[Episode Two] Right of Passages

Archives of Occultus Magica's beginnings, ten years prior to the current story.
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Kai
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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Finally. FINALLY, they had done enough. they had Overwelmed Caoranach, and she could no longer defend against them. As all the spells hit Aya's body, and Ruarc's rune did as well, as the last few spells were fended off, Caoranach did the last thing she could- She fled her servant. She ditched the girl, and took the nearest thing she could find that was weak enough for her to possess. That, of course, was one White dove named Laiose. The now possessed dove cackled strangely in Ruarc's head before the connection was severed, and disappeared into the night, leaving everyone trapped in the circular barrier, still stuck for the time being.

It was about this point that Miyuki woke up, rubbing her eyes, and shivering. She looked around, bewildered, as if she forgot what was going on. Indeed, she seemed to have, as the first thing she did was ask "Wh-Where are we?"
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Straken
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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Ruarc landed on his knees after all was said and done. He felt the subtle weight of Zulan on his shoulders, as did he feel the burns on his chest beginning to sting. As the Druid looked at Aya his eye could see the evil spirit leave the girl, but before he was able to proceed with anything else he felt something that made him feel sick to his stomach.

Through the bond between him and Laoise, Ruarc could feel an icy presence tainting the link. He hadn’t been fast enough and now Caoranach had jumped to a new host. She had taken control of his Laoise.
”Do not think you have gotten away so easily, Caoranach,” Ruarc replied to the spirit as his face was set hard as stone and his eyes burning. ”All you have accomplished with this was to make me more determined to wipe you out of existence.”

Shortly thereafter the link connecting the Keeper and his Guide was severed, and suddenly the young man felt very cold and alone. The hard lines on his face softened as his anger faded into sorrow. His closest friend had been taken from him, and he could not help but feel solely responsible. In an attempt to stop his descent into depression the Druid focused his mind on what was in front of him. Namely cleaning up and managing the current situation; so with a promise to himself to get Laoise back safe, he pushed himself up on his feet.

Stepping forward, Ruarc drew back his hood as he moved next to Aya. He put one hand on her shoulder to check how she was doing.
“Aya, are you alright?” Ruarc asked the girl in Irish, still in disbelief that this was the kind girl he had met painting in the park. It just goes to show how subtle and pervasive evil intentions can be.
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Kai
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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Ginga looked over to Calamity Jane, her horse (Where did that thing come from?) and her now-safe classmate, Hana. "Come closer to me" She told the texan, in Japanese "I'll take us over to Rai-Hime." The girl waited patiently after this, hoping that Jane new Japanese, or something.

In front of percy, Kiki, after absorbing the flames from Caoranach, and summarily watching her flee from the final blow, turned to the Welshboy and asked "Would you like to get closer to the action, or is here good enough to watch from?"
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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Percival looked at Kiki with tired eyes, his weight still burdened onto his staff. He looked past her at what was wrought upon the park's lake, and then back to her. The danger seemed to have passed, for now. He gave her a faint smile from behind his enchanted mask, before waving off the offer.

"I can make it, I'm just... a little tired." mentioned Percy as he carried himself over to the rest, his staff tapping harshly against the surface they stood with every other step.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Jane knew Japanese, albeit poorly. Coincidentally her misunderstanding drew the cowgirl closer to Ginga, thereby inadvertently heeding the magical girl's words. "What's that?" she asked. Then she glanced to Hana. Must have fallen unconscious what with all the commotion and shock. Jane didn't blame the poor girl- felt bad for her, really.
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

With a swiftness and suddenness that Jane may or may not have been used to, she felt herself being sucked into what might be described as a vortex, or more closely being torn from the 'real' world and into another, much smaller one, for a short period, before being spat out unceremoniously on the ground, near the rest of the group. Her horse, and Hana had come as well, and though for Jane it may have felt vicious, she found herself gently placed on her feet, to look over Percy, Kiki, Miyuki, and Raiko, and seeing the figures of Ruarc and some girl near the top of the pillar, which, currently, was slowly descending back into the earth.

Miyuki's question was answered just as swiftly as Ginga brought Jane to the group, by Raiko, of course. "We're at the park, silly. You went a little out of control for a minute, but it's fine, everything's okay now." Miyuki made as if to become worried or distressed by this, but Raiko just smiled and placed a shushing finger on her lips. "Nobody got hurt, so there's nothing to worry about, got it? I'll explain later, anyway."

Atop the pillar, the girl, Aya, came to her senses, and noticed the hand on her shoulder. She made as if to swat it away, but as she looked up she recognized the owner of it and recoiled instead. "What do you want?" she asked weakly, in broken Irish, as if her understanding of the language was suddenly fading.

"Does anyone know who that was?" asked Percy.

"Well that was quite the little adventure, huh girly?-- Oh." Jane was trying to make pleasant with an unconscious girl it seemed. That avenue closed, she looked between Raiko and Ginga. "Some nifty powers y'have," she complimented. "Boy, if I could teleport I tell ya..." Then trailed off as she pondered the many things she could do with it. "...Anyways, it'd be nice to have a power beyond drawin' my guns quick as a blink. Killin' isn't exactly a hobby o' mine." She would have glanced forlornly at her weapons, but instead hid her face with her hat while she knelt to set Hana gently on the grass. On a sidenote: she forgot she was in Japan, and deferred to her native English.

Back on the pillar, Ruarc kept his hand firmly on Aya's shoulder as she tried to draw away. His previously determined face had shifted to one of melancholy. "I want to make sure you are alright," he replied back in his own Irish. "I have a few questions, but those can wait until later, I suppose."

Once the pillar had descended back to walkable ground Ruarc nudged Aya to lead her forward towards the others in his group.

Feet encased in ruined boots softly paddled towards the gathering group as the American boy made his way over. He wasn't smiling the usual arrogant smile he had at night, nor was he frowning and shrinking as he did in the day. Rather, Duncan seemed to be deep in thought as he finally arrived, the boy's rifle slipping into the infinite depths of his pants-pocket in a nearly comical display.

"We were more or less caught with our pants - " he spoke, then glanced at the girls, " - and panties, down, weren't we?" he asked them all, sounding resigned rather than gloating at their collective frailties.
The much more conscious Ginga simply looked at Jane with a skeptical eye as she spoke, and proved to be just as talkative as Hana; that is, not at all. the girl shrugged, and pointed to Raiko, as if she knew something more, however, Raiko was indisposed, answering Percy's question.

"That was Caoranach, an evil spirit from Ireland. How she came here, I'm not sure, but we haven't seen the last of her just yet." the self-proclaimed Hime crossed her arms and took on a regal scowl for a moment after answering this, before she was distracted by Miyuki using her sleeve to pull herself up.

"Well, We won didn't we?" Miyuki responded to Duncan. "We're all alive, Hana is saved, and the spirit isn't here right now to attack us. I'd say we didn't do too bad."

On Ruarc's end, Aya at first proved reluctant to move, and the dumbfounded expression made it obvious that her prior understanding of Irish was now completely gone, having been obviously magical in origin. She did however, at the insistence of Ruarc's firm grip, start moving toward the group. "I'm not going to talk." she defied, in Japanese, pointing her nose upward huffily, though the trembling Ruarc could feel betrayed her true feelings at the moment- she was scared. Terrified.
"An evil spirit? The dead? Or some kind of magical entity?" queried Percy behind his enchanted mask. His somewhat dirtied fingers rubbed at the edges of his clothed cheeks as he seemed to size of up this claim. "And to that, just how do you know that's an Irish entity? There are any number of pesky spirits here in Osaka. Plenty have a time of playing with mortals, just..."

The young welshboy cast a glance to the isolated pillar, only distracted by Zulan tugging on the hem of his robe.

"... not this playful."

"Quite frankly, Ah don' care," Ruarc replied in Japanese, suddenly feeling slightly annoyed. All he wanted to do right now was to see about finding Laoise, not listen to Aya. "Ah don' know why or how ya became possessed by tha' spirit, but Ah do know that ya have turned out ta be the root of many headaches an' arguments Ah 'ave suffered through recently. For now Ah will see if the others want ta try and reason with ya seeing as Ah am not in a particularly friendly mood right now."
The Irishman continued to lead the girl to the group, and once close enough he waved once with his free arm before calling to them, "Ah brought us a guest."

"We might have won, but just barely," Duncan pointed out to Miyuki. "You weren't exactly there the whole time, but bottom line, you guys were sloppy, and I...well, I never had much juice to begin with," he finally admitted to them. They'd find out sooner or later, if they hadn't figured out already, so he decided he might as well. "I don't exactly have much to work with, so unlike you guys, who can be as messy as a three year old eating a Sloppy Joe, my magic is for all intents perfect in comparison," the American boy went on.

"What I'm saying is - "

"-Just hold it right there, cowboy!" Jane interjected. She took a moment to look at everyone else, then back to Duncan. "Maybe it's just me, bein' new to town 'n all, but you are being a jerk. A team's more than individual capacity- more than ability. Cohesion. Teamwork. And by the sun, I would never want to work with you if that's how you talk to people. I think it's a miracle someone hasn't already knocked out your two front teeth. Keep it up, and I'll be right quick to rectify that." Jane was glaring from beneath her hat, but not with anger in her eyes- no it was something approaching cool indifference. She was an outsider looking in or a mediator interjecting in the group's problems.

Raiko simply answered Percy by pointing at Ruarc. "Ask the Irishman" she added, for effect, before Duncan and then Jane went on rants. She listened intently to what was said, but, being more of an outsider herself she didn't say anything, and, neither did Kiki nor Ginga, not being able to understand Jane, nor caring to comment on Duncan.

Miyuki looked a bit confused when Jane started talking- she knew very little english herself, and so she turned to Percy "Umm... What did this strange girl just say? And why is she cosplaying in such a tacky outfit?"
Aya just sulked, and sat herself down, apparently exhausted. She said no more, and seemed intent on being moody and silent. it seemed that, unlike most people who were possessed, she wasn't exactly happy to be free of the possession. Whether it was due to her own free will or some lingering effects of the possession, could not be told at the moment.

Once Aya had taken a seat, the Druid surveyed the commotion that now seemed common place in the dynamics of this group. Having an understanding of English and, to a practical extent, Japanese as well he was able to listen in on the surrounding discussions.

As Raiko diverted Percy's question on to him, Ruarc thought back to what he had picked up a little bit before to try and gain some context. As he could have probably guessed, it was about Caoranach.
"Caoranach is an evil spirit from old Gaelic legends," Ruarc started, not really sure how much background to divulge. "It is one of our "Pagan spirits of the land" to put simply."

The Irishman took a moment in between his previous statement and his next to straighten his robe a bit more so as the look the role of a Druid historian, as well as place himself just behind Aya for security reasons.
"Originally it, which tend to take on the appearance of a female, was banished long ago," he said as he continued his mini-lecture. "As for how she got out, much less all the way out here to Japan, is a mystery. It is also my initial reason for coming to the East. All the answers I suspect we are looking for we can likely be found out from this girl here."

After his last word he crossed his arms and gently tapped Aya on the back with the tip of his shoe.

"Well, excuuuuuuuse me for pointing out the truth! Evil Spirit or not, bottom line, most of the spells shot out today su - " Duncan suddenly stopped speaking and snickered as soon as Miyuki spoke. But it didn't stop there at all - it turned into barely contained guffaws and finally exploded into mirthful laughter. "She just called your clothing tacky!" the boy exclaimed to Jane in English, pointing at Miyuki. "Oh man, that's just priceless!" Duncan went on, wiping tears from his eyes. "And she's not one to speak! Nope! Not at all, not the Mahou Shojou from Japan!" he declared in English again.

Duncan kept on laughing, clutching his sides. "Oh god, I'm cramping from the laughter!"

Jane was always an honest and forthright individual. When she made a promise, she kept it; when she made a threat, she delivered; so when Duncan didn't rein in his attitude, he got a faceful of Jane's fist square in the teeth in a beautiful uppercut. "I told you, cowboy, and I don't make no idle banter. Next one'll clamp your windpipe shut if you don't keep your rude talk to yourself."

Jane paid no heed to Miyuki's opinion of her clothes; to each their own. But such posturing and self-centered commentary would not go unpunished in her presence. "Doesn't matter if it's the truth, there are better ways to go about tackling the topic. I reckon you oughta learn real quick if you wanna keep those pearly whites."
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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"Enough!"

Thoooooooooohhhhmmmmm! Percival tapped his staff onto the ground, releasing a small wave of energy, and unleashing shaking bell toll.

"We are not done." resolved Percy in a direct tone, looking between both Duncan and Jane. Zulan herself eying the boy in wonderment to the sudden reaction to the situation. It was hard to judge Percy's expressions behind that half-mask, his eyes only exhibiting exhaustion from the way his lids wrinkled under them. "Hana, a non-mag, needs to be taken home; Ruarc's familiar has possessed by said spectral entity; A spectral entity who is apparently powerful enough to possess mages that can hold us all off. We're facing something important here, and we need to shape up if we're going to take care of it"

The Welshman paced one way, gathering his thoughts, with Zulan following dutily, before her paced the other, back to face them.

"Firstly, we need restore this place, and leave." Percival looked to the druid restraining their former enemy, "Ruarc, your familiar's possessor is your field of expertise, right? Is there any way you can track her position? Feel what direction she left to? Or are you cut off as she was?"
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Straken
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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Ruarc looked to lose focus after Percy’s question as he simply stared down at the ground for a few moments. “Unfortunately, it’s impossible for me ta track Caoranach,” the Druid said after a shallow sigh, sounding somewhat detached, “Earlier it was distance tha’ kept ma familiar an’ me from communicating, but the link was still there. Now, however, Caoranach has magically blocked tha’ connection, so it may as well be completely broken.”
I can’t even tell if she is still alive, he then thought to himself.

Taking in a few more breaths of the night air, Ruarc diverted his attention to other matters; namely the mess that they had made. “Prob’ly should think abou’ cleaning this up. Unless it turns out like tha’ time with the giant skeletons an’ everything’s fixed an’ we get a free ride home.”
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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Zulan darted her head swiftly in one direction, be furiously tugging on Percival's pant leg.

"Percy! Someone is coming!"

"A judge?"

"Unsummon me!"

The summoner looked down at his small protector, who beamed only the cutest desperation as she tugged rapidly, and furiously. Percy ended her nagging by consuming her blue essence with Unity. Though, just as the staff dispersed the energies of the small god, it disappeared, along with Zulan's shawl with a quick flash. What remained was a simple boy, clad in a school uniform plus beret. What followed with an ominous feeling of intense magical power, which seemed to be focused somewhere at the edge of the barrier.

From the edge of the park came a bright light, cracking up the edge of the protective dome that quickly mended up. The barrier hummed and shifted just so slightly, hinting in a change of hands.

Whoomp! came a distant, bassy noise, before what appeared to be a solid ice-sculpture landed right in front of them with enough force to disturb the earth and knock them all off their feet and on their backs. Though, they were quick to find that this was no ice-sculpture, as it moved like a normal man. In fact, they could tell it was a human from the mana they felt; he was some kind of powerful mage encased in thick plates of ice which shed foggy clouds of cold air. In one arm a thick metal gauntlet, the other, a wand which crackled violently with mystic energy.

The strange ice-knight turned his head in the direction of the children, his face obscured by an ornately decorated helmet of ice. He looked ready to kill, and seemed quite capable of it, but only dropped his shoulders as he looked at them.

"Percy?" resonated a middle-aged voice, wrought with mild confusion.

The ice peeled back, shrinking into itself to reveal a man who shared a similar face to their friend, Percival. Percival, in turn, recognized this man.

"Dad?" answered Percy, looking onto intruding mage.

Another voice came from the path downwind, from where the crack in the barrier had originated.

"Oh there goes your father, bull-rushing the situation before I can tell him anything. Ho ho ho!" laughed a haughty woman, who looked nothing more than a middle-aged housewife, save for the intimidating staff she carried.

"Mom!?" shrieked Percival, looking absolutely shocked between the both of them, still half on his back.

"Hello my little hill-hopper!" said the woman sweetly, blonde curls bouncing as she walked up to the shaken group. "I apologize for your pa pa, he's so reckless."

"I don--" started Percival's father, who was quickly cut off by the supposed mother.

"Children!" announced the woman, talking to the respective group, her eyes a strangely electric blue, "While my good husband cleans up the nasty mess you made, could you care to discuss just what has transpired? Perhaps as we walk."

The older lady pointed back off to whence she came and beckoned them to follow.
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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Duncan breathed. Duncan blinked. Duncan tasted a little blood in his mouth.

As Duncan rubbed his jaw, he couldn't help but glare at Jane with a face distorted by a mishmash of anger and confusion. For once, he wasn't quite sure what to do. He was completely and utterly confused - angry too, but the confusion was new. Duncan had never been this horribly confused or lost since...Right now, the boy honestly didn't know what to do next. He didn't hit girls, and he never got hit by one like this before either! "So now what?" Duncan harshly barked, admitting his indecisiveness. He spat out a small globule of blood and spittle.

Before Jane could reply though, Percival quickly stepped up to take the stage and spotlight. Pointing out the obvious and standard actions, asking the normal thing to ask - nothing special. Why aren't I taking charge? Oh. Right. Because I'm distracted by this Cowgirl at the moment.

And again before another word could be spoken, this time cutting Duncan off, they were all knocked off their feet. A figure in icy armor towered over them all, menace emanating from the wearer inside. Ice Shocktrooper! At the sight, Duncan was frozen stiff for the briefest of moments in absolute horror. I don't know how, but they - wait, what? His pops? The boy sighed and shrugged before getting up again - it wasn't what he thought it was after all. Can't ever count on adults or something - better late than never I guess.

"Yeah, something named Caoranach tried to use Hana there as a human sacrifice," He remarked, pointing to the girl he mentioned. "Ask our resident druid for details."
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