"...yeah, there's a reason for that. I'm going to assume that our abilities also come with enhanced healing, so you just... stay here for now. I'll chase after the villain."
Come to think of it, where'd that abrasive girl from before go? Did she give chase, or... Gaius looked over at the ppile of bodies on the ground. Better keep that thought for later.
With that, Gaius looked over to where the pale beings jumped off the roof. I seemed to travel through the fire back then, so maybe I can repeat that move to get on the roof.
Set a nearby vine aflame, then grab my burning pilum and throw it over the roof. Then try to walk through the flames, like before.
"Aye man..." the fellow student cracks a salute.
"You better get going. I'll patch myself up!"...
Ripping your pilum out of the ground, you start a brushfire, and then lean backward to charge your throw. With a quick sprint, you let go of the flaming spear and let it arc up into the sky and down onto the roof.
From thereon you enter the blaze you started. Roaring with heat yet tamed by your will, it hasn't spread from its starting point. Like an itching sensation on the hairs of your arms, you feel all fires nearby... a multitude of tiny fires in the city, on stovetops and fireplaces, so many that you couldn't count even if you tried. If only you could see through the flames, more than just a sensation of their presence, you could be sure of where you land. But your pilum speaks to you on another level entirely. You always know its location.
Emerging from the blaze, you step foot on cracked concrete and place your arm on your weapon. It seems stuck.
And before you is your opponent. A calm old man with his hands in his pockets. His arsenal of impractical arms and his personal guard are nowhere to be seen. Instead, he has with him a folding chair made of wood. A small potted Yew tree sits beside the chair, and its crown bears a fruit shaped like Ryo's head and face.
"Ah, good timing. Have a seat," he points to the chair behind you.
"I don't expect your forgiveness, but I'd like to offer my surrender. I'm not quite in the position to achieve my goals as of yet," he says.
"But..." he smiles.
"If you're willing to let me go, I'm more than willing to give out a few secrets of mine. If I told you that I am part of the reason you stand alive today, would that quell some of the fever in you?"Mitsuru rejoins the regular world. If she can.
"Interesting."
She looks around. Where is she exactly now?
Your eyes see darkness all over. In this endless, silent expanse, the howl of wind is the only thing to greet you.
And yet, not all is gone. You spot vague shapes in the black sky. Clouds. And the focused of the sun, obscured as it may be, appears to you as a faint globe in the sky.
Whatever this place is, it doesn't seem to be fully isolated from reality. You recall that you had just made a trip somehow to the empty land of your past life, and surmise that this alternate, faded out version of reality could be a similar space, albeit... a failed version perhaps? Its secrets aren't calling themselves out. You look around and try to find a landmark, something you could use to pinpoint your location, and you recall your ally's flaming spear.
You see a fire burning on the ground nearby, and decide that you haven't teleported from your original position. Your will brings you back into the real world.
However, the blazing pike you expected turned out to be a mere fire burning on the ground. The only human you see is a different boy, one wearing an American Civil War-era uniform, hastily patching himself up with bandages from a purse of his.
Behind him is a trench dug out by shovels, tossed around to the sides and discarded. Inside the trench are human skeletons with muskets, limp and inanimate, some missing limbs, mostly held together by the remaining rags of their uniforms.
You are still next to the school. Hway is nowhere to be seen. Neither are those creatures that attacked you... their bodies may be fueling the fire. You still have your German carbine.
But most importantly of all, something has changed in the behavior of the crows overhead. There are a fair bit more of them than before. And a good portion of them, you'd estimate about half, are roosting in the overgrown plants that are taking over the school field. They're pecking at it, hacking away at it with their beaks, and carving up the dead bodies of slain creatures. The track students are still hiding out in the covered bleachers to protect themselves from the crows.
Alright. Risky decision time it is then. Place the mask on the Lamb in Black. Prepare for trouble.
You hand over the mask to the lamb. She undoes the lock on the gate, allowing the lion to enter and disappear into the forest.
A fist-sized chunk of hail falls at your feet. Hearing the roar of violent weather starting to pick up, you cover your head and close your eyes.
Morrigan still carries you in the sky, flanked by a new multitude of crows. You don't quite remember there being this many.
The new crows are roosting among the infested plants and flowers, picking away at the fleshy parts and leaving nothing but brightly-colored crimson petals left. From above you see that the whole field is turning into nothing but red petals as the crows take away the infestation.
You see your friends clustered next to the school, along with a new figure clad in purple. Morrigan turns her head to look you in the eye, as if ready to take your order.
Well I decided being dead sucked so I got up yesterday and so far everyone I've met has been hunting me starting with a militia and ending with this big demon worm
Be cranky
"Mmmm," she acknowledges.
"It's impossible not to attract attention as a new arrival. That must mean Youka--""Not him, I--" Youka starts, clad in her normal school uniform.
"Nagisa!"Both girls look over to find Nagisa pointing a loaded weapon at the newcomer.
For some reason, something didn't feel right with this woman. Though Nagisa couldn't put a finger on why she felt that way, she wasn't ready to discount the possibility of there being another enemy ability user around. Of course, she could just be paranoid if not still high on adrenaline from fighting a battle. If only she was actually paranoid! After all, relief that comes after needless paranoia is quite welcoming. What comes from paranoia that is justified, however...
"Centuries ago, I was an inventor's apprentice from La Serenissima, the Serene Republic of Venice, before taking my own life to avoid execution for murdering my master," Nagisa grumbled. "I awoke inside a hunted girl's body last night, confused and lost, until Youka enlightened me and Makiko of this strange new existence. Now, I'm here to learn more about this 'Ghost Hunting Club' to get stronger and to get closure for myself and the one previously known as Nagisa."
Suddenly, Nagisa aimed her Celestial Repeater at the strange woman. "Now, let me ask you some questions. Uno, who are you? Due, what do you want? Finally, tre, do you stand with us or do you stand against us? Trouble us and you will regret it."
If the strange woman proved to be hostile, fire three guided arrows and focus on using two Presence to direct them int her head. If she don't, lower the weapon.
Youka jumps in front of her.
"Wait! This girl is part of our club."A pale hand rests on her shoulder.
"Youka, thanks." the newcomer steps past her, eyes on your weapon.
"But for real, if I felt truly threatened..." she squints her eyes and glances at the deceased giant serpent's body coiled in a big circle surrounding the lot of you. A pink star twinkles in her outstretched left hand.
"You said you killed your master in your past life? That must have been difficult. So the two of you are both new? Fair enough."She clenches her left fist.
"Then let me tell you my story. Since being reborn, I have spent over a thousand years on this planet," she starts. Youka listens with a puzzled look on her face.
"It started in Britain... a woman had tried to drown herself in a river near St. Stephen's Cathedral. My newly granted life started as being swept down the river. I thought it was all part of the long dream, some cruel, hopeless illusion, but I almost drowned back then.
I don't normally tell people this. A dragon saved me. Literally one of those dragons you see in paintings and movies, err, mainly paintings.
Youka knows. She's the president of the club after all." Youka frowns.
"Yet you're telling this to newbies? Do you want them to join Geography?""I disagree!" Hway turns.
"Let me continue. The dragon taught me many things. It taught me Middle English... it taught me how to address a king, things that only the most privileged elite were supposed to know. The dragon had some kind of plan for me. It also taught me magic.
And yet, none of it ever came to fruition. We did some stuff, talked to a few nobles, but in the end I thought the dragon was going to try to change the way things were in the world. Instead, we sat in a cave for the next few decades. My body never got older, but my mind couldn't take it anymore. I killed my dragon."She bows her head, almost in reverence.
"Since then, it's been the same. Lost souls are reincarnated, brought to life by the powers of hideous creatures. Every time they had the chance to change the world, nothing came about. But in this modern era..." Hway points at the school.
"So many people gathered into one place... with the Arrivals in this school alone, we could change the world if we gathered enough people. So to answer your question, Lady of Venice, my purpose is hopefully the same as yours. I want justice in this world. I want to build a place in this world for all the lost spirits, free from the beast's influence. Starting with... the Ghost Hunting club."Youka snickers.
"Well, I suppose you can call it a start. We do need to branch out."She looks back toward Hway, expecting a response. But Hway's eyes are locked onto you and Ryo.
"HOWEVER!" she raises her voice.
"I now suspect the beasts are moving against us. Last night I felt a sudden drop in magical levels across the city. Something similar happens each time a new arrival comes into the world," she points toward the both of you.
"I suspect, that if ten or so beasts decided at the same time to bring lost souls into this world, then it would have created exactly that kind of disturbance. That makes both of you suspects. Geography has the beasts on their side. They'd know too. So, as for what I want of you, it's simple.
I want you two to NOT join Youka's club!""Huh???" Youka shouts in disbelief.
"Befriend your beasts. Let them give you their secrets, and then tell me everything. That's what I want."
Spirit Shards:
Cracked Mask of Mystery
Inventory:
Your school backpack
Air Vortex (1) (Defends against dust, breath, and particle-based attacks. -2 against explosive attacks.)
Shackled Spirits:
Morrigan, Groundskeeper of the Abyss (Strength: 2) (Command: n/a)
--This creature will always attack one of your targets
--Can carry one person in flight
--Has 3 Wit of its own
Cyrmagon, the Light Which Flashes Before Death, (Strength: 4) (Command: 1)
--A ravening magical swarm which gives -2 to victim's defense rolls
--Will attack EVERYTHING in the targeted vicinity
[Backpack] Knife (Skill Level: 3) (Damage: 2 physical) (Reach: +0)
-Slash: Against unarmored targets, you can throw 2 additional skill dice
Spirit Shards:
Mask of Despair -- It pulses with an overwhelming sense of dread. You have the feeling something will happen if you wear it.
Inventory:
Harbinger of Famine (4) (Artifact of Salt; blocks plant based attacks when equipped)
Celestial Repeater (Skill Level: 2) (Damage: 5) (Accuracy: 2)
--You can imbue the arrow with your Pc dice to increase its accuracy by an equal amount.
--Guided Projectiles: Skill level decreases by 1 beyond half the accuracy rating. Replaces the point blank modifier but no other modifiers (such as Out of Range)
Inventory:
Your school backpack
<Flame Rosarius> (3) (Blocks ALL damage types equal to the current level of charge; decays by 1 per turn. Roll Defense higher than the current charge level to keep it from decaying, or add +1 if you roll a critical)
Abilities:
No Man's Land - Inactive
Inventory:
Your school backpack
Inventory:
Your school backpack
Assassin's Plaque -- A token of... victory? It writes of a shadowly ninja clan.
Knight's Mail (5 - 5 = 0) (Blocks physical attacks as well as magical melee weapons) (Momentum: If you spend all your Pc charging, you can consume any amount of this Ward's charge to add to your attack.)
Author
Topic: River of Lost Souls: IC Thread (Read 51379 times)