<That's a lot of familiars. Everyone, there's dozens and dozens of familiars and unicorn skeletons over here.>
<..And, they're going to come out and kill us...>
A second later, Alida gets an idea. Hearing the music. And knowing Tooru can do this.. if she gets help.
(From Mina being thrown up in the air)
Mina, spinning around twice per second, and too far from the ground can't make much sense of her surroundings. She flails around in an effort to steady herself so that she can get a good view, and after a few seconds she manages to slow the spinning enough to track the world around her. The first thing she notices is the dark orange sky above her, and the angular alien stars dotting it, which look notably larger from this height. She suddenly feels an intense sensation of being watched as she looks around the sky, which has far fewer of the syrupy storm clouds than it did earlier. She gets the distinct feeling that this is a [glow=darkorange]bad thing[/glow]
(From Alida reaching the sky on the car.)
Then you see the sun, and it burns your eyes. You try to shut them, but they refuse, staring straight into a kaleidescope of heated colors, etching themselves into your vision. It's Her, you realize innately. The witch, she's staring at you, and her gaze is fire.
<The witch is up. She is in the sky, above us.>
<We need to get up there. Before we're all killed, one by one.>
<Please, come with me, Asha, I need your help. Tooru, I need your help. Mina, Aleksandra, you too. As best you can.>
<Tooru, I know you can change the world around you with a song. Well.. we need to go up. Do you know "Stairway to Heaven?">
<Just wait a sec, I'm going to get the others.>
Get Tooru and Mina together, make sure they know the plan. Get Asha and Sasha.
"I'm sorry, Sasha, Asha, but we have to go now. There's fifty of those clay people coming for us in a minute. It's not safe here. We need to fight now, or we all die. Come on, we can do it. And then there will be time for this."
"I need you, Asha, to save our lives. Tooru is going to cast a big spell that will let us reach the sky above, and finish this. I need you to heal her soul, so that it may lift us up there."
If necessary, activate CC and haul the two of them out of the room, with force, to where Tooru and Mina is. Request Tooru to cue the music, and Asha to heal her soul (flagellation) to keep Tooru alive. If Tooru casts the spell and Asha refuses to help, hold up the bat and ask if Asha is willing to let Tooru die right in front of her.
You're a flurry of activity after your epiphany hits, issuing rapid-fire orders to Tooru and the others for a moment, before pausing and realizing that Asha's dragging her heels. You continue telepathically shouting at the others while running to the front of the mansion, sliding to a stop in front of the doorway and rushing in. Your ears suddenly start ringing loudly, the after effect of spending so much time so close to painfully loud music, but you ignore the sound, yelling at Asha and Aleksandra that they need to hurry. The two young girls just look at you in confusion.
Idiots.Rather than stopping to explain things carefully,
you grab both of them around their midsections and heft them into the air, before doing an about-face and charging back outside. Their shouts of surprise are drowned out by the music the moment you pass the door's threshold, and you continue sprinting over to Mina and Tooru, who have apparently been stumbling slowly after you. You unceremoniously drop the two struggling girls in the ash, while shoving Asha towards Tooru. She looks up at you angrily and shouts something that you can't make out, but you just glare back at her and telepathically shout at her that she's letting Tooru die if she doesn't help, as loud as you can manage.
That seems to cow the girl. You smile a little as Asha shies away from you, and sheepishly turns to Tooru, reaching out to touch the redhead's necklace. Tooru grimaces in pain, but after a couple seconds she still starts to sing.
Upon hearing Alida's telepathic message, Asha flinched.
<What?! Where are you right now? Are you okay, did they notice you? I'm with Aleksandra, are you with Mina and Tooru?>
(Fifty of those clay peoples, dozens and dozens of familiars she said? Also what did she mean by "time for that?") Asha looked at Aleksandra, waiting for a response from the girl, and would leave to meet up with the others afterward. She also used the Memento she left to Aleksandra to check on her state.
You enter the doorway to check on Aleksandra, sighing in relief as silence returns to the air. You offer your hands to Aleksandra, and ask her to hold them, so that you can check on her soul. She hesitates, staring at your bloody hand, but eventually takes your uninjured hand, cradling her rifle in her other arm. You immediately relax, closing your eyes and letting your magic unfold Aleksandra's soul in front of you. You're relieve to see that it hasn't changed at all since
the last time you checked on her; it's still pure, untarnished and beautiful. It's certainly not as intricate or powerful as a magical girl's soul, but it is...
cleaner, you suppose? The souls of the other girls, even your own, almost always have some damage and degradation. Even the human man, and that cat you looked at so long ago, their souls had flaws. Aleksandra's doesn't, or at least they're too tiny and minor to be apparent while observing the greater whole.
You're ripped out of the vision by Alida's voice, shouting into your mind with urgency. She's babbling about there being an entire horde of monsters, and yelling at the others to do things, and for
you to do something, all in a chaotic jumble that you're not following. Your first instinct is to translate for Aleksandra, but you only get out a few words about there being lots of familiars, and skeletons, and Alida being panicked, before you just utterly lose track of what's being said. You start to head for the door, figuring you should probably join back up with the others, but Aleksandra stops you,
hesitatingly pointing out that if there's lots of monsters, maybe everyone should stay inside, where they can't surround you. She has a point. You stop and decide to just talk with Alida, get her to slow down and explain what's going on.
She doesn't respond, but moments later Alida personally rushes into the room, and you both turn to look at her and ask what's going on. She doesn't give you a chance, instead charging into the both of you and sweeping you into her arms, before turning around on a dime and charging back outside faster than you can process what's happening. You shout at he to stop, but your voice is instantly drowned out by the painfully loud music, and when you struggle to try and get free, you find that Alida's grip is
iron. You're about to use your magic to escape when Alida tosses you to the ground, and then shoves you away aggressively. You shout a curse up at her, confused and angry at the rough treatment, but she gives you a death glare while outright
screaming into your mind about saving Tooru's life.
You pause, and turn around, looking at Tooru. She doesn't seem like she's in danger, or injured, but her soul gem
is shadow. You can help with that, at least. You get up and go to her side, lightly touching one finger to the redhead's necklace. Her soul unfolds moments later, the sad state of it making you feel a little sick, and
you quickly commence tearing at the threads, unwinding healthy portions of her soul to patch damaged and degraded areas. It's hard work, there are more damaged portions of her soul than healthy portions, but you do your best. You're drawn out of the vision by her soft singing voice, somehow clearly audible over the continual background din.
Tooru inhaled, trying to set her face into some semblance of determination. <Yeah, I think I can remember it.> She wasn't looking forward to what came next. She'd already surprised herself by not being a sobbing wreck at this point; Tooru didn't consider herself to have a particularly high pain tolerance, and injury seemed to be drawn to her at this point.
Do as Alida requests.
You quickly agree to Alida's plan, following after her along with Mina. You're not entirely sure if she meant you to stay in place, or start singing without her, and end up just trailing along behind at a slower pace, trying and failing to
figure out what Alida wants. She returns quickly, roughly carrying Asha and Aleksandra, who she unceremoniously dumps into the dirt. Asha gets up and seems to start complaining, but Alida just shoots her a look of anger, and the meek girl gives up immediately. A flash of anger ignites in you, having seen a
lot of similar exchanges before, but you temper your anger, recognizing that there's a need to hurry, and explanations take time. You can argue with Alida about her manners later, but right now you need to kill a monster.
Asha gets up, looking at you sadly, before wordlessly touching your necklace.
You grimace as burning lines of pain spiderweb down your back, the horrible sensation all too familiar, but at least not nearly as bad as your earlier injuries. You just focus on the words of the song, and force them out, trying to keep them as melodic as possible.
The words soon begin to flow out naturally, and you quickly lose yourself in them, the pain fading away rapidly as you focus on your song.Mina took a deep breath, and another, and nodded. <O-Ok, I'll do everything I can!> Things were getting... very dangerous. She didn't want to die. Not when she'd just gotten a reprieve from exactly that fate. So she would put all she had into making sure that didn't happen, to her or to the others...
Also follow the plan!
You follow along after Tooru, not really sure what you're supposed to do, but eager to help out. You watch the sky, having heard Alida say that the witch is above, but you don't see her up there. Just stars, and a few of the syrupy orange storm clouds, off in the distance. Maybe she's the same color as the sky? Or... hmm, no, the sky's much brighter now than it was before, so would that even work? Maybe she's transparent...? Or behind one of the stars, or the clouds, but... then, how would Alida know she was up there? You slow down as you consider, thinking that maybe things haven't been thought through enough.
You're jarred out of your thoughts by Alida rushing into your sensory range, carrying Asha and Aleksandra under her arms, or at least until she dumps the two girls into the dust. You step closer, curiously examining Asha's bleeding hand, and the glass embedded in it. That must really hurt, but Asha doesn't seem to even realize it's wounded. She's a pretty tough girl, apparently.
As you watch, she gets up and steps over to Tooru, touching her soul gem with her left hand, the unhurt one. You're pretty sure she touches things with her right normally, so you guess she's favoring it? At least she realizes it's injured, which might just mean she's even tougher than you thought.
You jump as the skin on Tooru's back begins to split open, a series of long gashes smoothly cutting themselves into her flesh. Tooru flinches and grimaces as they slowly dig deeper into her flesh over a few seconds, but she doesn't let out a peep. Even as the blood starts to soak through the back of her red shirt, she doesn't seem to be reacting very much. Impressive. Shortly after the wounds finish growing, she begins to sing, her voice clear and beautiful, without even the slightest quaver. You're caught up in it, appreciating how her song reverberates through reality itself, subtle waves of magic pulsing out from her and leaving tiny, barely noticeable distortions in their wake.
Tooru begins to sing, her words clearly audible even over the constant music pounding in everyone's ears, yet somehow it's pleasant and soft, actually soothing to pained ears. The background music stumbles, and cuts out before it finishes its previous song--and moments later, a guitar joins in, quietly playing in time with Tooru's lyrics. As she continues, her voice growing in strength, more instruments join in, melding seamlessly with her voice, accentuating her soothing tone and volume perfectly. Tooru smiles widely as she continues, feeling a new and unfamiliar power pulsing through the air, following the guidance of her voice.
The others jump and fan out around her as they notice that the winged skeletons that are all over the place in the labyrinth begin to rise into the air, maintaining their slow dances as they gracefully flap their ribbon-wings in slow motion, far too slowly to actually lift the creates. The girls relax as it becomes clear that the familiars are as passive as ever, not taking any note of the group beyond Tooru's music. Up ahead, the dark blue lake that dominates the scenery stills, and starts to brighten, a cold baby blue spreading over its surface from the pier. The surface begins to warp as Tooru sings, a small hill of ice rising at the tip of the pier, steps cutting themselves into the slope and leading upward. As Tooru sings, the newly created stairway quickly reaches beyond the height of the buildings, its growth accelerating as she goes on. Just above the icy stairway's crest, the last few stormclouds in the sky are visible. Those clouds suddenly burst into flame, a shining light like a sun, illuminating the world with a painfully harsh glow.
As the girls watch, a wave of motion rapidly passes through the flock of colorful skeletons that fly through the air, physically knocking them back, some lower ones smashing into buildings or the ground, and instantly crumbling to pieces. There's no time to react before the wave reaches the girls, revealing itself to be a woman's
shrieking, painfully loud, and carrying with it the force of a sledgehammer.
[Bravery] [Bravery] [Bravery] [Bravery] [Bravery]
Alida instantly drops to the ground before the wave even hits, slamming her club point-first into the ash hard enough to partially embed it into the stone below. Aleksandra dives behind her, using Alida's body as a shield. Asha and Tooru are slower to react, but still brace in time, merely being knocked off of their feet and falling into the soft ash in a pile. Mina is the only one to not react, staring blankly at the incoming wave and the few shattering skeleton. She simply stands still, and takes the force of the wave hard, being entirely lifted off of her feet and thrown back into the solid wall of the mansion behind her. Her head hits a solid stone edge of the wall, her vision disappearing along with all of her human senses as her skull is driven into her brain, killing her body instantly. Her sixth sense remains, she can still see her friends, telepathically shout for help, but the world outside of her sensory range is entirely gone.
Some of the others turn to her to help, while Alida keeps watching the burning clouds in the distance. A figure is rising above them, too far away to make out beyond its bright glow, the true source of the harsh light illuminating the world. The scream continues, a constant pressure pushing back, but Tooru's song doesn't stop, nor does the band playing inside the mansion. That is, not until a second bright light separates from the glowing figure, lancing through the swarm of rainbow skeletons that are still flying around, directly into the mansion. It impacts inside the walls, out of the sight of the girls, but the loud explosion it causes, and the skeleton pieces that are launched over the mansion's walls in high arcs, make it clear what it was. The music cuts out instantly, the band members presumably destroyed, and Tooru's song immediately weakens, the now meager-looking staircase slowing in its growth. Above, the skeletal familiars begin flying around rapidly, in utter chaos, like a swarm of buzzing bees.
((Next update on the 19th or 20th, depending on actions. Current labyrinth track is gone, because the witch decided it wasn't playing her kind of stuff anymore. Tooru is still singing, but can stop if she wants. The group is currently in front of the mansion, halfway between the northwest corner and the big magic door.))
Soul Gem: Glowing with a fading light.
Form and location: Medallion, pinned to her left breast.
Age: 14
Hair Color: Salt-stained blonde.
Health: Completely drenched, with a bunch of deep cuts in her left shoulder, bandaged with two bright blue ribbons. The ribbons are soaked through with blood. Mentally, still a bit loopy, but much better off than she has been.
Inventory: A magically-lengthened club, and a boxed pair of new (if wet) shoes in her bloodied backpack. Two of Asha's bloodsoaked ribbons are held in her hand with the club.
Totem: A fishing club.
Stats:
Bravery: Talented~
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Skilled!
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility Lvl2
Close Combat Lvl3+1
Totem Manipulation Lvl2
Berzerker Lvl3 Active; Bloodied! (Cheap discount to power use)
Painless Lvl2
Effigy Lvl1
Soul Gem: Glowing with a Bright light.
Form and location: Ring, worn on her left ring finger.
Age: 13
Hair color: Ashen
Health: Wet, ashy, and with a bunch of glass and gashes in her right hand. Has a fair bit of living clay on her, mostly her clothes and right arm.
Inventory: One rubbery ribbon. And a short rusty metal shiv, broken off from a longer piece.
Totem: A Ribbon. The one her late sister wore.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled!
Joy: Cursed ;-;
Innocence: Cursed ;-;
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Talented~
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 3
Close Combat: Level 2
Totem Manipulation: Level 1 (+1)
Heal and Steel: Level 2 (Active; Next attack rolls on Mercy)
Soothe: Level 3
Flagellation: Level 3
Memento: Level 1 (Given to Aleksandra)
Soul Gem: Glowing with a warm light.
Form and location: Ring, worn on her right index finger.
Age: 14.
Hair Color: Bright green.
Health: Dead; skull smashed inward by wall.
Inventory: A halberd, which is not really long enough to be helpful here.
Totem: A halberd.
Stats:
Bravery: Amateur...
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Skilled!
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Talented~
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 2
Close-Combat: Level 2 (+1)
Regeneration: Level 2
Sixth Sense: Level 3
Semblance: Level 2
Projection: Level 2
Soul Gem: Glowing with a shadowed light.
Form and location: Necklace, worn around her... neck...
Age: 13
Hair Color: Bright scarlet.
Health: Has a bunch of shallow cuts across her back.
Inventory: Four paper talismans, which she somehow didn't lose her grip on.
Totem: Ofuda talismans, primarily thrown as manabolts.
Stats:
Bravery: Cursed ;-;
Joy: Talented~
Innocence: Skilled!
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!
Abilities:
Mobility II
Mana Bolt III (+I)
Regeneration I
Totem Manipulation II
Invigorating Passion I
Outburst II
Duet with Reality II (Active; Cheap maintenance.)
Ward: Glowing with a foolish light!
Age: 12
Hair Color: Black.
Health: Awake, but very cold and wet, and probably a little traumatized.
Inventory: A cute blue ribbon tied into her hair. She's wearing Alida's coat, now soaked with water, and wielding her grandfather's AK-47.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled!
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Talented~
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Amateur...
Author
Topic: Pumsy's Seeds - A ~MAGICAL GIRL~ game inspired by PMMM (Read 149899 times)