[Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

The story unfolds around Osaka, Japan, with the unlocking of one girl's hidden potential, and a gathering of Young mages whom are destined to change the fate of the Earth.
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Kai
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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Katerina was taken aback at the scene which they stumbled upon, but before she could feel anything else aside from surprise, it became an action scene, Vrey having somehow appeared upon the tree and causing it to begin to move, the swift back and forth going on before them a bit more than she could keep up with, though she could easily feel the elemental power coming from Drysi of all people vying with the corrupting influence of Vrey's unleashed magic, before the hairless girl suddenly appeared closer to this oddly speaking Drysi, and punching the girl in the face.

"That seems a little harsh though it may have been a bit deserved," Kat quietly blurted out, more to herself than the crowd at large, before Drysi spoke, her countenance becoming once again that of the young Triclops that they all knew from class. The young Heiress was a bit shaken at everything that was going on, but she began to take a step forward, wanting to help her friend but hesitant because she didn't know if her magic or actions would be able to make much of a difference in this situation.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Johann stood gaping for longer than was appropriate and was finally roused when he realized Chuffy had been barking about the same length of time. He calmed the dog with a scratch while he pondered just what in the world was going on.

He snapped his fingers loudly. "Possessed! She- the the the bbbb... Bbbllll-" He huffed indignantly. "Magic. Blood. Necrooot. Tic." His voice was strained and his words stretched as he fought around his stutter. Then he was smiling, proud of himself.

Another epiphany opened his eyes wide. The frail mage threw himself on the ground and began riffling through his book, clearly on the hunt for something.
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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Willow was stuck in place. The situation unfolding was so far beyond her understanding that she was simply having a difficult time processing what she was seeing. Drysi was behaving in a bizarre manner; which she had anticipated given the context clues leading up to this, but she was also using abilities that Willow had never heard about the Welsh girl possessing. Even more conflicting, the normally taciturn Vrey rushed Drysi and was attacking their friend. Then Vrey landed a visceral punch, and Drysi looked to Willow for help.

Snapping from her stupor, Willow heard Johann deduce that Drysi was possessed. So if that was the case Willow would want to stop Drysi from injuring herself and others. Burning pewter, Willow sprinted from the bushes and made a beeline for Drysi. First things first, the knife. Willow burned steel. A few blue lines sprang up, but she focused on the one running from the center of her chest and the knife in Drysi's hand. Exerting force equivalent to her bodyweight against the blade, Willow made to push the knife off into the woods. Next, restrain Drysi. She would apologize to her roommate later, she thought as she dove, making to rugby tackle the smaller girl and lock her into a hug.
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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The blur of movement followed caution and epiphany; Willow could see the darkness fill Drysi's eyes again before she could reach her. The knife came up, but was knocked away, and the two girls went crashing into the dirt. The triclops gasped as the heavier girl pinned her frail frame, her ribs bending under the force.

Drysi's voice hissed, with air her lungs shouldn't have had, "MeDi eNeiDiau Fy nGelYnioOn."

Her head lolled back, her mouth opening, revealing a set of growing canines that she buried into Willow's neck. Willow's body went limp over Drysi's, and the triclop's eyes began to glow an eldritch green. Above their two unmoving forms rose a spectral being, undulating with power. The creature had three eyes, flowing white hair and a hanging mouth that whined a ghostly howl.

"A wight," Eryk uttered, bringing up his blade. He looked ready to say something else before the wight brought up a long-fingered hand and repulsed the hexer head over heels into the bushes. It turned its head to Vrey next, tendrils of energy reach out to consume the bald girl.

"I will feed on you all and earn my freedom."

----

Willow awoke face down in a pool of water. The liquid filled her nose, but she was able to push herself up from the shallows to keep herself from drowning. Around her was a foggy darkness, permeated by a pale light, as if lit by an unseen moon above. At first it seemed she was alone in this damp, dim place, when she heard something scratching from the shadows.

The figure of a woman broke through the mist, trailing the fog like broken strings, legs sloshing through water on a bed of something that crunched under boots. She had dirty blonde hair rolling over her shoulders, and a set of three blue eyes staring down at the young Fairburn with an academic curiosity. Dragged alongside her by the hair was Drysi, weathered, exhausted and drained of life. The elder triclops pulled the younger around like a loose sack.

"The one who's beating heart they yearn," said the woman cryptically. "I don't know whether to congratulate you or pity you."

Drysi feebly reached up to her head, whimpering, "Willow... I'm sorry..."
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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Shaking her head to clear away the water and the disorientation of the event, Willow coughed as she wiped sodden clumps of her flaxen hair out of her face as she saw the old woman approaching. Stray strands still clinging, the Brit stood quickly and squared her shoulders as soon as she recognized Drysi being pulled along. Unable to identify where she was in the gloomy mist, Willow did her best to try and use her limited magical education. She had either been teleported, or she had been charmed in a way and was only mentally relocated; like a story she had been told about one of Mr. Flynn's previous missions. In theory, teleportation would be nice since she'd be left unaltered, but if this was mental then she had no idea how things would go or even how to proceed. Tentatively, she burned some tin to both see if she had her metals, as well as to see into the fog better.

"Hey, ya ol' slag! I don't know who you are or why you are doing it, but it's about to go all to pot for you," Willow's sinewy frame stood defiantly as the British teen cashed in on her best trait; unabashed confidence. "I'm not afraid to kick your Voldemort butt if you don't stop touching Drysi with those hag hands of yours."
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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The Bog of the Dead
Willow, Drysi, and the Old Woman

"They're always so brave 'fore they die."

The old woman was unmoved by Willow's adamant stance, but Drysi seemed energized enough to try and pull away. All it took was one harsh tug back to the hip to bring the smaller triclops back down to her knees.

"Mmngh!" Drysi writhed, trying to break free despite her strength, "Willow! Just close your eyes... and grab your neck! You'll wake up! Don't stay here... Argh... Mmmngg! This is where she's strongest!"

Willow's friend yelped as she was shaken like a sack of oranges.

"But also where 'am most vulnerable, lass" said the woman, the darkness on her face bleeding away as Willow's abilities enhanced her senses. Despite her age, she was rather beautiful, she had those same brilliant eyes that every triclops had, though tired with age. The one thing that marked it all were the deep cuts that ran up and down her body, eerily bloodless. She looked a bit like a freshly dead corpse, murdered recently, cleaned and brought alive again.

There was no smile, no haughty demeanor, just a clinical stare, "If ye strike me down here an' now, you save her, you save your friends."

"Don't! Just--... Don't!" Drysi said, forcing the words up, "Don't listen to herrrAAAUGGGH!"

The young welshling's body convulsed as it was charged with violent electricity. The elder triclops cast the body into the water, leaving Drysi on her side as she tried to recover her breath.

"You see what these hag hands can do, little pup. Will ye tuck yer tail an' run?"
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

"A wight!" The words made Johann peer up from his book then grumble incoherently. He'd only just found a spell to remove a possessing spirit, but she seemed to have gone and done it herself.

Wait. A wight? With blood magic? the gears were turning again. With necessity knocking, Johann was able to shunt aside his dislike to call upon the clown.

"Manon! A bbbbbottle orrrr something!?"

Chuffy, meanwhile, had crept forward slowly, hackles raised and teeth doubly bared. He stood only a dozen paces from Drysi, poised to strike.
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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Willow's hands dropped to her side and were clenched into shaking fists. Truth be told, she was scared; very scared. This wasn't a lesson. It wasn't a game of tag. This wasn't one of her instructors. This woman showed no issue in tormenting Drysi, and the young Brit could reasonably assume the lady would have no issue extending that torment her way. Willow was scared that she could get hurt, or even killed. After all, she had been at this school for only a few only a few months, and didn't even know magic existed up until then. This was too much for her, she thought. She relaxed one hand and reached up towards her throat.

Ziiiiip

With one smooth draw, Willow unzipped her jacket before tossing it off into the gloom with a soft splash. In the dim light a soft sheen shone off of the sodden fabric of a Newcastle Falcons jersey tee shirt and her black leggings. The wet fabric displaying the lean figure of a teenager who enjoyed playing sports. Squaring off with the woman Willow raised her fists and clenched, causing the damp leather of her short cuffed gloves to creak with strained effect. Her metal vials weren't geared for combat, so she needed to be mindful of how much pewter she had left in her reserve. If this was a mental realm she hypothesized that she would either be burning her actual reserves, or the lucky option of getting carte blanche; and if it turned out she was burning her actual reserves, she wouldn't be able to drink more metal to replenish those reserves.

"Hit hard. Stay mobile. Save Drysi," she thought to herself.

"Gonna rock your bonnet, kick your boot, and if things are looking South THEN I consider bailing," Willow announced, before burning pewter and charging forward in a mighty rush. Even more so now she was lamenting not remembering to bring and coins or bottle caps along, as it would give her a great advantage in mobility; especially with this damned water. Thankfully pewter helped in that regard as well. Her physical strength was enhanced, as was her sense of balance, so Willow's sinewy frame was able to slice through the shallows and close the distance. Once she was a few strides away, Willow leaned low and telegraphed a hefty lefty haymaker. Before her upswing, Willow kicked forward on the next step to send a distracting splash of the dark bog water towards the hag. Pushing forward with her planted foot to try and keep her momentum. As she entered melee range, she aborted her haymaker to instead use her left arm for defense and strike forward with a quick right handed jab.
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Kokuten »

The Sacrificial Tree
Johann, Vrey, Katerina, Manon, Eryk, and the Wight
If Johann had spared a glance Manon's way to remind himself of the sense of distaste, the clown was still in her jingling garb, climbing onto her ball to prepare her magics. Then, came a moment of consideration looking away to come up with a rapid solution. As he came back around with his demand for a bottle, she had changed considerably.

She was wearing a full dress, that of a homemaker from the late 1900s, her hair tied up in a bun. Manon was exasperated, her face paint indicating distress and tears. The ball she was trying to mount was bouncing away into the brush.

"The Bottle!? Again, mon cheri!? You said you would quit," Manon seethed with sadness, before coming up to him, terribly close, "you promised you would quit. You promised you would never turn back!"

She doubled over, clutching a magnum bottle with the sticker of an orange on it. The label read:

____M A N O N_____
appellation d'origine contrôlée


Then, strangely she came up rather bright, holding the bottle expectantly, "Just this once. It will be our little secret, but non more!"

----

The Bog of the Dead
Willow, Drysi, and the Old Woman

The melee began.

The old woman made no move to defend herself as Willow approached, but at the leap, she brought up her hands, long and sickly. Water that was meant to come up and blind her milky eyes was caught short. The surface of the bog came up to stop the left hand that was to strike her, but the deft feint fooled the woman, and the punch sent her sailing backwards at the force of Willow's enhanced strength. The girl's knuckles felt the sinking of skin, and the cracking of brittle bones. The old woman's body was that of a triclops.

Tumbling over the water, the old woman eventually caught herself, sending more ripples out into the infinite dark. Wiry, black hair shuddered as her neck cracked, and she threw a deathly gaze upon the challenger, cutting the fog with two sickly lights.

"Your blood is rich, I can smell it. Rich with fear. Desperation," the cold voice came over the water, before its owner came clambering over the water on all fours. The legs cracked as they bent to an unnatural angle to accommodate the spider-like movement. "It tenderizes the heart, you know. Fear."

Her sick form stopped short of Willow, before the old woman's neck snapped the other way, and she slapped a bony hand into the water. A heavy force struck the Brit on the side of her head, sending her one way. A pillar of the bog's wet came up at her with violent force. With the old woman's other hand slapping into the water, another blunt force of sludge came up to strike her in the throat, and incapacitate her.
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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That was the hardest Willow had ever been struck. Even having seen her share of fights she had never taken a hit like that. The burning tin made the pain more acute, and it startled her as much as the disturbing sight of the hag did. The pewter thankfully was burning strong. The shock of the sucker punch abated while she stumbled as the metal helped her focus. The second strike registered in her mind, but the surprise of the first attack was gone; so with pewter enhanced reactions the Brit turned the stumble into a roll. Once on all fours, Willow flared pewter as she pushed off from a sprinter stance and closed the space quickly, and with a quick adjustment she carried her stride through into a move she was much more comfortable with. She pictured the hag's head as a football.

"Of course I'm scared!" Willow shouted. "But right now I'm more pissed than anything! How does that make hearts taste, ya manky minger?!"
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