[ Well, that isn't good, there's alarm as Metis watches this happen, and unfortunately now is the time where all powers extinguish out. No boosted strength, no self-healing provided by damage, no artes, no healing or offensive magicks. Their strength is sapped of their abilities, leaving them with just their weapons and bodies alone.
The wailing from the spire sings louder, a song of praise and worship. And yet that hertz goes lower, the frequencies dipping as it sings almost entirely silent, but tugs still at the back of minds. Metis crumbles to his knees, grasping at his helmet and is unable to intervene with Mizuki and Blade both. Pained, he calls out to Anise, she's the only one closest to the seed right now after all. ]
Lady Anise-! You must break it! Destroy it, before it's too late!
[ At the same time, Ion stands before the seed to Anise, arms spread out with a trembling voice, "I can't-- I can't let you! Don't destroy it!" There's fear, and the image of Ion glitches into something incredibly bloodied, eyes dead, before it comes back again to one full of life, eyes wide. Vines coil out around him, slithering out until it begins to sink into the sickly membrane flesh beneath. ]
It's a clean cut across her torso, effectively causing her to stumble back. Yet there's no signs of pain, no grimace or cries of anguish—nothing. Mizuki's face remains blank as red begins to pool out from where her suit is torn, but for a long moment there, she simply remains standing. ]
[ No feeling of triumph emerges as Blade coldly stares down Mizuki, watching the vermillion spread outwards on the front of her suit after his sword cuts mercilessly through the fabric to cause injury.
No shout of pain, or cries, or anything.
Blade stares at her still, no emotion or compassion in his eyes, though with her no longer advancing, he sees fit not to strike out again.
Then, he reaches out to try to grab a hold on one of her arms, to attempt force her to walk with him to where the other two are.
Standing around is going to do them no favors. Even if doing this is probably dangerous, he is not the type of person to stand in one place. The agony of his wounds, powers off or not, still sing throughout the entirety of his body, but suffering is a fun group activity. ]
[ The image of Ion shouts out, but it's too late, the mace goes swinging out and
hits the core right through him.
It lands with a sickening crack, the entire spire shaking with the first hit, and the swings that follow.. once more, twice more... it lashes out. A vine raises and collides heavily into Anise. The weight of that vine hits with an audible crack against Anise's side, breaking a few bones and sends her flying to the side to slam right against a nearby ridge. Her head slams into it first before her body does, her vision blacking out momentarily until the concussion has it spinning afterwards. She's not unconscious just yet but does she have the strength to stand again?
Anise hears a voice, Ion's, Charles', Guy's -- all twisted together, blended: Was it worth it? Killing them, when you could have saved them? Even when you had the chance to do something differently, you doomed them. You doomed us.
A rumbling echo sounds as if in pain, more vines lashing out from the seed and aims directly for Mizuki and Blade next. One slams right onto Blade, crushing his body beneath into the ridged flesh below and stab directly into his back with multiple sharp intrusions. The vines raise after before coming down to pierce right through his arms and legs. Pinning him down in place like a butterfly put on display.
Blade hears a voice, Rodya's, Dan Heng's, Kafka's -- all twisted together, blended: Do you remember now? Remember the feeling of death. Remember it remember it - or will you forget once more? An Eternity. Never to know the release of it. An Eternity. What does it feel like to die? An Eternity. Your sword will break, shatter, but you will continue. An Eternity.
Another vine shoots out and wraps around Mizuki, coiling around tightly and begins to squeeze. Slithering around her chest and neck, it squeezes and squeezes. A crushing weight collapsing onto her chest, strangling her and cutting off air from getting in. But it's already too late, nothing matters for you, you don't feel anything. Every sense is dull, quiet, unresponsive, it could end right now and you wouldn't even realize it. However, the seed is crumbling from that earlier damage, its shell breaking apart, and your mind eases up. Your mind slowly returns as your own, and as it does that vines loosen with a tremble.
Mizuki hears a voice, Dahut's, Iris's, Shoma's -- all twisted together, blended: Who are you? Are you really here? Why do you try so hard - to try to leave a bit of yourself in people's lives? Just to prove something? Just to prove what's real? To become something that matters? Who exactly are you?
The core crumbles again, the platform around starting to fall apart, those vines unfurling away from everyone and letting go, freeing them from their imprisoning, and Metis voice sounds out, strained, words too quiet but that heavy weight of tempering is losing its grip on everyone. That fuzziness, that clouded sensation clearing up even as the air around them makes it harder to breathe. Suffocating.
The seed is still there, weakly pulsing out, but it still barely stands. ]
[ Hopefully nobody is expecting Mizuki to be helpful here.
Her mind is too far gone by the time the vine takes hold of her, largely unresponsive even as she's slowly crushed. A crack or two happens underneath there, but... nothing.
She collapses to the ground with little fanfare as its grip loosens, mind still clouded even as her own gradually returns to her. There's voices in her head, but they barely register, muddled as if she were hearing them underwater, barely meaning anything at all. There's only the slow onset of excruciating pain, and even that she struggles to understand in the moment.
So yeah, she's a useless lump. Y'all go be more useful. ]
[ Blade is already in a bad enough condition that he doesn't see it coming...he can't. When he sees it coming for them both, he can't even move so that he's the only one bearing the brunt of it. Not for anything remotely like concern, but whatever is left of his sanity is grasping at straws to fulfill what they set out to do (but why struggle? He doesn't have that kind of resolve, so why?)
As it is, he can the multiple sharp ridges piercing through his back after he's slammed down, and Blade's red eyes are wide, blood bubbling up to his lips again. Then, vines through his arms and legs. Hot, white agony laces throughout him, an actual hoarse (did he cry out?) sound of pain escaping his lips. Or maybe, he did that before then.
He hears their voices, all blended together, with — Kafka, too. Speaking words. It shakes him, and he stares aimless into nothing for a good moment. ]
Hngh...nngh...
[ Pain...it's all he can think of, even when he's let go.
His sword...where is his sword? Shatter...that's right. He needs to break it. He forces himself to...(fall forward?) roll over, reaching for his discarded blade. His fingers close around the hilt. He doesn't have the strength to stand, but he'll struggle still a bit longer...
So here Blade is, crawling towards the seed. He doesn't think he can do it. Not like this. Indeed, his vision is a blur, and then, well, at some point, he just slumps forward. ]
Deep cracks run through her helmet, and her body shudders with each breath.
...
She stirs, and slowly pushes herself up to her knees. Pain shoots through her body, and she cringes, clutching at her side. The pressure just makes it hurt more, though. Blade just moved... Metis just said something. Mizuki... ]
Mizuki...?
[ She looks over at her, trying to discern if she's... alive? Conscious?
... The seed is still there. Her mace... looks like it's fallen on the ground somewhere between them. It feels like it's miles away. ]
[ There's another call out from Metis, weak and quiet, before there's an audible clear crack and the seed crumbles from the weight of one sword made of pure light. Metis diving it in, and it bursts into a bright light -
When it does, everything goes eerie quiet. No voices whispering in the back of their minds, familiar or unfamiliar, just silence. Thoughts completely cleared up, no haziness, no fog, just your own thoughts.
However, slowly the spire begins to tremble, the platform holding the now broken seed starts to collapse and crumble. The entire spire falling apart as if no longer having any support to keep it upright, the whole flooring shaking and breaking into pieces as it falls below into the darkened abyss. ]
Lady Anise, Mizuki, Sir Blade-!
[ Even as Metis tries to reach for one of you, any of you, it matters little when the floor beneath everyone shatters entirely and everyone will find themselves sliding off. The sickly membrane growing dark as it fades into dust and the wind whips around with the velocity of the group dropping fast.
There's a crackle of energy nearby, far below each one of them do black tears start to shakily rip into the air. Similar to the black portals that have been seen with other group's returns, from the Senior officer's usage, but it's fragile, struggling in itself. There's a shatter in the background, before the tears merge together to form a big enough one and
one
by one.
Each of your bodies fall right through it, and back onto the loading dock of the Eudora. ]
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no subject
The wailing from the spire sings louder, a song of praise and worship. And yet that hertz goes lower, the frequencies dipping as it sings almost entirely silent, but tugs still at the back of minds. Metis crumbles to his knees, grasping at his helmet and is unable to intervene with Mizuki and Blade both. Pained, he calls out to Anise, she's the only one closest to the seed right now after all. ]
Lady Anise-! You must break it! Destroy it, before it's too late!
[ At the same time, Ion stands before the seed to Anise, arms spread out with a trembling voice, "I can't-- I can't let you! Don't destroy it!" There's fear, and the image of Ion glitches into something incredibly bloodied, eyes dead, before it comes back again to one full of life, eyes wide. Vines coil out around him, slithering out until it begins to sink into the sickly membrane flesh beneath. ]
no subject
It's a clean cut across her torso, effectively causing her to stumble back. Yet there's no signs of pain, no grimace or cries of anguish—nothing. Mizuki's face remains blank as red begins to pool out from where her suit is torn, but for a long moment there, she simply remains standing. ]
no subject
No shout of pain, or cries, or anything.
Blade stares at her still, no emotion or compassion in his eyes, though with her no longer advancing, he sees fit not to strike out again.
Then, he reaches out to try to grab a hold on one of her arms, to attempt force her to walk with him to where the other two are.
Standing around is going to do them no favors. Even if doing this is probably dangerous, he is not the type of person to stand in one place. The agony of his wounds, powers off or not, still sing throughout the entirety of his body, but suffering is a fun group activity. ]
no subject
I'm sorry!
[ She closes her eyes... and swings the mace.
Then again. And again. ]
no subject
hits the core right through him.
It lands with a sickening crack, the entire spire shaking with the first hit, and the swings that follow.. once more, twice more... it lashes out. A vine raises and collides heavily into Anise. The weight of that vine hits with an audible crack against Anise's side, breaking a few bones and sends her flying to the side to slam right against a nearby ridge. Her head slams into it first before her body does, her vision blacking out momentarily until the concussion has it spinning afterwards. She's not unconscious just yet but does she have the strength to stand again?
Anise hears a voice, Ion's, Charles', Guy's -- all twisted together, blended: Was it worth it? Killing them, when you could have saved them? Even when you had the chance to do something differently, you doomed them. You doomed us.
A rumbling echo sounds as if in pain, more vines lashing out from the seed and aims directly for Mizuki and Blade next. One slams right onto Blade, crushing his body beneath into the ridged flesh below and stab directly into his back with multiple sharp intrusions. The vines raise after before coming down to pierce right through his arms and legs. Pinning him down in place like a butterfly put on display.
Blade hears a voice, Rodya's, Dan Heng's, Kafka's -- all twisted together, blended: Do you remember now? Remember the feeling of death. Remember it remember it - or will you forget once more? An Eternity. Never to know the release of it. An Eternity. What does it feel like to die? An Eternity. Your sword will break, shatter, but you will continue. An Eternity.
Another vine shoots out and wraps around Mizuki, coiling around tightly and begins to squeeze. Slithering around her chest and neck, it squeezes and squeezes. A crushing weight collapsing onto her chest, strangling her and cutting off air from getting in. But it's already too late, nothing matters for you, you don't feel anything. Every sense is dull, quiet, unresponsive, it could end right now and you wouldn't even realize it. However, the seed is crumbling from that earlier damage, its shell breaking apart, and your mind eases up. Your mind slowly returns as your own, and as it does that vines loosen with a tremble.
Mizuki hears a voice, Dahut's, Iris's, Shoma's -- all twisted together, blended: Who are you? Are you really here? Why do you try so hard - to try to leave a bit of yourself in people's lives? Just to prove something? Just to prove what's real? To become something that matters? Who exactly are you?
The core crumbles again, the platform around starting to fall apart, those vines unfurling away from everyone and letting go, freeing them from their imprisoning, and Metis voice sounds out, strained, words too quiet but that heavy weight of tempering is losing its grip on everyone. That fuzziness, that clouded sensation clearing up even as the air around them makes it harder to breathe. Suffocating.
The seed is still there, weakly pulsing out, but it still barely stands. ]
no subject
Her mind is too far gone by the time the vine takes hold of her, largely unresponsive even as she's slowly crushed. A crack or two happens underneath there, but... nothing.
She collapses to the ground with little fanfare as its grip loosens, mind still clouded even as her own gradually returns to her. There's voices in her head, but they barely register, muddled as if she were hearing them underwater, barely meaning anything at all. There's only the slow onset of excruciating pain, and even that she struggles to understand in the moment.
So yeah, she's a useless lump. Y'all go be more useful. ]
no subject
As it is, he can the multiple sharp ridges piercing through his back after he's slammed down, and Blade's red eyes are wide, blood bubbling up to his lips again. Then, vines through his arms and legs. Hot, white agony laces throughout him, an actual hoarse (did he cry out?) sound of pain escaping his lips. Or maybe, he did that before then.
He hears their voices, all blended together, with — Kafka, too. Speaking words. It shakes him, and he stares aimless into nothing for a good moment. ]
Hngh...nngh...
[ Pain...it's all he can think of, even when he's let go.
His sword...where is his sword? Shatter...that's right. He needs to break it. He forces himself to...(fall forward?) roll over, reaching for his discarded blade. His fingers close around the hilt. He doesn't have the strength to stand, but he'll struggle still a bit longer...
So here Blade is, crawling towards the seed. He doesn't think he can do it. Not like this. Indeed, his vision is a blur, and then, well, at some point, he just slumps forward. ]
no subject
Deep cracks run through her helmet, and her body shudders with each breath.
...
She stirs, and slowly pushes herself up to her knees. Pain shoots through her body, and she cringes, clutching at her side. The pressure just makes it hurt more, though. Blade just moved... Metis just said something. Mizuki... ]
Mizuki...?
[ She looks over at her, trying to discern if she's... alive? Conscious?
... The seed is still there. Her mace... looks like it's fallen on the ground somewhere between them. It feels like it's miles away. ]
no subject
When it does, everything goes eerie quiet. No voices whispering in the back of their minds, familiar or unfamiliar, just silence. Thoughts completely cleared up, no haziness, no fog, just your own thoughts.
However, slowly the spire begins to tremble, the platform holding the now broken seed starts to collapse and crumble. The entire spire falling apart as if no longer having any support to keep it upright, the whole flooring shaking and breaking into pieces as it falls below into the darkened abyss. ]
Lady Anise, Mizuki, Sir Blade-!
[ Even as Metis tries to reach for one of you, any of you, it matters little when the floor beneath everyone shatters entirely and everyone will find themselves sliding off. The sickly membrane growing dark as it fades into dust and the wind whips around with the velocity of the group dropping fast.
There's a crackle of energy nearby, far below each one of them do black tears start to shakily rip into the air. Similar to the black portals that have been seen with other group's returns, from the Senior officer's usage, but it's fragile, struggling in itself. There's a shatter in the background, before the tears merge together to form a big enough one and
one
by one.
Each of your bodies fall right through it, and back onto the loading dock of the Eudora. ]