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Post by DanteMGalileo on Aug 31, 2018 18:04:23 GMT -5
"Right, right! Everything's fine, it's just chaos as usual, right?!" Percy yelped, seeing Raunen fly up into the air, taking the fire spell for Paul. Shit, I can't heal, the green one will just use that Hurtful Heal shit again... what do I do?! His fist involuntarily twitched, and Percy smacked himself, trying to focus.
And then Kelsey ensnared Liderc by both his body and his weapon with her tendrils, hoisting the green angel into the air. "Alright... I can work with this... Kelsey, hold him still, I'll tear those wings off." With a war cry, Percy charged for the suspended angel, summoning his sword to his hand, making a running jump for Liderc's very much exposed wings...
"And this is for the people of this land! Go back to where you feathery hypocrites came from!"
But just as his swing would have connected with Liderc's right wing, the angel's body seemed to melt, leaving what appeared to be an amorphous mass inside his clothes. "What?! Did... did you guys see that?!" Percy's sword embedded itself into the burning ship, as the purple-eyed youth scanned the area for any signs of the green angel.
A black sweater and leggings landed on the brunette.
A greenish mass of slime, similar in colour to the angel's blood, slipped into the fire, not even slightly bothered...
And then, with a sweep, it pulled Paul close to it, ensnaring the dragon man in its slimey grasp. Liderc materialized from the knee up, green fire in hand, clearly intent on roasting Paul to death, and barring something drastic, the green angel seemed like he would be successful...
"Do you know what it feels like to burn to death? First, the flames peel away your skin... then, your muscles burn to nothing... All the while, you feel everything. Your body feeds the fire. Oh, and did I mention you can remain conscious for up to seven hours? Let's see how long you'll last!"
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Post by ColArana on Sept 1, 2018 15:16:15 GMT -5
Ranuen groaned as he tried to pull himself up. "Ow.... I'll be alright Paul..." He groaned. "Are you okay? I'm made for fighting. I can take a few shots like this." He assured him. Another groan. "Not to say that didn't hurt. But better me than you." He replied. "Sides, Jolly Green Giant over there seems to have just given Kelsey an incentive."
He glanced at Percy and saw the look on his face. "Percy I'm a damn Fire affinity, I'm fine!"
Ranuen could sort of respect Kelsey's motivation. Especially the idea of fighting off the entire invasion by herself. But even so.... She had backup. She didn't have to fight it alone. William, Percy, Ranuen himself and apparently Alaric were all willing to back her up today.
But Ranuen missed when Liderc transformed, and ensnared Paul. "Shit! Paul!" Ranuen exclaimed, but he was too slow to stop Liderc, as was Alaric who hadn't expected a slime attack. Alaric's mind was whirring, looking around the ship for a weapon that could effectively fight.... slime. Ranuen meanwhile was noting how the flames didn't seem to bother Liderc. He glanced at Kelsey though, fairly certain Liderc had just messed up big time.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 1, 2018 18:37:21 GMT -5
Her shock effectively breaking her concentration, Kelsey's shadows retreated back into her aura very shortly after the angel melted into slime, the viscous substance dropping onto the deck and quickly slithering away, his clothes simply flopping on top of Percy. She warily looked around, desperately scanning the fire for any tint of green...
Paul, none the wiser, continued to inspect Ranuen's wounds, only slightly reassured by the swordsman's response. "I-I'm fine, dude, but do you have eno-YIPE!!!"
He didn't notice the slime until he was already knee-deep in it, offering him no time to even consider escaping as he was entangled in the semisolid mass. He fell on his side as Liderc materialized above him, hand covered in flames, intent to kill more than evident. The dragon man barely heard the angel's malicious speech, simply squirming and struggling against the goo that kept him firmly rooted to the floor.
"G** DAMMIT!!!" Kelsey shrieked, well past the anger event horizon as she charged towards Liderc, swinging a shadow tendril to smack him away with all her might. The dark whip shriveled away, however, when Kelsey was grabbed from behind by a scarlet angel easily two feet taller than her, one of few who seemed willing to stick around in this chaos for the sake of restraining this screaming, out of control demon girl.
All the while, Paul continued to thrash in Liderc's grip, teeth gritted, tail whipping about, arms flexing in a desperate attempt to wrench free. "LEGGO! DAMMIT, GET OFFA ME!"
Why him? Why was this angel so quick to attack him? Could he just sense Paul's weakness? What was he supposed to do against this army of shapeshifters and magic wielders, anyway? His advanced strength wasn't even enough to free him from this dumb slime! He felt so inadequate... so scared... but in that moment, more than anything else, he felt furious.
No... No, he refused to believe he was that USELESS!
"LET GO!!!"
Paul scowled up at Liderc. His yellow eyes seemed to glow. Crackle, almost.
"LET..."
His blue skin started to shimmer. Light seemed to shine between his scales.
"...GO!!!"
CRACK
A blinding flash of white. A deafening thunderclap. An almighty arc of lightning erupted from Paul's mouth, lashing out at Liderc in a nanosecond...
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 1, 2018 19:51:58 GMT -5
"GGGGgGggGGGgGGGgGUUUUuuuUUUUaaaAAAAaaaAAAGHHHHHHH!!!!!"
As soon as Paul's lightning breath struck him, Liderc recoiled, retreating back into his slime form, the electricity crackling all over his body as the green mass sulked off, reforming into its humanoid shape some distance from the blue dragon man. The green angel still sparked, his movements sluggish from the shock, breathing laboured. Clearly, electricity was not something that he took well.
Percy blinked, before letting out a sigh of relief and rushing towards the now-free Paul. "Where was that all along? ... No, really, that was awesome! Can you do it, oh... a few more times? ... No, seriously. I'm glad you're alright... If not mentally..."
"H... How...? How can you... It... It doesn't matter..." If Liderc was afraid, he was doing a good job at hiding it. "You're a threat to us all. I... I'll kill you myself...!!"
But before he could even summon his naginata, the scarlet angel that had previously been restraining Kelsey grabbed the shorter commander's wrists. "No. We can't mount an offence against someone who has similar powers to Lord Aello. Commander Shamash, our ship is about to crash!"
"Nrgh..." Casting his lone eye in a glare at the intruders, Liderc seemed hesitant.
"Listen well. We've got a guy that can breathe lightning." Percy's eyes seemed more red than usual, although his usual voice and markings remains. "Of course, we've got no hesitations about having Paul breathe on you lot a few more times. You can piss off, or you can get electrocuted. Your call."
"... Grr..." Freeing himself from the scarlet angel's grip, Liderc's glare hardened. "... Everyone, abandon ship. We can do this another day."
As the ship burned around them as it fell, the soldiers left, Liderc in the scarlet angel's grip. Before he and his companion flew off, however, the green angel flew over to Kelsey, Paul, and Percy. "This isn't over. Before this invasion concludes, I will personally see to all of your deaths."
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Post by ColArana on Sept 5, 2018 7:03:11 GMT -5
Ranuen stared in dumbfounded astonishment for a moment. "....Paul, have you always been able to do that?" Cause if he could always do that, then damn, Liderc looked more affected by that than anything else so far.
He overheard discussion that the ship was going down and Ranuen grinned. The battle had done its job. He hadn't expected to be able to take out the entire ship on their own but they'd somehow managed it! Ranuen hurried forwards to join with the others. "Well that was fun. And good job Paul. Now, question #2. How are we gonna get off this thing before we all crash to our fiery deaths?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 5, 2018 16:17:04 GMT -5
"..........................." Kelsey slowly lifted her head, having averted her gaze to shield her eyes from the white light. Once her vision focused, she could only stare rigidly at Paul, completely blown away by his sudden display of power. She didn't seem confused like the others. She seemed more... fascinated.
Paul, on the other hand, had a look of wide-eyed alarm as he was released from Liderc's grip, finding himself too shaken to stand up in spite of it. For a while, all he could do was prop himself up on his elbow, his body shivering, tail twitching, jaw slacked. He held his hand close to his face, sparks flying from his open mouth with each shuddering breath until the static was purged from his system. Even long after that, he was dumbfounded by what he had just done, unable to muster any kind of verbal response to it.
The moment the larger angel let go of Kelsey, she charged up her aura and readied herself to go after Liderc again. But something kept her from lunging at the green angel. Sure, his subordinate was advising Liderc against attacking them in this state, but part of Kelsey didn't want to let his attempt on Paul's life slide so easily. She barely even flinched when Liderc directly threatened her, Paul and Percy, her aura slowly receding with each passing second. It took her a while to figure out why she wasn't trying to stop him, but when she figured it out, she couldn't help but feel ashamed of herself...
She was emotionally devastated. She was tired of her and her friends being in harm's way. Despite the show of aggression she had put on, she was genuinely terrified of the warzone she had launched herself into. There was no getting around it. Try as she might... Kelsey still didn't want to fight.
She could almost feel Tri shaking his head with disappointment.
Paul sunk slightly when Liderc approached him again, sitting up fully once the green angel and the rest of his forces had flown away. Still very much on edge, he looked between Percy and Ranuen, only slightly comfortable admitting this now that Liderc wasn't around to hear it. "No joke... no exaggeration... I HAD NO IDEA I COULD DO THAT..."
Kelsey briefly shook herself off, catching her breath while she could. Even before Ranuen pointed it out, the fact that the ship was on a slow, fiery crash course was not lost on her. Nor was the fact that it was still hovering over the city.
"Hunker down!" she ordered, taking to the air once again, flying towards the bow. She stretched out a few tendrils from her aura, snagging the mast, and as she reached the frontmost part of the ship, she sent out a few more to hook onto the decorative figurehead on the prow. From there, Kelsey tightened the tendrils' hold and continued to fly, teeth gritted, eyes narrowed, her fleshy wings flapping desperately as she strained to tow the ship towards the city's outer limits.
Seeing this, Paul scrambled to his feet, instantly snapping back to reality. He dashed over to the edge of the ship, looking out at the city as it rolled by below them. Leaning over to scan ahead, he spotted a building with a rooftop about a story and a half beneath the bottom of the ship.
He turned and faced Percy, Ranuen and Alaric, his yellow eyes alight through the mist and smoke. "Anyone who can't fly or sustain the impact of a two-story drop, GRAB ONTO ME!"
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 5, 2018 16:56:03 GMT -5
"... Thank fuck that's over..."
Percy allowed his body to loosen, pushing his sodden hair out of his face. "... Paul? Kelsey? You guys okay?" He turned to the pair in question, concerned for their mental state. "Seriously, say something to me! ... Oh..." His ears drooped a bit; apparently, Imago had picked up on something the brunette had not. "I guess... That's a reasonable reaction... to this bullshit..."
Percy didn't react to Kelsey's attempts to steer the ship, instead staring into the distance. "Imago." No response. "What the hell is going on? We've only been here for a day, and now we have to deal with... this... angelic invasion."
I do not control the rate at which angels decide to invade and tear apart other worlds, kid.
"Wait a second..." Percy's voice went up slightly, an he hoped the others weren't hearing him seemingly talk to himself. "You're telling me this isn't something new?!"
No. These feathery hypocrites invade and tear apart other worlds all the time. That's what we found out.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."
I wish I was... They did that to-
Paul's shout jolted Percy back to reality. "Uh... right! Coming!"
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Post by ColArana on Sept 5, 2018 21:57:27 GMT -5
Kelsey's declaration made Ranuen grin. "Yeah I'll be good. Probably." He commented, running over to the deck. Well. Less okay if the entire ship fell on him. But if he jumped..... "It'll hurt but I should only have some bruises at worst." He determined. "You guys that can fly go have fun!" He announced, bracing himself to leap off the flaming deck. "Where should we meet back up!?" He suddenly yelled back. Any second now...
He noticed Kelsey trying also to steer the ship away from the city. A good move.... once he couldn't help with. "Anyways! I'll see you guys on the ground! Talk to you soon!" They were at an altitude Ranuen realized where he could survive hitting the ground. Here went nothing. Ranuen gave a cheerful salute and then sprang over the side of the ship, narrowly missing the story and a half building. Two stories was no problem for him at all. Ranuen plummeted to the ground below. He was sure he'd catch up with the others later.
Of course, Ranuen had completely missed what Paul and Kelsey had actually meant by that two-stories comment, and that the two story drop was to the building. Ranuen had misread it, and not taken the time to actually look over the side and judge the distance for himself. He trusted Paul! So.... Ranuen was going down a little more than two stories, hurtling towards the pavement off a five story drop. Oops.
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Alaric meanwhile did NOT trust himself to handle a two story drop and hurried to Paul's side. "Afraid I'm just a mostly normal human." He noted. "So I'll be joining you in your escape attempt." He was also a little uncomfortable with the fire everywhere.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 7, 2018 17:30:11 GMT -5
"OH S***!!!" Paul was not normally one to curse. Seeing Ranuen, already badly beaten from the spell he had taken, jump off the ship and miss the designated platform was clearly enough to earn one.
Hastily and with evident panic, Paul grabbed Percy and Alaric, throwing them over a shoulder each. "HOLD ON!" Then he charged ahead and leaped over the edge of the ship, his hair whipping in the wind as he dropped onto the building below with a surprising amount of grace. The same could not be said for his landing; even though Paul managed to land on his feet, the pain that instantly coursed through his legs caused him to drop his passengers, fall to the floor and tumble a few feet away, a hard cringe plastered on his face throughout. At least Percy and Alaric were none too worse for wear. It seemed Paul had taken the brunt of the impact.
He didn't stay down for long. Fighting against the aches, Paul scrambled back onto his feet and dashed over to the edge of the rooftop, staring down at the street below wide-eyed slack-jawed. Through the grey mist, he couldn't find the mage. "R-RANUEN!!!"
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Kelsey allowed herself only a second of relief to acknowledge Paul, Percy and Alaric's safe landing. Then she went right back to towing the burning ship through the city. Though her shadows did not falter, the tremendous weight was clearly starting to take its toll on her. Her wings were beating hard and audibly, straining to maintain a consistent speed. Her muscles were tense and burning as her hands fiercely gripped the dark cables. Kelsey's face was riddled with bulging veins and broken blood vessels, her blues eyes glowing sharply, her teeth gritted at first, then slowly opening into an almighty, furious, agonized scream.
After what felt like an eternity of back-breaking effort, Kelsey looked around and realized there were no buildings in sight. The city was behind her, nothing but empty fields ahead. With the last of her strength and adrenaline, she reeled back and swung her shadows in a wide arc, flinging the airship into the vacant patch of land and finally releasing her hold on it.
With a deep breath, she spread her wings again. Lacking the energy to even flap them, she merely lazily glided down to the ground at a forty-five degree angle, landing face-first in the grass and rolling once or twice before crumpling in an exhausted heap. Panting, too tired and sore to even shiver, Kelsey partially closed her eyes and allowed herself to succumb to the fatigue, barely paying any mind as the ship completed its descent dangerously close to where she lay...
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Sept 7, 2018 19:25:18 GMT -5
Inhale, exhale. Percy pushed his sodden mop of hair out of his face as he caught his breath from the landing. It appeared as though all the events that had transpired had induced a form of shell shock in the teenager. He barely responded to the sensation of falling or landing. When his breathing leveled, he glanced at Paul. "... Thank you..."
I'm going to give you some space for now, kid.
"W-Wait, no! I still want to hear what you have to say! Imago!"
No, you need a break. You need to eat something, and you need to relax. THEN I'll tell you. Well, good-night.
"Imago, no! Wake the bleeding fuck up! Imago! ... Stupid bug..." He clenched a fist, before realizing Alaric and Paul were giving him strange looks. "Oh, uh... don't mind me... Where's Raunen? Please tell me he didn't shrink and get squished..."
---
As the ship burned down, a purple cat with bright green eyes and a wide grin approached it. "I see they're back," Mara said, as if this entire thing was something the cat demon had seen before. Sniffing the air, the cat inhaled, releasing a stream of fire from her mouth, quickly incinerating most of the ship. As the rain extinguished the flames, Mara ran towards it, floating into a hole.
Screams filled her ears. "I see... Not all of you were able to escape the crash. Do not be afraid, my little birds." At once, the glowing tendrils that served as her tails extended, reaching into the chests of those angels who failed to escape in time. Each returned with a glowing white orb, each orb speckled with a random colour. "Rest easy, my birds. Your souls will not just disappear..."
Sensing something else, the tendril-tails extended again, lifting a piece of rubble from what appeared to be a human woman. "Oh? You're not beyond hearing just yet... Good. I'll be needing you for my plans... Miss Page, do try not to die so soon."
And without further word, and as fast as she arrived, Mara departed the scene.
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Post by ColArana on Sept 10, 2018 22:08:45 GMT -5
Hmmm..... This.... This did not look like a two story fall, Ranuen noted as he plummeted off the ship and through the mist below. Ranuen had several moments to contemplate this, before he looked to the side and noticed the building Paul had intended everyone to jump to. "But then-- ooooohhhhhhhhhhh." Ranuen thought aloud. "I.... Probably should have looked first." He noted. Wind whipped at his face as Ranuen hit terminal velocity, the swordsman focused all of his magical energies to enhancing his durability and defense, and then shrank to reduce his mass right before he hit the ground, hitting the ground not with a loud crash but with a moderately quiet plink.
Although weakened from Liderc's fire attack, Ranuen's magical energies were more than enough to stop a fall from that height, especially with his smaller mass. That wasn't to say it didn't hurt, and as Ranuen returned to his normal height, he certainly was sporting a few cuts and bruises, but with maxed out durability, Ranuen could survive a human stepping on him at his shrunken height, the force imparted by that was significantly greater than a simple fall like this. However... That had still split him off from the group. "Ah hell.... Better go to meet up with them." He grumbled as he rushed to try and find a way up the building. "I'M OKAY!" He shouted up to the top of the building, but whether Paul could hear him or not he was uncertain.
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Alaric was grateful for Paul's assistance and tumbled across the rooftop, absorbing the fall somewhat gracefully, with an easy roll. "Thank you for the help, Paul." He acknowledged, letting the other man panic, as Percy arrived. Alaric walked towards Percy, with a business-like demeanor. "Ranuen missed the landing. He's.... down below somewhere." He noted. "In any case, does anyone know what that was? I'll need to provide at least some report on going-ons like that." He noted. "I understand that those were apparently angels, and that apparently they were trying to conquer the Island, but does anyone know anything more?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Sept 11, 2018 20:14:38 GMT -5
It was very much to the benefit of Paul's current emotional state that his draconic nature granted him enhanced hearing, as hearing Ranuen call up to them from the sidewalk below lifted a tremendous amount of tension from his chest. Still, his concerns were not completely alleviated. The damage had been dealt and was likely far from over. And Kelsey... Oh God, Kelsey...
Paul turned around to face Percy and Alaric, shakily nodding to them as they thanked him for the relatively soft landing, then choking out just barely loud enough to be heard above the rain, "H-He's okay... Or at least he says he is..."
Alaric was questioning the events that had just occurred. Paul found himself far too anxious to ponder these things himself. "We should regroup. William, Ranuen, K-Kelsey... We need to figure out what the hell is going on!"
Without even waiting for a word of agreement or otherwise, Paul dashed between the two men and towards the rooftop access, wanting nothing more in that moment than to ensure that everyone he cared about was okay.
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"Ugh..."
When Kelsey started to come to, she found herself partially buried in rubble. The wooden debris from the downed ship that had been hurled in her direction didn't seem to bother her. If anything, she was completely numb by that point, and not just physically...
Lying there motionless, Kelsey gazed ahead with an emotionless, empty stare. Through the mist and smoke, she saw a cat. A cat that seemed to be ripping little white lights from the angels who had been caught in the crash. A cat that clearly had no regard for these angels' souls, yet seemed to want Kelsey alive.
Arms shaking, muscles shot, body shuddering with each heavy breath, Kelsey slowly picked herself up and used her wings to shake off the rubble, raising an eyebrow at the cat as it left the scene. Its parting words regarding Kelsey's wellbeing and role in its plans... truth be told, she didn't find them unsettling. Being spoken to by a cat surprisingly did not faze her. If anything, Kelsey felt... offended.
"Plans...?"
These angels... These things had just threatened to conquer this island, and it was painfully obvious that taking out one fleet would not stop them entirely. The gall these self-righteous monsters had filled Kelsey to the brim with fury. The idea that this... demonic cat would even consider using Kelsey for her own gain was something she refused to accept. Her numbness quickly gave way to a deep anger the likes of which she had never felt before. Not even the Noble Ring made her feel this way. In that moment, she had been shaken to her core... and more than ever before, she felt violated for it.
She knew what she had to do now.
This... This was why they needed her.
She scowled at the ruins of the angels' ship. "Plans?? F*** your plans. I've got my own..."
The pain already ebbing, Kelsey stood up and marched deeper into the wreckage. Her ice blue eyes took on a strange glow, invoking changes in her vision. The world around her dimmed ever so slightly, revealing a prominent trail of white light.
When she followed this light, she found a lone angel crushed beneath the debris, just barely hanging on by a thread, his wings painfully mangled and twisted. The cat must've missed this one.
Squinting her eyes, Kelsey could see that his soul was giving off sparks, rather like embers leaping off a struck piece of flint.
"You're dying."
The angel shakily looked up at her, unable to speak as he choked on his own mustard-colored blood.
"Shh..." Kelsey got down on her knee and gently placed a hand on his head. "Let me help you."
As the flames started to engulf his body, the angel's labored breaths became shrill, panicked gasps as he watched the demon girl's fangs elongate and her cheeks split into a grotesque Glasgow smile...
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Attagirl...
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