((Embarassing and annoying. Just after saying I wouldn't disappear again I did, and at a bad time too...))
<Well.. I've got an idea. I've got these extra ribbons of yours, Asha. Could you make it a bit longer.. and stretchy? I think we could shoot ourselves up into the air if we have a rubber ribbon, and that'll let us get in the air if we have to. Just gotta make like a slingshot.>
Upon seeing what happened to Alida, Asha's mind had partially blocked external sensory inputs. Like an automaton, she focused on the task on her mind. Defending and then healing Tooru, which she did. And now, the girl had come back to her sense though she remained a bit shaken.
<I think I could manage that... Let me see...>
Asha used Totem Manipulation to alter the properties of a ribbon. Longer, stronger... she visualized a piece of rubber.
You get up and lean against a nearby wall when Alida asks you for your help, a little startled. It's always a little weird to return to the real world after healing someone. You tell the blonde that you'll try, and she gives you a perfunctory nod before turning away and talking to the other girls. You sigh and nurse your injured hand, a little saddened by the dismissal. Better get to it.
You take out your ribbon and stretch it out in front of you, trying to visualize it as a piece of rubber rather than cloth. It's difficult to do; your ribbons are all identical to the one your sister wore, and imagining them as a different item is just...
wrong, in a way. Even so, as you focus,
you can feel magic flowing into the the ribbon, and it stretches more and more in your hands. It doesn't
look any different by the time you're done, but it does act a bit more like rubber. You're not sure if it's good enough for what Alida wants, but you don't think you can do much better.
You look away from your work to see that the others have left, their tracks leading off around the corner of the mansion. Aleksandra is standing in the doorway, cradling her rifle and anxiously staring at you.
Hmm.. you know, Mina's Halberd would be even better than my club. If we need it, I'll see how she feels about making a spare so we can do that.
Catch up with Tooru to investigate the music together. Bring Mina and Asha if they're not doing anything. Sasha can come too, if she's feeling up for it.
Investigate it by going around the building until the wall looks low enough to jump up to. At that point, jump to the upper lip and grab it, so I can peek over the lip.
After Asha agrees to make a rubber ribbon, you grab Mina--who, as always seems a little dazed, off in her own world--and drag her with you after Tooru. You consider taking Aleksandra too, but she seems a little scared, and hasn't even left the flooded area yet, so you abandon that idea.
You find Tooru just around the corner of the mansion, standing still and inspecting the wall. This side is a bit more damaged than the front, with the far corner outright leveled, and most of the wall crumbling, though you're not tall enough to see over any of the nearby gaps. You stop for a moment, and examine the wall with Tooru, but quickly decide that she's just procrastinating; you walk over to the nearest low section, jump up and grab the top of the wall, then hoist yourself high enough to see over the edge.
Inside is a massive room, so large it probably takes up half the space of the mansion all on its own, and it's dominated by a single raised stage in the center. There's five more tuxedo-wearing clay people on the stage, playing candy-colored instruments which
seem to be the source of the music, though their motions and the sounds don't match up quite like they should. There's a dizzying variety of other colorful instruments strewn haphazardly around the band, and some of the familiars, slowly dancing along with the music, seem to be taking care not to trip over them.
Worryingly, the stage is surrounded by a veritable
horde of the colorful winged unicorn skeletons, all of them rocking in time to the music and facing the stage, some standing, others seated on ash-covered benches. There's tens of the things, spread all around, and it'd be impossible to reach the stage without passing within arms' reach of one. None of the familiars seem to have noticed you; the band is entirely absorbed in their music, and the crowd of monstrosities seems even more rapt.
((Next update Thursday the 17th, I guess. Current labyrinth track is still The Beatles - A Day in the Life (Instrumental), but is very close to the end.))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: Dazed, a bit bruised, and covered in ash.
Inventory: A halberd, which I simply cannot see as anything aside from a Black Knight Glaive. I blame Dark Souls.
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: Fine!
Inventory: Four paper talismans
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
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...