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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 17, 2018 21:33:47 GMT -5
"Mm. Toast." Crunch, crunch, crunch. Percy's expression remained unfocused. "Could be better." The brunette seemed to either completely ignore William and Raunen's questions, or was somehow unaware of what they were saying. The blonde placed a hand on the skinny brunette's shoulder.
"Percy, say something! What the hell, you're never like this!" William shook Percy's shoulder, causing the shorter man to bite his tongue.
"Argh!" It seemed as though this had snapped the brunette back to reality, though. "Oh, uh... hey Will, Paul, everyone..." Noting the strange looks he was getting, Percy tilted his head in confusion. "Uh... what'd I miss?"
"... We were talking about angels and how to kill them. What were Imago and... Tri, I guess talking about?!"
"Hell if I know. I was shut out for that, and I'm going to assume Kelsey was too. Imago's been unusually quiet since I woke up, too.."
"Hmm... This is troublesome..." William placed a hand under his chin. "What's so important that Imago can't tell us?"
Lobo was about to bring the conversation back on topic, when Loba returned downstairs, trailed by a blonde teenager with green eyes, he himself carrying what appeared to be a young girl with pink hair in red. Loba and Lobo began chatting with each other in another language, one simultaneously melodic and guttural.
Seeing these new arrivals, William and Percy instantly dashed up to the green-eyed man. "Jordan!" William said, before glancing down at the pink-haired girl in his arms. "Wha... Is Leanne just asleep?"
The green-eyed blonde, apparently named Jordan, shook his head once. "I'm not sure. I found her covered in slime and out like a light," Indeed, the cloak Jordan wore and Leanne's clothes seemed to have gunk all over. "She hasn't woken up. She's been talkin' in her sleep, too..."
"... Oh..." The pink-haired girl stirred slightly, before going loose in Jordan's arms again.
"Leanne!" William placed a hand on the girl's face. "Please... please, wake up Leanne, you gotta remember to snark at me..."
"Hey, Jordan, you said slime, yeah?" Percy clenched a fist, seemingly angry.
"Yeah, slime." Jordan looked up. "What about it, stud?"
"I uh can you not call me that in this situation!!" The brunette's face went red for a moment. "Did you see anything else? Anything? I'll... I'll...!!"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 18, 2018 14:51:30 GMT -5
"Oh geez...!" Again, Paul was unsure how to react to the sight of the unconscious girl. Seeing William fret over her just made him that much more nervous. All he could think to do was cast William and this Jordan fellow a look of sympathy, leaving Percy to ask the questions.
Scott was quick to jump out of his seat and join William in inspecting the unconscious girl, checking her breathing, her pulse, any potential injuries, so on and so forth. Kelsey, meanwhile... the look of concern she had taken on when Jordan entered the scene quickly turned to shock when she noticed one rogue element.
Tri was hovering over Leanne, studying her inquisitively, intently...
To those not in the know, Kelsey might've looked especially worrisome and panicky, but nothing more. Tri very clearly heard her demanding to know what he was doing.
In response, Tri shot Kelsey a coy smirk, pressed a finger to his lips, and urged her to do what she had already intended to do. In the meantime, his astral projection leaned into Leanne, draining entirely into the girl's still form.
After choking back the lump in her throat, Kelsey shot a hard scowl at the floor and punched the couch cushion behind her. Tri was on thin ice today, but the fact that he was her master meant that he could get away with it. As if the angels weren't infuriating enough...
"Kels?" Paul awkwardly nudged her. "Everything alright?"
"Can you bring me up to speed on the angel exposition?"
Paul flinched slightly. He looked back at the crowd gathered around Jordan and Leanne, then he turned back to Kelsey and nodded as he began to softly recap everything he had been told.
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 19, 2018 17:14:10 GMT -5
Leanne's pulse was stable, and aside from the gunk on her clothes and skin, appeared to be uninjured.
"... Oh... It'll be okay, guys... The dragon from another world... it'll help me... Ah... beware the one who hides his eye...!!" The pink-haired girl, while remaining mostly motionless, was lucid as she spoke, going limp again once she finished talking.
"So... she's been like this all night?" William asked, taking Leanne from Jordan's arms. "Did... did she go lucid whenever she spoke?"
"Yep," Jordan confirmed. "Didn't open her eyes or anything. Just spouted words and then went limp again..." He placed a hand under his chin. "I don't know if she's havin' some fever dream or something else." The younger blonde finally addressed Percy. "Aside from the slime? I saw this massive grey thing with wings. Looked like a buncha creatures mated with each other; lion, spring dragon, bird, probably a few other things..." Jordan shook his head. "That's all I noticed. I was trying to keep my kid sister safe first. Fortunately, Lobo agreed to let us spend the night here."
"You're welcome."
"A grey thing that looks like a bunch of other things mated with each other..." Percy wondered aloud, seeming to have let go of most of his tension. "... Why didn't I see that coming?"
---
Inside Leanne's soul, colours swirled, a mass of red, pink, and purple in the sky, above a volcanic landscape.
A pink-haired girl, a perfect replica of the girl sans her hat and the gunk, sat on a rock formation. The eruptions seemed to not faze her, the lava phasing through her form as though she was a phantom.
Another figure, resembling a black beast with red eyes and feathery wings, sat next to her as though it was her dog...
The black beast looked up, and growled, prompting the pink-haired girl to follow its gaze...
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 22, 2018 13:24:46 GMT -5
"So we know how to get rid of 'em, at least..."
"Yeah, you were definitely onto something when you snagged Liderc's wings."
"If I hadn't hesitated..."
"C'mon, don't take it so personally. I doubt killing him would've been the be-all end-all. You'll take him down a peg in due time, I'm sure."
Kelsey frowned at her lap and nodded. She certainly intended to.
"Well, she seems stable," Scott stated calmly, firmly but empathetically, staring at his hand. "No signs of trauma. I'm personally questioning the potential toxicity of this slime, though. Um... Where's the sink?" God, he was tired...
Kelsey's head snapped up the moment Jordan mentioned the dragon-lion creature. Her irises briefly flashed bright blue like Bunsen burner fire. "Where did you find it?"
"Whoa, uh, Kelsey...?" Paul awkwardly leaned back a few inches. "One thing at a time, maybe?"
"I have exactly what I need to figure a plan to take down the angels. Now where did you find this monster?"
---------------------------
"Interesting..."
The first thing Tri took note of was the shape he had assumed. He naturally slipped into a form his host's mind could best comprehend whenever he entered their soulscape, and he had to say... this one was especially adorable. Granted, all humans were adorable to him, but this girl had certainly made him into something special.
After soaking in all the new little details of his appearance, Tri began a leisurely stroll through the soulscape. He stared wistfully into the red and violet sky. He kicked his feet through the lava flows like he was splashing through puddles. He took a deep breath, soaking in the smell of ash and smoke. Smelled like home, and all the mixed emotions that came with it. Well, it was more interesting than Kelsey's, at least.
He gazed ahead at the pink-haired girl and the red-eyed creature looming over her, growling at the intruding demon. Aw, the beast was trying to threaten him. That was precious. "Hi there~!"
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Post by ColArana on Oct 23, 2018 20:42:19 GMT -5
Ranuen's attention was swiftly taken by the new arrivals. Well "arrivals" seemed a bit of a stretch as it seemed they'd already been here before his group had been. Close enough! He studied the newcomers with a glance, before his focus was taken by William's frenzied approach. It seemed William recognized them, referring to the two as Jordan and Leanne.
"Will, who are they?" He inquired, checking the situation out as best he could from his position. Percy also seemed to be worried. "Anyone want to fill me in?" He asked sharply.
The girl trailed off, speaking in cryptic phrases, that caused Ranuen to try to pay close mind to her. Even so. "That was charitable of you. Thank you." He said in response to hearing that the angels had taken these two in under their roof. The description of the beast though--
"Hey, uhh.... Jordan right? You see where the thing that did this was heading? Cause it sounds like something we should look into." For anyone who knew Ranuen the facade was paper thin. Ranuen was already wanting to fight with this strange chimera beast that had allegedly attacked Leanne.
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 23, 2018 21:23:38 GMT -5
"Oh sure, I mention the abomination and suddenly that's all you wanna hear about..." Jordan muttered, though he decided to engage them. "If I had to guess, it was heading east, judging by the wingbeats. Thing is, that's where shit gets weird..."
"There's a bathroom and a sink on the second floor. Look for a brown door," Loba said to Scott. "You look tired. There's another guest bedroom. Look for the white door with a black rug in front." She turned to Jordan next. "Shit getting weird is the norm around here. Try us."
"Alright. I kept an ear out for the grey thing just in case it decided it wanted a snack- it was following us, it seemed... And then, it stopped. Didn't just stop flappin' its damn feathery wings- no offence guys." Jordan glanced at the twins briefly.
"None taken."
"Anyways, it just stopped. Like it just vanished into thin air..." Jordan took a seat and ran a hand through his lank hair. "Unless it really did just vanish, what the fuck's going on? It doesn't make any sense..."
William took a seat next to Jordan, keeping Leanne's head propped up in his arm. "Well... that's troubling..." he added, more from a lack of things to say. "Oh, yeah. These two are Jordan and Leanne. They're my younger brother and sister." He sighed, looking at the pink-haired girl's sleeping (?) face. "Yes, Jordan is normally like this, but Leanne...?"
"Must be some dream she's having," Percy said. "Yeah, I know I've been unusually quiet. It's just that... I don't have much to say..."
---
"Huh?"
The pink-haired girl looked, and saw... what she was going to assume was a male version of herself, her usual skirt removed to reveal the light pants she wore underneath, braids turned into a lone messy ponytail. However, there were some obvious tells that this wasn't a part of her usual mind; the ice blue eyes, the normally-red markings a faded blue... to say nothing of this new arrival's fangs, claws, and... were those horns?
"Easy, girl," she said to the black beast. The black creature ceased its growling, but kept its red gaze on this stranger, as the pink-haired girl walked up to him, phasing through the lava flow between them...
"Who're you? And what're you doin' in my soul? Girl needs some privacy, y'know..."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Nov 3, 2018 12:46:17 GMT -5
"Thanks," Scott muttered as he made his way upstairs. "Paul, keep me posted."
"Will do..." Paul sighed. Seemed like all he could do in this conversation was relay information to those not around to hear it the first time. It wasn't like he had anything else to contribute. He was at a loss.
At the very least, he nodded sympathetically to William and Jordan. "Yeah, I... kinda had a feeling. I'm really sorry. I-I know that's not especially helpful, but-"
All of a sudden, Kelsey slammed a hand down on the back of the couch, stood up and started marching towards the door.
"Whoa, whoawhoawhoa, Kels, where ya going?!"
"I need more info. I'll catch up with you later and we'll figure out a strategy then."
"You're going out there by yourself?!" Paul questioned demandingly, chasing after Kelsey and grabbing her by the wrist. "While there are still war-hungry angels out there who've got it out for you?!"
"I'll be fine!" Kelsey insisted, wrenching her hand free. "Just... take care of yourself and the others. I promise I'll come find you again soon."
---------------------------
"Hey, I can dig that," Tri mused with a casual shrug. "Just wanted to check in and see what was going on in here. Your bros and my... um... subordinate are kinda worried about you zoning out on them. Without even so much as note. Rude."
His tone was playful and jokey, but the smirk he was giving the red-eyed beast was conspicuously twisted.
"The girl who works for me is kinda concerned that this little pup won't be too happy to see her, considering what happened last time."
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Post by ColArana on Nov 4, 2018 16:56:17 GMT -5
"Well yeah, I mean... abominations are pretty awesome. And concerning." Ranuen answered Jordan in response to his apparently wounded voice as to Ranuen focusing on the abomination instead of him. But he continued and explained that the thing had just disappeared. "Hmm... I wonder if it's related to the angel activity..." He mused briefly.
Finally Will handled the introductions. So, they were siblings. "Good to meet you both." The swordsman stated. "Will's been a real help so far, it's nice to meet more of his family." He decided cheerfully. "Well. Present circumstances excluded that is..." He added, looking at Leanne with a troubled expression. No wonder Will was so worried. Leanne was his sister and just... out cold with no explanation? That would definitely be worrisome. Ranuen continued to munch down on his breakfast, traversing from his companion's shoulder to the bar, where his position was a bit more stable. One of the pros about his small stature was that he didn't need a lot of food to sustain himself most of the time, so Ranuen's "breakfast" was likely not going to cost the angels much of anything, nor his companions much of their own breakfasts.
Ranuen heard a loud sound from behind and whipped his head around to see Kelsey heading out. "Crap.... what now?" He grumbled, seeing Paul try to stop her. "Kelsey. Someone should still come with you." He suggested, trying to be heard from his more distant position. "Right now, travelling alone is going to be dangerous. I don't think any of us should be ditching so easily. Makes us easy targets." He said. "And even if that's the point and you're trying to bait someone out, it's STILL probably a good idea for someone to tail you, just in case."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Nov 4, 2018 18:14:32 GMT -5
"Hey, wait up for us!"
Percy suddenly stood up with Raunen, following Kelsey. "Raunen's right, and that's coming from me, the reckless moron." He glanced at the slightly shorter brunette. "Look, I don't doubt your ability to defend yourself, but you're probably on those angels' shit list- present company excluded." He shot an apologetic look to Lobo and Loba.
"None taken."
"Wouldn't it make sense to have some backup? 'Sides... Somehow, I doubt us fretting over Leanne will make her wake up any faster." Percy glanced at the unconscious girl, concerned. "Will, Jordan, I'll... try to get back. Just... Oh, nevermind. You two will do it anyway."
As William brushed some of the grime off the sleeping girl's face, mumbling to himself, Jordan was silent, before finally speaking. "... Don't get killed."
---
"Uh... someone else knows Konrul here?"
Leanne gestured to the black beast, which while silent, kept its red glare on Tri. "That's really weird... She's lived in my soul for quite some time, and she ain't capable of manifestin' in the real world..." As she spoke, she ran a hand through the beast's black fur, as if trying to calm herself. "... Maybe there's another one out there? And what's with that look you're givin' her, maybe that's why she's glarin' at you!"
And then, Leanne addressed the topic of her slumber. Her tone was far calmer than she had any right to be, free of its usual roughness. "... I don't want to be asleep. I want to wake up. That talking in my sleep? That's me trying to wake up. But no matter how hard I try... I can't wake up. I can't even open my eyes for a second. I can barely hear everyone. I... I feel like I'm stuck..."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Nov 6, 2018 17:54:57 GMT -5
"Hey, if you guys wanna tag along, I'm not stopping you. Just don't try to stop me," Kelsey grunted as she turned to continue on her way. "I have a score to settle."
"Kelsey, please...!" Paul hastily scrambled in front of Kelsey, blocking the doorway, worriedly staring down at her. "Don't rush into this. Not when we still have so little of an idea what we've gotten ourselves into."
Kelsey's scowl softened ever so slightly. She looked down at the floor with a sigh. "I know exactly what I've gotten myself into, Paul. I... I just wanna knock out as many obstacles as I can right here and now. I'll be okay. Trust me."
"I do, Kels, but... I just... There are so many what if's, I..."
"Paul, please, don't make me pin you to a wall. We both know I can."
---------------------------
"Intredesting..." Tri purred, strolling closer to the beast and rubbing his chin. "Striking resemblance, I must say. I... should be annoyed by that sort of redundancy, but at this point, the circumstantial simultaneity is just amusing."
He offered Leanne a chipper grin. A little too chipper. Uncomfortably chipper actually, so much so that the feeling was almost mutual. "Well, the big monster in the real world? Yeah, my accomplice is trying to go kick its butt now. Thinking that might rouse ya. I'd offer to just get you out the easy way, but whenever I directly touch someone's soul, they tend not to come out quite the same." The fiery sky started turning a deep violet directly above where Tri stood.
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Post by ColArana on Nov 6, 2018 18:35:50 GMT -5
Ranuen's right? Geeze. World coming to an end the day I'm right about something. Then Ranuen realized that with a host of angels preparing to launch armageddon on the Island, that was actually a moderately real possibility. Funny that.... Guess the world really was ending when Ranuen was actually correct about something. Kelsey even acknowledged that she wasn't stopping anyone from going with her. So she wasn't being entirely unreasonable.
"Paul." Ranuen piped up. "You're not stopping her, so the best thing we can do is try to mitigate any risk to her. If you want to go with her to keep an eye on her, nobody is stopping you. You want to send me along with her to do the same, that's fine too, though it's been shown already that my skillset's not the best for fighting Angels. But frig, I can still meat shield." He noted, indicating that the wounds that had been dealt to him only a couple of hours prior by Liderc's talons and fire attack had already started to heal over. There was still plenty of scarring, so Ranuen was likely not at full strength, but it was still telling how quickly Ranuen's physical augmentation abilities allowed him to recover. "So if you want me to go with Kelsey, just toss me over to her, or go with her yourself. You see that look in her eye don't you? You won't stop her." It was a determined expression, and unlike with Ranuen, whose size made corralling him when he made stupid choices fairly easy, Kelsey was probably leaving this place with or without Paul's approval.
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Nov 6, 2018 19:13:48 GMT -5
"I guess if we're done..." Percy started, picking up Raunen and placing the miniature man on his shoulder. "We'll go. Hey, don't worry too much about her, we'll be there just in case Kelsey gets in over her head."
"You're going to be watching someone, stud?" Despite the grimness of the situation, Jordan couldn't help but snark. "It was nice knowing you for all of five minutes, Kelsey."
"Will! Make Jordan not pick on me!!"
At the bickering teenagers, William sighed. "... I'll stay here and watch Leanne for now. Just don't die."
"Here, here! I heartily second that!"
"Still..." Lobo said. "Between that beast and this girl..."
---
"Um... what's with that smile? You're kinda freakin' me out..."
Leanne made a weak, uneasy chuckle at Tri's expression. "... Uh... You mean the dragon from another world? A big ol' grey thing? Please... please tell your accomplice to not hurt it. Konrul says she'll find a way to feed you to her... something... I dunno. I dunno what she says half the time."
Indeed, the black creature's growling had resumed as Tri got closer...
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Nov 6, 2018 21:46:23 GMT -5
Kelsey looked up at Paul. Her expression was cold, distant... but also sad and a little bit scared. More than anything, though, it was unwavering. She knew what she had to do. For the first time in this whole ordeal, she had some actual direction. Direction that she had charted herself rather than being forced into by her master or the monsters old and new that seemed to constantly surround her. And for the sake of that slight chance that this would help her new friends and the island, she was taking this challenge.
In the silence that followed, Paul could only stare back at her, concerned, confused, still reeling from everything they had survived up until that point. He at least understood Kelsey's motivation, but that didn't mean he could fully wrap his head around her willingness to leap back into the fray so soon. He felt like they still knew so little. Sure, they knew how to beat the angels. Sure, Kelsey had proven that she could put up a fight with them and with the Protostar Beast. But they still had no strategy, no set course, no idea how intense this war could get.
Eventually, though, Paul let out a deep breath and slowly came to terms with perhaps the most crushing revelation of all. "I... I don't know how to help you."
...........................
The dragon man stepped away from the door, eyes on the ground, too doleful to look at the demon girl. "Come back safe."
Kelsey turned and watched as Paul sat back down next to William and Jordan. She wasn't sure what she had expected him to say, but that had clearly blindsided her, and the fact that he couldn't even look her in the eye anymore made it sting that much worse. What was she supposed to say to that? She certainly didn't have any suggestions for him. If anything, she would've preferred if he didn't get involved. They were both prime targets now, but even with his new powers, they both knew that Paul couldn't defend himself quite like Kelsey could. But there was no way she was going to say that aloud. It was one thing to be inexperienced; she didn't need Paul believing he was useless.
All she could do was turn away again, looking to the world like a girl on a mission. "I'm sorry, Paul..."
Then Kelsey opened the door and stepped out into the pouring rain. Immediately, her wings ripped out of her back and her eyes turned a cold, glowing blue.
---------------------------
Tri tilted his head back and laughed at the top of his proverbial lungs, the uproar's echoes sounding more like deathly screams than actual laughter. "Somehow I get the feeling I wouldn't be too appetizing!"
Then he picked himself up into a hover about three feet off the ground, folding his arms behind his back and smiling sweetly at Leanne. "Well, I'll see what I can do for your new little fuzzy friend, but if I'm being totally honest, I don't exactly have full control over my protege. Miss Page is quite the loose cannon if I do say so myself. So... well, when all's said and done, I can at least promise you that it won't die."
Then Tri raised a hand, conjuring a pillar of fire between himself and Leanne. After two seconds, the flames extinguished themselves, and through the smoke, they could see that a symbol had been burned into the ground. A pentagram outlined first by a crescent moon, then by a ring of fire, then by a series of runes.
"My name's Tri, by the way," the demon politely offered, pointing to the charred symbol. "If you ever need someone to chat with or a direct line to the angry girl who wants to kill your pet, feel free to ring me up at any time. CIAO~!"
And just like that, the projection of Tri seemed to collapse in on itself as the demon vanished from the girl's soulscape.
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Post by ColArana on Nov 7, 2018 20:50:01 GMT -5
When Percy picked Ranuen up, the man braced himself momentarily, believing for an instant, that Percy was about to take him up on "tossing him over", but was relieved to be set on Percy's shoulder instead. "Fair enough. We'll hunt down some angels, and beat them up until they tell us everything!" He chirped, cheerfully.
It wasn't great, however, that Paul seemed so down about Kelsey's bloodlust and fury, but... there wasn't much they could do for that right now. Ranuen acknowledged that the only way to keep Paul's spirits up was to make sure nothing happened to Kelsey. He glanced over as Kelsey stepped out. "Well, are you ready then?"
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Nov 7, 2018 21:13:50 GMT -5
"Well... we'll see you guys later. Raunen, you may want to get in one of my pockets..."
Once Raunen was secure, Percy removed his shirt and coat, tying them around his waist. His torso restructured itself, forming a pair of fleshy wings. "And... away we go!" Inhaling, the brunette took a running start out into the rain, before jumping, flying after Kelsey.
Once the trio had left, silence reigned in the bar for a few minutes, before Jordan broke it. "So..." he said, looking at Paul. "I take it your name is Paul, stud? Cripes... some girlfriend you got going there."
"Jordan, would it kill you to be nice?" William looked up from Leanne to reprimand his brother. "He's got to be under a lot of stress as it is. We're all under stress. Just... try to be serious, okay? For Leanne?"
Speaking of Leanne, the pink-haired girl began to stir. "... Please... don't hurt him... he's afraid..." And then, limp as she was before.
"Leanne... what are you talking about?"
"Leanne... please wake up..."
---
As the doppelgänger departed from her soul's landscape, Leanne stared at the symbol burned into the ground. A symbol she did not recognize. "... Tri..." she said to herself. The black beast had ceased growling, and pushed its snout against her arm. The pink-haired girl scratched behind its horns, causing it to make a vaguely purr-like sound.
Going to her knees, Leanne placed her hands together as if in prayer. "Please, whatever's out there... don't hurt him. He's afraid. He doesn't know what he is... Please, show him mercy..."
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