The Power Inside

[Fortune86]

Arthur sped down the stairs, completely ignoring everyone he ran past. No one was paying him much attention anyway, the approaching Titans more of a concern than a young Investigator running around.

 

Even though he knew roughly where to go, it still took him several minutes to find the right door. Eventually he found the path to the lower secret levels under the city. He could hear shouting in the distance in a voice that sounded a lot like his uncle's. Arthur glanced down at Hima. If there were several Summoners waiting for him then this could prove to be difficult. He needed to think of a way around them.

Edited July 10, 2013 by Fortune86

[DragonSpirit009]

Bastian waited patiently for Diana to finish while he looked around in the room. He heard a man talking about some plan of attack and what each element should do. He found it some problematic since he promised that he would look after Diana. With those thoughts she regrouped with him.

 

“Good.” He spoke looking at her. She was healed and all but she still looked a bit horrible with the blood on her clothes. “Come we need to inform them on what we found out.”

[Chicogal]

Diana nodded. "Alright." She glanced about the room, before her eyes settled on the person who seemed to be in charge. Inclining her head toward him, she looked at Bastian once more. "They seem to be leading everyone here. Shall we tell them?" she asked, crossing her arms.

[Fortune86]

"Tell them what?"

 

Odara approached Bastain and Diana from behind. She recognised them as students of Ceil's. Was this the girl he had gone to rescue? Where was Ceil? What had become of her son?

[Chicogal]

"Odara!" Diana had recognised the woman as she turned around. Ceil's mother. Singing star. She'd been on the team escorting her on a mission. She looked toward Bastian before going back to her. Odara would, of course, want to know what had become of her son. "Ceil... Is alive. Hurt badly, but alive," she said, eyes becoming slightly round. Ceil's poor mother. "We told him to wait up in Jyeh's office- They managed to rescue me, and took out all of the near guards. Jyeh is hiding. I think - I hope - Ceil will be okay there. Arthur is going to try to take out the Titans." She glanced sideways as Bastian once more. He might want to explain further.

[DragonSpirit009]

Bastian turned around to look at Orada then back to the summoners who’s attention has turned to them. Diana gave bits and pieces on what they did but when she looked at him he knew he had to fill out the blanks.

 

“Ceil is fine and promised to stay where he is.” He spoke repeating what Diana had said. It was only let Orada get conformation from to sources that it was true.

 

“Arthur has gone to kill of the source of the titans.” He spoke looking at the group of summoners. “The titans are truly fiends that has gone wrong in an experiment that Jyeh led. He, from what I understand, tried to remove the fiend from a summoner but it failed in a way. He kept the summoners alive but the removed fiends mutated into the now titans. Its only recently that Jyeh has found a way to control the titans and he wishes to get rid of the monster and summoners a like.” Bastian paused a bit and looked a the group.

 

“Somewhere Jyeh has a hidden room with these summoners and if Arthur can get to them and kill them then the titans would die as well. So we just need to keep them away long enough for him to succeed in his mission.”

 

((I hope I explained it alright O.o))

[Fortune86]

Odara went pale as Bastain explained what was going on. Feeling a little faint due to the sheer audacity of Jyeh's plans she leaned against a nearby wall for support.

 

"By the gods" she breathed. "We knew Jyeh was up to something suspicious...but this? How could he?"

 

Through her light headedness Odara tried to think. The most important thing now was to keep the Titans away from the city until Arthur could do whatever he was going to. She looked down the street at the military forces desperately trying to get the panicking people surging through the gates to safety. While they were on Jyeh's payroll, not all of them would have been in on his plans. Many of them were probably just following orders. If word got out that the military were behind the Titans, then people would turn on them. The military were responsible for so many things across Wyhdori. Without them what was left of civilisation would fall apart.

 

"Okay...okay" she said picking herself up again. "Right now, I want the two of you to keep this to yourselves. We can discuss what we should do about this once the Titans have been stopped. Do what you can to help the other Summoners and be careful. Ceil would not like it if you were to get yourselves killed."

[Chicogal]

Diana listened to Odara's words. It made sense to not announce to the world what Jyeh had been up to. "Shall we go out and support them?" she asked. "Help them fight?" She wanted to fight alongside those out there. She didn't want to be left useless while Summoners died. "I want to do something."

[Fortune86]

Odara nodded.

 

"Yes. Do what you can, but don't take big risks. If Arthur really can stop the Titans, there is no point in trying to turn this into a fight to the death."

 

She turned and looked up at the main headquarters. Ceil was still in there somewhere.

 

"Now if you'll excuse me" she said turning back to the teenagers. "I'm going to go and find my son."

 

She hitched up her skirts and began to hurry down the street. A few feet away the Summoners who had been her guests finished sorting themselves into groups and began to march out towards the appraoching Titans. Several of them summoned their Fiends and began to fly or ride out of the city.

[Chicogal]

Before Bastian could object, Diana was among the other Summoners. She quickly found her element, told them she would be coming, then turned to Bastian. "I'm going to help!" she called as they began to leave, before joining them in their march. Except she wasn't really matching. More hurrying along to keep up. Seeing that some were Summoning already, she did the same. "Vann," she said, proudly, a hand on her chest. And so, a blue mist came out of her chest, becoming the shape of a blue unicorn and then solidifying. This was it. Their last stand. The final battle of Summoner and Titan. Diana hopped up, and held up the rear with her Fiend.

[Fortune86]

Arthur looked down at the unconscious person Hima had brought to him. He had asked his Fiend to bring him the first person they came across that was roughly his size and weight, but he hadn't been expecting this. Beggers couldn't be choosers though. He didn't have much time. The Summoners in the city would only be able to hold the Titans off for so long.

 

He pulled off his shoes and outer clothing and then stripped the person lying at his feet. Once he had dressed himself in their clothes he pulled them into a cupboard and then had Hima freeze the door shut, just enough that it would stick but not enough ice to be noticed.

 

Arthut did his best to hide his distintively coloured hair under his hat and reapproached the corridor leading to the underground levels. His disguise would work well at a distance, but if anyone got too close he would be discovered.

[DragonSpirit009]

Bastian watched as Orada left the house, hoping that she wouldn’t be to shocked at what she might find. Turning around to look at Diana, he noticed she wasn’t by his side any more.

 

“What the...” He spoke looking around when he heard Diana’s voice. She had already started to march out with the rest of the summoners and Bastian could only sigh.

 

“So this is what Ceil had to work with.” he spoke out loud to himself.

 

“Yeah so you better keep up with her before she injures herself.” Imari spoke as she leaned against the door.

She was waiting for the summoners of her element to be divided. She had already informed the group leader what her fiend was and waited patiently for her orders.

 

“Shut up.” Bastian spoke grumbling something about girls before he joined the march out with the rest of the summoners.

[Fortune86]

The Titans were now less than half a mile from Tehgrimm Suda. The assorted Summoners raced towards them in their respective groups. It was the flying Fiends that reached their mark first. Fourteen assorted electric and wind Fiends met up the Scorpion in midair. A fight broke out immediately as the Fiends let lose with everything they had. The Scorpion shrieked and began to fill the air with poison. Most managed to dodge the cloud, but it struck two Fiends, sapping their strength and causing them to fall from the sky.

 

The three earth Fiends capable of flight caught up with the Louse and struck it's underside in a tandem attack. As they had hoped theire move caught it's attention and caused the Titan to give chase. The three fliers instantly turned and plummeted towards the ground where the other earth Fiends were waiting. As they reached them the Louse shot forward with a burst of speed and snapped up one of them, swallowing the Fiend and Summoner whole.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Fortune86

[Chicogal]

Diana waved at Bastian for a last time. Maybe her last goodbye. It was slightly final in the way her face expressed determination. She had to keep the Slug away. If they wanted to help the people of Tehgrimm Suda survive, their Summoners had to fight. And she couldn't help a slightly bitter taste in her mouth. These were the people who had allowed Jyeh to rise, kept letting Summoners be forced to fight. But she had a responsibility. Turning back around, Rain set off at a gallop. She stretched out, using every ounce of muscle and sinew to go faster. Soon they outpaced the slower Fiends, in line with the ones shaped as large cats or other swift creatures. Her blue eyes were fixed firmly on the Slug. One, two, three, four, midair, one, two, three, four, midair. The pair sped on, their matching eyes focused. It was just them and the Slug.

Then all Hell broke lose.

 

((Are you controlling the other fighting Summoners, Fort? ))

[TotallyDrow]

Khaine was silent as the older more experienced earth summoners began to discuss their plan of attack. The main agenda in the discussion was based around how they would manage to keep the louse grounded.

 

Only a handful of the earth fiends present were capable of flight, meaning that an aerial fight was not ideal...

[Fortune86]

((Just making sure, but you saw the post I made about the Louse right Drow?

 

Only loosely Chico. Feel free to take over the ones fighting against the Slug.))

 

The two guards watching the door leading back into the main building raised their crossbows when the door opened, but lowered them again when they saw it was only a maid. She was struggling with the trolley used to take provisions to the workers below and one of them took pity on her and stepped forward to help, placing his crossbow on the top shelf of the trolley.

 

Together they managed to get the metal trolley through the door and the guard turned to close it behind her, checking the doorway as he did so. Behind him he heard a soft thump and he spun around to see his college on the floor with a crossbow bolt sticking out of his eye. He turned to the maid who then clouted him over the head with the bow. He sank to the floor unconscious.

 

Arthur stared down at the two men. It was shocking how easily these men were fooled. Hitching up his skirts he grabbed hold of the trolley and began to push it further down the corridor.

 

~~~

 

The ice summoners had their hands full with The Horse. It was the swiftest of the Titans and the hardest to hit. It's constant dancing around meant that only one out of every three attacks hit, some hitting other Fiends. That wasn't the only danger either, as the wind Titan was roughly the size of an elephant any Summoner it trampled on was quicly squashed.

[Chicogal]

Rain made sure to take a wide berth around the Horse, galloping on bravely. Diana was panting softly, a mix of adrenaline and slight fatigue. Then, they were near the Slug. Fifty metres or so away, but still close considering the immense size. Rain began to shoot water slaps toward the Titan, before setting off again, away from the city. They needed to draw it away.

[TotallyDrow]

((Can we say it was before your post? :3))

 

Both Khaine and Crixius raised their arms above their face as a cloud of dust fast approached, the louse's burst of speed causing dirt to fly in every direction.

 

The pained scream of a man echoed through the surrounding area as the louse swallowed him, sending a shiver down Khaine's spine. The man that had just died was an experienced summoner... compared to him.. Khaine was hardly a summoner.

 

A roar reverberated through the sky, the louse now angered at the summoners attempt of grounding it. Through a small opening in the dust cloud, both Khaine and Crixius caught a glance of the beast, circling around and preparing for a second attack. Crixius raised his arm up skyward, already rocks of varying sizes were orbiting around his arm as he took aim.

 

Once ready, the rocks began flying through the air at a speed akin to that of a machine gun.

Edited July 23, 2013 by TotallyDrow

[Fortune86]

With several soldiers bustling around carrying out his orders Ceil walked over to the window and stared out at the plains outside the city. There wasn't quite the view here that there was in Jyeh's office, so the wall surrounding Tehgrimm Suda obscured a fair chunck of the view, but Ceil could make out the top halves of the Titan's. From what he could tell they were all engaged in combat, but as he could not see the Summoners and Fiends they were fighting he could not tell how their battles fared.

 

The King, the largest of the six attacking Titans, raised one giant foot and slammed it into the ground. Ceil could feel the tremors even where he stood. He could only hope that whatever the King had tried to step on had managed to avoid it. The broken remains of a Summoner whose Fiend had been squashed was not a pretty sight.

[TotallyDrow]

A group of earth summoners had gathered at the front, their fiends busy creating a large wall of Earth in front of themselves. If anything, the louse ploughing through it should cause some damage, as well as act as a shield for the summoners.

 

With the wall built, a second set of summoners took the lead, this time using their fiends to produce large earth like spikes along the earthen wall.

 

 

Back down behind the wall, a group of villagers that had elected to aid the summoners were pushing several large ballista forward.

 

At this point, the summoners were severely outmatched and would accept any help they received and a contraption like this was bound to be helpful.

[Chicogal]

Diana could see other water Fiends doing the same as Rain. Just trying to draw the Slug away. It was taking a bit of notice, turning around slightly. It slowly started to move, sending a wave of fire toward the Summoners and Fiends. Rain created a sphere of water around herself and Diana, protecting them both from the attack. The water fizzled up as steam. Once it was gone, the girl urged her Fiend. "Come on, you huge ugly Slug! Come and get us!" she screamed at the Titan over her shoulder as they galloped on.

[DragonSpirit009]

Bastian had already left not waiting to receive instructions on what he should do. He already knew what has to be done but at the same time he needed to protect Diana. As he reached the gates that lead out he summoned Areo. The dragon fiend roared ready to into battle with his fellow summoners.

 

Bastian climbed on and the Areo took to the sky heading towards the direction of the rat. It was a small titan compared to Areo but it was still very deadly. Areo circled the sky looking for its pray while Bastian kept an eye out for Diana.

 

Suddenly a large cut appeared on Bastian’s right arm, a smallish flesh wound. He drew his attention to look at where it hit Areo and notice a tear in one of his wings. Looking down he could see the Rat forming new icy quills on its back. The titan felt threatened by Areo’s size and clearly decided to attack it first.

 

“Keep it busy. This will help those on the ground to move in closer.” Bastian spoke to Areo. The dragon fiend roared and dived down towards the Rat. He released a fireball onto the titan and quickly pulled up again. It was only a good thing seeing that the Rat recovered faster than he had thought and shot several icy quills at him.

 

Areo dodged most of them but several had hit him in his hind legs causing Bastian to grab his own legs. They were pierced with holes and were bleeding furiously from under his clothes. Bastian forced himself not to scream from the pain, clenching his firsts causing his knuckles to go white.

 

“Continue.” He finally forced himself to say. Areo hesitated a bit but followed his summoners orders and continued his attack.

 

~~

 

Imari had received her order on as acting as a distraction for the Louse and as assistance to those who need to get out. Seeing that the titan was one of the larger one’s and needed more convincing to change direction.

 

Both fiend and summoner flew high above making sure not to get in the way of the attacks of the earth fiends. It was a bit hard due to most of them missed and half the time some of the boulder earth attacks almost had hit her and Drahual. Finally after several minutes of dodging Drahual landed on the Louse’s back.

 

“Dig Drahual. Dig!” Imari shouted. Drahual didn’t have to think twice for this order. With a powerful strike the dragon fiends claw bore into the scaly surface of titan. It took several minutes before he broke through the scaly surface.

 

“Over here.” Imari shouted to another summoner, an earth type as well.

 

“Yes what can I help with?” the man spoke as he and his fiend came closer.

 

“Attack it right there.” she spoke to the man.

 

The man looked at her first curiously until he looked at the hole that Drahual dug. It was then that he saw soft tissue exposed which would mean that he and his fiend wouldn’t waste to much energy breaking through its think hide.

 

“Smart girl. Go dig more others will be up here soon.” he spoke. Stepping back his fiend, a large flying gorilla, stepped closer. Raising its hands a piece of rock formed above him and within mere seconds a boulder was above him. The gorilla fiend let his hands down and the boulder followed, landing right in the hole that Drahual dug. The Louse cried from the attack, bellowing an horrific sound.

[Fortune86]

Arthur continued to push the trolley down the corridor, keeping his head down to try and hide his face. Hima was hidden under the cloth that covered the trolley's lower shelf, and as small as he was, it was a tight fit. Arthur could feel the pressure himself as it the shelves pressed down on Hima's chest.

 

As the two of them drew close to the end door a soldier stepped out of a nearby doorway. He looked up, spotted Arthur, and called out to him.

 

"Hey! You're not allowed down there! Get away from that door!"

 

As the soldier started to stride towards Arthur other soldier started to emerge to see what was going on. Arthur drew to a halt but continued to look down. Even with the disguise he knew he would be recognised the moment anyone saw his face, and he couldn't possibly face all these men by himself.

 

The first soldier approached him and grabbed him roughly by the shoulder.

 

"Didn't you hear me girl? I said to get away."

 

He pulled Arthur round to look down at him and instantly recognised the boy before him.

 

"What the...?"

He let go of Arthur and stepped back, his hand rising to his chest. Quickly Arthur pulled the cloth off the trolley and Hima bathed the soldier in his icy breath, trapping him in a sold block of ice. Instantly the other soldiers cried out and began to surge forward. As Arthur struggled to pull Hima free of the trolley Hima breathed again, this time at the floor. Several soldiers stepped onto the ice now forming on the ground and slipped, a few of them falling over and knocking into their comrades.

 

Just as Arthur wrenched his Fiend free one quick thinking soldier loaded his crossbow and took a shot at the young Summoner over the struggles of the men on the ice. The bolt hit Arthur who the shoulder and he hissed in pain. As the oncoming soldiers got to their feet Arthur and Hima made a break for the door, slamming it shut behind them.

 

Hima started to freeze the door over as Arthur ripped off the maid's hat and apron. Now in just his leggings and shirt Arthur turned to look around at the main cavern. There were only three people in here, one of which was his uncle, Jyeh.

[Chicogal]

The Slug began to turn and slowly slide along toward the various water Summoners who were trying to lead him away. And it was working. Diana couldn't help the wild grin on her face as Rain slid to a stop and continued on whipping with her water slashes. "We're doing it!" she cried out, head tilted back to the sky. Seeing that the Slug was getting closer again, they set off galloping once more. It was tiring, of course. But this was like their last stand. Quite suddenly, there was a huge burning sensation all down her back - with a scream, she looked over her shoulder to see Rain's back alight with a fire attack. It was quickly doused - luckily - but she didn't escape some minor burns. Ouch. On they went, further and further away, stopping every now and then to whip at the Slug.

[Fortune86]

Jyeh looked over at Arthur and then at the discarded skirts on the floor.

 

"You know, I always wondered about you" he mused. "You never did show much interest in the girls."

 

Arthur ignored the jibe and stepped forward, Hima at his side. The movement caused the two bodyguards to quickly summon their own Fiends, a long firey snake and a antelope of earth. Neither of which the much smaller Hima had much advantage over.

 

"Come now Arthur" said Jyeh spreading his arms wide. "There is no reason for us to fight. You know my plan makes sense. Obtain and secure enough people to ensure the future of humanity and scour the rest of the world clean. Destroy all monsters, everywhere. Leave all the fighting and death to the Titans while the rest of us remain safe inside the city. When the Titans have completed their purpose, we can reclaim the lands."

 

"A lot of people will die" said Arthur simply.

 

Jyeh shrugged.

 

"A small price to pay for a fresh start. And it won't just be the monsters we will purge from the world. Think about all those silly useless people who insist on making life so much harder for the rest of us. Here in Tehgrimm Suda we can control who gets the right to survive. Only those who have purpose and contribute towards the future of our species will be able to move on into the new world."

 

"How?" asked Arthur. "Deny them food? Toss them back out for the Titans to slaughter?"

 

"Perhaps both" admitted Jyeh. "Your little stunt yesterday forced my hand. I needed to start the plan before you could talk to too many people. There are still...rough patches that need to be smoothed out."

 

Hima growled at the snake and antelope as they slowly edged closer towards them. They were coming at him and Arthur from either side, so he would not be able to defend against both at once. Attack one, and the other would get a clear shot at his Summoner.

 

"Think about it Arthur. A clean world. A new start. No more fear of monsters."

 

Arthur hesitated. As much as he hated to admit it, his uncle did have a point. Monsters killed so many people a year, even with the Summoners doing their best to fight against them. If the monster threat was truely wiped out once and for all, then future humans would have a much higher rate of survival. If enough people had been gathered inside Tehgrimm Suda, then the population could be rebuilt in just a few hundred years.