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Post by Vinestar on Jul 19, 2012 23:37:46 GMT -5
It was an island in the middle of a major trade route, located between frontiers of both the western republic and the eastern empire nation. Said to be the birthplace of many demons, few dare wander onto the shore of this island. Ferocious beasts of myth lurk within the confines of the dark woods and giant sea monsters swim about the island in search for prey. In spite of this, the land was rich with many valuable resources such as gold and spices. It was heaven and hell rolled into one.
An abandoned castle of deathly white situates itself upon the face of the sole cliff, looking over the lands under it. It is a place of great magic and dubious origin, its charms and wards so potent that no predators can even wander near it. It is here that our story begins.
"Tachi, anything else we need to move in here? I brought the rack of holy weapons and a hovercraft in." Grey's voice echoed out the expanse of the pale interior as she dragged a barrel of incredibly shiny swords through the hallways. "In hindsight, we shouldn't have chosen the monster infested island as our dimensional hideout."
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Post by Tachi on Jul 20, 2012 0:03:12 GMT -5
Tachi had been taking a look at the view. Even though he'd ditched the gun that used human souls as ammunition to summon the devil, he couldn't shake the feeling that owning an ominous castle on a monster infested island might make him seem slightly...evil.
"Ah, Grey. Um, that should be it. I think." he said, smiling and turning towards the girl. He probably should've helped out more, rather than standing around contemplating his navel. Then Grey brought up the location, "Ehehe...I guess it probably wasn't the best choice...Still, at least it means we won't get bored. Well, unless fighting monsters gets boring. I guess we could try to hire some adventurers if that happens...um, assuming this is the kind of world that has adventurers for hire."
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 20, 2012 8:16:09 GMT -5
"No! Adventurers will just take the credit and try to assassinate us." Grey replied back, taking a break from moving the barrels. "If I know my genre, we're pretty much gonna be scapegoated just for living in this castle. Shina Dark was pretty clear on that." One of her favorite manga showed exactly what happened when wanna be heroes popped up on a demon's island.
"So... We have to keep our lands safe through political reform! And lots of orgiastic violence before the reform." Smiling, the mage looked out the window and into the distance. "Because my princess needs a kingdom, of course. Full of traps and cute things and-" Cutting herself off before she freaked out her friend again, the mage noticed something... weird.
The sounds of wildlife on the island all but flickered out, a heavy silence in its wake. Normally the growls and barks and caws would've permeated the air, along with the sounds of something voraciously tearing into the flesh of something else. Now... "Tach... Grab your weapon. Something's up." Grey was serious now, a rarity not seen anywhere save for outside of battle and few other instances. Sadly the seriousness of the situation was cut by Grey being dressed in a customized maid uniform with the words "Trap Love" printed on the back of it.
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Post by Tachi on Jul 20, 2012 9:05:32 GMT -5
"Oh, I guess you've got a good point." the crossdresser replied, nodding. Just about anyone moving onto an island like this would be seen as insane or villainous. Shina Dark? He'd have to ask Grey about that later.
"Ehehe, that's a bit of an odd way to phrase it, but I guess we do need to clean up a bit." Tachi froze, his face reddening at the mage's next comments. "I-I...um...princess?"
Noting the silence and Grey's sudden shift in demeanor, Tachi's expression turned serious too. If Grey was reacting like this, it had to be something to be worried about. The androgynous boy reached down, pulling a weapon from a pouch at his waist. A shuriken, he would've used a chakram, but he found that they were harder to carry and a pain to throw. He muttered to himself something which was either a spell or prayer of some description or cursing the fact that he hadn't changed out of his maid uniform since leaving the netherworld. It wasn't exactly designed for battle, after all.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 20, 2012 23:36:39 GMT -5
"Doth the ruler ascend upon the throne once more? The seat now holds a Maou, he who is king of the demons. Now begins thy trial, candidate king. Survive this trial, hatchling. Climb out of this hell and prove your sovereignty!" The rumbling roar echoed throughout the island, less a voice and more like thunder that was forming statements. With that, the island itself rose up from the seas. From the north came a giant shelf of rock. As the earth grated against itself, giant golden orbs opened up; for the shelf was a giant turtle's head.
"...We're on a giant turtle." Grey said in a flat tone as she looked at the head. In the background, winged things flew out from the caverns that dotted the crags of the shore. "Wait, are those pterodactyls?!" Gawking at the pack of flying reptiles heading their way, Grey glanced at her employer. "So... You ready?" Already, the first of the things were circling the bastion, looking down with hungry gleams in their eyes.
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Post by Tachi on Jul 21, 2012 0:33:28 GMT -5
King of the demons? Trial? There was so much that he'd need to ask that giant turtle about when this was over...He'd probably ask why it was disguised as an island too. This situation was just all-around baffling. But for now, there were dinosaurs. Hungry looking dinosaurs that were showing more interest in the maid uniformed pair than Tachi would've liked. The boy took a deep breath and gazed up at the beasts. He adjusted his grip on the weapon.
"Let's do this."
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 22, 2012 0:16:00 GMT -5
"Right. I knew taking the hovercraft would be a good thing!" Jumping into what looked suspiciously like Santa's sleigh minus the reindeer, Grey grabbed Tach and zoomed off into the skies with the sparks of scraping metal skis. "I'll drive, you shoot! Try not to let those oversized chickens pluck me!" Suddenly swerving to spin and smash an overeager pterodactyl away, Grey slipped on a pair of shades before tightening her grip on the reins controlling the magical flying winter vehicle.
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Post by Tachi on Jul 22, 2012 2:35:48 GMT -5
As Grey swerved, Tachi found himself struggling to remain on the vehicle, let alone on his feet. Aiming properly like this would be almost impossible. "I'll try! Just...can you keep it a bit steadier?"
He adjusted his stance in an attempt to improve his odds of remaining upright. The boy drew his arm back, glancing around for the best target before launching the bladed projectile at the nearest dinosaur. If the attack connected, it would impact with far more force than a thrown weapon should have.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 22, 2012 15:54:44 GMT -5
"We're on a sleigh, vehicles not known for their maneuvarability, and it's a magical flying one at that. Atop of that, I have to steer with reins! Do you know how hard it is to even aim this thing as well as power it with the mana neccessary for it to move?!" Grey yelled back as she was buffeted by the winds and speed of the hazardous moving vehicle. "I just realized that Santa Claus is amazing for doing this!"
As Tach's weapon sliced through the giant reptile with ease, more of its ilk shrieked from anger and began an organized assault. They dived in waves, and all were shrieking for blood. "Bad day bad day bad day! Why would there even be prehistoric reptiles in a medieval fantasy world?!"
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Post by Tachi on Jul 22, 2012 16:44:38 GMT -5
"R-right. Sorry." Tachi muttered. He really should've figured that would be the case, it's a flying sleigh after all. The 'controls' didn't seem particularly different from those of a normal sleigh, so it was a wonder it worked at all.
As the dinosaurs began their assault, Tachi hit the deck. "I-I think I prefer it to the more fitting option!" Tachi replied, "A horde of dragons would be much worse!" That said, being stuck on a small vehicle with less than wonderful maneuverability while pterodactyls attacked was still pretty bad. He wasn't sure how much help Grey could offer if she was using her mana to power the sleigh.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 22, 2012 17:08:41 GMT -5
"In retrospect, we need a better flying vehicle than this wooden death trap!" Grey spat out as the pterodactyls smashed into the thing. Tilted off course by the malicious things, the mage desperately tried to regain the controls to no avail. They were dipped far too much, and would have to crash land. The least she could do was steer her craft into a spot the things couldn't reach.
With the sound of splintering wood, the vehicle slammed into a cave barely wide enough to accommodate the clunky thing. Thrown by the sudden impact, the mage's head slammed into rock walls with a dull thud. After that, her body slumped down to still heap, a trail of blood tracing an uneven line to Grey's head. From Tach's point of view, the tunnel led down lower into the face, the entrance blocked by perched giant chicken ancestors.
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Post by Tachi on Jul 22, 2012 17:55:32 GMT -5
Tachi struggled to hold on as the ground rapidly came up to meet them. This was bad. Really bad. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.
Then they made contact, Tachi was thrown from the sleigh as it was smashed apart. Mercifully, he managed to avoid breaking his neck. The maid who would be king winced in pain as he tried to push himself off of the ground and into a sitting position.
"Oww...t-that was..." he glanced around the cave, it looked like they weren't getting out the way they came in. There was a tunnel leading deeper, the only way they could go at this point. Finally, he saw Grey. Tachi's face went pale, that really didn't look good. He staggered over to her as fast as his legs would carry him and gently shook her shoulder.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 22, 2012 21:01:05 GMT -5
"W-what happened...?" The bleeding magus asked, her slurring. Wincing at the throbbing pain of the open yet superficial gash, the girl attempted to pick herself up from her position. Standing only made the world tilt as the flow of blood caused mental interference and dark spots to appear in her vision. "Ngh... I'm sorry for being useless... I can't do anything r-right."
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Post by Tachi on Jul 22, 2012 23:42:10 GMT -5
"I-it's not your fault." the boy replied, "One of those things knocked us out of the sky. Besides, I'm pretty sure keeping those things off of us was supposed to be my job..."
"A-anyway, we need to find a way out of here. Those..." he paused, even with all they'd been through, this seemed a little ridiculous, "dinosaurs are blocking the way we came in. The only other way's down." He raised his left arm, pointing to the tunnel.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 23, 2012 17:22:20 GMT -5
"Right..." Wincing as another sharp throb hit her, Grey staggered in front of the boy and towards the tunnel. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Grabbing onto Tach's hand, the mage slowly made her way into the hollow. Along the cave walls, runes and symbols were drawn in a dark red liquid, which may or may not be blood. Despite them going deeper underground, strange phosphorous mushrooms gave off a eerie pockets of golden light here and there.
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Post by Tachi on Jul 23, 2012 18:35:02 GMT -5
Tachi hesitantly took the mage's hand and followed her down. Even though he knew she'd be fine, the sight of that injury made the boy uncomfortable. He almost wanted to risk cutting through the pteradactyls to get Grey back to the castle quicker. That probably wouldn't end well though.
He brushed his free hand against some of the runes, "Grey, you don't think these are written in...do you?" His voice betrayed the fact that he found the bloody looking symbols rather unsettling.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 23, 2012 22:19:58 GMT -5
"I hope not..." Looking decidedly paler than her already bleached appearance gave off, queasy at the prospect of being in a blood soaked altar. As the pair continued their way down, the growth of the luminous fungi became more prevalent. An hour into their trek they came into an underground lake; an ebony stone throne floating in the middle of the boundary of black water.
"...I think that's the throne you're supposed to take, Tach." Grey whispered, not taking a chance of warning possible monsters of their presence. "The turtle said to prove your sovereignty, and that looks distinctively... royal."
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Post by Tachi on Jul 23, 2012 22:26:28 GMT -5
"...I guess so." the boy replied, making sure to keep his voice down. He glanced around, reinforced a small dagger, just in case and stepped forward. This was definitely not what he had expected when he'd decided the island would make a good place to stay. He found himself wondering though...why wasn't the throne room inside the castle?
Tachi approached the throne. The fact that it was in the middle of a lake...really didn't bode well. Especially since he didn't know how to swim.
"Um, Grey...I don't suppose you're feeling up to maybe...freezing a bridge across for me?"
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 24, 2012 16:37:54 GMT -5
"Right..." The girl said, making use of the Abyss lodged within her chest to freeze them a somewhat flat surface path leading to the obsidian throne. Walking across the water, the girl made a road of ice with her every step. "Hm... Why is it I feel like this is too eas-" Pausing abruptly around twenty feet away from destination, the girl realized exactly what was wrong with the lake. There was the scent of something much akin to rotting flesh filling the air... Stagnant and pungent. That meant...
Bursting out of the deathly still black waters were multiple dark tentacles the width of an arm around. Wrapping themselves around their new prey rather quickly, it jerked the surprised magus back and incapacitated her arms, legs, neck and waistline with a crushing grip. Though the magician attempted to freeze the limbs off her, more of the tendrils kept coming to replaced the useless ones. Slowly, her air supply was being cut off and black spots filled the mage's vision. "T-tach... Go for the throne before they go after you..."
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Post by Tachi on Jul 24, 2012 21:49:05 GMT -5
Tachi stared. He should've known this would happen. Important things on monster filled islands are NEVER in the middle of a body of water unless the kraken or some other tentacled monstrosity was around. "I-I won't sacrifice you like that! Take this!"
The boy hurled his dagger at the tentacles holding Grey. It wasn't likely to be a legitimate solution to the problem, but it might buy them time to work out how to find and fight the main body.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 25, 2012 16:22:55 GMT -5
Dropping like a dead weight as soon as the tentacles holding her were severed, Grey attempted to get her wind back. "Ghaack... Kak kak. Thanks, Tach..." Rubbing her bruised neck, the girl staggered over to the edge of the water and plunged her fist into its depths. ""Resonation..." And then she poured wave upon wave of cold energies into the despoiled liquid. Ice erupted and grew, encasing the entire suface with foot thick ice. "I'll hold back the things... Now get to the throne before they break through..." Already, cracks were appearing in the glacial barrier as the things thrashed from below.
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Post by Tachi on Jul 25, 2012 21:28:16 GMT -5
Tachi nodded. He wasn't sure if sitting on the throne would actually do anything, but it had to be worth a shot. Adjusting his element and moving cautiously to avoid losing his balance as he went, the demon made for the throne.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 26, 2012 21:32:40 GMT -5
As Tach went about his journey across the black ice, several violent upheavals shook the surface. Though nothing so far had made it through the glacial shell, the fact that here and there floes were suddenly pushed upwards served as cause for alarm. It was only a matter of time before whatever dread beast burst out from the abyss...
Already, the mage was frantically trying her best to reseal the fractures. There were too much to completely repair though, and the girl just settled on the largest breaks. She herself almost got thrown clear up into the air with the sudden rising of the sheet she was on, and the thing pushed a path towards Tach...
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Post by Tachi on Jul 27, 2012 6:06:54 GMT -5
Dammit, dammit, dammit! Why the hell did we think this was a good idea?!
Tachi slipped and slid as the ice shook and broke. Mercifully, the energy reinforcing his legs helped him remain on his feet as he pushed onwards. He had to make it to the throne before that...whatever it was broke through. Was "Kraken" appropriate here? If it's guarding something, maybe it was a "Watcher in the Water"? The boy shook his head and redoubled his efforts. This wasn't the time to muse over what name was appropriate for the tentacled aquatic beast that was trying to kill him.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 27, 2012 23:55:51 GMT -5
Before the boy could reach his throne, a geyser erupted as the thing burst forth from its prison. Bellowing and rising from the pitch depths of its foul domain, what could only be described as an abomination reared its head from the fracture. Its screams sundered the air, a grotesque mockery to sound itself. In an underground cavern, the echoes only served to make it much worse. Countless eyes and writhing limbs dragged itself onto the incline, crunching into the ice with gnarled claws. As it fully freed itself from the waters, a rain of tentacles lashed out at the duo. "Oh dear..." Looking at the thing in revulsion, Grey barely avoided having her head snapped by the whipping limbs by awkwardly dive rolling out of the way. As she slowed to a stop, the girl flung lance in retaliation. As the stick impaled one of the lesser heads, the dread lord of the depths spun about to spew what appeared to be corrosive acid from its mouth at the mage. Hastily summoning a shield at the last moment, she jumped out of path as the agent ate through the impromptu barrier. "This... is troublesome." |
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Post by Tachi on Jul 28, 2012 8:52:19 GMT -5
Tachi staggered back as the monster burst from the icy depths, nearly falling into the watery abyss in the process. Righting himself, he took in the...thing's form. Suddenly the kraken or the watcher seemed preferable.
As the monstrosity unleashed its tentacle assault, the boy who would be king cursed under his breath and drew a combat knife from a holster on his leg. He swallowed hard and slashed at the first few limbs to come his way. It was no use. There was no way he could cut through all of them and charging at the creature couldn't possibly end well.
Quickly, the boy focused his element to the best of his abilities, less focused on balance and more on raw power. Then, he pushed off the ice, leaping backwards. His intention was to put some distance between himself and the beast and to get back on solid ground. While he achieved the first part of this goal, he fell short of the second. The ice underfoot wasn't the best substance to land on, a fact Tachi became all too aware of as his face impacted the frozen surface.
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 29, 2012 16:08:13 GMT -5
"...So cute!~" Slapping herself for that moment of weakness, the girl skated after her partner. "Right, are you okay?!" Picking up the downed boy, she absconded with him whilst creating a wall of cold protrusions between her and the beast to buy some time. "Tell me you have a plan for going against that thing. Close combat seems to invite a high chance of tentacle themed torture that I'm not really into..." Huffing from her exertions, the girl winced as cracks began forming on her barrier...
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Post by Tachi on Jul 30, 2012 15:34:03 GMT -5
"I-I'm fine..." Tachi mumbled, his face red with embarrassment. At the mention of a plan, he glanced at the icy barrier, then back at Grey. This was probably going to fail horribly, but it had to be worth a shot. "I'm going to try to knock it back under the water." the boy paused, he didn't have Ouken's freakish lung capacity, so his Kotodama would probably need some help, "If you can weaken the ice where it's standing, that would help a lot."
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Post by Vinestar on Jul 30, 2012 16:14:05 GMT -5
"Done. Tell me when, and I'll drop that thing faster than a baker carrying a hot metal tray." Eyes crackling with arcane might, the mage held her hands to the ground and prepared her territory for immediate dismantlement. The instant she did that, limbs crashed through the glacial barrier as the thing began clawing its way to the duo.
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Post by Tachi on Jul 30, 2012 16:41:27 GMT -5
"Great! I'm counting on you!" Tachi replied, grinning. As the monster broke through Grey's barrier, the boy took a deep breath. This thing had enough limbs that it could easily overwhelm them if they went on the defensive, so the crossdresser threw his last knife at the tentacles and then he was off.
This time, Tachi didn't really care what his landing was like, he just needed to get a decent angle on this thing. As the jump took him over the monster, he shouted down at it, releasing a combination of air and element. While the attack was nowhere near as dangerous as Minori or Ouken's kotodama, he hoped it would be enough with Grey's help.
"BREAK!"
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