auroraexpress | Event: Mirror Image

Entry tags:

Event: Mirror Image

Who: everyone!
When: Day 19 evening and on
Where: outside

[As darkness falls in the jungle, an unusually chill breeze rustles through the trees. In its wake is silence, the purified fauna going quiet as if in dread.

Is it just you, or is the night darker tonight?

You may find the cause if you leave the train. Those who are caught alone outside will see the shadows grow suddenly long. The darkness coalesces into a vaguely human form, vague and faceless but radiating cold.

Before you can react the shadows surround you. Deep within, your most bitter, unpleasant feelings rise up in your chest. It's overwhelming, threatening to consume you, but just before it can it suddenly stops. The shadows recoil, dissipating into the jungle.

You're safe, but those negative feelings might be closer to the surface than usual.

Good luck, especially if you're one of the newbies just waking up.]

[NOTES: This event will OOCly end on Wednesday, but feel free to ICly push time forward as much as you like. There will be a followup post at that time, and you can schedule player-run trials any time after.

The emotional effect of this event can be as severe as you want. Your character could just be a bit grumpy, or they could find their emotions totally out of control. The effect lasts a couple of hours or until the character counters it with happier feelings.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ :D? everything is fine.

At any rate, unfortunately, while I would love to draw this out, 80H is not a dumbass (at least when it comes to this shit). She does not expect for Crow to attack her, but battles are chaos and the unexpected. She dodges his fire easily.

Dark thoughts and ideas float to mind. They would normally but she has improved enough to know to set them aside and ignore them. Unfortunately, the filters are weakened now.

And she wonders what Crow would be like under extended observation like this. For the same of knowledge and practicality, of course. She is insatiably curious.

But just as quickly, she calculates that the short-term gains are not worth the long-term losses, since Crow is not an idiot, and even if she could mislead him, he is already distrustful. It would not do to arouse suspicion. That helping is the right thing to do is so far down the list, in this moment.

She thinks of all this in the time it takes to dodge.]

Just a moment.

[She is about to cast a spell when a tentacle several metres thick swipes down in her direction, but at the last moment, she evades her silhouette filling in with white-edged black and into with four distinct bodies pointing in the cardinal directions. One of those bodies is her and she launches herself up and above the tentacle, her naginata swings around her waist and then above her head before she adjusts her angle and launches downward head-first and slashes it.

It bleeds green and writhes in agony but the wound also burns with spreading frost.

She does not stand idle, there is still Crow to contend with.

But the monster's adjacent petal head also launches those acid spheres once again.

Isn't this fun?]

[ Unless someone (80H) has an item or a spell on hand to cure him, Crow is still Confused for at least another couple of rounds. He shoots wildly in the direction of another sound, though whether it's 80H or the monster's petal head-- well, even he doesn't know. And he's definitely in no shape to avoid the acid spheres. ]

[She does! And she can cast very quickly, but she does not like the odds of trying to cast, wondering what Crow might have up his sleeve that he will use on her and dodging flying tentacles, acid spheres, and seed grenades.

The grenades.

If this does not work--well, she can fix it (probably! one way or another), but she flips up and twists to her side to kick seeds that were aimed for her in his direction, her force adding to the speed, before throwing an ice needle after it. Either he'll shoot it or her needle will hit, but Crow is looking to be hella covered in gunk.

Which will protect him from the incoming acid.]

[ Fortunately for Crow (?), he shoots at the seeds-- he's still a really good shot even when confused, and his aim is true. Which means he's about to be fantastically goo-covered, which is gross and he hates it thanks! ...But then again, he'd hate being eaten alive by acid more so ymmv. ]

[It probably helps (?), that those seeds look like little hellions that kind of want to eat his face off. In the wanting to make them dead kind of way.

80H continues to dodge, but she does take some splash damage from that acid a little. She will live.

There are multiple flowers blooming following that attack, but she has to deal with Crow now.]

Ma voix chante avec mes larmes. Je prie pour votre salut!

[Glittering dew drops of light gently fall on and around Crow, cool and cleansing, rain washing away impurity and his senses return to (Crow's version of) normal.

Still covered in gunk and acid, though. Give her a second.]

[ Still covered in gunk, but at least the hellions are gone now. Crow figures out that score pretty quickly--- ugh. Confusion is the worst. But he's whirling around now to deal with those blooming flowers. ]

ARCUS-- activate!

[ It's a risk, trying for another Arts attack when he doesn't know how soon the enemy will be ready, but he needs something that'll hit hard and he isn't ready to pull off another S-Craft yet. ]

[Well you do love gambling. But 80H takes that as her cue to try and keep Crow covered for a few seconds while he tries to cast. So she is cutting tentacles away as they snap to strike like so many giant snakes.

Her polearm spins in her hand before she drives the blade into the bark below. An intricate blue circle appears and all around them the goo left behind flash freezes before shattering, the resulting snow and powder floating upward before dissipating.

They have more room to manoeuvre, but that was not an issue for her. She still has an ace or two up her sleeve.

The enemy is relentless in its attacks, and raises its golden stalks to shoot thorns again.]

[ Fortunately, it's at this time that Crow's Arts attack is ready and he lets it loose with a wordless shout. It's another water-based spell but bigger- Maelstrom, both powerful and large enough to hit every enemy in the area. Even if it doesn't end up taking them down entirely, he's confident it'll at least bring them significantly closer to it.

He's immediately following up his Arts attack with a few shots to the golden stalks in particular, working to head off the enemy's next attack. ]

[oh another water spell hey

she is getting such a boner for you crow

like more than usual

this is probably kind of literal because androids, you know.

But yeah, it does a lot!

The monster shrieks and though it is not human, its horror and agony and rage transcends is readily understood. It flails wildly, angrily, lashing violently before it tips slightly and goes still, twitching occasionally.]

[ He's got other quartz in there too but let's face it, water is one of his elements for a reason.

Crow looks at the monster for a moment, breathing heavily and not yet putting his guns away. He's not exhausted, but it was definitely a hard fight. He doesn't take his attention entirely away from the monster, but he glances over at 80H to see how she's holding up. ]

[80H is still tense, because--]

It is not over, yet.

[She can sense something still--a pulse, and that pulse keeps beating faster and harder until it ignites into a conflagration that burns outward. A light surrounds the monster is green, but it inverts, to a reddish violet, all of its colours do. New, very large budding flowers sprout and burst into bloom, glowing with brilliant light.

The ground trembles violently and the petals of those new flowers begin to spin. The creature grows and grows--

No, that isn't right.

It is taking flight.]

...Oh, dear.

[ A second form, huh? Well... there's a reason he hadn't put his guns away yet. His lips quirk back into a smile. ]

I can see that.

[ It's flying, which is.... going to present a few challenges, though not as many as if he were using a melee weapon right now. He's going to fire off a few rounds at the spinning flowers, biding his time for a stronger assault and looking around for possible places to take cover if needed. ]

[Hey so also, any lingering damage Crow's Maelstrom has done has also like, regenerated. It just seems really pissed off now than injured and 80H says something with clear consternation in her voice.]

I am not so certain water by itself will damage it overly much.

[What a pain. Ice seems to have some effect at least and she is prepared to deal with that, but everything should be affected by water.

Obviously.

No bias, there.

The air around them whips in light streams that will certainly grow more powerful as it approaches. It blows through their hair and makes their clothes billow in the wind. The force needed to propel such a large creature is enormous and it's something readily felt.

You know what would be super handy right now? Robots. Too bad we're fresh out of those!

The thorn stalks return, larger and gnarled, and it does not take a genius to surmise these ones will probably be larger. They are! Because they are being fired right now!]

Well... it's a plant, right? Let's try fire, then. Cover me for a moment?

[ He's got a grand total of one Fire Arts available to him, and it's going to take him a moment to get it ready. ]

[A great wall of ice several feet high and thick erupts suddenly to catch those thorns before it changes to water.

80H pivots on her heel and spins, the water following her motion before they fire thorns back at the creature to its supreme agitation.

She has its attention.]

Acknowledged. Signal when ready.

[And then she is off, jumping to land on a higher path and dashing forward to land and scale some of those tentacles. The monster attacks her eagerly now that it has such an opportune target literally within its clutches, but she moves too quickly for it to truly get a hold on her.

She hacks and slashes at those tentacles and it screams as fresh frost starts to spread where she cuts.]

[ He's not as adept with fire so it takes a little longer for his attach to get prepared. Crow can't really focus as strongly on the enemy while he's doing this so he just has to believe 80H's got a handle on this-- and she's proven herself an adept fighter so far, so he's not worried about that.

Eventually, after a long moment, the attack is finally ready. He calls out to 80H-- ]

Now!

[ And sends off a Purgatorial Flame-- it only covers a small area but it's an extremely powerful Fire Arts attack. ]

[When he says he's ready she stretches her arms out and jumps back and down, flipping in smooth circuits before landing and skidding back slightly from the momentum.

She is at his side.

If someone on this team had Analyze they'd see that fire is kind! of bad! it is like 150 so this monster came out to have a great time but is feeling really attacked right now.

There are brilliant lights in the flames in two of the places that had flowers that have bloomed. The lights shatter and the thorn stalks fall off as well as the acid and sticky shooting blooms. The monster dips in altitude, but does not fall.]

Still not enough. Mes yeux voient vers les cieux infinis!

[She peers into the monsters hidden self, its skeleton, its very conceit and she tuts.]

How are you faring?

Well, it's too bad I don't have another of those in me right now.

[ Unfortunately, he doesn't have any EP Charges with him. He should look into the price of those and maybe some Tearal Balms, he thinks to himself. But he can worry about that later. ]

But I'm not out for the count yet. You think you can get in with your naginata if I make an opening for you?

[He doesn't? Oh, that is lovely. She dislikes fire in most cases--all flash, literally no substance and too dangerous in impatient hands because of it--but her bias against it doesn't mean it is not effective here. She just hates to admit it.

Stupid fire.]>

Hold a moment. Something is shifting.

[Crow's Purgatorial Flame did quite a bit of damage--it does not take mystic eyes to see that--but as 80H analyses the internals, she can also see that it is more than that. Layers peel and fall off, all the special flowers that were there once are nearly all gone.]

It has not just been harmed...it's shedding its "skin".

[Beneath the burning layers is something largely black and deeply ridged with planes rising higher and lower with pale green embellishments in the spaces between. It is also much smaller, though still obviously very large and reminiscent of a peach pit. Its spinning flowers suddenly rotate much faster and extinguish the remaining flames.

This form does not cry, does not shriek and the silence besides its flight is weirdly haunting.

YOU GUESSED IT, FOLKS!

IT'S FINAAAAAAAL FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORM! :D

The first flower it revealed sits on its stalk, a tall column sprouted from the pit-like structure with nowhere to retreat to now, but it starts to glow, gathering light.

And then it fires a wide beam.]

Another for---- shit!

[ He can't even finish his sentence before he's running from that wide beam, not quite missing getting hit by it. That's gonna fucking hurt, does already, but he's already planning ahead-- he can get off a time-based attack or two still even if he doesn't have enough juice left in him for a second Purgatorial Flame right now, and he should even be able to get it out quicker.

But he still needs an opening for that first, and he'd rather not rely entirely on Arts to fight. It's not his style, not now and not even from what he remembers of fighting in his past, limited though that memory may be. So instead, what he's going for is one of his crafts-- He fires off a Cross Trigger with a shout. It's a pretty strong move, and if it hits it might confuse him, give him nightmares, or even unbalance him entirely and give 80H an opportunity for a stronger followup if she takes advantage of it.

(It's too bad she doesn't have an ARCUS, combat linking would make this easier.) ]

[ANOTHER ONE!]

Crow-san!

[She casts a healing spell immediately, because that beam is not fun! It is a desperation attack, and so no holds are barred. Even being hit by it a little is kind of huge ow.

Cross Trigger lands! Unfortunately, the fickle dice goddesses have deemed that there are no status effects applied.

Since 80H is not acting aggressively at the moment, the monster focuses its attention on Crow and lashes out with those thin tendrils from the beginning. They are thin and red and crack through the air like whips. They smart, but the damage is not as heavy as the fanfare suggests even if they still hurt.

In fact, on the heels of the sting comes...pleasure. Slow, at first.

The glow from the beam flower fades for now, but will it stay that way?]

[ Lady Luck's not on his side today, it would seem.

The pleasure is.... weird. It's unusual and makes him feel a little warm, but it's at ignorable levels for now and so he does just that in favour of pulling out one of his favourite crafts. ]

Wild Card!

[ This one is.... a random status effect! It's a good one if it hits an ally and a bad one if it hits the enemy. The dice goddesses say that this one hits the enemy, though whether or not the effect will be ultimately helpful is up in the air. ]

You even gamble during encounters.

[Good grief. Even if her tone is slightly exasperated, she knows Crow is competent, he wouldn't take unacceptable risks.

Probably.

Confuse!

So, normally, it would attack indiscriminately but you guys are the only things here so rip. HOWEVER.

I am God.

So! Cybele-chan here will start to hallucinate and attack elsewhere, everywhere. If only she had a flight unit, but she does not. No matter. She starts to cast quickly in French, her voice echoing and layered. She skips a spell--she is too focused in the moment that she does not need to cast her first. It's a familiar strength buff.

But after--]

Et, enfin, il trouve bonheur vrai dans cette tombe, sa étreinte.

[She puts more power into this one than she usually does, but it is necessary.

A rush of water starts to form, flying on the air as it takes the shape of a very large mermaid, at least thirty feet tall, her smile beatific and her arms outstretched generously as spirals around the seed construct, rising higher and higher, water spreading in her wake until the entire monster is surrounded in a sphere of it.

The water flash freezes and the flowers it uses to fly shatter into pure, beautiful ice. It plummets down and when it lands it creates a short, but violent quake.

The seed and attacking flowers are intact.]

I am going in. We will not have much time before it begins to regenerate once more. Please focus fire on its flower cannon. It should be weakened.

Gotta liven things up!

[ As if things weren't exciting enough without random status effects.

But he nods at her words and focuses his attention on the flower canon, taking several shots at it before he fires off a Freezing Bullet craft. Regardless of whether or not the freeze effect works (dice gods say the freeze status does not work), he's following that up pretty much immediately with a furious barrage--- another one of his S-Craft, Cross Raven, wildly flinging bullets at the flower canon from all directions. ]

Yes, because combat of this magnitude is dull.

[Crow's impressive feat finds its mark and that flower is not only falls off, but is split it a cross-shaped pattern before it shatters to frozen dust.

With that opening, 80H's weapon returns to her back in a shower of golden motes.

And then she takes off at a sprint.

It is incredibly, impossibly fast, faster than when she was carrying him, and not because he was a burden, but because going at this speed would have been uncomfortable to say the least. She jumps up boosting herself up higher with a jet of water that propels her up, up, up! Only for a new jet to appear behind her pushing downward.]

Serpent Tortueux!

[The water surrounds her and expands, rotating violently as it takes the shape of a large snake with its sharp fangs bared in a hiss that promises carnage. It delivers, driving through the seed in a sharp, echoing crack.

Everything is silent. And then everything happens.

It starts with a fissure then two, then twenty then a thousand, then ten. Pieces of ridged shell shatter or slough off, a glacier breaking apart. The snake bursts through the middle, coiling in on itself before it disappears, leaving something spherical behind. 80H spins her naginata before snapping it to her side.

Behind her, the remains of the monster explode into blue iridescent dust.]

Enemy elimination complete.

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im treating this SUPER seriously

I can tell.

you're going to hate me

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