[Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Archives of Occultus Magica's beginnings, ten years prior to the current story.
CadetNewb
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by CadetNewb »

"W-whaa?" the little girl's mouth fell open.

"You don't know what an Idol is, and you're in Japan?" she asked Laoise with disbelief. "An Idol in Japan's different from that kind of Idol! Idols in Japan do all sorts of neat stuff, like sing on stage and have fans, and autograph signings and are on televisions!" Coco exclaimed, tossing her hands up into the air for emphasis. "They get all rich and famous - you'd make a great one Laoise! Imagine buying all the cake, or uh...seed you could eat?" She paused for a moment, a little confused as to what Laoise would buy. "Hey, umm, Laoise? What would you buy if you had a lot of money?" the little girl asked. Before the familiar could reply though, Sakura snagged her attention - and it wasn't the apology.

"Oh, it's ok, I mean - " she stopped cold. And then leaped right up to Sakura with a single energetic bound. "HOLY COW! Your eyes glow red and stuff! You could be like, The Moeinator! A bunch of Otaku would probably empty their pockets for someone like that!" It was about then, that Coco got a good whiff of the other girl. "Why? Why?! You can't be an Idol if you're stinky! We're going to give you a bath, and then fix you up so you look really good!" Grabbing Sakura's hand, Coco pointed a finger into the distance. "Onward! To the baths!"

"Uh...Laoise?" she paused, uncertain. "Where are the baths?"

*****

"Mmm, a very astute observation - I like your styles," Duncan nodded sagely, complementing them for once.

Reaching into his pocket, the young American boy pulled out a large, hefty object just slightly over half a foot long from his pants. Holding it out in the palm of his hand to the other boys, they could all see that the bullet itself did have silver in it. The copper jacket didn't cover the nose, and revealed the brilliantly bright metal. He remarked, "You're free to use it, but there's a liiiiitle hitch," Duncan began to explain, bringing his index finger and thumb together to demonstrate. "See, it's got the silver we need. The problem though, is that it's, well, I made it so it explodes. There's a little detonator and stuff inside that makes it do that when I shoot really big things with a really big gun, so that it makes really big holes."

"As long as we don't do anything really crazy with it though, I think we'll be ok. I think."
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by Kokuten »

Percy took the bullet, a little unsure at first. He had not exactly expected to receive such a large piece of ammunition, rather, several of them he could arrange. Yet, all he needed was the silver, and the ability to shape it. The only issue was the detonator and the fact that it would explode if tampered with. Gunsmithing was not a field he was versed in, even if it did involve the usage of powders, metals, and chemistry. He needed someone capable of dismantling such a thing and extracting the material he needed. What he needed was a genius.

"This will have to do, it's our only source of silver," said Percival, summoning the ancient staff, Unity, to his fingers. He gave the staff a tap on the ground, a small bell rang on the wind. On that cue, a circle opened up on the floor and what rose from it was a blonde-haired mini-god. With her summoning, it seemed it was her time to shine.

"Oh ho ho ho! It seem's Tulan's era is about to begin," said the Mini-Tulan from her tiny mouth. Unlike the others, who make respective noises, or the real Decanus, who could only speak through the mouths of others, Tulan was able to coherently represent thoughts vocally. "What do you unfortunate children require of me today?" The small goddess threw her sleeve up as if to announce herself, posing, before quickly noticing something. "Where are the others? Shouldn't there be more of an audience?"

Tossing away his staff, Percival presented the bullet to Tulan.

"Not a concern, I need you to extract all the solid silver from this bullet," the boy tossed a strained glance at his watch, tilting his wrist to look, "I need it done quickly, and the metal itself reduced to dust or shavings. Be mindful of its construction, as it's set to explode if mishandled."

"Oh ho ho ho! A challenge!" roared the tiny being, taking the bullet almost gratefully, "But why do you need silver shavings?"

Percival's response was a quiet stare, before he spun around to the other two boys. He made a series of silent hand motions that they could only discern meant, 'Cover for me'. Before much else was said, the boy had already quit the field and was digging around for his towel in his bag.
Last edited by Kokuten on Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
Kalshion
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by Kalshion »

Sakura blinked when Coco began to sniff around her. "W-w-what?" she said nervously before the girl had let her intentions be known. "Hey! I don't stink! I wash everyday!... err... using my.. powers that is..." she said and looked away.
CadetNewb
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by CadetNewb »

"Hey Tulan," he greeted the Mini-Godess, easily picking up the name and running with it. It seemed like Percy had one for everything and was getting a new one every weekend, like how Sentai Teams kept on getting neat stuff due to merchandising. Rubbing his chin, he peered at Percy. 'Those people would probably love him for the money he'd rake in on their show,' he thought. He cast that aside and brought his attention back to Tulan.

"We're trying to work out a new method for dispelling traps and wards for our next adventure. It'd help us explore dangerous places, though, don't tell the others. We don't want them to get excited, only to find out it blew up on us," Duncan explained. With that, the young American boy had quite literally told the truth to her. And lied to her in the face, both at the same time - not that he thought of it as lying. He thought of it as being perfectly honest with her! There was pretty much no way that any lie detecting method would pick up on that. Such things didn't understand subtlety ! Not that that was what was on his mind. After Percy, there was also Ruarc.

'And if their stuff doesn't work, then that will, I bet,' he thought to himself.

*****

Since she was in Japan, he had to do it their way when staring - "Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~~~" went the onomatopoeia. And it went for what felt like the longest, most uncomfortable time as Coco stared down Sakura. Such stares were horrifying in their staringness, as time seemed to dilate and stretch out into an unbearable agony, time and space itself warping to accommodate an indefinite infinity into which all the staring could go into! After what felt like a long, drawn out eternity of silence, she shattered reality and restored it to its rightful state of linearity.

"Is it a stiiiiiiinky spell?" she finally asked the other girl.
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

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Tulan stared quietly back at Duncan, her discerning eyes indiscernible from behind the cloudiness of her thick eye lenses. She didn't seem to buy an ounce of the boy's story, judging by how closely she seemed to be squinting at him. Her adorable head turned to the bullet in hand, and then back to Duncan, and then back to the bullet. Her lip pouted out, in dire, utter suspicion, exuding an aura of inquisitorial doubt in the entire situation. From that point, it seemed like the entire thing would unravel as Tulan raised the bullet in the air, as if to throw it on the ground.

"What an excellent idea!" declared the little goddess with earnest belief. She held up her hand shake Duncan's, "By the way, I am Tulan, as you already know, formal greetings and all. I don't think we've met!"

Before he could get a chance, she withdrew her hand, putting it through her hair, "Wait, don't tell me. Duncan, is it?" She laughed haughtily, before even receiving an answer, "No need to be absolutely impressed, I know all about you! Percival tells me you're not all that honest, but I'm an excellent judge of character. You're honest as can be!"

The little god reached into her robe and pulled out a bag that seemed too large to conceal under it. "I will get to work right away!" She then reached into the bag, and searched for something, before pulling out a small worktable that seemed much too large for the bag to hold. The table itself was loaded with all sorts of miniature work-tools, vices, grinders, magnifiers, and measuring instruments. She put the bullet in a vice, an began to carefully examine it, placing a few of the more unusual magnifiers over it.
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by Straken »

Laoise took a moment to consider the concept of being an idol while Coco stared down Sakura. It certainly seemed like an appealing notion, being the object of a nation's praise, and it would give her a venue to sing; though an obvious drawback would be getting to much attention drawn to her, and potentially to Ruarc as well. As she gently rocked little Tegwyn in her arms she figured she could at least take a moment to check on Ruarc and the boys.

"Hey Ruarc, you boys almost ready for the baths?" Laoise asked mentally. An action that drew a sudden "Wahuh? Oh, right. The baths. Yeah, we're getting around to it. Just, uh, changing." from Ruarc.

Squinting with suspicion, Laoise pondered this a bit before pressing, "Everything all right? What are you up to?"
To which Ruarc returned with, "Like I said, getting ready."

Sighing heavily, Laoise seemed to accept the answer before thinking of something else to ask. "Ruarc, do you think I could make a good singing idol?"
Without a beat being missed a response came back, "Well, you certainly have the attitude of one."

Huffing mildly the girl turned her attention back to her own room, which for the most part seemed to be settling in; at least as far as Raiko and Miyuki were concerned. from her place on the mat flooring she cleared her throat and spoke up in a way that gently requested everyone's attention. "Alright, now that we are settling in a bit we can head on to the baths if you would like. There is still time before dinner, so we can take our time getting there."

In a rather delicate manner, the girl stood up in a surprisingly dignified manner considering she still held a sleeping baby. "On our way I suppose I can also give a small tour of the place, and then after the bath we can play some games before dinner."

"Hey Ruarc, don't know about you guys, but we are going to be heading to the baths soon," Laoise told Ruarc, checking in with the host to make sure he kept track of the schedule.

***

Back on the boys' side, Ruarc took a steadying breath after being slightly startled by Laoise's sudden check up. Turning his attention back to the important business at hand, he did his part in keeping the little goddess Tulan on their side.

"Good to see you again, Tulan," Ruarc greeted as he moved to sit closer to the table. "We greatly appreciate you lending us a hand in our, uh, training. We couldn't do it without you." As the Druid spoke he look over the objects upon the table. He was just about to comment on the array when he got the update from Laoise, to which end he reflexively said "What?! Already?!" before stifling himself as he realized he had spoken out loud.

"Ahem, sorry about that, just remembered something that I, uh, forgot back home," Ruarc said to try and abate suspicious looks. "So, uh, Tulan, about how long do ya s'pose this will take ya? Iffen ya don' mind me askin'."
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by Kokuten »

The small goddess did a double-take at Ruarc as she seemed to be hurried by the druid. One would think that the combination of signals being given by the group would've heralded as suspicious, down-right worthy of investigation even. Percival was unusually terse with her, even with his change in personality. Was Duncan really that nice and considerate of the situation? Honest and resolute Ruarc, when would ever make such a stuttering and strange exclamation without reason? Were these clear-cut details, all eggs of doubt, hatching the inclination towards asking questions?

That smug face said no to just about all of that.

"Oh Ruarc. Oh dear, sweet Ruarc. Oh dear, sweet, naive Ruarc," emphasized Tulan heavily, that smug look on her face putting a challenging title against Duncan's own most smug look. "Stand back, and be amazed at the power of Alchemy. The truest science!"

Tulan yanked one of the drawers out of her little workstation, and in it were glass cubes and bits of cork. She set up a glass cube on the desk, and a little bit of cork on top of that. Then, she took out a little brush, dipped it into an inkwell that she tugged out of one of the hanging shelves, and drew a circle on the table. Then, placed the cube/cork combination and standing the bullet on top of that. She looked up at the others, as if asking them to charge the circle like Percy would do. Yet, there came the smug look again, as she tugged out another drawer, without even looking at it. What came out was a small pearl that radiated with mystic energies.

It was a container of mana, ki, chi, whatever one wanted to call it. Percival recognized it as he turned to look at her work, he also noticed something else as the mini-Goddess began to apply the pearl to the circle.

"Tulan! You didn't set up the containme--!" gasped the Welsh boy suddenly.

BOOM.

"Waaaaaah!" squealed Tulan as she went flying out the open balcony area and into the woods.

In the place of the work-bench, now thoroughly destroyed, was the glass, the cork, and the silver now being shaped and separated into three different groups. They floated, slowy being brought together, before they assembled into one. The glass became a bottle, the cork became a sealing head, and the silver collapsed into dust, resting daintly at the base of the bottle.
Kalshion
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by Kalshion »

"It is not!" Sakura said defensively, staring the young kid down with fire in her eyes. "It works just fine," she then folded her arms over her chest in a huff. "Besides, it works wonders... espically when... when.... umm....." she blinked several times and tapped the side of her chin in confusion. "What... was I about to say?" she looked rather confused by now but then shook her head. "Oh well! It just works ok!" she rasped.
CadetNewb
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by CadetNewb »

Duncan's clothing cost a lot of money. Enough that the others would shed tears at the thought of owing him. Duncan. Money. And here, he sat, covered in soot from the explosion.

The Loaded American Boy's expression was difficult to read behind that layer of black, but it seemed he was thinking hard. Perhaps he was thinking about just how much he should say his now ruined clothing cost? Or, maybe in a more upbeat turn of events, he was thinking about whether or not he should complain that his clothing cost a lot in the first place? No, that was most likely too much to ask, especially since he was looking at how messed up his clothing looked. And that was before he moved a hand to his chin in deep thought. When he finally opened his mouth though, everyone turned and listened. "You know...I like her style," he remarked. "Every time I see her, something blows up. That's pretty cool," Duncan explained.

It may have been the poor woman's shortcomings, but, from Ducnan, that was a complement.

"Anyways, what do we do now?" he asked.

*****

Coco leaned in at the waist and stared with intensity at Sakura's clothing. She wrinkled her nose in doubt. "Hmmm...I'm more worried about her Laoise. I really don't know~~~" Coco reached out with her hands and began examining her, looking all around the other girl with rapt attention. "Does she smell smelly to you?" the Mahou Shojou Lich asked the Dove Familiar Girl.
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 5] The Warrior, The Wolf, and the Way Back Home

Post by Straken »

Ruarc had begun wincing as Tulan basked in her limelight, and that wince only grew more pronounced when the goddess basked a little too much and self-destructed. Blinking several times in rapid succession while subduing a couple coughs, the Irishman then cleared his throat. "Ahem, well then. Tha' was somethin'," Ruarc said dully as scratched the back of his head. "Guess for what it's worth we have the silver now. So, Percy, what's left to handle? Cause we're runnin' outta time."

***

"Ahem," Laoise cleared her throat roughly in synch with Ruarc, "It is rude to call into question another's hygiene, Coco. That said, Sakura, a hot spring is not just about hygiene, it is also about community and relaxation. So ladies, if I may suggest, as most of our belongings have found a place, let us adjourn to the baths." With that Laoise stood up carefully so as to not wake the sleeping infant in her arms, and ushered the others along.
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