The Multiverse IC

[Thaelasan]

"Does humanity work... like souls?" Lu asked, holding out her hand. A small amount of blue, circular objects with stars in the center floated above her palm.

"Are you sure you should be offering those, my Queen?" Ciel asked. "Did you not say that those were important?"

"The souls of great beasts, yes, but not the souls of lesser demons. If he requires them... then I suppose I may assist. After all, a great Queen helps her subjects, does she not?" Lu asked, crushing the souls in her hand. "He has assisted us. Therefore, I am obligated to help him."

"As you say, my Queen." Ciel bowed. "We shall assist you in any way we may, Sir Solaire. Tell me more of this... land of Lordran. It seemed to interest my Queen, so I wish to know more about it."

"Yes, please!" Lu said, laying her hands on Solaire's arm like a small child desiring a story, her eyes full of curiosity. "A land of Kings and Lords!? It must be beautiful!"

Corrin, however, was still concerned about this man's state of mind. To burn a body, for any reason other than respect...

He shuddered at the thought.

[Coryn02]

Solaire ((Solaire, buddy, you should be a tour guide for Lordran. Charge a thousand souls an hour, make a killing doing it.))

 

After Solaire had finished explaining what he could figure about making a Bonfire without a human corpse, which he found a tall order indeed, Lu suggested that the souls she was familiar with functioned somewhat like humanity, and held out some blue orbs with stars inside as her example. She obviously wanted to help, though Ciel suggested they be saved for another time as they were somewhat important.

 

Those do look a bit like Firekeeper souls, so they might be able to light a Bonfire. At the same time, I'm not sure that mixing things from other realms is a good idea... Bah! What am I saying? I go to other realms all the time, it should be fine.

 

After affirming he and his queen would aid him in any way, Ciel asked him more about the land of Lordran. Lu, in a manner very uncharacteristic of a ruler, grabbed onto his arm and expressed her wish for him to continue like a begging child.

 

Solaire laughed and, after a brief reference to his childhood, he sat on the ground against a wall and continued to speak about Lordran as the people streamed past them.

 

"You remind me of myself as a boy, begging my mother for stories before bedtime. Nonetheless, I'll tell of the places I plan to visit."

 

"Lordran is an expansive land, and nearly all of it has been inhabited at some point. There are old abandoned cities, like Blighttown and the Undead Burg with its parish.

 

"Some areas are more isolated, like the Darkroot Garden which houses the grave of the Abysswalker, and the Valley of Drakes with its surprisingly threatening dragon chicks."

 

Solaire mentioned the dragon chicks with a hint of embarrasment, as he'd encountered a single chick once and severely underestimated its capabilities; turns out they can breathe sparks of lightning. It didn't take him long to determine it was also weak to lightning, and a few Sunlight Spears were more than enough to take care of it.

 

Never underestimate anything. That should be the slogan of Lordran. And if it were, there'd be a lot less Hollows lurking about.

 

"Many of the man-made structures endure for a long time in Lordran, like the deadly Sen's Fortress and the glittering city of Anor Londo, made of white alabaster. That's where the Lords live. Duke Seath the Scaleless, the confidante of Lord Gwyn, also manages the Archives there if you seek knowledge."

 

Solaire knew Seath the Scaleless personally, and he'd proven to be quite good at teaching back when Solaire was still heir to the throne of Anor Londo. It had been many centuries since he'd seen Seath, but for all he knew, the old lizard might have gotten himself buried neck-deep into a study on some new type of sorcery or something.

 

"And if you want to go deeper, there's the Tomb of Giants where many primordial creatures once lived, and once I heard tell of the Ash Lake. One of the only groves of arch-trees left is there, and the last remaining Everlasting Dragon. But that might only be a rumor."

 

All the reminiscing about Lordran had gotten Solaire somewhat sidetracked, and upon remembering Lu's initial question he launched into an introductory explanation about souls and humanity.

 

"As for the matter of the two substances of being... From what I know, souls and Humanity are both bequeathed to an Undead who can get them from something that has passed on, regardless of how it died, but they don't serve the same purposes. Humanity is used to reverse the Hollowing process and to feed Bonfires, whereas souls can make you more powerful."

 

I hope they're ready; this is going to get very complicated, at least for me...

 

"Let's put it this way: You can train all your life, hone your mind and body for combat, use your sword as well as if it was your own arm. But if you fight something that's ultimately more powerful than you are, you're finished. Obtaining enough souls can allow you to render your own soul more powerful, by forging them into your being at a Bonfire. Given how hazardous it is to be only as strong as a normal human, souls have become the standard currency in Lordran because having a stronger soul makes that much of a difference."

 

"What you showed me earlier looked more like powerful souls, rather than the units I usually come across. The sort that are strong enough to be imbued into a weapon. Either way, if they do contain some humanity, they should do as fuel for a Bonfire."

 

Solaire, despite the dark tslk of Lordran's many dangers, tried to sound upbeat again for the sake of it.

 

"Well, with a blade in your hand and the sun on your brow you can go anywhere you set your mind to, so I'm sure once I get back to Lordran my sun will be waiting for me to feel its glow!

 

Solaire laughed, though inside he felt much more mixed about the whole situation.

Edited April 1, 2016 by Coryn02

[Thaelasan]

(( That quote was genius. ))

 

Lu turned to Ciel, jumping happily.

"CITIES OF ALABASTER! Glorious fortresses! Souls as currency! A land of thrilling intrigue and lost history! Oh Ciel it sounds absolutely marvelous! We need to visit! How do we get there!? I want to go there!"

She tugged on Ciel's sleeve while he sighed knowingly.

"I have no idea, my Queen. I've never heard of a land like that in all my time living." Ciel stated sadly, gesturing. "But maybe Solaire can help us get there? We'll go there someday, I assure you. After all, my Queen, if it pleases you, I will make it so."

Lu then turned back to Solaire, her eyes shining blue and white.

"Our souls work like that! They empower Ciel and I, the more we gather! I had no idea there were so many people able to use Soulcraft! Ah, I wish to learn from them!" Lu had her hands on both sides of her face, absolutely enthralled. "So many others, with so much to teach!"

The haughty, pretentious girl that had been standing before them moments before was now as a child, completely lost in her own imagination.

 

Meanwhile, Corrin could only ponder it himself as Kinu lay on his back, sleeping. A land such as that sounded as though history had left it untouched for ages. How could it have survived? But with the Hollows roaming about and the ancient evils Solaire seemed to only touch upon...

But an Everlasting Dragon? Was he like Corrin's father?

[Coryn02]

Solaire ((What was the quote? I don't think I quoted anything on purpose, but I might have.))

 

After the knight finished speaking, Lu became positively ecstatic. She seemed quite willing to go to Lordran right now, though she had no way of getting there and still didn't understand a whole lot, as Solaire only explained what he knew from a cursory perspective. She then excitedly told Ciel about how much she wanted to go there. He almost sounded defeated when he replied that he'd go if it made her happy.

 

Lu then turned back to Solaire and told him that the souls she harvested in her own world functioned in much the same way, calling it 'soulcraft' and wishing to learn about how it was done in Lordran.

 

"There's not a whole lot involved to reinforcing a soul... I doubt it's that different from how you do it yourselves. And nobody's going to Lordran if we can't find out how I got here in the first place. I doubt there's no way back. On that note, you're not natives of this land either, are you?"

 

This question was what Solaire should have started with, since he needed to get back to Lordran more than he needed a Bonfire.

 

Kinu was still asleep on Corrin's back. Just now, Solaire noticed that his armor was a gleaming silver, and he bore a purple cape. Could it be he was royalty as well? The knights of Anor Londo wore silver, reserved only for the Lords' guards. Presumably, other realms considered it the same way.

 

Solaire attempted to confirm his suspicions by asking about Corrin's origins.

 

"Nor are you. I'd guess you're royal blood as well, but I've no way of knowing for certain."

 

The crowds continued to ignore their little group, but Solaire figured if they were to continue such discussions and then make a Bonfire it should be somewhere less crowded. The sheer number of people was somewhat... Unnerving.

 

"What do you all say we find someplace new? I'd rather not build a Bonfire where there are so many people around."

[Thaelasan]

(( The one about the sun on your brow. ))

 

The Dream Team

 

Lu turned to Ciel, then nodded to Solaire.

"I think we could do with a change of scenery, yes. Especially if those men decide to chase us once again." Lu said, slightly annoyed. "But no, we aren't natives of this land. We're from Elrios, though I'm from the demon planes of the lower realms. He's from Velder."

Ciel nodded, bowing.

"One of the larger human towns." Ciel added. "Not that it means much now. It never was really home for me."

"Yes quite." Lu added, rolling out her shoulders. "In any case, we missed lunch time by a few hours and dinner is rapidly approaching with the stars. I'm feeling terribly hungry. Ciel, could you help make this problem go away?"

She batted her eyes at Ciel and he nodded.

"Of course, whatever you wish. And I'm assuming Solaire and you two will be joining us? After all, you are all welcome, and I do feel I owe you after what occurred with your wife." Ciel scratched the back of his head. "Now I feel terrible about it."

Corrin then turned to Solaire at the mention of Royal Blood.

"Oh... uh... yes, of Hoshido blood, of the royal line, a noble. But, I was kidnapped..." he began, then trailed off. "Though, then I discovered I'm not truly of their blood... It's, complicated, really. I'm not even sure what my blood means anymore."

"Don't worry about it Corrin!" Kinu said happily, albeit exhaustedly, from her place on Corrin's back. "Your blood... it's yours... And I don't mind what you really are as long as you're with me!"

"Thank you... Kinu. That means... quite a lot." Corrin said, pleased. "That really does."

"No problem!" Kinu moved a bit, leaning forward. "But... I heard food! Are we going to eat?! Can I have some?! What is it?!"

"Not sure yet. It depends on my Queen's palate for today." Ciel pointed at her. "Of course, she must always eat her vegetables even if she doesn't enjoy them. And she hasn't had green peppers in days, so it is about that time-"

"Baaaaah..." Lu interrupted, displeased. "Ugh. Nasty things. They ruin the meal. Meat and sugar are better. Who needs plants?"

"If you wish to keep your divine figure, my Queen, you will trust me on this one. I have said it many times, but you cannot stay healthy without a good-"

"Balaaaance of your foood grooooooups." Lu mocked, tongue out. "But they taste so BLAAAAAAND...."

"Peppers don't! And certain other vegetables as well." Ciel insisted, pulling a book from the soul realm. "We will be having SOME form of vegetables and fruits tonight in order to balance your vitamins, my Queen. Your health is of my utmost concern! Therefore, I will be checking certain recipes labeled as such. Let us see..."

"Uggghhhh!" Lu protested, leaning on him. "Ciiiiieeeeeeellll.."

"No, my Queen. It is necessary. And do not pout. My Queen does not pout or whine. She is an upstanding, beauteous pinnacle of her community and a model, is she not?"

"But CIIIEEELLL!"

"Come now. I shall use a good amount of salt to balance out the flavor for you if you wish it. What about candied fruits then for dessert? You liked those."

"....Really?"

"Yes. If you wish it. Perhaps some salted caramels as well? I can always provide."

".....Hmmmmm...."

"And, if you eat all of it, I suppose I could add a parfait for the final touch."

Lu smiled widely, crossing her arms.

"Truly, Ciel, you know how to spoil me..." Lu touched his chin. "Very well, I shall eat as much as I can. I suppose your cooking does make it taste better."

"I appreciate your compliments. Solaire, do you have any dishes you would like me to add? If it is something I can cook, I will try to make it. I always try to provide for guests of my Queen as well." Ciel stated, handing him the book.

"Hey! Don't forget me!" Kinu waved. "Meat please! Just meat! Any meat!"

"Uh... I wouldn't mind some too. It has been a while since we last ate." Corrin rubbed his cheek sheepishly. "Though potatoes would be nice."

Edited April 2, 2016 by Thaelasan

[Coryn02]

Solaire ((Ah! Yes, thank you.))

 

Lu and Ciel explained their origins after agreeing to move on. Corrin also replied that he was indeed of royal blood, though only of upbringing and not of ancestry. He seemed a bit crestfallen until Kinu reassured him of his personal value to her.

 

I'm glad these people all know what sort of person they are and how others see them... Most people who see me think I'm a madman. But who I truly am? I'm a dishonored prince stripped of his title. Maybe someday soon, I can become a Lord again, and Father will let me come home...

 

The brief mention of food by Lu got Kinu's attention as well. Solaire thought that was somewhat silly, since only children are really heavily preoccupied with food... That is, until the lengthy discussion between Ciel and Lu about eating healthily ensued. Her Majesty was acting exactly like a spoiled child, with her servant insisting and eventually convincing her of his perspective.

 

Are these two being serious? Ciel is right, royalty doesn't act this way!

 

Solaire himself was offered a say in the food they were to prepare. This was a rather sensitive matter for him, as the Darksign brought more than it seemed: An Undead does not need to eat, drink, or sleep. Even breathing is no longer required for survival.

 

"Thank you, Ciel. But an Undead does not need to eat." Solaire declined, politely holding out his hand and shaking his head sideways as a clear 'no'.

 

The Warrior of Sunlight looked to the skies, and saw the sun brightly shining down on him from its place among the clouds. He thought of his father, and of the covenant he'd started as a young prince, and of the entire pantheon of Anor Londo. Solaire let himself be mesmerized by its radiant influence, giving into his deep fascination with light.

 

Perhaps, when I return to Anor Londo, I'll be able to eat again. My father can surely lift the Darksign. Once I've proven myself, that won't be an issue.

[pudding]

Loki

After a moment of pause, Loki punched in her name into the internet. Her alias, of course, since those tended to be more public than anything else. The result on his phone was probably something he hadn’t really wanted to see as the first article to appear was a wikipedia article referencing a comic. The same comic company that searching his brother’s name had revealed. Additionally, several drawn images that could easily be that blue skinned woman he had seen for just a moment were visible under the images tab. Oddly enough, there were few images of her disguised but he probably just had to assume that she was prone to changing that frequently. After all, while he was comfortable in one form, Loki himself was tempted to change things up occasionally. But it just confirmed everything, really.

“Alright,” He replied, raising his hand to his mouth and biting his knuckle softly in thought. After a moment, he turned off his phone and tucked it away in his belt before turning his gaze to Mystique again. “It looks as though getting home will be harder than I thought. Apparently in this world, we’re meant to be characters in some kind of comic book. Which would explain the time jump.” He paused for a moment before looking down at the pocket his phone was in. Wait, if his brother was a character here….okay, ew. He was going to have to make sure he didn’t look at any fan fiction websites while he was here. A terrible slash on the internet indeed. He was not going to willingly dive into that mess. “But it doesn’t explain why or how. Or what the archer was doing here.” He rubbed his forehead. Okay, new universe. Somehow transported here from their old one. By, he would have to assume, King Loki. He had shown the ability to manipulate reality enough to time travel.

So the real questions now were how to get back home and, more pressingly, was Thor also sent here? Also, for what purpose had not just he, but also Mystique been sent here?

 

Chat

“Spirits?” Chat asked, looking puzzled for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Ah, you mean akuma?” Was there an English equivalent for those little butterfly things? It had to be that, apparently. He had never really bothered to learn specific words like that. After all, France was the only nation that had to deal with akuma attacks. Otherwise he’d know about them from other places. Hawk Moth was after their miraculouses, after all. Why send Akuma to other places when he knew they’d respond to the ones in Paris? Unless there were other miraculous users, but he didn’t know about that. If there were, they had yet to come forward.

“Sure, I deal with them all the time,” He replied with a shrug. “I have a partner who usually helps named Ladybug but I guess she’s still back in France. I was actually fighting one right before I got dragged here. I thought it might be because of the akuma, you know. Like, it was the one who sent me here.” He looked at her, puzzled this time. “Wait, you don’t have them at your home, do you? Who fights them when they show up?"

 

King Loki

The old Loki, King Loki, sat perched on top of one of the many buildings, precariously crouched on the point of a spike. Clearly there was some kind of magic allowing him to do so since even the slightest wind would have knocked him off the thin needle, but he remained unmoved as his wrinkled features stared down at the world below. “Huh,” He muttered, moving a finger through the air and then wiping it on his tongue thoughtfully, tasting the air. “Feels like the region of a couple years. But not my timeline.” He frowned, trying to sort out the distinct taste of the air. Too gritty. Not enough magic. “Not that boy’s timeline either.” He paused, rising up from his crouching position ever so slightly to leer over the top of the building, looking down at the rooftops of the smaller buildings below where a black shape caught his eye. “Well that’s new,” He commented, staring down at the winged beast below. Ah, there were two of them actually. Dragons, was it now? Not really that much magic in the air to support something like that. What a strange place this was turning out to be.

“Well,” he said, standing up and stretching out his back. “Time to get to work, I suppose.” Lifting his hand up, he summoned a ball of green magic and closed one eye before taking aim at the beast below. A little blinding and some suggestive rage should be enough to send it into a fury. And what would the god of chaos be if he did not start a bit of madness?

 

Toothless

The black dragon tipped his head slightly to the side, waiting for a response when, from the sky, a green jet of some kind of fire suddenly shot between his legs. Jerking his head upright and dropping down onto all fours, the Night Fury looked up just in time to see another green blast envelop his vision. The green, fiery orb exploded immediately on impact and the dragon jerked his head to the side, his eyes squeezed shut for a brief moment. Vivid green sludge, or perhaps it was some kind of goo, was splattered across his eyes, preventing him from opening them completely and covering his faltering vision with a green filter. A loud rushing noise filled his ears as the dragon jerked backwards, flapping awkwardly into the air. His legs jerked around his head, trying to tear the goo off of his face. When this failed to work and the goo seemed firmly wedged over his eyes, he quickly swerved away, flying away from the building. In his blinded state he crashed into another, taller building nearby almost immediately, breaking several windows before managing to righten himself up. Who had attacked him? He hadn’t been able to see properly and whatever had hit his eyes was not coming off. Snarling, his nostrils flared up as he breathed in before beating his wings and following the scent through the air. Petty attacks, was it? It had to be them since they attacked him earlier before running off without finishing the fight. Growling, he managed to scratch away enough of the green goo to open up one eye, though the greenish filter still remained that blurred his vision and made his hard to see. No matter, he could still sniff them out. And they couldn’t have gone that far considering they were just humans.

 

In fact, it did not take more than a few moments before the scent grew stronger and his eyes focused on the two familiar figures below, along with a few others. Baring his teeth, he quickly tilted his body down, his mouth opened wide as purple fire gathered in his throat. A screeching noise filled the air as he dipped downwards and fired a shot, striking the street nearby before angling upwards again and trying to land on a nearby roof. Emphasis on trying, since his blindness instead sent him slamming into the corner of the roof. Gasping, his claws quickly gripped the hardened stone and he dragged himself up onto the high perch before turning around, trying to squint down at the people below. He wanted a rematch! Especially if they were going to resort to cheap tricks. The rushing noise in his ears only intensified as he roared loudly, demanding his challenge be answered.

[Thaelasan]

Lu yet again stood stark still as a purple blast decimated the asphalt near them and shocked several civilians who were in this part of the town. A few people had already grabbed their phones while others were running for their lives. Ciel brushed his suit disdainfully.

"It appears the fishwench couldn't handle the problem after all." Lu blew on her nails, wiping them against her shirt. "Should have known we couldn't have left it to her."

"The beast appears blinded and weakened. Why is it attempting to continue fighting?" Ciel asked, as he watched it slam into a rooftop.

"The same reason any cornered beast fights." Lu said, looking up at him. "To survive."

"Very well. What is our course of action?" Ciel asked, as Corrin took a few steps back.

"Kill the damn thing and be done with it, Ciel." Lu sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm hungry and I'm not in the mood for this sort of altercation. You have ten minutes. Any longer, and I may become angry."

Ciel retrieved Marbas as Lu went into the Soul Realm, his eyes full of certainty. He drew Marbas, the familiar hum of the soul energy coalescing around him.

"You have been judged and found wanting..." he whispered, aiming the gun upward, the laser on the Dragon's back. "And now, your existence comes to an end. Please, die quickly, dragon. It's time for dinner, and Lu hates to be kept waiting."

He began to fire a barrage of bullets, each one aimed near or at the dragon, tracking it with the gun.

[shadow_claw]

Maxwell The Great

 

It was a horrible screech, reminiscent of napalm, that jarred the old man from his thoughts. Before his own thoughts surfaced, they were already telling him to move. To get out of the way. So he did. Diving forward, Maxwell's eyes widened in surprise. Intense heat scorched his back, making his suit smoke. But, all in all, his dodge had been timely. And all it cost him was some scrapes on his hands.

 

But an attack would not be regarded lightly. As the spindly man stood, he brushed himself off, searching for his assailant. They had found it immediately. A magnificent beast, with scales are dark as shadow. Although beautiful...it had nearly ruined his suit. That alone was worth its head.

 

As Maxwell stalked forward, he pulled an old, worn book from his coat. They were sent into a frenzy in the back of his mind at the sight of it. The Codex Umbra. For Maxwell, it was like aiming a nuke in his decided direction. And it did a number on his mind. They were much more prevalent when allowed to run free. One hand clutched the back cover of the tome, one clutched the front. Maxwell held the book vertically, and sucked in a breath.

 

All Hell was let loose in the general direction of the dragon. A horrid, unimaginable plume of writhing sin burst from the pages, tearing at everything in sight. And, in turn, anyone in sight. Demons did not discriminate, after all. In some (un)happy coincidence, the book's large range managed to reach towards the archer man. The one he had healed. Hopefully that boy would get thrown into the destruction as well.

 

Clint

 

It seemed as soon as he began to walk away, he was pulled right back into trouble. Literally. Hundreds, no thousands of hands gripped at any possible surface on his body, tearing him into a churning pool of malevolence. Claws made of pure sin gouged into his body, piercing into his very soul. His ears rang. Blood soon gushed from his nose and his previous wounds, pouring from reservoirs unknown to the archer himself. Only as pitiful cry was produced before Clint's consciousness began to fade. He quieted, hanging limp as he was ripped apart.

[pudding]

King Loki

 

Having shifted significantly to another building, King Loki watched as the dragon apparently found its target, having settled on a building after firing some kind of fire blast. Now this was interesting, wasn't it? The ones the dragons had picked a fight with did not run away like the others, but instead seemed to be some kind of heroes based on their confrontational nature. Anyone with an ounce of sanity wouldn't charge headfirst into a fight with a dragon. Or, at least, not without a few tricks up their sleeve.

And, apparently, these did have some. As the smallest girl vanished and the man stepped forward to fight, his gaze drifted to another who had yet who had yet to vanish. He grasped a book in his hands, causing the trickster to perk up slightly. Hm? Oh, what in the world was that? His wrinkled lips curled into a smile as he rested his cheek against his face, holding out his other hand towards the dragon. Well, that book certainly look interesting. But it's attack looked too dangerous and he didn't want this fun to end so early.

"Come on, let's see what all of you can do. Fight until you fall over from exhaustion." He jerked his fingers slightly to the side, watching as the blinded dragon responded as if a puppet on a string.

 

Toothless

 

The dragon roared as he dug his claws into the rooftop, a plasma blast charging in his throat before firing it at the vague figures below. The purple blast collided with the magical bullets, exploding and quickly sending a shockwave outwards. Huffing, the Night Fury squinted past the smoke before beginning to charge another blast, barely hesitating to confirm his targets were, in fact, alive. This was a fight. This was a fight for honor and pride and it was one he would not lose. If it was a fight to the death, he did not care. After all, a dragon always killed vikings. A viking always killed dragons. What was one or two more in this situation?

However, just as he prepared to fire, his body lurched to the side. His jaws snapped shut in surprise as he stumbled, teetering to the opposite edge of the building and almost falling off entirely. Shaking his head, he squinted and scratched at the green film over his eyes, trying to clear more of the strange substance away from his eyes so he could see, blissfully unaware that the sudden involuntary action had jerked him safely out of reach of the masses of black shadows. Hissing softly as only a few flakes of green cleared away from his eyes, he turned back towards the edge of the building and squinted down, peering over the edge of the roof again. With his vision all but robbed of him, it was more or less up to hearing. His large ears stood on end as he tilted his head slightly to the side before quickly firing an uncharged but shockingly precise shot towards Ciel. There was no time for mercy here. If anyone got caught up in his fight, they would burn just as well. He couldn't afford to discriminate when he could not see who he was firing at and was relying only on sound.

[shadow_claw]

Undyne

 

The chaos that suddenly burst to life around her left Undyne dazed for a few moments. Vulnerable. But as soon as she snapped out of it, she was in full battle gear. Her armor and spear were back, but this time, she was chasing after the dragon.

"Hey! Stop it! It's okay!"

A spin of her spear was all it took to scare off that...horrible dark stuff. Being a creature made entirely of pure magic, she was practically a beacon against the stuff. Her single eye scoured the area for some sort of culprit, but with all the darkness about, she saw...nothing. Nothing but the poor dragon, that was.

"Ngahh, get back here!"

The surface was startling, sure, but she had just settled the monster down! Why...why was he acting up again? Something had to be wrong.

 

Scout and Lawrence

 

"Woah woah WOAH!" Most of Scout's day had been dragging Lawrence away from danger. The Sniper was never very fast to start with, but he was so horribly injured that he was way slower than usual. And when all hell let loose, that was all he was still doing. Blue eyes darted to a man, one in surprisingly old clothing. He was fighting all this crazy . He could help Lawrence.

"HEY! Yeah, metal visor guy! We've got injured!"

God, where was a Medigun when it was needed? They were surely out of range of respawn, too. This was no longer playing war. If they died...that was it.

 

Chell

 

As the woman crept towards the entrance of the blue box, her movements got slower. She was no stranger to bad things around a corner. Like an incinerator instead of cake. Or Wheatley in...in general, honestly. And she was wary. So it was no surprise that, as soon as she set eyes on the box's interior, she froze in fear.

 

A large machine hung placidly from the ceiling of an otherwise blank room. Turning slowly, a singular, yellow lens burned into Chell's very core.

"Hello, you mute monster.

 

A silent gasp, and Chell was hiding behind the mass of others. She blinked once, then rapidly. Her gaze flickered to the box's interior. It...it wasn't GLaD0S. She had just imagined it. Shaking behind the two grown men, she hesitated to peel her grasp from Isaac's arm. What if she hadn't imagined it? What if this was some sort of trap?

[Coryn02]

Solaire ((Is the metal visor guy in Scout's speech referring to Solaire? If so, I'll add to this later.))

 

Chaos erupted around the knight. They were attacked by some sort of black dragon which employed a form of offensive sorcery- for it had to be sorcery given that its breath looked and acted like a Soul Arrow. After its attack, the creature roared loudly, clearly emphasizing its aggressive intentions. Ciel and Lu had encountered the beast before and quickly determined that it was both injured and needed to die.

 

Ciel took out his weapon, aimed and began to fire at it; what Solaire expected was a crossbow-like weapon. Instead, it rapidly started to fire what seemed to be metal pellets at the creature. He'd never seen anything quite like it, but doubted its effectiveness.

 

If you think those will do anything to it when a steel blade does nothing, you're sorely mistaken. The stone scales of a dragon resist any form of harm. Fighting it like that will only make it more angry, and then all these innocent people will be hurt.

 

Among the screaming, fleeing crowds, another man remained. He seemed old and gaunt, and was wearing what seemed to be simple cloth garments dyed black. The man held a book, which seemed fairly innocuous, until it was opened and a torrent of death came out headed for the dragon, also striking a bystander.

 

There was another person on the roof with the dragon, who seemed to be a knight much like himself. They brandished a spear and easily repelled the creatures as the dragon fired another blast of energy at Ciel.

 

What is going on here? Why do any of these people think fighting will fix anything? Combat should only be for survival, not as a sport.

 

Solaire spoke to Ciel, trying to make himself heard over the rapid-fire weapon he was employing:

 

"If you think this is going to improve the situation, I'm not inclined to agree with you! We should just leave and gather our thoughts."

Edited April 5, 2016 by Coryn02

[Chicogal]

Mystique

 

Mystique was still rather entranced by Loki’s cellphone, although she glanced away as he typed in more things – presumably, her name. She wondered what it would turn up with. A minute or two passed by, and she adjusted herself against the cold stone wall of the alleyway. When Loki spoke again, she looked at him as if he’d just sprouted a third head. Surely she must have misheard, but with all that was happening… “Characters?” she spluttered, shaking her head.

 

It was impossible. Standing up from against the wall, she gestured down herself. “Are you telling me that people here won’t care if they know I’m a mutant?” Mystique stared at him for a moment, before her expression relaxed and she shook her head. Loki wasn't to know what was happening here. He was in the same boat as her. She sighed softly, glancing out of the alley and crossing her arms protectively. "I guess it doesn't matter that much. I'm not a real person in either place anyway... What are we going to do, then, God of Pants? Surely a god could transport us back?"

 

~~~

 

Katara

 

"Akuma..." Katara rolled the word around her mouth. It didn't sound like anything that she'd ever known, but this boy and this world were entirely new experiences for her. She considered it, until he got up to the point of fighting spirits. Her expression became surprised, eyebrows rising and mouth opening a little. Oh. "Maybe that was lost in translation," she commented. "Spirits don't appear all that often, unless angered or in pain. Usually the Avatar is the only person who can deal with them, since he's the human world's link to the spirit world. And he prefers not to fight, and rather reason. Fighting... Isn't always the best path." She'd never been a violent person by nature, preferring to care for others than harm them.

 

"Don't you think you might anger these akumas by fighting them? If they're anything like spirits, physical attacks won't help much."

 

~~~

 

The Doctor

 

The Doctor brought up the rear, watching his new, temporary companions walk in one by one. Chell, naturally, was at the back. He'd expected that. And he didn't look down on her for her fear. Sometimes it was better to be cautious. And sometimes, it was better to throw all caution to the wind! It tended to be more his style, in any case. He bounded in behind the orange-white-red clad girl, closing the creaky door behind him. "Stole it," he winked at Clarion, glancing down at her book. "Mind stopping that leak? She isn't too happy about it." He gestured vaguely upward, before striding toward the console.

 

"Right. Closest hospital," he muttered aloud, flipping switches and pulling down levels. He brought down the last one with a flourish, spinning around to grin at them all. "Allons-y!" The TARDIS began fading in and out, although they could only hear her whine. Just a couple of seconds later, they'd landed inside the wing of a general treatment ward.

[pudding]

Loki

 

“Yeah, characters. Comics, mostly, although it looks like there was at least one movie adaption.” He had quietly bookmarked the page, deciding that was absolutely going to be something he watched the next time he had some free time. Oh, and the Thor one. What was the point of being exposed to such things if you didn’t take the leap and watch them? After all, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Plus, he wanted to see how deeply this went. Not fan fiction deep, of course, but seeing the original material couldn’t be that bad. Maybe he could get some spoilers for his life. If he was trying to change his fate, it could easily help him figure out the right and wrong steps to take. That kind of advantage wasn’t something to be tossed aside so easily.

 

“I think they’d just assume it was cosplay,” he replied with a one-armed shrug before returning his arm to its apparent resting position of cradling the other one. His fingers tightened ever so slightly around his injured limb as he thought, using the slight pain that accompanied the action to help clear his thoughts. “And no, I can’t. I can’t jump the boundaries of space and time very easily. Teleportation? Sure but that’s local. The only one I know who has ever travelled a considerable distance is the Me-Who-Used-To-Be. But that’s not the person I am now and I’d more likely just end up stranded or torn apart by even attempting something like that.” He paused, looking out towards the opening of the alleyway with a small sigh. “Besides, I don’t think your interpretation of a god is a fairly accurate one. We are hardly all powerful. At best, we’re just arrogant.”

 

 

Chat Noir

 

“Yeah, I know,” He replied with a nod of understanding. The butterflies only showed up when people had negative emotions. “But we have to fight them,” He added with a look of minor confusion. “Otherwise they’ll multiply and never leave the poor victim alone.” He tilted his head slightly to the side, trying to think of a possible solution to getting a victim unakumatized except violence. They never wanted to give up their items willingly. They always had to be outsmarted by himself and Ladybug. “But it’s okay, we know how to fight them! My Lady and I both have Miraculouses so really, we’re the only ones qualified to fight against the akuma.” He shrugged his shoulders slightly, the large bell around his neck jingling with the action. “I guess your Avatar also has Miraculouses, right?”

 

His ears twitched slightly as he paused, looking back in the direction they had been walking and the direction the police had gone minutes before. The strange black ears that resembled a cats seemed tied to his being in some way since as soon as they twitched, he looked past her with a frown. A plume of smoke had begun rising into the air several blocks away. Green eyes narrowing, he frowned then quickly hopped past her. “There’s something going on there,” He replied, giving her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I need to go look at this. Stay here, alright? I don’t want a civilian getting hurt.” Beaming slightly, he broke out in a run, racing down the street in the direction of the rising plume of smoke.

 

[Coryn02]

Clarion ((Holy wow, it's been a long time since the Clawed Girl got any text time.))

 

Chell was naturally terrified upon entry, as she was fearful of many unknown things despite her intrepid entry while Lu and Ciel were around. And yet, she was willing to trust one such as Clarion, changed beyond what she was...

 

Clarion turned to look back at her trembling behind Isaac, and did her best to reassure her.

 

"It's all right. He wants to help us! Please, let's keep going."

 

As an answer to Clarion's questions, the Doctor replied that he stole his vessel, and asked her to stop the dripping from her tome since it was making the machine upset.

 

You... Stole this thing? And what do you mean, 'she'? Is this machine alive somehow?

 

"Any ideas you have are as good as mine. This book never stops bleeding."

 

The Book of Claws' glyph flashed a brighter intensity for a moment, but did nothing else. Clarion's only option in mind was to continue to carry it with her until she could find a way to get it to stop bleeding by removing the curse.

 

After the Doctor flipped some switches, a grinding noise became heard throughout the TARDIS, almost like a whine. As suddenly as it began, it stopped. Despite the implications this may have had, Clarion felt forced to ask an obvious question:

 

"... Did that do anything?"

Edited April 6, 2016 by Coryn02

[shadow_claw]

Chell

 

As expected, she had been the last to enter the TARDIS, and the first to leave. She clung so close to the door, I fact, that she burst out the door as soon as the machine stopped. Right through the automatic doors of the emergency room. Usually, one had to go through a metal detector to check for dangerous items, but Chell was quite literally bleeding out. Staff rushed her to the triage office to assess the issue, and only moments later was she being rushed into an operation.

 

A nurse hovered warily before the group, his expression anxious.

"She came in with you, correct?" He began, eyes flickering nervously to the three people. Of all of them, the Doctor was the only one to look remotely normal. "She's already been taken into surgery; don't worry, it's nothing major. But...as mandated reporters, we have to know: what happened to her?"

 

---

 

The operation itself took only about an hour and a half. Her wound was sutured and cleaned, and then heavily bandaged. Chell was admitted into the hospital for recovery, but there was a problem. She wasn't on any records. Nobody could find her anywhere. The hope was that there was some reasonable explanation, like she was a visitor from another country. Until then, nobody knew.

 

Chell herself was boarded into room 3-27, on the third floor. Thanks to the ID card in her jumpsuit, the medical staff was able to identify her blood type(A-) and set up a transfusion. An IV hung from a pole next to her, dripping saline and small amounts of pain medication. Her portal gun and clothes had been set next to her bed, as it was assumed to be a toy. When one of the staff mentioned it was from a game, this was confirmed throughout the staff.

 

Snuggled up in the hospital-provided blankets in her hospital-provided bed, she closed her eyes. Although the blank white walls and clean atmosphere reminded her for Aperture, this felt...better. Safer, even. The blankets were warm and clean, and although she wore a hospital gown, she didn't feel exposed. She knew if she rested, she would be put into stasis. That was a good feeling, she decided as her eyes closed.

[Coryn02]

The Pinwheel

 

The being woke from a long slumber. That in itself was odd, for it had been many years since it had been unconscious in any manner, including sleep. But its location now... That was cause for panic.

 

The dark, comfortable depths of the catacombs where it once dwelled were but a memory. The bright, colored walls and floor of this building were completely unfamiliar to Pinwheel, the toils of its experimentation all gone. The building seemed to be made of some sort of stone, but beyond that nothing was recognizable.

 

Where are we?

What is this place?

Are we lost?

 

It was on the ground, which was cold beneath its body. Struggling, Pinwheel righted itself clumsily using its six arms. Then, holding two sets of arms behind itself, it took a good look around.

 

The room was empty, save itself. The room had what seemed to be metal drawers along the walls, with two doors leading out. Curious, it opened one of the drawers and was quite surprised to find a human body inside. It appeared to be perfectly preserved as if freshly killed, and was ice-cold. Thinking this was probably the work of some frost sorcery, Pinwheel closed the drawer again and was thinking to start its experiments again using this until it heard a sudden clattering on the ground behind it.

 

The creature turned around, craning its necks to see the source of the noise. A man, trembling in fear, stood staring at Pinwheel in horror.

 

A mortal man, then? Nothing to worry about.

He will leave or suffer.

More materials for us!

 

Pinwheel used its sorcery to leap towards the man in seconds, staring into his eyes only inches away from him. The mask of the father spoke only two words, in a harsh rasping voice:

 

"Leave, now."

 

Finally broken, the man turned and ran screaming through one of the doors up the stairs. There was no doubt in Pinwheel's minds that he would not be coming back anytime soon.

 

Now alone again, Pinwheel decided it was time to start experiments once again. It would need reference materials to work from, and some bodies to use. The latter was easily taken care of, but the first meant having to go look for information. It set out to find what it could, knowing this world had to have some dark magic books, since it was made of stone like the city of the gods. These people no doubt had magic on par with Vinheim- perhaps even greater.

[pudding]

Mikaela

 

Two things happened all at once. The battlefield shifted abruptly as the world seemed to lurch to one side, tilting like a sinking ship and warping before his eyes. The ground slipped out from under his legs and he found himself slipping away from the distorted world he had been fighting in only moments before. In the time it took him to blink the world had slipped away from him entirely before he finally landed square in about a foot of water with a near constant stream of water falling over his blonde hair. With no real bodies of water in the devastated city he had been, it was immediately clear to him that he was in someplace else entirely. Looking down at the body of water he was sitting in for several long moments, his lips gradually twisted into a tight-lipped frown, as if urging the fountain to disappear and return him to where he had been. This was some illusion, right? There was no way he had been transported so far away with no actual warning.

 

The sound of birds chirping quickly tore him out of his state and he look up in surprise, finally taking the opportunity to look around at where he had landed. The world was, shockingly enough, not broken and devastated. In the distance he could see buildings that had not fallen over or collapsed under the weight of the Apocalypse and the area he had landed in was a shockingly beautiful park. In fact, while it was hardly bursting with people, there were a few humans walking around and chatting as if nothing had happened. A few glanced in his direction but seemed to deliberately ignore him as they quickly looked in the opposite direction.

”What?”he asked softly, slowly rising to his feet. He was in a fountain. An actual, functioning fountain. With people around who were not running away screaming at the sight of him. The entire world was wrong. There were no sounds of suffering, no massive wall in the distance, no ruins. It was almost like…almost like….

The world before the Apocalypse.

 

Looking down at his wet, gloved hands, he looked up towards the sky, instinctively grabbing the armband on his left shoulder to make sure it was still intact. His hand then moved to his side, checking to make sure none of his blood vials had been damaged. His sword was still safely sheathed at his side, thankfully enough, but he only had a few vials left and it looked as though he was completely and utterly stranded. And, of course, soaking wet, but that was a problem for when he figured out where he was. If it was an illusion, it had to be a powerful one to completely submerge him in a state that was so convincing. There had to be a way to break it, right? Every second that passed was another his body was left vulnerable. He couldn’t afford to die before his time was up. He had things that were left unfinished.

 

Pulling one sleeve back to expose his wrist, he sunk his fangs into his own arm, flinching slightly at the sharp pain the action brought. But, as he watched the world around him, there was no change. Not even a ripple that would suggest all of this was fake. But that wasn’t right. It had to be fake. It had to be some kind of spell because nothing was left in the world that looked anything like this. The Earth was supposed to be some decayed, twisted husk. How could a place like this possibly exist?

[Thaelasan]

"Stay your gun, friend!"

There was a booming noise and the sound of footsteps as a shadow blocked Ciel's vision. A hand was placed on the end of Ciel's gun, pushing it downward as the other hand held a massive shield before them both. A large wall of ice appeared, and the great ball of shadow that Toothless had fired landed upon it....

And nothing happened. There was only silence as a large, intimidating man stood in front of Ciel, Corrin, and Kinu with a great door in his hand.

After a moment, he peeked from behind the shield, smiling.

"Ah! Someone is hungry, eh? And scared?" he asked, patting his pockets. "Dragon or not, no one should be hungry or frightened. Come now, what do you eat, little Dragon? Meat? Would you like some goat milk?"

He grabbed a flask from his belt and held it out, shaking the contents.

"Mother always said, milk is good for you, eh?" the man asked. "There is no need for this fighting. Come here, he will not hurt you."

He turned to Ciel, smiling.

"It is alright, little one. He is only a dragon. And no matter their size, their hearts are always the same." the man patted his chest with the hand holding the goat milk. "Would you like some as well?"

"....Milk?" Ciel asked, concerned, as he stood in surprise while Corrin and Kinu stayed silent from where they were standing, perplexed with this new development. Who was this man?

Edited April 6, 2016 by Thaelasan

[pudding]

Toothless

The dragon wheezed slightly as he stepped forward, lifting himself up onto the raised ledge of the roof. His ears, which were sticking straight up on end and very rapidly flicking back and forth to try to capture as much sound as possible. Trying to sort out the screams of pedestrians evacuating from the sound of the actual fight, he tipped his head to the side, faltering slightly when he heard no sounds of violence like the sound of metal on metal or aggressive screams of war. Usually vikings were loud, unruly things. What were they doing? Had they fled? No, surely not. He could hear a voice speaking out to him. Tilting his head to one side so that his left ear was raised up and he could pinpoint the sound it its source, he hesitated. The voice was deep for sure but it did not sound aggressive. He couldn’t understand the exact wording but, similarly, the voice sounded new. It was considerably deeper than any of the previous voices so it was clear it was not one of the ones who had attacked him previously.

 

Sniffing the air softly, he dug his front claws into the side of the building briefly before slowly extending his wings. Launching himself off of the wall, he briefly glided in a half circle downwards before landing a few feet in front of the building he had been perched atop. Hesitantly, likely because he was still mostly blinded, he lifted his back leg and inched towards the sound of breathing. Now that it was closer he could see a bit better through the green film and barely make out a few blurred figures in front of him. He moved sideways towards the group at first before eventually slinking closer in a loose zigzag, stalling a few feet in front of them. His entire body was crouched low as he sniffed the the air. A small shiver passed through his body before he abruptly moved forward again, following his nose to the outstretched hand holding the flask of milk. Sniffing the hand, he glanced between the flask and the blurred figure holding it out to him, questioning the offer. Was it for him? What was it? It smelled good certainly but it did not smell anything like fish or any other food he knew.

[Thaelasan]

The large man knelt down for a moment, placing the massive shield firmly on the ground next to him, obviously approaching unarmed.

"There. That's it!" he said, calm and pleased. "What happened to your eyes, little Dragon? Who did this? Reminds me of a sickness back home. Someone has plagued you and you are wounded. This is no good."

He reached into the bag at his side - slowly, not to alarm the dragon - and pulled out a small cloth, holding it with the milk.

"Here, can I?" he asked, holding his hand steady. "Your eyes, they are blinded. It is no wonder you are afraid. Braum would be scared too, if he could not see! This world is too big, too beautiful for you to miss a second of it. If Braum can help you see again, he will do it without question. Oh! Right, this is probably not best way for you to drink, eh?"

As he spoke, a small, furry creature with horns appeared from behind him, sitting on his shoulder. It made a short, squeaking noise as it sat. It appeared that a mustache had been brushed into its facial fur.

"Ah? Are you hungry too, my friend?" Braum whispered, poking the thing's face as it squeaked. "Then perhaps it is time to eat for all of us, eh? Come now, there is no need for this conflict. We are all hungry. Food shared together creates friendships. This is always true. Braum knows it in his heart."

"Uh.... who are you?..... Are you ...Braum?" Ciel asked, hesitant.

The large man looked at Toothless for a moment, then nodded as he stood to his full height, putting his hand on the shield next to him. He reached into his bags and retrieved a bowl, pouring some of the goat's milk into it. This, he placed in front of Toothless as he held the cloth in his other hand.

"Yes. I am Braum, the Heart of the Freljord, the Savior of the people... all titles others have given me that have become too numerous to count! Ha ha!" Braum laughed, patting Toothless' head warmly with his hand after putting the goat's milk back in his bags. "But titles mean little. It is the actions of a man that mean the most."

He motioned to the gun still in Ciel's hands.

"Are you planning on waving that at anyone else here, little one?" he whispered, distant.

"Uh..." Ciel began, but then felt compelled to put the gun away, actually feeling ashamed for his past actions. Lu appeared as soon as he did so, agitated.

"ANOTHER tamer of dragons! How dare you inter-"

Ciel held up his hand in front of her to bar her from speaking further. Lu gaped at him. Her face was absolutely baffled. This was unheard of.

"What.... Ciel? Aren't you...?" she began, shocked. "You would dare-"

"Enough... Lu, this man is not like the fishwoman... or like any other we have met today. Don't you feel it? It's the same warmth as Solaire." Ciel whispered, putting his hand back at his side. "He will only fight us if we try to hurt anyone else, and you saw what he did to that blast of energy."

Lu relaxed, sighing. She rubbed her forehead.

"Whatever... I'm too hungry to complain..." Lu whined, leaning on him. "And I'm sleeeepy.... Today has been far too chaotic for my liking."

Braum chuckled.

"She is yours, eh?" Braum asked, pointing. "Sister?"

"...Uh... No."

"Daughter?"

Lu opened her eyes to squint at Braum.

"Ohhhhh..." Braum said, putting his finger back down. "Well, Braum does not question the decisions of others. Enjoy life while you can, I guess."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lu asked, frowning.

"It means you look very young, little one." Braum admitted, ashamed. "Braum did not want to insult you. Braum can see your intelligence is beyond your appearance."

Lu suddenly changed her attitude.

"Well! He is indeed a smart man, Ciel!" Lu patted Braum's shoulder, smirking. "I like him already."

Corrin could only shoulder Kinu a bit more and frown.

"So... are... we all eating together then?" he asked, concerned. "Is the ... dragon joining us?"

"I don't know. Is he?" Braum turned, holding out the cloth. "First, we should get him cleaned up and healed. Dragon or not, he is still alive - and therefore, Braum will care for him."

Edited April 6, 2016 by Thaelasan

[shadow_claw]

Undyne

 

Undyne watched as a new man, a stranger, so easily calmed down the monster. Thank goodness. she crept forward, her spear dissolving into thin air as she walked. "You...Thank you. I don't think I would've been able to help." The intense glow coming from her single eyeslot in the armor dimmed as she relaxed. A few comments from that...unsavory couple she had met before didn't go unnoticed. She just chose to ignore it. Hesitating from the rooftop, she frowned beneath her helmet.

"Everyone else thought he was uncontrollable. I think he's just scared." The monster pulled off her helmet to reveal her face once again. Blue skin, gills, and ear fins were the most prominent features, but her sharp, crooked teeth and eyepatch were also there.

"I'm Undyne. Thanks for believing in this monster."

 

---

 

Miraculous Ladybug

 

This...wasn't the rooftops of Paris. In fact, this was a...fountain. A fountain in the middle of a park. Her suit was luckily waterproof (and heat proof, and...everything proof. Heck, her mask even stayed on magically!). It was around this time did she notice another person.

 

Springing from the fountain, she eyed this stranger warily. Was this one of Hawkmoth's villains? If so, what was his akuma? And she had never seen villain with an actual weapon before...

 

He actually...sorta looked like... Adrien. The same, fluffy blonde hair and angular face. But this stranger's eyes were blue. Was this some odd, akuma-tized version of Adrien? Oh...she didn't like the sound of that.

 

Gosh, she needed advice from Tikki now. Tikki always knew what to do. Maybe she should find a place to hide and change back...

 

 

---

 

Chell

 

Restless sleep. Blurry nightmares of wailing turrets and deathtraps. Falling into old Aperture once again. The woman awoke with a silent gasp, her steely gray eyes wide. No...this place was too much like Aperture. She needed to find a safer place to sleep.

 

Hopping out of bed, Chell moved towards her clothes. A tug from the back of her hand made her stop. That pole had a tube in her arm. hm. The pole would have to come with her then. Her shirt was still bloody, but her shorts and bra and jumpsuit were still good. So, she slipped into her usual getup (minus her shirt), and grabbed an armful of blankets. She would have to take it slow. Portal gun in one arm, blankets and the IV pole in the other. It was time to find a good place to sleep.

 

--

 

The pole was ditched pretty quickly. It wasn't hard to remove the IV, but not pleasant. From there, Chell moved to the steps. Portal after portal, she moved down until tile became cement. It was warmer here, and the lower levels made her feel at ease. It wouldn't all collapse like all the stasis chambers had. That was reassuring.

 

It wasn't long until Chell had wandered into the boiler room, drawn to both the warmth and white noise. It was something for her to focus on. To ward off bad dreams. Plopping her blanket down, she curled up on the ground. Yes. This was much better.

 

[Coryn02]

The Pinwheel

 

The hooded creature decided to keep exploring its immediate vicinity for some books it could use to further its research. After all, in a place with so much advanced sorcery, how could there not be a storehouse of knowledge somewhere? The normal folk would quickly learn what it meant to cross a necromancer, so it was sure that most intruders would keep out.

 

After looking around more, it came upon a strange room. Machinery of strange shape and dimensions whirred and buzzed. The pipes going in and out of the room had the sound of running water coming from them, and the whole room constantly had the sound of steam filling it.

What a strange place!

I wonder what this is all for.

Perhaps we should find out how this place works.

Immediately, Pinwheel's eye was drawn to the only organic thing in the room- the girl. She seemed to be of an adult age, though likely not old enough have a family. She was wrapped in some blankets on the ground, and seemed perfectly asleep.

 

The first thought of the necromancer was to kill the girl to use in an experiment, but... Was that really necessary?

 

This girl deserves to live, doesn't she?

She looks nice! We should make friends with her.

We've only gotten as far as we have by experimenting, why should we stop now?

Father, I don't want to kill her. She hasn't done anything wrong!

... What did you call me?

Our daughter is right. What kind of life did we live down in those catacombs? Surrounded only by the dead and undead? The only path to renewed life is through life.

 

Pinwheel gently set down one of its lanterns, and reached out a dessicated, bony hand towards the woman. It brushed the back of its fingers against her cheek, with no real reason behind it, save perhaps its endless longing for restoration. Her skin was warm... It had been a long time since Pinwheel had experienced warmth. Not since it had been a proper family.

 

Deciding to leave her alone, the necromancer picked its lantern back up again, and resumed its explorations of the area. At some point, it should probably go up the stairs, but that might prove problematic for a few reasons.

 

Maybe when we come back, she'll be our friend.

We might be her friend... But who would be friends with the likes of us?

[Thaelasan]

Braum began cleaning Toothless' eyes carefully and with devotion, careful not to touch the eyeball itself but only the eyelashes and the parts around them. The green goop began to fade from the dragon's sight with every motion.

"Monster? Braum has seen monsters before, madame." Braum said, tending to his work. "All manner of beasts. Big and small. All of them are alive. All of them have hearts of their own. We are all alive together. It saddens Braum to see people treat good beasts with anger or fear. They are just as alive as we."

He looked up at her a moment, then back to his work.

"Eh? Are you a relative of Nami, the Tidecaller?" Braum asked, continuing his process. "You seem to be of the waters."

Edited April 7, 2016 by Thaelasan

[pudding]

Mikaela

Mika slowly lowered his wrist from his mouth, the blood dripping down his arm briefly before the wound began to heal. It had just been a small bite so it probably would only take a few minutes for it to be completely gone. Still, the fact that the injury had not snapped him back into awareness suggested that this wasn’t an illusion. Somehow, though impossible as it seemed, this was reality. Frowning, he stared down at his wrist as if this entire situation was it’s fault and it was the one who had changed the world.

 

However, movement in the corner of his eye and a flash of red quickly had the vampire turning around, his head immediately snapping around to stare at the person that had jumped from he fountain. The… okay, that was not what he was expecting. A woman wearing a red and black suit that was clearly not tactical in the slightest and rivaled the pristine, white outfits that vampires wore for obnoxiousness was nearby, staring at him. She was a wearing some kind of a mask but it covered very little of her face over all. Not that it mattered since he was absolutely positive he had never seen this girl before in his life. He didn’t know any vampires that would wear something so strange looking and he didn’t know that many humans in general. He didn’t make it a point to become connect to humans. The closer he got to them, the closer he came to accidentally biting them. He had no desire to feed and he did not want to accidentally find himself fulling transforming into something he hated so much. It was bad enough trying to resist the urge without becoming close to humans. But beyond that, he had even more personal reasons for keeping them well at a distance.

 

His hand lingered briefly over the handle of his sword before he decided against it. She was unarmed, and he was alone with no idea where he was. Letting his arm fall away from his sword, he turned with complete and utter indifference away from her and trudged out of the fountain, climbing back onto dry land. Dripping water everywhere, he glanced down at his boots, thankful they extended up as far as they did since he was not caring around a significant amount of water within them. Still, that didn’t mean he enjoyed being soaking wet. Oh well, it would dry in it’s own time and he had more important things to attend to. Like figuring out where he was. If this really was somehow the world before the Apocalypse, this place would have a name. He didn’t study that much history of the before times but if he could at least trace his way back home, maybe he could regroup with the vampires there.

 

Wait. No, wait. If he had somehow travelled back, wasn’t this a chance? Wasn’t this a chance to save the orphanage and Yuu from all of the evils of humanity? He hadn’t realized it before but if he made it on time, he could whisk him away before everything happened. He could destroy the Seraph of the End Project before any of the orphans were forced to undergo experimentation. He could save them all. He could… he could….

“Hey,” He suddenly said, looking over his shoulder at the strange girl in red. “Where is this?”

 

Toothless

The dragon took a small step backwards when the man moved, his eyes twitching slightly as they struggled to narrow around the green goo splattered across his vision. Since they it had dried he had experienced a considerable amount of difficulty moving his eyes at all so it was hard to look suspicious when his eyes would not actually narrow. The corner of his mouth seemed to curl up slightly but the action passed quickly when he realized the movement was not actually aggressive and the soft tone remained. Lifting his head slightly, his nose moved closer to the squeezing creature on the man’s shoulder and his nostrils flared briefly before he exhaled a sharp breath onto the creature and turned away. A soft, grumbling noise came from the dragon’s nose as he followed the man’s hand to the ground, moving his nose around before accidentally hitting the bowl with his face. Looking slightly alarmed but curious, he recoiled briefly before lifting a paw and bringing it down sharply on the bowl, immediately dumping the contents all over his floor and onto his paw. Tilting his head to the side, he lifted his paw up, licking the spilled milk off of his dark scales.

 

His slightly forked tongue ran over the scales easily and, almost immediately, his ears jumped to attention. Sitting down on his hind legs, he continued to hold the paw aloft and lick the spilled milk off his scales, apparently ignoring the others in favor of trying to get as much of the liquid as he could into his mouth. He didn’t even seem to notice when someone patted his head in favor of licking in between his claws. As soon as it was apparent there was no more milk on his foot, the dragon licked his lips and turned on the man who had given him the food. His head tilted immediately to one side as he moved closer, much more confidently this time, sniffing around the outstretched arm and moving immediately closer to the man, trying to get more to eat. The movements of his ears were much more diminished now compared to before as he mostly focused on smelling, trying to sort out the smell of the sweet milk from the smell of humans and smoke of the city. The Night Fury had been offered food and it had tasted delicious. Now he wanted more of it as his hunger was not going to be sated by just a small amount of milk for very long. The cleaning was hardly noticed in favor of trying to sniff out more food, not noticing all that much as the green goo around his eyes started to vanish, still leaving a tint to his eyes but allowing him to see significantly better than before. His tail moved from side to side as he did so, sweeping across the ground in large arcs that could easily take out someone's legs if they got too close and knock them to the floor. His actions were clearly making the prospects of cleaning his eyes much more difficult as he continued to move his head around in an attempt to locate the flask full of milk and drink more of it.