, but just from the fact I don't went want to interact with her in the first place.

Unfortunately, it looks like I'm not going to have any choice in the matter.

Kaku Seiga, a furious expression on her features, has just entered the senkai with her jiangshi in toe.

"Just what do you think you're doing?! Trespassing is bad enough, but doing that to my darling Yoshika---!"

My hand immediately drifts to Roukanken's hilt.

If I can cut her out of the air fast enough, I won't have to deal with her, right?

@DracoLunaris@FujiwaraPhoenix@Raineh Daze

The Elder Scrolls IV: Cyrodiil

It I didn't know any better, I'd definitely be thinking this has to be some sort of strange, surreal dream at the moment. It honestly only keeps getting stranger. A bottle of expensive wine? Why not, at this point?

And yet no cups. It's not like I can be picky, or that I want to be, but downing a whole bottle of wine doesn't seem like a good plan when reality already feels like it's going to knock me off my feet.

Where did she get this, anyway? The bottle alone is like a an art piece. Not an incredibly expensive one, but as far as wine bottles go that would indicate a high price. It's definitely not the sort of thing the average tavern has at the ready, at least.

"E-er..." I take a deep breath. This is seriously overwhelming.

"Chorrol, I need to-erk," I shake my head. She introduced herself, and I should do so in kind, "Vivienne. My name is Vivienne."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Arken sighed heavily at Sir Renar's words.

"I can certainly tell," he commented, "I hope her capabilities are making up for her eccentricities."

Fanilly inhaled deeply. Their enemy had yet to make an appearance, but was almost certainly present. Would it attack? Would it simply continue to observe? Whatever it was was lurking out of sight, certainly. Did that mean it was stalking them? Or was it some form of scout, employed by the fae? They couldn't even be entirely certain that it was related to the Moonlight Queen. Or, for that matter, even the local fae at all.

Fae weren't the only creatures that dwelled in the deep of Brennan forest.

How did she respond? What tactic did she enforce? Their formation was already arranged to best defend those who were unable to engage at close range, so at the very least they were as reasonably prepared for an attack as they could be given the lack of knowledge that they possessed about their potential opponent.

That, combined with the stark atmosphere of this area of the forest---

She inhaled again and parted her lips.

"Iron Roses---"

There was a groan from the forest.

It wasn't the sound of a beast or man. No creature could pass such a noise from their lips.

It was the echoing creak of moving branches, of wood scraping against wood.

The trees---

The trees marked with faces were moving.

Immediately, Fanilly drew her sword, the flash of steel and the sound of sliding metal piercing the atmosphere. In a way, the revelation of their foe had relieved the tension.

"Prepare for batt-what?!"

Fanilly's eyes widen, her mouth falling open.

Certainly, the trees were moving.

But they were being dragged along. Pulled up from the earth, near-black roots winding together as the faces upon them melted away. They split and twisted, branches binding themselves like the individual fibers making up rope, forming a continuous shape of gnarled bark and intertwined limbs and roots.

Fanilly could hear something like a heartbeat echo through the forest as more and more trees were pulled free from the earth to join the forming shape.

A serpentine head formed, shards of razor-sharp splintered wood filling its maw as its jaws slowly opened, rising upwards and snapping the branches that formed the canopy.

The massive wooden serpent rose above them, jaws opening wide, an unearthly green glow serving as a simulacrum of eyes.

"Th-that's...---"

What in the blazes was this?! Fanilly had heard plenty of eerie stories of presences in Brennan, but she'd never heard of anything that sounded like this!

And it was poised to crash down upon them.

"Iron Roses, disper---"

Damn it, it was already bearing down, mouth open wide!

Did they even have time to---

"Threefold Barrier!"

A purple light erupted from mid-air, expanding into a set of three disc-shaped constructs of light. They resembled magic circles, angular patterns marking their formation and arranged as a stack.

The tree-serpent creature crashed against them. The first immediately shattered, fragmenting into pieces, and Fanilly could see cracks run through the second.

But it was sent reeling back, buying them even a little time.

Lord Arken's staff glowed brilliantly. He must have been the one who cast the defensive spell.

Fanilly took a deep breath. Her heart was nearly slamming against her breastplate, beating almost at the same time as the enormous heartbeat that filled the forest around them.

But she had to give her orders. They had to destroy this monster, whatever it might be!

"Break formation!" she called, "Spread out so it can't target us all at once!"

Despite having no idea what kind of creature this was, at the very least she knew that remaining clustered together was no use against such a huge creature.

Fanilly was already running.

"Lord Arken, Lady Fiadh, Sir Fionn, do you have any idea what this thing is?!"

---

The Gannek's maw seemed to gape wider and wider, more pitch black arms reaching from inside its body---

But Sir Rolan's bolt struck true, piercing one of its white eyes.

The sound that left the monster was unlike those made by living things. An unearthly, metallic screech that seemed to reach into the very bodies of those around it and shake their bones, reverberating through their ears. It sounded more like a blade being scraped along stone then anything a living creature should be able to produce.

Its lengthy body twisted as it attempted to look in the direction of the attack, the bolt already being pushed out of its body by its mending form. However, it was unable to locate Sir Rolan, due to Sir Gerard's efforts. The branch ramming deep into its mouth clearly took it by surprise, and it could do little to swiftly reach to its body being yanked along with it, its underside quickly exposed as it was pulled away from the slowly-dying tree.

Even though it had been taken by surprise, its shadowy arms were still crawling along the branch in an attempt to reach out towards the bold knight.

"I'll support you!" called Dame Yael, her slim-bladed sword leaving its sheath and skewering one of the monster's hands in a single motion, forcing it to retreat back into its maw at least temporarily.

Sir Caulder didn't need to be told what to do. His heavy axe raised up over his head, and was sent careening towards the monster's exposed belly to split it open and spill its insides---

Only for it to be caught by two of the creature's legs. Each of its feet were shaped similarly to human hands, and unfortunately despite its maw being preoccupied it still had awareness of other attacks.

Gritting his teeth. Sir Caulder slammed one foot forward, pouring his strength into his arms, but the Gannek's physical power was impossible to ignore despite its spindly frame.

And worse, one of its legs was reaching for the knight's head---

Meanwhile, the terrified aessyr had buried herself as deeply into the furs as she could possibly manage, trying to disappear entirely.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

@LucidRain: Honestly I like this concept a lot too, while she'd obviously need a few tweaks for the sake of the setting.

Lein or Adalia are both good by me!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Cyrodiil

"R... right..."

I can't say I've seen a huge amount of spells of that particular sort, but even if I had I don't think simply turning the earth into a chair is particularly common. Even less common is the ability to pull cooking equipment and food out of the air. Does she have some sort of invisible bag or something with her?

---This is all so much to deal with, in so short of a period of time. I want to say something to her, but honestly at this point I barely have the energy. I find myself somewhat numbly walking over to the lake to get water.

I'm not chosen. That much I'm sure of. I was just in the right place at the right time.

But I'm definitely hungry.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

@LucidRain: While I don't mind you rejoining with Lein at all, I can't help but be curious about your other idea too.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

@LucidRain: Well, you need a solid character concept to start with.

Maybe a hundi who's distant from his family and ended up pursuing a trickier, more rogueish lifestyle.

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Heir to the Konpaku

The moment the door to the smaller structure opens, I wrinkle my nose. There's a strange scent, acrid and chemical, assaulting my senses immediately. It's not intolerable, but it's certainly not pleasant.

As I follow Fujiwara-san inside, I can see why immediately.

On a large table, a corpse has been stretched. It's a young man, his body looking withered but without decay. I don't know much about these things, but I guess he's probably been preserved in some way.

That's only a small solace, given the fact that his entire torso has been cut open, dry flesh pinned aside, to reveal his completely emptied insides.

I can't help but step back, recoiling from the sight. It's not as if the use of corpses is surprising given it's Kaku Seiga, but I can't help but feel a wave of nausea, my stomach turning.

"Ergh, it's---" I place a hand over my mouth and try to clear my head, taking a deep breath. Whatever preservative agent is in the dead body has at least eliminated whatever scent it would be putting off. The chemical smell isn't pleasant, but it's better then the smell of death.

Aside from the obvious sight of the corpse, there's a number of other items in the chinese Necromancer's workshop. A large jar, with some faint sounds coming from inside and the top tightly sealed. A large number of scrolls and books neatly stacked on counterspace around the center. A collection of rods of wood and steel, with a faint light surrounding their tips, leaning off to one side. A large sack that looks as if it's filled with coins.

And---

I take another step back. I'd been distracted by the vivisected corpse, but there's something even more ominous than that here.

Surrounded by a few talismans is a perfect sphere that appears to be made out of a pitch-black glass. Looking at it sends a chill up my spin, my phantom half twitching back and forth beside me.

It's not simply that all these items are stolen, because there's no doubt in my mind that someone was wicked as Kaku Seiga has spent plenty of time stealing since she arrived here.

It's that there's a heavy sense of malignancy hanging in the air all around me.

And the darkest point is that head-sized jewel.

"... This is..." I trail off, "Maybe I should have expected something like this..."

@Raineh Daze@FujiwaraPhoenix

---

The Wandering Cat

The blue-haired woman had been uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn in the presence of one of Sanae's gods. However, the moment she disappeared, she stepped forward once more.

"I'm a little queasy, that curse was certainly unpleasant," she began, with a casual wave of her hand. If she was in more pain then she appeared, it was difficult to tell.

"But I'm quite alright, now," she continued with a friendly smile, "There's no need to be concerned. Mmm, but I should properly introduce myself, shouldn't I..."

The somewhat ethereal-seeming woman bowed.

"While Qing'e is my name, that miko would know me far better as Kaku Seiga," she began as she rose to her feet, "I am ahermit who follows the Tao, and the one responsible for your victory. I expect thanks, you know~"

The smirk she flashed towards Sanae was something she could never have managed in the presence of Yasaka Kanako, but with the god's departure she felt perfectly confident in doing so.

In the moments after the oiran ghost's defeat, their surroundings had shifted once more. This time, there was no longer any fire, nor any signs of an open street. If anything, it felt rather cool.

Instead, it was a dusty, dark basement. Perhaps that was what had always been there, in reality.

The gory mess that had been left behind by the ghost's defeat had disappeared completely, as well, without a trace.

"... Mmm, unfortunate, it's as if her presence has been pulled away elsewhere," commented Seiga, frowning, now, "Harnessing the abilities of such a powerful ghost would have been a lovely reward for our public service in her removal."

She let out a sigh.

"Oh well. I'm sure whoever has her bound is happy to have her back. Now then---"

The needle between her right forefinger and thumb gleamed.

"Kochiya still seems a little bit unsteady. I can help clear the remains of the curse more quickly, you know, though we'll have to return to my Senkai. It won't take long, and I'm sure a mage like yourself must be curious what a 'Senkai' is, are you not, Rayne?"

Exactly how a quick return would be possible was something of a mystery, at least until Seiga dragged the tip of her needle in a circular motion against the nearest wall.

In an instant, the solid wood and stone disappeared, a hole appearing immediately to form a passage through the earth.

"Come along~"

@DracoLunaris@FujiwaraPhoenix

---

The Scarlet Devil

---Tch.

Rotten. Everything here is rotten. Even these bull-beasts, despite looking fairly intact, have a faint rotten odor coming from them and no audible breath or beating heart. At this point, I'd have taken the chance if they were still alive despite their inhuman nature.

But I'd never allow rotten blood to pass my lips.

The tarnished silver of a halberd's blade comes hurtling towards me.

Right now, I don't have the power to block. As frustrating as it is, I don't have any choice but move.

The air rushes past me, cut by the edge of the undead bull-beast's weapon as I throw myself backwards. If I were properly fed, I have no doubt I'd overpower these creatures if I had to resort to using my bare hands.

But I'm hardly interested in touching them, even putting aside the fact that I don't have the energy to do it without being injured.

But feeding on that Hourai Immortal did give me enough power for something like this.

I stretch out my right arm as my feet hit the ground, channeling heat down through it and into my palm.

It won't be its true splendor. It won't be the weapon worthy of the Scarlet Devil. But it'll be enough for this much, at least.

A crimson light emerges from my palm, twisting and curling itself inwards before pushing back out into a single, needle-like point.

With a flick of my wrist I send it hurtling through the air with a crack and a scent of iron. It illuminates the tunnel for a few moments, casting everything in a red glow before striking the foremost of the undead minotaurs in the right shoulder. Living flesh can't possibly resist it, so dead flesh certainly can't.

It tears free, blowing through skin and muscle and bone and emerging from the other side, the weight of the muscular limb tearing through the tiny strands of flesh that remain and sending it falling to the ground with a full thud.

---I'd have liked to hit the head, but for now this is good enough. I'll just take---Behind?

Hmph, this person really is a coward!"

I turn on my heel. My acting maid is concealing the young fairy girl with her body as a blackened ooze flies through the air towards her.

Is everything down here about being dark and ugly and mouldy and foul?!

I channel red light through my arm and into my palm again, releasing it as swiftly as possible and sending it through the dark muck, scattering it across the stone floor.

I'm not about to let any harm come to the ones fighting alongside me, not if I can help it. And I'm certainly not going to let that girl get hurt.

What kind of self-respecting noble would slack off so much as to be unable to help?

"A big, stupid coward!"

I can't help but complain.

"Sending corpses after us, attacking from behind---And this completely rotten sense of style! I hate it, I hate all of it!"

Before they die, I'll give them a piece of my mind when we find them.

@Drifting Pollen@Lugubrious@Rezod92

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

It was impossible not to be frustrated. The fact that Lady Neve couldn't join them was already one layer of annoyance on top of many others, but far more frustrating was how two of the Grovemasters appeared to have no intention of listening to them properly from the very start. While heroes frequently faced unexpected setbacks, Robin couldn't deny that actually facing such stubborn opposition to the very people who were intending to help them had taken her off-guard.

But---

One of the Grovemasters really did believe them, or at least was willing to give them a chance. That was what she would hold on to.

After all, Heroes did sometimes face unexpected and frustrating setbacks on their quests. And she felt confident she could face this Trial of Tides down and overcome it alongside the others.

And then she'd be able to prove to even the most stubborn of the three that they were really there to help!

...

What was the Trial of Tides, anyway? It wasn't anything Robin had ever heard of, off the top of her head.

"... Does anyone have a guess at what this Trial might be?" she found herself suddenly musing aloud. The swordswoman hadn't exactly intended to say what she was thinking so loudly, but she couldn't help her curiosity. As frustrating as it was, the 'Trial of Tides' was something of a legendary-seeming name. So, it was likely it had some kind of history, even if she'd never heard of it before.

At least, that's what Robin would have expected. If nothing else, it was possible one of the others might have heard of it before. And, they might be able to give some idea of what they should expect.

If not, well, it didn't really hurt to ask anyway, did it?