[Episode Two] Right of Passages

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

Post by Kokuten »

Aurus steamed, literally, as he bounced down to the side of pillar, catching the rock face with his axe and using that to pivot into it to spear his jaggedly sharp sword. The miniature Fire God burned brightly and apparent against his trial, rage and anger showing in his furious, unabashed strikes against the barrier in place. Repeatedly, and quickly, he slammed his cleaving weapon into the runic shield, having it bounce off every time. After several unsuccessful strikes, he let out a howling roar of discontent that sounded more like the crackling snarl of a small dog. He turned his large helmet back at Percy and spat another flame as he roared in his mind.

"BOY! MORE POWER!"

"B-but how do I--"

"NOW!"

Percy recoiled, gripping his staff in both hands, and he quickly began trying to figure just how to satisfy Aurus' request. Did he have to do an incantation? Scribble a rune? He'd never been asked to give any more effort than to just stand there! The Fire God would certainly lump the failure of the day on him if he didn't do something, but what!? Panic gripped the boys mind, before he felt something tugging at its threads.

"Shhhh, it's easy, Percy." consoled Zulan, putting the boys mind at ease. "Just focus your energies into the staff."

"But I don't have any energies! I'm a Font, not a mage!"

"You're a source, but you're also a circuit. With a little focus, you can pour a little more energy into the staff, into us. Your druid friend is holding back the storm, use this opportunity to try."

Apprehensively, the welshman gripped his staff tightly, and closed his eyes. The sounds of the surrounding world nipped at his ears, what with the yelling and snapping of magic spells. The world felt chaotic, threatening even.

"I sense DISPELING MAGIC, BOY! HURRY!"

I'm trying! thought Percy, as he himself could feel the currents of magic swell into form around him. Though, he began to feel the mana within him. The flow from himself to the Elementalia Magicus felt strong and true, and he could touch it as if he were using his own hand. As the sounds of the world began to drown out in his focused vibe, he reached to that flow and tried to grasp it, only to be tossed back by the immensity of its power, giving him a migraine from hell. It became quickly apparent he couldn't move it all so, he tried something else. Instead, he plucked a small string from the momentous well of power and plugged it into the staff.

FWOOOSH! the head of the staff burst into a beautiful orange flame, crackling like a torch in the darkness. In turn, Aurus received similar treatment, lines of fire spurting up his back, and bits of embers dribbling out of his small mouth and eyepieces. The small Fire God trembled, convulsed, and snarled before he began tearing up the side of the pillar, howling mad with rage and power.
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Kai
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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As Ruarc collapsed into a pile of stinking, dead Koi, and learned just what had been going on, he had just enough time to appreciate just how much power was available to the other mages. Aurus, and Percy's staff, burst into flames, just as Duncan seemed to steal the light itself from the air, and shoot it at the top of the pillar- As Aurus shimmied upwards, the beam of light smashed against the barriers at the top of the pillar, beating around them like a wave against a bastion, except, it slowly coalesced back into a beam after the initial breaking, and one by one the multiple barriers began to pop, not too dissimilarly from balloons in the sound they made. rune stones and paper runes began to fall and flutter down from the top of the tower, and part of the way down, they began falling off was well, though the Dispel's power only went so far, stopping just shy of hitting Aurus.

The Fire god wouldn't mind, for as he passed the threshold of the spell's effect, he found it much easier to climb, and his distance to the top closed quickly, now being only a few moments from making it all the way up. As the tiny god found himself at the top, he would be buffeted by a blast of wind- the Dispel hadn't gotten rid of all the enchantments; it hadn't the power to break through the sheer number of them- and Aurus could see the figure at the top briskly writing more runes and glyphs on sheets of paper she carried with her, dropping them to try and rebuild her barrier, but she couldn't write and activate fast enough.

Miyuki grunted under the effort of keeping the water back, but then Saph had an idea. "Hey, Miyuki, why not freeze it? then it'll stay in place and you don't have to worry about it!"
"F-Freeze it? that's a lot of water! how could I freeze it?" she asked incredulously, seeming shocked by the prospect.
"Just focus, you can do it, You've frozen a lot of stuff before!" the guardian beast encouraged, moving forward and nudging her with his nose eagerly.
"But I'm already focusing! I've only got one of me!" she countered, not exactly feeling any better from the cat-like beast's encouragement
"I know! I can go over there and hold back the water long enough for you to freeze it." Saph looked rather proud of his suggestion, but that would only last a moment.
"But then you'll get frozen in the water, won't you?" Miyuki pointed out.
"Oh... Right... Ummm" Saph tried to think, but couldn't.

Suddenly, Miyuki felt a pair of hands on the back of her neck. She could feel them unclasping something, and then a thin chain dragged across her skin.
"Augh, wha-" she mumbled, looking back to see Raiko, holding a small locket that she had never seen before- it had apparently come of her neck, but she never remembered having it, putting it on, or even seeing it. Just as she made that realization, she blanked out.

***************

The others, if they bothered to look, would see a change come over Miyuki. Her eyes now glowed with a cold blue, and the water in the air around her cooled and condensed, forming a misty aura about her, collecting in places on her body and forming ice crystals. The ground and everything on it below her footfalls would freeze solid, and she walked with a regal grace not too dissimilar from Raiko's own habits. Saph appeared cowed, and had backed away, afraid of his master as she seemed much more terrifying than usual. Her expression was blank, bored, and deadly, terrifying as that of a cruel beast, and the amount of mana that simply flowed from her could only be beaten by a font.

Those with the ability could sense her magic, flowing in some sort of disjointed way like a glacier set on fast-forward as it made its way across to the water on the other side of the dried up lake, and all those about could feel its chill. first one edge, then around to the other, and through the center, the large held back glob of water turned instead into a large iceberg, conveniently placed in the middle of a park. As soon as this was accomplished, Raiko rushed forward and replaced the locket around Miyuki's neck- the sudden power of an Ice queen that had been released was now once again contained, and the girl collapsed where she was, her task accomplished. Raiko grabbed Miyuki as she fell, bringing her gently to the ground as the bits of ice that had collected flaked and crumbled off. Miyuki began shivering, suddenly cold, though the Ice hadn't phased her before. Raiko wrapped the unconscious girl in her robes and looked about at the others- they were now free to continue saving Hana.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Discretion being the better part of valor, Jane had waited (anxiously) for a moment, a calling. After a brief glance over her shoulder to the events unfolding betwixt Raiko and Miyuki, the young gunslinger knew it was time to act.

Her revolvers were naught but flashes of light escaping the holsters, true to their name in the speed with which they were brought to bear. With the defiler of innocence sighted, Jane's trigger-fingers were composing a two-man symphony. They played with zeal, expressing an adamant love for percussion and fortissimo. "Your cruelty stops here, dark one!" she bellowed.
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

Post by CadetNewb »

The dark chuckling continued.

Intelligence. Skill. Talent. I have it all, but not the sheer POWER! It didn't matter though - he always, always, always got the job done with his sheer TALENT instead. But he still resented, almost hated the others for having it so easy! All they had to do was sit down and think! Practice! Use their brains! Then they'd likely be ten times better than he was! But they were all morons...every single one of them. Seeing them doing things he couldn't and yet wasting, squandering it all...he quashed the thoughts. With the momentum now in their favor and the woman writing frantically like an author trying to meet a deadline, Duncan casually opened the breech and fitted in one of his few remaining caster rounds into the breech before levering it closed.

As he raised the caster gun with one hand, Duncan's other reached into his pocket and pulled out a Red Bull, snapping it open and bringing it to his lips - the fizzy energy drink gave him a hint of mana back as he aimed and pulled the tr - the American boy spat out his drink and tossed away the can, wheeling about to level the weapon at the mana-flux nearby. It was Miyuki putting on an ice queen act and strutting about. Flaunting her power.

Heat welled up inside Duncan the likes that he had never felt before, making his heart beat like a machine gun while his blood boiled like hellfire as he squeezed off the shot at the collapsing barrier before turning back to eye her again, clutched in Raiko's arms.

Was this...jealousy?
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Straken
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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Ruarc gave an aggravated groan as his body was recovering from the shock to his system. As he brushed the semi-charred koi off of himself with the occasional shudder and twitch he looked across the lake to the rest of the group. From what he saw there was a lot of activity, not a whole lot in the way of cohesion, but at least no one was really worse off than anyone else.
“Aside from my semi-fried nervous system and smelling of brine we look to be a bit better off than we were last time,” the Druid said as he began stand back up.

From there he shook himself off and hoisted his staff up, but had to stop when Miyuki initiated berserk mode. His right eye was picking up enough energy that it felt like he was looking into a bright light.
“Since when has she had that much output?” Ruarc said as he averted his gaze. “Where ever it came from, it is damn impressive.”

”Ruarc, this might be a bit more a bit more complicated than it would appear,” Laoise said to her Keeper as soon as she found an opening to do so.
”Why’s that?” Ruarc asked, curious about his dove’s sudden hesitance.
”Well, you were buried in fish at the time so you probably didn’t catch the part where the kidnapper gave her introduction,” Laoise went on to say. “She said her name was Caoránach.”
”Oh,” the Druid said simply as he thought of the name for a moment. Upon recalling the name his face dropped to a look of grim understanding. ”What do you suppose the chances are of it being that Caoránach.”
”I would love to say the chances were slim, but given the context of the situation there is definitely a good possibility,”

Ruarc swore audibly in Irish as he tried to think of ways to explain why it would be impossible for it to be the Caoránach from the old Celtic legends. However, as Laoise said, the context began to paint a bigger picture.
“I suppose that would make sense. Animals being corrupted, the use of malign runes, and making a big enough scene for the Council to send me all the way to Japan,” the Druid reasoned. After a few moments of contemplation he seemed to become visibly more chipper. “Which means that if I can subdue Caoránach I will be able to complete my job for the Council.”
”Your first job, you mean,” Laoise added.
“Yes, but I will still get the satisfaction of being a step closer to completing my little Japan arc.”

With that said Ruarc decided his next course of action was to get up to the platform and purge the evil spirit from the possessed body, and, well, he wasn’t exactly sure of what to do with Caoránach afterwards. As he recalled the histories, Caoránach was banished initially by St. Patrick to Loch Dearg. Unfortunately for Ruarc he was neither Saint Patrick, nor did he have access to the purgatory lake.

“Actually, that might just work,” Ruarc mumbled to himself as he got a spark for an idea. “If St. Patrick did it, why can’t I.” Immediately thereafter he shuffled through his pockets and produced two purify runes and a single dispel rune.
”Ruarc, what are you planning on doing?” Laoise asked in a worried tone.
“I’m going to banish Caoránach to the lake,” Ruarc said in a very matter-of-fact tone. “Or at least try to.”

With that said Ruarc tucked his staff into his cloak, ran down to the edge of his stone, and leapt and caught hold of the pillar. With a few chastising remarks from Laoise about being insane to encourage him, the Druid did his best to climb to the top. As he climbed he hoped that the others would be able to take out the barrier, as well as keep some attention away from him, but he still had his dispel clutched in his teeth if need be. He also contemplated how he would even start to go about banishing an evil spirit from Celtic legends.
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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The cold air nipped at Percy's ears. Mana sparked through the air with enough charge to kick-start a Font-Level Magical Item. He could feel it inside of himself, those attuned mana senses picked up a great deal. Even with his eyes closed, he could sense it was a great deal of power. The sensation was familiar, a feeling he had when the inscriptions that withheld his power were sealed. A burst of intense magic power, but more controlled. The energy formed into a solid form, a spell. What shook him further is that it wasn't just one powerful release, more strains of magic energy formed and articulated.

Had the inquisitors arrived?

"PERCY!" roared a monstrous tone into Percival's mind, "I NEED MORE POWER, MORE STRENGTH!"

The words shook him out of his focus, just slightly. The strand broke, and Aurus' strength wilted being pushed back slightly, even with spell charges slapping against the shield itself. Aurus was greatly dissatisfied, especially when it was not him tearing down the shield and breaking through. An ear-splitting roar of anger, and hate shattered Percy's mind. His little teenage head was almost unable to contain it, almost unable to regain what he needed.

"I--... I'm trying!" Percy growled back, tears streaking down the side of his face as he tried to contend with the god in his head. His figurative hand reached to the flow, the large strand connected to the Elementalius Magicus, and this time grabbed a larged thread. Maybe he'll be satisfied with this, thought Percy, his mind wracked with pain as the collection of energy was almost too much for him. With a little strain, he plugged it through his hands and into his staff.

Unlike before, the staff began to smolder and creak, intense fires spurting and engulfing the entire rod. Something Aurus began to mirror in condition.

"Percy! No! That's too much!" wailed Zulan, but it was too late to intercede then.

Aurus, in his little form, began to convulse and shake as what looked like super heated metal began dribbling and burning out of his plates, eyes, and mouth. His armor began to crack, showing bright orange lines, and all that could be heard were pained, scraping howls. The two blades he held in his hands began to melt into his arms, conjoining them. His joints cracked as his arms extended and bent different ways. One of his horns broke off, and his mouth-piece split at the bottom, showing a slag-dribbling, vertical maw. The little black and orange horror howled another terrifying screech before it began wildly scraping and tearing at the shields and pillar like a loose dog.
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Kai
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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A Rune fell on Aurus' forehead, itself protected by a second rune that made it fireproof. This first rune was very simple- it had been used against its caster several times already in the current battle- Dispel. While Dispel wasn't enough to destroy Aurus, it did something both fortunate and unfortunate. It broke the bond of energy between the little Fire god and the little font. This immediately stopped the flow of too-powerful energy to the mini Fire god, but also left him without a source. He now had a finite amount of time before he would be forced back into the Elementalius Magicus.

As for Ruarc, aside from the lava like dribblings and bits of stone and whatnot pelting him from above, he found the stone pillar to be a bit more difficult to hold purchase upon than he expected. Something more than simply his own arms and legs would be needed to scale it. Of course, Ruarc had figured this out after the second or third instance of his own sliding down and landing on his buttocks at the base.

Try as they might, Duncan and Jane would find it difficult to do too much to the sheer volume of barriers upon the crest of the spire, and they knew that firing lower would only be bad for the captured Hana on her pole. Another flash emanated from the top of the pillar, and those attuned to sensing magic could tell somethign was afoot- Dunacn and Ruarc could no doubt feel that some kind of ritual had begun, and the ghostly blue glow emanating from beneath Hana's unconscious form told them that they needed to hurry.

Raiko, for her part, sighed deeply, and laid Miyuki down on the ground, allowing her to rest as the sudden upwell of Mana calmed down and let her body rest. "Kiki, Ginga. I believe it is time." Raiko called loudly to her two followers, and they- forgotten by the others by now- strode forward, standing next to Rai-Hime. She held out her hand, and each of the girls removed some small trinked from their hair, which she took in hand. Again, More magical energy was felt, though it was nowhere near the level that Percy or Miyuki could put out, it was still more than Duncan could (His jealousy probably grew at this realization that the power of everyone around easily outclassed his own, despite whatever skill and training he put his selfish faith into)

Ginga grabbed Kiki firmly by the sides, and then the two disappeared in a flash of light not unlike a star, appearing again above the pillar, before Ginga dropped Kiki, without a second thought. The Diminutive girl erupted into flames, and added her own power to that which was being poured onto the pillar, eating at its defenses. Swift kicks and bursts of flame kept the girl in the air as she bounced off the barriers moments before they disintegrated, Ginga herself sending flashes of destructive light raining down upon the orb of defensive spells and runes protecting the summit.

Caoranach screamed, a harsh, cruel sounding thing, rage flowing in her angry voice. "GET AWAY FOOLS, YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU ARE DOING!" she warned, not that anyone she was yelling at bothered to care or even listen. The combined powers of all the mages finally began making a dent in the screen of spells, and soon flickers and bits of flame began breaking in, further enraging the woman whom had entrenched herself upon the pillar.
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Straken
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

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After sliding down the pillar once more and coming to the conclusion that another one of his ideas had fallen short, the Druid Ruarc ground his teeth while frustration set in. After a back-and-forth between him and his familiar the Druid gave into his frustration, concluding that he was getting tired of getting kicked around and falling on the ground. After bringing his staff back out Ruarc declared the following, “I am a Druid, damn it, and she is an evil spirit. I will see an end to this game.”

“Cloch a oscailt agus a ithe,” Ruarc called out as he jutted his own sizable pillar of stone up to hoist himself. Once the stone lifted him close to the level of Caoránach he fixed his cloak and slammed his staff into the ground.

“Caoránach! I am Ruarc Flynn, Keeper of the Druid Order,” Ruarc shouted, in Irish, so as to make himself heard over the commotion of the other mage’s assault on the front of the pillar. He was unsure of if Caoránach could hear him, but this was the first time he as a Druid was taking on a vengeful spirit so he felt he should try and make it a good show.
“You’ve failed. It doesn’t matter what you do, you will be banished once more!”

With his declaration complete, Ruarc hoisted his staff and prepared to use Fissure. The magic barrier was already being pelted by flames which could easily cause collateral damage to the hostage as well as the body Caoránach was possessing, as such he would use earth to try and bash his way through while limiting risk to the hostages.

“Cloch a oscailt agus a ithe!” Ruarc shouted once more. Focusing his energy, he thrust out a large jut of stone from his own pillar that crashed into the barrier with intent to push through.
“As Keeper, I am charged to stop you, and I will not allow you to take another innocent person!”
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Jane, while certainly not short for her age, was still quite vertically challenged in this situation. Thankfully the Irish fella was kind enough to provide an elevator to the top. She only had moments to react, holstering one revolver and sliding it to her backside to avoid dropping it. This freed hand clasped the lip of the surging pillar, her feet braced against its smooth face. Fuck yeah it was crazy, but Heroes do crazy things when the need arises. Well, the need had arisen- and the solution, too! On the way up, her right hand was seizing in time to a fresh peal of gunshots. Unfortunately for the cowgirl this left her precious hat unattended, and in the face of such speed, was quickly swept from her head. Chestnut brown hair was unleashed, and whipped about her face and shoulders wildly. Oh well.

One might expect a Hero to have something of a plan, but like all the most heartwarming protagonists, she hadn't the slightest idea what she would do. Hopefully she'd figure it out once up there; pondering the possibilities, Jane figured it would likely involve a daring and deadly rescue of the unconscious Hanna.
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode Two] Right of Passages

Post by Kokuten »

Aurus' bestial form writhed as the connection between it and its source of power was severed. The heated energy dripping from Aurus' openings began to drift away into the air. Time and space itself began to distort around the disconnected mini, before solidifying itself again. The fiend dug its black, bladed arms into the surface of the pillar before howling madly.

"PERCY! Call him back! Call him back! His body has become volatile! With no source he's just a golem without containment!" cried Zulan, ringing more panic into Percival's mind. "Throm! The word is 'Throm!'"

Percival himself had finally snapped out of his focus from the severance. The Dispel spell was amazing to feel first hand, the line was cut as if done by a pair of scissors. Yet his awe at actually feeling something like a spell-caster was cut short by Aurus' horror form. At first, he hesitated, his mind wracked with confusion, worry, and panic as he saw the usually collected warrior sputter wildly in something barely recognizable. The welshman looked at the others, pressing the advance, Ruarc himself bringing out the big guns, and the girl they had just met scaling the pillar with no fear at--

Hmmmmmmmmmm went an electrical sound in the air. The plates of Aurus' armor began to split. Jane wouldn't see the small beast destabilizing, but everyone else would see crackling light emit from the dark crevices on his small body.

"NOW! PERCY!"

"Thro--!" he sounded.

THOOOM! the mini's body shattered as it violently exploded from atop pillar in a brilliant orange light, sending bits of obsidian and magma everywhere.

"--m!" finished Percy. On that, Unity shook once as it sounded off something similar to the toll of a church bell; yet it was something only the summoner himself could hear. The particles halted in mid-air, just short of Jane, and whatever advancing allies Percy had. Ruarc's vision of his enemy would be obstructed only for a moment. Yet the explosion of mana still shot outward for several feet. For a few perilous seconds, Aurus' remains hung silently, unmoving. The tense moment proved too much for the boy.

"Throm!" Percy shouted again, his voice straining. The bell tolled once more, but this time, everyone could hear it, and the bits of armor and magma swirled back around to Unity before being absorbed into the staff. In that short moment, upon Fire God's return, Percival felt weak. The young boy fell to his knees and took a moment to recuperate, while the others pressed the advance. With that little moment he was able to gather himself, until a cowboy smacked him in the face, snapping him out of said comforting respite.
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